If you will, let's turn to Ephesians
chapter one. Bob had read this text last week
and I just couldn't get off my heart. So I like to look at these
things and it's good for us to go back to school sometime and
get the basics down really good. Hope I can show this in crayon,
if the Lord will let me. and be basic and plain, because
that's what we need. As a musician, one time I loved
their songs, and you know them by heart. And then I saw them
play it live, and it was way faster, and they kind of mixed
the verses up, and they was just trying to get it over with. And
I said, don't do that. Play it the way I like it. But first
I heard it. That's what I want to hear. Maybe the Lord will
speak to one of us for the first time today. Oh, make some statements,
and then Lord willing, show them to you. Three points, be real easy. Hopefully
we can stick with it. The Father purposed salvation.
Salvation is important. If we was out in the ocean, to
be saved is to live and to not be saved is to drown and die.
And so this thing of life and death of eternity, as I said
earlier, I don't know anybody that's 400 years old, do you?
We have an end. We ain't going to make it out
of here alive. We're going to die. All of us.
And as Solomon said, the wise will lay that to heart. But what
about the salvation? People talk a lot about being
saved. And there's some things that I think, and some things
that you think, and some things that grandma thought, but that
ain't the one that does the saving. It don't matter what I think.
It don't matter what you think. It matters what God says about
it. Here's what he says about it. I'm going to tell you up
front, and then we'll look at it. The glory of God, of that triune
God, that's paramount in everything. God's gonna get the glory. He
said, I ain't gonna share it with nobody else. He's God, that's
who he is, and he's gonna get the glory in all things, period.
That's just to be said. But God the Father, he purposed
salvation for his people to be made just like his son. He woke
up one morning, old Barnard said, and he looked at his darling
son, he goes, I wanna make a whole nation just like him. So he chose
a people that were not like his son. We fell in the garden and
we fall every day. Every thought that we have, it's
only evil continually. And so that's what our old nature
is, our old heart is. But God saw those people and because
he wanted to, it pleased him because he loved them first. He decided to put them in Christ
and make them whole. So the father purposed it and
the son purchased it. He's the one that came. Anybody
walking up down the street tell you who Jesus was. Oh yeah, that
was a long time ago and he died and then he ain't in a tomb no
more. He's risen. That's the proof we have. That's
what we're looking at today. And that Holy Spirit, because
the Father purposed it, the Son said, I'll be there, shorty.
That's the gospel in two words, substitution and satisfaction.
He goes, I'll stand in their place. They can't stand. They
can't do it. Their blood ain't going to do
mine will. So I'll be in their place." And then the father was
satisfied. He said, that works. That's it. Well done, my good
and faithful servant. To any that's in him, any that's covered
in that blood, you come to me. We're allowed now to come to
that throne of grace. But how are we going to find out about
that? It's going to take, it took place in time past. He was
the lame lamb slain before the foundation of the world. The
eternal God, this has always been in the covenant, but it
has to come to pass, don't it? How are you and I going to find
out about that? God, the Holy Spirit, comes to us. He abounds
towards us like a fullback, running full speed. And those that he's
coming after, he's going to tackle them. And he's going to tell
them, he's going to proclaim it. The Father purposed it, that's
one. The Son purchased it, and the
Holy Spirit proclaims it. That's what we're going to look
at this morning. God of creation, of providence, of salvation,
he receives all the praise for this, for his righteousness,
for his holiness. That's why we're just saying
holy, holy, holy. We read out of the holy scriptures
and his holy angels have charge over us. It's his holy kingdom,
his holy throne, he's holy. And since we're made vessels
of honor unto the praise of his glory, as the scriptures say,
we have no room to boast. That clay didn't look at the
potter and say, I made that handle. You made me a coffee cup, but
I made the handle. No, we're just clay. We're earthen, just
like Adam. We're red dirt and we have no
room to boast. We boast in Him. We have nothing
to glory in but except Christ our Savior and Him crucified,
who He is and what He did. With that understanding, let's
see if I can make good on it, as Henry said. Look here in verse
one, Ephesians 1.1, this is the salutation. Paul, an apostle
of Jesus Christ by the will of God. You go up to Paul and you
call him Paul, because that's his name. The Lord put him in
the office of an apostle, and God made him that way. He didn't
choose to be. He's like, well, I can't do nothing else, so I guess I'll
preach. No, God made him that way. Paul, an apostle of Jesus
Christ, by the will of God, to, that's who he's talking to, to
the saints, which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ
Jesus. Grace be to you and peace from
God, our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Our salvation,
how Christ was gracious to us. Grace is unmerited favor. If
you did something for somebody to be gracious to you, then that's
a wage. That's not grace. Paul says, through Christ grace
to you and peace, peace. How can you have peace if there
wasn't a warfare? Peace is declared after the war's over, isn't it?
