We finish this morning in Romans
chapter 5 with this declaration by the Apostle Paul. Moreover,
the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound. That as sin hath reigned unto
death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal
life by Jesus Christ our Lord. In the first chapter of Ephesians,
the apostle, by divine inspiration, takes up the subject of grace
abounding. The whole chapter in Ephesians
1 is about grace, God's abundant, free, sovereign, effectual, saving
grace in Christ Jesus. Verse 2 of Ephesians 1, grace
be to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord
Jesus Christ. And then he proceeds to tell
us what God our Father did for his elect in eternity, before
ever the world was. How he saved us from eternity. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. How did he bless us? 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. God blessed all
his elect with all the blessings of his boundless grace in Jesus
Christ according to his own purpose of grace in free sovereign election. Because the Lord chose you, because
the Lord chose you, because the Lord chose you, he blessed you. He chose you because he loved
you with an everlasting love and blessed you because he chose
you with all salvation. Now, look at verse five. In love,
having predestinated us. In love, having predestinated
us. What a wonderful word, predestination. What a wonderful word. I'll tell
you what it means. It means God has his way. God has his way with everybody
and everything all the time. Now some folks object to that.
I don't know why anybody would, but some folks do. Certainly
no one who knows God would ever object to that. Would you rather
have God have his way or you have your way? Would you rather
have God have his way or the devil have his way? Would you
rather God have His way or everything be in chaos? Having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according
to His sovereign purpose of grace in election, according to His
own eternal love, the Lord God Almighty predestined us to obtain
all the blessedness of the sons of God in resurrection glory
when all things are finished. That's predestination. How did
he do so? Why did he do so? I'll give you
one word of explanation. According to the good pleasure
of his will. According to the good pleasure
of his will. Verse six. To the praise of the
glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the
Beloved. God Almighty, before the world
was, made us accepted in Christ Jesus. Another way of saying
that is God, before the world was, saved us by His grace. God, before the world was, justified
us made us righteous, made us holy, sanctified us, forgave
us of all sin, before ever we had committed any. God, before
the world was, made us accepted, the high objects of his high
favor in Christ Jesus, made us honorable and well-pleasing to
him in Jesus Christ the Lord. That's what God has done for
us from eternity. Grace abounds to sinners from
everlasting. Grace leaps from God, bounding
and bounding and bounding towards sinners in everlasting love,
in sovereign election, in divine predestination. And then the
apostle takes up in verse 7 the work that God does for us in
time. Now understand this, the work
that God does for us in time is as necessary as the work God
did for us before the world began. He takes up the work that God
the Father did for us from eternity, and now the work that God the
Son did for us in the accomplishment of redemption, and then the work
that God the Holy Spirit does in us and for us in the saving
operations of His mighty grace. Read beginning in verse 7. in
whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of
sins, according to the riches of his grace, wherein, that is
in this redemption, in this grace, wherein he hath abounded toward
us in all wisdom and prudence, in all knowledge and skill, 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."
What a striking word. In whom also we have already
obtained an inheritance. 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. Now our text verses 7 through
12 form one long sentence. Our translators put it to us
in one long sentence. because every phrase in the sentence
speaks of God's grace flowing to sinners, grace abounding to
sinners through and by and in Jesus Christ our Lord by the
blood of atonement by which he accomplished our redemption. In verse 7 we're told that redemption
is ours in Christ. Then in verses 8 and 9 he tells
us 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
first word in verse 8, wherein, connects the work of God the
Holy Ghost in us with the work of Christ for us at Calvary and
the work of God the Father for us from eternity. Where Christ
shed his blood, the blessings of grace come. And they come
only to those for whom Christ shed his blood. And the blessings
of grace, all the blessings of grace, come to all those for
whom Christ shed his blood at Calvary. One of the first messages
I heard Brother Jesse Gustan preach out in Haywood, California. was from Ezekiel chapter 37,
the Valley of Dry Bones, where God commands the prophet to prophesy
to the wind, and the Spirit of God moves upon the bones. And
Brother Jesse put it as only he could. He said, where the
blood don't flow, the Spirit don't go. Where the blood don't
flow, the Spirit don't go. In other words, he's saying,
where the blood of Christ doesn't reach to a man, the Spirit of
God doesn't come to a man. And wherever the blood of Christ
comes to a man, the Spirit of God comes to a man. Effectual
particular redemption brings about and secures effectual particular
grace in the experience of God's salvation. Now, without question,
the Spirit of God is here declaring that God's grace is revealed
and He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence in
the redemption of our souls. That's the first point. Grace
abounds in redemption. Grace abounds in redemption with
wisdom and prudence by the infinite wisdom of God. By the infinite
wisdom of God Our God devised the means of our everlasting
salvation. It was his wisdom that found
a ransom for our souls in his own darling son. The gospel of
Christ is the revelation of the wisdom of God that is so infinitely
higher than the wisdom of this world that the carnally wise
call God's wisdom foolishness. The preaching of the gospel is
the wisdom of God and the power of God. The world calls it foolishness. The revelation of Christ and
redemption in Him is the revelation of the wisdom of God and the
world calls it foolishness. But this speaks of God's infinite
wisdom. He found a way whereby He could
both be just and the justifier of all who trust His Son. He
found a way by which he could take you and me into his own
bosom, embrace us as himself without compromising his justice,
without compromising his character, without tarnishing his holiness.
