It was actually 1986. You wished
it wasn't that long. I want to say in the beginning
what a privilege, honestly a privilege, to be here, for you having me,
for Todd inviting me, and it's a privilege to preach with these
men whom I'm preaching with. Are we to be fans of preachers? Well, I'm sure a fan of some. And Gabe and John and Donnie. Donnie was at that meeting where
the Lord, he preached in that meeting. He was a young preacher then. 1986. And I heard the gospel
from him. And I love him because of that. If you would turn with me to
Ephesians chapter one, I want to use verse six as my text,
and let me say in the beginning that most of you here tonight
who sit under the sound preaching that you sit under know these
things that I'm about to say, but there are many who don't,
many in this world, the majority of this world, And here in Ephesians chapter
one, verse six, the Apostle Paul wrote, to the praise of the glory
of His grace. Whose grace? God's grace. God's grace. Wherein He hath
made us, the believer, the elect, the child of God, accepted, accepted
in the Beloved. I recently received a phone call
from an acquaintance of mine. And he said, I want to tell you
something. He was all excited. And he wanted me to know that
he had accepted Jesus. And I'll be honest with you,
when he told me that, I cringed. And he said, I don't know if
you understand what I'm saying. He said, I got saved. And I cringed
even more. Folks think they accept God when
it's God that does the accepting of His people. Man doesn't accept God. If a
sinner's saved, he's accepted in, by, and through the Lord
Jesus Christ, as John so ably told us. That word accepted means
to consent to receive something that is offered. And the word
offer means to accept or reject something as you so desire. In other words, if you desire
to accept something, you can, and if you desire to reject something,
you can't. The decision is yours to make.
Is that true in salvation? Not according to the Scriptures.
We're accepted in the Beloved. You know who that Beloved is,
don't you? the one that we love, the Lord Jesus Christ, the one
that loved us. And we love him because he loved
us. The preaching of the gospel,
the means of salvation, friends, is not an offer that we accept
or reject. And it's a command that must
be obeyed. God in his words does not say,
I'd like to offer you salvation. Does it anywhere in the scriptures
did the Lord say that? I'm going to offer you salvation.
If you so desire, you can have it. If you don't, you can reject
it. God in His Word says, Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Thou shalt be saved. No doubt
about it. Also meaning that if you don't
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you'll be lost and condemned
forever. And that brings me to the next
thing. The gospel is not a request to be accepted or rejected. Does
God invite us to believe? It's not an invitation that we
RSVP. You know, you get an invitation
to a birthday party or something, and it says, please RSVP. You
know, I never really knew what that meant, but I looked it up,
and it means to respond if you please. We don't RSVP God's command
to believe, do we? The gospel is believe or perish.
Turn with me to Luke chapter 14, if you would, please. Luke
chapter 14. Very familiar passage of scripture.
In verse 16 of Luke 14, I'll give you a moment to get there. In verse 16, the Lord Jesus tells
a story, a parable, and He says this, A certain man made a great
supper and bade many. That word bade, that doesn't
mean invite. It means called. He called many
to come. Matter of fact, in the very next
verse, verse 17, we read, and he sent his servant at suppertime
to say to them that were bidden, those that were called, come,
for all things are now ready. He didn't send his servant to
ask, are you coming? He didn't send his servant to
say, have you RSVP'd? No. The servant said, come, for
all things are now ready. If you wanna eat, you gotta come.
If you're hungry, you come. If you aren't hungry, you won't
come. If you don't come, you won't eat. But if you're hungry,
you'll come and eat. That's right. You know, my mother
used to call me to dinner. I can assure you it wasn't an
invitation. It was a command. David Lee,
you better be here at certain, certain time. It wasn't an invitation. And these folks here in Luke,
they begin to make excuse one after another. And what are they
doing there? They're exposing their lack of
need, David. Their lack of hunger. Their lack
of life. You know, one who's dead's not
hungry. No sir, not hungry. They have not seen their great
need. If someone invites you to attend
a function, you can accept the invitation or reject it. But
salvation is not an invitation. The Word of God is very clear.
