Let's go ahead and get started,
and if you would, turn with me to Matthew 7. Matthew 7. Matthew
7, and let's read verses 7 through 11. Matthew 7 and verse 7. Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock,
and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth,
and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall
be opened. Or what man is there of you whom
if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask
a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know
how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall
your Father, which is in heaven, give good things to them that
ask of him? Now, what I'm going to speak
about today is not necessarily found in this text. But we see
in the context that this is talking about God's children, the family
of God, asking of him. What are they asking for? The
Spirit of God to come and dwell with them. Is this talking about
them asking for a new job or a better job or more money? No,
Christ tells us in Matthew 6, and I will paraphrase it, take
no thought for your life, that is, what I'm going to eat or
drink, nor what I'm going to wear. This is referring to not
having these things, or at least the possibility of not having
these things. He says you are not going to
add anything to your stature, that is your age or your height.
God knows what you need before you even ask, but he knows what
you need with respect to these things. He says he will provide,
just as he does with the flowers and the birds. But what are we
to seek? Christ tells us what we are to
seek. The kingdom of God, but that's not all, and his righteousness. What does he say next? All these
other things will be added unto you. Matthew 6.33, but seek ye
first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these
things shall be added unto you. This text, of course, is not
talking about how this world should go about asking God for
things. Because this world does not know
God, just as we were in the world not knowing him like everyone
else until he meets us. But neither does he know them.
That's where it all begins, if God knows you. If God knows you,
it doesn't matter if you know him or not, if you're one of
his. Now just to be clear on that last statement, if he does
know you, he will cause you to know him. But he knows you from
before the foundation of the world. He says to Jeremiah, before
I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee. And before thou camest
forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee and I ordained thee a prophet
unto the nations. Does not God know all of his
people the same way? He does. He will cause us to
know him and how does he do this? Through words and by his spirit. Proverbs 123, turn you at my
reproof. Behold, I will pour out my spirit
unto you. I will make known my words unto
you. We may go on in this earth and
forget the God we know and love, but God does not forget you.
And that's a great comfort to me. It says in our text, how
much shall your father, a father has children else there's no
reason to call him father. But this text specifically lets
us know that he has children. We know this is a specific people
just from our text. This starts way back in chapter
five with Christ talking to his disciples. Now just to be clear,
some of his may not know they are his, at least not as of yet. They have not come to that time
of love until he sees fit. But I want to say to those who
may be in the furnace of affliction, and this holds true for you as
well as for me, if you are a child of God, ask and it shall be given
you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened
unto you. That's what he promises us. This is not my promise. It's a promise of God. The question
is, what is it that we are asking for? What is it that we are seeking? And what is it we are knocking
to have opened? When reading this passage, Christ
even says, speaking of physical things, that even evil men give
good gifts to their children, or as it says there, their son. Even us, being evil as we are
born in Adam, give good gifts to our children, but yet we do
not trust him who always gives good gifts to his children. I
think the problem most times is we're not looking for the
good gifts, but those evil gifts that we can consume them on our
own lust. But there are many in this world
who will give evil gifts to those who are seeking. Just to be clear,
those who are the children of God, when they ask him, he will
give the good gifts. It just kind of depends on who
you're asking. As a lot have said, God does
use means. But those means God uses are
totally controlled by God. And as we read in our text, he
gives the Holy Spirit when one asks for it. We see that in the
account in Luke, verse 11, 13. If ye then, being evil, know
how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall
your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask
him? God's people are all over the
globe and some do not know they are a child of God yet. These
certainly will be directed by God to where they need to go.
Sometimes this may take them where they get stones for bread
for a time. Maybe for the purpose of sinking
them, that person further in debt of soul to make them thirst
even more. He will give them his spirit
though. Because he says he will when that one comes to him seeking
him. But let me say, God is in control,
but man is still accountable for what he does and says. And
this is especially true as it concerns his children. You touch
one of them, you are touching the apple of his eye. So if someone
comes asking for bread and you give them a stone, you are accountable. This world is good at giving
stones, serpents, and scorpions, but not much for giving bread.
