That hymn, if you'll notice,
was co-written two verses by Philip Doddridge, who wrote some
other good hymns, and then Augustus Toplady, one of our favorite
hymn writers. The chorus was written by a man
named Iris Sankey, I think he had some Arminian
leanings, but that's why he wrote what he did. Christ did not die
for all mankind. He did not. He died for his sheep,
didn't he? I go back to Ephesians. I look around. seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven
adults and some young people that were not here Sunday. So,
you get to hear this message we heard Sunday again. But as Paul said to the Philippians,
to write the same things, not grievous to me. Sunday's message
was from Ephesians 1, and this is one of God's people's favorite
favorite chapters in all the book, and the title and the text
is God's Sovereign Electing Predestinating Grace. Chapter 2, verse 8 says
you're saved by grace. If somebody were to ask us what
we believe, what we preach, we would say, we believe, we preach. the sovereign, electing, saving,
predestinating, saving grace of God. That sums up what we
preach and what we believe, what this book, in Christ. That grace
is in Christ. By grace are you saved. Saved
by this grace of God. That's our message. We preach
that. some form of it every time. And
if you love it, you don't grow tired of it. My mother, a few
weeks back, fixed a pork roast and green beans, and I ate that. Well, came back a couple of days
later, she invited me for lunch, and she served me pork roast
and green beans. Well, last Sunday, she served
us pork roast and green beans. And she said, I guess you think
that's all I know how to cook, ma'am. I said, that's all I want
you to cook. Because it was so good. And even leftover. Sometimes
I think leftovers are even better. If you love pork roast and green
beans, Go there, because that's where they serve. But if you
love grace, you never get tired of it. You hear it all the time.
By grace, you say. God's grace is not an offer. It's an act. An act of God. It's
not something God offers us and we do something with it. That's
what men say about the grace of God. that it's an offer, a
general offer to all people, and it's what they do with it
that saves them. That's not so. God's grace is something He does
to us, something He does for us, something He does in us by
the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace is a gift. That's what it means. It's a
gift. And it's not a gift that's offered. It's a gift bestowed. A gift bestowed. Even the act of receiving it
is by God's grace. John 1.12, as many as received
him, to them gave he the power, the right to become the sons
of God. And it goes on to say, which were born. The reason they
receive the grace of God is by the grace of God. Grace is a
gift, a gift bestowed. It's an unearned gift. The grace
of God is unearned. The grace of God is undeserved. He gives it to those that don't
deserve it. He gives it to those that need
it the most. He doesn't give it to the rich
and the self-sufficient, but those that are poor and need
it. is eternal life. That sums it
up. The gift of God. The wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God is eternal life. The unspeakable gift of God is
eternal life. And this life is in His Son. That's the gift. He's the gift.
Grace is one word that sums up salvation, isn't it? It sums
up salvation by that one word, grace. Alright, look at chapter
1. Verse 2, this is how it begins, grace to you, grace. And he is
talking about sovereign electing grace. Verse 4, according as
he hath chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world.
Thank God he chose us or else we would not have chosen him. Right? Who believes grace? Who believes God is electing
grace? The elect do. They know everyone. To a man,
to a person that had not God chosen them, they would never
have chosen Him. This grace is predestinating
grace. Verse 5, having predestinated
us under the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself. Predestinating grace. That means
your destiny has been predetermined. And I'm so thankful. Aren't you?
David said, this is all my salvation. That he's ordered everything
that's sure. That he has given me to Christ and given me to
the Holy Spirit and they have worked out my salvation and my
destination has been predetermined. And it's all good. It's all working
together according to his purpose. Predestination. Who loves that? Those that have been predestinated.
That's it. And it's glorious grace. Look at verse 6. To the
praise of the glory of His grace. Glorious grace. His glory. It's to the praise of His glory.
It keeps saying that, doesn't it? Down in verse 12. To the
praise of His glory. Verse 14. To the praise of His
glory. To the praise of the glory of
His grace. In heaven, God's people are going
to be praising Him giving glory to Him for His grace. Like old
Zerubbabel, remember, who laid the top stone of the temple with
shouts of grace unto it. This thing started by the grace
of God and it will end in the grace of God, and glorious grace
because it is our future glory. Thanks be unto God who foreknew
us, predestinated us, called us, justified us, and glorified
us. Glorious grace. It's accepting
grace. wherein he hath made us," that
is, in this grace, in Christ, "...hath made us accepted in
the Beloved." Every one of God's people knows that they are totally
unacceptable in themselves. Unacceptable. But in the Beloved,
we are accepted. I thought two or three times
throughout this study and this message of Old Mothership, how
that David said, is there any of the house of Saul that I might
show mercy to for Jonathan's sake? And there was one. Now, he was
a fellow that David didn't need. He was lame and he was far off
and he was an enemy. It was of the house of Solomon.
