All right, brethren, let's turn
in our Bibles to Ephesians chapter 1. I have a message for loved ones. Every believer wants our family
and friends to believe on the Lord Jesus and know this good
news of the gospel. You, your heart's filled with
joy, you have such comfort in Christ and you want your loved
ones to know as well and so you try to tell them and so often
the gospel that is such good news to you is not received as
good news in those we try to speak to. and it's even opposed
and they become offended. But we have to remember that
the gospel offended us when somebody told it to us the first time
too. The gospel offended us and it is offensive to men. The Lord calls it the offense
of the gospel, the offense of the cross. And the reason it
was offensive is because we had our own thoughts about who God
is and how God saves. We were very often saying things
like, well, this is what I think and this is what I believe. And
we didn't know that our ways were not God's ways and our thoughts
were not God's thoughts. And another problem was we heard
and believed what everybody around us claimed to believe. So we'd
go to this word, like everybody naturally goes to the word of
God, and that is to look for something that we could do to
be saved, to look for some work we could do that we might have
life. Well, I want to preach a message
that might help for us to speak to a loved one, a plain message,
a simple message that would help us to be able to speak to our
loved ones and or maybe even a message that you could give
to your loved one. And if somebody hears this message
because somebody gave it to them, I would say to them, number one,
to remember that the reason a child of God gave them this was because
they love them and they want them to hear the gospel. They
want them to know the true and living God, to know what God's
word really says. And also I would say to them
and to us, let's open our Bibles. Let's take this time and open
our Bibles and look into God's Word and see what God says. Hear
what God has to say. Now this is where we have to
be settled from the beginning. This is God's Word. The Scriptures
are God's Word. And we have to hear what God
says, and not just isolate a verse, but compare scripture to scripture
and see what does God say throughout his word. So let's take our Bibles
and let's look here, and I want to be very simple and very plain,
but this came to me after I was speaking with somebody about
this very subject of speaking to loved ones. And I just want
to preach this in simplicity. I want to preach it prayerfully. And I do pray that we would hear
it. I pray we'd hear it as new, as
the Lord always keeps it in our heart, new. And I pray that others
would hear it. Now the first 14 verses of the
Bible, of Ephesians chapter 1, is about as clear a declaration
of the gospel as you'll find anywhere in the Bible. Now this
is God's word. Men were used to pin this word,
but holy men spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. This
is God's word. Now, let's read these first 14
verses. We won't be able to go through
the whole 14 verses, but we'll come back and take about six
or seven verses. But when you read a passage of
scripture, this is what we always have to do first. Find out who's
speaking and find out to whom the word's written. If we don't
find that out, we will miss this. We have to find out who's writing
and to whom it's written. Well, verse 1 says, Paul, an
apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. This is God's word,
but he used Paul to write this letter. Now, who's he writing
it to? To the saints which are at Ephesus
and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. This is written to the
saints at Ephesus and to the faithful in every generation,
then and now. in every generation. So when
we read here, and we're going to read the words us, and we're
going to read the words we, he's talking about those God has sanctified,
those God has made faithful. Now let's read this, verse 2.
He says, Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from
the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath 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, 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 pleasure of his will. to the praise of the glory of
His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved, in
whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of
sins, according to the riches of His grace, wherein He hath
abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known
unto us the mystery of His will. according to his good pleasure
which he hath purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the
fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in
Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even
in him. in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being
predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all
things after the counsel of his own will, that we should be to
the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ. in whom ye
also trusted, after that you heard the word of truth, the
gospel of your salvation, in whom also, after that you believed,
you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the
earnest of our inheritance, unto the redemption of the purchased
possession, unto the praise of his glory." Now the first thing
we see here in the first verse is salvation is by the will of
God. Salvation is by the will of God. He says, 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. Now Paul didn't take credit
here for making himself an apostle. He didn't make himself an apostle.
