Turn with me this morning again,
if you would, to the book of Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians
chapter 2, as we continue in our study of the great doctrines
of grace, how glorious they are, and how they have been used to
uphold the truths of God's word for centuries, and even before
they were articulated as we know them, It was the truth of the
gospel that was preached, Old Testament, New Testament. There
were those in the Old Testament that understood that all men
are totally incapable, unable. In fact, there was no ability
in them to ever have come to Christ alone. They are depending
wholly and completely upon Jesus Christ, God the Father, and God
the Son for their salvation. And so as we look here again
in the book of Ephesians chapter 2, we have these words, And you
hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sin. And that
word quickened means to be made alive, and it is in italics,
which means it was not there in its original, but we drop
down a couple of verses and we run into it. Wherein in time
past, and here we find the problem, we're totally enabled. There
is total inability or there is total depravity. And it's mentioned
here, wherein in time past you walked according to the course
of this world, according to the prince and power of the air,
the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.
Now, whatever you want to put there, I sometimes just supply,
I was dependent upon my will. That was the God of my world,
was my will. Now if I was influenced from
outside, so be it. But I know what it was to be
influenced from inside, my will. Verse 3, among whom also we all
had our conversation or our manner of life in times past, in the
lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and
of the mind, and we're by nature the children of wrath, even as
others. And I don't know how many have told me I'm the exception."
Well, that's just too rare. This is what God is telling about
us, about our natural state before God, before we can get to the
good word about grace. but God, who is rich in mercy
for His great love wherewith He loved us. Now, that s a wonderful
thing about God s love. It is never changing. There is no variableness about
God s love. His love began for the church
in eternity past. There s not a wave movement in
it, in a scintilla. There s not even I looked up
today the smallest measurement, and you know, I can't even pronounce
it. It's a billionth of the billionth of a billionth of a centimeter,
or something like that. I thought, well, that's not even,
that's not even that much of variation in God's eternal love
for his people. Time passed, eternity passed,
old eternity, in time or in the future. God said that He does
not change, therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. I'm
not going to change my mind about you. God does not change. So in that we find great refuge. He does not change. Even when
we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, by grace
ye are saved, and hath raised us up together, and made us sit
together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages
to come we might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness
toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace Are ye saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves? It is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. There is no boasting in this.
Now, when we are saved by our free will, we have much to boast
about. But when we're saved by grace,
we have nothing to boast about except the grace of God. We're
not in the equation. For we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them. Wherefore remember that ye being
in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who were called uncircumcision
by that which is called the circumcision, the flesh made by hands. And
Paul's going to go on and say, it makes no difference. Whether
you're Jew or Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, it takes the
grace of God. You know, the disciples had a
question one time about this. They said, who then can be saved? You know, that's a very interesting
question. But would you turn with me to
the book of Matthew? The book of Matthew chapter 10. The book
of Matthew chapter 10, we find the disciples of the Lord Jesus
dealing with this question, and they go to the right person about
this question. They don't go to philosophers,
they don't go to religious people, they go to Christ. Christ is
the one they ask this question to. In the book of John chapter
10 and verse 24, the disciples, the disciples not of The disciple
is not above his master, nor the servant above his Lord. It
is enough for the disciple... Let me get down here. I want
to make sure I'm in the right place. No. How did I do that? The disciples asked the question,
who then can be saved? Mark, excuse me, Mark chapter
10. Mark chapter 10 verse 24. I'm
glad I had that written down twice. Mark chapter 10 and verse 24. Let's read that passage. And the disciples were astonished
at his words. Mark 10, verse 24, Now, I think he's talking about
two things here too. He's talking about physical riches,
but also riches of our own righteousness. When we're rich in our own righteousness,
we are, it isn't, well, he goes on to say, it is easier for a
camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man
to enter into the kingdom of God. Now, you've probably read
in some book somewhere about how people define that by saying
that there was a, door in the walls of Jerusalem called the
Eye of a Needle. And when you got there late and
your camel was full of burden, you had to take everything off
the camel and it had to go down through and wiggle its way through
the gate. Don't believe a word of it. That's not what it's talking
about. He goes on to tell us what He's
talking about. If you look this up, it is talking about a real
camel, and it is talking about a real needle, and He is not
talking about a gate that is not in the walls of Jerusalem. He's saying it is easier for
a camel to go through the eye of a needle. Now, yesterday,
Nancy had her needle out, and it's got that little bitty tiny
hole for a piece of thread. Well, even a sack needle. You
know, we used to, I used to watch those George Converse sew sacks
of wheat on a threshing machine. And he was so good at it, so
quick. And it had a deal in there where you just pull the string
through. You didn't have to run an eye through, or the thread
through the eye. You just pulled it through there.
