Let's move to the book of Ephesians
chapter 1. First chapter of the book of
Ephesians. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ
by the will of God. To the saints which are at Ephesus
and to the faithful in Christ Jesus, grace be to you and peace
from God our Father. Grace and peace come from God
our Father, from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be His name. Who hath
blessed us? That's past tense. Who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places? Now it has been said, and I've
said it myself, But I was dead wrong in saying it. But many
people say it. They say that the Lord Jesus
Christ purchased with His blood on Calvary's tree the blessings
now enjoyed by His people. Now, that's what is commonly
taught and said, and what I have said in times past. that Jesus Christ Himself purchased
with the shedding of His blood on the tree the blessings now
enjoyed by His people. Did He? No. He purchased no blessings for
His people. on the tree, suffering in our
stead and place and room, establishing righteousness, honoring, magnifying the law,
enduring the wrath of the justice of God against our sins in His
own body, hath not purchased the blessings that we now enjoy. He purchased no blessings for
his people. Stay with me now. Listen to me. I'll tell you what he really
did. He purchased his people. That's who he purchased. He purchased
his people. He paid the debt that his people
owed. He purchased his people. He set
the captive free. He purchased his people to enjoy
the blessings and benefits, listen now, conferred upon his people
in himself before the world ever was. That's what he did. He purchased his people that
they might enjoy the blessings that were theirs in Him before
time ever was. Do you see that? Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Now, here in
the book of 2 Timothy, let me read this in connection with
that. Chapter 1, verse 9. Now, I don't want you to believe anything
because I say it, but if the Word of God says it,
then you're bound to believe it. You're bound to believe it.
You've got no choice in the matter. You'll be either obedient to
the Word or disobedient. So just because I say something,
don't make it so. If it cannot be proven by the Word, the Word
of God, then it's not so. Now, listen to me again. 2 Timothy chapter 1, verse 9, 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 before the world began. Keep in mind now, this is what
I'm talking about. He purchased no blessings on
the tree for his people, but he purchased his people to enjoy
the blessings and benefits given unto them in Christ before the
world ever was. All spiritual blessings. How
many? All of them. All spiritual blessings
in heavenly places. Blessed be the Lord God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath... It's already taken place.
It's already taken place. It took place in the purpose
of God before time ever was. He died in our stead, not to
purchase these blessings. The blessings were already in
Him before the world was. He died in our place so we might
enjoy these blessings. He called us by His gospel, and
I told you this morning, they all shall be taught of God. They'll be taught, and they'll
enjoy these blessings of a covenant God who purposed in Himself to
do these things for His people that He'd chosen, and He does
them all in Christ Jesus. It's all in Christ. Everything's
in Him. There's nothing outside of the
Lord. Don't bring me any doctrine that the Lord Jesus Christ is
not the all in all in that doctrine. I won't have nothing to do with
it. It's useless as far as I'm concerned. Christ is all and in all. How many? Blessings, all spiritual
blessings in Christ. covenant blessings can never
fail. Each blessing with which I was
blessed in Christ before the foundation of the world has been
mine since God gave me a creature existence and a new creature
existence in Christ Jesus. Those that are in Christ are
new creatures, new creation, heavenly people. Them's been
mine since I had been, and especially since I became a new creature
in Christ Jesus. Mine. Listen, He gave. He did not sell. Look here again in the book of 1 Timothy, or 2 Timothy maybe it is. The same verse I read to you
before, "...who hath saved us, and called us for the holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to his own purpose
and grace, which was given us." He didn't sell it to us. It wasn't
dependent upon our merit. It wasn't conditioned upon anything.
It was given to us when? In Christ Jesus. In Christ Jesus
before the world began. Given, given. Didn't earn it. Didn't pay for it. It wasn't a certain condition
that you must meet. It was before the world began.
