For our scripture reading this
morning, turn with me to Ephesians chapter 3. Ephesians chapter
3. For this calls I, Paul, the prisoner
of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles. Not that the church held him
prisoner, but he was in prison when he wrote this epistle. If you've heard of the dispensation
of the grace of God, or the stewardship, which is given me to you, word,
how that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery, as
I wrote afore, in few words, whereby when you read, you may
understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, which in other
ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it's now
revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit, that the Gentiles, the heathens,
should be fellow heirs and of the same body and partakers of
his promise in Christ by the gospel. Wherefore, I was made a minister
according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by
the effectual working of his power unto me who am less than
the least of all saints, as this grace gives, that I should preach
among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make
all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the
beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things
by Jesus Christ, to the intent that now unto the principalities
and powers and heavenly places might be known by the church
the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which
he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness
and access with confidence by faith of him. Wherefore, I desire
that you faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. For this cause I bow my knees
unto the Father, our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family
in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according
to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by
his Spirit in the inner man. that Christ may dwell in your
hearts by faith, that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth
and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ
which passeth knowledge, that you might be filled with all
the fullness of God. Now unto him that's able to do
exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according
to the power that worketh in us. Unto him be glory in the
church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. If you will, turn back with me
now to Ephesians chapter 3. I'm going to be using verse 9 of
Ephesians chapter 3. Paul said in verse 8, unto me
who am less than the least of all saints. He came down from his lofty estate
as a Pharisee. Thought of himself much higher
than he actually was. Come to see himself in the word
of God as a helpless sinner. Paul was a very religious man. He was not a thief. He was not a drunkard. He was not an extortioner. And he could, in an outward way,
look at the publicans and say, I'm not like that publican. He
wasn't like that publican. Unto me, who am less than the
least of all saints, is this grace given. that I should preach
among the Gentiles, among the heathen, among those nobody would
have thought possible that God would save these. You remember the Pharisee looking
at the harlot who was washing Christ's feet and saying if he
knew what man or woman she was. Did he know? Yes, he did. He did. And now Paul said unto
me, who am less than the least of all saints, as this grace
given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable
riches of Christ, and to make all men see what is the fellowship
of the mystery. Now he's not necessarily zeroing
in here on the fellowship of the mystery of the Gentiles.
I realize that's how he begins his subject, but he expands much
further and goes way beyond that after our text. And what he's
talking about here is two things. He's talking about, one, this
gospel knowledge, this treasure of Christ, this understanding
of the gospel and its relationship with everything that is. Does
this gospel have a relationship to creation? Oh, yeah. The Savior
is the Creator. Everything that's made was made
by Him and for Him. The gospel that I'm preaching
to you this morning has fellowship. It has a union with creation.
Creation is something that's come into being by the voice
of God, by the command of God, in order to show God's glory
and the salvation of His people in Christ. That's the reason
for creation. God didn't look around the universe
and find a creation and then say, oh, this would be a good
place, I'm going to make man, put him here. No, it has a It has a union. It has a harmony with creation. What about God's
providence? It has a harmony with God's providence. What about our daily lives? It
has a harmony with those things. It has a harmony with death.
It has a harmony with birth. It has a harmony with marriage.
What about all these relationships that we have in this world? Every
one of them is in harmony, has a fellowship with the gospel. My subject this morning is the
fellowship of the mystery, and make no mistake about it, the
gospel we preach is a mystery. It's a mystery. The so-called
gospel of this world has nothing mysterious in it or about it.
