both the messages this morning are drawing, to hopefully draw
our attention to God's free grace in the glorious person and finished
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And some people might say, well,
grace, that seems so evident, that's so plain. It wasn't plain
to even the apostles at first. They weren't sure that Gentiles
could be saved. Why? Because they still had some
confusion in their hearts and minds about this thing of grace
and works. Law. And so they gathered together
in Jerusalem in Acts chapter 15. And here is the conclusion
of that meeting. We believe that through the grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved even as they. The only hope we have, Jew, Gentile,
bond-free, male, female, rich, poor, black, white, we believe
that by the grace of God, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
we shall be saved. That's what we believe. That's
what we believe here. I pray the Lord will give us confidence
in that. Let's stand together. Tom's going
to come lead us in the hymn on the back of your bulletin. Is this... How Sweet the Name?
How Sweet the Name? I don't know that tune. Does anybody know
that tune? It goes with the words. I just...
That's not the tune I know. That's the one I'm expecting.
That's... Okay. The Lord Jehovah governs
all and does his perfect will. His counsel he shall bring to
pass with an unerring skill, with an unerring skill. Throughout the spacious universe,
God has his sovereign way. In heaven above and here on earth,
all things his will obey. All things his will obey. Rejoice, ye people of the Lord,
this word of comfort here, that God your Lord rules over all,
should cancel every fear, should cancel every fear. He reigns in wisdom, grace, and
power. This is our confidence. The Lord works all things for
our good. So trust his providence. So trust his providence. Please be seated. Good morning, beloved. Can you
turn with your Bibles to 1 Peter? 1 Peter chapter 2. That was such a blessing, Brother
Greg, that first message. I pray His grace will continue
to this reading and to the next gospel message. 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 1. Wherefore, therefore in light
of verse 25 of chapter 1, this being the word which by the gospel
is preached unto you, that's when the Lord Jesus Christ is
revealed, when the gospel is preached, wherefore, and this
is you and I, laying aside, let us lay aside all malice and all
guile and hypocrisies and envies and all evil speakings as newborn
babes desire the sincere milk of the word, that you may grow
thereby. If so, be ye have tasted that
the Lord is gracious. Verse four. To whom coming? This morning we're not coming
to a doctrine, we're not coming to a religious activity, we're
not bringing anything with our hands. I hope this morning we're
coming as mercy beggars, As like Peter said on that boat,
Lord bid me to come unto thee, unto thee. A living stone, disallowed indeed
of men, but chosen of God and precious. You also as lively
stones are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer
up spiritual sacrifice acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. And that's
what we're doing with the calves of our lips. It's all about him. Wherefore, verse six, also it
is contained in the scripture, behold, I lay in Zion, a chief
cornerstone, elect, precious, and it's God the Father saying
that of his own Son, and he that believeth on him
shall not be confounded. It is our unbelief that makes
the water muddy. When we believe on him, grace
is grace, works is works. There is no confusing there. Verse 7, unto you therefore which
believe he is precious. He's everything to me. That's
why we're here. He is precious. But unto them
which be disobedient, brother Greg, the same meaning there,
not believing, the stone which the builders disallowed, the
same is made the head of the corner. And a stone of stumbling
and a rock of offense even to them which stumble at the word,
being disobedient, don't believe the gospel, they don't believe
him, were unto also they were appointed, but what does that
mean? Exactly what it says. They were appointed to unbelief,
but ye are a chosen generation and eternities past, born in
the love of the heart of the Father, a royal priesthood, a
holy nation, a peculiar people. Now I know we're a mess, but
that word there means purchased. Purchased by the precious shed
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. A purchased people that you should
show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness
into His marvelous light, which in time past were not a people,
that were Greg Loamy and Hosea that we heard a few weeks ago,
but are now the people of God, which had not obtained mercy,
but now have obtained mercy. The Lord said, I desire mercy
and not sacrifice and the knowledge of God. and not of burnt offerings,
and the reason why he desires mercy, because he gets to lift
up his precious son and give him all the glory, because he
is the perfect sacrifice. You bow with me. Loving Mercy Father, we come
to you in the name of thy dear son, in whom you are well pleased. thanking you for gathering us
again this morning into thy presence, where we can offer up to you
praise and worship, desiring more than anything to lift up
the Lord Jesus Christ, for truly he is precious. He is our all
in all. And Lord, we know you're here,
for you said you would be where two or three are gathered in
your name. Oh, Lord, we just want to heap everything upon
you. But Lord, we're in desperate need once again of being turned,
of being forgiven of our sins, our unbelief, our inability to
believe you, that thou art no longer angry with us, that thou
loveth us. Oh Lord, give us the faith to
believe this now. Thank you for the first gospel
message and we ask now that you would bless this gospel message
that you would build up your church unto the glory and praise
of thy dear son. For it's in his name that we
pray. Amen. Let's stand together once again.
