It's such a delight to be here.
I'm thankful for the invitation. I've fallen in love with your
pastor and his wife and appreciate their hospitality so much. They
gave me two cups of coffee this morning and asked if I wanted
a third. That was a blessing. I have just enjoyed so much the
preaching. I've needed it. It's been a blessing
to hear these men and to meet Brother Kevin. I knew his mom
and I knew his dad many years ago, but it's a blessing to meet
him. I saw him as a young man. I have
just one piece of business to tend to before I get into my
message, Brother John. If you have your bulletin, would
you turn to that page inside that Brother John squeezed out
of me? He says, I need you to write
something. Well, I'm not a writer, and there's a mistake in there
that I need to correct. It's a typo. I'm thankful that
the original languages that God gave to his Old Testament prophets
and to his New Testament writers were perfect. The only problems
that have crept into the scriptures is translations. And after I
met our dear brother Lance and found out what a problem it is
to translate the Bible into another language, I have more appreciation
for those men that did it. But in the fourth paragraph,
second line from the bottom, there is an a that should be
turned to a the. It wasn't a gospel that that
preacher brought to me, it was the gospel that that preacher
brought to me. There is only one true gospel.
That's the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace in Christ
Jesus on the behalf of his people. That's it. Would you turn with
me? I'm not going to be here. I love
Brother Kevin when he said this. I want you to read this, but
we're not going to go there. Would you turn with me to the book
of Matthew chapter 1? Pray for us up there in Oregon.
Pray for us as we attempt to preach the gospel there. Matthew
chapter 1. Now I'm not going to read any
of this chapter, but I want you to look at the heading. The heading
of that book. What does it say? It says the
gospel according to Matthew. Who added that? The translators. The translators did. Now I would
like you to write that above the seventh chapter of the book
of Ezra. The gospel according to Ezra. So would you turn over there
with me to the gospel according to Ezra. And as brother Clay
read this morning, he read there in the book of Isaiah and he
gave every reason that is necessary for us to be preaching the gospel
today. From the sole of the foot, to the top of the head. There
is nothing profitable. We need to hear the wonderful
news. And we'll probably disagree with
it the first time we hear it, but we need to hear the wonderful
news that Jesus Christ came to save some people on purpose.
And here in the book of Ezra, Chapter 7. We've been going through
the book of Ezra up there in the Dalles, and one of the verses
that just has really brought attention to me, I'm not going
to bring it today, but it's over in the book of Ezra chapter 8,
and it's verse 22. Verse 22. You know, Ezra was
a believer while he was there in Babylon. And this believer
by the name of Ezra was very thankful for his Lord and Savior. He was very thankful to know
the Gospel. He was very thankful to know
a God that was a sovereign God that ruled over all, even though
he was in captivity there in Babylon. and when it came time
for the king to let these people go just as God had decreed that
they would go he said here in verse 22 for I was ashamed to
require the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against
the enemy in the way because We had spoken unto the king,
saying, the hand of our God is upon all them for good, and let's
seek him. But his power and his wrath is
against all them that forsake him. And that just shows with
us, we can't ask help from anybody. Our help cometh from the Lord.