He didn't glory in anything about himself being a believer or being
an apostle. He said here, it's by the will
of God. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
by the will of God. Salvation is by the will of God. By the will of God. God saves
by his will. Look down at verse 5, everything
Paul declares here, God did according to his will. He says, verse 5,
having predestinated us into the adoption of children by Jesus
Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will.
He says in verse 9, He made known unto us the mystery of His will. We didn't even know this mystery,
this gospel of His will. He had to make it known to us.
He did it according to the good pleasure which He had purposed
in Himself. That's His will. That's His purpose.
Salvation is by God's will. It's by God's purpose, by God's
will, and that means when we talk about God, the truly living
God. We're talking about God who is
sovereign and by that we mean God is able to will to purpose
how he will execute his will in saving sinners and he is able,
once he purposed it and determined what he would do, he is able
to work his will, working everything together to bring his will to
pass. That means he's God. That's God. That's who he is. He has the
ability to work everything together to save his sinful sinners that
cannot save ourselves. And he does this. He says in
verse 11, in whom also we've obtained an inheritance being
predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all
things after the counsel of his own will. Everything God does
in time is after the counsel of his own will. Nothing. We
can't say that. We have to say if the Lord will,
we'll do this or that. But God is God and he was able
to purpose how he would save and execute his will exactly
according to what he determined before. Look over at Daniel chapter
4. We see this illustrated. in a
king. In Daniel chapter 4, Nebuchadnezzar
was a proud king. He was like every sinner by nature. He was proud. He thought he built
his kingdom. He thought it was by his own
will and by his might. And so one day he's walking around
boasting, glorying in himself about his will and about his
might and how he built the kingdom. In Daniel chapter 4 in verse
30, The king spake and said, is not
this great Babylon that I have built for the house of the kingdom
by the might of my power and for the honor of my majesty?
And while the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice
from heaven. God spoke. saying, O King Nebuchadnezzar,
to thee it is spoken. The kingdom is departed from
thee, and they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall
be with the beasts of the field. They shall make thee to eat grass
as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know
that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth
it to whomsoever he will. The same hour was the thing fulfilled
upon Nebuchadnezzar and he was driven from men and did eat grass
as oxen and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his
hairs were grown like eagle feathers and his nails like bird claws.
And at the end of the days, you just, this mighty king went from
being in all his splendor in his palace to out in a field
like a beast. And at the end of the days, I,
Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and my understanding
returned unto me, and I blessed. I gave glory to the Most High,
and I praised and I honored Him that liveth forever, whose dominion
is an everlasting dominion." Nebuchadnezzar found out his
dominion that he thought his power was not everlasting. It
could be taken from him just like that, soaking hours. He
set his kingdoms from generation to generation, and all the inhabitants
of the earth are reputed as nothing. And he doeth according to his
will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth, and none can stay his hand or say unto him, What doest
thou? So God restored Nebuchadnezzar's
reasoning, and he said, verse 37, Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise
and extol and honor the king of heaven, all whose works are
truth and his ways judgment, and those that walk in pride
he is able to abase. That's God. That's the true God. That's the true and living God.
The scripture says God is in one mind who can turn him. What
his soul desireth, whatever his will is, even that he doeth.
Psalm 115.3 says, Our God is in the heavens. He hath done
whatsoever he hath pleased. Now that's the true God. That's
not the God being preached in the world today. That's the true
God though. He's God. None of us can say
that. We can't say that. God works
all things according to the good pleasure of His will. So salvation
is by God's will according to God's purpose. Isaiah 14, 26
says, this is the purpose that's purposed upon the whole earth.
And this is the hand that's stretched out upon all the nations. This
is why the world was created. This is the hand that's stretched
out on the nations. It's God's will working God's
purpose for the salvation that God planned, purposed, and that
God brings to pass. The Lord of hosts hath purpose.
