All right, let's open our Bibles
to 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1. Many of you may know, and I was
the last one to find out. I don't know, but Jackie Simpson
had a hysterectomy today. She's in the hospital this evening,
obviously dealing with pain, and so we want to remember her
in prayer this evening. All right, 1 Peter 1. We'll read
the first nine verses. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience
and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace unto you
and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy
hath begotten us again into a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled,
and it fadeth not away, preserved in heaven for you, who are kept
by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed
in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though
now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold
temptations, that the trial of your faith being much more precious
than that of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire,
might be found under praise and honor and glory at the appearing
of Jesus Christ, whom, having not seen, ye love. In whom, though
now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable
and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, even the
salvation of your souls." And we'll end our reading there. Everybody find the old school
hymnal. All the songs will be from this
book, song book tonight. Turn to 152, 152, God's Love. God's love has meant so much
to me. I want to praise His holy name. His grace and truth have set
me free. This blessed truth I would proclaim. He is my hope, my strength, and
guide. His Spirit does my soul inspire. For me He bled and groaned and
died. Christ is the Savior I desire. Savior is our living bread, our
wisdom and our righteousness. We eat his flesh, we drink his
blood. He is the source of all our bliss. my soul on things above, and
warms me with His sacred fire. I want to feel His grace and
love. Christ is the portion I desire. He is my Son to give me life
In Him my spirit shall be blessed His grace will bring supreme
delight And give to me eternal rest Without His mercies I would
fall So for His way I should inquire, I find in Him my all
in all. Christ is the treasure I desire. Let's turn over to 325. 325. My Lord, I did not choose you,
for that could never be. My heart would still refuse you,
had you not chosen me. You took the sin that stained
me. You cleansed me, made me new. Of old you have ordained me That
I should live in you. Unless your grace had called
me And taught my opening mind The world would have enthralled
me to heavenly glories blind. My heart knows none above you,
for your rich grace I thirst. I know that if I love you, you
must have loved me first. Your love has been forever from
all eternity. His growing power never shall
be withdrawn from me. I feel that I am kept by the
strength of love divine. And when I wake in heaven, all
glory shall be thine. Let's turn for our scripture
reading to Romans chapter 11. Romans the 11th chapter. I say then, hath God cast away
his people? God forbid. For I also am an
Israelite of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God
hath not cast away his people, which he foreknew, watching not
what the scripture saith of Elias, how he maketh intercession to
God against Israel, saying, Lord, they've killed thy prophets and
dig down thine altars, and I am left alone, and they seek my
life. But what saith the answer of
God unto him? I have reserved myself 7,000 men who have not
bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Even so then, at this present
time also, there is a remnant according to the election of
grace. And if by grace, then is it no more of works, otherwise
grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is
it no more grace, otherwise work is no more work. What then? Israel hath not obtained that
which he seeketh for, but the election hath obtained it, and
the rest were blinded, according as it is written. God hath given
them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see and
ears that they should not hear unto this day. We'll end our
reading there. Let's bow together in prayer. Our Father, oh, how thankful
we are that out of your goodness to your people, you've given
us another opportunity to meet together and to worship your
matchless name. to sing your praises, to have
your word open to us, to have your gospel preached. Father,
how thankful we are. And Father, I beg of thee that
you would make this hour a true hour of worship, that you enable
us to set aside the cares and the thoughts of this life, whether
they be pleasant or unpleasant. And for this hour, let us worship. in spirit and in truth. Let us
hear of Christ our Savior. Cause our hearts to be thrilled
in his mercy, in his grace, in his sufficiency. What a Savior
we have. Father, enable our brother Clay
to preach Christ boldly and clearly and simply and give us believing
hearts to believe the things of Christ that you'd have us
hear this evening. Father, how we thank you for
a place that we can come and worship together in peace and
unity without fear of reprisal. We thank you for a place that
you've raised up and preserved and protected. Father, I pray
that you cause us to be faithful to this ministry that you've
given us to preach the gospel to our generation, to our town.