Salvation is of the Lord. Know what it says? Salvation is of the Lord. There's
nothing hard to understand about that. That little preposition
of there expresses the relationship between the subject and the author. The subject being salvation and
the author of salvation being the Lord. Salvation is of the
Lord. The Lord is the author of salvation. And that word author means the
originator or creator. of whatever's being written about
or whatever's being discussed, and if salvation is of the Lord,
and it is, then it cannot be left in the hands of the sinner
to accept or reject. Because if it were, then salvation
would be a man. Friends, it's much, much more
than just a matter of semantics. It's a matter that involves the
very glory of God. God gets all the glory for saving
sinners. All of it. Every bit of it. The sinner that's saved doesn't
get any. How much do we get? None. None. Is a gift offered? Have you ever had anyone at Christmas
time say, I'd like to offer you a gift? Well, that's nuts. A gift is given. You know the
passage of Scripture well, for by grace are you saved through
faith, through believing, and that's not of yourselves. What
is it? It's a gift of God. And it's not of works, not works
done by the sinner. Definitely not the sinner accepting
Jesus. lest any man should boast. And
I know this for a fact. If anyone who claims that I accepted
Jesus, anyone who declares I got saved, anyone who professes I
made a decision, anyone who confirms I gave my heart to Jesus will
most certainly boast about it. I've never seen one yet that
didn't. Their boasting begins with that little word, I. I,
I, I. Pardon my grammar, but I never
did nothing but sin. I did the sin and God did the
saving. Child of God, is that not so in your life? Absolutely. Haven't we, haven't we, haven't
we. That's what they said when they stood before the Lord and
judged. Hadn't we done many wonderful works? Hadn't we cast out devils?
Hadn't we preached the gospel? Kind of remind me of those three
little pigs, wee, wee, wee, all the way home. All the way home
to hell. That's right. Haven't we done? Haven't we? No, you haven't.
Matter of fact, the Lord Jesus Christ said, all that you've
done is works of iniquity. That's all it is, just works
of iniquity. Depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. What men think to be good works
is iniquity to God. It's not by works of righteousness
that we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us. Who did the accepting? What is salvation? Well, the
definition is to be delivered and saved from harm, ruin, or
loss. And in the matter of a sinner
and the God of the Bible. You know, I had a man not long
ago say, why do you always clarify God as the God of the Bible? Because it's not the God of this
world. It's not the God that most men
preach. We preach the God of the Bible, as this book declares
Him to be. Sovereign, ruler, reigner. in control of all things, works
all things after the counsel of his own will. None can say
unto him, what are you doing, God? He's God. He's the God of the Bible. Salvation
is deliverance from sin and its consequences. And so this deliverance,
this salvation, this gift, is it offered? If it was, who in their right
mind would reject it? Salvation is not, nor can it
ever be, dear friends, an offer. Salvation's a gift. A gift. Have you ever been offered a
gift? Have you ever offered anyone a gift? If you did, it would
cease to be a gift. You know, someone gives you a
gift on your birthday, and you say, well, thank you. And they
go, that'd be $20. Well, that wouldn't be much a
gift, would it? No, we give gifts because we
love that person. And the Lord gave us the greatest
gift of all, his beloved son. Why? Because he loved us. He
loved those that he chose before the foundation. He loved those
that he gave to Christ. He loved those, and he called
them by his grace, and every one of them is gonna come, and
it's gonna be as a gift to them. The natural man receives not
the things of the Spirit of God. A natural man, you know what
a natural man is? A dead man. He's alive physically, but he's
dead spiritually. Look at John chapter 5 verse
40. Most of you can quote this. But
I want you to see this. John chapter 5 verse 40. Here
the Lord Jesus is speaking. Isn't it amazing how simple the
Word of God is? It's just so plain and simple.
