As a general rule, the hymns
that I write and put in our bulletin every Sunday morning come as
a result of the messages that I had preached recently, or the
message that I preached recently. But the hymn this morning in
the bulletin that we sang was a little different. It was written
in anticipation of the message tonight on God's predestinating
love. And it gives a summary of all
that I want to say to you in this message. We sing of God's
own fixed decree, the work of the eternal three. In the counsel
of peace above are God's predestinating love. All that concerns the chosen
race in nature, providence, and grace, where they shall dwell
and when removed, fixed by predestinating love. Our ransom, call, and keeping
here, our conflicts, trials, and daily care were all for us
arranged above by God's predestinating love. Let ransomed souls in this
rejoice. Our God will not revoke His choice. Nothing can alter change or move
our God's predestinating love. Sweet comfort, joy, and blessed
peace we find in this great work of grace. In life, in death,
in realms above, we sing predestinating love. Now that's my subject this
evening, predestinating love. My text is in Ephesians chapter
one, Verses 3 through 12. Let's read this blessed, blessed
passage once more together. Ephesians 1, 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, according as he hath
chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be
holy and without blame before him in love. In love, having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the
praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted
in the beloved, in whom we have redemption through his blood,
the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace, wherein
he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having
made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his
good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself, that in the dispensation
of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things
in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth,
even in him, 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, that we should
be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ. God Almighty, the one true and
living God, The God of the Bible is a God of purpose, sovereign,
eternal, unalterable purpose. Everything that comes to pass
in time is brought to pass by the hand of our God according
to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our
Lord. This eternal purpose of God is
called in Holy Scripture predestination. Look back at our text in verse
5. Here God the Holy Ghost tells us that all who are made the
children of God in time were in love predestinated unto the
adoption of children by Jesus Christ according to the good
pleasure of God's will. And in verse 11 He tells us that
we have obtained an inheritance in Christ Jesus. being predestinated
according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after
the counsel of his own will. I have on occasion heard people
declare with vehemence and anger, the Bible does not teach predestination. It is impossible to be honest
in reading the Word of God and make such a statement. If you
believe what's written in this book, you believe this book says
something about predestination. It is written throughout the
scriptures in large, bold letters so that none can miss it. Without
question, the Word of God teaches divine predestination. I could
give you numerous, numerous passages, but if you will, turn back to
Romans chapter 8 and hold your hands here to Ephesians 1. Now
the basis of our faith is the Word of God, only the Word of
God. We do not believe the doctrine
of predestination or any other doctrine because it is logical
and reasonable, though certainly this is both logical and reasonable. We don't believe any doctrine
because it is a part of some theological system to which we
ascribe our names. Let us never, never, never calls
the Word of God, or take the Word of God, and force it to
mold to our own conception of what the Bible should say. Rather,
we cast away the creeds. We cast away confessions. If
necessary, cast away our own carnal wisdom, learning, and
logic, and bow to the Word of God. We don't believe anything
simply because it is a matter of history. We can point back
to history and say John Calvin believed this, John Gill believed
that, C.H. Spurgeon believed that, Baptists
have always believed that. That's of total irrelevance insofar
as our faith is concerned. Now there's no question, no question,
God's church has throughout the ages of time maintained what
I'm preaching to you tonight concerning God's predestinating
love. I can give it to you for as far
back as I have books in my office written by men dealing with the
things of God. It is no question that this doctrine
has been taught by faithful men throughout the ages of God's
church. But history is no basis of faith. The basis of our faith
is and must be the Word of God alone. Please understand that. The basis of our faith is and
must be the Word of God alone. We believe this doctrine. We
rejoice in it and preach it from the housetops because it is plainly
declared in the Book of God. Now look here at Romans chapter
8 and verse 28. A very, very familiar text of
Scripture. I think I said this to you just
recently. Many, many years ago, when we were still living over
in Junction City, we went home one Sunday night, had supper,
and Shelby was cleaning up the dishes, and I flipped on Jerry
Falwell out in Lynchburg, Virginia. You may not know this about Falwell.
