already told you. Church here
for all those watching on my live stream. But thought since
we've come on live, I would say thank you to everyone who is praying for my wife, thinking
about us in the cards and everything. We sure do appreciate it. Thankful
to the Lord for his watch care and safety that he's given her
through all these last few weeks. So we do wanna say that we appreciate
everything that everybody has said and done for us while we've
been going through her surgeries and everything. And she's still
got a little road to go to get back on the men, but we do appreciate
everybody and love y'all and appreciate everything that everybody's
done for us. And good to be back with everybody
here. Jeremiah 17 is where I want to
begin. Like I said, we're going to be looking at several verses
this morning. When I preached in West Virginia,
I preached a message in Exodus chapter 3 on the memorial that's forever.
In Exodus 3, God had given Moses his name, which was I Am. And that name,
I Am, signified several things, but primarily it signified God's
sovereignty. The fact that God revealed himself
as I Am, revealed himself as the one who is self-existent,
the one who has no beginning and no end, who has all power,
who nobody influences him, He controls all things, everything.
He is, I am. And that name encapsulates the
very thought of sovereignty. And in that message, I brought
up the fact that before, with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, he
revealed himself as almighty, but now he's revealing himself
as sovereign. To be almighty means to have
all power, but to be sovereign is someone who not only controls
all things, but has the power and the right to control and
do with that power whatever he wants to do. That's what sovereignty
means. Sovereignty means that God has
all power to do whatever he wants with that power. And none can
stay his hand. None can say, why are you doing
this? He doesn't report to anybody.
nor does he take counsel from anybody. And so in that, where,
why we preach sovereignty, and I'll begin that message by asking
the question, you know, or saying, you know, asking how many people
that ever, has anybody ever said to you, you know, why do y'all
always talk about sovereignty all the time? Well, the reason that we preach
sovereignty all the time is because Exodus 3. God said that this
is my name forever and to be a memorial to all generations. He wants to be known and revealed
more than holy, which he is, and more than loving, which he
is, and graceful and merciful and mighty. He said, my memorial
to all generations is I am that I am. I am the self-existent
one. I am the sovereign. And that is why we preach sovereignty
all the time is because God has declared that that is how he
wants to be remembered in every generation. And so as the ones
who are the perpetuators of the gospel the perpetuators of the
doctrines found within Scripture, the church is to proclaim the
sovereignty of God. That's why we preach it all the
time. That's why we talk about it all the time. That's why it
pervades everything that we talk about. But then there's another
question that might rise up that I got to thinking about. Sure,
we preach that because we're told, that's my memorial, that's
how I want you to portray and reveal me, to every generation. But what about this question?
Why do we love sovereignty? Now I can tell you right now,
I don't like the fact that our government is over us. We were
just talking about that. I don't like government. I don't
trust any of them. I don't want Republicans or Democrats. I don't care about either one
of them. I truly want to have a free society
where we don't have any governments tell us what we have to do. I
do know that God has established governments. He has ordained
governments to exist. Now these governments aren't
existing for the purpose for why God instituted government.
But God raises up governments as evil as they are and as good
as they are or whatever they might be. He raises them up and
lets them down. But I don't like the fact that
I have people telling me what I have to do and what I can't
do. I can't burn trash out here in my front yard. I can't burn
my limbs in my backyard unless I have a pile three by three
by three. I can't set a pool up here outside
of my house because it's not in the fence. I have to put it
behind the fence. I don't like people telling me what to do.
I don't like the fact that I bought a car out there and I paid taxes
when I bought that car and then I got it back and I had to buy
tags for it and then every year I got to buy tags for it and
I got to pay property tax on it. I don't like that. So I don't like the fact that
I have somebody over me telling me what to do. So why in the
world would we love a sovereign to be over us? So that kind of got to rolling
around in my mind after what I preached in West Virginia,
that we're told to reveal God as sovereign. But why is it that
all of us, I mean, we're not out here just doing it for duty.
Whenever I preach God's sovereignty, I'm not doing it just out of
duty, although I am told by God that this is how I want you to
reveal me to the people as sovereign. But I'm not doing it out of duty.
I am preaching these things because, for one, they're truth. But second
of all, they are truths that God has given me to love. The
fact that God is sovereign is a comforting thing. I don't know
how many people that I talked to while we were at that meeting
and how many of us have talked about this sitting around here
in this living room and how many people I encounter whenever we
go to other churches and other places that believe like we do
and everything. Everybody says the same thing. Matter of fact,
my nephew that I was talking with the other night, he said
whenever we were talking about God's control and everything
and predestinating everything and that Christ had done everything
for us and that we don't have to keep the law for righteous
and all like that. He said that's comforting to
hear those things. And I said, that's exactly right.
