Thank you, brother. If you would,
you can go back to that portion of Scripture there in Philippians. You know, in the Old Testament, believers worshipped God through
the offerings that they presented to God, each of which was typical
of that ultimate sacrifice unto the Lord that our wonderful Redeemer
offered, that is, the sacrifice of Himself. They worshipped the God who dwells
in eternity, the God whose presence could not be seen. He was invisible. And the heathen, whose gods they
could see, for they positioned them wherever they wanted them
to be, the heathens, they saw these people offering animal
sacrifices unto the God who is invisible that they worshiped.
the God who could not be seen. And they asked the saints of
God, where is your God? We know where our gods are. They're
wherever we put them. They're wherever we give them
permission to be. But we want to know where your
God is. Psalmist David answered in Psalm
115 verse 3, But our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever
he hath pleased. Whatever his good pleasure is,
That's what our God does all of the time. Isaiah said, declaring
the end from the beginning, and from ancient, ancient times,
the things that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand. I will do all my pleasure. God did His good pleasure in
creation, bringing into existence those things that He saw fit
to create. He does His good pleasure in
providence, doing His will among the armies of heaven and among
the inhabitants of the earth. And God does His good will, His
good pleasure in grace. in grace, predestinating men
to grace and glory. He did that before the world
ever began. And He ordained the sacrifice
of His Son by which He could in justice, in justice, forgive
all of the sins of His people. And by that one offering for
sin, God Himself would declare us to be the very righteousness
of God. The Lord does His good pleasure
in grace. He saves whom He will, when He
wills. And He always does it through
the gospel of His grace. Our Lord says, for as the Father
raiseth up the dead and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth
whom He will. And the Spirit of God dispenses
His gifts and His graces according to His will. His will, that is
the will of God, is carried out in every place and at all times. You see, the King's authority
runs throughout His vast creation. There is nowhere, nowhere in
the heavens, in the earth, in the seas, or in deep places,
there is nowhere where God's good pleasure is not carried
out. Therefore, the psalmist says
in Psalm 135 and verse 6, Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he. And he says, and I was quoting
just now, what he says in Psalm 135 verse 6. That did He in heaven, and in
earth, and in the seas, and in all deep places. Whatsoever. That's the widest range that
there could ever be. And that includes all things. In those four words that the
psalmist gives us there in Psalm 135 and verse 6, he comprehends
all of space, all of God's creation. Jehovah works His sovereign will. He works His good pleasure by
doing those things that please Him, that delight Him. and none can stay his hand. Oh,
how different is the God of the Word of the Scriptures. Oh, how
different is our God from the imaginary gods that the heathens
worshiped. And oh, how different is our
God from the God that most people who call themselves Christians,
but know nothing of the Christ of the Scriptures. You see, the
God that most people worship, most people who attended church
today, they worship a God whose will is subservient to man's
will. They worship a God who only reacts
to what men do. And though He has His good pleasure,
though He has His will, though He has those things that He has
predestinated, yet all of the counsel of God is dependent upon
whether men permit God to do what He wants to do, or whether
they deny God from doing what He wants to do. Let me tell you
something, that's a false God. That's a false God. Our God does
His will everywhere and at all times. Oh, how different is our
God. The God we worship is worthy
of worship. He's worthy of praise. He governs all of His creation. Everything that belongs to Him,
He governs everything. He does His will in all of the
things that He owns. And He owns everything. If you
own the farm, If you own your house, you have a yard, you can
do with it what you want to do. If you want to put some gaudy
Christmas decorations outside on your yard, that's okay. If
you want to put a hundred Christmas trees up, that's okay. That's
your place. Do whatever you want to with
it. You have the right to do with your property as you will
as long as God has ordained for that which
you do. And you see, God owns everything.
Isn't it right? Isn't it right for God to have
that right that you take, that you would, if somebody infringed
on your right to do what you want to do, you'd say, wait a
minute, this is my property. Well, it's all God's property.
