All right, now let's take our
Bibles and turn with me to the book of 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy chapter 1. 2 Timothy chapter 1. I want to look at verses 8 and
9, but make a few comments before we get there. The apostle Paul
was moved by God's Spirit to write a letter to a man named
Timothy, a letter that began by saying this in verse 1, Paul,
an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, according to
the promise of life which is in Christ, Jesus. Now, that, that, that, those
last three words right there. The promise of life, which is in Christ Jesus. I, I look those words up. You
know, when you don't look something up, you just assume that you
know what it means. And, and by and large, we don't.
In Christ Jesus. That's, this is what it means.
engrafted in Christ, in fellowship and union with Christ. So to
be in Christ, here's what the scripture says. You have to be
engrafted into Christ. Well, here'd be my next question.
How Is one found to be in Christ? How is one found to be engrafted
in Christ? Well, you know this scripture. Turn to Ephesians 1. I quote
this all the time. I want you to look at it. How
does one get in Christ? One way. One way. God's got to put him there. God's
got to put him there. Ephesians 1 verse 3 and 4. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he has
chosen us in him, before the foundation of the world, that
we should be holy and without blame before him in love. So let me tell you, first of
all, how long have the sheep of God. I kind of was trying
to decide which of these messages did I want to preach first. The
one I just preached or this one? And I came to feel that I wanted
to preach the other one first and to let this one be kind of
one that's of support. Can I say that, what I just said?
You know, the Lord, as we just looked at, came into
this world because he had a sheep that was in this courtyard of
this world. He had a sheep. Well, how long
has he had them? How long have they been his sheep?
Well, according to the scriptures, they were chosen in him before
the foundation of the world. So that's how long God's sheep
have been in Christ. So Paul the apostle wrote this
letter to a man named Timothy, Paul, our apostle of Jesus Christ,
2 Timothy 1.1, by the will of God, according to the promise
of life which is in Christ Jesus, those engrafted into Christ. So this eternal life is that
which is promised according to the promise in Christ. It's not earned. by us, but rather
is given, it's given by God's grace. All of grace without any
work on man's part. I'm gonna show you that. Ephesians
2.8 says this, for by grace, by God's unmerited favor. No one deserves salvation. By
grace are you saved. What does that mean? Rescued
from danger. I looked it up. Looked it up. Are you saved? You're rescued
from danger. You're rescued from danger. Why? Because I couldn't rescue
myself. Rescued from danger. Delivered
from sin's penalty. That's what the word saved means. For by grace are you saved through
faith. Now listen, listen. Faith is not the reason of our
salvation. Rather, faith is the God-given
gift which is required for salvation. It's the channel through which
salvation is bestowed. You say it's required, faith,
without faith No man can please God, you can't please Him without
faith. Scripture says all men have not faith. How do I get
it? God's gotta give it to me. He
gives faith, it's a gift. And that, I'll show you right
here, and that, not of yourselves, it's the gift of God. Grace is
the gift of God, salvation is the gift of God, faith is the
gift of God. It's the gift of God, it's the gift of God. Whenever
we start talking about salvation, I'm telling you right now, you
just take man out of the equation of having anything to do with
it. For by grace are you saved. Through faith. Nothing concerning
our salvation is attributed to us, but rather to the Lord God
of heaven. Faith In Christ, Jesus is not
the work of the sinner, but rather the work of God in the sinner. Well, the Apostle Paul told Timothy
concerning salvation. He said, and these are the two
verses I want to look at, verses 8 and 9. Be not thou therefore
ashamed of the testimony of our Lord. nor of me his prisoner,
but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God. Now, let me say something. God's people, regenerated by
the grace of God, given a new heart, having that heart of stone
removed, having a new heart given them. God's people are not ashamed
of the testimony of Christ. The testimony of Christ is the
gospel of God's free grace. It's the gospel. It's the good
news. You know, when we preach the
gospel, you know what we're doing. We're declaring, we're declaring
what God has done for a people. that he is everlastingly loved.
We're declaring what he's done. We're telling this world. And
we're not ashamed of it. I'm not ashamed of it. Somebody
says, well, I'll tell you what, you're making the gospel too
narrow. No, I'm telling you what God
says. I'm not doing either. I'm not
doing either. I'm telling you what God says. That's all I'm
doing. I'll tell anybody, take your
Bible, take your Bible and look up what I'm saying. And if I'm
not saying what these scriptures are saying, then I'll tell you,
I'm sorry. I made a mistake. I lied. But
if I'm telling you what God says, that's what I'm doing. I'm declaring
the testimony of God. This is what God says. This is
His testimony. So Paul, the apostle, says to
Timothy, Be not therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord.
