with you here in Mission Springs. I'm glad to be here. This is my first trip to this
part of California, first trip to Mission Springs. But I'm not
a total stranger. I know a number of people here
in this congregation. I met them through our television
broadcast on KFTL, and I've heard from some of you, mailed tapes
to some of you, and books and other things, and written personal
letters to you, and I'm certainly glad to see many of you in person. Now, I'm grateful for the lovely
accommodations. This is one of the prettiest
places I've seen. My room is so comfortable, and
I'm grateful. I'm looking forward to this week.
Beautiful surroundings. I do want to tell you one thing. If you say something to me and
I don't answer you, it's because I don't hear you. I've got a
bad hearing problem. I've been speaking in conferences
since 1954, all over the country and other
places, too, but that's coming to an end before very long, because
my hearing is gradually deteriorating to the point that it's very difficult
to hear when someone is talking right to me. When I began to
counsel some engagements to go to other conferences One man
asked me why, and I said, because I can't hear when people speak
to me. He said, well, we can hear you. And he said, that's what you're
up there for. It doesn't matter whether you hear us, it's important
that we hear you. But it is, so you'll forgive
me when I'm in the dining hall or out in the outside of the
building and other places. I just, I wear hearing aids,
and they're very helpful. If I didn't wear them, I wouldn't
hear anything. And you remember that when you talk to me, and
if I say, huh, several times, I'm not retarded, I can't hear. You know, that's one affliction
that people have a difficulty with. They understand blind people,
they understand people who are crippled, but they get a little
agitated with people who are hard of hearing. I had one lady, a member of our
church a number of years ago, and she'd see these hearing aids
and she'd get right up and scream in them. I'd keep backing off
and she'd keep coming forward. But I've looked forward to meeting
Mr. Camping. I've seen him on television.
Someone sent me tapes of his broadcast over KFTL. I also was
dialing the television one night, channel-surfing. Is that what
you all call it, going from one to the other, you know? Couldn't
find anything decent to watch. and picked up CNN and and saw
this man look familiar and I came back to it and I said to my wife
that's that's Mr. Camping on Larry King Live so
we sat there and watched that. You remember the show didn't
you? It was very interesting and I enjoyed watching that. I pray the Lord will give me
a word for you. Preaching to me is serious business Mr. Spurgeon said one time he's
preaching on the burden of the Word of God from Habakkuk, the
burden of the Word of God. And he said, if the Word of God
is not a burden to us now, it will be someday. I want it to
lay heavily on my heart now, serious business. I do pray that
God will give me a word for you. these nights together. I'll be
speaking each night, the Lord willing, and I ask him to bless
me that I might bless you. And I ask him to speak to my
heart that I might speak to your heart. You see, if my voice is
the only voice you hear, nothing of any value will be accomplished. We've got to hear him who speaks
from heaven through his servant. God sends his man. God sends
his preacher. God gives him his message, not
my message, it's his. And you hear me, but I hope you
don't hear only me. I hope you hear him. Someone
years ago wrote this. He said, we've listened to the
preacher. and truth by him has been shown. But we need a greater teacher
from the everlasting throne, because revelation is the work
of God alone. Revelation is the work of God
alone. And you know when those men of
Samaria said to the woman of Samaria,
after she had met the Lord Jesus and came down into Samaria, and
she said, I've met a man who told me everything that I've
ever done is not just to Christ. And they came out to hear him.
And then they said to her, we believe, not because of what
you said, but we've heard him ourselves. We believe. We believe what you
said, but we believe now not only because of what you said,
but I've heard him myself. I've heard him. So let's open
our Bibles tonight to the book of Ephesians. Everybody's weary
from traveling, and we've come together here for a little while
this evening, and I debated and struggled and prayed and sought
God's leadership for a message And I'm going to an old familiar
scripture, an old familiar scripture, one that you know well and love
well and has been a blessing to you, I'm sure, on many occasions,
Ephesians chapter 1. And tonight we're just going
to exhort a little and rejoice a little and talk about our spiritual
blessings, our spiritual blessings. Here in Ephesians chapter 1.