That's the point. That's what it is. The child
of grace finds comfort in their God as He is for who He is and
for what He does. He finds comfort in that. And
so I thought, why is it that we find comfort in the sovereignty
of God over all things. Specifically us, but over all
things. God's sovereignty in all things.
But why do we find God's sovereignty in salvation? Because that is
a point, and Brother Larry can attest to this, because he's
got a lot of preaching on the internet that he's done, and
a lot of books that he's put out. And matter of fact, one
particular book that deals with the subject specifically, people
hate, people hate the fact that God is sovereign and that they
have no free will. They hate that. So why is it
that we find that lovely, especially when it comes to salvation? And
I think the reason is, is if we find the juxtaposition that
we have between who we are and who God is and what we can or
can't do and what only God can do, we begin to see why it is
that the child of grace who has now been given spiritual understanding
and a spiritual mind and has been given eyes to see not only
inwardly at themselves, but eyes to see outwardly to what God
has done, I begin to see now why the child of grace finds
God's sovereignty as a lovely thing, as a comforting thing. So let's look first at a few
things, and I've compiled a few verses to look at on just exactly
who we are as men. And once we kind of see, maybe
if the Lord would allow us to see, give us understanding of
Revelation, I can't teach you anything. I can't make clear
anything. Only the Holy Spirit can do that.
But through these passages, Hopefully the Lord will reveal to us and
show us this is who we are and why it is we need a sovereign
God. In Jeremiah chapter 17, and this
is a very familiar verse to all of us, I'm sure, everybody that's
watching and listening, I'm sure you've heard this verse before,
but let's kind of ponder a little bit. Sometimes I think we read
the Scriptures too fast. Sometimes we read through some
things And as we read through them, we lose the weight of what
something might be saying. Sometimes we're reading them
completely out of context. So, let's think about what's
being said here. In Jeremiah 17, look at verse
9. It says, The heart is deceitful
above all things, and desperately wicked. Who can know it? Now, you can read right through
that and not really ponder much about that, but the Lord here
says that our heart and this fleshly man is deceitful above
all things. Now, I just talked about our
government. They're deceitful. I tell you what, this government
that we have right now is probably the most deceitful government
that we've ever seen. It's deceitful. But the Bible says that the heart
is deceitful above all things. Can you imagine that? How many
of us have sat around our house watching the news, watching what
all is going on with all these corrupt politicians on both sides
of the aisle, and talked about how deceitful, how wicked they
are, how evil they are, how terrible they are, a bunch of liars, a
bunch of cheats, a bunch of thieves. But the Bible says your heart
is deceitful above all things, and desperately Now, how is it
that our heart is deceitful above all things? Well, one of the ways, and I
think probably the most primary way, is because the heart tries
to deceive us that our righteousness is good enough for God to accept. That self-righteousness that
comes from the heart of the flesh of man that thinks that we can
be as God. That we can do what God can do. That we can act as God acts. That we in this flesh can produce
something of some value that God will look at and accept and
say, well done. Good and faithful servant. Way
to go. Good job. The heart deceives us in thinking
that there is something that our fleshly man can do in the
eyes of God to be kept by God or accepted by God, and it cannot. The heart is deceitful above
all things. Your heart's going to tell you
you're okay. It's going to tell you that you're
in good standing with God. What you're doing is just right
with God. Whatever you're doing, Whatever
religious activities you're involved in, whatever righteousness you're
involved in, you're doing all right. You're doing okay. That's
what your heart is telling you. That's why your heart is deceitful
above all things. But it says here it's also desperately
wicked. Now wait a minute, I thought,
how many times have you heard this? You know, yeah, I know
I did that, but God knows my heart. I heard that a lot growing up,
you know. God knows my heart. Yeah, I messed
up, I failed, or I didn't do this, or I didn't do that, or
whatever. But God knows my heart. Or they'll
talk about that old guy. Yeah, that guy, he's kinda crusty
on this or that, but he's got a good heart. God knows his heart. He's got a good heart. God knows
his heart. Yeah, God does know his heart and God says that that
heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. It's desperately wicked. That's
who you are apart from Jesus Christ. That's who you are in
the old man. That's who you are in Adam. That's
who every one of us are apart from the new man Apart from that
which is born from above, every ounce of our flesh is desperately
wicked." I think that's pretty harsh. I don't think everybody
is wicked. I don't think we're completely
evil and wicked. Well, look with me, if you would,
at Mark, chapter 7. Mark chapter 7. Look at verse 17 if you would. It
says, And when He was entered into the house from the people,
His disciples asked Him concerning the parable. And He said unto
them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive that
whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot
defile him? Now, let's just pause there for
a second. I'm not going to labor long on
this, but let's just pause here for a second. Here's Jesus telling
you that whatever is on the outside going inside is not what defiles
the man. Okay? If you remember, there
was a lot of concern in the early church about meats that people
ate and all this kind of stuff, what you eat, what you drink,
what you did, outwardly, that was defiling people. And this
was the point of this whole conversation here. And Jesus said, it's not
what's on the outside that comes inward that defiles a man. He
says, because it entereth not into his heart, but into the
belly, and goeth out into the drop, purging all meats. Meaning basically, it's not what
you eat or drink that defiles you, because it just goes in
and comes right back out. And he said, that which cometh
out of the man, that defiles the man. For from within, out
of the heart, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries,
fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit,
lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness,
all these evil things come from within and defile the man. The wickedness, the evil, is
not from Satan outwardly pushing your buttons and making you react
and, ooh, the devil made me do it. That's outwardly coming in. Now surely the temptations come
from without. We know James says that, that
the temptations come from without, but it's the lusts of the heart
that see those temptations, that hear or taste or whatever those
temptations, desire those temptations, want those temptations. Why?
