We're going to be in the book of Ephesians again this hour, in the sixth chapter. I've really enjoyed Ephesians. The sixth chapter is the final chapter. So soon we'll be parting ways and it's bittersweet. Good news is we go back chapter one, verse one and start there and start all over again. If he would give new messages that you'll see something. The Lord, his word is inexhaustible, inexhaustible.

Ephesians chapter six. I have a simple but eternally weighty question for us this hour. Am I taught of God? Am I taught of God? It's a matter of life and death. It's a matter of Christ and hell. Somebody said, you mean heaven? No, I mean Christ. Heaven's not a place, it's a person. If you take Christ out of heaven, it's no longer heaven. Heaven's a person. It's the difference between Christ and hell.

Ephesians chapter six, verse one through four says, children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise, that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. And ye, fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

Nurture and admonition means chastisement and warning. Chastisement doesn't mean what my father thought it meant. My father thought it meant get a belt. That's not what chastisement means. Chastisement is teaching. patiently and in love. Chastisement is correcting an action or an idea, but never in wrath, never in wrath.

The question is this morning, am I taught of God? Our Lord said in John chapter six, verse 45, it is written in the prophets, and they all, and they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard and hath learned of the Father cometh to me. So if I'm taught of God, I'm gonna come to Christ. If I'm taught of God, I'm gonna come to Christ. What is it to learn from God? What is it to learn from the Father? Well, what does the Father teach? Have I been taught of God? The title is Am I Taught of God? If you wanna know are you taught of God, ask three questions.

Do you believe what God has declared regarding yourself? Do you believe what God has declared regarding his son? And do you believe what God has declared regarding his salvation? Ourselves, himself, and his salvation. That's the three questions. Because if you know the answer, is yes to all of those you've been taught of God. If you can say, yes, I have been, I believe what God has said regarding himself, regarding my sin, and regarding his salvation. The first one is, have I been taught of God to believe what God says about me?

People would tell you, men, most men, most people, when I say men, a lot of times I mean mankind, just to be clear. Most people would tell you that there's a little good in everybody. You ever heard that before? I've heard that plenty of times. That's not true. That's not true. Some people would tell you that some people are worse than other people. Now there may be vicious, horrible things that they've done that would mark them a certain way, but we're all cut from the same mold.

We're all born in sin and shaped in iniquity. We all come from our mother's womb speaking lies, the scripture says. We are all born dead in trespasses and in sin. We're born with a corrupt nature. We're born with a corrupt heart. We're born without any hope of coming to God or getting to God in any way. He must come to us.

Romans 5.12 says, wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin. So death passed upon all men for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

Original sin is not whenever you tell your first lie. The original sin was done in the garden. Original sin was all the way back in the garden and you inherited it by having his blood. You were his, Offspring is seed. That's how the Lord ordained it. Therefore, all men are born sinners.

Ephesians 2.3 says, we were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. We are born hating God with a deceitful heart. It's wicked, it's desperately wicked. We're born impotent, meaning without strength. We can't do anything to please God. They that are in the flesh cannot please God. Psalm 58 says, we come from the womb speaking lies.

That's what I just said a while ago. Someone says, I'm not that bad. A lot of people in false religion believe that. They look at themselves, they look at others. Actually, I saw You pull up the computer, when you're going into set up for our live feed, all the live feeds are already on. And I saw one, and I don't know why I do this, but I clicked on it. Two things that make me want to preach, good preaching and bad preaching.

That's just the truth. He's talking about how grace works in a church. And he says, well, here's one that you probably wouldn't have thought of, church discipline. He said, it's gracious if a brother comes up to you and says, you ought not live your life like that. I'm worried for your soul. And I thought, that's not gracious. That's hypocritical. That's not gracious at all.

No, we're all the same. We're all the same. We all have sin in us and it's what we are. That's what we are. That's why we don't preach righteous living. We preach Christ. and we live soberly, righteously, and godly, because it's in him we live, move, and have our being. Do we see that?

Somebody said I'm not that bad. They compare each other. I'm not as bad as so-and-so, I'm not as bad as so-and-so. Oh, I remember, and it's embarrassing to confess to you, I think some of you can probably relate to this, you felt like you sat a little bit higher than everybody else at one point. feel like I know a little bit more, feel like I'm something.

