Again, we're happy to have Pastor
Henry Mahan back with us. No stranger to anyone here. Everyone here knows him, but
on behalf of you, I know I express our gratitude and what a privilege
it is to have him and his wife. All right, let's open our Bibles
now to the book of Ephesians, chapter one. Verse one tells us who the man
is that God was pleased to use to write this epistle. He identifies himself as Paul and an apostle of Jesus Christ. And he said, I'm an apostle not
because I chose to be, but because God made me an apostle. God put
me, he said, in the ministry of his Son. I'm an apostle by
the will of God. And he tells us to whom he's
writing. You know, the Bible The Word
of God, most of it, the epistles especially, are written to believers. The Bible is not written to indiscriminately
everybody in this world. The judgment of God applies to
them, but not the promises of God, or the mercies of God, or
the grace of God in Christ Jesus. So Paul said, I'm an of Jesus
Christ by the will of God, and I'm writing to the saints. Those
are the people that I'm speaking to, that I'm addressing here.
This doesn't apply to unbelievers and rebels. He said, I'm writing
to the saints. And he identifies them. He says,
they're the faithful. If a man's a saint, woman's a
saint, that person's faithful. Faithful to Christ, faithful
to his word, faithful to the gospel. to the saints and the
faithful in Christ Jesus. It's through Christ Jesus that
all of our mercies and blessings are given. And then he says in
verse three, "...blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ." God is the Father of all His people, but He's the
God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ in a special way in which
He's not the Father of all men. Christ is His only begotten,
well-beloved Son. And He's the God of Christ, our
Mediator, and the Father of Christ in that they're one, Father and
Son. And He says that God has blessed
us. He's blessed these saints. these
faithful people in Christ Jesus. God has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Now, Paul is not talking
here about material blessings. Most religion today is putting
the emphasis upon health and wealth and physical, material
blessings. But Paul is not talking about
those things at all, those blessings materially and physically earthly
that will fade away. The songwriter wrote this, he
said, change and decay, and all around me I see. O thou that
changest not, abide with me. And all these physical blessings
and material blessings and earthly blessings, God has blessed us.
We're blessed above all people in physical, material, and earthly
blessings. But he's not talking about them
at all. He's talking about spiritual blessings in the heaven is in
Christ Jesus. He's talking about righteousness.
The Lord Jesus Christ, our God, is made unto us righteousness,
wisdom, holiness, and redemption. We have all those things already
in Christ Jesus. He's already blessed us. Paul
starts where he is. God's blessed me. He blessed
you. with all these spiritual blessings,
all we need to enter heaven right now. If anybody here, the youngest
believer, the latest believer, were to drop dead right now,
you are totally sufficient, fit, qualified to walk into glory
just as much as the Apostle Paul. He has made us fit and qualified
in Christ. He's blessed us with all we need.
We used to sing a little chorus, Jesus Christ is made to me all
I need, all I need. Wisdom, righteousness, and power,
holiness forevermore, he's made to me all I need, all I need
in Christ Jesus. Spiritual blessings, they're
in Christ. Turn with me to 1 Peter chapter
1. Peter talks about that glorious
inheritance in 1 Peter chapter 1, verse Listen to this. In 1 Peter 1,
verse 3, "'Blessed be,' again he says, "'the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy,'
not because we deserve it, not because we're any different than
anyone else, but according to his abundant mercy, he hath begotten
us, given us life, unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible. It's not of the
flesh. It's not of the world. It's incorruptible. It's undefiled. It's not touched
by sin. Perfect holiness. Faith is not
a worry. It won't change. It's unchangeable. It's eternal. And it's reserved. It's already You know, somebody
said one time, there's no vacancies in heaven but plenty of room.
And every seat there, like the pastor talked about, we'll sit
where God assigns us, every seat. Did you ever attend a banquet
where a lot of people have been specially invited and prepared
for it and name tags were on each seat? You go around and
hunt your name. Well, there's plenty of room
in heaven, but no vacancies. Every place has a name reserved
for you. But you know there's no period
there. You don't read that reserved for you. It says reserved for
you who are kept. It's reserved for you who are
chosen, who are predestinated, who are called, who are justified. It's reserved for you who are
kept. by the power of God, not without
faith, no search through faith. That's right. Nobody's saved
that doesn't believe. Nobody's kept who doesn't believe.
