Today marks our fifteenth year as a church. We call it Ebenezer day. The name was chosen because of what it means in scripture. Look with me at 1 Samuel 7:10-12 NASB. "Now Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, and the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But the LORD thundered with a great thunder on that day against the Philistines and confused them, so that they were routed before Israel. {11} And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and struck them down as far as below Beth-car. {12} Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far the LORD has helped us."
No matter where a church or individual Christian might be in their journey of grace they must declare with Samuel, "Thus far the Lord has helped us." He has protected us from all the enemies of our soul. "Thus far the Lord has helped us."
I wish to speak to you this morning about my own personal journey in grace which in the end includes all of you.
I do not know when my mother began to practice her Pentecostal faith but I do know that I was practically born and reared on a church bench. There were hundreds of nights when I returned to our home with vertical stripes on my face from sleeping on the crude slatted pews that filled our church.
For eighteen years I went to church on Sunday morning, Sunday night, and most often mid week. I did not want to go to church because I was not a Christian. There were times when I thought I had been saved but then I would loose my salvation shortly there after. That sounds strange to us but believing one can be truly saved and then lost was and remains consistent with Pentecostal theology.
On the Sunday following my eighteenth birthday my dad intervened with my well meaning mother. "Johnny doesn't have to go to church any more, he said. He is eighteen now and can make up his own mind." That was the end of my church attendance for a good number of years. At last I'd been set free from the restrictions imposed upon me by organized religion. I was set free from the pretending it took to look like I was a real part the church.
Now I would see who I really was and so would the rest of the world. I rebelled against any and everything I could think of. I was, I thought enjoying my new found freedom. Grace would one day reveal that like all unbelievers I was not free at all but a slave of sin, self and Satan.
After high school I went to College for a time. I also continued the pursuit of my high school sweetheart, Shirley. We were married 25 years ago this coming December sixth. A son of Adam and a daughter of Eve united in something much less than Holy Matrimony. We married for the satisfaction of our lust and knew nothing of love, nothing at all.
In those early days we weren't able to deal with our own passions, sensitivities, and prejudices. Neither were we able to cope with relatives who sought to control our lives. The first four years of our marriage included drinking, smoking, and physical violence between Shirley and myself. There was an attempted suicide which had as its goal escape from the pain of day to day existence. Once Shirley chased me with a shotgun and I deserved it. There was a time in those early days when I planned the murder of those who added to our pain by seeking to control us. Each day promised only chaos, hatred, confusion and pain. We learned to dread the rising of the sun.
During those four years we lived from week to week, sometimes day to day with the threat of divorce or separation looming over our heads.
There was no love, no joy, no pleasure, no happiness, no reason to go on. But God, being rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made Shirley alive together with Christ. This is how God brought it to pass.
My dear wife had begun to prepare for the day when she would have to support herself and our son alone. She returned to college to finish a nursing degree and there she met up with Kitty, a Christian lady, an instrument in the hand of God. She invited Shirley to church. It wasn't long before I had a new wife. God, in grace and mercy, removed from her breast a heart of stone and replaced it with a heart of flesh. Shirley was born again. She was a new creature from the inside out and the change was immediately evident. I lost my fighting partner and in her place was a strange and gracious lady.
Week after week she went to church and treated me better than she ever had before. One day she invited me to her Baptism. I don't remember why I went, only that I did. Neither do I remember not going to church from that day on. Sometime in early 1978 1 too was born again. I was given a new heart, a new will, new desires, new likes and dislikes, along with a deep hunger for the word of God.
Things at home began to improve. There were dramatic changes in some areas and slower change in others. The more we learned about the love of God the more we were able to love each other. We began to have consecutive days of peace, tastes of joy and real pleasure for the first time in our lives. The people I had planned to murder were now people to love and pray for. They were people to serve and be spent for. I became a good employee for the first time in my life working with the Glory of God in mind.