The Apostle Paul said, writing to the church at Ephesus, Paul,
an apostle of Jesus Christ. I'm not an apostle. Paul was
an apostle. An apostle was one who had to
have seen the Lord and received his gospel directly from the
Lord. And Paul saw the Lord as one
born out of due time. And he said, when the Lord was
pleased, the Lord who separated me from my mother's womb, when
he was pleased to reveal his Son in me, in me immediately,
I conferred not with those who were apostles before me, but
I went into Arabia, and the gospel which I preached was not taught
me by man, but Christ himself. I saw the Lord. And the Lord
taught me the gospel, and I'm an apostle of Jesus Christ by
the will of God, by the will of God. And then he says, I'm
writing to the saints. This is to believers. This is
to you and to me. I'm writing to the saints, and
every believer is a saint. You hear people say, well, I'm
a Christian, but I'm no saint. I know what they mean by that.
They're saying, well, I'm not perfect, you know. But believe
me, if you're a Christian, you are a saint. You're sanctified
in Christ Jesus, sanctified by God the Father, sanctified in
Christ Jesus, and sanctified by the Spirit of God, sanctified
by the blood of Christ, and sanctified by the Word of God. I am a saint.
If I'm saved, I'm a saint. And he's writing to the saints,
to believers. This is to believers, about all
the Word of God, about all that's in the Word of God for a rebel,
for an unbeliever's judgment. the promises of God to believers.
Paul says, I'm writing to believers, I'm writing to the saints and
to the faithful, and saints are faithful. I hear people say,
well, Christians ought to love God. They do. Somebody said, well, a Christian
ought to give. Well, a Christian ought to worship God. He will.
He's writing to the saints who are faithful, and they are faithful. God's people are faithful. Believers
are faithful in Christ Jesus. And he says, grace to you, grace
to you, and peace from God our Father, which comes first? And
I tell you this, there can be no peace where there's no grace. Grace is always first. Grace
to you, grace to you. We're saved by the grace of God
through faith, and because we're saved by his grace through faith,
we have peace with God. Christ has reconciled the party,
taken away the wrath, taken away the enmity. Now Paul says, you
be reconciled to God. You lay down your shotgun. You
put up your sword. Be reconciled to God. God is
reconciled. God is at peace. We have peace
with God. We have the peace of God. And
because of his grace and mercy to us, we have peace with one
another. That's right. Peace with God. He made peace through the blood
of his cross and reconciled us to God. And God's not angry anymore. The wrath has been removed. The
enmity has been removed. God's angry with the wicked every
day, but not with believers, because in Christ we're reconciled.
You see that? And it's by His grace, by His
mercy, and therefore being justified by grace through faith, we have
peace. Peace with God, peace that passes
under stress. Lie down on your bed at night
and close your eyes and sleep like a baby, because Christ has
made peace with God. Oh, I tell you what a blessing,
peace with God. And from our Lord Jesus Christ,
Christ is our peace. I hear people say, well, have
you made your peace with God? I'd like to know how you're going
to do it. Tell me how you're going to make peace with God.
You're going to put your own sins away? You're going to clothe
yourself with your own righteousness? No, Christ is our peace. Christ
is our peace. He's the one that made peace
with God. The wrath of God in our stead, in our place, fell
on him. By his stripes we are healed.
We have peace because Christ bore our sins in his body on
the tree. Oh, my. And then in verse 3 he
said, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, in these first 14 verses, you're going to see three things.
You're going to see the work of the Father in redemption.
