Good evening. That's a different
sound. Isn't that nice? Well, let's open tonight's service
with hymn number 488 from your hardback hymnal, My Redeemer.
And let's all stand together. Number 488. I will sing of my Redeemer and
his wondrous love to me. On the cruel cross he suffered
from the curse to set me free. With His blood He purchased me. On the cross He sealed my pardon,
paid the debt, and made me free. ? I will tell the wondrous story
? ? How my lost a stay to save ? ? In his boundless love and
mercy ? ? He the ransom freely gave ? ? Sing, oh, sing With His blood, He purchased
me. On the cross, He sealed my pardon,
Paid the debt, and made me free. I will praise my dear Redeemer,
His triumphant power I'll tell, How the victory He giveth over
sin and death and hell. With His blood, He purchased
me. On the cross, He sealed my pardon,
Paid the debt, and made me free. I will sing of my Redeemer, and
His heavenly love to me. He from death to life hath brought
me, Son of God, with Him to be. Sing, O sing of my Redeemer, With His blood, He purchased
me. On the cross, He made me sealed
by pardon, paid the debt, and made me free. Please be seated. I'm going to read from Psalm
130. Psalm 130, if you'd like to turn
with me there. Joy, it is good to have you here
tonight. You're going to be with us Sunday, right? Okay. Out of the depths have I cried
unto thee, O Lord. And we know these Psalms are
first and foremost prophetic about the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is our Lord that prayed perfect prayers. It is our Lord that
prayed, Father, if there be any way, nevertheless, not my will,
but thy will be done. Father, forgive them for they
know not what they do. Father, I pray for them which
thou hast given me out of the world. Our Lord prayed perfect
prayer. He prayed out of the depths.
Weren't you so encouraged to see that verse in the Song of
Solomon, if the bride just turns one of her eyes towards the husband,
his heart smitten? Not the way you feel like your
prayers are oftentimes. We just kind of give him a glancing
look. Our Lord prayed out of the depths
and prayed that he would give us that spirit. Lord, hear my
voice. Let thine ear be attentive to
the voice of my supplications. What is it that you pray that
you need the Lord to supply you with? Righteousness? Salvation? Most folks just pray
for temporal stuff. If thou, Lord, shouldest mark
iniquities, if you take notice of one of my sins, I'll not be
able to stand in thy presence. If you take notice of the best
thing I've ever done, I'll not be able to stand in thy presence.
If I don't have an advocate, if I don't have the Lord Jesus
Christ to stand in my stead, I'll not be able to stand before
God. I want you to notice in verse
four, but there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be
feared. Most people think the fear of God has to do with his
judgment. His wrath. But here he says,
there is forgiveness that thou mayest be feared. The real fear
of God is faith. The real fear of God is believing
God. And that comes when he teaches us the truth of how all our sins
have been put away through the sacrifice of Christ. I wait for the Lord, my soul
doth wait, and in his word do I hope. The only revelation of
truth that we have is not our feelings, not our perceptions,
not some, you know, sign or wonder. It's His Word. It's His Word. His Word's a lamp unto our feet.
His Word's a light unto our path. His Word. All is given by inspiration
of God. My soul waiteth for the Lord. More than they that watch for
the morning, I say, more than they that watch for the morning.
You ever had a sleepless night, waiting for the sun to come up,
thinking, boy, this night's never gonna be over? I say, more than
that. More than that, my soul waits
for thee. Let Israel hope in the Lord, for with the Lord there
is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. And all Israel does,
put her hope in Christ. his redemptive work, and his
mercy. He delights in showing mercy.
It's the love of Christ that constrains us, isn't it? Not
the fear of wrath. The wrath of God was satisfied.
