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Mighty To Save

Isaiah 63:1
John R. Mitchell • February, 4 1990 • Audio
600 Sermons
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JM
John R. Mitchell • February, 4 1990
600 sermons
What does the Bible say about God's sovereignty in salvation?

The Bible teaches that God's grace is sovereign, meaning He unconditionally chooses those whom He will save.

The sovereignty of God in salvation is a central theme in Scripture, as seen in passages such as Ephesians 1:4, which states, 'according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world.' This highlights that God's choosing is unconditional and based solely on His divine purpose and will. Romans 9:15-16 further emphasizes that God grants mercy to whom He wills, illustrating that salvation is not dependent on human effort or desire but is entirely in the hands of God. When we understand God's sovereignty, we see that it is not just about His authority, but also about His ability to save effectively without reliance on human cooperation or merit.

Ephesians 1:4, Romans 9:15-16

How do we know that Jesus is mighty to save?

Jesus is mighty to save because He completely fulfills the demands of justice through His atoning sacrifice.

The might of Jesus to save is rooted in His divine nature and the sufficiency of His atoning work on the cross. Isaiah 63:1 exclaims, 'I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save,' affirming that Christ does not merely offer salvation; He accomplishes it. Matthew 1:21 declares that He 'shall save his people from their sins,' indicating that His mission is effective and successful in redeeming the elect. His authority over all flesh, as mentioned in John 17:2, further asserts that His saving grace is irresistible and operational, making Him an almighty Savior capable of saving to the uttermost.

Isaiah 63:1, Matthew 1:21, John 17:2

Why is grace important for Christians?

Grace is crucial for Christians as it is the unearned favor of God that enables salvation and sanctification.

The concept of grace is essential in Christian theology as it represents God's unmerited favor towards humanity. Ephesians 2:8-9 emphasizes that we are saved by grace through faith, and this is not of ourselves; it is the gift of God. This gift of grace is foundational as it illustrates our complete reliance on God's mercy rather than our works. Furthermore, grace continues in the Christian life through sanctification, where believers are set apart and transformed in their daily living, as seen in 1 Corinthians 1:30 where Christ is our sanctification. Without grace, believers would be left incapable of meeting the demands of God’s holy standard, making grace a vital aspect of spiritual life and growth.

Ephesians 2:8-9, 1 Corinthians 1:30

How does unconditional grace differ from conditional grace?

Unconditional grace is given without any prerequisites, while conditional grace relies on human actions or decisions.

Unconditional grace refers to the divine favor bestowed upon a person without any conditions or merit on their part. Romans 11:6 makes it clear that if grace is by works, it is no longer grace. In contrast, conditional grace suggests that God's favor is contingent upon the individual's faith or works, which undermines the core tenets of sovereign grace theology. Teaching conditional grace implies that salvation is a cooperative effort, negating the effectiveness of Christ's sacrifice. Thus, the distinction lies in recognizing that true grace is entirely the work of God, provided freely to the elect, as Ephesians 1:5 affirms His predestining grace.