But David, being rich in mercy for his great love to Jonathan,
said to Aramea, fetch him. And he brought him, and he showed
him great grace and pardon and mercy for Jonathan's sake. He accepted him in his beloved
Jonathan. Because it says that David loved
Jonathan as his own soul. And so it is with the Father.
He accepts us in the blood, accepting grace, redeeming grace. Look
at verse 7. In whom? In Christ. We have redemption
through His blood. Redemption. I gave an illustration
Sunday, and since so many weren't here, I'm going to tell it again. We just don't have any redeeming
qualities, really, do we? If we were honest with ourselves,
we'd think all of God's people say this. I'm not worth saving.
The Lord called Jacob a worm, didn't He? He said, I am the
God of Jacob. He said, I am the Lord, I change
not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob are not consumed. He called old
Jacob a worm. Well, I told the folks Sunday
that I purchased 2,000 worms the other day. I am now a worm
farmer. I bought 2,000 worms. and paid good money for those
worms, $49.95 for 2,000 worthless worms. I redeemed them. That's what the word redeem means.
It means to pay for, to purchase. Down in verse 14 it talks about
the purchase possession. When I bought those worms, Isabella,
I'm talking about our worm here. She loves those worms. She feeds
them for me when I'm gone. I paid good money for those worms,
worthless though they be, and I took them all out of that sack
and I made a house for them. I made a bed for them and fed
them and all that, taking good care of them. And in the process
of doing all that, I thought I would check the sack one more
time. And I looked in there and there was one worm in that sack. And I thought, I'm not going
to lose one worm. I paid money for him. I purchased
him. And I dug down deep in that sack and he was hanging on to
that sack. He didn't want to come out. You're catching the
illustration here. But I pulled him out and put
him in there with his buddy. And I feed him and I even think
about him all the time. I go down there and I look after
them and I see if they're okay. And Isabella does too. We care
for those worms. And the illustration is not exaggerating
the difference between the thrice holy God and mankind. Not at
all. The price that He paid for these
worms is infinitely higher than that. That's a familiar illustration,
but it doesn't come close to really revealing what Grace our
God showed to us in redeeming with the precious blood of His
Son such worthless creatures of dirt. It's like those worms. You know, man is a lover of darkness.
Open the lid and they just want to dig back down in that dirt.
Well, God has to make a change. My, my. Redeeming grace. The great high price, the blood
of His Son. paid for such worthless creatures
that we are. Forgiving grace, verse 7. The
forgiveness of sin. Forgiving grace. Forgiveness
is a gift. It's not a right. Man thinks
it's a right that God owes him or something. No, no. It's a gift. It's a grace. Forgiveness of sin. It forgives
all our sins. All the sins of God's people.
Past, present, and future. Then there's abounding grace.
Verse 8 says, He abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence.
Abounding grace. Scripture says where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound, no matter how great the sinner.
David one time prayed, Lord, pardon my iniquity, for it is
great. Well, in another place he said,
great is the Lord, and greatly to be prayed, because He is so
great salvation. The greater the sinner, the greater
is God's grace, isn't it? The greater the sinner, God's
grace appears greater than any. Where sin abounded, and He abounded
toward us in revealing grace. Verse 9. Revealing grace. He
made known unto us the mystery of His will. Why? Because He decided to. That's
why. The good pleasure of His will.
The mystery of His will. Man is so in the dark about the
will of God, aren't they? So in the dark, they actually
think that man has a free will and God's will is bound. ignorant they are. And do you
see your calling, brethren? Do you see your calling, how
that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not
many noble are called? The brilliant people of this
world, the doctors and the lawyers and the educators, the smart
people, they don't know the truth. It's still a mystery to them.
And yet God hath made known unto us and our children, huh, this
secret kept hid before the foundation of the world. That's revealing
grace. Salvation is a revelation. My,
my. And we understand it, what great
grace the Lord has shown us. Gathering grace, verse 10, in
the dispensation of the fullness of times that He might gather
together in one all things in Christ, which are in heaven and
which are on earth, even in Him. Gathering grace. Gathering grace. What a gathering this is. To
the world, this is nothing. I think it's a heavenly place. I think it's a wonderful gathering.
I am so thankful to be a part of it. So thankful to be a part
of it. Gathering grace. My, my. Blessed is the man whom God chooses
and causes to approach unto Him. To gather together with the same.
