Turn with me this morning to
Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians 2. We know this chapter
so well. And my hope this morning is that
we will see what a blessing it is that we know this chapter
so well. I was talking to a lady one time
and This particular lady had been
under Calvinistic teaching. You know,
she, they called themselves Calvinist for 15 years, 15 years. And she asked me a question
and I opened up my Bible to Ephesians 2 verse 8 and I pointed at it
and we read it. And she said, nobody has ever
read that verse of scripture to me before. She said, I've
never seen that before. Never heard that. I thought,
how can that be? How can that be? Ephesians 2,
8. Well, the reason that we're here
in Ephesians 2 this morning is because I ran across an outline
that was preached in 1954. And most every preacher that
I know of has preached this outline because it has to be heard by
everybody. I called some of the pastors
and I said, have you ever preached this? And they said, have I ever
preached that? I mean, that's the message to preach. And every soul needs to hear
this, every single soul. In 1954, The first official, organized,
labeled Sovereign Grace Conference took place in America. And it happened in Ashland, Kentucky,
and it was at Pollard Baptist Church. All right? Four men preached
in that conference. One of them was named A.D. Mews. He was from Louisville, Kentucky.
One of them was named Clarence Walker. He was from Lexington,
Kentucky. One of them was named Rolf Barnard. He was from Alabama, but he was
at that time preaching in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. And then one
of them was named George Fletcher. And Brother Henry couldn't remember
the town, but he was from Virginia. Four men preached in that conference.
And the Lord used that conference to open the eyes of men and women
to the truth. It was an eye-opening experience.
One of the messages that was preached there was preached by
Rolf Barnard, and it was titled, Six Stubborn Statements. Six stubborn statements. He opened that message by saying,
there is one thing that I know. And I know this too. There's
one thing that I know. If you meet a fact in the middle
of the road, you either have to deal with it or turn around
and run. One of the two. If it's a fact. Those four men, they were preaching
to people who had heard nothing but liars stand up and lie on
the Word of God. That's all those people had heard
all their life. Men stand up and lie on the Word
of God and skirt around the issue. That's what they've been hearing,
all the people skirt around the issue. And men skip verses. You know, we pick this one, then
we pick this one. And men twist verses. And he
said, we're not going to do that anymore. Not anymore. This is so vital. It is so vital
because men and women today are in the same boat that those people
were in 61 years ago. The exact same boat. That's religion. That's the world of religion.
Things have not changed. The facts are still the same. The facts are in here. While
this world wants to turn and run, somebody has to tell the
truth because we're all going to deal with them. And that's
what I wish this world could understand. You're not going
to be able to run forever. At some point, we have to deal
with them. Now here's the first thing that we need to deal with.
Here was his first, he called it a stubborn statement. He said
either God is sovereign or he's not. Right? There is no middle ground. You
know that? I mean there's just no middle
ground. I thought about somebody who is not sovereign. It's the
President of the United States. He can be overthrown, impeached,
outvoted. He's not sovereign. Either God is absolutely sovereign
or he's not. Men say, well, let's steer clear
of that. If we don't deal with it right
now, we are going to deal with it in the judgment. It's going
to happen now or it's going to happen then. Either way, we have
to deal with it. People have been lied to in churches
everywhere, and they're being told, God is trying to save you. Now, come on now. He's trying
to save you. God wants to. What's wrong with
you? What does Ephesians 2 verse 1
say? It says, and you hath he quickened. I love that. I love that. You know what that
does not say? And you let him quicken you. Men and women say, I got saved. I've heard so many people say
that. I got saved. What they're saying is, I saved
myself. I finally did it. You know, I
just, I was doing that, and I was doing that, and I was doing that,
and I finally, you know what, that's it. I finally saved myself. You know what Jonah said? Salvation
is of the Lord. It's of the Lord. Paul told Timothy,
who hath saved us? The Lord has saved us. Either
He works all things after the counsel of His own will or He
doesn't. You know, I need to be reminded
of this every single day. All of the events that happen
in my life and those forks in the road. Either God works all
things, all things after the counsel of His own will or He
doesn't. We'll look at Ephesians 1 verse 11. 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." All things. All things. God wouldn't kill
anybody. God wouldn't wound anybody. We know that verse, don't we?