Romans 11:6, Ephesians 1:5

Sermon Transcript

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Turn back, if you will, in your
Bibles this morning to the 63rd chapter of the book of Isaiah. The question is asked in verse
1, Who is this that cometh from Edom with dyed garments from
Bozrah, this that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in
the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness
mighty to save, mighty to save. I want to speak this morning
on that phrase mighty to save. Our God is mighty to save. Now in order to be able to preach
this as I believe that I ought to preach it this morning, there's
a background that I'd like to lay and I trust that God will
be pleased to give us all open and receptive minds as we attempt
to lay a foundation, as we attempt to lay a background so that we
can appreciate our God. Surely this morning each one
of us that have experienced the salvation of the Lord in our
own souls that we do appreciate the fact that our God is one
who is mighty to save. And I want, if I can this morning,
to expound this in such a way so that you would be able to
really appreciate it so that it would really stick with you
and stay in your mind. First of all, I'd like to say
that the ministry of this church here has tried to set forth or
preach God as He is to sinners as they are. We want to, it's
our desire, it's our burden of heart to preach God as he is
to sinners as they are and also to exalt the Lord Jesus Christ
as the only mediator between God and man, the Redeemer who
accomplished and finished the work necessary to save believing
sinners. That's the effort that we put
forth here in this pulpit. That's our desire. That's the
burden of this ministry. That's the very reason that we
meet together in this place. Now I've tried my best And those
of you that have been here through the years and have heard the
Word of God as it's been expounded and preached here in this city
in the last 20 years, some of you have been here a number of
years with us, some have been here all along, but I'd like
to say to you this morning that we've tried to preach to you
a God that you cannot satisfy. Now this, I want you to listen
very closely and attentively to what I'm saying. We've tried
to preach to you a God who you cannot satisfy. Number two, we've
tried to preach to you a law that you cannot keep. Number three, we've tried to
preach an obedience that you cannot render. and obedience
unto God that you are not able to render. Number four, we've
tried to preach a righteousness that you cannot produce. Number five, we have tried to
preach a love that you cannot give. Now the Bible teaches us
that we ought to love the Lord our God with all of our heart,
all of our mind, all of our soul, all of our strength. We've tried
to preach to you a love that you cannot give. Number six, we've tried to preach
to you that you have sin which you cannot get rid of on your
own. You have sin that you cannot
handle, you cannot get rid of it on your own. Number seven,
we've tried to preach to you that there's going to be a judgment
that you cannot endure. That you yourself, standing in
yourself, standing in your own nature, in your own righteousness,
will not be able to endure. And number eight, we've tried
to preach our repentance That you cannot work in yourself. That you're not able to produce
repentance toward God. That you cannot in and of yourself
find the disposition of soul that so hates sin that you abhor
it and turn from it by your own strength. We preach to you a
repentance that you cannot work in, but a repentance that must
be given to you as a free gift of God. And then number nine,
we preach to you a faith that you cannot of yourself work out. that this faith that we have
as the people of God, that it's a gift of God, that it's given
to us by the sovereign pleasure of our God, and that it's a faith
that has been worked in us, it's a faith that has come down from
heaven, it's a faith that is the gift of God. Now we've attempted
to preach these things to you through the years. Then we also,
we've tried to preach a Christ who fully satisfied God for sinners,
and who fully and freely saves the vilest of needy sinners. And I've told you in no uncertain
terms, I believe that I've made a sure sound upon the trumpet,
the gospel trumpet, and that is simply, simply this morning,
and I say it again, simply, hug up to the Lord Jesus Christ and
trust him fully because there is no condemnation in the Lord
Jesus Christ and all will be well with you if you can trust
and hug up to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now That, my friend,
has been the burden of this ministry. That's why we're here. That's
what we're about. And when I'm here this morning
to preach a mighty Savior, when I'm here to preach the mighty
Savior, the mighty One that does save sinners, that to me, that
lays the background. That shows you what I'm here
and what I'm about. Now Isaiah 61 here tells us that
the Lord is mighty to save. Now an impotent Savior is no
Savior at all. Those who cry up a God who cannot
save without the consent of man's free will or the assistance of
