I don't know how many times over
the years that when I have been talking to somebody about the
gospel of God's grace, they will refer to James. What about James? He says faith
without works is dead, being alone. What about James? How do you reconcile what he
says to what you're saying the scripture says? And that wasn't
part of my notes as far as introduction
goes, but the more I've been thinking about it this afternoon,
the more I thought this is the issue. James. James' response to the law mongers. Now, as I said, James was the
pastor of the church at Jerusalem, and some people had come from
the church that he pastored with a poisonous message to these
other churches. That'd be like somebody here
going and going out to some other church and saying, you guys have
got it wrong. And here is what these men from
the church of Jerusalem were saying. And somebody says, could
that happen? Well, Paul said in Acts chapter
20, that men of your own selves shall arise speaking perverse
things to draw away disciples after them. Sure can happen.
And it happened where James was the pastor. These people came
and they were saying this, verse one, and certain men, which came
down from Judea, taught the brethren and said, except you be circumcised. After the manner of Moses, you
cannot be saved. Now, except you fill in the blank. I don't care what it is. Except
you fill in the blank, you cannot be saved. Look in verse five. But there rose up certain of
the sect of the Pharisees which believed, Did they really believe? No, they were false brethren.
They didn't really believe. There's so many examples of that
in Scripture. But there were Pharisees who
believed, saying that it was needful, it was absolutely necessary
to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law of Moses.
Now these were these Jewish believers from Jerusalem that come to the
church at Antioch, the Gentile church, and said, you all need
to adapt to these rules and ways of living in order to be saved. True Christ is salvation. True
salvation's by grace. We believe all that through faith
in Christ, but you also need to do this. Now, the only remedy
to that is what James says in verse 18, known unto God are
all his works from the beginning. Is salvation all of God's work?
If you're saved, you know it is. There's no question about
that. Known unto God are all his works
from the beginning. They are eternal. They are completed
in eternity. Yes, they take place in time,
but they're completed in eternity. And that excludes any form of
salvation by works. It's exactly what that does.
That's what he is saying. Known unto God are all his works
from the beginning. Now, I pray that the Lord will
help us to see what James is saying. Now, we've already considered
Peter's response to this a couple of weeks ago. Verse 7, and this
is amazing that this was going on in the church. Verse 7, And
when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto
them, Men and brethren, You know how that a good while ago God
made choice among us that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear
the word of the gospel and believe, and he's talking about Acts 10
and 11 when Cornelius heard the gospel through him, a Gentile.
Verse 8, And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness,
giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did to us. He put no difference
between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore,
why tempt ye God to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples,
which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? These fellows
that say you need to be circumcised and keep the law, they didn't
do it. They were telling you, you need to do it. But they didn't
do it. It was an act of pure hypocrisy.
He said, why are you trying to put a yoke that neither we nor
our fathers were able to build? We couldn't hold up to that.
Verse 11, but we believe. Here's the true apostles' creed.
We believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we
shall be saved even as they, us Jews, are going to be saved
the way the Gentiles are. They're not going to be saved
the way we are. We're going to be saved the way they are, these
Gentile heathen. The only way they can be saved
is by grace. The same with us. Verse 12, then
all the multitude kept silence and gave audience to Barnabas
and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among
the Gentiles by them. And I'm sure he's not talking
about physical miracles at this time. He's talking about the
miracles of salvation that took place. And after they held their
peace, James answered. Now, as I said, James is the
man who wrote the book of James. He was the physical brother of
the Lord. The Lord made a personal appearance
to him after his resurrection during that 40-day period when
he was still alive on the earth. He was going to be the pastor
of the church at Jerusalem. And these men had come out from
their midst bringing this message of error. And here is his response
to this. Now, James' response to lawmongers. Remember, a lawmonger is anybody
who said you can't be saved except you first do fill in the blank.