We've been bragging on a sovereign God. Why would we turn to something
else? We've been bragging on a God
that saves people, and actually saves them. He actually redeems
them. Why would we go to Egypt for help? Well, that's what Ezra's
bringing out. Turn with me here to the seventh
chapter of the book of Ezra, beginning with verse 11, and
it says, now this is the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes
gave unto Ezra the priest, the scribe, even a scribe of the
words of the commandments of the Lord and of his statutes
to Israel. Now, these people are in Babylonian
captivity on purpose. God decreed that they would go
to Babylonian captivity, but he also decreed that they would
be there for 70 years. Now there's already been a group
of people that went back to Jerusalem. It was decreed by Cyrus. Cyrus
is named many, many years before he was ever born, and he is named
by name. It will be Cyrus who will let
my people go back to Jerusalem. No doubt there's been some other
folks that have been born. There's some folks that originally
said, I don't want to go back with those folks. And yet God
has moved upon them. Now it's time to go to Jerusalem. For such a time as this, we read. And also, we find that we may
sometimes rancor just a little bit under the good providence
of God and say, I wish He'd have saved me earlier. And then we
find the words of the Apostle Paul when he mentioned that very
thing. when it was God's time. When
it was God's time. And that's the right time. That's
the right time. Well, here it tells us, Artaxerxes
is going to give a copy of a letter, verse 12, and Artaxerxes, king
of kings. Now, he is this, in this position,
with this title, for one reason. God. There's not been a king or a
queen or a president or any other leader ever in a position of
leadership that was not appointed by the Divine Heavenly Father,
our great God. They're there on purpose. They're
doing as God decreed that they do. Now I don't understand all
of that, but I know it's the truth. God has decreed it. As it goes down here, Artist
Xerxes gave this, and it says in verse 13, I make a decree. I make a commandment. And he
says here that all they of the people of Israel and of his priests
and Levites in my realm, which are minded of their own free
will to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee. Well, we want to spend
some time on that word. I make a decree. Now, he made a decree because
God had already made the decree. He spoke because God had spoke. We read this with regard to Pilate
in the times of the Lord Jesus as he is before him. Now, you
know who's really on trial there? Pilate. Lord's doing what he's
planned to do all along. But Pilate's on trial and he
says, don't you know I have power over you? To crucify you or to
release you. And Jesus said, you have no power
but that which was given you. We read about absolute monarchs
that have this thought of decree. To make a decree is found in
scripture a number of times by absolute monarchs. In the days
of Esther, there was an experience that took place and that king
was recommended by those men that advised him to make a decree. Would you turn with me to the
book of Esther? That's not far away here. Esther chapter 1 and
verse 19, we read these words. Esther chapter 1, verse 19, it
says here, another decree. These kings were used to doing
this, these absolute monarchs that ruled with a heavy arm. And if it pleased the king, let
there go a royal commandment from him, and let it be written
among the law of the Persians and the Medes, that it be not
altered. Now that's an interesting phrase
that's added to this. The laws of the Medes and the
Persians were not to be altered. In the days of Daniel, there
was a king, after he made a rule, wished he could change it. But
you know what? He could not. It was already decreed, and it
was the law of the meads and the persons. And Daniel was going
to end up in the lion's den over this very decree. It says here
that Vashti come no more before the king of Hasheweres, and let
the king give her royal estate unto another that is better than
she. And so he does. He makes a decree.
During the days of Daniel, there was a decree that was made. Well,
let us know less. It is no less that God of all
also makes unalterable decrees. And you know what? God does this
for his glory and for the good and hope of the church. As brother
John mentioned, We are so dependent upon the unalterable decrees
of God. They are unalterable. They are
so written and will never be changed. We read over in the
book of Acts. Would you turn over there with
me to the book of Acts chapter 4? There was a host of people
that were gathered together, friends and fellow saints, those
who worship the Lord, and a couple of disciples were up to here
in trouble. And they had been arrested, and
they had been commanded, don't you preach in the name of this
one again, and don't you bring up the resurrection from the
dead. And as they were going out, they said, don't let the
door hit you as you go through it. We don't want you around
anymore. Well, what do they do? What we
do. We go to church. You know, I
missed that so much for a while. We just couldn't get together.
We got to do some Zoom meetings and that was better than nothing.
But to get to church, we get to go with the people of God
who understand what God had to say in His Word and that He has
decreed some things and they are not going to be apologized
for. He has written in His Word. Now
here's a whole group of people get together around two brothers
that have just been arrested and told, don't you dare preach
in the name of the Lord Jesus again. And in Acts chapter 4
verse 27, we have these words recorded for us. It says there,
For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed,
both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people
of Israel had gathered together for to do whatsoever thy hand
and thy counsel determined before to be done. What was their absolute
hope? There's a God that has purposed
something, decreed something, and it will be unaltered. It
is eternal, and they found rest and peace in that very thought
that God sent his only begotten son down here to this sin-cursed
earth to walk among us as a man and to lay down his life a ransom
for many with the promise that no man takes it away from me,
but I lay it down in myself that I might take it up again. They
relished in that. They delighted in that. And they
would gather together after they had trouble in their life and
again delight and relish in that very thing. We find that God's
divine decree, and sometimes I read in books about His decrees. Well, everything falls under
decree. There's not decrees. Now, there's
evidence of these decrees, but there is one decree, and that
is the eternal, everlasting, unchangeable purpose of God. Now, under there, we find, as
God is, His decrees also must be eternal. We're not going to
have God reacting. We're not going to have God overreacting. We're not having Him in that
kind of mode. He's the One that decreed before
the foundation of the world all things, and everybody that shall
ever be saved was decreed by this Decreer before the foundation
of the world. And the church says, hallelujah!