The fire of God was quenched in the sacrifice that Christ
made on Calvary's cross. It's the love of God that draws
us. And he Shall not he's gonna try
not he'll do his best not not even he will he shall redeem
Israel from all her iniquities all her sins Put away by the
sacrifice of himself once and for all He's the one we've come
to worship and Lord we pray that out of our depths you'll be pleased
to Make yourself known to us tonight. Let's let's pray together
Our Heavenly Father, we're so very thankful that once again
you've provided in your providence and in your purpose for us to
gather in this place tonight. We thank you for the promise
of thy presence. We thank you for the power of
thy word. We thank you for the effectual
work of thy Holy Spirit. And oh, how we pray that you
would be pleased tonight to give faith to our hearts, enabling
us to set our affections on things above, where Christ is seated
at the right hand. Lord, we thank you for the fulfillment
of this psalm and the life of our Lord, and we pray that you
would put that spirit, the mind of Christ, in our hearts and
cause us, Lord, to rejoice in fear, knowing that there is forgiveness
and mercy and the putting away of all of our iniquities with
thee. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen. Let's all stand together once
again and we'll sing hymn number 44 from the Spiral Gospel Hymns
hymnal. Let's all stand. Number 44. Precious Savior, friend of sinners,
we as such to Thee draw near. Let Thy Spirit dwell within us,
with that love that casteth fear. Matchless Savior, let us know
Thee, as the Lord our righteousness. Cause our hearts to cleave unto
Thee, come and with Thy presence bless. Open now thy precious
treasure, let thy word here freely flow. Give to us a gracious measure,
tis thyself we long to know. Come and claim us as thy portion. Let us all find rest in thee. Leave us not to empty notions. We would find our hope in thee. Please be seated. Will you open your Bibles with
me to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 please. 2 Thessalonians chapter
2. I've titled this message, Are
You Bound? Are You Bound? Now we use that
word sometimes to mean, well it could be or it could not be.
You know, so-and-so is bound to show up any time now. Maybe
they will, maybe they won't. Actually, the word found in our
text means something much different than that. It means to be in
debt. It means to owe. It means to
have an obligation. It means to be bound in spirit
to a cause. Paul begins in verse 13 by saying
we are bound to give thanks always to God for you brethren beloved
of the Lord because Here's why we're bound to give thanks to
God always for you brethren beloved of the Lord because God has chosen
you and He's chosen you, there's election, unto salvation, through
sanctification of the Spirit. He's set you apart. And belief
of the truth, He's given you faith, He's called you. And whereby,
verse 14, whereunto He called you up by our gospel to the obtaining
of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's why we're bound. We're bound to give thanks to
God because God did all these things. God chose us in the covenant
of grace before time ever began. God set us apart. God gave us
faith. Salvations of the Lord. God called
us. And it's God that will reveal
the fullness of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ in us one
day when we see him face to face and are made like him. We're
bound, we're bound by grace. Now, if someone does something
for you and then they say to you, you owe me, you owe me. That causes you to be resentful. You're now indebted to them in
a way that you can't wait to pay it back. Somebody says you
owe me, you're looking for an opportunity to do something in
exchange for them to pay that debt off and get out from under
that burden. Most folks, when they think about
God, They consider a debt that they have to pay. Paul said in Romans chapter 10
that they have a zeal for God. They're very religious, but it's
without knowledge. For being ignorant of the righteousness
of God, they go about trying to establish their own righteousness. That's the pattern of religion,
isn't it? Most men think that God is crying
down from heaven saying, you owe me. And they're desperately
attempting to pay that debt. They resent every minute of it.
They have no love for Him. No love for His law. They're
desperately attempting to balance the scales so that when it comes
time for them to meet God, they'll have some hope of their salvation. That's just what man-made religion
is. Religious men are bound by the
law. They conform their outward behavior
to try to impress one another. Well, turn with me to Mark chapter
7. Our Lord speaks to this issue
very clearly. Mark chapter 7. Look at verse. Men take pride in their accomplishments,
in their good works. They like the Pharisees. They
offer long prayers on the street corners to be seen of men, the
Lord said. They wear their long phylacteries.
They like the seat of Moses. They like a position of authority.
They like to be recognized as holy men. That's all man-made
religion is. It's just a competition among
men attempting to prove that they're paying their debt to
God better than another guy. Look at Mark chapter 7 at verse
5. Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according
to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands? Religious men love to talk about
their traditions, don't they? Well, this is our tradition.
Well, so what? What's God say about it? Verse
six, he answered, the Lord answered and said unto them, well has
Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites? As it is written, this people
honoreth me with their lips, but their hearts are far from
me. In another place he called them whitewashed tombs. They've
cleaned themselves up on the outside and on the inside they're
full of dead men's bones. He called them a cup that was
clean on the outside but full of corruption on the inside.
