Open your Bibles to Romans chapter
8. Romans chapter 8. We studied last Sunday morning
from Romans chapter 8. I thoroughly enjoyed studying
this, and many of you expressed the same joy in reading and studying
these scriptures together. And we concluded from our studies
last week, from looking at these things, the conclusion we came
up with was that these blessed truths here in Romans chapter
eight, these things that are called doctrine, they're far
from being debatable points, points of mere debate or contention. But these, to the believer, are
great sources of comfort. These are words of comfort, peace
and encouragement. to true believers. Look back
at Romans chapter 8, verse 28. We began there, and we read this. We know, we concluded based upon
men and women, what they say that they believe concerning
the scriptures. We concluded that not everyone knows this,
but those to whom the Lord has revealed himself to. They know
this. They know some things. We know.
Terry says, we know that all things, all things work together. That is, there's a sovereign
God in control. That God is on the throne and
he is truly in his divine, all-wise person. In his wisdom, he is
working out a divine plan according to his immutable, unchangeable
purpose. That all things, he is wisely
working out all things, I mean all things, all things together. And it says for good, for good,
that is eternal It might not be for our temporal good at the
time, but this world is passing away, and God is going to wean
his people from this world. He's going to, like children,
he's going to wean them from this world to set their affection
on things above. He's going to remove these things
from us. It might not appear, whatever may happen to God's
people, may not appear to be good for them at the time, but
you better believe. that the all-wise God is too
good, too wise to do what's wrong, and that all things are working
together according to his divine plan for good, for eternal good. To them, it says that love God. And why does anyone love God?
What does Scripture say? We love Him because He first
loved us. The only reason anyone ever comes
to love The God of the Bible, this sovereign God who is in
control, is that God gave them the gifts of love, that God first
loved them and revealed himself to them, and then they loved
God in turn. All things work together for good to them that
love God. All things do not work together for good to everyone.
Oh, no. Some men, some women will be
condemned for all eternity. So it cannot rightly be said
that all things are working together for their good. But God's people, yes, yes. And he said, it's all because
of this. Here's the conclusion, or here's
the basis of all this. Them who are called, verse 28,
all things work together for good to them that love God, to
them who are called according to his purpose, that is, God
sovereignly and powerfully and effectually calls people by his
gospel according to his divine purpose, according as he chose
them from the foundation of the world. Verse 29, he continues
there, and he says, because for whom he did that word for there. You saw how this is telling what
the reason for what went before it, or since. The word for means
since. It's a prepositional phrase.
It means since. Since whom he did foreknow, that
is, he foreordained. So whom he did foreordain before
the foundation of the world. The scriptures are very clear
in this. He also did predestinate. Predestinate. It's used in the
scriptures four times. God's people believe it. They
love it. They just believe it now. They
just bow to it, and they believe it. They love it. And I'll show
you in a little bit how this is our hope. This is our comfort. Whom he did foreknow, foreordain
from the foundation of the world, he also did predestinate, predetermine
to be conformed to the image of his Son. God determined before
this whole thing was ever made up before he created this world
to have a people, to conform a people to the image of his
Son, to have a people as the sands of the seashore and as
the stars of the sky. And he determined that every
one of them was going to be just like his Holy Son, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And they wouldn't be so unless
he predetermined it, unless he chose them, unless he elected
them, unless he did all for them, unless he did it all. Because
they were going to fall. They're going to fall in sin,
they're going to be dead in trespasses and sin. They're going to be
unable and unwilling by nature. So God has to do it all for them,
doesn't he? He predetermined to have a people,
to be conformed to the image of his Son, and he's the one
that does it. He conforms them. Like the potter and the clay,
he molds them, he shapes them. He conforms them to the image
of his Son, that Christ might be the firstborn among many brethren. Verse 30. Moreover, add this
to it. Realize this. Whom he did predestinate,
predetermine, them he also called, although God Almighty predetermined
that all this was going to take place. Known unto God are all
his works from the beginning. In other words, God declares
the end from the beginning, saying, My counsel shall stand. Known
unto God are all these things before they happen, but they
must happen. They must take place. God uses
means. He's a God of means. So whom
he did predetermine to be like his son, he called. How did he
call? By the gospel. By the gospel. By the gospel. And whom he called,
that is whom he called by the gospel, he justified. How did he justify? By faith. Faith. The just shall
live by faith. Justify your faith. And who he
justified, he also glorified." But you notice these are past
tense. He did. He did this. He called, he justified,
he glorified. In God's eyes, this was already
done for the foundation of the world. God's people were saved,
considered in Christ from the foundation of the world. And
that's how we saw this morning how God can love us, because
he considers us in Christ. He considers us as being holy.
