Many years ago, I heard Brother
Henry Mahan tell that he always looked forward to going to Bible
conferences and come back with a good outline or two and a good
story to tell. Well, I hope I've got a good
outline if you want to take notes, but let me tell you a story first.
Preachers sometimes get to feeling a little discouraged and think
that there's nobody paying any attention to them This pastor,
older man, was kind of complaining to his wife. He was so, felt
so useless. Nothing accomplished and feeling
bad. She said, well, what are you
talking about? He said, well, most of the folks
are baptized, going back to the world. They're not with us anymore.
Not everybody I've married is divorced or separated. He said,
The preachers have ordained, they've all abandoned the gospel. I just felt like an utter failure. She said, well, you ought not
feel that way. He said, what are you talking about? She said,
you've had some success. He said, name one. And she thought
for a little bit and she said, everybody you buried is still
dead. So you gotta look on the bright
side of things. Let's open our Bibles to Ephesians
chapter one. The Gospel of Ephesians chapter
1. I can't think of a better way
to begin a Sovereign Grace Bible Conference than with a subject
that perhaps more than any other displays the great sovereign
character of our God. He who is God is absolute sovereign. everywhere, all the time, over
all things, always performing precisely what he purposed to
perform before ever the worlds were made. My subject tonight
is glorious predestination. God Almighty, the one true and
living God, the God of this book, is a God of purpose, sovereign,
eternal, unalterable purpose. Everything that comes to pass
in time, and I do mean everything, everything that comes to pass
in time is brought to pass by the hand of God according to
the eternal purpose which he purposed in Jesus Christ our
Lord. This eternal purpose of God is
what we call in Bible terms Predestination. That's not a cuss word, that's
a good word. Predestination. Charles Buck well defined it
this way. Predestination is the decree
of God whereby he has, for his own glory, foreordained whatever
comes to pass. Here in Ephesians chapter one
in verse five, God the Holy Ghost tells us that all who are made
the children of God in time, in the experience of his grace,
were predestinated unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ according
to the good pleasure of his will. And here in verse 11 of Ephesians
1, it tells us that we who believe on the Son of God have obtained
an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will."
Now there's absolutely no question about the fact that the Word
of God teaches this blessed, sweet, glorious gospel doctrine
of predestination. It is taught not in a few isolated,
secreted passages of Scripture, but literally throughout the
Word of God. You cannot read this book and
read it with honesty and not see that all things were ordained
of God from eternity. And the scriptures state it explicitly,
plainly, over and over again. We believe this doctrine because
the basis of our faith in all things is the Word of God and
only the Word of God. We do not believe it simply because
it's logical and reasonable, though most certainly it is.
We do not believe it because this doctrine is one that's been
held by church fathers in the past. Church fathers in the past
have been terrible fathers at times. We don't believe this
doctrine because it's written in any creed or because it's
a part of any theological system. We believe what we believe because
God in his word states exactly what we believe and preach. God
in his word states exactly what we believe and preach. You don't
have to guess about it with any of these preachers. We declare
to you the word of God just exactly as it is written and you have
it in your hands. We believe this doctrine and
rejoice in it. We preach it from the housetops.
Because it's not only taught in the scriptures, but it is
one of the most comfortable, joyful, faith-encouraging things
revealed in the book of God. Predestination. Glorious predestination. Turn back to Romans chapter 8.
Romans chapter 8. Hold your hands here in Ephesians
1. Turn back to Romans chapter 8. Let me just read five verses
of scripture. that plainly it set forth this
blessed doctrine with unmistakable clarity. Romans chapter 8 and
verse 28, almost all religious folks know a little bit of this
verse and they say all things work together for good. Usually
they kind of say all things are going to work out all right.
They don't understand what the scriptures teach. All things
work together by divine design. by infinite wisdom by sovereign
power by majestic goodness all things work together for good
to them that love God to them who are the called according
to his purpose oh God help us to get hold of that and as God
sits on his throne in the ease of sovereignty, we can sit in
our easy chair in the ease of confident faith. We know because
we've been taught of God. We know because this book teaches
it. We know because we've experienced
it. That all things work together
for good to them that love God. to them who are the called according
to his purpose. And it doesn't leave us to guess
what his purpose is. For whom he did forego, let me
give you the long and short of that, those whom he loved with
an everlasting love, he also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among
many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate
Then he also called, and whom he called, then he also justified,
and whom he justified, then he also glorified. Before the world
was, God named us as his sons, he called us his own, he justified
us in Christ the Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world,
and glorified us in Christ the Lamb, slain from the foundation
of the world, in whom he made us accepted. Accepted this was
done before the world began in divine sovereign Predestination
you see for God to will a thing is for God to do it If God wills
it it's done and this thing called salvation was done from eternity
for God's elect according to his purpose of grace in predestination
He predestinated us. A year or so ago, my wife had
taken me to one of the men's shops over in Lexington. She
wanted to buy me a suit over close to where Brother Todd and
Len live at Lowlands. And I'd been going there for
a good many years. A fellow, Darryl, was waiting
on me. And I forgot what we were discussing
about the tie or the suit or the color or something, I don't
know what it was. And he said, I guess the determinant would
be, if that's a word, I said, Darryl, that's a great word.
