Well, this is our 37th annual
Sovereign Grace Bible Conference. Our theme is the gospel of God's
free and sovereign grace in Christ. Lest anyone fail to understand
what I mean by that, I'm talking about the gospel revelation of
God's absolute sovereignty in all things, over all things,
all the time, everywhere. Man's total depravity. God's
free, unconditional, electing love. Limited atonement. Limited atonement. limited in
this regard, Jesus Christ died to redeem and save God's elect,
and God's elect he has redeemed and saved. Irresistible grace. Every sinner chosen of God and
redeemed by Christ, is called to life and faith in Christ by
the irresistible force of God's omnipotent grace, so that when
God comes calling, you come believing. God Almighty does as He will
always. You're in His hands. He's not
in your hands. Only if God is pleased to have
mercy on you, will you come to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And preservation, the absolute
sure preservation of every sinner saved by God's grace. God's people
are saved forever. Salvation is by grace. Nothing
depends on you. Nothing's determined by you.
Nothing's conditioned upon you. Salvation is God's doing. Salvation
is of the Lord. Our creed, our only creed, our
confession of faith, our only confession of faith is this book. This book, the Word of God. I
have often been accused of being afraid to put down on paper what
I believe. Folks who make the accusation
are either liars or they don't know me. I'm not afraid of stating
what I believe. But a creed written by men and
adopted by men, by churches, by denominations, always makes
the word of God subservient to the creed. I don't mean it sometimes
does, I mean it always does. So that folks subject the word
of God to their creed. Not among God's people in this
place. Our creed, our only confession
of faith is the word of God. This is our only authority for
anything we believe. If you can't show it to me in
the book, don't talk about believing it. And if it's in the book,
Don't hesitate to declare it. This we believe, this we preach,
this we do as a body of believers because of what God says in his
word. We observe the ordinances that
our Lord's given us, baptism. the immersion of believers in
water, in a watery grave, confessing Christ, the Lord's table. Here
we do so every Sunday evening, unleavened bread and wine. I
was asked years ago, somebody said, well, what would you do
if you went and started pastoring a church where they use grape
juice? I said, first time we had the Lord's table, we'd use
wine. That's all I'd do. Well, what if folks object? Let
them object. This is what God teaches. And
we do what God teaches in his word. Our message. Our message,
not part of our message, not our occasional message, our message
is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Jesus Christ and Him crucified. You cannot preach the gospel
if you do not preach Christ crucified. You cannot preach the Word of
God if you do not preach Christ crucified. Now please understand
this. I'm not just saying that you
put on a sign out here, we preach Christ crucified. I'm saying
that to preach this book, when you open the book and expound
the meaning of the book, you expound to men that which God
has written in His Word about Jesus Christ crucified. Because
everything in this book is about Him. Everything in this book
is about Him. And if you don't see Christ in
the passage, don't invent something. Just wait until God shows you
where He is in the passage. Go somewhere else. We preach
the Word of God as we preach Christ crucified. And you cannot
preach God's sovereignty. You cannot preach God's sovereignty.
Not in creation, not in providence, not in grace, except you preach
Christ crucified. And I'll tell you something else.
You can't preach Jesus Christ crucified and not preach God's
sovereignty. It can't be done. It can't be
done. If you don't preach God's sovereignty,
the Christ you preach is not the Christ of this book, is not
the God of this book. I can't think of a more suitable
place then to begin our conference than my favorite, one of my favorite
passages of scripture, the first chapter of the book of Ephesians,
Ephesians chapter one. When I sat down at a meal in
my house, my wife asked, what's your favorite meal? The one I
just got through eating, that was my favorite one. And that's
kind of the way I am when I get to passages like this. Right
now, this is my favorite passage, Ephesians chapter one. The title
of my message tonight is In Christ, In Christ. Now while you're turning,
listen carefully to what I have to say by way of introduction.