It's not hard to understand. Now, it's impossible to believe
unless God divinely intervenes, but it's not hard to understand.
And He says here in John 5, verse 40, And you will not come to
Me that you might have life. Is there anything you don't understand
about that? You will not come to Me that you might have life. That simply means that you're
dead. You will not come to Christ so that you can have life. They're
not dead because they don't come. They don't come because they're
dead. Religion gets that backwards. Did Lazarus come to Christ to
receive life? Or did he come to Christ because
the Lord gave him life? You know, I've thought about
that so much. I was raised in Arminian free will. I've got
people that I love dearly in hell because they believe this
mess. And I'm telling you, Lazarus,
the Lord Jesus said, Lazarus, come forth. And the scripture
says, he that was dead came forth. When he came forth, he wasn't
dead anymore. Never seen a dead man come anywhere. They're dead,
dead, dead in trespasses and sin what we were until God divinely
intervened. The man or woman that believes
on Christ is not condemned, the Scripture says, because he or
she that believes not is condemned already. We're born condemned. And unless God freely gives us
life, that's the way we're going to remain dead in trespasses
and sin. We're not condemned, and they
are not condemned. No one's condemned because they
won't come. They're condemned because they believe not. That's
what the Scripture said. They're born condemned, condemned
already. They have to come and believe so that they might have
life. Why don't they come? Why don't
they come? Look at John chapter 6. You know
where I'm going. Verse 44. The Lord tells us why
they won't come. He said no man can come. Man
don't have the ability to come. Why? Because he's dead. No man
can come to Me except the Father which sent Me draw him." You
see, friends, the one exception to having life, being made alive,
is not your acceptance of Jesus. It's Christ's acceptance of you. Accept the Father which sent
Me draw you. Unless the Father that sent Christ
accepts you. Look down at verse 65. And He
said, Therefore said I unto you that no man can come unto Me
except... There's that word again. Here's
the exception to the rule. except it were what? Given! Given unto him of my Father. It's a gift. It's a gift. So, what is said about those
who supposedly accept Jesus? Well, we've seen it from God's
Word. They won't come to Christ that they might have life. They
cannot come to Christ that they might have life, unless except
God draw them. They have no ability to come.
except it be given. And all this lack of ability
and will is due to one thing. What is it? They're dead. What has a dead man ever accepted? In John 10.10, the Lord Jesus
said, I'm come that they might have life more abundantly. We
don't come to Jesus. He comes to us. And then we come
to Him after He gives us life. I've come that they might have
life and that they might have it more abundantly. I've got
abundant life in the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't you? Aren't you
happy about that? That's good news, isn't it? That's
good news to a sinner. That's good to somebody that's
dead. The Lord did many signs. Scripture says if they were all
written in a book, this world couldn't contain all of them.