You continue in the faith or you don't go to glory. This inheritance
is reserved for you who have kept by the power of God through
faith, and it's ready to be revealed. It's paid for. Don't bring your
credit card. Don't bring anything. Come without
money or prize. Come and dine. I'll go to a prepared
place for you. It's already prepared, purchased,
paid for, reserved. Got your name on it. Waiting
for you. Now, that's spiritual blessings.
And that's what he's talking about. He's not talking about
all this fleshly stuff down here that, that will fade away and
be gone almost before you know it. That's right. One of the members
of our church told me back years ago, I was a young pastor. I was about the age of your pastor,
47, 48. And he said to me, he said, Brother
Henry said, do you have social security? I said, no. Well, he
said, you ought to have it. He said, it's, you know, it's
protection for older people. Someday you're going to be old
and you need... The Lord provides that way. I said, I'm never going
to get old. I'm never going to retire. I'll
be preaching until I drop dead. He said, don't count on it. And so he got the men of the
church together. He said, Pastor of Social Security.
said he doesn't want it, but he's going to have it anyway,
and they've got it for me. You know something? I'm old. I'm 65, and I brought Social
Security, and I'm sure glad I got it. I got Medicare and Medicaid,
and Doris just used about $25,000 of it down there in operation. You did too. That's right. We got some folks that take care
of us, you know, when we don't have any better sense ourselves,
take care of ourselves, you know. But he blessed us with all we
need and glory. All right, now let's look at
the next verse, verse four. Verse four, according as he hath
chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world. Now,
every time I read that verse, God's blessed me. God blessed
you with everything I need in glory, reserved, prepared, undefiled,
incorruptible. Say, wait, in the name of Christ.
Why? The question comes, did I choose
God or did He choose me? Well, it's plain as a nose on
my face, He chose me. Now, believers love Christ because
He first loved us. Believers choose Christ because
He chose us. Believers come to Christ because
he calls us. Yeah, that's right. But he chose
us. That's right. He chose us. Christ said to his disciples,
you didn't choose me. I'll keep reminding you that
I chose you. Everything you have, by my grace,
the cause is found in me, not in you. So the second question
always poses itself, when did he choose me? And that's just
about as clear as a nose on your face. He chose us before the
foundation of the world. Christ chose—God Almighty the
Father chose us way back yonder before the foundation of the
world when he made Christ our surety. You see, Christ didn't
become a surety of something that wasn't planned. He didn't
become a surety for people who were chosen. He became surety
at the same time we became chosen, and he is elect. He has all decreed
at once. God declared the end from the
beginning. Christ be my first elect, God
said. He calls him mine elect. Calls
him my servant, mine elect. Christ being my first elect,
God said, then chose us in our hand. He chose us when he chose
Christ to be the surety. Christ was a lamb slain for the
foundation of the world, but he was slain for a people from
the foundation of the world. That's right. 2 Thessalonians
2 says this. I quote it for you. You know
it by heart. Paul writing to the church of Thessalonica, he
said, Beloved of God, I'm bound to thank God for you. I'm bound
to thank God for you because God has, from the beginning,
chosen you to salvation. From the beginning. Through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth, whereunto he called you
by our gospel. But God chose you. And God chose
you from the beginning. And then here's the third question
that always poses itself. Why me? David went and sat alone. before
the Lord, contemplating some things, considering some things,
and he said, Lord, who am I? Who am I? And what are my people
that you should show this mercy unto us? Oh, my. I'll tell you why. Not because
we're holy, but listen, he chose us that we should be holy. that we should be without blame
before him in love. Almighty God chose us, not because
we were holy, but to make us holy, to make us—I'm going to
show you in the next verse—like Christ. There's a kingdom. There's a king and there's a
kingdom. And if there is a shepherd, there's a flock of sheep. And
if there is a bridegroom, There's a bride somewhere. If there's
an election, there's an elect people. That's exactly right. And he
tells us in that next verse, listen, Now God the Father, verse
three said, he blessed us. Verse four said, because he chose
us to make us holy, make us like Christ. Verse five, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children. by Jesus Christ. All of these
mercies are in Christ, chose us in Christ. That's right. He blessed us in Christ. He chose
us in Christ. He predestinated us in Christ. All in Christ. Now, let me tell
you something. A lot of people are afraid of the word predestination.
