The name of the message today
is called Entrusted. Entrusted. Now in the first chapter
and continuing into this chapter, Paul is defending his apostolic
authority, which comes from God and God alone. He's been under
attack by the Judaizers. They've said that he doesn't
have the authority because he wasn't with Christ. He's not
an apostle because he wasn't with Christ. But we know that
he had a divine encounter on the road to Damascus, didn't
he? He met the Lord. The Lord revealed himself to
him there. And remember, the words that
we read today, as we go through the scriptures here, remember
that these words, they're inspired by the Holy Spirit of God. Paul's
writing them, but the true author is God. Remember that every time
we read scripture. I think sometimes we can get
caught up in the, I know I can, in who the author is and the
human author. But always have to remember that
the true author is God, the Holy Spirit. He's having Paul pen
these words by inspiration, by his moving. So let's keep that
in our minds. Paul here in the first chapter,
he sets forth right away, remember in the first chapter he sets
right away the gospel before the Galatians, before he does
any correction, before he says anything, he sets forth the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is because of the free
grace of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Salvation is by his
shed blood, right? He redeemed our eternal souls.
So in the first chapter he sets that forth. And he does the same
in 1 Corinthians. I've mentioned it many times,
but it's worth repeating. In the first chapter of 1 Corinthians,
before he does any correction, it's amazing. Just take a look
at it and watch how Paul just sets Christ before the Corinthians.
Before he does any correction at all. And remember, he's correcting
them in love, too. He's not correcting them in anger. He corrects them in love. He
loves these people. Barnabas and him were used to
start several churches in Galatia. And so he has a connection with
these people that he's writing to. He loves them dearly. And
he's preaching Christ and him alone without any works by any
human being. And we know salvation is of Christ
alone. It's all by his merits. It's
all by what he's done that we receive mercy from God. The only
reason we receive mercy and grace from God is because of what Christ
did for us in our room and place. And then Paul brings forth that
the doctrine that these false teachers are teaching is diametrically
opposed to the one true gospel. So he sets the one true gospel
before them and says that which the Judaizers are teaching is
diametrically opposed to the one true gospel of salvation
in and through Christ because it requires, the false gospel
requires something you must do. So he contrasts the two of them.
He does it masterfully too, we saw that in chapter one. Then
he brings forth that his calling and his authority to preach the
gospel comes from God and God alone. This is true of every
preacher. It's true of every preacher.
Our authority to preach the gospel comes from God. It doesn't come
from man. It comes from God and God alone.
He's the one who makes the preacher. We're going to look at that next
week. He's the one who makes the preacher. I never thought
that I would be a gospel preacher. I had no clue. I would have laughed
you to scorn if you had told me that 30 years ago. I would
have laughed you to scorn and probably said a few things I
shouldn't say. But that's how I was. I wasn't who I am now
in Christ. I wasn't born again. I did not
know the Savior. But now, oh my, what a joy to
be entrusted with the gospel. This church, we're entrusted
with the gospel, beloved. We're entrusted with the gospel
of God's free and sovereign grace. Not just the preacher to preach
it, but the whole church. We're entrusted with the gospel. That's
why it's so important for us to get it out, isn't it? And
watch, just sit back in awe and watch what the Lord's doing.
I like what Dan said a couple years ago. He said to me, he
goes, man, he goes, isn't it amazing? God doesn't need a whole lot
of people to do his work, does he? And I'm like, no, isn't it
incredible? Look what the Lord's done. Look what he does. Oh,
it's incredible. It's absolutely incredible, beloved.
What a blessing that he's brought us all together. And here we
are here together, gathered together for the furtherance of the gospel.
That's why we're here. for the furtherance of the gospel.
It's wonderful. And now in this chapter, he's
went up to Jerusalem at the request of the Galatian elders. He's
gone up to Jerusalem to receive letters from the apostles up
there that will confirm what he preaches. Now, Paul knows
what he preaches. Paul won't budge on what he preaches,
just like any gospel preacher. No matter what comes our way,
we're going to preach Christ and Him crucified. That's all
we're going to preach. Like what Henry said a long time
ago, I've got a one-string fiddle. You've heard me use that many
times. It's true. True gospel preachers have a one-string fiddle,
and that's Christ Jesus our Lord. That's the only song we play.
