comforting truths in all of the
Bible to God's children. To God's saints, this is a comforting,
comforting teaching. Our subject is predestinated
to adoption. Predestinated to adoption. The
true God is the God of purpose. You don't find the word plan
in the whole word of God. God works everything after the
counsel of his own will, according to his purpose. According to
his purpose. The true God is the God of purpose. And before creation, by grace,
God the Father chose to exalt his Son, to give his Son all
the preeminence, and he chose a people in his Son, and he predestinated
the exact time when He would bring each of those to believe
on Him. And He predestinated the time
that He would bring us to Him in glory. And He trusted the
whole work to His Son, the Lord Jesus. And He shall not fail. He shall not fail. Let's read
this together. Now, the first two verses tell
us that this was written by Paul and it's written to the saints
to the faithful in Christ Jesus. This is to God's saints. And
he said, verse three, blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according
to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of
His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved. Now
the first thing I want to point out to you is that this is all
of God's will and it's all according to God's grace. This is God's
will and it's God's grace. Verse five says, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according
to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of
his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. God
the Father not only chose a people to save freely by His grace,
chose us in Christ by His grace, He not only did that, God also
predestinated us to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ. You know, when a couple adopts
a child, there's usually a need. They can't have children, they
have a need. Usually, not always, but usually.
And there's at least something in the child that causes them
to choose the child. It's a healthy child, for example.
But with God, he had no need to choose any of his children.
He had no need to predestinate us to the adoption of children.
And he certainly did not choose any of his people because of
anything he saw in us. He did not see anything in us
that made him choose his people and predestinate us to the adoption.
Election and adoption, along with all spiritual blessings,
are according to God's grace. It's according to God's will,
God's love, God's grace. Verse 5 says, according to the
good pleasure of his will. Verse 6 says, to the praise of
the glory of His grace. Now, that's good news to every
elect child of God, but it's only good news to us when God
has made us to know what sinners we are. That's why it's good
news to us. When we didn't know we were sinners,
this was not good news to us. We hated this message. We hated
God being God and doing as He will when we didn't know what
sinners we are. We, by nature, men despise this
true God and despise that He does all things according to
His will. He does it by grace. He does it according, He does
it all on purpose. We, by nature, despise that,
despise Him. But it's good news when you know
your sinner, because here's why. Election and adoption is of God's
will. And it's by God's grace. So nothing
about you and me caused him to choose us. And nothing about
us will make him reject us. Nothing about us will make him
let us go and not save us. We all fell in Adam. All sinners
fell in Adam. And all these that God chose
fell in Adam. And we all became guilty before
the law. And we all became corrupt in
our sin nature. We were children of wrath just
like everybody else. That means we had wrath toward
God, enmity toward God. Look here down at Ephesians chapter
2. This was so of everybody God
saves and you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and
in sins. A dead man can't do anything.
And that was us, but look at this. But now we couldn't do
anything good, we couldn't do anything to bring ourselves to
God, but we did a whole lot to oppose Him. Wherein in time past
you walked according to the course of this world, according to the
prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in
the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our
conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
the children of wrath, even as others." We just flat out hated
God, the true God. But God, here's why this is such
a wonderful, comforting message to God's children. But God, who
is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us. Even when we were dead in sins,
have quickened us together with Christ, by grace you're saved. When God makes his child know
what a sinner we are, how undeserving of any of God's mercies we are,
this rejoices the heart. It rejoices the heart to know
what God's done for us According to His love and His grace, it
truly is the reason why we praise God. We praise God for this. We went from hating God because
of His will and His purpose and His grace, we went from hating
Him to praising Him and praising Him and praising Him and praising
Him. John said, behold, what manner of love the Father hath
bestowed on us that we should be called the sons of God. What
manner of love that we should be called the sons of God. Therefore
the world knoweth us not because the world knows him not. Now,
that's the first thing. This is all of God's grace. All
according to his will, his love, not due to anything in those
he saves. Now secondly, let's look at predestination. Now back in verse five, Ephesians
1.5, it says, he predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to himself. Predestination is God the Father
determining beforehand. God the Father setting the destiny
of his people beforehand. The exact time, he set the exact
time when the Lord Jesus Christ would send us the gospel and
quicken us in our heart, give us a new heart, and give us faith
to trust Christ. He trusted this whole work to
his son, God's sovereign. That means he works everything
after the counsel of his own will, everything. His counsel
is God determining the end from the beginning. That's what his
counsel is, God determining the end from the beginning. and then
he brings to pass his eternal counsel. Isaiah 44, seven. I'm gonna give you these scriptures.