Who shall dishonor it? His hand is stretched out. Who
shall turn it back? Acts 4.28 says, even the men
who crucified God's Son and nailed Him to a cross only did what
God willed. They only did what God had determined
before to be done. That's sovereignty. That's God's
will. He works all things after the
counsel of His own will. So this is where we have to begin.
We have to realize salvation is by God's will. Paul said,
I'm an apostle by the will of God. His saints are sanctified
by the will of God. The faithful are made faithful
by the will of God. And if we have grace and peace
given to us, it's from the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ. He saves by his will. Now secondly, salvation is by
God blessing us. Salvation is by God blessing
us. Now look here. Now remember the
us and the we, who they are. These are sanctified believers
given faith in Christ. He says in verse 3, blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Those sanctified by God bless
God. We bless the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ. That doesn't mean we give something
to God. He's God. He needs nothing from
his creation, from his creatures. It means to bless God is to give
God all the glory. To bless God is to thank God
and praise God and honor God. It could be read this way. All
glory and honor, all thanks and praise be to the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Since God saves by His will,
since He saves according to His purpose by His unmerited grace,
His purpose in saving His people is to bring us to give Him all
the glory. That's the purpose, is to give
Him all the glory. Look there in verse 6, Ephesians
1, 6. He says, He saved us to the praise of
the glory of His grace wherein He hath made us accepted in the
blood. It is to the praise of His glory,
to the praise of the glory of His grace. He says there in verse
12, He says He saves that we should be to the praise of His
glory who first trusted in Christ. That we should praise Him and
glorify Him. He says there in verse 12, I
mean in verse 14 at the end, It's unto the praise of His glory. Over and over, he says this is
to praise God, is to give God the glory. Now, we're sinners. We're sinners. We're sinners. That means God does all the saving. He does all the saving. If we're
saved, God does all the saving. If a sinner starts wanting to
take credit for our will, for our works, for some merit that's
in us, that's offensive to God, because God will have all the
glory. That's his whole purpose in saving
his people. Isaiah 42, 8, the Lord said,
I'm the Lord, that is my name, and my glory will I not give
to another, neither my praise to graven images. He said in
Isaiah 43, 7, everyone that is called by my name, I have created
him for my glory. I have formed him, yea, I have
made him. Let's go over to Jeremiah chapter
9. Jeremiah chapter 9, verse 23. Thus saith the Lord. Now here's
the Lord speaking. This is God speaking. Let's hear
what he said. Thus saith the Lord. Let not
the wise man glory in his wisdom. Neither let the mighty man glory
in his might. Let not the rich man glory in
his riches, but let him that glorieth glory in this, that
he understandeth and knoweth me. That I am the Lord which
exercise loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth,
for in these things I delight, saith the Lord. And so all who
he calls and gives faith to know him, We say, not unto us, O Lord,
not unto us, but unto thy name give glory for thy mercy and
for thy truth's sake. We're saved by his mercy and
his truth, his mercy and his righteousness. And it's all of
him. It's all of him. And look back
now at Ephesians 1. We give God all the glory because
it's God who gives us every blessing. Every blessing is given by God. He says in verse 3, Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Salvation does not begin with
the sinner when we believe on the Lord. That's not where salvation
begins. Salvation begins with God. in
heavenly places. He said it's he who hath blessed
us. What did he bless us with? All
spiritual blessings. That leaves nothing out. Absolutely
nothing out. You know, there are sinners in
this world who have never heard this. They've read the Bible,
they have a Bible, they've looked in the Bible, but they've never
They don't have discernment and they do not hear this. They do
not understand it. Do you know what a blessing it
is to be able to hear and believe the word of God and understand
what God is saying? All spiritual blessings come
from God. That means spiritual life, that
means wisdom, discernment, faith to believe on him, righteousness,
sanctification, redemption, all good works are of him. preservation, resurrection, glorification,
inheritance. Every blessing that we receive
was given to us by God. Now, this is what's important
to get right here. When did he do this? Where did
he do this? It says in heavenly places. All blessings that God gives
to the sinner in time, God gave to the sinner before time was
ever made by God. Every blessing that he gives
to the sinner he saves, God gave to the sinner in eternity before
time was ever created, before anything was made that was made.