Hymn number 60 from the Solfbeck Tymnal, number 60. How blessed we are in this free
land to hear the gospel preached. How blessed this church of ransomed
men whose hearts the light has reached. The light of truth has
made us free from sin and guilt and fear. Christ is that light
and all the truth, His word we gladly hear. But many who once had the light
are now in darkness dead. The light despised by favored
men has from those men now fled. Be warned, my soul, be warned,
my friends, the gospel is God's gift. He will remove the gospel's
light if we despise his gift. Great God, give us the grace
we need to cherish and obey the gospel we're so blessed to hear. And leave us not, we pray. Please be seated. Zechariah chapter 4. You don't
have to look this up because it's not really our text. But here's what the Lord said.
Who art thou, O great mountain, before Zerubbabel? Now, Zerubbabel
was king and he's a picture of Christ. For thou shalt become
a plain. and he shall bring forth the
headstone thereof with shoutings, grace, grace unto it." That's
going to be the headstone. Grace, grace unto it. Oh, that's our only hope. Only hope is that our God would
be pleased to show forth is grace to sinners for Christ's sake. It's all of grace. It's all of grace. We saw that.
Turn with me, if you will, in your Bibles to Romans chapter
11. We saw that in the first hour. It's all of grace. If you and I have ever been brought
to seek the God that is, it's only because he first sought
us. If we're able to see the God
who is, it's only because he manifested himself to us. Now, previous to our text, the
scripture says that this faith in God comes by hearing, and
hearing comes by the word of God. God is pleased to use hearing
as the means by which to reveal himself because the hearer, hearing
is a passive thing. We're not asking you for your
opinion. We're not asking you for your input. God sets his
people down, shuts their mouths, gives them another sinner just
like them to declare the gospel of his free grace, opens their
ears, and enables them to hear. The truth is that if the Lord
saves you or me, it will be completely his work of grace, completely. And the Lord goes on to describe
that in our text. It's all of grace. Look at verse one in chapter
11. I say then, hath God cast away his people? Perish the thought. God forbid. No, he hasn't cast
away his people. He has a people. The true Israelite
is that one who's received the circumcision in the heart done
by the hand of the Spirit. It's not the circumcision that's
done by the hands of men in the flesh. It's the work of grace
in the heart. God has not forsaken his people. God forbid. And Paul goes on
to say, for I'm an Israelite. I'm of the tribe of Benjamin.
I was circumcised the eighth day. Concerning the law, I was
blameless. I was a child of Abraham in the
flesh. Now that's what he's talking
about. And the Lord saved me. So the Lord has some of his people
among the Jews is what Paul's saying here. It's what the Lord's
saying. But Jew or Gentile, like we just
read in Acts chapter 15, we believe that by the grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ, we, Paul speaking to the Jews, shall be saved even
as they are. So it's by God's grace, whether
you be a Jew or a Gentile, the Lord saves all of his people
the same exact way. The same exact way. God forbid,
for I am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe
of Benjamin. God has not cast away his people,
which he foreknew. Now there's the beginning of
a sinner's salvation. The beginning of a sinner's salvation
is the foreknowledge of God. Now that doesn't mean that because
God is omniscient, He knows everything, that He is able to look down
through the quarters of time and see who it is that will choose
Him and then elect them according to the foreknowledge of His choice.