He said my name when he revealed his glory to Moses. My name is
this, I'll be gracious to him, I'll be gracious. And I'll have
compassion on whom I will have compassion by no means clearing
the guilty. By no means clearly guilty. He
said, I will not forgive iniquity. I will not forgive iniquity. But pastor, the word of God is
full of statements about God forgiving sin. Yes, but not the
way men think of it. God will not just pretend you
didn't sin. God will not just act as though
you had not sinned. God can't do that. God is God,
he cannot lie. God is just, he must be true. He said the soul that sinneth,
it shall die. Well how then can God in his
justice forgive sinners guilty of all manner of sin? Only if
he finds a way. whereby he can fully satisfy
every demand of law and justice, punish the sinner to the full
satisfaction of justice, and then be gracious to the sinner.
And that way is Christ the mediator. God sent his Son in our nature,
in our flesh, to live in our room instead, fulfilling all
the law and will of God in the bringing in of everlasting righteousness.
and then made his son to be sin for us who knew no sin, and drew
out the sword of his justice, and cried, Awake, O sword, against
the man that is my fellow. Smite and slay the shepherd.
And God Almighty poured out his fury upon his son, until at last
fury is consumed in the Son of God. And God smiles upon every
sinner for whom Christ has died and receives us on the basis
of perfect justice. In your reading this morning
in the book of 1 Kings, you read about Solomon and God's promise
to Solomon through David. He promised Solomon that if he
would obey God and rule in all things like his father David
did, He would never lack a son to sit on his throne. That was
his promise. But right before that we read
about David's transgression with Uriah and Bathsheba. And we read
about David numbering Israel. Things for which God visited
David's iniquity upon Israel and 70,000 died because of David's
transgression. Well how then could God say David
ruled in obedience to God? because David, before ever he
came into this world, had one sitting on the throne of God
who had come as David's son, our mediator, God's son, Jesus
Christ, the Lord, who ruled the world in absolute righteousness. And God has promised that Israel,
his nation, shall never lack a king to sit on his throne,
and that king is Christ the Lord. And so it is that you and I obey
God perfectly, not in ourselves, not in ourselves, not in ourselves,
but in a mediator who has finished everything on our behalf, both
before the world began and by his obedience unto death as our
substitute. What wonderful wisdom appeared
in the contrivance of the work of redemption and the accomplishment
of it by Christ. what wisdom is seen in such a
mediator as Christ Jesus. He is the man who is God. He alone is fit to be our Redeemer. What wisdom is revealed in God
choosing to secure and set forth His highest honor, His highest
glory, His highest praise in redeeming lost sinners by the
sacrifice of his son for the praise of his glory. I'm very, very hesitant to speak
of anything God cannot do or cannot accomplish. The scripture
says God's not a man, he cannot lie. God is unchangeable. That means he's immutable. He
can't change or be changed. Those are just facts. The Lord
God Almighty could not get such praise to himself in any other
way as that praise which he gets by the redemption of his people
out of sin by Christ Jesus. God in infinite wisdom contrived
this means of redemption and oh what infinite prudence is
seen. What infinite skill is seen in
God ruling all the affairs of providence to accomplish this
work. How shall the triune God be praised? How shall the triune God most
fully show Himself? How shall the triune God most
perfectly be glorified in His creatures? God created man upon
the earth. And he said, in the day thou
eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. He didn't say to Adam, if
you eat of the fruit of the tree planted in the midst of the garden,
you shall die. He said to Adam, don't eat the
fruit of that tree. That's his command. And then
he said to Adam, in the day that you do, you're going to die.
