Let's stand together and sing
hymn number 450. 450. There will never be a sweeter
story, story of the Savior's love divine. Love that brought him from the
realms of glory Just to save a sinful soul like mine Isn't
the love of Jesus something wonderful? Wonderful, it is wonderful Isn't
the love of Jesus something wonderful? Wonderful it is to be Boundless
as the universe around me Reaching to the farthest soul away Saving,
keeping love, it was that found me That is why my heart can truly
say Isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful? Wonderful, it is wonderful. Oh, isn't the love of Jesus something
wonderful? Wonderful it is to me. Love beyond a human comprehending. Love of God in Christ, how can
it be? This will be my theme in never
ending Great redeeming love of Galilee Isn't the love of Jesus
something wonderful? Be seated. We'll sing hymn number
257. 257. It is so sweet to trust in Jesus,
just to take Him at His word. ? Just to rest upon his promise
? ? Just to know the Savior, Lord ? ? Jesus, Jesus, how I
trust him ? ? How I've proved him o'er and o'er ? Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus. Oh, for grace to trust in more. Oh, how sweet to trust in Jesus,
just to trust his cleansing blood. just in simple faith to plunge
me beneath the healing, cleansing flood. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust
Him, how I've proved Him o'er and Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus. Oh, for grace to trust Him more. Yes, tis sweet to trust in Jesus
Just from sin and self to cease Just from Jesus simply taking
Life and rest and joy and peace Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him,
how I've proved Him o'er and o'er. Jesus, Jesus, precious
Jesus, all for grace to trust Him more. I'm so glad I learned to trust
Thee Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend And I know that Thou art
with me Will be with me to the end Jesus, Jesus, how I trust
Him, how I've proved Him o'er and o'er. Jesus, Jesus, precious
Jesus, oh, for grace to trust Him more. Good evening. I'd like us to
turn and read together Revelations chapter 21. And I saw a new heaven and a
new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed
away, and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city,
New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as
a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out
of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people,
and God himself shall be with them and be their God. And God
shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be
no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there
be any more pain, for the former things are passed away. And he
that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.
And he said unto me, Write, for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, it is done.
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto
him that is a thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
He that overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be his
God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful and unbelieving
and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers
and idolaters all liars shall have their part in the lake which
burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. And
there came unto me one of the seven angels, which had the seven
vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me,
saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the
spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city,
the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having
the glory of God. And her light was like unto a
stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal,
and had a wall great and high, and had 12 gates, and at the
gates 12 angels. and names written thereon, which
are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. On
the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south
three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of
the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the
twelve apostles of the Lamb. And he that talked with me had
a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof,
and the wall thereof. And the city lieth four square,
and the length is as large as the breadth. And he measured
the city with the reed, 12,000 furlongs. The length and the
breadth and the height of it are equal. And he measured the
wall thereof, 140 and four cubits, according to the measure of a
man, that is, of the angel. And the building of the wall
of it was jasper. And the city was pure gold, like
unto clear glass. The foundations of the wall of
the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones.
The first foundation was jasper. The second, sapphire. The third,
a chalcedony. The fourth, an emerald. The fifth,
sardonyx. The sixth, sardius. The seventh,
crystallite. The eighth, beryl. The ninth,
a topaz. The 10th, a chrysoprasis. The 11th, a jacinth. The 12th,
an amethyst. The 12 gates were 12 pearls.
Every several gate was of one pearl, and the street of the
city was pure gold, as it were, transparent glass. And I saw
no temple therein, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are
the temple of it. And the city had no need of the
sun, neither of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God did
lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations
of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it. And
the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it.
And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day, for there
shall be no night there. And they shall bring glory and
honor of the nations into it. And there shall in no wise enter
into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination
or maketh a lie, but they which are written in the Lamb's book
of life. Our kind and gracious and merciful
Heavenly Father, we bow before you tonight to give you thanks
for your blessed word and thank you for the Lamb of which it
speaks, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb that was slain for sinners. Lord, we come asking you to condescend
once again and meet with us and speak to us through your word,
speak to us through your preacher. We look to you to guide us, to
instruct us, to enlighten us, to reveal yourself to us. We confess, Lord, we have nothing
and we can do nothing and we're helpless and hopeless without
you. We just keep coming, Lord, because
there's nowhere else to come. We find no help in ourselves.
