But what I want to look at is
this. As I was looking at this and studying this, here's what
I want to look at. Is my salvation that I claim
to have, that I believe that God has given me, is it according
to God? From Alpha to Omega. Is it according
to God? And I look this word up. This
word according means being in accordance with or agreement
with. Is it in agreement with God?
Is it just like Him? Is it just like him to save a
sinner this way? And it also means harmonizing
with, and it means on the authority of, on the authority of. Is the salvation, and I want
to know this for myself, is the salvation that I claim to have
in agreement with God? Is it in agreement with God's
word? Is it based on the authority of his word? Can I turn to the
word of God and show you my salvation? Can mercy and truth meet together?
Can righteousness and peace kiss each other? Can it do that? If
so, then it's according to God. It's a salvation that's of God.
And I can rest my whole entire being upon it. I can totally
cast myself upon Him, if that's so. Now, I know that salvation
is something that all stand in need of, and most people Most
people hold to some type, they have some type of hope of being
saved when they die. About anyone you meet, everyone
I've ever met, really, I've never met anybody that said, no, I'm
lost, I'm going to perish. I've never met anybody say that.
Everybody that I've ever met has some hope of being saved,
some hope of being, going to heaven, their idea of heaven,
going to heaven. Some think that God is so loving
and so merciful that it will override his justice. That's
what they said in Isaiah 28. He said the overflowing scourge
won't come down to us. It won't touch us. Others are
going to stand in judgment and they're going to look in judgment
and look him in the face and say, we preached in your name.
We cast out devils in your name. We have done many mighty works
in your name. That's what they're going to
stand on. God has never been impressed with anybody's works
but Christ. This is my beloved Son in whom
I am pleased. Now, that one he's impressed
with, and everyone that's in him. But he's impressed with
Christ. And the Jew, even to this day,
is going to say, well, we're Abraham seed. We've got this
thing wrapped up. What do we have to worry about?
We're children of the covenant. The salvation from sin, salvation
from the curse of the law, is not according to any of these
things. Listen to 2 Timothy 1.9. Who has saved us and called us
with a holy calling, not according to our words. Not one thing I
will ever say, think, or do enters into my salvation. Ever. It says in John, Gospel of John,
chapter 1, verse 13, which were born, not of blood, nor of the
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God, born
by the will of God. Of his own will beget he us with
the word of truth. It says in Romans 9, 16, not
of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that
showeth mercy. God was pleased to have mercy
on me, on you. It falls to the mercy of God.
The salvation of God's people, as you see in verse four, is
according as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world. No matter what men say about
election, it does not alter the truth that God chose a people
in Christ before the world began. Men can hate it, religion can
protest it, but I'm telling you, it doesn't alter the truth. Truth
is truth, and it never changes. It never changes. Salvation has
never been left, ever been left into the hands of sinful men.
If so, it would fail. It would fail. No one would be
saved. No one would be saved. Salvation is all of God, from
its beginning to its end. He chose us in Christ. Salvation
was not an afterthought with God. So God thought upon you
long before you ever thought upon him. The whole purpose of
creating this world and having a race like Adam's race was to
have a people, to make a people just like his son. And he chose
those whom he's going to have to make just like his son. The
Bible is full of this truth. It says in 2 Thessalonians 2,
13, But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you,
brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning
chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit
and belief of the truth." God chose you, he said, to salvation.
It says in Matthew 24, 31, and he shall send his angels with
a great sound of a trumpet and gather together his elect from
the four winds from one end of heaven to the other. He said
in John 17. Now, and I wrote a lot of these
scriptures down. to help save a little time. He
said, I pray for them. I don't know how religion explains
these things. I pray for them. I pray not for
the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they
are thine. That's who I pray for. And he said in one place, Father,
you always hear me. You always hear me. I find the
doctrine of election magnifies the character of God. It makes
known the fact that salvation is God's free gift. That's what
it is, a gift, the free gift of God. And until a man learns
this, he'll always believe he has something to do with it.
