If you will, take your Bibles
and turn with me to 2 Peter chapter 1. I titled the message this morning,
Saved Accordingly. Let's read our text together
in 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 2. 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 2. Grace and peace be multiplied
unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. Now that's how peace comes. It
comes through knowledge of Him, a true knowledge of Him, who
He is. According as his divine power
hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness
through the knowledge of him that's called us to glory and
virtue, whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious
promises, that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature. having escaped the corruption
that is in the world through lust. Now in these three verses,
the Apostle Peter declares to us a full, free, and complete,
with no questions asked, salvation. Does he not? God is the giver. James tells
us that. Every good and perfect gift cometh
down from above, comes down from the Father of lights, with whom
is no wearableness, neither shadow of turning. If he gives the gift,
you think he's going to give it in vain? Or he's going to
see to it that who he gives it to receives it? Here's what Peter's
declaring to these people. Some of them he never met, just
heard about. This is a general epistle. It's
written to all these little churches scattered all over the place.
Some of them, just a few, meeting in their homes, meeting in caves. And Peter tells them about a
full, free, and complete salvation. He tells them about the covenant
salvation, spoken by the dying psalmist who said, this is all
my hope and all my salvation. This covenant, ordered in all
things and sure. No possibility of failure. He said, this is my salvation. Divine wisdom has not left anything
out. I'm constantly being asked, yes,
I believe what you're saying, but. Somebody told me years ago, goats
but. Sheep don't but. But. What about? What about? There are no whatabouts
with God. Huh? There are no whatabouts
with Him. There are no what-ifs with God. Divine wisdom has not left anything
out. And divine authority has not
allowed anything to take anything away. But accordingly, his divine power
hath given us all things that pertain unto life and godliness.
Now there's several things I want you to see here in these verses.
And I don't know how much time will allow me to go, but I want
you to see as much as possible. First of all, that the apostle
is talking to those who had or have obtained like precious faith. He's talking to believers. To
believers. Ephesians chapter four verse
five tells us there is but one faith. And while there are many
beliefs and many doctrines and many written confessions and
concepts and interpretations, there's just one faith. Why is
that so hard for us to understand? There's just one faith. I either have it or I don't.
Now, you can have religion. Religion has many parts. It has
many sides. I picked up a coin out in the
parking lot. I don't know, somebody laid it under a train, and we
used to do that. I had a railroad ran through
my backyard, and we'd go out there and put coins on there,
and they'd flatten them out, you know, thin as paper. And
we'd take them to school and whatever. And I found a penny
out here, or a dime. I couldn't tell what it was out
here. And that's the way it is with
a lot of faith. You can't tell what it is. But this one faith,
you can tell it. It sticks out. Somebody told Barnard one time,
said, I just don't understand why you don't pray in restaurants.
If you don't pray in restaurants, how are they going to know what
you believe? He said, they'll get a good idea when they see
your tip. He's talking to those who have
attained like precious faith. And they're just one faith. Just
one faith. In Titus chapter 1 verse 1, Paul
says that his apostleship and his office as a servant of God
was according... That's the word we're considering
this morning. It was according to the faith of God's elect. That's the one faith. Or why does he call it the faith
of God's elect? Because it's given to them. You see, by grace are you saved
through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of
God. God gives faith. He gives the
ability to understand. He gives the ability and the
revelation to know. And those to whom He gives it
know. are no ifs, ands, and buts about
it. Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into
the heart of man, mankind, the things which God hath prepared
for them that love him. But God revealed them to you
by spirit. You see what I'm saying? It's
the gift of God. And this faith, there's just
one faith, it's the gift of God. God chose them from the beginning
to salvation, now listen to this, through sanctification of spirit
and belief of the truth. And so called them by his gospel
to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Thessalonians
2, 13 and 14. Not only did he ordain a purpose
to give this faith, but he ordained the means by which the faith
is given. And it is the faith of God's
elect that designates their sonship. How does a man get to be a son
of God? Well, he came into the world,
and the world didn't know who he was. He came unto his own,
and his own received him not. But to as many as received Him,
to them gave He power to become the sons of God. How come them
to receive Him? How come Peter and James and
John to receive Him and the Pharisees reject Him? How come? These guys were just fishermen.