The church became our lives. We left the old world and our old friends behind. A journey into the world of grace had begun. As is true with most new Christians we had a burning zeal for God, but it was a zeal without knowledge. By that I mean without real and true knowledge. You see, we were part of a typical protestant congregation. The church we were members of held to a theological system filled with error. Therefore, we did not understand the truth about ourselves or God. Unbeknown to us we were being taught and were believing a modified Gospel. The Gospel according to Jesus and the Apostles had long sense been forgotten. This church had come to believe and teach the views of a man named Jacob Hermann.
This theologian lived form 1560 to 1609 and is best known by the Latin form of his last name, Arminius. Arminius was reared under the influence of real biblical truth but at some point began to lean toward the "humanistic teachings of a man named Erasmus." This man's teaching exalted men above the God who made them. The followers of Arminius, known as Arminians, took a stand AGAINST historic Christianity, against the teachings of Christ, the Apostles and, closest to us, the Reformers.
In the year 1618 the Arminians, seeking to promote and spread their beliefs presented a five point summation of their faith to the National Synod of the Church in the city of Dort in Holland. This Synod examined the teachings of Arminius in light of Scripture. After 154 sessions, which lasted seven months, the Five Points of Arminianism were found to be HERETICAL. Yet the world at large received Arminianism with open arms. Let's take a look at the five doctrines and the Synods findings.
The Synod of Dort rejected the Arminians first point, "Free Will." This is something Shirley and I were taught and believed when we were first saved. It is what all the sons and daughters of Adam believe. The Synod replied, man has a will but it is in BONDAGE to sin, self, and Satan. The theological term for mans condition since the fall is Total Depravity. This means that every aspect of man's character is enslaved to his fallen, sinful nature. Sinners do feel free but they are slaves nonetheless. Consider this statement from 2 Timothy 2:24-26 NASB. "And the Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, {25} with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance (The ability and desire to repent comes from God.) leading to the knowledge of the truth, (The sinner does not know truth) {26} and they may come to their senses (The sinner is not in his right mind.) and escape f!
rom the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will." Also (John 8:44-45 NASB) "You are of your father the devil, and you WANT TO DO the desires of your father. ."
When a person is doing what they want to do they feel free. A drunkard, for instance, drinks because that is what he wants to do. He feels free yet he is really a slave. Likewise the sinner does not feel like a slave because he is doing what he wants to do. He does not want to please God and is therefore not free to do so. Pleasing God is contrary to his evil nature and his desires. Men born only once cannot want to be holy. They cannot want to go to God. They cannot want to turn from their sin for it is contrary to their very nature. Fallen men are slaves of sin, self, and the Devil and have no desire to be anything else. Therefore, until God gives the sinner a new heart with the ability to understand truth about himself he will not and cannot recognize his lack of freedom. Men are either free to serve the Devil or God. They cannot serve both. There is no such free will.
The Synod of Dort rejected the Arminians second point, which, at the time of my conversion, I believed with all my heart. This second point is "Conditional Election". The Arminian says that God looked down through the corridors of time to see who would, of their own free will, believe. THEN He set His love on those persons calling them His elect. The Synod of Dort, looking to the Scriptures, said no. For God to choose one man over another because of SOMETHING HE DOES and the other DOES NOT DO is to set a human condition on salvation. This translates into a works based salvation and is contrary to grace. Besides, men are slaves of sin, self, and Satan. They will not and cannot go to God on their own. Therefore, God's eternal election of some men unto salvation must be entirely UNCONDITIONAL! Election is IN SPITE of men NOT because of them.
Speaking in reference to God's election of some and rejection of others Paul writes in Romans 9:15-16 NASB. "For He says to Moses, "I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION." So then it, (ones election to salvation), DOES NOT DEPEND ON THE MAN who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy." God's choosing of the people He would save was not conditioned on them in any way whatever. The Bible teaches the unconditional election of sinners to salvation.
