John and Sherry. Go with me now
to Romans 8 that Brother Hudson read from, Romans
chapter 8. Our sister Garnet Guthrie, as everyone, every member here
knows, is on her deathbed, as far as we
know, and she did what I have asked all of you to do, that
is, write down and plan your own funeral. And she did that
a long time ago in her own handwriting, and this is what she said, and I wrote it down word for
word. He wrote The Funeral of Garnet G. Guthrie to be held
at Central Baptist Church. Pastor Paul Mahan at 2 p.m. So I reckon that's what we'll
do 2 p.m. Message Romans 8. Song How Great Thou Art by Jeanette
Berry. Jeanette be practicing it if
you don't go first. Congregation singing, amazing
grace, interment or burial at Franklin Memorial Park, the brethren
carry in my casket. That's Sammy and various brethren. And she put in big letters, preach
just like Sunday morning. Romans 8. This can't wait for
her death. Romans 8 is generally, verse
28, as you know, you hear so often at funerals, don't you?
My neighbor one time said this. When her husband died, she said
to her preacher, so-called, she said, I don't want you reading
Romans 8, 28. Meaning she got tired of hearing
that at funerals. Well, Romans 8, verse 28 and
following are not just words to die by, but words to live by. This is
the faith of God's elect, that just shall live by faith and
die in that faith. These words are words, verse
24 says, we're saved by hope. You see that? We're saved by
hope. Hope what? David said, remember
thy word unto thy servant upon which thou hast caused me to
hope. We hope in God's word we hope
upon his word we hope our hope is in his eternal purpose. Ordered in all thing our hope
is in his sovereign mercy and grace our hope is in his electing
grace our hope is in his predestinating power. Our hope is in his son
that he actually. did what he came to do for his
people. That's our hope. Verse 28, where
we began reading, says, And we know. And we know. And he goes on to say some things
that we know. Now, wait a minute. Who's the
we? Who's the we? There are many
people. In fact, most people. when you
begin reading these verses and come to that word predestinates.
Most people do not even like the sound of that word and wish
it were not in the Bible. But whoever these we are, they
know. They know them. Who's the we?
Well, back in chapter one, he tells us who he's writing to. Chapter 1, verses 6 and 7, it
says, "...among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ."
Those whom Jesus Christ called. Paul was one of those, wasn't
he? Verse 7 and chapter 1 says, "...all that be in Rome beloved
of God." Beloved means loved before. Loved before. Called to be saints. called to be his people. So he
says here in verse 28 and we know. These people who are called. We know his saints they know
we know. We know well what do we know
verse 28. And we know that all things work
together for good. For them that love God and we
know. We know. Those whom God Almighty
calls, he teaches. They'll all be taught of God,
and they know. They know who God is. They know
something of his purpose, his power, his will, and so forth.
Listen to this, and I'll read to you from Isaiah chapter forty-three,
one of the brethren read it Wednesday night, concerning his people. He said, You are my witnesses,
saith the Lord, and my servant, whom I have chosen, whom I have chosen, that you
may know and believe me and understand that I am he. I am he. Before me there was no God form,
neither shall there be after me, that I, even I, am the Lord. Beside me there is no Savior."
