You'll turn back with me now
to Colossians chapter 2. I want to focus on verse 10. There's no one in this place
today, young or old, who's not going to stand before God. You may be around here another
80 or 90 years. You may be around here two years. You may go out this afternoon.
I may face Him before I get done with the message here this morning.
We don't know. The old must die, the young may. But my point is, you're going
to stand before God. And we're not even interested
and who God is. We're more interested in the
temporary. We're more interested in what
tomorrow might bring, or what today might bring, or in the
pleasures of this world. We're interested in those things,
and I understand that interest. I like to fish. I like to hunt.
I like to do things the same as you do. But what I'm saying
is that these things occupy our mind and we never think about
the God before whom we're going to stand. Who is God? What is God? I got a ticket one time for speaking. I spent two weeks trying to find
out what kind of judge was going to judge me over that ticket.
I was worried to death about that judge. Is he strict? Is
he lenient? What kind of judge? Brethren,
we're going to stand before God and we're not even interested
in who God is. We can't take time to even read
the Bible just for a little while just to find out who God is and
our souls in His hands. You're healthy. You're healthy
as a bear right now. Let me tell you something. God
can take that away in a flash, in an instant. He can take it
away. I want to speak to you today
who have been called of God, quickened of God, led of God
to repentance, and given the gift of faith. God has a people
scattered throughout this world, a people that He chose from the
beginning of time. He chose from eternity, before
every time was, before the foundation of the world. You can read that
in Ephesians 1 forward. You can find it in Romans 8.
28 and 9, you can find it in 1 Peter 1 and 2, John 10, 11
and 29, John 17, Romans chapter 9, 2 Thessalonians 2, Romans
chapter 11, and on and on and on. God has a people. If God had not chosen a people
and made provision for that people in His Son, the whole of creation
would have dissolved in the garden where man fell. Our God does
not tolerate sin. He won't put up with sin by one
man. One incident, one transgression
by one man, sin entered into the world and God cursed the
whole human race. And we're full of sin and ain't
got time to even think about who God is. God will not tolerate
sin. And if God had not chosen a people
and made provision for them through His Son, the whole of creation
would have been dissolved in the garden. But God did choose
a people, and He did make provision for them in the person of His
Son. So what you're saying, preacher, is that only God's elect are
given the opportunity to believe. No, that's not what I'm saying.
There's unbelievers here this morning. And you're going to
hear what I've got to say. And you're going to process in
your mind and in your heart concerning what I say, and you're going
to make a decision. based on what you hear and what you know
and you're either going to reject what I'm saying or you're going
to receive it and rejoice in it. You're going to do that. Election has nothing to do with
man's rejection of Christ and his willful unbelief. His unbelief
is due to his own nature, to his own heart, to his own rebellious
mind. You can't blame God. Oh, well,
God's got an elect. I must not be one of His elect.
That's got nothing to do with your rejection of Christ. Your own belief and that enmity
that you have for these things comes out of a fallen and depraved
heart. These Jews were wandering around.
They were religious. The Jews kind of stands for the
religious of the world. And these religious men were
going around and they were condemning this one because of adultery
and they were condemning this one because they ate meat on
Friday and they condemned this one for drinking alcoholic beverages
and so on and so forth. Our Lord said, let me tell you
something. This wine and this stuff that you're condemning
men for and all these things, it goes into your mouth and it's
cast out into the dry. What defiles the man is what
comes out of his heart. Out of the heart proceed adulteries,
fornications, murders, thefts, adultery, all of these things.
They come forth from the heart. That's what defiles the man. It's not election that bars you
from faith. It's your own sin, rebellion,
and unbelief. And the reason why men and women
suffer under the wrath of God and go on in their rebellion
is because they will not receive the things of the Spirit of God. They heard them. They hear them
saying, you do. They heard them. But they won't
receive them. They won't receive them. When
a man, woman, boy or girl hears the gospel, and believes what
they hear, and acts on what they hear, and rejoices in what they
hear, it's because of an intervention of God. Otherwise, He just lets
you go on like you are. He just lets you go on like you
are. He don't care what you do. He don't care if you're religious
or irreligious. He cares less. Satan does, as
long as you miss Christ. What does He care? He doesn't
care if you die on a boat fishing or if you die in a pulpit preaching.