All blessings, every one of them. And this is the true God. He
has power to purpose salvation from the beginning, then work
everything to give all the blessings to those He purposed to save
in time. That's what He can do. Look over
at Isaiah 46. You're very familiar with this,
but I want us to look this up. Isaiah 46. He blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places. That means before he made anything,
he blessed us with all spiritual blessings. That means when he
creates everything, he's going to have to be able to work everything
together to give us all those blessings in time. That means
he's declaring the end from the beginning. Look at this. Isaiah
46, 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. declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times the things that are not yet done. That's
what our text is telling us. All spiritual blessings were
given in heavenly places. God was declaring the end from
the beginning from ancient times the things that are not yet done
saying my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. Verse 11, at the end, he says,
I've spoken it, I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it,
I will also do it. The Lord of hosts has sworn,
saying, surely as I've thought, so shall it come to pass, and
as I have purposed, so shall it stand. Now, in whom did God
bless us? in whom God did all the blessing,
he blessed us with all spiritual blessings, he blessed us in heavenly
places, where are these blessings? Look back at Ephesians 1, he
says he blessed us with all spiritual blessings, blessings in heavenly
places in Christ. Every blessing God has for the
sinner is in Christ. There are no blessings except
in God's son the Lord Jesus Christ Now you read these 14 verses
and we read over and over here in Christ He says there in verse
7 in whom we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness
of sins according to the riches of his grave We read in verse
10 that in the end God shall gather together in one all things
in Christ, even in him. We'll read in verse 11. In whom,
in Christ also, we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated
according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after
the counsel of his own will. Verse 13 says, In whom ye also
trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel
of your salvation. God's purpose in saving sinners
is not only to give him all the glory, the father is to give
his son all the preeminence. That is, Christ is first and
above all in the hearts of all those he saves. Christ is. That in all things he might have
the preeminence. That's what Colossians 1.18 says.
That's why God blessed His people in Christ, that in all things
Christ might have the preeminence, for it pleased the Father that
in Him should all fullness dwell. So first of all, salvation is
by God's will. It's for His glory. Secondly,
it's because all spiritual blessings are given, they're given, they're
freely given to us by God way back in eternity in Christ. Now, how did God bless us with
all spiritual blessings in Christ? How did he bless us with all
spiritual blessings in Christ? Look at verse four. 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. Every sinner that God calls to
believe on Christ, God chose, He elected to save in Christ
before the foundation of the world. Why did He do that? Because He loved, He loved His
people. That's why He did it. From the
foundation of the world, nothing's been created yet. He chose His
people in Christ. He chose who He would save in
Christ. So that when He chose us in Christ,
according as He chose us in Christ, in Christ His people were holy
and without blame in His holy Son, His righteous Son. His people were holy and without
blame before God in love. In love. You mean that's so from
eternity? It's always been so for his people
who he chose in Christ. Never. We fell in Adam. We sinned. We were corrupted. And the only
reason God didn't destroy us is because he beheld us in love,
in his Son, holy and without blame. That's the one reason.
That's the one reason. He chose a people that he would
save and he gave them to Christ to do the saving. He chose who
he would save and he gave them to Christ to do the saving. That's why these blessings are
certain to those he chose, because he trusted it all into the hand
of his son. He's going to have his son glorified. His son's going to have all the
preeminence, and his people that he saves are going to be made
to see. He gets all the glory. He gets all the preeminence,
and he's going to create that preeminence in our hearts so
that we give him that preeminence. Why? Because God the Father trusted
an elect people, a chosen people. He chose freely by grace, not
because of anything in his people, and trusted his people to his
Son. He trusted his people to his
Son. You look down at verse 12. that we should be to the praise
of His glory who first trusted in Christ. Robert Hawker pointed
out that it was God the Father who first trusted Christ. He's
the one who first trusted Christ. And we're saved that we should
be praising His glory, God's glory, who first trusted Christ. Trusted Him with the salvation
of His elect. Now remember, God must have all
the glory. God must have all the glory.
