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Fred Evans

Romans 8:14

Romans 8:14
Fred Evans February, 19 2023 Video & Audio
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Fred Evans
Fred Evans February, 19 2023

The sermon on Romans 8:14 presented by Fred Evans dives into the theological doctrine of the guidance and assurance of being led by the Holy Spirit, specifically regarding believers' identity as children of God. Evans argues that true leadership by the Spirit is marked by a focus on truth and the glorification of Christ, rather than emotional experiences or outward signs, using Scripture such as John 16:13 and Acts 13:48 to underscore his points. He emphasizes that those led by the Spirit are those ordained to eternal life, given to Christ, and called by God, with the Holy Spirit actively involved in their lives, ensuring faith and perseverance through trials (1 Peter 1:5). The practical significance highlighted is that genuine faith produces peace and mercy in believers, leading them to live in accordance with God's will, highlighting the importance of grace and unconditional election in the Reformed tradition.

Key Quotes

“How do you know if you are being led by the Spirit? Because when He comes, He will guide you... into all truth.”

“As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”

“We who have been saved and are led by the Spirit of God, we rejoice in this doctrine. We rejoice in the fact that God purposed our salvation.”

“You that are led by the Spirit, you shall be led through manifold temptation. trials, troubles. But what is our hope? Our hope is this, we are kept.”

Sermon Transcript

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All right, if you take your Bibles
and turn them into Romans, chapter 8. Romans, chapter 8. Our text will
be found in verse 14. You can hold your place here,
but we're going to be moving through the scriptures quite
a bit today. So, Romans, chapter 8, verse 14. as many as are led by the Spirit
of God. They are the sons of God. Now today, in this generation,
there are many people who claim to be led by the Spirit of God. They claim to be led by God.
There are people who actually kill innocent people and then
claim to be led by God to do it. We know those are just, that's
just anti-Christ. That's not anything to do with
the living God. We know that, that these are
liars. But these others who claim to
be Christian, they claim to be led by the spirit of God by acts
of miracles and signs and wonders and spectacular entertainment. They say, this is the spirit
of God. They put on a great show, and
there's a lot of emotion. I was listening to the news this
past week, and over at Asbury College, there's a bunch of people
gathering together and singing, and you know, they just don't
stop. They just, people keep coming from all over the country.
Now, the question is, is this the spirit of God? Well, how
do we know? How do we know if one is being
led by the spirit of God? Outward signs and wonders are
not always the indication of the Spirit. Not always the indication
of the Spirit. What does Jesus Christ say about
this? What does He say about the Spirit
of God? In John chapter 16, listen, He
said, verse 13, He said, Howbeit, when He, the Spirit of truth,
is come, He will guide you into all truth. Well, there it is.
This is how you know if you are being led by the Spirit, because
when He comes, He will guide you, not into emotion, not into
some outburst of miracles. He will guide you into all truth. We know this. Who is the truth?
Christ said, I am the truth. For He shall not speak of Himself. If anyone is giving praise and
glory, now, to the Spirit of God. They're always talking about
the Spirit of God, always talking about the Spirit of God. But listen, the Spirit of God
won't testify of Himself. Is He worthy of praise? Yes.
The Spirit of God is worthy of praise, and we need the Spirit
of God. The Spirit of God is necessary for us to worship God. But the Spirit of God, when He
declares truth, will not testify Himself. Isn't that something?
Well, who's He going to testify? But whatsoever He shall hear,
and that He shall speak, and He will show you things to come,
He shall glorify Me. You want to know if it's the
Spirit of God? Is Christ being glorified? Is Christ being preached? That's the sign of the Spirit.
When Jesus Christ is magnified, it is by the Spirit of God. That's
how you know. Now, I don't know what they're
doing in that place, but if they're preaching Christ, then it's the
Spirit of God. If they're not, it's not. Isn't
that plain and simple? Christ is being preached. For
he shall receive of mine and show it unto you. So what then
is the sign of the Spirit of God in the church? It is this.
