Here is the book of 1 Corinthians. Let me begin reading there at verse
25. We know In regard to foolishness as we
know foolishness, there is none of that type of
foolishness in God. Because the foolishness of God
is said in this verse, foolishness of God, not as we know foolishness. And he uses this as an expression
to set forth the wisdom Because the foolishness
of God is wiser than man, and the weakness of God is stronger
than man. For you see, you are calling,
brethren. You are calling. They called unto God through
Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the gospel, is
the good news. Paul, in the first chapter of
this book, says, Under the church of God, which is at Corinth,
to them that are sanctified in Christ. He doesn't say those
that will be sanctified or are in
the process of being sanctified That's not the language of the
Bible, that's the language of carnal twentieth-century Christianity,
that you're getting better every day. That's progressive sanctification. They say, you're getting better
every day. You're better now than you was this time last year. Here it says, Under the church
of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ
Jesus, sanctified in Christ. Well, I just got through telling
you that you were chosen in Christ before the world ever was. If
you were chosen in Christ before the world ever was, you were
sanctified in Christ before the world ever was, set apart unto
God Himself, called saints to be to be there
has been added by the translators. They added that in order to make
it more knowledgeable in their opinion, but not in my opinion. They are sanctified in Christ
Jesus called saints. Not to be saints, that's where
Roman Catholics get their sainthood grounded upon some good deed
that a man performed. And, of course, if they can qualify
for the sainthood, they must have some miracles that they
have done and have them witnessed, bona fide by reliable people,
and then if it's all right with the Pope, why, he'll make them
a saint. So we're not called to be saints,
we are called saints. Called saints. Saints of God. Every believer in Christ Jesus
is a saint of God. So they're sanctified in Christ,
chosen in Christ, and called saints, with all that in every place,
all together, all in this big family, the family of God. All that's saved by the grace
of God are those that have been chosen by God, chosen in Christ, sanctified
in Christ, called saints, they're all in every place, that call
upon the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, both theirs and ours,
our Lord, our Master, our Redeemer, our Savior. All right. First chapter, book
1 Corinthians. Because the foolishness of God
is wiser than man. The weakness of God is stronger
than man. So you see, you're calling, brethren,
how there are not many wise men after the flesh. That is, there
are not many real, bona fide, wise men with IQs that are 180
Whatever the high point is in this evaluation of a man's genius,
I don't know. My IQ's not very high. I really wouldn't want to know
it. I really wouldn't. I'd be scared. But then I would take some comfort
if it was pretty low because you see your calling, brethren,
that not many wise men after the flesh." I might be qualified. Not many wise men after the flesh,
not many mighty, not many noble are called. Not many wise men after the flesh,
not many mighty men of renown, not many noble are called. are called. Now listen, if you
be in Him, you've got to be called. And in that word called has to
do with bringing grace. The grace of God's got to bring
you. You can't come by yourself. You've
got to be brought. You've got to be called. Everybody's
not called. How come you're here this morning?