Christ is the center of everything, the object of everything, and
the end of everything. If you don't know him, you know
nothing of creation, nothing of providence, Nothing of grace,
nothing of God's salvation, nothing of yourself, and nothing of this
book. Without Christ, you can't see
at all. Without Christ, you haven't any
understanding at all. apart from faith in Christ, you
have no knowledge at all, none whatsoever with regard to anything
spiritual or with regard to anything righteous or with regard to anything
concerning godliness. Now I want you to hold your Bibles
open on your laps and listen carefully as I try to declare
the message of these 14 verses by God the Holy Spirit. If you
have not yet learned, that Christ and him crucified is the foundation,
the essence, and the fullness of all divine truth. If we haven't
yet learned that the message of this book, the hope of the
gospel, is Christ and him crucified, then we have not read the word
of God except in vain. We've read it with no profit
to our souls. If we don't see that Christ crucified
is everything in this book, our religion is a vain show, and
we're yet without hope before God. What knowledge we may have
of this sacred book, knowledge of facts, will only add to our
condemnation in the day of judgment. Without Christ and him crucified,
religion is as useless as a bucket without a bottom. Without Christ
and Him crucified, there's no forgiveness of sin, no comfort
in trouble, no strength in trial, no atonement, no peace, no reconciliation
with God, no hope in death, no access to God, and no door of
entrance into heaven. Do you understand this? Christ
is all. Without Christ, we are nothing. We have nothing, we can do nothing. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God has made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption, that according as it is written, he that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord. He who trusts, let him trust
in the Lord. He who rests, let him rest in
the Lord. He who believes, let him believe
in the Lord. He who rejoices, let him rejoice
in the Lord. He who gives praise, let him
give praise to the Lord. All that God has for guilty sinners
is in Christ, only in Christ. Not in the church, not in religious
reformation, not in moral good conduct, only in Christ. The Father loveth the Son and
hath given all things into His hand. The Father has put everything
in Christ's hand. Well, what does that mean? He
that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. The Father
loves the Son. He's put everything in Him. You
are complete in Christ. You who believe, complete in
Christ, who is himself the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Jesus
Christ crucified is everything. The love of God is in Christ.
The mercy of God is in Christ. The grace of God is in Christ. Apart from Christ, there's no
mercy, no love, no grace. God loves, embraces, and accepts
sinners in Christ and the cause of Christ. Nowhere else and for
no other reason. When the flood came, God swept
the earth with the flood. There was no refuge, no safety,
no deliverance, no salvation except in that one ark. Just
in that ark. And that ark was Christ. That's
the whole picture of knowing there is Jesus Christ crucified,
salvation value. When the manslayer fled from
the avenger of blood in the Old Testament, he found no safety
until he had entered into the city of refuge. You remember
God appointed six cities of refuge for the manslayer to flee to.
And he would flee into the city. And in the city, there he was
safe from the avenger of blood. Justice, law, and righteousness
would not allow the avenger of blood to touch the man in that
city. There he's safe. Christ is our
refuge. A man could go and stand beside
the city and tell you all about the city. and describe the gates
of the city, and admire the walls of the city, but there's no safety
until he's in the city. And there's no safety for your
soul until you're in Christ by faith. Until you're in Christ
by faith. God said to Israel, I will meet
thee upon the mercy seat between the two cherubim. That mercy
seat's solid gold. sitting on the Ark of the Covenant,
underneath it, the broken law of God, and the manna, and Abraham's
rod that budded, and over the mercy seat, those cherubs, constantly
looking down on the mercy seat, on the place of atonement, where
the Shekinah glory of God resided. God said, I'll meet you there!
Nowhere else. Christ is our mercy seat. And
God meets sinners in Christ. Only by His blood and by His
righteousness do we have access to God and find grace in Him. Among the untold millions of
the redeemed in heaven, there shall not be found a single voice
that doesn't sing the praises of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of
God, and the Lion of Judah. Yonder in glory land, Christ
is praised. As Eric and Esther say just a
little bit ago, there the ransoms sing, thou art worthy for thou
was slain and has redeemed us to God by thy blood. I sincerely
hope you understand what I'm telling you. The message of this
book is Jesus Christ and him crucified and all things are
in Christ. Now in this first chapter of
Ephesians, in the first 14 verses of this chapter, The Apostle
Paul was inspired of God to use the words in Christ or their
equivalent, in whom or in him, 14 times. 14 times. I think the Spirit
of God intends for us to understand that everything relating to God
and salvation and grace and life is in Christ, in him alone. All spiritual blessings are ours
in Him. All covenant mercies are ours
in Him. Election is in Christ. Redemption
is in Christ. Adoption is in Christ. Forgiveness
is in Christ. Eternal life is in Christ. Acceptance
with God is in Christ. The eternal inheritance that
we anticipate and hope for in heavenly glory is all in Christ. The triune Jehovah has made us
accepted in the beloved. Now, let's look at verse 1. We'll
look at this line by line. Paul. Not Reverend Paul. Not Dr. Paul. Not Father Paul. Just Paul. Just Paul. People
ask me all the time when they find out I'm a preacher, what
should I call you? Donald, do just fine. This Paul, this Paul, an apostle,
an apostle. Now certainly we recognize this
man was in the apostolic office. He was that man chosen of God
to take the place of Judas Iscariot and he was that one chosen in
due time and brought forth by the hand of God's providence.