He considers us justified and glorified. He considers us as
being as holy as his spotless Son before the foundation of
the world. That's the way he considered
us. But Christ had to come, had to die, had to shed his blood,
had to impute his righteousness to us, had to be buried, had
to rise again. The Holy Spirit has to come,
has to convict us of our sins. We have to repent. We have to
believe on Christ, come to him, and live this life. But God does
it all. God did it all. He did it all.
We didn't have anything to do. We're passive in this matter
of salvation. Well, verse 31, the Apostle says,
Well, what shall we then say to these things? What do we say
to these things? Well, the unbelieving world,
the potsherds of the earth, strive with these things. I'll have
anything. I'll believe anything with that
predestination. I'll believe anything but that election. I
believe anything but that. Eternal salvation. I believe
anything but that. That's what the world says. That's
what the unbeliever says. That's what the agnostic says.
I don't know. That may be what it says, but
that can't be what it means. That's what they say. What does
the believer say? Verse 31. If God be for us, who can be
against us? This means we're saved, doesn't
it? And that's where peace comes.
That's where peace comes. The world says these are hard
things. There's got to be more to it than this. The believer
says, is that what it says? That's what it says. All right.
I believe that. That's great. The child of God,
while the world says these are hard things, the child of God
says these are good things. Good things. These are things
that promote peace. This gives me peace. This is
my foundation. That there's nothing for me to
do. That God did it all for me. Christ did it all for me. That's
the rock upon which I stand. That's my hope. That's my comfort.
That's my peace. Now, if you wipe that foundation
out from under me, what am I going to do? Scripture says if the
foundation be destroyed, the foundation of our faith, what
is that? Christ did it all. There's nothing for me to do
except believe. Now, if you wipe that foundation
out from under me, what's the righteous going to do? They're
going to fret and moan and worry. I mean, oh, I've got to live,
I've got to do this, I've got to do that. God's angry with
me. Oh, God's for us. Look at me
against us. Based upon these things. See?
The foundation of our faith. This is good news to the believer.
Gospel. And that's what he concludes
with. If God's with us, if Emmanuel came down here for the express
purpose of saving sinners, that's me, then what have I got to worry
about? Hmm? Not sin, not Satan, not
even this old body of death, Paul said. Who's going to deliver
me? We say that all the time in unbelief.
Who's going to deliver me? Christ has already done it. Already
done it. The believer says, if God has
loved me, chosen me, and determined my course, what does it matter
what men say about me? Hmm? What does it matter? Paul
said this, from henceforth let no man bother me or trouble me. You're not going to listen to
what they say. You can go on, man. You're not going to bother
me one bit. I'm resting on Christ. From henceforth
let no man trouble me, I bear in my body the marks of the Lord
Jesus Christ. If God Almighty, I mean God now,
has eternally decreed my sure and everlasting salvation and
security in Christ, who can touch me?" Hmm? God is for me. Do you believe that? You read the same thing
I read. Right? You say, well, how can
we be sure? How can I be sure he did this
for me? Well, look at verse 32. What should we say then to these
things? If God be for us, who can be against us? Well, how
do I know that's for me? How do I know this is talking
about me, that God is for us? Well, we read this morning. We
studied all morning how that this is a faithful saying, true
saying, worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came in the
world to save sinners. I mean, no good, hell-deserving,
rotten sinner. Is that you? I say, that's me.
He came to save you. And Paul goes on to say this. He says, if God be for us, who
can be against us? Because if God spared not his
own Son, he spared not his own Son. You know, over and over
again, Christ said to his disciples, over and over again. Oh, ye of
little faith. And that's me. Oh, ye of little faith. He said,
why do you have no faith? I looked this up, and it's dozens
of times it's recorded throughout the Gospels, where Christ said,
oh, ye of little faith. Why do you not believe? Why is
it that you have no faith? Hmm? Why do you not believe?