It was spring loaded. And that needle was about this long. You
still can't get a camel through that eye of that needle. Well,
the Lord goes on to tell us here, ìAnd they were astonished out
of measure, saying among themselves, ìWho then can be saved?îî You
know, natural man has got it all figured out. Itís just the
simplest thing to do. I have a nephew that won a bicycle
one time. And I was very envious of that
bicycle. And I wondered, how in the world
did you win that bicycle? And he says, I won it in a soul
winning contest. The church had a contest about
who could win the most souls. And he won the most souls. He
didn t darken a church door in 30 years, but he won a soul-winning
contest. You know what? God said here,
as the disciples brought out, Who then can be saved? And Jesus looking upon them said,
With men it is. Did you notice that word? The
next word. With men it is impossible. What a statement to make. I am
required by God Almighty to make that statement from this pulpit. With men it is impossible. He's answering the question those
disciples brought up, who then can be saved? How were they saved? With men, it is impossible. With you, John, it's impossible. With you, Matthew, it is impossible. With you, Peter, it is impossible. But he goes on to say, "...with
men it is impossible, but not with God, for with God all things
are possible." Well, most of the time we think about paying
our finances. God can take care of that. Well,
when we boil it down to it, he's talking about spiritual things.
With God, it is possible. You know, when God is moving
and God is acting, things are going to happen. And that's what
we find that the Lord shares with us. You know, the Scriptures
tell us, there is none that understandeth. The Bible is just so full of
verses of Scripture that share with us the results of the fall.
That's what we're talking about, the results of the fall. How
far did Adam and Eve fall when they fell? They fell completely. There wasn't a spiritual thought
in their head. They ran from God. They hid from
God. They didn't want God around them.
This is the true God. They didn't want the true God
around them, but they'll have their own gods. They covered
themselves with fig leaves. And you know, over in the book
of Ezekiel chapter 16, we have a description of the church before
and then with God acting upon them. Would you turn with me
to the book of Ezekiel chapter 16? In the book of Ezekiel chapter
16, we have a statement made here about the church, how God
finds us. Ezekiel chapter 16 verse one,
and it's not a beautiful sight. There's nothing beautiful about
it. There's no attraction there. You know, It's not going to be
very long here in the month of June. Maybe it's already passed.
Fifty-four years ago, I was washing dishes and a lady walked through
that door and I about broke my neck, cranked it around to look
at her. She had a great deal of attraction. And I said in my heart right
then, there she is. That's the one I'm going to marry.
Now, I didn't know that she had any idea about it, and when I
asked her to marry me, I didn't have any hope that she'd say
yes, but she did. She had a great deal of attractability
about us, but what does God look down when he looks upon us in
our natural state? There is nothing whatsoever that
is attractive. We're dead in trespasses and
sin, and besides that, we're thumbing Him. We're sticking
out our fist and said, I'll not have this man rule over us. Well,
here in the book of Ezekiel chapter 16, we find where God finds us. Again, the word of the Lord came
unto me, saying, Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations. And that's speaking of the church.
This Jerusalem is the church. I want you to tell her abominations. And say, Thus saith the Lord
God unto Jerusalem, Thy birth and thy nativity is the land
of Canaan. You know, when we say that that
s about Israel, that is true too, but it is really about the
church. We have no good qualities about
us when it comes to spiritual things. Thy birth and thy nativity is
of the land of Canaan. Thy father was an Amorite, thy
mother was a Hittite. We're pagans by nature. We have
nothing to go back to. It doesn't matter whether our
grandparents were good Christian people or not. We're pagans.
And here it goes on, and as for thy nativity, in the day that
thou wast born, thy navel was not cut. This is what we are
by nature. He's looking at us and says, this is what I find
when I find my lost sheep. This is the nature that they
are. It says, thy nativity, the day that I was born, thy navel
was not cut, neither was thou washed in water to supple thee,
and thou wast not salted, nor at all, nor swaddled at all.
