Today we're going to look at
the cause of our redemption. The name of the message is The
Cause of Our Redemption. What is the cause of our redemption,
beloved? What is the cause of our redemption
in Christ? When Paul was writing to the
saints at Corinth on the subject of redemption and reconciliation
and salvation by and in and through the Lord Jesus Christ, the apostle
says, all things are of God. Turn, if you would, to 2 Corinthians
chapter 5. We're going to read verses 11 to 21, but our text
will be found in verse 18. This is Paul again writing to
the Corinthian church. In verse 18, he makes the statement
that all things are of God. So let's read verse 11 to 21
to get the context of what we'll be looking at today. Paul writes,
knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men,
but we are made manifest unto God, verse 11. And I trust also
are made manifest in your consciences. For we commended not ourselves
again unto you, but gave you occasion to glory on our behalf.
that ye might have somewhat to answer them, which glory in appearance
and not in heart." See, our glory, we glory in the Lord, don't we?
We don't glory in anyone but the Lord. We don't glory in ourselves. We got nothing to glory about.
Nothing at all. For whether we be beside ourselves,
it is to God. For whether we be sober, it is
for your cause. I was talking to a dear brother
on the phone the other day and he said, you know, I told my
son, everything I do at work, I do for the glory of God. I
go to work, I go to work for the glory of God. That's a wonderful
way to look at things, isn't it? Glorify God in everything
you do. Give Him all the glory. Give
Him thanks that you've got a job to go to. Give Him praise that
you've got a means to provide for your family. Give Him praise
for your home, for heat, for coffee. All these things come from our
great God. All of them. More so though, give Him praise
for our spiritual blessings too, right? That we have in Christ.
Justification, sanctification, redemption, wisdom to know who
God is, all comes from Him. For whether we be beside ourselves,
it is to God. Or whether we be sober, it is
for your cause. For the love of Christ constrains
us. Now, folks often say, When you preach the doctrines of grace,
they say, well, what you guys preach allows people to do whatever
they want. That's the verse to take them
to. The love of Christ constrains us. That's what constrains us
from sin. Now, we're still sinners. We
still commit sin. But that's what constrains us from committing
even more sin is the power of God and the love of Christ for
us. The fact that it's my sin that nailed him to the cross.
Mine. So the love of Christ constrains
us then, constraineth us, because we thus judge that if one died
for all, then we're all dead. And that he died for all, that
they which should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto
him which died for them and rose again. So we live. and have our being in Christ,
don't we? As Paul wrote. That's how it is. We live, we
live serving Christ. Wherefore, henceforth, know we
no man after the flesh, yea, though we have known Christ after
the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more. He's gone
home to glory. Therefore, if any man be in Christ,
he's a new creature. All things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new. We're new creatures in Christ.
We who are born again by the Holy Spirit of God. We still
look physically the same, right? That's why people look at us
and say, oh, you're, it's still Wayne, or it's still Dave, or
it's still Jonathan. They look and they see who we
are, right? It's Dan. But I'll tell you what, when
you're born again in the Holy Spirit of God, God's done a work
in you. You're not the same inside. Physically, in what do we battle
the most? People say, oh, the devil made
me do it. It ain't the devil. It's your flesh. The worst enemy
we have is this flesh. This flesh. So many people in
religion blame the devil. It's our own fault. It's our
own fault. Praise God for redemption in
Christ, where all our sins are paid for. But it says here, therefore,
if any man be in Christ, the question is, are you in Christ? Are you born again of the Holy
Spirit of God? Christ said you must be born again. He didn't
say you must make a decision. He didn't say you must walk an
aisle. He said you must be born again. Are you born again? Are you born again? Have you
been granted faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, trust him
wholly, cast away all other things, and just rest in him? Come on. Because if that's true, if you're
born again, you're a new creature in Christ. Old things are passed
away. Behold, all things have become
new. I'll tell you why. I was telling someone last week
that after the Lord saved me, I think it was you, Brother Brian,
after the Lord saved me, the birds were chirping, they were
chirping better than I'd ever heard them chirp before. It might
have been Tom I was talking to. It was unbelievable. I went outside
and it was like a heavenly choir out there. My goodness. Everything was different, though.