And all that's from God, our father. And he's made us saints.
He said to the saints at Ephesus, he's made us faithful in Christ. Now here's the purpose of the
father, verse three. Blessed be the God and father of our
Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ. Now is he talking about carnal
blessings? Did he say he's blessed with
all health and wealth and happiness and good vacations and fancy
cars? All spiritual blessings. Spiritual blessings. What are
these spiritual blessings according to God? Mankind can give you,
they write books and books, as John said, they write books without
end. There's whole bookstores dedicated
to this. How to get a blessing from God.
How to bend his arm and make him do what you want. That's
what they're saying. What are blessings? Well, I can think
of some things, and you can probably think of some things, but what's
God say about it? Like I said, it don't matter
what I think. My opinion, that's what the word heresy is, opinion.
Well, I think it's like this, and grandma thought it was like
that. That don't matter. Salvation's one-on-one. There'll come a time,
mommy and daddy and brother and sister and mother and father,
they ain't gonna be around. You'll be standing in front of a holy
God. We've offended him. I want to know what he has to
say about it. He's the boss, isn't he? What's his first blessing?
According to God, it's election. He chose a people. Look here
in verse four. According, he's given us all these spiritual
blessings. Here's the means which does it. According as he hath
chosen us in him, in Christ. before the foundation of the
world that we should be holy and without blame before him
in love. What did the father do? He chose a people. What were
those people? Were they special? No, that's
the one that was in Christ. When did he do it? Before the
foundation of the world. What about us? How's that affect
us? We're gonna be holy and we're
gonna be without blame before the father that we offended in
love. They'll be, as Roman says, they're
therefore now no condemnation. That's all I was was condemnation.
All I was was an unprofitable servant. All I was was evil.
That's the whole of me. And because the father purposed
this, he said, I've chose you, I've put you in Christ. And when
that final day comes, you're going to stand in front of me
and I'm going to say, well done. Wonderful. Come son, like a prodigal son
coming home, fall on his neck, kiss him, put on the best robe,
kill the fatted calf, put a ring on his hand. And that son was
there like, I was just looking for some crumbs. I was going
to be a servant. That's what the father blessed us with. He
chose a people and that's because we weren't worth choosing. He
said, you're not, I didn't choose physical Israel to picture spiritual
Israel. Those that are spiritually his
children. He said, I didn't choose you because you're the greatest
because you was the biggest. I chose you because you was the least. to
use the least. If I was really good at something,
at building things and sculpting, I wouldn't take the best knife
I could get and the best piece of wood. To show what a great
artist I was, I'd take the worst piece of wood and the dullest
knife. Give me some old junky tools, what's what I can do.
And the Lord took his old junky people, that's nothing, and he
said, I'm gonna make them just like my son, because that gives
him all the glory. That magnifies his name. We didn't
help him in that. He blessed us in electing a people and he
blessed us in predestinating a people. That means to be made
like Christ. Look here in verse five, having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ. We was chosen in Christ. We're
predestined by Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure
of his will. Election has to do with who is saved. We all
deserve death. Born of Adam, left to ourselves,
we come forth from the womb speaking lies, and babies come out. Some
of my precious babies don't lie. They don't need chains, they
don't need a bottle, and they lie to trick you. They cry, so you'll
pick them up and carry them around. God said that. I don't think
he's lying. We come from the womb speaking
lies. If two zebras have a baby, what's gonna come out? A zebra.
If two sinners, Adam and Eve were sinners, right? Is that
who we all came from? Narrow that down again to Noah and his
clan. All the offspring, sinners. We grew up with it, so we don't
think it's that bad, but it's so. But God said he's going to
elect people. That's who's going to be saved.