How come you're interested? Because God created an interest
in your soul for Him. He's made you to delight in Him. He hasn't done that for everybody. He's done that for those that
He called. He called them. He didn't call them on the ground
of their IQ. He didn't call them on the ground
of their renown. Not many called some of them,
but not many. But who did he call? But God
had chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the
wise. And God had chosen the weak things. foolish things and weak things. God's chosen. Mr. Know-it-all, he went around him. God has chosen the weak things
of the world to confound the things which are mighty. They
don't understand. They don't understand a thing
that I've said so far this morning, those that are wise in their
own They don't want it. You talk to them about God making
a choice before time ever was. You talk about God in covenant
with the Son and with the Spirit and setting His affections upon
those for the foundation of the world,
they say is crazy. The base things of the world,
the weak things, the weak things of this world,
to confound the things which are mighty, and the base things
of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen. Isn't that something? Hath God
chosen. Yea, the things which are not,
to bring to naught things that are." Why? That no flesh. Glory in His presence. And here's what I want to talk
to you about this morning. But of Him, are ye in Christ Jesus? but of him are ye in Christ Jesus. Who of God is made unto us wisdom,
righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption, that according
as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Now,
to understand such a portion as this that I have read, intelligently
and experimentally, is to glory in a covenant God that is in
the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. A covenant God. God the Father. chose. It was His idea. It was His plan, God the Father. It originated with God, this
business of salvation. God the Father and God the Son
and God the Holy Spirit covenanted with themselves to save so many. out of Adam's
fallen race. God the Father chose them, and
God the Son said, I'll make atonement for them. I'll redeem them. I'll discharge every liability
that's against them. I'll pay for every sin that they
have ever committed and will ever commit. I'll pay for them. And the Holy Spirit said, I'll
make the application or the appropriation of what Christ has done to their
souls. I'll reveal Christ to their soul. I'll show them the things of
Christ, that they might know this blessed, eternal God in
a covenant relationship. that they might know Him and
enjoy Him as a covenant God. Well, He alone, He is alone glory of all those whom
He in love set apart before all worlds. Who He has redeemed unto
Himself by the precious blood of the Son of His love, even
the Lord Jesus Christ, who he brings to himself by the grace
and power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. They are brought into
a loving enjoyment of himself by the testimony of the grace
of God. This is opened up in a scripture
found in Psalm 25 that I want to read to you here this morning. Psalm 25, verse 14. Listen to what it says now in
light of what I have already said in regard to the last statement
that these people the elect of God, these that are base things,
these that are weak things, they shall be brought into the loving
enjoyment of God Himself by the testimony of His grace. Now,
I said that this verse here opens up that truth. Listen to this
now, verse 14, Psalm 25, The secret of the Lord is with them
that fear Him, and He will. He will. God wills. God does. We try. He will show them His what? He will show them His covenant. The secret of the Lord is with
them that fear Him, and His covenant to make them know it. To make them know His covenant.
Why? Because His heart is ever with
them. ever with them, them that he
chose, them that he sanctified, them that he called, them that
he hath brought unto himself through the testimony of the
grace of God that is found in Christ Jesus his Son. Because
his heart is ever with his elect and redeemed people according
to the purpose of his eternal love and unchanging mercy in
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why. Now, these words
are precious words, and they were the precious words of David
when he was ready to depart from this world. I think in 2 Samuel,
2 Samuel chapter 23, And verse 5, listen to this, has to do
with this covenant. Remember now, the secret of the
Lord is with them that fear Him and His covenant to make them
know it, to make them know His covenant, to make them know His
favors. That's what that means. to make
them know His favors, His covenant. Precious words. Now here in 2
Samuel, chapter 23, verse 5, David, he's about to go on to
be with God. David's about to die. And this
is some of the last words that David ever spoke upon this earth. And he said, Although my house
be not so with God. He said, I've got some children. They haven't got no hope. They're
without God, without hope in this world. They're far off from
God. They can't say what I'm about
to say. That's what David is saying. Although my house be
not so with God. Yet, yet, my house is not right,
my household is not right, my sons is not right, my daughters
is not right. That's what he said. Yet he hath
made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered
in all things and sure. And then precious words, he hath
made with me a covenant, in spite of the fact it is not so with
all my household, yet it is made with me, ordered in all things
and sure. And what is this covenant to
him? He said, for this is all my salvation and my desire. although he make it not to grow."