And He does His will throughout His property. The Word of God
teaches no degrading idea of the Eternal God being baffled
by man. The Word of God teaches nothing
of that sort. God says, My purpose shall stand. I will do all My pleasure. Whatsoever the Lord please. That's
exactly what He does. We began this morning by speaking
about God's good pleasure. God is good. His pleasure is
good. Free from defect. Free from that
which would take away from any of the beauties of God. Our Lord. He ordained salvation. We talked
about the origin of salvation and that's according to the good
pleasure of His will. And I gave you a reference on
that from Ephesians 1 and verse 5. Having predestinated us under
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ Himself according to the
good pleasure of His will. His will. He's not checkmated
by man's will. If you think man's will can undo
God's will, if you think man with his fingers can untie a
knot that God has tied, you definitely have the wrong God. You have
the wrong idea of the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible
is not like that at all. Oh, that the Lord would bring
us to worship Him, fall down before Him, and honor Him who
is God indeed. He doesn't want to be God. He's
not trying to be God. He's not offering you to let
Him be God. He is God. And He does as He pleases. And
you'll deal with that and you'll bow to this God or you'll perish. And that's just the way it is. And then we talked about the
desire of salvation. Ephesians 1, 9, having made known
unto us the mystery of His will according to the good pleasure
which He purposed in Himself. What is God's purpose? What is God's will? What is God
doing? What has God set out to do from
old eternity? Number one, to glorify Himself. This is why God does all that
He does for His glory, for His honor. He's deserving of that. And number two, His great design
in His good pleasure is the honor and exaltation of the Son of
God who joined Himself to human flesh and laid down His life,
gave His life a ransom for His people. Our God has from old
eternity ordained that the Son of God be the King of kings and
the Lord of lords. He be exalted above all men,
women, and angels. and worshipped as such. Bow down,
proud sinner! Honor the Son of God. God has
ordained that. God has predestinated that. God
has decreed that. And someday, as our brother read,
every knee is going to bow to King Jesus. And every mouth shall
confess, He's the Lord. He is Lord. That's what Joe led
us in singing. He's Lord. He doesn't want to
be Lord. He's not asking you, will you
let Him be your Lord? He is your Lord. God made this
same Jesus, Peter said, whom you crucified, both Lord and
Christ. And what is God's intent? To
have a people redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. A people conformed to the image
of His Son. A glorious family. in which there
shall not be found any spot or wrinkle or any such thing. All
to the glory of the grace of God. What is God's good pleasure? We said number three, the way
of salvation. Glory to God in the highest and
on earth peace, good will, good pleasure toward men. God according
to His good pleasure. He sent His Son into this world
to live, to obey, to be the perfect servant
and then give His life in order to save His people from their
sins. Behold the good pleasure of the
Lord in sending Christ who died the just for the unjust to bring
us to God. And this evening, as we continue
with this idea of the good pleasure of the Lord in the matter of
salvation, let me say, here we have in this passage of scripture,
that is in verse 13, we have God's good pleasure and the experience
of salvation. For it is God which worketh in
you to will and to do of His good pleasure. Here's the experience
of salvation. Now in the previous verse, and
I feel like I must make mention of this in verse number 12, where
he says, wherefore my beloved as you have always obeyed, not
as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work
out your own salvation with fear and trembling. This is obviously
not saying that you work for your salvation. That'd be contrary
to the rest of scripture. The Word of God never contradicts
itself. And you know yourself, the Scripture
teaches salvation by grace. By grace. It's not of works,
lest any man should boast. You have no right to stand up
in glory and say, I'm here because I worked for this and I'm getting
what I deserve in the riches of the heavens of God, this glorious
inheritance. I've labored for it and now it's
mine because I earned it. Nobody will be able to say that.
It's a gift of grace. It's a gift of grace. Well, what
is this? Work out your own salvation with
fear and trembling. Give evidence of the salvation
of God by your worship, public worship, by praying, by attendance,
by seeking the good of others, by generosity to the cause of
God and truth, by prayerfully being supportive of each other,
of the work of God, of the minister of God. Work these things outwardly. And seek in your life to outwardly
honor God in all that you say and do. Oh God, make me to be
one whose life is set forth that I've walked with Jesus some. I know there's an old saying,
you know, Lord, let others see Jesus in me. And that's a foolish
statement, really. Because when our Lord Jesus walked
on this earth, they couldn't see Jesus in Jesus. They sure
enough are not going to see Jesus in you and see Him in me. But
let us walk honorably before the world. to adorn the gospel,
the gospel that we believe. Work outwardly your salvation. Show by your public worship,
your attendance, and all of these things that this gospel is important
to you, that the Lord Jesus Christ is your Savior, your Commander-in-Chief,
and you delight to worship and honor Him. But remember this,
it's God who works in you to will and to do of His good pleasure. His good pleasure. That's what
He has to do for us. You see, I know that the works
will come outwardly, after conversion because God has ordained them.
