Go with me now to Romans 8 that Brother Hudson read from. Romans
chapter 8. Our sister Garnet Guthrie, as everyone, every member here
knows, is on her deathbed as far as we
know. She did what I have asked all
of you to do, that is, write down and plan your own funeral. And she did that a long time
ago in her own handwriting. And this is what she said. And I wrote it down word for
word. She wrote, The funeral of Garnet G. Guthrie, to be held
at Central Baptist Church. Pastor Paul Mahan at 2 p.m. So I reckon that's what we'll
do, 2 p.m. Message, Romans 8. Song, How Great Thou Art by Jeanette
Berry. So Jeanette, be practicing it
if you don't go first. Congregation singing, amazing
grace, interment or burial at Franklin Memorial Park, the brethren
carry in my casket." That's Sammy and various brethren. And she
put in big letters, preach just like Sunday morning. Romans 8. This can't wait for
her death. Romans 8 is generally, verse
28, as you know, you hear so often at funerals, don't you?
My neighbor one time said this. When her husband died, she said
to her preacher, so-called, she said, I don't want you reading
Romans 8, 28. Meaning, she got tired of hearing
that at funerals. Romans 8, verse 28 and following
are not just words to die by, but words to live by. This is
the faith of God's elect, that just shall live by faith and
die in that faith. Our words, verse 24 says, we're
saved by hope. You see that? We're saved by
hope. Hope what? David said, remember
thy word unto thy servant upon which thou hast caused me to
hope. We hope in God's Word. We hope upon His Word. We hope,
our hope is in His eternal purpose, ordered in all things. Our hope
is in His sovereign mercy and grace. Our hope is in His electing
grace. Our hope is in His predestinating
power. Our hope is in His Son, that
He actually did what He came to do for His people. That's
our hope. where we began reading, says,
and we know. And we know. And he goes on to
say some things that we know. Now, wait a minute. Who's the
we? Who's the we? There are many
people. In fact, most people. When you
begin reading these verses and come to that word predestinate,
most people do not even like the sound of that word. and wish
it were not in the Bible. But whoever these we are, they
know. They know that. Who's the we?
Well, back in chapter 1, he tells us who he's writing to. Chapter
1, verses 6 and 7, it says, "...among whom are ye also the called of
Jesus Christ." Those whom Jesus Christ called. Paul was one of
those, wasn't he? Verse 7 and chapter 1 says, All
that be in Rome beloved of God. Beloved means loved before. Loved before. Called to be saints. Called to be His people. So he
says here in verse 28, And we know these people who are called.
We know. His saints, they know. We know. We know. Well, what do we know? Verse 28. And we know that all
things work together for good to them that love God. And we
know. We know. Those whom God Almighty
calls, He teaches. They'll all be taught of God,
and they know. They know who God is. They know
something of his purpose, his power, his will, and so forth.
Listen to this, and I'll read to you from Isaiah chapter 43. One of the brethren read it Wednesday
night concerning his people. He said, You are my witnesses,
saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen. whom I have chosen, that ye may
know and believe me, and understand that I am he. I am he. Before me there was no God formed,
neither shall there be after me, that I, even I, am the Lord. Beside me there is no Savior."
He said, I have declared it, I have saved, I have showed,
and I have chosen you to know it. And you know it. And we know. We know. Some things we know. Alright,
look at these things. Verse 8. And we know that all
things work together. Now, a lot of people say things
like this. It's all going to work out. And when people read this verse
28, that's pretty much what they believe. They try to comfort
certain people when bad things happen or whatever, death or
whatever it may be, by reading this verse and say, we don't
know how, but somehow it's all going to work out. That's what
they mean by that. It's all going to work out. Well,
it's not working anything. We say things like this, it's
going to rain today. Well, it just doesn't rain. God sends the rain. And if it works out, if it is
working together, it is God that's working it. You understand? Things
don't just happen by chance or accident or whatever. It. God worketh all things, Ephesians
1 says, according to his counsel. God worketh all things after
the counsel of his own will. That's Ephesians 1.11. Acts 15.18,
known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.
