If you would turn with me in
your Bibles to 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 13. Let me say in all sincerity
to you this morning, oh how I wish I could show you the Son of God,
but I can't. Only God can do that. Now, I
can proclaim Him to you as He's revealed in the Scriptures by
the grace of God, but I can't give you a saving knowledge.
If I could, I would. That's the holy work of the sovereign
and eternal God, the Holy Spirit. How I wish, truly wish, that
I had the ability to proclaim Him as He should be proclaimed.
But our best endeavors are tainted and severely affected by sin. Our best prayers are full of
vanity and self-righteousness, aren't they? Every man, David
said in Psalm 39 5, at his best state is altogether vanity. And I confess to you, dear friends,
how I wish that I could or that we could worship Christ as He
deserves to be worshipped this morning. I wish even those who
are his chosen people could love him as much as he loves us. He's deserving of it. Wish each
of us could forgive one another as God for Christ's sake has
forgiven us. But we all come short, short
of the glory of God. Every one of us. None excluded. And yet that truth is what brings
the best news that mortal man has ever heard. Well, what do
you mean? The message of the glorious Gospel
is that Christ came into the world to save sinners. And the
writer, one of the most used men of God ever, the Apostle
Paul said, I'm chief. I'm the worst of the worst. And
every preacher standing in every one of God's pulpits, true preachers
this morning will tell you the same thing. I'm the chief. I
live with myself. I know a little something of
my heart." And each of you would agree that you are the chief. But Christ came into the world
to save sinners, Paul said in 1 Timothy 1.15. Christ came. Don't miss those two words. Christ
came. That's my only hope and that's
your only hope of redemption. It's truly the sick that have
need of the great physician. Our Lord said, those that are
sick have need of a physician, not those that are weak. Every
single soul that has been born of woman since Adam's great fall,
great sin, has been born sick, needy, and spiritually dead. Only God's Son can rightfully
say, I will have mercy and not sacrifice, for I am not come
to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Now if you're
a sinner, that's good news. If you're a sinner, that'll bless
your heart. Only the perfect, precious God-man
can truthfully say, come unto me, I'll give you the labor and
the heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. There's none other
that can give rest. Come unto Me, he said. And we
come unto Him, friends, for He has bid us to do so. And we come
to Him because He's come into the world to save sinners. And
we come to Him because He's come to where we are. That Samaritan
woman, that glorious day, that day that God chose before the
foundation of the world to show mercy, she came to that well.
But Christ came to that well also. And there she met the Savior,
whom she later said, told me all things concerning myself. Surely this must be the Messiah,
the Son of God. Oh, He meets us. He comes to
where we are. I grow tired of hearing people
say, I found Jesus. He never was lost. You're the
lost one and He found you. Oh, we come to Him because He
came to where we are. So let me ask you a question.
Why are you here this morning? Well, that's a strange question.
Well, is it? What have you come to hear this morning? Did you
come to hear me, a sinful man, fill your ears with enticing
words of man's wisdom? Or did you come to hear a word
from God in power and in spirit? Did you come to hear how much
God needs you? How much God appreciates you
and your hard work for Him? Or did you come as a beggar? A mercy beggar, begging for mercy. Are you truly interested in what
God can do for you, a sinner? Have you come this morning as
that leper came to Christ? going to die. No cure for what
he had. And there's only one cure for
the leprosy that you and I have, and that is the Son of God. Oh,
if I could but show you the Son of God. If you've come this morning
as a leper with rotting flesh of self-righteousness, covered
and stained with filthy rags to be cleaned, friends, I've
got a message for you. I've got a word of hope for you
and your awful condition. Now if you've come as a proud
man or woman, my message is to send you home lost. The same
as it did the proud Pharisee in Luke chapter 18. Have you
come to pray with yourself? That's what he did. Have you
come to pray, God I thank you that I'm not like other men are? Have you come to thank God that
you're not an extortioner and that you're not an adulterer?