We would agree as we just heard this morning that if it wasn't
for that, there would be nobody sitting before the throne of
grace. There would be no chairs filled, but because of that,
there shall be a great host that no man can number, and they will
all agree on how they got there. By the divine mercy and grace
of Almighty God, and by not one work that they performed. We're sinners in need of mercy. And you know what? God has decreed
that. In the book of 2 Timothy, would
you turn with me to the book of 2 Timothy? 2 Timothy chapter
1. In 2 Timothy chapter 1, and there
in verse 9, notice this with me. This is God's eternal purpose. I've been visiting with a young
man who pastors a church. And it's just been a delight,
because he's smart enough to know not to argue with the Bible.
You know, that's a gift. I don't believe he knows anything
yet, but that's a gift. Not to argue with what the Bible
has to say. Now, he doesn't agree with it,
but he doesn't argue with me. Well, we've been going over some
of these things and he is astonished at how many times in the Bible. You just don't go find it in
Romans 9. You're going to find it in Genesis
to Revelation. That was the astonishing thing
when God revealed to me how great it is. How marvelous it is. It covers every generation. It covers every century. It covers
every millennium. And it covers, as the old writers
used to say, the old eternity to the eternity. These decrees
notice with me in second timothy chapter one and verse nine it
says Whom who has saved us and called us with a holy calling
Not according to our works, but according to his own purpose
and grace Which was given us in christ jesus before the world
began Just as god is that eternal being and I was talking to some
of the brethren, you know, we just can't get our our arms around
that word eternity. Some of you have been over there
in the giant sequoias. Those are massive trees. You
ever try to get your arm around them? Take 10 or 15 of us to
get around them. But not one person can get around
Him. That's what we're talking about. A God that we just can't
get everything around, but God has given every one of His children
the ability to believe Him. Without exception. There will
be no argument about it. We'll not argue about the decrees
of God, we'll delight in it. When we have a difficulty, we
delight that this is God's eternal purpose. Now we may be like the
old cowards and say, I'm glad that part of predestination is
over with, but we have to admit it was part of God's eternal
predestination. That's what it was. Titus chapter
1. Look there in Titus chapter 1
verse 2. We have the same thing. It's
eternal. It's God's eternal purpose. His eternal decree that he gave. There was never, and we just
have to use time when we're talking about eternity, but there was
never a time that God did not decree to do this. I can't get
my arm around it. It's just too big. But God gives
us the ability to believe it. By His grace. By the new birth. To believe Him. We are taught
of God. No greater teacher. And He uses
those He has taught to teach us. Preachers of the Gospel. He taught
them. He uses them to teach us. Here
in Titus chapter 1 verse 2, it says, in hope of eternal life,
which God that cannot lie promised before the world began. We're
just, hallelujah. When He gets to talking about
our salvation, it's an eternal salvation. It's an eternal purpose. It's an eternal decree. God has
been involved in it from the very, very, here we go, using
a word we don't know anything about, beginning of eternity.
And there it is. God has been so blessed to give
it to us. God's decree, His divine decree,
is unchangeable. I delight in that. God does not
change. He wrote those words over in
the book of Malachi and he finished that verse off, therefore ye
sons of Jacob are not consumed. My, if He regards iniquity, who
can stand? But we find He's unchangeable.
His decree before the foundation of the world, His decree to save
a people, His decree in the covenant of grace, His decree to have
a people saved, has always carried with it, this is an unchangeable
decree. I will not change my mind. We're so fickle, but He's unchangeable. We change our mind every day,
but He does not. His mind was made up in eternity
past, and His mind will not alter through time or in eternity future. Turn with me, if you would, to
the book of Hebrews chapter 6 and verse 17, and we read these words
about the immutability of His counsel. The immutability, he
doesn't change his mind. Oh, I used to be in a religion
where you get as many people together to pray about a certain
thing because we thought we could change God's mind. And then when
he saved me, I said, I'm so glad that he saved me by a God that
doesn't change his mind. How could we stand? No wonder
people that are in religion are just nervous. All the time. Worried about things all the
time. Unsatisfied with life all the
time. Because they have a God that
they're trying to manipulate. But the God of heaven, the God
that spoke this world into existence, the God that has created you
and I, and the God that has created our salvation in the person Christ
Jesus, does not change. And we can drive a nail there.
