I'll turn with me to the Ephesians
chapter one. Ephesians chapter one. I'll be honest, I've struggled
with a verse or so, and I thought for several months now, maybe
close to a year, When I go outside of the scriptures,
I find a lot of orthodoxy supports the prevailing view. But whenever
I stay within the bounds of scripture, which I think we ought to do,
I find that I can't find any support in scripture for this
orthodox view. But a couple weeks ago, maybe
a month ago, I can't remember how long it's been now, it's
recently, A friend of mine on Facebook just came out and said
what I think several people that I may believe. I don't know how
many out there believes it. I know a couple that do. And
I've obviously swayed to believe it now myself. Otherwise, I wouldn't
be up here talking about it. But I've kind of put this off
for a little while because I've continued to keep looking over
it and looking over it. to see whether or not these things
be true. And more than anything, to have peace in my heart and
mind, at least, that this is what God has at least given me,
you know, and everything before I brought it forth to the congregation
here. So I pray that what I speak might
be the truth, and I pray that it might not be misleading or deceiving or Uh,
anything like that, but I just pray the Lord give me understanding.
But anyhow, this Facebook friend finally just came right out and
said this on Facebook, but I am a couple other people that I
know have thought and believe. Um, and whenever I saw that, I thought,
wow, I said, I've been wanting to say that for a little while,
but I'm just be honest, not having the guts to say it. And, uh,
So he said it, I gave him a good amen on it that I agreed with
him and some good dialogue came out of that. A lot of the scriptures
that was within this dialogue were the scriptures that the
Lord had directed me to as well. So, me and Larry was talking
just a little bit before the song service began and particularly
coming to biblical truth, spiritual life has to be given to know
and understand biblical truth. Often people think that spiritual
truth and spiritual understanding, spiritual wisdom and knowledge
can be obtained just by getting into the Bible and studying it.
And by memorizing scripture or listening to sermons or gathering
mass knowledge of all these things. Some people think going to a
seminary and have other fallible men teaching you a fallible man
and saying, this is the Lord, and if you listen to what I say
and follow my orthodoxy, then you'll be in orthodoxy. You know,
that's basically what the concept is. I've always asked, you know,
you went to seminary to learn from that man. Well, who did
he learn from? Well, he learned from another man. Well, where'd
he learn from? He learned from another man.
Well, where'd he learn from? Well, he learned from this man. We're
all following some man's system of teaching, right? Well, the
Bible says that the knowledge of God comes through revelation
only. It comes through the Spirit of
God teaching us. That's where we learn. In fact,
me standing here preaching to you week after week isn't actually
teaching you anything. Now, it's giving you some sort
of a knowledge. As a matter of fact, I think I read something
that Larry wrote this week, maybe last week, something like that.
People can gain some knowledge, but it doesn't give spiritual
understanding. We can have a lot of knowledge about some things,
but that doesn't give us spiritual understanding. The way that it
spiritually is applied, or perceived, or it doesn't bring us to worship
God because of that knowledge, because dead orthodoxy is dead,
it's lifeless. The letter killeth. It's the
spirit that gives it life. And so, whenever we come to spiritual
knowledge and the understanding and the Bible, particularly,
the things that's written in the Bible, these things are spiritually
revealed. And so, I can't just get my Bible
and get away on an island somewhere and say, devote my time to learning
this thing, memorizing this thing, and I'm going to become wiser
and smarter and more learned in the scriptures. Unless God
gives that to me, I don't know it. So my question is, for people
to be able to understand or to see or to perceive spiritual
things, they must be given that sight. They must be given that,
right? And we believe that that's what the Bible teaches. I think
we'd all be uh... in agreement that nobody is given
spiritual side unless god by his power gives it we can't gain
spiritual side on our own matter of fact let's look at a few verses
here and i'm actually going to do this in a backwards order
uh... i'm going to reveal what i'm
talking about at the very end and the reason i'm doing that
is because i don't want and this may be fleshly of me trying to
order the service here but uh... i don't want everybody spending
the whole time thinking about how they disagree with what I'm
saying. But listen to what the scripture says, and then let's
look at something else and ask the question. Okay? In Ephesians
chapter 1 and verse 15, God's Word tells us this. Paul
writing to the Ephesian church, by the way, those who have been blessed by the Lord Jesus, those
who are the elect of God, those who have been given all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places, who are the faithful in Christ
Jesus, this is who he's writing to. He says, wherefore I also,
after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto
all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention
of you in my prayers. that the God of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you, notice the
word give, that God might give unto you the spirit of wisdom
and revelation in the knowledge of Him, Christ Jesus. The eyes
of your understanding being enlightened. Brethren, let's just stop right
there. There has to be a giving of revelation,
a giving of wisdom, a giving of knowledge, and that there
has to be eyes enlightened. That tells me that just the opposite
is true of who we are, by default, by nature. By nature, we do not
have wisdom, revelation, and knowledge of God, and that our
eyes are not open, and they have to be open. Okay? They have to
be open. the eyes of your understanding
being enlightened that or so that ye may know what is the
hope of his calling and what is the riches of the glory of
inheritance in the saints and what is the exceeding greatness
of his power to us who believe according to the working of his
mighty power. So here again we see not only
a sight of spiritual things having to be given to us, but the working
of His mighty power is what causes us to believe. That coincides
with the Bible says that they are made willing in the day of
His power and that all those who were ordained to eternal
life believe God by His power has to give us life so that we
can believe, so that we can understand, so that we can see. So God is
the one who is initiating something on somebody who does not have,
right? We are void. We were just talking
about this. You know, Calvinist and Reformed people, they go
on and on about the five points of Calvinism. We believe here
in sovereign grace. We believe all the, what is considered
the five points of the doctrines of grace, okay? But in those
five points of the doctrines of grace, most general times
you run into people and they don't believe in irresistible
grace and they don't believe in limited atonement. And we
say, well, they don't believe this, or they don't believe that.