man's work cry up a God who is nothing but the useless figment
of a man's perverted imagination. The God of the Bible is not an
impotent God. He is mighty to save. Now this
ought to come as good news to everyone of you here this morning,
and if I'm speaking to a poor sinner here this morning who
says, Preacher, I have looked this situation over, I have,
as it were, tallied up the accounts and I recognize that if I'm ever
to miss hell and gain heaven, if I'm ever to go to heaven,
then somebody has got to do everything for me that must be done. It
must all be done for me. Everything must be done on my
behalf or else I cannot go to heaven. Now if you're here this
morning in that state, then my friend, I'm just the man that
you ought to listen to. I've got just the very word for
you this morning. Because I'm here to talk to you
about a mighty Savior, a Savior that is not impotent, but a Savior
who is almighty and unconditionally provides all that He demands
of the sinner. Now that's what we're about here
this morning. An impotent God is as useless as a bucket without
a bottom. An impotent God. You and I this
morning will never make it to glory if our God is impotent. If he's not mighty to save, if
he doesn't have the ability to fully and completely save us,
then you and I are not going to heaven because we need a God
who is able, a God who is mighty, a God who is sufficient to meet
all of our case. Now if your God wants to save
everyone, if your Jesus died to redeem everyone, if the spirit
that you claim to believe in, if he tries to save everyone,
and then some people after all of the effort made by your God,
your Jesus, and the spirit that you believe in, if after all
of that effort some people go to hell in spite of all that
your God has done to keep them out, then you need another God. You need another God who is God,
mighty to save. That's what you need. You need
a God that is mighty to save. We worship, we trust, we adore,
and we preach an almighty and all-sufficient and effectual
Savior. That's what we preach here in
this place. Now listen to me. Our Savior
is the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the Son of the Living God. And brother, sister, I tell you
by experience. I'm not telling you something
I read out of a book. I'm telling you by the experience
that I've had in my own soul that He is mighty to save. He is mighty to save. Now He
does not merely provide salvation or offer salvation or try to
get sinners saved. He saves His people from their
sins by His almighty irresistible grace. He does sure enough save
his people from their sin. Matthew 1 and 21 says, And she
shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. John 17 and
2 says, As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he
should give eternal life to as many Thou hast given to him Romans
9 verse 15 and 16 for he said to Moses I will have mercy on
whom I will have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I will
have compassion verse 16 then goes on to say so then and It
is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God,
this almighty, this sovereign, this mighty God. It is of God
that showeth mercy. It's in the hands of this mighty
God to show mercy and to have compassion on whom he will have
compassion. Now then in Isaiah 42 and 4,
it says that he shall not fail nor be discouraged. He will not
fail, this mighty God, this almighty effectual Savior will not fail
nor be discouraged. Now you listen to me this morning,
you listen carefully. All the churches and religious
leaders of our day claim to believe in and preach salvation by grace
alone. But the grace that they preach
depends upon the will of man and the works of the flesh to
make it effectual. But I'm here this morning with
some good news for you, sinner, that you don't have any works,
and your will is a dead will, and your will is bent away from
God and away from righteousness and away from truth. Your will
is not in harmony with the holy, the thrice holy God of the Bible.
I'm here this morning with some news for you, and I tell you
that conditional grace It's not grace at all. These men are preaching
conditional grace. And beloved, that's no grace
at all. Any condition placed upon grace
Before conversion, at conversion, after conversion is a total denial
of the grace of God. Now you listen to me, and you
listen to me carefully. Because this is the only message,
this is the only salvation, this is the only grace that will ever
meet your case. And if you ever find out what
your case is, you're going to want to hear just exactly what
I'm preaching to you today. This is it. Now hear me out. Romans 11 and 6 says, And if
by grace, then it is no more works. Otherwise grace is no
more grace. But if it be of works, then it
is no more grace. Otherwise work is no more work. Now you follow with me now. I
want to make this clear to you. I'm trying to teach your heart
something this morning. May not teach your head anything,
but I'm trying to teach you something in your heart. Listen to me,
I'm talking about the fact that Jesus is mighty to save. And
I'm talking to those who have tallied up the sheet and they
know their case. And they know that God must do