Here he calls them hypocrites. These are people that are attempting
to pay their debt to God. They're bound. They're bound
by the law. They're bound by their own self-righteousness. Verse 7, how be it in vain do
they worship me? Their worship is just a feigned
worship. It's not real worship. Teaching
for doctrines the commandments of men. Touch not, taste not,
handle not. Not concerned with what God says,
but loving the praise of men more than the praise of God,
they will follow the commandments of men rather than the commandment
of God. For laying aside the commandment
of God, you hold the tradition of men as the washing of pots
and cups and many other such things that you do. And he said
unto them, full well, You reject the commandment of God. What
is the commandment of God? That you believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. You reject the commandment of
God that you may keep your own tradition. This is the binding
of the natural man. All men are bound by it. Whether
they're religious or irreligious, they're still bound by the law.
What did Paul say in Galatians chapter 3? He said, how's that
passage? Stand fast in the liberty wherewith
Christ hath made you free and be not entangled again with the
yoke of bondage. Don't go back and be bound by
the law. For if you be circumcised, This
is Galatians chapter 5. If you be circumcised, that means
you put your hand to the work of redemption. You do something
to cut away your flesh to make yourself acceptable in the sight
of God. You try to earn favor with God
by your works or by your will. That's circumcision. And if you
be circumcised, then Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify
to every man that is circumcised, he is a debtor to do the whole
law. So he's bound. He's going to
try to be saved by his works. He is required by God to keep
the whole law. He's a debtor to the whole law
and Christ has become of none effect to you. No hope for grace. You're trying
to be saved by the law. You're bound by the law. Bound
by your own righteousness. Pharisaical. They've got the
Pharisees and the scribes. the self-righteous and the spiritual
intellectuals. They're just all under the law. Now, compare that person who says to you, you owe
me, and the desperate attempt that you would make to get out
from under the burden of that debt to someone saving your life
and rather than them saying to you, you owe me, you say to them,
I could never repay you for what you've done for me. I owe you. I'm in forever debt
to you. I'm in forever debt to you. It's
not a burden. It's a debt of gratitude. It's
a debt of grace. That's what Paul said, I'm bound.
I'm bound by grace. I'm bound by the spirit. I'm
bound by the and then that person says to you Well, not only did
I save your life once but I'm gonna save your life every day
for the rest of your life I'm gonna just keep saving you I'm
gonna keep saving you What a what a debt And this debt makes us
not only not only back now the Lord said I came in order to
make Captive to me those who were
captive in hell to to lead captivity captive To lead captivity captive. That's what he said Now that
tells me that all men are in captivity To either the law or
their in captivity to Christ That's it They're either in captivity
to sin, or they're free in Christ, and they're captive to Him. They're bound to Him. People
say, well, I'm free, I'm not bound to anybody. Oh, no. No,
no, you are. That's why I said, are you bound? And I should change the title
of it to, to whom are you bound? Because you are bound. You're
bound one way or the other. Every one of us are. To whom
are you bound? The God of glory that's pleased
to forgive us of our sin and save us by his grace and do all
these things that Paul said in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse
13 and 14? Or are you bound under the law
trying to satisfy its demands? Trying to achieve a righteousness
that you can achieve. Turn with me to Romans chapter
one, please. Romans chapter one. Look at verse 14. This is what the word bound in
our text. This is what it means. It means
to owe. It means to be indebted. You've heard the story about
the man who's walking through the woods and he found a dog
caught in a trap. And the dog was wounded, scared,
The man tried to approach the dog, but the dog wouldn't have
it. The dog thought, you know, he
was going to do everything he could to defend itself. And so
the man took a stick, a forked stick, long, heavy forked stick,
and pinned that dog down by the neck and reached down and released
the trap, backed away from the dog. And then he proceeded on
his way. He heard some sound behind him,
he looked back, and that dog was following him from a distance.
And as they walked, the dog got a little bit closer, and a little
bit closer, and a little bit closer. The dog spent the rest
of its life at the feet of that man. Faithful dog. Caleb. The rest of its life,
out of gratitude, for what that man had done in delivering him.
