Would you open the Bible to the book
of John's Gospel at chapter 18.
And while you turn, the pastor made a
request, just a request, that I bring the
message tonight, or today sometimes, on how the
Lord saved me from infidelity.
I organized an infidel club in the Southern
Baptist College.
Had over 300 young Baptists join my club.
I was the president of it.
I found out it's a lot easier to
lead men to hell than it is to
Christ.
And I, God showed mercy to this infidel.
I'd like for us to think a little
while tonight about what infidelity is.
Somebody said there are no atheists in foxholes.
There are no atheists anywhere.
Everybody believes as a supreme being, you're a
human being.
But there are infidels, and they're in our
pulpits, teaching our Sunday school classes, gracing our
pews.
Infidel is a fellow that says, I know
there's a God, but he's not going to
run my life.
No God for me.
And to be honest with you, that's what
churches are manufacturing now.
People who with their lips claim Jesus as
Savior, that have built a fence about their
life, and told God to stay out.
Hell's going to be so full of Baptist
preachers and Baptist deacons and Baptist Sunday school
teachers that it'll be running over.
For they profess with their mouths, but with
their hearts do not know the living Lord
and the Lord of life.
Now I hope the Lord will not hurt
in the service system.
Now let me hurt you.
It's a little difficult to listen to me
because I am a hitchhiker.
I go from place to place.
And usually it takes people a week to
know what I'm talking about.
And you can't get much out of a
message unless you've heard me a few times.
Because whether I'm right or wrong, I've been
crossing the grain of our Baptist so-called
doctrine.
I'm inside now, not on the outside.
I am a Baptist.
But we Baptists have been filling hell full
of church members, and I've been screaming against
it.
Now I hope that you can hear me
this morning.
There are three questions that deserve an answer.
First they ought to be asked, and then
they ought to be answered.
I'm aware of the fact that nobody is
asking these questions now, but I pose them
for you anyhow.
The most important question you'll ever ask, if
you ever get around to it, is who
is Jesus?
Who is Jesus?
Now everybody in the world today got some
opinion about who Jesus is.
But unless you come up by revelation with
God's answer, you'll split hell wide open.
Richard Naber, one of the prophetic voices of
this hour, quotes from one of the Russian...
I can't pronounce that word, D-O-E
-S-T-O-B-S-K-Y One
of his novels, in which this Russian tells
the table, of course, of a man who
walked for a thousand years to get one
look at Jesus.
And then he walked a thousand years back
home.
And when he got back home after the
2,000-year interval of walking, somebody said,
was it worth it?
And he said, yes, it was worth it.
That almost breaks your heart when you remember
that we as Baptists made salvation by man's
decision instead of God revealing of Christ some
40 years ago.
And that this generation is a total stranger
to the Christ of the Bible.
And if you have any of the milk
of human kindness, much less a little drop
of the grace of God within you, you
wish you could put your arms around this
generation of church people and get them to
take time to get just one look at
the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
But I don't guess you've got time while
the preachers will get you to make a
decision and they'll bury you and they'll send
you to hell because you're so busy you'll
never have Christ.
All of his glory made real to you.
That's salvation.
The second most important question you'll ever face,
you'll ever find out who Jesus is, wouldn't
do any good to trust him unless he's
the Jesus of the Bible, would it?
And the Jesus of the Bible and the
Jesus of our church circles, not the same.
The second most important question you'll ever face,
and I hope you'll ask it someday, don't
expect you've got time, most folks are too
busy to go to heaven, is what did
Jesus do on that cross?
And what's he doing now on that throne
that'll do you any good anyhow?
Did he do anything that you need to
be done in your behalf while he hung
on that tree outside the city of Jerusalem
that'll help you?
You need anybody do anything for you on
a tree shed his blood?
Most folks don't.
They say I'm as good as the church
people, that ain't nothing to brag about.
But they're not interested in whether Jesus did
anything on the cross or not.
They just don't care.
You think I'm wrong, you go out on
the streets, I looked for 15 minutes for
it this morning, I haven't found it yet.
