Transcript of message from TV Broadcast 678 -- taken from Closed Captioning Text

-- Brother Thomas: I'm gonna try, best I know how, to explain to you tonight a little bit about the grace of God. In Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8 through 10--3 verses, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves..."--He makes that emphatic. It's not of yourselves--"...It is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works...."

In other words, the good works are the result of what Christ has done in us. See, "...created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." Now, I'm gonna try to define grace for you. Grace...I could say, now this would be just an abstract definition--unmerited, undeserved, nothing you do to earn it, but it's something that's bestowed upon you without anything good you do. You're created in Christ Jesus unto good works. And to be grace, it has to be something that God initiates.

( congregational amens ).

You can ask some people, you know, are you saved? Yeah. And they'll tell you what they did to get saved. But, let me ask you this--why did they do that? What called their attention to Him? You know, in Ephesians, I believe it's Ephesians chapter 2, the scripture says, "And you hath he quickened..."--That means made alive--"...who were dead in trespasses and sins...." Now, what can a dead person do?

-- Congregation: Nothing.

-- Brother Thomas: You may not know it, but there's absolutely nothing in the natural man--that's what we everyone were before the Lord saved us...nothing in us that wanted God. Just to tell you the truth, and this may be kind of crude, the type or example. But, we know what a hog loves. He loves slop. We know what other animals love. That's exactly what we love. The human slop may be a little more dignified, we like to think, but nevertheless, this natural man is what controlled us.

( congregational amens ).

We had no inclination to come to God--none whatsoever. And if God hadn't initiated this work in us, we'd still be lost in our sins.

( congregational amens ).

So, grace is not just unmerited or undeserved favor, but its something that God does. He does it whether you like it or not. In fact, you may not like it--the circumstances, the conditions that prevail. And sometimes, you will resent it--maybe the ones that's interested in you, the ones that invite you to come to church, or talks to you, or in some wise takes an interest in you by talking to you, praying for you.

But, we have to be careful not to push people too far. And as long as they remain like they are, we just need to pray for 'em. Pray for 'em, because remember they're dead in trespasses and sins. And a dead man, nothing tempts him. You can cook some nice beefsteak and onions and let the aroma float in the kitchen or wherever he's at, he don't pay any attention to it. You can have some nice perfume, Evening in Paris or whatever, he pays no attention to that. You can bring a brass band in and let 'em play, or let somebody come in with their music, or beautiful singing, he pays it no attention. He's dead. He lays there. He doesn't blink his eyes. He needs a miracle and lost people need a miracle.

( congregational amens ).

They have to have a miracle. If you're saved by the grace of God, you're a miracle.

( congregational amens ).

You are a miracle now! It was the goodness of God. He looked down upon you, and you may not have liked it, and you may want to take some credit for it now, but He chose you. You didn't choose Him. In John chapter 15 and verse 16, here's what the scripture says, "Ye have not chosen me..."--That's Jesus. There's no inclination in you to choose Him--nothing in you that desired Him--"...But I have chosen you, and ordained you...."

That's another thing. We need to give that to some of these preachers, don't we? "...Ordained you that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain...." That's another point--that your fruit should remain. You don't have to trick people into salvation--get 'em to come forward on tricky, psychological invitations. Just preach the Gospel. Paul says, "...I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it..."--the Gospel--"...is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation.

( congregational amens ).

And if you preach the Gospel, and they come under the power of the Gospel, that's good. In John chapter 6, Jesus says, "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him...." That's true, and trying to get people saved without that is just getting 'em into church--just making a church member out of 'em. You're not helping 'em, because that same chapter of John, chapter 6, He says, "All that the Father..."--this is the 37th verse. "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." You know what that 'no wise' means? Under no conditions--no circumstances. That's those that the Father gives Him.

So, I'm glad I learned these things years ago, because it helped me in the Lord's work. We preachers used to think we had to get 'em saved. And I used to give invitations...I'd get half of 'em to come forward, but I don't know how many of 'em the Lord brought, because I believe we need to trust God to do this.

( congregational amens ).

And the thing is, if there's anything in you that desires God, you'll begin to sense it after a while. The great God that created all things, the great God that made the universe, holds the stars in their places, the great God that knows the number of hairs on your head, the great God that's watched over you, took care of you, helped you...a lot of things you never gave Him credit for. But you'll learn one day--that God saw you when you come into this world.

( congregational amens ).

He called one of His angels down and said, watch out after this baby. That's mine.

( congregational praise ).

And then one day when you reached a certain age...I believe I was about four years old when I began to think about the Lord...be riding in a car, the thought would come into my mind, what if this car was wrecked and you was killed? You'd be lost. Now what about it? If you had to go out of this world suddenly, would you be ready to go? Would you? It's the goodness of God that you're still around, because you know people yourself, you know young people...might be some that was kin to you, that's left this world, maybe with a dreaded disease of some kind or a car accident or some kind. So it's the goodness of God that we're here tonight!

( congregational amens ).

It's not an accident that you're here. That's what I want you to see. God has worked through the various means that He has worked to bring you here. You might have had to marry in a certain family. It may be that your wife or your husband is connected to somebody that's here and they have invited you. They have gently, lovingly tried to interest you and you're here because of that. But behind that, it's God!

( congregational amens ).

It's God! "For God so loved the world..."--For God so loved you--"...that he gave his only begotten son..." that if you'll just believe in Him, you'd have everlasting life.

