Well, we continue in the book
of Hebrews, chapter 2. And you know, I've said this
before, but it bears repeating. Sometimes in the Lord's Word,
we're going through a book, a section of scripture, and we may skip
by something briefly. We may just read over it and
come back to it another time. We may take one verse. We may
even take one word. We may take just a phrase. Either
way, it's being in the Lord's Word that brings blessings upon
us. In Hebrews chapter 2, we've come quite a ways in 11 studies,
all the way into chapter 2, but I want to spend a little time
in this verse 16. Well, before we do that, let
me read to you from Romans 9. Hold your place there in Hebrews
2. Let me read for you from Romans 9, verses 15 and 16. Very, very
familiar verses. You know these probably by heart.
Our Lord says, Paul was inspired to write by the Holy Spirit.
He says, for he said to Moses, speaking of God, speaking to
Moses, he says, 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." I don't know if the folks who preach that you have
a free will, that you have a decision to make. I don't understand that
at all. I was recently tempted to deal with that on Facebook,
and I'm glad I did, because, you know, I'm just not going
to be able to open anybody's eyes with arguing with them.
God opens people's eyes through the preaching of His Word. How
are you going to call upon the true and living God if you're
not hearing about Him? So that's where our argument
needs to be, is in the pulpit, the preaching of Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. It's not of Him that willeth,
writes Paul, nor of Him that runneth. That means it's not
the works that you do. It's not your own decision. It's
not what you have earned. It's not what you have worked.
but of God that showeth mercy. There's election. I love election. Because I know that if God had
not chosen me, I would still be on that path of not choosing
Him. It took God to open up my eyes
to see that very truth. It took God to open your eyes.
And you know that. You know that when you look at
the sky now, you see blue. Oh, there it is, that blue. I
didn't know what blue was before. I know it's blue now. I can see
it. I know what the truth is because I can see it. I was dead
in trespasses and sin. Our text here in Hebrews chapter
2 declares this glorious gospel truth in God choosing to take
upon himself the seed of Abraham, not the seed of Adam, not the
nature of angels, but the seed of promise. That's what Abraham
is a picture of, the seed of promise. We are the seed of promise. We are the children of promise. God has promised, God the Son
of people, and God the Son has promised that he would save this
people, and God the Spirit has promised that he would call this
people. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Our Lord passed by fallen angels,
He passed by the sons of Adam, and He took a hold of the seed
of Abraham. Now let's read verse 16. For
verily, He took not on Him the nature of angels, but He took
on Him the seed of Abraham. Our Savior reserves the right
of absolute sovereignty in the exercise of His saving grace,
and in the application of His mercy. He has the right and he
reserves that right to that absolute sovereignty. It's his. We say
this nation is sovereign. That means that nobody outside
of this nation tells us what to do. Even this nation bows
to other nations in one way or another. God bows to nobody. He is sovereign. To the very
depth of what that word means. Sovereign. He bows to no one. He answers to no one. Everything
answers to Him. As He is sovereign in creation
and in providence, our God is absolutely sovereign in the salvation
of sinners. Every child of God was lost,
rushing headlong into destruction, And until Christ reached down
His hand of His sovereign power and delivered us, that was our
path. In Zechariah 3, 2, the Lord uses these words to describe
us. To describe what His Son, what
He has done for you and I. It says, a brand plucked from
the burning. Pulled out of the burning before
it could be burned. Plucked out of the burning. We were on the
path to be burned in damnation, in eternal death, and God plucked
us out through the works of His Son. That's what that's talking
about in Zechariah 3. We were snatched out of the jaws
of hell, snatched out from among perishing men by His sovereign
mercy and His irresistible grace. Brother Don Fortner wrote this,
he says, you cannot read through the Bible without being confronted
with the fact of divine sovereignty almost on every page. Today we
hear much talk about the fundamentals of faith. Are we going to get
back to the fundamentals of faith? I've heard that statement before.
Yet those who boast of being uncompromising fundamentalists,
I am a fundamentalist down to the T. I am a Calvinist deep. They seldom ever mention the
gospel doctrine of divine sovereignty, writes Don. When they do mention
it, it is only to denounce it and to poke fun of those who
believe it. Let men, if they dare, he says, deny it, ridicule
it, and rebel against it, as they will. God's indisputable
sovereignty is a fundamental doctrine of Holy Scripture and
a vital point of Christian theology. Notice our wording in Hebrews
2.16. It does not say, he took on him the seed of Adam. It says,
it took on him the seed of Abraham. as it was never the intention
of our Lord to save fallen angels. I love that song that Mike sings,
Holy, Holy. They can't sing the song of redemption. The angels that have not fallen
can't sing the song of redemption. Only one song of redemption can
be sung in heaven, and that's the people who God has loved
from before the world was you and I. You and I. We have a new song in our hearts.
