Turn with me to the book of Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 1. My pastor told me a while back
that he had begun to go back and preach from the old passages,
the old messages, you know, the old standards, Brother Charles,
you know, the ones we're talking about, Genesis 22 and others. And so I had been doing the same,
especially on the radio. And I would venture to say, that
most everyone who has heard and believed the truth, and I mean
the gospel, there's only one, the gospel. Paul called it in
the book of Titus, the doctrine of God our Savior. That sums
it up, doesn't it? Or as Brother Todd preached,
the doctrine of Christ. I would venture to say that most
everyone who has heard and learned and believed that gospel, the
gospel, the gospel of God's sovereign mercy and electing grace in Christ. First heard that, or really heard
it, from perhaps the book of Romans, Romans 9 maybe, or Ephesians
1 or 2. Wouldn't you say? Most of you can enter into that. Now Ephesians chapter one, just
a few verses is all I want to look at. This is, in this chapter,
the first six verses alone, is one of the plainest declarations
of that gospel, the gospel of God's sovereign grace in all
of the scripture. One way that you know the gospel
has come to you, gospel means good news, doesn't it? is when
you love it. You receive the love of the truth,
don't you? You love the gospel. You not only believe it, you're
not only convinced of it, you love it. And you continue to
love that same gospel. And you insist upon hearing that
and won't tolerate anything else. And when you hear it, the same
old things. It's still good news to you,
isn't it? It's just as good news. It's
good news, isn't it? And Ephesians 1 is still just
as good news right now as it was when you first heard it.
The gospel, the doctrine of God our Savior. And to say the same
things to you, like Paul said to the Philippians, to write
or preach the same things is not grievous to me. You know,
we go, Brother Charles, if you go to a conference, you want
to preach something safe, don't you? This is safe. Brother Walter Gruber one time
came to our place and he said, I'm going to preach from Genesis
22. And most of you know that's the story of Abraham taking Isaac
up on that mountain. And he said, if a man can't preach
from Genesis 22, he needs to sit down. And it's true with
Ephesians 1. Just read it. Just read it. That's all we need to do. Well,
and for you it's safe. For you don't need to hear something
new. You need to hear the old truth. Well, he begins in verse 1, Paul.
Paul. Paul. Not Father Paul, not Reverend
Paul, just Paul. Paul. An apostle of Jesus Christ. Now, back then, the title of
the office of an apostle we want to call it office, was not something
which made you famous. It made you infamous, didn't
it? Got you killed. One of them got killed. So he's
using this term. And the word just means messenger. That's what it means. Paul, a
messenger of Jesus Christ. Now, this was written by the
Apostle Paul, but this is God's Word. Every word of it is God's
Word. It's vital that we keep that
in mind. This is God's Word. These are
not just the words or opinions or counsel of man. Paul told
the Thessalonians, he said, I'm thankful that you receive the
Word as it is in truth, the Word of God. Not the words of a man,
but the words of a man, but as it is in truth, the Word of God.
He was thankful. And you can be thankful if you believe that
this is indeed God's Word, not Paul's Word, but God's Word.
Now more than ever, now more than ever, when God's truth is
being under attack, especially the writings of, or the epistles
of the Apostle Paul, mostly under attack by women. Did you get that? Women, 1 Timothy
and 1 Corinthians 14 and so forth. These are God's Word. God's Word. And now more than ever, we believe
and we confess this is God's Word. Paul, an apostle, a messenger
of Jesus Christ. Christ called him. Christ sent
him. Christ made him his messenger.
And Brother John, Christ was his message, wasn't he? Christ
was his message. As with all true God-sent preachers,
if they're sent by God, they have one message. Cry. One minute. He said this in verse
1, by the will of God. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
by the will of God. Paul knew who chose him. He knew
who called him. He knew who equipped him. He
never lost sight of that fact. I believe that's one reason the
Lord used him so mightily. He never thought of himself too
highly. He told us that, didn't he? Let no man think of himself
too highly. more highly than we ought. And
Paul said, I'm less than the least of all the saints, didn't
he? So God made him the greatest. You remember when the apostles
were arguing who was the greatest among them? You remember that?