And predestination has to do with what being saved is. Where
I grew up, boy, people fought you tooth and doughnut. I don't
believe in that predestination. Well, what's it mean? The destination's
not heaven and hell, the destination's a person. That theme's gonna
be throughout. It's a person. And he said, I'm
gonna make you just like Christ. That's your destination, is to
be made like a person. It's elections, who, predestinations,
how, or what? To be made like Christ, to be
made holy and without blame, because that's what he is. Pilate
knew that. He said, this man's innocent.
He ain't done nothing wrong, didn't he? Choosing the people,
making them like Christ is according to, why would he do that? To
his good pleasure and will of God the Father, because he wanted
to. He wanted to. I don't think that's fair. Who
are you to answer against God? We're down here on earth. He's
in the heavens. He ain't like us. He don't think like us. He
don't do things the way we do them. He's all wise. He's all
powerful. And he's holy. He don't do what's
right. What he does is right because
of who he is. And if he didn't, he ain't God.
is to choose a people, make them just like Christ because He wanted
to, not by our will. Man doesn't will that. Our will
is tied to our nature. You understand that? If we're
going to do something, it's because that's what our instincts, that's
probably a better word than our day, it's what our instincts are.
And the Lord said, here's something about man's will. Natural man,
just out wanting the world, what we call good people, bad people,
whatever. He said, you will not come to me that you might have
life. He said, you won't do it. Left to ourselves, we won't do
it. We don't want nothing to do with God. So we won't have
this man reign over us. I want to do what I want. He
said, no man can come to me there in John six. No man can come
to me except the father, which has sent me, draw him. The father
that purposed it. He said, I'm going to make it
come to pass. We read that in Isaiah. The Lord gives all these
things he's going to do. And he said, the zeal of the
Lord of hosts will accomplish this. He's the one that's going
to do it. Lord told his disciples. Those are pretty, them apostles,
if John or James or Paul was to just show up today, you reckon
we'd listen to them? That's one of the 12, buddy.
You reckon we'd pay attention to them? God looked at those
12, the inner circle, and he said, you've not chosen me, I've
chosen you. That's John 15, 16, and I've
ordained you. You didn't choose to be an apostle.
I chose you. I made you an apostle. I ordained
you that you should go forth and bring forth fruit and whatever
you go out and preach and the people that's saved by your preaching
and that fruit's gonna remain and ain't going nowhere. I'll
keep it. When God chose us in Christ, he put us in him before
the world was made and he gave us all spiritual blessings in
him because we had no blessings of our own, none. And that's
why we can say with Paul, we know. We know all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are called
according to his purpose. Because who he foreknew, those
he loved before, those he foreknew, he also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of his son. He said, I like, that's
the ones I want because I want to, and we'll make them just
like my son, and we'll put them in him, and they're going to
be perfect. God elected to be those people to be conformed
to Christ's image. And that's what we read in Acts 13. He said,
but be it known to you, brethren, men and brethren, that through
this man is preached to you, the forgiveness of sins through
Christ being preached and by him, all that believe are justified
from all things, from all things. Well, I did some bad stuff, not
as bad as I did. You know what, if I told you
what the absolute worst sin I've ever committed is right now,
let me tell you what it is. Shock you. You'd be shocked.
I didn't believe God. I had unbelief today, this morning. Did you? Do we rise above those
things? Lord, I believe help thou my
unbelief, don't we? By Him, by Christ, by the Father
electing the people and making them just like Christ, we're
justified from all things because of His life He lived for us.
That's a substitutionary work. From which He could not be justified
by the law of Moses. You gotta live in 10 commandments?
That ain't in the law of Moses. We don't know. Apostle, do you
hear the law? You ever ate a medium well steak? You will go to hell
forever. Thomas was out in field ops and Marines and the Navy
and stuff. Did you ever dig a cat hole? That's Levitical law. Two
soldiers have to take one shovel. If not, you'll go to hell forever.