None I pitied thee to do any of these things unto thee. I
don't know how many preachers I've heard say to people that
are just not exactly what they want for church members. You're
going to have to clean up your act before you can come to this
church. You know, a church is a hospital for sinners. That's
what we're here for. We're sinners. And it's a hospital. We get to hear things about God
who loved us with an everlasting love. So we have a description
here of our natural state. God looked upon us. Now, when
we looked upon ourselves, we didn't see all this, but God
is sharing with us what he looked upon us, and there was no eye
pity deep. Now, if you can tithe, you'll
get pity. If you'll do the work around the place, you'll get
pity, but other than that. So he says, to have compassion
upon thee, but thou was cast out into an open field to the
loathing of thy person in the day that thou was born. It's almost a description of
a boarded child, taken out and thrown out. Nobody wanted it. And then it tells us there, and
when I passed by thee, I saw thee polluted in thine own blood. Now, Brother Mike read this morning,
it's not the blood. It's not our natural blood. That's
not gonna, it's not gonna work. Our natural state will not, our
inheritance, our natural inheritance will not work. I passed by thee
and saw I saw thee in the state that
you were in. When I passed by thee, I saw
thee polluted in thine own blood. I said unto thee, when thou wast
in thy blood, Do you grant me permission to
give you life? Would you raise your hand? Would you sign the
card? Would you come forward so I can
give you life? No, look what he said here. Live, yea, I said
unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, live. I have caused thee
to multiply as the bud of the field, and hast increased and
waxen great, and thou art come to an excellent ornament. Thy
breasts are fashioned, and thy hair is grown, whereas thou wast
naked and bare. So what a statement that God
makes here about us in our natural state. and then what He does
for us. You know, last week we looked a little bit as we talk
about election that God elected Christ. My goodness, and he chose
his people in Christ. Christ was a chosen vessel. Christ
was a chosen stone. God chose Christ. And we follow
this out, we find, in turning to the book of Ephesians. Turn
with me, if you would, to the book of Ephesians, as we read
a few verses on this great subject, and then we'd like to continue
with it. In the book of Ephesians, there
in chapter one, verse four and five, the scriptures share this,
and you know, When I was growing up, I never heard this passage
of scripture ever read from. Pastor never went there. In my religious days, I never
preached from this. I was even a Calvinist. And I
didn't spend much time on this, but it says right here, according,
verse 4 of Ephesians chapter 1, according as He hath chosen
us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before Him in love. Turn with me, if
you would, into 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy, there in chapter 1. 2 Timothy
1 and verse 9, we have another statement that God has made with
regards to us and how we are where we are. I found thee out
in a field in thine own blood, and I said, Live, and you lived. Here we find in the book of II
Timothy, chapter 1, verse 9, it says, Who hath saved us, and
called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us
in Christ Jesus, when? Before the world began. God had
an interest in His people before the world began. When we talk
about elective grace, we're talking about the very beginnings of
our salvation. We're talking about when God
thought on saving us. And it's an eternal thought we
had, that He had for us. In the book of Acts, back up
to the book of Acts chapter 13. In Acts chapter 13, the Apostle
Paul is speaking to a bunch of Jews And we don't want to hear
this. We're satisfied with our religion.
And Paul said, OK, I turn to the Gentiles. And he began to
preach to the Gentiles in Acts 13, verse 48. The same thing
that applies here in Acts 13, verse 48 to Gentiles is the same
thing that God must and does require when it comes to saving
Jews, when it came to saving Saul of Tarsus, Acts chapter
13 and verse 48, it says, When the Gentiles heard this, when
they heard the gospel, they were glad, and glorified the word
of the Lord. They didn't glorify their experience. They didn't glorify their church
membership. They didn't glorify how long they'd been a church
member. They didn't glorify their baptism. They didn't say that we can trace
it all the way back to John. They glorified the Word of the
Lord, it says there, and as many as were ordained to eternal life
believed. That's what God's Word says about
this, as many as were ordained to eternal life. And people were,
well, what about my children that are not saved? How's it
going so far without election? Not very far, is it? No, you
know, the only hope that we have for us and our children and for
our grandparents and our great grandparents that God came to
them in electing love. And for our great-grandchildren,
the same is true. We find in the book of Romans
chapter 8 and verse 30. Would you turn there with me?