But the word apostle simply means messenger. Paul says Paul, an
apostle, Paul, a messenger. not be messenger, a messenger,
one among many, a messenger of Jesus Christ. I am a man in whom God has put this treasure
of his grace, the gospel of Jesus Christ, his darling son, and
given me the privilege of being his messenger. The messenger
of Jesus Christ by the will of God. Not because I chose to be
a preacher. Not because one day I decided
that's what I want to do for a living. Not because that's
the way my mama and daddy trained me. Not because the church said
I ought to be a preacher. According to the will of God.
The only one who can make a preacher is God. The only one who can. I pray
God will raise up from our assembly other men to preach the gospel
of His grace. But you can't make a preacher. And you can't make yourself a
preacher. Only God can. By His will, by His grace, by
His gift. To the saints. Saints. Isn't that a strange thing? Saints. How could he call these folks
saints? He hadn't seen a lot of them. He hadn't even seen
pictures of them. How could he call them saints?
He didn't even know their names. How could he call them saints?
Because all who believe on the Son of God are saints. There's
Saint Walker, right? Saint Mike Walker. You don't
get to be a saint when you die. Oh no, if you're not a saint
before you die, you won't be one after you die. Saints. The word means sanctified ones.
The word means holy ones. Holy ones. Not people who aspire
to be holy. Not people who are trying to
be holy. Not people who are being as holy as they can. They're
holy. Holy because God's put in them
a holy nature in the new birth. their God sanctified with Christ
in you is that holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.
You mean, Brother Don, if a man or woman believes on the Son
of God, he's a saint? Well, yeah, that's what I mean.
Yeah. Which are in Ephesus. Now watch
what else he says about it. And to the faithful. All who
are born of God are saints. And all who are saints are faithful. They're all faithful. Well, he's
a faithful brother. If he's a brother, he is. Faithful. I heard a story, Brother Ernie
Lucas told me one time about an old preacher he knew. Ernie
passed his open mathematics for January. He did until just recently.
And I've known him a long time, since I was 18 years old. But
he told a story about an old preacher. He saw him just standing
by the riverbank one day. And he walked up to him and said,
he said, brother, what are you doing? He said, just watching
the river. He said, watching the river? What are you watching
for? He said, I'm just watching it flow. I like to see something
flow. I like to see something move that I don't have to prime,
pump, push, or pull. And sad fact is most religious
folks do what they do because some preacher primes, pumps,
pushes, or pulls them. If you want to come, come. If
you don't, stay home. It's just that simple. It really is. You
don't mean that. Yes, I do. Yes, I do. Ask folks
here how many times I go chasing somebody down. If you don't want
to be here, don't come. That's all right. I understand.
I really do understand. I really do. God's people are
faithful. They're faithful. Made faithful
by the grace of God because they're in Christ. The faithful in Christ. Paul was in religion a long,
long time before he was in Christ. He was in the Jews' religion
for many years. Then he was born again in Christ. It doesn't matter whose religion
you're in. One is just as good or bad as another if you're not
in Christ. Just as good or just as bad.
Doesn't matter whether it's Baptist or Papist or Presbyterian or
Pentecostal. Look at verse 2. Grace be to you and peace from
God our Father. If you've got grace, you've got
peace. And it comes from God our Father and comes from or
through the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, how I love that word grace. Everything in Christ is by grace. Not by God's gracious disposition. Not by God's gracious offer,
but by God's gracious operation. Grace is not something God offers
to men. Grace is something God performs
in you and gives to you in Christ Jesus. Grace, how good, how great,
how free. Grace, how easy to be found.
