Once again, I'd like to welcome
you. Good morning. We're in the middle of a series
of messages that we call the characteristics of grace. There's nine messages, and we're
on the fifth one this morning. We've spoken already in the first
message about regenerating grace, where our Lord and Savior is
the one who regenerates the dead man. We are dead in trespasses
and sin. We must be given life. And then
we spoke also of justifying grace. We are justified in the Lord,
our Savior. By His grace, He went to the
cross, paid the price for our sins, justifying us before God,
just as if we had never sinned. Followed that with sanctifying
grace, which is setting us apart, making us holy. We are set apart
and holy in Christ, nothing that we have done ourselves. And then
we saw preserving grace. And folks, as it is with all
sovereign grace, It is grace bestowed upon a certain people,
chosen before the world was created, given to the Son by God the Father
because of the eternal covenant that was made between the Great
Three and One. Before anything was ever created,
God the Father gave God the Son a people. and God the Son loved
those people and He gave Himself, He became flesh and walked this
earth perfectly, fulfilling the law completely, establishing
a righteousness for His people who have no righteousness of
their own, and then the Holy Spirit comes to us when we are
yet dead in our sins and trespasses and gives life to His people.
This is a This is a people that were chosen
before the world was created, given to the Son by God the Father,
because of that eternal covenant. And all grace is for the Son's
sake, because of what He did on that cross just over 2,000
years ago. Because the Lord gave Himself
to be our substitute, God is gracious to those that belong
to Him. Now today our subject is instructing grace, and I'd
like you to turn in your Bibles if you would to where we left
off last week in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. Now when I was called to this
ministry, when I affirmed my calling with you folks of this
ministry just a few weeks back, I declared that I was not being
called to tell you how to live. I admit that I am not qualified
to be a counselor of any kind. No, my calling is to preach the
gospel, the good news. I speak of him who is the mighty
counselor. We read in Isaiah 9, 6, for unto
us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government
shall be upon his shoulders, and his name shall be called
Wonderful. Counselor, the mighty God, the
everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. I tell you here this
morning, the Word of God will instruct or counsel, as you may
put it, a child of God. In 2 Corinthians 13, verse 5,
we read these words, examine yourselves, whether you be in
faith, Prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves,
how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? I cannot
know the hearts of men. I can only refer you to the one
who does know the hearts of men. That's why every preacher who
is son of God will tell his hearers, God must speak to the heart. If all you hear is the voice
of the preacher, then you've missed it. Salvation is of the
Lord, and it's a personal salvation. God Almighty comes to His people
by His Spirit, cuts away that old stony heart that we were
born with, that we came into this world with, the heart full
of sin, the heart that says, I shall not have this one rule
over me. He cuts that heart out, removes
it completely, and gives us a heart in the day of His power. He gives
us a heart that is willing. willing to love, cherish, and
adore Him because He first loved, cherished, and adored us. In
John 6.45 we read, it was written in the prophets that ye shall
all be taught of God. Every man therefore that hath
heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me. Every
man that therefore hath heard and hath learned of the Father
cometh unto me." Now you say, no, wait a minute, John. There's
a lot of people who have heard of this one who's called Jesus. Really? Really? How many pastors
do you think are out there in the world today speaking of the
sovereign grace of our Lord and Savior? Not as many as you might
think. There are many who, speaking
of a Jesus, there are many who are speaking of what they call
a Jesus, but their Jesus is a weak one who cannot, who cannot thwart
His own power over the will of men. He has submitted men to
their own will, given men the power over Himself. Folks, that
is not the Jesus of Scripture. The Jesus of Scripture is all-powerful. All power in heaven and earth
and under the earth belong to Him. If He wills it, it shall
be done. That's the Jesus that we speak
of here at Rescue. In 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 9
we read this, But as touching brotherly love ye need not that
I write unto you, for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one
another. Here in 1 Thessalonians 5, God
instructs his people. Would you join me in reading
verses 1 through 8? But of the times and the seasons,
brethren, you have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves
know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief
in the night. For when they shall say, peace
and safety, Then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail
upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape. But ye,
brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake
you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light,
and the children of the day. We are not of the night nor of
darkness, therefore let us not sleep as others do. as do others,
I apologize. But let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep, sleep in
the night, and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But
let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate
of faith and love, and for in helmet the hope of salvation."