The Synod of Dort rejected the third point of Arminianism, "Universal Atonement." I believed this wholeheartedly when I was first saved. This element of Arminianism declares that Christ meant to save each and every human ever born. However, Christ's death would only be effective for those who, by the exercise of their FREE WILL, would accept His offer of salvation. Therefore, not all who Christ intended to save would be saved. The Synod, again working from the Scripture, said no. Christ died to save particular persons, the Elect or those given Him by the Father in eternity past. Further, His death was a one-hundred percent success in that ALL for whom He died will, at the appointed time, be saved from the wrath to come. Consider this blessed text. (John 6:37-40 NASB) "ALL that the Father gives Me SHALL come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. "And t!
his is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day." Also John 17:1-9 NASB. "These things Jesus spoke; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify Thy Son, that the Son may glorify Thee, even as Thou gavest Him authority over all mankind,
that TO ALL WHOM THOU HAST GIVEN HIM, HE MAY GIVE ETERNAL LIFE. "And this is eternal life, that THEY may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. "I glorified Thee on the earth, HAVING ACCOMPLISHED THE WORK WHICH THOU HAST GIVEN ME TO DO. (That work was to save all those given to Him for salvation without losing even one. This Jesus has done. He secured the salvation of the Elect which will be applied to each of them by God the Holy Spirit at the appointed time.) "I manifested Thy name to the men whom Thou gavest Me out of the world; Thine they were, and THOU GAVEST THEM TO ME, and they have kept Thy word. For the words which Thou gavest Me I have given to them; and they received them, and truly understood that I came forth from Thee, and they believed that Thou didst send Me. "I ASK ON THEIR BEHALF; I DO NOT ASK ON BEHALF OF THE WORLD, BUT OF THOSE WHOM THOU HAST GIVEN ME; FOR THEY ARE THINE;"
Christ's blood was shed for the given ones. His prayers were offered up on their behalf. He did not pray for all men, just for the given ones. Christ's interest was in a specific people, the Elect. Thus the Synod rejected the false Idea of a Universal Atonement for sin.
They also rejected the fourth point of Arminianism, "Resistible Grace." The Armenians would have us believe that God is actively trying to save every human but that He cannot save them if they will not let Him do so. This too is what I believed to be true when I was first saved. The will of God, said the Arminians, was BOUND by the will of man. The Synod, looking into the Bible, said this is not true. God's saving grace is irresistible in the following sense. The man, woman, boy or girl, who is raised from spiritual death and given a new heart RUNS WITH GLADNESS to Christ. He does not need to be coerced because this is what he now wants to do. While dead in sins this person was drawn IRRESISTIBLY to his father the Devil. He could do nothing other than serve his father. Having been raised, in the rebirth, to spiritual life this person is drawn IRRESISTIBLY to Christ and through Him to his new father, God. God's saving grace is irresistible. For with a new heart come!
s an insatiable desire to have Christ as Lord and Savior.
(1 Pet 1:3 NASB) "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has CAUSED US TO BE BORN AGAIN TO A LIVING HOPE through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead," When God causes us to be born again it is TO a living hope that we are born. We are caused to hope in Christ for forgiveness and eternal life. With our hope in Him alone we must go to Him, we must. This is what is meant by irresistible grace.
The Synod rejected the fifth point of Arminianism, "Falling From Grace". Pure Arminians, such as the Pentecostals, are at least consistent here. They believe that men are saved by the exercise of their will. Therefore, by that same will a person could decide he didn't want to be saved any longer. Looking into the Bible, the Synod said no, it cannot be so. Salvation is the work of the Lord in and upon the dead sinner. Man has nothing to do with, "getting saved or with remaining in the grace of God. The Bible teaches that all the saved will persevere to final salvation, no exceptions. (John 10:27-30 NASB) "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. "I and the Father are one." Those saved by the grace and mercy of God will continue !
believing in Him because He both enables and causes them to do so. Therefore, they cannot be lost.
This then is a brief look at the two most influential views of Christianity. With the exception of believing one can loose his salvation Shirley and I were Arminian in our beliefs when we were first saved. I believed that men had the final say in their eternal destiny. I believed and later taught that God wanted to save all men but that some would not let Him do so.