So if it's working together, God's the one that's working
it. You see? All things, good and bad, that
means all things, doesn't it? Good and bad work together for
good. to them that love God. All things. You know, we're told by scriptures
not to judge anything before it's time. Judge nothing before
the time. The thing that may seem the worst
of all, if you wait, you'll see it's the best thing of all. And the chief example of that
is the cross of Christ. the worst scene in the history
of the world, the worst example of the inhumanity of man to man,
the worst example of the depravity of man, of evil, of sin, turned
out to be mighty good for the salvation of God's people. And
it is all working together. Because God is working it. And
he wrote it all down and predetermined it all for his glory and our
good, those who love God. For good. For good. Eternal good. It might not seem
like it's good for you at the time. But count on it. This is what
faith means. Trust God that it is working
together for good. God is too good to do evil. And he says it's for them that
love God, verse 28, to them that love God. Not all people are
God lovers. The things we're about to say,
or that is merely read and make a few comments, most people do
not love this God. But God lovers, those who are
God lovers, They love God as God. They don't merely love a
God whom they have imagined Him to be. They don't merely love
a God whom they have made up to be. They love the God of the
Bible. They love God as God. as he is revealed in this book,
whom he says, I am a just God, whom scripture says he is holy,
holy, holy, God who will by no means clear the guilty, God who
is absolutely, I mean completely sovereign in all things, and
none can stay his hand. A God who is not dependent upon
man in any way, shape, form, or fashion, whose will does not
depend upon man's will, whose work does not depend upon man's
will or work, who is not dependent upon the creature, but the God
who is in absolute control of everything and everyone and every
event who predetermined every single thing before the world
began. If you have read God's Word,
that is the God of the Bible. God-lovers are those who love
that God, this God, those who love God. They love his right
to be God. He said, cannot I do with my
own what I will? Meaning, whatever and whoever
I own. Romans 9, what if God? willing to show his wrath, enduring
with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath pitted for destruction."
What do you say to those things? God-lovers say, it's God. God-lovers say that. God's right
to be God. God's right to do with His own
what He will. Those who love God are those
who love God's glory. Not their own, not man's glory,
but God's glory. God's power. It's kind of like
a child. Well, it is just like a child.
All of God's children love their Heavenly Father, and they boast
of Him. They brag on Him, and they praise
and exalt Him. And they say, like a child says
of his father, there's none like him, none higher, none more powerful. He's God and there is none else.
They love him as God. God. They love his glory. They
love his power. They love his salvation. God
said, this is how I'm going to say it. I'm going to choose a
people before the world began. That's my right. That's my right. I made it. Can I not do with my own what
I will? Yes. He's the creator. I'm the potter. I'm going to
do what I will with it. I chose a people. Didn't have
to choose any of them. But I did. I chose them. They didn't choose me. I chose
them. And I wrote all their names in a book. And I purposed all
things concerning them. And in time, I am personally
coming down there to save them, to do what they cannot do for
themselves. Thank God He did that. And then
I'm going to finish that work, come back to glory and sit down
and wait until my will and purpose and all my people are born and
then saved, and then I'm going to wrap it all up and destroy
it. That's that. That's God's will. That's what this book says, in
a nutshell. Those who love God's salvation.
God says, I'm going to do it all. I purposed it all. I'm going
to do it all. For my glory. Not for your sake.
My sake. My glory. And you're going to,
throughout all eternity, you're going to praise the glory of
my grace. My mercy. Who loves God? Well, look at verse 28. It says,
them who are the called according to his purpose. That's who loves
God. Those who are called according
to His purpose. Those whom God Almighty chose
or elected before the world began. He did it on purpose. Those whom He called by the gospel,
He did it on purpose. Those whom He predestinated all
things for His glory and their salvation, He did it on purpose.
