If you'll turn back with me now
to Ephesians chapter one. I primarily want to focus the
message on verses eight through 14. In this day of easy believism,
I first heard that term about 40 years ago, 45 years ago, had
never really thought about it. And after I heard it, I began
to think about it. And it describes our generation
to a T. It's a day of easy believism. Easy. One, two, three. Right down the Roman road, right
to the front, It's a day of easy believism. It's a day of sensationalism. What do I mean by sensationalism? I'm talking about feelings. Everything directed to the feelings. Everything attributed to the
feelings. If you don't feel it, you don't
have it. Sensationalism. And free willism. My friend, man's will is not
free. If he has a fallen nature, then
every part of him is affected, it's biased by that fallen nature,
is it not? His mind is. I read to you out
of Romans chapter eight earlier this morning, the carnal mind
is enmity against God. Why? Because it operates out
of a fallen nature. They were attributing sin to
all kinds of things. To alcohol, and four-footed beasts,
and just all kinds of stuff. Anything and everything. They
were attributing sin to that. And our Lord said, it's not what
goes into the mouth that defiles a man, it's what comes out of
his heart. Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts. adulteries, fornications,
all of these things. They all proceed forth from the
heart, and that's what defiles the man. There is no free will. Man's will is biased by his nature. Our Lord said, I know you that
you will not come unto me, that you might have life. And that's
what it is. They have a will, but it's a
will not. It's biased by a sinful nature. And there's so little
known in our generation of the great mysteries of God. 2,000 years ago, Paul said to
the Corinthians, he said, I preach the wisdom of God in a mystery. It's a mystery. Eye hath not
seen or ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man,
mankind. the things that God hath prepared
for them that love him, but God hath revealed them unto us by
his Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God." They bottled up their imaginary
salvation and put it on the shelf and they're selling it cheap
to anybody who wants it. The scriptures, however, describe
something this world has never even considered. The sovereign,
eternal, unchangeable God working all things after the counsel
of his own will. Now, if you're here this morning
and you don't know the Lord, you've never really considered
that, have you? Huh? Nobody's ever told you to
consider it. Nobody's even mentioned it. You mean there is a sovereign,
eternal God, a God who has no beginning and no end. There's
a God in glory, a God in heaven, who works everything after the
counsel of his own will. That's exactly what I mean. This
world knows nothing about that. They've never even considered
that. The minute you mention it, I can remember reading a
few passages of scripture that nobody had ever mentioned in
my lifetime, and now I'm in my 20s, and I'm married, and I realize
I need to settle down, and I need to join the church, because those
are the things I was told to do when I was young. And so I
went to the church, and it wasn't working. It just wasn't working. And I began to look in the Scripture,
and somebody had said something to me that just, boy, just put
a halt on my forward progress. And so I began to read the Scriptures,
and I read in there where it said, I'm God, and there's none
like me. Why? They've been telling me
that man just like God. No, he said I'm God, there's
nothing like me. What do you mean? I declare the
end from the beginning. Any of you guys can do that?
I declare the end from the beginning and from ancient times the things
that are not yet done saying my counsel shall stand and I'll
do all my pleasure. Now you think on that. There
is a God in glory, the God, the living God, the true God. And he's working everything from
eternity past to eternity future according to his purpose. Now that's right. You mean God has a purpose? Oh
yeah, God has a purpose. All things work together for
good to them who love God, to them who are the called according
to what? His purpose. His purpose. The scriptures speak of God declaring
the end from the beginning. The scriptures speak of a people
God foreknew being predestinated to be conformed to the image
of His Son. And that all that He predestinated,
He called. And all that He called, He justified. And all that He justified, He
glorified. If you want to read that for
yourself, that's Romans 8, 29 and 30. I find nothing in the scriptures
about a desperate God who having done all he can do now rests
the whole of his eternal purpose and work on the decisions of
men. You can't find that in this book. It's not in there. But it's in
every pulpit across the land. Is it not? God done all he can
do. Then you're in trouble. You're in trouble. But the fact
is, he hadn't done all he can do. With God, all things are possible.
