Turn once again, if you would,
to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. I began a short series of messages
from these verses 29, 30, and 31 before the Lord brought the
virus to Kathy and I. Four messages. And this morning,
I wish to bring the fourth of this series. Are you with me in 1 Corinthians
chapter 1? Once again, let's read the Word
of God. Verse 29, that no flesh should
glory in His presence. Don't skip over that, folks.
I know we've read this three times before. Some of us have
read it so many times that we can't even count it. And yet,
just as we come to the table of remembrance to remember our
Lord and what He has done for us, we need to remember this,
that no flesh should glory in His presence. Is he not omnipresent
in all things? If you don't believe in a God
who is everywhere, at all times, involved in every single thing,
we call it sovereign. Then you don't believe in the
true and living God. Plain and simple, you're destined for damnation. but of God and His grace. And His love for His people has
come to you when you were dead in trespasses and sin, when you
knew not God, when you were running from God, when you were shaking
your fist going, I'll not have the God of all creation rule
over me. If He's come to you in the day of His love and revealed
to you, as we were reading in that song. Let me read that again. What was that? Page 210, right?
Let me just read that song one more time here, how that went.
How did that go? Lord, now indeed I find a power
in thine alone can change the leper's spot and melt the heart of stone. That's what we all come into
this world with, is a heart of stone. If God has come to you in the
day of His loving power, cutting away the old stony heart and
giving you a heart to love Him, then you'll read these words
and you'll understand that no flesh, nothing in this flesh,
nothing have I good, that no flesh should glory in His presence. Then we read on, but in verse
30, but of Him. But of God Almighty. Not because
of something you've done. Not because of you exercising
your so-called free will. Lepers don't change their own
spots, folks. A deer won't go out and kill
an animal and eat fresh meat because it's not the nature of
a deer. We can't change our own spots.
We can't change our own stripes. God must do that. It is God who
can speak to the hearts of men and women. It is God who spoke
to our hearts when we were dead in trespasses and sin and gave
us life. So when He said, John, come forth. When He said, Lazarus, come forth.
When He said your name and told you to come forth, you had life
to come forth. But of God are ye in Christ Jesus."
This Christ Jesus, this One who we are in, who of God is made
unto you and I, wisdom. Our wisdom is in Him. His ways
are not our ways. Stop thinking about what you
know in this world, and start thinking about what God has said
in His Word. There is wisdom in God's Word. You want to know the truth of
anything? Don't listen to it on the news because you're not
going to get the truth of it there. Don't look at it in some newspaper
because you're not going to get the truth of anything there.
The only truth we have in this world is the Word of God. And God has made His Son to be
our wisdom. We don't fall into that trap
of thinking there's something of ourselves that's smart. We
know, as children of God, our only wisdom is in Him. He is
our all in all. But of God, He has made His Son
unto us righteousness. There's no righteousness in us,
and we know that. Once we were blind, but now we
see the truth that there is nothing good in this flesh that we have,
that we walk around in. What are you telling me, John,
that there's no good in me? I fed the hungry for Thanksgiving. I gave all kinds of money to
this charity and that charity, and I went down and I worked
in the soup kitchen. Are you saying, John, there's
no good in me? I'm not complaining against those who do those things.
Those are wonderful things, but that's not the good, the righteousness
that God needs. Because even in our good works
that we do on this world, in this earth, Even our good works
is tainted with the sin of this flesh. And every child of God knows
this to be true. It's real easy for us to take
credit for something that we didn't do, or that we think we
did. God has made this Christ to be
our sanctification, our holiness, Our setting apart, we are sanctified
in Him. And then it says, that of Him,
of God, are ye in Christ Jesus who made unto us redemption. That according as it is written,
he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. We spent a little
time on wisdom. Our wisdom was once a carnal
wisdom, an imaginary wisdom. Oh, we may have been wise of
what we see in this world, but we had no understanding of the
truth of God. Sometime when you have a moment,
I'm sure you won't mind me saying this. If you have not already
heard it once, and I've got to tell you, I don't mind hearing
it again. But you sit down with that dear
brother, Mike Loveless, in the back, and he'll give you a testimony
of what he once thought was a very wise thing, a very wise religion, and how God
showed him that the wisdom of that religion was nothing but,
well, Paul declares it this. He calls it dumb. And if you
don't know what that is, I recommend you talk to your parents about
what it is. Dumb. Mike will tell you the same thing.
It was nothing but dumb. We may think that we know wisdom,
that we have wisdom, because we look and we see things through
these eyes. But I say again, our God's ways are not our ways. That's according to his word.
