Because I, as a preacher, an itinerant, nothing, little preacher, because of my belief in the power of the Gospel and the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, I can look at the most defiled man on the face of the earth and tell him to forsake his mother, his father, his lands, his home, his own life, and I can expect that, out of the group of them, somebody’s coming out. I do not have to lay down the bar on the Gospel. I can bid men to come and die from the very moment I speak with them because I believe in the power of resurrection. Someone says, “How can you expect a man to do that?”
I say, “Well, let me answer that with another question. How can Ezekiel command bones to live? And how can Jesus cry out to a dead man and tell him to come forth?” Because salvation is not just some mere, tiny, puny, human decision. It is the supernatural work of God. I would submit to you that there is more power revealed in the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit in the life of one sinner than all the power revealed in the six days of Creation. We need to believe that; then, we don’t have to succumb to trickery and device. We’re not looking for missionaries. I see all kinds of boys go in front of me. I want one man who’ll take one open Bible, walk out in the middle of the town square, and preach until they kill him or someone comes out of there born again, because that’s all that’s required. The truth. The more we fill our lives up with all sorts of silly things, the less God’s power is going to be revealed in our lives.
Now, let’s look in Ezekiel 36 and just see the magnificence of this and how a man can embrace self-denial. In verse 22 of chapter 36: Therefore say to the house of Israel, “Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went.’”
I don’t know. It seems to me God has….I don’t know if it’s a sense of humor. I don’t know what you would call it, or He just likes to make me cringe. I don’t know why He does this, but I preach in so many places, and before I get up to preach, there’s always some lady who stands up and sings a song that asks this question: “I can’t figure out why God saved me. What inherent worth did God ever see in me?”
And I’m like a little boy in class in the back of the church, going, “Oh, pick me. I’ll tell you.” And I have to go up to the platform every time and I have to go, “Well, let me share with you exactly why God saved you. It had absolutely nothing to do with you. He saw no inherent worth in you and the only thing you could have ever motivated a holy and righteous God to do was condemn your soul in the very deepest pit of Hell. God has saved you for His own name and for His own glory and a demonstration of his own power.
But don’t forget this, my Calvinistic brethren. He has also saved because He is love. He is love. Don’t ever forget that. Know that love is not pulled forth from Him by some inherent worth
found in Creation, but He is love and He saves because He’s love. Oh, what a wonderful doctrine that is, that it is not just in the sense of His own glory, His own name. It’s become a very popular thing to say in conferences such as this, and I glory in it because it’s true. But never forget….He is the God of love, and He saves men.
But I want you to look at something that’s very important. When He says, I’m about to act… I’m about to act for my holy name. And then if you go down to verse 23: I will vindicate the holiness of my great name which has been profaned among the nations which you have profaned in their midst. Why? Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when I prove myself holy among you in their sight. He says, I am going to do a work of salvation, and it will be so great in you that even the pagan unbelieving nations will recognize that something supernatural has happened here, that I am God.
Do you realize that God could have saved Israel from Egypt just like that, but plague after plague after plague. Why? He brought forth some of those Egyptians. He proved to Egypt He was God. When God truly does a work of salvation, genuine conversion in the life of a man, although we should not expect the unbelieving world to see it and understand it in its fullness, we should expect them to misinterpret it, but we should expect them to see something they cannot explain. But because of the preaching in America, the name of God has been blasphemed among the Gentiles because we popishly declare unregenerate people to be saved. They live like hellions, and then the unbelieving world looks at us and says, “Where’s the power of your God? You’re a laughing stock.” A laughing stock.
You see, we’re talking about doctrines. Not just doctrines with regard to soteriology, but doctrines with regard to the church. It is so important. Church discipline is not for the sake of ….simply, it’s not just for the sake of bringing back a straying sheep. It is for the sake of God’s glory. It is for His name. It is to present before the nations a demonstration of the power of God through a converted church, through a regenerate group of people. As pastors, listen to me, you should care for your sheep because you love your sheep, but you should guard your sheep because of God’s reputation. It was Paul’s desire to present that church a beautiful virgin. It was his life. It was his life’s work. Folks, this is about people, but it is not primarily about people. It is primarily about God and His reputation and His fame among the nations.
Let me give you an example. In Numbers 14, after the spies and everything that happened, God tests Moses and by His grace, He upholds Moses, but He tests him. He says, “Moses,” basically, “get back. I’m going to destroy them all. I’ll make a people out of you.”
And Moses’ intercession is, “No, Lord, You can’t do that, because Your enemies will say that, although You were able to bring them out of the land of Egypt, You were not able to bring them into their own land.”