Well, me and Larry was having conversations a minute ago, and
I was sharing with him, I said, I think the main issue is not
necessarily that they don't believe in irresistible grace or limited
atonement, it's they don't believe in total inability. Because if
you understand total inability as the Bible teaches, our total
inability as we're seeing right here, then you would realize
that unconditional election Irresistible grace is something that has to
be done if anybody is to be saved. And that if that's the case,
and not everybody is saved, then that only shows that the atonement
was limited. Because Christ, by his atonement,
is what procured everything that irresistible grace and unconditional
election was all about. Because of unconditional election,
only the elect are the ones who are saved. Only the elect, the
ones Christ died for, are the ones who are irresistibly drawn
to Him by them being given life. Okay? So, the battleground is
the inability of man. And this is what Paul is saying
here. He is saying that these eyes have to be opened up by
God. And he says, what is the seed according to the working
of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ when he raised
him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in heavenly
places far above all principality and power and might and dominion
and every name that is named not only in this world but in
the world to come and hath put all things under his feet and
gave Him, Christ Jesus, to behead over all things to the church,
which is His body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all."
So I think when we read through here, it's without doubt that
God, in His power, in the person of Jesus Christ, controls all
things as it pertains to spiritual understanding and knowledge of
salvation and what God has done and who God is. God has to give
that sight. We don't have it naturally and
we can't earn it, we can't work for it, we can't, you know, avail
ourselves to the information and receive it. It has to be
given, the sight has to be given by God. Turn with me if you would
to Acts chapter 26. And I do pray you follow along
with these, because I want to drill down on some particular
phrasing and words that the Lord uses here. And I pray whenever
this comes to the end, and I bring up what it is that the Lord has
brought me to see and understand over the last year, I pray that
you see that it's not me saying it, but that it is the Lord,
if truly so it is the Lord. Look with you would at Acts chapter
26. I'm going to be reading in verse 18. Now again, this is
Paul whenever he's before King Agrippa and he's given his account
of himself before King Agrippa. And he's saying what Jesus had
told Paul whenever Paul saw Jesus on the road to Damascus. Look
at verse 15. I'll start reading there. And
I said, who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus. Now
this is Jesus speaking, okay? I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.
But rise and stand upon thy feet, for I have appeared unto thee
for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both
of these things which thou hast seen and of those things in which
I will appear unto thee, delivering thee from the people and from
the Gentiles unto whom now I send thee. to open the eyes. Now this is what Jesus has come
to do. Okay? He's given him a few things that
Jesus has come to do. And he came to Paul, and he came
to Paul to give him a purpose to minister, and he's given him
a purpose among the Gentiles to deliver them from the Gentiles. But this is what Jesus is also
here to do. To open their eyes and turn them
from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God that
they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among
them which are sanctified by faith that is in me." So here
you see that God is the one who has the power to give sight and
to turn from darkness to light. So again, it's God who is controlling
who sees and who doesn't see. God is the one who gives that
power, or is the one who gives that sight. Now, turn with me
back to the Old Testament, to Proverbs. Proverbs 20. Look at verse 12. The Bible says
here, the hearing ear, the seeing eye, the Lord hath made even
both of them. Now, I believe that that's not
just talking about physically, but spiritually. Okay? The hearing ear and the seeing
eye, the Lord hath made even both of them. Now, if we're talking
about physical things, the Lord's surely given us ears and eyes,
but he could have easily said, the bending elbow and the waving
hand, the Lord has made both of these if he just wanted to
talk about body parts, right? But what does he say here? He
says, hearing ear and the seeing eye, this is a reference used
throughout scripture, Old Testament and New Testament, that refers
to wisdom and knowledge of God being revealed. the seeing eye,
the hearing ear, these things, and then the dumb, the deaf,
being able to speak the truth. All those things have to be given
to us, okay? So the hearing ear and the seeing
eye, the Lord, have made even both of them. Turn back, if you
would, to Psalms 119. Psalm 119, and I want to look
at verse 18. It's written here, it says, open
thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. So here the psalmist is saying,
unless God opens my eyes, I'm not going to understand what's
in this book. I need to have that sight given to me. God needs
to reveal it to me. And brethren, I'm talking about
even us who are born again. If we be God's children and we've
been born from above and given spiritual life, even as we go,
the Lord has to grow us in grace and knowledge of Him so that
revelation is being given to us. Now, I'm not talking about
new revelation outside of God's Word. It's got to be within God's
Word. I'm not talking about these crazies
that's on TV and the radio that are out there saying I saw God. I saw Jesus. Last night I was
sitting at the dinner table. Jesus came and had dinner with
me. I saw this vision or God told me or God spoke to me. Now I'm talking about what's
in this word. And here the psalmist says that my eyes has to be opened
by you, God. So I think we're pretty clear.