Isaiah 45. I kill, I make alive, I wound, I heal, I the Lord do
all these things. What that means is God is sovereign. God is sovereign. If man has
any part in his doings, then God is not sovereign. Ephesians
2 verse 9 says, Not of works, lest any man should boast, for
we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."
He's the potter, we're the clay. All his works, they were finished
from the foundation of the world. He's sovereign. Every knee must
bow. Every knee is going to bow. Salvation
is if God in sovereign mercy causes a sinner to bend it right
now, down here, today, before he is standing before that judgment
throne. Every knee must bow and every tongue confess Jesus Christ
is Lord. He's sovereign. Here's the second
stubborn statement. Man, as he is in this world,
he is either dead or he's not. There is no middle ground. There is no middle ground. When Adam and Eve sinned against
God in the garden, every man and woman that fell in Adam,
that has now come from Adam, they have either been wounded,
they were either wounded at that moment or they were killed, one
of the two. and there's no middle ground.
Well, he's kind of dead. You know, he's mostly dead. Either he's dead or he's not. Either he is dead or he's not. If man did not die in that garden,
then Christ died in vain. You know that if man did not
die in the garden, Christ died in vain. If man was just set
back in the garden, you know, man, he received a slap on the
wrist and he was forced out. If man was just set back, if
he just fell in the ditch, but he can pull himself out, you
know, if he'll just decide to, he can pull himself out, then
Christ died in vain. It was not absolutely necessary. Ephesians 2 verse 1 says, and
you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. Absolutely dead. There is no
point in telling men to do anything toward their salvation. He's dead. He's absolutely dead. In Adam all die. That's what
the word says. By one man, sin entered into
the world, and death by sin. We send out this gospel call.
I say it all the time. And every man who tells the truth
will say, come to Christ. But don't move a muscle, right?
Come to Christ. Do it in the heart. Come to Christ. You know we're not asking anybody
to do anything? Not at all. That is a sovereign
command from a sovereign God to an individual sinner that
He has already made alive. That is a command to respond
to His work. That's all it is. We're not asking
man to do anything. Chapter 2, verse 1, And you hath
He quickened. He quickened who were dead, but
He quickened you. Here's the third statement. Either
Christ chose a particular people to save or He didn't. One of the two. Either He chose
particular sinners to save or He didn't. And I can tell you
this, if Christ did not choose particular people, individual
people to save, and if he died for everybody, ask a person,
who did Christ die for? Well, he died for everybody.
Alright, if Christ died for everybody, his death was a failure because
there are men in hell, men and women in hell. If that's the
case, he's not sovereign. He cannot do what he will with
whom he will. He couldn't save them, so He's
not sovereign. And if He died to save somebody
and they're still in hell, if any part of that is dependent
on them, they weren't dead in the first place. Ephesians 2 verse 4 says, But
God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved
us. us. Ephesians 1 verse 3 says,
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. God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation. That's what 2 Thessalonians 2
says. Now go with me over to John 6. I was watching something on Joel
Osteen, and I didn't want to, but I couldn't help it. It was
on the internet. Box clicked up, and they had a really well-marketed
title, and I couldn't help it. And I watched about, they had
about three different, Oprah interviewed him, and two other
really big networks interviewed him. And here was the issue at
hand. Here was the question at hand.
Is there or is there not one way to God? Only one way to God? Because everybody was all in
an uproar over this. You know, now I want to do my
way. Is there only one way to God? Here was his answer. He
said, well, I believe that there's only one way to God and that's
Jesus. But I think that there are many,
many ways to Jesus. Okay, so we covered all his bases.
