there's one simple three-word
answer to every question that has ever been asked and will
ever be asked concerning the past, the present, and future
events of this universe in which we live. That three-word answer
is, it pleased God. Whatever's transpired in the
history of mankind and this world in which we live did so because
it pleased God. The phrase it pleased God simply
means that God chose to do something according to His own will and
purpose. It implies that whatever has,
Whatever is and whatever will happen was, is, and will always
be in perfect alignment with God's desires and God's intentions. God is independent. He need not
to explain Himself to anyone. No accidents. No excuses. No backup plans. It simply pleased
God. It's a way of expressing that
God has the first and the final say, that His choices stand whether
we understand them or not. And there's a lot I don't understand.
Whether we think things to be good or whether we think things
to be bad or harsh, all things happen according to God's prerogative
and never according to human opinion. These things are not
strange words to your ears, but they're strange words to this
world in which we live. So I want you to turn with me
to Romans chapter 11 and look at verse 36. Romans 11 verse
36. There are many verses in the
Scripture that declare the sovereignty of God, but I don't believe there's
one verse of Scripture that does so more than this particular
text. Romans 11 verse 36. For of Him, and through Him,
and to Him are all things to whom be glory forever. Amen. Now here we see God as the source,
the sustainer, and the purpose of all things. Not just some
things, not just a few things, all things. No doubt this is
one of the most profound declarations of God's sovereignty and majesty
in all the scriptures. God is the source of all things. The phrase of Him emphasizes
that, that God is the origin of all things. Everything in
creation, dear friends, finds its beginning in Him. Secondly,
God is the sustainer of all things. Through Him, it's said. This
highlights that all things exist and continue by His power and
by His will. God is actively involved in sustaining
the creation that He created. God didn't just create the heavens
and the earth and turn His back and go back to heaven and say,
OK, let's see how it all turns out. No. That's not the God of
the Bible. Thirdly, God is the purpose of
all things to Him. It signifies that all things
ultimately exists for His glory and for His purpose. Creation
is designed to point to God and His glory. In the beginning,
God created the heaven and the earth. Worship Him. Glorify Him. He's the creator. He's the source. He's the sustainer. He's the purpose of all things.
And therefore, The apostle here gives us a call, a command to
worship God. It's not an option. It doesn't
say if you feel like it, worship God. It says, worship God. His word concludes that eternal
glory belongs to Him and Him alone, and He gets all the glory
for it. We must bow to His worthiness. Men and women have no problem
attributing creation of the world to God alone, but they've got
a serious, serious problem with attributing creation in the center,
salvation, to the Lord alone. You know it so. Oh, I believe
God created heaven and earth, but man has a part in his salvation. No, not true. There are two statements. These two statements are found
in God's Word that prove both creation and salvation to be
true and to be of God and Him alone. And you're familiar with
both. The first I just quoted, Genesis 1-1, in the beginning,
God. Who was in the beginning? God.
You weren't. I weren't. I wasn't. Caught myself. God created the
heaven and the earth. And then the second passage is
Jonah 2, 9. But I will sacrifice unto thee
with the voice of thanksgiving, praise and worship. I'll pay
that which I bow. Salvation is of the Lord. Men and women by nature will
pick and choose the parts of the Bible that they want to believe
and also the parts they want to reject. I've had people say
things like me, well, my Bible doesn't read that way. Well,
what version you got? You got the tomfoolery version? All of God's Word is to be believed
and trusted. 2 Timothy 3.16, all Scripture
is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.
Psalm 119, 160, the word is true from the beginning, and every
one of thy righteous judgments endureth forever. The wise man
Solomon wrote in Proverbs 30, verse five, every word of God
is pure. He is a shield unto them that
put their trust in him. The Lord Jesus said in Matthew
chapter 4 verse 4, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Isaiah
40 verse 8, the grass withered, the flower faded, but the Word
of our God shall stand forever. In Revelation chapter 22 verses
18 and 19, John wrote, if any man has truly heard the gospel
and the word of God, if he shall add unto these things, into this
word, or take away from the words of the book of this prophecy,
that God shall take his part, away his part out of the book
of life and out of the holy city from the things which are written
in this book. This is serious business, God's
word is. It's serious to be believed.
