So good to be here again. Today I'll have us going through
various scriptures. And I've tried to make it where
it'll be, we're moving forward through the scriptures. Make
it a little easier for us. So turn, if you would, to Exodus
35. Exodus 35. The name of the message is as many as. as many as. I'd like us to look
at these three words in various texts. They're scattered together
throughout the Word of God, and this will by no means be an exhaustive
study of these three words, but we'll look at some passages in
the Old Testament that have these three words, and we'll look at
some in the New Testament that have these three words. And again,
my hope and prayer is that God the Holy Spirit will bless the
souls of his blood-bought people with these three little words,
as many as. Exodus 35, and again we'll be
reading a lot of scripture, and I'll comment a little on each
one that we look at with these words. Exodus 35 will be where
we'll be first, and here in Exodus 35 the tabernacle was to be dedicated
to honor the honor of God and used in his service. And therefore,
that which was being bought was for the setting up and the furnishing.
And it was an offering unto the Lord. It was an offering unto
the Lord. Let's look at verses four to nine, first of all. And
Moses spake unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying,
This is the thing which the Lord commanded, saying, Take ye from
among you an offering unto the Lord. Whosoever is of a willing
heart, let him bring it an offering of the Lord, gold, silver, and
brass, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen,
and goat's hair, and a ram's skin dyed red, and badger skins,
and chitim wood, and oil for the light, and spices for anointing
oil, and for the sweet incense. and onyx stones, and stones to
be set for an apod, and for the breastplates. Now let's look
down at verses 20 and 22 in the same chapter. And all the congregation
of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses. And
they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one
whom his spirit made willing, and they bought the Lord's offering
to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for
all his service, and for the holy garments. And they came,
both men and women, as many as were willing, hearted. There's
those three little words, as many as. And here we see they
were willing hearted. And bought bracelets and earrings.
and rings and tablets, all jewels of gold, and every man that offered
an offering of gold unto the Lord." Now again notice in verse
22 the phrase here, as many as. And again here it's tied in again
with them being willing-hearted. They were willing-hearted. None
else came, none else came, and none else were asked to come
but those who were willing-hearted. of both sexes, men and women,
and they heartily did this. They willingly did this. They
willingly contributed to the uttermost of what they had for
this service. There were others amongst the
camp, though, but they weren't willing. But here we see as many
as were willing-hearted, they bought these things. So let us keep that in mind through
this study. They were willing-hearted, but
yet there was others who were not willing-hearted. Turn now
to 2 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, chapter 29. And we see this phrase
here is again used when Hezekiah restores temple worship, when
he restores temple worship. 2 Chronicles, chapter 29. We'll read a longer portion here.
We'll read verses 27 to 36 to get the context of the verse.
2 Chronicles 29, starting with
verse 27. And Hezekiah commanded to offer
the burnt offerings upon the altar. And when the burnt offering
began, The song of the Lord began also with the trumpets, and with
the instruments ordained by David, king of Israel. Verse 28, And
all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the
trumpeters sounded. And all this continued until
the burnt offering was finished. And when they had made an end
of the offering, the king, and all that were present with him,
bowed themselves and worshipped. Moreover, Hezekiah the king and
the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the Lord
with the words of David, and of As, the seer. And they sang
praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped.
Then Hezekiah answered and said, Now ye have consecrated yourselves
unto the Lord. Come near and bring sacrifices
and thank offerings into the house of the Lord. And the congregation
bought in sacrifices and thanks offering, and as many as were
of a free heart, burnt offerings. And the number of the burnt offerings
which the congregation bought was three score, 10 bullocks,
and 100 rams, 200 lambs, and all these were for a burnt offering
to the Lord. And the consecrated things were 600 oxen and 3,000
sheep. Now notice the congregation bought
in sacrifices and thanks offerings, peace offerings, and those are
part of which the offer had to feast upon with their friends
and so expressing their joy and thankfulness on this occasion.