But predestination in its greatest sense includes all things Look
down at verse eleven, "...in whom we also, in whom also we
have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according
to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the capsule
of his own will." God is the God of this world.
This is my Father's world. God's right. This is my Father's
world. God created the world and the
fullness thereof. He laid the foundations. It's
His world. And predestination, in a sense,
in its greatest sense, reaches everything. For example, Christ
said, not a sparrow falls to the ground without your Father.
Now that's a pretty insignificant thing, isn't it? You don't see
many dead birds around, but they're somewhere. The Father knows where
they are. Not a one falls to the ground without your Father.
The Scripture says this, God hath made all things for himself,
yea, even the wicked, for the day of evil. Did you notice Proverbs
says, the heart of the king No matter who that king is—good
king, bad king, smart king, dumb king, old king, young king—the
heart of the king's in the hands of the Lord. He turns it, whether
so ever he will. So predestination reaches unto
all things. Our Lord, when he prayed in John
17, he said, Father, you've given me authority over all flesh. If our Lord If his good providence
and sovereign rule and reign did not reach to all things,
then all things couldn't work together for your good. That's
right. Do you know what a sender—Pastor
Paul worked on the railroad, but he doesn't—he worked with
diesels now. when you'd walk down the air
road and there's cinders that fly through the air from the
train, the old steam engine. You know what a cinder can do
to your eye? Well, this old writer said,
if there's a cinder out there with which God doesn't have control,
I wouldn't walk down that railroad track. Let's just apply that to anything.
Saints and the heathen, thy God reigneth. I am the Lord," he said, I've
purposed it and I'll bring it to pass, I've spoken it and I'll
do it. And that refers to everything.
But, right here, he had predestinated this, whom he blessed, whom he
chose. He had predestinated this under
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself. God Almighty
has made us his children. You know, the Son of God became
the Son of Man, that the sons of men might become the sons
of God. He has predetermined back yonder
in the council halls of eternity that he'll have a kingdom, and
everyone in that kingdom is going to be just like him. Turn to Romans chapter 8. He
says this again. You see, the word predestination
is used in the Bible four times. If you count 1 Peter over there,
it'd be five times. It's foreordination. If you turn
to Romans chapter 8, foreordination. God has foreordained, God has
predestinated, God has predetermined that we're going to be like Christ. He predestinated us to the adoption
of children, sons of God, by Christ Jesus. Now look at Romans
8, verse 29. Romans 8, 29. Let's read verse
28 first. And we know that all things work
together for good to them who love God, who are called according
to his purpose. What is his purpose? Well, he
predestinated us to be like Christ. That's his purpose, to have a
kingdom of people just like Christ, in the image of Christ. For,
whom he did foreknow, he did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among
many brethren, family, just like Christ. who loves the things
he loves, enjoys the things he enjoys. With the glory he has,
with the love of the Father which he has, he said, you love them
as you love me, he said. His family's here. You've got
two children or three children, some of you more. They're loved
just to life. They're all sons of the same
Father. Brethren, sisters, That's what
God has predestinated us to the adoption of children. And if
children, then heirs. And if heirs, John, heirs with
Jesus Christ. He's predestinated us to be conformed. David said, I'll be satisfied,
I'll behold your face in righteousness, holiness, and I'll be satisfied
when I wake with your likeness. That is God's purpose. That's
the program. That's the covenant. We're going
to be like Christ. That's what predestination is.
The election is the people. God chooses people. But predestination
has to do with one thing. The steps of those people are
ordered by the Lord. They're going to wind up in glory.