God the Father came in the person of His Son. God and His Son are
one. God's going to get all the glory
for saving us. So not only did He choose His people, choose
whom He would save, choose us in His Son, God came in human
flesh to work out that salvation that He purposed from eternity.
You mean God didn't leave this thing just Just to come about
however, you mean He really ordered it? It's that sure? It's that
ordered and it's that sure. Everything about salvation is
that ordered and it's that sure. And when the Son of God came
forth, He fulfilled the Father's will. He fulfilled the Father's
will. All God's elect fell in Adam.
We all were ruined in Adam and we couldn't save ourselves. We
couldn't do anything for ourselves. We can't take our next breath
if it's not for God. You can't bat your eyelid if
it's not for God. Right now, our Lord spoke and
said, when they came looking for Him, He said, who do you
seek? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth.
He said, I am. And they fell backwards. He said to him, you would have
no power at all except it was given to you from above. This
is God we're talking about. He came in human flesh, sinless
flesh, the last Adam to work out the salvation of his people.
Why did he come? This is what sinners don't know.
Why did he come? Why did God come? Why was Christ,
why did he come into this world? He can because God is going to
save in truth. He's going to save in righteousness. He will by no means clear guilty
sinners. And everybody, he saves his guilty
sinners. Everybody he chose to save fell
in Adam and became guilty. We have got to die according
to God's holy law. This was the whole purpose. This
is our gospel. It is to manifest God. It's to manifest his perfections.
It's to manifest his righteousness. He's holy. He's holy. God, if He didn't choose His
people in Christ and behold us holy and without blame in Christ,
He couldn't look at us because we're sinners. Foul, rotten,
despicable, dirty, nasty, gross, sinners. He calls us filthy rags. Mistral cloths is what He...
And all our works, our best deeds, our best righteousnesses, that's
what they are to God. All of them. He has to come and
he took the place of his people. He came and is the only one who
lived before God in the place of his people. That's the whole
purpose. And he came and he went to that cross and he bore the
curse and condemnation justly that his people deserve because
he bore our sin in his body on the tree. And the Lord God of
heaven and earth who will not clear the guilty would not even
spare his own son. That's how holy he is. And he
poured out wrath upon his son. He poured out justice on his
son. And he bought, that's why we
don't say Christ died for everybody without exception. Christ died
for a particular people and he saved that particular people.
Our Lord Jesus satisfied justice. He put away sin. He brought in
everlasting righteousness. He made his people the righteousness
of God in him. And when he cried, it's finished,
that's what he meant. It's finished. It is finished. It is finished. He said, I'm
the good shepherd and I know my sheep as the father knoweth
me, even so know I the father, and I laid down my life for the
sheep. And he didn't make it possible.
He didn't just make it possible. No, he saved his people. Redemption
is the payment of a price. If you were held for ransom,
and somebody had, that's, and they said we demand a ransom
be paid, a redemption price has to be paid. That means somebody's
going to have to pay your ransom. They're going to have to pay
you, the particular one who's held for ransom, they have to
pay your ransom. And Christ came to redeem, to
pay the ransom price for his particular people. And the price
he paid is his blood. It's his blood, his life. I lay down my life for the sheep. And so when he paid that price,
it's paid. If somebody paid for your ransom
and they ransomed you, you're free now because the ransom has
been paid. If he paid it for everybody,
then everybody's redeemed. And that's not what the scripture
said. And that's an insult to Christ because he didn't try
to do it. He did it. He paid it. He accomplished
it. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law being made a curse for us. That's what Galatians
3.13 says. Christ died for his people. God
said for the transgression of my people was he stricken. Isaiah 53, 8. He said, Isaiah
53, 11, by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify
many. He shall do it, for He shall
bear their iniquities. Now let me tell you something.
