the book of Philemon, a very
short epistle. It's a personal letter, every
bit as personal as if I picked up my pen and wrote a letter
to you, any one of you, concerning personal matters. It was written
to Paul's friend Philemon while he was a prisoner at Rome on
his first imprisonment there. But remember, this personal letter
was written by divine inspiration. That means it was written by
the direction of God the Holy Spirit, written to Philemon addressing
specific needs that had to be addressed on behalf of his slave
Onesimus. But it was written for our learning,
to teach us things concerning our Redeemer and his salvation. Paul wrote to Philemon about
one of his slaves, a man by the name of Onesimus, who had robbed
him. Fearing his master's wrath, fearing
the judgment that would fall upon him, knowing his guilt,
he fled to Rome. While he was at Rome, somehow
or another he came into contact with the Apostle Paul. Remember,
more than likely he had seen Paul many times. more than likely
he had heard Paul preach many times. His master maintained
the church in his house, where Paul had preached the gospel
of God's grace. Paul and Philemon were good friends.
But while he was in his master's house, in good standing in his
master's house, Philemon had not been brought in God's providence
and by God's grace to the place, not only physically, but the
place emotionally, spiritually, and mentally, where he would
hear the gospel that Paul preached. Now, in Rome, things are different. God brought him down to Rome,
and God brought him down in his grace and in his providence in
his own heart. Now he hears Paul preach the
gospel, and he is converted by the grace of God. And Paul wrote
this little epistle, this very personal letter to Philemon and
put it in the hands of Odysseus and sent him back to face the
music. He sent him back to Philemon
because he was still Philemon's property. He was still Philemon's
slave. He was still a wanted man. and
a man who must go back to his master, and if his master shows
him mercy, he will have mercy. If not, he will have none. But
Paul sends him back as an intercessor. He sends him back with a word
of prayer to Philemon. He says, Philemon, I'm sending
this man back to you and ask you to receive him just exactly
as you would receive me. And if he owes you anything,
put it on my account, I'll take care of it. Let's begin reading
at verse 10. I beseech thee for my son Onesimus,
whom I have begotten in my bonds, which in time past was to thee
unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me. whom I have
sent again, thou therefore receive him. That is, mine own bowels
receive my heart, whom I would have retained with me, that in
thy stead he might have ministered unto me in the bonds of the gospel. But without thy mind," without
your permission, without thy mind would I do nothing. that
thy benefit should not be as it were of necessity, but willingly. For perhaps he therefore departed
for a season," that is, perhaps this is the reason why all this
mess took place. Perhaps this is the reason he
stole your goods. Perhaps this is the reason he
was made your slave in the beginning. Perhaps this is the reason all
these things took place. For perhaps he therefore departed
for a season, that thou shouldest receive him forever, not now
as a servant, but something better, above a servant, a brother beloved,
specially to me, but how much more to thee, both in the flesh
and in the Lord." If thou therefore count me a pardoner, or there
count me therefore a pardoner, receive him as myself. If he
hath wronged thee, or owed thee aught, put that on mine account."
The story we have before us is short, but what a beautiful,
clear picture it is of God's marvelous works of grace on our
behalf. in Jesus Christ, our Mediator.
As Paul interceded for Onesimus with Philemon, against whom he
had sinned, whom he had robbed, from whom he was running, and
deliberately running, so the Lord Jesus Christ, our Mediator,
intercedes on our behalf with God Almighty to whom we belong,
against whom we have from whom we willfully have gone astray
from our mother's wombs, speaking lies. And as he intercedes for
Onesimus, he intercedes for him, declaring that he is willing
to pay that which Onesimus owes, and pay it all. And he asks him,
now you receive him as myself. That's exactly what the Son of
God has done for us. Let's look at this man Philemon
for a minute. He was truly a gracious man.
Look at verse 5. Paul says, hearing of thy love
and faith which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus and toward all
saints. This man Philemon, we're told
in verse 2, maintained a church in his house. I don't have any
idea how large a congregation it was, how often they met. I
don't have any idea whether they even had a pastor other than
Paul, who occasionally came to minister to them. But he had
a church meeting in his house. He opened his house to God's
saints to meet and worship God. He loved Christ and his people.
