Good morning. If you have your Bibles, brethren,
please turn to the book of Galatians. Chapter 1. Book of Galatians, chapter 1. The title of the message is The
Sovereign of God's Grace. We're going to begin reading
in verse 1, down through 5. 1 Galatians 1, verses 1 down through 5. Paul,
an apostle, not of men, neither by man, but
by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead.
And all the brethren which are with me unto the churches of
Galatia. Grace be to you and peace from
God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself
for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world
according to the will of God and our Father, to whom be glory
forever and ever. Amen. God's word says in Hebrews
that in old times that God spoke to our forefathers by the prophets. But in his last days, he spoke
to us by his son. God would speak directly to the
prophets and the prophets would relay that message as we know
to the people. When Christ began his earthly
ministry, he taught his apostles himself and trained them to the
gospel. The only one that was different,
as we know, Paul taught the 12 apostles while he was here on
the earth. But after his resurrection, Paul
was on his way to Damascus. And Christ appeared unto him,
and that's whenever he received his apostleship. If you have
your Bibles, I'd like to look at that, if you would please.
If you have your Bibles for a second, turn to Acts 26 and hold your
place. Acts 26, verse 13 through 18. There was a lot of people that
did not like Paul. The Jews did not like Paul because
of the message that he preached. He preached the gospel of sovereign
grace and they did not like that. And they tried to discredit him
for they knew that if they could discredit the messenger, they
could discredit the message. And the world was full of false
prophets at that time. And Paul was very passionate
because he had spent, after his conversion, he'd spent three
years in Arabia being taught the gospel by the Spirit of God.
And he was very compassionate about it, and he was always having
to be on the defense of it, because he believed it with all of his
heart and soul and mind, just like his elect does. It says
here in verse 13, at midday, O King, I saw in the way a light
from heaven above the brightness of the sun shining round about
me and them which journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen
to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me and saying in
the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, his later name became Paul, why
persecute thou me? It's hard for thee to kick against
the pricks. And I said, who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom
thou persecutest, but rise and stand upon thy feet, for I have
appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a
witness both of these things which thou hast seen and those
things in which I will appear unto thee. delivering thee from
the people and from the Gentiles, and to whom now I send thee,
and to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light
and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness
of sins and inheritance among them, which are sanctified by
faith that is in me." And then in verse two, he writes, to all
the brethren that are with me unto the church of Galatia. The
word body, if you'll notice, the word body of Christ is always
singular in the scripture. Romans 12, five says, so we are
being many, our one body in Christ. As we know, the world that we
live in, there are many churches, and it says there's many churches
in Galatia, but actually there's only one church. And that is
a church that God the Father elected before the foundation
of the world and placed in Christ Jesus. And that's the church
that we're talking about here. It says, sure power and apostle
not of man, neither of man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father
who raised him from the dead. and all the brethren which are
with me under the churches of Galatia." And when we talk about
the head of the church, the Bible says in Galatians 1.18, that
Christ is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have
the pre-emptiness. The church is the body of Christ,
and there's only one church. and the one church which he purchased
by his own blood on the cross. There are only one church, one
body, one Redeemer, one purpose, one Father, and there is only
one Bible, one scripture, one gospel. The one true church,
as I said before, are the people that God the Father had placed
in Christ before the foundation of the world. If you have a minute,
just turn over a few places to Galatians 1, Verses 4-6. It's just a few pages
over. Ephesians 1, verses 4-6. Ephesians 1, verses 4-6. God's Word says, according as
He hath chosen us, as the elect, in Him, as Christ, 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. We'll go back to Galatians 1
verse 3. The Bible says, Grace be to you
and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ. The cause of salvation is the
grace of God. Salvation is the Lord And we
see that grace of God in electing sinners into salvation in God's
eternal covenant of grace. And then we see the grace of
God in justifying the guilty sinner. And we are justified
by the precious sacrificial blood of the Lamb of Christ Jesus our
Lord. Romans 3.24 says, being justified
freely, freely by his grace through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus. You know, someone may
say, well, you know, I believe, I have faith, I repent. That's
something you hear a lot in the religious world. I, I, I. But all of those are the gifts
from God. If you have a minute, look at
Philippians 3. Philippians 3. We want to see what Paul says
about belief. Philippians 3, verses 8 and 9. Listen to this. This has to do
with faith that people think that they can muster up their
self, but they don't. It's a gift from God. It says,
Yet doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency
of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. for whom I have suffered
the loss of all things and do count them but done that I may
win Christ and be found in him. Not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, but now listen close to this, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which
is of God by faith. So that's a precious gift from
God right there. And then people may say, well,
I believe. Well, even that belief is a gift from God. Because Paul
and Barnabas was preaching the gospel of the grace of Jesus
Christ to the Jews, and they refused to believe. So they said,
we'll go to the Gentiles. So they go to the Gentiles. You
don't have to turn, but it looks in Acts 13, 48, God says that,
and when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified
the word of the Lord. And as many as were ordained
to eternal life believed. When the religious world looks
at that, they say as many as believe we're ordained, but they
don't say that. Ordained is the same word as
approved, we're elect. All those that were elected before
the foundation of the world, that is the people that believe
the gospel, the sovereign gospel of Christ. And then we see here,
I never, go back to your slide. We see here that a man may say,
well, I can repent. You know, I can repent. No, I
can't repent. I don't have it in me to repent.