And listen, brethren, I know there's probably hundreds more
verses that's just like this. that we could go to, but for
the sake of time, I want to move on, because now I want to ask
the question, if we see that it is God who gives sight, and
only He can give us sight to know truth, and to know Christ,
and to know His Word, to know His salvation, does God blind
eyes? Does God hide truth from people? Does God keep people from knowing
the truth. Now, I want to sidestep just
a second. We've all been raised and fundamentally
ingrained in our mind that God loves everybody and that Jesus
died for everybody. But as we have all seen over
the years and through the scriptures, that that's not what the Bible
teaches. That God does distinguish between the elect and the non-elect. And the elect he loves, the non-elect
he has not set his love upon. Only the elect are the ones who
Jesus died for. That would be the limited atonement
we talked about a while ago. So, those who are the elect,
God gives them sight to see. Everybody else he does not give
that sight. Now, some may take issue with
that, and they say, well, God is good. God is loving. God is
righteous. God is holy. God wants all men
to be saved. Why would he hide truth from
them? Why would he not? I don't believe
that that's true, preacher. That's not true. Well, see, what's
happening, brethren, is you are responding from your emotions.
You're responding from your religious nature. You're not responding
in truth. It doesn't matter what I feel
about how God is. I want God to save all my children
because I love my children. And I want God to save that.
But that's not in my hands and that's not in my ability to do,
nor is it in their will to accept it or do it. It's only as God
has ordained whether or not they are or not saved. And so my feelings
don't change God's purpose and God's decree. And His love can
be set on whoever He wants to set it on. And that does not
change His righteousness or His holiness or His goodness. God
didn't say, I will be fair. God says, I will be righteous.
I will be right. I will do what is right. And
whatever God does is right. And we don't have any way to
say you're wrong. Who's going to be God's judge
on that? All right. So the question is,
does God do that? Does the Bible teach God hides
things and keeps truth. Turn with me to Isaiah 6 if you
would. I think y'all know kind of where
we're going here. Very famous passage of scripture
where Isaiah saw the glory of Christ Jesus sitting on the throne. But look if you would at verse
9. Christ speaking to, hang on, in chapter
9, Isaiah 6 and verse 9. Here's God speaking to Isaiah.
He says, And he said, Go and tell this people, Hear ye indeed,
but understand not, and see ye indeed, but perceive not. make the heart of this people
fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, lest they
see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand
with their heart, and convert and be healed." So here God is
telling the prophet Isaiah to go to these people and to preach
to these people and in doing so God is going to, through the
preaching of that message, which they will not receive because
their hearts have an inability to receive spiritual things,
their eyes will be blind, their ears will be shut, their heart
will be couched or hard or fat. They will not be able to believe
and be converted and be healed. It will be a showing that when
truth is presented, the natural man will not receive it. Because
God is not going to intervene. God's not going to intervene
and give them seeing eyes that we just read. The seeing eyes
and the hearing ears, the Lord has made both of them. If He
doesn't intervene and give that to them, they will reject the
truth. Always rejecting the truth. They
are always hardening their hearts. They are always stiff-necked.
They are always in rebellion against God. They are always
at enmity to the God of the Scriptures. So if God doesn't intervene,
and so whenever we go and preach sometimes, the purpose of preaching,
I know you used to hear preachers say all the time, you know, that
God's Word won't return void. You know, whenever you preach
to somebody and nobody responded to the altar call, the preacher
would always say, well, God's Word will never return void.
At some point, that boy will receive the Lord, that boy will
come around and everything. Listen, God's Word won't return
void, brethren, but there's a couple of things that it'll accomplish.
It'll either accomplish comfort to God's people, or it's going
to come and it's going to harden the heart even further to those
who reject the truth of who God is and His salvation. The preaching
of the gospel is as much for condemning the reprobate as it
is for giving comfort and enjoyment to the child of grace. And so, Isaiah here is to be
sent, so God is sending the prophet to go so that God might do this. Turn back to the New Testament,
if you would, to John chapter 12. We'll see this a little more
here, because that passage in Isaiah is quoted, I think, like
three or four times in the New Testament. John 12. Look with me, if you would, at
verse 40. Or excuse me, at verse 36. It says, while ye have
life, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light.