That's not what that word means at all. The best description
of this word is found when the Lord separates the sheep from
the goats. And he says to the goats, I was
hungry and you did not feed me. I was naked, you did not dress,
you did not clothe me. I was in prison, you did not
visit me. I was a stranger, you did not take me in. And they'll
say, Lord, when did we do those things? And he'll say, and that
you did at the least of these, my brethren, you did not have
done to me. Depart from me, you workers of iniquity. Those religious
folks were very active in doing those things in the flesh, just
as religious people are now. They're very involved in engaging
in good works. But the Lord said, depart from
me, you workers of iniquity, for I never knew you. I never knew you. Is it possible
that God would not be cognizant of someone's existence? Is that
what he meant when he said, I never knew you? No. No, he's saying,
my love was never on you. The foreknowledge of God is the
love that God has placed on his people in the covenant of grace
before time ever began. Before Adam was ever created,
God chose a people, and he loved them in Christ. He said, I've
loved you with an everlasting love. Jacob, I have loved, and
Esau, I have hated. The foreknowledge of God, the
first cause of our salvation, is the love of God. The love
of God. And contrary, listen to me very
carefully, contrary to what most people believe today, God does
not love everybody. The love of God is bound up in
the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, nothing can
separate you from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus. God's eyes, the scripture says,
are too pure to look upon sin. He can't love that which is not
lovely. He can't love that. He's too
holy. The only way that God could place
his love on a person is to determine that person to be in Christ,
in the covenant of grace. That's what he's saying here.
God forbid he's not, the people that he foreknew, The foreknowledge
of God is by the grace of God. I love what Paul said in Galatians
chapter 4 verse 9, but now, after that you have known God, and
then almost parenthetically he says, or rather that you were
known of God. You were known of God. The only
reason you would know God is because you were known of God. God knew a people. God, according to his own sovereign
will and purpose, was pleased to place his love on a particular
people in a covenant that God the Father established with God
the Son and God the Holy Spirit before Adam was ever formed from
the dust of the earth. It's called the covenant of grace.
Now if that be true, then what did we have to do with our salvation? What did we have to do with it?
Nothing. Has God forsaken his people?
God forbid! No! Don't even think such a thing. Why? Because God has not cast
away his people which he foreknew. Adam knew his wife and she conceived
and brought forth a son. This word knowledge is not information. It's intimacy. It's a relationship
that God has with the people that he placed his love on before
time ever began. God forbid, oh Lord is your love
for me? Are you depending upon the grace
of God for that love? Or are you hoping that something
you've done or something you didn't do has merited God's love
for you? Is it of grace or is it of works? The two cannot be mixed. The
two cannot be mixed. Look at verse six. And if by
grace, if this matter of salvation is all of grace, then it is no
more of works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. You can't mix the two. That's
what religion does. Religion takes the oil of grace, if you will, and
the water of works, and puts them together in a jar, and keeps
everybody so stirred up all the time that it looks like one liquid,
but as soon as you set it down, it separates. It separates. You can't mix grace and works. The foreknowledge of God The
fact that God has been pleased to place his love on a particular
people in the covenant of grace, in the Lord Jesus Christ, according
to his own sovereign will. Why would God love some and not
others? Because it pleased him. He's
God. He's God. And I hear what some
men are saying. Well, that's not fair. What's
not fair? You think God's obligated to
you for anything? You think that God has to do
it? No. He's God. We're not. The foreknowledge of God is by
grace. God hath not cast away his people
which he foreknew. What ye not with the scripture
saith of Isaiah, how he maketh intercession, I'm sorry, Elijah,
how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, now,
Elijah, was the prophet of God that built
the altar on Mount Carmel, where the fire of God fell from heaven
and consumed the altar and destroyed the prophets of Baal. Then Elijah
fled to Mount Horeb, which is also called Mount Sinai.
He fled to the law. The only reason he survived that
is because he's hiding out in a cave. And the Lord spoke to
Elijah while he was in that cave in a still small voice. But here's
the complaint that Elijah gave to the Lord in that conversation,
in that intercourse. Look at verse 3. Elijah thought
that he was the only faithful man left in all Israel. And look what God says. But what
sayeth the answer of God unto him? That was Elijah's opinion.