You're going to see the work of the Son in redemption. And you're going to see the work
of the Holy Spirit. And he starts here with the Father in verse
3, and he said, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ. That's the reason he's our Father,
because he's the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ said
to those Pharisees, they said, we have one God, we have one
Father, God. He said, if God were your Father,
you'd love me. If God were your Father, you'd love me. He's our
Father because He's the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our
Lord Jesus said, I go to my Father and your Father because you're
in me. That's the only reason God is
my Father, because I'm in Christ. The Father loved the Son, and
He loves me and the Son. The Father's grace and mercy,
he's given all things into the hands of his Son. And because
I'm in the Son, I have all things. He's my Father. He is. And blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now watch
this. Paul begins right where he is, and he says, he's blessed
us. Oh, he's blessed us. The Father
has blessed us. with all spiritual blessings
in Christ Jesus. I have in Christ, by the grace
of the Heavenly Father, everything I need to stand in his presence. That's right. He hath made us
meek. He hath made us sufficient. If
he were to call us right this minute to walk into his presence
lacking nothing, That's right. God's blessed me with all spiritual
blessing. I don't need two cars. I don't
need a fine home. I don't need a better job. I
don't need nicer clothes. I need Christ. That's what I
need, spiritual blessing, justification, redemption, sanctification, righteousness,
holiness, acceptance with God. That's what I need, and that's
what he's given me in Christ Jesus. Blessed me with all spiritual
blessing. Christ Jesus. Of him are you
in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us righteousness, sanctification,
redemption. Everything we need is in Christ. Old John Flavel has a book out
called Method of Grace. I think it's one of the best
books that I have in my library, The Method of Grace. And in that
book, he has a sermon with five points. And these are the five
points. He says everything that the Heavenly
Father has for a sinner, everything, everything that the Heavenly
Father has for a sinner is vested in Jesus Christ. It's all in
Christ. And those spiritual blessings
are ours by a union with Christ. Christ in you, that's the hope
of glory. Paul said, God revealed his son
in me. Christ, somebody asked me one
time, is Jesus Christ the most important thing in your life?
I said, no sir. He was shocked. He said, he's
not? I said, no sir, he is my life. He's not a thing. He's not first. He's my whole
life. Christ in you, the hope of glory. Christ who is our life, when
he shall appear, We're gonna pair with Him. I'm in Him. He's
the head. We're the body. Where the head
is, the body's not too far behind, is it? God's given everything to Christ,
and we're heirs. We're joint heirs with Christ.
We're married to Him. He's the head. We're the body.
He's the vine. We're the branches. And everything
that the Father has given to Christ is ours because we're
one in Him and with Him. That's what Flabel is saying.
And that union, thirdly, comes by faith. It comes by faith. He that believeth on the Son
hath life. These things are written unto
you that believe on the name of the Son of God that you may
know you have eternal life and that you may keep believing on
the Son of God. because he that hath the Son
hath life, faith." Fourthly, he said, that faith
comes by hearing the Word of God. You see, this is the seed. The sower went forth to sow.
The sower is the son of man, the seed is the Word of God.
And of his own will begat he us with the Word of truth, not
apart from the gospel, not without the gospel, but through the gospel. We're born again, begotten, not
of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible seed by the word of God that
liveth and abideth forever. He that heareth my word. Everything God has for sinners
in Christ, it's ours by union with him. And that union comes
by faith. And that faith comes by doing
just what you're doing right now, hearing the word of God. The man came to our church several
years ago. I knew him quite well even back
then. In fact, later on, my son, who's
pastoring in Virginia, married his daughter. But he came to
hear me preach, and I'd shake hands at the door, and he'd be
going out, and I'd say, well, Ed, come back again. He said,
I might. I might be back. I said, well,
I'm always glad to have you come back when you can. He kept doing
that. He kept coming. He'd miss a few
times, then he'd come back, miss a few times, come back. Finally
one Sunday, I preached the gospel. The Spirit of God was pleased
to give me to preach the gospel. God was there. God spoke. And
I was standing back by the door, and he came out. His countenance
was different. His attitude was different. I
shook hands with him. I said, Ed, come back. He said,
I'll be here tonight. I'll be here Wednesday. I'll
be here next Sunday. I see what you're saying. I see it. He that seeth the sun