And we only play that song by the grace of God. We only proclaim
Christ by the grace of God. Let's look at the Galatians chapter
two. We're gonna read verses one to 10 to see the context
of the verse that we'll be in today. The verse which we'll
look at today will be verse seven. And something that I'd like us
to see through the reading of this is note the unity. Note
the unity that this verse brings forth. There's unity between
Paul and the other apostles. Why? Because they both preach
the same gospel. See, our unity is found in Christ
and Him alone. Always remember that. Men have
made denominations and our unity is in Christ. That's where our
unity is. That's where our unity is. It's
in Him. Look at this in Galatians chapter 2 verses 1 to 10. Then
14 years after I went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas and took Titus
with me also. And I went up by revelation and
communicated unto them that gospel, which I preached among the Gentiles,
but privately to them, which were of reputation lest by any
means I should run or had run in vain. So he went up there
and privately preached the gospel to them. But neither Titus, who
was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised,
And that because of false brethren, unawares, bought in, who came
in private and inspired our liberty, our freedom, which we have in
Christ Jesus. They might bring us into bondage. That's what religion does. Religion
brings people into bondage. What must you do? Isn't free
grace wonderful? We just look to Christ. And we're
in awe of what he's done. To whom we gave place by subjection,
no, not for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue
with you. But of these who seem to be somewhat whatsoever they
were, it maketh no matter to me. God accepted no man's person. For they who seem to be somewhat
in conference added nothing to me. Now look at verse seven,
look at the unity here between Paul and the apostles. But counterwise,
when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed
unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter,
look at verse eight now, for he that wrought effectively in
Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty
in me toward the Gentiles. And when James and Cephas and
John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was
given to me, They gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of
fellowship. There's the unity. You know, a long time ago, when
I first started preaching, I went to a conference in Rescue, California. And there was four gospel preachers
there. Four gospel preachers. And Gene had asked me to preach
the gospel at his conference. First conference I ever preached
at. I was so nervous you could hear my knees knocking from miles
away. But the first gospel conference I ever preached at, and I went
there, and after I was done preaching, they said, they said, you preach,
you got the message, Wayne. And they told me something, Donny
Bell told me something, he was one of the men there, he told
me something a long time ago, he says, it's not the man, it's the message. He says, let folks know not to
get caught up in the man, it's the message. I know Scott used
to say that, Henry used to say that, Norm says that, Donnie
says that. It's not the man, it's the message. That's what's most important.
Because if you follow a man, you're going to be severely disappointed.
Because we are flawed. We gospel preachers are sinners
saved by grace, just like you. Ain't that wonderful? We're all
sinners in fellowship in Christ. It's wonderful. It's absolutely
wonderful. I love it. I just love it. So Paul went
before the elders here and he preached the gospel. The elders
at Jerusalem, he preached the gospel to them. And James and
Cephas and John, they received him. They received him. Last
week we looked at verse 6, that they did not add anything to
him, because what he's saying, he's not saying it in a condescending
way, he's just saying they're my equals. You know, I love Norm
Wells, and him and I often talk, and I said, man, I feel like
Timothy with you. He goes, Wayne, you're my equal. And I said, yeah, I understand
that, but I still feel like Timothy with Paul. And it's the same,
I've told Donnie the same thing. And both of them, you're my equal.
My goodness. You know, see, we're not in competition,
are we? Gospel preachers aren't in competition
with each other. In religion that happens, but
not in grace. Not in grace. Not at all. So let's read verse
7 again. But Cauterize when they saw that
the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me as the
gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter. Now the Judaizers,
they were cunning. They were cunning. Very cunning
people. We saw that earlier in this chapter. They were extremely cunning.
They crept in unawares. They crept in unawares and they
were just putting little questions out there about Paul and his
authority. Just quietly. Just quietly. Not to cause a ruckus. Well,
it soon came to the head what they were doing. It was revealed
what they were doing. And Paul stood against them.
Paul stood against them. And even some of the Galatians
had started to hear those whispers and said, well, maybe we need
to find out if Paul really does have apostolic authority. Well,
he told you. He's told them about what happened
to him on the road to Damascus. That's a pretty incredible thing,
what happened to him there, isn't it? But, see, these false teachers,
they're crafty. They're crafty. They're whispering
in people's ears. They were cunning. But we see
here that the apostles actually championed Paul over the Judaizers.
