Thank you, brother. I appreciate
that. What an honor it is to be here again. I apologize for
being a little bit late. We took the wrong road and we
got lost. Not as lost as we were when the
Lord found us, but lost nevertheless. And you don't know what was turning
in my stomach as we were trying to find this church building
and the Lord directed us. And I'm so thankful to be here.
I told the folks at the conference in Danville, instead of having
to drive for four days, we only had to drive for four hours.
And that's about all it is, a little over that from where we live.
We're in Evansville, Indiana, but we do attend David Edmondson's
church, and we're thankful to be under his ministry. He's an
excellent preacher, which you all know. You heard him last
Sunday, I believe, didn't you? I think so. I am thankful to
be with the Saints there. Our daughter goes there and she's
following in her mother's footsteps. She's playing piano for the Saints
there under David's ministry. Well, I invite you to turn with
me, please, to 2 Peter chapter 3. 2 Peter chapter 3, please. When the Lord delivered me out
of darkness and translated me into his eternal kingdom, my
brother and a man we grew up with had experienced a religious
something or another under a free will church and their pastor
told them that if I continued in that doctrine
that I was under, I would lose my zeal in less than six months. That was 48 years ago, and I
wish I was more zealous than what I am for the glory of my
Savior. But my brother was concerned,
and this man that we knew all of our lives was concerned, and
so they told their pastor, Well, we're going to go over and straighten
Gene's pastor out." And he said, I wish you wouldn't do that.
He said, he'll tie you up with Scripture. Can you think of a better way
to be tied up? You know, I am so thankful that the Lord delivered
me when He did my brother eventually. came to the knowledge of the
truth, the Lord delivered him. But the other man, sad to say, is
still steeped in the self-righteous works religion and been there
for longer than I've been a Christian. And he'll die unless the Lord
intervenes, thinking he's right, and go to hell. I chose those
words deliberately. God's not saving anyone under
the preaching of lies. He delivers His people under
the true gospel of His amazing grace through the merits of Christ
alone. That man, in one of our debates,
quoted a portion of a verse here in 2 Peter chapter 3, trying
to convince me he was right, saying the Word of God says he's
not willing, God's not willing that any should perish. That's not a scripture. That's
not a verse of Holy Scripture. That's a few words taken out
of context. In verse 9 of 2 Peter chapter
3, We read, The Lord is not slack
concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering
to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all
should come to repentance. Now Peter is writing to God's
chosen people, his elect. He identifies them in his first
epistle. And he's writing to those same
people. And God's not willing that any
of His chosen blood-bought children should perish, and none will.
Because if God's not willing that something should happen,
it's not going to happen. God works all things after the
counsel of His own will. Peter was talking about the promise
of our Lord's return, and some mocking that truth, saying things
continue as they always have, and that's not true. That's a
lie. God destroyed this world once with a flood. And so Peter
was talking about the return of our Lord. And in verse 15
he mentions that the longsuffering of God is salvation. And we know
that our Lord chose a particular people in Christ before the foundation
of the world. And our wonderful Savior paid the ransom price in full
for every one of them. Nothing could be laid to the
charge of God's elect. When I think about that, it still
thrills me from the top of my head down to the bottom of my
feet. And I thank God that He, in His infinite wisdom, chose
me to be a recipient of His grace through Christ our Lord and what
He accomplished for us at Calvary. Now, all Armenian free will works
religionists portray their God as a weak, effeminate deity who
can't do anything without the hell-deserving sinner's permission.