They were nobodies. These Pharisees had been in school
all their life. They were doctors of divinity.
People called them rabbis. Father, Master. How come God passed them by and
these guys fully understood? They heard what He said. And
our Lord said to them, Blessed are your eyes, they say, and
your ears, for they hear. How come? Because it was given
to them. It's the faith of God's elect
that designates their sonship. In Galatians 3 verse 26 it said,
for ye are all the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ. Faith doesn't make us sons, it
manifests our sonship. Paul said, because ye are sons. God has sent forth the spirit
of his son into your heart, and you cry, Abba, Father. Now nobody
but a son of God will cry to God from their heart, Abba, Father. He's their father, and they know
it. They know it. So much so that Paul said, I
know your election of God. They didn't know their election
of God. But Paul did. I know your election of God.
When our gospel come, it didn't just come in words. It wasn't
just another religious debate. It wasn't just another shocking
statement that men make. Something to argue over and debate
over. Split over. It come in power
and it come in the Holy Ghost and you become followers of us
and the Lord. I know your election. Man can't do the things that
you've done. You believe. You believe. The salvation of God for sinners. is not left to the imaginations
of fallen men, but it's according as his divine power had given
it. That's what Peter's telling us
here. In Peter's first general epistle, he says, those to whom
he writes are elect according to the foreknowledge of God.
Now this is where Baptists get in trouble all the time. And
they talk about God looking down through the telescope of time.
He looks down there and he sees what's going to happen, who's
going to choose him and who's not. He sees, kind of like Santa
Claus, who's naughty and who's nice. And he looks down through
this. He's able to look into the future. But the truth is, the word foreordained
and the word foreknow are the same word in the scripture. Very
same word. Well, you say, did they make
a mistake when they In the translation, no, he's just simply telling
us this, what God foreknows, he foreordains. Listen to this
scripture. Whom he did foreknow, he also
did predestinate. Huh? That foreordained, ain't
it? He did predestinate. Who did
he do that? Those he foreknew. Salvation is to God's elect and all his
elect believe because it's given to them by divine power to believe. All right, here's the next thing.
Salvation is according to election. Even so then, Paul writes, at
this present time also there is a remnant according to the
election of grace. And if by grace, then is it no
more works, otherwise grace is no more grace. Salvation, or as Peter puts it,
all things that pertain to life and godliness are according to
divine election. Our sovereign, eternal God chose
a people in Christ to save for the glory of His name. He says in Ephesians 1-4, according
as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world.
What are you going to do with that? We're going to just rip
that out of the Bible because we don't like it? And I'm going
to let you in on a little secret. The reason you don't like it
is because you're not, as the Bible describes you, helpless
and hopeless before God. Because the truth of it is, if
he had not chosen some of us, we'd have been just like Sodom
and Gomorrah. And he tells us that earlier in this chapter,
or in the preceding chapter. There's a remnant according to
the election of grace. And if it's by grace, then it's
no more works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace.
We can't have grace and works together. They won't mix. They won't mix, not in salvation. Now that man to whom the grace
of God has been given and shown, works will be produced in him. Now what he tells us, he tells
us back there in Ephesians chapter 2, he said, by grace are you
saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the
gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. We are
His workmanship created in Christ Jesus, now watch this, unto good
works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in. He purposed
that as much as He purposed the faith that He gave us. Salvation is of the Lord and
it's according to the good pleasure of His will. And now what he
says about those predestinated unto the adoption of children,
he did that according to the good pleasure of his will. It's of the Lord. And it's according
to his election of grace. And then thirdly, all things
that pertain unto life and godliness are according to the revelation
of the mystery which God hath kept secret since the world began. Salvation's a mystery, men don't
know it. Talk to them. Go down to the
restaurant, introduce yourself. Tell me what you know about God,
mister. Are you saved? Oh yeah, yeah,
I got saved. You did? Tell me when and how. Tell me about it. Talk to me.