These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself
from them. But though he had done so many
miracles before them, yet they believed not on him. Thus, or
that, the saying of Isaiah, the prophet, might be fulfilled,
what we just read, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report,
and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? Therefore
they could not believe, because, that Isaiah said again, He hath
blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, that they should
not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart,
and be converted, and I should heal them." You guys need to
sit down and be calm and quit moving around. Okay? You're being
very distracting. Verse 41, These things said Isaiah
when he saw the glory and spake of Him. So here again we see
reiterated in the Gospel that God has blinded their eyes. That's why these people, when
Jesus, the greatest preacher of all time, who knew all truth
and had all understanding, rightly understanding, of all things,
whenever He came and preached, these people didn't believe.
So that tells me that the sheer preaching of the truth does not
do anything to the sinner. It is only by the internal work
of God alone that opens the eyes and opens the ears to see. Okay? Look with me if you would
at Matthew chapter 13. Matthew chapter 13. Look at verse 10. And the disciples came and said
unto Jesus, or unto him, Jesus, why speak thou unto them in parables? Now, again, I grew up understanding
and hearing other people say, especially preachers, the reason
that Jesus spoke in parables is it made it easier for them
to understand. He was breaking it down into
ABCs and one, two, threes, okay? He was taking a everyday understanding
to make it plain so that they could understand it. Right? And so the disciples came and
said, well, Jesus, how come you keep speaking to people in parables?
And this is Jesus. Remember who is God? God in the
flesh said this, because it is given unto you. It is given unto
you. If something is given, that means
that unless it has been given, you're without. Right? You're
without. You have to be given something
because you don't have something. It has been given unto you to
know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. But look what it says
here. But to them it is not given. See the reason I'm speaking in
parables is because through these parables you're going to understand
the spiritual nature of what I'm saying. All they're going
to be able to perceive is the letter of the law. They're going
to understand the letter of it, but not the spirit of it. For
whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more
abundance. But whosoever hath not, from
him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak
I to them in parables, because they seeing see not, and hearing
they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them, here's
it quoted again, is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which
said, by hearing you shall hear and shall not understand, and
seeing you shall see and shall not perceive. For this people's
heart is wax gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and
their eyes they have closed, lest at any time they should
see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand
with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal
them. But blessed are your eyes, for
they see, and your ears, for they hear. And how did that hearing
and seeing come? The Lord made both of them, right? It came by the Lord. The Lord
did this. They were not given that. Now,
how are they blinded? Are they blinded at the moment
that this happens? Well, I would say that the blinding
and the hardness and all these things, that came in the original
makeup of natural land. Adam was created natural, not
spiritual. He was created without the ability
to understand spiritual things, without the ability to keep the
law of God. And so I would say that the blinded
eyes, the deaf ears, the inability to receive and believe in the
heart and all like these, these are the natural things that we
have being children of Adam. And it's upon all of us. That's
our natural state. That's why I say nobody is wanting
to come to God and God is saying, no, you can't because you're
not my elect. No, nobody is coming to God. Nobody is able to come to God. That's why grace is so majestic. It's so wonderful. It's so amazing. It's because nobody has the ability
to come to God or is desiring to come to God. Yet God in His
love and grace comes to some and gives them the ability to
come to Him. That's what Jesus is talking
about. The reason He speaks in parables is because He's given
some to see and He is not giving some to others to see. While
you're also there in Matthew, look at chapter 11. Matthew chapter
11, verse Matthew chapter 11, verse 25.
It says, At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank Thee, O Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from
the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Here the Lord Jesus Himself is
glorifying God in the fact that God in His sovereignty can give some to see and has
hidden some from others. Now, brethren, I don't know how
to dissect that any other way than what it's clearly saying
here. Look at verse 6. Even so, Father,
for so it seemed good in thy sight. I can't say that that's
bad, that God hides it from some, because Jesus said it is good
in God's sight that truth be hidden from some. The wrestling isn't with me or
a theological system. The wrestling is with the Word
of God and what God has said about Himself, about His Word,
about Christ, about salvation. The wrestling is with you not
believing God's Word. And it may be because God has
not given you to see that. If God hasn't given you to see
that, you won't see that and you will rebel against that.
But here we plainly see that God has hidden the truths of
some things from the wise and the prudent and has revealed
them unto babes. And what he was speaking here
is that he has hidden these things from the religious world, but
has revealed them unto his children. Look with me, if you would, at
Romans chapter 11. Romans chapter 11, verse 7. Verse 1 says, I say then, hath
God cast away his people, his people Israel? God forbid, for
I am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham of the tribe of Benjamin.