It's not an option, it's a command. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou will be saved. Thou shalt be saved. He that
hath the Son hath life, but he that hath not the Son hath not
life. The 11th chapter of Romans is
about the salvation of God's chosen people. I'm interested
in that. I hope you are. This was and
still is God's reason and purpose for the creation of the world.
This was, still is, and will always be God's purpose for sending
Christ into this world. What is it? Christ came into
the world to save sinners. And for that, He gets all the
glory, all the honor. That's what brings the Godhead
glory. In the first 10 verses of Romans 11, I won't take time
to read the whole chapter. I encourage you to in your own
time. But Paul addresses the issue that if so many in the
nation of Israel, Jews by birth, rejected Christ as the Messiah,
does that mean that God has rejected His elect people? Absolutely
not. And he uses himself as proof. Paul's listeners do not understand,
or did not understand, and many today don't, that the nation
of Israel was not the elect of God, but those who believed and
trusted in Christ alone are. They're the elect of God. And
Paul says here in verses 1 and 2, hath God cast away His people?
God forbid. That's the same as saying absolutely
not. He said, for I am an Israelite
of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not
cast away His people which He foreknew. And then Paul points
back to the Old Testament in the days of Elijah, reminding
these to whom he writes that even when it seemed like all
Israel had turned away and forsaken God, there's always a faithful
remnant. You remember Elijah? He said,
Lord, I'm the only one. Everybody else has forsaken you.
I'm the only one. In verse 4, Paul reminds us that
in Elijah's day, God had reserved for Himself 7,000 men who had
not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. God said, Elijah, you're
not the only one. I've got 7,000 other men that
have not bowed. You're not alone. Verse 5, even
so then, at this present time, also there is a remnant according
to the election of grace. Verse 6, and if by grace, then
it's no more works, otherwise grace is no more grace. But if
it be of works, then it's no more grace. Otherwise, work is
no more work. A simple way of saying that is,
it's either grace or it's works. It can't be both. Which do you
believe it is? It's by grace. Thank God it's
by grace because it's not by works. Because I can't do a perfect
work that God requires. I'm required to keep the law
perfectly. And I can't do it. Verse 7, What then? Israel hath not obtained that
which he or it seeketh for, but the election hath obtained it.
And the rest were blinded. Verse eight, according as it
is written, God hath given them, speaking of the nation of Israel,
the spirit of slumber. Now who did, who gave them the
spirit of slumber? God did. Eyes that they should
not see and ears that they should not hear until this day. Then
in verses 11 through 24, Paul tells them that the Jews' unbelief
and their stumbling opened the door for the Gentiles, those
who were non-Jews, to be grafted in into his spiritual family. He uses the metaphor of an olive
tree. The original branches in this
chapter speak of the Jews. The wild branches speak of the
Gentiles. And now the wild branches are
part of the tree. God grafted them in. But Paul
warns the Gentiles, he says, don't get cocky. If God didn't
spare the original branches, the unbelieving Jews, He won't
spare arrogant Gentiles either. And then in verses 25 through
32, Paul deals with true Israel's hardening. Now this speaks not
of the whole nation of Israel, but those Paul described earlier
in this letter. In Romans chapter two, verses
28, he says, for he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly, neither
is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh, but he
is a Jew, which is one inwardly. And circumcision is that of the
heart, in the spirit and not in the letter, whose praise is
not of men but of God. And then Paul beautifully gives
the doxology of this chapter in verses 33-36 where our text
is found. And he praises God by declaring
God's sovereignty. It's so deep, it's so complex
and wise that no one could have ever come up with such a salvation
as this. I often read the Scriptures and
I say to myself, only God could do this. Only God could devise
a way that He would remain just and justify wicked, ungodly men
like me. Only God can do that. Only God
can accomplish that. So how does this apply to us
today? What is the gospel message found in this passage? We have a God who's made a covenant
with his people, represented by Israel all through the Old
Testament. We read of the nation of Israel
and they picture us to a T. Rebellious, hard-hearted, Wouldn't
believe God. They didn't enter into the land
of promise. Many of them. Millions of them. Because of
unbelief. That's us by nature. Oh, that's
talking about us. They are not true children by
being the seed of Abraham, but the real chosen of God comes
by Isaac, the son of promise. That's what Romans 9, verses
7 and 8 tells us. Neither because they are the
seed of Abraham are they all children, but in Isaac shall
thy seed be called. That is, they which are the children
of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children
of the promise are counted for the seed. Ishmael. He was Abraham's seed. He was
the son of Abraham, just as Isaac was. And God cast him out. Isaac was the son of promise,
and the children of promise, the children of the covenant,
are counted for the seed and God's promise to Abraham and
Sarah. He said, Abraham asked for a
son, and he was 100 years old, and his wife was 90. What odds
do you think the doctors would have given them of having a child?