He says, by His knowledge shall my righteous servant justify
many. Many is a great multitude. Many
is a multitude no man can number. But many is not all men without
exception. He triumphed in satisfying justice
for each one He represented. He by Himself purged our sin. Look down there in verse 14. When He gives you the Spirit,
He's the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased
possession. That means until He's coming
back and redeeming us out of this world into the new heavens
and the new earth. But what I want you to see is
He calls those He bought with His blood the purchased possession. We've been purchased, and we're
His possession, and He owns us. He paid the price. He paid the
price. He accomplished it, and justice,
that same justice, that same righteousness that demanded Christ
die in order for God to be merciful to his people, that same justice
satisfied now demands everyone he saved, he redeemed, must be
called, because they're justified. Justice cannot twice demand first
of my bleeding surety's hand and then again at mine. He accomplished
it. In whom, verse 7 says, we have
redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sin, according
to the riches of His grace. All right, now let me ask you
this. How does a dead sinner have spiritual life and believe
on Christ? How are we going to believe Him?
By God's will. by God's grace, by the Spirit
of God. He says in verse 5, having predestinated
us into the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according
to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of
his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved, in
Christ the Beloved. When He chose His people, He
predestinated us, the time, the place when He would bring us
the gospel and send forth the Spirit of God and quicken us
in our heart and make us hearing. Look at Galatians 4. This is why Christ died. All
of this is according to God's will. Galatians 4, 4. When the
fullness of time was come, God sent for the son made of a woman,
made under the law to redeem them that were under the law,
that we might receive the adoption of sons. That we might receive
the adoption of sons. And because you are sons, You
read that? Because you are son. I believe
He didn't make us children. It was because we were His children
by divine election, by the blood redemption of Christ. Because
you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your
hearts, crying, Abba, Father. That's how we called out to Him,
was by the Spirit. And now you're no more a servant
but a son, and if a son, an heir of God through Christ Jesus.
To everyone here in this message, God has sent the Gospel to you. Paul said, we're bound to give
thanks always to God for you brethren, beloved of the Lord,
as he said this to believers. He said, because God hath from
the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the
spirit, belief of the truth, whereunto he called you by our
gospel to the obtaining of the glory of Christ. Now you think
about this, if you're hearing this gospel, God sent it to you.
If you're hearing this gospel right now, I mean just with these
ears, God has sent it to you. And if we hear it with spiritual
ears, it's because God called us by the gospel, by the spirit. Wouldn't it be amazing if he
did that to somebody who hears the word of God preached, but
he gets the glory? What about our will? He has to give us a new nature
with a new will. He said a new heart will I give
you, a new spirit will I put within you, and I'll take away,
I'll subdue that stony heart that's in us by nature. Ezekiel
36.26, that's what he said. Well, what about our faith? Ephesians
2.8 says, By grace are you saved through faith, and that's not
of yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of works, lest any
man should boast. God gets all the glory. Paul
said, He called you by our gospel. This is why we preach the gospel,
even though folks get mad at us. This is why you keep preaching
it regardless. Come what may, this is why. Because
God has a people he's going to save. He's going, he has a people
he shall save. Paul was at Coleraine, he was
preaching the gospel, and they were so mad at him they wanted
to kill him. And you know what his encouragement was? You know
what the Lord gave him to encourage him to preach the gospel? He
said, Be not afraid, but speak. Hold not thy peace, for I am
with thee. No man shall sit on thee to hurt
thee, for I have much people in this city. That's what Christ
told him. That's why we preach the gospel. And when the Gentiles
heard, when they heard that God had an elect people that was
not just elect among the Jews, but He also had some elect in
all the world that were Gentiles, that includes some of them, and
they heard it with spiritual ears, they were glad, and they
gave God the glory. And the Scripture says, and as
many as were ordained to eternal life believed Him. Nobody else. the rest got mad, they got glad
by God's grace. Preachers are begging sinners
to accept their poor little Jesus. They're begging him, oh won't
you please just, he's done everything he can do, now it's up to you.