But the things, the signs, the wonders, the miracles that our
Lord did were written that you might believe that Jesus is the
Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might have life
through His name. Has a dead man or woman ever
accepted an invitation to do anything? And I mean to be redundant
here. Because that's what this world
believes. That's what this man believed that called me. I accepted
Jesus. You're dead. You didn't accept
Jesus. Has one dead ever accepted any
kind of an offer? And to say that I accepted Jesus
is to suggest that you did something to have Him. To say I got saved
is to insinuate you did something to obtain salvation. Any statement
of self-proclaimed reason for salvation that begins with an
I is a false statement. Why? Because dead men can't do
nothing. I found this very enlightening. Every single time that the Bible,
in the Bible, where the word accepted is used, it's used in
reference to salvation. It never refers to man's acceptance
of God, but always God's acceptance of sinners. You look it up in
your concordance. It never talks about man accepting
God. It talks about God accepting
sinners in Christ. And wherever that word offer
is used in the Bible, it's always concerning what we're to offer
God. What are we to offer God? Praise
and thanksgiving for His unspeakable gift. Oh my, this world's got it backwards. This religious world in which
we live, they got it backwards. Preacher, aren't you making a
whole lot out of nothing? Well, you might ask, is it not
true that I have to accept the truth about who Christ is and
what he did to receive him? Well, I'll give you that. I'll
give you that. But how does one who is dead
accept or receive anything? That's the real issue. Oh my, they have to be given
life. They have to be made to believe. They have to be made
willing. They have to be made able. So the questions got to
be answered. How are they made to do these
things? So who's made able and willing? Well, Psalm 110 verse 3 tells
us who and how. He says, thy people, that's who
he's talking to, his people, not the world, not every man
and woman in the world. He's talking to his people. Thy
people shall be willing when in the day of your power. We don't have any power. Who's
given life? Who's made to believe? Who's
made willing to come to Christ? Who's given the ability to do
so? His people. God's people. God's elect. God's chosen. Now, turn with
me to Ephesians 1. I remember one time I was preaching
with Todd in a meeting, and he preached before me that time,
and he said, I hate people that take 30 minutes to get to their
text. Can you forgive me? You got to. And what a declaration
we have in this chapter of who it is that chooses and who it
is that accepts who. I hear men today preach as if
Christ himself is the one that needs to be loved and saved. Jesus loves you so much, he just
wants you to love him back. What nonsense. Men preach Christ
not as the Almighty. They preach the Lord Jesus Christ
as the all-needy. And I'm telling you, that's not
so. It's shame. It's blasphemy is what it is,
Frank. Men preach Christ not as the Almighty, but as the all-needy
one. They say, why don't you let go
and let God? Won't you let Him into your heart? Won't you let Him have His way
in your life? This is just not a difference
in doctrine. This is a difference in gods. My God does not want. My God
does not try. Does yours? No. I know this is
simple and it's elementary, but we've all got family that don't
believe it. I can let God change my life,
friends, and I can change my own life without God. I sure
can. If your God wants to do something,
if your God is trying to do something, if your God needs your acceptance
to do something, then your God ain't God. Ephesians chapter
1 verse 3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who hath blessed us. with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places. In Christ, don't ever leave those
two words out. In Christ, that's where we're
blessed. Do we bless God or does God bless us? Everywhere you
go today, have a blessed day. I'm so tired of that, don't you?
Have a blessed day. Since when can you bless me?
Since when can the little girl at Subway bless me? Or my day,
for that matter. God doesn't bless days. The psalmist said in Psalm 72,
17, men shall be blessed in Him. In Him. We're blessed in Christ
by God. God has blessed us with all,
how many of them? All spiritual blessings in Him. We're blessed in Christ by God.
That's our hope. That's our hope. God the Father
is the cause of salvation. It sure wasn't your acceptance
of Him. God's the source. God's the fountain. God is the
giver. God is the one who purposed it
all. This is talking about spiritual blessing. It's not talking about
the things that thieves can steal and that will rust and corrupt
and things that'll one day burn. John Chapman got a new truck,
and you know what? I got a new truck too, but that
truck's gonna rust and corrupt. And if I leave my keys in it,
some thief's going to steal it. But this is talking about things
that don't corrupt. Things that can't be stolen.
Things that are eternal, spiritual things. Things that are forever. Oh my. They're in Christ and
they're not in us. We have nothing to offer God.
Well, you've got to offer Him your heart. He doesn't want it.
It's deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. He doesn't
want our hearts. You can't offer Him your acceptance. Our will is in bondage to our
sin. How can any sinner be blessed
with all spiritual blessings in Christ? Verse 4 tells us.
According. This is how. That's what that
word means. I'm fixing to tell you how. According. According
means as stated. As He, God, had chosen us in
Him, Christ, before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before Him in love. This didn't have
anything to do with our approval or our acceptance of God. This
occurred before the foundation of the world. Paul said, speaking
of Jacob and Esau, he said, before they were ever born, before they
ever done any good or evil, that the purpose of God, that's what
it is, it's the purpose of God, according to election might stand.