We find no help in man. We find no help in this world.
Our help and our hope is found in your blessed son and in your
word that speaks to us of him. And that's why we open your word
tonight to look into it to inquire into it, to hear it preached.
Lord, speak to us, guide us, and your word says in all our
ways to acknowledge you and you shall direct our paths. We endeavor
to do that tonight. We acknowledge you in all things,
and we're in your hands. If we're to be saved, you must
save us. If we're to be kept, you must keep us. We have no
ability, no strength, and we're nothing and can do nothing. Thank you for the blessed Savior
who did it all for us. He accomplished our redemption,
satisfied justice, met everything that was required of us. He met
it. He accomplished it. He fulfilled it. And now we approach
you through him, our only access to your throne of grace. Oh,
how we thank you for our dear Savior. We ask that you'd be with those
that are weak and sick and frail. Give them eyes to see you and
trust you in your providence. We ask that you'd save our children
and our grandchildren and those that we love that don't know
you. intervene in their lives, leave
them not to themselves and to their own will, their own way. Please remember them. Remember
us as we go through this service. Help us, Lord, our minds and
our hearts to be engaged in eternal things, in the word, in the gospel,
in looking for Christ as we worship. Reveal him to us, we pray, in
Christ's dear name, amen. In number 39. Number 39. The second to the last line of
the third verse, if you haven't wrote it in, this is my father's
world. The battle has been won. Jesus has died. God is satisfied. Oh, the wonders of his grace. This is my father's world and
to my listening ears all nature sings and round me rings the
music of the spears. This is my world, I rest me in
the thought of rocks and trees, of skies and seas, his and the
wonder's wrought. This is my father's world. The birds, their carols raise. The morning light, the lily white,
declare their maker's praise. He shines in all that's fair. In the rustling grass, I hear
him pass. He speaks to me everywhere. This is my father's world. Oh, let me ne'er forget. That though the wrong seems oft
so strong, God is the ruler yet. This is my father's world. The battle has been won. Jesus has died. God is satisfied. Oh, the wonders of his grace. Ephesians chapter 1. I noticed
today on the back of a pickup truck on the way out here a fella
had on the back window of his truck Revelations 21 for That's
where God shall wipe away all tears of their eyes And I you know Tears from their
eyes, never she more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall
it be any more pain for former things are passed away. He had
that verse on his windshield on the back of his truck. Revelation
21, 4. Pretty good verse, ain't it? Pretty good verse. I'm going to read the first 14
verses here and hopefully, by God's grace, say a few things
about them. Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ
by the will of God to the saints which are at Ephesus and to the
faithful in Christ Jesus. He addresses a certain type of
people, saints and the faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace be to
you, and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places,
or in the things of Christ, 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. having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according
to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of
his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved, in
whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of
sins, according to the riches of his grace. He hath abounded toward us in
all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the mystery
of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he hath
purposed in himself. That in the dispensation of the
fullness of time he might gather together in one all things in
Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth, even
in him, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance. being
predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all
things after the counsel of His own will, that we should be to
the praise of His glory who first trusted in Christ, in whom ye
also trusted after that you heard the word of the truth, the gospel
of your salvation, and whom also after that you believed, you
were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest
of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession
under the praise of His glory." I want to talk about the glory
of His grace. I want to talk about the glory
of His grace. That's what he says down there
in verse 6, to the praise of the glory of His grace. And it
also talked about unto the praise of His glory, the praise of His
glory. And you know the truth, no truth
is taught more plainly in God's Word that the salvation of sinners
is entirely, absolutely by the grace of God. absolutely entirely
by the grace of God. Now, I tell you what, it also
teaches us that man is lost. The same Bible that talks of
grace talks about man that's lost. If he wasn't lost, he didn't
need to be found. If he's not lost, he don't need
to be saved. And if he's not a sinner, Christ
didn't die for him. But theirs teaches that men are
lost, and most men trust in their own works. It's rare to find
somebody that doesn't trust in their own works. But God saves
men, saves sinners, through the free grace of God, the three
favor of God. Now their ruin, man's ruin, is
justly merited. He's justly, if God condemns
him and sends him to hell, he justly merits what God does to
him, justly merits it. But salvation is absolutely unmerited. If a soul wants to work for their
salvation and wants to work to be accepted of God, God will
pay you. He'll pay you off one day. He'll
pay you just exactly what He owes you for everything that
you've ever done. And you know what the wages is?