He went to the same college I did a long time before I went there.
Back in 1955, he was called on the carpet at Baptist Bible College
in Springfield, Missouri, and they were going to kick him out
of school for being a hyper-Calvinist. I have a friend, Brother Millard
Mitchell, who was in school with him. He was called on the carpet
at the same time. Millard didn't alter his doctrine. Falwell did.
But I was listening to Falwell, and he had announced the reason
I paused to listen. As I flipped through the channels,
he said he was going to be preaching from Romans chapter 8. And I
said, well, let me hear this. And he was going to preach from
Romans 8, 28 through 39. And as he started to do so, I
told Shelby to quit doing what she was doing. I said, listen
to this. He's going to have to deal with something. And he read
Romans 8, 28, and then he skipped all the way down to verse 35
and missed everything in between on purpose. On purpose. Because he dared not even read
the Word of God for fear that it would state something contrary
to that which is commonly received by men. Now let's read what the
book says. Romans 8, 28. We know that all
things work together for good to them that love God, to them
who are the called according to His purpose. And you don't
have to guess what His purpose is. All who love God have been
called irresistibly by the power of God in the Holy Spirit and
given life and faith in Christ caused by that call to believe
on the Son of God. caused by that call to rise from
the dead, caused by that call to be born again. They're called
according to His purpose. And here's His purpose. For whom
He did foreknow, the word is foreordain. Whom He did foreordain,
He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His
Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren, Moreover,
whom he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called,
them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified. I never will forget the first
time I heard someone preach from that portion of Scripture. My
dear friend, Brother Harry Graham, came to Hillcrest Church where
Dan Parks' father was our pastor. And Brother Parks asked Harry
if he would preach for him that night. up in the pulpit and turned
here is I'm going to preach to you on a golden chain of grace. It has five links and reaches
from eternity to eternity and no link in the chain can ever
be broken. And he proceeded to declare to us this marvelous
revelation of God concerning predestination. Now back here
in Ephesians chapter 1 verse 3, The Apostle tells us we've been
blessed of God with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ. These blessings are according to God's election.
God blesses sinners only according to election. There are no blessings
from God apart from election. According as he has chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world that we should be
holy and without blame before him in love. As I've told you
many times, and you're aware of it, our translators over the
years have added the chapter and verse divisions in Scripture
to make it easy for us to follow. But the chapter and verse divisions
sometimes are not really where they should be, in my opinion,
and sometimes are a little confusing, and sometimes I just don't know.
This is one of those where I just don't know. Should the words
in love be read at the end of verse 4 or at the beginning of
verse 5? So I always read them both ways,
and both ways are so. In love, God predestinated us
unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according
to the good pleasure of his will. In great love, in love possessed
only by God, in love exercised only by God, In love, no one
can really understand except God. In infinite, eternal love,
the Lord God predestinated us to be His children from eternity. Look at verse 11. In Christ also
we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according
to the purpose of Him who worketh all things at the counsel of
His own will. I repeat, There's no question
about the fact that predestination is a Bible doctrine. The only
question to be answered is what does the Word of God teach about
predestination? This is one of those doctrines
that is often misrepresented by those who oppose it and ignorantly
misrepresented by those who try to defend it. Back in 1976 or
77, When y'all were still meeting
over at the schoolhouse, I came down here with Brother Henry
Mahan for one of your Bible conferences. And Brother Mahan preached on
this subject. And he made this statement that I wrote down in
my notes. It's hard to say whether this doctrine has suffered more
in the camp of its enemies or in the camp of its friends. And
I thought, what a remarkable statement. Hard to say whether
this doctrine has suffered more abuse, been more misrepresented
by those who believe it than by those who refuse to believe
it. It's hard to say whether this doctrine has been properly
represented by many who believe it or improperly represented,
more improperly represented by those who oppose it. I want you
to see for yourself what the book of God teaches about God's
predestinating love. Let me begin by telling you what
it doesn't teach. The Bible does not teach that
impersonal, stoic philosophy that says, whatever will be,
will be. There are folks in philosophy
who discuss whether we believe in free will or believe in fatalism.