Doesn't matter what it is. You can't be saved except you
first do fill in the blank. Only then, if you do this, can
God save you. That is salvation by works. I don't care what form it takes,
that is salvation by works. So let's hear what James says. After they'd held their peace,
James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me. Now
Simeon hath declared, he's talking about what Peter just said, how
God at first did visit the Gentiles. Boy, I pray he visits us, don't
you? I want a divine visitation. I want a divine visitation every
time we meet together and hear the gospel preached. I love that
promise in Genesis 50 where Jacob is dying and he says, God will
surely visit you. That's what I want. God to visit
us in mercy. Simeon hath declared how God
at the first did visit the Gentiles to take out of them a people
for his name. I love the way he says this.
He doesn't say to make salvation available to them or give them
a chance or give them an opportunity. He said he came to take out a
people. FOR HIS NAME. THAT CORRESPONDS
TO REVELATION, CHAPTER 5, VERSE 9, HOW HE HAS REDEEMED US TO
GOD OUT OF EVERY KINDRED AND TONGUE AND PEOPLE AND NATION,
TO TAKE OUT OF PEOPLE FOR HIS NAME, FOR HIS NAMESAKE AND FOR
HIS GLORY. AND TO THIS, VERSE 15, TO THIS
AGREE THE WORDS OF THE PROPHETS. THIS IS WHAT THE OLD TESTAMENT
SCRIPTURES HAVE ALWAYS TAUGHT. TO THIS AGREE THE WORDS OF THE
PROPHETS AS IT IS WRITTEN, AND HE QUOTES A PASSAGE Chapter 9,
verses 11 and 12, read with me. After this, I will return and
will build again the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down.
And I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up.
Now, amazingly, well, it's not amazing, but it, way people are. People talk about when Christ
comes back, he's going to rebuild the temple. And this is one of
the scriptures they use. He is going to rebuild the temple.
Why would the Lord do that? To establish animal sacrifices
again? That's foolishness. That's all
that is. It's absolute foolishness. Christ
is the tabernacle of David. Christ fell on the cross. He was raised back up to build
the true temple of God, the church of the living God. That's exactly
what that's talking about. That's not talking about some
kind of millennial reign when Christ is gonna come back and
rebuild the temple and for a thousand years, all the Christians will
be top dogs and we'll have political power over everybody. Well, that's
foolishness. That's all it is. Christ is the
tabernacle of David, and he rebuilds the church. And he said, upon
this rock will I build my church, and the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it. And then he says, verse 17, he
says, I set it up that the residue of men might seek after the Lord. You know everybody ought to seek
the Lord. Everybody. What about people
who've never heard the gospel? They ought to seek the Lord.
There's enough light in creation to know you ought to seek the
Lord. And anybody that does seek the Lord, the Lord will give
them more light. Well, doesn't the Bible say nobody
seeks the Lord? Yeah, the Bible does say there's
none that seek. If that's what scripture says,
then men ought to seek the Lord. Everybody ought to seek the Lord.
And the best advice I could give to anybody other than believe
on Christ is seek the Lord. Seek the Lord. That's what men
ought to do. Everybody in this room ought
to seek the Lord. That ought to be the great pursuit
of my life, to seek the Lord, to seek Him in His Word. Now,
that the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all
the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called. is called, saith the
Lord, who doeth all these things." Now, the Gentiles that are saved
are the ones upon whom His name is called. They've been given
that name, the Lord our righteousness. Every single one of them. If
you're a believer, that's your name. His name is called upon
you, and He's the one who doeth all these things. Salvation is
of the Lord. I can't say that clearly enough.
Every aspect of salvation is of the Lord. Listen to this scripture from
1 Thessalonians 5 verse 24. Faithful is he that calleth you,
who also will do it. Everything he requires of you,
He will do it. He'll cause you to do it. Philippians 2.13 says, for it's
God. It says, work out your own salvation
with fear and with trembling. For it's God that worketh in
you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure. The Lord's
the one who does this. Hebrews chapter 13, verses 20
and 21, now the God of peace that brought again from the dead
our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep. through the blood
of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good
work to do His will working in you, that which is well-pleasing
in His sight." Now, this is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Now, all God requires of you,
He does. All requires of you to do, He
does in you. You see, salvation's of the Lord.