In Romans chapter 8 and verse 30, the scriptures are filled
with the subject of God's part of our salvation, which is its
entirety. In Acts chapter 8 and there in
verse 30, we read these words about God's word and about God's
grace. It says there, moreover, Whom
he did predestinate. And we mentioned last week about
predestination. Jennifer and Caleb got onto a
plane that was predetermined, predestinated to go to Kansas
City, Missouri. They got off the plane, spent
four hours, and got on another plane that was predestinated
to go to Orlando, Florida. Now I'm convinced that if Caleb
had heard that that plane was not, they didn't know where it
was going, he would have not got on. Every night he asks,
are the doors locked? You know, he's got this, He would
not have got on that plane. But we find out when it comes
to God's salvation, people have a real problem that God would
predestinate things, and particularly that He would predestinate people. And here it says, for whom He
did predestinate them He also called, and whom He called them
He also justified. What is He saying right there?
Same thing we found over in Ezekiel chapter 16. I found you in a
polluted state, I predestined to come down and raise you out
of that polluted state. And we rejoiced that He would
come down and pull us out of that polluted state. He goes
on to say, "...and whom he called, them he also called." He's going
to make sure the gospel comes to them. He's going to call them
by the gospel, the truth of the gospel. "...and whom he called,
them he also justified." They're going to be righteous before
God because of the righteousness that's imputed to them. "...and
them he justified, then He also glorified. He promised that they
will be with Him for eternity. They cannot lose what God gives
them. Another passage of scripture
I want to go to is found in the book of John, chapter 6. John,
chapter 6, as we think about this great subject of God's elective
grace, God's election, eternal election, As we find, it was
defined as unconditional election. It is only conditioned upon God
and not upon us. In John chapter 6 and verse 37,
we have this hope that is given to us. All that the Father giveth
me shall come to me. and him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out." John chapter 6 and verse 37. And we
also heard this morning, and I want to read it, that's found
in the book of John chapter 17. John chapter 17 and verse 2. You know, it is interesting,
it's a blessing to find out that the Lord Jesus has power over
all flesh. God has power over all flesh. There is not one bit of humanity
that is not under His power. It tells us in the Proverbs that
He raises up kings. the heart of the kings in His
hand, and He turns them whithersoever He will. He raised up Nebuchadnezzar. He raised up Pharaoh, and then
said in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament, He
said, for this reason have I raised thee up, that I might show my
power in you. Here in the book of John chapter
17 and verse 2, as thou hast given Him power over all flesh,
He's going to share with His disciples, all power is given
unto Me in heaven and in earth. Here it says, it goes on, that
He should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given Him. So God gave Him a gift and eternity
passed and Jesus Christ is here to pay for that debt. Pay their
debt price. as thou hast given him power
over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many
as thou hast given him." And then if you turn with me to the
book of II Thessalonians, II Thessalonians chapter 2, we find
in this passage of Scripture some more about this great blessing
that God gives to His people in making sure, in the eternity
past, making sure that His eye was upon them, His love was upon
them, His care was upon them, and even as we find written,
there was a lamb slain from the foundation world to purchase
them to pay for their sin debt, to ransom them. Here in the book
of II Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 13, but we are bound to
give thanks always to God for you, brethren and beloved of
the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation
through sanctification of the Spirit and belief in the truth.
The Spirit comes in this miraculous way, overcoming every bit. I've said this before, that when
God created the heavens and the earth, there was absolutely nothing
resistant. There was no resistance at all.
God created the heavens and the earth without resistance. You
know what He's up against when He comes to save His people from
their sins? Our very resistance. We are resisting
that. We don't want that. It's against
our nature. And yet God is not going to stop. He's going to overcome us. He's going to put that nature
down. He's going to give us a new nature.