Death. Death. The wages of sin is death. that no man is justified by works
in the sight of God, the just shall live by faith. And as plain
as this truth is in God's Word, most people ignore it. Oh, the
salvation of sinners is entirely and absolutely of the grace of
God. And as plain as this truth is in God's Word, most people
ignore it. They deny it. They seek salvation
every possible way they can to bypass Christ, to bypass grace,
to bypass any way in the world other than coming to Christ.
They'll use the works of the law. They'll talk about their
merit. They'll talk about all the good
things that they've done. They'll talk about their worth
in the sight of God. And, oh, my. Old Barnard used
to say, he says, you know, the safest place to hide from God
is by a Bible and join a Baptist church. Safest place to hide
from God. But, oh, let me tell you something.
Men can hide behind their self-righteous, their morality, and their goodness.
But I don't want to hide, be found no place but in Christ,
hid with God in Christ." Now, look what it says in verse 6,
talking about the glory of His grace. Look what it says in verse
6. To the praise of the glory of His grace. Let me tell you something. The
glory of His grace is seen in every detail of our salvation. THE GLORY OF HIS GRACE IS SEEN
IN EVERY DETAIL OF OUR SALVATION. LOOK WHAT IT SAYS IMMEDIATELY
AFTER. YOU KNOW, PREDESTINATION IS MENTIONED TWICE IN THIS CHAPTER.
TWICE IN THIS CHAPTER. AND PREDESTINATION MIS-MEANS
THAT GOD PREDESTINATED CERTAIN THINGS TO HAPPEN. EVERYBODY THAT
COME HERE TONIGHT, WHEN THEY LEFT THE HOUSE, THEY WERE PREDESTINATED
TO GET HERE. THAT WAS THEIR PREDESTINATION.
Now, we had to go around about a way to get here. We had to
go different routes, but we got here. But when God predestinates
something, you don't have to take a bypass. You don't have
to go around some other way. If God predestinates you to be
one of his children, you're going to be his child. If God predestinates
you to have an inheritance, you've got an inheritance. Whatever God predestinates us
to have, we're going to have it. Now, I tell you, you know,
I just know some people say, I don't know if that's right
or not. I know exactly it's right. You know, I've done been, for
whom he did foreknow, them he also called, them he justified,
he also glorified. And what shall we say to these
things? If God be for us, who can be against us? And then acceptance, adoption. all to the praise of the glory
of His grace." Look at the first thing. Look at the... I talk
about every detail by the grace of God to the praise of the glory
of His grace. Look what He says the first thing
in verse 4, election, according as He hath chosen us in Christ,
chosen us in Him. When did He do it? Before the
foundation of the world. Thank God for electing grace. And when we talk about election,
election is unconditional. Election is God choosing whom
he'll save. Election is God saying, this
is mine, I'm going to set him apart for myself. And all thank
God for election. Look over in Matthew chapter
11 and verse 25. Look in Matthew 11, 25. Look what our Master's doing
here. Look what our Lord Jesus Christ says about this. Look
what He says. At that time, Jesus answered
and said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth. I've
talked about that this morning. Because Thou hast hid these things. What did He hide? The Gospel?
Grace? Election? Man's lostness, man's
runeness? I thank you that thou hast hid
these things from the wise and prudent that think they got all
the answers and hast revealed them unto babes. And listen to
what else he said. Even so, Father, for it seemed
good in thy sight. Oh, thank God for election. Look
over in Romans 9. You know, you all know this.