Aren't you thankful it's that way? I wouldn't want it to be
any other way. And then he makes this statement in verse 18. Known
unto God are all his works. From the beginning of the world. From eternity. Known unto God
are all his works. Now all of God's knowledge is
foreknowledge. Every bit of it. He never responds. He never has to react to something.
He never has to put out a fire. All of his knowledge is foreknowledge. And the reason all of his knowledge
is foreknowledge is everything that takes place in time is what
he determined before to be done in eternity. There's nothing
that falls outside of that umbrella, including what we would call
the insignificant things. The Lord said, not a sparrow
falleth to the ground without your heavenly father knowing
it. No, I didn't quote it right. It doesn't say not a sparrow
falls to ground without your heavenly father knowing it. It
says not a sparrow falleth to the ground without your heavenly
father. If there's a sparrow that falls
in Afghanistan right now, you know who caused it to happen
and who's in complete control of it? God is. The very hairs
of your head, you want to talk about what would seem inconsequential.
What's it going to do to me if I lose another hair? I've lost
most of them anyway. And is it going to make any bearing
on my life? But the very hairs of my head
are numbered by God Almighty. The things that we would consider
inconsequential, He's in control of. And he's in control of everything
else. He's ordained everything that
takes place. Now, the world we live in is
God's world. I love to sing that song. This
is my father's world. It is. You know, this is my father's
city. This is my father's state. This
is my father's country. This is my father's world. The
earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. Everything belongs to
him and he controls every event. The things that are passing on
through your mind right now, he's in control of. I love saying
this. Somebody says, I don't believe
that. He's in control of that too. He rules and he reigns in all
things and everything he does is eternal. He's doing His will
all the time. Now, listen to this scripture.
Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world.
Isaiah 46 says He declares the end from the beginning. And from
ancient times, the things that are not yet done, saying, my
counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. I purposed it. I also will do
it. I've spoken it, I will bring
it to pass." Daniel 4.35, He doeth according to His will. In the armies of heaven, and
I remember one time hearing somebody preach on Thy will be done on earth as
it is in heaven. And their comment was obviously
his will's not being done here on earth. We wish it would be
like just like up in heaven. No, he doeth according to his will
in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.
And none can stay his hand. Or saying to him, what doest
thou? Give an account for yourself. He giveth no account of his matters.
You know, I love that. The Lord's not accountable to
me. He doesn't have to explain himself to me. He doesn't have
to explain himself to you. He's God, and beside him is none else. Psalm 135, six says, whatsoever
the Lord pleased, that did he. in earth and in sea and in all
deep places. Now, whatever's going on is what
the Lord has done. Not what he wants to do, what
he's done. Hebrews 4.3 says all the works
were finished from the foundation of the world. Everything God
does has already been finished. Can I say before it's taken place?
I don't know. I mean, I'm dealing with stuff
that I don't understand and just believe. Nobody in here understands
this either. We just believe it. God's eternal.
God's eternal. Everything he does is eternal.
And I love, oh, I love Revelation 13, eight, where Christ is called
the Lamb, having been slain before the foundation of the world. You know what that tells me?
That tells me my salvation can't be by my words, because it was
already accomplished by a Redeemer before time began. It was finished
then. Absolute predestination. Now, predestination, somebody
says, that's deep, below me. You predestinated to be here
tonight, didn't you? You didn't just pop up, here I am. No, it
doesn't work that way. You thought, I'm gonna, I'm going
to Todd's Road tonight, six o'clock, hear the gospel preached. You
predestinated that. Everything you do, you predestinate.