He says, Brethren, beloved, because God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth. Whereupon he called you by our
gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. What a statement. The Apostle
Paul was led by the Holy Spirit to write much of the New Testament
and it is full of God's statement, the Holy Spirit's statement about
how we are saved and what we are saved from. The Bible is
full of passages that tell us about God's great grace and salvation
of His people, how glorious it is, what a grace it is. And it
truly is grace, how God chose a people in Christ Jesus and
that He purposed to save them. He elected, He chose them, He
predestinated all that would ever be trophies of His grace. I've gone into homes before and
the children of the home were very athletic or something and
they had all kinds of trophies on the wall. Boy, and mom and
dad look at those and look, oh my, oh look at that, look at
that. We even have a couple trophies that Tim won when he was in wrestling,
you know? Boy, now that's 25 years ago. Trophies. You know what God's
going to have in everlasting eternity with Him? Trophies of
His grace. They will not be trophies of
their will. They will be trophies of His
grace. Everyone will bow to Him. Every knee shall bow, and every
knee shall bow in thanksgiving, that He had an interest in them
before the world began, because left to themselves, they would
have continued in their pollution out in the field. We have read
a number of these verses, and we must again say that people
do not believe this. It's not because it's not in
the Bible. People don't believe in election
because it's not in the Bible, because it is there. And they
don't believe it because we haven't defined the words correctly. Nobody worries about the words
in everyday vernacular. When you talk about election,
oh, we're going to have an election in November. We just had an election.
Does anybody get into a dither about it? No. The only people
that get into a dither is when God elects before the foundation
of the world. And the reason that they get
into a dither about it is there has not been a new birth visit. That's why we can't accept it,
why we won't believe it, is there hasn't been a new birth visit.
When there's a new birth visit, when God gives us a new birth,
it just becomes so plain, that's the only way we could be saved,
is by His great grace. Turn with me, if you would, to
the Book of Romans, and we have a great example here, found in
the Book of Romans, Chapter 9. In the Book of Romans, Chapter
9, the Apostle Paul was used by the Holy Spirit, and just
remember, Paul is a secretary. These are not his words. These
are the words that God gave him to write down so that we can
know what the Bible, what God had to say. In the book of Romans
chapter nine, we have the apostle Paul go into quite a discussion
about twins. Twins. Now I can speak about
that. I'm a twin. And my parents often said, what
one didn't think of, the other one did. We found out that working
together, we could do twice as much as working alone. We could
get into twice as much problem as working alone. Very seldom
did we ever use it for a positive thing. Well, here in this passage
of Scripture, in chapter 9, we're talking about some twins. Now,
just to preface this for a moment, over in the book of Galatians,
there's two brothers, Isaac and Ishmael. Now, they
have the same dad, but they don't have the same mother. And some
people could just say the reason that God did not choose Ishmael
is, look what a rascal he became. Well, okay, if you want to believe
that. So the Apostle Paul, heading
off that question before it ever gets asked, let's talk about
two boys with the same mom and the same dad that have everything
equal. Did you know Ishmael is about
15 years older than Isaac? And yet the Holy Spirit has it
written in the book, the Bible, that Abraham was to take his
son Isaac upon the mountain, his only son. Isaac is the promised
son. Ishmael is after the flesh. And
we find out in the book of Galatians that that Ishmael persecuted
the brother that was of this picture of spiritual birth. And
that continues on to this day, the Apostle Paul said. There
is this persecution. The flesh always wants to persecute
the spirit. Well, here in the book of Romans,
chapter 9, we're introduced to some twins before they're born. If we go back to the book of
Genesis, we could read this account. But here in the book of Romans,
chapter 9, and beginning with verse 9, we read these words.