My whole perspective on the world was different. It had changed. And now, as we grow in grace,
our perspective of the world changes even more. Now we see
that God's in control even more over everything. There's not a molecule out there
that's going, I'm going to do whatever I want. There's not a maverick molecule.
Everything is controlled by God. Every atom, everything is controlled
by God. And by Him, all things consist,
the scripture says. My oh my. It says here, verse
18, and all things are of God who has reconciled us to himself.
Look at that. Did we reconcile ourselves to
God? That's not what that scripture says, does it? It says God's
reconciled us to himself. You know why? Because we can
never reconcile ourselves to God. We're sinners. We fell on
Adam. We're dead in trespasses and sins. We can never reconcile
ourselves to God. So what happens? God himself
reconciles us to himself. Oh, that's wonderful news. That's
wonderful, isn't it? And he did it all. He did it
all, beloved. He did it all. And then he's
given to us, as believers, the ministry of reconciliation. Do
you know every one of us is an ambassador for Christ? Not just
preachers. Every one of us is an ambassador for Christ. Every
one of us. And you know what we tell people
of? We tell people of a far country, because we're just passing through
this world, aren't we? We're going home one day. We're going
to a far country. And who's the leader there? Who's
the captain of our salvation? God himself. God himself. Oh, my. And this ministry of
reconciliation is that Christ died for sinners. We don't know
who the elect are, do we? So we preach to everyone. The
gospel goes out into the world. It accomplishes whatever God
desires it to accomplish. And I'm glad we don't know the
numbers. I'm glad we don't know how the
Lord uses it, because we just brag on it then. He just takes
it and uses it for His glory. And we marvel. We just marvel.
Absolutely marvel at what He's done. My, oh, my. Brother Tom said in his prayer,
we just pray the Lord takes it and uses it. Reaching places
we could never even reach. Countries we could never even
hope to go to. Some countries you can't even
send missionaries. And there goes the gospel through
the internet. My, see man uses it for evil, but God uses it
for good. My oh my. And look at this. To wit, that God was in Christ,
reconciling the world unto himself. So how has he reconciled us? In Christ, who is God. To wit, that God was in Christ,
reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses
unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. When the gospels preach this,
the word of reconciliation, going forth. Now then, we are ambassadors
for Christ. Now remember, he's writing to
the saints at Corinth. He's not just writing to the
preachers, is he? He's writing to the saints. He says, we're
ambassadors, all of us. We're ambassadors for Christ.
What does an ambassador do? Well, tells about the country,
don't it? Tells about the ones who are running the country.
Oh, my. We're going to a far country,
beloved. We're going to a heavenly country. Heaven. Now we're ambassadors for Christ.
Look at this. As though God did beseech you
by us, we pray you and Christ did, be ye reconciled to God. Be ye reconciled to God. How
is one reconciled to God? Only in through Christ Jesus
our Lord. How is one in Christ? By being born again by the Holy
Spirit of God. Why is one born again in the
Holy Spirit of God? Because Christ redeemed them at Calvary's cross
2,000 years ago. Why did Christ redeem those people
2,000 years ago on Calvary's cross? Because God chose them
in eternity in Christ. You see how it just keeps going
back to God? He gets all the glory, all of it, all of it. My, it's wonderful. Now then
we are ambassadors for Christ as though God did besiege you
by us. We preach you and we pray you in Christ's stead. Be ye
reconciled to God. That's our hope when the gospel
goes out, is that God's lost sheep be reconciled. And they
will be. He'll get every one of them. There are not going
to be one left behind. You know, you get these people
who are in religion, and they say, well, you can sin your way
out of salvation. I can't. Can you? No. No. Because Christ saved
my soul, right? He saved your soul, too. Now, again, did we just go out
and do whatever we want? No. Look at that verse again,
verse 14, for the love of Christ constraineth us. Gotta keep remembering
that, eh? Love of Christ constrains us. And then verse 21, for he hath
made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be
made the righteousness of God in him. All our sins were laid
upon Christ, and he bore them all, the sinless, perfect, spotless
Lamb of God. Bore them all. And he knew no
sin. He's sinless in his birth, sinless
in his life, sinless in his death. Why? That we might be made the
righteousness of God in him. His righteousness is imputed
to us and our sins imputed to him. The great transfer. My, oh, my. What a savior. My. So in all aspects of salvation,
our redemption by Christ is attributed to God and God alone. Salvation's
all Lord. It's all Him. And we cannot read
the scriptures without seeing that, right? But we can't see
that unless the Holy Spirit regenerates us. And that's why man in his
natural state has enmity with God. They see what's written
in the scriptures and right away it offends their pride. It offends their pride. What?