No, no, you don't know God. And you can't know God because
it's a mystery. The only way you can know Him
is for Him to reveal Himself to you. Don't get too angry at folks
because they don't believe. You was right there with them
at one time. Huh? You couldn't believe either. Turn with me to the last chapter
of the book of Romans, Romans chapter 16. The gospel is ordained
and it's intended for and sent on purpose to God's elect. And they alone are given eyes
to see and ears to hear, and they alone receive this gift
of revelation. Romans chapter 16, verse 25. Now to him that is of power to
establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus
Christ. Now listen. According to the
revelation of the mystery which was kept secret since the world
began. But now is made manifest, and
by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment
of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the
obedience of faith. Paul often mentioned the eternal
salvation of God's elect as a mystery. He knew it was a mystery. That's
why he preached. Because God also ordained through
the preaching of the gospel to reveal that mystery to his elect. I don't know who they are, I
preached everybody the same. In 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse
7 he said, 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, for had they
known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. The salvation of God's elect
in Christ from Genesis to Malachi and in prophecy, picture, and
type is a mystery unto this day. He tells us over in the book
of 1 Corinthians, I think, no, 2 Corinthians, he said that veil
that was over their eyes, still over their eyes still to this
day. You start talking about pictures
and types and people roll their eyes. Well, you can just make
that say anything you want it to. No, you can't. It says what
God intended for it to say, and most generally all those types
were used by the Lord in the New Testament to preach the gospel. Salvation of God's elect in Christ,
from Genesis to Malachi, all these types and pictures is a
mystery to men under this day. And he says this, listen to what
Paul wrote to Timothy, he said, without controversy, great is
the mystery of godliness. God-likeness. I'm telling you,
religion loves that word godliness. Oh, if ever there was a godly
woman, is that a woman, somebody's aunt or grandma or something,
Godliness. Paul said, great is the mystery
of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. You want to see God likeness,
don't look at me, look at Christ. Look at Christ. God was manifest
in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached
unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received up
into glory. You want to see godliness? Look
to Christ. This is the mystery behind creation. All things were created by Him
and for Him. This is the mystery behind the
Scriptures. To Him give all the prophets
witness. Those old Jews, even though they
were fishermen, Peter and the rest of them, James
and John, they all knew the Scriptures. They'd heard the Scriptures read
from the time they were kids. And they were trying to piece
these things together and listen to what our Lord was saying and
still hold on to those old concepts about natural Israel and the
temple being rebuilt and all of these things. And finally,
after our Lord had died, he appeared to them after his resurrection. And they was walking along and
so sad. And he said, what are you all
sad about? Oh, where you been? Where you been? There was a man,
his name was Jesus. And we thought, we thought this
was the Christ. But now he's dead, he's been
crucified and he's dead. And the Lord began in the book
of Genesis, and all the prophets, and all
the Psalms, and preached unto them, opened to them the scriptures,
all things pertaining to himself. Then it says, opened he their
understanding that they might understand scriptures. This is the mystery behind the
scriptures. All things that pertain unto
life and godliness come as the revelation of a mystery. which
God ordained before the foundation of the world. That bunch of unbelieving
Jews, those rebels, they walked away from Christ. They couldn't
catch Him in their traps, and they couldn't expose Him as a
liar because He was preaching the truth. And finally, they
just turned and walked away. And our Lord bowed His head,
and He said, I thank thee, O Lord, Lord of heaven and earth. I thank
thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth. because thou hast
hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them
unto babes." There was another place where a bunch of disciples,
followers of Christ, a bunch of them, they was listening to
him talk and he was talking about, except you eat my flesh and drink
my blood, you have no life in you. And they said, he's crazy, he's
talking, he's preaching cannibalism. And I'm gonna tell you something,
the Catholics believe that that bread that they eat is the body
of Christ. That cannibalism, isn't it? That's
exactly what these men understood that our Lord was saying. They got all red in the face,
stomped off. There sit the few. 11 or 12 of them, there they sit.