What a blessed privilege it is every time the Word of God is
opened and a man stands up and preaches the truth as it is in
the Lord Jesus Christ. It's something we just don't
deserve, yet he keeps gathering us together and telling us this
blessed message. Gathering grace. This is a blessed
gathering and it's unimaginable what that gathering is going
to be. When He gathers together everyone in heaven and everyone,
all of His saints that are in earth, gathers together in Christ.
That's all I can say about that. Gathering grace. Inheriting grace. Verse 11. I didn't get through
all of these things on Sunday. Inheriting grace. It says in
verse 11, "...in whom we have obtained an inheritance." Joint
heirs with Christ. Joint heirs. You see, we're the
prodigal sons. We've wasted our substance. We
were like that prodigal son. For years we stood thinking that
God or whoever owes us something. Give me what's coming to me.
Took it out and wasted our substance and riotous living. And our Lord
Jesus Christ, who lived that perfect, holy life and earned
everything that the Father has, earned it in His obedience and
His holy character and life and lovely person, He earned everything
that's coming to Him. He's the heir of all things,
and He rightly deserves it. And yet the Lord says that we
are going to get everything He gives, right along with Him.
Ah, boy. You see why grace is an unmerited
thing, an undeserved thing? Inheriting grace is what we get. Look at the next thing. Caring
grace. Trusting grace. Believing grace.
Verse 13, "...in whom in Christ you trusted, you also..." Paul
said, we trusted in Him, we believed in Him. "...you also, after you
heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation." You
heard it. And you trusted Christ. There
have been many people who have heard this message and don't
trust Christ. There are many people who hear
the gospel and go away not glad, but go away mad. Don't they? Many people you talk
to who hear it from your lips and they don't like what they're
hearing. Well, who made you to differ? Who made us to differ? A man can receive nothing except
to be given Him. And if we've received it, if
we've heard it, just the hearing of it is a blessing, as we've
already said. Just to hear it is a blessing. But to believe it takes the power
of God. Look at verse 19. That's to us
who believe according to the working of His mighty power.
Why do you believe this gospel? It took the power of God. It
took the grace of God to give you ears to hear this gospel.
Many have ears to hear, but they don't hear. Well, this hearing
ear and the seeing eye is of the Lord. Verse 8 of chapter
2, you know this. It says, By grace are you saved
through faith. Whosoever believeth on the Lord
Jesus Christ shall not perish, but have eternal life. Well, who will believe? Who will
believe? Those that God gives the grace
of faith to. Those that God gives, if you
believe this gospel, you are a blessed person. A blessed person. Flesh and blood didn't reveal
it to you, and you just didn't decide to believe. The Holy Spirit
gave you this grace of faith. Believing grace. Sealing grace. Verse 13, "...in whom ye also
trusted after ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your
salvation, in whom also after ye believed ye were sealed." Sealed with the Holy Spirit.
Brother John Davis and I were talking about this back in the
foyer back there afterward. We didn't get to that. And he
brought it up, and I meant to say it. He said, We were sealed,
it said, just like Noah, it said, in that ark. And that's true. Just like Noah. The Lord sealed
that ark with pits within and without, and then called Noah,
and then He said, Come thou into the ark, thou and thy family.
Come. Come thou. And when Noah went in, by the
grace of God, the door was open, wasn't it, for seven days. could have gone in, but they
didn't. Why did Noah? Noah found grace. The Lord said, Come. And whoever
the Lord says, Come to, they'll come. Come thou. And Noah came
in the ark and it says the Lord shut him in. Shut him in. Now, somebody had sealed the
outside of that door, didn't they? Who did that? Christ Himself who is the door.
And we're sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. It talks about
the earnest, Him being the earnest, the down payment, the promise
of that inheritance. And it's all verse 14, to the
praise of His glory. Here's something I noticed just
today, down in verse 22. It says, God has put all things
under Christ's feet and gave Him. The unspeakable gift, the great
gift, is Christ Himself. Gave Him. You notice those words
are in italics. Gave Him to be. I prefer to read
it that way. Gave Him the head, overall, to
the church. God gave Christ to the church
to be their bridegroom, to be their husband, to be their covenant
head, to be their Savior. He gave Him. That's the grace
of God. He is the great grace of God
to His people. Now, down in chapter 2, we're
going to talk about quickening grace. Quickening grace. He says in verse 1, and you,
hath he quickened, who were dead and trespassed and sinned. Quickened
in grace. He's going to describe what we
were, where we were, when God saved us by His grace. And we
say this so many times, that God's mercy and God's grace doesn't
mean anything. except to those that are guilty.