And I want to say, with man, it's impossible. But with God,
all things are possible. These are the things that I find
in the scriptures. I find nothing in the scriptures
about a desperate God. But I do find the dying Christ
on the cross crying, it's finished. What was finished? Everything
he come to do. Huh? What'd he come to do? He come to provide us with the
righteousness because we can't earn it. We can't buy it. He must come and fulfill that
law perfectly in every jot and tittle. He has to do it continuously. Cursed is every man who continueth
not in all things written in the book of the law to do them.
He had to do it continuously, he had to do it unbrokenly, and
he had to do it from the heart. He had to do it with a true motive,
the love of God on his heart, because on love hinges the whole
law. That's what our Lord said. Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind, and
strength. If you could do that, the law would be no problem for
you. But we can't do that. I thank
God he could. And he did. What else did he come to do?
He come to satisfy divine justice. God cannot simply forgive sin. Forgiveness of sin is not God
taking an eraser and erasing it all off and giving you a fresh
start. Forgiveness of sin, the sin must be paid for. That's
why he died. Made of a woman, made under the
law to redeem, to buy back, to purchase. To redeem them that were under
the law. I don't find all this easy-believe-ism
and sensationalism anywhere in the Scriptures. But I do find
the dying Christ on the cross crying, it's finished. And I
do find in the Scriptures the declaration of Christ to come
and accomplish the Father's redemptive will. Here's what He said about
that in Hebrews chapter 10. He said in the volume of the
book. What book? This book. It's written of me,
I come to do thy will, O God. By the which will. Isn't that
what he goes on to say? By the which will. What kind
of will? What's he talking about? He's talking about God's redemptive
will. He came to accomplish it. And
he did accomplish it. By the which will, we're sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. This man, after he'd offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of
God from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool, for by one offering he hath perfected forever them
that he sanctified. That's Hebrews 10, verses 10
through 14. And in this day of sensationalism
and divine evidences of salvation, That's growing to be one of the
biggest religions in our time right now, this evidences of
salvation, this speaking in tongues and faith healing and prophesying
and all this kind of nonsense. But what I find in the scriptures
that the true and great evidences of salvation are the resurrection
of Christ and faith in the Christ who was
resurrected. That's the only evidence you're
gonna get. See, faith is the substance of
things hoped for, and the what? Evidence of things not seen. You want evidence? Faith is evidence. That's the evidence. Paul said
to the Thessalonians, he said, I know your election of God.
They didn't know their election of God, but Paul knew. How, Paul,
how do you know our election of God? Our gospel came not unto
you in word only. It come in power and it came
in the Holy Ghost. And you become followers of us
in the Lord. You become a believer. You turn
from your idols. You become examples of God's
saving grace. And now you wait patiently for
His return. That's your treasure. That's
your hope. That's the climax. Paul quotes the prophet Isaiah
in chapter 64 of his writings in 1 Corinthians 2. saying that
eye hath not seen, and ear hath not heard. Isaiah said that long
before the Lord came. And Paul quotes that. And these things, he said, we
also speak. These things revealed of the
Holy Spirit of God. These things, he said, we speak.
Not in words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Ghost
teaches. Comparing spiritual things with
spiritual. I'm talking to you this morning
about spiritual things and my reliance is 100% on the Holy
Ghost. I prepared, I thought these things
through and I've tried to get them in some order to give them
to you so that when you walk out of here you will at least
have known what I said. But I can't make these things
known to you until the Holy Spirit comes in power and opens your
heart to receive. We compare spiritual things with
spiritual. But he said, the natural man
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, their foolishness
to him. Now, Pastor, let me get this
straight. You're saying that God chose a people before the
foundation of the world. That he predestinated them under
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ himself. And then he sent
his son who came into this world, was born of a virgin, born under
the law, to redeem them that were under the law. And then
he was delivered to the cross where he died and was buried
and raised from the dead and now he sits at the right hand
of God. And that this same God who redeemed
us in Christ has also purposed to call us through his gospel,
and apart from that gospel, you're not gonna be called. That's exactly
what I'm saying. It pleased God through the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. Isn't that what it says? That's exactly what it says.