Because I can quote scripture, or I serve God this way, or I serve God that way, and you look down on other people that don't live the way that you live. We don't have none of that anymore, why? because we're sinners. God has made us to be sinners. Now a sinner is not something that someone can come to on their own. It's not something, not by a decision that they make. And they can say they're a sinner, but a true sinner is one that God has made a sinner. They don't see a little bit of sin as the problem. They don't see a little bit of wrong.

They see the complete covering of leprosy from the top of their head to the bottom of their feet. And only then will the priest declare you as clean. When you see yourself the chief sinner, not just a sinner, but the chief sinner, that's the Lord that did that. That's the Lord that did that. See, we don't have time to point fingers at other people because I got too much of my own problems to deal with, my own sin to deal with that ever plagues me.

Rob told me back there in the men's study, it gets worse and worse the older you get. You loathe yourself more and more. I said, I can understand. I might not be as old as some of you, but being on the way for however long, it gets worse and worse. You despise yourself more and more. You see more of him, I believe that's what growing in grace is. You're going down, you're not going up, you're growing down. Falling on your face more and more before him. You appreciate him, you glorify him because you see yourself as wretched and vile. You see yourself as what you are, more and more and more.

But oh, isn't the gospel sweeter and sweeter because of it? When you hear the good news of the gospel that Christ has put away your sin, you shall not die. The one that that means the most to is the one that feels like they're the biggest sinner. That's what it means the most to. Someone said, I'm not that bad. No, we are infinitely worse, more than we could ever comprehend or imagine.

I didn't tell Lacey I was going to do this, but I'm going to tell a story on her whenever she was a baby. She was the one that would get into Comet and all kinds of other cleaning products, bug spray, whatever. And she would eat it. And we had to call poison control. Police started showing up to our house because of it.

So I got her a pin to play in. It was a pretty good size play pin. I thought it was very reasonable. Got her a pin and put it in there. She didn't like her pin. She wanted out. But she couldn't get out. Now there was nothing wrong with her. Her diaper was clean. She was still in diapers. Her diaper was clean. Her belly was full. She didn't have any air on her stomach. Nothing was wrong with her. She wanted out of the pin.

I retched down, not knowing this, and picked her up. And she had the biggest smile on her face when she was in my arms. And I said, you just played me. You just lied to me. That was a lie. Nothing wrong with her. And she just wanted what she wanted. So I put her back down, started crying again. So either listen to the crying or let her have what she wanted. Well, she ended up, I let her cry. I don't care to tell you. But she hated that pin. She didn't want to get in it. That's why the scripture says we come from the womb speaking lies, because nothing was wrong with her. It's just that she didn't, she lied to get what she wanted.

And that's us by nature, brethren. This is what the scripture teaches us. This is what God says about us. This is what God says about all men. But he only reveals it to his chosen people. Somebody might say, well, I can get better. No, you can't. Moral reformation doesn't change anything internally. No matter how we live our lives, it doesn't change anything internally. Now, good morals, there's nothing wrong with that. Keep you out of trouble.

But, somebody talked about, you know, recent events and how it affected certain people. Some people got really fired up over different events. Now they're really religious. And I said, good. That's good. The more people that are moral, the better off it'll be for us. But it doesn't mean that they're saved. It doesn't mean that they're gods. It just means that they did a moral change, a moral sweep of their basement and they got out some cobwebs.

That's all that happened. Nothing changed. Nothing changed. We can't change anything internally that we do externally. Don't ever forget that. No matter what we do externally, can't change my heart. Not because I made a choice, not because I prayed a prayer, not because I did a deed, not because I did anything.

It's something God has to do. Do I believe what God has said about me, the sinner? Somebody said, well, I quit this and I stopped doing that. I'm striving to do better every day. Well, that's good. Quitting some things may help you not get sick later on in life, but still it's not gonna help your soul. It doesn't have anything to do with your soul. We're still wretched, vile creatures of dust in the eyes of God.

Have you ever seen, and I know everybody's probably experienced this, you go to the store, you see a beautiful apple, And you pick, you say, that's the apple I want. You get that apple, and you get it home, and you cut it, and it's rotten in the middle. Nothing on the outside. Looked really pretty on the outside. I've done that recently. I was frustrated because I thought that apple was going to be good, and I wanted it. I don't know if there's something in it I needed to rot, but the inside of that was complete. You couldn't eat it. It was awful. That's us. Our core is rotten.