( congregational amens ).

And so, we see that the Lord is interested in you. By grace are you saved, through faith, and let me go over that definition of grace again--unmerited, undeserved, unearned mercy and love of God. Not something you start. Every now and then I hear people say, well, I'll tell you, I did this or I did that. Yeah, but who worked on you and caused you to do it? Who dealt with your heart? Where'd that come from? It's the goodness of God.

( congregational amens ).

Some of you've made terrible mistakes in life. Well, we have a forgiving God.

( congregational praise ).

The scripture says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." I'm glad of that, aren't you?

( congregational amens ).

"...The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." He who did no sin, became sin for us, "...that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." He bore in His body our sins on that cross "...that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed."

( congregational amens ).

When Jesus cried on that cross, "It is finished," He had paid your sin debt. No matter how you feel, your sins were paid for there! But before it takes effect, before it is applied to you as an individual, you have to acknowledge Him--have to acknowledge Him as your Lord and as your Savior. The greatest thing that's ever happened to a human being, is to accept Christ. And He will not save the single soul that does not accept Him before mankind. That means to own Him, to acknowledge Him, to confess Him before mankind.

As a rule, the first place is in a church service, possibly like this one. But then, you take Him wherever you go. That's just the beginning. People knew that I'd accepted the Lord. 'Course I am a little different, I guess, from some people in the fact that I'm a little more outgoing. I worked in a shipyard. I'd go around writing scriptures on the bulkheads. The bulkheads are walls in ships, same as partitions in houses. And I'd write verses of scripture. I'd give the scripture reference and then write the verse out there. People would see it.

I talked to people all the time, wherever I went. I guess I did some things, I wouldn't do exactly like I did then. You know, being over-zealous sometimes does more harm than it does good. But, let's go back to Romans chapter 10 again. "For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed." That's where I left off. Then in verse 12, it says, "For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him." Rich unto all that call upon Him. "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be..."--what?

-- Congregation: Saved.

-- Brother Thomas: "...Saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?"

But now, he's getting this down to the nitty-gritty. In 1st Corinthians chapter 4, verse 15, the Bible says, "For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers..." And actually, another translation of that, I forget which one it is now, says one father. And so, all the people that makes profession of faith and all the preachers who give invitations, they wouldn't qualify. Very few of those people are saved. Very few of those preachers, preach the Gospel.

Verse 15 says this, "And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!" Now, in reality, their feet wasn't beautiful. Those old preachers come over the mountain passes and walked the caravan trails behind the camels and the donkeys. Every now and then, they'd come to a soft pile of you-know-what.

( laughter ).

They'd step in it. It'd squeeze up between their toes. Now, if that's beautiful, then their feet were beautiful. But that's what they did. How many of you've ever walked around the chicken lot and stepped in a soft pile of chicken fertilizer?

( laughter ).

I have. But, you see, it's the message they're carrying. That's what makes it beautiful. Praise God!

( congregational praise ).

That fellow's bearing glad tidings. He's bringing the greatest message in the world. That message is that Jesus Christ has paid for your sins!

( congregational praise ).

Hallelujah! Nothing is any greater than that! I'll say this. If I could hear about gold being discovered some place, I wouldn't strike out for that. But this is the gold I want! This is the gold we all need! This is everlasting life.

( congregational amens ).

This enables you to stand before God on the Judgment Day! This takes away your sins. Hallelujah! "...How shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?"--Isaiah, he's referring to--"...So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

That's it. You hear it. You tabulate it with your brain, analyze it, say I believe it. Then the devil puts something in your mind, says, but what about so-and-so? What about where you work? What about all those boys down at the plant? What about all those girls down at the beauty parlor? What about 'em? As far as I'm concerned, you've got to look out for yourself. Nobody can believe for you. Let 'em go to hell, if they want to go--if they insist on going! I don't want nobody to go to hell, but at the same time, you're having the Gospel preached to you. And it's your soul that's hanging in the balance. It's your opportunity.

( congregational amens ).

And it's not an accident that it's being preached to you. God has brought you. You've been brought to the place that you're at right this moment by God.

( congregational amens ).

Now here's what's happened. In verse 9 of the 11th chapter. It's referring to their Gospel table, or what they're being fed, what they're being given out. "And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them." That's what's happened. People are not being saved by the so-called gospel that's being preached.

( congregational amens ).

You've got to trust utterly in the work of Christ. Utterly and completely! It's the same thing as jumping in the river. You're either gonna swim or drown. You can't just stick your toe in it, and get wet, and say, well, I got it. If you desire salvation, you have to let Christ come into your heart--receive Him. After all, He died for you. But, He didn't stay dead. They put Him in a tomb. Three days later, an angel come and rolled that stone away. He come out of that grave.

( congregational amens ).

He was seen by 500 of the brethren at one time. And He finally ascended and went back to Glory. But, He's here by Word and by Spirit to save you, and you, and you, if you want salvation.

( congregational amens ).

If you don't want it, tell Him you don't want it. Don't say, I'll get it after a while. How do you know you will? How do you know, you'll live 'til then? You don't know if you'll 'til tomorrow. You're living now on borrowed time. It's the grace of God that you're living. It's the grace of God that you're hearing another Gospel message.

( congregational amens ).

Hallelujah. So, let's realize that. We haven't chosen Him. He's chosen us. This may be your night. I'm not gonna keep you tonight, but I am gonna give you an invitation. Fellows, come on up.

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