Pardon for sin is only good news for the guilty. Gospel is not
good news until you've heard the bad news. Brother Scott used
to say that. Gospel is not good news until you've heard the bad
news. And then he said, once you've
heard that, once you've heard the good news, then you really
don't hear any more bad news. It's all good. But you've got
to hear the bad news. And here's the bad news. And
the Lord describes us as we really were. Verse 1, He says, and you
were dead and trespassed and sinned. Was that you? And you. This message wouldn't mean anything
to somebody unless they are an and you. The word, but God, won't
mean anything unless you hear and you. were dead. You were quickened by God's grace
because you were dead in trespassing sin. Dead. Barnard used to say
graveyard dead. That explains it, doesn't it?
Like Lazarus, they said by this time he's stinking. Graveyard
dead. Dead. If someone's dead, that
means they have no feeling whatsoever. No feeling. They don't care about
anything. Dead people. They're unconcerned
about anything. A dead person. Unconcerned. They
have no fear of anything. A dead person has no conscience.
A dead person has no hearing. A dead person has no sight. A
dead person has no taste. A dead person has no feeling. A dead person has no smell. A
dead person is dead to the things of God. Dead. You can preach
the gospel, all you will, of the sweet-smelling savor of Christ,
and they don't smell any savory. You can preach to them how man
stinketh in the nostrils of God, and he doesn't smell himself
like that. He's dead. And you. There was
a time when you were dead in trespasses and sin. No hearing,
no sight, no taste. No feeling. When the Gospels
preached, you had no feeling. No fear of God. None. And you. And me. We're dead and trespassing. When you think of trespass, this
is what you think of. It's just what it said. A person is trespassing
if someone is walking all over the property that belongs to
someone else, where it shouldn't belong. and without permission. Now the Lord, the scripture says,
the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. And mankind walks all over this
earth that belongs to God and uses it and abuses it, and most
of them don't give God a thought. Most of them are not thankful,
Romans 1 said. Most of them do not give thanks
to God and walk all over His property, trespassing Don't ask
Him for the things that they get. Don't thank Him when they
get them. What would you do if someone
came on your property one day? Just came up on your property
and said, I've decided to just stay here. Huh? What would you do? I've decided
to camp out here. Me and my family. We're just
going to use your garden. We're going to use your water.
And we're going to use your... And don't even ask you about
it. And you allow it, and then they
don't even thank you for it. Trespassers. Trespassing. And sins. Then what if they start abusing
you and your family and your things, and hold a big wild party
and just tear up Jack? Huh? What are you going to do
now? Our Lord gave the illustration one time of owning a vineyard.
And he said they abused his servants. And then he sent to get the fruit
from his vineyard that belonged to him, which is glory that he
demands from man. That's all he required. What
does the Lord require of thee but to give thane? To give him
thane. And he sent his servants down
to gather the fruits and they abused them. Then he sent his
son down there. He says, hey, let's kill him,
and then we'll have it all to ourselves. He said, what do you
think the landowner is going to do? That's why God is angry
with them. They're trespassers. And you. And you. We're dead in trespasses
and sin. Read on. Wherein time passed,
he walked according to the course of this world. According to the
prince of power of the air, the spirit that now works within
the children of this will be the course of this world. The
course is a way or a path or direction that is laid down. It's the course of this world.
Where is this world headed? What does the scripture say?
Where is this world headed? There is a way that seems right,
but at the end is destruction. And you. We're headed the same
way, a course, a path, a way determined. It says that the
one that laid down this course, our Lord called it a broad way,
is the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now
worketh in the children of disobedience. It's a course, a path that all
people trod and do it day in and day out. We go to Wade Park
all the time. Don't we? And walk or run around
that course. They have a course. A course
is a predetermined pathway that somebody makes. And we go out
there and run around or walk around that course. And there
we are. Day in, day out. Going around and around and around. Somebody laid out this course.
All right. Going to go around. And that's
a pretty good description of this rat race that man is running
in, chasing his tail. That the God of this world, the
prince of the power of the air, puts a carrot out in front of
these rabbits, and they just go around. Or puts a rabbit out
in front of the dogs, and they just chase it, and chase it,
and chase it, and what do you got? That's the course of this
world. What this world is, it's just
an endless cycle. Endless cycle. Get and obtain.