He is God Almighty. That's a song we sing. He is
Lord of everything. That's the song we sing. Our
Lord delights in mercy. He delights in forgiving the
iniquity of his people. their transgressions and their
sin. But to say that the Lord Jesus wants to save all men and
tries to save all men or provide salvation for all men is blasphemous. It's to say that God has no power
at all. God loves the whole world. It's
to deny His Word. It's to call the Holy Spirit
a liar. Any doctor who says that Christ
wants to save those who perish or tries to save those who perish
and provide salvation for those who perish is nonsense. That's
not even a God. Don't even deserve to be called
God with a little G. With no power at all. It's elevating
man above God is what it's doing. It's the rebellion that we had
since the day Adam sinned in the garden. I know what's best. I know what's wiser than God.
I am above Him. Do you know that's the original
sin that Satan did? That's what he did. He says, I will be above the
Most High. What our Lord does when He wants
to do, He does. Look over at Isaiah 46 for a
moment. We looked at several verses about
God's purpose in Friday night study. Turn over to Isaiah 46. In Isaiah 46, we read one verse
here that just tells the entire Bible. It describes God in a
way that the entire Bible describes Him. From cover to cover. You
know what it says in the beginning? It says, in the beginning, God
created. Well, that's what this is saying right here in Isaiah
46 verse 10, declaring the end from the beginning and from the
ancient times and things that are not yet done, saying, my
counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. Well, if it's God's pleasure
to save a people, can anything stop Him from that? Not according
to what we just read. Not according to those words
we see there in Isaiah chapter 46 verse 10. He tries. Our Lord never tries to do anything. I'm going to repeat this. Some
of you were here Friday night. I heard that some of you weren't. I love
this statement somebody recently made. God does not do what is
right. Let me repeat that. God does
not do what is right. What God does is right. Period. If He hardens the heart
of Pharaoh, that's right. Our Lord never tries to do anything.
He succeeds in everything He desires. Look over at Psalms
135. You're in Isaiah. Just turn to
the left a few pages there to one of the last Psalms there.
Just past Proverbs. Psalms 135. I want to look at
a couple of verses here before we go on. In Psalms 135, we read
in verse 6, Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did He. Is there any... Do I have to... Do I have to break that down
for you? Here, I like the way Don, I think Don Fortner would
do it like this. This is what that means. Whatsoever
the Lord pleased, that did he. That's pretty simple. You can't
break it down any more than that. In heaven, and in earth, in the
seas, and all the deep places, Is that pretty plain? Let's look
at one more, if you would turn to the right, over to the book
of Daniel. Go to the right, to the book of Daniel, just past
Ezekiel. Ezekiel, then Daniel. And I want
to look at chapter 4. Daniel, chapter 4. Now you know
who Nebuchadnezzar is, right? Nebuchadnezzar was bragging on
how he had accomplished something when it was obvious to everybody
that God had the one who had done the work. And he'd gone
about bragging about how he said, the Lord put a thorn in Nebuchadnezzar's
side. It made him to eat grass for
a little while. And here, we pick up here in
verse 34 of Daniel chapter 4. And at the end of the days, I,
Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my knife. This is after the Lord
had given him back, given him back his sanity. And I lifted up mine eyes unto
heaven, and my understanding returned unto me, and I blessed
the Most High, and I praised and honored him that liveth forever,
whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is
from generation to generation." And then we read in verse 35,
"...and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing."
Folks, you and I were in that same boat. There was a day when
the Lord, when we walked according to our own will, according to
our own knowledge, thinking we knew more than anything else. And it took the Lord to knock
our feet out from underneath us, didn't it? It took our Lord
to show us the depth of our depravity, didn't it? We sing that very
song now, that very same song, and all the inhabitants of the
earth, especially me, John Reeve, are reputed as nothing And he,
speaking of God, 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? It took God doing
a work in Nebuchadnezzar before he could understand those words
that he said there. If our God wanted to save everybody
in the world, folks, I like this. I've heard this said by many
preachers. When God told Lazarus, when He called Lazarus by His
name, He said, Lazarus, come forth. If He had not used Lazarus'
name, if He had just said, come forth, every dead body and every
grave on the entire world would have come forth. That's the power
of the God we know in Scriptures. That's the power of the One who
deserves the title God, Sovereign Lord of everything. All power
in heaven and earth belonged to Him. If He wanted to save
everybody in the world, where is the force that could stop
Him from doing so? The doctrine of universal redemption
The doctrine which says that Christ wants to save everybody,
tries to save everybody, and provides salvation for everybody,
it tramples on the blood of Christ. It despises the work of Christ.
It robs the Son of all His glory and salvation, and it puts Him
to an open shame. Those who say Jesus loves everybody
and died for everybody, they proclaim a love and a death which
are totally useless. It's useless for anything more.
than their own sentimentality, their sentimentalism. They preach
a redemption by which no one was redeemed, universal redemption,
and that is the universal message from the pulpits today. All around
us, these so-called non-denominational churches Jesus loves everybody. Jesus loves you. We're going
to talk a little bit more about that in the next message. I want
to ask the question, does God love you? To preach a redemption
that was no redemption at all. Universal redemption is no redemption
at all. And it says that there is no
power, there's no merit, there's no efficacy in the blood of Christ
without man's faith to ignite it. It makes the grace of God
nothing but a frustrated desire in a God to save. It makes the
will of God subject to the will of man. It makes the power of
God weaker than the power of man. And it robs the Lord Jesus
of His soul's satisfaction. Redemption was effectually accomplished
by Christ on the cross. And I'm going to show you that.