Well, the Bible doesn't teach that impersonal, stoic philosophy,
whatever will be, will be. an attempt of man to remove from
man all responsibility for his actions and for his condition
in life and for his everlasting damnation. It attempts to remove
from man all responsibility and that's always contrary to scripture. We don't for a moment believe
that man's the master of his own destiny. But the scriptures
do teach us and we do believe that every man is responsible
for his own soul. You and I are responsible for
our own souls and responsible for our everlasting salvation
and our everlasting damnation. That is to say, if we're damned,
it's our responsibility and we are responsible to believe God.
The Word of God does not teach that religious fatalism, which
says the elect will be saved no matter what. People say, you
believe God's going to save his elect no matter what. Oh, no.
Oh, no. We don't believe that doctrine. Yes, we do believe in election.
You can't believe the book of God and not believe in election. Now, you may have some confusion
about what election is, but you can't believe the book of God
and say, I don't believe in election. It's written all over the book.
You can't find a page in the Bible that doesn't deal with
it. It's impossible to believe the book of God and not believe
in election. But the word of God never suggests and never
allows the possibility that the elect will be saved no matter
what. The Scriptures plainly declare
that no one will ever be saved except he hears the Gospel of
God. Faith comes by hearing, hearing
by the Word of God. The Scriptures plainly declare
that no one will ever be saved except he believes on the Lord
Jesus Christ. acknowledges and confesses his
sin before God, repents and bows to Christ as Lord, and perseveres
in faith. God has predestinated the specific
use of specific means for the accomplishment of his purposes.
And the use of those means is as necessary as the end itself. You mean, preacher, that gospel
preaching is necessary for the salvation of sinners? Of course
I mean to say that. You mean to say that a person
cannot be saved if he doesn't believe on the Lord Jesus? Of
course that's what the Scriptures teach. Third, the Word of God
nowhere teaches and nowhere implies that God has arbitrarily predestinated
some to go to heaven and some to go to hell. The all-wise God
never does anything arbitrarily. Everything He does He does because
of his wise and good purpose. And everything he has purposed
in time, he purposed in eternity. Now, without question, the everlasting
damnation of the reprobate is as much a part of God's eternal
decree as the salvation of his elect. There's no question about
that. Just listen to some scriptures.
You don't have to turn to them. You can write them down and look
at them for yourself. They're familiar to this congregation.
The Lord hath made all things for himself. Proverbs 16, 4. Yea, even the wicked for the
day of evil. God made even the wicked for
the day of judgment. It doesn't take God by surprise.