The God of the Bible, the living and true God, does all things
on Purpose. My old brother Barnard said that
years ago, and that's what the Lord used, that one word He used
to save my pastor who was at the time a preacher that lost. And he shouted out that word
for all to hear. Purpose. God Almighty, the God
of the Bible, does all things on purpose. He said, you learn
something about that, you'll know something about the God
of the Bible. Purpose. All things are working
together according to His eternal purpose. Purpose. Everything in the universe, past,
present, and future, has been purpose. ordained by God. That's what makes Him God. Especially
the making up of His kingdom, His family, His eternal family. Verse 29 says, For whom He did
foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of His Son. Can I use this familiar term
or illustration, I'm not trying to be clever, but we can relate
to this. This is planned parenthood by
God Almighty. Children don't decide for their
parents to have them, do they? Children don't let their parents
have them. You don't accept life. Christ
said, I give unto them life. You don't accept life. You receive
it. You're given it. It's something
that happens to you. You're not offered life. You're given life. Given life. Our Lord God, before the world
began, purposed to have a family. Again, Old Brother Barnard said
this one time, he said, he loved his own son whom he dwelt with
in eternity past. He loved him so much he determined,
he purposed to have a big family, all of them just like him. And it says, for whom he did
foreknow, he did predestinate. Foreordain is what that word
is. foreordained. For whom he did
foreordain, he did predetermine, predestine. Their destiny was
predetermined by God. What is it? To be conformed to
the image of his Son. We already said all things are
working together according to this predestinating purpose and
this foreknowledge. Now, the absurd notion that false
preachers today use when they come to this passage because
they don't understand it, because they don't believe it, because
they hate it. They use some absurd notion or illustration like this,
and they all say it. I've heard them all. They all
say it, that God looked down through time, through the telescope
of time. This is foreknowledge. This is
what they say. That God looked down through
the telescope of time to see who would believe on Him, who
would accept Him, who would let Him be God. And we've already
dispelled that, haven't we, in verse 28? And so God chose them. Well, then why did He have to
choose them? It's already, huh? He chose them. Well, you're getting
the cart way before the horse here. Way before the horse. One of
our brethren said, for something to be certainly foreknown, to
know for a certainty that it is going to happen, it must certainly
come to pass, right? And how can God just know something's
going to happen? Because He does it all. Known unto God, I quoted it to
you, are all his works from the beginning. Salvation is of the
Lord. Who believes? What does Ephesians
2 verse 8 say? Faith is not of yourselves. He didn't have to look and see
who would believe. He already knew who would believe
because he predetermined for them to believe. It says in Ephesians 1, they believe according to the
working of His mighty power. Verse 19. They believe according
to the working of His mighty power. Faith is not of yourselves,
it's the gift of God. It's a powerful operation of
God Almighty, the Spirit of God, upon everyone He chose before
the world began. Predestinated. to be conformed
to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among
many brethren. Verse 29 says, Christ is the
Son of God, the only begotten well-beloved Son of his love,
Son of God, the eternal Son, not less than, but equal to,
but the only image or express image of God Almighty. And yet
he became a man, the firstborn among many brethren. He is the
heir, and therefore he hath the preeminence in all things. And God hath given to him all
things. God gave him these people, these
people. They are his. He said, Ask of
me, I will give you the heathen for your inheritance, for your
heritage. They are his. Well, verse 30
says, moreover, whom he did predestinate, predetermined to be his people,
them he also called. This is not an invitation. A
sovereign king never gives an invitation. Where the word of
the king is, there is power. You read Psalm 29. You'll see
what the Word of God does. The voice of the Lord. That whole
psalm is about the voice of the Lord. The voice of the Lord will
make the hinds to care, the cedars of Lebanon to break. What about
a little helpless creature like man that God Almighty cannot do anything with him? He called them. This is a heavenly
calling, a holy calling, a powerful life-giving call. Scripture says,
He hath called us from death to life, and you hath He quickened,
Ephesians 2. Quickened means made alive. That means you were dead. We
get back to this thing of life. I give unto them eternal life.
Why? They were dead. When the Lord Jesus Christ came
to that graveyard, he came for the express purpose of raising
the one he loved, didn't he? Named Lazarus. He whom thou lovest
is sick. He whom thou hast loved before
the world began is dead in trespass and sin. Christ said, I am come
to call him. I'm going to call him forth. And he calls his sheep by name.
Someone said if Christ hadn't called Lazarus' name, every grave
would have emptied. He called him from death unto
life. He said, Lazarus! He didn't say, whoever wants
to live, would you come? He said, Lazarus! He whom thou
loved, foreloved, foreknew, predestined, chose, called, elected. Elect
according to the foreknowledge of God. In time, the Holy Spirit
through this right here, this preaching of the gospel, comes
and says, live like that child in the field of Ezekiel. When
I passed by you, dead in your sins, I said, live. What happened? They lived. This call is a powerful call
from death to life, from darkness to light. To call to repentance. No one will repent unless God,
the Holy Spirit says, repent. The goodness of God leads us
to repentance. It's not of yourselves. It's
the power of God. Why are we saying all this? Because
to God be the glory. Great things He hath done. He hath called us. He hath chosen
us. He hath saved us. He hath sanctified
us. He hath saved us. He died. He is worthy. Salvation is of
the Lord. And everybody in heaven is there
because God saved them. Not anyone in heaven saying,
Mama prayed me through, I chose Jesus, I lived my life for Jesus,
I accepted Him. They are saying, unto Him that
loved us and washed us from our sins, it is unto Him that chose
us, Him that called us, Him that sanctified us, Him, Him, Him. This is a Him book. And if you are going to be with
Him, You will know this starting right now. This people have I
chosen for myself, he said, that they might know me, who? The God of the Bible. And they will love me as God
and argue for me as God and boast of me and me only. And anybody
that stands up and talks about man, his will, his worth, his
works or anything, they'll say, that's blasphemy. And any man that stands up and
says, God loves everybody, they go to hell anyway, they'll say,
that's not the love of God. Whoever God loves, He saved.