Jesus Christ being crucified. Is this being preached? Is Jesus Christ being preached?
Because remember, this is the means the Spirit of God uses
both to comfort His people, to edify His people, and to save
the lost. It is through the preaching of
the gospel. I like singing hymns. But singing
hymns, they've got to mean something. They've got to preach. They've
got to declare the message of Christ. If they don't, what good
are they? If they just make you feel good,
what good is it? I like a lot of different kinds
of beauty that make me feel good. But I need something to edify
my soul. I need something that's true and reveals Christ. And so then this morning I want
to deal with this, who are led by the Spirit of God. Look at
your text again. Look, notice this phrase. For
as many as are led by the Spirit of God. And we know this, that
not everybody's led by the Spirit of God. Who are as many as? I don't know. Do you? As many as are led by the Spirit
of God. And so the first thing I want
you to know about those that are led by the Spirit of God
They are ordained to eternal life. As many as are led by the
Spirit of God are as many as that are ordained to eternal
life. Go to Acts chapter 13. We're gonna follow this phrase,
as many as. Acts chapter 13. And look at
verse 48. The scripture says, and when
the Gentiles heard this, what'd they hear? They heard the gospel,
didn't they? That's what the Spirit of God
does. The Spirit of God moved on these
Gentiles. How do we know? They heard the
gospel. And what? They were glad. They
were glad. They glorified the word of the
Lord. And here's the result. As many
as were ordained to eternal life believe. Now who is going to
be led by the Spirit of God? Many as were ordained to eternal
life. These will be led by the Spirit
of God. They were ordained Listen friends. There is a determinant number
that God has ordained to eternal life Not one more and not one
less How many as many as the Lord ordained to eternal life?
That's how many will believe Now, do we know how many? No. We can only see the effect of
this. The only way we know who is ordained
by eternal life is the effect of the gospel upon them. You
hear that these were glad. They rejoiced after they heard
the gospel. And what? They believed. They
believed. You know, the Lord says that
the spirit is like the wind. He said, blows where it lives.
You can hear the sound thereof. You can't tell. You can't tell
where he's coming and where he's going. But what can you see? You can
see the effect of the Spirit through these that believe. You
believe this morning, you are led by the Spirit of God. And
know this, you are led because you were ordained to eternal
life. You are ordained to eternal life.
This doctrine of unconditional election is hated. Do you believe that? That's astounding
to me, that this is hated. Do you realize, had there been
no sovereign election, none would have been saved? Isaiah said
it, had the Lord not left a remnant, we all would have been as Sodom
and like unto Gomorrah. None of us would have ever been
saved. But we who have been saved and
are led by the Spirit of God, we rejoice in this doctrine.
We rejoice in the fact that God purposed our salvation. I'm so thankful salvation's not
accidental. I'm thankful God purposed to
do it. God purposed to do it. And we give praise and glory
for it. So we preach this gospel. I know this. We preach this gospel
because we are commanded to. We're commanded to preach the
gospel of Jesus Christ. We're to cast this seed at adventure. We have no idea where it will
land, what kind of heart it will land on. That's not our business.
We declare this to everyone. Repent and believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. Forsake your religion and your
sin and come to Christ. You tell everyone, but I know
who will believe. I know who will be led by the
Spirit as many as were ordained to eternal life believe. That's
who's going to believe. That's who's going to be led
by the Spirit. And I know this, God's word when we preach it
is always successful, regardless of the failure of the pastor.
regardless of the failure of the heroes. Listen, his word
accomplishes everything he sends it to do. He says, as the rain falls from
heaven and water of the earth and brings forth the seed to
the sower and bread, so shall my word go forth out of my mouth,
and it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish
that which I please. And what's he going to do this
morning? Whatever he pleases. This word is going to do something.