See, God flipped it all around, didn't he? These Judaizers were
getting influence, and they were starting to get influence in
the church, and the Lord just flipped it right around. And
it brought the church even closer together. Here they are in unity. They're going forward, like Dave
always says. They're going forward! And that's what they're doing.
Because they send Paul back out! And out he goes, back into, back
into, uh... into where the Gentiles are.
My, it's wonderful. And he went up privately, remember?
He didn't make a big issue of it. He went up quietly and talked
to the apostles. He didn't make a big issue of
it. He knew he preached the free grace of God, and he knew they
preached the free grace of God, but still he had to tell them
what he believed. And obviously, obviously God
had been working, right? Because only divine grace can
set up churches like happened there. These people were born
again by the Holy Spirit of God through the preaching of the
word. That only comes by divine grace. That's not because of
Paul. And Paul, remember, he said, I'm not going to glorify
myself, not at all, glorifying God. I'll give him all the glory
and honor and praise for what he's done. Because he's the one
who's doing all the work. He's the one who's done everything.
He saved us from our souls and then he sends the Holy Spirit
to regenerate us. Give us faith to believe on him.
It's amazing. God's so merciful. He's so merciful. Turn if you would to Acts chapter
9. Acts chapter 9. So Paul goes up to them and he
preaches there privately. And we see here in Acts chapter
9 that Paul, he's a chosen vessel. Do you know that every one of
us is a chosen vessel? That's what the scripture says,
we're vessels of honor. There's vessels of honor and
there's vessels of dishonor. We have no idea who they are.
And as a matter of fact, the vessel of honor before the Lord
saves us looks like a vessel of dishonor. And then it's revealed
when we're born again by the Holy Spirit of God that we're
actually vessels of honor. And then we spend the rest of
our life going, this is amazing. This is amazing. I was listening
to Donny Bell this week, and he said, you know, people always
say, why me? Because God chose to. Isn't that incredible? We
just have to believe what the word says, don't we? Because
we all say that. Why me? Because it pleased God
to save you. That's amazing. I think it's
almost too much for us to comprehend. That's why we say, why me? Because it really is so incredible,
this salvation. And I said, we, because we all
get those thoughts. Why me? Well, why not? Is that what you say? Yeah. Well, I guess that's true,
hey. Yeah, because God's pleased God to do it, didn't it? It pleased
God to do it. Yeah. I'm still in awe. I'm still in
awe. I'll be honest with you. I'm still in awe. It's just amazing. Just absolutely amazing that
he'd save a sinner like me. Look at this in Acts chapter
9. This is at Paul's conversion. Look at this in Acts chapter
9 verses 13 to 16. Then Ananias answered, Lord,
I've heard by many of this man how much evil he had done to
thy saints at Jerusalem. Well, Paul had a reputation,
didn't he? And it wasn't a good reputation. He had a bad reputation
and he's going around hauling Christians out and bringing them
before the council and they were being killed and imprisoned.
And look at this, and he hath authority from the chief priests
to bind all that call on his name. But the Lord said unto
him, Go thy way, for he is a chosen vessel unto me. Look at this,
to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of
Israel. For I will show him how great things he must suffer for
my name's sake. But look at that, he's a chosen
vessel. Do you know that in the Greek
it means to select? to select. He's a selected vessel. That's true of every born-again
blood-washed saint of God. Oh my, isn't that wonderful?
But Paul's to bear his name before the Gentiles. So we see here
that Paul's not commissioned by man, is he? He's commissioned
by God to go and preach the gospel. God is the one who commissioned
him. We see that so clearly in that verse. So that's why Paul
stood on his apostolic authority coming from God, because it was
only God that gave him that authority to preach the gospel and to send
him on his way. So really, when the apostles
said, but Conorize, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision
was committed unto me as the gospel of the circumcision was
unto Peter, they're just confirming what the Lord's already said.
What the Lord's already said. They're just confirming that.
You know, I remember talking to Bruce Crabtree one time, and
I said, you know, how does a man know when he's called to preach?
And he said, the church will confirm it. God's people will
confirm it. They know you're sent from God.
They know you're sent from the Lord, because you're preaching
the gospel. Not that you're, The calling to preach the gospel
is not of man, right? It's of God. See, they're just
confirming that which God has placed upon a preacher's life.
