We have been going through kind of a study, a series that I entitled,
The God That We Worship, and taking different aspects of this,
knowing that, of course, How do you exhaust? We're not even
claiming to do that. But just wanting to bring forth
and to set forth those things concerning the God that we worship. What do we believe? That's what
I'm saying. What do we believe about the
God that we worship? And this morning, I'd like to
look at the next part, and it's the purpose of God in salvation. Last week we looked at the purpose
of God in providence. Before that, the purpose of God
in creation. The purpose of God in salvation. Now, a lot of folks is talking
about being saved. I'm a Christian. I hear that
a lot. I hear that a lot of people talking
about that I'm a Christian. And what does the Bible say? What does the Word of God say
about salvation? If any sinner is delivered from
the bondage of sin, If any believer, if any sinner, let me say that,
is delivered from the penalty of the law, Almighty God must
save that sinner. And He must save that sinner
on purpose. And He must save that sinner
without any help whatsoever. on that sinner's part. Salvation
is all of grace. It's not by works of righteousness
that we've done. But it's according to His mercy. You know, you could take any
form of thought Any doctrine, any religion, any denomination,
take any of them. And before anybody starts taking
a Bible and saying, well, I'll tell you what, just turn over
to Acts 238. Now, I'm going to put, wait a
minute, wait a minute. I just got one question for you.
And all we want to do, all I want you to do is just answer one
question. And answer this question before
you start taking any scripture and rest, W-R-E-S-T, twist it. Just answer this one question. Is your salvation based upon
something that you had to do first in order to be saved? Is there something that you have
to do in order to make salvation to be effectual. Now, if there's
anything that you've got to do first, then whatever you're about
to tell me is going to refute that salvation is all of grace. The Lord Jesus Christ said, John
6, 39, this is the Father's will which hath sent me that of all
which he hath given me. Now salvation has to do with
the Father giving the Son of people. of all which he hath given me,
I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last
day." I know this. Salvation is not
by accident. It is not by fate. It is not
by luck. Salvation is by grace. through faith and that not of
yourselves, it's the gift of God. Why? Because we boast in it. Well,
you know, I didn't do much, but at least I believed. You didn't. I did. Because I believed, because
I walked down the aisle, because I was baptized, Because I prayed
through, because I spoke in tongues, because, no, no, it's not by
works of righteousness that we've done. You know, that ought to
pretty well tell us something. John 1, 12 and 13 says, But as
many as received Him, to them gave He power. The right or privilege
is to be privileged to become the sons of God. Now, let let
me just make one statement right here. Somebody says, well, now,
you see, that verse of Scripture just refuted what you said. No,
we just don't understand what it said. To as many as received
him. Something was made evident. To
them gave He power to become the sons of God. The power of
God working in, working on, calling one to Himself is the reason
that we believed Him, received Him. To as many as received Him,
to them gave He power. You see what I'm saying? He gave
them power. to become the sons of God. Even
to them, they believe on His name, which were born, not of blood, not of the will
of the flesh, not of the will of man, but of God." Again, you'd
think, Carl, they'd hear that. God saves men on purpose. Our pastor just read something
a moment ago, 2 Timothy chapter 1. And I'm going to read one
verse of Scripture that Brother Scott just read, 2 Timothy 1
and verse 9. Now listen to this Scripture. Who hath saved us and called
us with a 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." Now, I want you to just hear what
the Spirit of God has written. The Spirit of God did not get
the timing or the tense or the placement of that Scripture wrong. He did not say, He hath called
us and saved us. He said, Who hath saved us and
called us with a holy calling. as the Spirit of God reveals
salvation to be, is an act already done, already accomplished eternally
before the world began. No assistance whatsoever on the
part of the sinner. Almighty God, before the foundation
of the world, chose a people in Christ. He loved them with an everlasting
love. He looked upon them in favor,
in mercy, in compassion. Moses asked Him, you know, show
me your glory. Show me what you think. Show
me your thoughts." That's what the word glory means. Show me,
Lord, how You think. And His answer, I will have mercy
on whom I'll have mercy. I'll have compassion on whom
I'll have compassion. So then it's not of Him that
willeth or Him that runneth, but of God that shows mercy.
Who has saved us? Salvation is an eternally accomplished
fact, an act. Almighty God looked upon all
that He chose in His Son as justified, redeemed in the Lamb that was
slain from the foundation of the world. In time, the Lord
Jesus Christ came into this world. and actually in flesh went to
the cross, nailed her cross, and actually died. Almighty God
beheld that eternally and trusted Him first. It was the Father
that first trusted the Son. He trusted Him in that which
He would do in time. And Almighty God looked upon
the elect as absolutely Saved. Redeemed. Justified. Cleared from all accusations
of the law. All accusations of Satan. All
accusations. Justified. Who has justified
us freely by His grace. Who has saved us. That's what
the Spirit of God says. and called us." Calling is the
effect of salvation. Calling is not the merit of salvation. Calling is the effect of what
God Almighty has eternally done. Calling follows salvation. Calling occurs in time. Salvation
is eternal. Almighty God has eternally purposed
to show you mercy. And in time, providentially, He calls His
people to be brought unto the sound of the gospel. And that
gospel that Paul said, I'm not ashamed of, Almighty God is going
to call His people out. And in time, they're going to
hear. And in the day of God's power, The Spirit of God is going
to move upon them, and Almighty God is going to impart life to
them, and they'll believe. When He imparts life, thy people
shall be willing in the day of thy power. And He'll call them. How sure is it that Almighty
God is going to call out all of His elect, just as sure as
God Almighty says He would? He's calling them. Who has saved
us? and called us. How did He call
us? Paul says, with a holy calling. A holy calling. Not a calling
that is one that somebody says, well, I hear what you're saying,
but I'm just not interested. He hadn't called you then with
a holy calling. Because when He calls with a holy calling,
The Spirit of God blows like the wind. You don't know where
He's going. You don't know where He's come
from. And when Almighty God is pleased to call one of His own
unto Himself, made willing in the day of His power, Almighty
God gives him a new heart. He gives him a new spirit. I'll
remove that heart of stone and there won't be that heart of
rebellion reigning anymore. Oh, the presence of it is there,
and I know it is, and you do too. But I'm telling you that
Almighty God gives a man, a woman, a new heart. And in the day of
His power, a holy calling, and He calls them to Himself, and
they hear. A little Samuel sitting there,
and the Lord spoke to him, and Samuel went to Eli, and he said,
You calling me, Eli? He said, No, I didn't call you.
