I'm glad I'm still alive, but
I read in the scriptures where those who believe on the Lord
Jesus shall never die. And I'm honored and delighted
to be here. And I can't even express how thankful I am for
the invitation. I don't take it lightly when
I'm invited to preach anywhere. And we shouldn't take it lightly.
for the opportunity and honor of being where the gospel is
preached as well. It's just been wonderful being
here so far, and I trust we'll continue to just be showered
with blessings from our Lord as we continue to fellowship
together around His gospel and with one another. I was telling
Judy last night, as we were watching people coming in, embracing one
another, greeting one another and coming over and greeting
us. And I said to Judy, why is it that this thrills my heart
so much? Could it be it's because we're
with our family? That's exactly what God's people
are, a family of believers. And I'm thankful to our God that
He's not only united us together in Christ wherever we meet, but
that He's united us together here this weekend. I'm thrilled. And I want to take the opportunity,
speaking for my wife and myself, to thank you for your loving
hospitality. Now, if you would turn, please,
to 1 John chapter 4, The Apostle Paul said, woe is me if I preach
not the gospel. I don't believe he was saying
that he had to preach the gospel 24 hours a day, seven days a
week. But I do believe he was saying
if he had the opportunity to preach the gospel, woe is him
if he preached anything but the gospel. And that's my desire. to bring Christ before us in
a way that we'll just rejoice in Him and only in Him. Now let
me tell you a story, you might have heard this, maybe even from
me, some of the conferences that I've attended, but when you get
my age you can repeat yourself when people overlook it. But
I was told this to be a true story. Whether it is or not,
I don't know, but I want to share it with you to stress a point.
There was a missionary that had gone over to one of the aborigine
tribes in one of the countries that has jungles. And a little
boy in one of the tribes had received Christ. And his grandpa
was the leader of that tribe. And he had idols in his hut,
four or five idols. And one day after his grandpa
had left his hut, this little boy who was supposed to have
received Christ took a stick and went into his grandpa's hut
and broke every one of those idols but one. laid that stick right beside
that idol he didn't break. And when his grandpa came back
and went into his hut, you could have heard him throughout the
whole village. And the little boy ran in and
said, what's wrong, grandpa? He said, who broke my idols?
And the little boy said, he did, grandpa, pointing to the idol
that wasn't broken and where the stick was. He said, oh, you
foolish boy. He can't do anything, you know
it. Right out of his mouth, he admitted
that the idol he was bowing down to and worshiping could not do
anything. Sound familiar? That's what Armenian
free will doctrine teaches. They worship a Jesus that wants
to do something but can't because you won't give him permission.
You won't let Him. We don't worship a God like that.
God's enlightened children, and we just sung that song, we have
gathered in this house to worship Him. We worship Jesus Christ
the Lord. In Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. And when we worship Him, we worship
the Father and we worship the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is
the object of all worship and praise. God has ordained that
from old eternity. And if we don't honor him, even
as we honor God the Father, we don't honor the one who sent
him. My subject this morning is God's sovereign eternal love. And I know I'm embarking on a
subject that's way too deep for this peanut brain of mine to
comprehend. But it's a subject that all of
us should delight in and want to talk about. And if God has sent the Spirit
of His Son into our hearts, we know that we were just like that
chief in that tribe. We had idols we bowed down to,
and we may not have ever darkened the door of a church, but you
can make an idol out of anything. So we have nothing to boast in,
absolutely nothing. He that glorieth, let him glory
in the Lord. God's love for us is a perfect,
eternal love. Everything about God is perfect.
Amen? Everything about God is perfect.
He wouldn't be God if He wasn't perfect in everything. So that's
going to be my first point. The perfect love of God. Then
I'd like to talk about the predestinated love of God for His children.
And then a propitiating love God has for His children. Then
a proclaimed penetrating love He has for us. And then I'll
close with a permanently fixed love. And it's just a five point
outline. They all start, every one of
those points start with the letter P to help us maybe have some
hooks to hang our thoughts on to remember a little bit about
this great and glorious subject, God's Sovereign Eternal Love. Here in First John chapter four, verse 17 says, Herein is our
love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment,
because as He is, So are we in the world. Verse 18 says, there
is no fear in love, but perfect love casteth out fear, because
fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect
in love. Now that's a very, very profound
passage of scripture. Herein is our love made perfect,
that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, Because
as He is, so are we in this world. Right now. Right now, as He is,
so are we in this world. Doesn't say when we get to glory,
we're going to be like Him, although that's true. It says, as He is,
so are we in this world. Jesus Christ is the eternal Son
of God. We're God's sons and daughters
by the spirit of adoption. We're His children. I preached
this last Sunday down at Crossville. God's promised children. As Isaac
was, so are we the children of promise. And it was God's love
that He revealed to us that makes us understand a little bit about
this subject of His love. As He is, so are we in this world. Does God love Jesus Christ, the
God-man? Perfectly. Perfectly. He loves us with that same perfect
love. Does God see His Son on His throne
in heaven with all power in heaven that's been given to Him. This is too wonderful to put
into words, but when we were dead in trespasses and sins,
and I know I'm getting ahead of myself, that same God who
said, let there be light, commanded the light to shine in our hearts
to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. We see him. We see him on his
sovereign throne of power. This love that God has given
to us moves us to want to be like him. And I know I'm not just speaking for myself.