I go in prepared place for you, and if I go in prepared place
for you, I'll come again and receive you under my care, where
I am, there you may be, and where I am, there you may be, and where
I have, that you have, and the image and likeness. I tell you, the new earth and
the new heaven, the new earth is not going to be a whole lot
different from the original earth that God created. Let me ask
you to turn to Genesis 1. Genesis 1 with me. I want everybody
here to turn to this. You know, the apostle Paul was
taken to the third heaven, and he saw things and heard things
at one lock or the other. He didn't even try, but why should
I try? But I found something here. When
I was reading this, David said, I'll be in your likeness, that's
when I'll be satisfied. God was predestined, he was blessed
to be the image of his son. Listen to what he said when he
made the first man and woman in Genesis 1, verse 26. And God said, let us make man
in our image. That's what I want him to do
to me. Make me in the image of Christ. And in our likeness. I'll be satisfied when I wake
with your likeness. You know what David said? Let
him have dominion over the fish of the sea, the fowl of the air,
the cattle of the earth, the new earth, too. And wherever creeping thing that
creepeth upon the earth, so God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him. That's what he's got to
do, you create you. If you imagine Christ, he's a
new creation, created in the likeness of Christ, in the image
of Christ. And that's where we're going
to be on the new earth. We're going to be in the image and likeness
of him who rose from the dead and said to his disciples, touch
me. Each other, touch my hand, touch
my side. A spirit, a ghost doesn't have
flesh and bones as you see me have. Fix me someday. New earth,
new earth, new body, made like Christ in his likeness, in his
image. And you know the reason that
this is, this is, I think it's going to be very much like that
in glory. Look at the last verse of that chapter, verse 31. And
God saw that everything he had made and behold it was very good. Boy, you can't improve on God's
very good, can you? He didn't just say it's good,
he said it's very good. And that new earth, I'm telling
you, you're going to read in connection with this, Revelation
21, when God said, I'll be their people and there'll be no more
tears. They're going to be in my likeness and image. I'm going
to give them dominion. We're waiting with Christ forever.
And he said, there'll be no tears, there'll be no sorrow, there'll
be no pain. Can you imagine that? No more
pain. No more crying. You see, tears and crying are
mentioned separately there. At times you just cry because
you don't know what you're crying for. But something's wrong. No
more sorrow, no more tears, no more crying, no more death, no
more pain. The former things have passed
away. I make all things new. He created all things. Bless
God. He's blessed us with everything
we need. New heaven, new earth. Because
he chose us. I didn't choose him, he chose
me. Because he predestinated us. He predetermined, he's ordained. They're going to be like Christ.
Not anybody up there is going to not be like Christ. That's
right. Love him, rejoice in him, praise him. That's right. Turn back to Ephesians 1. That's
right. And listen to this. He did all
this according to the good pleasure of his will," verse 5. Having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
himself, he did it according to the good pleasure of his will,
to the praise of the glory of his grace. I told a person one
time, I said, how do you know if your profession of salvation
is genuine? if it's of God?" And I said,
well, here's the answer. Who gets the glory? Who gets the glory for your salvation,
for your life? Huh? He gets it all. How do you
know if your pastor is preaching the truth? Same question. Who gets the glory? Who does
he glorify? I couldn't help but say amen
when he talked this morning about the essence of y'all's message
and the essence of the purpose of the worshiping here, meeting
here, the glory of Jesus Christ, Christ being crucified. Who gives
the glory? How do you know that what you're
doing in the service of God, like playing the piano, like
working on your pastor congratulates you for the beauty of the yard
and the building, and your good deeds, how do you know they're
really as unto the Lord? Who gets the glory? Isn't that
it? Let your light so shine before
me that they may see your good works and what? Glorify your
Father which is in heaven. Who gets the glory? That's the
whole thing. And that's the reason he does
what he does. Verse six, to the praise of the glory of his grace
wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. You know, I didn't
really accept Jesus, did you? I believed on him. I heard his
word and trusted him, but he accepted me. He accepted me. He accepted you. He accepted
us. We were the ones who were out
of kilter. We were the ones that had done wrong. We were the ones
that lost. The Father accepted us in Christ. He accepted us in Christ. Let me show you a verse over
here in 2 Corinthians, chapter 5. 2 Corinthians, chapter 5. In 2 Corinthians, chapter 5,
you've read this many times. I have too, but I was with Brother
Scott Richardson recently, and he gave me some light on this.