everything for them that's necessary to be done or they'll go to hell. Now hear me out. I'm telling
you that electing grace electing grace, and nobody gets saved
if they're not chosen of God from old eternity. Nobody is
ever saved unless God sets His love upon them before all worlds
and gives them to His Son, Jesus Christ, in electing grace and
love. And electing grace, my friend,
is unconditional. It's unconditional. Now, now
you get that. Now listen to me, nobody gets
saved unless God chooses them, and that choice of God in all
eternity is unconditional. Now ain't that a wonderful thing?
It's unconditional. Now hear me out, Ephesians 1
and 4 says, according as he has chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world. And 2 Timothy 1 and 9 says, who
has saved us and called us not according to our own works, but
according to His own purpose and grace which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began. Every Baptist, every sovereign
grace Baptist ought to memorize 2 Timothy 1 and 9. Every one of you ought to memorize
that verse. God did not choose us because
of works or even faith that He foresaw in us. No, He didn't. Now in Romans 9, I'd like for
you to turn there with me, Romans chapter 9, if you have your Bible,
and just listen to this. God did not choose us because
of works or even faith that he foresaw in us. No, no. Election is not on the basis
of foreseen faith. It's not on the basis of anything
that is in us. Notice, if you will, I begin
reading with verse 11. or verse 10 of Romans 9. And
not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one even
by her father Isaac, for the children being not yet born,
neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of
God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him
that calleth. Now you take note here in verse
11 that neither had done any good or evil, and the reason
why God loved Jacob and hated Esau was not on the basis of
what they did, whether it was good or evil. It was this, that
the purpose of God according to election might stand, not
of works, but of him that calleth. For reasons known only to the
wise and holy God of eternity, election took place. It was said
unto her, the elder shall serve the younger. As it was written,
Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. And so this is
the basis of election. Electing grace is unconditional. Our faith in Christ and the works
of faith which we are enabled to perform are the results, not
the cause, of our election by God. Remember that. It's not
the cause. What we do as a result of God's
work in us is not the cause. That didn't make God do what
He did. Listen, my friend, it's the result,
not the cause, and we need to keep that in our minds. Now listen,
to preach conditional election is to preach salvation by works. Say it however you want, to preach,
and all across this country this morning, if you can get some
of these Armenians, I mean if you can get them to get enough
brass to even say the word election, They always say that it's based
on the foreknowledge of God. That it's only because God looked
down and saw what you were going to do. And then He said, I'll
choose that one because that one will believe on Me. Making rebel sinners to differ,
you see, in themselves. Making one man better than another. To make one fallen son of Adam,
to make one viper, to make one snake better than another snake. All of us are vile creatures
before God. Every one of us are sinners before
God. Not one of us have anything within
us that's going to make us come to God, believe on God, trust
God, love God, serve God, do His will, apart from His intervention
in our lives, apart from His electing grace. I'm telling you
that the grace, that the electing grace of God is unconditional. Now then, listen, I want to say
in the second place, I'm trying to meet your case, sinner. I'm
trying to show you that if you're here and you say it's hopeless,
it's hopeless. I'm trying to show you it's not
hopeless because all that God could do and all he must do for
the sinner, he does unconditionally. And so listen to me, Senator,
there's hope for all of us. We can all get out of this life. I mean, we can all get across
the river of death. We can all go through, you see,
the judgment, and we can all spend eternity in heaven above. I mean that is if God works this
truth in us, that is if God is pleased that we do so. Now hear
me, redeeming grace, redeeming grace is unconditional. It's
unconditional. And I'll make that statement,
I'll make that statement as plain as I know how. Redeeming grace
is unconditional. Where in the Bible is redemption
set forth as something that is conditional? Where? Redemption
is something Christ accomplished on the cross. It's something
that he affectionately applies to the hearts of God's elect
by the Holy Spirit in the new birth. Redemption is something
that Christ accomplished and that God by the Spirit affectionately
works in the hearts of the elect. In Galatians 3 and 13, I preached
on it here a couple of weeks ago, Christ hath redeemed us
from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. Hebrews
9 and 12 says, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but
