Alright, we started off this
morning looking at 1 Corinthians chapter 1. And in that we've
seen that God has purposed to glorify Himself and that all
glory would go to Him. And that man would not be able
to glory before God. no flesh or glory in his presence.
We're not going to even have the ability to say anything.
And because, and the reason is because God has placed all of
salvation, uh, in Christ Jesus. And he's going to be a preeminent
of that. Now, um, in Jonah, I believe
it's in Jonah, brother Larry might correct me on that. I believe
it's in Jonah. The Bible says salvation is of
the Lord. Uh, Jonah learned that very well. He, uh, He knew that
it didn't matter what he wanted to do. God's purpose overruled
all things. He was not gonna go to Nineveh,
but he ended up in Nineveh by way of a whale. Well, or big
fish. We keep saying whale, but the
Bible doesn't say that. A big fish. And so, but Jonah
learned through all of that that salvation is of the Lord. And
we say that in sovereign grace circles all the time, salvation
is of the Lord. Again, taking that verse, that
can be applied across the board to every evangelical may say
that, but what we mean by that is every aspect, even the minutest
aspect of salvation is of the Lord. It's not, you know, you
and me, Jesus. You know, it's not Jesus did
his part and I've done my part, okay? Jesus didn't go as far
as he could go and then now the rest is up to us. It's not that. It's not us cooperating. You
guys have probably heard, I'm gonna give you a big 50 cent
word here, you guys have probably heard the term monergism. Monergism,
there's either monergism or synergism. Monergism means mono, meaning
one. Synergism means working together. One work, monergism means one
work. We would be considered monergists
because we believe that salvation is the work of only one, and
that's God. Where synergism, the synergist, believes that
salvation is a work of God and man. that God does His part of
dying and redeeming, and we do our part of believing and receiving. And that's synergism. But the
Bible teaches that it's of Him that we are in Christ Jesus.
It's Him that is gonna be glorified. So there is no synergism. There's
only monergism. It's one work. He does all the
work. And so we wanna look at that
a little bit, maybe some more next week, depending on how far
I can get this morning. One thing before I get into speaking
about the things that Christ is the center of and how salvation
is on all this, is the fact that we do recognize that salvation
is God's work. It's not the work of a preacher
or a church or anything like that. It's not our own personal
work. It is the work of God. Look with me, if you would, over
in Romans chapter nine, See, if you and I are in Christ,
we are in Him by the work and operation of God. We just read
that. Of Him are you in Christ Jesus?
So it's not about our decision or anything such as that. But
look at Romans chapter 9 and down in verse 16. So then, it is not of Him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Now, as I understand what is
being said there, that is talking about it has nothing to do with
whether we will to be saved or whether we work to be saved. It's not about the willing. It's
not about the working. It's not of him who willeth,
nor of him that runneth, But salvation is of God that showeth
mercy. That's why in verse 15, he said,
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So salvation is a work of God. It's rooted in God. It's provided
by God. It's accomplished by God. It's
distributed by God. It's consummated by God. And
it's God who will be glorified in that. Salvation is of the
Lord. It isn't about us doing it. I don't know how many more times
that we can say that and reiterate that to this world today that
is preaching that salvation is something that you can take or
leave. Salvation will be given. Jesus said his last words, it
is finished. It's not that it is finished,
I've died. It is finished, the transaction. The eternal covenant
was sealed in blood. He received unto himself all
for what he died for. And he will give all those whom
he died for what was received to give them. And so it's all
about Christ. But we see here, it is not of
him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God, who
gives mercy, shows mercy. So salvation is a work of God.
So that first we must know. The second thing we need to know
is that the whole of God's salvation in all of its aspects is in and
by the Lord Jesus Christ. We read again in Ephesians 1
that it's all about being in Him. Ephesians 1. You know, we just read in 1 Corinthians
that He is made of God unto every believer. Wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. So, everything that we need,
everything that God requires of sinners is in Christ. Everything
that we need done for us, Christ did for us. Everything that God
gives to sinful men, He has given to His elect in Christ. Every
bit of it. And in Ephesians 1, verse 3,
we read again, 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 has chosen us
in Him before the foundation of the world." I don't want to
get too far on that. We're going to get to that here
in a minute. But we see that the whole of salvation, all spiritual
blessings, is in Christ. So Christ is preeminent in the
salvation of His people. Salvation is God's work. Salvation
is found in Christ. And as we just read, salvation
is in Christ so that He might receive the glory and that glory
will not be from man. See, if our knowledge of God,
righteousness before God, our sanctification before God, our
redemption as the sons of God, were in any measure, in any measure,
even the most minute, to any degree, if it's determined by
us, dependent upon us, then we have room to glory. Right? But God has made Christ alone
our Savior. He's given Him the preeminence. Now, whenever we talk about the
grace of God, a lot of times we speak of the unmerited favor
of God. You know, that's kind of the,
the over generalization of the, of the definition, uh, is that
it's unmerited favor. And as we preached on several
weeks ago, the grace of God is found, uh, in, has many levels
and, and many, uh, uh, workings that he does. So if we are so
confined to the thought that grace is just limited to one
experience at one point of time whenever we received him, okay,
if we think that that is what grace was, then we've missed
a lot. If we think that just that one
experience with Christ on the cross is that point of grace,
then we've missed a lot. If we think that salvation is
that glorification whenever we are given new bodies and we go
to be with Christ for eternity, then we've missed a lot of what
grace is because grace is a lot more than that. And by grace
are you saved. And so if grace is multifaceted,
then our salvation is multifaceted. If grace is multifaceted in the
fact that there are several ways that grace is shown to the sinner,
then salvation in and of itself is multifaceted and has many
levels in which it works, not just in one particular place.