But let's look what the scriptures say here in Romans 2, 4 about
repentance. It's a precious, all good gifts
and all perfect gifts come down from the Father. It says here
in Romans 2, 4, or despises thou the riches of his goodness and
the forbearance and the longsuffering? Listen to this, not knowing that
the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance. Sovereign grace
is all of God. It is not in a fallen sinner's
nature to do anything pertaining to his salvation. We contribute
nothing to our salvation. It is all of God. We do not contribute
anything to it. And then Isaiah 64, 6, this is
just one of the many good reasons that we don't. It says, speaking
of man, but we all are as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness
are as filthy rags. God applies salvation. He sustains
salvation. and he perfects salvation. Salvation
is all, not of works, but it is all of grace. It always has
been, and it always will be. And that's something that Paul
is constantly having to defend, is the true gospel of grace of
God. Let's turn back to Galatians
1, verse 3. It says, here we have peace with God. You know,
there can be no peace with God without grace, but peace with
God is made through the blood atonement. That's the only way
that it is made. We have our atonement by our
Lord Jesus Christ, and there's no piece of God outside of our
Lord Jesus Christ, and there's no grace based on the performance
that we do. It's all of Christ. It's the
person, the work, the faith, sacrifice, the blood of Jesus
Christ. Christ is the heart of salvation. That's what it comes
down to. If you will, for a minute, if
you don't care, look at 1 John 5. First John chapter five. We all know that the Word of
God is absolute truth. If there ever was an absolute
truth, it's the Word of God. First John chapter five. Outside of Christ, there's nothing
but death and darkness. But inside Christ, look at this.
Verse 11 in chapter 5 of John 1. And this is a record that
God hath given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life,
and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. He goes
on to say, these things have I written unto you that believe
on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that you may
have, that ye have eternal life, and that you may believe on the
name of the Son of God. And speaking of the Son of God,
Hebrews 1.3 says, who being the brightness of his glory, and
the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the
word of his power, when he had by himself Purged our sins, sat
down at the right hand of the majesty on high. Christ Jesus
is God manifested in the flesh. Salvation is in a person. Christ
Jesus himself said, I am the way, I am the truth, and I am
the life. Peace with God was made by the
blood of Christ, and only by the blood of Christ. He made
peace with God for us. Grace, goodwill, and favor only
comes through Christ our Lord, His blood atonement. Romans 8,
1 says, there is therefore now, now think about that, think about,
there is now no condemnation to them which are in Christ. Romans 8, 33, 34, who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justify,
who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yet rather
is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who make
of intercession for us. By the Father electing the people
before the foundation of the world and placing them in Christ,
Christ has not only made peace through his blood for us, but
we also don't enjoy peace with God, but we also have the peace
of God living in us. And I thank God for that. We
all thank God for that. In 1 Corinthians 6, 19 and 20,
the Bible says, what know ye not that your body is a temple
of the Holy Ghost, which is in you? We don't belong to Rome,
we belong to God. We were bought with a price.
And then Jesus said over in John 14, 27, peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you, not
as a world give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid. And in another place in the scriptures,
you know, we need to put our trust. I need to put my trust
more than what I do in my Lord Jesus Christ and His work and
His sacrifice. He says, be anxious for nothing,
but in everything by prayer and supplication, let your weak crest
be made known unto God. That's wonderful. But we have
peace, God, and He's living in us. And then let's go back to
our text in chapter four. It says, why do we have this
peace and grace with God? If you'll look at Galatians 1,
verse four, it says down here, who gave Himself, Christ Jesus,
He gave Himself for our sins, be elect, that he might deliver
us from this present evil world according to the will of God
our Father. We have peace and grace with
God because he gave himself. Romans 10, 18 says, Jesus our
Lord said, no man take it from me. I laid it down myself. And I have power to take it down,
and I have power to take it up again. This commandment. have
I received from my Father. The Christ's death and the place
of sinners perfectly satisfied the just demands of God's holy
law, whereby making it possible for God to forgive his elect
that he had placed in his Son before the foundation of the
world. But Lord Jesus died as their
substitute. And that was one reason that
Paul was so hediate, so compassionate about the gospel, for the true
gospel, the certified gospel, the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians. Paul, for I determined not to
know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And then if you look at the Bible
over in Acts 4, you don't have to turn, but it says, neither
is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name
under heaven. given among men, or why we must
believe. But he is our substitute. He
knew no sin, and he made no sin for us. His sacrifice for sin
is our atonement. Hebrews 2.17 says, wherefore
in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren,
that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest. and things
pertaining to God to make reconciliation for the sins of his people. And
he did that. His perfect obedience is our
righteousness. And he not only, when he died
on that cross and shed his blood, he not only took the sins of
his people and him, but he imputed his righteousness into his people. His perfect obedience to the
Father is our righteousness. We have imputed righteousness
through Christ. And because of the person, the
work, the sacrifice, and the blood, and the blessed lamb of