It was such a blessing. Verse 21, 2 Corinthians 5, For
he hath made him, the Father hath made Christ, to be sin for
us, who know no sin. Let me tell
you something. He took His perfect, holy, righteous,
immaculate Son and made Him sin. Now, it wasn't a show, it wasn't
a play. He made him sin. He made him
to be sin. Christ became sin. You know what
it says? He became sin. That's what you
quoted in Isaiah chapter fifty-third. He made him to be such sin that
the Father literally turned his back on him. The Father literally, My God,
why have you forsaken me? You are sin. The worst accumulation
of sin that's ever been on the face of the earth. The sea rode
in on one place. All the sins of all the people
of God of all generations were laid on him, and the Father forsook
him. He was made to be sin so completely. that it brought the wrath of
God on him. Now watch this next line. He was made sin to be sin, that
we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Let me tell you
something. If what I've said applies to
me, and the Father blessed us, chose us, predestinated us, accepted
In Christ we have been made the righteousness of God so fully,
so completely, that the Father is not angry anymore. And not
only is He not angry, He accepts us. He reaches out and invites
us, suits us with Christ on His right hand. In the secret of
His tabernacle, in the secret of His provision, in the very
presence of His holiness, you and I are already seated in Christ. So holy that even God can't see
anything wrong in you. Now that's accepted. I didn't
do that to him. He did that to me. He accepted
me. Not in my church membership,
in the beloved. That's awesome to me. Our righteousness
is not a face that we put up here like a Halloween mask. We
righteous. It's not a pasted on. I don't
wear a robe to cover a wretched sinner. I ain't no wretched sinner
anymore. God couldn't have anything to
do with it, and he's making us to be so righteous that God can
embrace us. That's awesome. Now, that's good news. That's not just saying, walk
down there and shake the preacher's hand and say, I decided to go
to the clover. I bet they don't take the end. There's no doubt somebody's taking
the end, but that one's accepted in the beloved. But you know,
let me show you something here. These next few verses are talking
about the means of grace. No person is saved because he's
elected. No person is made an heir of
life eternal because he's elected. Election's not salvation, it's
untrue salvation. And a man can believe these doctrines
and not know Christ. You can believe these doctrines
in the name of Christ, because election, not salvation. It's
unto salvation. Come with me now to 2 Thessalonians,
chapter 2. Now, this is so important. 2
Thessalonians, chapter 2, verse 13. You see, redemption is not only
the work of the Father. He chose us. The Father predestinated
us. The Father blessed us. The Father
accepted us in Christ. But the Son redeemed us. You've
got to have the work of the Son. And not only that, you've got
to have the work of the Holy Spirit and the work of the Gospel. Look
at 2 Thessalonians 2.13. But we're bound to give thanks
always to God for you, brethren, the love of the Lord, because
God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation. Well, we just
talked about that. Wait a minute. through sanctification
of the Spirit, when the Spirit sets you apart, when the Spirit
quickens you, when the Spirit begets you, when the Spirit bounds
you, when the Spirit gives you life. Sanctification of the Spirit,
set apart by the Spirit, and belief of the truth that man's
got to believe. He that heareth my word and believes
has peaceful death. God believes in you. In Verse 2, look at the next
verse, He calls you, par gospel, to the attaining of the glory
of Jesus Christ. Isn't that the clearest thing?
You see what I'm trying to point out? Election, not salvation.
People say, well, a man's elected, he's going to be saved no matter
what. That's not a word of truth in that. Not a word. A man who, a woman that's elected
to salvation, Christ won't die for him. He'll redeem him, forgive
him. The Holy Spirit's going to call
him, quicken him, give him life. He's going to hear the gospel.
He's going to embrace it. He's going to love it. He's going
to walk in it. He's going to continue in it
and die in it. That's what that says. whereunto
he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of that which
he predestinated." To the obtaining of that which he's reserved,
to the obtaining of that slumship. He's got to change us. Now, let's
see these means over here in Ephesians chapter one, just briefly,
these means. Ephesians Verse 7 now, he said
to us, "...in whom," you got it, verse 7, "...we have redemption
through his blood." This is what the pastor taught us while ago,
Christ crucified by his blood. It's the blood that makes an
atonement for the soul. I've given you the blood upon
the altar to make an atonement for your soul. We're redeemed
not with corruptible things, such as silver and gold. from
our vain conversation received by tradition from our fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ. Christ has redeemed us
from the curse of the law being made a curse for us. God ordained
it, God predestinated, Christ performed it. Look at this, in
whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins. How
can God forgive our sins? Because Christ paid for them.