We're bound to Christ. We're just faithful dogs. You
see, you're either bound in the trap, the trap of sin, the trap
of the law, the judgment and wrath of God, or you're bound
to Christ. One way or the other. Paul said
we are bound. We are bound. Look what he says
in Romans chapter 1, verse 14. I am a debtor. I'm a debtor. I owe you. And
I owe you. What am I a debtor to? I am a
debtor both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the
wise and to the unwise. In other words, I'm going to
preach the same message to every one of you. So as much as in me, I am ready
to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. For I am not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto
salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to
the Greek. For therein in the gospel is
the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith as it is
written, the just shall live by faith. Paul said, I'm a debtor. I owe you, I'm bound. Why are we a debtor to the gospel? Why are we a debtor to preach
the gospel, to declare the gospel, to get the gospel out into the
world? Why are we a debtor to it? Three
reasons. We're deader because the gospel is the glory of God. People talk about wanting to
glorify God with their lives. Live your life in a way that's
going to honor Christ. I want to. I know you do. You
want to follow Him. You don't want to shame the Lord. Christ is glorified when the
gospel is preached. God's glorified when Christ is
lifted up, isn't he? They didn't see Jesus in Jesus.
Most folks aren't going to see Jesus in you or me. But the gospel
glorifies him, doesn't it? Paul says, I'm a debtor because
of the glory of God. I'm a debtor also out of gratitude
for my own salvation. This is what the Lord's done
for me. Who maketh thee to differ? What
do you have that you do not receive? I'm a debtor because of what
God's done for me. And I'm a debtor out of concern
and compassion for lost men, for lost souls. I'm a debtor
to them. Paul says, I'm bound, I'm in
debt. But it's not a, it's not a slavish
debt. It's not like that trap that
you was in. Now I'm bound to Christ to just
keep barking and pointing to Him. Keep following after Him. I'm His sheepdog. That's what we are. That's what
the church is. God's sheepdog. Just going out
into the world looking for God's lost sheep. And we're a debtor. Paul said, I'm a debtor to it.
There's no way about it. Turn back with me to our text. We're bound by grace. We're bound
by love. Oh, we're free. We're free from
the law, and the rigors of the law, the demands of the law,
can't satisfy the law. Christ is the end of the law,
for righteousness to everyone that believeth. We're free from
sin, free from the penalty of sin, power of sin, punishment
of sin. One day we'll be free from the
presence of it all together, won't we? What a day that's going
to be. And that's part of what Paul's
talking about being bound to give thanks to God for, for His
glory. Look what he says in verse 13. But we are bound. We're a debtor. We've got an obligation, a responsibility,
a commitment. Now I know those words are the
words that men use in religion. It's all about commitment, all
about trying to stir men up. This is a work of the Holy Spirit
in the heart. If the Lord ever delivers you
from that trap, and shows you the beauty of Christ, you'll
be committed. You will be. You'll be bound to Him. You'll
have a desire to follow Him and hear His voice and honor Him.
This is a work of grace in the heart. We are bound to give thanks always
to God. That's who we're giving it to. We're giving thanks to God. Election,
sanctification, faith, irresistible grace, and the obtaining of glory
is all in this verse and the next verse. And God's the only
one that can do that. God's the only one that can put
us in the covenant of grace. He's the only one that can set
us apart. He's the only one that can give us faith. He's the only
one that can irresistibly call us. And He's the only one that
can deliver us into glory. So Paul said, we're bound to
give thanks always to God. for you, brethren, brethren,
beloved of the Lord. There's the first cause of our
salvation. The first cause of a sinner's salvation is that
God has loved us with an everlasting love. He loved a particular people. He placed them in Christ. He
loved them in Christ. Ephesians chapter 1, At verse
4, according as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world. God has never seen His people
outside of Christ. Ever. He can't love us if we're
outside of Christ. That's why Christ is called the
Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world. God's
people have always been in Christ. Always been in Him. Before God. 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, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ unto Himself. He chose us. He elected us. Everyone that that God placed
in Christ Everyone that Christ died for he's going to he's gonna
sanctify. He's going to he's gonna give
them his spirit He's gonna call them out and he's gonna glorify
them Are we are we bound to thank
God for this Oh God's not saying you owe me God's showing us his grace And
He's putting it in our hearts to say, Lord, I'm bound to you. What can I ever do? How can I
ever repay you? I can't. There's not going to
be time enough in eternity to repay you for what you've done
for me. Election. It's God's sovereign prerogative
to have mercy upon whom he will have mercy, and whom he will,
he hardeneth. He is the potter. We are the clay. He makes from
the same lump of clay, all men are bound, we're all coming to
this world spiritually dead, and God makes from the same lump
of clay some vessels of honor and some of dishonor. And no man can say to him, why
have you made me thus? The Lord said to the disciples,
said, you didn't choose me. You did not choose me. I chose
you. I chose you. There's no gospel outside without
election. Without election, there's no gospel. People say, well,
I believe in Jesus, and I know I'm saved, but I had this election
thing. No, you can't have a gospel without
election. Paul said, we are bound to give
thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord,
because God has chosen you unto salvation. That's the first cause. He loved you, and He chose you. Notice the rest of verse 13.