Look at verse six, this is to the praise of the glory of his
grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. There's
a big difference between accepting Jesus and receiving the Lord. My good friend Christoph makes
sure I have glass right here every time I get up to preach.
We receive the Lord Jesus Christ the same way the water, that
glass received that water. That's how you receive Christ.
The same way that glass received that water, God pours grace into
you. He gives you a new heart. He
gives you a new will. He gives you faith. He makes
you willing in the day of His power. There's nothing that comes
of you. You receive it. He makes you
so glad and so you see Him and you rejoice so you can't do anything
but receive Him. It's irresistible grace. That's
what it's called, irresistible grace. That's how effectually
He works. That's how effectually He works.
The one reason Christ is holding this world in store right now.
The one reason He hasn't destroyed everything in this world right
now is because He has... God the Father has some elect
in this world who Christ has redeemed with His blood and the
Spirit of God must call them out. He must. Our Lord said in
John 10.16, Other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them
also I must bring. And they shall hear my voice,
and there shall be one foal and one shepherd. And Paul said in
Romans 11, 5, Even so then at this present time, there is a
remnant according to the election of grace, and if it's by grace,
it's no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace. When
he's called each one to believe on Christ, you know what's going
to happen then? When he's called the last one to believe on Christ,
Christ is returning. And Matthew 24, 31 says, He shall
send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they
shall gather together His elect from the four winds from one
end of heaven to the other. As our text said, He shall gather
together all things, all His people in heaven and in earth,
together in one in Christ. And Christ will present us to
the Father without spot, without blemish, perfect in His righteousness,
and not one will be missing. They were everyone He chose,
Christ redeemed them, the Spirit of God calls them, and Christ
will present every one of us to the Father, and not one will
be missing, and not one will glory in anybody but God. our Lord Jesus, because he did
everything. And I tell you this. I know the
truth of election is offensive. I know particular redemption,
saying Christ died for His elect and accomplished it. I know that
irresistible grace is offensive, saying He must give you a new
will. He must keep you. He must preserve you. It's God
working in you both to will and do of His good pleasure. He must
chasten you. He must correct you. He must
sustain you. He must grow you. He must keep
you. And He'll get all the glory for
it. I know this is offensive to sinners. We can't put our
hand to it. We just mess it up. God's people
don't want to put our hand to it because we've experienced
the power of it. And we know we can't. We just
preach His Word. But here's the thing. When He
makes you see what a sinner you are, makes you see what a sinner
you are, how helpless you are, and makes you behold Christ and
what a great, perfect, accomplished, triumphant Savior He is. That's
when we know, that's when we rejoice, that's when we're thankful
that salvation is entirely of God by His will. Blessing us
with all spiritual blessings, according to the good pleasure
of His will, according as He chose us in Him before the foundation
of the world. Christ laying down His life,
accomplishing our redemption, the Spirit regenerating us, all
by grace, with glory only in the Lord then. Because here's
what we know, here in His love, not that we love God. but that
He loved us and sent His Son, the propitiation for our sin. Then we know what real love is.
It's God's loving us. That's the love. It's Christ
laying down His life. And then we're glad. Then we
rejoice. And I pray God will bless that.
Father, we thank You for this Word. We ask Your blessing upon
it. Father, as you work your will, head your people about, protect
us. And Lord, help us to walk after
you and know that you will not lose one. Lord, give us grace to speak
your word in truth, plainly and simply. Lord, we ask you to bless
it to the hearers and to our own hearts and to others that
hear. Lord, we ask you to glorify Christ
in each heart. Give him the preeminence in our
hearts and make us bow and follow him. Praise and glorify your
holy name for your grace and your mercy in Christ. Thank you,
Father, for these blessings in Christ. It's in his name we pray. Amen.