All right, let's take our Bibles
and turn with me to the book of Proverbs chapter 24. Proverbs
24. Today we consider a blessed conversation
that took place in the everlasting councils of God's covenant of
grace. A conversation that took place
between the persons of the Godhead. God is declared to be, He's declared
Himself to be the triune God. One God, three persons. And in
this conversation, Almighty God, the Father, has commissioned
the Son to a work, and a work that would be in time
brought to pass, but a work that has been eternally prepared and
finished. The scripture declares in 2 Timothy
1-9, we've read this so many times, but listen to this. Who
hath saved us and called us with an holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to his own purpose
and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began. God the Father gave a people
of His choosing to the Lord Jesus Christ, and in so doing, commissioned
Him as the surety of the sheep's salvation to a work that must
be finished on their behalf, a work that the Lord Jesus Christ
declared to be finished, completely manifested as He hung upon the
cross of Calvary, John 19.30. When Jesus, therefore, had received
the vinegar, He said, finished, and he bowed his head and gave
up the goat. Now, we know that God has given
the Son a church, a bride, an elect, a selected, chosen out. There's no better way to say
it. He's got a sheep, an elect people
that He's going to save. Now, I want us to listen to the
words of this passage of Scripture. It's Proverbs 24, verse 27. And I plan to preach out of the
first half of that verse today and the second half of that verse,
Lord willing, next week. That's why I didn't want to divide
it up. I didn't want to preach the first half to you and the
second half to the other. I just... Look at the first half of the
commission of the Father to the Son. Verse 27, Proverbs 24, 27. Prepare thy work without and
make it fit for thyself in the field. Prepare thy work. Now here's what the word prepare
means. To erect, to establish, to set
up and render sure. You do it. Prepare thy work, thy dutyship,
your service, your ministry. I want you to establish what
I have told you to do. Prepare thy work without, that
is outside, severed from the place where you are. I want you to absolutely make
everything to be done Prepare it. Now listen to the second
half. I plan to preach on this next
week, but listen to the second half of that verse. And afterwards,
build thine house. He's got a house. It is his church. Now I want you to make sure that
everything is prepared. I want you to make sure everything
is done. I don't want anything left undone. I want everything
to be done. Done. And then after it's all done,
now you come build your church. A beautiful passage description
holds your place right there. Turn to 1 Kings 5. 1 Kings 5,
just back in the Old Testament there, before 1 Chronicles, 2
Chronicles. 1 Kings, chapter 5. This was
the building of Solomon's temple, the preparation of building of
Solomon's temple. 1 Kings 5. And verses 13 to 18,
I want you to look. Solomon was going, was commissioned,
he was commissioned to build the temple, great temple of Solomon. And this is the way he was going
to build it. Now in this building, the way he built it, this is
the way, this is a beautiful picture of how Christ builds
his church, his work, his temple. 1 Kings 5, verse 13 to 18, and
King Solomon, raised a levy, a tribute of men,
out of all Israel. He selected some men, and the
levy was 30,000 men. And he sent them to Lebanon,
10,000 a month by course. A month they were in Lebanon,
and two months at home. And Adoniram was over the levee. And Solomon had 3 score 10,000
bare burdens, 4 score thousand hewers in the mountains. Beside
the chief of Solomon's officers there were over the work 3,300
which ruled over the people that wrought in the work. And the
king commanded and they brought great stones, costly stones,
and hewn stones to lay the foundation of the house. And Solomon's builders
and Hiram's builders did hew them and the stone quarries So
they prepared timber and stones to build the house. Now don't
turn, just stay right there where you are. Let me tell you what
he said. Here was Solomon, he got a tribute
of men. He got 30,000. 30,000 men. They'd go to work
for a month, they'd be off two months. And what he did was he
had 70,000 that bore the burden of the work. You're going to
do the work. There were 80,000. 70,000 of them cut the stones out of
the mountain. They brought the stones. They
won't cut a stone now. 80,000 hewed the stones. Beside
the chief officers of Solomon, there were 3,300 superintendents. So this was a well-organized
machine. I mean some guys, you guys cut
the stones out of the mountain? You guys hewed the stones? And
3,300 of you, you watch over and make everything done right.