But they also bought, look in verse 31, they also bought, and
as many as were of a free heart burnt offerings. They bought
these that were called a free heart burnt offerings. Now the
free heart burnt offerings showed more generosity than in any other
sacrifice because they were wholly burnt and offered unto the Lord.
They were offered unto him. They were wholly burnt and offered
unto the Lord. And the people had no share in them. No share
in them. as they had in the rest. So let
us keep in mind and view, again we see there, and as many as
were of a free heart burnt offerings. We see those three little words
again. So let us keep in mind too that the types and shadows
here, the sacrifice pictured, the sacrifice of Christ made
for his people. The king and his people in the
text here rejoiced that the house of God was being cleansed and
the peace was made with God. And now they had free access
to temple service as before. And what a picture we have here
before us of how Christ made peace for we who are sinners,
we who are his people. We fell in Adam, didn't we? We
fell, every one of us. And we need to have peace with
God. And we have peace with God through the great substitute,
the Lord Jesus Christ, who these sacrifices, the free heartburn
offerings, pictured. They pictured Christ. And having
peace with God in the blood of His cross, we have access by
faith unto the grace wherein we stand and rejoice in the hope
of the glory of God. So let us keep our eyes again
to Christ. Now turn to the New Testament,
if you would. Matthew. Matthew chapter 22. And what
mercies we have in Christ. And how the Old Testament types
and pictures, how they come alive when we keep our eyes upon Christ.
Now here in the New Testament, we'll see this phrase used again. Matthew 22, we'll read verses
1 to 14. It's a parable of the wedding
feast when the servants of the king are to go into the highways
and the byways. And as many as they shall find,
they are to bid to the marriage. And what a picture we have of
gospel preaching. And Jesus answered and spake
unto them again by parables and said, the kingdom of heaven is
like unto a certain king which made a marriage for his son.
and sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to
the wedding. They would not come. They would not come. Again, he
sent forth other servants saying, tell them which are bidden. Behold,
I prepared my dinner. It's all prepared. Now think
of that in light, think of that in light of the work of Christ.
It's finished. It's finished. We gospel preachers,
we preach a complete salvation. We bid sinners to come to Christ
who finished the work. My, tell them which are bidden. Behold, I've prepared my dinner.
My oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready. Come
unto the marriage. But they made light of it and
went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise. And
the remnant took his servants and treated them spitefully and
slew them. But when the king heard thereof,
he was wroth. He sent forth his armies, and
destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then saith
he to the servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were
bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways,
and as many as you find, bid to the marriage. So those servants
went out into the highways, and gathered together, as many as
they found." There's those three words again. As many as they
found, both bad and good. And the wedding was furnished
with guests. And when the king came to see the guests, he saw
there a man which had not on a wedding garment. Oh, there's
one amongst them that doesn't have a wedding garment on. And
he saith unto them, Friend, how comest thou in hither, not having
a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants,
bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer
darkness, and there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth,
for many are called, but few are chosen." Well, we know what
the wedding garment is, don't we? It's the righteousness of
Christ. It's the righteousness which
every believer is clothed in. It's the righteousness of Christ.
But note in verses 9 and 10, "'Go ye therefore into the highways,
and as many as you find, bid to the marriage. So those servants
went out on the highways and gathered together as many as
they found, both bad and good, and the wedding was furnished
with guests. Now, the parable of the marriage feast, our Savior
shows us why God cast off the nation of Israel and sent the
gospel to the Gentiles. Without question, it was God's
eternal purpose from eternity to save His elect from among
the Gentiles, without question, wasn't it? God predestinated
the fall of the Jews, as the very means by which He would
save His elect among the Gentiles. God didn't get caught with, oh,
now I gotta go to plan B. No, no, not at all. He didn't
get caught that way at the fall, and He didn't get caught that
way when Israel rejected Christ. No. No. Not at all. There's no accidents in God's
universe. None at all. Yet the cause of
divine judgment upon this nation was and is their unbelief. just
as it is the cause of divine judgment upon any sinner in their
unbelief in sin. This is the glorious rule of
the gospel, that those who were first bidden to the great wedding
feast, the Jews, they would not come. And therefore, Jerusalem
was destroyed in 70 A.D. It was laid to waste. And now the gospel is preached
to all nations, isn't it? It's preached to all nations,
to all sorts of people. All sorts of people, but yet
the same sinful rejection of the gospel is constantly being
repeated, isn't it? Constantly. There are some here
who week after week hear the gospel. Sunday to Sunday, and
you're bidden to come to Christ. You're bidden to come to Christ,
you're bidden to come to the Great Supper, yet you will not
come. You will not come. You see no need of the Great
Physician. You see no need of the Great
Physician. You do not see your desperate need in your state.