And have you come like the proud Pharisee to brag on your fasting
and glory and your giving? That's what he did. He stood
up front. I can just see Him looking up
into heaven and He's bragging on all that He's done for God. If you've come that way, you've
come in vain. But if you've come today like that publican who
stood afar off, beating on his chest with his head hung low. Scripture says, wouldn't so much
as lift up his head. Shame. Humility. Embarrassment. Embarrassed because
of his condition. Only to ask for mercy. Then just maybe today, you'll
go down to your house justified. Just as if I'd never sinned. It's always the mercy beggar
that goes down to their house to justify. Always, without exception. Now there was once an American
missionary by the name of David Brainerd. He lived from 1718
to the young age of 29 and passed away in 1747. And David Brainerd
had a particularly fruitful ministry among the Delaware Indians of
New Jersey. And as a result, his biography
and his diary, which tell of his short life of only 29 years,
has become a source of inspiration and encouragement to many believers
everywhere. And before I did any personal
research on Mr. Brainerd, I'd heard a message
again by our beloved friend, Henry Mahan, who spoke of some
things that Mr. Brainerd wrote in his diary. Mr. Brain wrote in his diary,
he said, there are four things in particular that God revealed
to me which caused me to be shut up to His sovereign mercy. I'm going to give you those four
things, but let me tell you what the title of my sermon is. What
is sovereign mercy? What is sovereign mercy? You'd
be surprised at how many don't know. The first thing that Mr. Brainerd said was, I saw that
God Almighty requires perfect obedience to His holy law, and
that I could in no way produce it. Have you seen that? Have you seen that God Almighty
requires perfection, perfect righteousness, and that you have
no way to produce it? If you've had, you've seen a
good thing. And it wasn't by works of righteousness that you've
seen it. Paul wrote in Romans 7.9, he
said, For as I was alive without the law once, but when the commandment
came, sin revived and I died. Now what was Paul saying there? Well, here's what he was saying.
This is what he meant. He said, I felt fine. I felt
good about myself when I didn't understand what the law demanded.
The law demanded perfection. And God showed me I couldn't
provide it. And he said, when I learned the truth, I realized
I had broken the law and that I was a sinner deserving of death
and condemnation, doomed to die. Have you seen that God requires
perfect obedience and you can't produce it? The second thing
that Mr. Brainerd went on to say was,
I saw that Almighty God requires perfect faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ. And I can in no way produce that
either. And neither can we. Has God shown
you that? Hebrews 11, 16 says, but without
faith it's impossible to please Him. For he that cometh to God
must believe that he is. That he is what? That he's God!
And it'll take God's divine intervention in your life for you to ever
believe that God is God. And that Christ is the only way
a sinner can be saved. Unless God intervenes and changes
your heart, you'll trust in your own works and you'll continue
to work, work, work, try to do something for God. and you'll
one day die in your sin unless God intervenes. For by grace
are you saved. That was the third thing that
Mr. Brainerd said that he had come
to see. He said, I saw that faith was
and is the gift of God. Have you seen that? By grace
are you saved through faith? That's not of yourself. Let that sink in to your heart. I'm saved by grace through faith. And even the faith that God gave
me is not of myself. I didn't conjure it up. I didn't
work it up. I didn't merit it. I didn't deserve
it. I sure couldn't earn it because it's not of works. Lest any man
should boast. And men are going to boast. Men
are going to boast. Men boast every day about what
they've done for God. Romans 2 for Paul said do you
despise the riches of his goodness and Forbearance and long-suffering
not knowing it's the goodness of God that leadeth thee to repentance
Friends if God has granted you repentance. It was the goodness
of his Name and his work that led you there It's the goodness
of God that leadeth to repentance the long-suffering and mercy
of God toward us who believe. It's God's mercy and goodness
that leads men and women to repentance, to a change of mind, a change
of mind about themselves, who they are, what they are, and
a change of mind about who God is. He's the great king and only
potentate. He's the one mediator between
God and man. He's the only way that a man
can be redeemed and brought into reconciliation with God. And
the fourth thing Mr. Brainard said was, I saw that
salvation is of a holy God. And He can save me or He can
let me die. And either way, He still remains
holy, right, and just. The Apostle Paul in that famous
chapter of Romans 9 that many men skip over in their preaching. And God said to Moses in Romans
9, I will have mercy on whom I'll have mercy. And I will have
compassion on whom I'll have compassion." So then we conclude,
it's not of Him that willeth, it's not of Him that runneth,
but it's of God that showeth mercy. And a child of God loves
that. We rejoice in it. We're thankful
that He had mercy. We rejoice that He had compassion. argue and complain because it's
at his discretion. We're just thankful that he had
it on us. Has God shown you these things?