He said, you gonna go too? Door's open. I said, where we
gonna go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. Where we gonna go? All things that pertain unto
life and godliness come as the revelation of a mystery. which
God ordained before the world under our glory. Fourthly, all
things that pertain to life and godliness are according to the
riches of His glory. Everything about salvation, now
hear me, everything, I don't care what it is, you want to
talk about the eternality of it, you want to talk about it,
the appointment of the officers in time, you want to talk about
his incarnation in time, you want to talk about the preaching
of the gospel, I don't care what part of it. You want to talk
about the future coming of Christ and the resurrection, any part
of it that you want to talk about. All things that pertain unto
life and godliness are according to the riches of his glory. If it doesn't glorify him, it's
not of God. Now you can write it down. I
don't care if you understand what's being preached or not.
If it doesn't glorify God, if it's not consistent with his
character, is he all wise? Then the man who said he didn't
know is a liar. and no middle ground. Is he completely just? Is he inflexibly just? Then the man
who says he'll compromise is a liar. And the same thing for his holiness,
the same thing for his wisdom, the same thing for his power,
you can go on and on. Anything about salvation, I don't
care when it is, if it's not glorifying to God, it's not of
God. It's of man. Salvation is not about the glory
of man. It's about the glory of God. Romans 11, 36. Paul said, for
of him. He's talking about these Jews
and their unbelief. And because of their own belief,
this gospel went to the Gentiles, and then the Gentiles believing
and receiving these things, and the Lord blessing them and confirming
it with gifts and wonders and signs and all of these things
provoked them and made them jealous. And then some of the Jews believed
after what they saw from the Gentiles. And his mind was trying
to wrap itself around all of these things that God was doing. And he said, oh, he said, for
of him, that's all you can say, ain't it? Of him and through
him and to him are all things to whom be glory forever. Amen. I don't understand. That's what that song was saying.
I don't understand how that... works faith in me and you don't
either. One day you didn't believe, the
next day you did. Why? I don't understand. I just
know it's a gift of God. Of Him, through Him, to Him are
all things. Ephesians 3 verse 16, Paul said,
Oh, he said 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 might dwell in your
hearts by faith that you being rooted and grounded in love may
be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth
and length and depth and height and to know the love of Christ
which passeth all knowledge. that you might be filled with
all the fullness of God. It's according to the riches
of his glory. Salvation's the glorious thing. People just gloat and put them
thumbs, I always get pictures of old Nebuchadnezzar wearing
suspenders and having them thumbs back there and rocking, looking
down there on that hanging garden of Babylon, looking down on that
big city just before God caused his hair to grow and had him
go out there and eat grass like a beast. That's what man does. He just
puts him fingers in them suspenders. I know the day and the time and
the hour. I gave my heart to God. It might come as a shock to you,
but God don't want your old heart. If He saves you, He'll give you
a new one. That one you got ain't worth having. Is that right? This is the covenant. At this
time, I'll come and I'll write my laws. I'll write these things
so that you can understand them. I'm going to write them on your
mind and in your heart. And I'm going to take out that
old stony heart and I'm going to give you a heart of flesh.
I'm going to give you a mind that can believe. Fifthly, it
is of His divine power that all these things have been given. It is beyond me why men despise
the sovereignty of God. What if he weren't sovereign? What if he was down here on some
kind of an equality with the fallen angel? Salvation was up for grabs, and
there was a war being fought, and this side would win a little
while, then this side would win a little while, then that side
would win a little while. You find hope in that? Oh, I can hope when I look up
and see Him on the throne. When I see my Savior sat down
at the right hand of God, now I can rest. Oh, what are we going to do?