And one of the questions they ask their congregations, what
are you going to do with Jesus? A better question is, what is
Jesus going to do with you? He's on His sovereign throne
of power. And nothing happens apart from
His permissive will. Nothing. He's Lord. The Greek word is Kyrios. And
it means Governor over everything. He's the Supreme Ruler over this
whole universe and everything in it. I love the songs somebody
picked out that we were singing. They give our Lord the glory. I don't know how anyone, yes
I do, I say that, I don't know how anyone could stand still
and let their Lord Jesus be blasphemed the way these worst
religions are blaspheming Him. I said I don't know, but I do
know. Their Jesus is not the Lord of all. Their Jesus is nothing
but a phony. Now, none can stay in our Lord's
hand and hinder Him from what He's doing, what He's going to
do, what He has done. And so, I want you to turn to
Ephesians 1. And let's look at a few verses
that identifies the word us-word in our text in 2 Peter 3.9. That's the key word in understanding
the rest of the verse. The Lord is not slack concerning
his promise, as some men count slackness. but is longsuffering
to usward, not willing that any should perish." Well, who are
the usward? They're identified all through
the Bible from cover to cover. God's chosen people, His elect,
those whose names were written in the Lamb's book of life before
the foundation of the world. That's the usward. And our Lord
still has some of His sheep that are out there that are lost.
And He's not coming back till every one that He purchased with
His own blood is safe in His loving arms. Here in Ephesians
1, the Holy Spirit moved Paul to write some blessed scriptures
that identify those who are referred to in 2 Peter 3.9, the us word. Verse 3 says, Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us. us, there's the us word, who
hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ, according as He hath chosen us, there's the us word,
chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before Him. That's where the statement
should end, and the sentence should pick up in these two words,
the next sentence, in love, having predestinated us, there's the
us word in second Peter 3.9, 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, made us accepted in the Beloved,
in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of
sins according to the riches of his grace, wherein he hath
abounded toward us, in all wisdom and prudence, having made known
unto us the mystery of his will, according to the good pleasures
which he hath purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the
fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in
Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth, even
in him, in whom 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." Let's stop right there.
Those verses cannot be, they cannot be refuted. This is God's
Word. And everything written in God's
Word, He moved the writers to write them. And God cannot lie. So the word us-ward in 2 Peter
3.9 is all through the scriptures. All through the scriptures. And
here in these verses I just read in your hearing, we have the
work of salvation in the great three-in-one. The Father who
chose us, the Son who redeemed us, and the Holy Spirit who made
known the mystery of His will to us. It's God's work. God's
work. Man has absolutely nothing to
do in the salvation of God's elect. And anybody who thinks they do
and testifies of what they have done to earn salvation, do not
have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. Let me show you another
passage of Scripture in Romans chapter 8 that deals with the
us-word. Romans chapter 8. The ministry
of God the Holy Spirit is take the things of Christ and reveal
them to us. And so He will reveal the us-word
in 2 Peter 3 9 through the other scriptures all scriptures given
by inspiration of God all scripture and when you deal with people
who are trying to convince their hearers and they will try to
convince you also that what they believe is right by taking a
verse or two out of context or a portion of a verse like we
just mentioned earlier they're creatures of Satan God has not
sent them now here in Romans chapter 8 we'll start reading
at verse 28 and we know There's a lot I don't know. I
didn't know how to get to church this morning. But there's some
things God's people do know. And we know it. that all things
work together for good to them that love God, to them who are
the called according to his purpose. For 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. 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. What shall we then say to these
things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? If God be for us, who can be
against us? Boy, I like that. I'll tell you
one of the reasons why I like that. I'm still a sinner. I hate sin. I don't want to sin. I wouldn't
sin if I could keep from sinning. But I still make mistakes. I
still do things I shouldn't do. And I don't do things I know
I should do. I have evil thoughts go through
my mind. I know the meaning of these words that the Holy Spirit
moved Paul to write. Oh, wretched man that I am. Not that I was. That I am. who shall deliver me from the
body of this death. I thank God through Jesus Christ,
my Lord and my Savior. There's coming a day, a glorious
day, when God will deliver His enlightened saints from this
body of death. What a day of rejoicing that's
going to be, when we will not only see our Lord Jesus in all
of His glory, we'll never sin against Him again. If God be
for us, who can be against us? Then we read in verses 32 and
33, He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for
us. There's the us word in 2 Peter
3. but deliver 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's elect? It is God that justifieth. So
we know the us in verse 32 is referring to God's elect. The
Holy Spirit tells us that. So these people who are trying
to convince their hearers that Jesus Christ loves everybody
and that He died for everybody, they're wrong. They're wrong. I know that appeals to the flesh,
but it is not what God's Word teaches. Jesus Christ by Himself
purged all of our sins. He purged our sins. from God's
sight forever. He obtained eternal redemption
for us. He didn't try to redeem His people. He got the job done. I remember
hearing Brother Henry Mahan, one of the first times I ever
heard him, he talked about the personal, inward, efficacious
call of God to His people. And he said, You know what efficacious
means, don't you? Gets the job done. And that thrilled
me throughout my whole inner being. God is not trying to do
anything. He's not trying to save His people.