You mean there's nothing for me to do? That can't be true. Well, that's what God says. He
says there's salvation only in Christ. Turn, if you would, to
Deuteronomy chapter 7. All through the scriptures, we're
confronted with the fact that this matter of salvation, in
this matter of salvation, nothing is ascribed to us, nothing. All
through the scripture, we see that. Nothing is inscribed to us. Nothing
is caused by us in the salvation. And nothing is dependent upon
us. Isn't that a blessing that our salvation is not dependent
upon us? I'd mess it up all the time if it was dependent upon
me. But it's not. As Bruce Crabtree
and I were talking about, and Bruce said, you can't ruin the
salvation. You can't spoil the salvation.
You can't. Look at this in Deuteronomy chapter
7 verses 6 to 9. Look at this. For thou art an
holy people unto the Lord. That's Jehovah there. Thy God. The Lord thy God hath chosen
thee to be a special people unto himself. Look at that. You know God's people are a chosen
generation. You know we're each chosen out
of our generation. Look at that. Special people
unto himself. He chose us in Christ, above all the people
that are upon the face of the earth. And there's no cause in
us for him to choose us. Look at that. The Lord did not
set his love upon you, nor choose you, because you were more in
number. And of course, he's speaking about Israel here. But we know
spiritual Israel is a picture of the church in the Old Testament.
He did not set his love upon you, nor choose you. And look
at how much we've seen here. Already, God's chosen us in verse
six, and then choose again in verse seven. God's a choosing
God. He is. The Lord did not set his
love upon you, nor choose you, because you were more in number
than any people, for you were the fewest of all people. But
because the Lord loved you, look at that. How long has he loved
us? For eternity. Oh my, that loves
eternal love. It don't change. Imagine the
person you love the most in this earth, and that love doesn't even compare
to the eternal love of God for his people. It doesn't even hold
a candle to it. It doesn't even hold a candle
to it. Because the Lord loved you, oh,
from eternity, and because he would keep the oath which he
had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord bought you with
a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of the bondman."
We were in bondage, weren't we? We were in bondage to sin. We
were dead in trespasses and sins. And the Lord redeemed us. 2,000
years ago, he redeemed us. Bought us out of the house of
the bondman. From the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And remember,
Egypt's just a picture of the world. So when those Israelites
were being delivered, here's a picture of us being delivered
out of the world, beloved. Know therefore that the Lord
thy God, Jehovah Elohim, He is God, the faithful God, which
keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His
commandments to a thousand generations. What a God. It's the Lord Jesus
Christ who saved us from our sins, beloved. It's Him and Him
alone. And that's why we give him all
the glory. That's why we sing along with the psalmist, so then
it is not of him that will, or not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto thy name give glory for thy mercy and for thy true
sake. No wonder we sing right along with the psalmist that,
don't we? You get all the glory, Lord. And you know, we're saved,
aren't we, because God's showing us mercy. We who are his people, in Christ
Jesus our Lord, can say along with Paul, so then it's not of
him that woreth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth
mercy. And I'm a receiver of that mercy. See, when we're ambassadors,
we testify of that, don't we? As ambassadors, we testify, God's
showing me mercy. Why? Because he's loved me for
maternity. And remember, witnessing isn't
hard. In religion, witnessing, oh,
you got to do this, knocking on all these doors. All witnessing
is doing is like the Lord told that Gadarene demoniac, go and
tell the great things the Lord has done for you. He saved my
soul. God did that. He did that in
him alone, the Lord Jesus Christ. So then the cause of our redemption
is only found in Christ, in himself, in God. And this is brought forth
all through the Word of God. And to believers, it's so precious
to us. The more we grow in grace, in
the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, and as you read there,
Brother Tom, the unsearchable riches of Christ. That just struck
me when you were reading. The unsearchable riches of Christ.
You go into a mine, people go into mines and they start mining
all these jewels and everything. This is a mine that will never
end. Just jewels and gold and all kinds of precious metals.