He could care less. Apart from an intervention of
God. And when God intervenes, He intervenes
through this pulpit. He intervenes with a preacher
telling you the truth. And He intervenes in your heart
by the Spirit of the living God. He gives you an understanding. He makes you willing in the day
of His power. But apart from that intervention,
you're just going to go on like you are. You're just going to
go on like you are. When a man, woman, boy, or girl
hears the gospel, believes what they hear, acts on what they
hear, rejoices in what they hear, hear what they hear, It's because of an intervention
of God who in an act of unspeakable grace and mercy enables them
to hear, enables them to see and to feel and to know what
others never will. Never will. I think of the untold
thousands who didn't receive, who didn't hear, who rejected,
who just stubbed their nose at the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to this, Ephesians 2,
8, 9. We see this so much. Most everybody in here can quote
that scripture. By grace are you saved through
faith. And that not of yourselves. Oh, I thought we believed. You
do. But not of yourself. By grace are you saved through
faith. And that not of yourselves. It
is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should
boast. Can you imagine a group of people
in Heaven's glory? Now, Heaven's designed to glorify
Christ. Heaven's designed to manifest
the very name and glory of God. And over here in the corner is
a little group of people still bragging on how they believed. I couldn't do this, but one thing
I'd like to know how many times I've heard that. in Armenian
religion. One thing I can say. No, you
don't have anything you can say. Nothing. When God intervenes, He shuts
your mouth. You don't have anything to say.
You don't have any more excuses. By grace are you saved. God did
not choose a people. and appoint his son to suffer
and die in their stead and then lead their final end to chance
and circumstance and man's so-called free will. And that's my message
to you today. Paul begins here in Colossians
chapter 2 by telling them that he had a great conflict for them
and for all the churches established by him and put under his watchful
eye, even those whose faces he never seen. And this conflict
had to do with his prayers and intercession for them, his wrestling
over their problems and how to deal with them. This conflict
had to do with his personal sacrifices, suffering, and labor just to
come to them and minister to them. This man was beaten within
one stripe of his life three times. He was shipwrecked at
sea for days, floating out there on a piece of driftwood. His conflict had to do with his
suffering and his labors to minister to him. Some of them were so
ignorant that this man who is coming to them with the very
Word of God, he had to go make tents to pay for his meals so
he could come to them and minister to them. This conflict had to
do with his battles against false religion and rumors and heresies
concerning himself and his message. Oh, he said, I do this hoping
that your hearts might be comforted. Being knit together in love and
under all riches. Now, here is what you need to
hear. Being knit together in love and under all riches of
the full assurance of understanding to the acknowledgement of the
mystery of God. and of the Father, and of Christ. Now let me give you several things
here in these divinely inspired words to comfort your troubled
hearts. As I said, I'm preaching to those
whom God has called, affectionately called, and established His name
in your heart. Those who believe. And to those
who don't, it's a warning. It's a warning. Let me give you
several things here to comfort your troubled souls. Now, I hope
by the power of God, he troubles your soul. It takes a troubled
soul, a sick soul, to seek the physician. You're healthy and
well and running around, you don't need a doctor. That's the
last thing on your mind until you get sick. All right, first of all, I want
you to see that the salvation of God's elect is of divine origin. That's what Paul wanted them
to know. He wanted them to know and acknowledge this great mystery
of God and of the Father and of Christ. If you find any lasting peace,
any lasting comfort or assurance, it will come through an understanding
and acknowledgement of the salvation of God's elect as it's revealed
in the triune God. Anybody can stand up here and
start talking about man's free will. Walk down an aisle, shake
the preacher's hand, be baptized, make a profession of faith, and
on and on and on it goes. Join the church, do this, do
that. I could show a scary movie up
here and maybe scare some of the young kids into a profession
of faith. Or I could go out here and do
all kinds of things to get you None of those things are going
to save your soul. Eternal life is to know God. It's to know God. Until you know
God, you don't have life. It's to know God and to know
the Lord Jesus Christ. And salvation is of divine origin. Let's look at this just for a
second. God the Father. God the Father. God the Father
is the author of salvation. If God the Father had not purposed
to save a people, nobody would ever be saved. We'd all go to
hell. We'd all be condemned. None of us would have any hope.
He didn't purpose to save the angels. You can read about it
in the book of Jude. It's just one chapter. Last book
before the book of Revelation. Read the book of Jude. The angels
are reserved in chains of darkness. There is no provision for salvation
for angels at all. And those fallen angels are damned
forever. They are damned forever. God
the Father is the author of salvation. It is according to His purpose,
His ordination, and His will. Listen to the Scriptures. You
can read through Ephesians chapter 1. I am just going to give you
kind of an oversight of it very quickly. It says, Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed
us with all spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ,
according as He has chosen us in Him, in Christ, before the
foundation of the world. Verse 4. Predestinated us unto
the adoption of sons. Verse 5. Made us accepted in
the beloved. Verse 6. gave us redemption through
His blood, the forgiveness of sins, verse 7, abounded toward
us in all wisdom and prudence, verse 8, caused us to obtain
the inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of Him
who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will,
verse 11, that we should be to the praise of the glory of His
grace who first trusted in Christ. That's God the Father. He's the
author of salvation. And then God the Son. He's the
one mediator between God and me and the man Christ Jesus.