That was Elijah's feelings. He was feeling pretty left out
there by himself, wasn't he? But what did God say to Elijah?
Because that's what matters, not what Elijah thought, but
what God said. I have reserved to myself 7,000
men who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Elijah,
I know you've been faithful. I know you've stood for the truth.
But there's 7,000 others that have been faithful and the reason
why you've been faithful and the reason why they've been faithful
is because I reserved them to myself. Your faithfulness is not a work. Your faithfulness is all of grace. If you've been able to stand
for the truth of the gospel, if you've been able to believe
the gospel, if you've been able to see the fallacy of false religion,
it's not because you've proven yourself to be faithful. It's
because God has reserved you. It's all of grace. The foreknowledge
of God is by grace. The faithfulness of God's people
is by grace. Paul, in defending his faithfulness
as an apostle, when he was being accused of being faithless, He concluded his argument with
this statement, I am what I am by the grace of God. By the grace
of God. The only reason that I've been
faithful to the gospel is because of God's grace. Elijah, the only
reason you've been faithful, the only reason these 7,000 are
faithful is by the grace of God. It's not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth. It's of God that showeth mercy.
It's all of grace. It is God that works in you,
causing you to will and to do of His good pleasure. Paul put
it like this in Philippians chapter 1, being confident of this one
thing, that he which began a good work in you will perform it until
the day of Jesus Christ. You see, your faithfulness. I
want to be faithful. And if I am, it'll be by the
grace of God. If you're faithful to the gospel,
it'll be by the grace of God. It won't be because you pulled
yourself up by your bootstraps. It won't be because you've studied
harder and prayed harder and worked harder and been more diligent. It'll be by the grace of God.
And if you do pray more, and if you do study more, that'll
be by the grace of God. It's all of grace. It's all of
grace. We bring nothing to the table. God does it all. Paul said, oh no, God forbid,
he hadn't forgotten his people. No, he's faithful to those who
he foreknew. And Elijah was wrong when he
thought he was the only one that had been faithful. God said,
I have reserved 7,000 that have been faithful. And the reason
they're faithful is because I reserved them. It's all of grace. It's the only
thing that glorifies the Lord. Look at verse five. Even so then
at this present time also there is a remnant according to the
election of grace. Someone reads that and they say,
what does that mean? It means exactly what it says.
It means exactly what it says. God
We're in a political season right now. I'm here to tell you, there's
not a more pitiful profession than men going around the country
kissing babies and begging men to vote for them. Oh, choose
me! Choose me! I'm better than that
other guy! Won't you choose me? Vote for
me! I mean, I would be so ashamed if I had to do that. And yet,
men think God's that way. God's not running for office.
You're not going to elect Him. You don't choose Him. You don't
let Jesus come into your heart. He's the one that has to choose
you. It's called the election of grace. God has elected a people. according
to his own will and purpose. He's not in the heavens wringing
his hand, pleading with men to let him have his way. That's
a false God. That's an idol. That's a God
of man's imagination. That's the popular God of man-made
religion. It's not the God that is. Let
me show you the God that is. Turn with me to Ephesians chapter
one. Verse four, according as he hath
chosen us in him, before the foundation of the world. And
here's what God says, before time ever started, before Adam
was ever created, God chose a people. He foreknew them. He keeps them
faithful. He's elected them according to
his grace. that we should be holy and without
blame before him in love. How are you going to be holy
in the presence of a holy God? How are you going to be blameless
in the presence of a holy God? If you know anything about yourself,
you know that you're unholy. You know that everything about
you, God can accuse you of. How are you gonna be holy and
blameless in the presence of a holy God? Only if he chooses
you and puts you in Christ. That's the only way. To be found
in him. Not having your own righteousness
which is of the law, but that righteousness which is by the
faith of Jesus Christ. That's the only hope. He's our
only hope. Look at the next verse, having
predestinated us. I can't tell you how many people
say, do you believe in predestination? Of course. You say, what's that
word mean? It means to destine before. Pre,
before, destinate, predestinate, that's what God does. God does
the choosing. God does the electing. And he
did it before time ever began. It's called grace. Grace unto
it. It's not about us. It's not about
you. having predestinated unto us
unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself. The Lord Jesus Christ stood as
our surety before God, even before time ever started. In eternity
past, the only way that God could be pleased with us is to find
us. God the Father has always looked
to Christ on our behalf. Always looked to Christ. According... You say, well, why
would God do such a thing? The next phrase answers that
question. According to the good pleasure
of His will. There it is. It's not by your
will, it's by His will. And it's good. You know, when
you and I have a decision to make, we have to evaluate whether
it's good or bad. Whether it's right or wrong.