Now, the outside could be pretty. It could be shiny. We can have everybody full of thinking that we're this or thinking with that what God sees the heart brethren. He doesn't see the external. He sees the internal. It looks all the way down to the heart. He told the Pharisees, woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you're like wided sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful on the outwardly, but are within full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.

God sees us for what we are. He's not looking to what we do as any part of our salvation, any part of our righteousness. He sees what we are. The glorious part, I'm gonna go ahead and tell you, is what we are now is what we're not used to be. We're new creatures in Christ. He sees us as perfectly righteous now. He sees us as worthy and not as we are unworthy.

He looks upon the heart, not the intent, not the attempt. And in the book of first Samuel, the Lord told Nathan, I'm sorry, told Samuel, told Samuel to go to Bethlehem. He said, I have a King in Bethlehem. I want you to anoint. It's a son of Jesse. He gets down there and he saw Eliab. Eliab was Jacob, was the firstborn. He was the firstborn.

And, uh, This is what Samuel said. Surely this is the Lord's anointed. Surely the Lord's anointed is before me. He was the eldest, probably the strongest, maybe the most handsome. I don't know. But here's what the Lord said. The Lord said to Samuel, look not on his countenance. Eliab was the eldest son of Jesse. I couldn't think of that name. I don't know. 2 Samuel, 1 Samuel 16 verse 7 says, But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance or on the height of his stature, because I have refused him.

For the Lord seeth not as a man seeth. For man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. Looks on the heart. We got a problem then, because our heart by nature is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. That's not good. If I'm going to be saved, God's going to have to give me a new heart. God looks on the heart, not the outside, the inside. He said, thou desire is truth in the inward parts.

Have I been taught of God regarding myself and my sin? Secondly, have I been taught of God regarding his son? Lord asked his disciples, who do men say that I am? They said, some say you're Isaiah, some say Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets. He said, well, who do you say that I am? Peter said, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. And the Lord said, blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto you, but my Father, which is in heaven.

If you have believed what God has said about his son, it's because you're taught of the Lord. You're taught of the Lord. Jesus Christ is Lord. He is God in the flesh, ordained of the Father before time. ever began. He is all knowing. He is absolutely sovereign. He is holy. He is just. He is true. He is good. As I told the men this morning back there, he is faithful. Two things that we learn in life as the Lord's people. One is that we're sinners. We are dead dog depraved sinners. Number two, he's a faithful savior of sinners. He's a faithful savior. Our Lord is the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

1 Timothy 3.16 says, and without controversy, great is the mystery of Godliness. God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received up to glory. If I am taught of God, he has given me repentance to make me see my sin herself, make me see my sin, that I am the sinner. And he's also given me faith to make me believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. No one gets repentance without faith, and no one gets faith without repentance.

They're both the gift of God unto eternal life, given freely by his grace. Now this isn't based upon a decision that we come to. It's not based upon something that we did or something that we didn't do. It's based upon everything that God hath done in his salvation, and we'll get to that in just a minute. Scripture tells us it's by grace alone, for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourself. And I love, he doesn't just stop there, he could've.

He says it's the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. He says it's not of yourself and it's not of works. It's not of you in any way. He's trying to be as clear as he can. Yet men foolishly believe that they can work themselves a deal with the Lord in order to save them by giving their heart to God or by praying a prayer or by accepting him. He's not offering anything to anybody.

Salvation was offered one time to the Father, and the Father accepted it and justified His people, saved His people from their sin. This is who Jesus Christ is. If I find myself looking to, hoping in, and believing in the Lord Jesus Christ alone as all my wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption before the throne of God, God is the doer of it. He says, John chapter one, 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 of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. To believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is all by his power, all by his doing, all by his purpose, all for his glory, all for his glory. Have I been taught of God regarding his son? They said, what think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? That's the question. Whose son is he?

If you believe Jesus Christ is God, you're a believer. If you truly believe everything that is mentioned about God is Jesus Christ, you're a believer. You're not persuaded of a man. You're persuaded of God. If you believe Jesus Christ is God, you're a believer.