The breastplate of faith. What is a breastplate? In the
days of old, men would take steel armor of some kind, and they
would make a plate that would fit over their breasts, and they
would strap it on the front. And it would spare them the damage
if they got hit by an arrow or maybe a spear. And it wouldn't
do damage to their inner organs. It's a shield used to protect
our heart. and all of our other important
organs, such as our stomach, our lungs, and so on. A breastplate
of faith would be a shield of the soul, something to protect
the soul. We are instructed by God to protect
our very souls with the faith we have, the trust we have, our
belief in who it is that keeps us. And that faith is God in
the flesh, Jesus Christ the Lord, the hope of glory. The Lord of
glory must reveal these truths of heaven to the hearts of men,
for it is not possible for the dead to hear anything." Can you
imagine somebody standing in a graveyard and talking to a
bunch of cemetery stones, headstones? Do you think anybody under that
ground is listening to them? No. Dead man can't hear anything. To hear the preaching of God's
word, one must have new ears. Ears of the heart. We speak the
words, but God must give the increase. God must reveal these
truths to the soul. In Colossians 1 verses 26 and
27 we read this, Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages
and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints,
to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory
of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope
of glory. In Matthew 16, 15 through 17,
we read this. He saith unto them, but whom
say ye that I am? Speaking to his apostles, he
wants to know, what do you think that I am? He just asked him
a moment ago, well, what do the people say that I am? And the
people said the typical thing. They didn't see Christ as God
Almighty. No, they saw him as a possible
prophet, one who spoke good things, one who did good deeds. And our
Lord turned to His disciples who had been walking closely
with Him and watching Him and learning from Him these things,
and He said, Who do you say that I am? And Simon Peter answered,
and he said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And
here's the key, folks. Jesus answered and said unto
him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona. For flesh and blood
hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven." I can talk all I can standing
here at the front of this congregation, but it must be our Lord and Savior.
God the Father must reveal who the Son is to His people. flesh
and blood. We talk about the Lord and Savior.
We want to tell you who He is. He's not this weak Christ, this
weak Jesus that the world is speaking of. No, He's all sovereign
ruler over everything. We tell you that He was made
flesh. He came to this world, He humbled
Himself and became flesh that He could walk perfectly for us
and establish a righteousness upon this earth. But more than
that, more than that, so that He could go to that cross and
pay the debt that you and I owe, and pay the debt for His people. This One who is perfect, this
One who created all things, was made sin, that you and I would
be made righteous in Him. I can't even wrap my mind around
that. First off, that God would become
flesh. The Creator of everything would
become one as He created. And then He would suffer the
things of the flesh. He hungered. He thirsted. He was tempted, yet without sin.
And that He would go to the cross and receive the curse. For everyone
that hangeth upon a tree is cursed. He would receive the curse that
you and I were born with, the curse of sin. Folks if you are one for whom
God the Father has chosen to be merciful to. He shall instruct
you through his word in the ways of heaven." We read the things
of scripture easily enough. I would understand if you couldn't
read it all and someone had to read for you,
but you would still hear the word of God. We know what's right
from wrong. The whole world knows what's
right from wrong. Those who are evil know that they're evil. The problem is, those who are
evil don't know that they're evil. Look at verse 9 through 22 with
me, if you would. For God hath not appointed us
to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who
died for us, that whether we are awake or asleep, that we
should live together with Him, Wherefore, comfort yourselves
together, and edify one another, even as also ye do. And we beseech
you, brethren, to know them which labor among you, and are over
you in the Lord, and admonish you, and to esteem them very
highly in love for their work's sake, and to be at peace among
yourselves. Do you hear the instructions
of our Lord speaking to your heart? Now we exhort you, brethren,
warn them that are unruly, comfort the feeble-minded, support the
weak, be patient towards all men. See that none render evil
for evil unto any man, but ever follow that which is good, both
among yourselves and to all men. Rejoice evermore. Pray without
ceasing. And everything give thanks, for
this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench
not the spirit. Despise not prophesying. Prove all things. Hold fast to
that which is good, and abstain from all appearance of evil."