First Peter chapter 2, verse 8. Our Lord Jesus is described
as a stumbling block and a rock of a fence. Even to them which
stumble at the word. Now listen. being disobedient
whereunto also they were appointed. Listen to Jude verse 4. There
are certain men crept in unawares who were before of old ordained
to this condemnation. What? Did God say certain men
were before of old ordained to this condemnation? That's what
he said. Ungodly men ungodly men turning the grace of our
God into lasciviousness. That is, these ungodly men who
dare to state and dare to presume that the preaching of free grace
leads to licentiousness. They were before of old ordained
to this condemnation, denying the only Lord God and our Lord
Jesus Christ. This book speaks as plainly about
vessels of wrath fitted for destruction as it does about vessels of mercy
which God had aforeprepared to glory. However, we must not fail
to recognize that God's predestination, while securing the salvation
of His elect by God's hand alone, leaves the responsibility for
every sinner's damnation upon his own shoulders. The elect
are vessels of mercy prepared for glory from eternity, prepared
for glory by eternal election, eternal redemption, eternal justification,
eternal sanctification, eternal glorification, being redeemed
by the blood of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world,
and vessels of mercy being prepared by grace. We see plainly taught
in Scripture, whereas the reprobate, vessels of wrath, are fitted
for destruction, fitted for destruction by their own sin and willful
unbelief. The Bible always sets before
us this fact. Salvation is altogether a matter
of grace. There are no conditions, no qualifications
to be met by the sinner. Salvation is God's work alone. but damnation, judgment, everlasting
condemnation. These things are set before us
in the book of God as always being God's just retribution
upon man because of his sin. It is man's fault and man's fault
alone if he goes to hell. Yes, you heard me right. You
heard me right. If you are saved, That's by God's
grace alone, and God alone has the praise for it. If you perish
in your sins, you will have nobody to blame but you. Nobody to blame
but you. You will not stand in the day
of judgment and say, I'm going to hell because God wouldn't
allow me to be saved. Oh no. You will bow in the day
of judgment and say, I'm going to hell because this is what
I deserve. And God will see to it that you
do. And fourth, God's predestination. is not based upon foreknowledge. I can't tell you how many times
when I was in college I heard fellas say, well, God foreknows
everything. And since he foreknows everything,
he looked out in time knowing what would happen and predestined
that it would come to pass. What kind of stupid reasoning
is that? Who would ever dream of making
such a statement except because of rebellion to God being God? Oh no. Predestination is not
based upon foreknowledge. God's foreknowledge is God's
foreordination. It is God's predestination. God's foreknowledge is the foreknowledge
of His elect, His everlasting love of His elect, His everlasting
approval of His elect, His everlasting delight in His elect, and His
everlasting determination to save His elect. The fact is nothing
could be absolutely foreknown, in the sense that men commonly
use that word, were it not absolutely predetermined. No word of prophecy
given in the book of God, you read them, no word of prophecy,
no promise of God could possibly be believed, not believed with
any reason at all if you don't believe what God says about predestination. We believe God's promises to
be sure, sure, because God predestined everything that comes to pass
to accomplish His promises. We believe God's prophecy to
be certain because everything God spoke of, that which must
come to pass in time, He predestined in eternity and in providence
brings it to pass. Listen again to the book of God.
The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought,
so shall it come to pass. And as I have purposed, so shall
it stand. Aren't you thankful? What God thought, that's what
comes to pass. What God purposed, that's what
stands. Nothing changes it. For the Lord
of hosts hath purposed, who shall disavow it? His hand is stretched
out, and who shall turn it back? Who's going to slap God on the
hand and say to him, what doest thou? Remember the former things
of old For I am God he says and there is none else. I am God. There's none like me How is it
that you distinguish yourself as God? How is it that you set
yourself apart from all their called gods? He says I declare
the end from the beginning and from ancient times things that
are not yet done saying My counsel shall stand and I will do all
my pleasure The Bible does not teach whatever will be, will
be. The Bible does not teach that God's elect will be saved
no matter what. The Bible does not teach that
God arbitrarily predestinated some to go to heaven and some
to go to hell. God doesn't do anything arbitrarily.
And predestination is not based upon God's foreknowledge of all
things. So you might ask, well, Brother Don, what does the Bible
teach? I'm glad you asked. Before the world began, God sovereignly
predestinated all His elect to be conformed to the image of
His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And that He accomplishes in time
by the mighty operations of His grace. Let me state the doctrine
just as it's given in Scripture. Eternal predestination is God's
sovereign work. Carefully observe the language
of Scripture. He also did predestinate. He. He. Understand it or not. Comprehend it or not. The original
source of all things is God. The original source of all things
is God. He's the source of salvation.
Everything springs from Him. This is what the book says, 2
Corinthians 5, 18. All things are of God. All things are of God. And there's no limit to that
statement. Stretch it as far as your mind's
imagination can carry it. All things are of God. For of Him through him and to
him are all things to whom be glory forever all things are
of him that's the origin that's the source all things are through
him that's the means by which they're brought to pass through
him all things are to him for his praise that's the end for
which they are done secondly specifically as I've already
hinted Predestination is God's eternal purpose of grace toward
his elect. It is God's determination to
save the people of his love. It is God's determination of
the everlasting destiny of chosen sinners before the world began.