It's really not a little late.
I don't know where Benedict is.
The preacher said this outfit here was invented,
but I don't know about that.
I'm going to investigate after church.
And I wonder, wonder what Jesus is doing
now seated at the right hand of the
majesty on high.
Why is he doing anything now that'll do
you any good?
You could get an interest in it.
And the third most important question that anybody
will ever ask, I doubt if you'll ever
ask it, and come up with the right
answer, is what does it mean to be
vitally united to this Jesus who did something
on a tree outside the city of Jerusalem,
and the Bible says he's doing something now
at the right hand of God's majesty on
high.
Reckon you need any of that?
The old Mother Hubbard of the English language
now is S-A-V-E-D saved.
It doesn't mean a thing on God's earth
to the average person.
This morning will you let me, I'm going
to let me nod, but will you try
to hear me as I speak to you
on the second of these three questions.
I do it because I hope that you're
not a Sunday morning outfit and that you'll
do what your beloved young pastor has urged.
Try to get a hearing for the message.
The Lord has saved many thousands of people
as I brought the message I'll bring tonight.
He may not save anybody.
He's running it, you know.
But I wish you could get them to
hear me.
And I hope this message will help you
hear me tonight.
Why did Jesus die on a cross and
God raise him from the dead?
Now, the only Jesus we have any record
at all of is a Jesus who was
born of a virgin, lived a sinless life,
died on a tree, was buried in another
man's tomb, but didn't stay there.
God raised him from the dead and exalted
him, made him prime minister, totalitarian dictator, absolute
despot of everything that thrives and reigns.
Now, that's the only Jesus we've got any
record of at all.
That's seminary professors and I'm a graduate of
one of them.
By the way, I'm going to get to
be on a conference in Arkansas where Dr.
Pinnock, he's the fellow that's been stirring us
Baptists up, so I'm looking forward to that,
and Dr. Vaughan of Southwestern and Dr. Havlick
of the Home Mission Board and Dr. Millican
of the Southern Baptist College in Arkansas.
And you won't believe it, Curtis, it's the
Sovereign Grace Conference.
And one half of the Southern Baptist Preachers
of Arkansas to be the invited guests.
I'm looking forward to that.
I tried to straighten out seminary professors thirty
-five, sixty, forty years ago, but they wouldn't
listen to me.
But I'm going to have time with them.
Well, I won't charge anything extra for that.
I know that people have invented a Jesus,
but the only record we've got of them
is in the minds of those who believe
in Jesus.
We've got any kind of evidence that ever
existed is the Jesus this book talks about.
Now, what did He do?
And why did He do it on the
cross?
And what's He doing now?
And what good would it do anyhow?
In the 18th chapter of the Gospel of
John, the Lord Jesus, just before His crucifixion,
is before the Roman governor of the Jews,
a fellow by the name of Pilate.
And I just ask you to look at
verse 37 of this 18th chapter of John.
This is not my text, but it will
prepare you for the text.
Pilate, that's the Roman governor, therefore, said unto
him, that's the Lord Jesus.
Art thou a king then?
Remember, Pilate didn't know who he was talking
to.
Pilate said, Are you a king?
They claimed to be.
And Jesus answered, Thou seest that I am
a king.
Now, watch it carefully.
But to this end, for this purpose was
I born.
And for this cause came I into the
world.
I was born to be a king.
And that's the reason I came into the
world.
Now, language couldn't be any plainer than that.
That I should bear witness unto the truth.
And the Lord, when he was here as
God's prophet, explained his death and demonstrated his
kingship.
He'd speak to the way, he'd still.
And they'd be still.
He'd command to the demons to depart, and
they'd skedaddle to the house.
He demonstrated.
This is the area of the time of
television.
And the advertisers have learned that one ounce
of showing demonstration was a pound of talking.
I try my dead level best to get
my wife to buy some of the things.
They advertise on television.
She buys them, and they don't do quite
what they say.
Now, they've got some wax polish you can
put on that kitchen linoleum that you can
see yourself in.