You see, Adam's fall did not take God by surprise. This too
was ordained of God, that God might save his people and show
himself glorious in saving his people. Adam fell and made way
for the Redeemer to come, the second Adam, the last Adam, by
whom redemption is accomplished. The Lord God ordained that Christ
come into the world at a specific time. And he arranged everything
exactly according to his purpose, that Christ should come in exactly
the line of people through whom he should come. In order to accomplish
his purpose, there was a woman by the name of Tamar, married to one of the sons of
Judah. And she was supposed to have one of Judah's sons, one
of her husband's brothers, to marry her and raise up a child
to her, for her, so that she might have the birthright, the
birthright that Esau despised. The birthright, the promise that
Christ, the woman seed, would come one day and accomplish redemption. And Tamar saw that Judah wasn't
being faithful. He wasn't complying with what
he had promised. And one day she dressed herself
as a harlot and sat by the gates in the city waiting for Judah
to come by. And Judah went down to Tamar. What a horrible, evil thing.
Committing incest with his daughter-in-law. But Tamar is named among the
genealogy of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. this too according
to God's purpose. Well how can you say God purposed
this? Either God purposed everything
or God controls nothing. Either God purposed everything,
God predestined everything, God controls everything, or God controls
nothing. And thus he overrules sin, Adam's
sin and Tamar's sin, to accomplish his purpose of grace. David took
Bathsheba But Bathsheba, too, is named in the genealogy of
our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus. Over and over again, we see God
accomplishing His purpose by the hands of wicked men, fulfilling
His purpose. Herod's decree for the slaughter
of the innocents caused Joseph to flee down to Egypt to fulfill
the scripture. And then Caesar Augustus When
it came time for Christ to be born at Bethlehem, Caesar Augustus
sent out a decree that all the world should be taxed. I just
read to Shelby last night a brief article by Brother C.D. Cole.
He said, imagine all the details that had to be arranged. in order
for the Son of God, our Mediator, to be born in this world in human
flesh at Bethlehem at just the time when the prophecy of Micah
5-7, Micah 5-2, must be fulfilled. He said there had to be a decree
from Caesar in Rome to tax the people. In order to raise the
tax, there had to be some necessity to get money to do such a thing.
God put Rome in a great war that had nearly bankrupt the country
and Caesar Augustus sends out the decree but more than that
in order for Mary and Joseph to be affected by Caesar's decree
Israel must be brought in a Roman subjection and the decree must
be issued Just at the time when Mary comes to give birth to God
our Savior in human flesh God in his prudence Infinite skill
no man can imagine rules the world, even all the evil that's
in the world, to accomplish the redemption of our souls by Christ
Jesus. At last the Lord Jesus came to
be crucified. He said over and over again,
I must be delivered into the hands of the Gentiles. The Jews
are going to deliver me to the hands of the Gentiles. They're
going to deliver me to the hands of the Gentiles, and I must be
lifted up at Jerusalem and slain, and I'll rise again the third
day. How is God going to accomplish that? How is that going to happen? You, by wicked hands, have crucified
and slain the Lord of glory, the Apostle Peter said, and you
did this by the determinate counsel and foreordination of God. This
is God's purpose. The Lord Jesus must die as one
lifted up upon a tree because only one lifted up on a tree
is manifestly cursed of God. Cursed is everyone that hangeth
on a tree. He must die by the hand of Romans
being instigated by Jews who despised him because the method
of death among the Romans for the basest of criminals was crucifixion. The gospel proclaims the recovering
and saving of lost sinners by a substitute, by a crucified
Savior. This, we preach, is the wisdom
of God. Not only is wisdom and prudence
of God revealed in our redemption according to the riches of His
grace, He hath in the revelation of His grace, by the power and
grace of His Spirit in the conversion of our souls, 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. We are, like all men by nature,
foolish and unwise. ignorant and unlearned. In all
things spiritual, the natural man is utterly ignorant. Utterly ignorant. I hear unbelieving,
unregenerate people talk about spiritual, religious things,
and I get a little aggravated until I stop and think, well,
you ought not get too upset with a fellow who just doesn't know.