They're rolling all these armies right behind us and there's mountains
on the right and mountains on the left and the sea out. What
are we going to do? Stand still. Quit moving. Quit working. Quit wanting. Quit willing. Stand still and
watch what God's going to do. He'll split that sea right down
the middle. You wouldn't come up with that
in a million years, would you? Huh? And neither will you the
gospel of His grace. You won't come up with it. You'll
come up with everything else on it, but you won't come up
with that. Just stand still and look. We're saved by divine power. That's what Peter's telling us.
His divine power is according as His divine power has given
us all things. This faith is of divine power. This election was of divine power. We were resurrected out of death,
spiritual death by divine power. Paul prayed that the eyes of
your understanding might be enlightened, that you might see the exceeding
greatness of his power toward us for which belief. Do you see
that? Do you see the power of God in
your faith or did you just make a decision? And the word power has two basic
meanings. First of all, it means authority.
Christ has the authority to give us all things that pertain unto
life and godliness. He has the authority. He alone
has it. I don't have it. You don't have
it. He has it. He has it. I'm trying to think of the word
that He's the surety, and he's the executor of the will of God. Huh? Testator. He's the testator. What that
means is he's gonna see to it that whatever, whoever this inheritance
is for, they're gonna give. He's the testator. He has the
power. He has the authority to give
it. He told those disciples, he said, God hath given me power over
all flesh. It's been given to me. Authority
over everyone. Over the Russians, and the Germans,
and the Americans, and the French, and the Australians, and the
Vietnamese. He's given me power over all
flesh. Power in heaven and power on
earth. Now you go preach. You go preach. Who am I going
to preach to, Lord? Preach to every creature. I'll take care of the rest. Christ has the authority to give
us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, because he's
satisfied all the demands of God upon his elect. And as their
representative, he's obeyed God's law on their behalf and so made
them righteous unto God. And he's the end of the law for
righteousness to everyone that believeth. And this man, Jesus
Christ, is the full embodiment and expression of the law. If the law were expressed in
a man, you know, Christ become a man and in him dwelleth all
the fullness of the Godhead bodily. This is God in human flesh. If
the law were incarnate into a man, it'd be Jesus Christ. Be Jesus Christ. And he satisfied
the justice of God, paying our sin debt in full. Sanctification,
not just that a man died, but that the God-man died. God can't
suffer and man can't satisfy, but the God-man can do both. and on the basis of his satisfaction,
his obedience, and his acceptance to God, divine power has given
unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness. You
see what a treasure house of power and gifts is in this one
little expression of the gospel? The other meaning of this divine
power His ability. God in Christ has accomplished
salvation and sends the good news to His people, but they're
falling into prey. And so God must work in them
both the will and the do of His good pleasure. To them gave He
power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on
His name which were born. Not of blood, nor the will of
the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God. So from beginning
to end, it's according to the working whereby he's able to
subdue all things unto himself. Even in the changing of this
vile body into a body like unto his own in that day. And then
lastly, I want to show you that all things given to us are according
to His purpose and grace. Now watch this, over here in
2 Timothy 1.8. Y'all know this well enough to
quote it, probably. But he said, be thou therefore
not ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me as prisoner,
but be thou partakers of the affliction of the gospel according
to the power of God, who hath saved us. and called us with
a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
his own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. Huh? According. According. God saves men and women on purpose. Isn't that something how As a
feller, he comes from California, and he's up there in Iowa. And
events of providence have led him there, and he's settling
his father's estate, and he's working around there, and he's
getting some long-needed attention from his children, and he's living
there, and things are just going nice, and he's beginning to get
grips on things, and all of a sudden, he gets on the Internet, and
he hears the Gospel. Isn't that something? He's been
on the internet a hundred thousand times. But not that day. That day he heard the gospel.