You've seen this so many times, but let's look at it again. Look
in Romans chapter 9. We have done this so many times,
but it's worth looking at again. Look what he says here in verse
11. Romans 9, 11. For the children,
being not yet born, neither having done any good or having done
any evil, TO THIS, THAT THE PURPOSE OF GOD, ACCORDING TO ELECTION,
MIGHT STAND, NOT OF WORKS, BUT OF HIM THAT CALLETH. IT WAS SAID
UNTO THE ELDER, SAID ISMAEL, THEY SAID UNTO THE ELDER,
THAT THEY SHALL SERVE THE YOUNGER. AND AS IT IS WRITTEN, LISTEN
TO THIS NOW, JACOB HAVE A LOVED, BUT ESAU HAVE A HATED. People
say, well, he just loved him less. That's not what it says.
That's not what it says. And oh my, what shall we say
then? What are we going to say about
this? Is there unrighteousness with
God because God loved one and hate the other? Is it unrighteousness
with God to choose somebody and they hadn't done any good or
evil at the time? WHAT SHALL WE DO? IS THERE UNRIGHTEOUSNESS
WITH GOD? IS GOD NOT RIGHT TO DO THIS?
GOD FORBID. AND HE SAID, HE GOES BACK TO
THE OLD TESTAMENT, FOR HE SAYS TO MOSES, I WILL HAVE MERCY ON
WHOM I WILL HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I WILL
HAVE COMPASSION. WELL, A FELLOW JUMPS UP AND SAYS,
SO THEN, I WILL TO BE SAVED. I'M GOING TO USE MY WILL, I'M
GOING TO USE MY FREE WILL, I'M GOING TO USE And then he said, I'm going to
run. I'm going to take, I'm going to do ever, to make ever effort
to be accepted of God. So then it's not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Thank God for electing grace. And I'll tell you that he done
that to the praise of the glory of his grace. That's why we elected.
And then look back over here at Ephesians 1. How about redemption? SINNERS, SOMEBODY'S GOT TO REDEEM
US, SOMEBODY'S GOT TO PAY OUR DEBT, SOMEBODY'S GOT TO RESCUE
US, SOMEBODY'S GOT TO PAY A RANSOM, SOMEBODY'S GOT TO DELIVER US.
AND LOOK WHAT IT SAYS, IN WHOM, VERSE 7, IN WHOM, IN CHRIST,
WE HAVE REDEMPTION THROUGH HIS BLOOD. OH, WE SANG THAT OLD SONG,
WONDER, WORKING POWER, WONDER, WORKING POWER, WONDER, WORKING
POWER. wonder working power in the blood
of the Lamb. And you know redemptions by blood.
Oh, we were slaves to sin, slaves to the flesh. And Christ was
on that slave market of sin, sold under sin, held captive
by sin. Christ come and was on the slave
market of sin, and he paid our price. He paid our ransom, paid
our debt, bought us off the slave market of sin, and bought us
to himself. He paid for us with his own blessed
blood. Let me ask you something. Can
anyone say they were worthy of the death of Christ? Huh? Anyone worthy of God's grace? Free grace? That caused Him to purchase our
freedom? And then look what it says, the
forgiveness of sins. Book in Revelations 1-5, talking
about the blood of Christ. You know, God, we've preached on the Passover
countless times, countless times. But oh my, there was a lamb for
a house, and all those lambs were counted as one. And God
said, where I see the blood, I'll pass over you. Where I see
the blood, Nothing else. I don't look at your faith. I'll
see the blood. I don't look at your works. I
see the blood. I don't look at your fear. I see the blood. I
don't look at your feelings. I see the blood. I don't look
at your emotions. I see the blood. When I see the blood, look what
he said here in Revelations chapter one, verse five. GOD AND OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. FROM JESUS CHRIST IS THE FAITHFUL
WITNESS, AND THE FIRST BEGOTTEN OF THE DEAD, AND THE PRINCES
OF THE KINGS OF THE EARTH, LISTEN, UNTO HIM THAT LOVED US, LOVED
US AND WORSHIPED US FROM OUR SINS IN HIS OWN BLOOD. AND I LOVE THAT THOUGHT ABOUT
SPRINKLING OF THE BLOOD. sprinkling of the blood. He purged
our conscience from dead works with what? With blood. With blood. But can anybody say they're worthy
of the death of Christ? Oh, my. I didn't even know He
died. Didn't know nothing about the
cross of Christ. Didn't know nothing about the blood of Christ,
till somebody come and told me. And, oh, He gave us forgiveness
of sins, of all the things GOD ALMIGHTY IS THE FORGIVENESS OF
SINS. WHAT A BLESSING IT IS THAT OUR
SINS ARE FORGIVEN. OUR SINS ARE GONE. OUR SINS HATH
NOT BE HELD AGAINST US EVER AGAIN. AND THEN, NOT ONLY ELECTION AND
REDEMPTION, BUT EFFECTUAL CALLING. LOOK WHAT IT SAYS DOWN HERE IN
VERSE 12 AND 13. EFFECTUAL CALLING. that we should
pee to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ,
in whom you also trusted after that you heard the word of the
truth, the gospel of your salvation." There comes a time when you hear
the gospel of your salvation. And it's a factual calling. I
mean, when God calls you, you're coming. I love that. You know,
that's why I said this morning, I don't have any pressure on
me. anybody into anything. I'll have no pressure on me to
convince anybody to come to Christ. I tell people to come to Christ.