But it won't work when it gets over
to my house.
But the Lord demonstrated his kingship.
Aren't thou a king?
Yes, sir!
That's the reason I was born.
And that's the reason I came into the
world to bear witness unto the truth, the
truth of why I was born and why
I came into the world.
And here's a verse that'll top you down
off your religious high horse if you're on
one.
And if you've been listening to what's called
the popular gospel of this hour, somewhere on
the radio or somewhere, put it down if
you heard it on the radio.
It ain't so.
God knows if anybody gets saved in spite
of these radio preachers, it'll be a miracle.
Everyone that is of the truth, heareth my
voice.
You listen when the Lord says, I was
born to be a king.
That's the reason I came into this world.
If you're one of the truth.
The reason you don't listen is you're going
to hell.
That's why you're going.
And the reason you're going to hell is
that you're not of the truth.
Now, in this 14th chapter of the book
of Romans, chapter 9 is our text.
Verse 9 of Romans 14.
Far to this end for this
purpose that this might take place.
Far to this end.
Christ both died and rose and revived that
he might be Lord both of the dead
and living.
In these two verses of Scripture, now here,
Brother Barnard, you've got the only two places
in the Scripture where it tells us exactly
why Christ died and was raised from the
dead.
And both of them tell you that he
is born and he preached in John and
he has died and he is raised in
Romans just to do one thing.
Not to be a Savior, but to be
Lord.
Now, let me repeat.
I have offered $500 a war.
I'll give it to you this morning.
If you'll show me one line of Scripture
that gave us any reason for accepting Jesus
as our personal Savior.
That's blasphemy.
It's anti-Scripture.
And it's filling hell with Baptists.
That's the reason we have to have Red
Crest, you know.
Get all the unsaved Baptists down there to
surrender to the Lord.
When you surrender to the Lord, that's when
you get saved.
Now, the Scripture says he loved us and
gave himself for us that he might deliver
us from this present age, but that's just
saved people.
But here's something that ain't just talking about
saved people.
You want to tell you why Christ died?
He might be Lord both of the dead
and the living.
Bible scholars divide on whether this is physical
death and physical life or spiritual death and
spiritual life, but it comes out the same
thing, which I believe is spiritual.
But whatever the interpretation comes out the same,
the bulk of the world, my Lord, came
down here and was born in a couch
stable, lived in a body of humiliation, hung
between two malefactors on a tree, buried in
another man's tomb, swaddled in another man's clothing,
perfumed with somebody else's bodily ointment.
God raised him and enthroned him in order
that he might reestablish the sovereign rule of
Almighty God over everything that rise and wriggle.
How come I stopped at a little great
church house somewhere?
I turned off 22, et cetera, finally found
the sign, view of the church, and I
came to a little church up there somewhere,
and the graveyard right in front of it.
How come there's no graveyards out there?
There's no graves.
How'd we get in the mess we're in?
Chewing tobacco?
No.
Getting drunk?
No.
Going to pick the show?
No.
Committing adultery?
No.
Rebelling against the rule of Almighty God?
Yes.
Adam and Eve and you and I were
present to Scripture saying it wasn't just his
sin, it was ours.
God made one little prohibition to establish that
he was God and we were his subjects.
And we said we'll not do it, and
we broke God's law and said we will
not be under your rule.
In time God, in that most majestic Scripture
ever penned, God was in Christ reconciling the
world to himself.
He said in a million years you'll never
enter into that you just worship, can't understand
it.
But in time God, very God and very
man.
And if this isn't so, just always ready
to go home there's nothing to anything if
this book isn't smooth, if it doesn't give
us the perfect record of the revelation of
God in Christ to do sinners good.
God was manifesting I left the
hills said God.
Most of them despised him and rejected him
and counted him a gross thing.
God came down here he didn't send us
some advice he came down here.
Became a million man, very man just like
you and me.
So we could understand his language touch him
and be touched by him.
And since man said man had to be
the mediator for there is one mediator between
God and man.