Okay, he said, you're going back to bed. The Lord called Samuel.
He got up and he came to Eli. He said, Eli, did you call me?
He said, no. No, I didn't call you. And Eli
knew. And he said, the next time you
hear him, he said, speak, Lord. Thy servant heareth. Almighty
God calls. And His elect hear in the day
of His power. They hear. Isaiah 55, 11, So
shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not
return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please,
and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I send it. God saves
men on purpose. God elects men on purpose. God
calls them on purpose, and they come on purpose. Jonah said in Jonah 2, 9, I will
sacrifice unto Thee with the voice of thanksgiving. I will
pay that which I vowed. Salvation is of the Lord. Father, Son, Spirit. The Father
in purpose. Ephesians 1, I quoted this. Let's just read it. Ephesians
1, verses 3 to 6, Blessed be the God and Father. This is the
Father. This is the Father's purpose
in salvation. 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, the
Father, has chosen us in Him, the Son, before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
Him, the Father, in love, in Christ. having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, to
the Father, according to the good pleasure of the Father's
will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He, the
Father, hath made us accepted, not acceptable, accepted in the
Beloved in Christ." The Father chose. On purpose. The Son, on purpose, saves man. What is the purpose of the Son? No Scripture sets forth the purpose
in salvation concerning the Son more clearly. Not that this is
the only one, but more clearly than this, 2 Corinthians. 521,
for He, the Father, hath made Him, the Son, sin. 2 Corinthians 521, for us who
knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God
in Him. The Lord Jesus Christ came into
this world according to an everlasting covenant of grace, whereby He
covenanted with the Father, Spirit, the Son Himself, the Word of
God Himself was made flesh. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word,
the Son Himself, the Word of God Himself, was made flesh and
dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. She shall bring forth Matthew
1.21, a son, and I shall call His name Jesus, for He shall
save His When He laid down His life, He
laid down His life according to His Word. John 10, 15, As
the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father. What He said
is this, I know the Father's will. He knows my will. I know His elect. He knows the
elect in me. I know the Father. He knows me.
And I lay down my life for the sheep." When He laid down His
life, He laid down His life on purpose. And all that His elect
are as being fallen in Adam, nothing but a mass of sin and
rebellion. There was no good in them. There
was none good. No, not one. There was nothing
in them that was good. It was all rebellion. It was
all sin. It was all sin. There was nothing
there good. And that's what He was made. He has made Him sin for us. He was made. Not just legally. It was not that he was just a
legal thing that was kind of just hovering there or maybe
just placed kind of there that didn't have any effect on him
himself. No, this is what the Scripture
says. He hath made him sin. The word there means To cause,
to execute, to perform, or to create. Same word made, where he hath
made him sin. Let me read you a couple of verses
using the same exact word. Have you not read that he which
made them at the beginning made them male and female? Now let
me ask you something. You're either male or female.
And it's not just a legal thing. Well, I'm just kind of I'm just
sort of legally a male. What does that mean? Either you're
male or you're not. When he had made a scourge of
small cords, he drove them out of the temple. I wonder if that
scourge of cords, when he drove them out and he whipped them
with it, I wonder if it was just a legal thing. Or if that was
actually a scourge of courts. It's the word that means something
that is actually accomplished in reality. Not just a legal. He hath made Him sin. That we might be made... That's
a different word. That's a different word. That
we might be made That is, to come into being. Different word. He hath created him. He put away that guilt, and he
put it as far as the east is from the west, and he is no more
that anymore. He made him sin and dealt with
him and put away our guilt, and then caused us to become something
that we will never change. The righteousness of God in Him. Almighty God saves men on purpose. And then
the Spirit of God on purpose. I quoted this Scripture a while
ago. The wind bloweth where it listeth. and thou hearest the
sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, or whether
it goeth, so is every one born of the Spirit." There is absolute order and purpose
in the covenant of grace. The Father on purpose chose a
people. The Son on purpose redeemed them. And the Spirit of God on purpose
sanctifies, calls, seals, teaches, keeps on purpose. The Holy Spirit as the Comforter right now teaches
God's people what the Lord Jesus Christ has done according to
God's purpose. And God's people hear. And God's people agree. And God's people are thankful
that God does what He does on purpose. Aren't you glad that
He didn't leave it to yourself? Aren't you glad that He didn't
leave it up to you to keep yourself. Can you imagine the hopelessness
of what would be required if after you had been converted
and all you had to do is just keep yourself and never deviate
one time? Oh, Lord, have mercy on me. is all of grace by the purpose of God. Amen.