That's what the scriptures is for us. My. And it's precious to us. It's
precious as rubies, right? It's precious as diamonds. People
love to get diamonds. They shine, and they're pretty,
and they're valuable. Oh, this Word is so valuable
to us. Our Savior is so valuable to us. He's so wondrous to us. My. And think of this. As we are in awe and profounded
by the things that the scriptures tell us about Christ, it's only by grace that we're
enabled to see these things. Mercy. Mercy. There's people that read this
book and don't see nothing. Don't see nothing. But we can,
we read this book And the Holy Spirit illuminates the scriptures
for us. Spurgeon used to say, before you read your Bible, pray
that the Holy Spirit will illuminate the scriptures. Oh my, it's wonderful. Say, Lord, illuminate the scriptures.
Show me the things of Christ. And like I said, you don't have
to, you know, folks get wrapped up. I read five chapters. I read
10 chapters. If you read a portion and get
understanding from it, I talked to Tim James one time. And when
I first got here, I'm like, Tim, how do you prepare your messages
and all that? He says, I find a section of scripture, just
two verses or so. And he says, and I sit there
and think about it in my study. He says, then I go chop some
wood. And while I'm chopping wood, I'm thinking about the
verse. Come in, and I write a few things down. He says, I go chop
some more wood. Write a few more things down. See, he's just ruminating
on that scripture. And that's so for us, too, just
to ruminate on the truth. You find a nugget, just ruminate
on it. Think about it the whole week. Just let it go through
your mind. It's wonderful. It's absolutely wonderful. You'll
find yourself rejoicing over the truth. You'll find yourself
getting so excited about the word of God. It's wonderful.
Oh, my. It's like when I found that word
not that we looked at in Sunday school, in the absolute negative.
Oh, my, it was wonderful just to see that, that the gospel
is not of man in the absolute negative. Couldn't even be thought
of by man. Oh, it's wonderful. Absolutely
wonderful. So the cause of our redemption
by Christ must be found in the love, the grace, the mercy, and
the purpose of God. So the first point I'd like us
to consider is that the redemption of the Lord's people's souls
originates and rises and flows to us from the everlasting love
of God. From the everlasting love of
God. Look at verse 18 again of 2 Corinthians chapter 5. And
all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself
by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation. The cause of our redemption is
right there in that verse. God, who hath reconciled us to
himself by Jesus Christ. Because God willed it. Because
God planned it. because God purposed it. The
source and spring of every blessing of grace, election, adoption,
regeneration, justification, effectual calling, redemption,
preservation, and finally, glorification, all finds their source and spring
in God, in him alone. Turn, if you would, to Ephesians
chapter 1. This is bought forth so clearly in the book of Ephesians. Chapter one, we'll look at three
verses here. Actually, no, we'll look at,
yeah, we'll look at verses three to six, so four verses here.
Ephesians chapter one. Look what's brought forth so
clearly here. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ. Now, it doesn't say who has blessed
us when we get to heaven with all spiritual blessings, does
it? We already have them. We have them right now. And where are they? In Christ.
Right now, you and I as believers, you and I who are born again
by the Holy Spirit of God, we right now possess all spiritual
blessings in Christ. My, what mercy. What mercy. And look at this, now he's gonna
turn back to eternity here. According as he has chosen us
in him, in Christ that being, before the foundation of the
world. We're chosen in Christ before the foundation. Why? That
we might be, that we should be holy and without blame. Look
at that, blameless. Blameless. Before him in love. And look, it's not future, is
it? According as he has chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him in love. Do you know that
the believer right now clothed in the righteousness of Christ
is holy and blameless before God, even though we're still
sinners? Again, natural man would never
think up something like that, would they? They'd never think
of a salvation like that. It's all in Christ. That's why
God says to us right now, I'll remember your sins no more, because we're blameless in Christ,
even though we're still sinners. Explain that one, right? Well,
that's what the Bible says, and we believe it, right? That's
what God tells us. My. Now, why? Why did all that occur? Well,
look at verse 5. Look at this. Oh, my goodness. Having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself. Now,
we're predestinated to be conformed to the image of Christ, aren't
we? Yeah, but look at this. Having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to
the good pleasure of his will. See, man always likes to talk
about their will, don't they? Natural man, my will, my free
will. There's only one real free will,
let me tell you that, and that's God's. That's God's. He's got free will to do whatever
he pleases. We're constrained by our nature. Again, in our
natural state, we're constrained to the dead nature that we have.