They all argued. Well, it was none of them. And later on, the apostle Paul
came along. And he said, I'm not fit to be
called an apostle. I'm less than the least. I was a blasphemer
and persecutor. I'm the chief of sinners. Well,
God said, I'm going to make you the chief apostle. Matthew Henry once said, God
made everything out of nothing. So if he's going to use you,
you've got to be a nothing. My nothing. Brother John Newton,
one of my favorite preachers. Is he one of your, one of my,
he never quit calling himself, till the day he died, he never
quit calling himself the African blasphemer. The old African blasphemer. He was in the slave trade, you
remember that? Until finally one day he himself became a slave.
Amazing. Then he became a bond slave.
But he never lost sight of where the Lord found him and what he
really was. Neither should we. by the will of God, as all things
are, aren't they? Aren't you glad? Aren't you glad?
And he's revealed this mystery to us, the mystery of his will.
He says to, in verse 1, to the saints, to the saints which are
at Ephesus, or the saints which are at Kingsport, saints. This is a blessed term, a blessed
term, saints. This is one of the most blessed
terms in Scripture. In fact, This is a name which
God calls his people, I think, more than any other. Am I correct
about that? I think this is what the believer, the children of
God, are called more than any other. The saints. The saints. Now, there are many things in
modern religion today that make me angry. It makes me angry the way they're
blaspheming our God. Isn't it you? If you love God,
it should. If you think His name needs to
be exalted, you should. I hate the way they're dragging
His name through the dirt where they're using God's name and
name, don't you? I hate what they're doing to His Word, twisting
it and perverting it, don't you? I hate what they're saying about
my Lord Jesus Christ. I hate that, don't you? And they're bandying this term
saint around, aren't they? They're making like old Ahab
or one of those old wicked kings, it says he made the worst sort
of men into priests. And they're making all sorts
of fellas saints, aren't they? There's no fella in Rome can
make somebody a saint. God in heaven makes saints, doesn't
he? You tell somebody you heard John Paul tonight. Do you think about that? Saint
John and Paul. I don't say that presumptuously
or carelessly. Nobody else knows us but John.
But I believe God has chosen us, don't you? Made us saints. He told the Romans, to them who
are called to be saints. Saint means sanctified, means
separated, set apart by God for His use. That's what it meant. For holy use. We're going to
see that in a minute. Called to be saint. The one's
not declared a saint by a little fella in Rome, but by the great
God in heaven. He makes his saint. To the saints
at Ephesus. And there's some in here, in
Kings 4. And he says to the faithful in Christ Jesus. Now he wrote
this letter to the church at Ephesus, but whatever he writes
to the church is to all the churches. Right? All the church. And they're described as the
saints and the faithful. That is, those who have faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful. You think of faithful,
you think of somebody who's true, don't you? That's a good description
of God's people. They're true to Him. They really
are. They're true to His glory. His preachers are true to His
glory. Yes, they are. They're true to
His Word, aren't they? Yes, they are. Yes, they are. Don't be afraid to say that.
They're faithful in Christ. Faithful to the church, to the
believers, those who are full of faith and those who are devoted
to the glory of their God and the glory of his Son and the
good of his people. Yes, they are. Now, he keeps
using this term through this chapter. You know, in Christ. In Christ. This just sums up
the gospel, doesn't it? In a minute, I'm going to try
to illustrate what that means to be in Christ. Salvation is
to be found in Christ. Salvation is to be accepted in
Christ. Salvation is to be redeemed by
Him or in Christ. Found in Him. In Christ. He keeps
saying that over and over. In a moment, I'm going to try
to just illustrate that to you. But he says to the saints in
the faithful, verse 2, be to you." Here's that word again. We keep hearing it, don't we? Well, when you hear the gospel,
you hear it a lot, won't you, Brother John? Because that is
the gospel. Grace is the gospel of God's
sovereign grace. That's what you preach, isn't
it? Grace. Grace. Grace. Brother John did something. I've never had anybody do this
to me. He called me up. And before we
came here, he called me up and told me what he was going to
preach on. He knew he was preaching before me, and that was very
gracious of you to do that. He was afraid, I guess, that
he had taken my text. Well, it didn't matter what text
he would take. He'd get on mine anyway. Isn't
that right? Brother Charles quoted from this.