Look at verse 7. We have great joy and consolation
in thy love, because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by
thee, brother. Thylemon used what God had put
in his hands. Evidently he was a wealthy man,
a man of some material means, and he used what God put in his
hands for the refreshing and the comfort and the delight of
God's saints. He was a benevolent friend to
the Apostle Paul. He treated his servants kindly
and graciously. This is evidence just from the
fact that Onesimus had such freedom in his household. And Paul was
confident, look at verse 21, he was confident that Philemon
would be obedient. Obedient, now listen, to the
word of God which came to him by his servant Paul. Paul sends
this message. It's Paul's message. It's Paul's
desire. It's Paul's burden. But he sends
it by the inspiration of God himself, so that this word that
comes to Philemon from his servant Paul is God's word to him. He
said, I'm confident that you will be obedient to this. Onesimus,
on the other hand, he was Philemon's slave, a trusted slave. Apparently Philemon trusted him
as a steward in his house with at least a good portion of the
household goods, if not the one who constantly took care of all
the household goods. But Onesimus betrayed Philemon's
trust. Oh, what a hard betrayal that
is. It's one thing to have a thief
break into your house. something else to have a trusted
friend to rob you, steal from you, and betray you. Knowing
his guilt, he runs away from Rome, or runs away to Rome, rather. And there he hoped to lose himself
in the crowd. I know a little something about
that. He thought, I'll get in this
crowd down at Rome, nobody will ever find me. I won't have to
face the music of my actions, I can just kindly seclude myself
and I'll be all right. At last, however, he was brought
to that room where God's servant Paul was a prisoner, and he heard
the gospel of God's grace and the rest of the story you know.
Onesimus, however, still belonged to Philemon, and he must go back
to Philemon. If he would be free, Paul has
no authority to set him free. If he would escape his punishment,
Paul has no authority to allow him to escape his punishment.
So he sends him back, and that's the only right thing for him
to do. He must go to his master and hope that his master will
give him grace because of the intercession of another. What
a picture our Lord gives us here. We went astray from the womb,
speaking lies. We robbed God of his glory as
God all the days of our lives. We did everything possible to
malign his name rather than honor his name. We despised him and
his goodness, but that doesn't change anything. We are God's
property. All human beings, as all creation,
is God's property. And it's important that you understand
the word property. We are the possession of God
Almighty. His property. He made us, not
we ourselves. He owns us, not we ourselves. He can do with us as he will,
just as any man would with any piece of property that he owns.
Our Master said, is it not lawful for me to do with mine own what
I will? Indeed it is. Our only hope then,
as rebels against God, is to go to him for mercy, to seek
grace from him. And the only hope of grace, the
only hope of mercy for rebels who are guilty sinners before
God, is the intercession of one who prevails with God, Jesus
Christ the Lord. For you who are without Christ,
hear me. under the justice of God, you're
wanted. By the law of God, you're wanted. Justice demands your execution. It is a righteous and just thing
for God Almighty to destroy you. And your only hope is to go to
Him at the throne of grace and plead for mercy on the basis
of His own dear Son, through the merits of His Son, pleading
for mercy through one whom God Almighty accepts himself. Does anybody put it this way?
Perhaps he will admit my plea. Perhaps he will hear my prayer. But if I perish, I will pray
and perish only there. I can but perish if I go, I am
resolved to try. For if I stay away, I know I
must forever die. Now, Onesimus goes back with
this letter that Paul has written. As I read these 25 verses again
in preparation for this message, let me show you some things I
observe here. First, here is an example of
true love. I started to say true Christian
love, but the reality is there's not any other kind of true love.
True love. True love is that love which
is begotten in the heart by the grace of God, that love which
resides in and flows from Jesus Christ our Redeemer. Everything
else men call love is but a mockery, nothing else, just a mockery.
In verse 5, Paul says, hearing of thy love and faith, you can't
have one without the other, which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus
and toward all Saints. Paul showed great, great love
in his regard for Onesimus. He took this degraded, loathsome
creature and made him to be received as any other believer, any other
brother, any other son begotten by God through his ministry.