and believeth on it. God's pleased to reveal His Son. He who commanded the light to
shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts to give us the
knowledge of the glory of God. Where? In the face of Christ
Jesus. Preaching of the Word of God. Flavel said all of that will
amount to nothing unless the Holy Spirit makes it effectual. I can't save a sinner and there's
not a sinner who can save himself, but God can. God can. Oh, bless God, bless God who
has blessed us, who's blessed us with all, all I need, Jesus
Christ is made to me, all I need. Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
holiness, redemption, all I need. In spiritual places, heavenly
places, at the right hand of God, where my forerunner's already
entered in, within the veil, that's where I am, seated at
the right hand of God. Now watch it, oh, Paul says,
bless God, and then he takes a step back. Oh, I rejoice in
this, don't you? Why'd he bless me? Why me? David
went and wept before the Lord and cried, who am I? Who am I? And what is my house? If you
should show such mercy, well, I'll tell you why he blessed
us according as he chose us in Christ. That's why he blessed
us. It pleased God to make you his people. It pleased God to
make you his people. Our Lord said to the disciples,
you didn't choose me, I chose you. It is not that I did choose
thee, Lord, that could not be. This heart of mine would still
refuse thee, but thou hast chosen me." There's a preacher out in
Texas named Dr. Gambrill. He'd been dead a long
time, but he was out working in his roses one day, and his
neighbor next door came over, and she's standing there watching
Dr. Gambrill work with his roses, and she said, Dr. Gamble, she said, you're a Baptist,
aren't you? He said, yes, I'm. She said,
do you Baptists believe in election? He said, yes, I'm. She said,
what is it? He said, what is what? She said,
what is election? He said, well, he said, are you
saved? Well, she said, yes. Yes, I'm
saved. He said, who saved you? She said,
God did it. He said, did he do it on purpose
or was it an accident? Oh, she said, he did it on purpose. He said, honey, that's a lecture. Everything God does, he does
on purpose. God blessed me with all spiritual
blessings in the heavenlies. Why? Because he chose to. I chose
him, yes, because he chose me. I love him, why? Because he loved
me first. I sought him because he sought
me. I called on him because he called
me. And he chose us, listen, not
because we were holy. It says that we should be holy. That's right. He chose us that
we should be holy. Without blame before him. Yes
turn with me to the book of Colossians. Let me show you something over
here in Colossians chapter 1 Colossians chapter 1 verse verse Verse 21
Colossians 1 21 listen and you and you That were one time sometime
one time alienating enemies enemies in your mind by wicked works
were you and Yes, we were wicked enemies of God. Yet now hath
he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present
you holy, unblameable, unreprovable in his sight. Where is our holiness
in ourselves? No, in Christ, in Christ. The apostle Paul said he came
into the world to save sinners of whom I'm chief. I'm less than
the least of all the saints. I'm not worthy to be called an
apostle. The things I would do, I do them
not. The things I would not do, I do them. O wretched man that
I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death? I thank God
through Jesus Christ, my Lord, I have been delivered. And with
His spotless garments on, I'm as holy as God's Son. That's
right. God's blessed us with all spiritual
blessings. Because he chose to. And he chose to to make us holy. And listen to the next line.
In love, in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ himself. I don't know whether any of you
know Pastor R.T. Kendall. He pastors Westminster
Chapel in London, England. He followed Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones there as pastor. Brother Kendall was a member
of our church when he was a young boy, 19, 20, 21 years of age. We ordained him to the gospel
ministry. And he and I were playing golf
up in Cerrito, West Virginia sometime back in the late 50s. early 60s and it was kind of
a country golf course up in West Virginia and We went across the
street. We played several holes. It's
hot summertime. We went across the street to
get a coca and a filling station and I walked into the filling
station and the man had a Bible on the man who owned the filling
station had a Bible there on the desk as I came through the
door and And I walked up, looked at the Bible. I said, you've
got a nice Bible there. He said, yeah. He said, my wife
gave me that. He said, by the way, he said,
you're Christian? I said, yes, sir. He said, you believe in
predestination? Well, I've learned not to answer
that question without somebody defining it. Define it for me. Define it. I have people listen
to me on television. They'll call up and say, you
believe in predestination? I said, I don't know. What does
it mean? It means that God predestinated some to heaven, some to hell.