Two years after my conversion I became the Pastor of that same Arminian Baptist Church. I carried on in the footsteps of my predecessor. I continued to describe poor Jesus standing outside the hearts and wills of sinners begging, weeping and hoping they would let Him save them. I continued doing everything necessary to get men, women, boys and girls to LET Jesus into their hearts.
As far as the stats were concerned I was a successful Pastor and Evangelist. Lots of baptisms, new members and a steady increase in numbers were the evidence. The Convention officials were impressed. God, however, was not. He was about to take me, my wife and many others one step further in our Journey of Grace.
In the early days of my first Pastorate I held a full time job at the local Copper mine. Following the days work I would drive to Arizona College of the Bible, 100 miles away in Phoenix. It was an Arminian school with one exception, they did not believe one could loose their salvation. I was comfortable there until I met a Mr. Robert Bowles. Until the day he announced the birth of his son, Daniel. I will never forget his words as long as I live. He rolled into the class room in his electric wheelchair and he said, "I have an announcement to make, another little sinner has entered this world and his name is Daniel".
Never in my life had I heard a Christian man call an infant a sinner. I confronted him about his error after the class. He listened quietly to my ignorant objections and when I was finished he wrote down a list of scriptures for me to look up. Would you read these he ask. Well I did read them, and after each class we talked, and we talked, and we read, and we read. Finally, one day, he gave me a book. It was Arthur Pink's, "Sovereignty of God". Read this, he said, and tell me what you think. That book was my first introduction to the real God. It was my first look at the scriptures through NON PREJUDICED EYES. It was then I began to see who God really was and what shape men are really in since the fall. The truths contained in that little book ruined my life.
I mean that literary, the scriptures that Mr. Pink brought to my attention convicted me so severely I could not preach any more. I told my Shirley that until I knew which view of the Bible was correct I would never preach again. It was an Arminian college professor God used to bring me peace.
I stepped into Paul Eyeman's office weeping and whining. I set out my case. I recounted for him my religious history, my dealings with Robert Bowles and Mr. Pink. I related to him the confusion that filled my mind. I said, "I will not, I cannot preach a lie." I ask, "Can you tell me which one of these positions is true to the Bible?" His answer was filled with grace to say the least. He had before him an opportunity to rail against Calvinism and promote Arminianism, but he did not take it. He said, "John, forget your Pentecostal heritage. Forget what you have learned from the denomination you're associated with at this time. Forget what Mr. Bowles has said and what you have read in Mr. Pinks book. Forget it all, open your bible and teach your people what you find there."
What did I find in the Bible? I found the very same thing the Synod of Dort found as they compared the teaching of Arminius to God's word. I found the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and of Paul. I found a Holy, absolutely Sovereign God who does as He pleases among the hosts of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth. I found a God whose will governs man's will, not the other way around. In short, I found that I had believed a lie and had taught the same. By the grace of God I found the truth about fallen men, God, and salvation. I discovered that I was a man of unclean lips dwelling among a people with unclean lips speaking lies and calling them truth.
Since that day, I have endeavored to be honest with the scriptures. On that day I came to believe that I could spend my life in no better way than by introducing Christians to the God who saved them and keeps them saved.
The church I served at that time would not tolerate the careful, accurate teaching of the Bible. So I resigned to begin a new work, Sovereign Grace Baptist Church. For the last 15 years my wife and I along with the people of Sovereign Grace Baptist Church have enjoyed learning and teaching the truth about God and man. Our influence has increased year by year so that now by radio, tract, tape, email and web page and Bible Conference we share God's truth with thousands of people each week of the year. What great privileges we enjoy and what a great responsibility God has set upon our shoulders. We must remember that God has brought us to this place. We must never fear our physical or spiritual enemies. We must believe that God will be the same in the future as He has been in the past. That having brought us thus far He will take us all the way to heaven. May we always cherish and guard the Gospel as it is found in the Bible.