Because the heart is evil. The heart is wicked. The heart,
from the heart comes evil thoughts, comes adultery. Your heart is
made up of these things. The fleshly man is made up of
all these wicked things, all this wickedness. That's who you
are in Adam. You are adulterers. You are covetous. covetors, you're wicked, you're
lasciviousness, you're evil, you're blasphemous, you're prideful,
you're foolish. All those things, that's your
makeup. That's who you are. That's what
your heart is. If you want to say God looks
at the heart or God knows my heart, He sure does and that's
what He says about it. He says your heart is evil, it's
wicked, it produces the things that defile. It's not something outside making
you do it or snaring you or trapping you. It's your own heart giving
in to the temptations without that your heart already inwardly
wants. That's where temptations come
from. It comes from whenever we are
drawn away by our own lusts. Your heart is deceitfully wicked
above all things and desperately wicked and it is our heart that
defiles us. You say, well, I don't just love
evil. I love good things. I love things
like that, that are right. Well, look at John chapter 3. Verse 19, Jesus speaking with
Nicodemus, He says this, And this is the condemnation that
light has come into the world and men love darkness rather
than light because their deeds were evil. The natural man doesn't
love God. He doesn't love truth. He doesn't
love the light. Christ is the light, by the way. Christ is the light. The Word
is the light. We, because we are in Christ
Jesus, have been put out for lights. The natural man doesn't
love that. The natural man doesn't want
that. It doesn't come to the light. It doesn't want the light.
It doesn't revel in the light. It doesn't submit to the light.
It doesn't cherish the light. No, it hates the light. Men love
darkness. Men love the darkness. rather
than the light. Why? Because the light exposes
who they really are. They are evil. Their deeds are
evil. Their deeds are evil because
their hearts are evil. Well, that paints a pretty ugly
picture. But preacher, I still think that,
you know, there's some good in men because there are some people
that do want to seek after God. There are some that want to follow
after Him and do all that well. You know, brother, I'm just telling
you what the Bible is telling me. In Romans chapter 2, Romans chapter 3, Romans chapter 3, look at verse
10. As it is written, There is none righteous, no,
not one. There is none that understandeth. This is not Michael Smith's estimation
of you. This is not a sovereign grace
theological perspective being pressed upon you. This is not
some theologians, systematic theology, that I am parroting
it. This is the Word of God saying
that there is no one righteous. No one. Not one righteous. You say, well, what about all
the righteous things that we do? You don't do any righteous things.
That's the problem. You think you do righteous things
because your heart is deceitfully wicked above all things and who
can know it? You think you know your heart.
You think you know your heart is doing righteous things or
producing righteous works, but you're deceived by your own heart
because God says your heart is deceitfully wicked above all
things and desperately wicked and that you can do nothing but
create defiling things in your heart, and that there is none
righteous. See how your heart deceives you?
We deceive ourselves because we think that there are some
people that are righteous. The only righteous people that there
are, apart from the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, are those who
are in right standing with God because of Jesus Christ. Not
because they are doing righteous things. And listen, Not because
they are doing righteous things that God is doing in them. That
isn't making them righteous. What makes any person righteous
is a standing of righteousness. Is their account being considered
righteous? Not an actual righteousness in
themselves. The only righteous one is Christ.
He is the only one that did righteous. and His righteousness is the
one that God looks at, counts for your life. His life is your life. What Christ
did whenever He walked this earth and kept all the law, He did
that, and that life of obedience is considered your life obedience. It's as if Mike Smith walked
2,000 years ago, walked the shores of Galilee, kept all the law,
and did everything that God required. It's as if Michael Smith did
that, if I am his. That's the righteousness. Christ's
righteousness and who He is is given to us. But there are none
righteous. The Adamic man has nothing righteous
in him. and know whenever we are born
from above, that is not the old man starting to become more righteous. That's why I disagree with progressive
sanctification or progressive holiness because the outward
man continues to perish. The inward man is without sin
and is renewed every day. Now, renewed every day doesn't
mean it's getting better. It just means that it's sustained. The inward man is sustained.