and hopefully we make good choices in life. God doesn't have to
do that. Because He does it, it's right. Whatever He does is right. He
doesn't have to evaluate, well, should I do it this way or should
I do it that way? He acts according to His own sovereign will and
everything He does is proven to be right because He did it.
Because He did it. You say, what's the result of
that? It's to the praise of the glory. You see that? Of His grace. To the praise of the glory of
His grace. He gets all the praise. He gets
all the glory. It's all of grace. So the foreknowledge of God is
by grace. Our faithfulness to the gospel,
our ability to believe and to remain believing is by His grace. I've reserved for myself 7,000.
Election, God choosing us. We're not choosing Him. I'm not
here to say, won't you choose Christ? No. I'm here to tell
you who He is. And if He's pleased, To choose
you, you'll know it. You'll know it. You know what
you'll be singing in your heart? Oh, pass me not. Oh, gentle Savior. Hear my humble cry. While on
others thou art calling, do not pass me by. Oh, Lord, don't pass
me by. Choose me. You'll become the
politician. You'll become the beggar. Choose
me. It's a shameful profession. It's
a shameful thing. It's humbling to have to beg. But that's exactly how you're
going to come. And that's exactly how I'm going to come. You're
going to be a mercy beggar. Go back with me to our text. You've already read part of this
verse, verse 6. And here's my point, here's my
fourth point. Grace is all of grace. You say, well that makes... Grace, the unmerited favor of
God, is all of grace. You put one ounce of your works
into the ocean of God's grace, and it's no longer grace. It's
no longer grace. If it is of grace, then it is
no more of works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it
is no more grace. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. If you're going to be saved by
works, then here's what God requires.
The whole law. The whole law. Every jot and
tittle. Not just in your outward behavior,
but in your inward attitude, in your heart. Truth is, you
and I have never been able to keep one of God's laws one time.
If the Lord doesn't save us by grace, the law, the only thing
the law is going to do is condemn us. That's all it can do. There's
one word the law will speak to those who are found outside of
the grace of God, and that is guilty. Guilty. That's all it's going to say.
Condemned. Grace is all of grace. It's not
of works. Don't add your commitment to
it. Don't add your dedication. Don't add your determination. And don't compare yourself to
other men who present themselves as being so self-righteous. You
know, oh, look at my life. Look at my family. Trust me, it's not what they
want you to think it is. Truth is, your parents messed
you up. And you messed your kids up,
and your kids are going to mess their kids up. That's just the
way it is. And these people who walk around
presenting themselves as being holier than thou, being more
righteous, you know, we're the example of virtue. We're the
example of righteousness. No, you're not. Christ is the
example. He's the virtuous one. We're
all a mess. You talk about dysfunctional
family, your family's dysfunctional, and so is mine. Why? Because it's made up of a bunch
of sinners. That's why Christ gets all the
glory. Don't mix your works with grace. Don't do it. You'll ruin grace.
You put a teaspoon of grace, of works, in that ocean of grace.
You put a drop of works in that ocean of grace and you're gonna
ruin grace. It's all of Christ. But then
what will we do? We think, well, I can do better.
I can get better. I can be like them. No, you can't.
Look to Christ. Look to Christ. It's all of grace. Every bit of it. And if it be of grace, it is
no more of works. Otherwise, grace is not grace. the way of Cain, Cain and Abel. Abel brought the firstlings of
the flock, shed its blood, and God was pleased with the sacrifice.
Why? Because that pictured the Lamb
of God that is without spot and without blemish, the one that
would hang on Calvary's cross and satisfy all the demands of
God's justice. Cain brought that sacrifice.