Has God revealed to you that salvation is by His sovereign
mercy? Now, you're already turned with
me to 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 13. Let's read it together. But
we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved
of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you
to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth. What is sovereign mercy? Well,
I know this much from this verse of Scripture. It's always connected
to praise and thanksgiving. Paul says right up front, we're
bound. We're bound to give thanks. That
word bound means indebted. I'm a debtor to give thanks always
to God for you brethren, beloved of the Lord. Right? What makes men brethren? Is it just a fraternal organization
where we all get together and sign a little paper and get rings
alike or whatever ridiculous things that men do in these social
organizations? No, sir. What makes men brethren
is that they are beloved of the Lord. Beloved of the Lord. What makes us brothers and sisters
and family of God? We're beloved of the Lord. That's the only way. That's the
only reason. Beloved of the Lord. And friends, when you see the
sovereign mercy of a sovereign God, you're going to be thankful.
And you're going to praise Him for your salvation and the salvation
of others. That's exactly what Paul did
here, didn't he? We're bound to give thanks always
to God for you. I know that he rejoiced in his
own salvation. But God's people rejoice in the
salvation of others. Sovereign mercy. Now listen,
I'm going to give you some characteristics. Sovereign mercy is God's work. Make sure you understand that.
What does our text say? Because God hath, God hath from
the beginning chosen you. Who has? God has. It begins with
God, it ends with God, and everything in between is God's doing. Salvations
of the Lord. Sovereign mercy is well explained
in 2 Timothy 1.9. Go ahead and turn there with
me. It's just a page or two over. 2 Timothy 1.9. Here the Apostle Paul, speaking
of God, says, "...who hath saved us, and called us with a holy
calling, not according to our works," notice this, "...but
according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began." Look over to Ephesians
chapter 1 with me. Turn back a few pages. Ephesians
chapter 1. You know these scriptures. But
let's read them in this context of God's sovereign mercy. Ephesians
1. Oh, the whole chapter is amazing. But look at verse 3. Ephesians
1 verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us. Salvation, sovereign
mercies, God's work. God has blessed us. God the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ who blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. That's where God's
blessings are found. in Christ. Look at verse 4, according
as he hath chosen. God did the choosing. I did the
sinning. God did the saving. The only
thing that's truly mine is my sin. The only thing that I can
truly take any credit for is my sin. And that's not credit,
that's shame. Shame. according as He hath chosen
us. Where? In Him. When? Before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him. and love. To be saved is to be
holy and without blame before Him. Sovereign mercy is in Christ
alone. He blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places where? In Christ. He chose us
where? In Him. That verse in 1 Timothy
that we just looked at, God saved us according to His own purpose
and grace, which was given us where? In Christ Jesus, it said. Here in Ephesians 1 and 3 and
4, we're blessed with all spiritual blessings and heavenly places
in Christ. In Him. This is where God's sovereign
mercy is found. Why would we look anywhere else?
That's the only place that's found. In Christ. In Him alone. Now another thing, sovereign
mercy is eternal. God hath from the beginning. Turn back with me to 2 Thessalonians. God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation. I bet every one of you this morning
could tell me the first four words found in the volume of
this holy book. Genesis 1-1, the first four words.