What are those things they give people? Anything that's not Jesus
Christ and Him crucified is a stone, a serpent, and a scorpion. I
do want to say this, though. This text, as I said before,
does not specifically speak about these things that I'm going to
talk about. This text is talking about God's people and comforting
them with the words of the faithfulness of God, knowing he will take
care of his children. But this world, when there's
one seeking and they ask for bread, that is, they ask for
that bread which will satisfy their thirsty and hungry soul,
are given stones instead. Here are a few, and they all
relate to one another. This is what I wanna talk about
today. Universal redemption. where God loves everybody. Free
will works religion for salvation. Law keeping as a way of life
to perfect salvation. So most of this world speaks
of all three of these things at the same time in some way.
But let me call them out separately. Even this world that we call
secular will spout off some of these things, who along with
the religious show their hatred to God out in the open. So first,
universal redemption, or God loves everybody. This world's
religion, and it doesn't matter what religion that you're talking
about, but this world's religion is full of man the creature,
rather than God the creator. But they will say things as it
relates to this topic. Smile, God loves you. This simply
is not true. or it may not be true, but yet
they insist on spouting it forth. They will use verses, and usually
it's just a verse here and there they spout off without giving
any context of what they're saying. But turn over to John 3.16. I'm
sure you don't have to, but John 3.16, but I'm gonna read some
other things around that too, so. John 3.16. For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish but have everlasting life. They say that this world
spoken of here means all the people in the world without exception. There are several things they
tend to leave out. First of all, they do not read
the first part of this chapter, verse three through six. Jesus
answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except
a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus
saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he
enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus
answered, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born
of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom
of God. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. We're told by Christ himself,
you cannot see and you cannot enter. Both of these come from
above, so if God does not give it, then you won't have it. Why
would God love everybody and not give this to them? We know
there are examples in scripture where those that have died went
to hell because they did not believe. Yet God loved them and
let them go there. Turn over to Luke 16, Luke 16. Versus 19 through 23. There was a certain rich man
who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously
every day. And there was a certain beggar
named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate full of sores, and
desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's
table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. And it
came to pass that the beggar died, and was carried by the
angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was
buried. And in hell he lift up his eyes,
being in torment, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his
bosom. I know some try to appease themselves,
and they say this is a parable. But it does not say it's a parable,
and there are specific people mentioned here. a certain rich
man, Lazarus a beggar, and Abraham. Those are real people. This is
a man who God tells us went to hell, this rich man, and he did
so because he would not bow down to God. He could not because
God did not die for him and did not do anything to him. But even
further in John 3.16, if we use the definition of the world to
mean what they say it means, they do not see. First of all,
we see that Christ must be lifted up before anyone is ever to believe. And he was lifted up. But we
read that God so loved the world. If we plug in there using everyone
without exception, then we have to use that everywhere, right?
For God so loved everyone without exception that he gave his only
begotten son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but
have everlasting life. So they say Christ died for some
who never believe. We just read an account of someone
who died and went to hell. Going by this world's doctrine,
that man was loved by God, yet he perished. But let's look at
another one. For God sent not his son into
the everyone without exception to condemn everyone without exception,
but that everyone without exception through him might be saved. Then in 319, and this is the
condemnation that light is coming to the everyone without exception.
And men love darkness rather than light because their deeds
were evil. It just don't work. You remember
when Jim McLarty was here and he talked about this world, he
said, in this world we have what we call, in this country, and
one team in Canada, we have what's called World Series. It doesn't
include the whole world. It's that world, which we're
a part of, that they have this World Series. But this world
here is, The world that God uses here in John 3, 16 is His world. It's the world He's talking about.