You ought not get too upset when a man talks like a fool, because
he is. Don't I get too upset if a man speaks ignorantly who
is ignorant. The natural man has no perception
and no ability to have perception about anything spiritual. I don't
discuss spiritual things with folks who don't know God, I just
listen to them yack. I don't discuss them. I don't
discuss them because they won't hear, and they won't understand,
except God, by the preaching of the gospel, gives them ears
to hear. Now, if a fellow's willing to
listen, and you're willing to listen, I'll talk to you all
day. I'll talk to you all day long. But I'm not going to sit
and argue things about you. Not going to happen. Why? Because
the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God,
because they're foolishness to him. Neither can he know them,
because they're spiritually discerned. But God has given His elect in
conversion, in regeneration, in the gift of faith, in the
knowledge of Christ, the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the
knowledge of Christ. We see it in verse 17 of Ephesians
1. He's given us the mind of Christ. so that we who are born of God
have been made partakers of the divine nature and have the mind
of Christ so that now we know, we discern, we understand all
things spiritual. In verses 8 and 9 of Ephesians
1, the Holy Spirit takes into one statement all the work of
God the Spirit for us and in us. from the first almighty act
of grace in regeneration until it's finished in glory. How we
ought to admire God the Father for his purpose of grace, his
wisdom and prudence in ordaining our salvation by Christ. How
we ought to admire and adore God the Son for the accomplishment
of redemption by the sacrifice of himself. And how we ought
to admire and adore God the Holy Ghost, who takes the things of
Christ and shows them to us. Pharaoh called Joseph Zaphnath-paneah,
that is, the revealer of hidden things. That's a pretty good
name for the Spirit of God, Zaphnath-paneah. He it is who takes the hidden
things of God, the things of Christ, and shows them to us. His it is. to take our Savior's
work and person and reveal to our souls. His it is to convince
of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He alone, He alone,
by the Word of God, can cause a sinner to bow in the dust before
God and acknowledge the plague of his heart being convinced
of sin. He alone can convince sinners
of righteousness brought in and established by Jesus Christ in
the free justification of our souls. And he alone, he and he
alone can convince you that judgment is done. Judgment is finished
by the sacrifice of God's darling Son. All the knowledge of Christ
All faith in Christ and all acquaintance with Christ we have are ours
only by the gracious operations of the Holy Spirit. Until God the Spirit quickened
us, until he regenerated us, until he gave us life, we were
dead in trespasses and in sins just like all other men. Listen
to this statement by Robert Hawker. the actions of the newborn child,
leadings to the throne, access to the throne, acceptation at
the throne in Christ, are the immediate work of God the Holy
Ghost. All the actions of the newborn
soul, all that's done by the newborn soul, believe in God,
calling on God in prayer, faith in Christ, seeking the will of
God, doing the will of God. All the actions of the newborn
soul are the work, the operation of the grace of God the Holy
Spirit in us. Now look at verse 9. By abounding,
the abounding revelation of His grace, abounding toward us in
all wisdom and prudence, in all wisdom and skill, the skill and
wisdom of His infinite being, God the Holy Spirit has made
known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure
which he has purposed in himself. Well, does that mean that God
the Holy Spirit has caused every newborn soul to know all that
God has purposed for the future? No, not hardly. Does that mean
that God the Holy Spirit has caused the newborn soul to have
understanding in all God's ways in providence so that he can
give you the reasons, the whys and wherefores of all those things?
Not hardly. Not hardly. What's it mean? He's
made known to us the mystery of his will. His will is spoken
of right here in the context. It is the saving of our souls
for the glory of his name. God the Spirit comes and makes
known to us. God loved you. God chose you. God predestined you. God's redeemed
you. And now God's called you by his
grace. Can you show us that? If you read the next verse, I
can. Look down at verse 13. In whom ye also trusted, after
that ye heard the word of truth. Quite literally, the text should
be read this way. After that, you heard the word
of the truth. The truth. The singular truth. Heard the word of the truth,
which is Christ. The word of the truth, which
is the gospel. Now watch what it says. The word
of the truth. This is what God causes you to
hear. The gospel. The good news of your salvation. He sends the preacher with the
word of the gospel. How beautiful. upon the mountains
of the feet of them that bring glad tidings of peace, that publish
salvation, that say unto Zion, Thy God reigneth. He calls as
the sinner chosen of God in eternity and redeemed by Christ at Calvary
to hear the good news, to hear the truth, the gospel of your
salvation. In other words, God the Spirit
comes in grace, giving you faith in Christ, and announces to you,
you're redeemed. He announces to you, your name
is written in heaven. He announces to you, you are
called of God. Look at it, what it says, in
whom also after that you believed. Again, you can look this up,
you can take my word for it. in whom also having believed."