God said, you're going to have a son, you're going to have a
child. And that child would be the son of promise, and in His
seed shall your people be called. And God doesn't cancel His promises. God doesn't break His promises.
You ever broke a promise? God never walks away from His
covenant. Have you ever walked away from
a covenant, a promise that you made to somebody? God keeps His
promises. Do you? Do I? When God says that
He'll never leave us, when God says that He'll never forsake
us, when God tells us that our salvation is secure in the Lord
Jesus Christ, He means it. He means it. The rejection of the Jews made
room for the Gentiles to be saved. Good news! That's why you and
I are Gentiles. We're Gentiles. We're outsiders. We're made insiders because God
grafted us in. I don't know much about that,
Sue. Some others could tell you more, Mr. Garner. But I don't
know much about it, but I know this, I like it when it comes
to this. I like being grafted in to the
kingdom and family of God. Here in Romans chapter 11, the
olive tree represents the true people of God, the Church, the
Bride of Christ. The natural branches are ethnic,
Jews born of the nation of Israel, many of whom rejected the Lord
Jesus Christ as the Messiah. And the Jewish nation as a whole
still does today. Some natural branches were broken
off, symbolizing Jews who didn't believe. But the wild olive branches,
that's me. I'm a wild olive branch. With
no vine attached to it. Dead. No life within. I was grafted in. And the Christ,
the true vine, without Him I can do nothing. And these non-Jews
were included in God's covenant people through faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Paul's making the point that
Gentiles weren't originally part of God's chosen people. But they
are now. Some of them are. But through
faith in Christ, they are now included. It's not because of
heritage. It's not because of law or works. It's because of grace through
faith. For by grace are you saved. How? Through faith. Well, didn't
I have to do something? Not by works, lest any man should
boast. We're His workmanship. And just like the branches can
be grafted in, they can also be cut off if they become arrogant
or stop believing. Gentiles have been brought into
the spiritual family of God, not by merit, not by birth, but
by God's mercy. and were shut up again to the
mercy and grace of God. Gentiles were now full participants
in the blessings of God's promise to His people." That's good news. That's gospel news if you were
and are a Gentile. I don't know anyone in here that
was born of the natural nation of Israel. I don't know any of
you that are physical Jews. But all of you trusting Christ
are spiritual Jews. We're full participants in the
blessings of God. And the Word of God says to both
Jews and Gentiles alike, for the Lord will not forsake His
people for His great name's sake, because it hath what? Pleased
the Lord. It pleased the Lord to make you
His people. Oh, don't you love those three
words? It pleased God. Four words, it pleased the Lord
to make you His people. And that includes Gentiles such
as we are. Was the salvation of the Gentiles
an afterthought by God? Absolutely not. A sovereign God
doesn't have afterthoughts. A sovereign God doesn't have
a backup plan. Turn with me to Galatians chapter
1. Just go forward a couple chapters,
three chapters. Galatians chapter 1. I want you
to look at verse 15. It pleased God. It's the reason
for everything. Galatians chapter 1. Look at verse 15. I'll give you
a moment to get there. Galatians 1 verse 15. But when it pleased God, who
separated me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace,
why, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among
the heathen, the Gentiles, immediately I conferred not with flesh and
blood." And here we again see God's sovereign choice and His
effectual calling, Paul's apostleship. and his calling wasn't by human
origin or effort. He was set apart before he was
born. It tells us that right here.