You keep the whole rest of the law or to agree with it. They
said in all these things, now you got to agree to it. You got
to say, that's right. That's good. I ain't done that. But being in Christ, we're justified
from all things, from all things. His blood covers a multitude
of sins. It says that when the Gentiles heard this, they were
glad and they glorified the word of the Lord. and as many as were
ordained to eternal life, they believed. Acts 13, 48. That's
good news if somebody can't save themselves. That's good news. The Lord did not set his love
upon you nor choose you because you were more in number than
any people, for you were the fewest of all people. We were
the least, weren't we? Why did the father choose people?
An unworthy people, those that was what as a scripture said,
Christ died with us while we were still in our sins, while
we were still at war with him. He said, pray for those that
despitefully used you. Why? Because he did. He did,
didn't he? He prayed for us while we used
him. Look here in verse six. To the praise of the glory of
his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. All of this is to the praise
of God's grace, unmerited favor. That's what we read in Ephesians
2, isn't it? Turn over just a little bit there, one page of Ephesians
2, verse 4. Paul said, we went no different
than anybody else. All sin and come short of the glory of God.
Everybody. There's none righteous. And he says, no, not one. Nobody's righteous. Well, now,
no, no, not one. Or in verse 4, but God, Ephesians
2.4, 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 are you saved. And hath
raised us up together, made us sit in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus, that in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches
of his grace and his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus. If he ever shows us what he's
done for us, what sinners we are, that Christ is all of our
righteousness, that that judgment's been settled. I don't have to
face it. This whole lot, the whole shoot match is summed up.
It's done. He did it. Then we're going to learn a little
bit more the next time. And then we're going to, you know what?
He was really merciful to us. Now I knew that last week. I
see it a little bit more this week. Throughout time, throughout
the ages, he's going to teach us more and more. How is all
this going to be accomplished? It's going to be through Christ
Jesus. Here at the end of verse 7. That's
the work of the Son. The Father purposed this salvation
for a people that was undeserving, and the Son purchased it. Look
here at chapter 1 verse 7. Ephesians 1, 7. In whom we have redemption, that's
to be redeemed, that's to be purchased, bought, through His
blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His
grace. We're saved through the blood
of Jesus Christ, through his substitutionary work, and that's
to the magnitude. How much does that cover? Well,
it's according to the riches of his grace. How rich is God?
Is he gonna run out? He was just talking about snow
one time to Job. He said, you know how many warehouses
I have full of sleet and snow for whenever I, if I feel like
turning a battle, I don't want them boys fighting today. He
said, you know how much snow I've got in a warehouse? That'd
shut us up, wouldn't it? How much sin can that blood cover?
However much he sees fit. It's in proportion to his riches
in grace. He ain't going to run out, is
he? Paul told 2nd Galatians 3, he said, for as many as are of
the works of the law are under the curse of the law, for it's
written, cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things
which are written in the book of the law to do them. And he
says, you got to agree with him. That's the law. He said, but
that no man is justified by the law and the sign of God, that's
evident. You go read that law. You want to be under the law,
read it. Ain't nobody can keep it. And the ones we thought the
highest of, the scribes and the Pharisees, the Lord said, your
righteousness has to exceed theirs. I mean, he's not just the outside
on the inside and forever from conception, from cradle to grave,
from conception to death, it has to exceed it. He said that
no man should be justified in the sight of God by the law.
That's evident, but the just shall live by faith. The faith
of Christ, isn't it? There in Romans 3, we read this,
being justified freely by his grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus, who God set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for
the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance
of God. He said, to declare, I say again, at this time, his
righteousness, that he might be just and the justifier of
him which believeth in Jesus. The son had to pay that. That's
the only way God could remain holy and be merciful. Look, that's
first hour. The only way that God can, he
can't just sweep sin under the rug, he won't be holy no more.
And if we have a sovereign almighty God that's wicked, we're in a
mess trouble. He's holy and good and wise and
right. And so the only way he could
be just and maintain his law and be just is to be himself
the justifier. He had to take everything that
his people were, that we were put in Christ, and take all that
sin that we had, the punishment, and just lay it on his son. He
had to bear that. Bear the burdens, but we don't
know enough about bearing burdens. He bore the sin and the shame
and the guilt of his people. And God Almighty turned his back
on God Almighty, and this whole world went dark for three hours.
And the veil was rent from top to bottom, not bottom to top.