All my guilt and misery in my Savior's blood are drowned. Now,
look at verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Blessed be the God. Praised be God. Our Father, which
art in heaven, the Savior taught us to pray, hallowed be thy name. That petition simply means this.
In all things, seek God's honor. In all things, seek that God's
name be magnified. In all things, praise Jehovah. Give honor to God. Oh, magnify
the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. Paul
calls for us to bless God, to praise the Lord God, because
he is the God. The only one there is. These
men have come to you, come here to preach to you, him who is
God. I'm not looking for something
to say, I want it to sink in. Him who is God. If the God you
worship or pretend to worship, The God under whose name you
claim to believe is not the God set forth right here in this
chapter with these very characters, attributes, and works. Then your
God is just a little pig man. Your God's just a little peanut
God. Your God is not worth the spit you can lay on the sidewalk.
Your God's useless, not the God. He who is the God is the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, the triune God,
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Jesus Christ, our God made mediator,
is himself God the Son from everlasting. So how do you explain that? I
want to tell you something. Now, hang on to this. It'll help
you. God's a little bit too big to
explain. When you can understand Him,
you've got Him too small. Jesus Christ is God the Eternal
Son, the Son of the Eternal Father. He is one with God, and He is
Himself God. Now watch what it says. Praise
God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, because He hath blessed
us. Don't miss that little four-letter
word. H-A-T-H, hath, hath. It's a work already done, done
by God's mercy and love and grace in Christ before time began. So that God's mercy, God's love,
God's grace in Christ toward us is not the result of Christ
coming into this world, but the calls of him coming to save us.
God's grace is not the result of our believing, but the calls
of our believing. It's not the result of our being
in Christ, but the calls of our being in Christ. Now watch what
it says here. He hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places. These blessings are heavenly
things. They came down from heaven. They
are of heavenly origin. They're of a heavenly nature,
and they bring us at last into heaven. And all these blessings
are ours already. Already. They were ours long before we
knew anything about them. Ours from eternity. How can that
be? They were ours because God gave
them to us in union with his son when his son stood forth
as our sheriff before the world was. God has saved us and called
us with the holy covenant. not according to our works, but
according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began, but is now made manifest
by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Well, brother Don,
that sounds like we were saved from eternity, doesn't it? Doesn't it? That's what the book says. Well,
that doesn't sit right. It does with me. And it will
with you if you get in line with God. Save from eternity. In Christ. In Christ. You see,
if nothing depends on us, if nothing's conditioned by us,
if nothing is determined by us in any way whatsoever, if it's
all God's work, it's done from eternity. From eternity. All
these blessings. All these spiritual blessings
in heavenly places are ours because of Christ as our representative
who has taken possession of them in heaven as our forerunner.
He took them in eternity. He earned them in time. He obtained
them when he obtained eternal redemption for us, and he took
his seat in heaven as our forerunner. And you know what the book says?
The book says, Pastor, we've seen it, we're sat down with
Him. We were quickened together with Him. So that these blessings
we now enjoy in time were given us in Christ in eternity and
are made manifest in our experience of God's grace. Our blessed Savior
has gone to heaven for us. He's taken possession of all
these blessings When he said, I go to prepare
a place for you, that's just what he meant. Paul is telling
us that nothing we do has anything to do with these blessings. Nothing we do has anything to
do with these blessings. Nothing. You can't earn them
and you can't lose them by what you do. You can't increase them
and you can't diminish them by what you do. Everything that
God has for sinners, everything that God gives to sinners, everything
that God requires of sinners, He gave us in Christ before the
world was. And if God has given it to you
in Him before the world was, the time will soon come when
He will give it to you in the blessed, sweet experience of
His grace, when this salvation, done from eternity, is made manifest
by the appearing of God our Savior in you, creating life and faith
in you. Now, look at verse 4. In these next verses, having
said all that, Paul begins to enumerate just a few of these
blessings. He mentions 12 spiritual blessings,
12 spiritual blessings that belong to every believer in Christ. Oh, if God will open the windows
of heaven this hour and drop his grace into your soul. If
God will put His Son in you, create in you a new man created
in righteousness and true holiness, if God will this hour give you
faith in Christ, if He has just now given you faith. Marvin,
if He just now gave it to you, all these blessings are yours.