Now, I don't know how anyone could read what we just read.
may not see that our God is very, very clear on the way that we
should walk in this world. The problem is we cannot walk
the way we should. Oh, I know. I know a child of God wants to.
I know a child of God has a deepest desire to earnestly try But this
flesh is warring within our souls, within us. It's warring with
our spirit. Our spirit desires to be like
Christ, but our flesh wants to do something else. How often
do we fall and stumble in that flesh? Do you realize that if
we didn't, how quickly we would become self-righteous? Isn't
that what the world is? I don't sin like he does. I'm not that bad of a person. I'm okay. People of God, we know
this war that battles within us because we see our sin. As
Paul wrote, my sin is ever before me. Folks, This battle is not going to get
any better. But we have the hope of glory dwelling within us.
The hope of our Savior being our Savior and taking every sin
that we've ever committed. Every sin that we'll commit this
very day. Every sin that we'll commit until
that day where He takes us home. He has taken that sin to the
cross and our Lord sees it no more. The Lord of Glory must reveal
these truths to the hearts of men. We deeply desire to walk
according to His instructions. Oh, what peace we have knowing
that when we stumble our Savior has covered it for us. It does
not give us any desire to continue in sin, no, God forbid. But what
joy we have when we look to our Savior who walked perfectly in
our stead, establishing a righteousness for us, taking all of this awful
sin of ours into the grave and burying it from His sight forever.
Oh, how great is the grace of God to His people. Turn back
to the book of John, if you would, please, chapter 16. Our Savior, He draws the heart
of His loved ones unto Himself, and He teaches us about Himself
through the preaching of His Word. In Romans chapter 10, verse
13, we read this, Paul writing to the Roman church, he says,
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved. How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not
believed? And how shall they believe in
Him in whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? I once again, I say once again, men speak to
the ears on our head, but God must speak to the hearts of men. In Matthew 11.25 through verse
27 we read this, and at that time Jesus answered and He said,
I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast
revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for it seemed
good in Thy sight. All things are delivered unto
me of my Father, and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father. Neither knoweth any man the Father,
save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him." This is the position the Holy
Spirit fills. The Spirit of God, my teacher,
be showing the things of Christ to me is what we sing, is it
not? Are you with me in John chapter 16? Join me in verse
8, will you? And when He has come, He will
reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment,
of sin, because they believe not on Me, of righteousness,
because I go to My Father, and ye see Me no more, of judgment,
because the Prince of this world is judge, I have yet many things
to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. How be it? When
He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth,
for He shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear,
that shall He speak, and He will show you the things to come.
He shall glorify Me, for He shall receive of Mine, and shall show
it unto you. All things that the Father hath
are mine, therefore said I that he shall take of mine and shall
show it unto you. Now when Jesus walked the road
to Emmaus with two of his disciples, it says he expounded, he taught. Remember what we read a moment
ago, all God's people, all God's elect, All of those chosen of
God before the world began, all of those whose names are written
in the Book of Life, shall be taught of God. This is the work of the Spirit.