Read that recently, people miss that. Man might've struck some
horses at the bottom and pulled it apart. God ripped it. He did
it. Salvation is his work, isn't
it? He poured out his wrath on his son for us. You see that
there in this text? You can go through and highlight
them if you want, I have. You see salvation? That's not a method. It's not a formula. It's not
an algorithm. It's not a quid pro quo, this for that. It's
a person. Salvation is a person. It says we're blessed. God the
Father blessed us in Christ. He chose us in Christ. He predestinated
us by Christ. He accepted us in the beloved,
in Christ. Salvation is not an idea or a
principle or a theological standpoint. It's a person. It's a person. Our husbandman, our redeemer,
it's a person and he's God. He's the triune God. All three
of them manifest in one body. Great is the mystery of godliness.
God was manifest in the flesh. That's him, isn't it? And that
person, that salvation is, salvation is a vital union with him, with
Christ the God-man, an intimate union, one-on-one, not you for
somebody else, not ears to hear through somebody else's ears,
not eyes to see through somebody else's eyes, me and him, one-on-one. He comes to his people and he
speaks to the heart. He says, live. live. I can talk for 3,500
words. I can snap here for two and a
half hours and tell you everything I know. And if God ain't pleased
to bless it, it won't be blessed. I might as well tell you what
happened with the Aztecs in that Final Four game. But if he speaks through
this old jawbone of an ass, a broken earthen vessel, and he says,
live, it'll be life, buddy. He said, let there be light right
there. The lights come on. Verse eight,
here's the work of the Holy Spirit. The Father Purposed salvation. That's what it is. The Son purchased
it. It's His blood. He laid down
His life willingly for His friends, for those that were in Him, and
He lived a perfect life for them, and He come out of that grave.
That's what today's about. We celebrate Easter, and most
people don't. Christ is, we have an empty tomb.
The Father was satisfied. All that work He came to accomplish,
this hour I've come, my hour's not yet come, my hour's not yet
come. He said, now's the hour. And he bore that, and he was
beaten beyond recognition by his own mother, and the father
forsook him. He said, my God, my God, why
did you forsake me? He knew he was forsaken, he knew
why. He said it out loud so we would know. So we know he was
forsaken because I deserve to be forsaken. He bore it in my
stead. And then, it wasn't the Lord didn't leave his soul in
hell. That's what the psalmist said, did he? He was satisfied,
the tomb's empty. How much so? Them Pharisees paid
the guards to lie about it. You tell him his people come
got him. He did what he said. He paid it. He paid it all. And
we have the comforter now because he went to the Father. Now, here's
what the comforter does. Here's the work of the Holy Spirit.
Verse 8, Ephesians 1, 8, wherein he abounded toward us in all
wisdom and prudence. And he did it just right. having
made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his
good pleasure, which he hath purposed in himself." Salvation's
of the Lord. We looked at that first. It's
his righteousness, his faithfulness, his love and kindness, and his
salvation. And the Holy Spirit comes to
his people through the preaching of the gospel, the preaching
of the truth, of a lie of truth, and he abounds. I just think
of the fridge. You see them big old NFL boys
just running at you. and they lower their head, that's
the Holy Spirit. You ain't gonna get away. He abounds toward those
people in all wisdom, and he knows what he's doing, and in
prudence, and truth, and righteousness. And he makes us know what God's
will is. That's what the scriptures say, the Holy Spirit will come
to convict us of sin. That's a singular noun, not plural. That's all I am. I'm nothing. That's my DNA. I have a hereditary
disease that's gonna end in death, eternal death. That's what I
am. Christ is the one that's righteous. He's holy. That life
he lived was absolutely perfect, and he didn't deserve that. An
innocent man hung there, and he bore my sin and shame, and
that that judgment's complete. And why, in the mystery of his
will, why'd God do that? He wanted to. He's God, he can
do what he wants. We didn't say that before. That's
a miracle of God to say that. We said, well, nah, we're gonna
get together and gang up and pray until he does what we want.
That ain't a God. That's a mutiny. And Colossians
1, Paul said, whereof I made a minister, a servant, according
to the dispensation of God, which was given to me for you to fulfill
the word of God. The mystery that's been hid from
ages, from generations, but now is made manifest to the saints.