What?
The man, Christ Jesus.
And you know what they did?
You listen, you can hear Ralph Barnard's old
voice worn out through years screaming, away with
him away with him away with him crucify
him crucify him release on earth all at
once we will not have this man to
reign over us.
And praise God whether we will or not
we will.
But Jesus Christ came and died on the
cross to re-establish God's rule in this
world.
And everything that lies in wriggles from Adolf
Hitler to Khrushchev to Stalin to the murder
of President and a Senator and a Negro
leader in your day and mine to the
slum of the air under the blessed rule
of bloodstained Jesus.
And the devil came even weak in eyelash
except by the direct permission of God who
loved man and gave himself on hallelujah what
a Savior that could take a pull or
send I tell you I brag on him
he's a fine fellow.
And so Jesus Christ died to establish God's
rule God turned everything over to Christ and
that means Christ ruled for he must reign
1 Corinthians 15 until everything be made subject
to him and when that's done and when
old Hitler bows and says Jesus is Lord
when the murder of Senator Kennedy bows and
says Jesus is Lord when the murder of
our President Kennedy bows and says Jesus is
Lord pastors that are saying God is dead
and when the school teachers that are teaching
evolution to our kids and when this godless
society that's godless because the leaders are sold
out to the dollar and gold when all
men want the King Jesus God
made it all in all including scripture brother
you can't win hallelujah what a Savior and
so he saves people by establishing his rule
in your life that's what it means to
save the first time you ever hear the
gospel as gospel you receive several years that
the gospel ain't good news to you cause
in the language of dear old Vance Hapner
he said I went to the old fashioned
Mona's beach when I was a boy and
they took me through the motions and I
didn't know what it was all about but
when I got up off my knees I
understood one thing I had a new master
that's it bud I had a new master
and he's the Lord Jesus Christ that salvation
is a new master praise God he's precious
I'm vile but he's precious yes sir he's
Lord by God's decree he's right absolute rule
over my thoughts my body my spirit my
work my worship my everything is not based
on our recognition of it but on God's
recognition of his work when he hung on
that glory cross men do not meet Jesus
Lord that's what they do down at Ridgecrest
I've been there and all over the country
look like I ain't much of a Baptist
but I'm giving Baptist unchurched hell I want
to get back to the Christ of the
Baptist and I'm going to get kicked out
of church listen who made Jesus Lord almighty
God I will declare the decree yet have
I set my king upon my holy hill
of Zion Psalms 2 I will declare the
decree I won't ask him about his advice
the Lord has said unto me now art
my son this day have I begotten thee
ask of me now I'll give thee the
healing for thine inheritance and the uttermost part
of the earth for thy possession who made
Jesus Lord God almighty in John chapter 17
look at it these words speak Jesus verse
1 and lifted up his eyes to heaven
and said father thou has come glorify thy
son that thy son also may glorify thee
as thou hast given him excelsior authority over
all flesh that he should give eternal life
he gives eternal life to as many as
thou hast given him Acts 2.36 and
verse Acts 2.36 therefore let all the
house of Israel know assuredly that God hath
made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified
both Lord and Messiah I think one of
the most damnable things that was ever invented
to suit the popular taste of people who
don't want to go to hell but don't
want to be under God's rule and has
been the heart of what's called the gospel
in our circles these many years is that
you take Jesus as your Savior but there
ain't no such animal and sometimes it's convenient
to surrender to him as Lord and we
say won't you pretty please make Jesus your
Lord honey you can't God beat you to
it he made Jesus your Lord and you're
his subject willing or unwilling and you're glad
or mad but glad or mad he's been
made your Lord now this is the heart
of evangelism and missions which I I ask
much confidence in your blessed pastor that I
take a little liberty what we call missions
has been a joke my God I'm glad
God put it out of business maybe we'll
buy a survivor been sending folks over to
China to beg why the gospel don't begin
by doing things the heart of it is
go over to China put up the flag
of King Jesus he owns it anyhow and
say we are that's right that's it that's
it this preacher he's got sense enough to
come around rain ain't going around this country
begging anybody to take anybody he's going around
and if you are saying Jesus Christ God
almighty has turned the heathen over to him
the nation for his possession everything that's loose
at one end and rattling at the other
under his control China and Russia belongs to
Jesus Christ he bought it on the cross
and you belong to him he bought you
on the cross he's Lord by now that's
evangelism his lordship is deserved he who sought
it not robbery to be equal with God
humble himself took upon himself the form of
a servant was found in the fashion and
likeness of men and became obedient to the
father up to the point of death I'm
quoting Philippians 2 even the death of the
cross wherefore God also hath highly exalted him
in the old time in the bible that
word exalted appears and given him a name
which is above every name that is the
name given unto Jesus revelations tell you who
it is Lord of Lords King of Kings
that is the name given unto Jesus every
knee should bow every tongue confess what?