I know God's sovereign predestination and purpose. His absolute decree
includes all things, all people, all events in heaven, earth,
and hell. But the object of predestination is the salvation of God's elect.
Now people get all upset with that. But any responsible man,
any responsible man, any man who cares for his household,
arranges for the welfare of his children, as soon as he can,
he begins to do so. And he does this by providing
for them by disciplining them, by teaching them, by raising
them up, by protecting them. And he arranges all that he can
to secure their welfare when he's gone. You call that a good
father. Is that what you call that? That's
a good father. That's a good father. When Doug
and Faith told us that they were expecting Alda Grace just a week
after Faith found out, the week, the day she found out she was
pregnant. Just the next conversation Doug was already talking about
setting things aside for all degradation or education taking
care of it. Well, that's that's mean That's hard That's why who
would ever think about doing so that's not fair Who would
ever think about making such a statement? Nobody when you
talk about man Will you hear me children of God? our Heavenly
Father before the world was, ordered everything that comes
to pass in time. And he brings it to pass in time
according to his eternal ordering in predestination for the everlasting
salvation and eternal happiness of his dear children. That's
predestination. No wonder the book says, in love,
having predestinated us unto the adoption of children. This
work of God is free, sovereign, unconditional. It was finished
before the world began. It is an immutable thing, an
unalterable work of God's grace. Predestination is God's gracious
purpose to save specific people. specific sinners, his purpose
of grace founded upon and arising from his everlasting love. The Lord hath appeared of old
unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting
love. Therefore, with lovingkindness
have I drawn thee. God hath saved us. What a statement. God hath saved
us. and called us with an 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. Here's the third thing the scriptures
teach. Salvation. Salvation. All that's involved in the salvation
of our souls. Salvation is accomplished by
the irresistible power of God's grace according to the sovereign
purpose of our God in His eternal decree. Accomplished for us by
God's purpose through the merits of Christ's precious blood and
perfect righteousness as the sinner's substitute. In other
words, it's not my will that saves me, but God's will. It's
not my will that brings me to Christ, but God's will. Turn
to Romans chapter 9. Romans chapter 9. Tia sitting
here used to be under the ministry of Brother N.B. Magruder. The
first time I preached with Brother Magruder present I was dealing
with a matter of free will and God's sovereignty. And after
I got done he said, isn't it amazing that the Arminian takes
the weakest aspect of a man's character and makes it his God. What can be weaker than your
will? What is there about man that's
weaker than his will? What causes you not to be able
to resist evil when you know it's going to cost you? Your
will. You just don't have any strength. What causes you to
engage in something that you know is going to be costly? Your
will. You just can't resist the temptation. Nothing weaker about man than
his will. And yet men make their will their
God. And by that set man up in the
house of God, demanding that he be worshipped as God, that's
the reason it's called will-worship. But look what the Scriptures
say. Look what the Scriptures say. People say, what part does
man's will have to do with salvation? None. None. Listen to Scripture. So then,
now this is the language of the Bible. This is not something
we took from a church creed or confession of faith. This is
not something I got out of a theology book. This is not something I
invented. This is taken directly from the Word of God. Romans
9, verse 16. So then, so then, since God has
mercy on whom he will have mercy, since God loved Jacob and hated
Esau, so then, it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that
ruddeth, but of God that showeth mercy. of God that showeth mercy. Salvation is accomplished by
God's purpose. No one ever gets saved by chance
or accident. Years ago, when I was still pastoring
the lookout, I was just a young man, a young man, 22, 23 years
old, and I had gotten done preaching one morning, and a lady was visiting,
assisted one of the ladies in the church, And she met me at
the door just all in a tizzy. And she said, she said, Brother
Don, that was a good sermon, a great sermon, but you didn't
give anybody a chance to get saved. I said, what? You didn't
give anybody a chance to get saved. And what she meant was
you didn't give an altar call. You didn't invite folks to come
to the front and give them a chance to get saved. And I responded
to her by saying, sinners aren't saved by chance. Salvation is not by chance. It's
not by accident. It's not by your will. Those
things we read clearly in the scriptures. Well, how are sinners
saved then? By God's will according to God's
purpose. His eternal purpose of grace.