The determinant! God's determinant counsel determines
everything. God's determinant counsel is
sovereign predestination. There's no question then the
Word of God teaches this doctrine. We've read it in Romans 8 and
Ephesians 1. So the only question that needs
to be answered is, what does the Bible teach about predestination? Many, many years ago, Brother
Mayhead and I were together, actually in Danville, long before
I became pastor there, and he said, it's hard to say whether
this doctrine has suffered more in the camp of its enemies or
in the camp of its friends. The fact is, many folks deliberately
misrepresent the doctrine because they refused to bow to God. Other
folks, in attempting to defend the doctrine, misstate things
concerning it. So let's look at the scriptures
and see clearly what God teaches. Let me begin by showing you that
there are some things commonly taught by men about predestination,
which the word of God doesn't teach. Number one, this book
does not teach the impersonal fatalistic philosophy that says,
whatever will be, will be. Does not teach that. That's nothing
but philosophical fatalism. And it attempts to remove from
man all responsibility for his actions. We recognize that nothing
comes to pass except what God has purposed. And we recognize
that every man is responsible for every action he takes upon
this earth. Every man. Every woman, responsible. Well, I believe in predestination.
I'm not gonna die till my time's come. I'll tell you what, if
you believe whatever will be, will be, you go out here on Highway
65, about 5.30 in the afternoon, and put some plugs in your ears
and some blindfold over your eyes, and walk back and forth
across the street. Let's see how much you believe that. We
have a responsibility to exercise judgment and care in all things. Most of us have lived long enough
Well some of us have, I see a lot of young faces here. But many
of us have lived long enough to have experienced some health
issues. And you can be insane with health
issues. I know we live in this crazy
health food age. Some folks have the idea if you
eat a bale of hay every day you're gonna live to be a thousand years
old. Well I don't like hay and I don't like life that much.
but we exercise reasonable, responsible care for health. And we exercise
reasonable, responsible care in all things, recognizing that
our God has ordained everything that comes to pass. The word
of God does not teach that religious fatalism, Brother Todd and I
were talking about it a little while this afternoon, commonly
known among primitive Baptists, that the elect will be saved
no matter what. That's not taught in the scriptures. God's elect
will be saved. But God Almighty will never save
a man who doesn't hear the gospel of His grace, because it pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. God
will never save a sinner who does not repent of sin, trust
the Lord Jesus Christ, persevere in the faith. God has ordained
not only the salvation of his elect, but everything required
for the saving of his elect. What does it take to save a sinner?
Now hang on till you see. You think about that for just
a minute. What does it take to save a sinner? Are you listening? Have I got your attention? Everything
that has been and is and shall be. That's what it takes to say God's
elect. God Almighty has ruled this world all these years in
absolute sovereignty for me. For me. This is what the book
says He performeth all things for me. Everything. That's what
it takes to bring us to glory. All the good and all of what
we call ill. All the pleasure and all the
pain. All the sickness and all the
health. all the prosperity and all the
need, all the difficult things and all the easy things. He performeth
all things for me. The word of God, again, nowhere
teaches or implies that God has arbitrarily predestinated some
to go to heaven and some to go to hell. The all-wise God does
nothing arbitrarily. God does nothing except according
to his wise and good purpose, and that purpose was established
in eternity. Without question, the everlasting
condemnation of the reprobate was as much a part of God's decree
as the salvation of his elect. Now you can argue with that and
fuss with that all you want to. Our Lord Jesus was talking about
his work as the good shepherd. He said, I'm the good shepherd.
The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. I lay down
my life for the sheep. I lay it down, have power to
lay it down, have power to take it again. This commandment have
I received from my Father. By the way, other sheep I also
have, which are not of this foal. Them also I must bring. And there shall be one foal and
one shepherd. And there's a bunch of badness
sitting in the background. If we don't like that, we're
talking to you. You're not my sheep. He said, you believe not. Because you're not in my sheep.