I beg people to come to Christ. I preach Christ and tell them
what a wonderful Savior He is, but I have not any pressure to
try to save them. If God, and that Word comes,
that Word of truth comes, and it becomes the Gospel of your
salvation, when you hear it, you say, I'm saved. I'm saved. It's like Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus
up that tree. My Lord, now, he got up the tree
to see Christ, because he was a little bitty fella. A little
bitty fella. He crawled up that tree and got
up there so he could see the Lord Jesus Christ and see Him
coming, see what He looked like, see all about Him. Now, I'm just
going to show you how Christ knows His people. He calls them
by name. Zacchaeus! And you know what the next thing
says? Today, I must abide at your house. Salvation has come to your house. He didn't wait to say, Lord,
would you come to my house? No, no, our Lord said, today
I must come to your house. Salvation's coming to your house
today. And oh, listen, it's of grace
that the gospel goes out to anyone at all. David said, oh, Lord,
thou said, seek ye my face. Thy face, oh, Lord, I sought.
I sought it. In the day of his power, his
people are made willing. And it's to the glory of his
grace when he makes the unwilling willing. Scott used to say that
he make you against your will with your full consent." He'll come to your will, and
you'll fully consent to whatever he says. Oh, some things are worth repeating.
And, oh, it's like if you prepare a feast, you're going to have
a great big feast, and the Scriptures talk about that. Oh, prepare
a feast. You're preparing for people that
are hungry. Now, that's a favor to them.
That's being kind to them. That's being gracious to them.
Invite them again. They don't come. Invite them
again, and they don't come. And you go and ask them again,
and they still don't come. That's a great favor. But if
he, we're talking about effectual calling, but if he comes and
compels you, compels you to come in, compels you to come in and
They have to find you first to compel you to come in that's
grace upon grace Super abounding grace when you know and we that's
what I say We plead with people to come to Christ I'll try to
be as honest as I can and clear as I can and Compassion as I
can but I'll tell you what beloved I If anybody, you know, we tell
them again and again, what a feast, what a feast, what a feast, what
food! What food there is that Christ is. He's our bread, He's
our light, He's our life, He's our water. He is our life and all you do,
and they just, we tell them come, they don't never come. But if
the Holy Spirit goes out and compels somebody, Now, to compel
means they convince you beyond a shadow of a doubt, you need
to come here. And you know what you do? You
come. And he said, I'll tell you who
to look for. Look for blind people, lame people, people that ain't
got nothing that they can bring to the table. They got to be
brought. They got to be compelled. They got to be carried here.