John quoted from this. Todd quoted from this. If you're
going to preach the gospel, you're going to get around to this,
aren't you? You're going to say grace. You're going to talk about
God's sovereign electing grace, aren't you? You can't preach
the gospel without that. That's where it starts. To the
praise of the glory of his grace. That's what this message is entitled. That's what the salvation is
entitled. Grace be unto you. Grace, you're
saved by grace, Ephesians 2, verse 8 says. By grace you're
saved. Salvation is one hundred percent the grace of God. Not ninety-nine and nine-tenths. One hundred percent. Now, grace
means gift. That's what it means. It means
a gift bestowed, not offered. Salvation is not an offer. Nowhere
in this book does it say that. I hate the word. I really do.
I'm sorry. No, I'm not sorry. Whatever is
not in God's word, I don't want to hear it. It's not an offer. Grace is not an offer that you
do something with. Grace is something God does to
you. Grace is an act of God upon you,
for you, in you. That's what this grace is. Grace
bestowed upon you. It's a gift. It's not an offer.
It's bestowed. The Scripture says things like
this. The operation of God. Those of you who believe according
to the working of His mighty power. That's great. That's the
grace we're talking about here. An operation upon us. Great.
And down here in verse 6, he talks about the praise of the
glory of His grace. The grace that I'm going to try
to Well, I'm not going to do it, but make a stab at it. To declare is the glory and the
wonder and the marvel of God's sovereign grace. We sing that
song, don't we? Amazing grace. A lot of people
like to sing that tune because it sounds good. Because it makes
them feel good. Only God's people really know
the amazement of grace. The wonder of grace. The glory
of grace. That's what he said. The glory
of grace. The glory of it. And I heard Brother... Now, we're
talking about grace, a gift. And I heard Brother Charles Pennington
say this years ago, and it really struck me. It's so plain, I don't
know why I didn't think of it. He said, if it's grace, it must
be sovereign by definition. If it's a gift, it must be sovereign. In other words, you're going
to give something to somebody. You're the one that decide who
gets it, aren't you? If it's mercy, Brother Tony,
if it's mercy, that means not getting what you deserve. It
is, by definition, sovereign. He decides. God said, and here's
the glory of it, I will be merciful. Aren't you glad, hey, sinner,
aren't you glad God will show mercy? He said, to whom I will
show mercy. That's His divine right as God,
and God's saints love it that way. That's His glory. Not only the glory that he shows,
mercy and shows grace, but it's his divine prerogative in writing
it. That's what makes him God. I
heard a good statement recently, a good, short, concise statement
on God's absolute sovereignty. He said, this is sovereignty.
He said, God is God and we are not. That's right. It sums it up. And nothing more declares His
sovereignty than this. It's the glory of His grace.
It's His to give. He gives it whom He will, and
He gives a lot of it. The God of all grace. Grace.
God's grace. We're talking about sovereign,
electing, calling, keeping, saving grace. Grace. You name a grace,
it's all by grace. A man can receive nothing except
it be what? given him from above. You quoted
that. What do we have that we haven't
received? In other words, everything is by God's grace. Repentance
is the grace of God in us. We are not going to repent until
God gives us, in his goodness, this gift of repentance. Abraham
was seventy-five years old and idolatrous, steeped in idolatry.
Nobody's going to convince a seventy-five year old man that he's wrong,
aren't they? No man, that is, but God did, brother And he did
it effectually. And he repented and renounced
his whole past. Nobody can do that but God. Real
repentance that doesn't need repenting of. The gift of repentance,
the grace of repentance, the grace of faith to believe who
you don't see, to love who you don't see, to cast all your care
upon your whole life and invest your whole life in somebody you've
never seen, look for a place you've never been. Faith itself is evidence of things
unseen, Scripture says. That itself is evidence. It's
the gift of God. It's the working of His mighty
power to make people believe. Think about this, folks. Think
about this. You're here tonight to sit and listen and worship
and talk about and rejoice around somebody that lived 2,000 years
ago in a little town over in Jerusalem, or over in Israel. And you're consumed with Him.