Precious words of David, flown from the heart of David as he
was nearing the end of his life. Sure, sure. The covenant, you
see, is designed that all that are interested in it shall blessedly
be made to know it." Let me say it again. The covenant is so
designed by God that all that are interested in it, all that's
interested in the covenant of God, shall be blessedly made
to know the covenant. Previous to their knowing the
covenant, They're all strangers to the cup, ignorant of God,
without hope in this world. But he would not, and he could
not, leave these people in that condition. Prior to the Lord Jesus Christ
coming into our souls, coming into our lives, prior to the
revelation of Christ to our soul as to who He is and what He done,
what He accomplished on our behalf. We were ignorant of who God is
and what God has done. Ignorant of it. We had no interest
in it. None whatsoever. God could not. and would not leave the people
that he hath covenanted, that he hath purposed to save by the
grace of God through the blood of his dear Son. He couldn't
leave them like that. He would not leave them like
that, although they themselves, in themselves, according to their
nature, was bent on having nothing to do with Him. Left to ourselves, we would have
nothing to do with God. We wouldn't be interested in
God left to ourselves. If God had not arrested me when
I was twenty-some years old, If He hadn't arrested me and
created interest in my soul for Him, I wouldn't be here this
morning talking about Him. Because at that time, which was
like every other time prior to that time, I was bent on having
nothing to do with God, nothing at all. But at that time, when I said
that God would not leave His covenant people, His elect people,
those that He chose, He wouldn't leave them in a condition like
that. He could not and He would not. He would be everything to
them, though they'd be nothing to Him. I know in my childhood, In my youth, He preserved me. He kept me every
step of the way. God did. When I was on my mother's breast,
He kept me in perfect safety. When I was a boy, 4, 3, 4, 5,
6, 7, 8 years old. In my wanderings from
place to place, He preserved me. He kept me. By God, now I've had some wanderings
in my day. In my youth that have at times
had their chilling effect upon me and my character and my outlook
of life. Some of them has made me hard
and cold. But God preserved me. Even while
I was on my mother's breast, He preserved me. Preserved me
in my childhood and when I was a young man and went to the service. God preserved me. kept me and
preserved me unto the time and unto the spot when the Holy Spirit
revealed unto me the Lord Jesus Christ. And He's kept me every
step of the way since then. A covenant God. Oh, as my covenant God and Father
in the Son of His love? Ah, and something better than
that! Something better than that! He
revealed His Son in me! In me! And if you are saved this morning
by the grace of God, He revealed His Son in you. He did it! Listen to me now. He did it! He did not ask me, or He didn't
ask you, would I like to know His covenant and enjoy His care? He didn't ask me that. Did He
ask that to you? Did He ask you if you wanted
to know His covenant? He didn't ask me that. Oh, no. He sweetly, sweetly,
graciously compelled me without doing any violence to the will
of his own making and made me agreeable, made me agreeable with my full
consent to come to him. Oh, no, he didn't ask me. Do
you all know my covenant? Do you all know my son? He didn't
ask me that. He drew me unto Himself with
irresistible power. He made me to experience a resurrection
from the dead. I was dead in trespasses and
in sin. And He quickened me. He did it.
He regenerated me. And He compelled me without doing
any violence. to the will of his own making. He saved me against my will with
my full consent. The work of my salvation is all
in his hands. And having saved me and helped
me up to this point, he's doing something else for me. proving to me that in the matters
of salvation, He is my Master and my God. Listen, you see, concerning His people, concerning
the elect of God, He has caused it to be written in the Scriptures,
John chapter 6, verse 45. He caused that to be written.
And this is what it says. It says,
they shall be all taught of God. Every one of those that God chose
unto Himself in eternity past, He sanctified them, made Himself
known unto them. All of them shall be taught,
taught of God. They'll come to know His covenant
relationship. Now the Lord Jesus Christ, who
is the surety of the covenant, He's the sponsor of His people.
He represents his people. He is called, in one place, the
second Adam. The first Adam represented the
people, represented all human flesh. The second Adam represented not
an earthly people, but a heavenly people, that God hath chosen
unto himself before time. He came as their sponsor. He came as their representative.
He came as their Savior. He's the surety of this covenant. And as the sponsor and surety
of His people, He promised He promised and he vowed for his
people's encouragement. He said, all that the Father gives me. He promised this. He vowed this
as the sponsor of the people that God gave him. He said, All
that the Father giveth me shall come to me. You like that? Shall come to
me. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. What do you think of that? That's
a covenant God. That's what this is all about.
They'll come. When they come, He won't cast
them out. That means under no condition,
under no circumstance, He'll never cast them out. He wants
us to enjoy. We want to enjoy God and His
covenant. Unless a man knows something
about the covenant, he can't enjoy God. That's the reason
that, well, I think it was this morning early, I got up, It was
around 5.30 or something like that, and I was going to see
if Pat, I mean Rush Limbaugh was on on Sunday morning. And
I turned the television on, and they had some fellow on there,
Benny Hinn. I think that's his name, Benny
Hinn. Yeah, funny looking fellow. And he talked there for a little
bit about how he loved Jesus and all that. It's going to be
a blessing to those people. And you've never seen the like
of the crowd in all your life. They showed that vast auditorium.