Until a man learns that God chose him, he'll always believe that
he has something to do with his salvation. And I tell you this,
election ascribes all glory to God. That truth, that doctrine
ascribes all glory to God. It does not allow any credit
to the object of His choice, not any. It denies the capability
of any man choosing God without God first choosing him. Christ
said this, and He made this so plain, you did not choose me,
I chose you. I chose you. And then it reveals
the sovereignty of God in salvation. I find it to be a doctrine of
praise. The scripture says in Psalm 65, 4, blessed is the man whom thou
choosest and causes to approach unto thee, that he may dwell
in thy courts, that he may dwell in thy courts. Let me back up
a minute. As I said, it reveals the sovereignty
of God in salvation. I never considered, I never considered
that God was sovereign in everything, in everything until I learned
this truth, that God chose a people. Romans 9 says this, I will have
mercy on whom I will have mercy, and whom I will, I'll harden. That's God. That is who God is. For the first time in my life,
when I heard the gospel, I heard Henry preaching the gospel on
television. For the first time, I feared
rejection. For the first time, I feared
rejection. I realized he didn't have to
save me. I realized that God had to damn
me. The wages of sin is death. And
God will pay up. He'll see to it. He had to damn
me, but He didn't have to save me. But because of His mercy
and His grace that was set upon me, He chose me and saved me. I tell you, it wasn't until then
that I feared rejection. I feared it. A man, I tell you
this, a man will never worship God. I don't believe a person
will ever worship God until he worships at a sovereign throne.
He worships at a sovereign throne. He says in Romans 9, "...hath
not the potter power over the clay to make one lump a vessel
of mercy, and another lump a vessel of wrath?" Look over in Jeremiah
18. I want you to turn to this scripture. Jeremiah 18. In verse one, it says, The word
which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Arise, and go down
to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my
words. Then I went down to the potter's
house, and behold, he wrought a work on the wheels, and the
vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter.
So he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter
to make it. Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter, saith
the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the
potter's hand, so are you in my hands, O house of Israel." Not until you know that, that
you really begin to worship God. And you realize that He's sovereign
in every aspect, every area. He does as He will, with whom
He will, when he will. And I'm glad he does. I'm glad
he does. The man who will not receive
the doctrine of election will not receive the God of election.
He'll not ignore the blessings that go with it. And then I find
it to be a very humbling doctrine. I find it to be a very humbling
doctrine. The Jews were lifted up with
pride with it. Well, we're the chosen race.
We're the seed of Abraham. But I'm telling you, the man
whom God brings to his feet, whom God strips, whom God makes
to know that he's sovereign, and that God makes him to know
that he chose him, that is a humbling experience. I find it to be a humbling doctrine.
You would think that one such as God, who is holy, would not
choose a wretch to inherit All that he is and all that he has.
Now, if you were going to have someone come over to your house,
if you were going to choose someone to sit at your table, I promise
you it wouldn't be a wretch. You would not choose a wretch
to come to your house and sit at your table. That's what he
did. That's what he did. Now, that
would offend some people, but it doesn't offend those who've
been made to know that's what they are. That's what he did. He chose a multitude of wretches to inherit glory. That's what
he did. As John Newton wrote, Amazing
grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. A wretch like me. Instead of
making me the subject of his justice, he made me a trophy
of his grace. That is amazing grace. When you
know that you could just as easily have been made a subject of justice,
instead He made you a trophy of His grace. That's amazing
grace. And all of our salvation, God's
election of us, is without any respect of personal merit, any
respect at all. It has everything to do with
who he is. Everything to do with who he
is. That's what it has respect to,
all that he is. Listen here to Romans 9 and 11. 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 calls. Let men say it's unfair. And
I've had that said to me. I've had it said to me that,
well, that's unfair. It's not right. I tell you this,
as for me, I rejoice in it. I rejoice that God chose me,
lifted me off the dunghill, plucked me like a bran from the fire.
You're not going to find me complaining about that. You'll never find
a man complaining who's been lifted out of the river from
drowning. or taken out of the house that was burning, you won't
find that man complaining about it. No, you won't find God's
people complaining about it. Not at all. And then all of our
spiritual blessings are according as He has blessed us with them
in Christ. When He chose us, when God chose
us in Christ, He gave us all that we need to stand in the
heavenlies, to stand in His presence. He gave us everything. You know,
before God created Adam, he prepared that garden and everything in
that garden, and it's all perfect. Then he put Adam in the garden.