Salvation is God's work. A deliberate work which God Almighty
purposed to accomplish from eternity. Now this is what that means.
The means, the method by which sinners are saved is God's purpose
and it was devised and resolved upon in eternity in everlasting
covenant grace in the Council of Peace. For the Moose Parks,
the first I ever heard to sing this great hymn, hail sovereign
love that first began the scheme to rescue fallen man. Hail matchless
free eternal grace that gave my soul a hiding place. Oh, the love that drew salvation's
plan. Oh, the grace that brought it
down to man. Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span at Calvary. This is God's plan. In eternal
mercy, he determined to save a people for the glory of his
own great name by the substitutionary sacrifice of his darling son. The death of Christ at Calvary
was no accident. Oh, no. He was delivered to the
hands of wicked men who, we're told in Acts 428, did whatsoever
thy hand and counsel before determined to be done. Our Savior said,
truly the Son of Man goeth as it was determined of Him. We're
told in Acts 223 that He was delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, and men by their wicked
hands took and crucified Him. It was God Almighty who determined
the time, place, and circumstances of our Savior's birth. Have you
ever tried to look a little bit at history and see what all had
to come to pass in order for the Lord Jesus to be born as
the prophet Micah said he would at Bethlehem Judah at the time
God ordained. My, how God arranged world history
with wars and poverty and captivity and men bringing other men into
bondage and slavery and then a weak-kneed, feeble fellow ordaining
that men should go to their own city to be taxed. And all this
done by the arrangement of God from eternity. God said, my son's
going to be born on this day in due time at Bethlehem of Judah. And so it came to pass. It was
by the arrangement of God that our Savior was betrayed by Judas,
his friend. The Lord God Almighty determined
from eternity the time, the place, and the circumstances of our
Savior's execution by the hands of wicked men. And it was God
who determined the results of His Son's sacrificial death.
He said, He shall see of the travail of His soul and shall
be satisfied. By His knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many. Here's the fourth thing. The
Lord God resolved upon and predestinated all of this for His own glory
in the saving of His elect. He chose to save some sinners
by the sacrifice of His Son for the glory of His name. Listen
to this. Nevertheless, He saved them for
His namesake. that he might make his power
to be known. Predestination concerns God's
chosen. It secures the salvation of God's
elect, their preservation, and our everlasting glory. But pastor,
what about all other things? Oh, yes. Oh, yes. In order to
secure his purpose of grace toward us, the God of glory before the
world began, predestinated everything that comes to pass in time, the
most minute, the most minute, the most minute
of things to the greatest of things, the most marvelous, wonderful,
good things, and the most hideous evil things. God ordained from
eternity and brings to pass exactly according to His purpose for
the saving of His elect, for the glory of His name. So that
when He is done, every saved sinner gladly acknowledges to
Him be glory and honor forever and ever. and every lost sinner with gnashing teeth, bitter hatred,
still despising God, says amen to Him, be glory and honor forever
and ever. This is God's predestination. This is God's work. by which
he secures the glory of the triune God in the glory of his own dear
son. That's the object of God in predestination,
that Christ might be the firstborn, the preeminent one among many
brethren. So that Christ, his glory is
the object of predestination. His everlasting glory is the
purpose of God from eternity, and his glory is accomplished
in the saving of sinners by the power of God's omnipotent grace
through the perfect righteousness and infinitely meritorious shed
blood of his darling son on our behalf. So we sing of God's predestinating
love and of this we will sing forever in heaven above. Amen.