It's a good question, isn't it? Since the Scripture is so clear,
so full of promise, that's a good question, isn't it? Why don't
we believe, anyway? Hmm? Why do we doubt? Why is it that
you doubt? Christ said, I'm here with you.
That's where I came. You see, in front of God, we
declared this this morning. He didn't have to come. He didn't.
Then why'd he come? To save sinners. To save sinners
like you and me. Doubting Thomas's. You know,
it seems incredible. that the Jews of old, the Old
Testament children in the wilderness. It seems incredible that after
all of the miraculous deliverances that the Lord brought them through,
I mean the manna, the water out of the rock, the pillar of fire,
the Red Sea, all of these things, all the pestilences, the blood
on the door, just keep on going. The serpent on the pole, all
the people that were killed in front of them. It seems incredible
that they still went on in unbelief at times, that none of them,
except Joshua and Caleb, over twenty, entered into the promised
land. For what? Unbelief. I mean, they sinned. Oh, did they provoke God in the
wilderness with their sin, didn't they? I mean, hideous, terrible
sin. We've never done anything worse,
anyway. than what these people went through
in the wilderness, what they did to provoke God. I mean idols. I mean, actually, we're idolaters.
Covetousness is idolatry. It's no different than making
a golden calf. We've got our golden calves. But they made
these calves and worshipped them, danced naked around, all these
things. Yet God continually said, He continually spoke to them,
didn't He? In mercy and grace. It seems
incredible, doesn't it, that in spite of all that God did
for them, all these miraculous things, they refused to believe?
Doesn't it? Vicki, it's hard to understand.
And it seems incredible that the disciples, they lived with
God for three years, over three years. They walked and talked
with the Lord himself. I mean, he performed so many
miracles, the scripture says, that all, so many things written,
that the books in all the world couldn't hold all the things
he did. They saw these things first-hand with these eyes. It's
incredible that they refused to believe after a while. Isn't
it? It's incredible. Well, it's more
incredible that you and I don't believe. It's more incredible. Why? Why do you say that, Preacher?
We didn't see all these things. We got the finished book. They
didn't have this book, the disciples. They didn't have the sure promises.
They didn't have the book. We've got a turnkey job. Faith is the key. We've got a
turnkey job. We've got the book from start
to finish, finished. All we've got to do is open it
up and read it right there, black and white. That's what it said. All right. It's more incredible. Peter said this, we have a more
sure word of prophecy, whereunto you do well to take heed as a
light has shined in a dark place. We see clearly, based upon, we
go back in the Old Testament scriptures week after week, don't
we? And see these marvelous pictures. We see miracles, greater miracles
than visions of the eyes, because
we can't necessarily trust these eyes. We might have eaten too
much pizza the night before, you know. But we go back in the
scriptures and see these marvelous pictures of Christ, how it just
can't be any other way. This is it. He's the Christ. Week after week after week, the
Word of God just hammers a nail, hammers a nail, hammers a nail.
And we see these things. We see truly that God sent or
gave His only begotten, well-beloved Son. And from these Old Testament
types, we see that He is the Son of God. He is. And He came. He's the Son of God with power.
And He came. We read in our text here that
God spared him not. God spared him not. That is,
God's holy, lovely, only begotten Son was subjected to sin, sorrow,
pain, suffering. He was made to sin for us. Made to sin. God laid upon him
the iniquity of us all. Us! Who said that? Us, sinners,
laid upon him the iniquity of us all, like took it all off
of us and laid it on him and took his righteousness and put
it on us. We see that from the Scripture,
don't we? That's what it says, doesn't it? And the wrath and the anger and
the justice of this holy God was poured out upon his Son and
he killed his Son and we, and that was us, we died in Christ. God punished us in Christ. condemned us in his own son. It says there, he spared not
his own son, but delivered him up. Here it is again, for us
all. By God's decree, his determinate
counsel and decree from the foundation of the world, he gave over. Peter
said in his sermon that you with wicked hands have taken and crucified
the Lord of glory, but you only did what God had determined before
to be done. God decreed from the foundation
of the world to send his Son into this evil, wicked world,
and to subject his Son to the cruel hands of sinful men, to
be despised, rejected, smitten, stricken, scourged, bruised,
beaten, oppressed, afflicted, wounded, mocked, shamed, and
ultimately killed and buried. Why? For us all, because we deserve
to be despised, rejected, wounded, bruised, mocked, shamed, buried,
put away. But he was done for us. For us. You see, he's our substitute.