I want all this coordinated. But listen to this in 1 Kings
6 verse 7. Just look over the next page
probably. And the house when it was in building was built
of stone made ready before it was brought thither. So that
there was neither hammer, nor axe, nor any tool of iron heard
in the building while it was in building. What does that mean?
Everything was hewn, cut, done, fitted out in the field. And when it was brought into
the temple, it was just laid in place. Every stone fit perfectly. No work, no tools, no shimmying,
no nothing. It fit. You guys make sure it
fits. And when it came to that place,
they put it together. Now there is a marvelous prophecy
of the preparation of the Lord's house. The church being prepared
before it would actually be assembled in time. Turn over, turn over
to Hebrews. Hold your place in Proverbs. You know, if you're there in
Proverbs, turn to Hebrews chapter three. Hebrews chapter three,
verse one to four. Listen to this. Hebrews three, one to four. Wherefore,
holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the
apostle and high priest of our profession, Christ Jesus, who
was faithful to him that appointed him. as was Moses was faithful
in all his house. For this man was counted worthy
of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath built the house
hath more honor than the house. For every house is built by some
man, but he that built all things is God." So who built the house?
God built the house. But turn over to the next page
or two and look at Hebrews 4, 1-3. Hebrews 4, 1-3, let us therefore
fear, lest a promise being made us of entering into his rest,
any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was
the gospel preached as well as unto them, but the word preached
did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that
heard it. For we which have believed do enter into a rest, as he said,
as I've sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest,
although, now listen to the next words, the works were finished
from the foundation of the world. What does that mean? That means that everything that
was necessary, everything that must be prepared and made ready
for the salvation of God's elect was established and finished
according to the eternal will and purpose of Almighty God before
the foundation of the world. Everything that was manifested
in time was already finished in the mind, will, purpose of
Almighty God by the Lord Jesus Christ. It was finished! When
the Lord Jesus Christ came and hung on the cross and He cried,
It is finished! God the Father saw the Lamb slain
from before the foundation of the world. He saw the finished
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus was commissioned
to a work for which he would have to make all the preparations
for the accomplishment. And he summed up the totality
of his work in John 6, 38-40. John 6, I can read this for you
or you can turn there. John 6, verse 38-40. This is
what he said. Here was his work. For I came
down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him
that sent me. And this is the Father's will, which has sent
me, that of all which He hath given me, I should lose nothing,
but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is
the will of Him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the
Son, believeth on Him, may have everlasting life, and I will
raise Him up at the last day. The Lord Jesus Christ said in
His high priestly prayer, Now this high priestly prayer took
place in John chapter 17. According to time as we know
it, John 17 is written in the scriptures before the crucifixion
of the Lord Jesus Christ, which came a few chapters later. But
listen to the words of the Lord in John 17 in His high priestly
prayer. John 17 verse 4, I have glorified
Thee on the earth, I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me
to do. That which He did upon the earth
was manifested according to what God Almighty had eternally beheld. So the Father ordained. and called him to the work of
redeeming and saving his people from their sins, a work that
was everlastingly prepared. So back in Proverbs chapter 24,
the father told him, prepare thy work without and make it
fit. Prepare it and make it ready
for thyself in the field, in the country, the ground, the
land. Now how was that accomplished? What is the scriptural, can we
back this up? Can we make good on this? All the preparation for the work
at hand, for the salvation of God's elect, in the world would
be, if I can say this so that you'll understand what I'm saying,
in this world would be the theater upon which All that God had ever
prepared and purposed and ordained would be brought to pass and
manifested before us. In the preparation, we do know
that all things were made by Him and without Him was not anything
made that was made. Colossians 1.16 says, for by
Him were all things created that are in heaven, that are on earth,
visible, invisible. whether they be thrones, dominions,
principalities, or powers, all things were created by Him and
for Him. Now what's He doing? He's creating
this world within which we're going to see the actual exhibition
of the work that the Father had given Him. And the Scripture
says concerning the accomplishment. He had to prepare it, and he
had to actually come into this world and do it. John 17, 1-2, Father, the hour
has come. Glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son
also may glorify Thee, as Thou hast given Him power over all
flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast
given Me. God has a house. The house that Abraham was said
to look for, it was a city which hath foundations, whose builder
and maker is God. But concerning the preparing
of his house without, and making it fit or ready for God's acceptance
in the beloved, What was done by God Almighty in the triunity
of His being, what was done based solely upon the Father's seeing
the work finished. The Father who trusted in Christ
the first one to ever trust in Christ, based totally upon what
the Father knew He would do, what was done. Now here's where
we're going to look at that passage that we looked at back in Rome.