The calling to preach the gospel. Isn't that amazing? It's absolutely
amazing. Again, I didn't think I'd ever
be a preacher. Last person I ever thought would be a preacher.
So the apostles were just confirming that which the Lord Jesus had
sent Paul to do. And he purposed him to do it.
We see that in the text in Acts 9, right? He's already purposed
Paul, he's a chosen vessel, and he's purposed him to go to the
Gentiles. Before it even happens, beloved!
Isn't that wonderful? We know the one who holds the
future. We know the one who holds tomorrow. Even though we don't
know what's coming tomorrow, he holds tomorrow. what comfort
that gives me. And I know it gives you that,
too, doesn't it? It's wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. When did
Paul become a chosen vessel of the Lord? He wore the foundation of the
world. Amen, sister. In eternity, eh? Oh, it's wonderful. Oh, when was Paul set apart for
the ministry of beloved? Same answer. From eternity! Oh my, isn't that incredible?
To know that God has planned and purposed our lives? That's
incredible. Now we're sinful beings, right?
And we commit sin of our own volition, right? But God will never let us fall,
will he? We are his people. We can fall
deep into sin, but he'll never let us fall away. Isn't that
wonderful? Ah, I just rejoice. And isn't it wonderful to think
that every one of God's people are set apart from eternity?
If you're a believer, you were set apart by God from eternity. Just let that
sink. Again, we can't really fathom
it, can we? This morning we're gonna look
at the infinite greatness of Christ. We just know a little bit about
His greatness, but His greatness is infinite. You can't measure
it. It has no bounds. None at all. Wonder of wonders, God would
show such grace to sinners such as we. So it says again, verse
7, But Conorites, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision
was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was
unto Peter, They heard Paul preach the complete, finished, sin-atoning
work of the Lord Jesus Christ and redemption by his precious,
precious blood, and the fact that he rose again from the grave
on the third day. They said, this man's preaching
the same gospel we are. He's preaching the free grace
of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. My, oh my. And he's commissioned
to go to the Gentiles. And that's where he went. The
Holy Spirit had led them to the Gentiles. And off he goes. Off he goes to the Gentiles.
And the Lord had used Paul amongst the uncircumcision, which were
the Gentiles, and he'd used Peter greatly amongst the Jews. You
see, one commentator said, there's a distinction made to show that
the different peoples different peoples, but rejoiced in Christ,
that there's neither Jew nor Gentile, even though they were
each sent to a different people, right? Still humans, still sinners,
but different cultures. The gospel's the same, and we're
one in Christ. There's neither Jew nor Gentile,
bond nor free, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free, but we're all
one in Christ. We're one in Christ, beloved.
Turn, if you would, to Romans chapter 2. Christ is the all
in all of his people, isn't he? So here we're gonna look at the
law here and judgment, God's judgment upon sin. Now remember, there's none righteous,
no, not one. There's none that understand
God, there's none that seeketh after God. That's our natural
state, isn't it? That's our natural state. Look
at this in Romans chapter two. We read verses 12 to 28. For
as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without
law. And as many as have sinned in
the law shall be judged by the law. For not the hearers of the
law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be
justified. Now, works folks get a hold of
that, and they say, oh, look at that. Look at that. But you
got to keep reading. 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. See, every man
has a law written in our hearts, beloved. Oh, look at that. They're conscious, also bearing
witness in their thoughts, the means, while accusing or excusing
one another. How do we know it's wrong to
murder? How has society known for thousands of years that it
was wrong to murder? Because the law is written on
their heart. Even though they weren't Jews,
the law is still written on their heart, isn't it? See, the Jews
had the law. The Gentiles didn't. But it was
written on their heart. Look at this here, though. in
the day when God shall judge the secrets of man by Jesus Christ
according to my gospel." There's the final judge right there.