Aren't you? Well, that's amazing. That's
amazing. Amazing grace. Faith is the gift
of God. The grace of God. Understanding. Perseverance. If we persevere,
it's the grace of God. We're kept by the grace of God. God's saving grace is something
God does for you, something He does to you, and something He
does in you. And He goes on to say in verse
2, He says, Grace be to you and peace from God our Father. Peace. Peace from God our Father. God, whom Scripture says, is
angry with the wicked every day. And He should be. As angry as we get, you know,
like the old lot, vexed with the conversation of the wicked. And it gets worse all the time. God is angry with the wicked
every day. God, Scripture says, hateth all
workers of iniquity. And God who should be angry with
us is not. God who is going to destroy this
planet full of people, that's a fact, spared us. Why? Because he spared not his own
son. Because Jesus Christ made peace
by the blood of his cross. That's more than a doctrine,
folks. That's a reality. That's somebody taking your place.
That's somebody coming to where you are on death row and said,
I'll take his place. Let's ask old Barabbas about
substitution. Well, he could preach that, couldn't he? Peace. Because Christ, the chastisement
of our peace, He was laid on here. He took our weapon. He
took our weapon. Peace from God our Father. Now you understand that God only
has one begotten Son? That God only had one begotten
Son to express the image of God. Jesus Christ, the only one who
came from the bosom of the Father. One begotten Son. One. And yet here He says He's our
Father. How can that be? In him, in Christ,
he's the firstborn among many brethren. We're adopted. All
of us are adopted. He's the only begotten. We're
adopted, aren't we? But let me tell you something,
Tony. He's just as much a child as the firstborn, right? Just as much. Adopted. God our
Father. And our Lord Jesus Christ is
the one who told us we could call him that. Isn't it? We didn't
know we could until he said we could. No man knows the father,
but the son, or the son, the father. Him to whom we were revealing,
right? And Brother Charles, that's when
Christ, in his sermon on the mount, he said, pray this way,
our father. Throughout the Gospel of John,
he talks about, I go to my Father, I go to my Father. And then finally
in one place, he said to his disciples, I go to my Father
and your Father. Grace and peace from God our
Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. They're one and the same,
aren't they? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father, Christ
said. They're one and the same. He hath all his name, the mighty
God, the everlasting Father, from our Lord. And he says in
verse 3, now he and Brother John preach, Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed means all honor and glory
and praise be to thee God. Thee God. I like that, don't
you? I like the way Paul calls thee God. Our God, the God who is God.
I love what old Moses said to the people, he said, now their
rock's not like our rock. Our rock is the rock upon which
we stand, unmovable, eternal, rock of ages upon whom we stand,
and will not be moved. Now, their God's not like our
God. Our Lord Himself said that. Why
do they pray to a God who cannot save? Let me tell you something.
Our God saves. Our God. The God. He is God.
Not trying to be God. He is God. I mean, the only one. Do you love to hear this? This
is life eternal, as you might know. The only one. True God. Do you ever get tired of hearing
this? Do you ever get tired of hearing
you're God-exalted? It's your favorite subject, Brother
John. Now, tell me about God who is God, because all of our
peace, all of our comfort for everything is in this, thy God's
greatness. Nothing to know. Whom shall I
be afraid, David said? Whom shall I fear but thee? Our God. Thee is the God. Blessed
be the God. David wrote in one of my favorite
Bless the Lord, O my soul. Can you? Bless the Lord, O my
soul, and all that is within me. Bless Him. Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with
all spiritual blessings, all spiritual blessings. in heavenly
places or things in Christ. There it is again. He's blessed
us with all spiritual blessing. Now, everything we have, we've
received from God. Everything. And in that sense,
everything is a blessing from God. If you're here tonight and
in relative good health, that's a blessing from God. Don't take
that for granted. Don't do it. Oh, bless the Lord
for health and for home and for family, don't we, huh? God who
giveth us. It's the grace of God that giveth
us richly all things to enjoy. Bless the Lord for these blessings.
And they are a blessing. And I believe, I really believe,
that only God's people can truly enjoy these blessings like no
one else. Knowing who they came from. Knowing
they're undeserved. And they don't take them for
granted like other people do. Or not as much, anyway. I really
believe only God's people can truly enjoy the things that God
has given us, the material thing, more than anybody. I really do.
But now, these are not the blessings. These are not the greatest blessings.
These are not the true blessings. He blessed us with all spiritual
blessings, spiritual blessings. Now, I'm getting on something
that's too big for me. Well, when I started, it was too big
for me. Brother John kept painfully reminding me how short we've
both come up, literally. All our lives we've been short,
haven't we, John? What about preaching, buddy?
You ever think you've come up to this task? Oh, I'm getting on over. Who
was it that said, I've spoken things too wonderful for me?