And my friend, the gospel is not Christ dying for all mankind
to give mankind a chance to be saved. That's how it's preached
today, but that's not what this book says. The gospel is not
some frustrated passion in God who loves everybody, but people
won't let him do what he needs to do. The gospel begins in eternity
past. I read it to you. It originates
with God. who purposed it. And while this
world is blindly following the religion of Antichrist, being
wowed by the power and signs and lying wonders of Satan. While
this world is being filled with all deceivableness of unrighteousness. What's that? That's believing
that you can keep the law and thereby be righteous and thereby
win the favor of God. That's deceivableness of unrighteousness. that when you lay your gift on
the altar, we collect offerings here in this little thing just
for convenience sake, or sometimes they just hand them to our treasurers
when they know them. When you do that, that act did
not make you righteous. We say, I need to increase my
offering. Maybe you do, but I'm going to tell you something.
I don't care if you give it all, you're still not going to be
righteous. You give whatever the Lord lays
on your heart. I've never brought a message
to my knowledge on giving to this church, and it's the givingest
church in this area. We never want it for anything.
Whenever a need arises, they take care of it. Paul said, we're bound to give
thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord.
Because God has from the beginning chosen you, now listen, to salvation. Not to the chance of it, to salvation. Are you still listening? Through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth. Now that's how it will come if
it comes at all. That's how it's going to come. And he said we're
unto. He called you by our gospel. Paul said he was separated to
the gospel of God. It's his gospel. It originated
with him. It's about his person, his character,
his purpose, his son, his glory, and his grace. It's God's gospel. And it's not of him that willeth,
Paul wrote, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. The gospel is a declaration of
God's redemptive purpose to save a people that He chose in Christ. That's what it is. That's what
I'm declaring to you this morning. And I'm telling you that you're
in bad shape if you're here this morning and you've never believed
on the Lord Jesus Christ. You're in bad shape! You're on
your way to hell! I can't put it any other way.
I'm not trying to scare anybody. I'm not trying to to get folks
to make a decision. I'm just trying to tell you the
truth. You're in bad shape. You're not going to make it.
You'll flounder around out here on your own and you'll listen
to these liars and you'll come up with something that suits
your nature, whatever it is. A bunch of dancing around or
maybe it's to sit there all stiff and formal. I don't know what
suits your nature, but you'll find it. And when you do, you'll
just sit there under those lies and under that deceit until you
wake up and meet God in judgment. You're in bad shape. There's no hope for you apart
from what I'm telling you this morning. And that hope is all
together in the person of Christ. Well, you say you already told
us He predestinated the people. You've already told us that He
elected the people. And I don't know if I'm elect
or not. I'll tell you how He's elect or not. Our Lord tells
us that over in John chapter six, verse 37. He said, all that
the Father giveth me Are you listening? Well, come to me.
Huh? What's to keep you from coming
to Christ? Huh? Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. Then why don't you call on him? because you don't know his name. So what am I doing this morning?
I'm telling you his name. I'm declaring to you who he is. I'm declaring to you the state
of mankind. And I'm telling you your only
escape is to believe on him. And any man that believes on
him was given to him by the Father before the world began. Is that
right? That's exactly right. Now that's
not free willism. That's not sensationalism. That's
just Plano telling you the truth. It's the declaration of God's
redemptive purpose to save a people for his glory that he chose in
Christ before the foundation of the world. And in Christ we've
obtained an inheritance. That's what he tells us down
in verse 11 of Ephesians chapter 1. In whom also we have obtained
an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. You thought you just got up this
morning and said, I think I'll go over and visit that church.