Their gospel said God loves everybody, Christ died for everybody, and
everybody can be saved if they decide to accept Him as their
personal Savior. There's no gospel in that, there's
no mystery in that, there's no hidden wisdom in that, there's
no glory of God in it, and there's no fellowship with the things
that I just mentioned. In 1 Corinthians 2, 7, Paul said,
but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden
wisdom which God ordained before the world under our glory, which
none of the princes of this world knew. Pilate didn't know it. Herod didn't know it. The chief
priests didn't know it. The high council didn't know
it. They were all ignorant of it. None of the princes of this
world knew, for had they known it, they would not have crucified
the Lord of Glory. But as it is written, where was
that at? That's over in Isaiah 64. As
it is written, I have not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered
into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them,
that love him. But God hath revealed them unto
us by his Spirit. What is this hidden wisdom that
he's talking about? Well, turn with me to 1 Corinthians
chapter 1. Let's look at a few of these
scriptures concerning these things. The gospel, we preach the wisdom
of God in this mystery, and our gospel is a mystery. In 1 Corinthians 1 verse 21,
for after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew
not God. Whose fault is it? It's man's
fault. Does that mean it's not according
to the wisdom of God? No, it is according to the wisdom
of God. Isn't that kind of mysterious? After that, in the wisdom of
God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God through
the foolishness of preaching to save them that believed. The wisdom of God, this hidden
wisdom of which Paul is writing here, is God's eternal purpose
to save a people in his Son for the glory of his name. The doctrine of it is spelled
out plainly in Ephesians chapter 1, beginning with God the Father.
Blessing of people with all spiritual blessings and heavenly places
in his Son. according as he's chosen us in
him before the foundation of the world. I wasn't there when God chose
the people. But his Son was. Our Savior was. When God saves a man, he saves
a man he chose before the world was. Before he ever created Adam,
God chose a people. If he hadn't chosen a people,
he would have wound his world up when Adam sinned. The only
reason this world is still spinning, the only reason we're still marrying
and giving in marriage, still reproducing, the only reason
this world continues to go on is because God chose a people
in His Son. And He chose to manifest His
glory in the salvation of that people. And so he came to Adam,
and he smote that lamb, and he taught Adam the gospel. These
things are spelled out in Ephesians chapter 1, being predestinated
under the adoption of children to the praise of the glory of
his grace wherein he made us accepted into blood, in whom
we have redemption and forgiveness of sins. Now listen to this,
verse 8, Ephesians 1, wherein he hath abounded toward us in
all wisdom and prudence. What's prudence? That's the fruit
of wisdom. That's being able to put things
in their proper place. But you can't do that without
wisdom. Without wisdom, we'll just take a piece of the puzzle
and in frustration, we'll take a hammer and beat it in the puzzle.
Isn't that what Peter's talking about when he said they rest
the Scriptures to their own destruction? You take a hammer and you're
going to take this piece and you're going to beat it into
free will no matter what. Prudence is the fruit of wisdom
and it means good judgment. It means cautiousness. able to see things and discern
things, and having made known unto us the mystery of his will,
verse 9, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in
himself. He made known to us the mystery. The rest of this world is still
scratching their heads. I had people in the very meeting
when the Lord first revealed Christ to me. They were sitting
right beside me. They didn't get it. How come? Were you smarter than they were?
Oh, no. No. Oh, why? Because God sent it
to me. God enabled me, just as he does
all his saints. And then, putting all these things
together, he said, he made known unto us the mystery of his will,
that in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather
together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven,
which are on earth, even in him. And that word dispensation commonly
means stewardship, or in this particular place, economy. What's
an economy? It's an area of production. It's the distribution as well
as the consumption of goods and services in general. And that's
what Paul's talking about. He's talking about faith and
repentance and the gift of God being given to us. The actual
giving of forgiveness of sin. The actual reconciling of men. And in this economy, our Lord
is accomplishing the will of God. in all these things. And in these things, Paul said,
we also have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according
to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel
of his own will. All true gospel preaching declares
the hidden wisdom of God in Christ And it declares to men the whole
counsel of God. Paul said, I held back nothing. Well, how does one preach the
whole counsel of God? You preach Christ. You preach
Christ. And as his elect received that
sufficiency given them in Christ, Ephesians 1.12, They do so that
they should be to the praise of His glory who first trusted
in Christ. Who was that? That's God the
Father. That's how the Ephesians chapter
1 begins. God the Father trusting all these
things to His Son. The Apostle Paul, though he held
the highest office in the church, was given as All those set apart
by God, it was given to him to preach his gospel. He was given a stewardship, Ephesians
3.2. What kind of stewardship? A stewardship
of the grace of God to you. Who's that? To those who gather
and listen to him. We have no other way of knowing. He didn't tell him to go out
and preach. He was going to save the Ephesians and he told him
to go out and preach. He established who to preach to by those who
gathered and listened. The same as it is today. And then he goes on, verse 3,
how that by revelation he made known unto me the mysteries.