In the book of Hebrews chapter 6 and verse 17, the scriptures
share this, wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto
the heirs of promise the immutability, the unchangeableness of his counsel,
confirmed it with an oath, I promise. We stake our life on that. We stake our hope on that. My
God changes not. He's unalterable. All that He
has ever said or done. You know that's why He had to
do what He did in the Garden of Eden? He told Adam, the day
you eat you shall surely die. What happened when he ate? He
surely died. Had to. God spoke it. He kept change. Why did He have
to send His Son? Thinking about that, I was talking
to that young man. He says, the problem has to really be serious
if God had to send his son to take care of it. It's a serious,
serious problem. It's not just a little problem.
It's not a mediocre problem. It's from the sole of the foot
to the top of the head. He blames, you know, people do
blame all this on all kinds of things. Demons, the devil, all
this stuff. You know what the problem is
right here? The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately
wicked. Who can know it? It's incurably wicked. Who can
know it? We need, and God doesn't want
our heart. He gives us a new heart. That's
the thing. Well, in the book of Malachi,
I mentioned there that it shares with us that God changes not.
But turn back with me to the book of Numbers, if you would.
Numbers chapter 23. A number of times in the law
God reminded those folks, I'm not like men. Numbers chapter
23 verse 19. God is not a man. We are so changeable
and so fickle. You know our legal system is
just filled with broken promises. just filled with broken promises.
People say, well, we're going to make an agreement here and
we'll be partners. Before you know it, they're in there trying
to break up that. Husband and wife, break up that.
Got broken promises. That's one thing we don't have
to worry about God. He's never broken a promise. He's God, and I change not. Here in the book of Numbers chapter
23, and there in verse 19, the Word of the Lord shares with
us over here in the Old Testament. God had this recorded so that
we could read it from beginning to end, come down to our day,
and say, oh, He's not like a man. I read an article the other day
that says, you know, when we come to the Trinity, we always
want to come up with something that kind of shows a type of
the Trinity, and I used to do that. And this author says, the
Bible says, what will you compare me with? Don't do that. There's nothing to compare God
with. We can't come up to a conclusion about the Trinity, just believe
it. God gives us the grace to do that. Alright, Numbers chapter
23 and verse 19. God is not a man, that he should
lie, neither the son of man, that he should repent, or change
his mind. Hath he said, and shall he not
do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall
he not make it good? This is the type of language
that we find from Genesis to Revelation. He's not a man that
he has to change his mind. He's immutable, unchangeable.
His word changes not. And the church hangs on every
word of that. We delight in every word of that. It is eternal decree. And it's
an unchangeable decree. He will not change it midway. We used to use a term, Indian
giver. That's not God. Nobody that He's ever saved will
ever be lost. Now, last night we were sitting
here and I looked around and I said, you know, we've got the
same number of people that Jesus Christ had that actually followed
Him as disciples. We had eleven there to begin
with. Well, what about the twelfth one? He already knew about the
twelfth one. Guess what? He decreed that he
would betray him. That's right. He wouldn't cut
off guard. That man came up and kissed him
on the cheek. He knew exactly what was going on. Why? Because
he decreed it. This is how it is going to happen. What is all this stuff that's
going around in the world today? I love what Paul shares with us
in the book of Philippians. all has fallen out for the furtherance
of the gospel. God's got some sheep to save
and he'll use anything, any means necessary to get the gospel to
those sheep. Well, God's decree is absolute. It's eternal. unchangeable, and
absolute. He has an absolute decree. It
will not, cannot be changed. It is eternal, but is absolute.
Would you turn with me to the book of Romans chapter 9? Romans
chapter 9, over here in the book of Romans chapter 9, we have
the Apostle Paul, who was at one time adamantly against the
scriptures, He had them memorized, probably most of the Old Testament,
but he was adamantly against them because he wouldn't have
a thing to do with people who knew the Christ or the Scriptures.
In fact, he would have them arrested. And he had them killed. He was
adamantly opposed, just like you and I are to God by nature.