Martin said, look at the people. And it was just a great oval-shaped
place. And it was packed, jammed full
of people. And had the camera on them. And
they were clapping their hands and waving. And oh, some of them
was going into various contortions. some smiling, some crying, and
it was all just because he said, oh, I'm so glad that Jesus loves
us, and that kind of business. And he went on, and first thing
you know, here come a fella, and he said he was a Roman Catholic,
and he said that he'd been on a breathing machine. No, he'd
been under oxygen. And he took off the oxygen mask,
and he come walking up there to Benny Hinn. And Benny Hinn
was telling him, asking him a few questions. And he just got to
Benny Hinn, and Benny Hinn went like that. And that guy just
fell flat. And then there's another person come up. He just went
like that. He said, Boy, I love the power of God. Who's getting all the glory for
that, I wonder? Does God get any glory out of
that? Benny Hinn gets all the glory and all the money. He's
a liar, and there's no truth in him. Listen. All the Father giveth to me shall
come to me. Him that comes to me I will in
no wise cast him out. How do they come? That's what
I want to know. How do they come? come of themselves,
they cannot. How do they come? Come of themselves,
they cannot. They cannot make one step towards
heaven in themselves. Can't do it. If they come, they
must be brought. If they come to the Lord Jesus
Christ, they must be brought, they must be carried so in the
bosom of God's love. He must bring them. He must carry
them. He must take them by the hand and lead them. Carried,
carried to them in the riches of His grace. Oh, God sees our
helplessness, our nothingness, our weakness, our inabilities. The fact that we are without
hope and we're ignorant, we can't come. We don't want to come. He's got to make us willing to
come. And then He brings us. He carries us unto God the Father
in the bosom of His everlasting love, in the arms of His infinite
power. He brings us to the Father's
house. I told you about the Father's house, to His home of eternal
love, which we will go to one of these days in reality. They
shall come, He said. He made this vow. He made this
promise. He said, Oh, the Father, give
it to me. Shall come to a man. Shall come. They shall come. That's the decree
of God Himself. They shall come is the decree
of God the Father, the delight of His Son, and the doing of
the Holy Spirit of God. They shall come. You say, I won't
come. You will come if you're one of
His. You will come. Sinful? You'll come to be saved. saved
from your sins. The helpless will come to be
helped. The ignorant will come to be
taught. The hungry will come to be fed. And the condemned will come to
be justified. The disgraced will come to be
honored. And the burdened will come to
be blessed by God. Why? Because He said, I'll bring
them. I'll bring them, and they shall
come with weeping in their hearts and praise in their lips." The
Lord Jesus Christ said, I won't lose one of them. Not one of
those that thou gavest me will I lose. They'll all be there. That's a covenant God. That's
the God that we enjoy. They shall come. Listen. Salvation not of man's free will,
but of God's good will. Free will hasn't got nothing
to do with it. Man never had a free will, only in Adam. And
you see what kind of a mess that got Adam in, got us in, was his
free will. We haven't got any free will.
Only God's got a free will. And I don't preach a salvation
of man's free will, but of God's good will. Fleshly religion. And I was talking about it a
little bit there with Benny Hinn and them fellas. That's a fleshly
religion. That's a religion by sight. Fleshly religion feeds upon and
rests in, feeds upon. Fleshly religion is nourished
by signs. and symbols and frames and fantasies. Spiritual religion thrives upon
covenant truths, a covenant God, scriptural facts, divine realities. And of these things, the Bible
is full of even the writings and teachings
of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. But of these things of a covenant
God, the world desires to know but little or nothing of them. A covenant God, the elect people,
sovereign grace, bringing grace, triumphant grace, security of
grace. The world desires to know nothing
of these things. They are of no interest to us.
They are interested in that which feeds them, and that which feeds
them and that which they rest in is rites and ceremonies. Signs and wonders give us a sign. Many of our day who profess themselves
to be Christians are on the lookout for God. Listen to me now. Listen to me. I'll quit. Hold
on. Most people in our day, most people, who profess to be Christians,
they're on the lookout for God, where God the Father cannot be
found. They're looking for God where
God can't be found. God can only be found in the person of Christ. That's
the only way God can be found. Some seek for God in a vision,
in their own heart, where neither He or anything else that is good
is. For the apostle said, For I know
that in me dwelleth no good thing. And that includes his heart.