We're born dead in trespasses and sin, so therefore all we
do is sin. Now we have a new nature. We're still sinners in
the flesh, right? Now we have a new nature. And
what does that new nature do? It constrains us from sin, doesn't
it? Holy Spirit in us. We get convicted of our sin now.
We confess our sin now. My. But look at this. According
to the good pleasure of His will. Do you want to know why you sin?
According to the good pleasure of His will. That'll turn a Baptist into shouting,
won't it? My goodness. We are saved according
to the good pleasure of God's will. My. You told me this 20 years ago.
I wouldn't know what you were saying. I would have told you
to go away from me. And now, I love this. This is
absolutely spectacular. Actually, it was 30 years ago.
This is spectacular. This is wonderful. This is good
news for sinners. And why? Look at this. To the
praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted.
We were estranged, weren't we? We were dead in sins. Dead in
trespasses and sins. Alienated from God. Although
He still had His eye on the sheep, right? But spiritually, we were
alienated from Him. We were dead. Now to the praise
and the glory of His grace, He hath made us accepted in Christ.
We can stand in the presence of God, accepted in Christ. And notice this isn't past tense. Notice this isn't future tense
either. It's right now, wherein He hath made us accepted in the
Beloved. Right now. Right now. Accepted in the Beloved. Right now. Now, we were redeemed by Christ,
weren't we, 2,000 years ago? We were given to Christ by the
Father. But my, oh, my. Look at that. He hath made us
accepted in the blood. So the gift of Christ to be the
redeemer of his people, where does it flow from? God's everlasting
love. He's everlasting love. The whole
reason that Christ was sent here was because God loved the people
and chose them in Christ in eternity, based upon absolutely nothing
in us. Christ was given to be the redeemer
before he was sent into this world. Scripture declares he's
the lamb slain from the foundation of the world, right? Before there was ever a sinner,
there was a savior. He was given for a covenant to
the people. He was given in covenant to be
our Redeemer. And the gift of Christ by the
Father was the effect of His love. The effect of His love
for us. Listen to how our Redeemer describes
it. For God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son. We know that's not the whole
world, but we do know that's a people. Because Christ came
into this world to save, His people from their sins. My oh
my. God gave His Son to be our Redeemer
long before He actually came to redeem us. Planned and purposed by God,
according to the will of God, that Christ would die, that He
would go on that mission Scripture says he set his face like a flint
to Jerusalem, which in the Hebrew means like a stone, immovable. He must go to Jerusalem to redeem
his people from their sins. Again, that's why he said to
those ladies, weep not for me. When he's going to the cross,
weep not for me, weep for yourselves. He's on a mission, beloved. Must
redeem my people from their sins. must. And what drove him? The
eternal love of God. His love for us drove him to
that cross, beloved. In the earliest days of time,
Job knew the Son of God as the living Redeemer, and all the
Old Testament saints waited for Christ. They looked forward to
Christ, to come as the Lamb of God to redeem His people from
their sins. In the mission of Christ, what
was his mission? To redeem his people, to save
his people from their sins, to do that which we could never
do. And in the fullness of time,
like we saw in Galatians for Paul's salvation, but God. In the fullness of time, at the
exact second, not a second early, not a second late, at the exact
second Christ came into this world. At the appointed time
of God the Father. Why did he come? He came as a
lamb. He came as a lamb to redeem his
people from their sins. And he offered himself up. Offered himself up for them to
satisfy God's law and to satisfy God's justice in their place.