He regarded him and treated him as his own son, just as he did
Timothy and Titus. But Timothy and Titus were considerably
different from Onesimus. Particularly Timothy, from a
child he was a believer. From a child he had known the
Holy Scriptures. Timothy was a moral, upright
young man, one who was converted by God's grace early on in life.
Onesimus was the off-scouring of society, a slave. A slave who owed his master much
because his master had been so good, so kind, so gracious to
him, so benevolent to him. But Onesimus betrayed his master's
trust and stole from the master the very hand that fed him. He
bit it and ran off with his master's goods. But having been converted
by God's grace, Paul looked upon Onesimus exactly as he did Timothy,
my son. My son. You see, in the kingdom
of God, in the kingdom of God, will you hear me? Oh, God help
you to hear me. And God help you and me to practice
what I'm about to tell you. In the kingdom of God, yesterday
makes no difference. Yesterday makes no difference. Did you hear me? Yesterday makes
no difference. It matters not whether the man
sitting here has been a thief and a robber, whether the woman
sitting here has been a harlot or an abuser of children. It matters not. In the kingdom
of Yesterday doesn't matter. It just does not matter. I recall chatting some years
ago with a friend. She had been received in the
local church, but she was not from the right side of the streets,
and she had had a track record. The fellow she married had taken
her and her children from four different husbands. And everybody
got a little question mark over there. I was sitting at her table
one night with her husband. She said, with my track record,
and I called her by name, and I said, your track record is
the same as mine. The past doesn't matter. Our
track record is the record of God's darling son. Onesimus, my own son. Philemon showed great brotherly
love in his reception of Onesimus. Though Philemon had been greatly
wronged by this man, he received him again in his household, and
freely forgave him the wrong he had done. May God Almighty
teach me to be so gracious. This is what our Lord If you
forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will forgive
you your trespasses. But if you forgive not men their
trespasses, neither will your Father forgive you your trespasses.
Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as
God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Children of God, let us
learn to be gracious to God's people. Gracious. God Almighty
forgives, let us forgive. If He forgives us, surely we
ought to forgive one another. Paul wrote to the Romans and
said, Receive God's people not with doubtful disputations, that
is, not putting a question mark over them, receive them as they
profess to be God's children by faith in Jesus Christ. If
Christ receives us, surely we ought to so receive one another.
This kind of love is the law that rules Christ's It is the
law that rules in the hearts of God's elect. It is the principle
by which God's people are governed in the tenor of their lives.
Our Lord said, A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love
one another, as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that
ye are my disciples, if ye have love one for another. Now look
at verse 18. We not only have a picture here
of true love. We have a picture here of substitutionary
redemption. Back up to verse 17. If thou
count me therefore a partner, if you count me one with you,
receive him as you would receive me. Verse 18. If he has wronged
you or owes you aught, if he owes you anything, put that on
my account. Onesimus had wronged Philemon,
hadn't he? He had betrayed his master's
trust. He had despised his goodness. He stole his master's goods.
He owed him much. But Paul says, Receive him as
you would receive me. When you look at Onesimus, act
like you're looking at me. When you talk to Onesimus, talk
to him like you're talking to me. When you put something in
Onesimus' hand again, I'm not going to trust him, but I once
burned twice shy. Oh, no. No, treat him just like
you treat me. Trust him just like you trust
me. And whatever he owes you, I'll pay it. That's exactly what
our Savior did, isn't it? Turn to Isaiah 53. Hold your
hands there. Let's look at something real
familiar. I do no violence to the scripture
here when I read it, as I am confident God Almighty intends
that every sinner who believes Christ should read it. Surely he hath borne, verse 4,
Don Fortner's grace, and carried Don Fortner's Yet Don Fortner did esteem him
stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. He bore my grace and carried
my sorrows, and I looked at him all my life as one who fully
deserved to die at Calvary, stricken of God, smitten, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for Don Fortner's transgressions. He was bruised
for Don Fortner's iniquities. The chastisement of Don Fortner's
peace, that is, the price of my peace, was upon him. And with his stripes, Don Fortner
is healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We turned every one to his own
way. The Lord hath laid on him the
iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the
slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is done, so he openeth
not his mouth. He is taken from prison and from
judgment. Who shall declare his generation?