And Father, bless the word as it's preached here. Continue
to bless it, to cause it to go forth in power Preserve and protect
this place as a place where sinners can come and hear of the Savior,
where your sheep can come and be fed in the green pastures
of your Word and be encouraged and comforted and strengthened.
Father, we thank you for bringing Brother Clay our way. We thank
you for the traveling mercies that you've given him. And as
we said before, Father, we pray your richest blessing be upon
him as he preaches tonight that as he travels to Danville and
Lexington and back home, Father, bless him in a special way. Bless
that work there in New Jersey and your people there. For your
great namesake, Father, we pray. Father, for those who are hurting
and sick and in great times of trouble and trial, we pray for
them. We pray for Jackie as she's going through this difficult
time tonight. Father, others that need you
especially, we pray you do touch their bodies, that you comfort
their hearts. We pray for Carter at this time.
For all these years he's stood for the gospel, and in this difficult
time, Father, be with him, strengthen him, and watch over him, we pray. For all your people, Father,
provide a way out. When it could be thy will, we
pray. And all these things we ask, and that great name which
is above every name, the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's
for his glory we pray and give thanks. Amen. Accepted at my prison, ascended
and seated on high. Saved from all sin through His
infinite grace With the redeemed ones accorded a place In the
Beloved, God's marvelous grace calls me to dwell in this wonderful
place. God sees my Savior, and then
He sees me in the Beloved, accepted and free. In the Beloved, how safe my retreat,
In the Beloved, accounted complete. Who can condemn me? In Him I am free Savior and Keeper
Forever is He Sing it with me In the Beloved God's marvelous
grace calls me to dwell in this wonderful place. God sees my Savior, and then
He sees me. Accepted and free In the Beloved
I went to the tree There in His person By faith I may see infinite grace, for He died in
my stead. In the Beloved, God's marvelous
grace, calls me to dwell in this wonderful place. God sees my Savior and then He
sees me in the Beloved. accepted and free. Well, I'm just very delighted
to have Pastor Clay Curtis here with us this evening. Clay's
pastor of the Sovereign Grace Baptist Church in Ewing, New
Jersey. And he's been here many times
before. This is a good year. We've had him here twice this
year. So it's been a good year. I'm very thankful he's here,
not to mention Melinda and Emma and Will. We're glad you're all
here, too. So, Clay, you come and preach for us the message
God's given you. All right, brethren, let's go
back there to Romans chapter 11. It is good to be with you
again. It's always a delight to be here. Glad to be back with you. I'm
not going to read the passage again. That passage Brother Frank
read is my text. But I will start here at verse
1. Paul said, I say then, hath God
cast away His people? And he answers with an emphatic,
God God forbid. The religious world often will
label us and tell us what we are according to them. They'll
give you a label, tell you what you're preaching. And recently
I had somebody I preached through Romans 11 Somebody heard some
of the messages and they told me I was preaching replacement
theology. And what they meant by that is
that I was preaching that God's church, God's spiritual Israel
replaced physical, political Israel. Well, that's not what
we preach at all. It's not what we preach at all.
We don't preach that God's church replaced the nation Israel. Fact is, the scripture declares
that before the world was made, before God ever made that nation
Israel, God chose his people from among Jew and Gentile in
Christ. And that's God's church. That's
God's spiritual Israel. God's Israel, His holy nation
as the scriptures call it, existed before this world was ever made.
Before God ever formed the first grain of sand, He had already
made His Israel. He made His church, His people. In Christ Jesus, our King. I think of how when Moses was
called up into the mountain and God told Moses when he was building
the tabernacle, he said, now you build everything after the
pattern that was shown you in the mount. And when God formed
that political nation Israel, and He put David on that throne
in that majestic reign that King David had in the best time Israel
ever had with David on the throne. God made that after the pattern. of God's spiritual Israel with
King Jesus on the throne. So before that nation was ever
made, God's Israel existed. When that political nation was
destroyed in 70 A.D., God's Israel still existed. And when this
whole world has been burned up and everything therein, God's
Israel will still exist because God has saved us with an eternal
redemption in Christ our Lord. Now, besides what people may
label us and what they may say about us, if there's any believer
who ever has any doubts or any troubles wherein you think God
might cast you away, I want you to be comforted. I want you to
know and be assured God never, never casts away His people.