He said in Jeremiah 31, verse 3, I have loved thee. If someone
loves Him, it's because he first loved them. And what does he
do? Here's the love of God. The love
of God is not a sentimental man love. It's saving love. I have
loved thee with an everlasting love." What does that mean? I
love them forever. Therefore, Jeremiah 31, verse
3, therefore, whoever I love, he says, I draw you. Come. Simon, follow me. I don't want
to. Follow me. Zacchaeus, come down. What did
he do? He came down. Matthew, Bartholomew,
Luke, John, Peter, Simon, Paul, follow me. He walked on. What did they do? They followed
him. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to pass. It's the Lord. This is the God
of the Bible. He called them. See, this call
is not an offer, not an invite. It's a powerful, life-giving
summons by the God of the Bible through the preaching of His
Word. Come. Not an ask, but a command. Don't we love that verse, Brother
John? Thou hast given commandment to save me. And boy, a damned, doomed, dying,
helpless, hopeless, guilty, hell-deserving sinner, a prodigal son is mighty
glad that salvation is of the Lord. Mighty glad that God Almighty
in His unworthy, undeserved mercy, sovereign electing purpose and
grace chose him before the foundation of the world, determined to have
him and all his salvation. All his hope of eternal life
is resting on that God who never changes his mind. That God who
said, you're mine and I'm going to have you, and gave commandment
to save him. And Christ came down here and
all his hope and help and salvation depends upon that one who came. Did he put away my sins or did
he not? That's their salvation. Whom
He called, look at this, He justified. Justified. Twitch Garner was
here to hear this. Whom He called. You see who's
doing all this? Huh? Whom He did. God who worked it all out. A
God who purposed it all. So when He purposed it, those
whom He did this purpose concerning whom he did foreknow, predetermine,
foreordain. He predetermined, predestinated
them to be just like his Son in regeneration. He called them
by the gospel in time. They've got to hear the gospel.
That's what our Lord said, whosoever believeth the gospel, and they
will, they'll all hear it, they'll believe according to his power.
And then he justified. Do you see how it all sounds
like it's past tense? called, justified. I wasn't even
born when this was written. Well, it is as good as done.
God said, I purposed it, I'll do it. As we quoted again, known
unto him are all his works from the beginning of the world. He
said, I've spoken and it will come to pass. When God said it,
it's good as done. Nothing will stop it. I'm so glad, aren't you? And
he justified. Freely. Scripture says he justified. John, don't you love this verse?
He justified freely. How? By his grace. A gift. A free gift. Look down
at verse 33. Who shall lay anything the charge
of those that accept Jesus as their personal son? No! God's
elect. Oh, I love that. Who shall lay
anything the charge of God's elect? Why? What do you mean?
Because it's God that justifies. Christ gave this perfect illustration. I've got to hurry. Our Lord gave
this perfect illustration. There were two people, two men,
came into the temple one day. One was a moral upright. He had
been to church all his life. He had Sunday school pens all
the way down his lapel to show it. He had done many wonderful
works in the name of God, and everybody thought he was saved,
and he had witnessed and so forth and all of that. And he came
and he lifted up his eyes to heaven and prayed with himself. He liked the sound of his own
voice. He was a good prayerer, very eloquent, I'm sure. He said,
I thank thee God, and that's just from the lips. He's just
saying that from the lips. He's not thanking God, he's thanking
himself. Thank you God that I'm not like other men. Thank you I'm living a victorious
life. Thank you that I accepted you and so forth. I pray, I tithe,
I do all of these things. Amen. In the name of Jesus. And back in the back was an old
boy sitting there who wouldn't even lift his eyes up. A sinner
born that way, lived that way, knew he was, didn't feel like
he deserved to be in that place that day, and all he could do
was smite on his breast because he had this thing, this loathsome
disease in his chest called sin, and he could do nothing about
it. And he came in that place as a guilty, hell-deserving,
worthless, helpless, hopeless, damned, doomed, dying, hell-bound
sinner, and he beat on his chest, and all he could say was, God,
be merciful. God, if you spare me, it will
be by your mercy. God, if you save me, you're going
to have to do it. God, if you'll choose me, I can't do anything. If you'll keep me, if you'll
save me, if you'll redeem me, God, be merciful to me. What are you? Nothing but a no-good
sinner. You don't need me. I'm worthless."