Who is going to speak for him in the days to come? For he was
cut off out of the land of the living, for the transgression
of my people was he stricken." Verse 9, he made his grave with
the wicked and with the rich in his death. Because he had
done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet
it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief. When thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong
his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his
hand." Now here's another thing. Look at verse 17 one more time.
We have a clear example here of forgiveness, God's forgiveness. Paul says, If thou count me therefore
a partner, Philemon, if you count me one with you, receive him
as myself. Onesimus was forgiven because
of Paul's intercession on his behalf. He was accepted not as
a slave now, but as a brother, that is, as an equal, as one
equal to Philemon, who was his master. He was accepted because
of Paul. The God of glory receives every
sinner who trusts his son. Oh, God help you now to trust
his son. He receives every sinner who
trusts his son as Christ himself, for Christ's sake. That's just almost too much to
even believe, isn't it? Surely not. Yes. Accepted in the Beloved, because
of the Beloved, with the Beloved, as the Beloved. We have been
forgiven through Christ's intercession, because of his blood. We have
been accepted as the sons of God in every way equal to Jesus
Christ in God's sight. We have been accepted because
of Christ, as Christ. Near, so very near to God, nearer
I cannot be. For in the person of his Son,
I am as near as he, and dear, so very dear to God, dearer I
cannot be. For in the person of his Son,
I am as dear as he. with his spotless garments on,
holy as God's own Son. Accept him, receive him as me,
if you count me one with you. But the thing that I see most
glaring and most beautifully and most delightfully in these
25 verses is this picture that God gives us here of his amazing,
wondrous grace in saving sinners. Let me show you four or five
things here. First, learn this. In this business
of salvation, grace is always first. God is always first. God always takes the initiative
To him, rather, put it, grace first contrived the way to save
rebellious man, and all the steps that grace displayed which drew
the wondrous plan. Grace first inscribed my name
in God's eternal book, it was grace that gave me to the Lamb
who all my sorrows took. Onesimus was the object of God's
everlasting love and God's sovereign choice. And that's the case with
you, my brother, my sister. This poor slave didn't know it,
but God chose him. God loved him. He was unworthy
of God's love, and he didn't desire it, had no desire for
it and no concern for it. He didn't seek God's love. He
didn't want God's love, didn't know anything about God's love.
Nevertheless, he was loved of God from eternity. And God said
concerning Odysseus, I will be his God, and he shall be my son.'
And so it came to pass. God passed by many slaves, perhaps
many just like Onesimus, just as wicked as Onesimus, and he
chose Onesimus. He passed by many in Colossae,
perhaps many in the house of Philemon, far more noble than
Onesimus, because God has mercy on whom he will have mercy. God
has mercy on whom he will have mercy. Nobody controls God's
grace. Nobody twists God's arm against
him in the notion of having grace on somebody because they have
gotten some kind of a secret power with God. Nobody prevails
over God Almighty, either to get him to be gracious or to
keep him from being gracious, either by their good or by their
evil. Nobody causes God to do anything. God has mercy on whom
he will have mercy. As a general rule, his grace is pitched upon the
most unworthy of the unworthy, the most loathsome of the loathsome,
the most useless of the useless, the most vile of the vile. Samuel came to anoint king in
Israel. He was dead sure that the Lord
had chosen these fine strapping tall, strong, experienced sons
of Jesse, one of them, surely. He stood up to anoint every one
of them. And Jesse was dead sure one of those boys was the one
because the Lord told Samuel, Go to Jesse's house. I found
a man there to serve me as king. And they all passed before him,
and the Lord said, Not him, not him. And finally Samuel said,
Don't you have any other boys? And he said, Well, yeah, I've
got David. But it ain't him. It ain't him. He's out tending the sheep. That's
the best thing he can do. Well, go get him, let's see.
And David walked in and the Lord said, this is him. This is him. You see, God has mercy on whom
he will. And God's mercy never runs the
way we think it will. Never. and I don't always correct
them. I have pastor friends that speak
to me and say, well, I believe he or she is one of God's elect.