All of them. He enumerates them. They're blessings
given to us by the purpose. of God the Father in predestination,
by the purchase and performance of God the Son, and by the power
and grace of God the Spirit. You see, all three persons in
the Holy Trinity are eternally engaged in the affair of our
salvation. All three persons in the Holy
Trinity are forever engaged, not just were, but they are now
and are until the end of time engaged in this work. We worship
one God in the Trinity of a sacred person, just as the book says. There are three that were erected
in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these
three All right, but first, here are four blessings of grace bestowed
upon us in the Father's everlasting purpose of grace in predestination. According as he hath chosen us
in him, before the foundation of the world. Oh, isn't that
wonderful? God's free election. Election. Now, I know if you go across
the street over yonder and sit down one Sunday morning, this
fellow hears what I preach tonight, he probably will. He'll tell
you that's a cuss word. No, that's a Bible word. Election. Election. God's choice of sinners. God chose us in his son before
the world was. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings according as. According as. That means, Michael,
you never get anything from God except wrath. Except by election. Can't get it any other way. All
God's blessings come according as He hath chosen us in Him.
And He did this before the foundation of the world. And I don't really
know what that refers to, foundation of the world, whatever it is
that holds this whole mess up. God did it before he made that,
before the foundation of the world. And he chose us in him
that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. He chose us to be holy. Now,
if you want to read a lot of gobbledygook, Read the commentaries,
even the good ones, on Ephesians 1 verse 4. And they'll tell you,
Brother Todd, God chose us to lead a holy life. Now that'd be a pretty good trick
if you could do it. But you can't do that. Now don't misunderstand me. Do
what you can. Strive after perfection. But
don't ever dream that you make yourself holy. or holier. Just as soon as you think you've
gotten a little better, you've gotten a little worse. What's he talking about? That
we should be holy and without blame. Not before Larry of Crius,
that don't matter a hoot. Holy and without blame before
Him. He chose us to that end. To make
us holy. Perfectly conformed to His Son.
In the beginning, God said, let us make man in our image and
after our likeness. In the gospel, God says I had
made man in my image and after my likeness. Holy and without
blame before him. So that God himself looks on me, he and his son,
and sees nothing of which to disapprove. Nothing. Nothing. Because he
only sees me in his son. Read on. Having predestinated
us. Having predestinated us. I can't
tell you how many times I've been asked when I was younger.
Folks don't ask anymore. I answered too bluntly, I reckon.
Said, you don't believe in predestination, do you? What if you believe the
book of God, you do. Predestination. Well, that's
deep. That's not deep. That's not deep. Man of light.
predestination. That's pretty simple. Well that sounds like God predestinated
you to salvation. It does, doesn't it? That's just
what it means. God in sovereign predestination
secured the certain salvation of every chosen redeemed sinner
at precisely the appointed time of love, He arranged the whole
of the universe to bring it to pass. And in providence works
all things after the counsel of His own will to bring it to
pass. For we know that all things work
together for good. to them that love God, to them
who are thee called according to His purpose. Predestinated
us. What did He predestinate us to?
The adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself. He predestinated
us to be adopted. No, no, no, no, no. The adoption
was done back here in predestination. Because you are sons, God has
sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying
out, Father. The adoption is experienced in time when He comes
and gives us faith in Christ by the power of His Spirit. He
predestinated us to the ultimate conclusion of adoption when we're
raised up in resurrection glory in the glorious liberty of the
sons of God. How did He do this? How did He
do this? Oh, He looked out with a long
powerful telescope of omniscience, and he saw that you would pretty
please let him be your God. Shake that off your feet, quick.
No, no, no, no, no. He did this according to the
good pleasure of his will. According to the good pleasure
of his will. I just happened to think about
Clay and Melinda. There they sit. God brought you
to meet that man because he chose you for the world was. God birthed
you in the house where you were born because he chose you for
the world was. You understand this? He's done this! Everything according to the good
pleasure of his will. That's how God does everything.