And so often we place all of that in one effort whenever we
say Christ died. Now that is very important because
it is His death that secured all the rest of it. And that's
why we preach Christ crucified. But brethren, listen, we would
be amiss if we took grace and let grace just be one tiny little
thing. See, salvation is the whole work
of grace from which we're brought from eternity to eternity. Salvation is from eternity to
eternity. It's an eternal salvation. It's
an everlasting covenant based upon an everlasting love that
God has had for his people. So we've heard the term before,
and I've used this phraseology. It's not new to me. I heard it
and learned it and have preached it. And I, you know, stand on
shoulders of other men who've said this, but, you know, I was
saved in the purpose of grace. I'm being saved by the experience
of grace or in the experience of grace, and I'm saved, will
be saved in the consummation of grace. There is a past, there's
a present, and there's a future part of our salvation. And so,
whenever we look at what happened in the past of our salvation,
we're gonna find that Christ is preeminent. When we look at
the present of our salvation, we're gonna find that Christ
is preeminent. Whenever we look at the future
of our salvation, we're also gonna find that Christ is preeminent. So, the first thing I want us
to look at is, and we'll start in the past, and we'll work our
way to the future, and we'll look at all the aspects of salvation
and where Christ is preeminent. Now, the first thing that we
will obviously have to look at if we go back to salvation past
is election. Now that's a term that not many
like. That's a doctrine that not many like. It's been the
source of much controversy. It's been the source of much
division and everything, but yet it is a biblical teaching.
It's a biblical doctrine and we must believe that if we are
given to know the things of God and to trust and believe what
God has given us in the testimony that he's recorded for us in
the scriptures, the record that's bore here for us. It teaches
this and we must believe this. And so we see that salvation
begins in election. It begins in election. We were
chosen in Christ for salvation. Turn with me to John chapter
15, In John 15, verse 16, from the lips of our
own Lord, Jesus said, John 15, verse 16, Jesus says, Ye have not chosen me, but I
have chosen you. Well, that's backwards in most
churches today. Most churches are preaching that
Jesus chooses us because we've chosen him. But that's not the
case. He chose us. Ye have not chosen
me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should
go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain,
that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he
may give it to you. So we find here that the choosing
of God's people for salvation, for producing fruit, okay, fruit,
The one who's not saved cannot produce fruit, right? It's only
those who the ground has been made good that produces fruit.
So the one who has been saved, the one who is in Christ Jesus,
is the one who will produce fruit. Abide in me, and I in you, and
you will bear much fruit. So only those who are abiding
in Christ, and that's not, by the way, abiding in Christ is
not a condition or an activity that we must do, it's a state
of being. Those who are abiding in Christ,
meaning they have been put into Christ, and their existence is
the fact that they are one with Christ Jesus. That's abiding.
You know, we've talked about this before. A branch isn't clinging
on to the vine. Just look at this tree. Them
branches aren't clinging to a tree trunk or anything. They're abiding.
Why? because they've come out of the
vine. Because they were one with the vine, they are in the vine,
and they have come out of the vine, been made manifest by the
vine. The vine grew and manifested
the branches that were in it, and the life that is in that
vine comes up through the vine, flows through the branches, and
produces fruit. The branches can't boast of bearing
fruit because the fruit came from the life that came through
the vine, through the branches, and manifested the fruit. They can't boast about being
branches because they were placed in the vine as it manifested
those branches by the life that's in itself. And so whenever the
Bible speaks about abiding in Christ, it isn't something that
we do. I have to abide. That means I have to keep myself
in the will of God. You know, we talk about we gotta
stay in the will of God, okay? We can't no more stay in the
will of God than anybody else. Why? Because everything is the
will of God. Everything is working to the will of God. And that,
to stay in the will of God, now can we obey the commands of Christ?
Yes. But brethren, that doesn't make
us anything. That doesn't keep us abiding.
We're not abiding just because we're doing works. We're abiding
because we've been put in there and the life of Christ is in
us, causing us to abide in him. And so Jesus says, you haven't
chosen me. I've chosen you to go bear forth fruit. So salvation
will bring forth fruit. But the getting saved wasn't
by our choosing. He chose us. Again, back in Ephesians
where we were a while ago, you don't have to turn there, we
just was there, but it said in verse four, even as he chose
us in him before the foundation of the world. So here again,
we've seen that the choosing is not by the sinner, the choosing
is by God. He chose us in Christ before
the foundation of the world. Now, how in the world can that
be placed upon man? How can the gospel be a free
offer if salvation is placed before the foundation of the
world? If the choosing is before the foundation of the world?