That's what it says. Which was given us in Christ
Jesus before the world began. God. purposed all of this before
the world began. Before there was any worlds, God had a purpose, and all of His purposes He fulfilled
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Someone said years ago that God
put all of His eggs in one basket, and that basket is Christ. He
gave. He did not sell. This scripture that I read to
you here, this portion in itself, by itself, is solid proof of
God's liberality as the bestower and the giver without condition,
without requirement, without service. without marriage, all
as a matter of mercy, given to us in Christ Jesus before the
world began. The book of Romans, chapter 8,
verse 32. Verse 32. Listen to what it says. He that spared not his own son. God so loved us that he gave
his son, that he sent his son, that he commissioned his son,
that he anointed his son. He that spared not his own son. God didn't spare the son of his
love. Someone said, Couldn't we be saved by being good? Well, if we could be, why is it that it says that he
that spared not his own son? If we could be saved by being
good, trying to be good, thinking good things, doing good things,
if we could be saved that way, If we could be saved by baptism
or church membership or our conduct being the way it ought to be,
if we could be saved on the basis of what we are, what we do, what
we say, what we think, the basis of our merit, the basis of our...
If we could be saved that way, how come it says, he that spared
not his own son? That would be something, wouldn't
it? We could be saved some other way if God had decided to do
it that way, but he said, no, I'm just going to send my son
and let him suffer, let him die, let him bleed, let him be despised
and rejected, a man acquainted with grief, a man that's full
of sorrows. No, God would not have, he would
not have done that if we could have been saved any other way.
You can't be saved any other way. You can't be saved. It's
an impossibility. The only way a man can be saved
is by and through the Lord Jesus Christ because He's going to
bear our shame and our guilt. He's going to pay what we owe.
He's going to satisfy the inflexible justice of God Almighty. God's
justice don't bend. God's justice says the soul that
sinneth, that soul shall die the second death, go to hell.
and still can't pay the debt after you've been in hell ten
million years. You've got ten million thousand
hundred years to go. Nobody ever come out of hell.
They're still there. The debt can't be paid, only
by the Son of God. So dispense from your thinking
right now that there's going to be mercy shown to you. at
that great day of judgment. God's going to look upon you
with pity and mercy. He's not. God's not going to
show no mercy. A man that despises his son has
got to stand by himself. If he will not have the Lord
Jesus Christ, God won't have him. The only way he can be saved
is by and through the Lord Jesus Christ. He that spared not his own son,
but he delivered him up for us all. How shall he not, with him, with
Christ, freely give us all thanks?" Huh? Freely give us all thanks. Who's the yes? The us is the election of grace, who hath saved us and called
us with the holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose
and the grace that was given us in Christ Jesus before the
world ever was. That's what he's talking about.
He's not talking about every man, woman, boy or girl that
was ever born in the human race. He's talking about us. Remember
I told you here not too long ago about in the book of Exodus
where God said to Moses, I'm going to put a difference, I'm
going to put a difference between the Israelites and the Egyptians. And I told you, remember, If
God hath made a difference, we are bound to inquire, what is
that difference? What is the difference in that
case that I have brought before you here, the Egyptians, the
Egyptians and the Israelites? What's the difference? The difference
is life and death. He gave life to the Israelites
and he gave death to the Egyptians. Life and death. That's the difference. Huh? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him freely
give us all things? Us. That's all the election of
grace, all the redeemed of the Lord, all the justified by the
Father, all the called of God. He did not freely give us some
things and then let us earn the rest of them by our merit. Oh, no. He freely gave us all
things. All things. You know why this is so difficult
for the average religionist to lay hold of? because it's all
for nothing. It's not conditioned upon anything. And the religionists, the natural
man who names the name of Christ but yet is dead in trespasses
and in sins, he has hammered in his very soul the idea that
he can earn His entitlement to God's heaven
and this giving all of God. Remember I read to you in I Corinthians
there about not many mighty, not many noble are called? Why? That no flesh should glory
in His presence. If you had, or myself, had the
least thing to do in the matter of these choice blessings and
favors that pertain to God's salvation. If there was one condition
that we met that would entitle us to it, we would certainly
pinpoint that and brag and boast about it. But if we are shut
up, all we can do is praise Him. from whom all blessings flow
in Christ Jesus. He did not really give us some
things and leave us to earn or to buy the rest. No, He gave
us all things. Do I believe? I believe. I believe the gospel. I believe