It's preserved. It's kept. It's kept the way
that it is. The inward man, that seed which
is born from above, that perfect incorruptible seed that is within
this fleshly man, this fleshly man can't corrupt it. The fleshly
man is corrupted, but it can't be corrupted. The inward man
can't be corrupted because it can't diminish. It can't get
less. It cannot sin. The outward man,
though, It continues to perish. It continues to go in its downward
spiral of defilement and decay, and it will return to the dust
from whence it was brought. So there is none righteous, and
this outward man, it doesn't become righteous. It says, there
is none that understandeth. There is none that seeketh after
God. There's no such thing as a seeker.
We have churches all over the place that are looking for the
seekers. They're looking for the seekers,
and they go out and they camp. As I remember back when I was
an Armenian, I read the old book, The Purpose-Driven Church. That
came out actually before the purpose-driven line that was
so popular. The Purpose-Driven Church came out by Rick Warren,
a heretic. He put out this book, Purpose
Driven Church, and it's about how their church out there at
Saddleback had this little program where they had all these concentric
circles, and they had the inner people, the middle ring people,
the outer ring people, and anyway, how they were trying to structure,
and they canvassed and surveyed what people liked and what they
didn't like, and they structured their church to appeal to those
seekers. Those were the people that didn't
want to be a part of church, how can we get those who don't
like church and don't want church and all like that. How can we
appeal to them? Well, brethren, there's nothing
biblical about any of that. The Bible here says there's none
that seeketh after God. No one seeks after God. Now,
someone's surely going to, in the comments, going to say, well,
wait a minute. The Bible does say that there
are those who seek after God. Seek Him while He may be found. Seek and ye shall find. All these
verses, they're going to go through their concordance and find every
place where it says seek, and they're going to say, da-da,
your interpretation is wrong. Context. There's none that seek
after God. The Adamic man doesn't seek after
God. Who are the ones who seek after God? Those whose eyes have
been opened, ears have been unstopped, those who have been given spiritual
mind, spiritual life, Those are the ones who seek after God.
And when they seek after God, they're not seeking in some unbiblical
way. They're seeking after God by
trusting in Christ alone, not by seeking after what I might
do to make myself righteous. He says, they are all gone out
of the way. They are together become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good
No, not one. Brethren, that's God's estimation
of us and Adam. Apart from spiritual life being
placed within this old man, that's who I am. That's who I still am, by the
way. I still am this man in the flesh. Nothing has changed about it. So how does that leave us? Look
at Romans 5. For when we were yet without
strength That's how we are in Adam, without
strength. You will always be without strength
in Adam. There is no strength in Adam.
It says, when we were yet without strength in due time, Christ
died for who? The ungodly. So who are we in
Adam? We're ungodly. Who did Christ
die for? He died for the ungodly. See, He didn't die for the inner
man because the inner man didn't need to be saved. The inward
man doesn't need to be redeemed. The new man, born from above,
is created in righteousness and holiness, true holiness and righteousness.
The inward man didn't need redemption. It's the seed of God. It's the
incorruptible seed. It had no need of redemption. It had no need of salvation.
Who needed salvation? Who needed redemption? This fleshly
man. This is what needed redeemed.
This body is what needed to be redeemed. The old man. And that's
why we love the word adoption because the spiritual man that
is inside of us, it didn't need to be adopted because it's a
true child of God. It's the outward man who is the
child of Adam that is now adopted into the child of God. It's adopted
and kept until when? To with the redemption of our
body. See, God has adopted this body, this fleshly man. He has redeemed what was lost.
What was lost? This fleshly man. This is what
he has redeemed. The redemption is for the outward
man. to redeem Him, to die for His
sins, the inward man never had any sins. But the outward man,
the fleshly man, who we are in Adam, that is who we're talking
about, and we are said to be without strength and to be ungodly. In Ephesians chapter 2 and verse
1, the Scriptures say that We are dead in trespasses and sin.