But that's the way it is. That's who the Lord uses. He
doesn't send angels down here to tell this, because they don't
know about mercy. They can't describe mercy, can they? They
can't tell you about grace. They're not recipients of it.
Am I really not? Oh, sinners can. Only sinners
can. Huh? Spiritual blessing. That's
what we're talking about. The greatest blessing. The things
seen. Scripture says, God's Word says,
things that are seen are temporal. Doesn't matter what it is. Moths
are going to corrupt it. Thieves are going to steal it.
Rust is going to corrupt it. It's not going to last. It's
perishing. It's corrupt. But the unseen
things now are eternal, Scripture says. Unseen things. Spiritual
things. Eternal blessing. And it says
they're in Christ. All of these blessings are in
Christ. All things are in Christ. And
Paul said this one time, God said this through him, he said,
I has not seen, I has never seen. Ear hath not heard, neither hath
entered into the heart of man, any man, the things that God
hath prepared for them that love him. We try our best to describe
this thing, we can't. Kind of like old Abraham's old
servant that went to get a bride for Isaac, huh? an old and faithful
servant. He went there to try to describe
one of the greatest men on earth at that time. To try to describe
his master's riches. He said, I can't do it, you have
to come see for yourself. Will you come? Who made her willing? The same one that made her. Oh,
eternal riches and blessings of of in the Lord Jesus Christ
has a saying Paul it was Paul we believe that that went to
the third heavens and he said I heard that. Not saw thing but
just heard things that I can't I can't I can't convey them I
can't I can't put in the word no nobody heard you I can't there's
nothing to describe it. No man can but here's where he
starts so he tries and I do too he doesn't try he doesn't Here's
where it starts. Here's the blessing of blessings.
One of our brethren already said it, verse 3 or verse 4, according
as he hath chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the
world. Blessing of blessings. This is where it starts. This
is where all blessings start. God sovereignly choosing you. Once again, this is more than
a doctrine. Old Brother Barnard used to say,
election is not just a doctrine, it's a person choosing persons. It's a reality. A God who shouldn't
have chose us, did. A God who could have chose others,
but didn't. Chose us instead. We never get
a hold of the glory of the fact that He chose me. And not this
man. Not this man. Me. I don't think Jacob got over
that. Grew up in the same house as he saw, didn't he? Experienced
the same benefits under Paris like that? But God said He loved
him and not Esau. Oh, the hall of heaven is singing
about this. Chosen in Him. In Christ. Chosen. Read on. Before the foundation
of the world that we should be holy and without blame before
Him. Before God in love. Having predestinated
us. Do you love the sound of that
word? That's great. Most people don't. They really don't. Having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children. Anybody like the sound of the
word adoption? Anybody here know anything about adoption? Does
it sound good? Is it a sweet thing to you? Huh?
Adoption. Having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children. He says it's all according to
the good pleasure of His will. Verse 6, it's all to the praise
of the glory of His grace. That's what I'm trying to do
right now. The praise of the glory of His grace. This grace,
this electing grace, is glorious. Oh, how I'd love to preach it
in such a way that it would be glorious to us. Not just convince
us, but it just... I can't even... the glory of His grace, the wonder
of it, the marvel of it, that God Almighty chose me. He didn't
have to, but He did. Chose me. Predestinated me. Predetermined everything about
me. Aren't you glad? Predetermined. For whom He did foreknow, He
did predestinate. I heard some ignorant woman on
the radio, ignorant so-called preacher woman. And if she's
a woman on the radio, she's ignorant. But she was on the radio and
she said, she said, predestination doesn't have anything to do with
people. It has to do with things and
events and so forth. Boy, they do err not knowing
the Scripture, don't they? That's where all this error comes
from. People don't know what the Word of God says and don't
care. Every time it's mentioned in Scripture, it's about people
in it. Twice in Ephesians 1 and twice in Romans 8, and every
single time it's talking about people, God's people, whom He
predestined to be just like Jesus Christ. What's wrong with that?
How could anybody find fault with that? Only a self-righteous person
could. God's people love the sound of it. You mean you're
going to make me just like Jesus Christ? You mean you've predetermined
my end to be just like Him? That's right. Boy, I love that.