And it's going to do whatever he pleases it to do. Whether
to harden your heart or give you life, I don't know. He's going to do one of those.
He'll do whatever he, and it shall prosper. I like this. It shall prosper into the thing
wherein I send it. Whatever it does. You know what?
If he hardens a man, it's going to prosper. It's going to do
exactly what he wanted to do. And if he saves a soul, it'll
do exactly what he wanted to do. So God sends preachers, and
what do we preach? We preach Christ. We magnify
Christ. We honor Christ. And we are successful no matter
the physical outcome. For we are a saver of life unto
life to some, and a saver of death unto death to others. Who
is sufficient for such things? Not this man. And so whether our message hardens
or breaks your heart, it will accomplish what God sent it to
do. And all that are ordained to eternal life, listen, they
will be led by the Spirit of God. and will be led by the Spirit
of God. Secondly, all that are ordained
to eternal life were given to Christ. You that are led by the
Spirit, as many as are led by the Spirit, these are the ones
ordained to eternal life and they were given to Jesus Christ
by God the Father. Look at John chapter 17. John chapter 17. And look at verse 2. We can read
verse 1. Then spake these words as Jesus
lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has
come. Glorify thy son, that thy son may glorify thee. As thou hast given him power
over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to who? As many as thou hast given him. As many as were ordained to eternal
life, these were as many as the Father gave to Christ. In a covenant
of grace and love, the Father gave His elect to His Son. He gave them to Him to be responsible
for their salvation, knowing they could not save themselves.
Knowing they had no power or strength in themselves, He gave
us to the Son. And in the covenant, the Son
said, I will be surety for them. We all know what a surety is.
It's one that guarantees, like Judah did for Benjamin. You remember
he, during that famine, that Joseph said, go bring Benjamin.
And Jacob wouldn't let him go. He was most precious to Jacob.
And it wasn't until Judah came and says, I'll be surety for
you. If I bring not the lad to thee,
listen, let me bear the blade. That's what surety is. And Christ
saying the same thing as those given to him by the Father. He
says, I shall bring them, and if not, let me bear the blade. became surety for God's people,
for all the elect. And this is pictured in many
different ways. Do you remember the high priest? Jesus Christ
being our surety is also our high priest. Paul says in Hebrews,
I believe, chapter four, he says that a high priest has a purpose. He's taken from among men that
he might offer both gifts and sacrifices for man unto God,
and if things pertain to God. You see, that's what Christ did.
He came to offer both gifts and sacrifices for His people. Came as their representative,
and you see Him as a man. He came in the likeness of sinful
flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. He came as
our high priest to make an offering, and the offering was Himself. You that are led by the Spirit
of God. You that were ordained to eternal
life. Purposed. God gave you to Christ
and Christ accomplished your salvation. Accomplished by His death. Look at what our high priest
did in Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10. He says in verse 9, Lo, I come
to do thy will, O Father, and take away the first, and ye may
establish the second. By which will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Christ once. You see, Christ
was given charge over us, and the scripture says this, it was
the will of God that we should be sanctified. You that are led
by the Spirit, you've been sanctified. Now listen, you've been sanctified
by the will of God. Now what does your will have
to do with sanctification? You're sanctified by the will
of God. Are you sanctified? Oh yes. What's the evidence of
your sanctification? Through the offering of the body
of Christ once. You were sanctified once. Through the offering of His body. Every priest, standard, daily
offering, ministering and offering, oftentimes, the same sacrifice,
which can never take away sin. What this man? Oh, would you look at this man.