We have no understanding of the truth, the truth of God. In fact,
the truth was enmity to you and I. We rejected it. We would not
have it. We would not seek it. And we
could not understand it. Yet our text says, but of him,
of God. Or in other words, because God, because He first loved the
people, and we are the ye, that's the people that He's speaking
of, the ye's are in His Son. It's not ye's because you've
made a decision. It's not you are not a ye because
you have done something. It's because Christ has done
something. He's taken up residence. We are in His Son, Jesus Christ,
and this Christ of holy scriptures has been made unto you and I,
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. We consider the
word righteousness. A thrice holy God cannot look
upon sin. His holiness is so rich, so righteous,
that one must be as righteous as He is to be in His presence. Do you understand that? Now, if you could do everything
there is of the law of God, thou shalt love God with all thy heart
and all thy mind, I'm already done right there. That's it. I can't even go any further than
that. I'm sorry, but that's the flesh. But if you could, Everything you do in the flesh
is tainted with sin. So even your so-called righteousness
of following the law, you see, the law was never made to save
anybody. It was made to show us. It was given to show you
and I that we can't do it. And we need a substitute, one
who can. One who is righteous, as righteous as God the Father.
One who has all power as God the Father. One whose blood is
so perfect that it would pay for every sin of every one of
His people forever. There is no condemnation, no
charge to God's elect. If God be for us, who could be
against us? Can the devil charge you with
anything if God has already taken those charges and paid for them? It says in 2 Corinthians 5.21,
for he, the very same one that we're reading about him where
it says, but of him, for he, of him. God the Father hath made
Him, that's the same one that says here next where it says,
but of Him are ye in Christ Jesus. This is the same one right here.
Made Him, made that very one because we know that Christ Jesus
knew no sin. We know that Christ Jesus was
perfect in everything that He did. There was never any sin
that He would say was His, that He committed. Some say that he
was the greatest sinner that ever walked this earth. I would
beg to differ with you. Our Lord was never a sinner.
He took our sins. He was made to be our sin. But he never sinned. Our sins were made his. But they were still ours and
his. He hath made Him to be sin for
us, speaking of Him who knew no sin, that we might be made
righteous, the righteousness of God, in Him." You need to be righteous, folks. In order for you to spend eternity
with God, crying out, Abba, Father, you need to be as righteous as
God Almighty. Is that not what our text is
saying? But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who God hath made
unto you and I wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption, that
according to it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory
in the Lord. Today we want to spend a little time considering
this word redemption. And it can only be found in Him,
the blessed Redeemer of His people. Now, the word redeemed, the word
redeemed, we read, is a primitive root. It means to redeem. It's according to an Oriental
law. It's something that only a kinsman can do. Did you know
that we are kinsmen to God? Where do you see that, John?
Is not the Lord Jesus Christ bone of our bone, flesh of our
flesh? Isn't that what the Word of God
says? He's our kinsman, redeemer. That's what the whole story of
Ruth is. Ruth was a Moabitess woman, a pagan, and Naomi and
her husband were children of God. And the Lord caused a famine
to come on the land of Bethlehem. That word means city of bread. And He caused a famine to come
upon that land. It says in His Word, He caused
it. I'm not making that up. That's not something John's interpreting
from God's Word. It says, He caused. Did you know
that God causes all things? He's the root cause of all things
that happen? He's not the author of sin. Do not take what I just
said wrong. Sin is man's cause. Adam is the
one who sinned against God. But God allowed it to happen,
or it wouldn't have happened. That's how sovereign God is.
He's sovereign over everything. The first cause of all things
are in His hands. Some people don't like to hear
that. They say, oh, John, how dare you blame sin on God? I'm
not. God created man, and man sinned
against God. This word redeemed means to be
redeemed, to be paid for by your next of kin. It means to be purchased,
to be ransomed, to be brought near. And it means by a kinsfolk,
by a man. So notice in our text that our
text uses in the form, this form, redeem, as an action accomplished. Isn't that what it's saying there?
It says, but of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made
unto his wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and what? And
redemption. God has caused you and I in Christ
to be redeemed already. God the Father has always seen
the actions of God the Son as an accomplished deal, as an accomplished
thing, as a finished product. Listen to the words of Revelations.
Allow me to quote for you from God's Word showing you what I
just said. God the Father has always looked
upon His Son as an accomplished thing. The works of Christ are
done because He said He would do it. He still had to do it.
He still had to go to the cross. He still had to lay down His
life. But that was a covenant that was made with God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit before anything ever was. And because of what Christ said
He would do, the Son of God said He would do, God the Father says
it's done. I know He'll do it. Listen to
the words of Revelation chapter 13 verse 8, And all that dwell
upon the earth shall worship Him whose names are not written
in the book of life, of the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. If Jesus Christ, who has always
been Jesus Christ, who has always been the Son of God, He just
wasn't man. He wasn't born yet in the flesh.