He never casts away His people. He never casts away His people
who He foreordained to eternal life in Jesus Christ our righteousness. That's what I want you to get
from the message tonight. Now, first of all, God never
casts away His people. But now, let's answer this question.
Who are His people? Who are His people? Paul says
in verse 1, I say then, hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an
Israelite of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God
hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. There's the qualifier. That's
the qualifier right there. There's how we know who God's
people are. His people who He foreknew. His people who He foreordained
to eternal life. They are His people who He predestinated
to be conformed to the image of His Son. Look back at Romans
8, a very familiar verse. Romans 8, a very familiar passage. This is God's purpose right here.
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. That tells you that this word
foreknow does not mean God looked down through time and He knew
that some would believe and so He chose them. Because it says
those He foreknew, He predestinated them to believe. He predestinated
them to be conformed to Christ. He wouldn't have done that if
he foresaw they were going to believe. But those he foreknew,
he foreordained them and he predestinated them to be conformed to the image
of his Son that Christ might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called. Whom he called, them he also
justified. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified. In our text, Paul said, has God
cast away his people? He said, God forbid. He said,
I'm an Israelite. I'm an Israelite. Well, there
was a lot of Israelites, according to the flesh. There was a lot
of Israelites after the flesh. But those are not counted by
God as true Israelites. Those are not counted by God
as true Israelites. Only those God foreknew, only
those God foreloved, those he foreordained to eternal life
are counted by God as Israelites. Go back to Romans 9. Paul began
this passage saying, I say then, and that tells us something came
before this, and he really started this back in Romans 9. And he
had said that the majority in Israel did not believe. But Paul
said in verse 6, not as though the word of God hath taken none
effect. God's word never returns to him
void. Why then didn't they believe?
Why didn't God make his word effectual and make everybody
in Israel believe? For they are not all Israel which
are of Israel. They were not all God's Israel
which were Israelites after the flesh. So when Paul says I'm
an Israelite, What makes him different from all those Israelites
after the flesh? God foreknew Paul. God foreordained
Paul. God chose Paul. That's what made
him different. That's who God calls Israelites.
There was the God's Israel in the midst of Israel after the
flesh. And then look here, Paul said,
I'm of the seed of Abraham. I'm of the tribe of Benjamin.
There was a lot of children of Abraham. There was a lot of children
of the tribe of Benjamin. But look at verse Romans 9 verse
7. Neither because they are the
seed of Abraham are they all children. But in Isaac shall
thou seed be called. That is, they which are the children
of the flesh. These are not the children of
God, but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. You go back to the day when Abraham
had Isaac and Ishmael. Both were sons of Abraham. But
Ishmael was a son of the flesh. He was a born of Abraham's works. Isaac was a son of promise. He
was the son God chose. He was a son God promised would
be born of a miraculous birth. That's so of all God's elect
people in Christ. And that's who's counted as Abraham's
children are those that God promised from the foundation of the world,
those that he ordained to be born by his miraculous grace. Those are the children of Abraham
that God counts as children. That's why Paul said, I'm an
Israelite. He was an Israelite indeed, foreknown of God. That's
why he said, I'm a seed of Abraham. He was a true son of Abraham,
a spiritual son of Abraham, a son of promise. There's also a lot of Gentiles
who were sons of Abraham. Aren't you thankful for that?
That counts me and you. who know Him and believe Him.
How can we be sons of Abraham? Because Scripture says, there's
neither Jew nor Greek, there's neither bond nor free, there's
neither male nor female, for you're all one in Christ Jesus. And if you be Christ, if you
be Christ, then are you Abraham, see? And heirs according to the
promise, according to God's promise. That's who God counts. It doesn't
matter if they're Jew or Gentile. It's who God foreordained. It's
who God foreknew. It's who God chose in Christ.