People don't believe in God's election, they better read the
Bible. People don't believe in predestination, God predetermining
who will be saved and who won't be, better read this book. He
was set apart before birth, meaning God had a purpose for him long
before Paul ever existed. And this points to God's sovereign
will in choosing and calling individuals for His purposes. You and I, as Gentiles, are included. How and why did this occur? It pleased God. I can answer it with three words
every time, every question. It pleased God. Why did the Lord
have mercy on me, the wretched I am? It pleased God. Why did
God pass by somebody that's so much more morally right and correct
than I am? It pleased God. It's a grace-based calling. Paul acknowledges that he was
called by God's grace. Not because he earned it. You
can't earn it. Not because he deserved it. You'll
never deserve it. Not because you earned it. You
can never work hard enough to obtain it. It pleased God. It pleased God. Paul acknowledges
that he was called by God's grace. Not because he did something. Matter of fact, he persecuted
believers. He killed them. He drug them
out of their homes and threw them in prison. He held the coats
of those who stoned Stephen the preacher. His calling and transformation
was completely undeserved, which again reveals to us the unarmed
nature of God's amazing grace. Oh, amazing grace, how sweet
to sound. Listen, amazing falls way short
of what grace really is. We could string hundreds, even
thousands of adjectives together and not even come close to revealing
the miraculousness of God's grace. We'll have to settle for a magazine
because it is. Salvation is by divine revelation. How many times have you heard
me say that? It's not by the tradition of man. God was pleased
to reveal His Son to Paul. Did you hear that? It pleased
the Lord to reveal His Son in me. And if you're a believer,
you say the same thing. It pleased God that He revealed
Christ to you. Paul didn't learn the Gospel
through human teaching or tradition. He received it through direct
revelation. And this is Paul's main argument
here to the Galatians. The gospel he preached was from
God, not man. This is not man's message. It's
too glorious to be a man. This message is from God. And I'll claim to you this morning
the same thing. The gospel message that I preach
to you is from God. Paul's preaching was a mission
to the Gentiles. Mine and every other true Gospel
preacher has the same mission in our preaching. That God might
graft you into the family of God. If you're ever going to
be a part of it, He's going to have to do it. Before the foundation of the
world, before Saul, before Paul was ever born, while even in
the womb of His mother, He says, God separated him and called
him by His grace. Well, what did Paul have to do
with it? The same thing I had to do with being adopted. My
parents adopted me, made arrangements to adopt me before I was ever
born. I have just as much to do with my salvation, adoption
into the Kingdom of God, as I did that. How much was it? None. None. Wasn't born yet. Speaking of Jacob and Esau, before
either of them had done any good or evil, that the purpose of
God might stand. It's God that's saved. Salvation
is of the Lord. He says that He might preach
Him, Christ, among the heathen. That's talking about Gentiles.
That's talking about you. What about the calling of the
Gentiles? It was the same, the same as with Paul who was a Jew,
the same as it is with all God's chosen people. God had set His
affection on some of these hardened, just like He did us, on these
hardened heathen in order to reveal Christ to them and in
them also. Just like everything else in
this world that comes to pass, our salvation comes to pass because
Can you answer it? Three words. It pleased God. It pleased God. It pleased God
to separate me. It pleased God to call me by
His grace. This is the reason for your salvation,
dear sinner. It pleased God. our calling and
conversions, not by our doing, because it pleased God to reveal
Christ in us. It was God's sovereign choice.