You can look them up if you want to, but I'm gonna give them to
you and you can jot them down and read them later if you want,
but Isaiah 44, seven. God said, who as I shall call
and shall declare it and set it in order for me since I appointed
the ancient people. See, this is what distinguishes
God from all false gods. He said, the things that are
coming and shall come. Let them show unto them. Let
these false gods show what shall be. Let them determine the end
from the beginning. They can't do it. He's the only
true God. He said in Psalm 33 11, the counsel
of the Lord standeth forever. the thoughts of his heart to
all generations. You know, we have all these different
changes we see in every generation, but God has not changed. He's
been working the counsel of his heart from generation to generation,
throughout all generations, and he shall. Psalm 135, six says,
whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven and in
earth, in the seas and all deep places. Psalm 19.21 says there's
many devices in a man's heart. Man has all these different,
man plans. A plan is subject to failure. Man plans. He has all these different
devices in his heart. Nevertheless, the counsel of
the Lord, that shall stand. What God has counseled, what
God has determined before, that's what shall come to pass. God
shall bring it to pass. There's no wisdom, no understanding,
no counsel against the Lord. That means nobody can frustrate
God from working his counsel. Daniel 4.35, this is very familiar. All the inhabitants of the earth
are reputed as nothing, and he doeth according to his will in
the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth,
and none can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou?
God is God. God shall work what he determined
from eternity. So, having made his children
his own by election, by choosing his people, having chosen us
in Christ before the foundation of the world, it was God's good
pleasure, it was the will of the Father, that his son redeem
each one. God's purpose was to glorify
his son by his son coming and redeeming us. So God, the fall
was in the purpose of God, not that God's the author of sin,
the man's sin, but God was ruling the whole thing, and he did it
for the glory of his son, that his son might redeem us. So Christ
came forth at the time predestinated, at the time appointed, and Christ
laid down his life for each of his elect and redeemed us from
the curse and condemnation of the law. He accomplished it.
He did it by his precious blood. The law demanded we die, and
so Christ came in the room instead of his people. He paid all that
we owed to divine justice. He paid it all. He made each
elect child everlastingly righteous in himself. That's what the Lord
Jesus did. He accomplished that, and he
accomplished it for a particular people. You know, among men,
If you're gonna adopt a child, that's expensive. It costs a
lot of money to adopt a child, but it is nothing compared to
how costly it was for God to adopt his people. It cost the
precious blood of his dear son. Peter said, corruptible things
like silver and gold, things that men put so much value on
and think is so costly, that wasn't enough. That would not
redeem us. It was the precious, the precious
blood of his son. The precious blood. And down
in verse 14, here in Ephesians 1, he's referring to his people
there when he speaks about the purchased possession. Christ
Jesus paid his precious blood and he purchased all God's elect. He purchased us. So he's gonna
have what he purchased. He paid the ransom, he will have
what he purchased. Now, from before time, brethren,
God predestinated the exact time when Christ would cross the path
of each one that he redeemed with the gospel. That's what
this adoption of children by Jesus Christ is about. He predestinated
the time that he would send the gospel cross their path with
the gospel and make us hear the good news of what Christ accomplished
for us. And it's when he brings his child
under the gospel, it's by Christ interceding on behalf of that
child just lost, he's dead in sin, he doesn't even know what
God's done for him. Maybe you came to hear the gospel
the first time just because somebody asked you to go with them. You
know, there's all these different reasons folks come to where the
gospel's preached, but it's Christ who worked it. It's Christ who
worked it. And it's Christ interceding with
the Father on behalf of that lost child so that the Father
sends forth the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of His Son, and quickens
us and gives us life in Christ. Now, go with me to Galatians
4, just to your left there, one page. One or two pages, Galatians
4. Now look. Look here, verse one. Now I say
that the heir, as long as he's a child, differeth nothing from
a servant, though he be lord of all, but is under tutors and
governors until the time appointed of the father. Even so, we, when
we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world,
But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth
his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them
that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption
of sons. Christ came and laid down his
life and redeemed us so that God could send forth the Spirit
and give us the adoption of sons. And look, and because you are
sons, God has sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts,
crying, Abba, Father, wherefore thou art no more a servant but
a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. You
see, regeneration in faith is not the foundation of adoption.