He saved us at Calvary 2,000 years ago when He shed His precious
blood on the cross at Calvary, redeeming us from all sin forever. We read in Hebrews chapter 10
where our Lord said, lo, I come to do thy will, O God, by the
which will, through his supreme sacrifice
for his people, by the which will we are sanctified forever. Sanctified means to make holy. It does mean to set apart. But it also means to make holy.
And when our Lord Jesus Christ laid down His life for His people,
in another of those words, it is finished. He made us as holy
in God's sight as God Himself is. I find that difficult to believe,
but that's what the Word of God says. And the reason I find it
difficult to believe is, like I said earlier, I'm still a sinner.
But God sees no sin in His people. No sin in spiritual Israel. Hebrews
10, 14, just right after the Word of God tells us that Jesus
Christ, by the supreme sacrifice of Himself, sanctified His people,
it tells us that He perfected us forever by that same sacrifice.
God will not accept anything less than perfect. But brethren,
we are perfect. In God's sight, we are perfect.
And Jesus Christ made us perfect. And we give Him all the glory.
Amen. He's the one who did it. Right here in this 8th chapter
of Romans, Paul tells us, being inspired by the Holy Spirit,
that nothing can separate us Nothing can separate us from
the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. I fall from God's grace every
day, but I can't. Underneath are the everlasting
arms of Jesus Christ, our Lord and our Savior. Sure, we stumble
our toe and get our spiritual feet dirty, but He won't let
us fall from His grace. He won't. He took care of our
sin debt. Now, I'm not teaching you that
God's people have a license to sin, but that's what I'm accused
of when I preach this truth. We hate sin. And Paul, right
under divine inspiration, wrote these words, shall we continue
in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. That's not what we
preach. That's not what we teach. We
want God's people to be comforted through the perfect redeeming
work of Jesus Christ, our Lord and our Savior, who paid the price in full for
all of our sins after He had established a perfect righteousness
for us by His obedience unto His Father's will. We can't add one stitch to the
robe of righteousness. But nothing can be taken from
the robe of righteousness either. In God's sight, we're perfectly
righteous. And it's all because of the grace
of God to the finished work of Christ our Savior. While we're
here in Romans, let me share a portion of scripture with you
that will confirm that the word us-word in 2 Peter 3.9 is not
referring to the whole human race. Paul says, In Romans 9,
15, God said to Moses, I will have
mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on
whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.
And then he says, and I love that gospel truth, don't you?
That God Himself tells us it's not by our works and it's not
by our will. And He puts both of them together.
Your false religionist will tell you that exercising your free
will is not a work. Well, God says it is. He puts
it right in the same category with works in verse 16. And this
is God's Word. He inspired it. But we read in
verse 17, For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same
purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in
thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the
earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom
he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardneth. God raised
up Pharaoh to destroy him. If He's not willing that any
should perish, why does the Word of God tell us that? He tells
us why. That He might be glorified. That His name might be declared
throughout all the earth. And in some scriptures that follow
this, let me show you this one. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why
doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Well, this man I was talking about, who's still steeped in
Arminian theology, he called me one day, and he said, Gene,
if man doesn't have a will, why will there be a judgment day?