I said, I don't believe that. I don't believe that. Not at
all. So this man asked me, do you
believe in predestination? I said, well, is it in the Bible?
He said, well, I don't know. I said, well, let's look and
see. So I turned to the concordance over here, and I knew where it
was found. But I didn't want him to know I was a preacher,
because he quit listening to me right then, you know. And most preachers, I wouldn't
blame him. But anyway. I said to him, I said, well,
the word predestinate or predestinates in the Bible four times. Four
times. And I took him over here to Romans
8, if you want to turn over there with me. Romans chapter 8, verse
29. Romans 8, when I said, here it
is here twice. It says in verse 29 of Romans
8, for whom he did foreknow, he did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of his son. And whom he did predestinate,
verse 30, them he called. That's twice it's there. And
I said, here's what it's saying, that everybody whom God saves,
he's gonna make like Christ. Predestinated them, predetermined. Destination decided beforehand. Predestinated. When a bus rolls
into a bus depot and it has a sign up there, Sacramento. Where's it going? Sacramento.
Who decided that? Up in the office. When they decided?
last week, and that's where it's going. It may stop at 14 pounds
before it gets there, but that's where it's going. It's predestinated. It's destination is predetermined.
And I said this right here says God is going to make everybody
he saves like Christ. And then over here in Ephesians,
we're looking at it right here, it says here, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children. Children, what's children? Sons.
Sons of God. It takes just as much miracle
and power to make a son of Adam a son of God as to make the Son
of God a son of man. Come on now. Think with me. Jesus Christ became flesh. Is that right? This is the mystery
of God, that God was manifest in human flesh. That took quite
a miracle, didn't it? For God to become a man? For
the Son of God to become the Son of Man? That took a miracle,
I'll tell you this. for a son of man like you and
me to become a son of God, that takes just as much power.
The same power that raised him from the dead is a power that
will raise you from a spiritual grave. Election has to do with
people. Predestination has to do with
what those people are going to be. They're going to be like
Christ. Joseph's gonna sit on the throne.
Who said so? God did. How's he gonna get in
there? He took a lot of turns. He went
to the pit. He went to Potiphar's house.
Election has to do with people. Predestination has to do with
what those people are gonna do. They're gonna be like Christ.
Joseph's gonna sit on the throne. Who said so? God did. How's he
going to get in there? He took a lot of turns. He went
to the pit. He went to Potiphar's house.
He went to prison. He went to there and there and
finally wound up on the throne. Who put him there? God did. Who
predetermined that? God did. And one day every believer
is going to sit at the right hand of God in Christ and be
just like Christ, conformed to his image. He shall appear, and
we shall see Him as He is. And when we see Him, we're going
to be what? Like Him. That's predestination. And God
has to do it. I have been saved, I'm being
saved, and my salvation is nearer than when I believe. I'm not
fixed up yet for eternity. Somebody said one time, have
patience with me. God ain't through with me yet.
I'm gonna be like Christ. I'm gonna be like Christ. Predestinated me to be like Christ. Listen, according to the good
pleasure of his own will. Paul starts where he said, God
blessed me. Oh, how he blessed me. Why'd
he do that? He chose me. He chose to bless
me. Why'd he do that? Because he's
gonna have a people in the kingdom of God like Christ. Every one
of them is gonna be just like his son. They're going to love
what he loves, enjoy what he enjoys, rejoice in what he rejoices,
and despise what he despises. And every enemy is going to be
under his footstool and theirs, under their feet. You'll tread
them under your feet. He's predetermined. Why'd he
do that? Because he will to, according
to the good pleasure of his own will. That's pretty clear, isn't
it? And listen to verse six, and
he did it, why? To the praise of his glory. He didn't do it to bestow upon
you certain rewards for your service. He's not going to give you trophies,
you are the trophy. You are the trophy. He's going
to show in us the riches of his grace. toward us in Christ. That's right. Everything he does
is to the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he made
us accepted. He accepted me. Where? In the beloved. God accepted
me in the beloved. You see, what a treasure. What a treasure. God bless me.