Tell it again. Predestination. Predestinated. Chosen. Predestinated. Oh, the glory of His sovereign,
electing, predestinating Grail. I went and did a little research
on something. There are 17—see if this doesn't
bring this thing home—the glory of electing Grail. There are 17 million babies born
in China every year. Seventeen million. One million
of them are born with a birth defect. A few other million die. Many others, mostly female, they
disappear, if not destroyed. Nobody admits it, but years ago
they'd do it without apology. Just destroy female
babies. Most of them are born in abject
poverty and grow up in homes of heathen, idol-worshipping
parents. But God, in his sovereign mercy and providence,
chose one. and gave her to that man up there. To bring her and sit her under
the gospel. Seventeen million! And set her down under the gospel. Under godly believing parents.
Now is that grace or what? Gave her to this dear man and
his dear wife. And you know, God did the same
for us. How many millions are born worldwide? How many millions grow up under
heathen parents? But God chose us in Christ. Oh my, gave
us to Christ. Gave us to Christ. Oh, how God
hath blessed us according as he hath chosen us out of men.
Huh? Given us to Christ to save us, given us to the Holy Spirit
to regenerate us, to lead us, to guide us. Bring us up in the fear of the
Lord. When did he do this? What does it say there? When
did he do this? Nothing can be plainer. before
the foundation of the world. Romans 9 says the children may
not get born before they've done any good or evil that the purpose
of God, according to election, might stand. What do you say to those things? Aren't you glad? Spurgeon's the
one that said, I'm so glad that Lord chose me before I was born,
because if he'd waited until after, he wouldn't have chose
me then. That's a familiar way of saying
it, but it makes sense to me. Jacob was no different, really,
by nature. No different than Esau, was he?
He came out as a cheaply usurper. Oh, my. Before the foundation
of the world, before we were born, chose us, set his love
upon us, set his love upon us, predestinated us to be children,
to be holy. Don't be afraid of that word.
That's what God's people want to be. That's what salvation
is all about. Salvation is to hate sin. Salvation
is to love holiness. Christ is holiness. We want to
be just like Him. Well, that's what God has predetermined
that we're going to be. Just like Him. Blameless before
Him, it says. There's only one person able
to do that and present us that way. Christ Himself. In love,
he did it in love, the scripture says, in love. God did this in
love to Christ. He said, ask me and I'll give
the heathen. I'll give you the healing for your inheritance.
He didn't get much, did he? But because he did, God gave
him a name which is above every name. Because he took upon himself
the form of a servant, God gave him a name above it. Because
he saved these people. Because he took upon himself
the likeness of sinful flesh. Because he did all that, God
gave him a name. But the inheritance he got was
us. Who was it? John was talking
about my father-in-law on the golf course. Did you bring that
up? Who brought that up? Somebody.
Dad brought that up. Well, when I started dating his
daughter years ago, I loved to play golf. I played a lot of
golf. I loved to play golf. And my
father-in-law had a sports car too, Roger. A nice sports car.
And he, I don't know why he didn't just say, here's the keys. Take
off. Take my daughter. Go. Let me play golf, get me a set
of clubs and all that. You know, when I got married,
when I married his daughter, he sold both of those things. And all he had left was an old
English bulldog, one of those ugly, you know, English bulldogs.
He said, you can have that when I die. What an inheritance that he got.
Well, we got we're joint heirs with him, though. I mean, everything
that Brother John said, everything that belongs to God is ours.
Oh, my. To be holy, blameless before
him, predestined in love, God did it in love. There's the point.
He did it in love to Christ, love to his glory, his honor.
He did it in love to his people. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the
sons of God." Huh? God give me a wonder and an amazement
at such love. Behold what manner of love. He
loved me. He loved us in love. He did it in love. And He caused
us to love Him. A former God-hater loves God. We love Him. We do love Him.
I love God, don't you? Don't be afraid to say that either.
Don't be afraid. We're ashamed of our love. We're ashamed of it. Like Peter,
aren't we? We're ashamed of the fact that we've denied it. We're
ashamed of the fact that we've sinned against it. We're ashamed
of our fickle, finite, failing love, aren't we? Our weak love.
We're ashamed of it. But we do love Him. When I talked about
God as being God, what did you think about that? Hmm? This is
what I'm talking about. It's not just being convinced.