He alone is the Savior of God's elect. Grace and truth came by
Him. He's the propitiation for our
sins. He is the reason God can be propitious
to us, can be merciful to us. His person and work allows the
blessings promised by the Father to flow freely to the guilty
sinners. And then God the Holy Spirit.
God the Holy Spirit is the author of the Word of God. Men wrote
as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. They wrote. Their personalities
shine in the Scripture. You read them and study the Scriptures,
you can tell Paul's writings even in those books that men
say weren't written by him. You can tell they're Paul's writings
because his personality is in it. But he was moved by the Holy
Spirit of God. The Word of God is God-breathed.
It's written by men as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, 2 Peter
1, verse 21. And the Bible is not a book of
ideas and concepts and theories put together over thousands of
years. It's the Word of God. The Holy Spirit reveals His Word
to men. We're talking about what part
the Holy Spirit has in this thing of salvation. He's the author
of the Word of God, and He alone can take the Word of God and
reveal it to you. And I'm talking now about the
message of His Word, and the message He reveals is the Gospel
of Christ. Our Lord said, He will take of
the things of mine. He won't speak of Himself, but
He'll take of the things of mine and He'll show them unto you.
He'll take my death and show it unto you. He'll take my righteousness
and show it unto you. He'll take my eternal appointments
and show it unto you. He'll take my glory and show
it unto you. And the Holy Spirit's the power
behind regeneration. He takes the holy seed of the
gospel and He brings life into dead sinners. And these are mysteries
not received by natural men but fully embraced by all those who
believe. And we understand these things
and how they apply to the salvation of God's elect, and we fully
acknowledge the mystery of God the Spirit, and God the Father,
and God the Son. And we say that salvation is
of divine origin, of divine purpose, and of divine intent. And when
you hear me say salvation is of the Lord, that's what I'm
talking about. It's of the Lord. And sinners in trouble can't
find any help in a gospel of chance and circumstance. They
need the sovereign, all-wise, unchangeable, eternal God. That's
the only time I ever hear anybody pray with true doctrine is when
they're in trouble. Then they pray to God who's God. Help me. Help me. The rest of
the time, He can't help you if you're not willing. And then the second thing I want
you to see here is that this salvation can only be known and
experienced in the soul by those who truly believe. Paul observed
these people and commended them on the steadfastness of their
faith in Christ because it's the conduit through which all
these promised blessings of God flow freely to those to whom
they're intended by faith. All that God the Father promised,
all that God the Son accomplished, all that God the Holy Spirit
reveals is made known and understood by faith. Faith includes the
means of preaching. How shall you hear without a
preacher? Therefore, he said, faith cometh by hearing and hearing
by the Word of God. Faith includes the beginning.
Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the
Word of God. so that the things which are
seen were not made of things which do appear. Faith includes
the end. Peter said we're kept by the
power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed
at the last time. And faith includes all that's
in between. The just shall live by his faith. Three times in this chapter we're
warned not to stray from our faith. Three times. Once in verse
4, He warns us about the beguiling ways of men. Beware, He said. Again in verse 8, Beware, lest
any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition
of men, after the fundamental principles of the world, and
not after Christ. And then likewise in verses 16
through 18, being drawn away back under the bondage of the
law and ceremonial religion and will worship. He that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. The election of God is manifested
in the faith of God's elect. How do I know if I'm elect, you
believe? You believe? Ain't any other
way to know. God doesn't go around putting
a mark on you. All that Christ has redeemed,
all that God the Father has chosen, all that Christ has redeemed,
every last one of them is going to believe. Every last one of
them. The election of God is manifested
in the faith of God's elect. That's how Peter knew it. Among
all those churches, he called them strangers, scattered abroad.
That's how he knew it. And that's how Paul knew it in
the Thessalonians. He said, I know your election
of God. That's how he knew it. And that's how you're going to
know it in all who believe. Listen to this Scripture. Being
justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ. By whom also we have access by
faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope
of the glory of God. Salvation is of divine origin. Its author is God. It comes from Him. It's according
to His purpose, not what seems right to men. If you had any
sense of right and wrong, God wouldn't have to intervene. God
wouldn't have to do anything. Salvations of divine origin.