His name's the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at that. Oh my. Behold, thou art called
the Jew and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God,
and knowest his will, and approvest of things that are more excellent,
being instructed of the law, and are confident that thou yourself
art a guide of the blind, a light to them which are in darkness,
an instructor of the foolishness, a teacher of babes, which has
the form of knowledge, and the truth of the law. Thou, therefore,
that teachest another, teachest thou not thyself, Oh, there's
the big thing, isn't it? Folks like to teach people the
law, but they don't like to do it themselves. See, if you're going to live
by the law, you've got to live by all of it. We can't. We can't, beloved. Oh, there's the heart of the
matter right there. Look at that. Thou that preachest a man should
not steal, dost thou steal? Thou that sayest a man should
not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? Thou that upholdest
idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? Thou that makest thy boast in
the law, though breaking the law, dishonest thou God? Oh, my, they make their boast
in the law, and yet they dishonor the law by their sinfulness. That was us in our natural state,
beloved. That was us. I knew before the Lord saved
me, I knew it was wrong to steal. Yeah, I knew it was wrong to
kill. I knew it was wrong to commit
adultery. I knew those things. I even knew it was wrong to blaspheme
God, and I still did it to my shame. Oh my gosh. Oh, it's awful. But that's how we are. Thou that makest boast of the
law, though through breaking the law dishonest thou God? Of
course they do. For the name of God is blasphemed
among the Gentiles through you, as it is written, for circumcision
verily profiteth if thou keep the law. But if thou be a breaker
of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision. Oh my, isn't Paul, and remember,
Paul used to be a Jew. He's still a Jew by birth, right? So he knows, and he was a Pharisee
of Pharisees. He's turning their own words against them. He's
a master of what the law, he knows the law inside and out.
Oh, he's just, and remember who the true author of these words
is again. It's God the Holy Spirit, isn't it? Therefore, if the uncircumcision
keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision
be counted for circumcision? He flipped it around on him,
didn't he? And shall not thy uncircumcision, which is by nature,
if it fulfill the law, judge thee? Who by the letter and circumcision
does turn aggress the law? Now look at these last two verses. Just marvel at these last two
verses. This is absolutely incredible. For he is not a Jew, which is
one outwardly, by birth. Neither is that circumcision. So just because the Jews were
circumcised doesn't make them a true Jew. Which is outward
in the flesh, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly. And circumcision is that of the
heart. Paul is saying that the true
spiritual Jews are those who are born again by the Holy Spirit
of God. That's that you can't get away
from it. That's what he's writing here. Look at that. But he is a Jew, which is one
inwardly and circumcision is out of the heart in the spirit
and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of
God. Because we're born again, we
praise God. We praise Christ for fulfilling the law for us. So Paul's bringing forth then
that a man is not a child of God. He's not righteous before
God by his nationality, by his profession, by ceremony. He's
a child of God by an inward work of the Holy Spirit of God. It
must be born again. Wonderful. Circumcision isn't
something outward, but it's an inward work of grace in the heart. Again, it means to be born again,
and it's an operation of God. It's his work. It's not by praying
a prayer. It's not by walking an aisle.
Those are all things men do. It's an operation of God in our
hearts. And we who are saved know the
difference, don't we? I bowed my head and repeated
a prayer. I'll tell you honestly, I did. I was a full-on Armenian. I bowed my head. I repeated a
prayer. Someone said, now you're saved. Then I went to a Calvinistic
church, landmark church. Oh, my. They believed they were
the only true church. And I went there. I knew doctrine. I was a five-point Calvinist,
I knew doctrine, I knew everything that I had learned, which was
just a little wee bit of stuff, but I sure thought I was pretty
proud of what I learned. And then God saved me. Amen. And a friend of mine said, I
think I've told you guys before, a friend of mine said, well,
Wayne, you were saved back then. I said, no, I wasn't. And he said, yeah,
you were. I talked with you. You knew all
the scripture. And I said, well, I wasn't saved.
And he said, he said, yeah, but I said, I had no grace. And he kept, he kept, well, no,
you were saved. I said, am I the only one who
knows whether I was saved or not? See, I had an outward form. I knew doctrine. I could go toe
to toe with someone about doctrine. I could debate. That's why I
don't debate anymore. God, the word of God is not up
for debate. You just present it. You don't debate the Word
of God. You just say, well, this is what
the Word says. There it is. We're saved by grace. And that's the free grace of
God through Christ and in Christ and Him alone. My, oh my. So a true Jew is a redeemed person,
one who's born again. My, let's look at verse 7 again.
But counterize when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision
was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was
unto Peter. See the word committed there
in verse seven? It means to entrust. Paul was
entrusted with the gospel. This church is entrusted with
the gospel. It's entrusted. Now God, it's
the God who keeps it here, right? But we are entrusted with the
gospel. Again, we're here for the proclamation of the gospel.