No, adoption is the reason that the Lord sent the spirit and
regenerated us and gave us faith to trust him. It was because
God chose his people and predestinated us to the adoption. You were
sons before you knew you were sons. You were children before
you knew you were children. And because you are sons, God
sent forth the spirit of his son and gave you life and gave
you faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe, we are regenerated
and believe because we were already sons by God's grace. Christ had
already redeemed us by his grace. and therefore he sent forth the
spirit into our hearts. You see, this is totally different
than how you hear the world preaching. The world is always focusing
on you and how God wants to do this if you'll let him. God don't
want to do nothing. God does whatever he will. That's
what he does. I'd like to hear it just struck
from the vocabulary of man to say God wants to do anything.
That's setting man up as the power. No, God's the power. God does as He will. God does
as He will. Salvation is entirely the work
of God. Go with me to Romans 8. If it comes to pass in time,
God is working it. Even when men are sinning and
rebelling and going directly contrary to God's will, if it's
coming to pass, it's praising God. or God would not permit
it. That's what scripture said. The
wrath of man shall praise God and the remainder he shall restrain. If it's coming to pass and it's
evil, it's only because God has permitted it to come to pass
because it's going to bring glory to him. He's going to bring glory
to his name. And because this is so, everything that is coming
together in time, God is working all things and he's doing it
just for his people. Look here now, Romans 8, 28.
And we know that all things work together for good to them that
love God. You know why you love God? Because
God worked all things together to put his love in your heart.
That's why. Look, to them who are the called
according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, Thus
God choosing his people and blessing us with all spiritual blessings
and heavenly places in Christ, whom he did foreknow, he also
did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. The first cause
of this is not even for our sake. The first cause of this is to
glorify his son, that his son might be the firstborn among
many brethren. Listen. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called. And whom he called, them he also
justified. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified. That's A to Z right there, brethren. It's all of God. He's working
all things together for good to them that love God, to them
where they're called, and he's doing it according to his purpose.
I tell you what, in a world like what we live in today, that is
so comforting to me. That is so comforting to me,
to know God is working everything coming to pass and he's doing
it for the good of his people, he's doing it for the glory of
his holy name and of his dear son. You know, I come here and
preach and I study and I pray and I ask God for the message
and this is all my hope and all my confidence for preaching.
I know God has a people and I know God's gonna call each and every
one of his people Christ is gonna bring to pass the counsel of
God, our Father's will. He's going to call his people.
You think about this. Right now, right now, this might
be the hour that God predestinated before time ever was to call
one of his lost children right here, right now. That just, That's
what makes you wanna keep studying, keep preaching, keep praying.