It's of the Lord, salvation is of the Lord. That's the purpose
of God according to election, not of works, but of him that
calleth. We didn't call him, he called
us. We didn't love Him, He loved
us. And we love Him because He first loved us. He said, you've
not chosen me, I've chosen you. Is there anything about that
hard to understand? God didn't choose us in Christ
because we were holy. God chose us in Christ to make
us holy. We didn't choose to accept Him. God chose us to conform us to
Christ. To make us just like Him. That's
my hope of standing before God, that when he sees me, he sees
his beloved son. That gives me hope. It gives
me confidence, like you said a moment ago, of being saved. It doesn't depend upon me. It
doesn't have anything to do with me. And I love to say this, and
it'll make some folks mad, but if I didn't do anything to save
myself, listen, I can't do anything to be lost. And, you know, people
say things like, well, that, no, brother, you can't say that.
They give people a license to sin. Have you noticed that people
don't need a license to sin? They'll sin right on anyway,
won't they? Without a license. And that's true. That's true. He chose us to be holy without
blame. Verse five, having predestinated
us into the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according
to the good pleasure of his will. Let's say you want a dog. Get
Brother Paul Mahan to tell you about this story about his dog
one time. I'm gonna steal a little page
from his book, but you try to adopt a dog today, it's not as
easy as you think it is. You want to adopt a dog, one
from an animal shelter, and you go down and you pick out a dog.
You look at all the little dogs, and they're all looking at you
in the cage with those sad eyes. But you decide on one. You say,
that's the dog that I want. And that's my dog right there.
You choose that dog. That dog didn't choose you. But
you don't just grab that dog and take him home. There's papers
to be signed. There's money to change hands.
You've got to sign adoption papers. anymore to get a dog. Isn't that
so? There are expenses and fees to
be paid. And out of curiosity, I read
one of those adoption agreements online. The one was from the
SPCA, and I'm not just picking on them. It's pretty much all
of them. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
And you wouldn't believe how many terms and conditions that
you have to agree to in order to make that dog yours. Let me
just quickly give you a few. First, you must assume full responsibility
to that animal. Food bills, health care, general
well-being, the stipulation in this covenant are extensive. That's what it is. You have to
agree to a lot of things to make that dog yours. Secondly, if
the dog's lost, you've got to call the shelter and tell them
my dog's lost. Thirdly, the place of adoption reserves the right
to make home visits to make sure your dog is being treated appropriately. You can't make this stuff up.
You have to agree to stay current on vaccinations. You've got to
agree to provide a safe environment for your dog. I've never bit
one of my dogs yet. Number six, a collar with
appropriate license for ABs, identification tags are required.
You have to agree not to transport that dog in the back of an open
vehicle like the back of a pickup truck. Well, I've seen people
with their kids in the back seat of their truck, and nobody's
pulled them over or said anything to them. You must agree to prompt veterinarian
care. If the dog becomes sick, the
dog must be tested annually for certain infirmities. Well, I
only go to the doctor once a year. But we've got to take our dogs
and make sure everything's all right. And if it be necessary
for your dog to be euthanized, their euthanization's got to
be performed by a licensed veterinarian in a veterinarian clinic. And
lastly, if the SPAC finds it necessary to take legal action
against you because you mistreated your dog, you're responsible
for all the court calls. Now, I'm sorry you went on for
so long about that, but that's just a few of them. There's more.
But I said all that to say this. Nobody, nobody better tell me
how blessed I am to have adopted that dog. Why? Nobody better tell me how blessed
I am to have that dog as mine. Nobody better try to convince
me that that dog accepted or chose me. I chose that dog. I paid for that dog. I entered
into a covenant for that dog. That dog's mine. That's my dog. And that dog is the one who's
blessed. That dog is going to die if I hadn't adopted him.