God hath not cast away his people, the Israelites, but he codifies
that, quantifies that. He makes it known which people
he's talking about. Not all that are of Israel are
Israel, right? There's a spiritual Israel. There's
a physical Israel. Among physical Israel, there
are spiritual Israelites. And God is saying here, God hath
not cast away his people, which he foreknew. What ye not, what
the scriptures say of Elias, how he maketh intercession to
God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets
and dig down thine altars, and I am left alone, and they seek
my life. But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved
to myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to the image
of Baal." Now, think about what God is saying here and what He
said to Isaiah back in the Old Testament when He first read
it. I have reserved for myself. That means God, out of all the
people who were rejecting God and were religious idolaters,
God has kept, given belief and kept in belief a certain group
of people for Himself, right? So the fact that God has a remnant
of people means that God had actively chosen to give them
understanding, to give them preservation, and there they are. And has not
done that for the rest of them. See, the rest of the bell worshipers,
he did not. Even so then, at this present
time, there is a remnant according to what? Their will? According
to their choosing? according to their parents' upbringing?
According to their seminary studies? No. How are they the remnant? According to the election of
grace. God chose them and didn't choose others. And if by grace,
now listen, and if by grace, then it is no more of works,
otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it
is no more grace, otherwise work is no work. There's a clear distinction
between works and grace. They're not ever mixed. They're
not ever mingled. God never looks at works. He only gives grace. It's never based upon works.
Whether it is to get saved, or whether it is to stay saved,
or whether it is to be acceptable for the Lord, to stay in fellowship
with God, it's never based upon your works. What then? Israel hath not obtained
that which he seeketh for, but the election hath obtained it,
the rest were what? Blinded. See, God give this knowledge
and understanding and desire for God to the elect, but has
blinded their eyes. So God is the one who has blinded
them, right? God is the one who has kept them
from seeing. Now look if you would with me
at 2 Corinthians chapter 3. Second Corinthians chapter 3,
look at verse 14. I'll back up a little bit just
so we can kind of get the context here. This is Paul talking about
how the glory of the law has faded away, the ministration
of the law. Verse 13, And not as Moses which
put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel could
not steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished, but
their minds were blinded. For until this day remaineth
the same veil, untaken away in the reading of the Old Testament,
which veil is done away in Christ. So see, Paul in teaching these
Corinthians has said, hey listen, these Israelites, we Israelites,
We were under the law of Moses, and there was a veil that was
there. We didn't see Christ. And God never did remove that
veil. As a matter of fact, even to this day, Christ's veil is
not removed. It isn't moved away. So Christ is being hidden still. But for those in Christ, that
has been, he said, the veil is done away in Christ. whenever
you are in Christ Jesus, that veil is taken away. So there
is an understanding of Christ and the centrality of Christ,
particularly in what the gospel in the Old Testament is teaching.
See, remember, they didn't see Christ in the Old Testament.
All those things that was given to Moses and the priesthood and
the sacrificial system and all those things that they were told
to keep, all those of ceremonies and all those feasts and festivals
that they had to keep. All those things were to point
them to Christ and to show them Jesus Christ. But yet it was
veiled to them. They didn't see it. And even
after Jesus came, they continued to have this veil. These Pharisees,
these religious Israelites who were of the flesh, they continued
to have this veil on them. They didn't see Jesus. And the
religious people of these days, Armenians, they continue to see
a Jesus that's not of the scripture. It's another Jesus that they
fabricated in their mind and they preach in their seminaries
and they preach in their megachurches and all this stuff. It's not
the Jesus of Scripture. And so still there is a veil
over their eyes. But to those who are in Christ
Jesus, He removes that veil. It is God who has blinded and
it is God who reveals. Now the question might come up
though, So you're telling me that God would cause somebody
to be deceived if they're thinking they're believing the truth?
Because you're saying that these churches that are out here that
are professing to be Christians, who has rejected the world, who
has rejected, you know, all the cults, the world religions, you
know, we're not Muslims, we're not, you know, all these other
world religions, we're not even Catholic. You know, there are
some that will even stand and say Catholics aren't Christian.
you know that are among the Armenians. You're telling me that they are
deceived and God has deceived them with the truth? Does God
deceive people? That's another question. Matter
of fact, that may even be a more harder question than does God
blind the eyes? Does God deceive people? Well,
if that's the scriptures. Looking in Ezekiel, if you will. Ezekiel chapter 14. Look with me if you would. In verse 6. This is God speaking to Ezekiel. Therefore say unto the house
of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God, Repent, and turn yourself
from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations. For every one of the house of
Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separated
himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and
putteth the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face,
and cometh to a prophet to inquire of him concerning me, I the Lord
will answer him by myself, and I will set my face against that
man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut
him off from the midst of my people, and he shall know that
I am the Lord. And if the prophet be deceived
when he hath spoken a thing, I the Lord have deceived that
and I will stretch out my hand upon him and will destroy him
from the midst of my people. And they shall bear the punishment
of their iniquity. The punishment of the prophet
shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him." That tells me that all these
false preachers that are out there preaching false things,
false doctrines, another Jesus, God has ordained that to be. God has caused a blindness to
them that they be deceived in who this Jesus is that they are
preaching and those who are being deceived are also by God's hand because they're
not given sight. They're not given understanding.
Can't think of it right off the top of my head Somebody might
be able to holler it out here. I'm sure it'd be typed in the
text, probably by Gabriel Gonzalez. He always jumps in there with
some text, but the deceived and the deceiver are both his. Look if you would at one Kings.