The covenant of God is designed that all that are interested
in it shall know it, if a man's really interested, he'll not. Salvation is sought for in this
twentieth century in rites and ceremonies, but sought for in
vain. No realization of the truth there. God, as the Father of His elect,
redeemed, and regenerate people, is only known, and I insist on
this, brethren, is only known in the Son of His love by the
Spirit of life and light, and this only by the words of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Go back there to these few words
and I'll quit. First three words, first four
or five words there in verse 30, but of Him are ye in Christ
Jesus. The first word gets our attention,
but. All kinds of buts in this world. There is the free willer, those
that teach that salvation is by your personal agreement to
and acceptance of. Free willers. Now, they have
a but. They argue against the sovereign
right of God to elect a people and save a people that he has
chosen unto himself. They fight against that. They
say, but, when you say, well, God has chosen his people in
Christ before the world, they say, well, but. Yeah, but, if. God's got an answer for all that.
I'll read this. Over here in the book of Romans,
listen to this. Ninth chapter. Ninth chapter. of the book of Romans. Verse 16, So then it is not of
him that willeth, free willers, nor of him that runneth, doing
all this bodily movement, but of God that showeth mercy. Listen
to this now. For the Scriptures saith unto
Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up. This reason
I raised you up, that I might show my power in thee. that my
name might be declared throughout all the earth. Now listen. Therefore
hath he mercy on whom he will has mercy. Free willers object
to that. Oh no. God loves everybody. He loves every single solitary
son of Adam's race. He loves everybody. How come
everybody's not saved? How come all this building's
not filled up this morning with people coming to praise God and
thank God for His everlasting mercy and goodness? How come?
if he loves everybody? Oh no, he loves his own! He loves
the elect of God that he chose unto himself before time ever
was. I'm telling the honest of God's truth here this morning. That is the truth, so help me
God. I'll die believing this and preaching this. Listen, Therefore
hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will
he hardeneth. Now listen, Paul anticipates some argumentative
And he says, Thou wilt say then unto me, now this is what you
are going to say unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who
hath resisted his will? Nay, but, O man, who art thou
that replyest against God? Shall the thing formed say to
him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the
potter power over the clay? of the same lump to make one
vessel unto honour and another unto dishonour? What if God,
willing to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured
with much longsufferings the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction,
that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels
of mercy," listen to this, "'which He had aforeprepared unto glory?'
Oh, listen, God has a simple answer, doesn't
He? A but, a but from the mouth of God is ever the forerunner
of some blessed and gracious truth which says, but of God,
but of God. See, that is the forerunner.
That is the preparation. of this glorious truth and promise
and blessing. But of God are ye in Christ. That's the blessing. You're in
Christ, it's of God. Who purposed it before time ever
was, and purposed the means, preserved and kept you unto that
time, due time, unto that place, unto that spot, where God revealed
His Son in you. But of Him, it says. But of Him. Let me conclude by saying this.
But of Him. But of God. Are ye in Christ
Jesus? How do you get in Christ? God
put me there. God put me there. When did He
put me there? He put me there. He chose me
and Him before the foundation of the world. He called me here
in time and experimentally. and intelligently I trusted in
him whom God has sent. But of him, but of God are ye
in Christ Jesus. Now, it doesn't say but of Paul
you're in Christ. Paul was the preacher. But nowhere
is it implied that Paul is the reason why they are in Christ. I'm the preacher. I'm the preacher. I do the preaching.
I've been doing the preaching here for a long time. I never
put anybody in Christ. I couldn't even put myself in
Christ. He does not say, but of him, he says, not of Paul,
not of Paul, not of the apostles, not of Apollos, not of Cephas,
not of all the apostles put together, not of the unanimous consent
of the church, Not of all the College of the Cardinals, not
of all the College of the Bishops, not even of the Pope, but of
Him. Are ye in Christ Jesus? Not of all the religious associations
and all the Bible conferences, but of Him. My last statement. Anything short of that is dead
wrong. He puts us in Christ. Covenant God. Lord bless you. We'll meet again this evening.