Sovereign Grace Chapel, located
at 135 Annabel Lane in Beaver, West Virginia, invites you to
listen to a gospel message concerning Jesus Christ our Lord. If you'd like to follow along,
I'm gonna be in Hebrews chapter five. I wanna read verses eight
and nine for a start. Yeah, probably 10, finishes the
sentence. Hebrews chapter five, verse eight.
Though he were a son, yet learned he obedience by the things which
he suffered. And being made perfect, he became
the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him,
called of God and high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Now, let me read you something by
John Newton. Those only hymns. That's actually a hymn book put
out by John Newton and William Cowper, who were tight. And I
think they egged each other on writing songs, which was good,
because like I said, there's a lot of good songs in that thing. But this is something John Newton
said, and I thought it was really good. If the Lord be with us,
We have no cause for fear. His eye is upon us, his arm is
over us, his ear open to our prayer. His grace sufficient,
his promise unchangeable. I like that, I like that. Because
we must never forget the Lord's eternal grace and eternal promises. Also, never forget that everything
eternal belongs to God. He gives it as he sees fit. He
gives it to whom he sees fit according to the pleasure of
his goodwill. And there are some eternal things
which he has given to his people. He's given to us. And that's
what I wanna talk about today. My title is Three Eternal Gifts. This is just from the book of
Hebrews, but Three Eternal Gifts. And it starts here in verse nine. And being made perfect, he became
the author of eternal salvation. Oh, I like that. Unto all them
that obey him. That's what it says. Guess what?
That's what it means. However, just like that song
we just read, we just sang, what? T'was all of thy grace we were
brought to obey. I like that. I do, I do. That's good stuff. Then give
all the glory to his holy name. Why? To him all the glory belongs. You understand? I'm gonna talk
about three eternal gifts today. I'm gonna talk about eternal
salvation. Very quickly, I'm not gonna get really deep theological
or anything. I'm gonna talk about eternal
salvation, eternal redemption, and eternal inheritance. But
it's to him all the glory belongs. Because these are his eternal
gifts to his people. How do you give God all the glory?
Never try to take credit for your eternal salvation, your
eternal redemption, or your eternal inheritance. It's got nothing
to do with you except he gives it to you. Anyhow. But the salvation written of
in the scripture is eternal. Let's just be clear. The only
begotten, well-beloved Son of God, the one in whom God is well-pleased,
and still is well-pleased, is the singular cause of eternal
salvation. That's what it says here in Hebrews.
He's the author of it. He's the author. It is eternal
salvation, but he's the author. He's the cause. He's the source
of eternal salvation. Oh, I like this, and make no
mistake about this, eternal salvation is in Christ Jesus with eternal
glory, eternal glory. It's all his, it's all his. Oh, nine different times in the
Old Testament, I looked it up. Six of them, I think, are in
Psalms. Nine different times, though, it uses this phrase,
his salvation. speaking in reference to the
Lord. Capital L, capital O, capital
R, capital D. Jehovah, Yahweh, it's His salvation. Jesus Christ is the author of
it. Jesus Christ is the source of it. Jesus Christ is the creator
of eternal salvation. And, here it is, Jesus Christ
is the giver of eternal salvation. Oh, I like that. Jonah 2 and
9 put it this way, salvation is of the Lord. It's from the
Lord. It's of him and given to his
people. Eternal salvation. Oh, I like
that. Oh, I love what Gil wrote about
John 2 and 9. I looked that up. He said, all
physical and temporal salvation, right here. All temporal salvations
and deliverances are of the Lord. Praise his name. I like that. And all spiritual and eternal
salvation is of, from Jehovah, Yahweh. Oh. And it's all of grace. None of works. None of works. None of works. God is the motive
and the spring. God is the purpose and the plan. God is the purchase and obtaining. And the Lord is the application
to the believer. Oh, that's good stuff. He's the
application, the way Gil put it, to particular persons. Isn't that pretty good? He's
doing all things according to the will of His good pleasure. And that includes the eternal
salvation of His people. That we are given by Him. Christ, Jesus Christ, God, manifests
in the flesh, is the author and giver of his eternal salvation. He gives us his eternal salvation
to his people, a chosen people from before the foundation of
the world. Chosen in him before the foundation of the world.
Oh, I like that. Oh. And he calls them to himself,
to himself. And he calls them by name, by
name. Ah. People, unbelievers. do not have any idea of the miracle
of God's eternal salvation. You understand? We were just
as dead as they are. And God called our name. Jesus
Christ says those that hear the voice of the Son of God, and
they that hear, and I'm gonna tell you who's gonna hear, everyone
he's talking to. when he talks to them, and they
that hear shall live. And I'm gonna tell you something,
you'll never know you were dead until he makes you alive. And
you wanna call that a paradox, you can't, but it's the truth.