Nobody knows what this is. You do. He made it manifest to
you. To whom God would make known what the riches of his glory
of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope
of glory. The Holy Spirit comes and reveals
Christ in us. That's his seed, his incorruptible
seed, his doing, his salvation. The Father purposed it, Christ
purchased it, and the Holy Spirit proclaims it in our hearts and
gives us that assurance. And all of this is in Christ,
isn't it? Let me read this in Colossians and see if it makes
you happy or makes you sad. Scott Richards said, when the
gospel is proclaimed, people are either going to get mad,
glad, or sad. One or the other. Colossians
1.16 says, for by him, by Christ, were all things created that
are in heaven, that are in earth, visible, invisible, whether they
be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created
by him and for him. You know who's president of the
United States? Whoever he's pleased to make,
whatever glorifies him. And he's before all things, he
has preeminence. And by him, all things consist. He's the
head of the body, the church, who is the beginning of the firstborn
from the dead. that in all things he might have
the preeminence, for it pleased the Father that in him should
all fullness dwell. The Father purposed this, the
Son purchased it, the Holy Spirit comes and proclaims it, and Christ
gets all the glory for it. Lock, stock, and barrel, A-double-L,
all. When he wanted to do something
and I chose him, no, that's what this world's got backwards. Now
if you will, God will save you. That's not what the leper said.
He said, Lord, if you will, you can make me whole. You get that? We're not in the position to
be bargaining and negotiating with God. We're in the business
of begging. That's what we are. Look here
in verse nine, Ephesians 1.9, having made known unto us the
mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he
hath purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness
of time, he might gather together in one all things in Christ,
which are both in heaven and which are on earth, in him. He's
gonna bring all those people that were put in him. They're
gonna be born throughout time. And throughout time, the spirits
will come to him and reveal them to him. And then that last one's
gonna be born and gonna have a preacher come to him and say,
this is who God is, this is who you are, and this is what Christ
did, and I'll bow to him. And he's gonna give them life,
and they're gonna bow to him. And then it's over. That body of
Christ is gathered together. He's the head. His church is
assembled. He's brought them together. He did all the work.
In whom we have, verse 11, in whom we have obtained an inheritance.
We've got that spiritual life. We have holiness right now. If
we're in him right now, we've obtained an inheritance being
predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all
things after the counsel of his own will, that we should be to
the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ. He looked
at Christ as son. He said, that's mine elect, mine
anointed, my firstborn. And he's going to get all the
glory. I don't want it any other way. If it's something I did,
I'm gonna mess it up. If I had to keep something, hold
something, believe something, do something, not do something,
I'm gonna mess it up. In Him, He'll get all the glory,
and He'll keep me, and He'll live for me, and He'll preserve
me. That's right. That's good, isn't it? That's
an accomplishment. That's what He said on the cross
right before He gave up the ghost. He didn't say, it's just about
done. Y'all knock out the rest of it. He said, it's finished. Plumb done. Finished. Salvation's
accomplished. Now all that's left is the declaration
of it to be proclaimed in the hearts of His people. That's
our assurance in it. Look here in verse 13. This is
good news. In whom ye also trusted, after
that ye heard the word of truth. You heard Christ. Christ says,
I'm the way, I'm the truth, I'm the lie. He's the word. In the
beginning was the word. Word was with God and the word
was God. After you heard Christ preach for the first time, the
gospel of your salvation, the good news of salvation. And I
noticed this this morning, you know how many times I've read
Ephesians one, I think three times, maybe four. No, I've read
it more than that. You ever noticed that colon right there? This
is precious to me. We heard the word of truth. We
heard Christ preach the gospel, the good news of your salvation.
We heard salvations of the Lord preached in whom? In whom? What's that mean? Well, the truth
and the gospel of salvation is in a person. In whom? Also, that after you believed,
you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. What he says is right. That word
right there is right. It's proved to me over and over
and over again. God's right. Let God be true and every man
a liar. It's so. I believe that. And I'm sealed
with the Spirit of promise. We're sealed by it. We've heard,
that's what it says first, heard, isn't it? The Lord said in Matthew
13, blessed are your eyes for they see and your ears for they
hear. If you hear that, you're blessed. Because I say unto you,
the prophets and the righteous men desire to see those things
which you see and they haven't seen them. Those angels try to listen
in, don't they? If they had a day off work, they
come to hear the preaching of the gospel. They desire to hear
these things. Most of physical Israel heard
these things, but it wasn't factual, was it? Trillions of people,
they hear physically about time, and they've read physically with
the eye, but the power of the Holy Ghost hadn't come on them
and made them believe it. Paul said that to the church at Thessalonica.