And it's those who have been born from above. First, to see. To see. That is, they are conceived
by God. And then, through the water and
the Spirit, they are to enter. That is, they are born, they're
brought forth into the kingdom of God. So as they talk about this, so
Christ came to die for everyone, but none of them will be saved,
because they love darkness rather than light, because their deeds
are evil. That's what that leads to. Now
we know that there's not a single person who can believe or will
believe, which we will look at in a minute, but we cannot because
we are fallen, sinful creatures. Now we have one more passage
that is clear that God does not love everybody, and this world
wants to shoo it away. Romans 9-11, very familiar. For
the children being not yet born, neither having done any good
or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might
stand, not of works, but of him that calleth. First of all, it's been noted
by many men before me, these children had done neither good
or evil. They were not even born yet that
they might do anything. It was done, as it says here
in this verse, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand. So there is a purpose of God
according to choosing. That's what the word election
means. This choosing is not done by man, but it is done by God,
as this was done before they had done any good or evil. They
did not do any evil to preclude them from God's presence, or
they did not do any good that would commend them to God. This
choosing was done by him that calleth, and that is God. God done the choosing, and what
else does he say? It was said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger, as it is written, Jacob have I loved,
but Esau have I hated. This says that God loved Jacob,
not anything Jacob did or did not do, simply because God wanted
to. The word there meaning to love
dearly. For God so loved dearly his world
which he chose that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever
believeth on him should never perish. But then it says Esau
have I hated. The word means to hate, pursue
with hatred, detest. God hated Esau even though Esau
had not done any good or evil. Because of this, Paul knows what
kind of response this sinful flesh will give. And I gave it
when I first heard it, Romans 9 14. What shall we say then?
Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. He does not
even go on to explain it further. He just gives more examples of
God choosing based on his will. Not man's free will, because
it does not exist. So next we have, Free will works
religion for salvation. Man, and this is, this one is
religious and irreligious alike. Hollywood spouts forth free will. But this world's religion thinks
and believes that man can choose or reject God. What they do not
understand and it's not a matter of us choosing or rejecting God.
God needs no acceptance or choosing from us. He is absolutely holy
and righteous and perfect without one blemish. It is as we just
saw, it's all up to his choosing us and that not apart from what
his son did on that tree. Without Jesus Christ dying for
the chosen of God on their behalf, then none would be saved. You
will not find in scripture that man has a free will. That is, they have a free will that
they can do anything they want to do. They do have a will, but
it's not free. It is bound by their heart, and
the heart we are born with is desperately wicked, and it deceives
us, and no one can even know their heart. But God knows it,
and he has told us about it. This lie was from the beginning,
Genesis 3, 5, for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof,
then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be gods, knowing
good and evil. Mankind by nature believes this. They believe that they are their
own god, but that is a lie straight from the devil. Your eyes are
no more open than your ears or your heart is. First of all,
we have already read it, unless you are born from above, that
is, unless God gives you spiritual life, you can't even see it.
That's right. Unless you are born of water
and of the spirit, you cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
That's right. So it takes a work of God before you can do anything
towards the kingdom of God. Exactly. But Christ is more specific. What does he say? Turn with me
to John 8. John 8. John chapter 8, 42 through 47. Joe's already been mentioned
in some of these things. 42 through 47, John 8. Jesus said unto them, if God
were your father, ye would love me. For I proceeded forth and
came from God. Neither came I of myself, but
he sent me. Why do you not understand my
speech? Even because you cannot hear
my word. Ye are of your father the devil,
and the lust of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from
the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is
no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh
of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it. And because
I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinces
me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do
you not believe me? He that is of God, heareth God's
word. Ye therefore hear them not, because
ye are not of God. You cannot hear his word unless
you are of God. That means it is God who has
to do something, not us. But we also read in John 5, 39
and 40, search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have
eternal life, and they which testify of me. And ye will not
come to me that ye might have life. They rest the scriptures. They wrench the scripture. They
torture the word of God is what it means. They pervert God's
word. They tell you the word of God
says something that it does not say. In fact, they tell you the
word of God says something opposite of what it says. Christ says
you will not. That is, you have no desire to
come to Him. You have no will to come to Him. So any supposed free will you
think you have does not will to come to Christ. I will say this. You will never
come to God by any supposed free will. If you come to Him, it
will be because of Him that you come. John 6, 44, no man can
come to me except the Father which has sent me draw him, and
I will raise him up in the last day. So this world gives you
a stone that says you can choose God, and you can come to God,
which is opposite of what God says. He says you cannot come