But as I said to you, my sheep, hear my voice. I know them. I
give unto them eternal life. And they follow me. And they
shall never perish. Yes, the everlasting damnation
of the reprobate was as much a part of God's purpose as the
salvation of his elect. Nothing happens by accident.
The Lord hath made all things for himself, yea, even the wicked,
for the day of evil. Peter, John, Jude, the Apostle
Paul, all tell us plainly that the condemnation of the wicked
is something to which they were foreordained. But understand
this, God's judgment is always just. And God wisely has arranged
things so that the damned go to hell and perish by their own
hand in complete justice for their violation of his right
to be God. The Bible speaks as plainly about
the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction as it does vessels
of mercy which were aforeprepared unto glory. But we must never
fail to recognize that God in his predestination, while securing
the salvation of his elect by his hand alone, leaves the responsibility
for every sinner's damnation on his own shoulders because
of your willful unbelief. What are you saying, Pastor?
If you go to hell, it's your fault. If you go to hell, you'll have
no one to blame but you. You'll go to hell because you
would not believe. You'll go to hell because you
refuse to bow to God's Son. You'll go to hell because you
sit here and stick your fingers in your ears and say, God, get
out of my way! And God will give you up to a
strong delusion to believe a lie because you received not the
love of the truth And when God sentences you to everlasting
damnation, there won't be a sad eye in the crowd. It'll be a
matter of absolute just retribution. We plead with you, we weep for
your souls. God is my witness, we do. But
when the day comes, when you stand before God in judgment,
there will be no weeping and no sorrow. None will pity you. None will feel sorry for you.
We will be as completely satisfied with God's justice and indescribably
more so than when we see any murderer executed, than when
we see any rapist put in prison. We will be perfectly satisfied
with the justice of God. God's elect, on the other hand,
are vessels of mercy, aforeprepared for glory. Vessels of mercy whom God in
wisdom, grace, and mercy has prepared for everlasting glory,
making each one fit, meet, worthy to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light through the blood and righteousness of
his dear son. There's a fourth thing. Divine
predestination is not, it is not, it is not based upon men's,
what we call God's foreknowledge. People have the idea that God
Looked out to the long telescope of his infinite wisdom and he
knew all things and so that's predestination. That's nonsense. God's foreordination is his predestination. God knows the beginning from
the end and the end from the beginning. But the Lord God Almighty
knows all that shall come to pass because He purposed everything
that comes to pass. And He controls everything that
comes to pass according to His sovereign purpose and grace.
Listen to the scriptures. Turn back to Isaiah 46. Isaiah 46. Just look at this
one passage, just briefly. Back in chapter 14, Satan, Lucifer,
he huffed and puffed, and he said, I'm going to become God.
I'm going to shove God off his throne. And God responded, this
is the purpose. That is purposed in the whole
world. He was undisturbed by it. Isaiah
46, verse 9. Remember the former things of
old, for I am God, and there is none else. I am God and there
is none like me. None to compare to me. Nobody
ever dreamed of a God like this. Nobody ever invented a God like
this. Nobody ever made a God like this. Declaring the end
from the beginning and from ancient times the things that are not
yet done, saying my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. Call him a ravenous bird from
the east, the man that executed my counsel from a far country.
Yea, I have spoken it. I will also bring it to pass.
I have purposed it. I will also do it. Now that's
what the scriptures don't teach. Second, let's see what the scriptures
do teach. Essentially, the doctrine of
predestination is this. Before the world began, God sovereignly
predestinated all his elect to be conformed to the image of
his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, which he accomplishes in time
by his sovereign, irresistible, immutable grace. God in predestination
ordained the salvation of a people whom he would make exact replicas
of his son. in all his glorious humanity,
exact that purpose, conform to the image of his Son. And this purpose of grace God
sovereignly accomplishes in all the works of providence by his
hand of grace in our souls. Eternal predestination is God's
sovereign work. Paul said he also did predestinate. Now, this is what that means.
The original source of everything, nothing excluded, is God. This is the language of scripture.
