For our scripture reading this morning, turn with me to the book of Revelation. The Revelation of Jesus Christ, chapter 19. Actually, I want to read just a few verses from chapter 18. Revelation chapter 18, beginning with verse 21. And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying, thus with violence shall the great city Babylon be thrown down and shall be found no more at all.

And the voice of harpers and musicians and of pipers and trumpeters shall be heard no more at all in thee. And no craftsman of whatsoever craft he be shall be found any more in thee. And the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee. And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee. And the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee.

For thy merchants were the great men of the earth, for by their sorceries were all nations deceived. And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all that were slain upon the earth. And after these things, I heard a great voice of much people in heaven saying, hallelujah, salvation. and glory, and honor, and power unto the Lord our God. For true and righteous are his judgments. For he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand." And again, they said, hallelujah. And her smoke rose up forever. and ever.

And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne saying, Amen, Hallelujah. And a voice came out of the throne saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants and ye that fear him, both small and great. And I heard, this will be my text this morning, and I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying hallelujah, for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.

Let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and his wife has made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

And he saith unto me, Right blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not. I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren. that hath the testimony of Jesus. Worship God, for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

And I saw heaven open, and behold, a white horse, and he that sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. And his eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns. And he had a name written that no man could know but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and his name was called the Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that it should smite the nations, and he should rule them with a rod of iron. And he treadeth the winepress, of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God, and he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. May the Lord add his blessing to the reading of his word. I invite you once again to turn with me to the last book in the Bible. The revelation of Jesus Christ. I confess to you that when I grew up in religion, I would try to read the Old Testament, and it always left me confused.

I could not understand the reason for all the blood and the battles and the odd things that were recorded there and what took place there and some of these men who were set forth as great men, like David, a man after God's own heart. And this man's committing adultery and sending his best friend out with a preconceived plan to have him killed. I couldn't understand. These things all looked out of place to me. I just couldn't make any sense out of them.

And so I just skip that book, go to the next book, and I'd find the same thing there, and I'd skip that book and go to the next one. And I could find little bits and pieces here and there. And generally, that's what I found in religion, that these men, when they preached from the Old Testament, it was just a little piece here and there, and they were all just moral stories, more or less, to teach us how to walk and so forth with the Lord. I never saw the gospel in the Old Testament, never did. not until the Lord saved me.

And I have to confess I found the same thing in the book of Revelation. If you read this book and read it and take it literally, talking about dragons and talking about beasts and all of these things, you've missed the message. He tells you what this book is all about right up at the very beginning. It is the revelation of Jesus The book of Revelation is a fascinating book. The man who wrote this book was an apostle, John, the apostle John.

He was exiled for the preaching of the gospel to an island they called Patmos out in the Mediterranean. He was exiled to a penal colony out on this island. And on the Lord's Day, out at this penal colony, John was worshiping God. Can you imagine? Exiled to a penal colony on an island out in the middle of the Mediterranean, and I know these men suffered. These people didn't just let you serve your time. They were whipped and beaten and mocked and so on, made to walk a straight line, you know, according to whatever.

Thoughts of that ought to be. And he's out here, and the spirit comes in a special manner. That's how it comes when we're saved, isn't it? That's what happens. We've heard the same message over and over and over. I've read it in the word of God. It didn't have that effect on me until the spirit of God came. And I can't really explain that experience except to say he makes it known.

All of a sudden, these things that you're reading are not stories anymore. They take on a form of reality in your soul and in your heart and in your mind. They get a hold of you. You know, that one king Paul preached to, he was trembling when Paul got done preaching. Well, he wasn't afraid of Paul. Why was he trembling? The Spirit of God. The Spirit of God.

He's exiled on this island, and the Spirit gives this apostle seven visions. If you study the book of Revelations, you'll find out that God gives this man, John, seven visions. And you'll keep finding that word seven, seven churches, seven angels, seven. All through here, you'll find that word seven. It means complete, and it means perfect. The Spirit gives this apostle seven visions of what has just taken place that he was a part of, what is taking place right now while he's at that penal colony, and what shall take place from now to our Lord's second coming, to his return.

That's what this book represents. is from the time that Christ appeared in this world, once in the end of the world, hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. From that appearance to the end of time, his second coming is the end of time.