Same question that's right here. You will say to me, why does
he then find fault for who hath resisted his will? Listen, we
come into this world condemned already. We're not going to stand
before the judgment seat of Christ and find out whether we are guilty
or not. We are guilty. All of us are
guilty. Condemned already by the sin of Adam. So judgment
day is coming. And the whole human race comes
into this world on death row waiting for the day of execution. Romans 8, 1 says, There is therefore
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. No judgment. So, Paul worded this being moved
by the Holy Spirit. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why
doth he yet find fault for who hath resisted his will? Then
he says this, Nay, but, O man, who art thou that replies against
God? Shall the thing formed say to
him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? We can't argue
with God, we dare not. Men do, but we're not supposed
to. God does what He pleases, when He pleases, with whomsoever
He pleases, always as it pleases Him. David said that. Our God is in the heavens. He
hath done whatsoever He will. I think David, one of the psalmists. And this is the God we worship.
This is the God we serve. He's the potter. We're the clay. Paul describes that in these
other verses, following what we just read. We're clay in the
divine potter's hands. He forms us as it pleases Him.
I've thought about that several times. When a man has the talent
to take the clay, a potter has the talent to take the clay,
he makes it as it pleases him. And someone might want a beautiful
vase to put in a palace. Somebody else might want a pot
to spit in. You thought I was going to say
something about that. It's the prerogative of the potter
to do with the clay as it pleases him. And this is our God. He takes the clay and forms,
as it pleases Him, He'll form. He makes the clay to be a vessel
of mercy or one to be a vessel of wrath. I'm not making it up.
That's what He's teaching here in this passage. Now, we're all
fitted to destruction in our unregenerate state. But God is
on His throne in heaven. And like I said earlier, He does
whatever pleases Him. and it cannot be altered one
iota. God predetermined before this
world was created, before time began, that we would be vessels
of mercy, made so by His sovereign grace through God's redeeming
work, through that which Jesus Christ accomplished for all of
us. Now let me take you over to John, the book of John chapter
6. I mentioned something a moment
ago, and it bears repeating. Nothing happens apart from God's
permissive will. Nothing. He works all things
after the counsel of His own will. On national TV, I heard a preacher
in his sinful attempt to get his hearers to believe what he
was preaching. I heard him say this, poor Jesus, poor Jesus, won't you please
give him a chance? Brethren, salvation is not by
chance. Salvation is by the predetermined will of God way back in old eternity. God the Father promised a people
to His Son in the eternal covenant of grace. And Jesus Christ agreed. In other words, He struck hands
with the Father. I've heard other preachers say
that. I guess it's okay. and agreed to meet all the conditions
of the eternal covenant of grace agreed to come to this earth
agreed to be born of a virgin agreed to be a man of sorrows
acquainted with grief agreed to walk before men that he created
knowing they were full of hate without a cause for him he agreed
to walk perfectly And He did that. He was obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. He knew full well, our Lord Jesus
knew full well that He was going to have to
go to the cross. And He knew that His Father,
His Father was going to pour out His unmitigated wrath on
Him. He knew Our Lord Jesus knew that
His Father would turn His back on Him and forsake Him. That's what caused Him to cry
out, My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? And He went
anyway. He came to this earth to do just
exactly what was determined by God in the eternal covenant of
grace way back before time began. Can you think of any greater
love that could be bestowed than that? What love? What love? Herein is love. Not that we love God, but that
He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation, the sin-atoning
sacrifice for our sins. He bought us. The Lord Jesus
purchased us with His own precious blood. And nothing or nobody,
Satan and all of the evil forces of darkness and all ungodly reprobates
put together can keep Him, our Lord Jesus, from getting what
He purchased. All power in heaven and earth
has been given to Him. Who's going to stop Him? And
here in John chapter 6, And this goes along with our text in 2
Peter 3.9, that God is not willing that any of His chosen blood-bought
people should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
We read in verse 37 of John chapter 6, All that the Father giveth
me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no
wise cast out. Isn't that wonderful? is no possibility
that those who were given to Jesus Christ in that eternal
covenant of grace will not come. He's going to make sure they
come. The difference between me and that man I've been talking
about, who's still steeped in Armenian theology, is God's grace. God's wonderful grace through
Christ my Savior. He gave me, God the Father gave
me to His Son back in old eternity, and He promised His Son, upon
the fulfillment of all that He sent Him to do, those will be brought to a saving knowledge
of Christ Jesus and they would never perish. God the Father
promised that. And so they're going to come.