1 Kings chapter 22. We're going
to start reading in verse 20. And the Lord said, Who shall
persuade Ahab that he may go up and fall at Raimath-Gilead? And one said on this manner,
and another said on that manner. And there came forth a spirit,
and stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade him. Verse
22. A lot of times people will stop
right there and say, alright, see there? It's the Spirit that
came forth by His own will. That Spirit came forth before
God and said, I'm going to go persuade King Ahab. But look
at verse 22. And the Lord said unto him, wherewith?
And he said, I will go forth and I will be a lying spirit
in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade
him and prevail also, go forth and do so. Now look at verse
23. Now therefore behold, the Lord
hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets,
and the Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee. I didn't say
the Lord did evil. concerning him. It said the Lord
spoke evil concerning him. The Lord is the one who sent
the lying spirit. The lying spirit didn't just
come up out of nowhere and say, it's the same as with Job. Satan
didn't come up to God on his own accord and say, hey, won't
you let me go down there and take everything away from Job
and prove to you that he won't worship you if you take all your
blessings away. No. God called him forth. Just as God called this lying
spirit forth. And God sent, and God sent, God
sent the lying spirit. Brethren, we can't wrestle with
the scriptures. They're the truth. I can't say God doesn't do that
whenever it explicitly says that God did it. It's hard to reason
that away even when it's so explicit. Look at 2 Thessalonians if you
would. Hopefully you all haven't checked out on me yet. 2 Thessalonians
chapter 2, look with me if you would at verse 11. And for this cause, God shall send them strong delusion
that they should believe a lie. Now, brethren, I know the context
that this is in, and you can put this context wherever you
want, whether it be present or whether it be in the future.
You put it wherever you want, but the fact remains, the fact
that this passage that says, for this cause, God shall send
them strong delusion that they should believe a lie, must put
the category within our mind that God has the right, the power,
and the righteousness to send a strong delusion to believe
a lie and not do anything against His holiness or justice. God shall send them a strong
delusion to believe a lie. Brethren, I think we are seeing
that God, whether it is positively in the giving of understanding,
the giving of spiritual life, the giving of spiritual truth,
the understanding of the gospel, the receiving of the gospel,
that God is the one that has to give that. But also God is
in control and He is the one who decides who does not get
that. And He is the one who has blinded
the eyes. that has stopped the ears, that
has kept the person from receiving within their heart. It is God
who has done that. Whether He does that, I know
the arguments against all the people that's against absolute
predestination. I know the arguments that are,
well, God does that passively. He just lets them go and they
do that themselves. God created them in that way
that they cannot receive it. God created them without hearing
ears. He created them without seeing
eyes. He created them without a fleshly
heart that could receive those things. He created them without
the Spirit of God in them to give them understanding. So God
created them. He is the first cause of all
causes. Therefore God has made man in
such a way that he cannot come to God, and if he chooses to
bring some to God, he must be the one in his power to give
them the ability to come. And if he does so, but doesn't
do it to everybody, that's his choice. He can have mercy on
whom he will have mercy. He will have compassion on whom
he will have compassion. He will damn one and he will
save another. And that's His choice. So I'm
pretty for sure God controls all things that pertain to these
things. Look if you would with me at
Isaiah chapter 37. Isaiah chapter 37. Well brother, I got mixed up in the verse I was going
to look at here. It's a 46, Isaiah 46. Scriptures say, to whom will
ye liken me? Verse five, I'm sorry. And make
me equal, and compare me that we may be like. They lavish gold
out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith,
and he maketh a god. They fall down, yea, they worship.
They bear him upon their shoulder, they carry him, and set him in
his place. and he standeth from his place,
shall he not remove? Yea, one shall cry unto him,
yet can he not answer, nor save him out of his trouble? Remember
this, and show yourselves, man, bring it again to mind, O ye
transgressors. Remember the former things of
old, for I am God, and there is none else. I am God, and there
is none like me. Brethren, whenever we speak of
God having the right, the power to give to some and not to give
to others, to reveal and to blind, to save and to damn, all we can
say is He is God and there is no other. He has no equals. Look if you would with me at
Matthew chapter 6. Matthew chapter 6. Look at verse
9. speaking to his disciples said
this after this manner therefore pray ye our father which art
in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be
done on earth as it is in heaven we know that god is the god of
heaven he is the god of earth his will is being done and the
armies of the heavens and among the inhabitants of the earth,
right? That's because he's God. We can't
tell him otherwise. And here Jesus is saying that
his kingdom has come and that thy will be done, not only in
heaven. God isn't just working out his
will in heaven, but God is doing all his will in earth. He is
ruling over earth. While you're in Matthew, look
at Matthew 28. Jesus said, pray Father, but
whenever we pray Father, we are praying to Christ. Christ is
our Father. He is the everlasting Father.