And if you be Christ, then are you Abraham's children. So God's
Israel, brethren, are made up of Jew and Gentile who God chose. And he did this. He created his
Israel before the world was made. Long before the world was made,
go back there to Romans 9 and look down at verse 22. He says,
What if God, willing to show his wrath and to make his power
known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to
destruction? Who is that? That includes the
majority of the natural sons of Abraham and the majority of
the Gentiles fitted to destruction, fit for destruction. But watch
this. and that He might make known the riches of His glory
on the vessels of mercy which He had aforeprepared unto glory."
God prepared Israel and formed His spiritual Israel long before. How long before? In eternity.
Before He ever made anything, this nation was formed. So, no,
we're not teaching that that God replaced this nation, Israel,
with the church or with the spiritual Israel. Spiritual Israel was
prepared before. God's elect, Jew and Gentile.
Read on there in Romans 9. I just want to read this. Who
are they? Even us whom he hath called,
not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles. You see how
clear Paul is with this? That's who God's Israel is. And
then he gives us some scripture. to back it up. He says in Hosea,
I'll call them my people, which were not my people. He's talking
about the Gentiles. They were always God's people.
They were always beloved of God, but it didn't appear so to us.
It didn't appear so to the children of Israel. They always were. He said, but I'm going to call
them my people. I'm going to call her beloved,
which was not beloved. And it'll come to pass in the
place where it was said unto them, you're not my people. There
shall they be called the children of the living God. And he said,
Isaiah cried concerning Israel. Now he's going to speak of his
elect in Israel. He says, though the number of
the children of Israel, those natural children of Israel, though
the number be as the sand of the sea, there was millions of
them. He said, a remnant, God's elect
remnant shall be saved. Just a remnant that God chose. Israel. For he'll finish the
work, he'll cut it short in righteousness, because a short work will the
Lord make upon the earth. Now listen to Isaiah, verse 29. Except the Lord of Sabaoth had
left us a seed. Except he had an elect people
right here in the midst of this vast number of Israelites, except
God had an elect remnant, an elect seed right here in the
midst of us, we would have been as Sodom and we would have been
like in the Gomorrah. God would have destroyed us a
long time ago. Remember what God told Abraham? Lot was in
Sodom and Abraham kept asking him, Lord, if they're just 50,
let me ask you, what if they're just 40? And he kept going down. What if it's just 10? God said,
if there's just ten righteous men in Sodom, I'll spare it for
their sake. And Isaiah said, if except God
had left us an elect remnant right here in the midst of Israel,
we would have long time ago been destroyed just like Sodom and
Gomorrah. Just like Sodom and Gomorrah. It's not everybody
in Israel, without exception, just that elect seed. Just that elect remnant that
God chose. Now let's go back here to our
text and let's see some examples that Paul gives us. He gives
us an example from the past to show us that God doesn't, he
never casts away his people whom he foreknew. Verse 2. Want you
not what the scripture says of Elias? How he maketh intercession
to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they've killed thy prophets.
They've digged down thine altars. I'm left alone and they seek
my life. But what saith the answer of
God unto him? I have reserved to myself. I have chosen for myself. I have
reserved for myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to
the image of Baal. Those 7,000 that God reserved,
those 7,000 God chose, that was God's Israel in the midst of
natural Israel. That was God's true sons of Abraham
in the midst of all the natural sons of Abraham. And it was because
God had chosen them and reserved them. And that's the one thing
that made the difference between them and those other ones who
were killing the prophets and digging down the altars. There
wasn't a bit of difference between those he reserved and those who
were killing the prophets and digging down the altars. In themselves,
there was no difference between them. There was no difference
between me and you and any other sinner in this world. We all
fell in Adam. We all became ruined in Adam.
And if God had left us there, we just sung it. We'd have never
chosen God if he hadn't chosen us. The difference is God chose
his people. He reserved his people. That's who we're talking about.
Then Paul brings it to his present day. He says there in verse five.
Even so, then at this present time also, there's a remnant
according to the election of grace. Paul said right now, right
there in his day, he said right now, even so, just like it was
in Elias' day, there's a remnant. There's a remnant. And it's according
to the election of grace. God's chosen this remnant by
His free and sovereign grace. And that's who God's people are.