Is that what you thought? You're here this morning because
God's providence brought you here. And you're hearing this
morning what untold thousands, perhaps millions in this world
will never hear. You're hearing the gospel of
God's sovereign grace in Christ. Paul said, if any man comes and
preaches any other gospel unto you than that which we preach,
you count that man accursed of God. You're hearing what I can't even
describe to you how God's providence has blessed you in a way that
you can't possibly imagine just to bring you here to hear the
truth. And nothing will magnify your
sin more than when you walk out that door in unbelief. That's
just so. Secondly, in making known unto
us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, He plainly
tells us that everything that is, is being worked to Him to
this great end. He says in Colossians 1, by Him
were all things created that are in heaven and are in earth,
visible and invisible, whether they be thrones. You want to
talk about once throne of England and all the kings and queens
have reigned over there. Kings of Spain and all these
various countries. Whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers, all things were created by him
and for him. And he's before all things. And
by him all things have their continuance. Paul said, The creation was made
subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who subjected
the same in hope. Well, why are you telling us
all this preach? I'm trying to exalt this One upon whom we believe. I'm telling you. He has the preeminence. It pleased the Father that in
Him should all fullness dwell. And even though the Holy Spirit
comes into this world and He works His Irresistible grace
in our hearts, and yet it's not the Holy Spirit that we praise. It's Christ. Why? Because it
pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell. You
don't know anything about the Spirit of God until you study
Christ. Christ, the manifestation of
the Spirit. Spirit was given to Him without
measure. Is that right? That's right. You want to know
something about the Holy Spirit? Listen to somebody who will tell
you who Christ is. Now you'll know who the Holy
Spirit is. Was it Philip who said, show
us the Father and it will satisfy us. Christ just show us the Father. He said, you've been so long
time with me and you don't see the Father. Everything you're
ever going to know about the Father The Heavenly Father. I'm
talking about God our Father. Everything you're ever gonna
know about Him, you're gonna learn it in Christ. Everything in creation pictures
Him in some way. But mostly, this is the What's the word I'm searching
for? This is the place in time. God's an eternal being, but He's
created time and He's created an earth and a people to dwell
on it. And what He's doing in this is
to show us His glory. He's going to demonstrate to
mankind and angels His glory. His glory. He's gonna manifest the glory
of His justice on this unbelieving world when He casts them into
hell forever. And He's gonna demonstrate the
glory of His grace in the redemption of His people. And He redeems
them and sits them at His own right hand. He works in providence. All these people, who's born
of who? You go down through that. In Luke, he gives a nice, long
genealogy of Christ. And you go down through there
and you find harlots in the middle of this. You find all these people,
David, all these people, all down through here. But here's
Christ at the end. Who worked all that? Who? Who
calls? Abraham and Sarah to get together.
Was that a chance meeting? No. How about Isaac? No. No. You mean the God of glory did
that? He arranged it? Yes. That's exactly
what I'm saying. And he works everything in detail. Well, my old pastor told me this
years and years ago. He said if a gnat had flown into
the eye of the man who shot Kennedy, he'd have missed him. But a gnat didn't fly in his
eye. How come? Is there anything in creation
left to chance? And here's another thing. I'm
telling you these things, and here's another thing people say
all the time. They said this to a good friend
of mine, pastor friend of mine. They said, well, you got God,
and man's a puppet, and God's up here moving him around. And
this is what that man told him. He said, well, the alternative
is, here's man with the strings, and he's got God. That's the
alternative. I'd rather be the puppet. Wouldn't
you? Oh yeah. I'd rather be the puppet. Paul preached to the philosophers
on Mars Hill and it says that this one set apart by God hath
determined the times before appointed and the bounds of man's habitation. He made all men of one blood
Black, white, red, and yellow, made them all, one blood. And he said, not even a sparrow
can fall to the ground without your Father. He works in creation. He works
in arranging his providence. And he works in the salvation
of his elect. Twice in the first chapter of
Ephesians, he uses the word predestinate. I'll never forget mentioning
that in the religion that I grew up in. I mentioned, oh, oh, don't,
oh, the hidden things belong under the. As I recall, the Lord told John
in the book of Revelation, when that revelation was complete,
the revelation of Jesus Christ, when it was complete, he said,
John, put your pen up. He didn't tell Paul to put his
pen up. He told him to write about this predestination. And
to write about this election. And the written things belong
to us. The revealed things belong to us. The hidden things belong
to God. I don't know everything that
God knows. I just know what He's revealed.