Through the preaching of His Word, the Spirit takes the words
from His ministers, and He applies it to the hearts of His people. when I was sitting in this pew
hearing the Lord speak to me for the first time through a
minister of the gospel. And many of you have experienced
this very same thing when you begin to first hear the word
of the Lord preached to your heart. And that minister pointed
his finger at me for almost an hour. Afterwards, he swore up
and down. I'm telling you, John. I was
talking to the whole congregation, but folks, I'm telling you. I'm
telling you. He spoke to me. That was the
Spirit. That personal experience that
I spoke of a few moments ago in the beginning of the message.
That personal experience where the Spirit comes to the heart.
The new heart. The heart of life. Not that dead
heart that we're born with. Not that heart that is dead and
trespasses and sins, but a new heart that believes. A new heart
that believes the Lord, Savior, the Word of God. You know, it says, whosoever
believeth. Whosoever believeth. Did you
know that faith is a gift of God? You cannot believe in the
Lord Jesus Christ unless God Almighty has given you life to
believe. Dead men don't do anything. When our Lord walked that road,
He taught. He expounded. He revealed to
those disciples. He revealed to them the things
from all the Old Testament Scriptures concerning Himself. He said,
beginning with Moses. Beginning with Moses. All of
those things that these men had learned throughout their life. The laws of Moses. Our Lord and
Savior took them to those scriptures and showed them who the things
of Him. And then, and then it tells us
that their hearts burned within. They burned within as they heard
the Word of God. This burning was the Spirit working
within, making the Word effectual. a personal experience. So let's close this morning's
message by seeking our Savior's instructions on how to examine
ourselves, shall we? Whether we are in the faith.
Again, John 3.16, it says, for God so loved the world that he
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should
not perish, but have everlasting life." What a great verse for
us to measure ourselves with, to examine ourselves with. Do we believe in Him? Do we believe, and the key word
here is whosoever. Who are the whosoever? Do we believe in the total depravity
of men? Do we believe God's Word when
He says, all men come into this world dead in trespasses and
sin? We come from our mother's womb speaking lies. There is nothing but wickedness.
Our righteousness is as filthy rags. Do we believe the depravity
of man? Do we believe in unconditional
election? Do we believe that our Lord and
Savior chose us before the world was, before we ever had a chance
to do any good or evil? Before and without any condition
of anything that we would be. I chose this one. I chose that
one. I passed by this one. I passed
by that one. Did the Lord choose Pharaoh? Did He raise him up to destroy
him? Because he was chosen? Well,
he was chosen. He was chosen to be destroyed
to show God's power in salvation. Do we believe God's Word when
it comes to limited atonement? People say that God loves the
whole world. Folks, I'm telling you, if God
loves the whole world, every person alive that ever walked
this earth would have been saved, for the God of Scriptures is
not a failure. He made atonement for His people. He shed His own blood for their
sins, that they would be paid in full. To say that His blood was shed
and that you would still go to hell is to say that His blood
was worth nothing. That the atonement was not made
for some. And that's exactly correct. Limited
atonement. Do you believe? Has God given
you the faith to believe in irresistible grace? Yet yet, when I ran from God,
by His grace He turned me. He turned me unto Himself. When I was yet running from God,
He brought me unto Himself. Yet when I could not walk, lame
as When I was lame, he made me walk. Do you believe in perseverance
of the saints? Folks, if you belong to God,
he shall have you. You cannot lose your salvation. There are no empty seats in heaven.
When our Lord does a work, he does it perfectly. If He could lose just one, you
could not call Him Lord. Examine yourself on what you
believe. Has God instructed you in His
grace the truths of His Word? One of those ways you can tell
is does your heart burn? Does it burn to hear more about
your Savior and less about men? Is it your most earnest desire
to turn from the vain things of this world, to turn from the
flesh, to turn from what men do and turn to our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ? I leave you with these final
words from Ephesians chapter 2. But God, but God 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. 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 towards us through Christ Jesus. For
by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves
it is a gift of God, not of works. lest any man should boast. Do
you have something to boast in? Throw it out. If it has anything
to do with you, your flesh, throw it out. He that glorieth, let him glory
in the Lord. Amen?