to him, and you will not come to him unless he draws you. Christ even tells us in John
12, 32, and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw
all unto me. The man is put in there, all
of his he will draw to himself. Because if Christ draws you,
you will come. If he does not, then he did not
choose you. Most will agree with this, although
they do not know they agree. They will say, if that is who
God is, I don't want a God like that. But they also look to gain
God and thereby salvation by their works, because they supposedly
believe Moses. Turn with me to John 5. John
5. Turn into a lot of passages,
but... John 5, verses 43 through 47. John 5, verse 43. I am come in
my Father's name and you receive me not. If another shall come
in his own name, ye will receive. Him you will receive. How can
you believe what you receive honor one from another and seek
not the honor that cometh from God only? Do not think that I
will accuse you to the Father. There is one that accuseth you,
even Moses, in whom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses, ye
would have believed me, for he wrote of me. But if ye believe
not his writings, how shall ye believe my words? They think we can gain favor
from God through law works. So next we have law keeping as
a way of life to perfect salvation. There are those who believe in
free will, and God loves everybody, who also think they can perform
the works of the law. Again, they say the opposite
of what God says. But there are also those who
say they don't believe in free will, or that God loves everybody,
that still hold to keeping the law, maybe not to get life, but
as a way of life for the believer. to those such as us who will
tell you what God says about the matter and that there shall
no flesh be justified by the works of the law as the scripture
teaches. Just think about it. No flesh
will be justified. Does that mean the spiritual
man is justified by the deeds of the law? There's no need. They are justified by the faith
of Christ. We've already been hearing that.
but they will call us antinomian. But what they do not realize
is the scripture is antinomian. Let me show you several passages
that are antinomian, that is anti-law. Romans 3.20, therefore
by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in
his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. So it's
anti-law towards justification. Romans 3.28, therefore we conclude
that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. A man or a woman's flesh will
not be justified by the law, so it is anti-law when it comes
to justification before God. We are justified by the faith
of Christ without any works of the law from us. We also read
in Romans 10, verses one and two, brethren, my heart's desire
and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved,
for I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according
to knowledge. So they have a zeal, they are
zealous about God, but it is in ignorance of who God is because
it is not according to a God-given knowledge of who he is. They
believe and they teach that I have to work to obtain salvation by
the works of the law, or I have to establish the law, or that
is, I have to stand up for and try and establish my own righteousness
by the works of the law. That's what they teach. Romans
10 three, for they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going
about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted
themselves unto the righteousness of God. Men and women have a
righteousness, but it's not the righteousness of God, so it don't
cut it. In fact, as we all know, the
scripture tells us that even our righteousnesses are as filthy
rags in God's sight. There's no benefit in performing
the works of the law. It goes on to say, Romans 10,
four, for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to
everyone that believeth. I know there are those who have
in the past or maybe even still today say that a child of God
has the law written in their heart, so once God saves them,
then they are enabled by that to be guided as their walk of
life by the law to live a godly life. But all have this law written
in their hearts, even those who did not have the law, Romans
2, 14 and 15. For when the Gentiles, which
have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law,
these having not the law are a law unto themselves, which
show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience
also bearing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing
or else excusing one another. Their conscience tells them that
this is wrong, but they accuse one another or excuse one another
because they hate God. And that's what this flesh does.
Even my flesh does this, even today. They cannot believe God,
that God has done away with the law. He has voided the law. They read a passage like the
following. Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid,
yea, we establish the law. They will read this and say,
see, faith allows us to perform the law, whatever law that might
be. I can tell you this, though.
We have not voided the law, but the law has been voided for some,
and the scripture says so. Second Corinthians, and I've
done this before, but Second Corinthians three, verses six
and seven, it says, who also hath made us able ministers of
the New Testament, not of the letter, but of the spirit. For
the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. But if the ministration
of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that
the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face
of Moses, for the glory of his countenance, which glory was
to be done away. The law is glorious, but the
law cannot give life at any time. It cannot create life, nor can
it sustain life. What are we told right there
in those verses? For the letter killeth, to kill
outright, to destroy is what the word means. But the spirit
giveth life, to revitalize, to make alive, quicken, But we know
the law was glorious as it let us know of the holiness of God.
But there is a glory that surpasses the glorious law. This glory
did something, this glory did something to the law. It rendered
it entirely idle, abolished it, it destroyed it, it made void
the law. That's what the word means. The
glory of Jesus Christ and his faith voided the law, and that
is what scripture says. Are you better than Jesus Christ?