I believe the Lord is going to save that person. I hope he will,
but I don't know. I don't have any way of knowing
who God's elect are until God calls them by his grace. Neither
does anyone else. You see, grace doesn't run in
bloodlines, and there's no indication of grace until grace comes, not
in anybody's life. God's grace is absolutely free. Now let's remember who and what
we were and where we were when God called us by his grace. Hearken
unto me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the
Lord Look unto the rock which you're hewn, and to the hole of the pit which
you're digged, and look real often, and don't ever forget,
don't ever forget. Know ye not that the unrighteous
shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived Neither
fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor
abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor
drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the
kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you're washed, but you're
sanctified, but you're justified in the name of the Lord Jesus
and by the Spirit of our God. Be sure you understand this.
Grace is always sovereign. Mortals be dumb what creature
dares. Dispute his sovereign will. Ask no account of his affairs,
but tremble and be still. Just like his nature is his grace
all sovereign and all free. Great God, how searchless are
thy ways! How deep thy judgments be! God's
grace sought out Onesimus where he was. Onesimus didn't seek
God. The Lord God names his church
by this name, Isaiah 61.12. He says that Zion shall be called
sought out. Sought out. A people sought out
by God. He says, I am found of them that
sought me not. He seeks out his own. and calls
them by his grace. And this is what he does throughout
the days of our lives on this earth, throughout the ages of
time in this world. God is seeking out his own by
his grace, and he seeks until he finds them. And finding them,
he carries them home by grace. I'll tell you something else
about God's grace. Not only is grace first, grace
is always exactly on schedule, always on time. I have over the years had a good
many folks at times try to persuade me to pick unripe
fruit, try to persuade me to get folks to make a profession
of faith, try to persuade me to Seize the moment, strike while
the iron is hot. I took evangelism classes in
Bible college like everybody else did, soul winning classes
like everybody else did, witnessing classes like everybody else did,
and preaching classes like everybody else did. And what you do is
you mentally and emotionally massage folks until you get them
in just the right frame of mind, and then you sneak up on them
and get them to make a confession of faith. I heard one preacher
at a Bible conference. I was 17 years old. I skipped school. I was a senior
in high school, skipped school to go to that Bible conference.
They was having a Sword of the Lord conference. And this preacher
got up in Indiana. He said, he said, what you do,
he said, you get people to make a profession of faith before
they realize what they've done. Oh, what deceit. What treachery. No, no, no, no. God's servants
don't have to deceive folks, and they won't. God's servants
don't put themselves under pressure to produce anything, because
we can't produce anything. And they won't be put under pressure
by somebody else, because they still can't produce anything.
God's servants proclaim his free grace, knowing full well that
exactly at the time ordained, before the world began, God Almighty
will cross the path of the sinner whom he's chosen at the time
of love, and call him by his voice, irresistibly. Grace is always on time. God's
grace rules and overrules all things to accomplish his purpose.
Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee, the remainder of
wrath wilt thou restrain. Now, Onesimus had no right to
steal his master's goods. He had no right to run away.
He belonged to Philemon. But God Almighty was pleased
to make use of Onesimus' sin to accomplish his purpose of
grace in the saving of this man, Onesimus. In the wise arrangement
of divine providence, Onesimus' evil deed brought him to the
place where God would be gracious to him. Look at verse 15. Perhaps. Now, when a man writes
by inspiration and says, perhaps, that means this is why it happened.
Perhaps, therefore, he departed for a season that thou shouldest
receive him forever. This is what the old preachers
used to call prevenient grace. Now, Onesimus did exactly what
he wanted he freely exercised his free will. He chose, as free
will always does, the path of rebellion and wickedness. But
God had an hand in the affair. God wasn't sitting on the sidelines
waiting for Onesimus to decide what course he would take. But
rather, before Onesimus stole his master's goods and ran away
to Rome, God Almighty had arranged to meet him in Rome at exactly
this time. Let me show you a few passages
similar. Turn to Acts 2. Acts 2. Verse 23. The Lord Jesus, being delivered
to the hands of wicked men by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge
of God, That is because this is what God determined in his
wisdom and foreordained in predestination. You have taken and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain." People say, well, that makes
God the author of sin. No, it doesn't, because James says he's
not. James said he is not the author of sin. Well, you can't
say that and not make God the author of sin. No, I can't, but
God can. And this is what God said. Those wicked men did what
they wanted to do with their wicked hands, and they did exactly
what God from eternity determined must be done, and exactly that
type, by their wicked hands. And our redemption depends on
it being accomplished. Look at verse 27 of chapter 4,
Acts 4, 27. For our truth against thy holy
child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, Both Herod and Pontius Pilate,
with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together."