Turn now to Romans 8. This is where we were. Here's
what was done. Romans 8, chapter 29, verse 29. Romans chapter 8, verse 29. Now
listen to this. This is the totality of the preparation
that was done and completed. It was done. It's finished. Verse
29, for whom He, who is He? God. Look at verse 28, we know
that all things work together for good to them that love God.
To them who are the called according to His purpose. We're talking
about Almighty God. for whom he did foreknow." Now, foreknow doesn't mean merely
that God knew before everything. God is omniscient. God knows
everything. God knows everything. It does
not mean that God knew before or saw before who would repent
and who wouldn't repent and therefore made his decision to make them
one of the elect. If that interpretation was so,
then that would make salvation to be based upon man's decision.
Somebody will say, well God knew who was going to choose him,
so therefore he chose them based on what he saw them to do. No, that's not what foreknown
means. If that's the reason, then salvation is by works. And
2 Timothy 1.9 says, who has saved us and called us with a holy
calling, not according to our works. The word for know actually
means to know before those selected. To know them in mercy. To know
them in grace and compassion. Almighty God fixed His love and
affection on before the foundation of the world, before the actual
foundations of the world was laid. God Almighty chose a people in Christ. Again, turn over to
Ephesians 1. You've read this, but I want
you to look at it again. Ephesians chapter 1. Verse 4 and 5, according as He
hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
Himself according to the good purpose of His will. There's none good. No, not one. Almighty God chose a people. He foreknew them. He foreknew
them in Christ. He foreknew them in grace. And that foreknowledge sets forth
that God chose to show mercy and compassion to those that
He willed to show mercy and compassion. And that ends it. That ends it. There is no other explanation. It happened eternally. And it
was done. It was done. The scripture sets forth back
in Romans 8, 29. For whom he did foreknow. He also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of His Son. He did predestinate. He did determine the final destination
beforehand. He did predestinate. We just read it. Ephesians 1.5. Having predestinated, determined
the destination beforehand. God did it, eternally did it. Having predestinated us, who? Those that He foreknew. Those
that He chose unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
Himself according to the good pleasure of His will. Almighty
God foreknew those that He would show mercy. And He predestinated
them in Christ to be conformed to the image they are going to
have a resemblance to the Lord Jesus Christ. There's going to
be a resemblance. What do I mean by
that? As Christ is the obedient servant,
Almighty God is going to, in regenerating grace, make those
willing in the day of His power to want to be obedient. As He
is obedient, God's people want to be obedient. They know they
struggle. They know that they strive against that old man.
They know that that old man is still there and fights against
them, but there is a desire for obedience to Him. Paul says,
to will is present with me, but how to perform that which I find
not. The Lord Jesus Christ, His meat
was to do the will of Him that sent Him. And every person regenerated
by the grace of God has got a willingness in that new man that doesn't
sin. He wants to be faithful. He wants to be found. The image
is stamped. It's there. It's in the very
being of that new man, that regenerated sinner. Christ who loves the
Father. One with the Father. God's people
love Him. They love Him. Peter, lovest
thou me more than these? Lovest thou me more than these?
Lovest thou me more than these? Lord, you know all things. You
know I love you. God's people love the Lord. Christ who came into this world
and suffered His calling, His mission, God's work was that
He would come into this world and redeem God's sheep. And as
Christ suffered, we suffer. All that live godly in Christ
Jesus are going to suffer persecution. That's just the way it is. They're
going to be conformed to His image. So all that the Father
foreknew, selected and chose in Christ, He predestinated them
to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be
the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, verse 30, whom He did
predestinate, them He also called. Now I want you to notice something.