well, what then, Sir Walter?
you just didn't find it out until God
put his foot on your neck and made
you and then sent you to hell that
Jesus is Lord to the glory of the
Father not to your salvation but to God's
glory God's going to get glory out of
you if he sends you to hell and
the way he's going to get it he's
going to make you you
can't win hallelujah, he deserves to be Lord
one of the old Puritans said he sits
on God's throne of majesty on high he
got there by wading through the pool of
his own blood our salvation, you better hear
this our salvation must be grasped the salvation
in for that Lordship and with this life
passion of absolute obedience and reconciled communion we
got so many people running around here they'll
say but the will of God not central
in their life now that's a joke you
mean the one big thing makes you tick
is not the will of God if it
isn't, you're going to hell that's what salvation's
all about we're to be conquered by him
that's salvation mastered by him that's salvation obedience
will have come for liberty, brother he deserves
and demands not our sympathy but our worship
Christ deals with no man as savior until
his sovereign rule is established in your life
this whole universe is beautiful this morning and
awful hot beautiful as I grow it's a
beautiful world and it is created to echo
the glory of the Lord and the sovereign
Lord receives his servant he doesn't plead to
anybody, he receives he's not standing on the
outside of your heart door he's sitting on
the throne and the child of God who
can find but one place to glory and
that's the cross is tickled to death but
the one who deserves it is God's prime
minister God's Lord and the child of God
is willing to go to hell if the
glory of Christ is goodly served a hundred
years ago you couldn't get baptized in the
Baptist Church in America unless you could say
that but you're willing to go to hell
if that would give glory to Christ religion
says a deep thinker has a meaning for
men only if it finds in history a
point to which it can absolutely surrender men
can answer the revelation of God in Christ
only by choice the final meaning of conversion
is not deliverance merely but surrender in service
to the uttermost the God of absolute deliverance
is also the holy God of an absolute
demand that will not let go the chief
sign of salvation is not a sense of
freedom but an experience of mastery and obedience
the Lord takes possession of us and that
is conversion if he saves you it is
that he may be our clean and the
last word of my Lord is not I
save the last word of my Lord is
I clean I clean you I brought you
you belong to me you're not your own
you're mine my time's up but I take
2-3 minutes for my last point not
only is he God's Lord by God's decree
God made him Lord of everybody not just
saved people, everybody not only is he God's
Lord because he deserves to be he died
on the cross and there he brought you
but thank God he's God's Lord because he
desires to be now this looks like it
will contradict the rest of my sermon but
follow me in Hebrews chapter 12 by foreseeing
we all so accomplished about with so great
a crowd of witnesses let us lay aside
every weight and the sin which doth so
easily beset us let us run the race
of patience the race that is set before
us looking unto Jesus Jesus the author and
finisher of our faith who for the joy
I've wondered what that was who for the
joy that was set before him some joy
was set out before my Lord you know,
and looking at that joy in anticipatory rejoicing
of that joy he endured the cross despising
the shame and now hallelujah, he sat down
at the right hand of the throne of
God wonder what that joy is now listen
to Brother Barton he has my explanation whether
it's true or not on the shoulders of
my Lord Jesus Christ has been placed the
responsibility of saving his own and banning everybody
else of disposing of the universe now my
shoulder is not big enough to do that
but Isaiah says the government should be on
his shoulder most solemn thing I've ever faced
is as I've gone up and down the
land this September will be 43 years the
last 36 of them I've been a hitchhiker
evangelist going I'll be leaving this Friday and
I won't get home till nearly Christmas away
from home and I've lived these years and