the Lord Jesus Christ. I trust Him. That's faith. That's
faith. I trust Him. Why do I trust Him? I remember when I made a profession
of faith, there was a fellow that sat right beside me, and
he heard what I heard, but it was of no effect to him. I was
upset. My heart was heavy. I didn't
know where to turn. I knew that I was a sinner. I
knew that. I knew it. And I knew that unless
something took place, I was a gone Jesse. But that fellow, he, one,
when we left the building and started down the street, he wanted
to talk about something else. But my mind wasn't on something
else. I believed. I trusted the Savior. He caused me to see my need of
a righteousness that would meet the requirements of His demands. And I seen that righteousness
in Jesus Christ my Lord. And I believed. I was like that poor sinner who
says, I believe, help thou my unbelief. I believe. Now, turn with me
over here in the book of Philippians, I believe, chapter 1, and verse Verse 29. First chapter. Listen to what
it says. I told you that I believe. And you out here, at least some
of you, have the same testimony that I have. You say, I believe. He alone is my salvation. He's
my righteousness. He's my obedience. He's my sin
bearer. All I have and hope to have I
owe to Him. All praise and honor and glory
belongeth to the Lamb that God sent, the Lamb that took away
my sins. You have that testimony. You
say, well, I believe. All right, listen to this. Verse
29, For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, or for
the sake of Christ, Not only to believe on Him. It's given. It's given. For unto you it is
given for the sake of Christ to believe on Him. You believe? You believe? Certainly, you say. Well, it's given unto me in behalf
of the Lord Jesus Christ to believe on Him. You suffer for Him. Then
it is given unto you. not only to believe on Him, but
also to suffer. If you can suffer in silence, it was given to you by God to
suffer for His sake and to believe. Those that believe, God gives
them faith. Faith is not of yourself, lest
any man should boast. Faith is a gift of God. It's
that which God gives. He gives it to you. The promise
of the Lord Jesus is that all the Father giveth me shall come
to me. You come to Him believing and
trusting in Him. And it's of God. It's a gift
of God. It's by the measure of faith,
the gift of Christ. Well, do you repent? Or have you repented of your
sins? Are you sorry for what you once
was, things that you once did, and how you acted and all that? You say, yes. Well, look over
here in Acts chapter 5. Acts chapter 5, I think verse 31. It says, well, this is Peter,
verse 29, Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We
ought to obey God rather than men. It said, The God of our
fathers raised up Jesus, whom you slew and hanged on a tree. Now listen to this, Him hath
God exalted with his right hand to be a prince and a savior? for to give repentance to Israel
and the forgiveness of sins. Repentance, what is it? It's
Christ's gift exercised in me. It's the gift of faith, the gift
of repentance. It's me believing, but I believe
because He gave me the gift of faith. I repent because he exercised
repentance in me. See, given of God. Every gift of grace that pertains
to the matter of salvation is a gift given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. And Christ purchased us on the
tree not purchased the blessings,
but He purchased us in order that we might enjoy these gifts
that was given us in Christ before the world began. Do I pray? Yes, I pray. Not like I ought
to, but I pray. I pray. Listen, in Romans chapter
8, no, Romans chapter Yes, 8th and verse 26. Do I pray? Listen. Likewise the Spirit also
helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we should pray
for as we ought. We don't know. Do I pray? Yes, I pray. But the Spirit,
the Spirit It does the effectual prayer. It says, But the Spirit
itself, third person of the Trinity, God's Holy Spirit, Christ in
you, the hope of glory, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession
for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth
the heart knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit. because he
maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. Well, whatever I am in and to
the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, I am by the will and
the work of the Father. It is all a gift of God. Well, 1 Corinthians chapter 1. If I can find it. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. And verse 3, I believe it's 3
or 5, this is what it says, Grace be unto you and peace from
God our Father. Grace and peace from God our
Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always
on your behalf for the grace of God which is
given you, not paid to you, you didn't earn it, the grace of
God which is given to you by Christ Jesus. Now, most of the
religion that I know anything about, and I certainly I certainly
keep up on what preachers preach and what churches preach and
what they believe and so forth. I read in the paper, read in
books, magazines, every article that I'm aware of that has anything
to do about religion. And I've come to this conclusion,
that religion, for the most part, almost a hundred percent, teaches
that grace is given unto us in the baptismal fountain, in the
baptismal pool. And that's the reason why so
many religionists have all their children sprinkled, because they
think that grace is conferred on the account of that sprinkling.