That's it. It's over. And he allows John to see the whole scope of the person and work of Jesus Christ. That's what he's allowing. That's what's being pictured in this thing. And what he's doing not only in his church and for his church, but with his church. And all through this book. You'll never make any sense out of it in any other way.

And it begins with our Lord's walking among the churches, the candlesticks. That's his churches. Where is he walking? Is he just sitting and looking at the churches? That's not what it says. It says he's walking in the midst of the candlesticks. He's walking. He's moving. He's doing something. He's doing something. There's an activity going on, and it's going on with his churches.

Now, he said, I know God has but one church. That's the church of the living God. But this church is represented in this earth by local churches just like this one. And there were seven that he directs these messages to that represent all local churches for all time. So it begins with a picture of our Lord, and he's walking among the churches. And God's presence, as far as dispensing grace and mercy in this world, is always found in his churches.

He that hath ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to his churches. If God's going to speak to you, that's how He's going to speak. That's how He's going to speak. And the next vision we see is our Savior taking from Him who sat on the throne a seven-sealed book. Now, I want you to listen to me.

God has an eternal purpose of grace. In 2 Timothy 1-9, Paul told Timothy, he said, Timothy, God has saved us, past tense. He 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. And God has a purpose. He's always had a purpose.

This purpose of redemption is why this world is here. It's why this universe is here. This universe was created by our Savior. Without Him was not anything made that was made. That's what the Bible says. And it was made not only by Him, but it was made for Him.

It's the stage upon which God's going to, He's going to show us, He's going to manifest the glory of His name and the salvation of children sinners. That's what's taking place. And so He, When the Lord came into this world, what's being pictured here is these things are all sealed.

They've been kept secret. That's what Paul said. We're stewards of the manifold mysteries of God. I speak the gospel in a mystery, he said. Well, this mystery, it's pictured here. It's sealed. What God's doing, why he created the world, why he made man, why he saved sinners. All these things sealed in this book.

But God's going to manifest these things. Well, the time's come to manifest these things and nobody can take the book. Who's worthy to take the book? Well, man's going to decide his own destiny. That's not what's being pictured here. They wept because nobody was worthy to take the book or open the seals or even to look on the book. And they wept. And then one cried out, here's one worthy, the lion of the tribe of Judah. Who's he? He's the lamb slain before the foundation of the world.

Everything God purposed to do to manifest his glory, he trusted into the hands of his son. And his son comes and takes the book. Now, you don't take anything from God if God don't give it to you. Now, he came, and I don't see him snatching that book out of the hands of God. I see God laying the book into his hands. And he takes the book and he begins to open the seals. What's that? That's the doing of what God has purposed to do from the beginning. Now, you begin to see what Revelation's all about. And that's what all these figures are about. And it shows him doing that.

Now, there's seven of these visions. I'm not going to bore you with all the visions this morning. I just want us to go to the The sixth one is in chapters 17, 18, and 19. This is the sixth vision given to John, and it's to show our Lord's conquest over the beast.

That's Satan. That's the beast. He's always pictured as a beast, isn't he? A dragon, or a lion, or a... He's a beast. And he's showing his conquest over Satan. Satan was cast out into the earth. He's the one who tempted Eve, brought about through Eve the fall of man. So he's going to show his conquest. What he came to do when he came into this world is conquer Satan. And he did. It pictures him in one place here having a great chance. And he comes down and he puts the chain around Satan's neck. He's the devil, but I want you to remember something. He's God's devil. He has him on a chain. He can't do anything he don't allow him to do.

You remember when he confronted that demoniac, the Gadarene demoniac, and they told him, they said, allow us to go into those hogs. Well, who helped sway over them? What do you have to do with us before our time? They know who Seth comes from. Devils are god devils. He does with them what he will. And he uses them. But this is showing his conquest over the beast and over the false prophet. The false prophet here represents every false preacher from the time just before Christ came until the end of time. Any man that'll stand up and say something contrary to the word of God, that's who this is talking about.

You know, the world's not this grand land of opportunity that we're sold from the time we're little kids in school. Talks about this world and the great country of opportunity and so on and so forth, and I'm not trying to put down the United States. Don't go home with a chip on your shoulder. I'm just trying to tell you that's not what this world is.

This world is cursed of God, and it's going to be destroyed. If it had anything in it worth using, God would preserve it. The only usefulness this world has is the manifestation of his glory on sinners. That's why it's being maintained. You can read about it over in Romans chapter 8. The earnest expectation of creation wageth for the manifestation of the sons of God. That's why it's being preserved. After that, it's got no use. He's going to burn it up. Now it says there'll be a new heaven and a new earth, but it's not gonna be this one. It'll be without sin, it'll be without flaw. This vision here in chapter 17 through 19 is that of antichrist religion. This is fallen man's most glorious work, Satan's. most glorious work.

And he's the spirit, Paul said, that now worketh in the children of disobedience. You, Hattie Quicken, who were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in time 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."

They're drawn to him like flies to flypaper. They're all being, and here it shows them all being brought before the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. In chapter 18 verse 21, he declares the casting down of the great city of Babylon. And Babylon forever stands as a figure of man trying to enter into glory by his own work.

Now what they said, they decided. They sat down and reasoned it out. They decided, we don't have to wait on God to do anything. Let's just build a tower in the heavens. And so that's what they went about doing. That's what religion is doing, trying to build a tower into glory. They're trying to get into glory by their own decisions and what they call free will.

I'm going to tell you something. Salvation is according to the will of God, not the will of man. It's not of him that willeth. I can't get any plainer. That's what God said. It's not of him that willeth. So what's the big deal about a man's will? We're going to divide ourselves from the people of God over free will. It's not of him that willeth. It ain't even the issue.

His people shall be willing in the day of his power. I'm not saying God saves men against their will. He gives them a will to come to him. Christ looked at those Pharisees, they were the most religious people on earth in that day, and he looked at them and he said, you search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life. And they are they that testify of me, but you won't come unto me. You will not come unto me that you might have life. The will of man is a will not. That's what I'm saying.

But his people will be willing in the day of his power, and that power is the preaching of the gospel. Well, he said it, didn't he? Power of God unto salvation to everyone that believe it. Read Romans chapter 1. Religion promotes itself as a godly, good, and righteous work. God calls it an abomination and says it's full of corruption.

That's what he says. I read it to you just a little bit ago. And Babylon's also the mother of confusion. You remember what happened when they started building that tower? God confused the languages. He made them all talk in a different tongue. They couldn't understand what each other was saying, and they still don't. You want to know how divisive religion is, and how disorganized it is, and what confusion there is? There's a church on every corner. Going to any town, I don't have to have been there. I've been through so many towns, I know where that goes. Going to any town, there's a church on every corner.

How come? Why ain't there just one? Because they don't agree. The only thing they agree on is free will and works, self-righteousness. God's going to show me favor because I'm going to try to keep his law. Show me that in the scripture. What the scripture said is, cursed is everyone who continueth not in all things written in the book of the law to do it. You're going to gain favor by your works. That's what you have to do. Not transgress that law, all 500, 600 statutes, not one time ever, from the time you're born to the time you die. If you could do that, you could have a righteousness. But Christ is the end of the law for righteousness. He came into this world as our representative, didn't he? And he obeyed that law perfectly. He never broke one statute. He continued in all things written in the book of the law to do it. Babylon's the mother of confusion. God set division in the languages of men and Look around today at these monuments of religion that don't agree with one another except on one thing, salvation by free will and salvation by works.

You know, years ago they brought in, I lived in Kentucky and I had a sister who lived in Florida and I'd drive down through Tennessee going down to Florida. And where they blasted and put that big old highway, I-75 through there, they left big straight up and down terraces where they blasted through those mountains, and they were forever sliding and coming down on the road.

And they imported this little plant called kudzu. I forget where they got it from, but they planted it, and it was going to hold the sides of those mountains where it was terraced like that. They planted that kudzu, and within 10 years, it took over the mountain. It choked the trees out of the mountain.

It was unbelievable. It totally consumed. That's false religion. False religion just took over this world. They're not a part of it. It's saturated every cranny of this world. And there's only one reason that mankind has survived this ungodly plague, and that's the person and work of Jesus Christ.

And I could and I have shown you our Lord pictured as the captain of our salvation sitting upon that big white horse, bearing the name Faithful and True and going forth to make war with both his and our enemies. And I could and have shown you the picture of him clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, bearing the name the Word of God. I've showed you these things in our study in Revelation. But what I feel led of God to show you this morning is that this victorious Christ, he came into this world and did the will of God.

Isn't that what it says in John chapter 6? I came not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will which has sent me, that of all which he has given me, I should lose nothing. What did he come in this world to do? To save chosen sinners. Well, you mean God chose a people? That's what it says in Ephesians 1. When did he do that? Before the foundation of the world. Why did he do it? That they might be holy without blame before him being loved. That's why he did it. All right.

You know, we heard some thunder a week or so back. A big storm rolled through, and we heard. I get up early to study, and I was sitting in my office chair. And when that thunder hit, it almost knocked me out of my chair. It was so loud. Walter woke up. Everybody in that neighborhood woke up. I mean, it sounded like it hit my front yard. I looked out the window to see if my big tree was still there. She woke up and went out to see if it might have got a tree where her horse was.

It was loud. And that's what he said is going on here. There was a voice of a great multitude and a voice as of many waters. I went to Niagara Falls years ago before my first wife died. And we got up, I think it's called Hurricane something, Hurricane Winds or something like that.

It's a platform and you can walk up at the base of the falls And the short side of the falls, the smaller of the two, come down and hit. You couldn't have a platform by the big one. But it was so deafening, you could stand this far apart and you couldn't hear each other. And the wind from it was tremendous. You had to hold on to the rail to keep from getting blown down.

That's what he's talking about. This was so loud. It was such a thundering. Like many waters, like these waters crashing down from the falls. And as a voice of mighty thunderings, just shake where you're at. Well, what were they saying? They were saying, hallelujah. Hallelujah. You ever felt like saying that? Boy, every time I think about God saving my soul, I'm going to say it. Hallelujah. He showed mercy to me. He showed his love to me.

But why are they all crying? I mean, to have this kind of thundering voice, everything angel and man is timing in because the Lord commanded them to do it. A voice came out of the throne saying, praise our God. And they did. And every living thing in heaven cried out in unison, hallelujah. Or what are they saying hallelujah about? The Lord God omnipotent reigned. He reigned.

And I can show you a lot of things in here, but what I feel led of God to show you this morning is this victorious Christ sitting on the throne of God. When he said the Lord God, he's talking about Jesus Christ. He's talking about God our Savior. sitting on the throne. Why is he on the throne? God was on the throne. Wasn't God sufficient not to save sinners? The God-man saved sinners. One mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. And having done what the Lord sent him to do, what did he do?

He brought out a perfect righteousness for us. He died bearing our sins on the tree. And then he died. He took our place. He's our substitute. He took our place on the cross. And God raised him up. So what did he do with him when he raised him up? He set him on the throne. Why? To make your salvation, those for whom he died, to make their salvation absolutely certain. That's why he's sitting on the throne.

And I've got five things this morning that flow out of the reality of this reigning king. Five things that lay the foundation of faith. They have a ruling effect on the heirs of grace and a calming effect on your hearts. And it causes us to cry in unison with those here.

Hallelujah. The Lord God omnipotent reigns. First thing is that God is. These things are always on my mind. When I go into my study and sit down to prepare a message, I bet you thought I was going to preach on the five points of Calvinism. No, they're not here. The first thing is this. God is. God is. In Hebrews chapter 11, he talks about the faith of Enoch. Enoch said, please God.

He left his testimony before God translated him. He was living, walking just like I am, and one day he just wasn't there. You'd come in like you do every morning, and you'd look in there, and I wouldn't be there. You'd go outside, and I'm not out there, and they couldn't find Enoch. Why? God took him. God took him. But before he took him, he left his testimony that he pleased God. Do you recall what it says next?

But without faith, it is impossible to please God. Now, you can take all of work's religion, bundle it up in one big bundle, and shoot it down with this. Just burn it to the ground with this. Without faith, it is impossible. It's not unlikely. It's impossible to please God. There's only one man who ever lived on this earth who could please God.

This is my beloved son, now listen, in whom I'm well pleased. Huh? Oh. God is. And this is what he says after saying that, he said, he that cometh to God must believe that he is. That's the first thing, God is. And the second thing is that he's a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. And what that means is you believe God is and you believe he's able to give you what you're seeking for.

I used to, in religion, all the time, call on God to give me stuff that I didn't no more believe he could do than a man in my I hear men deny the existence of God. I'm going to tell you what that is. That's a frightened little boy walking through the cemetery whistling. He's whistling to keep the demons away. That's what that is. All these men that deny God, every man has a conscience and his conscience bears witness of God.

He's surrounded by creation. the very works of God, and in Romans 1.20 it said, for the invisible things of God are clearly seen from creation. And they're understood by the things that are made. There's an order about creation that testifies of its maker. And even now, he maintains it, works in it, declares plainly of all these things, they declare plainly of the presence of God, do they not?

He declares in Proverbs that the hand of the king is in the hand of the Lord as the rivers of water. Are the rivers of water in his hand? Sure they are, and so is the heart of the king. He says that he causes his rain to fall on the just and the unjust. Is it his reign?

When it's raining outside, do I think to myself, that's God's reign? God brought that. God caused that to come. Now, we won't run over to the weather channel, and they'll recite a bunch of stuff about heat and cold and air masses and on and on it goes. Bible just simply says it's his reign. He makes it to fall.

God told Job, he said, stand still and consider the wondrous works of God. Brother Job called me the other day, and he said, I'm just so hungry to see the Lord work. And I knew what he was talking about. He was talking about the calling of his elect. Just like you did in you, Larry. You're sitting there listening, and one day the Lord spoke. And Job said, I'm so hungry to see the hand of the Lord working. And I said, well, Job, the hand God's always working.

Every believer's life is attended by pervenient grace. God's been watching over him since he was born, actively working in his life, arranging things to keep him from certain things or bring him to a certain place or allowing him to do certain things. He's working. He's working in creation every day. Here's how he described these wondrous works to Job.

He said, the breath of God, by the breath of God, frost is given. Get up and look out there in your yard's white. Where'd that come from? Well, cold front, yeah, I know. But here's what it says, the breath of God. That's why that frost is out there. The clouds. that bring the rain and sometimes just decorate the sky with these billowy, white, bright clouds.

He said that they come and go. It's what he told Job. According to my counsel, that they may do what I counsel for them to do, whether of correction or by my hand or for mercy. We don't think about these things, do we? But that's exactly what the Bible said he was doing. He's at work. You can't deny God. God's all around you. He's in your very mind. He's in your conscience. He's in creation. And here's what it said in Romans 1, so that they are without excuse. Well, I don't believe in God. You're a liar. You're a liar. You might deny him, but it's just whistling in a cemetery.

God is present, and men know it. He's not left himself without a witness. David said this, listen to this, the heavens declare the glory of God, and the earth showeth his handiwork. Day unto day utter the speech, and night unto night teacheth wisdom. There's no voice, no nation, no language where this voice of God is not heard, or without excuse. Deny God. Oh, what foolishness. The fool has said in his heart, there is no God, or no God for me. The whole world tells us that this is nothing more than a tabernacle. This is how David described it.

The whole world is nothing but a tabernacle for the sun. And the sun comes up, what's it do? Shines its light on the works of Christ. Isn't that what it does? and men see it and they glorify God. It's nothing but a tabernacle. As it slowly turns, the sun shines on it, reveals the glory of God.

God is, his presence is all around us, it's in us, and in him it says we live and move and have our being. We're not like the beast, we're fearfully and wonderfully made, David says. made to think and to reason, to communicate, made in the image of God. And then here's the second thing. I'll try to move along a little faster.

The second thing that's constant in my mind, in my thinking and hope is the love of God. This great God, who can do anything He will, has determined to manifest the glory of His love Love? Man done nothing but sin. The earth is nothing but corruption.

Yeah, that's the backdrop. You know, you go buy a diamond, they don't bring it out in a white case. They bring that diamond out in a black case, usually black velvet or something. It's the backdrop. And this world and sinners, this is just the backdrop to show off the jewel of his son, the glory of his son. He's going to manifest it in sinners. And in doing so, there's nothing else there except the glory of God. That's all you can see.

In the vast expanse of the universe, in the endless expanse of eternity, the living God made this poor sinner, gave him a special place in it, John said, not that we love God, but that God loved us. You ever think about that? Man, eternity is farther than the mind can even grasp, isn't it? Either behind or before. You can't grasp eternity. We're just here for a little while and gone. But in this vastness of eternity and the vastness of this universe, God looked down at one sinner. He said, I love you. How will he show it? He'll sacrifice his son. Some men might die for a good man. Some would even die for a man who's not good. But God commended his love toward us, and while we were yet sinners, Christ died. Oh, what love. What love.

I tell you, a sinner can't look on another man saved by the same grace and say, I don't like him. You can't do that. How can you do that? God loved you while you was yet a sinner. manifested with the sacrifice of his son. Then we're going to look on one of our brethren and say, I don't like him. How come he hurt my feelings? Really? You reckon us as an abomination didn't offend God? Better take another look at that cross. God poured out his wrath on that cross.

The Bible don't teach us that he chose us and then loved us. It said He loved us. That's why He chose us. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church. Gave Himself for us. Not that we love God. He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Loved us and gave Himself for us. The Bible said God is love. Love is what He is. Yes, he's just. Yes, he's righteous. But God is also love.

And we were, Paul writes, by nature, children of wrath, even as others. But God, who's rich in mercy, now listen to this, and for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, quickened us together with Christ. By grace, ye are saved. quickened us. He made us alive. He made us one. He put us in a union with his son, didn't he?

Now, our love is so limited, I can hardly... I can only give what I have. That's the most I can give. I can only give what I'm able to give, but when God gives, What he gives is beyond measure. Where's the limit on his gift? I know mine are limited, but his are unlimited.

And he said, he that loveth not knoweth not God, because God's love. Whatever saving knowledge, whatever the saving knowledge of God is, it consists of love, and love's a vital part of it. Without it, You can't know God. If he brings you to know him, he's for sure going to show you his love. He's going to show you the glory of it. And it's going to affect you.

Faith worketh by love. Well, I have love, but I don't look. No, you ain't got faith. Faith worketh by love. All right, here's the third thing that occupies a chief place in my heart and mind. helps to ground me, keeps me from being blown all over the place with every wind of doctrine, settles me, establishes me in the faith. And that is the particular, effectual, accomplished redemption of Christ.

Before I married this wonderful woman, who's a great cook, by the way. You testify to that one. I used to prepare my own meals after Kathy died. So for a couple of years, and one of the things I learned right off the bat was gravy and sauces. You know why? Because if you ruin the meat, you can put that good gravy on there, a good sauce, and it makes it taste good.

This redemption that I'm talking about is the gravy of salvation. It makes everything sweet. Oh, God slayed me. Yeah, but he'll make it sweet with his redemption. I don't get along with this guy. He'll make it sweet. He'll make it sweet. What'd they cast into that bitter pool? A tree, wasn't it? That's the cross. That's what makes it sweet. Oh, the redemption of Christ. His accomplished redemption is the gravy of salvation. Makes even our sufferings taste sweet, don't it? We get out of sorts with one another, what's going to fix it? Smother it with the gravy of redemption.

Let all bitterness, Paul said, and wrath, and anger, and let it all, all this clamor and evil speaking, let it be put away from you with all malice, and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven you. Jesus Christ, our federal head, and substitute bear our sins and his own body on the tree. And everything he suffered there was in our stead.

1 Peter 2.22, it says, he did no sin. Neither was guile found in his mouth. He was a perfectly righteous man. He was God come into the flesh. was reviled, he reviled not again.

Does that mean he was a wimp? No, he sat over in the corner in the temple and plaited a whip together, and there must have been 20 or 30 men in that temple selling the stuff. And he whipped them out of the temple. And I know these men who reviled him. I saw he could have winked an eye blinked them right into eternity.

But he didn't. When he was reviled, he reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened not. So how did he handle these wrongful sufferings? How did he handle this? He's suffering and he's not guilty. How did he handle these wrongful sufferings? It says, he committed himself to him that judgeth righteously. He turned it over to God his father, the righteous judge. And he said, he'll judge righteously, and he'll dispense either mercy or punishment according as he sees fit.

Can we do that? That's what we need to do. You know, some of that crowd, you remember when they crucified Christ, you remember reading about that. And Pilate decided he had an ace up his sleeve. He said, this was a tradition. He said, I'm to release a man. So he brought out the worst one he had in the prison, Brabus. A murderer, oh, he was a mess. Brought out Barabbas and he said, I'll free the man of your choice. They said, give us Barabbas and crucify Christ. That whole crowd was out there, all of them together. Crucify him, crucify him, give us Barabbas. Do you know that a large amount, not a little amount, a large amount of those people who cried that was saved at Pentecost? 5,000 souls at one time. And Peter told them what they'd done.

Maybe this man that you decided your enemy might be another Apostle Paul. He might be another Martin Luther. And that's why we're to love even our enemies. I don't know who my enemy really is. We were enemies, he said, when we were reconciled to God. Enemies. How did he reconcile us? In the body of his flesh through death.

You know God's people are said to be the apple of his eye? That's the pupil. That's what he's talking about. The apple of his eye. And I tell you, when you start messing with God's people, you're poking God in the eye. That's what you're doing. You're just sitting there poking him in the eye.

He said it'd be better for you that a millstone be tied about your neck and cast in the deepest part of the ocean than for you to offend one of these little ones. Isn't that how our picture started out? Talking about Babylon, that great angel taking that millstone and throwing it into the sea. Babylon's going down. By way of his accomplished redemption, I'm presented to God, it said, unblameable and unapprovable, beyond correction. All of God's elect have this standing and were to consider one another in that way.

The minute I begin to judge by works and free will, a division comes. Isn't that right? Where do these divisions come from in the church? That's where it comes from. Now, let me tell you something. The death of Christ didn't just win a battle. It brought the war to an end. That war's over. He's our peace. You can't have peace while the war is going on. He's our peace, peace with God and peace with one another.

His death, now listen to me, his death will never be discovered a miscarriage. His death will never be declared to be in vain. Well, if you don't believe, one religious guy said, one preacher said, if you don't believe, that makes his death in vain. That'll never happen. That'll never happen. Well, preacher, what if some for whom Christ died don't believe? What if they're unwilling to receive him or receive this unspeakable gift?

Now, I hope you'll listen to me. The success of his death is not resting on your works or your will. Your works and wills resting on his death. His death is what bought you that certain calling. It's what brought to pass the irresistible work of the Spirit of God in his church. It's the victory of his death that secures this irresistible work of the Spirit.

God spoke this world into existence. He spoke and it was done. He said he commanded and it stood fast. and the winds and the waves obeyed his voice. What God says is effectual is effectual. Listen to this, Isaiah 55, 11. So shall my word be that goeth out from my mouth. It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereunto I sent it. And faith, my friend, is the gift of God. It's not of works, lest any man should boast. And boast they would. If I had a finger's grip in the salvation of my soul, I'd brag on it for all eternity. And so will men.

Listen to their testimonies. They're going to tell you what they did for God, not what God did for them. When Christ was raised from the dead, declaring all that he did to be Accepted of God, he added this, all power in heaven and earth given unto me. Now you go preach. Does that sound like something waiting on the will and works of men? No, it's resting in the power that's given to him.

And you go ahead and teach them. Yeah, but they won't listen. They will if I speak. You teach them to observe all things whatsoever I've commanded you, and I'm with you to the end. And I know this. I know men hear a man's voice. And I quote from a written manuscript, a book that's written by me. And men reason with a limited brain. Do they not? But God the Spirit does in them a work that enables them to believe. Paul said, I thank God for you. He made you meet to be partakers with the saints, with enlightened saints. He made you meet. He gave you the ability.

His death didn't win a battle. It brought the war to an end. Salvation is in no way dependent upon men. All right? So we have this knowledge, God is. And we have a knowledge of the love of God. And we have a knowledge of this particular effectual redemption of Christ.

He didn't offer himself for nothing. He bought what he paid for. And then fourthly, our eternal union with Christ. And you can call it substitution, or headship, or representation, or whatever you want to call it. But here's what it is, union with Christ.

He made us one with his son. And when he poured out his wrath on his son, he's pouring out his wrath on me. And when he killed his son, he killed me. But when he looked on him, the travail of his soul, and was satisfied, he was looking on me. And when he raised him up, he raised us up with him.

Isn't that what it says in Ephesians 2? Raised us up with him, made us to sit together with him in heavenly places in Christ. Elections, not God arriving at a number and then trying to fill the quota. Lectures not writing faceless names in a book and hoping to get folks to cooperate. It says he chose us in his son in union with him that we might be holy. That is in perfect harmony with his character. And without blame, he bore our sins in his own body on the tree. Before him in love.

Now when my grandkids sat before me, sitting down there in their diapers in the driveway playing in a bucket of water. They were before me in love and that wasn't their love for me. They didn't know me from the man in the moon. They just was barely old enough to even recognize me as a person. But here they sat and they were before me in love. It was my love for them.

And that's what God's talking about over there in Ephesians when he said he chose us in Christ that we might be before him A better translation would be this, before him being loved. Being loved. This union with Christ. Turn with me to John 17. Let me show you something over here. I know I'm going a little long, but please bear with me. This is so important. John chapter 17. Look down here at verse 20.

This is our Lord's high priestly prayer. He's praying to the Father, and he said he was praying for these disciples. He'd given them his word, he gave them an understanding, he left them in this world. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word. Why would he do that? That they all may be one as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me, and the glory which thou gavest me I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are one. I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, now watch this, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me.

God secured his love for us in his son. And Romans 8 said there's nothing in time or eternity that can separate you from the love of God that's in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Oh, what comfort and joy and stabilizing force this gospel union has been to me.

And then the last thing is this. The sovereign, eternal, unchangeable predestination of God's saints. The word foreknow in Romans 8, 29, whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate. That word foreknow is the very same word that's over in 1 Peter 1, where it says that Christ was foreordained before the foundation of the world. It's the very same word.

And what he's telling us here is God foreknows what he foreordains. He's not talking about God looking down to see what might happen. God declares the end from the beginning. How does he know what's going to happen? Because he declared it. And there's nobody powerful enough to change it. Huh?

In Ephesians 1.5, having told us of our election in Christ and the reasons for it, he then says this, having something already set in motion, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children. He's not just saving a sinner from his sin, but he's going to make that sinner his child. How do I know he's going to do that? Because he predestinated it. It can't not happen. Is that bad English? Par for the course, I guess. Our adoption, our inheritance, our place, if you will, in the house of God is fixed in the mind and purpose of God. In Romans 8, predestination speaks of being conformed to his image.

He's not talking about a bunch of clones of Jesus. Everybody's going to have his face and his body and his size and status. That's not what he's talking about. He's talking about his character. Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God. Everything I know about God, I know in Christ. And we're going to be conformed to that character, that holy character. And this great purpose of God begins here. The gospel of Jesus Christ sets forth the glory of God's character and the salvation of sinners, the glory of His grace, His mercy, His kindness, His love, His long-suffering and goodness, and the glory of His justice and His sovereign authority, righteous wrath, holy vengeance, all of these things revealed to us.

And this is not how natural men think. or feel about their God. Their God is the God of their imagination, the God of logic, the God of this world. It's an image projected by Satan himself and that of a corrupt mind. And oh, how deceitful Satan is in masking the character of God.

You know, I don't know if you remember as I read through that verse a while ago, but he said, there's not, let me just read it. They're not going to be the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride to be heard in you at all anymore. When he destroys, you know false religion talks about the bride and the bridegroom all the time, doesn't it? They don't want to talk about it anymore. He's going to show you what the bride and the bridegroom is and what it's all about.

And through the ministry of the gospel, false religion is exposed for what it is. What God does is shine the light of the glory of God in the hearts of chosen sinners and in their minds and hearts. They're confronted. or conformed, convinced, whatever word you want to use, to the image of God in Christ.

But what if you don't get it? Well, beloved, I might fail in my preaching, and I have many times, but I'm not God. God, the Holy Spirit, can take a message that's really so underrated it's pitiful. And make that the very jewel of your heart. And he has many times. I've went home and wadded my notes up and throw them in the trash can. But God was pleased to use them. And that'll be the message that I get the most response from when it's put up on Sermon Audio. Predestinated. What's that mean? Well, we're predestinated.

He said in verse 11 of Ephesians 1, according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. And who's doing all that? The Lord God omnipotent. How's he doing it? Because he sits on the throne. How does he make it successful? Nobody has the power to resist him. Every chosen sinner is going to hear, every one of them. Do you remember they said, if thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. He said, I told you. The reason you don't believe, you're not of my sheep. My sheep hear my voice.