Those who want to say there's one way, I got them. And those
who want to say there are many ways, we got them too. One way
to God, but there's many, many ways to Jesus. Well, Joel, you
believe a lie. And then on this thing that I
clicked on, there were all these people, thousands and thousands
and thousands and thousands of people writing to Joel, telling
him, these are my problems, pray for me. So his organization would
send out these automated responses, you know, and these people are
following him. I feel so sorry for them. He
is a lie. He believes a lie. Look at John
6 verse 44. It says, No man, now this is
the Lord Jesus Christ speaking. No man can come to me except
the Father which hath sent me draw him. And I'll raise him
up at the last day. Yes, there's one way to God and
it is through the Lord Jesus Christ because He is God and
there's only one way to Jesus Christ. It's only if the Father
chooses and draws. That's it. There is one way. A sinner must be chosen by God
and drawn. Now go with me back to Ephesians
2. Here's the fourth statement. He said when Christ died, he
either redeemed those people, paid the debt in full, or he
didn't. One of the two. He either paid
it all or he didn't. This goes back to what we've
been talking about all along. If he did not accomplish what
he set out to do, he came to pay it. If he didn't pay it,
he's not sovereign. He's just not. if he didn't pay
all the debt, and man has to make up the difference. Now,
I've put a 99% down payment on this thing. You just come up
with that last 1%. If man can do that, man's not
dead. Right? I mean, I thought about somebody
laying there, you know, cardiac arrest, and they're on the table.
If there's one beep, he's still alive. Don't, well, what's the
time of death? No, he's not dead. Ephesians 2 verse 5 says, Even
when we were dead in sins, he hath quickened us together with
Christ. By grace, you are saved. You are saved. You are saved. You will be saved is not what
it says. You are saved. When the Lord
cried, it is finished, that meant done. That's what it meant, paid
in full. I wish so badly that the Lord
would give us an opportunity to preach to unbelievers. I really
do. I wish I had a room. I love preaching
to you. But I wish this morning I had a room full of unbelievers. Not because I want to crack the
whip on them. It's just this is the truth that
saves. This is the truth that saves. We have been convinced, all of
us like the Apostle Paul can say, I am persuaded of these
things. Our Lord washed us from our sins
in His own blood. Fifth statement. Either God's
Holy Spirit quickens the elect to life, to light, to faith, and salvation comes through that
faith or it doesn't. Either God's children believe
or they don't. That's been a big issue, hasn't
it? Either eternal life depends on
a sinner coming to Christ or it doesn't. One of the two. Our Lord told the Pharisees,
you will not come to me that you might have life. You won't
come to me. Why? They're dead. God didn't
choose them. The spirit hasn't quickened them.
That's why our Lord told Nicodemus, marvel not that I said unto you,
you must be born again. My spirit must put life into
you. My spirit must put faith into
you. Our Lord said, all that the father
giveth me shall come to me. Everyone. He said, my sheep hear
my voice and they follow me. They believe my word. They believe my word. They bow
to it. They love it. They come out from
among the people. They gather together. They worship
me. There is no way. There is no
possible way. There's just no way that a true
child of God who has been quickened by God's Holy Spirit can be content
to stay sitting under lies lies against God, lies against God's
Word, there's no way. There's no way. They have to come out. They just
can't do it. They have to come out. They're
seekers of truth. Verse 1, and you have he quickened
Verse five, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened
us together with Christ. Verse eight says, for by grace
are you saved through faith. And that not of yourselves, it
is the gift of God. The sixth statement. Every single
one of God's people are either going to all make it to glory
or they're all not. Either they're going to all make
it to glory or they're all not. False preachers stand up and
tell men and women, be careful. Be careful. You will lose your
salvation. If that's possible, then we're
all not going to make it. Not one of us. They say you have
to keep yourself in the love of God, in God's favor. If that's the case, not one of
us will make it. Not one. You know what Romans
8.39 says. Nothing is able to separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Nothing. Ephesians 2 verse 6
says, And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might
show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward
us through Christ Jesus. When he said, It is finished.
That means it's a done deal and it cannot be undone. It cannot
be undone. There's a scripture that says
what God does is forever. It's forever. That is good news. That's what it is. It's good
news. It's good news. Rolf Barnard called those six
statements, six stubborn statements. People in religion button their
head against them, tripping over them, you know, stumbling blocks.
Those are six glorious statements to us, aren't they? Six absolutely
glorious statements. My prayer is that the Lord will
teach those to us and more and bless them to us, cause us to
believe them, trust them. All right, you're dismissed.