He chose to do it because he predetermined to have a kingdom
and a people like Christ. When Christ shall have delivered
up the kingdom unto the Father, when he puts the last enemy under
his feet, which is death, then shall God be all and in all.
God's predetermined that. Known unto God are all his works
from the beginning. He did it according to the good
pleasure of his will. Three questions. Simple question. Did you choose God or He choose
you? He chose you then. When did He choose you? When? A fella told me, he said, when
I believe. I said, is that what the Bible
says? He said, no, that's what I believe. He chose us. Paul said, blessed, I thank God
for you brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God has from
the beginning chosen you to salvation. through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth. You're going to believe the gospel.
Oh, the sheep I have, what shall I dispose of them? I must bring,
and they, don't you love the shalls of God's Word? They shall
hear my voice, and they shall be one foal, one shepherd. Why did He choose you? That's
the third question. Why me? I had a brother, one
brother. Died 48 years of age, heart attack. 30 years in the army. Was up for Brigadier General
when he died. A successful man, a brilliant man. A West Point
graduate. Knew nothing about God. Had no
use for God. Heavy drinker, heavy smoker.
Killed himself drinking. We were born from the same womb.
We grew up in the same house. We went to the same church. We
sat around the same table. We wore each other's clothes.
I wore all his handbags. I never did have a new suit.
I wore his clothes. I loved him. But God wasn't pleased
to save him. But he saved me. Why? According
to the good pleasure of his own will. Our Lord Jesus stopped one day
and he said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth. You
hid these things from the wise and prudent, and you revealed
it to babes. For even so, Father, it seemed
good in your sight. That's the only answer I can
give you. Why you? Why you? God made the difference, didn't
he? A lot of your friends don't know God and don't want to know
God, but you do. I've got to move quick to listen
to this. Here's the Sun verse 7 in whom
we have redemption He redeemed us by his blood By blood Mr. Camping I'm sure read about old
dr. AJ Gordon some of you other men
brother Otero probably has to AJ Gordon pastored the church
of the open door up in Boston any long time ago turn of the
century A.J. Gordon was walking down the street
one day, this way back yonder, way back yonder, some of you
remember, some of you can't, it was way back yonder. Anyway,
he's walking down the street, and he met one of his Sunday
school boys coming toward him. That little boy had a cage in
his hand, an old homemade wire cage, and in that cage were two
birds. And Dr. Gordon looked at those
two little birds in that cage, and he felt sorry for them, he
pitied them, there they were just scared to death, And that
little boy was swinging that cage, bringing it along down
the street, you know. And Dr. Gordon reached out and
stopped him. He said, son, where'd you get the birds? He said, I
trapped them. He said, son, what are you going to do with the
birds? He said, I'm going to play with them. After I get through playing
with them, I'm going to feed them to the cat. Dr. Gordon said, son, would you
sell them to me? Preacher, you don't want these
old birds. They ain't canaries, you know. He said, I know what
they are, just old spiegel birds. He said, but I want them, I want,
preacher there are thousands of them out there. I want those
birds, those birds. Will you sell them? I said, it'll
cost you. Well, tell me how much? $2, cage and all. That's a lot of money back then,
son. So the preacher reached in his pocket, got out $2 and
shelled it out and he got his cage, you know. Stood there holding
a cage and a little boy walked on past him and every once in
a while he'd turn and shake his head at that fool preacher. And finally he turned the corner
and the preacher held up the cage. He unwound the wire around
the door and opened the door and held it up to the sky. He
said, little old bird, I loved you. I bought you. I'm going
to set you free. And he tapped the cage. And one
of them spotted that open door and out he went. The other one
spotted it about that time, out he went, and he said he could
see them flying through the blue sky, and it seemed like they
were saying, redeemed, redeemed, set free. He said, I thought, one day walking
across the corridors of heaven, the law of God and the justice
of God had a cage full of sinners in bondage, in prison, under
guilt. told that sinners shall die.