In the beginning, God. And that's what the Apostle Paul
is saying here. God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation. Before He ever spoke the worlds
into existence, Christ was the Lamb slain before the foundation
of the world. Chosen in Him. In the beginning,
from the beginning. God has from the beginning chosen
you to salvation. That's why sinners are made holy
and without blame. Salvation was given to His people
before the world began. We were chosen in Christ's wind
before the foundation of the world. You know why that's important? Because that assures us beyond
a shadow of a doubt that we didn't have a thing to do with it. Nothing
to do with it. Before God said, let there be,
let there be, God's people were safe and secure in Christ. Now, isn't that comforting? Isn't
that an encouragement to your soul? It doesn't have anything
to do with you and your faithfulness and your work. People working,
fretting, trying to be saved. Scripture says, be still. Be
still. I'm God. I do the same. Salvation is of me. Can you see
that? If you can, then let me simply
ask you, what did we have to do with our salvation? And your
answer will be, thank God nothing but believing. And even God gave
us the grace to do that. One day this week, I saw a very
nice card with professional lettering down the side that simply said,
John 3.16. This young man had gone to great
length and expense, I might add. I mean, it was professionally
done, it looked like. I want you to turn there with
me, John 3, 16. John 3, 16. You know this verse by heart.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting
life. Now many of you have heard of
that old evangelist by the name of Ralph Barnard. He said it's
in that verse that we see the result of salvation. For God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish, but have eternal life." He said in John 3, verse
14, look at it with me. He said, here's the remedy. And as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up."
That's the remedy. Those that looked to that serpent
lived. As those poisonous scorpions,
whatever they were, came out of the sand and bit God's people,
those that looked to that serpent upon the pole lived. Friends,
you've been bit by a poisonous and deadly thing called sand. The only remedy is that you look
to the Son of God. as He's lifted up. In John 3.15
we see the reason of salvation. That whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish but have eternal life. Sovereign mercy, friends,
always has something to do with eternity. God hath from the beginning
chosen you to salvation. Now let me ask you three, four
questions and I'll wrap this up. Do sinners choose God, or
does God choose sinners? Our Lord plainly said in John
15, 16. You couldn't get any clearer
than this. He said, You have not chosen Me. Why? Why do men
find that difficult to believe? Our Lord Himself, God in the
flesh, on earth, told men and women, you have not chosen me,
but I have chosen you. And yet men and women say, oh,
I chose God. It was by my decision. It was
by my will. It was by my work. But Christ
said, you've not chosen me, I chose you. Second question, when did
God choose sinners? Well, we've seen that already,
haven't we? From the Word of God. That God chose sinners before
the world began. Before the foundation of the
world. From the beginning, God has chosen you to salvation.
So let me ask you thirdly, why does God choose sinners? Why
does He? You're not far from it. Turn
with me to Matthew 11. Why does God choose sinners?
Why does God have mercy? Look at Matthew 11, verse 25. Again, this is God in the flesh
answering this question. This is not me. I'm not answering
this question. I'm not giving you my opinion
on this. I'm telling you what God says.
Verse 25, Matthew 11. At that time, Jesus answered
and said, I thank Thee, O Father. Lord of heaven and earth, because
thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and has
revealed them undebathed. Why does God choose sinners? Even so, Father, it seemed good
in thy sight." That's the only answer I can give you. It sure
wasn't anything in the sinner. that prompted Him to do so. It
just simply seemed good in His sight. God has a right to do
what He will with His own. We agree that it's alright for
us to do what we will with our own, but how much more should
God not be able to do so? I don't understand men's thinking.
I do. They're natural men and they
don't receive. Natural men can't receive the
things of God. just can't do it. I've used this
illustration before, but it serves my purpose well at this time.
Let's say you decide to paint your house. And you've meticulously
looked over the colors and the color charts, and you've held
them up, and you've stood back, and you've chosen your color.