Through sanctification of the Spirit. Now this word sanctified
also translated holy in the scriptures. It means to be set apart. It
means to be consecrated to God's service. You remember the vessels
in the Old Testament worship were sanctified. They were anointed. The priest was anointed. The
temple was anointed. It was sanctified. It was set
apart. It was made holy for God's service. And now what is he saying? God
has sanctified you. He set you apart. He's made you
different. He's given you his son. He's
opened the eyes of your understanding. He's caused you to live. He said
to you in the day of his power, live. He's given you life. He sanctified you. God has to
do that. The Lord Jesus Christ in John
chapter 17 verse 19 said, Father, I sanctify myself. He's the only
one that can sanctify himself. He's the only one that can set
himself apart as holy unto God. And the Lord Jesus Christ, perfect
light has obligated the father to reward him for what he did. But we're going to be sanctified.
He's going to have to sanctify us. And how does he do that?
He does that by his spirit. It's the spirit of God that opens
our eyes. It's the spirit of God that gives
us faith. It's the spirit of God that takes out the heart
of stone and puts in a heart of flesh. It's the here spirit
of God, the hearing ear and the seeing eye are of the Lord. The
Lord said to Nicodemus, Nicodemus, you can't see the kingdom of
God. You're going to remain bound
up by the law and bound in your sin. Unless the spirit of God
comes and the spirits like the wind, it listed with us. Whoever it wills, it blows wherever
it wants to blow. You can't control it. You can't
determine it. The Spirit of God is sovereign. The Spirit of God
is omnipotent. All the attributes of God the
Father and God the Son are true of God the Holy Spirit. And now
he says, well, you've been sanctified, been set apart by the Spirit
of God. It's the Spirit of God that causes
us to hear and to believe. In 1 Corinthians chapter 6, turn
with me there, please. 1 Corinthians chapter 6. Look at verse 11. And such were
some of you. You were like that dog in a trap,
dying, couldn't get out. You had to be pinned. You had
to be pinned down with a stick. You had to be made willing, didn't
you? You weren't, you didn't come looking for him. No man
seeketh after God at any time. The Lord had to take a stick
of his grace and pin us to the ground and let us go. Such were some of you, but you
are washed. How are we washed? By the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ
washes us and cleanses us of all our sin. All our sin, we've
been made clean. That leprous, that leprosy has,
well, when the Lord healed the leper, you know, scripture says,
you remember when, When Naaman came and was a leper and went
down into the river Jordan and washed seven times and came out
and the scripture says his skin was like the skin of a baby.
