It's been a while since we've
done that. A little higher than I remembered. I want to open this message by
telling you that I love, by God's grace, I love God's sovereignty. I just do. All of God's people love God's
sovereignty. We do, don't we? We've been made to love God's
sovereignty. And we're willing in loving God's
sovereignty. I'll tell you what we love about
God's sovereignty. And this is true, not just an
outline, this is true. We love the fact that God has
the right to be God. We love the fact that God has
the power to be God. We love the fact that God has
the wisdom and the judgment and the authority and the command
to be God. The God who does what He will
with whom He will. Honestly, we love knowing and
believing in our hearts that we have a God reigning over us. I love that. I really do. Now, we could spend all of our
time this morning pointing out all the ways that false religion
has gone wrong in not declaring and not believing on and not
bowing to God for who He is. We know it happens all the time. We could spend all of our time
this morning Pointing out how man has brought God down in his
mind and in his religion. And man has not brought God down.
Not really, but he's brought God down in his own mind. We could spend all of our time
pointing out the error, I mean the absolute error of man thinking
he has a say with God. Man thinking that he is in a
cooperation with God. Man thinking that God needs him. Because God can't do anything
without him. We could spend all of our time
this morning, exposing the lie of man's will and man's work and man's worthiness of anything
before God. But we're not going to do that.
We could. But we're not going to do that.
We're not going to waste our time with filthy, wretched. We're just not going to waste
our time talking about sinful, unworthy, unable, unimportant
man. We're just not going to do that.
By His grace, we're gonna declare our sovereign God, and then we're
gonna be done. That's what we'll do this morning.
We'll declare Him, and then we'll be done. We're going to declare
who He is. We're gonna declare what He has
done. We're gonna declare how He did
it. And we're gonna declare why He
did it. And then after we declare that,
we're gonna be done. Our message this morning is a
who, what, how, and why. That's what this message is,
who, what, how, and why. Let's read every bit of that
in James 1, verse 18. It says, of His own will begat He us with the word of truth that we
should be a kind of first fruits of His creatures. Who, what,
how, and why? Of His own will. Whose? Of His
own will. What begat he us? How? With the word of truth. Why? That we should be a kind
of first fruits of his creatures. From that one verse, we can clearly
see that our God reigneth. Our God reigneth, that's what
Isaiah 52 says. It says, how beautiful upon the
mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that
publisheth peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth
salvation, that saith unto Zion, thy God reigneth. God reigneth."
What a wonderful message that is. I'm so glad the Lord called
me to the truth of His Word and not the lie that so many have
to tell. That is the awakening cry. When
the gospel does come to a center, that is the awakening cry of
the truth of the Word. It's, behold your God. That's what sinners are met with. That's what God's people are
met with. Behold your God. Behold Him. Behold who He is. Turn with me
over to Revelation 19. Revelation 19 verse 1, it says,
and after these things I heard a great voice of much people
in heaven saying, hallelujah, praise ye the Lord. They were
saying, salvation and glory and honor and power unto the Lord
our God. For true and righteous are his
judgments, for he hath judged the great whore. And that's false
religion. which did corrupt the earth with
her fornication and hath avenged the blood of his servants at
her hand." And again, they said, hallelujah. And her smoke, her
praise, her prayers rose up forever and ever. And the four and 20
elders and the four beasts fell down and worshiped God that sat
on the throne saying, amen, hallelujah. And a voice came out of the throne,
saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear
him, both small and great. And I heard, as it were, the
voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters,
and as the voice of mighty thundering, saying, Alleluia, for the Lord
God omnipotent reigneth. Reigneth. What that means is
He's the greatest. He's the highest. Everything
is subject to Him. That means the Lord is King and
bow to Him we must. Great is He. Great is He. That's what glory is going to
be filled with. Crown Him with many crowns. Crown Him Lord of all. He does what He wants, when He
wants, with whom He wants. That's just the definition of
what a sovereign is. If we really, really want to
talk about a sovereign, that's what a sovereign is. Don't turn,
but in Daniel chapter four, King Nebuchadnezzar found that out
the hard way. He thought that he was somebody, and that's what
we all think before the Lord reveals to us we're not. He was
so lifted up with pride and lifted up with his self and everything
he had done, and aren't we all by nature? Well, this is what
I've done. Look at everything I've done.
That's what he said, look at everything I've done. And God dealt with him very harshly. God brought him down, dealt with
him very harshly. And then after it was over, God
dealt with him very mercifully. You know, that man didn't deserve
how God dealt with him, but he dealt so kindly with him, he
restored him, gave him the kingdom back. And after it was all over, Nebuchadnezzar
said, I was wrong. That's what he said, I was wrong.