All of us. Like I said earlier, some have
not yet come. But when that last one, when
that last one is called out of darkness, look out. I believe
that's when our Lord is going to return. We're going to see
Him in all of His glory. Elements are going to melt with
the fervent heat. People are going to be running into caves,
crying for rocks to fall on them. It's going to be something. You
say, how do you know we're going to see that? Because It says,
the Word of God says, those who are still here, when the Lord
returns, the elements are going to melt with fervent heat. That's
in 2 Peter also. And as He comes, I don't believe
it's going to be something that's going to happen just like that.
I believe we're going to see the the effects of His coming,
His brightness causing heavens to be on fire. And it says we'll
be caught up in the twinkling of an eye. We just heard that
read earlier. You know how fast a twinkle is? It's faster than
a wink. So it won't take long for the
Lord to call us up into His where His beloved ones that have already
gone to be with Him are, and all of His angels. But we're
going to be seeing something before we're caught up. The dead
in Christ shall rise first, then we which remain shall be caught
up. We're going to see some things. But not until that last one for
whom Christ died is delivered from the power of Satan, the
power of sin, the power of self, the power of darkness, And that's
it. Then all of us are going to be
in glory. All of us who have faith in Christ will be in that
wonderful heavenly bliss in the presence of the One who loved
us and gave Himself for us. And we will be in a state of
worship without sin forever and forever and forever. That's God's
will. Read verse 38. It says, For I
came down from heaven, not to do mine will, but the will of
him that sent me. So we're talking about God's
will. That's what Peter was talking
about in 2 Peter, well, every verse he wrote. It's God's will
that all of us shall come to the Lord Jesus Christ with true
saving faith. And this is the Father's will,
verse 39, this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that
of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should
raise it up again at the last day. Now folks, that pretty well
explains 2 Peter 3.9. God is not willing that any of
those He promised to His Son, who were purchased by the blood
of Jesus Christ, not willing that any of them should perish.
But we have to see Christ. Verse 39 says, and this is the
will of Him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son,
and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life, and I will
raise him up at the last day. Folks, listen, there's a different
Jesus being preached from most pulpits today, a different spirit
that dominates them, a different gospel, which is not another,
but it's their ugly view of the gospel. We must believe on the Christ
of Holy Scripture. We must. We must believe who
Jesus Christ is. He's the resurrected, exalted,
glorified Son of God. There's a glorified man in heaven
right now. We must believe what the Bible
says about Him. He rules over heaven and earth. We read in the second chapter
of Philippians, that our Lord Jesus was obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. Wherefore God has highly exalted
him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at
the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven,
things on earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue
should confess that he is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
He's the supreme ruler over everything. Bow down to Him. Confess Him. Believe that He, by Himself,
took care of your sin debt. And give Him all the praise and
all the glory, both right now and for all eternity. Amen. I appreciate you letting me have
this time to speak to you. Thank you. And God bless you
folks who may take His Word and use it to glorify His Son, the
Lord Jesus Christ, and encourage us in the faith. Thank you. Thank you, our brother. It's
good to hear the gospel, wasn't it? Amen. Let's stand, turn in
our hymnals to song number 477. We'll be dismissed with this
song. Paul said, on the glory and the
cross, and then he said these words, by whom? It's not the
figure of the cross. It was the person on the cross,
and that's what we're singing about, 477. in vanity and pride. Caring not, my Lord was crucified,
knowing not it was for me. Pardon there was multiplied to
me There my burdened soul felt liberty and calvary By God's
word it left my sin Mercy there was great and grace
was free Pardon there was multiplied My burdened soul found liberty
at Calvary. Now I've given to Jesus everything. Now I gladly own Him as my King. Oh All the grace that brought it
down to man All the mighty God that brought this man and Calvary
Mercy there was great and grace was free Pardon there was multiplied And by God's will, we'll meet
again at six o'clock this evening. Good day.