Now, the difference between you and God is you don't have any
power to make whatever you predestined to come pass. You don't have
any power at all, none. You might come, I'm gonna go
to Todd's Road Grace Church, and a car runs over you and kills
you. I mean, you don't have any control. There's nothing a whole
lot more, I hope I don't have too many control freaks in here,
but that's stupid. I mean, you don't have control
of anything, nothing. Power belongeth unto the Lord,
none to you, all to Him. He has absolute power. control,
absolute predestination. I love the way Peter began the
sermon on the day of Pentecost. He didn't mince any words. He said, him being delivered
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. This is
the first message after the resurrection of Christ that we have recorded
in the New Testament. This isn't developed theology. That kind
of thinking is stupid. You don't develop theology. I've
developed a theology. No. If you know God, you know
this is who he is. Him being delivered. By the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken and with
wicked hands have crucified and slain. When the early church,
the church is just a couple of weeks old, is together in prayer,
they pray this prayer. Both Herod and Pontius Pilate
with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together
for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before
to be done. That's just who God is. He's
eternal. He's not bound by time. He's
not bound by space. I feel like such an idiot every
time I try to preach on this, because I know I don't understand
it, but I know you don't either, so we're in good company. We
just believe. This is who God is. And somebody
that doesn't preach a God like this, because God's never revealed
himself to them. Everybody that knows God knows that what I'm
saying is so. And if you don't know it, so
it's because you don't know God. And I don't I hope you come to
know him. I hope the Lord reveals himself
to you. But this is who he is. Thus saith the high and lofty
one who inhabited eternity. Now we read in the New Testament
of. Eternal salvation. Eternal judgment. ETERNAL REDEMPTION,
ETERNAL INHERITANCE, THE ETERNAL COVENANT, AND THE
ETERNAL GOSPEL. GOD IS A GOD OF ETERNAL PURPOSE. NOW WE READ IN EPHESIANS 3,11
OF THE ETERNAL PURPOSE WHICH HE PURPOSED IN CHRIST JESUS OUR
LORD. And in Ephesians 1.11, we read,
having being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh
all things. That's a large, that includes
everything, doesn't it? He worketh all things after the
counsel of his own will. Second Timothy 1.9, he saved
us and he called us. Now this is of critical importance
that I get a hold of this. It'll give me some understanding
how salvation can't be by works because it says he saved us.
He didn't make salvation available. He didn't make salvation potential.
He saved us. And he called us. What came first? The saving or the calling? He
saved us and He called us. Now you can be dead sure of this,
anybody He saves, He calls. He calls by the gospel. He calls
by His irresistible grace, His invincible grace. When a pleased
God who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by
His grace to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among
the heathen. Romans 8, 28, and we know that
all things work together for good to them who love God. You
know, I was just thinking about that. I do love him. I do. I don't love him the way I would
love to love him. My love is way too not enough,
I realize that. But I do love him, I love every
attribute. And I know this, we love him
because he first loved us. The love I have to him comes
because he first loved me. Romans 9, 11, for the children
being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the
purpose of God according to election might stand. And here's what
God's purpose is, not of works. That's got eternal purpose. That
salvation might not be of works, but of him that calleth. I love the scripture, Hebrews
chapter 13, verse eight, Jesus Christ the same. Yesterday. Not just December 19th, but in
eternity past. Jesus Christ the same. Today,
right now in the present and forever. Me and you, man, we're
just bound by what time is it? What date is it? How can I get
from this point to that point? He doesn't have any limitations
like that. He's the eternal God. He doesn't see anything in a
sequence of events the way you and I do. It's all before him
in the eternal present. Jesus Christ the same, yesterday,
today, and forever. The Father says to the Son, thy
throne, O God, is forever. And thou, Lord, in the beginning,
had laid the foundation of the work in the heavens of the work
of thy hand. They shall perish, but thou remainest. They shall all wax old as doth
a garment. Fold up an old garment, put it
in the closet to never see it again. You'll fold them up, and
they shall be changed, but thou art the same, and thy years shall
not fail. Now this is his character, and
I have to understand this. so to speak. I have to believe
it, not so much understand it, but believe it to understand
how that salvation is not by works. This message of the lawmongers
is no good. It's not real. Because salvation
is an eternal thing. Yes, it takes place in time.
I was justified when Christ died. I was saved when God gave me
a heart to believe and a heart to repent and a heart to see
the Lord Jesus Christ. All those things go together.