I wrote a four in a few words. whereby when you read you may
understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, which in other
ages was not made known unto the sons of men." You know, you
can read about it over there in the books of Peter, where
he said these prophets, being inspired by the Spirit
of Christ, prophesied of things, and they didn't know what they
were prophesying about. except that they prophesied of
the coming redemption. Which things they labored, they
prayed, they labored to see these things and to know these things.
Which things now, he said, clearly revealed to you by the apostles,
by those who were preaching the gospels. of the mystery. If time will allow me this morning,
I have five things to show you concerning the fellowship of
God's everlasting purpose of grace that yet remains a mystery
to this world until God's pleased to make them known. There's a
mystery. What's he talking about? Well,
I'm talking about God's everlasting purpose of grace is a mystery
in its beginning. In its beginning. If you go to
the average church around here, they're not going to talk about
God's everlasting purpose of grace, His eternal justification
of the believer. He's not going to talk to you
about predestination and all those things. I went to church
all my life and never heard one mention of any of it. It's a mystery. Well, where does
the mystery begin? In the beginning. Look with me
again at my text in Ephesians 3. Paul said, He set me aside, taught
me the gospel, revealed His Son in me, that I might preach Him
among the heathen. And to make, verse 9, all men
is in italics, isn't it? He's not talking about all men,
he's talking about all those who believe. And to make all
see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning
of the world hath been hid in God. I wasn't around at the beginning. The apostles wasn't around at
the beginning. Nobody was around at the beginning
but God. Is that right? Here's where things, in the beginning,
God. That's how the Bible starts out.
But we want to interpret things some other way. We want to say,
well, I think... I can't quote it to you word
for word, but Paul often uses that expression, and I think
he does in 1 Corinthians 2 at the end of the chapter. Who hath
been God's counselor? Huh? Was you there when He hung the
foundation of the world out there in space? Was you there when He spoke and
it was done? He commanded and stood fast? The beginning of the world has
been this mystery of Christ, the reason behind creation. That's
all been hid in God who created all things by Jesus Christ. Paul's
letter to the saints at Rome, his opening statement was that
he was separated, now listen to this, unto the gospel of God. It's God's gospel. He doesn't hand you a Bible and
say, now you figure it out and whatever you want to preach you
can call it the gospel. No, it's God's gospel. separated under the gospel of
God, and that his gospel was concerning his Son, Jesus Christ,
our Lord. And Jesus Christ is the image
of the invisible God, the firstborn of every created thing. He's
the embodiment of God in human flesh. He's God come into the
flesh, and he is the embodiment of the mystery of God's eternal
purpose of grace. Paul said to Timothy, he said,
God has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which
was given us, where? In Christ Jesus. When? Before
the foundation of the world. But in these last days, it manifested
in Jesus Christ. These things are manifested.