Baby skin, that's pretty soft skin, isn't it? I mean, what
a difference. What a difference. That's what
the Lord is saying. You were leprous from the top
of your head to the bottom of your feet. But now you're washed. Now you've been made clean. But you are sanctified. Sanctification is not something
that we achieve or not something that we add to. It's not something
we get more of. You are sanctified. He that sanctifies
and they that are sanctified are all as one. He has sanctified us by the sacrifice
of himself. He's washed us, sanctified us,
but you are justified. Justified. Here's the forgiveness
of the Lord, isn't it? This is what causes us to want
to follow after Him. This is what breaks the heart. Lord, you washed me with your
blood. You sanctified me by your Spirit. The Father sanctified
us in election, the Son sanctified us in redemption, and the Spirit
sanctifies us in regeneration. You've been sanctified by the
Spirit of God. You are sanctified, made holy,
set apart. You are justified. Justified. Now, that means you've got no
sin. You've got no sin. You stand
before God sinless. What did we just read in Psalm
130? If he should mark iniquity, if God almighty judges any one
of us by the very best thing we've ever done, we're going
to hell for it. That's what God says. If he should
mark iniquity, who shall stand? It's a rhetorical question. No
one's going to stand. But now he says, you're justified. The Lord Jesus Christ was offered
up for our offenses and raised again because of our justification. We're justified without sin. I've separated your sins from
you as far as these sins from the West. I remember them no
more. I sewed them up in a bag. I buried them in the depths of
the sea. I've forgotten them. They're gone. They're gone. How are we washed? How are we
sanctified? How are we justified? In the
name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. by the
Spirit of our God, that's how the Lord does it. As I said,
the Father elected us and He set us apart in election. The
Son redeemed us and justified us and set us apart in His redemptive
work on Calvary's cross. And the Holy Spirit, in the day
of His power, opens the eyes of our understanding, gives us
faith, and sanctifies us. sets us apart, lets us free from
that trap, and we can't do anything but follow after Christ. Go back
with me to our text. We are bound. To whom are you
bound? To whom are you bound? We are bound. to give thanks
to God always for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord. For God
hath from the beginning chosen you unto salvation through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth. That's faith. For without faith it is impossible
to please God. He that cometh to him must believe
that he is. For by grace are you saved through faith. And
that's not of yourself. It's a gift of God. Lord, give
me faith. Give me faith. Give me Christ
and put me in thy church lest I die. Give me children. Isn't
that what Rachel said? Give me children lest I die.
Lord, give me faith. Cause me to believe. Turn me,
Lord, and I shall be turned. Cause me to come. Open my eyes. No, there's no salvation without
faith. No salvation without faith. How
do I know that I have faith? When God makes you to be a believer,
you cannot not believe. Now I know that's a double negative,
but I use it for emphasis. God makes you a believer. You
cannot not believe. You just can't do it. Everything God says, you just,
you're bound. You're bound by the Spirit of
God to believe everything God says. And all the hope of your
salvation is bound up in what God has done and what God has
said. Faith is not believing that God's going to do something
for me in the future. You know, if you just have enough
faith, God will heal you or God will give you this or God will
give you that. That's not faith. That's presumption. Faith is
believing God. Believing what God has said and
what God has done. Belief of the truth. What is
the truth? The truth about who we are. We're
sinners. Do you believe that? Do you believe
yourself to be a sinner? Do you believe that you don't
have any righteousness? And that at your very best state
you're altogether vanity? And that if God was to judge
you by the best thing you ever did, you'd go to hell for it.
You believe that? That's what sinners believe. What's he say? Belief of the
truth. God says, when I looked down
from heaven and I peered into the hearts of man, men look at
the outward appearance. I get that. We look at one another's
outward appearance. We can't look at the heart. We
can't even really judge our own hearts. The heart is desperately
wicked and deceitful. Who can know it? God looks at
the heart and he sees that every imagination of the thoughts of
man are only evil and that continually. God's got a standard of judgment
that's perfectly righteous. You and I have never been able
to have a holy thought. Why? Because we're sinners. Every
thought we think, everything we do is infected with our sin. How do I know I'm a believer?
Because I believe that. I believe the Lord Jesus Christ
is holy, undefiled and separate from sinners. I believe that
He was conceived of the Holy Spirit. He didn't have the seed
of Adam. Not only does he not have unholy thoughts, he
never had anything but a holy thought. Never. He never did anything
that was perfect. He never said anything that was
perfect according to God's standard of perfection. And I believe that what he accomplished on
Calvary's cross was not an attempt to make an offer of salvation,
but actually put away the sins of God's elect once and for all. And the only hope of my salvation
is in his accomplished work of redemption. I don't have any
place else to go. We just got all our eggs in one
basket, don't we? We're casting all our care upon
him for he cared for us. We, we, we, we're trusting Christ
to save us, trusting him to intercede for us, trusting his shed blood,
trusting his person to stand in our stead before God. We believe
that that's how God redeems sinners. It's the only means that he uses. We're bound to give thanks to
God always for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning chosen you unto salvation. He's elected
you. He sanctified you, set you apart. He's caused you to believe the
truth. The truth. And the truth is what
sets you free. And the Lord Jesus Christ said,
I am the way, the truth, and the life. We're not hanging the
hopes of our salvation on a doctrine. We're hanging all the hopes of
our soul on Christ, who is the truth. What Martha said, Martha
said, I believe that in the resurrection my son will be risen. Martha,
Martha, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth
in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And he that liveth and
believeth in me shall never die. Believeth thou this, Martha?