I saved that dog. I redeemed that dog. I promised
to take care of that dog. And it was according to the good
pleasure of my will. Is that not true, child of God,
with you and the dogs that you and I are? What do I get out of it? Pleasure. I heard Donnie and Shirley talking
about their little dog, and I said, you're that way too? You know,
we take our dog outside, and go to the bathroom for daddy,
you know? Our pleasure. That little dog
brings me pleasure. I've got confidence that that
dog's going to love me unconditionally. I'm the dog's provider. I was
the dog's savior. I'm the dog's master. I earned
that right. I paid for that dog. I adopted
that dog. Why did I save that dog and make
it mine? Because I wanted to. I wanted
that dog. It was according to my good pleasure.
I paid the price. That dog's mine. But you know,
the same ones that would have no problem with these things,
when it comes to a holy God and ungodly sinners, they make themselves,
who are the dogs, their own Savior. Why did God choose us? Because
He wanted to. He wanted to. It was according
to the good pleasure of His will. We can't brag about our love
for God no more than that dog could brag about his love for
me. And I know this from experience. That dog's going to be glad to
see me when I come home. He's going to rejoice in my presence.
Why? Because he is a dog, and that's
what dogs do, especially saved ones. So the redeemed dogs that
we are, we can sure rejoice in Him. Surely we can rejoice in
His love for us. We'll be forever glad to be in
His presence. Did you choose the Lord or did
He choose you? What did the Lord Himself say?
You've not chosen me, but I've chosen you. When did God choose
you? When you believed? No, from the foundation of the
world, as Todd said. Why did God choose dogs like
you and me? Because it seemed good in his
sight. For no reason outside of himself. He passed by thousands,
yay, millions, and he set his affection on a dog like me. He didn't choose us because he
looked ahead in time. Well, I believe in election,
God looked ahead in time, so I was gonna be a good dog. and
chose me based on that. No, He didn't. No, He did not. It simply pleased the Lord to
make you His people. That's what the scripture says.
Even so, Father, it seemed good in your sight. He did so according
to the good will, the good pleasure of His will, verse five says.
To His good will, which He purposed in Himself, verse nine. The Lord
did not set His love upon you nor choose you because you were
more in number than any people, for you were the fewest of all
people, but because the Lord loved you. How do we know for certain? that
we could not have accepted Jesus. Verse six, because our salvation
is to the praise of the glory of His grace. If our salvation
was due to our accepting Christ, if our salvation was due to us
doing anything, then we'd have reason to glory, but we don't.
Why does God get all the praise and the glory for grace? Read
on, verse six, wherein, this is why, He hath made us accepted. Where in the beloved? In the
Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is God's beloved.
So much so that he is the beloved. The only one. The. Distinguished. Particular. He's the beloved. God loves me because he loves
him. And I'm in him. We're loved in
him. We're accepted in him. In. By
him. In him. By him. Through him.
Because of him. That word beloved means much
love. It means darling. Call your wife darling because
she's precious. That's another thing it means,
precious. It means adored. It means cherished,
treasured. The gospel is not the sinner
accepting God. The gospel is God accepting the
sinner and his accepting him and her in Christ. When Christ
came to Jordan's River to be baptized, and I'll hurry, by
John, God put his stamp of approval on the Lord Jesus Christ by saying,
this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. at the Mount
of Transfiguration where Christ was transfigured into the glory
that He left when He came into this world. God said, this is
My beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased. Hear ye Him. We better
listen to what He's got to say. And ever believers made to see
and to say, I am My beloved's and My beloved's mine. And I
say that with joy in my heart and humility in my heart. Because
He didn't have to love me. He didn't have to choose me.
He didn't have to have mercy on me. God gets all the praise.
God gets all the glory. We've done all the sinning. God
did all the saving. And it was according to the glory
of His grace. What's grace? You know, it's
unmerited favor. I hope we never just flippantly
say, oh, it's unmerited favor. It's unmerited, undeserved favor. Undeserving mercy. We don't get
any credit. We don't get any glory. We don't
want any recognition. God's people don't want any recognition.