And our prayer as believers is that God the Holy Spirit would
show you your state. That he'd reveal to you your
desperate state, your desperate need of Christ. And beloved of God, our great
God in His infinite mercy, is sending the gospel to the poorest
and vilest of mankind, revealing Christ to them as He pleases.
And He makes the unwilling willing. And any believer can say, I can
testify of that. Oh my, He saved this sinner right
here. Praise His mighty name. What
a great God we have. The unwilling are made willing.
The sin sick flee to the great physician. May God make it so
for you, if you haven't fled to Christ. And note the general call of
the gospel. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as
you find, you shall find. Bid to the marriage. The general
call of the gospel. It goes out. And note who come, look at verse
10. So these servants went out into the highways and gathered
together, all as many as they found, both bad and good, and
the wedding was furnished with guests. I'm one of the bad. Actually, we all are who are
blood-bought people, aren't we? Oh my. The highways were open and public. Much people were passing through
their highways and they walked then. They didn't have vehicles
like we have, they walked. They traveled by horse or walked. And many people traveled them. Gil brings forth that the high
roads were many passengers were traveling and may design the
Gentile world and the Gentile sinners who in respect to the
Jews were far off. We're all Gentiles in this room.
Oh my, fire off, we're walking in their own ways. That was me,
was it you? Is it you? And in the high road to destruction,
and may denote being the vilest of sinners and is having nothing
to recommend them to divine favor and to such privileges. So these
servants went out into the highways and gathered together all, as
many as they found. They were to go out, and as many
as you find were to bid to the marriage, to the marriage feast. And the gospel preacher, we go
to the world and we preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ
to every creature. I don't know who God's elect
are. I have no idea. But I know they're out there.
God knows who they are. And election's nothing to be
afraid of. It's a Bible word. Elect means chosen. It's God's prerogative to choose
whom he will save. Who are we? Who are we to reply
against God? He's God. Yeah, I was thinking
about this. He is so far above us, beloved. We can't even fathom who he is. And yet God condescends to become
a man to save clay like this? To save, as Spurgeon said, animated
dust? My, what a Savior. What a Redeemer is Jesus Christ,
our Lord. So the gospel preacher is to
preach the gospel to every creature, Jew, Gentile, high, low, rich,
poor, outwardly righteous or openly profane, greater or lesser
sinners. And we are to exhort sinners
to flee to Christ. And as many as they found from
the east and from the west and from the north and from the south, They will sit down in the kingdom
of God. Which brings us to our next scripture. Turn, if you
would, to John chapter 1. John chapter 1. Where we see
this phrase again. John chapter 1. Verses 6 to 13
we'll read. There was a man sent from God
whose name was John. Verse 7, The same came for a
witness, to bear witness of the light, that all men through him
might believe. He was not that light, John was
not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. That was the true light, which
lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the
world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him
not. He came unto his own, and his
own received him not. But Oh, praise God for the word,
but, in scripture. But, as many as, what? Received Him. Look at this. To them gave He power to become
the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name. which
were born not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will
of man, but of God." So verse 13 takes man totally out of the
equation. We're simply receivers of this wondrous, marvelous grace. We can't earn it. But notice in verse 12, "...as
many as received Him." Who did those spoken of in verse
12 receive? Well, he's identified as the
light in verses 7, 8, and 9. This is the light who John said
he was not, but whom he was sent to testify of the one who is