But that's not all that pleased God. In order to save us, it
pleased the Lord to bruise Him. Who? The Lord Jesus Christ. It pleased God to put the Lord
Jesus Christ to grief. It pleased the Lord to make Christ's
soul an offering for sin, that He might call us and save us
by His grace, Isaiah 53, 10. It pleased God by Christ's suffering,
that He might accomplish the redemption of many. It pleased
the Lord by the foolishness of preaching, to save them in belief. It pleased God God's method of saving sinners
is not worldly wisdom or fleshly power, but through what seems
to be foolishness to this world. I've had people tell me that
they thought what I believed was just foolishness. I'm like,
well, that's Scripture. Through the foolishness of preaching,
God saves them that believe. You're fulfilling the Word of
God. You calling foolishness what is the most precious thing
in the world to me and sinners like me. The Lord Jesus said in Luke 12,
verse 32, Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good
pleasure to give you the kingdom. God not only gives us the kingdom,
He finds pleasure in doing so. It's God's delight to save His
people. God's kingdom isn't earned or deserved. It's a gift that
flows from God's gracious desire. That which pleases God, He does. Who's going to stay His hand
or question Him about it? Our God's in the heavens. He's
done whatsoever what? He's pleased! Not based on human wisdom, and
definitely not based on fairness. It's based on divine purpose. And here's the amazing thing.
God finds a great pleasure in the giving of His grace. He doesn't
do it reluctantly. Well, you know, they deserve
to go to hell, but I'm going to show them a little grace.
No. He delights in giving mercy. He finds great pleasure in His
salvation, His calling. His blessings are not earned.
They come because it pleases God to give them. And it's not always comfortable
to us. Often it involves suffering and discipline and sacrifice.
But in the end, it brings forth eternal life. What could be better
than that? God's pleasure always centers
on Christ. God is most pleased when His
Son is revealed. You know what it says about when
a sinner is saved? It says that the angels in glory
rejoice, they're happy when one soul is saved. They know it pleased
God. And it pleases them. And it pleases
us. There's nothing more glorious
than when God saves a sinner. I remember when He saved you.
I remember when He saved you. Not that that means anything,
but boy, I tell you, I rejoiced. I'm still rejoicing. Still rejoicing. Salvation is of the Lord. It
pleased God. It means that God delighted to
do this thing. Not against His will. Not because
He had to or because He felt obligated to. You can't obligate
God. That's what it means when it
says, who can stay His hand, or saying to Him, what doest
thou? You can't put handcuffs on God. You can't obligate Him
to do anything. He does what He wills, because
He's pleased to do it. It pleases God. God initiates
salvation. God saves by revelation, not
religion. I was in religion all my life. It didn't do a thing for me.
It just made me two-fold the child of hell that I already
was. God didn't just teach Paul about Christ. He revealed Christ
in him. This is transformation, not education. You can go to seminary for 20
years and not learn these things. God's got to reveal them to you.
This was in God's timing. This was by God's choice. Paul
was persecuting Christians when God chose to save him and he
sent him to the Gentiles. Folks like me and you. This proves
to us that God can call and use anybody. Well, I'm living proof
of that. It's not about our abilities.
This is about God's redemption. Not a resume. When the church
called me, I didn't give y'all a resume. I don't know what it
would have said. I'm a sinner, nothing and all. Jesus Christ
is my all and in all. That'd be the only resume I got. Was Paul looking for God? No,
he was actively opposing God. God didn't need Paul. Did you hear me? God didn't need
Paul. Well, He wrote three quarters
of the New Testament if He hadn't God raised somebody else up to.
He didn't need Paul. But He desired Paul. It's the same with us. You know,
when a young man desires to marry a young woman, he desires her.
As we say, he takes a fancy to her. And the beloved God took
a fancy to you. Isn't that something? God took a fancy to you. I don't
mean to be disrespectful in saying that. God desired you only because He saw you in Christ. Our calling is rooted in God's
grace, not our goodness. Thank God. Isn't it amazing that
the very means in which the world considers to be foolishness is
the very means that God uses to save them that believe? That's
foolishness. It's the power of God to me. Please God by the foolishness
of preaching. The world wants intellectualism.