It's the truth. We're so dead, when we were dead,
we didn't know we were dead. Then, when he gives us life,
we understand what death really is. When the gospel comes to
you in power, and much assurance, and may worry the dickens out
of you at first, that's okay. Most people just rolls right
over like water off a duck's back. But when his eternal salvation
comes, you're gonna know it. You're gonna know something's
going on. You may not know what for a while, and you may be incredibly
bothered by it. But that's a good sign. That's
a good sign. Oh, I like that. He gives his
eternal salvation to his people. He calls them to himself by name,
but here's the thing. They come. They come. Oh, I like that too. Because
it says his eternal salvation is unto all, what? That obey
him. How can you obey him if you can't
hear him? You can't. The world is full of it. We're
surrounded by people who don't know the voice of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Oh, my. Where was I? But, oh, yeah, let
me be clear about this. They don't get the eternal life
because of their obedience. The obedience is because of the
eternal life. Eternal salvation. Oh, I like
that. His salvation was purposed from
the beginning, purchased by the Son, and is given to his people
in the fullness of his time. All at his good pleasure. Oh,
I like that too. His salvation is eternal. And
by salvation, I mean, being fully forgiven of sins, being fully
reconciled to God by Christ. Not by yourself, not by your
works, although there will be good works. You're ordained unto
them. But you are reconciled to God
by the blood of Jesus Christ. Oh, I like that. But let me move on for just a
second here. Hebrews chapter nine, which is where we'll find
the other two eternal gifts that I wanna talk about this morning.
Hebrews chapter nine, verse 11. And they shall not teach every
man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, know the
Lord, for all shall know me from the least to the greatest. I'm in the wrong chapter. I'm
sorry, I'm in chapter eight. Oh my, there we go. Don't tell Paul I did that. But Christ being come and high
priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect
tabernacle not made with hands, that is to say not of this building,
neither by the blood of goats and calves but By his own blood,
he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption. Now it says for us, that's interpolated,
but you understand, I don't need that for us. He's obtained eternal
redemption. Where's eternal redemption? Well,
it's in the one that's obtained it. It's in the one that's obtained
it. If God has translated us out
of darkness and into the light of Jesus Christ, the blood of
Christ cleanses us from all sin. And we have fellowship with him
and with each other. Where? In him, in him. Oh, I like that. By his blood,
we have eternal redemption. Oh, and his eternal salvation. Oh, I like that. Why are we given
eternal salvation? Because of his eternal redemption.
Our great high priest, the priest after the order of Melchizedek,
Jesus Christ, by his own blood, obtained eternal redemption. For us, for his people. For a
particular people, as John Gill said. His redemption, his purchase,
purchase of his people is eternal, is eternal. I like that word,
perpetual, everlasting. And it is by his blood that we
are purchased, redeemed, we were, all of his people were, bought
by him. I know some people don't like
this phrase, he owns you. He owns me. And I'm gonna tell
you something, I'm very, very glad of that. I am very thankful
for that. Oh my, you are not your own. That's what the scripture says.
You're bought with a price. You're not your own. He owned
you. He owned you. He has obtained
eternal redemption for all of his people. You understand? I know my Redeemer liveth. I know my Redeemer lives. Oh, because my Redeemer, the
Redeemer, is the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, the high God, the Holy One
of Israel, the Savior, the Savior. What? The Lord of hosts is his
name. Oh my. He's the Redeemer that formed
you from the womb. That's what it says. The Redeemer
that formed you from the womb. Why? He loved you. And you were chosen in him from
before the foundation of the world. Why would it be a surprise
he formed you in the womb? Understand, there's nothing new
to God. in this world. There never has
been anything new to God. There's lots of things new to
me. There'll be lots of things new to you. But you understand,
there's nothing new to God. His salvation is eternal, and
his redemption is eternal. Oh my. It was in his heart, in
love, before the foundation of the world that he was going to
shed his blood. for his people. Oh. The good shepherd gave his life
for the sheep. Just like he said he would. Just
like he said. He said, I am the good shepherd. And the good shepherd layeth
down his life for the sheep. Voluntarily. On purpose. According to plan. God obtained
eternal redemption through the blood of Jesus Christ for his
people. Oh, I like that. By his blood,
he redeemed his people. By his redemption, we have eternal
salvation. Because his blood was, and I
say was because it only was shed once. There's no more shedding
of the blood of Christ. It was shed once. His blood was
the perfect sacrifice for sin. The perfect offering to the Father. For sin, forever. I like that. That's eternal. That's eternal. Oh, what does
it say? What you just read this morning. Like that verse that some people
don't like. Oh for sin's future too, bless my soul there's pardon
too. People don't like that, but I
can tell you this. Read Romans. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. That's future. That's now. That's now, 40 years after I
believed. I'm still believing today, though. But 40 years after all my sins
that I'm gonna commit today, He obtained eternal redemption. For us, is the way to put it.