That's why we read, God was manifest in the flesh. The great three in one are of
one purpose, and that is to redeem the elect of God. Listen to Exodus
chapter 6, verse 6. Wherefore say unto the children
of Israel that I am the Lord. He's speaking to the prophet.
Go out and talk to the people of Israel, Moses, and tell them
that I am the Lord and I will bring them out from under the
burdens of the Egyptians. And I will rid you out of their
bondage and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm. and
with great judgments. That's exactly what the whole
ordeal of Israel and Egypt is. Egypt is a picture of the bondage
of sin that you and I were born into when we came into this world.
We were bound by our nature to our sinful nature. And the Lord redeems His people.
Listen to Jeremiah 15.21, and I will deliver thee out of the
hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of
the terrible. And then we read in Titus 2,
chapter 2, verse 13 and 14, looking for that blessed hope and the
glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ,
who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity. and purify unto himself a peculiar
people, zealous for good works. Our redemption is all that God
requires of us, and it is done. It is finished, saith the Lord. We've been bought with a price,
the price of perfect blood, the righteous blood of Jesus Christ
Himself. Listen to the words of Hebrews 9 verse 22, And almost
all things are by the law purged with blood, and without the shedding
of blood there is no remission. But it also says this over in
chapter 10 verse 18, now where remission of this is, there is
no more offering for sin. You get that? Come unto Me, our Lord says,
all ye that are burdened and heavy laden. That's talking about
those who are trying to have their sins forgiven by whatever
it is they must do. whether it be good works, doing
good things on this earth, or making a decision for Jesus,
or coming to the front and saying some prayer, or getting into
a baptismal, or doing anything that you think you might be able
to do to forgive your sins, get your sins forgiven. No! Now where the remission of these
is, there is no more offering for sins. If Christ died for
you, it's done. You are redeemed. And God the
Father looked down through time and saw what his Son would do,
and he said, my people, my people, and I will be their God. When
the blood of God was shed on that cross a little over 2,000
years ago, it accomplished its purpose. Oh, how it bothers me
for people to come into this world and stand before others
and tell them, if you will do this. God wants. God has done all that he can
do to save you. Now it's up to you to receive
that. That's taking the work of God and putting it under the
feet of men. To trample on it. And to say
it's not worthy. He's not worthy of being called
God because I have to help him. That's what free willism is.
That's what doing whatever people tell you you have to do is. It's
taking the sovereignty of God away from God and putting it
in the hands of men. The people of God are cleansed
from all of our sin. We are made righteous in Him.
You see, this is how God gets all the glory. He gets all the
glory. Isn't that what we read in our
text? That according as it is written, He that glorieth, let
him who glory in the Lord. I have nothing. I've done nothing. My God has done it all. That's
glorifying Him. Do you realize the word grace
in its true meaning glorifies our Lord? Has God been gracious
to you? I pray that you experience it. Experience grace. A lot of people
know what the word grace is. They know what the word of God
says about grace, but they haven't experienced nothing. They don't
see what they are before God. Destitute, with nothing in their
hands, nothing have I, Lord, to offer you. They don't see that God chose
a people from before the foundation of the world. Turn over to Ephesians
chapter 1, chapter 2. It will be to your right in the
scriptures, just a couple of pages. They don't see the truth of God's
Word on how He chose this people, not for anything that they would
do, but because of what His Son would do. They don't see that
the calling of God is an irresistible call. God's people cannot help
but come. Did the apostles by the seashore
stop and say, wait a minute, I'll be right there, Lord. I've
got to go home and take care of some business first. No. When God speaks, He speaks with
power. And the call of His people is
irresistible. The world doesn't see that when Christ died on the
cross, He died for a particular people, and that particular people
are redeemed. Paid for. No ifs, no buts, no
empty seats in heaven. The power of the blood of God
that was shed on that cross has all power in heaven and in earth
and under the earth. And you had nothing to do with
it. You can't say that I found God. Many like to do that. Oh,
I found God in 1972, and I've been a Christian ever since. And I know every one of you have
heard somebody say that in your life, haven't you? James has
several times. You can't say that. You know
why? Listen to Romans 3.11. This is
God's Word. It's His Word. Not my interpretation. Not my definition. This is the Word of God. Plain
and simple. And I believe every bit of it.