We're adamantly opposed to Him. But we're thankful for His eternal
decree that wrote His people's name down in the Lamb's Book
of Life, and everyone whose name is written in the Lamb's Book
of Life, God is going to make sure that they hear the gospel
of Jesus Christ and Him crucified and by that the Holy Spirit will
be used to give them the new birth and they will come out
of that stupor that we have by nature and say, oh my God. That's what Paul did when he
says, oh Lord, Master, you're my Master. That's what God's
people do. He's their master. He's their
Lord. He's their King. He doesn't spend
his time writing about it for us to flippantly go away from
it. That's what religion does. He writes about it so that we
know we have a God who has decreed, and in those decrees, they are
unchangeable, eternal, and unalterable. And we walk this very thin line
through this world as a believer, knowing full well that the day
that we leave this world is not a day too early or a day too
late when we meet the Lord. And everything that falls out,
falls out on us by eternal purpose. Brother Mike told me the other
day he's got a lot of creeks and I said, we're getting to
be rivers, aren't we? Those creeks are getting to be
rivers. The farther we go, the age we get. But you know what? Not one day early. What about
churches? Oh, I know people that just don't
have a church to go to. There's not one extra. There's
not one too many. And that comes to preachers.
Not one extra. Romans chapter 9. I do that so you have plenty
of time to turn there. Romans chapter 9 verse 9. For this is the word of promise. At this time will I come and
Sarah shall have a son. Not only this, but when Rebecca
also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac. For the
children, being not yet born, neither having done any good
or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might
stand not of works, but of him that calleth. Thank you. I didn't hear anybody go, ahem,
when we read the word election. That's such a delightful word.
Amen. And what stands behind it is
so delightful to the church. That God had an interest in us
before the foundation of the world. That He had a purpose
for us before the foundation of the world. And His purpose
is unalterable. All His shall be found. Now this gives us a record about
it. It was said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger.
Is that true? Absolutely. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. The book of Malachi tells us
that. Old Testament. 400 years before
the New Testament was given. It was written in the Old Testament.
Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say
then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? Boy, people have come to me and said, you know, that's
not fair. I said, that's what the Apostle Paul, led by the
Holy Spirit, was dealing with immediately. Don't say it's unfair,
because there is no unrighteousness with God. The problem is, it's
in our heart. What shall we say then? Verse
15, For he saith to Moses, I'll have mercy upon whom I'll have
mercy. This is absolute. I will have mercy. You know,
the gracious thing about the whole thing is he has mercy.
And if you had mercy on one, it was more than that one deserved. But His mercy endureth forever. I'll have compassion upon whom
I will have compassion. So then it is not of Him that
willeth, nor of Him that runneth, but God that showeth mercy. For
the Scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for the same purpose have
I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that
my name might be declared through all the earth. All the purpose
of God, the decree of God is absolute. Before Pharaoh was
born, before there were generations of Pharaohs, God had decreed,
at this right moment there will be a Pharaoh arise, and he will
find fault with the previous Pharaoh, and will say, these
Jews are multiplying too quickly, let's imprison them, let's put
them in slavery. And that's exactly what happened
because God decreed it, and for 400 years, just like God had
decreed and shared with Abraham, they would be in that slavery
in Egypt. But at the end of that, God decreed
there would be someone come along and share with that Pharaoh,
I, God, has raised you up for this very same purpose, that
I might show my power in thee. Well, eventually, we know after
the plagues and then after the death of the firstborn, those
people are set free. And that guy, God raised him
up and said, go after him. Go get him. And they all got
out there in that Red Sea that was piled up high. And when they
were all in there, It's just like what Jesus Christ did at
the cross. Took care of every enemy of the
church. Drowned them out in His blood.
It was because of the decree of God to save all His people.
that anybody will ever be saved. The natural man is so disposed
away from God that unless God decrees salvation through His
elective grace, none would be saved. God has decreed to save
all those He chose in Christ before the foundation of the
world. It is an unalterable decree. It is an unchangeable decree.
It is an eternal decree. And He's carrying out just like
He said He would. Now, some people have asked me,
doesn't all this stuff show us the end of the time? Isn't this
the sign of the end? The sign of the end will be His
last decreed Lamb, lost Lamb. is found and brought into the
fold, and that will be the end. Mark it down. No man, Jesus said,
I decree this, no man taketh my life from me, but I lay it
down of myself. I have power to lay it down,
and I have power to take it up again. And thus he did on the
behalf of all his sheep. And now, he is seated at the
right hand of the Father, making intercession for us, and the
church says, hallelujah, because that's eternal intercession.
That's unalterable intercession. That's unchangeable intercession.
We are secure in Jesus Christ the Lord. And just as Artaxerxes
said, I make a decree, we hear the Father from heaven said,
I make a decree.