by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having
obtained eternal redemption for us. In 1 Peter 1 and 18, forasmuch
as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things
such as silver and gold from your vain conversation received
by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of
Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. Redemption
is unconditional. It's accomplished by the Lord
Jesus. And to preach conditional redemption
is to preach salvation by works. That's what it is. Conditional
redemption is a criminal doctrine and it robs Jesus Christ of His
glory in that that He Himself tread the winepress of the wrath
of God alone. It's He that had the garments
dyed with the bloody red. It's the Lord Jesus. He alone
brought salvation. Christ alone is the Savior of
His people. Then let me say that justice
is here that are very precious to me. I'm telling you that justifying
grace, all of us want to have a standing with God just as if
we'd never committed a sin. And in order to go to heaven,
that's the way it must be. We must have a standing with
God just as if we had never committed one infraction of the law of
God. Now listen to these verses. I read beginning with verse 24
of Romans 3, being justified freely, that is without cause,
on the part of the sinner by his grace. through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a satisfaction
through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for
the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance
of God. Now then look in the fourth chapter
and in verse 5. But to him that worketh not,
but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly his faith. is counted for righteousness.
What I'm saying is this, that we're justified freely, that
is without cause by the grace of God through the redemption
that is in Christ and to preach conditional justification. To preach that you will be justified
if you do this, if you do that, if you don't do this, if you
don't do that is to preach salvation by works. And that, my friend,
as we said, is a criminal doctrine. Let me say further that regenerating
grace is unconditional. Everybody that is a dead sinner,
everybody lost, alienated from God, born into this world with
a nature contrary to God, who loves sin and hates righteousness,
must be regenerated by the Holy Spirit. Must be brought to life!
You're in a state of death! and regenerating grace is unconditional. You can't do a thing to excite
God. Sinners are spiritually dead
by nature. And I'd like to read to you out of the Gospel of John,
if you would turn there, chapter 1 of John's Gospel. Chapter 1. And I want to read
beginning with verse 11. Listen to this. He came unto
his own, his own received him not, but as many as received
him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on his name, which were born. Now this is
a very important part. A lot of people I hear quoting
verse 12 here, but they don't go on and read the rest of it,
which were born. Not of blood, nor of the will
of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. It's not
of blood, it's of grace. It's not of the will of the flesh,
nor the will of man, but it's of God. Listen to me, to place,
let me say it this way, to place any condition before a lost dead
sinner which they must meet before they can live spiritually is
to tell the sinner that there is no hope. There is no hope. Now you listen to me, you take
a man lying in a casket There he is, he's dead, I mean graveyard
dead, stone dead. And you place before that man
and say, well if you do this, if you do that, you can live.
You can get back up out of that casket and go about your day
to life. Go right on loving your loved ones, them loving you,
go right on with life. My friend, to place such a condition
before that dead man is to mock that dead corpse. It's to tell
that individual there is no hope. and to tell a dead sinner. Sinner,
you must get up and come to Christ. Sinner, you must believe on Christ. Sinner, you must repent. All
of those things is to tell the sinner there's no hope. I'm talking
about regenerating grace being unconditional. I'm talking about
the fact that a man gets born again, that a man gets life from
heaven, that he gets life from Jesus Christ because Christ is
a life-giving spirit and he sovereignly comes and quickens dead sinners
and brings them to life. That's what I'm saying. That's
exactly what I'm saying. Unconditional regeneration. And we don't place anything before
the sinner, say, sinner, you gotta do this. We tell you you're
dead, and we tell you that unless God intervenes, unless somebody
who's got life intervenes on your behalf, then you're destined
to go to hell. You cannot possibly be saved
unless God intervenes. I'm talking about one that's
mighty to save. I'm talking about one who can
raise the dead. I'm talking about one whom Paul
spoke of in Ephesians 2 and 1 when he said you hath he quickened
made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins. That's what I'm talking
about. I'm talking about a mighty Savior. That's the very one that
I'm preaching to you today. One who quickens dead sinners