There is none that understand it. There is none that seeketh
after God. And I know that was me before
the Lord saved me. How do I know the Lord saved
me? Because I know He did it. I know He did it all. There's nothing of John that
wanted Him. He wanted me. He wanted you and
He will have you if you are His. If He shed His blood, if He redeemed
you, He will have you. Okay. Trust me. When that time comes, you'll
know it. It's called experiencing grace. Not one true child of God will
ever say, I found God. Why? Because a true child of
God believes all of God's Word. We don't understand it all, but
we believe it. And he says right there, there
is none that understand it, there is none that seek after God.
We believe His Word. Are you with me in Ephesians
chapter 2? Let's just read that whole chapter,
shall we? We've got five minutes. Plenty
of time. I'll try not to go too much longer.
And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sin?
That means that he gave us life when we were dead. Wherein, in
other words, wherein you were in those that trespass dead and
trespass in sin, where in times past ye walked according to the
course of this world, according to the prince of the power of
the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience,
among whom also we all had our conversation in times past."
Are you a child of God? Then you know this is you. You
know that this is a description, and you went through this very
thing. Your conversation in times past was in the lust of your
flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
and were by nature... I know that by nature I was a
child of wrath, even as others. That's how you experience grace. You know that you were just like
that. And by His grace, that's what
it says next. But God, verse 4, but God who
is rich in mercy for His great love wherewith He loved us, wherewith
He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses and sin, hath
quickened us, given us life, together with Christ, by grace
ye are saved. Now we'll stop there. Our salvation,
our redemption, our sanctification, our righteousness is of the Lord. But God, it says in verse 4,
who is rich in mercy for His great love wherewith He loved
us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together
with Christ. By grace ye are saved. For by
grace ye are saved, not of yourselves, it says in verses 8 and 9. lest
ye should boast. Folks, salvation is of grace,
unmerited favor. Listen to the words of Romans
chapter 9 verse 13, as it is written. This is God's Word. As it is written. As it was written
throughout the Old Testament on every page. God loved the
people. Do you know that's what this
picture of Israel was? The picture of Israel was God
taking a people out of the world, setting them aside, setting them
apart, giving them the holy oracles of God, the very things that pointed
them to Christ. He said, you shall be my people
and I shall be your God. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, But Esau have I hated." Ooh, the world does not like
that. How dare you tell me God hates
anything? God loves everything. No, He
doesn't. That's what His Word says. And
if His Word says it, I believe Him. You want to argue with Him? You go ahead. You'll be doing
it for eternity. You'll be doing it for eternity.
And someday, you will see the truth that it is absolutely correct.
And it might be too late. And there'll be gnashing of teeth.
Saying, but what I did, what I did was in the name of the
Lord. Depart from me, the Lord will say to you, you who want
to argue with my word, depart from me. I never knew you. That
means he never knew the heart. He never had an intimate relationship.
Do you know that before you and I ever even came to the Lord,
before He called us into Him, He was having a personal relationship
with us? Everything that was created was
for you and I. For this very moment. Mike has a poem, and I don't
remember the exact title of it, but it has to do with time ticking
away. I've got to make a copy. That
brother would pass that out to every person I ever meet. That's a good song. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? For he saith, or God forbid,
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 that it is not of him that willeth. One of these days I'm going to
flat out to the face of a free willer and ask them, what do
they do with that? For it is not of him that willeth, nor
of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. But the Lord
doesn't stop right there. Listen to these next words. For
the Scripture saith unto Pharaoh... Hear this. We've already heard
the word of the Lord say, Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated.
But listen to this. Did I not say earlier that all things,
all things, the first cause is God? For the Scripture saith
unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up. That's deep. That's not flapping
around floundering on top of the pool. That's diving down
deep and getting good stuff. That's stuff that the world cannot
understand. They cannot understand it. And
that's why they say, that's not the God I want. The God I want
is one who loves everybody and is doing something for everybody,
a fair God. That's not fair that God would
raise one man up to destroy him. God's Word says it is. For I
have raised thee up that I might show my power in thee. Did you know God destroyed Pharaoh
and his whole army? And he didn't do it in some secret
little way over here to the side. Get rid of them over here. Nobody
will see it. He did it wide open in front of millions. Millions
of people stood on both banks and watched the waters that had
come up. Tell me that's not something
that God would do. raise those waters up, cause the land to
be dry, bring his people out of that awful pit of sin, saving,
redeeming his people, and then cause the water to collapse on
all of the Egyptians. Millions saw that. I raise thee up that I might
show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout
all the earth. Therefore, he, speaking of our
Lord, have mercy on whom he will have mercy. And then it says
these words, and whom he will he hardeneth. You ever read the
account of Moses when he went before the Pharaoh? You'll see
two different hardenings of the heart of Pharaoh. One, you'll see in one of the
instances where the Pharaoh's heart, he hardened his own heart.