For this is the word of promise. At this time will I come, and
Sarah shall have a son." That was God's great promise to Abraham
and to Sarah. Now, we go to the Old Testament,
and Abraham questioned that, and so did Sarah. When she heard
that, she laughed. She said, it's impossible. I'm
90 years old. It can't happen. You know the
wonderful thing about being under the blood, the New Testament,
the everlasting covenant, that that is never brought up. We
don't hear about Abraham, oh, and Sarah laughing. We find out
by faith Abraham and by faith Sarah. We don't find their negative
parts. Isn't it wonderful that under
the blood God does not see us as negative? He always sees us
in Christ. We always see us whole, complete. That's wonderful. Well, here
it says in verse 10, And not only this, but when Rebekah also
had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac, we have there
Sarah, she had a son, Isaac. She had her handmaid, a slave
lady, bear the other son. You know, we can say all kinds
of things about Abraham, and we can say, Abraham, if you'd
have just been patient. Isn't that wonderful word still
used about people that are not very patient? If you'd just been patient. Well,
God had a son born, Ishmael, 17 years, 15 years later, he
had the promised son born. And you know, God used that whole
scenario in the book of Galatians to share with us that there's
a whole bunch of people that want to continue to worship at
Mount Sinai, which speaks about Jerusalem today. That religious
group that wants to worship the law, And then he said, in the
other side of the allegory, we have a son that represents worshiping
God by grace, by promise. We have a son, Isaac, who was
the promise seed. So God, however he wants to work
it out, he worked it out so we can see an allegory there. And
he said, this son, Isaac, speaks of Jerusalem, which is above,
a spiritual relationship. All right, as we go down through
here, it says in verse 11, I wondered, and I was mentioning
this to Mike this morning, you know, if, as people say, God
looked down through time and he saw that people were going
to have faith and that's who he wrote down in the Lamb's Book
of Life. You know, there isn't a word
of truth in that. And if we looked at, Jacob here, if God looked down
through time, what's he going to see? He is going to see a
rascal. I mean a conniver, a liar, a
cheat, a guy that would cheat his brother out of his inheritance,
a guy that would cheat his brother out of a blessing. You know,
he could have gave that bowl of pottage to a hungry brother
and says, I love you and I just want to take care of you, but
he wouldn't do that. He traded him out of it. Now,
it was wrong for the brother to give it up, that's true, but
he was a conniver and a liar, so there's no truth that God
looked down through time. Secondly, that would require
God changing his mind, and God doesn't do that. He doesn't look
down through time and say, oh, I see where Norm is gonna come
to me and I'll choose him. No, no, he saw it's not based
on forcing faith, it's based on forcing unbelief. That's what
his choice is made on. They will not believe, therefore
I must do something on their behalf. And so, for the children
being not yet born, now this is in parenthesis, notice that?
All it is, is explaining some more for us. The Holy Spirit
said, let's go over this again, and let's go over this with a
little more emphasis, for the children being not yet born,
neither having done any good or evil. All right. Now, don't stop in that verse
of Scripture, because if we stop there, we miss the point. It
goes on to say that the purpose of God according to election
might stand not of works, but of him that calleth. It's not
of works. I want you to understand that
the point here is that God has chosen one and not the other. He's going to share with us In
verse 12, it was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger,
and as it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
Now, you know, how can God hate anybody? I grew up with God is
love, God is love. You know, the Bible tells us,
and that's where we have to go. The Bible says that He is angry
and hates every worker of iniquity. Iniquity is something he hates
and disdains. And that's why he had to put
his darling son to the cross to pay for the sins of his people. He hates it. And everyone that
was not paid for at the cross, he has the right to hate because
they are sinners to the core. And they'll be judged for that.
I've had people say, you know, people go to hell because they
didn't accept Jesus. People go to hell because they're
sinners. lost sinners. That's why they go to hell. And
that's why people in Africa that never hear the gospel are still
going to go to hell, because they're sinners. I've had people
tell me, we're doing them an in-service. If we take the gospel
to them and they hear about Jesus and reject it, they're worse
off than if they'd have never heard. No, no, no. No, they're
not. Without the gospel, no one will
ever be saved, and the gospel was taken because someone's there
needing to be saved. All right, as it goes on to tell
us then, as it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I
hated. I loved him with an everlasting love beforehand, or I would have
never chosen him because he's a rascal. He is a terrible person. One old preacher said, I can
certainly understand why Esau was not loved, but I cannot understand
how Jacob was ever loved by God. By grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God. That's what
His love is about. Both the offspring had the same
father and mother before they were born, having not done any
good or evil. You know, the Bible tells us
that both of them came forth from their mother's womb speaking
lies. Both of them said they were conceived in iniquity. Both
of them, all of this is said about both of those children.
But God had his eye on one of them before the foundation of
the world. What does it say there right
in verse 11? That the purpose of God according
to election might stand. Now, either we're going to love
it or we're going to hate it. And after you're born again,
you're going to love it because there's no way we'd ever come
to God on our own. Verse 14, what shall we say then?
Is there unrighteousness with God? You know, in the original,
there is that thought there is God's name is not mentioned in
the latter part of that. Of course not. Absolutely not. You can't come to that conclusion.
the purpose of God according to election might stand. The
children were not yet born. They had done neither good or
evil. God designed this to declare his right to exalt whom he would
and put down whom he would. He would show that his purpose
of election was unalterable. The divine choice was made not
in view of any works done, but according to His grace and grace
alone. Is there unrighteousness with
God? By no means. Of course not. That is what I've
had people say. That's unfair. That's unfair. You know what they're saying?