unconditionally. They just simply don't have to
lend a hand. I mean, they just simply are
helpless and He just comes and He does it all. And the first
thing you know, the wind bloweth where it listeth, thou hearest
the sound thereof, but cannot tell whence it cometh or whether
it goeth. But here's a man he's born of God. Here's a man who's
got the hope of the gospel in his breast. Last week he didn't
have it. Yesterday he didn't have it.
Today he's got it. God has come. God has intervened. God has given him hope. God has
brought him out of his death and brought him into life. This
was the work of God. The work of God. Regenerating
grace is unconditional. Now then to preach conditional
regeneration is to preach salvation by works. That's what it boils
down to. And then let me go a little further
than that. I'm just trying to help you this morning. I'm trying
to preach a mighty Savior to you. I'm trying to preach the
God of the Bible, the Savior of this Bible. I'm telling you
we preach God as He is to men as they are. And that's what
we must do. And you've got to hear it. Listen
to me now. We preach also that the sanctifying
grace of God is unconditional. The sanctifying grace of God.
What sets a man apart unto God? What is it? Well, we're set apart
unto God. Now you can turn with me if you
want. If you want to turn to the book of Hebrews, chapter
10, The book of Hebrews chapter 10, turn with me there and just
listen to these verses. I begin here with verse 10 and
read down through the 14th verse. By the witch will we are sanctified. Now what will is he talking about?
He's talking about the will of God And he says it is by this
will that we are set apart. It is God's will that sets a
man, that sanctifies a man. Now we hear a lot of talk about
sanctification. We hear a lot of people talking
about it. They don't know a bit more about it than they know
about maybe a lot of other things. But I will say this to you this
morning. that there is a will, and that will is God's will,
and it is through God's will that we're sanctified through
the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And all
the sanctification that there is is to be found in Christ,
whom Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 30 that Christ is
made unto us. Who of God is made unto us wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Christ is the
sanctification of these people. Anything that sets you apart
where God notices you has got to be Christ. God would not notice
anything you've done. He'd give up on flesh long ago. Christ, if you're in Him, God
sees you in Him. You're set apart unto God as
you stand in Him. Nothing else will set you apart.
Say, preacher, I thought if I was really liberal in my giving,
it would sanctify me. It won't do it. It won't do it.
God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. The cattle that roams
a thousand hills belongs to Him. If He's hungry, He wouldn't ask
you for anything. God is not... You'll never be
sanctified by giving. You'll never be sanctified by
loving. You'll never be sanctified by
your obedience, by your religion, by your do's and don'ts. Never,
never, never. The only thing that'll ever set
you apart to God is this one offering that Christ made. And if you stand in him, then
you're sanctified, set apart unto God. And you belong to him,
he owns you. You're his, that's what that
word means, that you're set apart unto God. Now listen to it. In
verse 14 of Hebrews 10, for by one offering he hath perfected
forever Them that are sanctified. Them that are set apart unto
God by the one offering of the Lord Jesus Christ. Where does
the Bible command a man to sanctify himself? Nonsense! To preach conditional sanctification. To preach conditional holiness. is to preach salvation by work. Sometime when you've got time,
read Galatians chapter 3 verses 1 through 3. And you'll find
out there very clearly that we begin in the Spirit and we're
not made perfect then, afterwards, by the flesh. Sanctification
is unconditional. And honey, let me tell you something
this morning, that if God ever sets His grace on you, and if
you're ever quickened and brought out of your sin, and if you're
ever brought into Christ, if you're ever brought into the
hope of the gospel, the true hope of the gospel, let me tell
you something, God will sanctify you if you're His. He will. There just isn't any question
about it. We go around here thinking that somebody that's saved is
not going to be sanctified. My friend, everybody that is
genuinely saved is sanctified and are being sanctified. They're
constantly daily being set apart to God and the only reason they
are is because that one offering of the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ on their behalf on Mount Calvary secures not only their
initial regeneration, but also their life being conformed to
the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. A lot of people run around talking
about sanctification, trying to get the goats sanctified.
The goats will never be sanctified. The goats will do nothing but
butt the rest of their life. But children of God, children
of the King, children who love God, children, children, children