See, he didn't say, you choose. He said, I have chosen. And 2 Thessalonians, if you want
to turn there with me. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. But what I want you to notice
though in those verses, Brethren, I don't want to glide over those
too quickly, but what I want you to notice that in both of
those verses in John 15, it was Jesus who said the choosing was
taking place. He had chosen. In Ephesians chapter
1, we've seen that the choosing had to do with being in Christ. They were given to Christ. They
were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world. They
were blameless before Him because of Jesus Christ. So, our election
has to do with Christ being the center point. And in 2 Thessalonians
chapter 2, look with me down to verse 13. It says, but we
are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved
of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you
to salvation. There again, that turns the modern
world on its head. God has chosen you to salvation. That from the beginning, before
anything was, At the very initial start, God chose you to salvation
through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. Whereunto He called you by our
Gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So here we see that election
happened in the beginning and it was God who did the choosing.
We find over in 1 Peter 1. Look with me if you would at
verse 2. Elect according to the foreknowledge
of God the Father through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience
and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, grace unto you
and peace be multiplied. So here we see that we are the
elect. Of course, now he's referring
specifically, he's writing this letter. It says, Peter, an apostle
of Jesus Christ to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus,
Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect. He's calling
those strangers, which we also know that the Bible teaches that
we are strangers and pilgrims here, right? That the strangers
that he's talking about are those Christians who were scattered
from Jerusalem. Those first Christians who was
part of the Jerusalem church, whenever the persecution came,
they were scattered. And now they were scattered throughout
all of these areas here. And as Christians, are as the
children of grace, children of God, as believers, those who
have been born again, he is addressing them as elect. People have a hard time, I've
even had, I've even had sovereign grace people who, you know, kind
of the weak, pink, pale imitation sovereign grace people. who say,
you know, that we kind of try to avoid that kind of language
because it's so harsh and so off-putting to so many people.
And, you know, you don't need to lead with those types of things
whenever you're trying to get people to come and all that kind
of stuff. Well, brother, that's the biblical language. What are
you, you have a problem with biblical language? I mean, if
the Bible calls us the elect, why do we have a problem calling
ourselves the elect? Why would we have an issue with the elect
whenever God himself has called us the elect? Whenever he, in
the scripture, by his men writing these things, addressed the people
of God as the elect. elect according to what? The
foreknowledge of God. Now again, I know we don't have
to keep going over this over and over, but I guess sometimes
we do. The foreknowledge of God is not God looking down through
time and seeing who will choose him. You can't find that anywhere
in the scriptures. Even in the places that the people
that believe that go to, they say that for those whom he foreknew,
aha, see God foreknew them and then he predestined them because
he foreknew them. No, no, no, no, no. It doesn't
say for what he foreknew, right? It says for whom he foreknew.
Here it says the elect according to the foreknowledge of God.
They were elect because of the foreknowledge of God. See, God
foreknowing them is what made them the elect. We have to pay
close attention to grammar, brethren. The Holy Spirit, whenever it
had these men write this, didn't just have them write willy-nilly.
Every word counts. Every detail counts. The scriptures
are perfect. Elect according to the foreknowledge
of God. We are elect according to the
foreknowledge of God. So foreknowledge must not mean
looking down the corridor of time. It must mean something
else. Well, if you look through the scripture and you'll see
how the King James translators translated the word foreknowledge,
you'll find that that word foreknowledge means that God knew us in an
intimate way. He loved us. That word means
to forelove. And I've used the example here
on many occasions, whenever it talked about Mary didn't know
a man, that word no, there's the same root word for foreknow,
and that word no just means didn't have an intimate relationship
with a man to have conceived a child, okay? And so God has
an intimate, special love for his people. He has loved us with
an, everlasting love, right? And so we are elect according
to the for loving of God. Now that for loving of God was
translated in the fact that God chose us. Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. Remember where that, you know,
Paul quoted that in Romans nine as to give a defense for election. In Romans nine, Paul tells the
Jews that you're not elect because you're an Israelite of Abraham,
you're elect because you're of the spiritual seed of Christ
that Abraham typified. You're elect because of grace,
not because of your linearity or genealogy, okay? The Israelites, the Jews, are
not elect because they're Jews. They're elect because of faith
that's given to them, showing that they are the seed of Christ.