Lastly, have I been taught of God regarding his salvation? And I put his before that on purpose because it is his salvation. David said in Psalm 51, after he had sinned with Bathsheba and the Lord had given him repentance, restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. Your salvation, not my salvation, yours. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation.

His salvation was purposed by him, his salvation was wrought by him, his salvation was accomplished by him for his elected people. Salvation is not by chance, it's according to the purpose of God ordained before time. God elected a people. He predestinated them, ordained them into eternal life. This was not by the counsel of men. He didn't counsel. Can you imagine men thinking that the Lord would counsel with them? What could we teach him? Nothing. He knows everything. He knows everything. We use the term know it all as a derogatory term. He really does know it all. He knows every bit of it.

Wasn't by the Council of Men, nor did it happen because some people deserved it or some people didn't. So he passed by some and he elected some others. No, it's quite the opposite of that. There's none good, no not one. None good, no not one. What does none mean to you and I?

The Lord's people look at the scripture and we take it for what it says. We don't compare scripture to a book to try to understand the scripture. We compare scripture to scripture to see what God says. What does thus saith the Lord? You don't need my opinion. We don't need man's opinion. I need to know what God said. I've got to know what God said about his salvation. I've got to be taught of him. It's life and death. There is none good, no not one. There is none that seeketh after God. There's none that seeketh after righteousness. There's none that would come to Christ on their own. We can't, it's our nature. It's all of grace that we're saved, brethren.

The Lord's people were given to Christ because he was the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. The Lord Jesus Christ spoke the world and all that you see in existence, commanded the light to shine out of darkness. And then he chose to become the same creature, the likeness of the creatures of dust that we are. This is the Lord's salvation.

This is how it was accomplished. Our Lord went to the cross. knowing full well the agony that awaited him on that cross, and he took the cup, and he said, Father, let this cup pass from thee. Nevertheless, not my will, but thy will be done. It had to be done.

So he drank the contents of that cup dry, every bit of it. He took our sin unto himself, and he went before the judgment throne of God, went before the judgment throne of God, And the Lord saw my sin and your sin upon him, upon him. The Lord hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all. When the Lord saw that sin, he poured out his eternal wrath upon his son. He didn't do it in hopes he might accomplish something. He didn't do it because he was going to try to do something or try to make a way for you to do something. He was doing something. He was, God don't try.

He just does, because he just is. God saw the travail of his soul, he said, and he was satisfied. He was satisfied. And that blood is still sufficient to wash away every sin and every stain. For who? All the elect of God that he died for on the cross. The Lord was successful in redeeming his people. He boldly declared it is finished. Salvation accomplished. Justice has been satisfied.

Now his people have been made the righteousness of God in him. And I wish I could come up with a good description of righteousness because the best description I can come up with is it's other than being completely sinful. Now we're righteous. You see that? We've been justified. If you're sinful, you're not righteous. But if you're righteous, you're no longer sinful.

Lord's people have been declared righteous, justified, sanctified, glorified. He was risen because of our justification. He's seated as the sovereign, successful savior of his people. In the fullness of time, he chooses to send his spirit to quicken one of his elect. This is the Lord's salvation.

And the glorious part is, is if he quickens you, quickens me, he's going to keep us until the day, either the day that he returns in the clouds or the day that we take our last breath and we open our eyes. He's going to keep us. He said, I'll never leave you nor forsake you. I'll go with you all the way, even to the end, even to the end.

By his gospel, by his power, his children are born. He gives them a new heart, new creature. A new nature that looks to him by faith, that lives by faith, doesn't live by sight any longer. This nature only lives by sight. Do we see that? If you're looking to Christ, it's because he's given you faith to do so. This new creature lives, moves, and has its being in the Lord Jesus Christ.

So ask yourself, have you been taught of God regarding yourself, regarding the Lord Jesus Christ, and regarding his salvation? If you can say yes, yes, and yes, you're a believer. The only difference between a believer and a non-believer is a non-believer has not believed and a believer just believes. Why? They were taught of God, not man.

If you believe all that, God's the doer of it and he gets all the glory. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word. We ask that you would bless it according to your will. Lord, forgive us. For. Having doubt and unbelief calls us ever to believe. In Christ name, Amen.