spoken of in verse 9, the true light. And note in verse 12 that the
as many as spoken of, they were given power to believe on His
name. Mercy, mercy, mercy springs forth
from this verse before us. Again, those who are by nature
unwilling. Those who by nature would never
receive Him. They're given power. to receive
He who is the true light. And let us look and see in verse
12 who He is. But as many as received
Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on His name, which were born not of blood,
nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God. And look at verse 14 here. What's
his name? The Word. The Word. The same one spoken of in verse
1, who was God and is God. And the Word was made flesh. God incarnate in the flesh, beloved. The very one who spoke the worlds
into existence. And the word was made flesh and
dwelt among us. And these apostles, they beheld
him like we beheld each other, like we behold each other. They
saw him face to face. They touched him. John laid his
head upon the breast of Christ. They were eyewitness. We beheld his glory. Glory is
of the only begotten of the Father. Look at this. Full of grace and
truth. Christ is full of grace and truth. What mercy we've received in
Christ Jesus our Lord. Oh my. John bare witness of Him and
cried saying, This was He of whom I spake. He that cometh
after me is preferred before me. For He was before me, look
at verse 16, and of His fullness have all we received. And grace
for grace, for the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth
came by Jesus Christ. And God's people can say, grace
and truth came to me by and through Christ and Christ alone. I received
mercy. I obtained mercy. I deserve wrath,
but yet I obtained mercy. Oh, what a Savior. What a Savior. And note again the word power
here in verse 12. But as many as received him,
to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name. As many as received him, to them
gave he power. How did these persons spoken
of How did they receive, how did these as many as receive
Him while others rejected Him? Well, there's some great change
that's happened. That's been wrought in them to
make them different from the rest of their countrymen. And this was true, and this is
true for every one of God's blood-bought people. We're twice born. We're
twice born. We're born by birth, and we're
born again by the Holy Spirit of God. Regenerate, regenerate. And the word power there in the
Greek means permissible, allowed, permission, authority, right,
liberty, power to do something. See, in our natural state, we
all hate God. And our will is bound to our
nature. We have a will, but it's bound
to our nature, isn't it? It's bound to our nature. So
if we have a dead nature, which is ruled by sin, all we will
choose is sin. It's all we'll choose. But when
we're born again by the Holy Spirit of God, now we have a
new nature. Now we're governed by a new nature. And it wars
with this flesh right here. My worst enemy is myself, this
flesh. Is it so for you? Oh my, what
a glorious day it'll be when we get to be home with the Lord
and we'll be absolutely sinless. What a glorious day that'll be.
Oh my, it'll be wonderful. And see, this Greek word here
ties in with thy people shall be made willing in the day of
thy birth. The unwilling are made willing. And it's all by
God's sovereign almighty hand. And then we, as Brother Joe said,
we cry out for mercy, don't we? We cry out. We believe. Born
again, what comes first? Faith or regeneration? Most folks
will say, well, faith. No. No. Regeneration. You must
be born again. And the fruit of regeneration
is we have faith and repentance. We turn to Christ. We turn to
Christ. We cling to him. And I like what
old Henry Mahan said one time. He said faith and repentance
is like a piece of paper. One side you got faith and one
side you got repentance. And they go hand in hand. They
go hand in hand. And they're both a gift from
God. They're both a gift from God. Oh my. See, we're just receivers, beloved.
We're receivers of this wonderful, wonderful mercy. Now, I'm going
to have us go back to Matthew. I know we were in John. This
is the one time I'm going to have us go back. We'll go back to Matthew chapter
14. And here we see the Lord healing the sick in
Gennesaret. We'll see this little phrase.