That's the gospel in a word. Substitute. In our stead. He took our place. He took our
judgment. He was made the sin for us. He who knew no sin. That we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. We could only believe this. If
we could only believe that he did that, for who? I just can't
believe he did that for me. If we could only believe, if
somehow, by God's grace, faith's a gift of God, we can't muster
it up, can we? We just try and try. Well, how are we going to
believe? Faith comes by hearing, and hearing
by the Word of God. I've been reading, quoting scripture
after scripture after scripture. Do you believe? Faith comes by
hearing. Now, do you hear it? Well, yeah, I heard. But if you
don't believe, you didn't hear it. You heard it went in this
ear and went out that ear. Or it might have stayed here,
along with your head cold, you know. It didn't go down here
to the heart. Because God in love determined
to have you and me, Vicki, because God Almighty determined to have
you as His child. He determined this from the foundation
of the world. There's only one way he's going to be able to
do it. One way, to have you, to receive you, to adopt you,
to accept you into his presence, into his family. He's going to
have to kill his son to do it. You see, that's old-fashioned,
bloody religion. That's the Bible. Without the shedding of blood,
there's no remission of sin. You see, Vicki, it's going to
be your blood or Christ's blood. It was Christ's blood. You don't
have to die. You've got a life now. Blood
shed, death for life. That's the theme throughout the
whole book. That's the theme, rivers and
rivers and rivers and rivers of blood from bulls and goats
and lambs and pigeons and turtledoves. Blood, blood, blood. Wasn't it? The theme. As soon as Adam sinned,
what did God do? Slew an animal, shed some blood
to cover his naked, sinful person. That's the theme. And it's all
the way through, without the shedding of blood. Blood, it's
the blood that makes atonement for the soul. Whose blood? Christ's
blood. Christ's blood. See, this is
how God can be a just and holy God. This is how He can take
people who are ordinarily considered sinners. This is how He can take
them in to be with His Holy Self. He covers them with the skin
of His Son. He covers them with the righteous,
holy skin and works of his Son, and covered his Son with our
sins, with our nakedness, and made his Son naked. There's a
perfect picture in it of Adam being clothed. God made his Son
naked and clothed us. Christ was a lamb slain, a bloody
sin offering to pay the awful price required for sin. And this
sin, I reiterate, I repeat, this sin of ours is nothing more than
rebellion against God. Adam started it. Adam and Eve
started it. They said, we'll be like God. We want to be God.
Not thy will be done, but my will be done. I have a free will,
God. Not you, me. That's where it
started. And men are still saying that
today, until God in sovereign mercy breaks their will, brings
them down, broken, contrite, in the dust. And they say, what
will you have me to do? That's what the Apostle Paul
said, wasn't it? Not my will be done. My will is only bent
toward sin and evil. What are you going to do with
me? Not what am I going to do with you, he said. Well, this is old-fashioned,
bloody, and out-of-date, crude, distasteful to this generation,
isn't it? But to the believer, this is
their only hope. This is what brings peace. This
is what brings joy and comfort. Isn't it? This is Bible salvation.
It's the blood. It's the blood. It's the blood.
The life of the flesh is in the blood, without the shedding of
blood. Why? Why did God have to shed blood?
Why couldn't he have done it some other way? Well, God in wisdom did it this way. Perhaps, here's a type, or here's
an illustration. You know, if any king is suffering
an insurrection, that is, that means an uprising, a rebellion
in his kingdom, how's he going to, well, how's he going to,
well, is that the word? How's he going to stop this insurrection,
this rebellion? How's he going to do it? Now,
y'all come on now, cut that out. Now, y'all quit rebelling against
me. Now, cut that out. Shame on you.
How's he going to do it? He's going to have to crush them,
isn't he? He's going to have to crush this rebellion. Blood's going to have to be shed.