They're His remnant. They're His reserve. They're
His foreknown, His foreordained, His elect. And brethren, there's
a remnant in our day. We could say what Isaiah said
right here today. If it wasn't, if God hadn't left
us a seed, this world right now would have long time ago been
destroyed just like Sodom and Gomorrah. When Adam sinned in
the garden, if God didn't have an elect seed, he'd have destroyed
it right then. Whenever, whenever Israel had
turned into Solomon Gomorrah. If God didn't have an elect people,
he would have destroyed it a long time ago. And just like that
right now in this world, just look at this world. The past
10 years, the world has just gone crazy. Faster, further than
I've ever seen in such a short time. Why is God preserving it? Why is he? Why is he long suffering
right now because he has a people. He has an elect people. He has
a reserved people according to the election of grace. And therefore,
he's preserving it for their sakes, for their sake. Now, God's
people, that's what I want you to eat. God's people, God's Israel
are those God foreknew, those he elected by his grace. From
among Jew and Gentile, and God never cast away his people. that He foreknew. He never casts
away His people He chose. He never does. Ever. Now, why
not? Why does God not cast away His
people whom He foreknew? Here's the second thing. God
never casts away His people because He chose us and He saves us by
grace. That's why. Look here in verse
5. Romans 11 verse 5. He says, even so, at this present
time, there's a remnant according to the election of grace. And
if by grace, then is it no more of works. Otherwise, grace is
no more grace. But if it be of works, then is
it no more grace. Otherwise, work is no more work. I want you to think about this.
I want you to see what that says. And I want you to think about
that. It's impossible. To be chosen by God. by grace
and by words. It's impossible if it be by grace,
it's impossible to be chosen by God, by grace and partly by
words. That's an impossibility. Either
God, the father chose his people by grace without any cause in
his people whatsoever. Or. He chose us because God foresaw
some work his people would do. It has to be one or the other.
It can't be partly one and partly the other. It's either one or
the other. So which is it? What does Scripture say it is?
According to the election of grace. Go back to Romans 9 verse
10. Let's look at this. It's just
so plain. Romans 9 verse 10. Paul said,
when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac,
for the children being not yet born, neither having done any
good or evil, they got the same father, they got the same mother,
they're in the same womb, they hadn't done any good or evil,
that the purpose of God according to election might stand. Now
here's the purpose of God according to election. This is why God
elects Saved by electing grace, right here. Not of works, but
of him that calleth. That's why. So it's not of works,
it's of God that calleth. It was said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger, as it's written, Jacob hath a love, but
he shall have a hated. What are we going to say to that?
Is God unrighteous? God forbid. He said to Moses,
I'll have mercy on whom I'll have mercy. I'll have compassion
on whom I'll have compassion. So then, How much more definitive can
a word be? So then it is not of him that
willeth. Salvation is not of our will.
It's not of him that runneth. It's not about the works we do.
What is it then? It's a God that showeth mercy. God chose his people by free
grace, by free grace, by sovereign grace, not based on anything
in his people. Let me ask you this now. Back
in Romans 11, he said, if it's grace, it's no more works. But
if it's works, it's no more grace. You can't mix them. So it's impossible
for God's people to be made righteous by a mixture of grace and work. Either the Lord Jesus Christ,
God's only begotten son, came to where we are and he obeyed
God as the head and representative of his people and fulfilled the
law in every job and title and went to the cross and thoroughly
purged our sins and justified us and made us the righteousness
of God in him or you and I have to do something to make ourselves
righteous. It can't be both. It can't be
partly Christ and partly us. It's either got to be all grace
or all works. Which one is it? Isaiah 63, our
Lord Jesus said, I have trodden the wine press alone. And he
said, and of the people, there was none with me. He didn't have
any help. He did it all by himself. Scripture
says when Christ had by himself purged our sin, he sat down at
the right hand of the majesty on high. He did it all by himself. He did it all by himself, as
by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners. So by the
obedience of one, so many be made righteous. It's all of God's
grace by Christ alone. Now, what about our regeneration? What about our believing on the
Lord? Either it's all of grace. That
God regenerates us and he gives us the gift of faith and he makes
us willing to come and cast all our care on Christ, and it's
all of grace, all of God, or you and I have to do it all by
ourselves. It can't be a mixture, each one
or the other. Which is it? What does Scripture
say? John 1.13 says those that believed on God were born, not
of blood, it didn't matter who their mother or father was, not
of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of
man, but what? Of God. All by himself. God gave us life. He regenerated
us. He's not a Jew, which is one
outwardly. Neither is that circumcision,
which is outward in the flesh, but he's a Jew, which is one
inwardly. This is how Jews are made. God's Jews, they're made
inwardly. circumcisions of the heart, not
in the flesh, in the spirit. And the praise is not out of
men, but of God. He gets all the praise. He does
all the work. It's all of him. Scripture says
it's not by works of righteousness we've done. But according to
his mercy, he saved us. By the washing of regeneration
and renewing of the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit regenerated The
Holy Spirit gave us life and He shed this on us abundantly
through Jesus Christ because Christ had justified us and it
was a just demand of God's holy law that we be made heirs according
to the hope of eternal life. That's why He regenerated us.