He said, I've declared it, I have saved, I have showed, and I've
chosen you to know it. And you know it. And we know. We know. Some things we know. All right,
look at these things, verse 8. And we know that all things work
together. Now, a lot of people say things
like this, it's all going to work out. And when people read this verse
28, that's pretty much what they believe. They try to comfort
certain people when bad things happen or whatever, death or
whatever it may be, by reading this verse and say, we don't
know how, but somehow it's all going to work out. That's what
they mean by that. It's all going to work out. Well,
it's not working anything. We say things like this. It's
going to rain today. Well, it just doesn't. It just
doesn't rain. God sends the rain. And if it works out, if it is
working together, it is God that's working it. You understand? Things
don't just happen by chance or accident or whatever. It. God working all things, Ephesians
1 says, according to his counsel. God worketh all things after
the counsel of his own will. That's Ephesians 1, 11. Acts
15, 18. Known unto God are all his works
from the beginning of the world. So if it's working together,
God's the one that's working it. You see? All things, good
and bad. That means all things, doesn't
it? Good and bad work together for
good. to them that love God. All things. You know, we're told by scriptures
not to judge anything before it's time. Judge nothing before
the time. The thing that may seem the worst
of all, if you wait, you'll see it's the best thing of all. And the chief example of that
is the cross of Christ. the worst scene in the history
of the world, the worst example of the inhumanity of man to man,
the worst example of the depravity of man, of evil, of sin, turned
out to be mighty good for the salvation of God's people. And
it is all working together. because God is working it. And
he wrote it all down and predetermined it all for his glory and our
good, those who love God, for good, for good, eternal good. It might not seem like it's good
for you at the time, but count on it. This is what
faith means. Trust God that it is working
together for good. God is too good to do evil and
he says it's for them that love God verse twenty eight to them
that love God. Not all people are God lover. The things we're about to say
or that is merely read and make a few comments. Most people do
not love this God. But God lovers. Those who are
God lovers. They love God as God. They don't merely love a God
whom they have imagined him to be. They don't merely love a
God whom they have made up to be. They love the God of the
Bible. They love God as God. as he is revealed in this book,
whom he says, I am a just God, whom scripture says he is holy,
holy, holy, God who will by no means clear the guilty, God who
is absolutely, I mean completely, sovereign in all things, and
none can stay his hand. A God who is not dependent upon
man in any way, shape, form, or fashion, whose will does not
depend upon man's will, whose work does not depend upon man's
will or work, who is not dependent upon the creature, but the God
who is in absolute control of everything and everyone and every
event who predetermined every single thing before the world
began. you have read God's Word that
is the God of the Bible. God lovers are those who love
that God. This God. Those who love God. They who love his right to be
God. He said, cannot I do with my
own what I will. Meaning whatever and whoever
I own. Romans 9. What if? willing to show his wrath, endured
with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction."
What do you say to those things? God-lovers say, it's God. God-lovers say that. God's right
to be God. God's right to do with his own
what he will. Those who love God are those
who love God's glory. Not their own, not man's glory,
but God's glory. God's power. Kind of like a child. Well, it is just like a child.
All of God's children love their Heavenly Father, and they boast
of Him. They brag on Him, and they praise
and exalt Him. And they say, like a child says
of his father, there's none like him, none higher, none more powerful. He's God and there is none else.
They love him as God. God. They love his glory. They
love his power. They love his salvation. God
said, this is how I'm going to say it. I'm going to choose a
people before the world begins. That's my right. That's my right. I made it. Can I not do with my own what
I will? Yes. He's the creator. I'm the potter. I'm going to
do what I will with it. I chose a people. Didn't have
to choose any of them. But I did. I chose them. They didn't choose me. I chose
them. And I wrote all their names in a book. And I purposed all
things concerning them. And in time, I am personally
coming down there to save them, to do what they cannot do for
themselves. Thank God he did that. And then
I'm going to finish that work, come back to glory and sit down
and wait until my will and purpose and all my people are born and
then saved. And then I'm going to wrap it
all up and destroy it. And that's that. That's God's will. That's what this book said in
a nutshell. Those who love God's salvation,
God said, I'm going to do it all. I purposed it all. I'm going
to do it all for my glory, not for your sake, my sake, my glory. And you're going to throughout
all eternity, you're going to praise the glory of my grace,
my mercy. Who loves God? Well, look at
verse twenty-eight. It says, "...them who are the
called according to his purpose." That's who loves God. Those who
are called according to his purpose. Those whom God Almighty chose
or elected before the world began. He did it on purpose. Those whom he called by the gospel.
He did it on purpose, though whom he predestinated all things
for his glory and their salvation, he did it on purpose. The God
of the Bible, the living and true God, does all things on
purpose. Old Brother Barnard said that
years ago, and that's what the Lord used, that one word he used
to save my pastor, who was at the time a preacher, but lost. And he shouted out that word
for all to hear. Purpose. God Almighty, the God
of the Bible, does all things on purpose. He said, you learn
something about that, you'll know something about the God
of the Bible. Purpose. All things are working
together according to his eternal purpose. Purpose. Everything in the universe, past,
present, and future has been purposed, ordained by God. That's what makes him God. Especially
the making up of his kingdom, his family, his eternal family. Verse 29 said, For whom he did
foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of his son. Can I use this familiar term
or illustration? I'm not trying to be clever,
but we can relate to this. This is planned parenthood. By God Almighty. Children don't decide for their
parents to have them, do they? Children don't let their parents
have them. You don't accept life. Christ
said, I give unto them life. You don't accept life. You receive
it. You're given it. It's something
that happens to you. Not an offer. You're not offered
life. You're given life. Given life. Our Lord God before the world
began, purposed to have a family. Again, old brother Martin said
this one time, he said he loved his own son whom he dwelt with
in eternity past. He loved him so much he determined,
he purposed to have a big family, all of them just like him. And it says, for whom he did
foreknow, he did predestinate, foreordain is what that word
is. Foreordain. For whom he did foreordain,
he did predetermine, predestine. Their destiny was predetermined
by God. What is it? To be conformed to
the image of his Son. We already said all things are
working together according to this predestinating purpose and
this foreknowledge. Now the absurd notion that false
preachers today use when they come to this passage, because
they don't understand it, because they don't believe it, because
they hate it. They use some absurd notion or illustration like this.