He's going to have to kill his enemies, isn't he, to show forth
his power, to show forth his intolerance of rebellion in his
kingdom. That's a crude illustration,
but that shows the holiness of our God. And he said it from
the very outset. When Adam rebelled, blood had
to be shed. This rebellion had to be crushed
from the beginning. Either in a man, either we have
to be crushed, or somebody else has to be crushed for us. And
that's the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, look here, look back at
the text. It says here in verse 32, look
back at the text, it says, God spared not his own son, but he
delivered him up, delivered him into the cruel hands of men.
to do what he determined before for them to do. Delivered him
up for us all as a sin offering to himself. Delivered his own
son as a lamb, God's lamb. God's lamb to justify us, to
pay for our sin debt. Delivered him up for us all.
Now look at this question. God help us to see this. with Christ, freely give us all
things. He said, well, how do I know
he did this for me? Here we go again. He said, how? Since God, you understand what
I'm, what the word's getting at here? God, God delivered his,
his lovely son, is the apple of his eye. Steve, it would be
like, for some reason, if you threw your boy to the wolves
for some reason. God threw his son into the hands
of wicked men to be killed and murdered as a sin offering for
us. He didn't have to do this. You
see that? If God did this for us, he didn't
have to do this, but he did it for sinners to save them. To justify them, to pay the price
that they owed, that is, their own blood, their death, eternal
hell, he did this. Now he asks the question, well,
how shall he not freely give us all things, since he did this
with his son? And he keeps asking this question
all the way down through Romans 8. If God be for us, who can
be against us? Who is he that condemneth? Christ died. Who
shall separate us from the... God did all these things to his
Son for my sake. What have I got to worry about,
Terry?" And that's why Christ kept saying,
Oh, ye of little faith. Now, here I am. That's why I
came. That's why I came. He said, Let these sayings sink
down in your ears. Deborah, let it sink down in
your ears. This is the true saying. It's
worthy to be believed by everybody, no matter how bad you are, that
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. It might be
good for a man to stand up here and just repeat that over and
over, just over and over until somebody believes it. I need
to hear it over and over again until I believe it. That's me. Christ died for him. That's me. He came to save sinners. That's me. Do you mean it? Yes. That's what it means. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Isn't that what it says? Isn't that what it says? and
his peace, his joy, his comfort, his assurance he will give unto
you, as Scripture says. Peace. It's kind of like this. It's kind of like, faith is kind
of like swallowing a pill. We can't understand. We're not
asked to understand these things. We're not asked to be able to
explain the Bible, are we? We're told, we're commanded as
little children, believe it. except you be converted. That is, from yourself, from
your high and mighty, proud, self-righteous, know-it-all self,
you know, that has to examine everything before, I just won't
believe. He says, except you be converted and become as little
children, you'll not enter the kingdom of heaven. It's kind
of like, faith is kind of like taking a pill. It's kind of like
saying, you know, you go to the doctor and the doctor says, you've
got a terrible problem, you've got a deadly disease, and this
medicine is the only thing that's going to cure you. Only thing. You're dying. You're goner. You're sure to die. This medicine's
it. That's all. It's your only hope,
man. Better take it. And the man says, now wait a
minute. Give me that formula again. Tell me what that medicine,
what's in there. Trust me. Trust me, that doctor
doesn't have time to fool with us, does he? Just take the medicine,
man. Well, I don't know. I'll believe
if I know it works. But how are you going to know
unless you take it, dummy? Go home and take it. Well, God
doesn't call... Well, we are dummies. He ought
to call us dummies. Oh, ye little faiths. That's what Christ said. How long am I going to suffer
with you? Didn't he? Over and over again. How long
am I going to suffer with you? I came down here for the express purpose
of saving you no good bonds. Why is it that you don't believe?
Why is it that you don't believe? Take the medicine, and then the
results come. You see? Take the medicine. You
believe God like a little child, and then the evidence has come.
Wouldn't he say to Mary and Martha before he raised Lazarus, didn't
I say that if you believe me, if you believe God, that you'd
see the very glory of God Himself? Huh? If thou wouldest believe,
you'd see the glory of God? And Henry, if we'd just believe
the promises of God, by His grace and mercy, He has to make us
do it. But we can't explain this thing of God's sovereignty and
our responsibility. We're just commanded to believe,
aren't we? But if we just believe, peace, Peace, Christ said, I give unto
you, no man takes from me." Peace, joy, comfort, assurance. This is what he means here in
verse 32. How shall he not with Christ
also freely give us all things? All things. All things. What
things? Well, look over at 2 Peter. 2
Peter chapter 1. All things. You mean I'll get
a new car out of this? Oh, no. Oh, no. You know, that's foolishness.