Adam didn't bring one thing into the garden. Adam did not add
one thing to the garden. God made it perfect, and then
he put Adam in it. Christ said, I go and prepare a place for
you. And then he's going to prepare us for the place, and then he's
going to take us to the place. He's given us all spiritual blessings
in the heavenlies. We have all the spiritual blessings
that we need in Him. We have it all now. In Him we
have it. Wisdom? He is my wisdom. He's the one who teaches me who
God is. He's my wisdom. He's my righteousness. He's all
the righteousness I have and all the righteousness I need.
He's my sanctification. He's my redemption. He's everything.
That's why it says in the scriptures in him, you are complete. I tell you that word complete.
What a word, what a word, I've never been completing anything,
but in Christ, I'm complete. I lack absolutely nothing. I have it all in him. And all
of this. All of this is according To the
good pleasure of His will. To the good pleasure of His will.
The Father predestinated us unto the adoption of children because
it was His good pleasure. That's the only reason I can
give for it. That's the only reason the Word of God gives
for it. It was His good pleasure. I can only trace my salvation
back to the good pleasure of His will, not my free will. Not
my efforts to live right, not even my faith, but His good pleasure. Samuel said this, it pleased
God to make you His people. It pleased God, thrilled Him
to make you His people. It is your Father's good pleasure.
to give you the kingdom. And as he says in Isaiah 46,
my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. He's going
to do it. You can bank on it. You can count
on it. He is going to accomplish it. He's going to do it. And then
our redemption and forgiveness of sins is according to the riches
of His grace, my soul. We have this perfect redemption. We have this complete redemption
and full forgiveness of sins because of His rich, rich grace. Who can plumb the depths of God's
grace? Who can dive to the bottom of
His grace? It says He's rich, rich in it. That means He's got plenty, infinite
grace, infinite. You know, when a man considered
that he walked according to the course of this world, according
to the prince of the power of the air, when you consider that
at one time you were really enemies of God, I was an enemy of God
at one time. I didn't want to hear the gospel
at one time. We all were enemies of God at
one time by nature. By nature, we was at war with
God, enmity of God, refusing to give God the glory instead
Instead, people say, men and women say things like this, I
was a self-made man. I'm so lucky. How many times
do you see someone come out of a storm, out of a disaster area,
and they say, well, I was so lucky? No, that's not so lucky. Dead in trespasses
and sins. And to think, to think. That God would have mercy on
me. We ought to stamp sealant at the end of that one. That
means pause and think about it. That God would take someone and
you know, we don't we really can't comprehend and we will
never comprehend in this life what sin really is. The wretchedness,
the evil, The wickedness of sin, we'll never see the depth of
that. I don't think I want to either,
but God does. And to think that He brought
us out of that and made us sons and daughters in error of all
things. To give His Son to die, that's
something we understand in all of us. that God Almighty literally
gave His Son to die, that He literally made Him to be a substitute
for His people, made Him to be sin for us, that we might be
made the righteousness of God in Him. How amazing is that? The second reason that we have
this redemption and forgiveness of sins is because Christ actually
died. He really died for our sins according
to the Scriptures. If you'll notice in verse 7 here,
It says that we have redemption through His blood. Redemption
through His blood. He had to die. I thought about
this as I was looking at this, scrolling over these notes. You
realize that something, this message is told to us every day,
something dies every day that you might live. Every day something
has to die for you to live. That message is told out every
day. Christ had to die. His blood had to be shed in order
for us to be redeemed. Silver and gold wouldn't get
the job done. It's not the currency of heaven. It had to be blood. And it had to be the blood of
the Son of God. It had to be the blood of a perfect
man. And this is according to the scriptures, the Old Testament
scriptures, according to the types and the pictures and the
promises. Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures.
You know, when God clothed Adam and Eve, he had to slay an animal
and shed its blood. When Abel offered up a sacrifice
to God, he had to shed blood. When Abraham, when he offered
up Isaac, picture Christ being offered up. When Israel left
Egypt, the first thing they had to do was offer blood, the Passover
lamb. The blood of the lamb had to
be shed. And that picture is Christ, our Passover, being sacrificed
for us. It's the blood, the scripture
says in Leviticus 17, it is the blood that makes atonement for
the soul. It's the blood. It's not repentance. It's not faith. It's blood. The blood of the Son of God.