Look away from every other sacrifice. Every sacrifice that you can
make, turn away from it. And look to this man's sacrifice. after he had offered one sacrifice
for sins forever sat down on the right hand of God. Expecting
from henceforth, expecting his enemies to be made his footstool,
for by his one offering he hath perfected forever them that are
sanctified. Those sanctified by the will
of God and those sanctified by the blood of Christ, those sanctified
by the spirit of God. Christ is all our salvation. All that. He is our shepherd. He is a shepherd of what? Sheep. Sheep. You read this in John
chapter 10, our Lord Jesus Christ giving the picture of Him being
the great shepherd. He says this in John 10, 14,
I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep, and have known
of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even
so know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. See,
Christ came into the world to be the shepherd who laid down
his life for the sheep. And so then we have seen that
as many as Ordained to eternal life. These are the ones led
by the Spirit of God as many as were given to Christ and Christ
Accomplished the salvation. He says as many as you've given
me. I'm going to give them eternal
life He accomplished our salvation and thirdly Who are led by the
Spirit of God as many as the Lord our God shall call? Now
listen, I know that there is a certain number of elect. I
know that Christ died only for them I don't know who they are,
neither do you until this, until you're caught. Caught. Look at this in Acts chapter
2. Acts chapter 2. Look at Peter preaching in verse 38.
He said, Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized
every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission
of sin. and you shall receive the gift
of the Holy Ghost for the promise is unto you and your children
and them to all that are of far off even as many as the Lord
our God shall call. Peter preaching here and he preaches
the gospel. He says repent. You know who
needs to repent? Sinners. That's the only type
of people who needs repentance. Jesus, he said that parable,
he said, if a man have a hundred sheep and one of them go astray,
shall he not leave the ninety and nine and go and find the
one that's lost? And he said, even so, those ninety and nine that need
no repentance, they don't need it. You don't need repentance
today? He's not talking to you. He's
actually calling sinners. Repent! What do you repent from? Not just your outward sins of
what I'm talking about your religion. You have to turn from your false
religion. You have to turn from your self-righteousness. Repent
from that and believe. Be baptized. Now baptism is a
picture, isn't it? When we are being baptized, what
we are doing is professing to others our faith in Christ. That's
all it is. The water has no power in that.
But we are identifying and confessing our union with Christ. And listen, he says this, you're
gonna receive the promise. What's a promise? Remission of
sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit. The gift of the Holy
Spirit. And so the remission of sins
and the gift of the Holy Spirit are for those that are far off.
Now listen, are there any far off in God? Is there anyone that
knows the distance, that there is a distance between them and
God? Do you know that? Do you know
that you are so far from God that there's no way to bridge
the gap by your words? Well, good. If that's so with
you, then I'm preaching to you that are far off. Because these
are as many as the Lord our God shall call. Those that are far
off. That's who the Lord shall call. And so He ordained our eternal
life. As many as He ordained to eternal
life. As many as that were given to
Christ to accomplish their salvation. Listen. They shall be called. Every one of them shall be called. And that's what he tells us in
John chapter 6. John chapter 6, in verse 37,
he said, all that the Father giveth me, listen, shall come
to me. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. You see, they're going to come
to him, but they're going to come because he calls them. He
calls them. And listen, he calls him from
darkness to light. If you've been called, you know
this, you were in darkness. You were dead. Listen to what
Peter says in 1 Peter chapter 2, he says, but you are a chosen
generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people. that you should show forth the
praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His
marvelous light. You know how you know if you're
led by the Spirit? If you've been called. Listen, you can
know everything there is known by election. You can study it. You can recite it. You can debate
it. You can do all of that. You can
know the success of Jesus Christ. You can study his success. You
can proclaim his success. But listen, if you have not personally
been called, then all of that knowledge is vain. It's empty. You must be called. And when you're called, depravity
is not a doctrine. It's real. You know you're in
darkness. I knew the doctrines of grace
long before it became effectual to me. But one day I found I
was sitting in darkness. I was chained to my sin. There was no way for me to break
free. And all my knowledge, just all it did was cause me grief. Didn't help me. But when He called
me out of darkness, I didn't see a doctrine, I saw a person. My Savior is not a doctrine,
He's a person. The doctrines clothe Him. They
give Him shape. They reveal things about Him.