They want Him to get it all. Why? Because He deserves it.
It's all His. What do we get? Everything. Everything that belongs
to Him. Joint heirs with Christ. We get
all that's His. That's enough. And we get it
all in Christ. Look with me real quickly here.
In Christ, we get all spiritual blessings. Verse 3. In Christ,
we become holy without blame. Verse 4. In Christ, we're adopted
as His children. Verse 5. In Christ, we're accepted
in Him the Beloved. Verse 6. In Christ, we have redemption
through His blood. Verse 7. In Christ, we have all
wisdom and prudence. Verse 8. In Christ, we're revealed
the mystery of His will. Verse 9. In Christ we are made
one with Christ in God, verse 10. In Christ we have obtained
an inheritance, verse 11. In Christ we are to the praise
of His glory, verse 12. In Christ we are sealed with
the Holy Spirit, verse 13. And in Christ we are a purchased
possession, verse 14. And in Christ all these things
are to the praise of His glory, according to verse 14. You know,
a true bonafide dog won't have a problem with that. We don't
have a problem with it at all. We don't get any glory, we don't
get any credit, we don't get any praise, we don't get any
recognition, but we get everything else. Everything else that belongs
to Him. I didn't accept Jesus. I'll be
the first to tell you tonight, I didn't accept Jesus. I didn't
want anything to do with Him. He divinely intervened. He divinely
interrupted in my life. And He made me willing in the
day of His power. And that's what the Gospel is.
That's the good news to sinners. Not what we do for Jesus. People
all the time talking about all that they and their church are
doing for God. That ain't the Gospel. You ain't doing nothing
for God. It's what He's done for us in Christ. No, I didn't
accept Him. I didn't love Christ until He
first loved me. I didn't come to Christ until He drew me by
His grace. I could not come. I would not
come until God made me able and willing to come in the day of
His power. Salvation is of the Lord. And I say this often, and
if I've said it here, I don't apologize for it. Salvation is
of the Lord. What follows that in the Scripture?
A period. Salvation's of the Lord, period.
End of discussion. No argument, nothing else to
say. Salvation is of the Lord. And I wouldn't have it any other
way. Would you? I'm glad all the glory is His because it all
belongs to Him. It didn't belong to me. And I
love that passage. Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable
gift. I can't explain it. It's unspeakable. Our words fall short. Preachers,
we don't have the words. It's unspeakable. But it's the
only reason that we're accepted in Christ our beloved. May God
be pleased to make it so for our good, His glory, and for
Christ's sake. Thank you. David, that was such a blessing.
I was thinking while you were preaching when you were talking
about dead sinners, and this came to my thoughts. There's not one dead sinner who
knows he's dead. Not even one. You don't know
anything about death until you're given life. And when you're given
life, you know something about being dead in sin. You know what
it means. And you're talking about people
saying, well, you gotta do this, you gotta receive him, you gotta,
well, yeah, you gotta receive him. If you don't receive him,
he was never given. because everybody he gives to,
they receive. They receive willfully, joyfully,
just like Zacchaeus received him joyfully. What a great night we've had.
I'm so thankful for these messages. What a blessing. Let's pray once
again, and then Dwayne's gonna lead us in a closing hymn. Lord,
how we thank you that salvation is of you. How we thank you that our acceptance
is in the beloved. How we thank you for your free
choice of your people for Christ's sake. How we thank you for the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, would you, by your grace, make everybody in here needy? needy of your grace. In Christ's
name we pray, amen. We'll meet again at 10 in the
morning, and we're going to have pizza afterwards. What? Am I forgetting? What am I forgetting? We're going to have a baptism. And John is going to, I've done that before. It's hard.
John, go there. And Madison, here. And after
the song, we'll have a baptism. Let's stand and sing.