He's not talking about some kind of ridiculous second work of
grace. Now, we hear all this nonsense
in this Pentecostal charismatic age, everybody talking about
stuff that's totally contrary to Scripture. He's not talking
about some second work of grace. He's saying, in whom you also
trusted, and having believed, having believed, ye were sealed
with that Holy Spirit of promise. Do you remember what circumcision
was to Abraham? We read it in Romans chapter
4. It was a seal of the covenant. By circumcision in the flesh,
God sealed to Abraham and his sons the covenant that God made
with Abraham and all the blessings of the covenant. That seal of
circumcision in the flesh Typified and portrayed the circumcision
of the heart in the new birth the circumcision of God's grace
by which God the Holy Spirit Seals to the center all the blessings
of covenant grace given us in Christ before the world began
Which is the earnest? down payment, the pledge of our
inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession,
until the resurrection of these bodies under the praise of His
glory. Grace was ours. Salvation was
ours. Acceptance was ours. Forgiveness
was ours even before we knew that we needed it. Ours in Christ
from eternity. But we knew nothing about it.
until God the Holy Ghost abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence
of grace, revealing Christ and giving us faith in Him. A long
time ago, I read about a man in the 19th century where folks
traveled up and down the Ohio River and other rivers in this
country by riverboat. That was a common method of travel.
And this fellow in the far north had come on hard times, and he
decided that he would try to make his way south and see if
he couldn't better his life a little bit, so he scraped together enough
money to buy passage on a riverboat to New Orleans. And before he
got on the boat, he gathered together all he could of bread
and cheese and stuff he could stick in his pockets and have
something to eat along the way. And every evening, When folks
on the riverboat would get all decked out like they do on those
things, and they'd go to the feasting room, and they'd have
their meals. This fellow would sneak off in some corner under
a staircase and have a bite of cheese and some bread. And one
night, a fellow saw it. And he said, why don't you come
in? He said, oh, I can't do that. He said, why not? He said, I
don't have enough money. He said, you've got a ticket,
don't you? He said, I'm going to New Orleans. I bought a ticket
to go to New Orleans. He said, mister, look at the ticket. Look
at the ticket. Everything included. Everything
included. Oh sinner, look away at the ticket
to glory. Jesus Christ the Lord. Everything's
included. All things are yours for ye are
Christ's and Christ is God's. This is the infinite wisdom and
prudence of God. Oh, how wondrously he accomplishes
his gracious purposes when he takes the things of Christ and
makes known to chosen, redeemed sinners the plague of their hearts
and causes the sinner, knowing his guilt, now to know the free
forgiveness of sin by the precious blood of God's darling Son, receiving
the atonement. It is this work of God the Spirit
that causes sinners to know our interest in the Savior. So that
like Ezra, when I heard this thing, I rent my garments and
my mantle and plucked off the hair of my head and my beard
and sat down and stoned it. And at the same time, by the
same mighty operation of grace, he causes us to see Christ's
blood washing away our sin, so that when the iniquity of Israel
shall be sought for, there shall be none. and the sins of Judah,
they shall not be found. This is abounding grace. Who is a God like unto thee that
pardoneth iniquity, that passeth by the transgression of the remnant
of his heritage? He retaineth not his anger forever,
because he delighteth in mercy. Now look at the 10th verse. We
see again the abounding wisdom and prudence and grace of God,
abounding toward us according to his good pleasure, which he
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. Hear God the Spirit. opens to
us the very heart of the triune Jehovah. The very determination of God's
being. What is it that God's determined
to accomplish? What is it that God desires? If I can use such terms, what
is it that God's very heart beats to accomplish? It is the everlasting
purpose of God, the triune God, to glorify His Son, Jesus Christ
the Lord. Turn back to Romans chapter 11,
Romans the 11th. All things were decreed for Christ. All things center in Christ. All things are ruled by Christ. And all things shall give praise
to Christ. There is a time coming called
the dispensation of the fullness of times when all events shall
in the fullness of time accomplish this purpose. They're moving.