Christ is, he said, my kingdom is not of this world. My kingdom
is a spiritual kingdom. He continually exhorted over
and over and over again to not set your affection on things
on this world. He said, whosoever loves the
world, the love of the Father is not in it. Love not the world,
these are the things in the world. He's weaning us from the world
while we want more world. The world weans us from him.
But he weans us from the world, he said. The world takes our
eyes off of him. And he does these things to take
our eyes off the world. We don't need a new car. Hey,
he said, these are the only two things you have need of in this
world, isn't it? What are they? Food, rain, and food. Everybody had a good meal today,
didn't they? Yep. Everybody got clothes on. Yep. That's all you
need. That's all you need. You sure
need a lot of spiritual things, don't you? A lot of spiritual
things. Look at 2 Peter, chapter 1, verse
1. Simon Peter, a servant and an
apostle of Jesus Christ, he's writing this letter to them that
have obtained like precious faith. Why is it precious? Well, because
it's hard to come by. He took the blood of God's Son.
It takes the wooing of the Holy Spirit, the convincing of the
Holy Spirit, so many things. It's precious. It's valuable
because it's rare. Very few have it. Precious faith
through the righteousness of God and our Savior, Jesus Christ. He says grace and peace be multiplied
unto you through the knowledge, through knowledge of God or belief
in God and the Lord Jesus Christ. according as his divine power
has given unto us all things," he goes on to qualify it here,
"...that pertain unto life and godliness." That's the things
we need. That's the things he's promised.
"...through the knowledge of him, of Christ, who has called
us to glory, or by his glory and virtue, whereby are given
unto us exceeding great and precious promises." That by these you
might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption
that is in the world through lust. We're not trying to heap
this world to ourselves. We're trying to get away from
it, aren't we? Well, Christ said this. Let me read this to you over
in Luke chapter 11. He said, here's something He said that
we need desperately. Luke 11, He said, I say unto
you, ask, and it shall be given. What? Seek and you shall find. What? Knock and it shall be opened
unto you. What are you talking about? Everyone
that asks receives. He that seeketh finds it. Him
that knocketh it shall be opened. What's he talking about here?
What things? Well, he says, let me say this. If a son asks bread
of any of you that is a father, will you give him a stone? Will
you give him that which is not good for him? Oh, no. If he asks
a fish, You notice he just asked for something needful for this
body. Christ told us, he taught us to just pray for bread. Give
us this day our daily bread, that's all. Will he give him
a serpent for that fish? Oh, no. Ask an egg, will he offer
him a scorpion? No, no, no, no, no, he said.
If you being evil know that you ought to give good gifts unto
your children, the best things, things that they need, and you
take away the things they don't need, if you know that much, How much more shall your heavenly
Father give a new Cadillac to them that ask him?" That's not
what it says. How much more shall your heavenly
Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? You see, he just said, ask and
you shall receive. What? The Holy Spirit. Seek and
you shall find. What? The Holy Spirit. God's
presence. to know Christ. What does the
Holy Spirit do? It takes the things of Christ and shows them
unto you. That's all you need. Him. He said of Mary, He said,
She's chosen the best part, one thing needful. Mary's chosen
it. What is that? She's at the feet
of Christ. Learn Him. That's the only thing
He's promised us, other than bread. Right? All things. But you say, that's not much.
Oh, no, wait a minute. I sung this morning, Christ is
all. Colossians 3.11. He's all! In him dwells all the
fullness of the Godhead bodily, the wisdom of God. He's made
unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption. He's
all we need, really, isn't he? He's all. What else do we need?