For of him, that's the place of origin. And through him, That's
the means of accomplishment. And to Him, that's the ultimate
end, are all things. What do you say to that? I wouldn't
have a God like that. Well, you won't have God. This
is what I say, rather, to whom be glory forever. We worship
God who is God. I know you hear people, they
talk about God being in control of good things, and his sovereignty
over things, and then you have a tsunami, or an earthquake,
or a tornado, or a hurricane, or a flood, and I actually heard
a preacher say this one time on national television, he was
talking to, one of those talking heads on TV, and he said, well,
all I can say is God's gonna have a lot to answer for one
of these days. And I screamed, to the moon! To who's God going to answer
for anything? Of him and through him and to him are all things,
either bow or go to hell. Either bow or go to hell. Specifically,
predestination is God's eternal purpose of grace toward his elect. Yes, it includes all things,
all people, all events. in heaven, earth, and hell, but
the object of divine predestination is the salvation of God's elect,
arising from his everlasting love. The Lord hath appeared
of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting
love, therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. The Lord God
is absolutely free sovereign and unconditional in all his
works. And this work of predestination, this work of grace, this work
of salvation is spoken of in scripture like this, the works
were finished from the foundation of the world. That's wonderful. The works were
finished from the foundation of the world. Christ Jesus stood
as our mediator, our surety, our representative, our head
in the covenant of grace. And we keep striving to find
a way to say that like it needs to be said. And every time I
say it, I come up short. He stood before God. as the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world, and the Lord God accepted his sacrifice, and God
accepted his elect in his Son because of his sacrifice, and
the works were finished. Finished. So that in time, somebody
say, well you, you think you're talking as though the world's
just a stage and God's acting out a drama. That's a pretty
good way to put it. That's a pretty good way to put it. The unfolding
drama of redemption. so that God Almighty, in his
operations of grace in time, in his day-by-day providence,
is simply showing to men, and angels, and devils, and especially
to you and me. the wonders of his grace in saving
such things as we are. That's divine predestination
worked out in day-by-day providence. Come back to Ephesians 1. Listen
to what the Apostle tells us here. Verse 3. Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Who, one of these days, is going
to really bless us good? That's not what it says, is it?
Who hath, H-A-T-H, that's a wonderful word. This is done. Hath blessed
us, now watch it, with all spiritual blessings, all spiritual blessings,
in heavenly places, in Christ. God has blessed us with everything with everything God can bless
a man. God has blessed us with everything
God can bless a man. In heaven, in a person, a minuetto,
a representative, a hand, in whose voice we are spiritually,
he blessed us. with all these spiritual blessings
in heaven in Christ. How did he do that? According
as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,
the only way God blesses anybody is by election. There's no blessing,
no salvation, no grace, no knowledge of God, no eternal life, no redemption,
nothing! apart from God's sovereign election. He's blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath
chosen us in him, before the foundation of the world. Now
watch it. Here's his object, that we should
be holy and without blame. Now, I might not sound like it,
but I've read a few commentaries in my time, and about all of
them suggest this. God chose us to live a holy life,
and they always say holy real deep, a holy life. Well, that
would be good. I highly recommend it. Let me
know when you accomplish it. That's not what he's talking
about here. That's not what he's talking about. He's not talking
about you living holy, though I highly recommend it. He's not
talking about you performing something. He chose us that we
might be holy and without blame before him. This is God's object to take
sinners fallen in Adam according to his purpose, born in sin according
to his purpose, raised in rebellion according to his purpose, transformed
by his grace according to his purpose, washed in the blood
of his son according to his purpose, made righteous according to his
purpose, given faith in his son according to his purpose. Holy
and without blame before him. My father looks on me and sees
holy blamelessness. even as he sees it in his soul. That's called regrace. How do
you do that? That sounds like hard doctrine.
No, look at the next two words, in love. in love, having predestinated
us under the adoption of children. That's talking about our experience
of grace. He adopted us before the world was. He predestined
us to experience this blessedness of being God's children by Jesus
Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.
How come? To the praise of the glory of
his grace. wherein he hath made us accepted
in the beloved. Salvation is accomplished by
the irresistible power of God's free grace according to the sovereign
purpose of God in his eternal decree of predestination, and
all through the merits of Christ's blood and righteousness as our
substitute. It's not my will that saves me.