Isn't that something? He just happened to hear. Just
happened to be moved by the Spirit that day. Just happened to be stirred in
his heart. just happened to hear something
that six months prior to that he would have spit it out. And wouldn't you know it, he
moved here. Isn't that something? Isn't that something that after
years of hearing the Bible read and taught and false religion
that a man is led to hear a TV broadcast? or hear a message preached on
the radio, or got on the internet and heard
something about God's saving grace in Christ. Isn't that something? And wouldn't you know it, he
just rolled his hands up and said, I'm moving up there. I want to
hear this. I want to hear, this man got
something to say. I want to hear him. That's what happened to me. I'm telling you the biggest danger
to our children today is free will works religion. It's considered
harmless by the multitude. Well, at least they're going
to church. Is that what you'd say if your
child was going down to a brothel? Well, at least he's going somewhere. One makes about as much sense
as the other. and no greater enemy than antichrist
religion and free will works religion no matter what the name
on the side is contrary to the grace of god to the purpose of
god and to the character of god contrary he said if it's of grace then
it can't be of works and if it be of works it can't
be of grace otherwise work is no more work I'm going to tell you something,
helpless sinners are as helpless as that impotent man. You know
there was a man there at the pool, they called that pool Bethesda. And this pool, one time a year
an angel would come down, he'd stir up the waters, trouble the
waters. And the first man, after the waters were troubled, here
they were, there's five porches all laid out on this pool like
little docks sticking out. And they brought down all kind
of impotent folks and cripples and blind people and whatever. They brought them down and great
multitudes were gathered during this time of year. And this angel
come down and as soon as they saw the waters troubled, the
first man into the pool was made whole. But here was a man and
he was impotent. He was paralyzed for 37 or 8
years. All his life, paralyzed. And
somebody carried him down. They carry him down there every
year. And they lay him out here on the porch. And he's right
here. And there's the water. The water's right there. And
here he is. And he's laying there. And he's looking at the water.
And the water's a big trouble. And he couldn't do a thing about
it. He's paralyzed. He's paralyzed. It didn't do him a bit of good.
He couldn't move. Oh, what agony. He must have
suffered. Year after year, men and women
were helped into the pool and he'd see them. He'd see them
go into the water and come out whole. He'd see the blind man
go in and come out seeing. He'd see the man with the withering
arm. He'd go in and he'd come out
and he'd use his arm. All this time he was seeing it,
seeing it, seeing it, but he couldn't do a thing about it.
Get to the waters. He had no man to help him into
the waters. That's the sinner. And I'm going
to tell you something. You'll get serious about this
thing when you see yourself the sinner. And you're looking around,
and this one's being saved, and that one's being saved, and this
one's being baptized, and that one's being baptized. But you
can't do anything about it because you're a helpless, paralyzed
sinner. And you'll never do anything
about it until God sends a man to help you into the waters.
That's what preachers do. They point men to Christ. Helpless, hopeless men don't
talk about works and reward. They're looking for mercy. Blind
men don't talk about finding their way. They sit on the blanket
where God probably didn't put them until God sends an ambassador
by to do something about it. Demon-possessed men and women
don't talk about what a great life they're living. They got
no control over themselves whatsoever. They go where the demons tell
them to go and they do what the demons tell them to do. and they
cut themselves and they live in cemeteries. You don't think
this world's a cemetery? You don't know God. They got no control of themselves.
They eat and sleep where demons lead them. And they say and do
what demons demand. The sinner is a person shut up
to the sovereign grace of God. That's what Peter's telling them.
It's His divine power hath given us. Who are we? Nobody. The sinner. Given to us. What did He give us? The first
step? Reached out and gave us a hand?
What did He give us? All things that pertain unto
life and God. Untold millions today are trusting
in a false hope. They look into the grave with
a false sense of hope and they're whistling that old tune of works
and will. Even though the scripture tells
them it's not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but
of God that showeth mercy. Salvation is according as His
divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto
life and godliness. Now listen, through the knowledge
of Him, all comes through the knowledge of Him who hath called
us to glory and virtue. Knowing Him, that's eternal life,
to know Him. You'll be saved accordingly or
you won't be saved at all. you'd just get religion and die
and go to hell. Or you'd be saved according,
according to the faith of God's elect, according to God's eternal
election. Accordingly, we're saved. That's
what the scripture teaches. May the Lord be pleased to show
it to us and show us the glory of his mercy and grace for Christ's
sake.