Get over and read that. Ephesians 2.1 says, And you,
have He quickened, are made alive, who were dead in trespasses and
sins. Where in times past you walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience. among whom also we all had our
conversation in times past in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh, not of the mind, and were by nature
children of wrath, even as others." So by nature we're children of
wrath, meaning that we are wrathful towards God, that we are haters
of God. We hate God. That's who we are. In 1 Corinthians 2, verse 14, we see that we are, the natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God. We are unable to understand or
to receive the spiritual things of God. We don't understand the
Word of God. We don't understand the spiritual
things of God. The natural man can't ever understand
those things. The natural man can't convey
the spiritual things of God. But the natural man receives
not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness
unto him. Neither can he know them. See, he not only doesn't
receive them, but he cannot know them. Back in Romans, we see again,
Romans chapter 6, you see how we just compoundedly get worse
and worse the further we go in the Scriptures? In Romans chapter
6, verse 16, it says, No ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves
servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether
of sin unto death or obedience unto righteousness. but God bethink
that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from
the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered to you. Being
then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your
flesh. For as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanliness
and to iniquity unto iniquity, even so now yield your members
servants to righteousness unto holiness. For when ye were the
servants of sin, ye were freed from righteousness." So here we see that we were a
slave to sin. The natural man, the fleshly
man is a slave, was a slave to sin. Now, thankfully, having
been born from above, we are no longer slaves to sin. But
in that natural man, all he can do is sin, and that's all he
will produce is sin. The reprobate, they can't produce
anything. They are slaves to sin. You say, well, look at that.
It says to yield, to obey. And we can do righteousness and
say, I thought you just said all that stuff wasn't true. Brethren,
there are other verses, and I'm not going to take time today
to go through all these, but there are other verses that tells
us how we yield. We only yield as God gives us
the ability to yield. We only believe because God has
granted us to believe. We only have faith because God
has given us a measure of faith. We only repent because God has
granted repentance. to walk spiritual walks is God
having to do the works in us. It isn't us doing the works.
It isn't us appropriating means. It isn't us appropriating, allowing
God to do the work in us. If we will allow God to be God
in us, if we will yield ourselves to Him, no, the yielding is actually
the work of God in us. It isn't me with my mind determining
I'm going to yield to God so that He can get to work in my
life. No. It is God causing me to yield
in the inner man. And in yielding in the inner
man, He then performs the works of God in me. It's never ever
us. Not by works of righteousness. There is none that do good. There
is no one who does righteousness. Brethren, it is never, ever,
ever anything on our part because we are enabled. The only thing
that is at work is God. God is at work. We are not. And then lastly, let's look at
Colossians chapter 1. And then we'll kind of look at
some things about God. Colossians chapter 1, verse 21. It says, And you that were sometimes
alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now
have He reconciled. So here we see that we were enemies
of God. We were alienated and enemies
and that our works are wicked. So that's who we are. That's
who man is. That's who we are in the flesh,
in Adam. Everyone born of Adam, that's
who we are. So, why go through all that,
preacher? Well, remember the question I
asked. Why is it that the child of grace finds the sovereignty
of God to be something that they love and find comfort in? Well,
whenever we see who we are and what we cannot do, and we see
who God is, it brings us to worship and love, and we have no problem
proclaiming that memorial to every generation that God is
sovereign. Look with me. I'm going to try
to read through these quickly. John chapter 6. Let's look at
God now. What the Bible says about God. In John chapter 6, and I want
to read verse 44. All of John chapter 6 could actually
be read, but I'm just going to confine myself here to verse
44. It says, No man can come to me. So there again, that verse could
have been put up in what man is. Man cannot come to God. That's an ability. That is a
phrase speaking of man's ability. Man has no ability to come to
God. Why? Because by nature, he is
a child of wrath. That's my enemy. By nature, we
do not find the things in the Spirit pleasing or appetizing. Why? Because they're foolishness
to us. So no man can come. Why? Because
our nature is bent to go away from God. Our nature is turned
away from God. Our nature hates God. Our nature
doesn't want these things. That's why we can't come. But
it says no man can come to me except... Now, brother, I don't
know about you, but that one word right there is a blessed
word. Because in that word, except,
there is hope. No man can come except. You remember whenever Jesus spoke
to the rich young ruler, whenever he went away, he talked about
it's easier for a camel to go through an eye of a needle than
it is for a rich man to enter into heaven. And the disciples
discerned that Jesus was saying, talking about salvation. And
they said, well, then who can be saved? And Jesus said, with
men it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.
Same thought right here, brethren. No man can come to Me, except... With man it is impossible to
come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him. He even reiterates it, verse
65, And he said, therefore, I said unto you that no man can come
unto me, except it were given him. Given unto him of my father. Meaning that God has to give
the ability for you to come. How does he give you the ability
to come? Well, the word come here means to believe. You can
switch that word. Where it says, no man can come
to me, you can switch it out and say, no man can believe on
me, except the Father giving them to believe. That's what
Jesus is saying. He uses those words interchangeably
here in these passages. Come and believe are the same
thing. So he's saying here, no one can believe, and no one will
believe, except the Father draws them, or in other words, grants
them to believe. They have to be granted belief. So God has to draw His people
to Himself. In Psalms chapter 51, verse 10,
we find this. It says, create in me a clean
heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. So only God
can change that heart that is deceitfully wicked above all
things and desperately wicked by putting a new heart in. Doesn't the Bible say, I will
take out of you a heart of stone and put in a heart of flesh?