And another one, you'll see where God hardened his heart for him. All the Lord has to do, folks,
is withdraw his restraining hand. Pull it off. And you and I would be right
there in that same boat. We'd be right there with that
very crowd that cried out on the day that the Lord hung on
the cross and died, screaming, crucify Him. Let Barnabas the
killer go, but crucify this man who calls himself God. We'd be
right there, because it was our nature at one time to do so.
We were just like them, and it's only by the grace of God that
we're not. As a child of the true and living
God, I have peace with all of this chaotic world that I live
in. I have peace with all of the sin that I see within my
flesh. I have peace with all of my iniquities.
I have peace with all of my enemies. By His grace, I am in Him, and
He is in me. I live and hear His voice, the
voice of His Word, right here in this book, because He is gracious
to me. He has loved me from before the
foundation of all creation. Look over at Ephesians chapter
1, verses 3 through 9, if you would. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings and heavenly places in Christ Jesus, according as
He has chosen us in Him, in Christ, before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy, holy and without blame before
Him. Before God, why? Because we are
in His Son, perfect in every way as He is. And then it says,
in love, which you go with verse 5, having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself. Why? According to the good pleasure
of His will. To the praise of the glory of
His grace. The grace we were just speaking
of. The very glory that we read in our text. Him that glorieth,
glory in the Lord. Wherein He hath made us accepted
in the Beloved, in His Son, in whom we have redemption. through
His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches
of His grace, wherein He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom
and prudence, having made unto you and I, having made unto the
children of God the mystery of His will according to His good
pleasure, which He hath purposed in Himself." OK. I'm going to ask you to allow
me just enough time to make one more point and then I'll bring
this message to a close. Our Lord has redeemed all of
his people throughout all time for whom he has died and paid
the ransom price. They shall be saved. We cannot
lose our salvation. There are no empty seats in heaven.
When God does something, he does it perfect every time. And Jesus
Christ is God Almighty in the flesh. He's the God-Man. He was
manifest in the flesh. He was the One from the beginning
who created all things. As it says in John 1.1, all things
were created by Him. In the beginning was the Word.
That's the Word of God. The Word of God is Jesus Christ
in Him crucified. And the Word was made flesh. Our Lord has redeemed all of
His people throughout all of time, all for whom He died and
paid the ransom price shall be saved. We cannot lose our salvation. It was paid for with the price
of His blood. He laid down His life for His
loved ones, and then He took it up again. That's what it says
in John 6 verse 39. And this is the Father's will
which hath sent me, that all which He hath given me I should
lose nothing. but should raise it up again
the last day. Wicked hands crucified our Lord of glory? Yes. But yet
it was by Him, as we see in His word in Acts chapter 223, Him,
speaking of Christ, being delivered by the determinate counsel. Bet
you didn't know that. Bet you didn't know that. You
mean Jesus wasn't killed by a bunch of people in their vicious actions? Yes. Yes, they were. Remember
I told you that all things are first caused by God Almighty?
He allowed man to sin. He could have created perfect
beings. He did the angels, didn't He?
There. And some of them fell. Was that
not God's purpose that they would fall and there would be a devil? Wicked hand crucified the Lord,
yet we see in his word him being delivered by the determinant
counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain. Salvation is of the Lord, and
that includes everything involved. It was God's will that his son
should stand in our stead. It was God's will that his son
would be in our place as our substitute and pay the ransom
price, redeeming his people unto himself. Our kinsman Redeemer
paid the price for you and I that we would be able to spend just
as Ruth spent the rest of her life with Boaz, you and I will
spend an eternity with our Lord and Savior who paid the price. All of the Old Testament, all
of Holy Scriptures point to our Redeemer. He accomplished our
redemption and will close with words in Hebrews chapter 9. Turn over to Hebrews chapter
9 in your scriptures. Again, to the right, just a few pages. Hebrews chapter 9. Again, I apologize
for going a little long, but folks, you know I was sick for
four weeks. I get to give you a little more for a couple weeks,
right? Hebrews chapter 9, look at verses
11 through 14. But Christ, but God, being come
in high priest of good things to come by a greater and more
perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is to say not of
this building, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but
by his own blood. He entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained." Did you catch that word, obtained?
It means done. When he died, arose from the
grave, and arose into heaven to sit on his throne. Salvation was done. Every one of us have obtained
eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and
of goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifies
to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood
of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without
spot to God, purge You purge your conscience from dead works
to serve the living God. Amen.