How can God be just and justify us? Because Christ enabled him
by obeying his law and suffering the just demands of justice.
He enabled God to be just and justify. Now watch this next
verse. Wherein this person who redeemed
us by his blood and gave us forgiveness of sins, he hath abounded toward
us in all wisdom and insight. Put down the word there, insight,
prudence, insight, understanding. Christ has given us understanding. He not only died for us and redeemed
us, He illuminated us. He not only gave us forgiveness
of sin, but He taught us. God spoke to the prophets, the
people by the prophets. He spoke to us by son. And the
Lord Jesus Christ has enlightened us. and given us wisdom and insight,
verse nine, having made known unto us the mystery of his will." Salvation is a mystery. It's
a mystery according to the good pleasure which he purposed in
himself. He hath abounded for us in all
wisdom and insight and understanding having made known unto us the
mystery of his will." John put it this way, the Son of God has
come and given to us an understanding, an understanding how God can
be just and justified, how God can look upon us in love and
not wrath, how God can accept us as holy. Christ has given
us an understanding of that mystery because of who he is and what
he did and why he did it and where he is now. That's right.
An understanding, an understanding. The law is honored, justice is
satisfied, God can be just and justified. You know, I saw something,
Brother Paul, in Matthew 13. Turn over there just a minute.
Talk about this thing of understanding, understanding the gospel. Yeah. Matthew 13. Chapter 13, verse 18. Some of you may identify with
this, but did you attend church and just didn't hear anything?
You heard the words, but you didn't—the book was a—the Bible
was a mysterious book. The sermons were tedious and
tiresome, and the worship service and the songs—that's those two
good songs you sang. Those words didn't mean anything
to me years ago. I sang them. But, and then, one
day, you begin to hear. You begin to see. You begin to
understand. You begin to enter into who Christ
is, why he had to come, why he had to suffer, why he had to
die, why he's an advocate, why God requires these things. Understanding. That's what I'm talking about.
The Son of God hath abounded to us. He not only redeemed us
and forgave us, but he's abounded to us in wisdom and insight and
understanding, so that we might know God. He taught us to know
God. Who is this? What's this? And
Christ is explaining to them the parable of the sower. And
he says in verse 18, Matthew 13, Hearing ye therefore the
parable of the sower, when one hears the word of the kingdom
and understands it not, He sits, and he's told, the words are
told, the words are said, but he doesn't understand them. And
then cometh the wicked one and catcheth away the seed that's
sown in his heart. You see, you preach, and a fellow
listens, and then he goes out, and it's just forgotten. It doesn't mean nothing. He didn't
understand. And he said, this is they which
receive the seed by the wayside. And now look at verse twenty-nine.
The heater received the seed in stony places. It's saying
that he hears the word, and with an arm of joy he receives it,
but he has no root. He has no understanding. He has
no root, no understanding, no insight. He endured for a little
while. He might even make a profession
of faith and attend church for a while, but he doesn't last
long, because what says? Tribulation comes. Persecution
comes because of the Word. And by and by, he's offended.
But then there's a third class. They receive the Word among the
thorns. They're busy people. They're
engaged in the things of this world. They're making money,
making friends, attracting attention. They're climbing the ladder of
success, got a career going, got all these things, you know.
And they hear the Word. They hear the preacher. But they
don't understand what he's talking about. And so these things, these
cares of the world and these riches, he hears it, the seed
sown, but these cares of the world and riches choke the Word. He becomes unfruitful. They don't
understand it. Watch the next line. He that
received the seed, the Word that's preached and sown into the good
ground, he hears the Word And what does he do? He understands
him. I see what you're saying. I understand. He'll never leave you. He's got
a root. He'll never believe anything
else, because he's understand. Man never understands God. He's
not interested in anything else. If he ever sees Christ, you're
not going to run him off. He's got a root. And looky, looky
there. He understands, and he dies through—yes, he does—through
the Spirit, love, joy, peace, faith, longsuffering, meekness.