I'm speaking for every enlightened child of God. We have serious
problems. You know, you know why God's
mercy is new and fresh every day? One reason is because every
morning when I wake up, I see myself that I'm still a sinner.
But God loves me in spite of me. And this love is a perfect
love. A perfect love that cannot grow
as far as God is concerned. It's perfect, perfect. He loves us with a perfect, sovereign,
eternal love that moves us to want to give Him all the praise
and all the honor and all the glory. What a God to love us
so much. Would you turn to Ephesians chapter
one, please? God's love for His own is a predestinated
love. Now, we had some folks who became members of our church
and were with us for several months. And then they left. They figured
that, I guess, that what I was preaching just wasn't right.
But they had heard me preach this many, many times. that the doctrine of predestination
is a biblical doctrine. They had heard me read it right
from the scripture. Then they left. We had a lovely
elderly lady. She was probably in her, and
you'll forgive me if some of you are this old, in her 70s
at that time. And she just became engrossed
not only with what I was preaching, but with the saints there. And
that's just the way love works. Well, this man, him and his family
had been coming, but left. They were close to this elderly
lady. And he went to her and said,
you better not go over there. You better come away from that
man. He believes in predestination. That's God's Word. We've been predestinated to be
conformed to the image of Christ. I like that, don't you? And she
came to me and told me about that. And I said, we're writing
a scripture and said, well, that's what it says. And she kept coming
and kept coming and she's still a member there, but now she's
in a one of those hospitals where you have to have care, but you
can still be independent and walk around. But anyway, I share
that to bring you to this passage of scripture in Ephesians chapter
one, starting at 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." Isn't that wonderful? Isn't that just absolutely wonderful?
And that's where the statement ends in the original. It picks
up again in these two words, in love. They have the punctuation
wrong in this translation, but it should begin, this next statement
should begin with these two words, in love, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ, if you will
just please exercise your free will. That's what's being taught all
over the world, not just in this country. of his own will begat he us with
the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of
his creatures. The new birth is a miracle that only God can
perform and he himself tells us it's not of him that willeth
nor of him that runneth but of God that showeth mercy of his
own will begat he us. And it was God's will that we
be predestinated unto the adoption of children. And it was in love,
in love that he predestinated us to be his blood-bought children. Brethren, we're God's children.
We can rejoice in the wonderful truths of the gospel because
he, God himself, brought us under the preaching of the gospel and
made it effectual as only he can, and brought us out of darkness
into his marvelous light by one syllable word, live. When we
were polluted in our own blood, unable in and of ourselves to
do one single thing, he brought us into a living union with Jesus
Christ our Savior. I am so thankful for God's grace
and His mercy that brought me to Himself through the merits
of Christ alone. Now go back to First John chapter
four. First John chapter four. Our
third point is God's love for His own is a propitiation love. God didn't send His Son to die
on that cruel cross so that He could love us. It's because He
loved us He sent His Son to die for us. I ponder that not just ever so
often, quite often, that God would send His darling Son to
this sin-cursed earth because of His love for a particular
people. This doctrine of universal atonement
and universal love is as phony as a three dollar bill. And we dare not align ourselves
with those who dishonor and blaspheme God with such a foolish, sinful,
false doctrine. It's wrong. It's wrong. God himself
teaches us that His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, was sent here
for that very purpose. Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins, is what the
angel told Joseph. I'm telling you, folks, Christ
didn't come here to do something hoping against hope that somebody
might make it effectual for him. No, sir. If you're here with
me in 1 John chapter 4, look at verse 10. here in His love, not that we
loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the
propitiation for our sins. What in the world does that word
mean, propitiation? It means a sin atoning sacrifice. It means a mercy seat. I have never given an altar call,
and all the years the Lord has allowed me to be his pastor,
to minister for his glory. That's not even a biblical teaching. And I like what you said last
night, talking to one of the brothers in here. The only difference
between us is 24 feet. Jesus Christ is every believer's
altar. and we come to him by faith.