Verse six, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he
hath made us accepted in the beloved. Oh, accepted. Not acceptable, accepted. Accepted. Highly favored. Greatly honored. in the beloved,
so that God looks on us. We just can't hardly
get a handle on this. If I look at David Cogner, and
he said something mean to me, and that's not really David,
I just forget it. He's still there. I can't help it, he's
still there. I try not to deal with him on
that basis, but it's still there. It's still there. Not so with
God. He doesn't just pretend we're
holy. He made us such. He doesn't just
pretend we're without sin. He put away our sin before it
was ever committed and looks on us with the same favor. The same delight, the same rejoicing
as he looks upon his own darling son in his perfect holy character. That's what it is to be accepted
and to be loved. Accepted before the world was. And when I fell in Adam, nothing
changed. And when I came forth from my mother's womb speaking
lies, nothing changed. And when I lived my life with
my fist shoved in God's face, cursing Him with every breath,
nothing changed! I was accepted in the Beloved. And when God revealed His Son
in me, nothing changed except in me. And He put His Beloved
in me. Now look at these four blessings
of grace earned for us and given to us by the Son's purchase. and substitutionary provision.
Now this is shocking to some folks. It shouldn't be, but it
is. Eternal life must be earned by works. It's the gift of God. It is because
it was earned by works, by Christ works. By His obedience to God
as our substitute, the Lord Jesus has earned certain things for
His people. Certain things which God in justice
cannot withhold from them. Look at verse 7. The Lord Jesus
obtained eternal redemption for us by the purchase of His blood. In whom we have redemption through
His blood. Now you remember that when I
began the message, I said that one aspect of preaching the gospel
is the preaching of limited atonement. I know it's not popular to use
that term these days. Folks are trying their best to
pretend to believe the gospel and make it palatable to fellows
who hate God. Limited atonement is a good term, a real good term. What's it talking about? Limited
atonement means that everybody for whom Christ died has the
forgiveness of sins. Let's see if that's what it says.
You got the Bible in front of you? In whom we have redemption
through His blood. What does that mean? There's
a comma right there. The forgiveness of sins. The
forgiveness of sins. If Christ died for you, your
sin's forgiven. If your sins are forgiven, Christ died for
you. According to the riches of His grace. The forgiveness
of sins, not Not according as we forgive one another. The forgiveness
of sins, not like we sweep things under the rug and pretend they
don't exist. The forgiveness of sins is the purging away of
sins, the removal of sin, the blotting out of sin, the cancellation
of sin. Are you saying, Brother Don,
that the Lord Jesus, by His blood, absolutely removed the sin of
all for whom He died? I wouldn't say that for the world.
That's what God said. That's what God said. Redemption is in Christ. is through
His blood. It means the forgiveness of sins.
It is according to the riches of His grace. Ah, and this redemption
is ours if we trust God's Son. Our Savior's work of redemption
reveals and makes known to us the manifold wisdom of God. Look
at verse 8. Wherein, that is, in this redemption,
in this forgiveness of sins, He hath abounded toward us in
all wisdom and prudence. In all His infinite wisdom, with
all His infinite skill, He shows Himself now a just God and a
Savior. Verse 9, By His incarnation,
obedience, and death, the Lord Jesus has made known to us the
mystery of His will. having made known unto us the
mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he
hath purposed in himself. What is that? That in the dispensation
of the fullness of time, that is when God wraps everything
up, he might gather together in one all things in Christ,
both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him.
Certainly he's talking about the final salvation of all God's
elect. He's talking about more than
that. When God gets done with this thing, by the saving of
our souls through Christ our mediator, our surety, everything
that has been, and is, and shall be, shall be wrapped up in one
glorious package and displayed before a wondering world in heaven
and in hell, the glory of God in Jesus Christ the Lord. Everything
for His glory. And in Christ we have obtained
an eternal inheritance in heaven. But what it says in verses 11
and 12, in whom also we have obtained. We have obtained. We're going to get a good thing.
No, we have obtained. One of these days, no, we have
obtained and inherited. It's already ours being predestinated. This inheritance is that adoption
of sons to which we were predestinated from eternity, according to the
purpose of him, what's this, who worketh all things after
the counsel of his own will. All of this is done for us by
our great God, the triune Jehovah, to the praise of the glory of
his grace, who first trusted in Christ. It's all ours by divine
trust. The triune God trusted Christ,
our surety, with his glory, his will, his sheep, and his people. And he struck heads with them,
and the work was done. Not good as done, done, done.
The works were finished from the foundation of the world.