My Lord Jesus looked at them and said, I love them. I'm going
to buy them. And justice said, you don't want
these old birds. They ain't no good. He said,
I know them better than you do. They can't sing. I know that. There's plenty more out there.
I want those, my sheep. Sell them to me. Justice said
and law said it'll cost you the gold of your blood and the sweat
of your body, the sweat of your tears and the gold of your blood.
And my Lord went to the cross and paid it in full. He bought
me. He bought you. He redeemed us.
We're his. Isn't that beautiful? In whom
we have redemption, the forgiveness of all our sins according to
the riches of his grace, his grace, amazing grace, how sweet
the sound that saved a wretch like me. I was lost, lost, hopelessly,
helplessly. Barnard used to say plum lost. But he found me. He put me on
his shoulders and brought me home. He'll never let me go. Ah, not only that, but I'll hurry.
Listen, verse 9. And he made known to us the mystery
of his will. He made known to us the mystery.
He redeemed us and he enlightened us. Philip said, well, show us
the Father. He said, Philip, have I been
so long time with you and you don't know me? He that has seen
me has seen the Father. Have you seen Christ? You've
seen the Father. No man has seen God at any time. The Son reveals
Him. The Son declares Him. The glory of God is in Christ.
I am the Father of One. He that hath seen Me hath seen
the Father. He hath manifested to us. He hath made known to
us the mystery of God's will, the will of redemption. When Ananias came to Saul of
Tarsus, and said, God chose you that you might know his will
and see the just one. Saul of Tarsus knew the will
of commandment. He was a Pharisee, a member of
the Sanhedrin. He knew the Old Testament backward
and forward. He knew the will of command.
He didn't know the will of redemption. Hebrews 10, by the which will
we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Christ
once for all. That's the will by which we say
God's redemptive will in Christ. And Christ made known to us the
mystery of his will, how God can be just and justify you and
me. God can't save us at the expense
of his holiness. God can't save any sinner at
the expense of his law. God can't save any sinner at
the expense of his justice. We must die. Christ died for
us. substitution, transference of
guilt. Not only that, but listen, in
whom we have obtained an inheritance, an inheritance. He's not only
redeemed us, forgave us, enlightened us, he's enriched us. We got
an inheritance reserved. Our Lord's coming back. They're
going to take us to glory. And he's already reserved the
inheritance. Now listen to me just a minute.
Old Brother Mews, you say, don't move a hand or a hair. Now listen.
When our Lord said, I go to prepare a place for you, somebody said,
now listen to me, somebody said, well, it took him six days to
make the world. He's been up there 2,000 years
preparing the mansion. That's not what he's talking
about. That's not what he's talking about. He said, I go to the cross
to bear your sin. I go to the grave, your scapegoat. I rise as your justifier. I go
to the right hand of God, not the holy place made with hands,
but heaven itself to present an atonement, a redemption for
you. That's how I'm preparing for
your place. I'm preparing you for the place
and the place for you. That's it. He's enriched us. Undefiled, incorruptible, that
paid us not away, and she's reserved. Old Roland Hill, you've heard
that name. He had a dream. He said, I dreamed
I died and went to heaven. He was a preacher back in England
100 years ago. He said, I dreamed I died and
went to heaven. And he said, he got there and I just can't
describe, he said, what it's like. But I heard the most beautiful
singing, the most beautiful singing I've ever heard in my life. Praises to God were just rolling,
rolling through that place. And he said, I saw this huge
choir, looked like a number no man could number. And he thought,
oh, I'd love to sing with them. Oh, I'd love to sit with them.