And we were sitting today getting ready for lunch, Brother Jerry
and Brother Gordon and myself, and we were chatting about things
going on in this world. Man, what's going on? What's
going on? What's going on? All the mess
in the Middle East, all the mess in the United States, all the
mess in the Soviet Union, all the mess in the Orient. What's
going on? What's going on? All the nonsense,
ridiculous, blasphemous, ungodly laws being pressed upon society. What's going on? What's going
on? All the apostasy of the religious
world. What's going on? Listen carefully
now. Let me tell you. God Almighty,
with the outstretched arms of infinite omnipotence. He's pushing
everything, everything to one end. To one
end. The glory of His Son everywhere
and in everything. Everything! that is, has been,
and shall hereafter be, shall ultimately redound to the praise
and honor and glory of our Redeemer. Every knee shall bow to Him. Every tongue shall confess before
Him that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Everything. Everything. Then, that passage
Brother Ledger was dealing with this morning in John 17, when
God gets done, The whole world is going to believe that God
sent Christ into this world. Everybody is going to believe
that it's so. Men in their everlasting damnation
screeching out in horror forever and ever shall acknowledge Christ
is Lord and it's right. I hate him, I despise him, but
Christ is Lord and is right. My soul is damned because I hate
him and I despise him, but Christ is Lord and that's right. And
all the redeemed, being compelled by omnipotent mercy here to bow
to him, shall in that last day cast their crowns at his feet
and say, worthy is the Lamb. and all the world shall believe
that thou didst send me." Look here in Romans chapter 11, let's
see, verse 33. Paul's talking here about all
that he's been speaking of from Romans 8, 28 right down to the
last part of chapter 11. God's providence, God loving
Jacob and hating Esau, vessels of wrath and vessels of mercy.
You were asking, Gordon this morning was asking me about How
come God would create some to be saved and others to be damned? I wouldn't use just exactly those
words, but I'll tell you exactly why. I know the reason why. I
was waiting until tonight to tell you. Look at Romans 11,
33. Oh, the depth, both of the riches,
the wisdom and the knowledge of God. How unsearchable are
His judgments and His ways past finding out. For who hath known
the mind of the Lord, or who hath been his counselor, or who
hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed to him
again. Now watch this. For of him, and through him,
and to him, are all things to whom be glory forever. Amen. There's one more text in
this regard, Colossians chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1, verse
18. And he, the Lord Jesus, is the
head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead, that in all things, in all things, in heaven, earth,
and hell, among the righteous and among the wicked, among the
saved and among the damned, that in all things he might have the
preeminence. For it pleased the Father that
in him should all fullness dwell. and having made peace through
the blood of his cross by him to reconcile all things to himself. By him I say whether they be
things in earth or things in heaven. I don't know about you, but I'm
anxious to see how God reconciles everything to Christ and his
glory. Just sit back and say bye. Look what God's done. Look what
God's done. Everything that is, has been,
and shall be shall say amen to Christ the Lord. Everything that
is, has been, and shall hereafter be shall give praise to our Redeemer. That's God's determination. God's
desire, and oh my soul, God has made it my desire. Soon there
shall come this reconciliation of all things to Christ. Verse
11, grace has abounded toward us in whom also, that is in Christ,
this one God's ordained to have all glory and to show forth all
his glory. We have obtained and inheritance. I'll have to come back to this
another day, but let's just hear this. The inheritance, whatever
it is in heaven, we already have it. We've already got it. The moral Christ is holding it,
our representative in glory. We've already obtained it. We've
obtained this being predestinated according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. Why did God do this? Why does grace so abound towards
sinners in Christ Jesus? Look at verse 12. That we should
be to the praise of His glory who first trusted in Christ. It shall be the everlasting glory
of the triune God It shall be the everlasting glory
of the triune God to be God our Savior. Imagine that. Imagine that. It shall be the everlasting glory
of the triune God to be God our Savior. That's called grace. abounding even to the chief of
sinners. Amen.