The Lord Jesus Christ, our God-man, came into this world and obtained
these things by His trust of the triune Jehovah. By His faith. In Ephesians 3, 12, we're told
it's by the faith of Him. And when you read your Bible
and you see faith in Him, and you read faith of Him, that's
not talking about the same thing. That's talking about two different
things. in him is our trust in him. The faith of him is the
perfect trust of the God-made mediator, our surety, by which
he honored God and is honored of God with his inheritance.
And we have it by trusting in him. Now, here are the blessings
of grace bestowed upon us, upon every chosen redeemed sinner
by the Spirit's irresistible power and omnipotent grace, in
whom ye also trusted. After that, ye heard the word
of truth. He caused you to hear the gospel.
Isn't that wonderful? He caused you to hear the gospel.
I wouldn't have heard it. I wouldn't have gone to hear
it. When I was a boy, when I got in trouble, I was forced to go
hear somebody preach once in a while. But I wouldn't go. I wouldn't
go. It was either take it or get
it beaten. And when I went, I got beaten anyway most of the time
because I'd skip and go have a sandwich or something somewhere
and try to get back and not get caught. But then I started dating this
gal. And I don't even remember her
name. Just about the size of Shelby, a little girl. Lived
a few blocks from us. Her daddy had good sense, better
than most did. He wouldn't let her date me unless
I went to church with her. So I'd go to church, so I could sit
there and hold hands with her. I wasn't a bit interested in what that
preacher was saying. But God was interested in what that preacher
was saying to me. He calls me to hear his word. And hearing his word gave me
faith in Christ. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing
by the word of God. Oh, how blessed of God. in whom
ye also trusted. You trusted this same one. Jehovah
trusted after you heard the word of the truth, quite literally.
What is that? The gospel of your salvation. It's the hearing of the gospel. But when God comes in saving
grace, David, he causes you to hear the gospel of your salvation. You're mine and I'm yours. The gospel of your salvation,
in whom also after that you believed, that is having believed, having
been born of God, given faith in Christ, you were sealed with
that Holy Spirit of promise. God the Holy Spirit, his work
of grace and regeneration is what was symbolized in circumcision
in the Old Testament. It's referred to in the New Testament
as that circumcision made without hands, that work performed in
us by God the Holy Spirit. What was it that circumcision
did for Abraham's sons? It said, you're Abraham's sons.
That's all it did. It said, you're Abraham's son.
That's all it did. Now, you can have a pretense
and anybody be circumcised, but Abraham's sons, every one of
them, sure enough, were circumcised. And by that circumcision, God
said, all my blessings to Abraham belong to you. This is what the
new birth is. God the Holy Spirit gives you
life and you find yourself believing on Christ and when you believe
on the Son of God, God says all the blessings of grace are yours. All the covenant is yours. All
the mercy is yours. Everything. Which is the earnest, the pledge, the assurance, Assurance is not
what I feel. Assurance is not found in what
I do or don't do. If that's where you get assurance,
I fear for your soul. I fear for your soul. Now, I
know believers are confused about a lot of things, but if your
assurance comes from what you feel, what you do, or what you
don't do, your assurance is yourself. Where's your assurance? Faith
is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not
seen. I know that God chose me, Christ
redeemed me, and the Spirit's called me by his grace. Because in the teeth of all my
sin, I trust him. I have no other refuge. Christ
is all my hope. That's the earnest, the pledge,
the assurance of our inheritance, this inheritance to which we
were predestined before the world began until the redemption of
the purchased possession, until this thing called redemption
is finished. How is it going to be finished? It's going to
be finished when Christ comes. And this body that's sued will
be sown in corruption, is raised in incorruption. This body that's
sued will be sown in mortality, will be raised in immortality.
This body that is to be sown a natural body, will be raised
a spiritual body. That don't make no sense. How
are you going to explain mortality or immortality and incorruption
and spirituality standing for you in the flesh? That's what
it said. That's the redemption of the
purchase position. All the son purchased shall be
raised up in glory in his likeness, made in the image of the triune
God, In the likeness of the triune God, Yandere is that perfect man who is God in
the flesh. And this is the gift of God to
every sinner who believes on his side. Oh, may God give you
faith to trust Him, confess Him, and devote yourself to Him. Amen.