What Abel brought that, so what Cain bring? The fruit of his
hand. Don't you know, if you've done
any gardening or farming, you know those first fruits are the
best. I suspect that that was probably Cain's offering. It was the first fruits. He brought
the best thing that he could produce. And God had no regard
for the offering of Cain. And what'd Cain do? Killed his
brother, didn't he? Nothing's changed. Nothing's
changed. It's exactly the same now. You
bring the fruit of your hands. God's not gonna accept it. He
accepts Christ. The sacrifice that he made. He's
pleased with Christ. It's all of grace. All of grace. So I know we're not saved by
works, but we need works to prove our
salvation. As soon as you start looking
at your works to prove your salvation, you've taken your eyes off of
Christ, and those works become your righteousness. They become your righteousness. Turn with me to Galatians chapter
3. There's an article in your bulletin
that I would take exception to at one point. I don't really
take exception to it, I just think that it needs some clarification.
Yes, the Galatians were hoping that their works would secure
their salvation, but they would have agreed All the Galatians
would have agreed that salvation is a work of free grace. Sanctification,
on the other hand. In other words, yeah, we're not
saved by works, but we have to prove our salvation by works.
That was the heresy of Galatia. That was the heresy of Galatia.
We gotta prove our works, prove our faith by our works. And look
what the Lord says in chapter three of Galatians. Oh, foolish
Galatians, who have bewitched you that you should not obey
the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ has been evidently set
forth and crucified among you. There's the gospel. It's the
crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. This only when I learn
of you. Receive you the spirit by the
works of the Lord, by the hearing of faith. Oh no, no, no. We didn't
receive the spirit of God by the works of the law. We received
it by the hearing of faith. We're saved by faith. But now
the Lord takes us back to the law and now we gotta maintain
some obedience to the law in order to prove our salvation. Are you so foolish, having begun
in the Spirit? Are you now made perfect by the
flesh? Have you suffered so many things
in vain, if it be yet in vain? He therefore that ministereth
to you the Spirit, that's God, and worketh miracles among you,
doeth he by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith?
Abraham believed God, and it was accounted unto him for righteousness. Faith is the evidence of your
salvation. Don't look for it anywhere else. I want you to honor the Lord
with your life. I want to honor the Lord with my life. But as
soon as you start looking for evidence of your salvation in
your works, you've gone back to the law. When the Lord separated the sheep
from the goats, I mentioned this in the first hour, what he said
to the goats, you know what he said to the sheep? He said, I
was hungry and you fed me. I was naked and you clothed me.
I was in prison, you came and visited me. I was a stranger,
you took me in. You know what the sheep said to God when he
commended them for their good works? Lord, when did we see
you like that and do that? But they took no notice of what
they had done. The truth of that is the spiritual
application anyway. It's the gospel, it's the preaching
of the gospel that clothes the naked and feeds the hungry and
gives thirst to the thirsty and delivers the prisoner from the
prison and brings the stranger into the fold of God. And every
child of God participates in that as a part of the body of
Christ. And the Lord's gonna say that
to every one of his children. And they're gonna say, Lord,
when did we do that? When did we do that? Don't look. You see, whether
you're looking to the law to acquire your salvation or looking
to the law to prove your salvation, it's the same. It's the same. It's looking away from Christ.
It's all of grace. And it's all of Christ. And he gets all the glory. And
God's people love it that way. Verse 7. I'll finish quickly. Verse 7. What then? Israel hath not obtained that
which he seeketh for, but the election hath obtained it, and
the rest were blinded. What is it that Israel was seeking?
What is it that they were seeking? They were seeking the knowledge
of God. They were seeking salvation. They were seeking to please God
by their works. And the Lord said, they didn't
obtain it, but the election obtained it. The elect of God obtained
it. They've got the knowledge of
God. The Lord said in John chapter 17, this is life eternal, that
they might know thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom
thou hast sent. Lord, show us the Father and
it sufficeth us. Oh, Philip. Have I been with
you so long that you don't know that if you've seen me, you've
seen the Father? For I and the Father are one.