But I can't understand that salvation is without my works until I see
known unto God are all his works from the beginning. In the beginning,
before There was a universe before there were stars or galaxies. When there was no space, no matter,
in the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God as a distinct
person. And the Word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. The Lord said in his great high
priestly prayer for his people, thou lovest me before the foundation
of the world. And you know what? He loved everybody
in him before the foundation of the world. You see, he is
the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end, the first
and the last. He's that great high priest after
the order of Melchizedek, without father, without mother, without
descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but
made like unto the Son of God, abiding a high priest forever
after the order of Melchizedek. Now, this is who he was. This
is who he is. And this is who he always will
be. Now the reason all of his works
are known to him from the beginning of the world is simply this,
he is eternal. And there's never been a time
when he didn't know me. Before I formed thee in the belly,
I knew thee. Now, somebody says, well, if
you preach that way, you're gonna make people think they don't
have to believe, they don't have to repent. It ain't gonna make
any of God's elect do that. I can't do anything about the
other ones anyway, but I know God's people. It's not gonna
cause them to not seek the Lord. They're gonna give their heart
to seeking the Lord, but it's because he knew them eternally. Now, when the Lord gives us A
peek into eternity on judgment day. What does he say to the
sheep at his right hand? Come! Not go and make yourself
ready. Come, ye blessed of my Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world. Titus 1-2, God promised eternal
life before the world began. I could just go on and on reading
scriptures with regard to that. But something that I love Luke's
editorial comment after Paul's sermon in Acts chapter 13. I
just love this. And when the Gentiles heard this,
they heard this message, they were glad, and they glorified
the word of the Lord, and as many as were ordained to eternal
life believed. Known unto God are all his works,
works of creation, works of providence, and works of salvation. It covers
everything, doesn't it? Known unto God are all his works
from the beginning of the world. Wherefore, my sentence is, my
judgment is that, don't trouble these people. If you try to put
law in anywhere in salvation, all it does is trouble people,
it harasses people, it brings them into bondage. He says, quit
troubling them. That's my sentence. Trouble them
not. And then he gives what, Lord
willing, we're going to consider next week, that letter to the
church. They compose a letter and write
it and send it to the Gentile church about those four decrees
to keep, and we're going to consider that next week. But here's what
I want to, I hope the Lord leaves us with this. Salvation is completely
accomplished, and it was before time began. And that blows out
of the water any notion of salvation by works. It's what he has done. And secondly, if God's works
are all known by God from the beginning of the world, and they
were all finished from the foundation of the world, there's nothing
to worry about. There's nothing to be uneasy
about. There's nothing to fear. God's in control, and no one
controls Him, and His will is always done. With regard to right
now, with regard to past, present, future, with regard to Judgment
Day, there's nothing to fear. Now, if salvation had anything
to do with my works, I'd have plenty of fear. I'd be scared
to death. You give me one condition I need
to meet before God can deal with me in mercy, something I need
to first do, something I need to first stop doing, something
I need to become. You give me anything. I've lost
all hope. I don't have any hope of being
saved. I don't. I'm telling you the truth. If
anything is dependent upon me to do before God does anything
for me, ain't no hope for me. Thank God that's not the case.
It is finished. Nothing to do but rest. May the Lord enable every one
of us to cease from our own works. And you know, we're going to
be confronted all the time with preachers, with people who are
going to do exactly what these law mongers were doing. You can't
be saved except you first do this. We're gonna be confronted
with that outside, even within the church. It happened here
at Jerusalem. May the Lord deliver us by making
us understand that all of our salvation is eternally in the
person of Jesus Christ. Remember what Simeon said, now
lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have
seen thy salvation. Let's pray. Lord, we ask that you would reveal yourself
to each one of us for Christ's sake. Lord, deliver us from attempting to earn our salvation by doing
things that we think will get you to respond to us. But teach
us to rest solely in thy salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is
the same yesterday, today, and forever. In his blessed name
we pray, amen.