We'll just touch on this really, really quickly. Matthew 14 verses
34 to 36. And when they were gone over,
they came into the land of Gennesaret. And when the men of that place
had knowledge of them, of him, they sent out into all the country
round about and bought unto him all that were diseased. Besought
him that they might only touch the hem of his garment and look
at this and as many as touched Were made perfectly whole It
was that little word again those three little words as many as
as many as touched for what were made perfectly whole Have you by faith laid hold of
Jesus and Oh my, what a picture. As many
as touched were made perfectly whole. And here before us, we have given
a marvelous demonstration of Christ's divine goodness and
grace. Our surety delights in mercy,
beloved. He delights in mercy. Thou, O
Lord, art a God full of compassion. and gracious and long-suffering
and plenteous in mercy and truth." And God's people can say, I've
tasted that. I've tasted that. He bore our sins, beloved, the
sins of His people. And now He sits enthroned on
high. And yet He's touched with the
feelings of our infirmities, moved with compassion towards
His poor, needy people. For in that he himself has suffered,
being tempted, he knoweth how to secure them that are tempted.
And it's still true today, as many as touch him are made perfectly
whole. As many as by faith who touch
the hem of the garment are made whole. Have you touched, by faith, touched
the hem of his garment and been made whole? Have you by faith
been made to look to the great physician? May God make you willing
to do so today. Let's turn to John chapter 17.
John chapter 17. Our Lord's high priestly prayer. And this ties right in with John
chapter 1 that we looked at. As many as received him, to them
gave he power to become the sons of God." Look at this. Look at
this wonderful portion. And may this just be a honey
to our souls as believers, because every one of the elect of God,
we can see ourselves in these pictures, can't we? It's wonderful. Look at this in John 17, verses
1 to 3. These words spake Jesus and lifted
up His eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify
Thy Son that Thy Son may also glorify Thee, as Thou hast given
Him power over all flesh. Now right there, that statement
right there by the Lord Jesus Christ should absolutely dispel
any doubt of God's absolute sovereignty. Right there. Right there. Brother
Norm Wells and I was talking one time, and he says, you know
what the problem is? Men don't believe what the scriptures say. God's
people do. We read that and go, we rejoice.
Our God's in control. He's in control. Look at this,
that he should give eternal life to what? Look at this. Now this
is where we're numbered, beloved. He should give eternal life to
as many as thou has given him. Every one of the elect are part
of that as many there. And this is life eternal that
they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom
thou hast sent. And note, God has given a people
to Christ, and our Lord's reference to them is, as many as thou hast
given him. They were given to him by the
Father in eternity. And it's for those for whom Christ
died. Upon Calvary's tree. And it's for those, it's those
whom Christ reveals himself to. And the words here are plainly
restrictive and limits the gift to a certain number. Those whom
the Father gave to Christ. All whom the Father hath given
him shall come. Now we don't know who they are,
do we? That's why the gospel is preached to everyone. And
God does the saving. God does the saving. He draws in his lost sheep. And
it's not by the will of man. Right? We saw that in John chapter
1. It's not by our will. If you're
saved, it's by God's will. And the believer rejoices in
that, because we know we never would have come to him. But all that the Father had given
to Christ shall come. There will not be one lost. Not
be one lost. And they'll receive Him as their
High Priest. And they'll give themselves to be ruled and guided
by Him. We submit to His Lordship, don't
we? We don't make Him Lord. He's
already Lord. God beat us to it. He was Lord in glory. He was
Lord when He was a baby. He was Lord when He was on the
cross. He was Lord when He rose from the grave. And beloved,
He's Lord right now. And there's no one who makes
Him Lord. He's Lord. We just acknowledge
His Lordship, don't we? He's Lord. He's our King. He's
our God. And beloved, not one, not one,
not one, for whom Christ died for, not one for whom, who God
gave to Christ will be lost. Not one. And you know how that
makes me feel, knowing that I'm one of his people. Ain't it wonderful? Oh, what peace we often forfeit. Oh, what needless pain we bear,
all because we do not carry. Everything to our Lord in prayer,
right? Yeah. Just give it to Him. Give it to Him. Give it to your God. Give it
to our God. And by the efficace working of the Spirit of grace,
again, the unwilling by nature are made willing to come to Christ.