There's unrighteousness with God. It's unfair that he would
do that. That I didn't have a chance.
We had every chance in Adam, and we joined right in and fell. And without God intervening in
us, in our lives, we would have continued there to the last,
very last day. May it not be done. In verse
15 and 16 of Romans chapter 9, For he saith to Moses, Old Testament,
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. You know whom he
has mercy on? Whom he wills. He's not required
to have mercy on any, but he has chosen to have mercy on many. I will have compassion on whom
I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but God that showeth mercy. Is
it any wonder that the ninth chapter, 10th chapter, and 11th
chapter of the book of Romans are just really, many people
have that syndrome that that king in the Old Testament had
when he started hearing the word of God read to him. He took his
pin knife and cut it out and threw it in the fire. These chapters,
to many people, they don't exist. They have mentally taken a penknife
and cut them out of the Bible. Well, God is not pleased with
that either. He goes on to say there in verse
17, For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose
have I raised thee up, that I might show my power unto thee, and
that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. How
would you like someone to come into your home and tell you that
you have your sugar in the wrong place? And your flour's in the wrong
place too, and I'm gonna straighten it up for you. We'd probably
say, there's the door. Help yourself. Don't let it hit
you as you go through it. And yet, we have people do that
very thing with God and God's Word. It's not fair. Let me tell
you. Well, he goes on to tell us here,
God has every right. He is, verse 18, therefore hath
he mercy on whom he'll have mercy and whom he will, he hardeneth.
Then wilt thou say unto me, why doth he find fault, who hath
resisted his will? Nay, but, O man, who art thou
that replyest against God? Shall the thing form, say to
him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? And now he
goes to an illustration. At this time that this was written,
this was a common thing. You know, a lot of civilizations
are identified by their pottery. and little bits of pieces, pieces
of pottery. And they take those little broken
pieces of pottery and put together a pot and say, this is this and
this is this and this and this. And God says, let me tell you
about a potter. Hath not the potter power over
the clay? Can you imagine? Dan gave me
a cartoon one time about the sculpture is on the floor and
the piece of stone has the hammer carving himself out. That's just the way it is in
religion. The preacher who brought the gospel has been put away,
and I'll take care of it myself. How impossible that is, and yet
we have it. Hath not the potter power over
the clay of the same lump? Out of humanity. He's not saying,
we got this group over here, and we got this group over here.
He says, out of Adam's loins. out of Noah's loins, out of Abraham's
loins. Hath not the potter power of
the clay to make one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor? Well, he has the right to make
them into honor, but, oh, that dishonor, I don't know about
that. Well, God said, this is the way it is. What if God, willing
to show his wrath and to make his power known, endured with
much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction?
You know, God's longsuffering is evident. I don't think I've
had such an illustration in my life of depravity as I've had
since we started the book of Judges. It's all over the Bible,
but boy, oh boy, Israel, doing what they did so often in the
book of Judges, departed from God, worshiped idols, and they're
supposed to be the best people, and yet we find that problem
going on with them. And there is long-suffering,
though. brought up 12 judges, long suffering,
long suffering, to even those who were fitted to destruction.
And then he says, that he might make known the riches of his
glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had before prepared
unto glory, even unto us, whom he hath called not of the Jews
only, but also of the Gentiles. No, Jonah had it all summed up.
He's in a pickle. No, he's in a whale. Grapefish.
Bottom of the Mediterranean Sea. And in all of that, the Holy
Spirit gave him some of the best words. Salvation is of the Lord. You know, he had a lot of things
to think about, but he comes up with that by the Holy Spirit,
and it's written in our Bible in Jonah chapter 2 and verse
9. Would you turn with me to the book of Psalm, Psalm 37?
Psalm 37, the Old Testament as well as the New Testament is
just full and running over of verses of Scripture that share
with us, chapters of Scripture that share with us. As we read
here in Psalm 37 and verse 39, oh, the glory that God has in
Himself. God saves people for His glory. God created the heavens and the
earth for His glory. They are and were made for His
glory, everything. He didn t have to do any of it.