Now, what's what they were gathered together to do? "...for to do
whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done."
They spit on his face, they plucked out his beard, they stripped
him of his clothes, they beat him, they crucified him, they
shoved a spear in his side, they went to break his bones, and
God prevented it. All because they did exactly
what God determined before must be done. You would think they
were looking up the references in the Old Testament saying,
what are we supposed to do next? But they were doing exactly what
they wanted to do, because God rules everywhere, even the hearts
even of wicked men. Look at Acts 13, 29. And when they had fulfilled all
that was written of him, that is, when those fellows who crucified
him had done everything God said they were going to do, they took
him down from the tree and laid him in a sepulchre. Now back
here in Philemon. Onesimus madly ran the sinful
course of his own will. Had the Lord God not graciously
intervened, had the Lord God not chosen him as the object
of his grace, his chosen course of life would have landed him
in jail and soon in hell. But God's purpose of grace could
not and would not be overturned. God had chosen it, and God was
determined to save it. Onesimus has got to go to Rome. He's got to go to Rome at the
same time the Apostle Paul was there. And he's got to go to
Rome in such a condition that he is made willing to hear what
Paul's got to say, when he wasn't willing to hear it by the back
of Colossae. How on earth is this going to
happen? Onesimus is at Colossae. Paul is in Rome. Onesimus is
in the house of Hylemon. Paul is in Caesar's dungeon.
Onesimus is over here being treated well. Paul is there, arrested
for something he didn't even do, suffering because of the
gospel sin. How on earth shall Onesimus and
Paul be brought together down here in this jail in Rome? The
Lord God snaps his fingers and calls the fiend of hell into
his service and says, Satan, time for Onesimus to be converted.
And Satan tempts him to steal his master's goods, and persuades
him, having stolen his goods, to run off to Rome. At the same
time, Satan led an angry mob of Jews to have Paul arrested
in Jerusalem. Having robbed his master, Onesimus
was filled with fear and fled away to Rome, and Paul, having
incensed the Jews against God and against him by the gospel,
is dragged off to Rome. And at last, at the appointed day, called
the time of love, Onesimus comes before Paul, and Paul preaches
the gospel to him in the power of God's Holy Spirit. And the object of grace was conquered
by grace. And I realize that most fine,
good, religious folks get real upset with that. And I'm sorry
for them. It tickles the plug today. God still moves in a mysterious
way, his wonders to perform. He still plants his footstep
in the sea, and rides upon the storm, even the ones we create
by our own godliness. Deep in unfathomable minds of
never-failing skill, he treasures up his bright designs and works
his sovereign will. Let me give you an illustration. I have some friends. She was
a, I forgot even what they called her. She was one of the gals
with the Hell's Angels, passed from one fellow to another. She
was peddling dope in Folsom Prison. Her husband is still in prison.
than Robin Banks, since he was just a boy, had a shootout with
FBI, state police, federal police and state police. Not like they'd
ever get out. And while she was peddling dope,
they met. And then they got married. And
while they're sitting around in prison, couldn't have much
else to do, started listening to radio. And God saved them
by his grace. She said to Shelby and I one
night, late at night, we were out in California, she was just
visiting with us in our room. She said, I thank God for Folsom
Prison. And I said, me too, me too. God has his way, and God saves
his people. and uses everything, everything,
including our utter rebellion, to bring about our everlasting
good for the glory of his name. Here's the third thing. I'll
just say it and move on. Grace is always successful. God created a whole host of angels
to be ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to those who
should be there as a salvation. And in his good providence, God
provides for and protects his own elect, even while they live
constantly in rebellion against him, just as Hosea provided for
and took care of Gomer while she slept in the arms of another.
and God's grace comes and makes itself known in the face of Christ
in the hearts of chosen sinners and makes them willing