I'm not complaining I've had the best time
you ever saw I've got a wonderful Lord
to tell you
these sinners are good but thank God he's
dead well, see I've had to face men
and women my heart's gone out to them
because for the last six years there hasn't
been enough gospel preached in America to save
the free a hundred years ago our churches
believed the gospel and now you've got a
pastor that preaches the gospel he's one out
of a thousand I mean among our Baptist
preachers that's what God's for this generation of
church members never have heard the gospel and
you are in trouble and the chances are
you're going to split because you won't hear
the gospel and the most solemn thing I've
ever faced is twofold Jesus Christ has got
to save you or damage you I can't
save you and I can't damage you he
can save you and he can damage you
now here's the other proposition the most damnable
thing I ever heard preached was to try
to get people to answer the question what
will you do Jesus is
standing in your life too what will you
do now that'll damn anybody that listens to
this hear me one time my Lord came
and offered himself as the Messiah of the
Jews that's the only offer he's ever made
they rejected him now he's rejected them salvation's
not an offer salvation's a gift and Christ
is the gift watch out you don't give
things to somebody unless you know they're going
to be happy to get it Christ ain't
going around here trying to get nobody to
accept him unless your heart's long in time
he's got more sense than we got he
knows you can lead a meal to order
but you can't make him drink if you
don't want the fellowship of the saints and
the joy of the spirit and your feet
on a rock and heaven on the way
to heaven and life worth living go to
hell they'll find plenty of people that preceded
you there God bless your whole family oh
hear me it's not a question of what
you'll do with Jesus that's done and settled
you're going to bow to him you're going
to get out on your knees and confess
him and bow to him and you're going
to open your lips and confess him as
Lord you see it's not a question of
whether you're going to do something with Jesus
it's just a question of when you can
reject him now most folks do but you
will receive him then and since you're going
to have to bow to him that makes
grace so wonderful isn't it wonderful that in
mercy and grace God almighty who wouldn't have
to lift a finger he didn't let you
go on and as many people acknowledge the
lordship of Christ to the glory of the
father if you never had a gospel sermon
but in mercy he says if you could
bow to him now I didn't say if
you will I said if you can I
expect most of you fix yourself up the
way you can I know you won't because
if you haven't anything to do about it
you're going to hell God don't invade your
will and have to educate about it if
you're going to hell sure I agree with
that but if you could if you could
bow to him now it would be so
much better wouldn't have to put a foot
on your whole neck naked but you cut
out this stuff about what you're going to
do with Jesus you're going to bow to
him you're going to receive him and I've
been known as a grace preacher in this
country I guess I'm the most cursed preacher
in this section of this city every Baptist
would let me preach to his corn cob
they say that fellow bleeds in grace I
do oh God almighty don't owe me a
thing he's made Jesus my Lord he hasn't
left it up to me as to whether
I receive him as Lord but in mercy
Christ he's going to have to get up
early and fix it up to see his
face when all hell is toppling doors were
closed never preaching America cursing me oh rather
nothing but cause and love and kindness Jesus
Jesus died and he died for me we're
under orders to preach who Jesus is and
what he did and to command men to
repent bow to him agree with God he's
Lord I bow to him amen do you
know the living Lord who's the Lord of
life during the first world war a Red
Cross nurse lay at the point of death
and attending her was a sister Red Cross
nurse and just a little while before the
nurse died she began to wiggle her lips
and finally had very little strength left she
said bring bring and
the nurse didn't know what on earth she
wanted she brought a glass of water and
she didn't want that came
for die and
cry oh
and to the
maid please
if you