Yes, he does. Yes, he does. Not all the same,
some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Everybody's not
alike, no more than your kids are all alike. But they're your
kids, and they've got your name in them. Understanding. And that's what verse eight is
talking about. Ephesians 1, he hath abounded
toward us with wisdom, understanding, insight into the mysteries of
his will, and he did that according to the good pleasure which he
purposed in himself. I Corinthians 2, Paul said this, if the leaders of this world
had known who he is, they wouldn't have crucified the Lord of But
they didn't know who he is, they didn't understand. Because eye
hath not seen, and ear hath not heard, neither hath it entered
the heart of man the things that God has prepared for them that
love him. But, but, God hath revealed them to us by his Spirit. For the Spirit searches the things
of God, the mysteries of his will, and reveals them The Son
of God, see you can't, you can't, the election's not salvation,
it's not true salvation. Christ redeemed us, forgave us,
enlightened us, and enriched us. Now watch verse thirteen.
In whom you trusted. It's going to have to be faith.
The Holy Spirit's going to have to come with his gospel and begat
faith. Watch this. In whom you trusted.
after you've heard the word of truth. Exactly what I'm doing
right now, what your pastor does every Lord's Day, and when he
preaches the gospel. He that heareth my word, and
believeth on me that sent me, him that sent me, hath life.
He's passed from death unto life. Paul said, Who shall shall call
on the name of the Lord, shall be saved? And how shall they
call on him in whom they've not believed? And how shall they
believe in him of whom they've not heard? And how shall they
hear without preaching? It pleased God for the foolishness
of preaching to save them, to save them that are called,
by preaching. In whom you trusted after you
heard. What did you hear? The word of truth. Not just preaching,
and not foolish preaching, but the word of truth. Of his own
will begat he us with the word The truth of Christ is the seed
that's planted that grows. That's right. He begat us. Any
time a person's saved, there's going to be two things present—the
Holy Spirit and the Word of God. You can write that down. You try it. Not a quartet. It's
going to be the Holy Spirit preaching through a man the Word of God.
He begat us with the word of truth of his own will. Begat
he us with the word of truth. You're born again, not of corruptible
seed. That's why you're born the first
time, of corruptible semen, flesh of a man, but you're born first
time. But we're born again, not of
corruptible semen, but of incorruptible seed. the Word of God that liveth
and abideth for us. That's what the Scripture says. So that's the reason I say election,
not salvation. Man's not saved because he believes
he's elected. He's saved because he believes on Christ. The person that understands his
name, trust him, don't doubt him. He don't listen. in whom
you trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel. It's
the power of God of the salvation, the gospel of your salvation,
in whom, after you believed, you were sealed with the Holy
Spirit of promise. Let me ask you a question, and
I'll let you go. You know, circumcision was the token, the seal, the
sign of that covenant with Abraham, The circumcision and baptism
and church membership is not the seal and sign and evidence
and assurance that we're safe. What is it? It's the Holy Spirit
in us. That's right. The Holy Spirit,
after you believe, you are sealed. He's the earnest. What is an
earnest? A man puts an engagement ring
on a girl's finger. That's an earnest. That's a pledge. That's a token. She's going to
be married to him someday. You go to buy a house, you put
earnest money down. He can't sell it because you've
already got earnest money. It belongs to you. In that way,
you're given a time limit, though. But still, he's got the earnest
money. The law won't let him sell it. The Holy Spirit's our
earnest. He's our seal. He's our sign.
Now, let me get you to read some scripts. You turn to Romans 8.
This is the way John said, we know we've passed from death
unto life. Why, John? Because we love the brethren.
We would love them if we hadn't passed from death. That's the
spirit of love. The spirit of love, the spirit
of grace. Look at Romans 8, verse 7. Romans 8, verse 7. Listen to this. Romans 8, verse
7. The carnal mind is enmity against God. the natural mind. It's not subject to the law of
God. It's a rebel. Neither you can be. So they that
are in the flesh cannot please God. But you're not in the flesh.
You're in the Spirit. If so be the Spirit of God dwelling
in you, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he's none of
His. That's a sign we're His. We have the Holy Spirit. Look
at verse thirteen. As many as are led by the Spirit
of God, they are the sons of God. That's our earnest, that's
our assurance, that's our sign. You have not received the spirit
of bondage, again, the fear, but you've received the spirit
of adoption. You say, Father, God's my Father, I'm His son. That's the spirit of adoption.