Now, elect according to the foreknowledge of God, but brethren, it's all
because of the sprinkling of the blood of Christ. That's the only way that we can
be the elect and God be just, is the sprinkling and honor of
God. But notice, the elect is according to election. Election
is first. I have a lot of Reformed men
who says, well, salvation is not election. Salvation is of grace through
faith. It's by faith alone. Because
I believe in eternal justification. because I believe in eternal
salvation. And so they'll say, election is not salvation. Well,
brother, right here, it tells me that we are elect according
to the foreknowledge of God, and that that coupled with what
we read in Timothy, 2 Timothy 1.9, that salvation and the calling
was according to the purpose of God. in Christ Jesus before
the foundation of the world. And here we're saying that that
love that he loved with an everlasting love and that he bestowed that
love on some and not others is surely because he has chosen
us before the foundation of the world, Ephesians. Look at all
those verses and see that's how God has given us the record of
our salvation. Our salvation begins and starts
with the fact that God chose to love Jacob and not Esau. He chose to love a set of people
and not to set love upon another people. And if you go back to
Malachi where Paul was preaching that passage, In Malachi chapter
1, we see that it does hold true. Paul was using God loving Jacob
and not Esau as a defense for sovereign, personal, particular
election. And in Malachi, you find that
Malachi himself is told that this is true. Whenever he says
in chapter 1 verse 2, he says, or starting in verse one, the
burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. Now remember,
brethren, whenever it talks about Israel and its type here in the
Old Testament, the national people, we know that that's referring
to the spiritual people of God, because in the New Testament,
we are told that those who are of, not all that are of Israel
are Israel, are Israel. Okay, so that means that not
all the people that are nationally Israel or ethnically Israel are
Israel, but Israel is determined or Israel is the state of being
a spiritual child of God, not a physical child of God, okay?
The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi, I
have loved you, saith the Lord, yet ye say, where hast thou loved
us? So now God's going to show what
is the determination of His love. Was not Esau Jacob's brother? Saith the Lord. Yet I loved Jacob,
and I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste
for the dragons of the wilderness. So here God gives proof to Israel
that He loved them And the showing of that love was that he chose
them and not Esau. And that's what Paul is making
in Romans chapter nine. The distinction is that you are
elect, if you're a child of grace, because God has loved you. and
set that love upon you. And that he has the right to
choose the vessels of honor. He has the right because it is
not of him that willeth or him that runneth. It is not of the
will or of the blood. It is not of anything that has
to do with your ethnicity, your growing up. to all the Pedo-Baptists
out there that believe that it's about family generations and
being a part of the covenant of the family and all that kind
of stuff. It's not that. It has to do with
God's foreknowing, foreloving, having an intimate, personal,
individual relationship with you before the foundation of
the world and giving you to Christ. Your election was before the
foundation of the world and it was because of Jesus Christ. And it's because of that sprinkling
of the blood of Jesus Christ that grace came unto you and
peace was multiplied. So we see that in election, Jesus
Christ is preeminent. It's because of him and for him
that God has elected a people. You were chosen for Jesus. You were put in Jesus. Didn't
Jesus ratify that very doctrine whenever He said, all that the
Father giveth me shall come to me, and all that come to me I
will in no wise cast out? Didn't Jesus also pray in John
chapter 17 that all thine are mine? Thou hast given them me,
all that Thou hast given me. I pray for them, I do not pray
for the world, I pray for them that Thou hast given me. See,
we're elect according to the foreknowledge or the foreloving
of God, but it's based on and because of Jesus Christ. Jesus
is preeminent in our election. But now we find in Romans, and
you want to turn back to Romans chapter 8, we find that after election, foreknowing, foreloving,
we find that there is predestination. A lot of times people like to
kind of swap them around. They think predestination is
before everything else. God predestinated us to be elected,
but He actually elected us to be predestinated. Okay? Romans chapter 8 and verse 29, Well, matter of fact, just to
tie it into what we had talked about in the first session, go
back just a couple of, or go back a verse, verse, well, no,
verse 28, I'm sorry, 28. And we know that all things work
together for the good to them that love God, to them who are
the called, according to His purpose, who saved us and called
us with a holy calling. We are the called according to
His purpose. We are the ones called to salvation. And when were we called to salvation? Well, if you remember, we've
talked about this before, there are several different callings
that the scripture talks about. There is an eternal calling,
and then there is an experiential or timely calling, and there
will be a future calling, a calling to Himself. to be with Him. Where I am, there they may be
also. We will be called to be with Him. But we're talking here
about the calling that precedes all things, and that is in the
eternal aspect. We have been called. We are the
called according to His purpose. To them that love God, to them
who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He did
foreknow. Again, remember, I want to reiterate
that it's for whom, not for what. God didn't foreknow an action
of someone choosing. God foreknew a person who was
called. For whom He did foreknow, He
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son. So now
we see that there is predestination. There's predestination that's
part of our salvation. Election is part of our salvation.
Predestination is part of our salvation. And here particularly,
predestination is a predestinating to be conformed to the image
of Christ, right? That he might 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. So here's a second call, right?
So there is a calling that was before the foundation of the
world, that's his foreknowing or that's his foreknowledge,
his loving us with an everlasting love before the foundation of
the world. But here we see that there's a calling that comes
to those who are predestinated to be conformed to the image
of God. The ones who are predestined to be conformed to the image
of God, he calls to himself. Those whom He called, He also
justified, and whom He justified, them He also glorified. And what shall we say to these
things? If God before us, who can be
against us? And so we see that we are foreknown
to be, or excuse me, that we are predestinated to be conformed
to the image of Christ. So even the predestination in
salvation is centered around the Lord Jesus Christ because
the predestination of salvation is to the conforming of His Son.