Jesus Christ says he voided the law. Yet you want to worship
and be guided by the law? You are committing spiritual
adultery against a glory that is far superior. Jesus Christ
could and did obey the law in every aspect that you could bring
up. but he did something that the law could not do. He gave
life to those who were condemned by the law and in so doing, he
made void the law for them. When God enables me to see this,
it's a bright light of hope for me when before all I could see
is death and condemnation in the law that I was under. Christ
did away with that law that I might live unto Christ. His spirit
giving me life and the fruit of that spirit has no law against. Nothing that I have done have
brought any of this to pass. It is all of God. So he gets
all the glory and he will have it. So what is my conclusion
to all of this? This world, when you ask for
bread, it will give you a stone instead. When you know that you
have no strength of your own to where you can will anything
or do anything, so much that you cry with the Apostle Paul
in Romans 7, 18, for I know that is in me, that is in my flesh
dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present with me,
but how to perform that which is good I find not. Even if I
will to do something, I have not the ability to accomplish
it. Salvation is all of grace and not of works. God chose us
in grace. It had nothing to do with what
we have done, good or evil. God's choosing is all of grace
and His choosing of our people was in His Son. So it all depended
on his doing, Romans 11, six, and if by grace, then it is no
more of works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it
is no more grace. Otherwise, work is no more work. So God did and does not love
everybody. That's written wrong. God does
not love everybody. And if you don't like that, take
it up with God. I will tell you though, he does
not care what you think about the matter. It will not change
God one way or the other. We cannot come to God on our
own. God says so. So if you don't
like that, take it up with God. But I'll tell you though, he
doesn't care what you think. So it's not going to change God
one way or the other. We cannot be imparted life from
doing the works of the law, nor can we be guided by the law as
our way of life. If you are in Christ, he has
done away with that law. He has destroyed it, made it
void. It is empty to all those who
are in Christ Jesus. If you don't like that, take
it up with God. If someone wants to call me an
antinomian, they can go ahead. I must trust God, although because
of this flesh I do not always do that. But in Him is the only
place I can trust, because He is faithful to perform that which
He said He would perform. There is no law that I can perform
to gain me anything before a thrice holy God. But there is a Christ
who is Lord and Savior that could do it, and he did do it, Hebrews
7, 26 through 28. For such an high priest became
us who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made
higher than the heavens. Who need if not daily as those
high priests to offer up sacrifice for his own sins and then for
the people's? For this he did once when he
offered up himself. For the law maketh men high priests,
which have infirmity. But the word of the oath, which
was since the law, the Son, who is consecrated forevermore. Paul
gave me that verse when I was up there and I just, I loved,
didn't know it was there. That's a good verse. He is perfect. Oh, that I might be found in
him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but the
righteousness which is of God, even by the faith of Jesus Christ,
who saved his people to the uttermost, the scripture says. Will you come to him? Can you
come to him? You remember what Earl used to
say, you will if you can, and you can if you will. Does that
surprise you? It shouldn't. What does he tell
us? Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power in the beauties of holiness from the womb of
the morning thou hast to do of thy youth. God, if he loves you,
will make you willing. We are also told in Philippians
2.13, for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do
of his good pleasure. If you will to do something,
it is because of God. And he does this only for his
people. He does not love everyone. If
he loves you, he will ensure that you see what the law says,
and it will kill and condemn. But then he will give you that
faith of Christ as a gift. And it will enable you to see
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And you'll come
to find out he is your life and he is your way of life. God only
gives good gifts to his children. You want to see more of him?
Ask him. He is faithful and He will give
you of His Spirit and guide you into all truth. And He will speak
of Jesus Christ. So if you're hearing anything
else, just stop listening to it. He has done and does all
the works. Give glory to God. Amen. Dear Lord God, be with us as
we go out through here. Dear Lord, you have promised
that where two or three are gathered in your name, that there you
are in the midst of them. But go with us, dear Lord, guide
us in our steps through this life, dear Lord, because we're
falling clay pots, dear Lord. We need you. We can do nothing
without you. Guide and direct us in all things that we do,
all these things we ask in Christ's name, amen.