Don't be ashamed of what God says. I'm not ashamed
of giving Him all the honor and glory and praise. God says salvation
is by grace. So I'm not ashamed to say salvation
is by the grace of God. unmerited favor, not ashamed
to declare the gospel of God's free grace. The Apostle Paul
said in Romans chapter 1, verse 15-17. I'll get it right in a
minute. Romans 1, 15-17. He said, As much as in me is, I am ready
to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. I'm not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ. I'm not ashamed of this. Why?
Because it is the power of God unto salvation. To everyone that
believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek, for therein
is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith as it is
written, the just shall live by faith. Paul said, I'm not
ashamed of this. I'm not ashamed to give him all the glory. I'm
not ashamed of it. I'm not ashamed to tell all of
us right here. We're just wretched sinners.
We ain't worth shooting. I'm not ashamed to tell you that.
It's the truth. In us, Paul the Apostle says,
in me, that is in my flesh, there dwells no good thing. There ain't
nothing good here. Don't tell everybody they got
a little good in them. You're a liar. There's not any good.
I know what I think. I was ashamed of the things I
do and say and think. We stand fast in the truth of
salvation by the grace of God. No works in ourselves. Wretched sinners that God Almighty
was pleased, according to his word, to love. He didn't love me because I was
going to be a good guy. He looked down, he saw that there
were none good. That's what Psalm 14 says. There
was none good. He didn't call me because he
saw I was gonna seek him. There's none that seek after
God. Why did he love me? Because he chose to. That's the
only answer I got. I ain't ashamed of that. Not
ashamed to tell you the truth. We rest in him who is our life. and saved us
by his grace. Paul says, don't be ashamed.
Don't be ashamed of him. Christ is our righteousness before
God. And then the apostle Paul said,
in verse nine, who hath saved us, called us with a holy calling,
not according to our works, according to his own purpose and grace,
which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus
Christ, who has abolished death and has brought life and immortality
to life through the gospel. Paul says, don't be ashamed of
the testimony of our Lord, the one who saved us, I want you
to notice what, and I'm gonna just deal for just a few minutes
on this ninth verse. I want you to notice how the
Spirit of God moved the Apostle Paul to begin that verse nine
with this precious word, who, who. Okay, who, what do you mean
who? Well, just look at the last few
words of verse eight. He said, Be thou partaker of the afflictions
of the gospel according to the power of God, who God Almighty,
Jehovah Himself, Father, Son, and Spirit, in covenant mercy,
one God in the threefold character of His persons, all three, In
the essence of Jehovah, okay, I can't explain that. I just
tell you that that's what it is. There's one God, one God,
and he had been pleased to manifest himself in three persons. One
God, Jehovah, him who is deserving of all praise, honor, glory,
and the salvation of his elect. The father who chose, the son
who redeemed, All the sheep, that's what we just ran over
John 10, 15. He said, I lay down my life for the sheep. Lay down
my life for the sheep. Whenever somebody tells you that
the Lord Jesus Christ died for all the sins of all the people
in all the world, they're thieves and robbers. They're lying to
you. Somebody said, well, I thought
he did. Well, he didn't. How do you know? Because he said
he didn't. Don't tell people Christ died
for everybody. He didn't. That is not going to fly. You
know what you're going to have to say? He died for the sins
of all the people. Well, first of all, you're going
to say this. If anybody goes to hell and Christ died for them,
he's a failure. You can say, well, no, no, no,
he's not a failure. It's not his fault. It's man's
fault because Man has to appropriate it. Man has to accept it. I said,
well now you're saying that salvation is by your works. It ain't gonna
fly. Christ died for his sheep. He
said, all that the Father giveth me. John 6, 37. He said, they're
coming. They're coming. He said, this
is the will of God. That of all which he hath given
me, I should lose how many? None. Nothing. Nothing. I'm telling
you, salvation is not a maybe. Salvation is sure. Salvation
is sure. As sure as God Almighty says
it is. So God Almighty, who? The Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit. It blows as the wind, Christ
told Nicodemus. You don't know where he's going.
You don't know where he's coming from. You don't know nothing. But God
does. And here's what I want to know.
Who? What has he done? Hath saved us. Saved us. All right. Now flip your page on that blank
page. I'm going to give you the definition
of saved. Saved. Here's what it means. It's not, it doesn't mean what
somebody says it means. It means what God says it means.
Who has saved us. Here's what it means. to make
one a partaker of the salvation by Christ. This is what it means. Who has saved us? To make one
a partaker of the salvation by Christ. To make one a partaker. You know what that says to me?
God decided. God decided. Who has saved us
and called us with a holy calling. A holy calling. Now look back
at our text, 2 Timothy 1.9, who has saved us and called us with
a holy calling. Now, I'm gonna tell you something
right now. I was raised in a congregation that, you know, we're constantly
throwing out the lifeline and we're appealing, and I will admit,
I don't know who the sheep are. So I've got to proclaim the truth
to everybody, everybody. I tell everybody. Everybody.