But Matthew 28, look at verse 18. And Jesus came and spake
unto them. Now who is the them that He's
talking about here? Well, if you look back in context,
it's the church. It's the church that Jesus had
gathered from the back, those who have been baptized of John,
and then after that were being baptized by all the apostles
that Jesus had called. They were all gathered up into
the mount after Jesus had resurrected from the grave, okay? After he
came back to life, he told them all. He told the women, he told
the disciples, and he told the apostles. Go up into the mountain
that I told you and I'm going to meet you there. And so the
11 disciples and the women and the rest of the congregation
was all there on the mountain with them. And this is what Jesus
said to that gathered assembly. He said, all power is given unto
me in heaven and in earth. All power is given to me in heaven
and in earth. Okay, so now we see that the
God that we've been talking about that gives the eyes to see, that
gives the ears to hear, or that hides truth, hides understanding,
hides all these things, the one who does that is the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's the one that's been given
power to do all these. As a matter of fact, Jesus was
the one who was sitting on the throne when Isaiah came and saw him
and heard what he heard. Go make this people's heart fat,
okay? That was Jesus. But here we see
explicitly Jesus is saying, I'm the one that has been given power
in heaven and earth. I'm the one who is at God's right
hand, meaning that I'm the one who has been given the authority
to carry out all the decree and purpose of God. That's me. That's Christ. Why? Because all
the fullness of God is Christ. It's in him. He is the image,
the outward visible showing of that invisible God. And He is
the one who has got all power to carry out all the things that
God has declared the end from the beginning. And that includes
who is revealed and who it's not been revealed to. Right?
Look at Deuteronomy chapter 4. And then we'll end with the last
verse, which is the verse in question. Deuteronomy chapter 4. Look at verse 39. Know therefore this day and consider
it in thy heart that the Lord he is God in heaven above and
upon the earth beneath, now pay close attention, there is none
else. There's none else. So there's
only one God, right? Hear, O Israel, the Lord our
God is one God. Thou shalt have no other gods
before me. That doesn't mean that there
are gods, he just Don't set up anything else as a God before
me because there is no other God but me. I am the only God. I am the true God. And we find
that that God is found in the face of Jesus Christ. He has
been given power over all flesh to give eternal life to as many
as have been given to Him. And He has been given power over
all flesh to deny life to all that have not been given to Him.
Christ has that power and Him alone in heaven and upon this
earth. Now, in John chapter 12, like
I said, I'm just about to the end
here. John chapter 12 and in verse 31 we read, Actually, not 31, let's back
up. Verse 23, this is before Jesus
goes to the cross. Jesus answered, saying, The hour
has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall on the ground
and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, bring it forth
much fruit. He that loveth his life shall
lose it. He that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto
life eternal. If any man serve me, Let him
follow me, and where I am, there shall also my servant be. If
any man serve me, him will my father honor. Now is my soul
troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour.
But for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy
name. Then came there a voice from
heaven, saying, I have glorified it, and will glorify it again. The people, therefore, that stood
by and heard it, said that it thundered. Others said an angel
spake to him. And Jesus answered and said,
This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. Now is
the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this
world be cast out, and I, if I be lifted up from the earth,
will draw all men unto me. So here we see that Christ is
being glorified here. He is being shown to be the glory
and the power of God. And specifically here he says,
at that time, the prince of this world is being cast out. So what's the perplexity, Mike?
What's your question that God's been dealing with you on? Well,
the perplexity is this, brethren. If all that that we have just
read is true, which I believe it to be because the scriptures declare it, if all
that is true, then how are we to understand 2 Corinthians chapter
4 and verse 3 and 4? But if our gospel be hid, it
is hid to them that are lost, in whom the God of this world
hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light
of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should
shine unto them." Now, brethren, for years I've heard it preached
and I've preached it myself. As a matter of fact, I've preached
it from this pulpit. I've preached it from this pulpit within this
last year. that the god of this world is
satan but seeing the evidence of scripture that it is god who
blinds and god who reveals and that there is only one god and
that the god is god of heaven and in earth not just in heaven
and that god is revealed in christ jesus who has been given power
to give light or to not give light i have to say that in context
this is speaking of Christ himself. Therefore, verse one, therefore
seeing we have this ministry as we have received mercy, we
faint not, but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty,
not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully,
but by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every
man's conscience in the sight of God. But we've preached outwardly,
but if in preaching outwardly, Our gospel be hid, and is hid
to them that are lost, in whom the God of this world hath blinded
their minds. For we preach not ourselves,
but Jesus Christ the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus'
sake. For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness
has shined in our heart to give the light and the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. The God of this
world has blinded the minds lest they see the light of the glorious
gospel, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. The context
here, brethren, is God giving light. Now, I know in our Bibles
that the word God there is in lowercase letters. Whenever the
Bible was written in Greek and Hebrew and all that stuff, there
is no capital letters, there is no uppercase letters, or there
is no uppercase letters or no punctuation. But I was curious
I went back and I looked at other English translations, not new