And they all say it. I've heard them all. They all
say that God looked down through time, through the telescope of
time. This is foreknowledge. This is
what they say. God looked down through the telescope
of time to see who would believe on him, who would accept him,
who would let him be God. And we've already dispelled that,
haven't we, in verse twenty-eight. And so God chose them. Well, then why did he have
to choose them? It's already, huh? He chose them. Or you get in
the cart way before the horse here. Way before the whore. One of
our brethren said for something to be certainly foreknown. To
know for a certainty that it is going to happen. It must certainly
come to pass right. And how can God just know something's
going to happen. Because he does it all. Known unto God, I quoted it to
you, are all his works from the beginning. Salvation is of the
Lord. Who believes? Was Ephesians 2
verse 8 so? Faith is not of yourselves. He didn't have to look and see
who would believe. He already knew who would believe
because he predetermined for them to believe. It says in Ephesians 1, he says
that they believe according to the working of his mighty power,
verse 19. They believe according to the
working of his mighty power. Faith is not of yourselves, it's
the gift of God. It's a powerful operation of
God Almighty, the Spirit of God, upon everyone he chose before
the world began. Predestinated. to be conformed
to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among
many brethren. Verse 29 says, Christ is the
Son of God, the only begotten well-beloved Son of his love,
Son of God, the eternal Son, not less than, but equal to,
but the only image or express image of God Almighty. And yet
he became a man, the firstborn among many brethren. He is the
heir, and therefore he hath the preeminence in all things. And
God hath given to him all things. God gave him these people, these
people. They are his. He said, Ask of
me, I'll give you the heathen for your inheritance, for your
heritage. They are his. Well, verse thirty
says, for moreover, whom he did predestinate, predetermined to
be his people, them he also called. Them he also called. This is not an invitation. A
sovereign king never gives an invitation. Where the word of
the king is, there is power. You read Psalm twenty-nine. You'll see what the Word of God
does. The voice of the Lord. That whole
psalm is about the voice of the Lord. The voice of the Lord will
make the hinds to care, the cedars of Lebanon to break. What about
a little helpless creature like man that God Almighty cannot do anything with him? He called them. This is a heavenly
calling, a holy calling, a powerful life-giving call. Scripture says,
He hath called us from death to life, and you hath He quickened,
Ephesians 2. Quickened means made alive. That means you were dead. We
get back to this thing of life. I give unto them eternal life.
Why? They were dead. When the Lord Jesus Christ came
to that graveyard, he came for the express purpose of raising
the one he loved, named Lazarus. He whom thou lovest is sick.
He whom thou hast loved before the world began is dead in trespass
and sin. Christ said, I am come to call
him. I'm going to call him forth. And he calls his sheep by name.
Someone said if Christ hadn't called Lazarus' name, every grave
would have emptied. He called him from death unto
life. He said, Lazarus! He didn't say, whoever wants
to live, would you come? He said, Lazarus! He whom thou
loved, foreloved, foreknew, predestined, chose, called, elected. Elect
according to the foreknowledge of God in time. The Holy Spirit through this
right here, this preaching of the gospel, comes and says, live,
like that child in the field of Ezekiel. When I passed by
you, dead in your sins, I said, live. What happened? They lived. This call is a powerful call
from death to life, from darkness to light. To call to repentance. No one will repent unless God,
the Holy Spirit says, repent. The goodness of God leads us
to repentance. It's not of yourselves. It's
the power of God. Why are we saying all this? Because
to God be the glory. Great things He hath done. He hath called us. He hath chosen
us. He hath saved us. He hath sanctified
us. He hath saved us. He died. He is worthy. Salvation is of
the Lord. And everybody in heaven is there
because God saved them. Not anyone in heaven saying,
Mama prayed me through. I chose Jesus. I lived my life
for Jesus. I accepted Him. They're saying
unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins. It is unto
Him that chose us. Him that called us. Him that
sanctified us. Him, Him, Him. This is a Him
book. And if you're going to be with
Him, You will know this starting right now. This people have I
chosen for myself, he said, that they might know me, who? The God of the Bible. And they will love me as God
and argue for me as God and boast of me and me only. And anybody
that stands up and talks about man, his will, his worth, his
works or anything, they'll say, that's blasphemy. And any man that stands up and
said, God loves everybody, I go to hell anyway. They'll say,
that's not the love of God. Whoever God loves, he saved.