It's all of grace. All of grace. So, here's Paul's
conclusion. Here's Paul's conclusion. He
says this is the conclusion to the whole matter right here concerning
natural Israel, who God left to their own depraved will. Romans
11, 7 says, What then? Romans 11, verse 7. What then?
Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for. Well, what
were they seeking for? God left this part of Israel. These natural sons of Abraham,
the natural children of Israel, He left them to themselves to
teach you and me what every depraved sinner will do if God leaves
us to ourselves. They were seeking after something.
They didn't obtain it. What were they seeking after?
Go back to Romans 9 and look at verse 32. Israel has not obtained that
which he seeketh for. Why not? Verse 32 says, because
they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of
the law. Why? They stumbled at that stumbling
stone. As it's written, Behold, I lay
in Zion a stumbling stone, a rock of offense, and whosoever believeth
on him shall not be ashamed. They stumbled at the Lord Jesus
Christ. They stumbled at God saying,
all these pictures and shadows I've been showing you in the
law, all of the These commandments I've given you were to shut your
mouth and declare you guilty and make you flee to Christ Jesus
the Lord. And there's where my righteousness
is manifest. By His faithfulness, by Him fulfilling
the law, He's the righteousness of God. And they stumbled at
that stumbling stone. They couldn't let go of their
works and just cast their care on Christ alone. And God shows
us by that that you and I left to ourselves, that's exactly
what we would do. A man left to himself will not
believe on Christ alone. There's one thing a sinner can't
do. One thing he can't do. That is
stop doing and rest in Christ. Can't do it. God has got to give
us faith and make us willing. in the day of His power to believe
on Christ alone. Well, what about God's elect
Israel? Romans 11, 7 says, But the election
hath obtained, and the rest were blinded. Those God foreknew,
those He reserved, they obtained. What did they obtain? Look right
there at Romans 9, verse 30. They obtained righteousness the
same way as you and us Gentiles, you, me, who are Gentiles, obtained
it. What shall we say then? The Gentiles,
which followed not after righteousness, they didn't have the law. They
didn't have the law. They didn't even have it. They
couldn't have obtained a righteousness by the works of the law. They
didn't even have the law. They weren't following after
righteousness and yet they have attained to righteousness. How
can I fulfill the law if I don't even have the law? Same way Abraham did. Abraham
lived 480 years before the law was given. How did he fulfill
the law? Believed on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Man believes under righteousness. We believe under righteousness.