who've been saved by the mighty Savior, their lives will portray
they will show forth, they will give evidence that He, this mighty
Savior, has been there and that He's touched them. Their lives
will be different. Their lives will be different.
And then let me hurry on because the time's getting away. I like
to say also that preserving grace is unconditional. It's unconditional. Now what do I mean by that? Well,
I mean that Christ's sheep shall never perish. And John 10, 27
through 30 says my sheep hear my voice and they follow me.
And Jesus says, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall
never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
And my Father which gave them me is greater than all, and no
man can pluck them out of his hand. To preach that the children
of God might perish is to preach salvation by works. Christ's
sheep shall never perish. Preserving grace is unconditional. I'm preaching a mighty Savior.
I just simply will not in any way, shape, or form talk about
Christ's sheep finally falling away. They won't. They won't. I'm talking about a Savior who
can save and He does save to the uttermost all that come unto
God by Him. He saves them to the uttermost.
He does. And then let me go on and hastily
say that glorifying grace is unconditional. Glorifying grace. Now in the mind of God, every
one of his people were glorified when he chose them in eternal
election. Every one of his children were
glorified when he chose them in his mind, in God's mind. Which
brings me to say that there isn't anything that could possibly
happen in time that would make God not glorify finally in eternal
and pure heaven his people. Now listen to this verse, Ephesians
1 and 11, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance being
predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all
things after the counsel of his own will. Ephesians 1 and 11. Now then, our heavenly inheritance,
our reward in glory was earned and purchased by Christ Jesus
for us. Did you get that? Our heavenly
inheritance and the reward of glory was earned and purchased
for us by the Lord Jesus Christ and to preach degrees of reward
based upon our works degrees of glory based upon our performance
in this life is to preach salvation by works. Now I'm telling you
the truth. I'm telling you the gospel truth.
If there's any difference in me over you, it's the grace of
God. If there's any difference in
us, in man upon earth, who hath made us to differ? Well, the
difference is the Lord himself. Now then, Let's hurry on here
to a conclusion. Most religionists, when they
think of grace, The grace of God, when they think of it, they
have in mind a helpless, frustrated passion in the heart of their
little God who desires to save and convert and regenerate lost
sinners, but cannot because man will not let him come into their
heart. Now that's the God of the religionists
of our day. Now these poor, this poor God,
I think, is a little pathetic, don't you think? Really? But
we're talking about a mighty Savior. We're talking about a
God, listen to me, our God is mighty to save and His grace
is not a helpless passion. Listen, His grace is not a helpless
passion in the heart of a God who is helpless. The grace of
God, it's an eternal, listen, the grace of God is an eternal,
immutable attribute of God's, of God Almighty which by, which
He not merely desires, but He accomplishes His own will, His
sovereign purpose in the salvation of His elect. I make bold to
say that the grace of God is never frustrated, it's never
defeated, or it is never successfully resisted. Now those are bold
statements to make, but we're talking about Mighty Savior. We're not talking about somebody
who's got little gods running out here trying, trying, trying
to do something and cannot. We're talking about this Mighty
Savior. Now let me close this message out this morning by giving
you five characteristics Five characteristics of the true grace
of God in the heart of this mighty Savior. The grace of this mighty
Savior. And I won't keep you long. I
won't keep you long. I generally get done preaching
in about 40 minutes or 45. I might take 5 extra minutes
this morning, but I'll get done in a moment. Just leave me be. I'm talking about the mighty
Savior. And we just can't hurry this,
can we? We've got to know this. Alright,
now listen to me. I want to say first of all that
the grace of God We've discovered it this morning, we've talked
about it this morning, the grace of God is sovereign. God sovereignly chose from eternity
those whom He will be gracious and He sovereignly bestows His
grace in time on them on whom He will He sovereignly bestows
His will. That means that God comes to
those that He wants to come to and He does save His people. And let the world talk about
that God must save more than He damns. If they want to, let
them talk about, let them talk about and snicker at what the
Bible says. There are few that be saved.
Let them snicker if they want to. But God is sovereign. The
grace of God is sovereign. And there's nothing, listen,
there's nothing, listen, there's nothing that God can't accomplish. It's His purpose that determines