He said in Jeremiah 31, 3, I have loved thee. If someone loves
him, it's because he first loved them. And what does he do? Here's
the love of God. The love of God is not a sentimental
man love. It's saving love. I have loved
thee with an everlasting love." What does that mean? I love them
forever. Therefore, Jeremiah 31.3, therefore,
whoever I love, he said, I draw ye. Come. Simon, follow me. I don't want
to. Follow me. Zacchaeus, come down. What did
he do? He came down. Matthew, Bartholomew,
Luke, John, Peter, Simon, Paul, follow me. What did they do? They followed
him. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. It's the Lord. This is the God
of the Bible. See, this call is not an offer,
not an invite. It's a powerful, life-giving
summons by the God of the Bible through the preaching of his
Word. Come. Not an ask, but a command. Don't we love that verse, Brother
John? Thou hast given commandment to save me. And boy, a damned, doomed, dying,
helpless, hopeless, guilty, hell-deserving sinner, a prodigal son, is mighty
glad that salvation is of the Lord. Mighty glad that God Almighty
in His unworthy, undeserved mercy, sovereign electing purpose and
grace, chose him before the foundation of the world, determined to have
him and all his salvation. All his hope of eternal life
is resting on that God who never changes his mind. That God who
said, you're mine and I'm going to have you and gave commandment
to save you. And Christ came down here and
all his hope and help and salvation depends upon that one who came. Did he put away my sins or did
he not? That's their salvation. Whom
he called, look at this, he justified. Justified. Wish Garner was here
to hear this. Whom he called, you see who's
doing all this? Huh? Whom he did. God who worked it all out, a
God who purposed it all, so when he purposed it, those whom he
Get this purpose concerning whom he did for no predetermined for
ordained he predetermined predestinated in the be just like his son and
regeneration. He called him by the gospel in
time. They've got to hear the gospel. That's what our Lord
said, whosoever. Believe that the gospel and they
will, they'll all hear it. They'll believe according to
his power and then he justified. You see how it all sounds like
it's past tense. Call was justified. I wasn't
even born when this was written. As good as done. God said, I
purposed it, I'll do it. As we quoted again, known unto
him are all his works from the beginning of the world. He said,
I've spoken it, it will come to pass. When God said it, it's
good as done. Nothing will stop it. I'm so glad, aren't you? And
he justified. Freely, scripture says, he justified. John, don't you love this verse?
He justified freely. How? By his grace. A gift, a free gift. Look down
at verse 33. Who shall lay anything the charge
of those that accept Jesus as their personal son? No! God's
elect. Oh, I love that. Who shall lay
anything the charge of God's elect? Why? What do you mean?
Because it's God that justifies it. God, Christ, gave this perfect
illustration. I've got to hurry. Our Lord gave
this perfect illustration. Two men came into the temple
one day. One was a moral upright. He had
been to church all his life. He had Sunday school pens all
the way down his lapel to show it. He'd done many wonderful
works in the name of God, and everybody thought he was saved,
and he'd witnessed and so forth and all of that, and he came
and he lifted up his eyes to heaven and prayed with himself. He liked the sound of his own
voice. He was a good prayerer, very eloquent, I'm sure. He said,
I thank thee, God, and that's just from the lips. He's just
saying that from the lips. He's not thanking God, he's thanking
himself. Thank you, God, that I'm not like other men. Thank you, I'm living a victorious
life. Thank you that I accepted you and so forth. I pray, I tithe,
I do all of these things. Amen. In the name of Jesus. And back in the back was an old
boy sitting there who wouldn't even lift his eyes up. A sinner,
born that way, lived that way, knew he was. Didn't feel like
he deserved to be in that place that day. And all he could do
was smite on his breast, because he had this thing, this loathsome
disease in his chest called sin, that he could do nothing about
it. And he came in that place as a guilty, hell-deserving,
worthless, helpless, hopeless, damned, dying, hell-bound sinner,
and he beat on his chest, and all he could say was, God be
merciful. God, if you spare me, it'll be
by your mercy. God, if you save me, you're going
to have to do it. God, if you'll choose me, I can't do anything. If you'll keep me, if you'll
save me, if you'll redeem me, God, be merciful to me. What are you? Nothing but a no-good
sinner. You don't need me. I'm worthless. Here's what Jesus Christ said.