Now, that's grace upon grace, superabounding grace. And look
in Romans chapter 3, talking about these details of our salvation
being to the glory of God's grace. Look in Romans chapter 3, verse
24. Yeah, Romans, yeah, 24 or 23. Look what he says here, Romans
3, 23. All have sinned. All of us have, and come short
of the glory of God. And that's why we're talking
about the glory of His grace. Now, here we go. Being justified
freely. Being justified freely. And listen
to this. By His grace. That's how we're
justified freely, by His grace. grace, through the redemption,
through the payment price that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And then look what he says here,
whom God set forth. And when you look at the margin
for ordain, when God set him forth to be a propitiation through
faith in his blood, God declares his righteousness for the remission
of sins. Now when God set him forth, he
set him forth in the womb of a virgin. Set Him forth as a
child 12 years old. Set Him forth as a representative
of us on this earth. Set Him forth when He put Him
on the cross. Set Him forth when He took Him
back from the cross. Set Him forth when He put Him
in the tomb. Set Him forth when He raised
Him from the dead. Set Him forth when He set Him
at His own right hand. God set Christ forth. And I'll
tell you what, He set Him forth to be the atoning sacrifice for
our sins. And, oh, God set him forth. And
the only justification that you and I will ever know anything
about is freely by his grace that God gave us through the
Lord Jesus Christ. It's free. Don't have to work
for it. It's free, free. And then look
back over in our text with me again in Ephesians chapter 1. Look what else it says. Look
at our sanctification. Every detail to the praise of
the glory of His grace. Look at verse 4. According as He has chosen us,
our election, before the foundation of the world, before you and
I ever existed, we were chosen, given to Christ. And here's our
sanctification, that we should be holy and without blame before
Him in love. Holy and without blame. That's
a good place to be, ain't it? Holy without blame. Oh, my. To be holy, God, to be holy. Make us holy. Make us without
blame before Him. And He done it in His love. He
done it in His love. And He abounded toward us in
His grace, abounded toward us in His mercy, abounded toward
us IN OUR HOLINESS WITHOUT BLAME. YOU KNOW, WHAT DID WE LOOK AT
LAST WEEK WHERE IT SAYS, CREATED IN RIGHTEOUSNESS AND TRUE HOLINESS? AND I'VE SAID THIS BEFORE, AND
IT'S WORTH REPEATING. HOLINESS IS A STATE OF BEING.
OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST SAID, I SANCTIFY MYSELF. NOW, WHEN HE SAID, I
SANCTIFY MYSELF, DO YOU RECKON THAT MEANT THAT HE WASN'T HOLY?
When He said, I sanctify myself for their sakes, that means that
I set myself apart for their sakes. I set myself apart to
die for their sake. I set myself apart as a sacrifice
for them, as a substitute, as a sin offerer. But oh no, Christ
was holy, just, holy, harmless. And we, holiness is a state of
being. You cannot be more holy at one
time than you can another. THIS IDEA THAT YOU CAN GET MORE
HOLIER THAN SOMEBODY ELSE, AND GOD CONDEMNED THAT. IN ISAIAH
58, HE SAID, STAND AFAR OFF FROM ME. THEY SAID, STAND AFAR OFF
FROM ME. I'M TOO HOLY FOR YOU TO BE AROUND
ME. STAND AFAR OFF FROM ME. AND GOD
SAID, OH, YOU THINK YOU'RE HOLIER THAN THOU? YOU THINK YOU'RE HOLIER
THAN EVERYBODY ELSE? He said, where's the sacrifices
that you brought to me? And oh, my. And I tell you, our
Lord keeps us safe. He made us holy and without blame.
And I tell you, he keeps us saved. And how does he keep us saved?
The same way he saved us, by his free grace. David said, my
foot had well night slipped, but it never slipped. Why? Because
thou held me up. There's no point, no point in
a believer's life where he is kept by his merit, by his worth,
by his strength, by his own power, never ever. We're kept by the
power of God through faith. It's grace that makes the dead
soul alive, and it's grace that keeps the living soul alive. It's grace that does that. And
what makes his grace so glorious? that we praise him for his grace.
Well, first of all, it's sovereign grace. What does that mean? That
means that it's got, it reigns, it's got all the power. You know,
he said, and I looked for this verse this morning, I couldn't
find it. Look in Psalm 135. I looked for this morning and
couldn't find it. In Psalm 135. Won't you see this
verse of scripture? Won't you see this about God's
sovereign, God's sovereign grace. We call it free grace, sovereign
grace. Look what it said here in verse
five and six. For I know that the Lord is great
and that our Lord is above all gods. You see, that's in little
G. Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that he did in heaven, in earth,
in the seas, in all deep places. Y'all remember when a fellow
went out six o'clock in the morning and he hired some men to go to
work for him. Went back out at nine o'clock, found some more
men and took them. Told them, go out and work for
me. Went out at noon, found some more, and said, go work for me.