That's why you were saved, so that you would be conformed to
His Son. That is gonna be the outworking
or the end game, the final portion of our salvation is that there
will be a conforming to His Son. that we might be conformed to
his son. So in predestination, we see that Jesus is preeminent,
that he is the center point. And back in Ephesians again,
if you don't want to turn there since we've read it a couple
of times, in Ephesians chapter one, verse five, we see, having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ, to himself according to the good
pleasure of his will. So we are being conformed to the image of Christ and we're
being predestinated unto the adoption of children by Jesus
Christ. So Jesus Christ in predestination
of conforming and adoption, of course we learn that adoption
has to take place with not only us becoming a part of his family,
Okay, we weren't in his family, but now we are in his family.
That is what most people say, but if you look at scripture,
we find that we are waiting for the adoption. We're still waiting
for the adoption. What is the adoption? Well, the
adoption is this body, but not this body, the resurrected body. The resurrected body is what
we're waiting for, and that's the adoption. See, we already
are His, we're already family, we're already in Christ Jesus
in the spiritual aspect, but in the physical aspect, we're
still flesh of Adam. And we're waiting for the adoption
of that new body and the conforming to the image of Christ. And again,
this kind of goes with some of the teaching that we've talked
about, that the image of Christ, there's only one place the scripture
talks about the image of God and that's the body of Jesus
Christ. And we learned that that body that he had after the resurrection
will be the first fruits of all those who follow after him. That
will be us looking like him, being like him, whenever it's
all said and done with our resurrected body, being conformed to the
image of Christ. So, Our predestination of conforming
and adopting of the body will be according to his purpose,
but by Jesus Christ. So Jesus Christ becomes preeminent
in our predestination. And I would say, although it
lies outside of our topic of salvation, but I would say that
even in the predestination of all things, that Jesus is preeminent
also, because he works after the counsel of his own will,
being Christ Jesus. Jesus is the one who is working
all things after the counsel of God's own will. He's the one
that was given that scroll to open up and to bring forth all
of the things purposed by God. All right, the third thing I
want us to look at, we see election, we see predestination is all
centered upon Jesus Christ. And all that was before the foundation
of the world, had nothing to do with us. But the third thing
we see and the aspect of salvation is redemption. All of our salvation,
the basis of that is the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. All of
that is on the basis of Jesus Christ. The only way that God
could have chosen a people that would have come out of a sin
environment, the only way that he could love us and bring us
to himself to save us, to justify us, is through a redemptive work
of Christ. So even though he chose us before
the foundation of the world, before sin even entered into
the world, the fact that the people that he had chosen would
be from that one lump of natural sinful humanity, there had to
be a just way to continue to love them and to show grace and
mercy and to save them and to bring them to himself again.
And that only way was through a redemptive work. bringing them
to Himself through the work of Jesus Christ. So Jesus Christ,
He becomes preeminent in our redemption. And brethren, this
is the heart of the Gospel here. Look at Galatians 3 if you would.
Galatians 3 and verse 13. Galatians 3 verse 13. It says, Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For
it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on the tree, that
the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through
Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through
faith. So here we see that Christ has redeemed us from the curse
of the law. What was the curse of the law?
Was it the law itself? Was the law itself a curse? The
curse of the law was the fact that we couldn't keep the law.
We were made and conceived in sin. We come from Adam. Adam sinned. And as our natural head, as the progenitor of all humanity,
we too are sinners. Sin and death entered into the
world by one man, Adam. And sin and death passed upon
all men. That means every man that came
from the loins of Adam comes into this world with sin and
death. That's the curse. We are cursed
in that aspect. And the law, the Bible says,
was given so that we might see that sin. The law was given so
that the transgression might be seen. Matter of fact, the
Bible says that the law entered in because of transgressions. The law came in not to tell you
how to keep from sinning, The law didn't come in to tell you
how to be good or right before God. The law didn't come in as
a way to keep those things and be pleasing to God. The whole
purpose that God give a law and a standard that no man could
keep was to show us that we, in and of ourselves, in the basis
of who we are, from the very beginning in our father Adam,
that we as a people, as the created, cannot be God, nor can we attain
to be God, nor can we please God. You say, well, that's kind
of crazy. Why would he make a creation
for that? So that he might have the glory. He has created all in vanity,
right? Isn't that what the writers of Ecclesiastes says? That all has been made vanity. We've all been subject to vanity. Why? So that he might be made
preeminent. All of us has been created in
sin so that we, once seeing the law, for those who have been
given spiritual eyes, can see, I cannot measure up, there is
only one way of salvation, by the free grace of God found in
the finished work of Jesus Christ alone. See, every time the law
comes down on me, every time I try to not sin, and I do sin,