translations, but I went back and looked at other English translations
that preceded the King James Version that were based upon
the same manuscripts that the King James Bible was based out
of. And every one of them has God
in capital letters there. Matter of fact, there was one
translation that actually worded it in such a way that in whom
this world hath been blinded by God." In capital letters. Now, I'm not saying that we should
believe it because I find other translations saying that. I'm
saying that I don't think there's anything wrong with this just
because that isn't a big G or a little g because there was
no big G little g issue whenever it was originally written. And
the translators of the King James aren't wrong for putting the
word God there. But what I'm saying is the context
of this scripture is God is the one who shines the light and
gives blindness. And I can't find anywhere else
in scripture that would corroborate that Satan is the god of this
world. Now he was called the prince
who was cast out. But if he's cast out, how is
he the god of this world? But how could he be the God of
this world when he's not God? He is an angel. He is a created
being. He is lower than God, and he
does not have power. Matter of fact, anything that
Satan does, he only does because God has commanded him to do it
and given him the ability to do what he does. Everything that
Satan does, he does because God has given him the ability, the
enabling, and the command to do so. Matter of fact, the Bible
says good and evil The Lord God, nothing happens good or evil
unless the Lord has commanded it. So if Satan does blind eyes,
he does it because God has commanded him to go do it. Satan may be
the agent that goes to cause somebody to be disturbed or cause
to be deceived or whatever, but it's God who sent him. It's God
who enabled him to do so. It is God who put the words into
his mouth to do whatever it is that he wants to deceive you
by. The lies that are in his mouth only come because God has
given him the ability. He's not saying something or
speaking out something that isn't there. Something that God has
commanded or decreed. Now, brethren, don't believe
this because I said it. search the scriptures to see
whether or not these things be true i know that most of us have
looked at it the other way that that's talking about satan there
but in light of all that we've seen today i would at least ask
that you give consideration to the fact that it is speaking
of god because god is the one who controls all things and he
is the one that gives light he is the one that hides light he
is the one that gives uh the seeing eye and the hearing ear.
And I don't think we should ever
give more credence to Satan than he deserves. And he surely is
a powerful being that the Lord has created. And more than you
or I could ever tussle with. But I can tell you, he can't
do anything that God has not given him to do. whenever God
sent him to Job and he destroyed all of Job's family and killed
them all, whenever he took all of Job's possessions and Job
was left with nothing, whenever he was struck with all the boils
from head to toe and literally had nothing else, Satan did that,
but he did that at God's discretion. He did that at God's command. and so that is explicitly seen
that satan is god's lackey he only does what god has decreed
for him to do nothing more and nothing less as with any of us
we don't do nothing more nothing less than god has decreed from
the foundation of the world there are no free atoms there are no
free molecules there are no free uh... man cannot go outside the
constraints of God's created order, no matter how much of
a scientist they are. They tried to build a tower to
heaven, and God came down and not only destroyed the tower,
but confused all of their language. But anyhow, God is the one who
does these things. All right, any questions or comments?
Anything you'd like to add, corrections or reviews? maybe there's some
other stuff in the scripture that i'm not aware of that i
didn't see uh that might uh might uh contradict what i just said if
it's so i don't want to be a contradiction of the scripture all right there
isn't anything continue to remember brother daniel and brethren and
terry uh both of them still uh still in the healing process
after their respective surgeries and for my uncle Mike. Keep them in your prayers as
well. All right, let's pray. Father, once again, we come to
you and we humbly bow before the word of God. Lord, we know
that there is no truth within us. The truth only lies within
you as Christ reveals it to us. And by that spirit, Lord, we
ask that you just teach us, grow us in the grace and knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And Father, I do pray that today
that these words that I've said, I pray that they have been in
accordance to the truth. And if not, Lord, I pray that
you would convert my heart of that thing and move me into the
truth, that you would correct me by your word. Father, we only
want to say the things which are true about our Lord. And
so, Father, we just ask now that you would continue to reveal
Christ to us, to continue to break the bonds of tradition
and religion of man, the ways of old that are not in the right
path. As the scriptures say, that we
might stand forth in the old landmarks, but not the landmarks
that have been made in the wisdom of man, but that you would set
by your spirit in truth. Lord, help us to grow in that
grace and in that knowledge of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We
thank you for this day. We thank you for the time that
we've had together. We thank you for your love and
your grace, your mercy. We thank you for salvation that's
in Christ Jesus. I pray, Lord, that if you're
in here, that your children, that you have yet to give the
understanding and bring forth in life to believe and to receive
your word. Lord, I pray that you might give
them that life today, that you might draw them by your spirit,
and that they might come confessing you. And Lord, we just thank
you so much for all that you do for us, the way you take care
of us and provide for us. And Lord, we thank you that you
do not change, and that you are dependable, that you do not lie.
And Lord, that you have done all that you have said that you
would do, not only for your people, but in the lives of the world
and the reprobate that will not escape the judgment of God for
their sin against you and your holiness. And Lord, we are grateful
to all of us who, even though we are just like them, you have
given us grace, grace that we do not deserve, that we did not
earn, but only because of your sheer mercy and compassion. And
so Lord, we thank you for that, and it's in Christ's name that
we pray.