Somebody says, you got a problem with whosoever. I don't have
a problem with whosoever. No, sir. You think I've got a problem
with what God said? Whosoever will, let him come.
The bride says, come. The spirit says, come. Whosoever,
let him take of the wine. You think I got a problem with
that? No, I don't have a problem with that at all. I'm telling you, whosoever
will. But until God gives them a new
heart, they don't. Because they don't hear. They
don't have a heart. They're not willing in the day of God's power
until God gives them a heart. That's what I'm saying. I'm telling
you, men are dying. But I'm going to tell you the
truth. He called us with a holy calling. Now, my question is
this. What is a holy calling? What is a holy calling? Well,
I want to just let God answer that. I'd rather not answer it.
I'd rather the Lord answer it. I'll read it. I'll read you what
he says. Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling,
comma, not according to our works. but according to his own purpose
and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began. Do you know what the Holy Calling
says? It's not according to our works, but it's according to
his purpose and grace which was given us in Christ before the
world began. To perceive something what the
truth of Almighty God is concerning salvation, we have to hear what
God has to say. He says that He saved us. How many of the us's are there? I don't know. The Lord knows. I don't know. But I know He's
got a people and I know He saved us. He has saved us. He's made
us partakers. According to his word, he made
us partakers in Christ. He made us partakers in Christ
before the foundation of the world. He called us with a holy
calling. That was not according to our
works. I want you to notice that salvation, according to this
scripture right here, who saved us and called us, salvation,
according to the description of this word, He made us a partaker. We've already read where He chose
us in Christ before the foundation of the world. He made us a partaker. Salvation, according to the definition
of the word, precedes our knowledge of it. We were made partakers
in Christ. before the foundation of the
world. God's covenant mercy did not begin in time. It is declared
to be from everlasting. Now here's a word that we're
using, that you want to use. We use the word saved. In time,
He regenerates His people. He calls them out of darkness
through the preaching of this gospel. and grants them faith
through the preaching of the gospel to believe it. But as
far as the word saved, we just, I know how we use it. I understand
how we use it. But the word means to be made
a partaker of. God knew his people from the
foundation of the world. He made us partakers of it, choosing
us in Christ. Now let me ask you this. Were
we all born spiritually dead in trespasses and sins? Yes! Were we polluted from the crown
of our head to the sole of our foot? Yes! Did we enter into
this world with a heart of stone that was enmity against God?
Yes! Were we wretched sinners? Yes! Paul the Apostle said, Christ
Jesus came into this world to save sinners. of whom I'm chief. We were chosen sinners, chosen
in Him, walking in this world until the Lord was pleased to
cross our paths as lost sheep, caring nothing for the things
of God, believing in our hearts that salvation was totally according
to our works and will and ability, but according to the Scriptures.
God hath saved us, made us partakers in Christ, and called us, just
like he entered into that courtyard, satisfied that porter, the law
of God. And the law of God had no hold
upon him. He's the obedient son. This is
my beloved son, whom I'm well pleased. You hear him. Law of
God, he goes in and he calls his sheep. He calls his sheep,
and they hear him. He gives them ears to hear, they
hear him. He leads them out. Porter says, no problem. Justify, no problem. No record,
I'm with him. In him is life. In him is life. Beloved, the sheep, not obtain
their rescue and salvation through the deeds of the law. Scripture
says God's election obtained it. I'm going to read you this
last scripture. Turn with me to Romans 11. Romans
11. Romans 11, 5 to 8. Romans 11, 5 to 8. Romans 11,
5. Even so then at this present time, Also, there is a remnant according
to the election of grace. I know this right now, at this
present time. You say, well, that was written
by Paul the Apostle back years ago. Even so, at this present
time, there is a remnant according to the election of grace. I know
God's got a people out there. And if by grace, then it is no
more of works. I wonder how many times, Neal,
we'd have to read that before we got it. How many times do
you read that? Not of works. Not of works. Not by works, which we have done.
Not of works. Not of works. If by grace, then
it is no more works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it
is no more grace. Otherwise, work is no more work.
What then? Israel hath not obtained that
which he seeketh for by the works of the law. but the election hath obtained
it and the rest were blinded. You mean God is pleased to call
out his people and he's pleased to leave some to themselves?
Yes, yes. He said, well, I don't see how
that can be fair. I told somebody one time, I said,
you wanna talk about fair? Fair. If God left me to myself,
left me to do what I wanted to do, I wanna give every man his
own free will and let him do, I'm gonna tell you, I don't want
God to leave me to myself. I know what I'm gonna do. I'm
gonna not believe him. I need for the Lord to do something
for me that I will not, by my own nature, do for myself. I'll
rebel against him and God will justly put me in hell. Lord,
don't leave me to myself. Who has saved us and called us
with a holy calling. What a God. I pray God bless
that to our hearts.