Do you believe that I am he? I'm the son of God? Verse 14, where unto he called
you by our gospel. That's irresistible grace. That's
an effectual call. We speak audibly the gospel to
all men, but we know That if the Spirit of God doesn't speak
it effectually to the hearts of men, they won't hear it. They
won't hear it. Oh, they may have some ears,
but they're not gonna hear. They may have eyes, but they
won't see. The effectual call, the irresistible
call of grace. And we, you know, sometimes we
talk about, when was I saved? When, or we might ask somebody,
when did the Lord save you? When did the Lord save you? Well, the Lord saved me in the
covenant of grace before time ever began. The Lord saved me
when the Lord Jesus Christ bowed his mighty head on Calvary's
cross and said, it is finished. The Lord saved me when he called
me. when he called me by his irresistible grace and made me
to hear his voice, set me free from the trap of the law and
the trap of my sin, and put in my heart a desire to be at his
feet and to walk after him. And the Lord continues to save
me every day. He just, like that faithful dog, he's the one that
feeds me. If he doesn't feed me, I'm gonna starve, I'm gonna
die. And one day he's going to take me to glory. So, rather than saying, when
did the Lord save you? Maybe we should just say, when
did the Lord call you? When did He call you? Because
that's your experience. Your experience is when He called
you. If the Lord called you, He's
not going to call you with a false gospel. If the Lord's using a
false gospel to save folks, then why the big fuss? I mean, let's
just put all of our resources behind the most successful religious
huckster out there. No lies of the truth. Try the
spirits, see whether they be of God. Anyone confesses that
Jesus came in the flesh, He's of God, and anyone that confesses
not that Jesus Christ came in the flesh, he's the antichrist.
And there are many antichrists already among you, aren't there? God uses the gospel. The gospel. The good news of the accomplished
work and glorious person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the
gospel. He is the gospel. Salvations of the Lord, that's
the gospel. Notice, whereunto he called you
by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of Jesus Christ
our Lord. Now, I don't know what that means.
I really don't. We look through a glass dimly
now. Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter 13, when I was a child,
Spoke as a child I acted he's talking about turn with me to
that passage 1st Corinthians chapter 13 Verse 9 for we know in part and
we prophesy in part What we know about God is such a it's such
a small amount of who he is. But when that which is perfect
is come, that's the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
when the trump of God sounds and the dead in Christ are raised
and those of us which are alive be caught up together with them
in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord, seeing him
as he is and being made like him. When that which is perfect
is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When
I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought
as a child. But when I became a man, I put away childish things.
Now Paul's saying, I'm a child. Right now, as I write this, I'm
a child. I'm just a baby. What I know about God is just
so small. But one day I'm gonna be a full
grown man. For now we see through a glass
darkly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then
shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith,
hope, charity. These three, but the greatest
of these is charity. Why? Because in that day when
you become a full grown man, when we see him as he is, when
the fullness of his glory is revealed to us, Will not need
faith. Will not need hope. I will be
bathed, baptized in, completely immersed in the pure love of
Christ for all eternity. And that's going to be His glory.
And I don't know what that means. But I sure am looking forward
to it. I can't wait. I can't wait. And we're bound until that day
to give thanks to God. Amen? Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we pray
that You would keep us bound to Christ. Keep us looking and waiting and
watching. Oh, we ask it in Christ's name. Amen. Brother Tom. Number three in the Spiral Book.
Let's stand together. Number three. A debtor to mercy alone, of covenant
mercy I sing, nor fear with thy righteousness on my person an
offering to bring. The terrors of law and of God
with me can have nothing to do, My Savior's obedience and blood
hide all my transgressions from view. The work which His goodness
began, the arm of His strength will complete. His promise is
yea and amen. and never was forfeited yet. Things future nor things that
are now, nor all things below nor above, can make him his purpose
forego or sever my soul from his love. ? My name from the
palm of his hands ? ? Eternity will not erase ? ? Impressed
on his heart it remains ? ? In marks of indelible grace ? ?
Yes, I to the end shall endure ? ? As sure as the earnest is
given ? ? More happy but not more secure ? the glorified spirit
in heaven.