And this eternal salvation is manifested in the hearts of chosen
sinners by faith. Our Lord said to the unbelieving
Pharisees, you believe not because you are not of My sheep. As I
said unto you, My sheep, you are My sheep. And then thirdly, all that we
know, all that we come to hoping all that was given to us in the
eternal covenant of grace is accomplished, accepted, secured,
and preserved in the person of our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus
Christ. The Jesus of my generation has
no name. He's just Jesus. He has no name. But the Lord, the promised Messiah,
the Christ of God. His name is written from one
end of the Word of God to the other. He is the Lord our righteousness. He is the Lord our banner, the
Lord our peace, the Lord will provide, the Lord that healeth
thee, the Lord my shepherd, the Lord our maker, the Lord our
God. The Lord of hosts is His name. Not the Jesus of my generation.
He has no name. He's just Jesus. Just believe
on Jesus. Just accept Jesus as your personal
Savior. Which one? When Jesus Christ was manifested
in this world and accomplished the salvation of His people,
He manifested the very name of God. He manifested God's mercy. What kind of a God is God? Well,
He's merciful. That's what He told Moses. Moses
said, show me your glory. He said, all right, I'll show
you my glory. He passed by and declared unto him, the Lord.
He's merciful. He's merciful. He manifested
His grace. He manifested His love. He manifested
His kindness. But He also manifested His holiness
and justice and righteousness. And He manifests yet His peace. God did what He did in Christ
Jesus without compromising His name. His name is what is manifested. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. But how are you going to call
on Him in whom you have not believed? And how are you going to believe
in Him of whom you have not heard? You didn't even know He had a
name. You thought Jesus was His name. You can't call on His name until
you hear it, and you can't hear it without a preacher. And He
can't preach that name except He be sent. Through the representative righteousness
and substitutionary sacrifice of Christ, God declares to us
the uncompromising name of God. He's both just and justifier
of all those who believe. Preaching declares a person,
a person appointed for the salvation of God's elect. They were chosen
in Him, made righteous in Him, received remission of sins in
Him, justified in Him, interceded for by Him, and are waiting for
His return. It is all about a person. Now
listen to what the Apostle tells us about this man. Colossians
2, verse 9. For in this One, in this Christ,
in this Jesus Christ, in Him dwelleth all the fullness of
the Godhead. You want to know something about
God? Study Christ. In Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. Now listen. And ye are complete
in Him who is the Head of all principality. and power. You're complete in Him. God the
Father made provision for chosen sinners in His Son. He blessed
us in Him, chose us in Him, predestinated us in Him. We lived under the
law of God in Him. We died before the judge of heaven
and earth in Him. We were resurrected from the
grave in Him. And we obtained our inheritance
and are now seated in glory in Him. It's all in Him. Ye are complete in Him. Somebody told me the other day,
I don't act like I ought to. That's why salvation, no part
of it is left up to you. That's exactly why. You never
will act like you ought to. You never will do what you ought
to do. You never will say what you ought to say. You never will
think like you ought to think. You're sinners. Salvation is
for sinners. Paul said, here's a faithful
saying. Jesus Christ came into this world to save sinners. You
want to tell folks something, tell them that. If anything's left to man to
do to satisfy God, there's no hope for man. With man, it is
impossible. So what are you saying, preacher?
You're saying men are free to sin all they want to? No, I'm
saying that when God saves a man, He takes away his want to. That's
what I'm saying. We won't be made like Christ.
I don't lay awake at night thinking of all the sin I could go do
the next day. I lay in my bed at night hoping
I could be made like Him. Disappointed that I can't walk
like Him. Disappointed I can't think like
Him. Disappointed I can't act like
Him. Believers want to be like Christ.
They want to please Him whom they love. They want to honor
Him with their lives. And they repent over their sins
and imperfections. And they look forward to the
day that sin is removed from their minds and hearts forever. Let me tell you something, until
that day comes, we're complete in Him. We're complete in Him. Christ has accomplished for them
forever the full and complete redemption of their souls. This
man, talking about Jesus Christ, after He had offered one sacrifice
for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, expecting
to His enemies and ours be made His footstool. For by one offering
He hath perfected forever them who are sanctified. Ye are complete
in Him who is the head of all principality and power. God has
built a hedge about His people. Did you know that? Old Satan
said, I said to the Lord, the Lord said, have you considered
my servant Job? And Satan said, yeah, but you
got him hedged about. You bet he does. He's got us hedged about. God
has built a hedge about His people and He won't allow them to be
tempted above that which they are able to bear. but will with
the temptation make a way of escape. And trials and temptations
are but the furnace by which the true gold of faith is exposed."
You're complete in Him. And if we're complete in Him,
then we've got no reason for a Sabbath day. Christ is our
Sabbath. If I'm complete in Him, I don't
need a high priest. He is my high priest. He entered
in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption
for us. You see what I mean? I don't
need a holy day. Christ fulfilled all of those things. He fulfilled
all of those things. God enable you to intervene in
such a way as to enable you to see Christ for who He is. And
when you see Him for who He is, then you know something about
the living God, and that's eternal life.