Right? That's what it says in Ephesians
2 and verse 10. And you're not going to get any
credit for those things. After you've done everything
you ought to do, you're just an unprofitable servant, as am
I. And if we're enabled by the Lord
to be of service in the Kingdom of God, then that is solely due
to the goodness of the grace of God at work within us. We
don't get any credit. We don't want any credit. We
want all the glory to go to our Lord. These things are worked hourly
because God has worked within us. How does He work within us? What is God's good pleasure that
He has worked within us? Regeneration? What is that? The new birth? Being born again,
not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the Word
of God, which liveth and abideth forever. And you hath He quickened. Hath He quickened. his own self. Even as the father quickens,
the son quickens, whom he will. The Lord works within us. This
is the working of salvation. See, we live in a day, and you
know this, and I'm preaching to the choir now, so to speak,
but everything is put upon the center. This is all dependent
upon you. No, it isn't dependent upon you. It's dependent upon the God of
grace and glory doing His good pleasure by working within us. That's what's necessary. And
that's what's missing in religion today. The necessity of the work
of God within the sinner. Working His good pleasure. Oh
God, work in me. Oh God, work in these. You who
are watching tonight, oh God, work in you. To will and to do
of His good pleasure. As one old country preacher said,
Oh God, roll up your sleeve and go to work in me. In me! It's God who worketh in you both
to will and to do of His good pleasure. And as He gives us
spiritual life, He gives us repentance. Ron, in the Sunday School class
this morning, spoke about that in Acts chapter 5. The Lord Jesus
has been exalted to give repentance. What is repentance? Well, very
simply, it's a change of mind, change of heart, change of direction. We repent from dead works. We repent of all that we are,
our idolatry. We've been worshiping wrong for
years and years and years. And repentance is the Lord turning
us to worship Him only in spirit and in truth. And He gives faith. This is God's good pleasure to
give us faith to believe the Son of God. Here's how Paul said it when
it pleased God. to reveal His Son in me." This is what we need. God's good
pleasure at work within us. Give me a few people in whom
God has worked and is working. What could you not do? How could
you not be encouraged in the ministry? And then let me give you this.
Psalm 51. And I'll go quickly. But look at Psalm 51. We're talking
about the pleasure of the Lord. The good pleasure of the Lord.
What delights God? God is free from any defect. We know that. He's free from
any impurity. He's good and all that He does
is good. And it says here in Psalm 51.18,
Do good in thy good pleasure, in thy good delight. Lord, do
what delights you. Do what delights you. Do good in thy good pleasure
unto Zion, build thou the walls of Jerusalem. And David, and
you're familiar with this passage of the Scripture in Psalm 51,
David, he has poured out his heart to God in confession, He's
a man with a broken and a contrite spirit before the Lord because
of his sinfulness. And he's been praying about this.
He has approached God for mercy. Restoring to me the joy of Thy
salvation. I have sinned greatly against
the Lord. He says, against Thee, Thee only
have I sinned and done this evil in Thy sight. So he's been praying
regarding himself, but now in verse 18, now his heart and his
mind turns to the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, Do
good in thy good pleasure unto all of Zion. Build thou the walls
of Jerusalem. What's he talking about? He's
talking about the spread of salvation. Lord, spread the gospel. Lord, save your people. Save
your people. Add to the church daily those
that should be saved. Spread thy gospel. And I commend
our church for the efforts that we put forth
in sending forth the gospel of the grace of God by way of the
internet. There are several folks out there
watching right now that are very thankful that we have the means
to send forth this truth, thanks to the generosity of the people
of this congregation. Don't ever think that what you
do is unimportant. Thanks be unto God for your faithfulness. Through the years, through the
years, God has used this church in a mighty way to send thousands
and thousands and thousands of dollars out preachers and missionaries
all over. We just sent some money to Africa.