Christ Jesus is the righteousness of God. And He brings us by His
power to submit. To submit to Him. And Christ
is the end of the law. He's the end of everything Moses
said. He's the end of everything God
declared using National Israel and the Mosaic Covenant and all
those works of the law. Christ is the end of everything
God was saying. And when you've been brought
to Him, He's the end of the law. You have a perfect righteousness. But it's only to everyone that
believeth. Believing is directly opposite
of working. Believing is believing Christ
did it all. He did all the work. He finished
it. He did everything. I don't have
to add anything to it. That's what faith is. Faith is
trusting Him and Him alone. And not leaning to my works,
not looking to my works at all. You know, these Gentiles here,
I love how Peter said, you know, remember that time when those
Pharisees came down and you had these Gentiles who believed on
Christ. And the Pharisees came down and
they said, well, it's OK that they believe on Him, but now
Now, you've got to be circumcised to come back under the law or
you can't be saved. They're perfect in Christ. They're justified
in Christ. They're accepted of God. God
says, I'll find no record of sin in them anywhere. And here
comes these religious blind Pharisees and said, oh, but there's something
you've got to do. And Peter said, no, no. He said, let me tell
you fellas something. Here we are, we're Jews, we've
been under this law and we couldn't bear up under this yoke. None
of us could fulfill this law. None of us could ever do what
God demanded. None of us could. Our fathers
couldn't do it, Peter said. He said, now why are you tempting
God to put a yoke on these Gentiles? They never were even under our
law. Why are you putting this yoke on them? Peter said, I'll
tell you what, fellas, We're going to be saved like they're
saved. How's that? God said, I was found
to them that sought Me not. I made Myself manifest to them
that weren't even seeking Me. And I showed them My Son. And
I made them fall head over heels in love with My Son. And I brought
them to cast all their care into His hand. And they're saved.
They didn't lift a finger. They didn't wiggle a toe. They
didn't do anything under the Mosaic Covenant and they are
perfectly righteous. God said they fulfill my law
perfectly, perfectly. That's how we're saved. Don't
ever try to come to God in the works of the law. Come to God
trusting His Son. And you'll find out He's as well
pleased with you as He is with His Son if you come trusting
that way. Now I want to tell you, brethren,
there's a remnant according to the election of grace right now.
And there's one thing that makes them differ. That's the grace
of God. That's it. That's it. There's
nothing about us, nothing whatsoever. It's the grace of God. Christ
redeemed them by his precious blood. He satisfied justice for
them. And now justice is our friend. Justice demands that
everyone Christ died for must be given faith and must be saved.
And I'll tell you what's going to be said when it's all said
and done and it's all over with, it's going to be said, the election
hath obtained the Lord Jesus Christ, our righteousness, all
by God's grace alone. Amen. Thank you, Clay. Wasn't that
so good? I'm afraid that when we become
afraid and fear, oh, God's going to cast me off. That's so heinous. You know,
the only reason we fear that? We brought God down to our level.
That's what I do. And we think God's like me. Aren't
you glad God's not like us? Oh, my. With mercy and grace,
I'm overwhelmed. What a blessing. Let's bow together
in prayer. Father, how we thank you for this clear declaration
of your gospel we've just heard. How we thank you for our Lord
Jesus Christ. How can we begin to thank you
for your mercy and your grace to your undeserving people that
you see us always and only in our Lord Jesus Christ as perfect
and righteous as he is, accepted in your sight. Father, how we
thank you. Father, I beg of thee that you
give us the faith to believe the Savior that we've just heard.
That you give us the faith to quit all of our works, to quit
looking at him, to quit trusting in him, to lay him down and look
to and trust Christ and Christ alone. It's in his great and
for the glory of His name. Father, we do ask this blessing
for ourselves, for our good, but Father, would You get glory
to Your name in saving Your people here. It's in the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ. We pray and give thanks. Amen. Let's stand and sing 597 in the
old school hymnal. 597. Now in thy praise, eternal King,
Be all my thoughts employed, While of this precious truth
I sing, Cast down, but not destroyed. Cast down, but not destroyed. Cast down, but not destroyed. While of this precious truth
I sing, Cast down, but not destroyed. Of the united powers of hell,
my soul hath sore annoyed, And yet I live this truth to tell,
cast down but not destroyed. Cast down but not destroyed Cast
down but not destroyed And yet I live this truth to tell Cast
down but not destroyed In all the paths through Of which I've
fast, what mercies I've enjoyed, And this shall be my song at
last, Cast down but not destroyed. Cast down, but not destroyed
Cast down, but not destroyed And this shall be my song at
last Cast down, but not destroyed When I with God in heaven appear,
there shall I Him adore. Destroyed shall be my sin and
fear, and I cast down no more. And I cast down no more, And
I cast down no more. Destroyed shall be my sin and
fear, And I cast down no more. you