And it's a beautiful brown. You say, oh, that's the color
right there. I mean, you've looked through
15 shades of brown and found just the right one, the one that
matches the shutters perfectly, the one that has the best contrast
against the roof and the guttering and everything else. And you've
said, that's my color. And you go to the store and you
buy it and you begin to paint your house. And some stranger
pulls up in the vehicle and rolls down the window and says, hey,
I insist that you stop painting your house right now and I want
you to paint it blue. You, me, and everyone else would
more than likely say, this is my house. Who do you mean, you
insist? This is my item. I'll paint it
whatever color I want to. And yet when men declare that
that is what God does, people get mad and they call God unfair. Now let me ask you again, why
does God choose and save sinners? Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1,
for after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew
not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save
them that believe. Galatians 1.15 says, but when
it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb and
called me by His grace. Why does God choose sinners? I gave the answer before the
question. Why does God choose sinners? He's pleased to do so.
He's pleased to do it. It pleases Him to do so. One
last question. How does God save sinners? Once
again, turn back to 2 Thessalonians 2. I'm sorry. Verse 13. How does God save sinners? Read
it again with me. But we're bound to give thanks
always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the truth." Now, I want you to notice
the wording closely here. It does not say that God has
chosen you to salvation for sanctification. It doesn't say that. That's what
a lot of men preach and believe. That it's for sanctification.
No, it says through sanctification. That's a big difference. God's
elect people have already been set apart. They've already been
sanctified. That's what that word means,
to be set apart. To be made holy, perfect, without
blame. When? Before the foundation of
the world from the beginning. It's through sanctification.
Sovereign mercy requires means. And that's the last thing that
I want to tell you. It requires, the Apostle Paul
says here, the work of the Spirit and belief of the truth. The center of salvation is through
sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. Isn't
that what he says? When God saved that eunuch, He
sent him Philip, a preacher, and he believed the truth. That's
right. When God saved Cornelius, He
sent to him Peter, a preacher of the gospel, and he believed
the truth. When God saved Saul of Tarsus,
knocked him off his horse on that road to Damascus, he told
him, he said, you go to a street called Strain. And he said, I'm
going to send a man there, Ananias. Ananias was a preacher, and he
preached the gospel to Saul, who we know as the Apostle Paul. When God saved Lydia, she went
into that town to sell material of purple. There was no synagogue
there, and her and a bunch of other ladies met down by the
riverside and, best they knew how, worshipped God. And God
sent them a preacher. And his name was Paul. You see,
friends, it's by the foolishness of preaching that God saves them
that believe. 1 Corinthians 1. That's why we
meet. Our Lord said, My sheep hear
My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. Follow Christ. He says, I give unto them eternal
life. You remember when our Lord stood
before Pilate, and Pilate said unto him, Art thou a king then?
Are you really a king? That's what they say you are.
They're calling you the king of the Jews. And Jesus answered,
and He said, You say that I'm a king. He said, Here's what
I tell you. To this end was I born, and for
this cause I came into the world, that I should bear witness unto
the truth. Every one that is of the truth
heareth my voice." Do you hear the voice of the truth this morning? Sinners are saved because, first
of all, God chose them. No denying that. They're saved
because Christ died for them. There's no denying that. They're
saved because God gave them faith to believe the gospel. There's
no denying that. And they're saved because God
sent them the gospel by a preacher. Mr. Spurgeon once told the story
of a little boy that sat in his church. He found this out later
after the fact, but he looked down one day and the little boy
was sat in the pew and he had his hands like this. You know,
like often people that have a little trouble hearing do. And his mother
looked at him and said, son, are you having trouble hearing
Mr. Spurgeon? He said, no ma'am,
not at all. And she said, why are you doing
that? Why are you doing this? And he said, well, Mama, Mr. Spurgeon said that when the Lord
saves you, that He'll call you. And he said, and I want to be
sure to hear Him if He calls me. Do you hear the Savior calling? Do you? Why do you remain indifferent? Come unto me. All you that labor and hebulate,
I'll give you rest. Don't tarry another day. Come
right where you are. You don't have to move a muscle.
We're not going to press you into walking down and out. Come
to Christ in your heart. Right now. Today is the day of
salvation.