The two scapegoats. One's blood was shed while the
other one bared the sin of Israel away into the wilderness. That's
Christ shedding His blood for our sins, and at the same time,
burying our sins in His body. And in burying them, He bears
them away. They don't even exist anymore
before God. They're gone. In Christ, the believer has no
sin. They're gone. He put them away. It is through
the person of the Son of God that we have redemption through
His blood. Christ is everything I need.
He's everything I need. Now, how do I know this? How
do I know this? Well, it says in verse nine,
have He made known unto us the mystery of His will? Our Lord
said to Peter and those apostles, He said, blessed are your eyes,
for they see, and your ears, for they hear. God has revealed
the gospel to you. You didn't figure it out, I didn't
figure it out. It's not like a puzzle we figured out and got
to it. It's not like a crossword puzzle. He revealed the gospel
to us. One day I heard the gospel and
I tell you, it was like a light. I'm telling you, it was like
a light turned on and I could see it. I could see how God could
be just and justify me. I could see. A blind man said,
I don't know this. I know one thing. Once I was
blind, but now I see. I see. A saving interest in Christ
and a knowledge of the mysteries of the gospel comes by revelation. It comes by God revealing the
gospel to you, giving you eyes to see and ears to hear and a
heart to believe. It's God commanding light in
that inner man. The gospel must be revealed.
Natural men can't figure it out. One's light and the other's darkness.
God himself must reveal the gospel. God himself must command the
light of the gospel. to shine into the heart, give
a knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ,
in the person of Christ. And this whole matter of salvation
is according to His eternal purpose. This whole thing is on purpose.
This whole matter is on purpose. There are many things that I
don't know. But I know this, I know that
everything that happens, everything that exists, everyone whom God
saves, He saves on purpose. Nobody hears the gospel by chance. Nobody just happens to believe
the gospel. God Almighty does it on purpose. He crossed your path on purpose.
He purposely brought you to a place where you're going to hear the
gospel. He did that on purpose. Those whom God saves, he saves
on purpose. Listen to this, 2 Timothy 1.9
again. Who has saved us and called us
with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. On purpose. And then last of
all. We've spoken here of the work
of the Father. He chose us. He blessed us with
all these spiritual blessings. The Son redeemed us. And now
the Holy Spirit regenerates us. We have the new birth. And God
gives us life. Regeneration is according to
the working of His mighty power. Look over in verse 19. We'll
look in verse 18. The eyes of your understanding
being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his
calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance
in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power
to usward, who believed according to the working of his mighty
power, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead,
and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places."
A man is not born again by a decision. You know that. And I'm telling
you, there was a time I believed that. There was a time that I
believed Because I did it. You go down front, you came down
to the altar, I knelt down at the altar, I wept, cried, asked
God to forgive me, and then I believed God saved me. That's not how salvation is.
It's not by a decision I made at all. A man is born again by
the power of God the Holy Spirit. It takes the Word of God and
He gives life to that man. The same power it took to raise
Christ from the dead, it takes to raise a sinner up and give
Him spiritual life. And that's a work of God. That's
a work of God. The Holy Spirit takes the Word
of God, which is the seed used in the new birth, and He creates
a new man in Christ. He creates a new man in Christ.
And in Christ, he lives and moves and has his being. That new man
lives and moves and has his being in the Lord Jesus Christ, and
Christ lives in him. Christ in you, he says, is the
hope of glory. It's Christ in you. And that man is sealed. It says
over here in verse 13 and 14, in whom ye also trusted, after
that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation,
in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy
Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until
the redemption of the purchased possession. I'm telling you,
you are a purchased possession. I'm not only a creation of God,
I am a purchase of God. He purchased me. Purchased possession. He's mine. He's mine by creation
and He's mine by purchase. He's mine. And when all is over,
and in a little while it will be, in a little while everything
will be over, we will be to the praise of His glory who first
trusted in Christ. We are going to spend an eternity
enjoying the glory of God. We are going to spend an eternity
enjoying that new heaven, new earth, God, Christ, no sin, no
sorrow, no wretchedness. We're going to spend eternity
glorying in God.