So when you're called out of darkness, you see. You see Him. You see Christ. Therefore, all who God has chosen
in Christ's regime, the Spirit will come and He will call them. Now listen, He calls them from
all types of people. All from the religious group
as well as the irreligious group. Listen, all men by nature are
sinners. Some may be moral, some may be
religious. They may hide it well, while
others are very boastful about their iniquity and sin. But when
God comes to a man, they'll both meet him at the same place, at
his feet. And both will be begging for
his mercy. But this is a good thing. Him
that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. There is no way he'll cast out
for no reason. You make excuses in your mind
as to why Christ won't receive you. But he said, I don't care
about that. Those that come to me, I don't
care. I'll never cast them out, no matter what they've done,
no matter where they've been, what kind of person they've been.
They come to me, I won't cast them out. Why? Because they were
chosen and he redeemed them. He redeemed them. And so then have you heard Christ? Have you heard of his accomplished
salvation? Of his perfect obedience to magnify
the law of God and perform righteousness? This is what a sinner needs.
He needs righteousness, and Christ has already done it. He needs
an offering to God for his sin, and Christ has already done it.
Have you heard of him? Then come now to him. I would say to him, if you tarry
till you're better, you'll never come at all. You'll
never come at all. But I know this, you that have
been called and led by the Spirit, you come. You don't stop coming,
do you? I like that, Lord, to whom shall
we go? Now ask the words of eternal life. So those that are called,
come. fourth point, as many as are
called, receive him. Go to John chapter one. As many as are ordained, as many
as were given to Christ, as many as were called, they shall receive him. Look
at this in John chapter one in verse 11. He came unto His own, and His
own received Him not, but as many as received Him. To them gave He the power to
become the sons of God, even to them that believed on His
name. Everyone the Spirit of God calls
will receive Him. As many as are called shall without
fail receive Christ. How do we receive Christ? By
faith. By faith. Now I want you to know
this. Listen. Receiving him is an act of the
will. Receiving him is an act of the
will. Just not yours. God's. It's God's will. Now am I willing? You bet. You bet. That word receive is just basically
like if you're thirsty and you take the water and you receive it. That's it. That's
what it is to receive. You have a need and you receive
the gift, but how are you willing and others aren't? Why are you
willing to receive it? Why do you need it and others
don't? Well, this is an act of the will
of God. He said that in the very next verse, which were born,
not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will
of man, but of God. Listen, when God determines to
save His people, He does it. He does it. I like this in Joshua. It says this, there failed not
on any good thing which the Lord spoke in the house of Israel.
All came to pass. Everything God promises is going
to come to pass. And before you knew it, God purposed
to call you. And God purposed to call you.
He purposed to give you faith. He purposed to give you life. So all that God calls will come
to faith in Christ. And all who are called come to
Him and glorify Him. Now these, my friend, are those
led by the Spirit of God. Those ordained. As many as were
ordained to eternal life believe. As many as the Father had given
Christ are saved by Christ. As many as He calls, they will
believe. They will believe. They will
receive Him. Now those that are led by the Spirit of God, now
then, you that are led by the Spirit of God, you that believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, we all walk according to a rule. As many as are led by the Spirit
of God walk according to a rule. Go to Galatians chapter six.
So if you're led by the Spirit, you're chosen, you're redeemed,
you're called, you believe, and now you are led Now you are led
to follow a rule. Galatians chapter 6. I can get there. Galatians chapter 6 and look
at verse 15. For in Christ Jesus. Now listen,
if you're a believer, you are in Christ Jesus. There is therefore
no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. For in Christ
Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision,
but a new creature." Ah, here it is. When you receive the Spirit
of God, when you receive Christ by faith, listen, it is because
you have a new creation in you. God has given you a holy nature. A nature that is created after
God in true holiness, Paul says, in Ephesians 5. Created in you. In other words, one day it wasn't
there and the next day it was. God created something in you. A new nature. What the Old Testament
says is a new heart. A new heart. This holy nature. This holy nature abides by one
rule. Here it is. Listen to what he says about
a new creation. And as many as walk according
to this rule, peace on them and mercy and upon the Israel of
God. As many as are led by the Spirit
of God, we know this, we are not under the law. Follow this
rule. You led by the Spirit of God,
follow this rule. We're not under the law. In other words, we will
never try to add anything to Christ. That's a rule we follow. That is necessary for faith.