And here's what Jesus Christ said. This is God in human flesh. He said, you see this moral upright
man everybody thinks so highly of? He's condemned. He's going to
hell. You see this sinner right here?
He's no good to anybody. I say, He's justified, completely
exonerated. He is holy, unblameable, unreprovable
in my sight. I'm going to receive him into
heaven and say unto him, well done, thou good and faithful
servant for all eternity. That's mine. I justify. How? Why? Freely. Because I said so. It is God that justifies. You can't do that. I already
did. That's what makes Him God. It
is God that justifies. We were justified three ways.
We're justified by His Word. We're justified because God said
so. Right? We're justified by Christ's blood.
Jesus Christ came down here and died the death that our sins
deserve. He paid the wages of our sins.
God who is just must set us free. The penalty of sins has been
paid for. He must. And then in time, he gives us
faith. He said we're justified by faith. What's faith? Faith
just says it's God that justifies it. This is what faith says. It is
God that justifies. Faith says Christ that died.
Who shall look at verse 35? Who shall set a verse 34? Who
is he that condemned it? Christ died. There it is. That is faith. He
justified. And look at verse 30, and I close.
And whom he justified, them he also glorified. Sounds like it's past tense,
doesn't it? You know what glory is? Have you heard or seen any glory
this morning? Have you gloried in anything
this morning? Glory in something means to rejoice,
to be full of wonder and amazement and awe and admiration and love. Anything you've heard, it's Gloria. See, man likes the glory in his
self. Man likes the glory in his will,
his works, his ways, his strength, his intellect, his devotion,
his whatever, doesn't he? Man glories in man. but he that glorieth and whom
God Almighty begins this work of glory in right now, glories
in the Lord. Like the disciples of old whom
Christ chose, he chose three of them. He didn't choose them,
he chose them. Take them up on that mountain
one day to show them his They were glorified by being able
to go with him and see his glory as a foretaste of glory divine.
You know that everybody in glory was chosen by Christ to behold
his glory. The glorified ones are those
whom Christ chose to behold his glory. He said that in John 17.
I will that they be with me where I am. This is my will, he said,
that they be with me where I am, that they might behold my glory. Glorified. Those he glorified. This is a
foretaste of that glory. So, verse 31, he concludes after
these three verses, he said, what shall we then say to these
things? There's a little old lady, 78
years old right now, lying on her deathbed. She's as good as
good can get. She is. She's a fine woman. I've
known her 20 years now. Fine little lady. Moral and upright. You go to her deathbed, and she
wrote it down for me. This is what I want you to preach,
like Sunday morning. What, garnet? What's your hope
of eternal life, garnet? That He chose me. on purpose, that He elected me,
that He predestined all things, that I'm lying in this bed because
He said so, that everything about me was predetermined by my all-wise
Heavenly Father who cannot err, and that He called me by this
gospel. Didn't have to, but He did, to
the praise of the glory of His grace. And He justified me by
Christ. He said so. Christ died for me.
I'm a sinner now laying on this bed. Ask her. Still a sinner. If I go into glory, it's because
Christ died for this sinner. That's why. Period. Period. And I trust that I will be with
Him in glory, forever glorified to behold His glory. What do
you say to these things? Well, here it is. Here's the
God-lovers. Here's the God-lovers testimony. If God, this God, all our comfort,
all our peace, all our hope, if this God, who is God before
us, and he goes on in that Romans
8 and says, who shall separate us from the love of God? If God
loves me, I'm going to stay loved. He's going to save me. Nobody is going to be able to
separate me from If God be for us, who or what can be against
us? Nothing, because He predestined
all things for us. Come hell or high water, it doesn't
matter, if God be for us. Brother John, if you'll come,
we'll sing a closing hymn. What number was it? Praise the
Savior at 51. You who know Him. It says, number 51, the green
hymnal, Praise the Savior, ye who know him. Who can tell how
much we owe him? Gladly let us render to him praise of our lips and all that
we are and have. Let's sing verses 1, 3, and 4.
Okay? Stand with me. 1, 3, and 4.