How do we know? In Christ. In Christ. He did these things in Christ Jesus
before the world began. And turn with me again to 1 Corinthians
chapter 2. All through this chapter, Paul
deals with the gospel being a declaration of the mystery of God. Verse 7, he said, but we speak
the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which
God ordained before the world under our glory. None of the
princes of the world knew it. They wouldn't have crucified
the Lord of glory. The Gospel, Acts 20, 24 through
27, is a declaration concerning his son and all things related
to it as a revelation of the whole counsel of God. If you
preach Christ, you preach the whole counsel of God. Because if the gospel we preach,
it's a mystery in its beginning. We keep wanting to find the reason
behind the gospel by looking at ourselves or our circumstances
or the world in which we live. It's got nothing to do with it. It was all in God's counsel before
the world was. And then secondly, the gospel
we preach is a mystery in its message. Untold thousands have stood in
pulpits and on street corners preaching another gospel, which
Paul said is not another, but there be some who would pervert
the gospel of Christ. The gospel message is salvation
in the purpose of Jesus Christ, and that is in harmony with the
character of God. It's a holy, holy man of God. A holy gospel. Now I've told
you many times, when you talk about holy, you're not talking
about how you dress. You're not talking about whether
or not you smoke or drink. That's not holiness. Holiness
has to do with the wholeness of God. God is sovereign. God is omnipotent. God is everywhere present. God
is unchangeable. God is righteous, perfectly righteous. And yet He's also merciful, kind,
long-suffering. God is love. He that loveth not
knoweth not God. God is love. And these things, as they are
in perfect harmony, none of them compromised, that's what makes
up holiness. Holiness. Was there a mystery? He says
it is. He said great is the mystery
of godliness, godlikeness. God was manifest in the flesh. And so any gospel we preach has
to be in harmony with the character of God. If it's out of harmony
with the character of God, it's not his gospel. You see what
I'm saying? Even that hidden wisdom which
God ordained before the world under our glory, which none of
the princes of this world knew. It's a mystery in its message,
the gospel message of salvation and the purpose in the person
of Jesus Christ. That's the only way it could
be holy. God chose us in Him that we might be holy. In harmony with the character
of God, declared to be the Son of God with power according to
the spirit of holiness by the resurrection of the dead. If
everything Christ did wasn't in perfect harmony with the character
of God, He'd still be in the tomb. God chose a people in His Son
that they might be holy. And the message of God reveals
in men the mystery of iniquity. The real depth of man's iniquity
is in worldly religion, a satanic religion. Antichrist in its message,
ungodly in its effects. And the message of the gospel
is summed up in this acronym, TULIP. TULIP. Total depravity. Man's totally
depraved. No need preaching him in any
other condition because that's his condition. He's totally depraved.
Paul said, I before proved unto you that both Jew and Gentile
are all under sin. And then the gospel declares
the unconditional election of saints. It declares the limited atonement
of Christ. Christ died for a people. Who are they? I don't know. I
preach the gospel. Those that believe are his people. All those that the Father gave
me, Christ said, are going to come to me. How are they going
to do it? They are going to be taught of
God. They are going to be drawn of the Father. Christ died for his elect. also
sets before men the irresistible grace of God in the calling out
of His elect. His gospel is effectual in those
who believe. It's effectual. And it also teaches the perseverance
of the saints because they're preserved in Christ. This faith
is given to them of God, and it's preserved by Spirit through
His gospel. The Gospel is a mystery in its
message. He said, As it is written, I
have not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the
heart of man these things. And God hath revealed them unto
us by his Spirit. And he said, We have not received
the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that
we might know the things freely given to us of God. It's a mystery. It's hidden God,
the beginning of it. And the gospel is a mystery in
its message. And thirdly, God's gospel is
a mystery in its objective. The gospel has a threefold objective. Why do we preach? What's the
point of it? What are we trying to do? Why in the wisdom of God did
he choose to save men through the foolishness of preaching?
What's the objective? Well, there's three objectives.
First of all, to manifest the glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ. My number one concern when I
sit down to prepare a message is not to save somebody's soul.
My first objective is to have a message that's not contrary
to the glory of God. It's to manifest the glory of
we. He said, God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness
has shined in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And that's the
treasure, and we have it in earthen vessels. So that's the first objective
of the gospel. The second objective of the gospel
is to effectually call out chosen sinners and establish them in
faith that rests its whole weight upon the Son of God, Christ in
you, the hope of glory. Now, I'm going to tell you something.
You're not ever going to believe on Jesus Christ until you know
who He is. You're going to have to... I
ain't talking about just knowing in your head. I'm talking about
knowing in your heart, believing in your heart. You're not going
to rest in Him. You're not going to rest in Him. When the thunder
cracks late at night and you hear that wind picking up, you're
going to run for the basement. You're not going to run to Him.