As many as the Father gave to Christ, they come. They come. Marvel at this! Marvel at this! You who are the beloved of God,
marvel at this. Don't ever let it become commonplace. Marvel that you are one of that
number. Marvel at it. And He's undertaken to redeem
you. And that He will guard you. And
watch over you. in the believer in Christ, we
just marvel that we're included in that number. There's a song
I remember we sang at rescue, he included me. I don't know
if we've ever sang it here, not when I've been here, but ever
before. He included me. Oh, praise God, he included me. Now let's turn to the book of
Acts. Acts chapter 13. Acts chapter 13, we'll read verses
46 to 49. We'll see this statement again.
We'll see this statement again when Paul and Barnabas are at
Antioch and they went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day
and they sat down and when they were given the chance, Paul asked
for an audience and he proclaimed Christ to them. He proclaimed
Christ to them. Take note of verses 46 to 49.
Acts 13 verses 46 to 49. And this will tie right in with John 17, as thou hast given
him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to
as many as thou hast given him. Look at this in Acts 13 verses
46 to 49. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed
bold and said it was necessary that the word of God should first
have been spoken to you, but seeing ye put it from you and
judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn
to the Gentiles. Praise God. Oh, hallelujah. Because
I'm a Gentile. Oh, that's good news, isn't it?
Oh, my. For so the Lord hath commanded
us, saying, I have sent thee to be a light of the Gentiles,
that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. And
when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified
the word of the Lord. And look at this. And as many
as were ordained to eternal life, believed. And the word of the
Lord was published throughout all the region. And as many as
were ordained to eternal life, believed. Now we know from John
1, they were given power to believe, weren't they? We know that. You
see, Scripture ties with Scripture. The unwilling are made willing.
It's wonderful. Gill brings forth this, faith
is not the cause or condition of the decree of eternal life,
but a means fixed in it. And it's a fruit and effect of
it. And what certainty falls upon
it, as in these persons. So it's a lie when people say
God looked down through time and saw who would choose him.
And then chose them. No, God looked down through time
and saw everyone was lost. And by his mercy and his grace,
he chose to save a people and see as a recipient of that grace.
It just brings you low. It just brings you low. It makes you marvel. I know what this mouth used to
speak about my king. When I was lost. To my shame. and to think that he had mercy
upon me? And as many as were ordained to eternal
life believed. Now, not all who were present
there believed, did they? No. But as many as were ordained
to eternal life did. Those who were ordained believed. Those who were chosen by the
free grace of God in the council halls of eternity, by God's grace
alone, believed. Believed. And though election
is unknown to us, God's election is unknown to us until it's revealed
to us, Christ has loved us with an everlasting love. Just let
that sink in. He's loved us with an everlasting
love, even when we were cursing his name. Even when we were doing
things we know we should never done. Ain't that amazing? Even when
the scriptures say we were enemies in our minds. Yet he's loved
his people with an everlasting love. Oh, what wondrous love is this?
Oh, my soul. Oh, my soul. So election is not doubtful or
in suspense in God's secret council. It says here they were ordained
to eternal life in the council halls of eternity. We know that
because it says as many as were ordained to eternal life believe. And as a believer, I just look
at that and marvel. Don't you? And I'm included in that number.