That's what makes us keep assembling is this might be the high where
God predestinated for one of his lost children to hear the
gospel and believe. I pray that so. Now back in our
text, go back to Ephesians 1. Each of you that God has given
faith, you know this is also, you've heard this, you know it,
you thank God for it and you praise God for this. Now, look
at verse 11, Ephesians 1-11. In Christ also we have obtained
an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will,
that we should be to the praise of God's glory who first trusted
in Christ. God first trusted this whole
work to his son. we're gonna praise His glory
for doing so. Look, in whom ye also trusted
after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your
salvation, in whom also that after you believed you were sealed
with that Holy Spirit of promise, and that Holy Spirit is the earnest
of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession,
and this is all to the praise of His glory. It's all. This
brings us to this third thing I want you to see. There is another
part, another aspect of adoption. Not only that he predestinated
the time when you would hear the gospel and be quickened in
your heart and given faith and believe Christ, but he also predestinated
the exact time when he's gonna redeem us into his presence in
glory. The redemption of the purchased
possession. There is a redemption coming
where he is gonna Christ is gonna call and bring to glory every
single one of his children who he redeemed. He's gonna bring
us to glory above. As we saw, that first act of
adoption, when he predestinated you to the time when he would
quicken you by the Holy Spirit, God called that in the Old Testament,
he called it putting them among the children. That's what he
called it. Listen, if you wanna look at this, Jeremiah 3. It's
actually a good thing to look at. Jeremiah 3. He said, Jeremiah 3.19, but I
said, how shall I put thee among the children? That's God referring
to that adoption, calling us into the family. Actually, we're
born into the family. Now look, how shall I put thee
among the children and give thee a pleasant land and a goodly
heritage of the hosts of nations? And I said, thou shalt call me
my father and shalt not turn away from me. Surely, as a wife
treacherously departeth from her husband, So have you dealt
treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord." We
departed from Him in the fall. We departed from Him as soon
as we were born, speaking lies. All the days while we were lost,
we were departing from the Lord. Some took on a form of religion. We're still departing from the
Lord. It was only when God quickened us and called us that He brought
us to call Him our Father. And He said, that's how I'm going
to put you among the children. you're going to call me your
father, and you're not going to turn for me again. And he's
going to keep us. And he's going to keep us, because
he said, I'm going to give you a goodly heritage, an inheritance. And so he's going to keep us,
those of you who he's going to call each one he predestinated
to this adoption, and he's going to keep us. And then there's
a time appointed when he's going to call us home and bring us
to glory with him. Now, that's this next act. Go
with me. Back there to Ephesians 1 and
look at verse 9. He called you and you made known
unto us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure
which He had purposed in Himself that in the dispensation of the
fullness of time, that's the way of saying when time is no
more, when He's brought all this purpose to pass, called all His
children, He says there He's going to gather together in one
all things in Christ. All his people, he's gonna gather
together in Christ. Some are already in heaven, some
are on the earth, but he's gonna gather us in him, in whom also
we've obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according
to the purpose of him who works all things after the counsel
of his own will. Go with me to Romans 8, again,
Romans 8. This is the second part of this
adoption. It's being redeemed into this
glorious liberty. Look here, Romans 8, in verse
16. Right now, let's look at verse
14. As many as are led by the Spirit
of God, they are the sons of God. For you've not received
the spirit of bondage again to fear, But you've received the
spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The spirit
itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children
of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joiners
with Christ, if so be that we suffer with him, that we may
be also glorified together. And all his children will suffer,
but we're gonna all endure that suffering, because it's gonna
be by his grace. For I reckon that the sufferings
of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation
of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of
God. For the creature was made subject
to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who had subjected
the same in hope. because the creature itself also
shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious
liberty of the children of God." Creation is going to be delivered.
There's going to be a new heaven and a new earth, and there'll
be no sin there, no bondage anymore. But pick up this right here.
He's talking about the glorious liberty of the children of God.
That's the second part of this adoption. For we know that the
whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And
not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits
of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting
for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. We're
waiting for that day. heavenly body prepared by our
Lord Jesus, and one day, we're gonna close our eyes in death
and be with him, and in the end, he's gonna redeem our bodies,
incorruptible, conform to his glorious person, his body, and
we'll be with him forever. He has delivered his people from
the curse of the law. He's appointed the time when
he's gonna call each one, and he's appointed the time when
he's gonna call us to glory. This is what our Lord Jesus,
nothing is out of His purpose. God set it in order from eternity
and He's been working everything together. Now, let me give you
a few things to take home. First of all, and above all,
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. If you have never trusted Christ,
you cast all your care into Christ's hand. You believe on the Lord
Jesus and trust Him. Trust Him. And you that do, you
keep trusting Him. We don't ever stop coming to
Christ. We don't ever stop believing
on the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray this is the hour He predestinated
that one of you that can never trust Him will be given faith
to trust Him today. I pray that so. And if He has,
that's what you'll do. You'll cast all your care into
His hand. Now secondly, know this, at any
given time, the exact number that God determined before to
be in this local assembly right here, or here. They're here by
his doing, and Christ shall add to it daily such as should be
said. Salvation of God's elect is not
like this world talks about. It's like it's all up to us and
our ability to evangelize. That's not how it is. God predestinated
us to the adoption of children. He will bring his people under
the gospel, and he will add to every local assembly such as
should be saved. A pastor that, I've been corresponding
with this pastor for years, and I've never met him, and never
really heard him preach. I don't know what he preaches,
but he listens, and he has corresponded with us on a regular, with me
on a regular basis. And he wrote to me yesterday,
and he said, He's asking, how do you make the church grow?
