|
A Gospel Message of Hope by | |
|
|
|
|
Elder
G. T. Haywood at the Apostolic Faith Assembly, Indianapolis, Ind.,
delivered this sermon during a Sunday morning service in April,
1922. We
wish to call your attention to the third chapter of Romans,
beginning at verse I, "What advantage then hath the Jew? or
what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly,
because that unto them were committed the oracles of God." That
is, the first opportunity to know God. The law of the Ten
Commandments was given to them. God had committed unto their trust
the oracles of God, and gave them that they might bring the light of
God to the world. And although they failed their God, yet His
purpose went forward. Even though some did not believe, "shall
their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?" Man's
unbelief does not change God's word, nor stop Him from working out
His purpose. The
word of God is true whether the people believe it or not. God will
bring Salvation near. It makes no difference what you say, or what I
may say, "God hath said." Our God can work while we are
sleeping. And when we are folded away like a garment in our graves,
God will still be working. If one man or one people fails God, He
will take up another and move on. God brought Israel out and made
them a great people, through a man who was only a shepherd of the
plains of Midian and not a warrior, but could speak words of wisdom
by the spirit of God words, which even to this day have astonished
the world. God sent His Word from heaven unto this people, arid
walked in the midst of them with mighty signs and wonders showing
His mighty arm. And yet they failed God through their unbelief. What
if man does not believe the Gospel as it is laid, down in the Book ?
The Gospel is true regardless of his
unbelief. I believe in the Blood of JESUS CHRIST, and that
without shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. But the
question is: how shall I get the remission ? One may say, "I
will just believe." But to "believe" means more than
to just say "I believe," Matt. 26 :28 says. What is the Holy Ghost ? He is a witness to your having received
remission of sins. That is what the Apostle said: "There are
three that bear witness in the earth, the Spirit, the water and the
blood." He did not say one was any greater than the other. All
three of them are required to make one witness. Many people look at
water alone, but the proper thing to do is to see the name in which
it is administered. Take away the blood, and you have nothing but
faith. Take away the water and you make Jesus a liar. The Bible, in
the first epistle of John, tells us plainly, "This is He which
came by water and blood; not by water only, but by water and
blood." And that, "it is the Spirit that bearth
witness." I do take notice of this much: there was so much
authority in the command of JESUS to baptize, that neatly all the
churches (with a few exceptions) try in some way to
administer it, if it only be the dipping the finger in the water.
But if it is worth doing at all, it is worth doing rightly. However,
a man's failure to believe does not change the Word of God. You can
scarcely join a church in the city without some mode of baptism.
There are about as many ways as there are human minds, and all for
the lack of following the mind of the Spirit. Who is it that never did sin? Paul shows the whole human family had
sinned, and if all sinned, all were condemned. But God had mercy. We
could not help but sin. We were born that way. But God said,
"You must be born again." And no newborn child walks
perfectly at once. First they crawl, then they totter and fall. But
they do not keep falling. By this I mean that a man or woman who is
filled with the Holy Ghost and starts out to walk with Jesus Christ,
may stumble and fall at first, but don't. get discouraged if the
devil tries to trip you up. God will help you. He is able to keep
you from falling, says Jude. I am talking about those who have it in
their hearts to live for Christ. Do not let any failure daunt your
courage. You know God is able to carry you through. Many have found
it to be so. It is the grace of God that is able to sustain and up- hold any man or
woman who desires to be kept by the Power of God. There are people
who desire to boast of themselves
and never have had a change of heart. And some even go so far as to
say, "1 am all right. I am good enough. 1 don't need that Holy
Ghost." I don't care if you did not steal, drink, or commit
adultery--it is in your heart anyhow! Everybody needs the
power of God. Good works never did save anybody. It takes the
"power of God unto salvation." I am not telling a moral
man to get worse in order to get saved. No! I am telling him there
is no condition so bad but that God has grace to save us from it. You
cannot make men righteous by legislation. "Yes must be born
again." God says to the church "preach the word" and
make a fertile spot in the terrible desert of sin, that men may see
the water of life along the side of the road. No law can make you
live right. God Almighty tried it Himself with the children of
Israel, and the Word says, "What the law could not do, Christ
did." (Rom. 8:3.) But do you know when a man be- comes saved he
will keep the spirit of the law? There is no law against attending
to your own business, paying all your debts, and no law against
praying. Do right, and bless God, and pray without ceasing. No law is
against doing that which is just and good. (Gal. 5:22,23.) Many
homes have been torn asunder. Sorrow and mourning drapes the human
heart because of sin. I dislike to hear some people talk because of
their disgraceful utterances. But let God get into their hearts and
then note the change. Everybody without Christ is guilty. Had God
Almighty demanded justice, every living person would have been dead,
and brought before the judgment bar to give an account of their
misspent lives. The only thing that is going to save a man in the
power of God. I am talking about genuine salvation, too! You can go
any place and hear everything else but the Gospel of salvation. But
men shall be saved. That is our whole service-to "save
men." The church is ordained for that purpose. God
sums up the whole human family and declares that it is "full of
wounds, bruises and putrefying sores." To tell a man he should
not steal, or covet, or commit adultery is not enough. Tell him how
to get saved so he will not do those things. The power of God can
save anybody that will believe, The god of carnality has certainly
got some folks fast. But 0, I am so glad I am saved! Saved by the
power of God! It is wonderful to be God's free man, delivered from
the power of the pride of life, the lusts of the eye, and the lusts
of the flesh, It does not make any difference whether a man is old
or young, rich or poor, black or white or bro\,n, just so he believes.
If you have never been to school] to learn a letter, you can
"believe." I am satisfied that you do not have to have
eyes to believe. You do not have to be able to speak to
"believe." You may have both hands cut off, but still you
can "believe." If you cannot hear, somebody will write, or
make signs and you can "believe." You do not have to weigh
so many hundred pounds or write letters, or understand the Bible to
get saved. All God said was to "believe." Why, Jesus paid
it all! The people that are saved to- day are people that
"believed" the Gospel. And you do not believe God if you
do not obey Him! I will prove it to you, too. "Show me your
faith without your works, and I will show you my faith (without
saying a word) by my works!" It is not merely saying, "I
believe" it is proving your belief. If you actually
believe then you know what Jesus was talking about when He said,
"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved," and
prove it by your actions. Jesus declared, "except a man be born
of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of
God." (John 3:5-7.) If you do not obey, then you do not
believe. God
has fixed the matter so you need make no mistake about it, either.
Too many jump over the fifth verse of the third chapter of John's
Gospel. Moreover, Jesus stated emphatically that He "testified
of that which He had seen; and spake that which He did know"
(John 3:11), and this is what He spoke: "I know that if a man
be not born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the
Kingdom of God." If you have never been baptized in the name of
JESUS CHRIST, you have never been immersed properly. This is the
only name under heaven given among men whereby they must be saved.
If you repent deeply enough in your heart, and be baptized in the
name of Jesus Christ, I will guarantee that you shall receive the
baptism of the Holy Ghost as you "come up out of the
water."* If people do not believe God's Word they never get His
best. Even if you do not understand, you must believe, before you
can "see" the Glory of God.
| |