Went out 3 o'clock, found some more, said, go to work. And he
went out at 5 o'clock. And he says, go to work. And he hired a fella at 5 o'clock. The workday went from 6 to 6.
So that fella at 5 o'clock was hired. Well, they come time to
pay those guys. At the end of the day, it's time
to pay them. They walked up there, and then they all got in line
to get their pay. Well, that last fellow got up
there, that one last man that went to work, that went to work
at 5 o'clock, he rest and gave him a penny. The next one come
up, gave him a penny. Those that come in at 3, those
that come in at 12, gave him a penny. Those that come in at
6 o'clock gave them a penny. And those fellas at 6 o'clock
and 12 o'clock said, that's not fair. That's not right. We've borne the heat of all day
long, and you give those fellas that just got here the same amount
you give us? He said, is it not lawful for
me to do what I will with my own? Are you angry because I
give everybody the same thing? And that's why he says, the last
will be first. and the first way up yonder gonna
end up being last. He said, I'm the Lord. I can
do what I want to with my own. And that's the way it is. That's
why it's called sovereign grace. And I'll tell you, there is,
we glory in it because of his freeness. How's his freeness? Oh, I will love them freely. I'll love them freely. He took
out the same lump and made a vessel of honor of some a vessel of
mercy. And all said, well, how are we ever going to repay him?
We don't, we don't, we don't repay him. We don't, you don't
repay something for free. Who made thee to differ? What
have you got that you didn't receive? What have you got? And
then we praise him for his grace because of its fullness. God
never give us just a little bit of grace. He never gives just
a little bit. Well, if God would just give
me just a little grace, no, no, that's not the way He gives.
He gives fullness of grace, free grace of His fullness, of Christ's
fullness that we all received. Oh, my. Grace, oh, we sing that
song. Grace to cover all my sins. Oh,
grace to cover all my sins. And I tell you, no matter what
you go through, it's always sufficient, always sufficient. And it's the
glory of His grace because it never, ever fails, and it continues
all day, every day of our lives. It continues. The gifts and calling
of God are without repentance. Our Lord said, I'll never leave
you. I'll never forsake you. His mercy endureth forever. And this grace, this grace that
I'm talking about, every detail of our salvation is to the praise
of the glory of His grace. And this grace is the subject
of His praise. To the praise of the glory of
His grace, He's made us accepted in Christ. And no wonder we sang
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like
me. We were chosen by His grace,
given to Christ by His grace, redeemed by His blood, clothed
in His righteousness, preserved from sin, affectionately called,
adopted into God's family, made partakers of the divine nature. And there's only one reason you
find And that's in verse 5 of Ephesians 1, according to the
good pleasure of His will. Don't need another reason, just
because according to the good pleasure of His will. the blessed name of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Thank you for your grace. Oh,
Lord, we do praise you. Everything you do, you do to
the praise of the glory of your grace, your glory, your glory,
not ours. It was your grace that called
us, your grace that set us apart, your grace that chose us in Christ
before the foundation of the world, and you gave us to Christ
by your grace, this wonderful, wonderful grace of God. Oh, Lord,
thank you for going to that cross, burying our sin in your own body
on that tree, taking it all away, cleansing us with your precious
blood, making us accepted, making us righteous, causing us to be
justified in your sight, cleared of all guilt and condemnation
because of our Lord Jesus Christ and the grace that's in him. Lord, we look forward to that
day when you'll gather all things together in him. You'll take
all those that are in heaven and all those that are on earth,
and they'll all be gathered together unto him. unto him. What a day that'll be, that beautiful
city that came down out of God as a bride, that church that
Christ bought, clothed him in that white linen. We thank you
for it. God bless these dear saints as
they go their way, go to their homes. And please again, remember our
brothers and sisters that are not with us through fealty of
the flesh. We pray again for Doc, Danny, his wife, who takes care
of him. And Lord, if I forget somebody, please forgive me.
For Christ's sake, amen. Well, I'll see you Wednesday
night, God willing. Good night and God bless you.