And if God has been pleased to give us his gift of faith, and
I chose those words deliberately, faith is God's gift to the sinner,
not the sinner's gift to God. And if he's pleased to give us
faith, he'll enlighten our minds to what Jesus Christ accomplished
for us when he sent him to this earth. He walked perfectly Our
Lord Jesus walked perfectly before His Heavenly Father. Every thought,
every word, every step, every deed, and the motive for all
that He did was as perfect as Himself. He did that for me,
to establish a perfect righteousness that will make me acceptable
in God's sight. And sinners don't contribute
one stitch to that robe of righteousness. It comes from God. He clothes
us because He loves us with an everlasting love. And He uses
His love to draw us unto Himself. You quoted this verse in Jeremiah
31 3 last night. God loves us with an everlasting
love. Then He says, Therefore, with
loving kindness have I drawn thee to myself. He draws us with
the cords of love under the preaching of the gospel, revealing the
righteousness of Christ that he robes us with, revealing to
us that when he sent his darling son to that cruel cross, Jesus
Christ, our substitute, endured the unmitigated wrath of God
in our room instead. God's holy justice has been fully
satisfied by the one who endured that wrath for us. Nothing, nothing can be laid
to the charge of God's elect. God has justified us. because
of what Jesus Christ has done for us. God's love for His own
is a propitiating love. Now He looks upon us in Christ
and sees no sin in His chosen blood bought people. Actually,
He didn't see any sin in us when eternity passed. And you know,
when we talk about eternal justification Some folks get a little upset
thinking that we are teaching that Jesus Christ didn't have
to go to the cross. We don't teach that. We don't
teach that. We teach that he went to the
cross because of what was purposed back in old eternity for all
of his chosen people. We receive faith to believe Jesus
paid it all, all to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain
and he washed it white as snow. In God's sight, we're as holy
as God himself. Does that bless you? Blesses
me because I'm still a sinner. I wake up every day a sinner
and I go to bed every night a sinner. But in Christ, God sees no sin
in me. If that doesn't bless us, we
don't have the spirit of Christ dwelling in us. Now turn to First
Thessalonians, if you will, please. First Thessalonians chapter one.
God's love for his own is a proclaimed penetrating love. And I've already
touched on that. No man can come to Jesus Christ
unless our Heavenly Father draws him or her. And like I said in
that quote from Jeremiah 31 3, He draws us with loving kindness. And this loving kindness is an
overwhelming truth that we just absolutely delight in. Everything
that God has purposed for us is because of His loving kindness
for us. Even the difficult times, Even
the trials and the testings of the persecutions, it's because
of God's loving kindness for us. And this loving kindness
is expressed in the hearts of His elect under the preaching
of His gospel. And that gospel must come. It's
a great honor for God's preachers to preach the gospel. but we
can't deal with the heart. That's God's business. The gospel
must come, but it must come in power. And that's what Paul is
saying here to the church at Thessalonica in verses four and
five. Knowing, brethren beloved, your
election of God. For our gospel came not unto
you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Ghost and
in much assurance as you know what manner of men we were among
you. So the gospel must come. If we're not preaching the gospel, then we're not God's preachers.
What then is the gospel? The gospel is Jesus Christ is
God Almighty. Jesus Christ is our creator. Jesus Christ became a man. Jesus
Christ, as he was a man on this earth, satisfied God in everything
that he did. He came to do his father's will
by the which will we are sanctified by the offering of the body of
Jesus Christ once for all. He has perfected us forever.
And so the gospel must come. We must talk about Jesus Christ
dying for our sins, going into the grave, coming out of the
grave, ascending to glory, seated on his throne in heaven as our
great high priest making intercession for us. You know, the Bible says
he He entered into heaven itself there to appear in the presence
of God for us, and that He has all power over heaven and earth
as the sovereign Lord over this whole universe, working all things
after the counsel of His own will. And that He's coming again
to receive us unto Himself, that where He is, we may be also.
That's the gospel. The gospel must come to us. The
preacher must preach the glorious gospel of God's sovereign, electing,
redeeming, sanctifying grace. But we just, we just stand back,
praying for our Lord to give the increase and watch the election
returns. Isn't that good? We watch God
working in his people, knowing that he alone can make his gospel
Effectual. I was listening to Henry Mahan
years ago and he used that word effectual. He said, you know
what that means, don't you? It means it gets the job done.
And it does. God cannot fail. He cannot fail. Turn to Romans 8 and I'll wrap
this up. Romans chapter 8, please. God's love is not only a proclaimed
penetrating love, the love of God, is a steadfast eternal love. It's a permanent fixed love in
the hearts of His chosen people. Permanently fixed. He that believeth
on the Lord Jesus Christ shall never perish. We have the promise
from God Himself that nothing can separate us from His amazing
love. And that's recorded right here
in Romans chapter eight. And I want to read it in your
hearing and then I'll step down. Romans chapter eight, starting
at verse 35. 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 is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long.
We are counted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these
things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For
I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature in case there's something else
he didn't mention, nor any other creature shall be able to separate
us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. There's where the love of God
is, in Christ Jesus our Lord. And if we're in Christ, God loves
us with that same eternal love that He has for His darling Son,
Christ our Savior. And that's who we're going to
see. when we get to glory. We're going to see Him in all
of His glory rejoicing around the throne for the great, sovereign,
immutable love of God through Christ, the one who loved us
and gave Himself for us. Thank you. God bless you.