Everything you and I are ever going to know about Christ, we're
going to find it in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. God
makes himself known to his people in the person and work of Christ. Israel pursued the knowledge
of God, but they didn't achieve it. Why? Because they were looking
to know God by their diligence to the scriptures. You search the scriptures because
you think in them you have eternal life, but these are they which
testify of me. The whole of the Bible is a revelation
of the glorious person of the Lord Jesus Christ set in contrast
to all the idols of man-made religion. It's a glorious depiction. It's a revelation. of the finished
work of Christ, set in contrast to man's works. And lastly, verse 8, according
as it is written, And this is, I have, my conscience is clear
before God right now. I want you to know that. Because
I, I, I, I believe that God has enabled me to just tell you what
God says. I'm not here espousing my opinions. They're not worth anything. And
I'm not interested in yours. We're just, we're just want to
know what God says. According as it is written, God
hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should
not see, and ears that they should not hear. God blinded their eyes. And if our eyes are to be opened,
God's going to have to open them. You can't see the kingdom of
God unless you're born from above. You gotta be born of the spirit.
And what'd those self-righteous Pharisees say? Are you suggesting
that we're blind? We've spent our whole life studying
the word of God. We know God's word. We know the
law of God. Are you saying that we're blind?
And what'd the Lord say to them? If you were blind, Then your
sins will be forgiven you. But because you see, therefore
your sins remain. You understand that? You understand
that? Because you, the worst kind of
blindness of all is the person who thinks he can see when he
can't. And that's the condition of a man who's trusting in something
other than the pure, simple grace of God in the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ for all their salvation, from foreknowledge, to sight,
to faith, to faithfulness. It's all of God. That's why Jonah
said, salvation is of Let's pray. John, you can go get ready if
you like. Our Heavenly Father, we're so
thankful that you are faithful to save your people. We pray,
Lord, that you would save us for thy name's sake, for we ask
it in Christ's name. Amen. John Myers is going to
be baptized this morning. We're going to sing a hymn while
he gets ready. Tom, you come. Eighty-four in the sawback tenor.
Let's stand together. We take our place with Christ
our God Within the watery grave Buried with Him by symbol now
Who died our souls to save By this confession we proclaim our
sin and guilt and shame, our faith in our great substitute,
the Son of God, the Lamb. Arising from the grave, O Christ,
to live and walk with you. Our hearts' allegiance now we
pledge, our Lord and King to you. Sealed by your spirit, kept by
grace, we'll walk the narrow way. We hope to serve your cause on
earth in this our serving day. Then when your purpose is fulfilled
and all your work is done, we'll wait your grace to bring us home
to serve before your throne. Please be seated. two Sundays in a row. First time I talked to John about
the gospel. We met for lunch, and he brought
his computer with him, his little iPad or whatever. And he'd been
listening to the services online. And he showed me what he had
been listening to. And his notes were a whole lot
more extensive than mine were when I preached to him. I thought,
boy, I need to get you to make the notes for me. And he had
been listening for some time and feverishly writing and making
notes and hadn't learned a thing. He told me the other day, he said,
I finally put my pen down and started listening. And God taught
him the gospel. I was found of them that sought
me not. John asked me. I'll be willing
to baptize in my soul, of course. So, John, we baptize you as a
brother in Christ, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit, buried with Christ in baptism. Raised to walk a new life in
Christ Jesus. God's people said, amen. Let's stand together. We'll sing
Amazing Grace. I think it's 236 in the heart. Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found
Was blind, but now I see T'was grace that taught my heart
to fear, And grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear,
The hour I first believed. Through many dangers, toils, have already come. Tis grace that brought me safe
this far, and grace will lead me home. And we've been there 10,000 years,
bright shining as the sun. We've no less days to sing God's
praise than when we first begun. Charlie, would you dismiss us
with prayer and pray for John? Thank you. Our Father in heaven, we thank
you for this time that you've allowed us to assemble together
in this place and give you a heart of grace. Father, we pray that
you'd make it effectual for all of us. We especially thank you,
our Father, that you've been pleased to reveal yourself to
your dear brethren, to reveal Christ to them and in them. Lord,
we thank you for his confession before us this evening, this
day, stairs.