what He will do. And if God, listen, if there
are few that be saved, it is because the purpose of God dictates
it. God's grace is sovereign. There's nothing to matter with
it. It's not crippled and it's not helpless. God's grace is
sovereign. And then let me say, that the
grace of God is righteous and just. It is. It's righteous and
just. God will not be gracious at the
expense of His righteousness and of His justice and of His
truth. God will be gracious, but He
could not and will never be and could not be gracious and righteous
and just at the same time if it was not for that bloody sin-atoning
sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, the substitute
had to be willing to bear our sin in His own body on the tree,
the just for the unjust, that God would be free to bring us
unto Him. I'm telling you the grace of
God is both righteous and it's just. And everybody God saves,
He's got good reason for saving. Because Jesus lived vicariously
for them and He took their sins off of them and put them on Jesus
and Jesus lived or He died on the cross in order that their
sin debt be paid in full. God's grace is both righteous
and just. And when God saves a sinner,
He saves a sinner and he remains just. and at the same time the
justifier of ungodly sinners. The grace of God is righteous
and just. Don't ever say that God is unjust. God is absolutely
just. And then let me say this, the
third characteristic, and I'm telling you that I have to hurry
here, that the grace of God, I'm giving you the true characteristics
of the grace of God in the hands of the mighty Savior, and that
is that it is always Effectual. It is always effectual. Now if
God wills to save, He saves. And when He speaks, the dead
live. Now listen to me. In Psalm 65
and 4, it says, Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and calls
us to approach unto thee. Now that language there would
be difficult for some people to take. God chooses a man and
calls him to approach. Now how is that? That's the effectual
grace of God I'm talking about. And then also in Psalm 110 verse
3 it says, Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. Yes, when he calls sinners who
would not and could not come to Christ, they come to Christ
with willing hearts, because the grace of God is always effectual. Now let me also make this statement,
number four. I'm giving you five characteristics,
so you see we're getting down here. We're getting down to the
last. The grace of God is immutable. Now do you know what that means?
That means the grace of God never changes. In Romans 11, 29 it
says this plainly, For the gifts and the callings of God are without
repentance. Which simply means that God never
goes back on His gifts and on His callings. Once God bestows
His grace upon any, He will not take it away, nor can He be compelled
by any force or circumstance to do so. God will never take
His grace. Those whom He chose in grace,
He redeemed in grace, He calls in grace, and will glorify in
grace. Sometime when you got time, read
Romans 8, 29-31. Those precious verses there,
which describes our salvation from A to Z. and you will see
that God's grace is truly immutable. And the fifth and the last characteristic
of the grace of God in the hands of this mighty Savior is that
the grace of God is free and it is in every situation, unconditional. It is unconditional. Isaiah 55
and 1, if you have your Bible open still to the book of Isaiah,
please turn to Isaiah 55 and look at this verse. This verse
of scripture, I have never had this verse of scripture to get
a hold of my heart like it got a hold of my heart as I read
it in preparation for this message here. Listen to what it says.
Isaiah 55 and 1, hold. everyone that thirsteth. Come
ye to the waters, and he that hath no money, come ye, buy and
eat. Yea, come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price. Now what that all says to me
is this, that God will not ask, nor will he accept anything from
the sinner. And it pleases me to say in this
last statement of this message this morning that he gives everything
freely to all who believe. And yes, even the believing is
the gift and the work of his sovereign grace. Now, I've been
talking about a mighty savior. Now, if you're interested in
some other kind, then you'd have to go somewhere
else to hear about him, and I won't go with you. Because this is
the only one that meets my case. The only one that satisfies my
heart. This is the mighty Savior. Now then, this poem, and we're
done. Jesus is the one thing needful. Without Him I cannot live. He
alone is my salvation. By His grace alone I live. I
must have Him. I must have Him, or else I must
forever die. None but Jesus, none but Jesus
can this sinner justify. Jesus was the one thing needful
in the covenant of grace. God our Father looked on Jesus
as the surety in our place. On the promise of obedience,
God gave his elect to Christ. Help was laid on one that is
mighty, and that mighty one is Christ. May the Lord add his
blessing to his word this morning. Mike, could we have a
Theology:
#Soteriology #Justification #Grace
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