And I will cause you to walk in my statutes? What's causing
you to walk in my statutes? Does that mean it causes you
to walk according to the law and keep the law? No. What does walking according to
my statutes mean? It means trusting in Christ for
righteousness. Trusting in Christ Jesus for
our salvation. It means believing on the Lord
Jesus for all of our salvation. To looking unto Jesus for everything. He is our obedience. He is our
sacrificial lamb. He is our forgiver. He is our
restorer. He is our reconciler. He is our
sustainer. He is our faith. He is our hope. He is our assurance. He is our
redemption. He is our glorification, our
wisdom, our everything. He is everything to us. That's
what this speaks of. whenever it says that we will
walk in His statues. He gives us a new heart. In Acts chapter 13 and verse
48, this verse right here was one of the watershed verses.
Whenever I was struggling with the doctrines of grace, I hated the doctrines of grace.
I hated sovereign grace. I hated particular redemption. I hated predestination. I hated
elation. I did not like these things.
And my uncle, he kept giving me verses and pointing me to
passages of Scriptures. Not giving me commentary, but
he kept giving me verses. And I had to deal with these
verses. And this right here, this verse whenever I read this,
it just was one of those verses that the Lord used to just knock
me in the head and say, you know, Acts 13 and verse 48. When the
Gentiles heard this... By the way, this is the preaching
of the Gospel at Antioch. When the Gentiles heard this,
they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord and, as
many as were ordained to eternal life, believed. Who are the ones who believe? The ones who figured it out?
The ones who heard a good message? The ones who believed were the
ones who were ordained to believe. That right there, when I read
that, and I seen the implication of this verse, that there were
people who, and as many as were ordained to eternal life, believed. That means not only are people
ordained to eternal life, that God is the one who ordains, who
receives eternal life. But that means the only ones
who are going to believe are those who have been ordained.
And if that's the case, God has ordained that they believe. Because
He's ordained that they have eternal life. So it's all God. It had nothing to do with the
preacher. It had nothing to do with the receiver. It had everything
to do with God. God ordained it. God brought
it to pass. God decreed it, declared it,
and everything that God declares, the end from the beginning, and
all things that have not yet been done, the Bible says, He
will bring it to pass. How did He bring it to pass?
He ordained that we believe, and then He gave us the faith
to believe. John, again, back to John chapter
6. Look at verse 28. Then said they unto him, What
shall we do that we might work the works of God? And Jesus answered
and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe
on him whom he hath sent. God is the one who gives the
belief. It's the work of God that you believe. Not your work.
Not your ability. Not your appropriating. the inward
natural tendency to trust in this. It's not you taking your
focus off of this thing and putting your faith in this object and
now I'm going to change my mind and put my faith in this object.
You can't do that. Not to mention your natural man
has no faith in that object above. It only has faith in itself.
The natural man only has faith in what it can do. Again, self-righteousness
is our default position, brethren. The natural man's default position
is trusting in works. Even when we say we're not trusting
in works, when we say we trust in God, we believe on God. People
say, well, no, because Ephesians tells us it's not by works and
right, or excuse me, for we are saved by grace through faith,
and that not of yourselves, It is a gift of God, not of works. So there you go. Works is not,
faith is not works. That's not what that verse said.
The Bible's not saying faith is not works. Faith is a works
because Jesus right here said it is. Jesus said that the work
of God is that you believe. Faith is a work and it is a work
that only God does in us. It's not you. doing something
that God has enabled you to do, that God counts for righteousness.