God, Christ gave himself to us, his people, his elect, his church,
and his body. And then it says over in 1 John
4, 10, listen to this, herein is love. Not that we love God. We couldn't love God. God loved
us, but that he loved us. and sent his son to be the propitiation
of the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Christ Jesus is called
the Lord, our righteousness. And he says here, back in Galatians
1, he delivered us by himself, all by himself with no help from
anyone at all. And he said that he might deliver
us from this present evil world. And we do live in an evil world. But there's a new world coming
where nothing but righteousness dwells. It says in Revelations
21, 1, and I saw a new heaven and a new earth. And the first
heaven and the first earth were passed away. But there's three
things about this present world that's important that we, as
God elect, needs to know. This is not our home. We're pilgrims
passing through, just through. The Bible says that life is like
a vapor. And if you've got any age on
you at all, you know that. It appears for a little while
and it's gone. But Satan is the God of this world. He's the prince
of this world. Sin is evil in the nature of
this world, and we know that. And the death. is the end of
this world. But verse 4 says that Christ
would deliver us from all of this. And if Christ says that
he'll do it, he'll do it. You don't have to turn, but it
says over in Ephesians 6, 11, 12, you know, there's a lot of
things that we all go through, things we don't understand and
things that are so hard to deal with. But the Bible says in Ephesians
6, 11, and 12, it says, put on the whole armor of God that you
may be able to stand against the wills of the devil. For we
are asked not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers. And we often forget that, don't
we? Of a darkness of this world against spiritual wickedness
and high places. But if you have your Bibles,
turn to Colossians 3, just a few pages over to Colossians 3. I thank God for his written word.
I thank God for his word. Colossians chapter 3, look at
the first four verses in Colossians 3, chapter 3, the first four
verses. It says, if ye then, and he's
speaking to his elect, If you then be risen with Christ, seek
those things which are above, where Christ sat upon the right
hand of God. Set your affections on things
above and not on things on the earth. For you are dead and your
life is hid with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." Isn't
that a blessing? God's Word says that you are
of God, little children, and have overcome them, because greater
is he that is in you than he that is of the world. And then John 1.12 says, But
as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons
of God, even to them that believe on his name. Over in the book
of John, it says, Beloved, now are you the sons of God, and
it doeth not appear what you shall be, but when he shall appear,
you shall see him as he is, because you shall be like him. Isn't
that a blessing? And that's absolute truth. Let's
go back to our text. Last part of verse 4, it says
in Galatians 1, according to the will of God and of our Father,
James 1.18 says, of his own will begot he us with the word of
truth that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his covenant. And then John 6.44 and 45, Jesus said, no man can come to
me except the Father which hath sent me to draw him, and I will
raise him up the last day. It is written in the prophets
that they shall all be taught of God. Every man, therefore,
shall have heard and have learned of the Father unto me. If any man is able to bow, if
any man has a desire to bow, if any man has a desire to seek
after Christ, it is by the will of God. It is not by the will
of man. In John 6, 44, Jesus said, no
man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw
him, and I will raise him up in the last day. Isaiah 64, 6,
and 8 said, but we are as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness
are as filthy rags, and all do fade as a leaf, and our iniquities,
like the wind, have taken us away. And there is none that
call upon thy name, that stir up himself to take hold of thee,
for they'll have hid thy face from us, and have consumed us,
Because of our iniquities, but now, listen to this, but now,
O Lord, thou art our father, and we are the clay. And thou
art our potter, and we are the works of thy hands. And then
he says in John 10, 20 to 27, verse 30, he said, my sheep hear
my voice. and I know them, and they follow
me, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall not perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which
gave them is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them
out of my Father's hand. I and my father are one and there's
a you know it says to whom be glory forever in verse five to
whom be glory forever and ever amen you know there's many reasons
why that salvation is completely and totally of God and that man
plays no role in it whatsoever. And one of those reasons is that
the disciples asked the Lord and said, well, who can be saved? And Jesus said, you know, with
man, it is impossible and there's no way that he can be saved within
himself. And then the second reason that
it is all of God is to be sceptic of God, it has to give God all
the glory. None of it comes to us, it all
goes to God. But chief end, every son of Adam
is to glorify God. And our Lord Jesus Christ, our
God, he will either be satisfied in his grace or in his justice. I'm gonna leave you one verse
right here, 1 Peter 1, 3, 4, and 5. Listen to it closely,
it's such a blessing. Blessed be, it's such a blessing
to God's elect. All the promises that are in
this book are toward his elect. 99% of the majority of his lecturers
do things in here that talks about where it says, if you don't
have the son, then the wrath of God will bite upon you. But
the majority of the promises in this Bible are for his elect. He says, blessed be the God and
father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant
mercy have begotten us again into a lively hope by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead. to an inheritance incorruptible,
undefiled, and fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who
are kept by the power of God through faith into salvation,
ready to be built in the last time. Promises of God, they cannot
be broken. And I thank you for that. I'm
finished.