Do we really believe we have a sovereign Christ sitting on
the throne of God? Then I ought to be able to look
out here and see a tornado and go over there and lay down my
hammock. God's saints are eternal. They're
eternal. You have eternal life. No man
can take your life from you. No beast can take your life from
you until your time has come. You're immortal. Immortal. Listen to this. He writes to
the Thessalonians and he said, from the beginning has chosen
you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief in the
truth. Those two things always go together. What I'm saying
to you this morning ain't going to amount to a hill of beans
except the Spirit of the living God make you to know Him where
you need to know Him, in your heart. He chose you from the beginning
salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth, whereunto he called you by gospel to the obtaining of
the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is to see it, to believe
in it, to rest in it, to see God's hand in it, to affect effectively obtain
not only the knowledge of his glory, but the benefits of the
glorified Christ. And nobody's going to be saved
apart from hearing the gospel. That's a mystery. The natural
man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, which one
of those things is preaching. Another one of those things is
the Word of God. Another thing is the gospel of
God. Natural men don't receive those things. They're foolishness
to them. You may not have to hear a man. That's what God said. How are you going to hear without
a preacher? And then the third objective
of the gospel is to warn men concerning the wrath to come.
And to warn them about antichrist religion. Preacher, you have
to get up here and harp on religion. I bet her. I better listen to
this over in Acts 20 verse 31. He said, Therefore watch, and
remember, that by the space of three years I cease not to warn
every one night and day with tears. What's he warning them
about? That when he left, out of their
own midst would arise false prophets. He warned them about false religion. And now brethren, he said, I
commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able
to build you up and give you an inheritance among all them
which are sanctified. Listen to this, God spoke to
his prophet Ezekiel, and he said, Son of man, I've made thee a
watchman. a watchman, to who? Unto the house of Israel, all
those that believe, God's people. Therefore hear the word at my
mouth, and give them warning from me." That's the objective of the gospel.
The same as calling out his saints. The same as manifesting the glory
of God, and it's to warn men concerning false religion and
the wrath to come. And it seems to me that there
are as many objectives as there are doctrines in the world. But these three are the only
three I can find in the Word of God. Now, if you find one,
you let me know. This is all I can find in there.
These are the objectives of going out to pray. And then, fourthly,
our gospel is a mystery as to its inner workings in chosen
sinners. I love this scripture over in
Romans chapter 1 verse 16. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ. What you talking about? I'm not
disappointed. Not disappointed. When I get
up here to pray, I just don't know. I know what God said. That's all I need to know. Go into all the world and preach
my gospel. All power is given unto me in
heaven and earth. Now you go preach. He that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. I'm not disappointed. I'm not frustrated. I'm not ashamed. Why? For it's the power of God
unto salvation. I'm going to tell you something,
words can't get any clearer than that. How is this totally depraved
man going to come to believe on Christ? The gospel is the
power of God unto salvation. Well, how does that work in the
hearts of men? It's a mystery, isn't it? Huh? It's a mystery. after establishing the eternal
purpose of God in Christ in Ephesians 1, 1 through 11, and telling
us that all who obtain an inheritance of Christ to the praise of God's
glory who first trusted in Christ. Then he goes on to say in verse
13, Ephesians 1, in whom you also trusted. Now watch this,
after you heard the word of truth. That's when you trusted, when
you heard. the gospel of your salvation, in whom also, after
that you believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.
Huh? What's that talking about? That's
talking about the Spirit of God revealing Christ to you. That's
what that's talking about. That's the earnest of our inheritance
until the redemption of the purchased possession. And it's all under
His glory. God the Holy Spirit, sometimes
called the Spirit of Christ, works in the hearts and minds
of chosen sinners, making God's gospel effectual to the saving
of their souls. In John 1, the Apostle said,
verse 10, He, that is Christ, was in the
world, and the world was made by Him. And the Christ I preach
made this world. Made it for His elect. Made it
for His Father's glory. The world was made by Him. Now
listen, the world knew Him not. And He came unto His own. He
had a people here that He separated from the rest of the world, called
them Israel, called them sons of Jacob. He came unto His own. His own
received Him not. Had anything to do with it. But
as many as received Him, why did they receive Him? To them
gave He power to become the sons of God. Even to them that believe
on His name. They were all born of God. Men
saw the great miracles which God did by Him. Confirmed Him
to be the Christ. And they said unto him, what
shall we do? We might work the works of God.
And Christ turned to them and said, this is the work of God
that you believe on him whom he has sent. That's the work
of God. We talk about the gospel being
a mystery as to its inner workings and chosen sinners. Men have
reduced this great work of faith into a decision, walking to the
front of a church building, signing a pledge card, joining the church,
speaking in tongues, and being baptized when they're babies.