what does that remind me of? I can't work to salvation. The
law reminds me that I am not holy. The law reminds me that
I have no ability to keep the law. And so the law points me
to Jesus, who kept the law, who paid the price, who made salvation
free for all of his people. And so the law The curse of the
law is that I can't keep it. The curse of the law is that
it will always condemn me. I will always be, no matter if,
even if today, and I've used this illustration, even if today,
if there was even a possible way that today, Mike Smith decides,
from now on, I'm not ever sinning again. I'm gonna keep the law
and say I memorize every word that's in this book. and I keep
that. I go out and I keep that in word,
in deed, in thought. If I keep all that, you know
what? I'm still disqualified. You know why? Because I have
a past that didn't keep it. So even if you think because
all of a sudden now you've been made a Christian that you can
now turn around and become holy as he is holy in experience,
and walk in perfection. Brother Larry and them knows
about this. They were taught that in the churches that they
come up through, that people believe that you can be perfected
in this lifetime and walk without sinning. That is ridiculous. Nobody can keep from sinning. That's what the law came in to
do. That's the curse of the law. The curse of the law always tells
us that you are not worthy. You can't keep it. But it says
here that Christ has redeemed us from that curse. You are worthy. You are acceptable. You have
kept the law. You are perfect and holy as He
is holy. Not in your own self, but in
Him. In Christ we are perfect. In
Christ we are holy. In Christ we have kept every
law Because that's been laid to our account. Mike Smith has
stamped on him, law fulfilled. Mike Smith has perfect. Mike
Smith has holy. But that stamp is in blood. Christ's
blood. Because of that. So we have redemption
because of Christ, because He was cursed for us. In Ephesians again, one, seven,
you might as well put your finger in Ephesians one. We'll probably
bounce back and forth to that a hundred times. But again, in
Ephesians one, again, we find down in verse seven, in whom,
speaking of Christ again, in whom we have redemption through
his blood. the forgiveness of sins, according
to the riches of His grace. So again, we see that redemption
is because of Christ. It's His blood that was our redemption. Redemption shows Christ is preeminent. In Hebrews chapter 9 and verse
12, Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 12, Paul writes this by the Spirit,
neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His, speaking
of Christ again, verse 11 tells us that, but by His own blood,
He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption for us. Now again, It's by not blood
of goats and bulls. Those Old Testament saints were
not saved by the sacrificial system in the Old Testament.
I don't know how many people believe that and teach that,
but I know they believed that there was a different way that
the Old Testament people were saved. They were saved by the blood
of bulls and goats. They were saved by keeping the
law. If they kept the law, they wouldn't die. That's true, if
they kept the law, they wouldn't die, but it never was, if you
keep the law, you'll have eternal salvation. It was never that. What does he say here? By the
blood of him, Christ, he entered in once into the holy place,
having obtained eternal redemption for us. So our redemption is
predicated upon the blood of Jesus Christ. But notice there,
side note, the redemption is eternal. Brother Larry pointed
this out clear a few weeks ago. Eternal is just as much backwards
as it is forwards. Eternal doesn't have a point
of time. If we've been redeemed, we were
redeemed eternally backward as far as we are eternally forward. However, it's preached that eternal
redemption is something that happens when we accept Jesus,
right? Then eternal life begins, then eternal salvation begins,
eternal redemption begins, eternal glorification begins. Well, brethren,
if it starts at a point of contact somewhere, then it's not eternal. it may be long lasting, you could
probably say that, long lasting because it goes on from that
point forward. But if it says eternal redemption,
then that means that there is a redemption that was given to
us based on the blood of Jesus before the foundation of the
world. But I would put that the place that he entered into the
holy place wasn't on the cross. But that holy place was the temple
in heaven, that the lower temple, where the sacrifice is typified,
was built after. And where that cross also signified
was the place where his blood was shed. But he entered into
that holy place before the foundation of the world as the Lamb slain. This is speaking of an eternal
redemption. And he entered into that holy place having, having, obtained eternal redemption for
us. Look at verse 24 in that chapter,
you'll see where I'm getting that from. But Christ is not entered into
the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the
true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence
of God for us. See, he appeared into the holy
place, not made with hands, which the figures below were made after. See, all the things that were
made below, the tent of meeting, and the tabernacle that was the
tent tabernacle, then the rectified, the erected temple, stone temple
that came up, and all the ones that followed after that after
it was destroyed and rebuilt again, all those temples, it
wasn't there that he entered in. And it wasn't a temple or a place
constructed by hands made of two beams of wood. but it was when he appeared in
heaven itself. And now, he appears in there,
in the presence of God for us. He's ever living to intercede.
Remember, I was telling you that the blood is what is interceding
for us. That blood has been interceding for us before the foundation
of the world. It interceded for us in the fact that God declared
us just because of the blood of Jesus Christ that would be
shed, yes, in time, but that blood was the interceding blood.