We trust in Christ completely. Matter of fact, in chapter 5
of this same book, he says, I testify to you. I don't care who you
are. If you be circumcised, Christ
shall profit you nothing. If you obey the law in any measure
for your justification, your sanctification, your righteousness,
your wisdom, listen, Christ shall profit you nothing. We that are led by the Spirit
of God follow this rule. We're not under the law. For we through the Spirit do
wait for the hope of righteousness by what? Faith. We wait. We are patient. We endure the
trials and tribulations of this life waiting for his consummation,
waiting for the fulfillment of what he's already promised. This
is how we live. This is our rule. Faith. Are
you led by the spirit of God? What's your rule? Faith. This new creation, that's what
it generates, faith. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision
availeth anything nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love. Faith. Are you led by the Spirit of
God? And we know this, we are not under the law. Now, there
is an as many as that are under the law. We flip over a couple,
page there, look at chapter 3 verse, look at this. He says, for as many as are of
the works of the law. Now there's a bunch of people
under that category. As many as that are, you know,
claim to be saved by Jesus Christ and then sanctified by their
obedience to the law, these are under the law. And what is it,
what do they get? They're under the Curse, as many
as are of the works of the law are under the curse of the law. Word is written, curse is everyone
that continueth not on all things written in the book of the law
to do them. But no man is justified by the
law, the sight of God is evident, for the just shall live by what? By faith. You see, they that
are led by the Spirit, they have one rule, faith. Not faith in
their faith. I hear people say, I got faith. Faith in what? Faith in who? It's not faith that matters.
It's the object of faith that matters. Our object is Jesus
Christ. We just shall live by faith. And our faith is in Christ. All of it. All of my life. All of the providence of God
in this life. All of my salvation. rest in
healing. He's whole. He's whole. And so then are you led by the
Spirit of God? You're led by the Spirit of God,
you live by faith. And I want to give you a couple
of practical things, you that are led by the Spirit of God.
I want you to know this. Everyone led by the Spirit of
God has the Spirit of God in them. We just read, you can read
that in your, in Romans 8, he tells you that just above this.
He says in, look at verse, let's see. I think it's verse nine, you
get it? But you are not of the flesh,
but of the Spirit. If so, be the Spirit of God dwell in you.
Any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of these.
Don't listen to this garbage about, you know, being saved
without the Spirit. Listen, that's nonsense. Any
man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of these. So don't,
don't buy into, you know, I know you don't, but don't buy into
it about, you know, this second anointing, all that garbage.
Listen, when you are born again in the Spirit of God, you have
the Spirit of God in you. Now where's the Spirit of God
going to lead us practically in this life? Is it going to
be smooth? You suppose he'll lead you in
a smooth path? I saw this little thing. It says, little guy on
a journey, and he says, our perspective, not what we think, he's got a
straight line, smooth line, and at the end was heaven. You know,
that's how we, God's got an even path for us to walk. Reality's
at the bottom, and it's just a bunch of pits and alligators
and a whole bunch of stuff along the way. Yeah, God's gonna lead
his people through the wilderness. If you're led by the Spirit of
God, I know this, you are daily engaged in a battle, a warfare. The flesh lusts against the spirit,
the spirit against the flesh, and these two are contrary, one
to another. So you cannot do what you want.