Oh, I'd love to participate in that song. And he said, I looked
and there was an empty seat way up yonder. He said, I thought
if I could just get to that seat, I'd sing with him. So he said,
I went up all these stairs, through all these people, and I came
to that seat, and my name was on it. Roland Hill. Reserve for Roland Hill. And
he said, I sat down in it. And I started singing. And I
knew every word of the song, because I'd been singing it down
here on this earth. Praise this to God. reserved
for you and in heaven. What about the Holy Spirit? I'll
let you go with this. And you know verse 12, our Lord
redeemed us and forgave us and enlightened us and enriched us?
Look at verse 12, that we should be to the praise of the glory
of His grace, who first trusted in Christ. That's why He did
it. We're going to praise Him. Our occupation in glory will
be to worship and praise our Lord. Now watch the last verse
here, verse 13. Here's the Spirit of God. In
whom you trusted. In whom? In the Son, the Beloved,
you trusted. When did you do it? After you
heard the word of truth. You didn't just hear religion,
you heard the word of truth. I'm the way, the truth, and the
life. You should know the truth. The truth will set you free.
The truth about God. The truth about us. The truth
about sin. the truth about the cross, the
truth about the blood, the truth about Christ. You heard the truth.
Listen, THE gospel of your salvation. Paul said it's just one gospel,
just one. If anybody preaches any other
gospel, he said, I don't care if it's an angel from heaven.
Let him be a curse. You heard the truth. You trusted
after you heard the truth, the gospel of your salvation. You
heard it. How'd you hear it? The gospel came to you not in
word only, but in power, in the Holy Ghost, in much assurance. That's right. And listen, and
then you were sealed. Now listen to me. Any of you,
I'm from the country. I still have a garden. I raise
beans. My wife and I put up beans. We
can them. We string beans and can them,
because they taste so good in the wintertime. And she's got
that little old canner, a whole seven quarts. I help her string
them, and I can't can them. She does that. She puts them
in the canner and turns the lid on, puts the water on. You ladies
know how to do that. It gets hot, and the steam comes out,
and we get over there and sit down, and then after a while
she'll Take the lid off and she'll start listening for something.
You know what she's listening for? One at a time. What's it doing?
They're sealing. Sealing. She said, all said bye. They won't fall off. Never fall
off. in whom you trusted, after you
heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in
whom after you believed you were one with the Holy Spirit. Don't argue with me about once
saved, always saved, it all depends on who saved you. If you saved yourself, you're
a goner. If your mama saved you, you're gone or two. If your preacher
saved you, you ain't got a chance. If God saved you, you're sealed. If you heard him speak through
his word, by his power, I'll see you in glory. Who saved you? What the Lord
does is forever. He makes no mistakes. And that Holy Spirit, verse 14,
is the earnest of your inheritance until the redemption of the purchased
possession. What's an earnest? You ever bought
a piece of property and paid $500 down, call it what? Earnest
money. It's yours. It's yours. He can't sell that till he gives
you back your money. You've set a certain date. Earnest
money. That's what the Holy Spirit is.
He's our earnest, our token, our pledge to the redemption
of the purchased possessions. To the praise of his glory. The
Father chose us and redeemed us to the praise of his glory.
Christ died for us and set us free to the praise of his glory.
The Holy Spirit calls us to the praise of his glory. And I want
him to have it all, don't you? All right, let's pray. Father,
thank you for your word. Thank you for your mercy. Thank
you for your love, everlasting, infinite love. I've loved you
with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness,
I've drawn you. Thank you for Christ Jesus, our
Redeemer. Thank you for the blessed hope
we have in Him. Thank you for the promise of
His return. Thank you, Lord, for the blessed inheritance reserved
for all of us in Him. Thank you for this fellowship
together. Thank you for these who stand for the truth of thy
blessed word and the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Give us
your presence during these days and the power of your spirit
for the glory of your dear son. In his name I pray. Amen.