He entered into that place not made with hands in heaven itself
with his blood as the very thing that would bring redemption for
us. Look at 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2, verse 24. Again, Christ is in, verse 21
tells us that this is speaking of Christ. But verse 24 says,
Who His own self bear our sins in His own body on the tree that
we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness by whose
stripes we have been healed. So here we see again that it
is by the work of Christ that we have been healed, redeemed. Look at chapter three in verse
18. It says, for Christ who hath once suffered for sins, the just
for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to
death in the flesh, but quickened in the spirit. So Christ has
suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might
bring us to God. That's redemption. Bringing us
to God is the redeeming. He redeemed us to God. Brought
us back to God. Why? Because we went astray,
right? We went astray in Adam. We went
astray. But He redeemed us to Himself. So brethren, Christ is the center
of our redemption. Now, one thing we can learn about
this redemption is because it's based upon Christ and no work
on our own of what we do, it's a just redemption. God is just
in redeeming us because it was by Christ Jesus. We also learn,
as we've seen in some of these verses, the particular wording
of that, it's a particular redemption. It was only for a certain people
that this was done, and it was the people that were foreknown.
It was the people that God loved and not hated. It was the people
that God gave to Christ and put in Him before the foundation
of the world. That's who the redemption is.
Those are the people He's redeeming. Remember, the Bible says that
we are lost sheep. We talk about the lost, and I've
used this term, and I still sometimes slip up and use it in this, and
we talk about those who are not saved as the lost, you know,
well, they're just lost. Well, actually, really, it's
only the elect who are lost. The others aren't sheep, they're
goats. The only sheep that are lost are the sheep of God. Those
are those. And remember, Jesus said that
the reason that you believe is because you're my sheep. So the
only reason that we believe on him is because we were already
sheep, but it was sheep that had gone astray. And he, in the
parable of, in that parable, what does he do? He goes out
and he, this good shepherd, He goes out and gets all his sheep.
Remember Jesus said, other sheep I have that are not of this fold,
them too I must bring. Why does he, how come he must
bring those? Because according to the eternal
covenant, all that he died for must be saved, must come to him,
must come to the father. Go ahead, brother. This is the
only record we have of eternal adoption. Adoption is usually
after the fact, but this is before the fact. And by the way, if
you ever want to do a word study on adoption, it's only meant And Romans 8, 15 talks about
we already have received the spirit of adoption. Amen. You know, we have not received
the spirit of bondage, but we received the spirit of adoption
whereby we cry, I have a father. The other thing is, yes, it is
related to the adoption or the redemption of our body, but it's
not only related just to that. It's also in Romans 9, 4, It
describes the Israelites getting certain benefits of being eternally
adopted. And the benefits are the service
of God. And I've read that, I don't know
how many times. What is the service of God? It's
everything that He's done for us. And also this adoption contains
the glory, the covenants, The giving of the law, the service
of God, and the promises. This all is connected to the
adoption. And then, like you were saying earlier, and this
is beautiful in Galatians 4-5, it talks about as adoptive sons
that the benefits of the adoption of sons is to redeem them that
were under the law. Anyway, I just, because of my
experiences in the past with adoption and so on, I've talked
about this before, this is a beautiful aspect to me because to be eternally
adopted, this is an absolute evidentiary fact before knowledge.
If God loved us before the foundation, if he chose us before the foundation,
and if he predestinated us unto adoption, that is evidence that
we have been eternally adopted. Man. Amen. Well, there may be
some part of adoption there that I don't fully know enough of. So, that's good, brother. That
is true. And at the base of it all is,
you know, whether it's something actually in time, the adoption.
Adoption speaks of someone that something doesn't belong to or
with. being made a part of that. And that's kind of the thing.
The Bible says that, you know, I am God, there's none like me.
He says, I am that I am. There are no other gods. And so the fact that we have
been put in Jesus and that we have been made inheritors like
Jesus, the fact that we've been adopted means that we're not
the same as him. But yet he accepts us as him,
just like Larry's made, you know, through where he used to work,
you know, that adoption of children. You know, it is someone who was
not in my family, but I've made them a part of my family. And
now they're considered as my family. I have a stepdad, you
know, and whenever he married my mom, I was just about a year
old. And my whole entire life, he
has treated me as if I was actually his own child. Now, he never
legally adopted me, but that didn't matter because with his
life and with his action and with his love, he showed that
he adopted me. He showed me that he considered
me as his own son. because of the way that he loved
me. I think that's kind of what Larry
might be talking about there, is that the adoption is an eternal
thing. He loved us with a love, but
he loved the people that was not him and is not part of him,
but made them a part of him. Yeah, it was a foregone conclusion
that he would be destined as an idol. Absolutely. And so adoption goes
back as far as it does go forward or at a specific time. And so
yes, that, uh, it's a beautiful thing to see that. Uh, because
I know like with, like I said to myself, you know, to know
that all those years that Theo loved me, even though I wasn't
his, he could have easily said, Hey, you're not my real kid.