He didn t have to make the heavens and the earth. He didn t have
to make man. He was in His glory before the world began, any old
eternity. But He did, and here it says
in verse 39 of Psalm 37, But the salvation of the LORD But
the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord. He is their strength
in time of trouble. He is their strength. And in
the book of Lamentations, you know the word lamentations means
it's a sad time. Lamenting. Two or three good
verses here in the book of Lamentations though. Lamentations. The Lamentations
of Jeremiah. Right after the book of Jeremiah
there in chapter 3 and verse 26. What do we have to say in
some of the most perilous times? that Jeremiah went through or
the children of Israel went through. In Jeremiah 3, verse 26, we read
this, It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for
the salvation of the Lord. You know, it may apply to them
waiting for a deliverer, but it also applies to us waiting
for a deliverer. It is good that a man should
both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. It's
not of works, but of him that calleth. The whole ground of
preference is in him that calleth or chooseth, not in him that
is called. I go right back to John chapter
11 verse 43 and 44, Jesus standing in front of a tomb and He's asked
some people to roll away the stone and you know what the sisters
of that man that died said? Don't do it. He's already polluted. And the God of heaven, Emmanuel,
God with us, cried with a loud voice, Lazarus come forth. And the next thing we read is
Lazarus is up and walking without his consent, but with his blessings. Lazarus come forth. How God works
his work. In Genesis, we read that God
made Adam of the dust of the ground, and could have left him
in that condition, but breathed into his nostrils the breath
of life, and man became a living soul." And finally, if you'd
turn with me to the book of 2 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians chapter 5. Same
word, type of word that's being used here in 2 Corinthians chapter
5 as we think about God's great election, unconditional, not
conditioned on anybody, not because of their vote, not because of
their raising their hand or signing or coming forward or making a
confession or joining a church or being baptized or any of the
other things that are always required by people to do. But
here in the book of II Corinthians 5 and verse 17, Therefore if
any man be in Christ, he is a new, and we have the word creature
here, carries with it the idea, but the word could have been
translated much better, creation. God creates. Every time He saves
His people from their sin, He creates new life. He gives us
a new heart, a new creation in Christ Jesus. Therefore, if any
man be in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things are passed
away. You know, I appreciated what
my pastor that brought me the gospel said about that. He says,
not everything old has passed away. We still got that nature. And we'll have it till the day
we die. But did you notice when it comes
to spiritual things, the very next phrase, all things are become
new. all things. We trust God for
our salvation. We trust His Word. Every spiritual
thing is new to us. We didn't have any idea what
was really being said until He gave us the new birth. And then
we see, this is a whole new book. The Bible is so new, fresh. I
was about to wear it out. But no, you can't wear it out.
You can't come to the conclusion. Mike's brought a lesson on one
word of 1 John 1, verse 1. Just one word. You know, volumes
are written about the Bible. People who know something, God
giving them a gift, comparing scripture with scripture. There's
no end to it. We never come to the conclusion.
It never gets old. It's never worn out. We're not
looking for some other book to read. This is it. He is our life. So, the great act of creating
or creation, God is always the creator. You know, free will
is nothing more than evolution, theistic evolution. Man can raise
himself above his level by his own free will. I'll never forget
one time, about this time of year, that we used to have a
lot of alfalfa out there in the parking lot. Over time, and effort,
and spray. But I had Mike go out and get
a bunch of that alfalfa. And I said, how in the world
can this alfalfa become a rabbit? Now it could wish it could be,
it could hope it could be, it will raise its hand that it could
be, but how is it going to become a rabbit? The only way that alfalfa
is going to become a rabbit is that the rabbit comes and eats
some of it. It has to be acted upon from above its being. Now,
how can a rabbit or a cow, how can it become a human? Oh, I
want to be a human. I want to be like my master.
I want to be just like that. I have the will to do it. How
can it do it? The only way is it has to be
acted upon from above. And how can we ever? Be spiritual. Raising hands doesn't do a thing.
Going forward doesn't do a thing. Asking Jesus into our heart doesn't
do a thing. It has to be acted upon from
above. You must be born from above,
out of our physical realm by spiritual birth. And that's what
God told Nicodemus. And he brought up the best answer. How can these things be? How
can these things be? It's impossible. That's what
Jesus told those disciples. With man it's impossible, with
God nothing shall be impossible.