Turn to John chapter 19. John chapter 19. Don't take my
word for it. Let's look at God's Word. In
John chapter 19, we read in verse 30, Again, I say redemption was
effectually accomplished by Jesus Christ on the cross. And here
we see that in clear words of His. And in John chapter 19,
verse 30, we read, When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar,
He said, It is finished. What's finished? Salvation. Salvation of God's elect. Turn
over to Hebrews 9 verse 12. Go over to Hebrews chapter 9
verse 12. And I want you to notice the
past tense of these words we're about to read. In Hebrews 9 verse
12 we read these words. Neither by the blood of goats
and cows, but by His own blood He entered in once into the holy
place. That's what the priest does.
He goes into the holiest place, the holiest of holies, with the
blood, with the blood for the sins of the people. This is what
our Lord did. He went into the holiest of holies
with His own blood. He entered in once into the holy
place having obtained. That means done. That means it
was done before He went into the holiest, before He arose
from the dead and went into, and was received into heaven. to sit at the right hand of God
the Father, redemption was done, having obtained eternal redemption
for us. One more if you would. That redemption
is effectually applied by Christ on the throne. Turn back to John
again, chapter 17 this time. Back to John this time chapter
17 in his priestly prayer, and I I like what our brother Kevin
said about this the other night I can't remember if it was Wednesday
night, or I Think it was Wednesday night of last week of this last
week He was reading that was a matter of fact. This is the
Lord's prayer Our Lord was teaching His disciples how to pray. They titled that the Lord's Prayer. The Lord's Prayer is when He
went to the Father as our Mediator. And that's what this chapter
17 is all about. It's our Mediator, our High Priest. Look at verse 2. John chapter
17. Well, let's read verse 1 with
that. These words speak Jesus and he lifted up his eyes to
him. He said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify thy son that
thy son also may glorify thee as thou hast given him power
over all flesh. That he should give eternal life. This is our redeeming Lord, this
is our redemption, the one who is giving eternal life to as
many as thou hast given him. He gives it to his elect. That's
what this verse is reading. That's what the verse is telling
us back in Hebrews 2, verse 16. He passed by the angels. He passed
by the seed of Abraham. Who did he come unto? He come
unto the seed of Abraham. The people of promise. That people
only! It was never our Lord's intention
to desire or purpose to save all men. But whom He intended
to save, He saved to the uttermost. Go back to Hebrews one more time
if you would. And we'll bring this to a close.
Hebrews chapter 7 this time. In Hebrews chapter 7 verse 24
we read these words, but this man, Because he continueth ever,
hath an unchangeable priesthood. Remember the old priests, they
had to switch. They couldn't live forever like
the Lord Jesus did. They died. When their time come,
when their day was marked, they died. Our Lord, unchangeable
priesthood. It never changes. It goes on
for eternity. Verse 25, Wherefore he is able
also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing
He ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such a high priest
became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners,
and made higher than the heavens. Look over at Hebrews 10. Go a
couple of pages to the right to Hebrews 10. and begin reading
at verse 1. For the law, having a shadow
of good things to come, and not the very image of the things,
can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year
continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they
have not ceased to be offered, because the worshippers once
purged should have had no more conscience of sin. But in those
sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should
take away sins, wherefore when he cometh into the world he sayeth
sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not. But a body hast thou prepared
me. in burnt offerings and sacrifices
for sin now has had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come in the
volume of the book it is written of me to do thy will, O God. Above, when he said, Sacrifice
and offering, and burnt offerings, and offering for sin, thou wouldst
not, neither hadst pleasure therein, which are offered by the law.
Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away
the first. That's the covenant of the law.
That's the covenant of works. That's the covenant that God
gave Adam right off the bottom, right off the top. Do this and
live. Don't do this and die. That was
the covenant. That's the covenant of the law.
That works. That never saved anybody. He taken away the first
that he may establish the second. That's the law of love. That's
the law of grace. That's the law of Christ and
his love for his people. Verse 10, By the witch's will
we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once and for all. And every priest standeth daily,
ministering, and oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never
take away sin, but this man. You could change that and say,
but this God, and it'd be the same thing, you know that? Wouldn't
be changing God's word one bit. But this man, but God, Jesus
Christ, God in the flesh, but this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins, forever sat down at the right hand of
God. From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool, for by one offering he hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified. Wherefore the Holy Ghost also
is a witness to us, for after that, he had said before, there
is the covenant that I will make with them after those days. Sayeth
the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their
minds will I write them, and their sins and iniquities will
I remember no more." God passed by. Everything else, why? Because he's always had one thing,
one picture in his mind, and that is the salvation of his
people through his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Aren't you thankful
for election? If you said no to that, and I
heard amen from everybody, but if you said no, you need to be
on your knees today praying that God would open your eyes and
give you an understanding of his grace. Amen?