You're someone else's real kid. And you know, I ain't got nothing
to do with you. Don't want to have anything to
do with you. And you know, Nothing to mine is yours, but yet my
brother who is his you know He gets everything and treated right
and all that kind of stuff. No, he didn't do that he treated
me just as much as he treated my brother who was his blood
son and We see that in the same regards as we see This God treats
us his adopted sons just as much as he does his real son and And
again, like I mentioned last week, I can't fathom that. I
don't understand that. And honestly, it's just more
than it overwhelms me that that is true. But what a beautiful
truth of scripture that that is. Well, that redemption, as I said,
it's a just one and it's a particular one. But brother, that redemption
is effectual. I've mentioned that already this
morning. And it's effectual redemption. He didn't make redemption possible. Okay, and that's, I so regret
the years of preaching that redemption is something that's possible
if you will, whatever. Redemption is not a possibility
or an offer. Redemption is an act that Jesus
actually did on the cross He redeemed us for Himself. And so, there was a redeeming. There wasn't a making redemption
possible. And I don't know any clearer,
a better wording of that I can make, other than the fact that
He redeemed us is just that. It's a fact. It's a state that
we are in. We are redeemed. All those before
the cross, were redeemed because of the blood of Jesus Christ.
They didn't get redeemed, they were redeemed because of the
blood of Christ. And everyone after the cross
are redeemed because of the blood of Christ. And so that redemption
is effectual. Well, we'll stop right there.
We've got several more aspects of salvation that we'll look
at, and we'll, don't know if we'll get through it all even
next week, seeing as the way that this kind of went, but,
Next week we'll look at justification. This is kind of another one of
those controversial subjects on what's the basis of our justification
and when was justification declared? That's kind of a issue that theologians
discuss. But anyway, I believe Of course,
you guys know, I believe that our justification is an eternal
justification, and it's not based upon our faith. It was based
upon the finished work of Jesus Christ, His faith. not his faith
given to us, his actual faith in his obedience to God and his
death on the cross and resurrection. That is the work of righteousness
and upon that righteousness is justification built. And so I
believe that it is eternal justification by grace alone based upon the
work of Christ alone. And so we'll pick that up and
we'll see but again We see in all these aspects so far that
Jesus is preeminent in that It has nothing to do with us. Anybody
got anything anything to add to that brother? Brother mark.
Do you have a scripture that you want to read for us? I know
you weren't here whenever we normally do it, but if you have
it you still can read it. I Where are we going to be at? Psalm 105. Psalm 105. We'll do thanks unto the Lord.
Call upon his name. Make known his deeds among your
people. Sing unto him. Sing songs unto
him. Talk ye of all his wondrous works.
Glory ye in his holy name. Let the heart of them rejoice
and seek the Lord. Seek the Lord and his strength,
seek his face forevermore. Remember his marvelous works
that he hath done, his wonders, the judgments of his mouth. For
you see that Abraham was sick, be sure of him, Jacob, his children.
Amen. Amen. That's good, brother. That's good. Well, that's kind
of what we've done today, right? That's what we've done today. We give
thanks. for his and made known the deeds
among his people. We sang unto him, we talked of
his wondrous works, we are glorying in his name, and we remember
his marvelous works which he has done, the judgments of his
mouth, what he has declared, So great scripture, brother.
The Lord was really in bringing that this morning to go along
with what was said. All right. All right. Well, let's bow and we'll have
a word of prayer and we'll have lunch. Father, we thank you today
for Jesus Christ. We thank you, Father, for the
work of salvation in all of its aspects and how Christ in that
is preeminent. And Father, our heart's desire
this morning is that Christ might be exalted, as it is in every
aspect of our lives. And then every time we meet together,
we pray that we might exalt Jesus Christ, that we might not exalt
a man, that we might not exalt a system of theology, that we
might not exalt a church or anything, Lord, that is carnal and of the
flesh, but Lord, that truly, that we might glory in the marvelous
works of God and all that he has done through his son. And
Lord, we just ask today that you might bless this time that's
been given for us to be together. And I'm thankful for all those
that you've brought here today. And I pray, Lord, that the words
of scripture and the teaching today has been pleasing first
and foremost to you, Lord. I pray that it's been of truth
and that I've not spoken error or of my own opinions, but that
I've spoke of Christ and of his word and the testimony found
in it. And Lord, I also pray that you have used these things
to edify your people. I pray, Lord, that they've been
built up in the faith because of the things that they've heard
and the Savior that they have. And Lord, that how salvation
is all of God, and because of that, it cannot be gained. But
the greater comfort that it gives us, Father, is that we can't
lose it. because it has nothing to do with our doings. And so
we're so thankful for this free salvation that is in Christ.
Father Lord, I just pray now that you'll bless the food and
the fellowship around the table together. May it also be honoring
to you and how we fellowship together. May our food be blessed
to the nourishment of our bodies. And Lord, we thank you for these
ladies who have taking the time to provide these things and to
bring these things to us and Lord we just ask that you just
might continue to be among us as we meet to continue to build
your people up in the faith and Lord be with us now as we leave
this place this week that we might be witnesses of Christ
and bear the testimony of God in our daily lives as we're around
all those that you've put us around and by providence father
we pray that you would make opportunity that you might allow us to speak
and minister to the things of Christ and that if there's any
of your sheep that are out there that are still astray, Lord,
we pray that they might be brought to you and that, Lord, that they
might come and that they might fellowship with your people and
that they might be under the truth of God, the gospel of Jesus
Christ, and then, Lord, that we might be able to worship you
in spirit and in truth. Again, we thank you for this
time together and may you be honored and glorified. For it's
in Jesus' name we pray, amen.