How do you get folks to come and get folks to stay? And I
replied to him. I said, for a body to grow, it's
like the physical body. For a body to grow, it needs
bread. So preach Christ the bread. Preach
Christ. Preach him. Preach Christ high.
Preach sinners low. And for a body to grow, God has
to give the increase. If your body's going to grow,
God's going to have to give the increase. pray and thank him
for our food and ask him to bless it to our bodies. Well, pray
and ask God to bless the preaching of the word. That's what, he's
going to work his purpose, but he said, I'm gonna be, you're
gonna ask me. And so we ask him. And certainly,
in whatever way you can, bear witness of Christ. Brother Greg,
yesterday, went to the College of New Jersey, he did it a couple
times, and set up a booth and passed out of some literature
and let people know, college kids, know where we are. And
we've done other things like that in the past, and certainly
we'll do, you know, we put sermons on the internet, we do whatever
we can to get the word out. But God has predestinated each
one, and he will bring, and this is what's always amazing to me,
I've seen very little come from the things we've tried to do
to get folks to come. I've seen very little from it.
And then out of the blue, folks show up and end up staying. So I told him, concentrate, knowing
that God's gonna bring his people, and knowing that they're gonna
be assembled, concentrate on ministering to the ones he has
assembled, rather than being discouraged by the ones he hasn't
assembled. That's, on the day of Pentecost,
That was the predestinated time when the Lord added to the church
3,000 souls. Peter and the others didn't know
what the Lord was gonna do, but he did, the Lord did, and he
added them, and they were together, and they had all things common,
and they continued. Scripture says, praising God,
and have in favor with all the people, and the Lord added to
the church daily such as should be saved. That's what he shall
do. That's what he should do. Here's
the third thing to take home. In a world that's gone crazy
and looks like it's just chaos, know this, it's not out of order. God's working everything just
exactly according to his eternal counsel. The wrath of man that
we see going on in the world is bringing glory to him. The
wrath of man shall praise him and the reminder he shall restrain. and he shall not lose one that
he's purchased with his blood, and that includes you who believe
him by his grace. Go with me to Romans 8 again.
I'm gonna end with this. Just read Romans 8. Let's read
verse 31 to 39. Listen to this. What shall we
then say to these things? After telling us all this that
God works together on purpose for the good of his people, everything
involving our salvation, He says, what shall we then say to these
things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God select? It's God that justifieth. Who
is he that condemneth? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather,
that's risen again, who's even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
As it's written, for thy sake we're killed all the day long.
We're counted as sheep for the slaughter. No, in all these things,
he works all things together for the good of his people according
to his purpose. In all these things, we're more than conquerors
through him that loved us, for I'm persuaded Neither death,
nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present
or things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature
shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is
in Christ Jesus our Lord. Do you see why? I know the world
hates it, but do you see why predestination and adoption is
such a comfort to God's people? It's all according to God's will
and his counsel and he's working it all together. Aren't you thankful? Aren't you so very thankful that
he didn't leave it up to you and me? I am so thankful. Father, we thank you for your
word. Thank you, Lord, that you're the God of purpose. You're the
God who determines it, purposed it, and brings it to pass. Lord,
make us trust you, make us, keep us ever looking to Christ, knowing
this is so. Thank you for this word. In Christ's
name we pray, amen. Brother Adam.