It's not your will that saves you. Paul speaks of folks as
will-worshippers. Everybody around us are will-worshippers. They worship themselves. They
set themselves up in the house of God. This is what Antichrist
does. Ascribing to man power and ability
and operations that God alone can perform. Ascribing to man
what only God can do. It's called will worship. But
it is not your will that saves you. It is not your will that
brings you to Christ. It is not your will that brings
you from death to life. It is not your will that gives
you faith. This is what the book of God
says about man's will. It is not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Salvation is accomplished by
God's purpose. The means, the method by which
he accomplishes this glorious work was devised in eternal predestination. How does God save his people? God graciously gives a Redeemer
who is himself God. A Redeemer who would fulfill
all God's will perfectly, all God's law perfectly, and walk
on this earth before God the full age of a man in perfect
faith. That's how men ought to live
for God, and God won't accept anything less. He won't accept
you believing in Jesus for righteousness. No, no, no, no. Faith in Christ
receives it. Faith in Christ contributes nothing
to it. God saves sinners through the
obedience of a man, Jesus Christ the Lord, who is God. A man whose life, whose obedience,
whose blood is of infinite worth to the infinite God. And the
Lord God saves us because Christ did this as our representative. Well, yes, yes. Sort of. But that just gets about that
far into the later. When the Lord Jesus Christ came
into this world, and he lifts his hands to God as he comes
forth from his mother's womb, and says, Lo, I come to do thy
will, O my God. Don Fortner lifted his hand and
said, Lo, I come to do thy will, O my God. And when he walked
on this earth, the full age of manhood, 33 and a half years
in perfect righteousness, in perfect holiness. David always
doing those things that please God. God is my witness. I would give
my breath this moment to do something to please God. That's either the truth or it's
a bald-faced lie. But I can't. I can't even think a thought
pleasing to God. Can you? What do you have to
offer God? Spirit, sin, a bucket of manure,
that's your best. Me too. But, I have pleased him
the whole age of manhood perfectly in the person of his son. The
sin must be paid for and according to divine predestination Christ
was delivered into the hands of wicked men at Calvary's hill.
What does the book say? By the determinate counsel and
full knowledge of God. exactly at the hour, exactly
in the place God before the world was ordained. Judas betrayed Him exactly as
God purposed before the world was. Lord God our Savior made
the tree for which they made the cross on which they nailed
Him and He is God who gave them strength to nail Him to the tree.
He's delivered by the determinate counsel and full knowledge of
God to suffer. He suffers by the hands of men.
An ignominious, horrible, indescribable death of agony. Strip naked to
shame. stripped naked to his shame. So he hangs upon the cursed tree
among two thieves as being himself the chief of thieves deserving
this death reserved only for the basest and most vile of criminals. And there he hangs by the hands
of men. But that's just the surface. As he hangs there Suffering is
the offscouring of humanity by the hands of wicked men. The
Lord God Almighty turns his back on his son. And his son cries, my God, my
God, why hast thou forsaken me? And he answers the cry, thou
art of pure eyes. than to behold iniquity and he
who knew no sin was made sin according to the purpose of God
in sovereign predestination that we who never knew anything but
sin might be made the righteousness of God And I was crucified with Christ. Is that what the book says, huh? I was crucified with Christ.
Not, it says, though I had been crucified with Christ. I was
crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live. Yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me. and the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faithful obedience of the Son of God who
loved me and gave himself for me. What's the object of God
in all this? That we should be conformed to
the image of his Son, that his Son might be the firstborn among
many brethren, the head of a whole race of people. the chief so
that his son might have the praise of everything so that his son
might have pleasure everlasting pleasure in the joy set before
him for which he endured the cross despising the shame that
his son that his son might forever be preeminent in the eyes of
a people who bow before him and say worthy is the Lamb and when
God gets done Every one of his elect whom he predestined to
enjoy the everlasting adoption of sons shall be exactly, perfectly,
absolutely conformed to the image of his son. He does it in redemption, giving
us a right record, putting away our sin by the sacrifice of himself.
He does it in regeneration, making us new creatures, making us partakers
of the divine nature, creating in us the very nature of His
Son, so that we have that holiness without which no man shall see
the Lord. And soon, soon He's coming again, and the
dead will hear His voice, and we will rise incorruptible. Your pastor mentioned earlier
the resurrection. I mean, the statements in 1 Corinthians
15 are baffling, aren't they? This body is going to be sown
a corruptible body. That means it's going to rot.
It's going to be raised incorruptible. It's going to be sown a natural
body. One of these days I'm going to the grave. This body right
here? I'm going to lay it in the grave. Come by and say, well,
Brother John, he was a good priest. He was a good pastor. Or you
might say he was a scoundrel. What are you going to say? But
this body is going into the grave. It's going to the grave. But
when Christ comes, it's gonna be raised a... What's that? A spiritual body. Well, that's
impossible. There's no such thing as a spiritual
body. Take it up with God. He's gonna be raised a spiritual
body. A spiritual body like our Savior has. A physical spiritual
body. A physical spiritual body. Sown in corruption. No matter how I die. No matter
how you die. Doesn't matter what you're doing.
You're going to the grave in corruption. But soon, raised
in incorruption. That's glorious predestination. Amen.