Christ is your righteousness and He gives you or grants you
to believe that that is the truth. See, your faith doesn't make
you holy. Your faith doesn't make you right before God. Your
faith doesn't make you righteous or justified. Your faith signifies
or your faith manifests or declares the fact that you have been justified
and that God has granted you to believe that truth. That's
what it is. But see, we couldn't have done
that without God, because why? It is the work of God that you
believe. It is the work of God that you believe. Ephesians chapter
1, we find a lot of great truths
here. I don't know, brother, how often have we gone to Ephesians
chapter 1. I tend to find myself going there
a lot. Ephesians chapter 1. And it isn't
because we're riding a hobby horse. It's because there is
profound doctrinal truth in Ephesians chapter 1. Matter of fact, unless
the Lord gives you an understanding of Ephesians chapter 1 and Ephesians
chapter 2, Ephesians chapter 3 and 4, 5 and 6 ain't going
to mean nothing to you if you don't know and have the foundation
of Ephesians 1 and 2. It is the work of God that is
creating all the other works that are coming out of you. It's
the work of God. Not your works. Not your yielding
yourselves or making yourselves or by your free will choosing
to do these things. It is actually God working out
of you what He is working inside of you. And you can't control
that. That's where the rubber meets
the road and that's where the rub is with everybody outside
of the people of God. The fact that they can't control
that. I can't control whether I do it or don't do it? God controls
that. But look if you want in Ephesians
chapter 1 verse 4 it says, According as He hath chosen us in Him before
the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without
blame before Him in love. See, the reason that we find
sovereignty so great so far is because the Lord is the one who
draws His people. The Lord is the one who gives
us a new heart. The Lord is the one who gives
us faith. The Lord is the one who makes us holy and blameless
before Him. Wait a minute, you mean it wasn't
because I got baptized? I thought all my sins were washed
away whenever I was baptized. Well, that's what some people
teach, but that's not true. There was a washing that cleansed us, and that's
the washing of blood in the Lord Jesus Christ. That washing cleansed
us, but the baptism didn't clean you up, clear your sins. what made me holy and without
blame before God in love. And by the way, brethren, we're
talking about eternal time here. We're not talking about sometime
in time whenever you believe. We're talking about what made
us holy and without blame before Him in love. Remember, we're
talking about being blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ as we have been chosen in Him before the foundation
of the world so that we would be holy without blame. As I mentioned
a while ago, that seed of Christ has always been holy, has always
been without blame, has always been counted as righteousness,
but God, because of the surety that stood before us, this fleshly
man that is full of sin, has never been under the wrath of
God or seen as guilty because our surety has stood for His
seed just as Adam stood for His seed from the very foundation
of the world. Christ has stood for us as our
Head and we in Him. Therefore, every blessing that
Christ received before the foundation of the world as the surety and
as the Bridegroom with His Bride in Him, as the seed with His
seed life in Him, just as that, we have been holy and without
blame before God from the foundation of the world. I know some people
don't like that. They think that we weren't like
that until we crashed that on the cross. Some say it wasn't
until we believed in time. Brethren, we have always stood
that way before. Our standing before God has always
been in Christ. Otherwise, you were not in Christ.
His seed was in Him from the foundation of the world. You didn't get put into Christ
at some later date. That tree out there came from
an acorn. And that tree over there came
from that tree because an acorn fell from that tree into that
ground and sprouted and life came out and the life of that
tree came from that tree that came from an acorn that came
from another tree that came from another tree that came from another
tree at some point went all the way back to the original tree
but every one of those trees was in that first tree. And you can't get that somewhere
down the line and put an acorn back into a tree so that it would
sprout out and become an acorn. You can't take a child of grace
and put him in Christ after Christ has already done all the work.
He was in Christ before the foundation of the world. And as Christ came
as the surety and substitution, He came as the representative
for all that was in Him. Whenever He came as the Dyer,
the one who was the sacrifice, He came with all those who were
in Him. Therefore, all the blessings and all the curses that came
upon Christ, the blessings of salvation and the curses of the
condemnation of sin that should have been ours, all of those
were on Christ and everyone that was in Him received their just
due or their gracious rewards because they were in Christ Jesus.
But they were already in Christ Jesus before He ever came. because the Bible says that we
were elect in Christ Jesus before the foundation of the world.
So He has made us holy and without blame before Him in love having
predestinated us under the adoption of the children by Jesus to Himself
according to the good pleasure of His will. In 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, We see 2 Thessalonians 2, verse
13 says, But we are bound to give thanks always to God for
you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the
beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth. Whereunto He called you by our
Gospel to the attaining of the glory of our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ." So here we see that God is the one who chooses
who would be saved. to you it is given in behalf
of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for
His sake." So there again we see that God has chosen not only
who is going to be saved, but He has chosen and granted or
given us to believe that, that we have been. 2 Timothy 2 and verse 24, And the
servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all
men, and apt to teach patience in meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves, if God
perventure, will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth,
and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil,
who are taken captive by him So here we see that God is the
one who gives repentance, grants repentance. While you're there in 2 Timothy,
look at 1-9. Again, a couple of verses that
we go to quite often around here. It says, Who has saved us and
called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to His own purpose and grace which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began." So He calls us according
to His purpose. He saves us according to His
purpose and grace. And that purpose and grace, or
that salvation that is part of His purpose and grace was given
to us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Have you ever heard the phrase,
the golden chain of salvation? Anybody tell me where that's
found? Romans 8. Romans 8 and verse 29. Romans 8, 29. It says, for whom He did foreknow,
He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His
Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover,
Whom He did predestinate, then He also called. And whom He called,
then He also justified. Whom He justified, then He also
glorified. So God predestinates us to salvation. God conforms us to the image
of His Son. God calls us. God justifies us. God glorifies
us. All of that is stuff that God
grants. If God doesn't do that, we can't
ever do that. We can't ever do that on our
own. And then lastly, if you would,
look at John 1. But as many as received Him, Now that's a quantifier, right? As many as. As many as received Him, to them
gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe
on His name. The word even there is in italics.