And we who are the people of God, we say, Hallelujah! What
a Savior! What a Savior is Jesus Christ,
my Lord! He redeemed us from all our sin
and all our iniquity. And not only that, but He satisfied
the law of God and the justice of God, so that the wrath of
God that was due us was poured out upon Him and extinguished. And He so paid for our sins that
God says, oh, remember, there's sins and iniquities no more. And why? Why? Because of the
love that God's had for His people. He sent His Son to die in our
place. That's the Redeemer. That's the
Lord Jesus Christ. And Him sent and His Son was
a clear instance, a clear instance of His love instead
of sinners. While they were such is a full demonstration in high
commendation of His great love unto them. We look at ourselves and often
think we're not lovable are we? but doesn't change the fact that
God has loved us from eternity. We see our own sinfulness and
we think, oh, Lord, how can you love me? And he looks at us and
says, I've loved you from eternity. Oh, what great love. Second cause
of our redemption of the Lord's people's souls, which we can
trace our redemption to Christ, is all by God's free and sovereign
grace. because it pleased him to do so. We are saved in Christ
because it pleased God to do so. Look at verse 18 again, and
it says, all things, and that's including the love of God, and
this is including God's free and sovereign grace, all things
are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ
and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation. It is by the free grace of God,
The free and sovereign grace of God, which we can trace our
redemption in Christ. Think of this. If grace is not
free and by God's hand, then it's not grace, is it? It's not
grace, then. It's like if you do anything
for your salvation, it's not grace. Anything man does, it
ruins grace for salvation. And this is like the love of
God. The free grace of God is like the love of God. It's unmerited,
it's undeserved, it's unsought after. Were we seeking God when
he saved us? No. He made us willing in the
day of his power, didn't he? And then we fled right to Christ. It was unmerited love, unmerited
favor, clear of all conditions on man's part. No conditions
in God's salvation on man's part. None at all. No merit, no motives in the creature
that would cause God to love us, would cause God to pour his
free grace out upon us. It's sovereign grace. Look at
Romans chapter 9. Turn to Romans chapter 9 if you would. We see
here so clearly that God's grace is distinguishing grace. God's grace is distinguishing
grace. It's bestowed entirely according to the will of our
great divine benefactor. If God's shown you grace, give
him all the glory. Look at Romans chapter 9, verses
13 to 18. As is written, Jacob have I loved,
but Esau have I hated. Why? Because it pleased God to
do so. I remember an old preacher one
time. His grandson came to him and said, you just preached on
this, where it said, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
I heard this from Henry. And he said, son, if you can
ever find out why God loved Jacob, then you'll have the answer.
My goodness. What should we then say? Well,
what should we say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? God forbid. You tell them about this marvelous
truth of the electing grace of God, and they say, well, that's
not fair. You know what fair would be? We'd all be in hell.
I don't want fair, do you? Not at all. Not at all. I want grace. Amen, brother.
I want grace. I want God's grace. Is there
unrighteousness? Well, God pauses. God forbid.
For he said it to Moses. Look at this. I'll have mercy
on whom I'll have mercy. Think of this in our lives, and
this is where people get really messed up. And even in our own
lives, if we want to show mercy to someone, it's up to us, right? If we want to be kind to someone,
it's up to us, right? Why can't God do whatever he
pleases? Well, that's not fair! No. Look at this. For he sayeth to
Moses, I'll have mercy on whom I will have mercy. Aren't you
glad he had mercy on you? Oh my. And I have compassion
on whom I have compassion. There was nothing in us for him
to have mercy upon us. There was nothing in us that
caused him to have compassion upon us. Nothing at all. Look
at this. And this is so clear in verse
16. So then it's not of him that willeth. It's not according to
man's will. Right? It's so clear there. Nor of him
that runneth. You can't do anything to be saved.
See, he's covering the mind here, and he's covering Now he's covering
physical acts, but of God that showeth mercy. I'm looking at
folks who are saved by the precious blood of the Lamb, and God's
showing you mercy just like he showed me mercy. And what do
we do? We praise his mighty name, don't
we? It's wonderful. It's absolutely wonderful. So
then it's not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but
of God that shows mercy. Now he's going to give us an
example. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for the same
purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in
thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the
earth. God put Pharaoh in control. God puts presidents and prime
ministers in control. It's his will. But he put Pharaoh in control
that he might manifest his strength and power, didn't he, when he
delivered the Israelites. out of Egypt. And is it still
declared even now? Yes, it is. His great power,
His great deliverance is still declared even now, even today.
We still declare the truth about His great deliverance. That in
my name, and that my name might be declared throughout all the
earth. Therefore hath He mercy on whom He hath mercy, and whom
He will, He hardeneth. What does God have to do for
a man to be hardened? Just leave him alone. What does God have
to do for a man to go to hell? Just leave him alone. What does
God have to do for a man or a woman to be saved? Everything. Everything. He's all my salvation. So the foundation and the basis
of our redemption by Christ is God's free and sovereign grace.