And he says in our text, shall he not with Christ freely give
us all things? What things? Everything Christ
has. What does Christ have? Not this world. He doesn't want
this old world. He's going to burn it up someday. What does
he have? Perfect communion with the Father,
the love of the Father, acceptance with the Father, communion, love
with the Father, the Holy Spirit without measure. These are the
things we have need of. One thing is needful. This old
world is passing away, but Christ, as the Son over his house, liveth
and abideth forever. So with him, with the Son, we're
heirs Joined heirs with Christ, certainly, of eternal salvation,
of the promises of God, and right now, of the protection, the care,
the comfort, the peace that God gives because of Christ. Well,
look over at James chapter 4. James chapter 4. And I'll hurry. James chapter 4. We've looked
at this before. This covetous religious world. These men that make merchandise
of men's souls, they're going around preaching this health
and wealth gospel. They're deceiving the hearts
of many. They're waxing worse and worse, deceiving themselves
and deceiving others and being deceived themselves. When the
scriptures are so clear that the kingdom of God is not in
meat and drink, has nothing to do with it. Nothing to do with
this old world. Nothing. Look at James chapter
4. He says, now consider this. Don't
consider this as fighting among believers, among different people.
Consider this as this inward struggle that we go through.
Look at it. For whence come wars and fightings among you or inside
of you? These problems. He's talking
about the problems we have within ourselves. We fight, don't we?
Fight ourselves. Don't they come of your own lusts? Don't they? That war in your
memories? Your own lusts? All our problems
come from lusting after this world. They do. Verse 2, you
lust and you have not and you get so upset because you don't
have it. You have not and you kill. That is, you hate, you
have bitterness, all these things you desire to have and you can't
obtain it. You fight, you war, yet you have
not because you ask not. And when you do ask, you receive
not because you ask amiss. That is, you don't ask for the
things necessary and needful. Most of the time we ask for things
we want, not things we need, not things needful. And the Holy
Spirit, we read that over in Romans 8 a couple of weeks ago,
how the Holy Spirit has to plead for us, intercede for us, doesn't
it? and go to the Father with the
things we really need, groanings that cannot be uttered, things
that we don't consider. He says, you ask a mist that
you might consume it right back to the problem. Heat problems
on problems, right from the frying pan into the fire is what we
ask for. That you might consume it back on your own lust, the
water of this world that never satisfies. Look at verse 4. He says, You adulterers and adulteresses. Now, this is talking in the sense
of we're married to another. Christ said you can't serve God
and mammon. Terry, we've got a husband. Our
maker is our husband. But when we go after this world
to serve this world, seek after and pursue after this world,
we're committing adultery, aren't we? Instead of seeking after
Him to win Christ and be found in Him, seeking these things,
setting our affection on these things, you see. An adulteress,
an adulterer is one who gives their affection to somebody other
than their husband, isn't it? That's the sense of what he's
saying here. Adulterers and adulteresses. Listen, verse 4. Know ye not
that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? That's what
it says there. Whosoever therefore will be the
friend of the world is the enemy of God. Enemy of God. Look at verse 5. How clear could
this be? Do you think the Scripture says
it in vain? That the Spirit that dwells in
us lusts to envy? In other words, this old flesh
warring against the Spirit? Do you think it says that in
vain? No, it says it for our good, for our warning. That the
flesh, this old man that is in us, lusts against the Spirit. That our Father the Devil, by
nature, he doesn't want us to be spiritual, he wants us to
be carnal, doesn't he? Taken up with this world, my
Christ. Blind your mind from the gospel and the things you
really need. And like a pig in a waller, he wants you looking
down at this world, not up, down. Don't look up, look down. That's
what he wants us to do. But God gives to them that ask.
What? Verse 6, look at it. Grace! He gives more. Grace, grace, grace. That is another word for salvation,
knowledge of Christ. Grace, that's what we were talking
about this morning, grow in grace. What is it to grow in grace?
Does it mean you grow better? Well, in a sense, yes, but the
greatest sense of that is to grow in dependence upon the Lord
Jesus Christ, grow in faith and knowledge of God's gift of grace,
who is his son. To grow in grace, really, is
a downward growth. That is, to grow more humble,
more contrite, more broken, more dependent upon His grace. That's
what it is to grow in grace. Well, you see, God is freely, sovereignly
bestowed upon all believers all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places. Who's that? Where's that? What's
that? Christ in heavenly places. That's where Christ sits at the
right hand of God. He's given us all things. And
the scriptures say, it does not yet appear unto us what we shall
be like. Eye hath not seen, ear hath not
heard, neither have entered into the hearts of man the things
that God has prepared for them to love. If they'd enter in just
a little bit, Henry, just a little bit. Paul said it, he said, I
saw things were impossible letters. Folks, he said, I have not seen. Oh, my, if you could see what
I saw. And I'm sure that's what they told Thomas. Thomas, he's
here. I don't believe that. Tommy, come on, man. The Lord
had to reveal himself to him. But those that see, the apostles
over and over again said, we've touched him. We've handled him.