This is God in human flesh. You see this moral upright man
everybody thinks so highly of? He's condemned. He's going to
hell. You see this sinner right here?
He's no good to anybody. I say he's justified, completely
exonerated. He is holy, unblameable, unreprovable
in my sight. I'm going to receive him into
heaven and say unto him, well done, thou good and faithful
servant, for all eternity. That's mine. I justify. How? Why? Freely. Because I said so. It is God that justifies. I already did. That's what makes
him God. It is God that justifies. See, we're justified three ways.
We're justified by His Word. We're justified because God said
so. Right? We're justified by Christ's blood.
Jesus Christ came down here and died the death that our sins
deserve. He paid the wages of our sins.
God who is just must set us free. Penalties have been paid for.
He must and then in time he gives us faith he said we're justified
by faith what's faith. Faith just says it's God to justify. This is what faith says it's
God to justify. Faith says Christ that died.
Who should look at verse thirty five. Who shall set a verse thirty
four. Who is he that condemneth. Christ
died. There it is. That's faith. be
justified. And look at verse 30, and I close,
and whom he justified, them he also glorified. Sounds like it's past tense,
doesn't it? You know what glory is? Have you heard or seen any glory
this morning? Have you gloried in anything
this morning? Glory in something means to rejoice,
to be full of wonder and amazement and awe and admiration and love
and glory. Anything you've heard that you
glory in? See, man likes to glory in his
self. Man likes to glory in his will,
his works, his ways, his strength, his intellect, his devotion,
his whatever. Man glories in man. But he that glorieth and whom
God Almighty begins this work of glory in right now glories
in the Lord. like the disciples of old whom
Christ chose. He chose three of them. They
didn't choose him. He chose them. Take them up on that mountain
one day to show them his glory by being able to go with him
and see his glory as a foretaste of glory divine. You know that
everybody in glory was chosen by Christ to behold his glory. The glorified ones are those
whom Christ chose to behold his glory. He said that in John 17.
I will that they be with me. It's my will, he said, that they
be with me where I am, that they might behold my glory. Glorified. Those he glorified. This is a
foretaste of that glory. So, verse thirty-one, he concludes
after these three verses, he said, What shall we then say
to these things? There's a little old lady, seventy-eight
years old right now, lying on her deathbed. She's as good as
good can get. She is. She's a fine woman. I've
known her twenty years now. Fine little lady. more on upright. Now you go to her deathbed, and
she wrote it down for me. This is what I want you to preach,
like Sunday morning. What, Garnet? What's your hope
of eternal life, Garnet? That He chose me on purpose. That he elected me. That he predestined all things. And I'm lying in this bed because
he said so. That everything about me was
predetermined by my all-wise Heavenly Father who cannot err.
And that he called me by this gospel. Didn't have to, but he
did. The glory of his grace. And he
justified me by Christ. He said so. Christ died for me.
I'm a sinner now laying on this bed. Still a sinner. If I go in the glory is because
Christ died for this center. That's why period. Period. And I trust that I will be with
him in glory forever glorified to behold his glory. What do
you say? Here it is. Here's the God lovers. Here's the God lovers testimony. If God this God All our comfort,
all our peace, all our hope, if this God, who is God before
us. And it goes on in that Romans
8, it says, who shall separate us from the love of God? If God
loves me, I'm going to stay loved. He's going to save me. Nobody's going to be able to
separate me from him, if God be for us. Who or what can be
against us? Nothing, because he predestined
all things for us. Come hell or high water, it doesn't
matter. It's got to be for us. OK, Brother John, if you'll come,
we'll sing a closing hymn. What number was it, please? Praise
the Savior is 51. You who know him. Number 51,
the green hymnal, praise the Savior, ye who know Him. Who can tell how much we owe
Him? Gladly let us render to Him praise of our lips and all that
we are and have. Let's sing verses 1, 3, and 4.
Okay? Stand with me. 1, 3, and 4. Praise the Savior, ye who know
Him, who can tell how much we owe Him. Gladly let us render
to Him all we are and have. Trust in Him, ye saints, forever
He is faithful, changing never Neither force nor cow can sever
Those He loves, trust Him Then we shall be where we would be
Then we shall be what we should be Things that are not now nor
could be soon shall be our own.