We are justified freely by his grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus, Paul wrote. And that redemption, which
is in Christ, is the work of God's free and sovereign grace,
planned and purposed and executed by him, in him alone. And it
was by the grace of God that Christ tasted death for us. My,
that we might be raised again. Remember, he was raised for what? Our justification. To show that
God was absolutely satisfied with the sacrifice of Christ. And being the work of Christ
and the finished work of Christ brought to complete perfection,
there cannot be attributed anything to man in that salvation. Nothing
at all. And you know, when Christ died,
we were ungodly. When he died for us, we weren't
even born at that time, but then we were born into this world
ungodly, beloved. Turn, if you would, to Romans
chapter 5. Tell somebody they're ungodly and watch what they say
to you. But we believers, we rejoice in the fact that we were
ungodly, and now we're saved. The Lord saved our eternal souls.
And we contribute absolutely nothing to the work of salvation.
Absolutely nothing. Our faith in Christ is not the
cause of our redemption. See, religion says, well, you
believe, and then God writes your name in the book of life,
and then you're born again. No. Faith does not come before
regeneration. That's what religion teaches.
That's called decisional regeneration, where they say you pray a prayer,
now you're saved, now you're born again. Where's the Holy
Spirit in that? He's not in it. The Lord said
you must be born again. And when you're born again, you're
a new creature in Christ. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things become new. And we received the atonement
by faith, but we do not make atonement by faith. Look at this,
Romans chapter 5, verses 8 to 11. But God commanded his love
toward us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. What were we when Christ died
for us? Sinners. Much more than being now justified
by his blood, saved by the blood of Christ, we shall be saved
from wrath through him. saved from wrath. Why? Because
God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation in Christ
Jesus our Lord. For if, when we were enemies,
we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, so much more being reconciled
we shall be saved by His life. Not only so, but we also joy
in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received
the atonement. Beloved, we were ungodly. We
were enemies in our minds with God. But think of this. We didn't even know that 2,000
years ago we were reconciled to God by the death of Christ.
That's what that one verse is bringing up here, verse 10. For
if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the
death of His Son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved
by His life. Now that we're born again, we know that it's Christ
who saved us. Saved by his life, right? Because
he lived the perfect life and saved by his death as well. Don't
forget the life of Christ was just as important as the death
of Christ because in his life he fulfilled the law in our place
perfectly. And in his death he bore the
wrath of God and satisfied the law and justice of God in our
place. So we're saved by his life and his death. And in verse
11, and not only so, but we also join God through our Lord Jesus
Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. Notice it's singular,
the atonement. Singular, by the death of Christ,
by no other, no other. The third point I'd like us to
consider in the cause of our redemption in Christ, is that
we can trace our redemption in Christ to the mercy of God. Mercy
of God. Verse 18, 2 Corinthians 18 says,
And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself
by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.
God's mercy has been shown to we who are
his people. Without God showing mercy, none
of us would be saved, because God shows us mercy in Christ. in Christ. And when did our God
first resolve to have mercy upon us? When did He first resolve to
have mercy on His chosen people? Through the Lord Jesus Christ.
When did He do this? In eternity. Before there was
ever a world. Remember what we looked at in
Ephesians chapter 1? Believe what the Word of God
says. It says, before the foundation of the world, we were chosen
in Christ. You know why people are offended
by the Word of God? Because they don't believe it. And you know why a lot of religious
people, when you tell them these wonderful truths about God's
electing grace, why they don't accept it? Because they don't
believe the Bible. And I can tell you that because
I was in their place at one time. When I was religious, someone
told me about election. You all have heard that before.