I used to honor myself. I don't do that anymore. I do
not do that anymore. He said, I now bless and praise
the Most High. He said, I now honor him that
liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion. and
his kingdom is 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 doeth
thou? None. In Isaiah 43, this is what
the Lord said. He said, I am God. I will work and who shall let
it? Who will stop it? Who do I have
to get permission from? That's what he's saying. Go with me to Psalm 115. Turn
with me over to Psalm 115. The flesh naturally believes
that you have to let God do something. And the flesh, it just does.
It naturally believes that you have to give Him permission to
do something. You have to give Him permission
to save you. You know, He'll do it if you give Him permission
to do it. That's what the flesh just naturally
believes. But Psalm 115 verse 1 says, Not unto us, O Lord,
not unto us. This whole thing is not unto
us. But unto thy name give glory. for thy mercy and for thy truth's
sake. Wherefore should the heathen
say, where is now their God? Our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased." Our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. That's the truth. That's the
truth. If we want to be met with the
truth, Here it is, our God is in the heavens and he hath done
whatsoever he hath pleased. That's the truth. Here's the
gospel. I'm very happy to tell you what
he hath pleased to do. He's done whatever he's pleased
to do. But I'm very happy to tell you
this is what he hath pleased himself to do. Of his own will, Begat he us with the word of
truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. Right here in Psalm 115, verse
4 goes on to say, Their idols are silver and gold, the work
of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak
not. Eyes have they, but they see not. They have ears, but
they hear not. Noses have they, but they smell
not. They have hands, but they handle not. Feet have they, but
they walk not. Neither do they speak through
the throat. What he's saying is, they have to help them. They make their little
idol and little god and they stand up there and they say,
now he has no hands but your hands. All right, you're going
to have to help him. They have to help them. Their
God needs their help, but not our God. Of his own will, begat he us
with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first
fruits of his creatures. Now, that first phrase, of his
own will, of his own will. Salvation is of his own will. Creation was of His own will. Election was of His own will. And redemption, the payment of
Christ's blood that put away the sin of His people, that also
was of His own will. Salvation is of the Lord. It's
of the Lord. Turn with me to Romans 9. Romans 9 verse 15, it says, For
he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will
have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth,
but of God that showeth mercy. It is not of man's will, and
it's not of man's works. Salvation is of the Lord. It's
of the Lord. Man does not have a free will.
Man does not have a free will. Mankind has a bound will to sin. Man is totally bound to sin. And if it was left up to man,
if salvation was left up to man, there wouldn't be any salvation. Let me repeat that. If salvation
was left up to man, there wouldn't be any salvation. Well, don't you think it ought
to be that whoever wants to be saved ought to be saved? Sure,
but here's the problem for mankind. You know, our Lord said in John
6, no man can come to me except the Father which has sent me
draw him. But he said in John 5, you will not come to me that
you might have life. It would be one thing if man
wanted to, but couldn't. But the problem for man is he
does not want to. He doesn't want to. Therefore, the Lord said in John
chapter 1, He said, My people were born, not of blood, nor
of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Alright, that's the second phrase. That's the second point. Of His
own will begat He us. Thank God. Begat he us. The word begat means to bring
forth, to birth, to give life to. And that's what God did for
his people. He gave life to them. Man enters
this world spiritually dead in trespasses and sins. Physically
alive. physically alive, but spiritually
dead in trespasses and sins. And this is something that many
people don't realize because we all see our physical life. We see this physical life and
we think that that translates to spiritual life. Well, if I
can do this, maybe I can do that spiritually, but it doesn't work
that way. That which is flesh is flesh. And that which is spirit
is spirit. And one does not translate to
another. Man believes, you know, because
he can work physically, he believes he ought to be able to work spiritually.
But if he's dead, how can a dead man work? How can a dead man
work? There's an old saying that's
been passed down for years, and this is very, very true. Wrong
on the fall, wrong on it all. If we don't realize what happened
when man sinned in the garden, we don't realize anything else.
When man sinned against God, he didn't just get in trouble. He died. He spiritually died. This is
why it has to be by grace. This is why it has to be by grace.
And it cannot be by works, it's because man died. But God, who
is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even
when we were dead in sins, he quickened us together with Christ. He begat us in creation, and
then we sinned against him, And we lost our spiritual life that
He gave to us. He said, in the day you eat of
it, you'll surely die. We sinned against Him and we
lost that spiritual life. But in the goodness of His grace,
turn with me over to 1 Peter 1. I'll read this, 1 Peter 1. This is good news, 1 Peter 1. Verse 1 says, Peter, an apostle
of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus,
Galatias, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to
the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification
of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus Christ, grace unto you, and peace be multiplied. Verse
3 says, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again."