He said, knowing brethren, beloved your election of God for our
gospel, that good news of a person came not to you in word only
like, well, it looks good. I've graduated that class in
seminary school, check block next. No, it didn't come to you
just in word. It came in power and in the Holy ghost and with
much assurance. How am I, how do I have assurance?
I know this is real because I didn't do it. I could tell you Tuesday,
I'm gonna be down here at 1030 and we're gonna pressure wash
that sidewalk out there. I might be here Tuesday at 1030,
I might not. I can't say those things. The
God who changes not, he said, this I'll perform. He'll do it.
He'll do it. If we've heard these things and
believed, believe. That's what Romans 10, nine says,
if you'll confess with your mouth, the Lord Jesus, and shall believe
in thine heart. that God hath raised him from the dead, that
he was successful, thou shalt be saved. And from the heart,
a man believeth unto righteousness. That's what I told y'all before.
I can denounce University of Kentucky basketball and shack
up with Duke all I want. I can get the Duke Blue Devils
all over my car. I can wear the shirts, get season
tickets and say everything good about them. On the inside, I
don't like them. Moose does. That's okay. Moose Parks does.
I like UK. I can't help what I believe.
I can't help what I love. He's done that. He's made me here.
He's made me believe. And we're sealed. Romans 8 says, for as
many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of
God. But you've not received the spirit of bondage again to
fear. You're not putting chains. You got to do, and this, and
you're going to work. No! We're not afraid of that.
You've received the spirit of adoption. That's family. We cry Abba father. We have a
father. We were orphans before that law
orphaned us. We couldn't do nothing about
it. And then Christ came, the father purposed it. He purchased
us. The spirit came, told us about
it. And we say, father, you've done this. We hear, we believe,
and we're sealed. That's what John wrote in 1 John
3. He said, And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in
him, and he in him, and whereby we know that he abideth in us
by the Spirit which he's given to us. We doeth righteousness,
what Bob read. That means believe Christ, love
your brethren. We spent eight months looking at those in 1
John. And if I believe Christ and I love the brethren, he's
done it. The Spirit's done that. Hereby we know that we dwell
in Him and He in us because He's given us His Spirit. And we've
seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the
Savior of the world. Whether it's Jew, Greek, barbarian,
Scythian, it don't matter. If somebody's going to be saved,
the Father sent the Son, and that's their Savior. There's
no other name that can bring salvation under heaven. And that's
the earnest of our inheritance. We hear Christ, we believe Christ,
He sealed us. Verse 14, which is the earnest
of our inheritance. That's the down payment. That's
what we get right now. That's what will get us by. Until
the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of
His glory. He's the down payment. Well,
my faith's just real strong. My Christ is real strong. My
faith is He's faithful. That's got strength. If it's
something just I think or I believe, I could be wishy-washy tomorrow.
But it's His faithfulness. And we've given that. He's given
us His Spirit until the redemption of the purchased possession.
Until that final day. That final day of judgment. It's all going
to be tallied up. He's going to bring His people home. And
what we're going to do when that happens? Unto the praise of His
glory. You did it all. You did it all. I've used this
illustration before, and I'm going to use it again. I remember
there's a medic who got shot one time in Iraq and they had
him on a gurney and was running him underneath a bridge, an overpass.
And he leaned up, was shooting that pistol down the side. He
saved himself. Could he glory? He swat, I provided
y'all suppressive fire. I had a hand in it. I did a little
bit to help out, right? Well, he had some word of glory
and everybody, remember the two guys that was carrying that gurney?
Do you remember who was in that picture? Might look familiar,
I don't know. They remember that man that was
doing something. In salvation, man don't do nothing. Salvation
is of the Lord. It's his salvation, and he does
it all. And he gets all the glory. And we'll sing his praises if
he saved us, won't we? I hope that's a blessing to you. Let's pray together.