The world wants and desires showy miracles. Show us a miracle. Be careful what you ask for. God chose a simple, offensive
message. Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That's offensive to this world.
Somebody told me one time, you got a bloody gospel. Thank God. Thank God. Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. It's the blood of Christ that
cleanses us from all our sin. Preaching is foolish to the proud,
but it's the power of God to the humble. If God's humbled
you, friends, it pleases God to give
us the kingdom. It's His good pleasure. It pleases
God to save the lost. It pleases God to reveal Christ.
His Word, which saves us, pleases Him. Bestowing grace upon the undeserving
is pleasing to God. It pleases God. What pleases
God? Everything He does. Men and women
need not worry about receiving what God's already been blessed
to give. Well, I just don't know if He'll
save me or not. Are you a sinner? It's a faithful
saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save who? Sinners. It pleased Him to do
so. So now in closing, allow me to
remind you once again that though God is sovereign, the Scriptures
talk a great deal about man's responsibility. In Romans chapter 14 verse 12,
Paul writes, So then, every one of us shall give an account of
himself or herself to God. James tells us that we're responsible
for obeying God's Word. He said, Be ye doers of the Word,
and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. Don't be ignorant. Don't be deceived. Men and women
will reap what they sow. That's what God said. Galatians
6, 7 and 8, Be not deceived. God's not mocked. whatsoever
man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to the
flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption, but he that soweth
to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." It pleased
God to do it that way. Apart from Christ, we're responsible
for our sin. Ezekiel 18-20, the soul that
sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for
the iniquity of the father. My father could have been a life-long
criminal. And it's not going to send me
to hell and it's not going to save me. I'm accountable for
my own sin. You don't inherit guilt. You
can't blame other people for it. God holds each person accountable
for their own sin. We are required and called to
love God and others. That's the two greatest commandments.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your being, and
love your neighbor as yourself. And these aren't just suggestions. They're commandments. Our Lord
said on these two commandments, hang the whole law. If you can
love the Lord thy God with all your heart and love your neighbors
yourself, you'll be saved. We can't do it. We still can't
do two. I kept nine of the Ten Commandments. You can't keep one of them. We
can't keep these two on whom the whole commandment and law
of God hangs. Everything else in God's Word
hangs and hinges on how we love God and others. Does God love
those who hate His Son? Does God love those who hate
His people? For God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him in Christ should
not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3.16, everybody can
quote that. To believe in Christ is to love
and to trust Him. How about this one? We know that
we've passed from death into life because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother
abideth in death. 1 John 3.14 We know we have life
by our love for others who also trust in the Lord Jesus. We're
not saved by faith itself. There's no such thing as blind
faith. None. There is not. Our faith must
have an object. That object is Jesus Christ.
That's why we preach Christ. He's the object of our faith.
James said, Even so, faith, if it, our faith and our believing,
is what he's talking about, hath not works, is dead, being alone.
There's an action with faith. Faith without action is dead
and alone. We're not saved by our actions,
but our actions show that we're saved. We're called to be stewards. Moreover, it's required in stewards
that a man be found faithful. were called and made responsible
to repent, Acts 17, 30. But now God commands all men
everywhere to repent. We're not saved by our actions,
we're saved by grace through faith. But we're accountable
to God for our actions. So I've got to ask you, before
we finish, is there any hope for those like us who cannot
do the things that we're required to do? Yes. It pleased God. We work out our own salvation
with fear and trembling, knowing that it is God who works in us
both to will and to do His good pleasure. Pleasure. It pleased God. Beloved, it pleased
God. And that brings us right back
to where we started. For by grace are you saved through
faith. It's not of yourselves, it's a gift of God. Not of works,
lest any man should boast, for we are His workmanship. Created
where? In Christ Jesus. Unto good works,
which God hath before ordained. God put that good work in you
to perform. that we should walk in them.
God saves us by His grace. It's unmerited favor. And by
His undeserved grace, He's ordained us to be a work of grace. We're His workmanship. It's all
grace by the God of all grace. It please God.