And as we were talking about the residual effects of medication
and all that, think of this. We're here for the proclamation
of the gospel, and the residual effects of that is how much we
love each other. We joy when we see each other.
Carolyn, you said, you know, live streaming's just not the
same. I'd love to come and be with you. Yes, we'd love to see you
too. It's that fellowship face-to-face that's so wonderful. So wonderful. You can't get that any other
way. And it's wonderful, beloved. And it's God working in us and
the joy of the Spirit within us. And it's marvelous. That's why
I look so forward to Sundays and Wednesday nights. I love
it. I get to be with God's people. I get to see you after you've
been out in the world. And we've all been out in the
world for a whole week. If we come back together and
we rejoice over the wondrous things that Christ has done.
It's absolutely wonderful. So we've been entrusted with
the gospel. It means to commit to charge.
It's amazing. And that's not just for the preacher,
that's for all of us. We've been entrusted, beloved,
with the gospel. God, the Father, had chosen Paul
and Christ before the foundation of the world. And we saw in Acts
9, verse 15, that he said, he said, he's a chosen vessel unto
me to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and children
of Israel. See that word chosen again that
I told you about in Acts 9, 15? It means to choose, to select.
It also means a chosen vessel, an instrument of usefulness.
We are instruments of usefulness, beloved. Isn't that amazing? A sinner
like you and I, and we're instruments of usefulness to the Lord. Isn't
it amazing that he even gives us the opportunity to gather
together, to hear the word of God, and then to have it sent
out into the world and just watch in amazement what God does? From
here we are at Almonte, Michigan, a small town. How many people drive by every
Sunday and have no idea what the Lord's doing amongst us? It's amazing, beloved, and it's
all Him. Amen, it's all him. He gets all
the glory and all the honor and all the praise Do you know this
this word here chosen? It's only used seven times in
the New Testament It's only used seven times. I'm running out
of time, but we got to look at this quick seven times. It's
used. It's it's only Translated chosen here, but but the other
six times, you know, it's translated. I The other six times, it's translated
election. Man, people hate that word, don't
they? I love it too, brother. A.W. Pink used to say, the most
hated doctrine among religious people is the doctrine of election.
But it's the most loved doctrine among God's people. Because we
know we would never have chosen him. Now let's look at a couple
places here real quick. Romans chapter 9, verses 10 to
11. And then put your finger in Romans
11. I tried to make it where we can go each book at a time, but there's
only six other places this word's used, and we're going to look
at them. Romans 9, verses 10 and 11. And not only this, but
when Rebekah also had conceived by one, even by our father, Isaac,
For the children being not yet born, neither having done any
good or evil, that the purpose of God, according to election,
to select, to set apart for usefulness, to choose and set apart for usefulness,
according to election, might stand not of works, but of him
that call. Not of works, not of anything
we do, but because God had mercy on us. Now look at Romans 11.
Look at verses five to eight. Even so, then at this present
time, there is also a remnant according to the election of
grace, the choosing of grace. Oh, my. And if by grace, then
it's no more 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. That's so clear, isn't it? What
then? Israel hath obtained that which
he seeketh for, but the election, same word, hath obtained it,
and the rest were blinded. According to his written, God
hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that should not
see, and ears that should not hear unto this day. And then
look at Romans 11, verses 26 to 27. And so all Israel shall
be saved. That's all spiritual Israel,
because we know not all of national Israel will be saved. Many have
perished in their sins. Look at this, and so all Israel
shall be saved, as it is written, there shall come out of Zion
the Deliverer, that's Christ, and shall turn away ungodliness
from Jacob, for this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take
away their sins. Gone. Gone, beloved. Let's believe that. Scripture
just says that he's taken away our sins. I believe it, by the
grace of God. Ah, as concerning the gospel,
they are enemies for your sake, but it's touching the election,
look at that, the election, the choosing of God, that they are
beloved for thy father's sake. And then I'll give you two more,
I'll just write down the references if you want. 1 Thessalonians
1, verse 4, knowing, brethren and beloved, your election of
God, your choosing of God. And in 2 Peter, verses 10 and
11, Wherefore, the rather brethren, give diligence to make your calling
and election sure, for if you do these things, you shall never
fall. For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly
and to the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ.