Now if you would, open your Bibles
with me to the book of 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter 4. Let a man sell account of us,
as of the ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries
of God. Moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found
faithful. But with me, it's a very small thing that I should be
judged of you or of man's judgment. Yea, I judge not my own self.
For I know nothing by myself, yet am I not hereby justified. But he that judges me is the
Lord. Therefore, judge nothing before
the time until the Lord come who both will bring to light
the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the counsels
of the hearts, and then shall every man have praise of God.
And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself
and to Apollos for your sakes, that ye might learn in us not
to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you
be puffed up for one against another. For who maketh thee
to differ from another? And what hast thou that thou
didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it,
why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it? Now ye
are full, now ye are rich. Ye have reigned as kings without
us, and I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign
with you. For I think that God has set
forth us apostles last, as it were appointed to death. For
we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and
to men. We're fools for Christ's sake.
but ye are wise in Christ. We are weak, but ye are strong.
Ye are honorable, but we are despised. Even under this present
hour, we both hunger and thirst and are naked and are buffeted
and have no certain dwelling place. In labor, working with
our own hands, being reviled, we bless. Being persecuted, we
suffer it. Being defamed, we entreat. We
are made as the filth of the world and the offscouring of
all things unto this day. I write not these things to shame
you, but as my beloved sons, I warn you. For though ye have
10,000 instructors in Christ, yet have you not many fathers.
For in Christ Jesus, I have begotten you through the gospel. Wherefore
I beseech you, be ye followers of me. For this cause have I
sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son and faithful
in the Lord, who will bring you into remembrance of my ways,
which be in Christ. as I teach everywhere in every
church. Now some are puffed up, as though I would not come to
you. But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know
not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power.
For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. What will
ye? Shall I come unto you with a
rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness?" All right, let's
bow together in prayer. Oh, how we thank you for your
mercy and your grace to your people. How we thank you for
the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom are all things, that you've given
to your people freely everything that you require and everything
that we need in our Lord Jesus Christ. And Father, we're thankful. We're thankful that this is the
day appointed that we're able to meet together and to worship
thee. And Father, I pray this morning that you would give us
a heart of worship. I pray that you would be with
me. Father, give me of your spirit.
Enable me to rightly divide the word of truth and preach the
gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, not in the wisdom of men, the
strength of man's oratory, but in the power of the spirit. Father,
be with your people as they hear. Give a hearing ear and a believing
heart. Father, we beg of thee that the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ be extolled and magnified, lifted
up high, and that we might see him, that he might be lifted
up on high where he belongs, that we might be put in the dust
where we belong, that we might worship. Father, remind us what
is truly important, that the things of this life really, in
the end, don't matter all that much. But Christ does. Faith in Christ does. Love for
Christ and love for one another does. Father, what we pray for ourselves,
we pray for all of your people who meet together today. Father,
bless. Bless your word everywhere it's
preached. Cause this to be the day that
the glory of Christ our Savior is revealed. And Father, we pray
for our world, our country, at this time that you would Keep
your people safe that you would give us some relief from this
horrible scourge that's passing through the land. Be with the
doctors and scientific people that you give them wisdom and
understanding to provide some relief from this thing so people
could return back to their normal lives. Father, that above all,
your people could once again meet together as one and worship
thee. Father, we pray for the sick
and the afflicted. We pray that you would comfort the hearts
of the brokenhearted. We pray that you'd touch the
bodies and heal those that are sick, that you would be with
them in a special way. All these things we ask, and
we give thanks in that name which is above every name, the name
of Christ our Savior. Amen. The things that I love and hold
dear to my heart are just borrowed, they're not mine at all. Jesus only, let me use them to
brighten my life. So remind me, remind me. Show me where you brought me
from And where I could have been Remember, I'm human and humans
forget So remind me, remind me, dear home Nothing good have I
done who deserved God's own son. I'm not worthy of the scars in
his hand. Yet he chose the road to Calvary
to die Why he loved me, I can't understand. Show me where you brought me
from and where I could have been. Remember I'm human and humans
forget So remind me, remind me The curtain of memory now and
then Oh, show me where you brought me from And where I could have been Remember, I'm human and
humans forget. So remind me, remind me, dear
Lord. So remind me, remind me, That was outstanding. Thank you, Mike.
Alright, open your Bibles with me again. Now if you would, to
1 Corinthians chapter 4. I titled the message this morning,
Who Made the Difference? Now there, no matter how you
want to divide them, there are only two classes of people in
this world. There's sheep, and there's goats.
There's the believer, the unbeliever, those who believe on Christ and
love him, and those who do not. There are the elect of God, and
there are the reprobate, and those are the only two kinds
of people that they are. A sheep will never become a goat,
and a goat will never become a sheep. Well, what made the
difference between the two? What's the divider between the
two? But more accurately, who made the difference? Who made
the difference? Well, our text this morning says
that God did. 1 Corinthians 4, verse 7, who
maketh thee to differ from another? And what hast thou that thou
didst not receive? Now, if thou didst receive it,
why dost thou glory as if thou hast not received it? Now, if
you are a sinner saved by grace, This is something that you know.
The difference between you and an unbeliever, it's not your
works, it's not your morality, it's not your decision. None
of those things made the difference. God made the difference. God
made 100% of the difference by his grace. And that is true in
every imaginable way. Do you have some blessing or
some advantage somebody else doesn't have? Well, who made
the difference between you and them? God did. Everything that you have, God
gave you. I mean, you think about what,
can you think of anything that you have God didn't give you?
Not one blessed thing. That's true physically. And that's
true spiritually. And you might say, and I think
this is true for everybody in this room, you could say, now
I work hard. I work hard. I do a good job. I save my money so I'm able to
buy the things that I have. Well, that's good. That's good.
But now, did you do that really? Who gave you the job that you
have? Who gave you the ability to do that job? Who gave you
the health to be able to go to work? I mean, why aren't you
on disability? Because your health will not
permit you to work. Who gave you the health to go
to work? Who gave you the work ethic to go to work? See, God
gave you all those things. And that same thing is true spiritually.
The only reason any of us has any spiritual blessing whatsoever
is God has given it to us freely. We didn't earn it. We didn't
deserve it. God didn't give it to us because
we are more deserving and somebody else is less deserving. If we
have any spiritual blessing at all, God gave it to us freely. And freely, that word freely,
it does mean without a cost. We didn't have to pay for it,
but it also means without a cause being found in us. God gave these
things to us for no reason whatsoever found in ourselves. And there's
a warning here against pride that God hates. This is a warning
against the pride of the gifts of the flesh. You know, we should
not be proud of our intelligence. Whatever intelligence we have,
God gave it to us and God could take it away from us in a moment. We should not be proud of any
beauty that we think that we have. Whatever it is we have
like that, God gave it to us and God could take it away in
a moment too. We shouldn't be proud of our family. We all love
our family. We're thankful for them, but
they better not be proud of them. Just remember that God gave them
to us and God could take them away in a moment. But worst of
all, even worse than being proud of physical things, worst of
all is pride of grace, pride of grace. How can we ever be
proud of the undeserved grace that God's given us? How can
we ever be proud of that? How can we ever look down our
nose at people that do not know the Lord when the only reason
we do is God's grace? How could you ever be proud of
that? The Apostle Paul told us so clearly that if we are saved
by grace, boasting ought to be excluded, shouldn't it? It ought
to be completely excluded. So I want to give you seven ways
this morning that God made the difference between the sheep
and the goats, between the lost and the saved, the living and
the dead, and we've got to start where salvation starts. Number
one, God made the difference by the divine election of his
people. Now, one of the most plainly taught doctrines in the
word of God is election. You know, most people that refuse
to believe election do not say the Bible doesn't teach They
just don't believe it. Almost nobody can deny that the
Bible plainly teaches this doctrine of election. God chose to save
a people, and he chose to pass everybody else by. God chose
a people to save, and he reached way down to the bottom of the
barrel, and he chose them out of the fallen lump of Adam's
race. And God chose those people just
because he would, just because he would. He didn't choose them
because they were better than those that God did not choose.
Because that's not so. They're just as sinful. They're
just as vile. They're just as wretched. They're
just as far away from God as everybody else. God chose those
people just because he would. Look back at the book of Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy chapter seven. God chose a people not because
there was any good found in them, but because God is good. That's
why he chose a people to save. Deuteronomy chapter seven. Verse six. For thou art an holy people under
the Lord thy God. The Lord thy God hath chosen
thee to be a special people. This is a special people, God's
chosen you. Not because you're a special
people, he's chosen you to be a special people unto himself
above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The Lord
did not set his love upon you nor choose you because you were
more in number than any other people for you are the fewest
of all people, but because the Lord loved you. Here's why God
chose you because the Lord loved you and because he would keep
the oath, which he has sworn unto your fathers, had the Lord
brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of
the house of the bondman from the hand of Pharaoh, king of
Egypt. Now the nation Israel was chosen
by God to be a picture, to be a picture of spiritual Israel. The nation Israel is a picture
of those people God chose to save spiritually. Now God did
not choose that nation Israel because they were any good. He
didn't choose them because they were a great and mighty nation.
They were just the opposite, weren't they? They were the least
of all nations. They were the weakest of all
nations. God chose them just because God would. And they're
given to us as a picture of spiritual Israel. Well, the same thing
is true of spiritual Israel, those that God elected unto salvation. He elected them not because they
were the best, they were the worst. Not because they were
the greatest, but because they were the least. And those people
that God elected to save, oh, they shall be saved. Look here
at verse nine. Know therefore that the Lord
thy God, he is God, the faithful God. which keep with covenant
and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments
to a thousand generations. God chose these people and he's
faithful to do it. That's the difference. That's
the difference between Israel and the Philistines. Same difference
between the believer and the unbeliever. The only reason for
God choosing a people are reasons found in God. Not in the believer,
not in the elect, but reasons found in God. And I'll tell you,
I am glad it's that way. I'm glad it's that way. Because
I can't see any reason in me that God would choose me. I don't
see any reason whatsoever. If there has to be even just
a little bit of good in me for God to choose me, this is what
I know, God would never choose me. And I'd have no hope of salvation. But I can have a good hope of
salvation through God's electing love that did not depend upon
me, but it all depended upon God. That's how he made the difference
in divine election. God choosing to save a people
is the only way there could be a difference between those who
believe and those who do not. All right, second, God made the
difference by his love for his people. God's love and God's
election go hand in hand. God elected a people into salvation
because he loved those people. He just says there in Deuteronomy
7, that the Lord set his love upon you. In Deuteronomy 4, verse
37, he says, because he loved thy fathers, therefore, because
he loved them, he chose their seed after them. God's election
of a people is very closely, just intricately tied to his
love for his people. So when we talk about God's election
of a people, it should always be as a loving thing. It's not
a mean, hard thing. It's a loving thing. God's election
of a people is a demonstration of his love. It's a demonstration
of his love, his electing love. And God set his love upon these
people. And that's an amazing statement, that God would set
his love upon sinful men and women like we are. See, God didn't
love those people because they were beautiful. No, they were
ugly. They were defiled by sin, just
like the rest of Adam's race. God did not love a people because
if he married them, they could add to him. You know how those
old people of royalty, they like to marry somebody else in royalty
and the two families could add to each other. That's not why
God chose a people. No, they're going to cost him.
They're going to cost him the death of his son. Now God's going
to get glory in saving those people. He's going to get glory
in saving them because they can't add anything to him. The glory
is going to be his. And God's love for his people, there's
many pictures of it, but this is the one I thought of. It's
pictured in the Lord telling his prophet, Hosea, go take Gomer
to be your wife. Now, Gomer was a vile woman.
She was a heathen idolater and she was a prostitute. And in
Hosea 1 verse 2, the Lord said to Hosea, go take unto thee a
wife of whoredoms and the children of whoredoms, for the land hath
committed great whoredom, and departing from the Lord. Hosea,
you go choose your wife from that bunch because you're going
to choose the worst. You're going to choose the worst to be your
bride. And then the Lord told Hosea, you take that woman and
you love that adulterous woman according to the love of the
Lord toward the children of Israel. Hosea, you love that adulterous
woman just like Christ loved for his people. You love her
even though she doesn't deserve it. You love her even though
she's an adulterous, unfaithful woman You love her anyway. And you know the story, don't
you? How Hosea eventually took that worthless woman home to
be with him forever. And she came willingly because
he loved her. Look at the book of Romans, chapter 5. That's
exactly how God loved his people. He loved them even though they
were unlovable. God loved those people. Romans,
chapter 5, verse 6. For when we were yet without
strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely
for a righteous man will one die, yet for a good man some
would even dare to die. But God committeth his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. See, God loves sinners, and the
love of God means something. It means something. The love
of God means that those people that God loves shall be saved. He's going to show his love for
them. He's going to sacrifice his son for them. That's how
they're going to be saved. The Lord said through the prophet
Jeremiah chapter 31 verse 3, I have loved thee with an everlasting
love, a love that doesn't have a beginning and doesn't have
an ending. Therefore, with loving kindness have I drawn thee. Now
the only difference between those who come to Christ and those
who do not come to Christ is God's love. It's the only difference.
God draws those people so they come to Christ in love and the
rest he leaves alone. The rest, he just lets them go
the way that they want to go. It's the only difference. It's
God's love. Thirdly, God made the difference
by his foreknowledge of his people. Look over a few pages of Romans
chapter eight. Romans 8 verse 28, And we know that all things work
together for good, to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose. 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, them he also called. And whom He called,
then He also justified. And whom He justified, then He
also glorified. Now this word foreknow, it means
more than to know something's going to happen before it happens.
The word actually means to foreordain. Do you know why God knows what
will happen before it happens? Because He foreordained it to
happen. And He foreordained it to happen. He purposed it to
happen before He created anything. See, God knew more than the names
of the people that would be saved. God knew the end of those people
that he chose to save because he elected them under salvation
and he foreordained their end. He foreordained that they be
saved by the Lord Jesus Christ. And in the end, when God's purpose
is fulfilled, they'll all be glorified together with Christ.
God knew that was going to be their end because he foreordained
it. He fore purposed it before time
began. And all of our experience of
salvation begins with God's foreknowledge, doesn't it? That's where it begins.
God foreknew, he foreordained who would be saved. And if you
look at the book of first Peter, we'll see this. God also knew,
he foreknew, foreordained the savior who would save them. First
Peter chapter one, verse 18. For as much as you know, that
you're not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold, from
your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers,
but you're redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. As
of a lamb without blemish and without spot, who verily was
foreordained, and that word foreordained is the exact same word translated
foreknew, foreknow back in Romans chapter eight, who verily was
foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest
in these last times for you who by him do believe in God. See, God foreordained the people
he would save and he foreordained the Savior who would save them.
So all of salvation began with God's foreknowledge. Now, that's
the only way that we who believe could be made different from
those who do not believe, because God foreordained a different
end for his people. It's the only way, the only difference.
Number four, God made the difference by his purchase of his people.
God the Father elected a people and God the Son came and purchased
them. He came and paid the debt, he
redeemed them, he purchased them to be his. When Christ died,
Christ died for God's elect and he only died for God's elect. He did not die as a failure.
Christ died as the successful, victorious Savior who saved everyone
for whom He died. Everyone that the Father chose
and everyone for whom Christ died, that exact same group of
people. They all shall be saved. They shall be. Look at John chapter
10. The Lord Jesus Christ did not die for everyone. And when
we say that, we're not saying this is not a mean thing, like,
well, Christ didn't die for you. No. We say Christ did not die
for everyone to show he is the successful Savior. Everyone for
whom he died is saved. So Christ died for his sheep. And he plainly tells us that.
John chapter 10, verse 11. I am the good shepherd, and the
good shepherd giveth his life for who? The sheep. The sheep. He died for a specific people.
Look at verse 14. I am the good shepherd, and know
my sheep, and have known of mine. As a father knoweth me, even
so I know I the father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. Christ died for a specific people,
his sheep, God's elect. And every one of those sheep
for whom Christ died, they shall be saved, because Christ is the
successful Savior. Look at verse 16. And other sheep
I have which are not of this fold, them also I must bring. and they shall hear my voice,
and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. There shall be,
they're all together in one because everyone, every sheep for whom
Christ died shall be saved. Well, then here's a good question.
How does somebody become a sheep? How does somebody become a sheep?
It's because God chose them to be his people. Look at verse
26. But you believe not, because you're not of my sheep. As I
said unto you, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and
they follow me, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall
never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. Now the Lord here did not tell
the Pharisees, he did not tell them, you're not my sheep because
you don't believe on me. You know, if he said you're not
my sheep because you don't believe on me, well that would mean if
they decided to believe on him, they could make themselves sheep,
wouldn't it? He said the evidence, you're not my sheep, is you don't
believe on me. My sheep believe on me. I've said this so many times,
the only evidence that we have of election, the only evidence
I have that God elected me, is faith in Christ. Because he gives
his sheep faith in Christ, the sheep believe Christ. And the sheep hear the voice
of the Savior, and they follow him. You know why? because God
made the difference between the sheep and the goats. He gave
the sheep faith. He did not give the goats faith.
He gave the sheep eternal life and he did not give the goats
eternal life. That's the only way we who believe could be made
different than those who do not believe. The only difference
is Christ purchased us with his precious blood. All right, fifthly,
God made the difference between the saved and the lost, between
the living and the dead, by his effectual call of his people. We've already heard about that
from the prophet Jeremiah. I've loved thee with an everlasting
love, therefore with loving kindness have I drawn you, drawn you. Now that's the call of God the
Holy Spirit. And God the Holy Spirit calls
everyone the Father chose, and everyone for whom Christ died,
he called them to come to Christ. And when he calls, They come. John 10 verse 1. Verily, verily,
I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold,
but climbeth up some other way, the same as a thief and a robber,
but he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
To him the porter openeth, and the sheep hear his voice, and
he calleth his own sheep by name and leadeth them out. And when
he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them. and the
sheep follow him, for they know his voice, and a stranger will
they not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the
voice of strangers." Now this call to the sheep is a particular,
it's a distinguishing, a gracious, powerful, irresistible call of
the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit calls, we come running, the sheep come
running to Christ. And they follow Christ and they
follow Christ alone. But now listen, they don't come
against their will. It's not like you're like a,
you know, being drawn like a magnet. You don't want to come. You can't
help it. This irresistible call of the spirit. You know why it's
irresistible? Because when the Holy Spirit
calls the sheep, he reveals the Lord Jesus Christ. And the bride
is head over heels in love with him. And you can't stop her from
getting to him. That's why it's the irresistible
call. because the Spirit reveals Christ. And when God's sheep
see Him and they hear His voice, they're not going to follow another.
They're not going to believe. They're not going to trust another.
They're only going to believe. They're only going to follow
Christ because now they love Him. They love Him because the
Spirit has revealed Christ to their hearts. So the only way
that we who believe are different, made different from those who
do not believe, is God's call. God did not leave us to ourselves.
He did not leave us to go the way of our flesh, but he called
us to Christ. He made us come to Christ. He
made us willing to come to Christ, and he left the rest alone. It's
the only difference. All right, six, God makes the
difference between the saved and the lost by keeping his people. Our text says, who maketh thee
to differ? Maketh. That's always in the
present tense, maketh thee to differ. See, God is always keeping
his people. God is always making his people
to differ from the unbeliever. And if you believe in Christ,
you already see that for yourself. What is the difference between
you who are faithful, you who will not leave Christ, you will
not leave the gospel? What's the difference between
you and those who have fallen away from the gospel? Those who
have fallen away from Christ, who claimed at one time to believe
Him, but now they say they don't. What's the difference between
you and them? One thing, God's keeping power. God is making
you to differ. The Apostle Peter said, 1 Peter
1 verse 5, who are kept, you're being kept, you are kept, always
in the present tense, you are kept by the power of God through
faith, unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
God the Holy Spirit is always keeping us in the present tense.
And if he didn't, we'd fall away in a heartbeat. It's the only
difference. It's the only way we who believe
could be different from those who do not believe is God keeps
us believing. He continues to make the difference.
He set our feet on Christ a solid rock. That made a difference,
didn't it? And he keeps our feet on Christ a solid rock. That's
how he makes the difference. All right, seventh, here's the
last thing. God made the difference between the saved and the lost,
the living and the dead, the elect and the reprobate. God
made the difference by the gifts that he has freely given to his
people. And I tried to look up, using some different words, I
tried to look up as many of the gifts that God has given to his
people as I could find. And I'm sure I didn't find them
all, but of the ones that I could find They're way too many for
us to list this morning. They're way too many for us to
even look up the scripture references to them. So I'm going to give
them to you and you can write them down, go back and look,
look at them later. But I want to give you just a
sampling of the gifts. The scripture says God's given
his people and it'll make this point. The difference between
the saved and the lost is the free gift of God and his people.
And the difference between having these gifts and not having these
gifts is God's choice to give them to you. God gives these
gifts to his people and he withholds these people, these gifts from
those people who do not believe. So here's the first one. First
Samuel 1, verse 27. First Samuel 1, 27. In Hannah's
prayer, she said, the Lord hath given me my petition, which I
ask of him. Now the Lord gives his people
what they ask for in prayer. He said, ask in my name, I'll
give it to you. They ask for forgiveness. They ask for mercy.
They ask for salvation. and God gives it. Now, I need
to make this clear. If you have those things, it's
not because you asked. It's because God gave it. Is that right? If
you have those, it's not because you asked. It's because God freely
gave it. But if God freely gives, I believe
we'd be wise to ask. Don't you reckon? Ask God to
save me. Ask God to give me mercy. Ask
God to give me life. The Lord has given me my petition.
All right, next, Psalm 16, verse 7. I will bless the Lord who
has given me counsel. I will bless the Lord who has
taught me." Now, you who believe, you're taught of God. And I know
we're taught of God, and you just, you hate to say that. You're taught of God, but I feel
so ignorant most of the time. I know I'm taught of God. I see
through a glass darkly. but still yet the Lord's taught
me. He still has taught me. The only
reason we know what we know and the only reason we know who we
know is the Lord's taught us. That's exactly right. The Lord
told his disciples, Matthew 13 verse 11, it's given to you to
know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. That's why you, because
I've taught you, I've given that to you, but to them, it's not
given. It's the only, that's the difference
between who you know and who they don't know. God taught you.
All right, next, 1 Corinthians 1, verse 4. God freely gives
His people saving grace. Paul said, I thank my God always
on your behalf for the grace of God which is given you. It's
a free gift to you by Jesus Christ. God gives His people freely saving
grace. And sinners rejoice in that because
that's the only way a sinner can be saved. by grace, and God
freely gives it. We're not near as amazed at that
as we ought to be. I mean, I studied this all week and put that in
my notes, and I just thought, I am not nearly as amazed at
that as I ought to be. Grace for sinners, freely given.
Then 2 Corinthians 12, verse 7, The Lord gives his people
trials. That's a gift. He gives his people
trials. He does it to humble us and keep us depending upon
him. And I said this exactly right. This is a free gift of
God, trials. Apostle Paul received from the
Lord a thorn in the flesh. Lest, he said, he should be exalted
above measure. And God gave him that so Paul
could learn God's grace is sufficient. Now, if God teaches us that,
it's a gift. He teaches that through trials. Next, Ephesians
2 verse 8. The Lord gives all of his people
faith in Christ. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it is what? The gift, the gift
of God. Now, what is the difference between
you who believe Christ and those who do not believe Christ? What's
the difference? Well, I tell you this, it was
not your choice to believe. You know what? You don't have
a choice to believe God if God gives you faith in Christ. It's
not a choice. He gives you a nature that does
believe. You don't have a choice to believe
God if God gives you faith in Christ. So the difference is
the free gift that God gives, the gift of faith he gives to
his people. It's the only difference. Second Thessalonians 2 verse
16. God has given his people an everlasting consolation and
a good hope through grace. And that word hope is an expectation. It's not presumption to assume
when this body of flesh dies that God's going to take me to
glory. It's not presumption to say despite all of my sin, just
everything that I do is sin, I'm just so rotten. It's not
presumption to say God's forgiven my sin. That's not presumption,
because God's given that to you by his grace. He's given you
the forgiveness of sin by his grace. He's washed you in the
blood of his son by his grace. Your hope of eternal life is
his grace. Then that's not presumption,
that's just expecting God to do what he said he'd do, by his
grace. Then last, 1 John 5, verse 11. God gives his people the
gift of eternal life. This is the record. This is our
message that we preach. This is the record that God has
given to us, given to us eternal life. And this life is in His
Son. He that hath the Son hath life. And he that hath not the Son,
he who has not been given this unspeakable gift of God's Son
hath not life. The gift of life, God giving
that gift freely is the only difference between the dead and
the living. The only difference. And that list goes on and on
and on. I mean, you just wouldn't believe the list I came up with
this week. But you get the point and you see what the scripture
is saying. The only difference between those who believe and
those who do not believe is the free gift of God's grace. The
only difference between the elect and the reprobate is the difference
that God made between them. So let's not boast. Let's not
boast. Let's not boast in who we are
and what we know and what we have, but let's boast. Let's
not boast in those things, but let's do boast in this. Let's
boast in Christ our Savior. Let's boast in our God, who has
freely given us all things for reasons known only to Him. He
has freely given wretched, vile sinners like you and me all things. Everything he requires and everything
we need, God has freely given to us. That'd be a good thing
to boast in, wouldn't it? Good thing. All right, let's
bow together in prayer. Our Father, oh, how we thank
you for your distinguishing, sovereign, electing, life-giving
grace. Father, how we thank you. Oh,
how we thank you that you did not leave your people alone,
that you did not leave us to our own desires, our own way,
our own will, that you did not leave us to receive what we have
earned from thy hand. The wages of sin is death, but
that you chose a people, that you redeemed them by the precious
blood of your son, and you've given your people everything
that Christ purchased for them. Father, how we thank you. Father,
deliver us from ever boasting in the flesh, but give us a heart
that boasts in and rejoices in Christ our Savior. Let us go
home and spend our afternoon thinking upon and feeding upon
and rejoicing in Christ our Savior. For it is in his precious name,
for his glory, that we pray and give thanks. Amen. All right,
you all are dismissed.