With the word of life, we've seen him. We've dwelt with him.
Believe him. And God's true men are saying
that now. Well, you know, if the Holy Spirit
ever shows a man his real need, that is, forgiveness of sin,
salvation, to know Christ, to be found in Christ. If He'll
ever show a man his real need, well, from then on, he'll be
taken up with Christ and not these petty little things. It's
the Lord, He'll be able to, then and then only, will a man or
a woman, when they have these things taken away from them,
then and then only, will they be able to say, It's the Lord. He knows what He's done. He knows
what He's done. I'm convinced of that. Look over
at 1 Peter. 1 Peter, and I'll quit. This is the last verse. 1 Peter chapter 1. 1 Peter chapter 1. Let's read a
few verses here. Lord, open our understanding
of it. Peter verse 1, an apostle of Jesus Christ. He says to the
strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatias, Cappadocia,
Asia, Bithynia. It's as if he's naming name after
name after name, trying to include everybody. And this is us. Scattered strangers. Elect, there's
that word, it's a blessing, it's a glorious word, elect according
to the foreknowledge, there's that word again, I like it, foreknowledge,
foreordination, foreordination of God the Father through sanctification
of the Spirit, that is the Spirit set us apart unto obedience and
sprinkling of the blood of Christ, his obedience, his death, grace
unto you and peace, be multiplied, grow in grace. Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which, according to his
abundant mercy, has begotten us unto a lively hope by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance
incorruptible, undefiled, fadeth not away. It's reserved in heaven.
Nancy, you've got a seat. It's got your name on it. Right now, kept by the power,
the sovereign power of God, His restraining grace, through faith
unto salvation, ready to be revealed, ready for Christ to present you
as His bride in the last time, wherein you greatly rejoice.
We do rejoice in this, don't we, at times. Though now for
a season, if need be, according to God's wisdom, you're in heaviness
through many temptations. But this is all at the trial
of your faith. being much more precious than of gold, that is,
it has to be refined, has to be tried, make sure you really
got it, though it be tried with fire, that it might be found
under praise and honor and glory at the period of Jesus Christ,
whom having not seen you love, in whom, though now you see him
not, yet believing you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full
of glory, receiving the end of your faith, What is that? This
is even a salvation of his soul. And this is a salvation of prophets
from the beginning of time. The prophets have inquired and
searched diligently, and they prophesied and wrote of this
grace, the giving of God's Son that should come to you. Searching
what? They searched what? In what manner
of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify
and tell them when it testified beforehand the sufferings of
Christ? and the glory that should follow, this final glory. And
it was revealed unto them, that not unto them, but unto us, they
wrote these things, they ministered these things, that are now reported
unto you by them that have preached the gospel. Who's that? Me. Everybody's
preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Spirit sent down
from heaven. And these are things that even the angels desire to
look into. The angels have taken up with it. The angels are listening to this
message. If they could say amen, they'd
say it. Look at verse 13. Wherefore?
Look at it, everybody. Gird up the loins of your mind.
Gird them up. Gird them up. Be sober and hope to the end
perfectly for the grace that is to be brought unto you at
that final revealing of the Lord Jesus Christ? Oh, Lord, I believe. Please help
my heart to believe. Please help me. Dost thou believe? All things are possible unto
him that believeth. Dost thou believe that Jesus is the Son
of God? Do you believe that? Yes. My faith has made me hope. Still
hold true today. Those simple words that Christ
spoke still hold true today. May God grant us saving faith. Stand with me and I'll dismiss
this in prayer. Our sovereign God, how we thank
you. How we thank you for your word. Father, enable us from this day
forward, if we have not loved you before, if we haven't believed
before, let us begin today. Show us Christ. Show us ourselves. Make us flee to Christ. Enable
us by your grace, by your mercy, to come to Christ, how we need
Him. We desperately need Him in this
dark day, in these perilous times. And show us increasingly, show
us more and more every day, just how much, how bad we need Him. Just how desperate this thing
is getting that we live in this perishing world. This is not so much religious
talk. This is the truth. And may we
believe it. May we believe Him. In His name
we pray and ask these things. Amen.