He gave us life and we ruined it. But through the blood of
Christ, according to His abundant mercy, He has begotten us again. Unto a lively hope by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead. That's the third phrase. Of His
own will, Begat he us with the Word of truth, by way
of the Word of truth. Christ is the Word and Christ
is the truth. John 1 says, In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,
and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. Don't turn but over where in
Revelation 19 where we were. It describes Christ as sitting
on a white horse. And in righteousness he doth
judge and make war. It says his eyes were as a flame
of fire, on his head were many crowns. He had a name written
that no man knew but he himself. He was clothed with a vesture
dipped in blood and his name is called the Word of God." The
Word. The very one who said, I am the
truth. I am the truth. And He said,
if you know the truth, the truth will make you free. And He did
make His people free through that vesture dipped in blood. He dipped Himself in the sin
of His people and then He dipped Himself in His own blood and
put away that sin. Without the shedding of blood,
there's no remission of sin. So Christ, the Word, the truth,
came and shed His own blood and He died. so His people might
live. When He died, they lived. When He became guilty before
God because of their sin, they became innocent before God because
of His death. And that's the last phrase, and
that's the last point. Of His own will begat He us with
the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of
His creatures. He begat us, and then He redeemed us. He begat
us again with the payment of His own blood.
And He did that so we could belong to Him, be called His own. Now, I tell you all the time
that I have a certain number of illustrations, and I put them
on a rotation. I'll tell it a few times and
then it goes on the shelf. In hibernation, it's time to
take this one out of hibernation. This one applies to this right
here. Years ago, the missionary that
we support, Brother Walter Groover, told the story. He's a missionary
to Mexico and he told the story of this little boy down there.
who got it in his mind and got it in his heart, he was just
set on the fact that he wanted a kite. So he asked his dad if he would
buy him a kite. And his dad was so heartbroken
to have to tell his son, I just can't afford to buy you a kite.
They don't make much money and he didn't have any money and
it needed to go to food, not a kite. And that little boy was
just, you know, disappointed. So his dad said, I tell you what,
why don't we make a kite? And the little boy got all excited.
Yeah, let's make a kite. So they got some small sticks
and they whittled them up and made them nice and smooth and
they tied them together in an A-frame. And the little boy's
mom had some lightweight cloth and they sewed that cloth to
the frame and they put a tail on it and they put a string on
it and the little boy went running the dad threw it up and it flew
and that little boy was so excited and he started letting the string
out and it went higher and higher and higher until the string broke and the kite flew over the trees
And the little boy was crushed. And the dad was crushed. And the next day or so, the little
boy was walking through the village and walking down the main street
of the town there. And he looked over into one of
the stores and sitting on the shelf was his kite. And he ran into that store and
he said, mister, that's my kite. And the store owner said, no,
son, that's my kite. He said, but sir, my father and
I made that kite. He said, well, son, I found this
kite in the weeds and now it's mine. And he said, if you want
this kite, it's gonna cost you two pesos. So that little boy
ran home and he said, dad, I found our kite. It's in a store in
town. And the store owner said, if
I want the kite, it's gonna cost me two pesos. So the father reached
in his pocket and pulled out two pesos. And the little boy
ran back in town and put his money on the counter and said,
two pesos. And the store owner grabbed the
kite and handed it to the little boy. And that little boy hugged
that kite. And while he was walking out,
he said, you're mine. He said, you're twice mine. I made you and I bought you. And that's what Christ did for
us. We're twice his. He made us and
he bought us. He begat us and he begat us again. according to the riches of His
grace. Christ was made to be sin for
us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. All that perfection, all that
holiness, that we might belong to Him. and be owned by Him. Now that is what God was pleased
to do. That's an amazing story, isn't
it? It's called Amazing Grace. How sweet the sound that saved
an absolute wretch like me. One caught up in the weeds, in
the bondage of the store, sold. And Christ came and redeemed
us. That's what God was pleased to do, and He did it. And that's the glory of this
message. It's not that that's what God wanted to do, and now
if we'll help Him, maybe that can happen. No. That's what He
was pleased to do, and He did it. And it's over. He is sovereign and he can do
whatever he's pleased to do. And that's what he was pleased
to do. God's sovereignty, I'll tell you this, people hear about
God's sovereignty, they think, oh, God's sovereignty, God's
sovereignty. That's the greatest news a sinner will ever hear,
that he can do what he wants to do in his heart. That's the
greatest news a sinner will ever hear. In spite of that absolute
sinner, God chose him, God saved him, God called him, and God
redeemed him back to glory for all eternity. That's good news. Good news to me. All right, Brother
Eddie, you come.