I know whom I have to believe, and I'm persuaded He's able to
keep that which I've committed to Him. He's given me of His
Spirit. Verse sixteen, the Spirit Himself bears witness with our
spirit that we're sons of God. There's your pledge, there's
your earnest, there's your evidence, there's your showing, the Spirit
of Christ. Love for the Word, love for the
people of God, love for the gospel, love for the Savior. Oh, we pass
from death unto life because we love. I want you to turn to
one other scripture, 1 John 3, 1 John chapter 3. And I'll read verse twenty-four. He that keepeth his commandments
dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth
in us by the Spirit he has given us. Chapter four, verse thirteen. Chapter four, thirteen. Hereby
know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he's given
us his Spirit. An old preacher friend of mine,
I asked him one time, said, Doug, you're a pretty good preacher.
He said, thank you. They said, you're a good teacher.
People understand what you're saying. You're plain and simple,
and they understand what you're saying. They remember what you're
saying. They may not believe you, but they remember what you're
saying. What's your secret? He said, I'll tell them what
I'm going to tell them, and then I'll tell them, and then I'll
tell them what I told them. And what I started out to tell
you is the work of the Father, the work of the Son, the work
of the Spirit in redemption. And then I read it to you, and
I'm going to tell you what I told you. God has blessed us. With everything we need, He requires,
Heaven demands. There are all spiritual blessings
in the heaven because he chose us. And he chose us because he
predestinated that some folks are going to be like his. His
son's going to have a people. He's going to be the firstborn
among many, many brethren, all nations, tribes, tribes, and
he already accepted us. But son came down here and redeemed
us and forgave our sins and taught us something. He told us who
he is and what he came to do. He enlightened us with wisdom,
the wisdom of God. He is the wisdom of God. He enlightened
us with wisdom, insight, and understanding. And he gave us
an inheritance. And he's going to come back and
gather together all things in Christ. But the Holy Spirit came,
and one day I was a dumb religious preacher. I didn't know the gospel. I was following the tradition
of my fathers. And the Holy Spirit came to a
preacher. and told me who God is, a sovereign,
almighty God. I was a child of a lesser God,
but he told me about the great God, told me who Christ is. And
he shocked me, he told me who I was, who my daddy was, what
a mess I was in. But Christ came to straighten
out that mess. And you know, I heard him. I
said, this is the gospel. What I've been listening to is
not the gospel. What I've been preaching is not the gospel.
This is the gospel. This is the power of God Himself.
I believe Him. And bless your heart. He gave me a new heart, a new
nature, a new love, a new direction, a new family, new desires. There's not any place in this
world I'd rather be than right here, doing what we're doing,
singing His praises, rejoicing loving one another. Would you? I'm like Peter, that's the only
time that I just stay right here, you know. But you got to grow
up that way. But you still love him. This
is where your heart is. That's where you make your living.
But you're a new creature. You wouldn't go back for all
the wall wells in Texas, would you? Anybody here for sale? I've been vote with the cross. Our Father, we love your word. We love thee because you first
loved us. We rejoice in the good news of
the gospel. We love your people, so thankful
that you made us a part of your family. We can say with David,
Lord, who am I? A sinful wretch. What is my people,
my family, that you reveal the gospel to us? I'm so thankful.
All of us together in one voice, thank you, Lord. to save our
souls. We give you the glory and the
praise and take out of our hearts and minds any thought of taking
any praise or credit for ourselves. To God be the glory of great
things ye have done. Now bless us through this week.
Minister our friends who are sick, our loved ones, those who
are in sorrow and trouble Bless our people everywhere. You will.
We know that. They're your people. So we pray
for them in Christ's name. Amen. Let's sing number 228. Number 228. Thank you for joining us. I take the strength of present
ways, I live the life for free. I trust the air, the faith, and
the rivers for me shall be. I need no other. It is enough that Jesus died
and that He died for me. It is enough for me that Jesus
saved me. It is enough for me now that
as sinful soul I come to Him. It is in the right hand of God,
that he died for me. Third, third is the last. My
body will be free of the world, with the word of God, salvation
by my Savior's name. Thank you.