The translators have placed that in there to supposedly make it
easier for us to read, But as many as received Him, to them
gave He the power to become the sons of God, to them that believe
on His name." That's just a statement of fact. To them that believe
on His name are the same as those who have become the sons of God.
But it is God who gives them the power to do that. The power to believe. We already
know that. The power to receive. The Bible
said the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit
of God. So it's God's power that causes us to receive the things
of the Spirit, to believe the things of the Spirit, to have
faith in what the Word of God has said and what Christ has
done. It says, "...which were born, not of blood, nor of the will
of the flesh, nor of the will of man." Brother Larry's book
is all about that. No free will in man. The lies of free will. Man thinks
he has a free will. And right here it specifically,
explicitly says that your being born again has nothing to do
with your lineage, has nothing to do with the work of someone
else's flesh, or your own will. We are born of God. God causes us to be born of His
will and by His Spirit. We're not born again by the preaching
of the Gospel. We're not born again by the reading
of the Word. We're not born again by the missionary
efforts. We're not born again because
we believed or were baptized. We were born of the will of God
by the Spirit of God. Now, all those things that we've
just seen that God does, God causes us to be born from above,
gives us a new heart, causes us to believe, draws us to Himself,
grants us repentance, gives us faith and sustains us in that
faith, gives us a righteousness outside of ourselves, promises
us eternal life, promises us glorification. All of those things
are done outside of us and that we cannot do in and of ourselves.
So whenever we look at everything that we are and we look at everything
that God does, Now you know why we rejoice in
sovereignty? Now you know why we rejoice in
sovereign grace? Because without sovereign grace,
without God being the one who determines these things, we are
left within ourselves who cannot do any of these things. We cannot
believe. We cannot receive. We cannot
make ourselves born again. We will continue to be haters
of God. I know some people say, well, I never hated God. No,
you do hate God. The Bible says you hate God.
I'm taking God's word over your word. God said you were a hater
of Him. Yes, you were religious for some
other God that you had made in your own mind. Some religious
zealot like Paul was. Paul was religiously zealous
for a God in his own making. But the true God of Scripture
who revealed Himself on the road to Damascus to Paul, Paul immediately
realized I've been worshiping the wrong God and everything
that I thought was gain to me, I now count as loss and as done."
Why? Because he began to see he was
revealed, the true God, Jesus Christ. He began to see that
true righteousness is not anything that he could do. And that revelation
caused a repentance in Paul to turn from self-righteousness
and turn to trusting in Christ's righteousness alone. See, we
can't do that apart from the work of God. So that's why, brethren,
we find ourselves loving sovereignty. That's why we find ourselves
preaching sovereignty. Not because God just tells us,
this is my memorial and I want to be known to every generation
this way, so get after it. No, we do it because God commands
us, yes. But we do it also because we
love and find comfort in that. And I pray that the Lord has
brought comfort to us this morning in the preaching of these things.
Does anybody have any questions or comments that you want to
add? Mark? Alright. Alright. Let's
bow and have a word of prayer. Lord, again, we thank You for
Your mercy and grace and we thank You for Your sovereignty. We
thank You that You rule over all things and that Lord, even
this flesh that cannot do anything good, You have overcome by Your
will and by Your Spirit and that you control all things to your
purpose and to your glory. And Lord, we are thankful for
the salvation that is in Christ, a salvation we surely don't deserve
as sinners in Adam, sinners by nature, sinners in action and
deed. But Lord, you have granted us
grace and mercy through the Lord Jesus Christ. So we are thankful
for that and we praise you for that. And today we know that
anything that we are in Christ Jesus, we are only because of
your mercy and because of your grace. So Father, we just ask
now that as we go away today, that you might keep these things
upon our hearts, that you might continue to sustain us in your
gospel, that you might continue to keep us in your doctrine.
And Lord, we just thank you for all that you've done. We thank
you again that we have the ability to meet together, Father. And
I thank you for these brothers and sisters and all those that
are out there who've been praying for our family, especially for
my wife, Lord, these last few weeks. And I just appreciate
all that you've done and the graciousness that you've shown
to us. not only personally in the way that you have kept my
wife, but Lord, also through the kindness and the love that
you have shown us through your people. And what a blessing it
is to be considered a child of grace and in the family of God.
And so we love all the things that you have done for us. And
we hope, Lord, and pray that everything that we have done
today has been pleasing and honoring to you as your spirit has moved
and worked within us. For it's in Christ's name that
we pray. Amen.