And that's good in that sense. God will not impute sin to one
for whom Christ shed his blood. Eternally. Oh, I like that, I
do. Oh, his redemption. is eternal,
just like his salvation. So, continue on. The end of the
right chapter here. Hebrews nine and verse 14. Again,
how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal
spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience
from dead works, to serve the living God. And for this cause,
he is the mediator of the New Testament. That by means of death,
for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the First Testament,
they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. Oh, I like that. If God's translated
us out of darkness and into his son's marvelous light, the blood
of Christ cleanses us from all sin. And we have that fellowship
with him and with each other. By his blood we have eternal
redemption and his eternal salvation. And here the writer tells us
who that believe by his shed blood, by his eternal redemption,
by his eternal salvation, we have an eternal inheritance. And it's all in Christ. Oh, it's
all in Christ. Blessed be God, the Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy hath begotten
us again unto a lively hope, a living hope, by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead. Two. Oh, here it is. According to his abundant mercy,
he has begotten us again unto a lively hope, to an inheritance
incorruptible. Incorruptible and undefiled. You know what that means? That
means I can't mess it up. That's what it means. This inheritance
is incorruptible, it's undefiled, you can't break it. And thank
God for that. Oh. That fadeth not away. And that
fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you. For you. If you know him. If you know him. Oh, I like that. Believers are begotten to a lively
hope, a living hope in Christ. What's that? It's Christ in you,
the hope of glory. Christ in you, the hope of glory. And we are begotten to this living
hope by Jesus Christ to an eternal inheritance in Jesus Christ. Oh, and not only that, with Jesus
Christ. Oh, I like that idea. That's
something else. God has promised an incorruptible
inheritance and an undefiled inheritance, an inheritance that
will never, ever fade away. And it's reserved in heaven for
you, for all of his people. What did he tell us in John 14
three, he says this, and if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come again and receive you unto myself. He's the inheritance. He's the
inheritance. Oh, incorruptible, undefiled,
and never fades away. Oh, I like that. I will receive
you unto myself that where I am, there ye may be also. He has
promised to receive his people. Oh, I like that. Oh, I remember talking to you about
this about 40 years ago, Walter, when we were at another place.
And because I didn't know a whole lot about premillennialism or amillennialism,
I didn't know anything about any of that stuff. All I knew
is what I read. And I remember reading this,
and I remember telling Walter about it, and I told him I like this
part. I said, here it is. Then which we are, we which are
alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the
clouds to meet the Lord in the air. This is 1 Thessalonians
4 and 17. And here's the glorious part
for me, this last part of this verse. It says, and so shall
we ever be with the Lord. I'm telling you, that's an eternal
inheritance. And that's still, 40 years later,
that's what I'm looking for. That's what I want. Oh, oh. Matter of fact, that's who I've
been waiting on for 40 years. And looking for. I think it's
one of the greatest promises ever. And I know he's gonna keep
it. Because he keeps all his promises. But here's this. 2 Corinthians 5 and 6 says this,
therefore, we are always confident knowing whilst we are at home
in the body, we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by, what? Faith, not by sight. We are confident,
I say, and willing rather, willing rather, to be absent from the
body and to be present with the Lord. We have an eternal inheritance. When we die, and we're gonna
die unless he comes first. If he comes first, that'd be
great. But if not, we're gonna die, but to be absent from the
body is to be present with the Lord. And that's an eternal inheritance. That's an eternal inheritance.
Oh, we have an inheritance. And his inheritance, is eternal. He's promised it from the beginning. So in conclusion, this is three
eternal things given to us by Christ Jesus and given to us
in Christ Jesus. Eternal salvation, eternal redemption,
and eternal inheritance. And here's the thing, it's his
salvation his redemption and his inheritance. And he gives
it to his people. There's more, there's more. These
are just the three I got here in Hebrews. There's more. Perpetual, everlasting, and eternal. Understand, this was purposed
and planned from the beginning. And here's the thing, from the
beginning, this beginning, he declared this end, giving you his eternal salvation,
his eternal redemption, and his eternal inheritance to his people.