I believe God is sovereign. He's loving that he's sovereign. Huh? When I was a kid, you couldn't
describe my dad big enough. I thought he was eight feet tall,
able to lead tall buildings in a single mound. He could whip
your dad. Yes, he could. My God is God. Don't you love to hear that,
brother? Is this your favorite subject? That means you love God. A lot
of people say they do. A lot of people say they love
God. When you start talking about
Him being God, they don't love that, do they? How about you?
This is His glory. If you love God's glory, you
love somebody to glorify Him. If you're a helpless, hopeless,
poor, weak sinner, you'd love to hear about somebody that's
got you in his hands. Huh? Let come hell or high water. It's going to be okay. By God's
greatness. There's no way to say this but
to holler it. Huh? Isaiah said, Get up. God said
it to Isaiah. Get up. Lift up your voice. Tell
them. Behold thy God. This is my salvation. It's not a doctrine. It's a person
on a throne. And He's got me in His mind.
He's got me in His heart. He's got me engraved on it. He
can't forget me. He's got me engraved on His hands. I think about that every time
I go to baptize someone. I just fear, and all you preachers
know, you just fear you're going to forget their name, don't you?
So I went writing their names on the palm of my hand while
I'm up there. So, my sister, our God says he's got us engraved
on his hand. Christ said it. He said, they're
in my father's hand, they're in my hand. In love, he said, God loves his
people. And again, I hate what they're
saying about the love of God, don't you? I hate it. I hate
it. Nancy, this is our salvation.
If God loves you, He loves you. That's our salvation, isn't it?
He'll never quit loving you. He saves everybody He loves.
This is to the praise and the glory of His love. And why did
He do this? He did this before the foundation
of the world. And I thought about this again,
Brother Tony and Rita. I thought about this. God did
this before the foundation of the world. Can you love an unborn
child? Before we were born, He set His
love upon us. Can you love an unborn child? Huh? Ask my daughter. Ask her mother. Can you? God did. God did. Listen to David. He said, Thine
eyes did see my substance, yet being imperfect. And in that
book, all my members were written. They were fashion winners, yet
there was none of them. Predestinated everything about
me. Named me. Named me. Loved me. Set His love upon us before the...
Brother Alex and Rita. Long before Alexis knew her,
they knew... knew them, they knew her. Didn't you? Found out everything about her,
didn't you? Brother Tony sent pictures around of when they
went to get her. And my favorite one is when Rita,
he took a picture of Rita when she first laid eyes on Alexis.
She loved her. Well, why did he do this? Why
did God choose to pick? Why did he set his love on them?
Why did he give them to Christ? Why did he do all this? There's
only one explanation. the good pleasure of His will,
because He did. Scripture says, it pleased the
Lord to make you His people. It pleased the Lord to make you
His people. He pleased to do it. Just pleased
to do it. And He keeps telling us, and
it goes on down, He says, to the praise of the glory of His
grace wherein That is, in this grace, he hath made us accepted
in the Beloved, in whom we have redemption through his blood,
the forgiveness of sin. It's according to the riches
of his grace, all grace, and it's all in Christ, in Christ,
in Christ, by Christ, chosen in Christ, accepted in Christ,
redeemed by Christ, forgiven in Christ. Now here, I want to
illustrate this. I've preached a little while,
and I want to tell you something. There's a passage that we all
remember when we first heard Brother Scott Richardson preach
from it. 1 John 4, 17 says, As he is, so are we. That is, as Christ is, so are
we in this world right now. As he is, so are we. I told you
about my daughter. My daughter's expecting. You
saw her. She's expecting. She has a child in her belly. A new person. I mean, a brand new person is
in her. Something that has never existed before. Anyone want to
argue about that? It's just lame. There's a new
creature in her. Brand new. Never existed before.
Isn't that what the scripture says about us? Why anybody want
to argue that? I could for life, if you understand.
This is the praise of the glory of His sovereign working. There's a child in her belly
that's never existed before. How did it get there? How did that child get there?