All these words are past tense. They're all past tense. Them He also called. It doesn't
say He Would call. Shall call. He called for whom
He did foreknow. He also did predestinate. Moreover
whom He did predestinate, He called. Now there is an effectual
call. There is an effectual call. There's
a call going out right now. I'm going to proclaim what God
has forever done. I'm going to proclaim what He
is all, for all eternity, purpose to do, and it's doing, and here's
the preaching of the gospel. It's a proclamation of God's
sovereign will to show mercy and compassion to whomever He
will. Here's a general call. People want to know, why don't
y'all give an invitation? This is the invitation. Nobody ever
gets to walk down the aisle, no. It doesn't say walk down
the aisle, it says come to Christ. I've told you before, the only
difference between me and you is just a few feet. Christ is not
right here. Christ is called upon by His
people. They come to Him by faith. They
cometh to Him. They always come to Him. But
there's a call that goes forth. This is not what this is talking
about. There is a general call. And then there's an effectual
call. When the Spirit of God comes and in regenerated grace
and powerfully calls out His own, He crosses their path with
the gospel and He removes the heart of stone. He gives them
a new heart and a new mind and a new spirit and He changes them. There is that effectual call.
That's not what this is talking about either. This word right
here that is set forth as being He called, He named them. He
named them. This name that is set forth
is those that God Almighty named to be His. The elect. Whenever someone has a baby,
they talk about it and they, you know, mull it around and
consider a name. What's your name? What's your
name? You know, they name a child.
Who are we? The sons of God. We're the sons
of God. That's what the word means. It
means named. Whom He did foreknow, them He
also did predestinate. Moreover, whom He did predestinate,
them He also called. He named them. He named them. You're mine. You're my child. Now are we the sons of God. How
long have we been sons of God? If we're a son of God, how long
have we been? Forever. We've always been sons of God. And whom He called, verse 30,
them He also justified. justified, rendered righteous,
pronounced to be just, based totally on being chosen in Christ,
the one in whom the Father trusted, and saw the Lamb slain. Now,
somebody's going to ask, are you telling me that God's sheep
have been eternally justified in Christ. Now listen to exactly
what I'm saying so you don't miss it. Yes. I didn't want to confuse you
with a lot of words. Are you telling me that Almighty
God has eternally beheld the sheep chosen in Christ before
God's law as blameless. Yes, yes, I'm saying that. Eternally justified in Christ,
He has chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world that
we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. Did they fall in Adam? Yes. Were
they made sinners? Yes. Were they sons of wrath
even as others? Yes. Before Him? Yes. Have they been justified in Christ
eternally? Yes. God doesn't change. God does
not change. That means He hasn't changed,
eternally hasn't changed. Has He looked upon His children,
called, chosen, named in Christ as justified? Yes. Is justified a past tense word? Yes. When was this done? Before the foundation of the
world. Whom He predestinated, called
whom He called, them He also justified, and whom He justified,
them He also glorified. Now I'm going to tell you this,
I can't speak except by faith on this. I don't know a whole
lot about this. There's been some that out of our congregation
that the Lord's been pleased to call to Himself. And now, based on this Word,
based on their profession of faith, based upon the promise
of Almighty God, they are now experiencing what Almighty God
declared they eternally possessed in Christ. Now that's the only
way I know how to say it. There are some that have left
this congregation and other congregations that are seated in the heavenlies
with Christ. And they see Him as He is. And
they know Him. And they're like Him. And they're
glorified. But this right here, my friend,
is past tense. All of this happened before the
foundation of the world. And it was established. I turn back in closing. Proverbs
24. Proverbs 24, verse 27. Prepare thy work without, and
make it fit for thyself in the field. And afterwards, after you've
done all of that, build your house. The Lord Jesus Christ came into
this world to save His people from their
sins and openly manifest what God
had commissioned Him to do. I'm going to tell you right now,
the works were finished from before the foundation of the
world. Is salvation sure? as sure as God's Word. I pray
God bless this to our heart for His glory and our good. Amen.