in the baptismal pool. Look again. Grace given you is
what I read to you. Grace called to be saints in
every place. Grace be to you in peace from
God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank my God always
on your behalf for the grace of God which is given you by
the Apostle Paul, which is given you by Peter, which is given
you by the College of Cardinals, which is given you by the bishops,
which is given you by all the disciples put together as one. No, sir, it doesn't say that.
Where does it say this grace comes from? for the grace of
God which is given you by Jesus Christ. Oh, my soul, it's so. Every good and perfect gift cometh
from above. I'm going to quit there. I just
wanted to call these few things to your attention here this evening,
that the blessings that we enjoy were given to us
if we be believers in the election of grace. Those blessings were
given to us in Christ before the world began. And when the
Lord Jesus Christ died, he purchased our redemption that we might
enjoy the blessings that was given us. by a covenant God according
to His will and purpose as it pleased Him before the world
began. And everything that pertains
to the matter of salvation is given to us by God. Even our
praying, even our repenting, even our believing is given unto
us by God. What does that make us? Certainly
that makes us debtors to God Almighty. And that is incentive
or motive enough to cause us to commit ourselves to Him in
the propagating of this good news that Jesus Christ came into
this world to save sin. in whom I am chief." That's who
he says. His people, prior to them being
called, were dead in trespasses and in sins. Children of wrath,
even as others. Remember I told you this morning
about that but? But. Listen. He tells us, The base things
of this world, the things which are despised, hath God chosen.
Yea, the things which are not, to bring to naught the things
that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence. But, there's
that but. I said the but that comes from
the mouth of God is always a forerunner of a great and tremendous blessing. And here it is. of Him, are He
in Christ Jesus. And then there in the book of
Ephesians, there's another but. In Ephesians chapter 2, let me
read this. It says, You, Ethy Quicken, who
were dead in trespasses and in sins, were in times past. Talking
about us, talking about the elect of God. We're talking about people
who are saved in time, dead in trespasses and sins, prior to
God quickening them, prior to God calling them. They're dead,
dead, dead, dead. What did they do? What good is
a dead man? What do you do with a dead man?
You don't set him up in the chair and put a strap around him, hold
him up there and walk by him every day. You know what you
do with a dead man? You put him out of your sight.
You moan, you mourn, and then comes a time when you put him
out of your sight. You know how you put him out
of your sight? You bury him. Put him in the ground. Put the
dirt over him. They're dead. They're gone. They're
useless to you. The only thing you've got is
their memories. Dead, dead. We're dead in trespasses and
in sins. Now listen, we're in times past. This is the way we used to be.
You walked according to the course of this world. You walked just
like worldly people. You talked like them. You acted
like them. According to the course of this world, according to the
devil, the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now
worketh in the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our
conversation in times past, in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
the children of wrath, even as others." That's us! These are
the elect of God! Before regeneration, before calling,
this is their nature. And I told you, when there is
a but, that comes from the mouth of God, that but is a forerunner
of a tremendous blessing. Now listen, verse 4, but God. He told us what we were, how
we acted, how we talked, what we thought, what we were by nature,
enemies, enmity against God. But God, who is rich in mercy,
For his great love, wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ by grace,
and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together, all
of us, the elect of God, in heavenly places. in Christ Jesus. Have
you ever been there? If you're one of the elect of
God, you've been there. He hath already done it, made
us sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Huh? For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. Let's stand.