Get and obtain. Get and obtain. Endless cycle. The course of this world. And
it says, the children of disobedience. And you. It says we're children
of wrath. Children of disobedience. Some of you, by the grace of
God, were not necessarily disobedient children to your parents. You
thank God for that. Who make a thing different? And then there are some children
who have very fine parents, even godly parents, who are children
of disobedience. Unmanageable. Unapproachable. Unreasonable. Unbreakable. Like wild asses cold. Won't listen
to you. Angry. It says, children of wrath
even as others. Angry. Mad at their parents. Mad at the world. Mad at everybody. When they only had themselves
to blame. And such were some of you. And you. Children of disobedience. Our
Lord said in Isaiah 1, He said, I've raised, I've nourished and
brought up children that have rebelled against Me. Children of wrath. You know,
we feel sorry, somewhat sorry, for rebellious children, as we
should because we see ourselves in them. We should. But really,
they're to be blamed. To be blamed. Aren't they? I
know. I know by experience. And you. And you. As I said, some who were not
allowed to go that route by the restraining grace of God. It's
the restraining grace of God that keeps a young person from
being a rebel. I'll never forget when I heard
this that said that some mistake the restraining grace of God
for their own personal holiness or goodness. That's what religious
people do. They really think that there's
something about them. And you look at people, you see
people all over the world that seem like nice people and kind
and meek people. That's a restraining grace of
God. But for that grace of God, they'd be a devil. And you. Do you want to repeat these next
two words with me in verse 4? But God. Sweetest words. Sweetest words in the Bible.
But God. Unless it's in Christ. And you. You see, God lays this
diamond, this pearl of great price on a black background. This Gospel really only means
something to those that's an and you. And you. But God. But God. Rich in mercy. My, my. Rich in
mercy. That means when you're rich,
you have a lot of something else. A lot to go around. Rich in mercy. And He delights to show it. Scripture
says. Rich in mercy. Or His great love. Great love. There's two wonderful
words in great love. But God, in mercy, great love,
when dead, with Christ. The Gospel is so simple in just
a few words. But God, rich in mercy, for His
great love. You know, I have great love for
my children. I really do. I think on them
every day. I would do anything for them.
in it, I would lose or give away all my earthly possessions. Greater love hath no man than
this. Scripture says, greater love hath no man than this, than
God, the God-man, even when we were dead, it says, in trespasses
and sin, quickened us. God, for His great love, quickened
us together with Christ. Quickened. He talks about being
crucified with Christ. Buried. Risen with Christ. Raised to sit, verse 6. Raised
us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places.
See, all the people of God have the same experience. And you. Grace to you, those of you who
have been chosen, those of you who have been predestined, those
of you who know something about being accepted and beloved, those
of you who have been given this gift of revealing grace, those
of you to whom His grace has abounded, been quickened together,
made alive, once dead and trespassed to sin, now made alive. Oh, it's
by grace are you saved. Not great. "...and raised us
up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus." And I think again about Mephibosheth. Heavenly places. Hannah said,
"...raised from the dunghill to sit among princes." Old Mephibosheth
was sitting in his little house in Lodi Bar, a place of no bread,
with no prospects for the future at all. Awaiting perhaps his
arraignment by the court of David to be tried on charges of treason
along with the rest of his brothers whom David killed, the sons of
Solomon. Awaiting death, certain death,
because he was an enemy of David by David. Sent someone to fetch
him. Brought him into his court. Told
him he was going to have mercy on him for Jonathan's sake. Said,
come up here. And he said, I'm going to restore
everything that you lost. Everything that your father lost,
I'm going to restore it to you. And you're going to sit at the
king's table as one of the king's sons for the rest of your life. You're going to sit with my son
Solomon. You're going to sit with all my sons at my table
as a son of David. And this is my sure mercy. I
promise it to you. Ah, boy, do you feel like you're
in a heavenly place? It's all because of Christ. And
this is why, verse 7, that in the ages to come, He might show
the exceeding riches of His grace and His kindness toward us through
Christ Jesus. In Christ Jesus. Through Christ
Jesus. By Christ Jesus. For by grace.
That's how you say it. Grace. Well, thank God for His grace. Stand
with me. We thank you. It's by your grace.
We thank you for your wonderful, amazing grace. We sing that song
too often from our lips and our hearts are far from believing
it. Lord, impress upon us, on our hearts, how amazing your
grace is to such undeserving creatures that we be. What grace! Marvelous, infinite, matchless
grace freely bestowed And now we believe. Thank you, Lord.
Thank you for your grace that's in Christ Jesus, an unspeakable
gift. It calls us from this day forward to marvel in it, to be
more thankful for it, to look into it, study it, to tell others
about it. Lord, this is grace that you
give us an opportunity to tell others what great things the
Lord has done for us. Give us an opportunity. Call
out people from this community. Use the means that you've given
us, Lord, to tell this great gospel of your sovereign, electing,
saving grace. Thank you. In Christ's name,
amen.