I went up one side of this guy and down the other. And he was
a preacher. I went up one side of him and down the other. He
said, you're telling me God chooses people. That's not fair. Now
I love that truth. I was religious but lost. I didn't
believe what the Bible said. I sure do now by God's grace
and by his mercy. God determined to save a people
in eternity. He didn't look down through time
and see who would choose them like some say. Because you know
what? That would make man the sovereign
then. because it would be based upon
what they did. But see, God's salvation flows from his free
and sovereign grace. I remember when I was reading
one old-timer preacher from the 1700s, and he said, God looked
down through time, and all he saw was us dead, every one of
us dead in trespasses. And I choose that one, and that
one, and that one. My. Isn't that amazing? Think upon
that this week. Don't let the doctrine of election
become commonplace. It's marvelous. It leaves us in awe that God
would show us mercy, and God was moved by His mercy. He was
moved by His everlasting love for us. He was moved by His grace,
so much so that He sent Christ, the Dayspring from on high, to
redeem us from our sins. And God visited his people, didn't
he? And he redeemed us, beloved. Bone of our bone, flesh of our
flesh. And that which was promised,
that mercy which was promised, was performed when Christ redeemed
us on Calvary's cross. Because God said he saved his
people from their sins, and he did. All according to his mercy. The last point I'd like us to
consider is the fact that we can trace our redemption in and
through the Lord Jesus Christ to the will and purpose of God.
I hit on that earlier. The will and purpose of God.
Let's look at that verse again, 2 Corinthians 5.18. It's so clear
here. And all things are of God, who
hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ. See, God willed
that we would be reconciled to himself through Christ, who is
God incarnate in the flesh. It happened all according to
the will and purpose of God. See, God's not up there, well,
Adam fell, now I gotta go to plan B. No. No. Adam fell according to the will
and purpose of God. That a redeemer might come into
this world. Now, God doesn't cause sin, does he? No. No. He's
not the author of sin, not at all. But he allowed the fall
to happen, that the Redeemer might come to save us from our
sins. My, oh, my. Now we walk with
the Lord, and often in wonder and awe, we say, God chose me. Why me? We all do it, don't we? I haven't
met a believer yet who hasn't said that. Why me? And as we grow in grace, we still
say it, even though we know the answer. We still say, Lord, it's
incredible. Here's the answer. You are saved. You can trace
the cause of your redemption in Christ all the way back to
the will and purpose of God in eternity. Just meditate upon that this
week. I am saved in Christ according to the will
and purpose of God from eternity. And if you want a verse to think
about, look at that one we looked at in Ephesians, right? Chosen
in Christ before the foundation of the world. Why? Remember? according to the good pleasure
of his will. Oh, my goodness. According to
the eternal purpose of God, he purposed in Christ, again, who
was foreordained, right? He's the Lamb slain from before
the foundation of the world. It was foreordained that he would
die for a people, for all those who the Father gave to him in
eternity. So you and I as believers, we were given to Christ in eternity. I know we hear it all the time,
Believe what God says from eternity and let that sink
in. There's so many people around
us who God's just leaving alone. And he chose me. I know there's nothing in me
that would cause him to do that. And in order to redeem us from
our vain conversation with His precious blood, our Savior was
set forth in the decree and purpose of God in eternity to be our
Savior. And God appointed Him to be the
Redeemer of His people. And He appointed us not unto
wrath. He appointed us not unto wrath,
beloved. Turn, if you would, to 1 Thessalonians. Where is that? 1 Thessalonians, look at this,
verse 9 of chapter 5. How do we know that's true? How
do we know that God has not appointed us to wrath? Look at this wonderful
verse, beloved, and just rejoice in this wonderful verse. Look
at this. First Thessalonians 5.9, for
God had not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our
Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep,
we should live together with him. Think upon this this week,
for God had not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. When
did he appoint that? When did he decide this? In eternity. In eternity. God appointed Christ
to be our Redeemer, beloved. And he appointed us to not receive
the wrath of God for our sins. And being moved by his love and
grace and mercy to redeem his people, save his elect, his wisdom
found a way to accomplish the work in total consistency with
his justice. that he might be a just God and
the justifier of his people. My. Again, again, this gospel
could not be made by man, could it? No. Like Paul said, he said,
I certify this gospel I preached unto you. It's not a man. And
remember that not is in the absolute negative. You can't get more,
more than it's not a man. Wonderful. And God has shown
his people mercy and grace in Christ Jesus. So let we who are
the redeemed think upon these wonderful truths this week and
rejoice in the fact that Christ has saved us from our sins. And
may he take this message and use it for his glory. And may
he draw on the lost sheep, no matter where they will be, who
listen to this message, if it be his will. That's our hope,
isn't it? That's our hope. We're here for the furtherance
of the gospel. This is God's work. This is his church and
we're here for the furtherance of the gospel. May he receive
all the glory, honor, and praise. Heavenly Father, we thank you
again for allowing.