We just sent some money to help publish some books that one of
our missionaries has written. We send forth that money. God
has used us. He has gifted us with the ability
to do these things. to spread the gospel, to spread
the truth. We long to hear of those who
are being brought into the kingdom of God. And people will only
be brought into the kingdom of God through the preaching of
the gospel. The gospel of grace only and
Christ only. That's what God uses. He doesn't
use men twisting folks' arms, backing them in a corner, begging
them to make a decision for Jesus. The Lord uses this message of
grace only, Christ only, the work of God only. He uses this
message within. And He builds the walls of Jerusalem. The Gospel spreads. It spreads. The spread of salvation is according
to God's good pleasure. God's good pleasure. And then
let me give you two more. Look over at 2 Thessalonians
1. 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. And
let me talk about God's good pleasure and the fulfillment
of salvation. 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. In the last verses of chapter
1 of 2 Thessalonians, the apostle writes, of coming judgment upon
the wicked. Could I read several verses to
you here, beginning in verse 3? We're bound to thank God always
for you, brethren, as it is meet. because that your faith groweth
exceedingly in the charity of every one of you, of every one
of you all toward each other aboundeth, so that we ourselves
glory in you and the churches of God for your patience and
faith and all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure,
which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God,
that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God for which
ye also suffer. seeing it is a righteous thing
with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you? And
to you who are troubled, rest with us." And the Lord Jesus
shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming
fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey
not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished
with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord
and from the glory of his power, when He shall come to be glorified
in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe, because
our testimony among you is believed in that day. Wherefore also we
pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of
this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness
and the work of faith and power. that the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ may be glorified in you and ye in Him according to the
grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ." He prayed that
the good pleasure of the Lord would be fulfilled. And the good
pleasure of the Lord in this passage of Scripture relates
to that final the completed salvation of all of His people. Say, our
souls are saved now. You got it. And in the mind and
purpose of God, we're perfect in Christ Jesus. We're going
to die. This body's got to be laid aside. It's going to be buried. And if the Lord doesn't come
back, Relatively soon, it's going to go back to the dust. But you
see, our Savior, He redeemed this body too. Our souls go back
to God who gave it, and we have a heavenly body prepared for
us so that our souls are not floating around as invisible
entities. We have a heavenly body. 2 Corinthians
5 will bear that out. and we will inhabit that body
that the Lord has reserved for us in heaven until such a time
as our Lord comes back to judge the wicked. But before that,
our bodies, the bodies of all the children of God, the very
first child of the Lord that ever died was Abel. We have no idea where he was
buried, where his dust is. God knows where every speck of
the dust is. And he's going to bring Abel's
body back to life. And Abel's soul will be joined
back to that body. Never to be separated again.
And that which he's going to do for Abel's body, he's going
to do for everybody who has died in Jesus Christ throughout all
of the ages of what we call time. The body is going to be raised
again. And we shall stand body and soul
complete in the Lord Jesus. And the good, good pleasure of
the Lord will be fulfilled. One last thing. Go to Luke chapter
12 and verse 32. Luke 12 and verse 32. The eternal
enjoyment of salvation. Luke chapter 12 and verse 32. He's cautioned his people about
worry, about anxiety, worried about what you're going
to eat, what you're going to drink, what you're going to wear,
where you're going to live, all of those things. He says in Luke
12, 30, for all these things do the nations of the world seek
after. The heathens seek after those things. Your Father knoweth
that ye have need of these things. Don't you think God knows what
you need physically? Listen, He met all of your needs
spiritually in Christ Jesus. He knows what you need physically. So what should we rather do?
Verse 31, but rather seek ye the kingdom of God. And all these
things shall be added unto you as God sees fit. And then he
says, fear not, little flock. The shepherd says this to his
little flock. Here we are tonight, a little
flock. We don't even hardly register
on the radar of modern religion. The mega churches and all of
such things like that. We're a little flock. That's
okay. That's okay. As we're going to
see in Zachariah when we get back to that study, he's going
to say to Zerubbabel, despise not the day of small things. Fear not, little flock. Don't
be afraid of the world. Don't be afraid of the religions
of the world. Fear not, little flock, for it
is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. That's His good pleasure. That's His perfect will without
defect. His pure will. His pure delight. Think of that. It is God's pure
delight to give you the kingdom. And I would say of that kingdom,
it's the kingdom of grace and glory. How do you like that? It's the Father's good pleasure
to give you the kingdom of grace. He brings you into the kingdom
of grace. He's the King. He has the keys. And he unlocks the door into
the kingdom and says, come in. Come into the kingdom of grace.
By grace you're saved. I chose you in grace. I redeemed
you in grace. I called you in grace. I quickened
you by grace. I preserved you by grace. I'm
going to perfect you in grace. Come into the kingdom of grace,
he says. And one of these days, he's going
to say to us, come into the kingdom of glory. Oh, blessed day. Do you know what it means to
enter into the kingdom of glory? It means to forevermore be free,
free from sin and all of its consequences. Hasten the day,
Lord, hasten the day when you bring me into the kingdom of
glory. I know we enjoy life, we want
to take life for granted, and we will appreciate it as long
as God gives it to us. But the believer ought not fear
death. but rather look forward to seeing
the Lord Jesus face to face with Christ my Savior. And when I
arrive to glory, that which is God's good pleasure
for me, I will say, I'm here solely by the grace of God through
that wonderful person and work of my substitute and Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ. We're going to close the service
tonight by singing a chorus that's I found on page 7, if you don't
need the course book, I don't think, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.