And everything that's written, He's revealed. All scripture
is profitable. That's what it says. It's all
profitable. Nothing to be hid under the basket. All to be declared. How does God work toward the
salvation of our souls? Well, he worked in appointing
a great mediator, one mediator between God and me and the man,
Christ Jesus. He works in our souls through
the accomplished salvation of Christ and that accomplished
redemption, that righteousness that I've already told you about.
He works through the preaching of the gospel. He works through
the power of His Holy Spirit. He works through the church.
We're going to come to a lesson here in the book of Mark where
he talks about a candle. Take a candle. I'm just talking
about a little skinny candle, you know. You take that candle,
plain candle. They didn't have fancy candles
back then. They had just a plain candle. Take it and stand it
up and see what happens. Falls down. Stand it back up. Falls down. What holds that candle
up? Now the candle's a preacher,
but what holds him up? He can't do anything by himself.
He'll fall. What holds him up? The candlestick, that's what
he tells them. Candle, you don't put a candle
under a bushel and you don't hide it under the bed, you put
it in a candlestick. Revelations 1 says the candlestick
are his churches. That's what holds that pastor
up. They support him, they pray for him, they listen to him,
they rejoice in him, they benefit from what he's saying. That's
the candlestick. And of course, God holds it all
in His hand. John Whipp, God showed him this
vision, this revelation of Jesus Christ, and He took him all the
way back to the beginning. And God's holding this book of
His decrees, the book of His purpose, and it's sealed with
seven seals, and nobody can look at it, nobody can take it, nobody's
worthy to do anything with it. And John wept, because nobody,
not an angel, not anybody was worthy to unloose those seals
and to take that book from the Father. And he wept. He wept. But one of the elders
cried, Weep not, John! Behold the lion of the tribe
of Judah. Who's that? That's the root of
David. That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
He hath prevailed to take the book. And he's worthy to unloose
the seals. And that's what he says there
in Ephesians 1, wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom
and prudence, making known unto us the mystery of his will. We
know that in Christ because He unloosed the seals. And He declares
it to us. But in our days especially, He worked out His will through
the preaching of the gospel. And I did everything in my power
this morning to set that before you as clearly as I know how
to set it. Salvation is looking to Christ. Looking to Christ. And I'll tell
you when you're gonna look to him. Paul said God first trusted
in Christ. You know, he created the world
and he looked at it and everything in it was perfect. And he looked
over his creation and it says, and it was good. It was good. Now I know what God means when
he says it's good. He means it's perfect. and saying God rested from his
works. Yeah, but didn't God know that
Satan was going to come into the world and corrupt it? Yeah. Didn't he know that mankind was
going to fall? Yeah. Didn't he know in a few
short generations that he was going to, every imagination of
the thought of man was going to be only evil continually and
he was going to destroy the whole world with a flood, didn't he
know that? Yeah, he knew that. Didn't he know that men who were raised by holy men of
God, they were raised, they were their children, didn't he know
that they were going to corrupt the truth? That anti-Christ religion
beginning at Babylon was going to flourish all down through
time? Didn't he know that? Didn't he
know that when his son come into this world that they were going
to despise him and kill him and nail him to a cross? Didn't he
know that? Yeah. Well, how could he rest? Because he rested all things
into the hands of his son. That's why. It's under the praise of the
glory of His grace who first trusted in Christ. Now listen
to this. Now, you trusted in Him when
you heard that. We trust in the same Christ that
God trusted in. He's worthy to be trusted. He's worthy to be rested in.
That's the gospel. That's the gospel. Come unto
me, He said, all you that wear in heavy laden. I'll give you
rest. And he can. He can. All right. Thank you.