Because that's true of every believer. That's true of every believer
in Christ. God gave them to Christ, and
Christ will be a faithful keeper, a faithful shepherd of his people
until the end. And God's people say, praise
his mighty name. Because if I was left to myself,
I'd be gone. It'd be so for all of us. I was
thinking about this this morning, in light of the mercy that I
received in Christ. And I thought, I remember when
I was in religion, and people used to say, well, if I was at
the cross, I wouldn't have cursed Christ. I wouldn't have cast
words at him. Oh, the self-righteousness of
people. Because left in our natural state, every one of us would
have been just like those Jews. Every one of us. Be cursed in
his name. But, as many as received him, To them
gave he power to become the sons of God. Mercy, mercy, mercy,
a flood, an ocean, a vast ocean, immeasurable of mercy God's people
have received. It's incredible. Let's close with this portion
in Romans chapter 8, Romans chapter 8, where we see the statement
proclaimed again of the heirs of salvation and of their future
glory. Romans chapter 8, verses 12 to
21. Therefore, brethren, We are debtors not to the flesh
to live after the flesh. Verse 12 and verse 13. For if you live after the flesh,
you shall die. But if ye through the Spirit
do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live. And now remember
this portion starts out in verse one. There is therefore now no
condemnation to those in Christ Jesus. And I've said this many
times in the pulpit here. Condemnation there is there's
no judgment. Oh, man, does it make your heart
rejoice? So again, I'll start at verse
12 with that in mind. Therefore, brother, we are debtors,
not to the flesh to live out to the flesh. For if you live
out to the flesh, you shall die. But if you through the spirit
do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live for as many as
are led by the spirit of God. Look at that. As many as. Are led by the spirit of God,
they are the sons of For ye have not received the spirit of bondage
again to fear, but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby
we cry, Abba, Father. We cry out to the Father. The
Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the
children of God, and of children and heirs. Heirs of God and joint
heirs with Christ, if it so be that we suffer with him, that
we may be also glorified together. For I reckon, now think of this,
our sufferings to us, they seem great, don't they? And we go
through sufferings in this world, God's people. But think, in light
of our sufferings, think of what Christ suffered for us. Oh my. But look what Paul pens here
because he knows God's people are going to suffer. Look at
this. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not
worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed
in us. Oh my. We suffer a little bit here.
But oh. The glory, we're going to see
Christ. We're going to see our Savior
face to face. For the earnest expectation of
the creature waited for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature
was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him
who has subjected the same in hope. Because the creature itself
also should be delivered from the bondage of corruption into
the glorious liberty of the children of God. Oh, beloved, we'll be
delivered from this bondage of sin one day. One day. into the
glorious liberty of the children of God. We won't sin no more
in glory. It'll be wonderful. Oh my. So we've now seen a thread
through the Old Testament and the New with the words, as many
as, as many as. We've looked at how the elect
of God are either in type or picture. And then we saw them
visible in Acts 13, didn't we? As many as were ordained to eternal
life believed. And we see here in Romans 8,
verse 14, that those who are the as many as, they are led
by the Spirit of God, and they are the sons of God. It's wonderful. It's absolutely wonderful. And
this is evidence of a union with Christ. The believer is regenerated
by the Holy Spirit of God. We're baptized into Christ by
the Spirit. We're taught by the Holy Spirit.
We pray, we worship, we praise, we sing, and we live and are
led by the Holy Spirit of God. As many as. As many as. Is it any wonder
then, we who are his blood-bought people, we who are born again,
that we seek to give him all the glory and all the honor and
all the praise? Is it any wonder that we seek that? And the reason
we do that is because we've been taught of God that he is the
only one worthy of our praise. He's the only one. As many as three little words,
but in connection with the verses we've looked at, how wondrous
they are. How wondrous they are, especially
in as many as were ordained to eternal life, believed. Oh my. The believer in Christ proclaims
wonders of wonders. He included me. He included me
in that number. Praise his mighty name. Heavenly
Father, we thank thee for this time that we've had through thy
word. We pray that the Holy Spirit will take these words and apply
it to your people, that we would grow in the grace and knowledge
and truth of the Lord Jesus Christ, oh Lord, that we'd learn to lean
more and more upon Thee, and that we would marvel and be in
awe that we are included in as many as were given to you, Lord
Jesus, by the Father in eternity. Marvel, what a marvel of grace.
We pray that you'd be glorified and magnified throughout the
week in our speech and as we gather together and study your
scriptures again. Oh Lord, give travel mercies
as we leave this place. In Jesus' name, amen.