The Father put it there. The seed of the Father put it
there. Right? The Father impregnated her. And
that seed of the Father went and created this child. How do
we get in Christ? When my daughter was real, real
young, she asked her mother, who was in the back seat coming
home from one of the services, and she said to her mother, she
said, Mom, she said, How does one get in Christ? I wish more adults would ask
that question, don't you? Have you ever had anybody out
there ask that question? Well, she was told, 1 Corinthians
1, 30, of God are you in Christ. Of God, the Father put you there. Born again of incorruptible seed,
the Word of God. which lived Christ, is that word. And it's created in a person. And complete. That child in her,
that baby, is complete. All her members are there. We went to watch the ultrasound
of that baby not too long ago. She invited her mother and I
to go see her. I kind of believe her mother
pretty much insisted on it. Anyway, we went to see the ultrasound
of that child, and they were all talking. Gabe and Mindy and
Hannah were talking. Hannah was talking to the nurse.
You know, she is a nurse, and they were doing that, and they
were rubbing, and they were all talking, but I wasn't. I was
silent, standing back in the back. I didn't care if it was
a boy, a girl. I didn't care. I was looking
for fingers. toes, legs, arms. I wanted to know she was complete. And that nurse and technology,
I do love technology, that technology is much better than it used to
be when we went. She had hers, you know, I couldn't
even tell that thing was a human, you know, but the nurse was showing
us toes. She said there, got all her toes. She looked at her spine and said,
there's no hole, nothing there. No problems seem to be there. There's her arms. There's all
her fingers. And the reason we know it was
a girl is because something else was missing. Clearly I could
see. Clearly I could see. Girl. And
only then was I complete in her. Scripture says we're complete
in Christ. Am I going to come up short? We're going to come
up short, John? No, no, no, no, no, no. Uh-uh. Not if you're
in Christ. You don't have to worry about
it. Rest. Complete. Complete in her. In Christ. And that baby gets
her life from her mother. Completely. Feeds off of her.
Feeds off of her. Because her mother lives. She
lives. She lived. And Christ said that.
And that baby is protected by her mother. If the mother is
safe, so is the baby. Huh? Huh? Christ said, No man taketh my
life from me. He said, He that liveth and believeth
in me will never die. Why is that? We're in Him. Protected by him. Accepted in
him. Wherever my daughter goes, that baby goes. Wherever she
goes. Whoever loves her, loves that
baby. Are you with me? That baby's accepted. Wherever
she goes, the baby's accepted. You can't say, you know, you
can come in, but the baby can't. You can't say that. She's in
her. You see her accepted in him,
redeemed in him. All she does, all that Hannah,
my daughter, does, everything she does, the baby does. Whatever accomplishments she
accomplishes, that baby accomplishes. Everything she does, she does.
Where she goes, the baby goes. in any way illustrate what it
means to be in crime. Well, I tried. Brother Scott
would say that's the best I could do. Best I could do. In crime. And he goes on to say,
and I quit with this, he said he's made this known unto us. He's abounded toward us in wisdom
and prudence, making known unto us the mystery, this mystery
of his will. Brother Rupert said, what is
the mystery? Here it is. Here it is. Here's God's will. Here's
God's will. Here's his eternal will. This
is what God will before it all began. A kingdom for his son. A family just like his son. A
whole bunch of them just like his son. And the gospel comes,
and how you know you're in it is he tells you about it. This
gospel comes and tells you. Our gospel came. Know in our
election because our gospel came. Not in word, but power. Holy
Ghost much assured. And revealed unto you the mystery
of his will, here it is, according to his good pleasure, which he
purposed in himself, that in the dispensation, when it's all
over, when everything's done, all time ceases, he's going to
gather together in one, there it is again, in one, all things,
in Christ. In heaven, there are many in
heaven right now. They're right now seated with
Christ. And we are too. We just don't, can't see it.
They're with him right now. We're talking about your two
dear husbands there. What a, what a supporters of
the gospel they were. What they meant. Sue Thacker's
husband, what she, what he meant to you, huh? Joe Parks. They're right now, I believe,
both of them. Gazing on the Lord Jesus Christ,
where we want to be. They've been gathered. It was
a mercy of the Lord to gather them early. What? Gather them
early. Trial for you, but mercy to them. But this is the will. This is
the purpose of God, and He does what He will. And this is His
purpose, to gather it all in Christ, even in Him. When it's
all said and done, Christ is going to say, He's going to present
them all to the Father. They're all here, present and
accounted for. Every one of them. I didn't lose
them. Of all which thou hast given me, I have lost nothing. Not one of them missing. To the
praise of the glory of His sovereign saving, electing, redeeming,
calling, predestinating, keeping grace. May the Lord bless that to you.