In Romans 10, 13 it said, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved. That's who's going to be saved. Now watch this. How then shall
they call on him in whom they have not believed? Oh, they believe in Jesus. Talk
to them. Any one of them will talk to
you about Jesus. But they don't believe in the
God-man mediator, that there's one mediator between God and
men, the man Christ Jesus. Men don't believe in a sovereign
Christ who sits at the right hand of God, having all power
in heaven and earth, and giving eternal life to as many as the
Father has given Him. They don't believe in that Christ.
Men don't believe in an all-sufficient Savior who saves to the uttermost
all who come unto God by Him. And men don't believe in Christ
as a representative head, living, dying, being raised from the
dead, and sitting at the right hand of God with them. They don't
believe. How are you going to believe
in Him How are you going to call on
Him in whom you have not believed? How are you going to believe
in Him of whom you have not heard? Are you going to figure it out? One of my foremen out on the
job told me one time, he was listening to me talking to another
guy, and he said, I'll tell you what. He said, I'm going to go
home this weekend and read the Bible, and I'll come back Monday
and we'll talk about these things. You're going to spend one day
with the Word of God and you're going to come back and straighten
everybody out. Now, you ain't going to figure it out if you
study it the rest of your life. You're going to have to hear. That Ethiopian eunuch wasn't
no dummy. He wasn't no dummy. Boy, he was
studying that passage in Isaiah with all his might. Been down
to the feast days looking at those things, come away as ignorant
as he was when he went. But God sent him a preacher.
You know what he asked him? Do you understand what you're
reading? Huh? Explain it to me. Tell me. Tell me about it. Who
is this man? Why did he come? What did he
do? Where is he now? Talk to me. Tell me who he is. Oh, how are you going to call
on Him in whom you have not believed? How are you going to believe
in Him who you have not heard? Now let me ask you this, how
are you going to hear without a preacher? How should, how can
I, is what the Ethiopian eunuch said, except some man guide me? And then he said, he had one
more question. He said, how should they preach
except they be sinned? Sin of God. Faith cometh by hearing. And there's no end to the ways
of being religious. You can get there with dreams
and visions and feelings and persuasions and discussions and
decisions and emotions Family tradition and on and on the list
goes and all such walk in the vanity of their minds having
their understanding darkened and on and on it goes. But he
said that's not how you learn Christ if so be you've heard
Him. Have you heard? Have you heard? He said, if you've heard Him,
been taught of Him as the truth is in Him, and be renewed in
the spirit of your mind and put on the new man, that's Christ. The apostles in the early church
suffered martyrdom and persecution and deportation, exile. And Paul said he was beaten,
stoned in perils of robbers, beasts, storms, And why should
anyone subject themselves to such things if gospel preaching
was not necessary? And then lastly, it's a mystery
in God's providence. This gospel we preach is a providential
thing. When it please God, that's what
Paul said, I'll tell you when men and women are going to hear
this gospel and be saved, when it please God. That's it. I could stand up here
for two hours and beg you to do this, and that's what religion
does. Do something. I've got to see some activity. Come down the aisle. Here, sign
this card. Here, shake my hand. Oh, how are they going to preach
except they'd be sinners? Every son of Adam for whom Christ
lived, died, and rose from the grave and now intercedes for
in glory has a man whom God has equipped,
called, and arranged in his providence so that his elect will cross
paths with this preacher. And his Spirit will accompany
that man and accompany those who hear and make them meet Make
them able, give them the ability to hear and understand what He's
saying. God's eternal purpose of grace
is in fellowship with the salvation of sinners, and it's in perfect
harmony with all the means that He's ordained. It's in perfect
harmony with His providence, prophecy and everything we see
and know concerning this world. And Paul said unto me, who am
less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should
preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.
All in the case of this gospel is in harmony with everything
that's out here. Now you take that false gospel,
that free will gospel, that self-righteous gospel, you take it and you do
the same thing. You try to make it fit into God's
everlasting purpose of grace. It won't fit. It won't fit. But this one does. And Paul said
that this YC makes you see the fellowship of the mystery. Oh
Spirit of God, help those gathered here this morning, including
myself. to see the fellowship of this gospel mystery.