Spirit would be holy, the flesh would be sinful, and these two
constantly at war. It is true. See, the Spirit of
God leads us into battle. We are engaged in a battle. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9,
26, Therefore so run, not as uncertainly. Look, we have a
sure salvation, don't we? I don't run, this is not a vain
run here. My faith is not vain. Christ
has accomplished myself. I run with a sure hope of heaven. So then I fight. Not as one that
beaded the air, but I keep under my body and bring it into subjection. Lest by any means, when I preach
to others, I myself should be cast away. You see, it's not
talking about physical subjection of your body. You see people
whipping themselves and all that garbage. That's not what he's
talking about. It's a spiritual struggle. He's
talking about the nature. He's talking about keeping the nature
down. Keeping it under subjection.
Now that's not my hope of heaven. My hope of heaven is sure. But
because it is sure, I fight. Fight against who? Me. This is my enemy. If it wasn't for this enemy,
Satan and the world wouldn't have any hope at all. But because of me, they do. Therefore,
we fight. We mortify the deeds of this
body because of the love for Christ, because of his love. And this spirit will also lead
us into many trials, many trials. Go to 1 Peter, I'm gonna close
here, 1 Peter chapter one. 1 Peter chapter one. He's speaking to the elect of
God, those who were redeemed by Christ, the sprinkling of
blood of Christ. He says to us, he says, look,
you are kept, verse five, by the power of God through faith. You know what this means? The
spirit of God as he leads us is going to keep us in faith.
One thing a believer will never lose is faith in Christ. Why? Not because of you. But because
of Him, you're kept. You're kept by the power of God,
isn't that great? That's good news, isn't it? Unto salvation ready to be revealed
at last time, wherein you bravely rejoice, though now for a season,
if need be, you are in heaviness through manifold temptation,
that the trial of your faith may much more precious than gold
and perishable. Though it be tried with fire,
might be found in praise and honor and glory at the appearing
of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen, you love. In whom,
though now you see him not, yet believe him, you rejoice with
joy unspeakable and full of glory. You that are led by the Spirit
of God, you shall be led through manifold temptation. trials, troubles. But what is our hope? Our hope
is this, we are kept. We're kept. You know how long you've been
kept? From eternity, God kept you. He chose you in grace. You were kept in Christ, saved
by his righteousness and blood. You were kept even before you
were called. And when you were called, God
gave you faith to receive him. And that faith you have now is
still a gift of God, not a works. You're kept. And listen, it is
necessary that you go through trials. Necessary. You know, he led Israel about
40 years, and he said this to them, he said, to prove you.
Listen, God wasn't looking for evidence for himself. He was showing them. What does
he do with our trials? He shows us his grace, his power,
his love, by keeping us in the trial. And listen, this is the promise
of everyone that is led by the Spirit. Everyone, as many as
were chosen of the Father, as many as were redeemed by Christ,
as many as were called, as many as received Him, as many as walked
by the rule of faith. Listen, you are the sons of God. It doesn't say you shall be the
sons of God. You might be the sons of God. Heard those jokes, you might
be a redneck if. You might be a son of God if. No, you are
a son of God. And if a son and heir, and joint heir with Jesus Christ. You can't get any higher than
that. He owns everything. And you are a joint heir. There's no way you live by the
Spirit. Are you led by the Spirit? Do you believe on the Son of
God? I like that hymn, He leadeth
me. Oh, blessed thought. Words with heavenly comfort,
royal. Whatever I do, where'er I be,
still tis my God that leadeth me. Oh, take me by the hand. Lead
me. Lead me where you will, as long
as it's with you.
Fred Evans
About Fred Evans
Fred Evans is Pastor of Redeemer's Grace Church. Redeemer's Grace Church meets for worship at 6:30PM ET on Wednesdays and 11 AM ET on Sundays at 4702 Greenleaf Road in Sellersburg, IN. USA. To learn more or to connect with us, please visit our website at https://RedeemersGrace.com, or our Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/redeemersgracechurch. Pastor Evans may be contacted through our website and also by mail at: Redeemer's Grace Church, PO Box 57, Sellersburg, IN 47172-0057

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