2 Timothy chapter 1 and I want
to begin reading in verse 7. 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 7. For God hath not given us the
spirit of fear, tormenting fear, unfounded fear. but of power
and of love and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but be
thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God, who hath saved us and called us with an holy
not according to our works, but according to His own purpose
and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began, but is now made manifest by the appearance of our Savior
Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death and hath brought life and
immortality to life through the gospel." My text this morning
is found in verse 9. I want to say a few things about
this to you this morning. "...who hath saved us, and called
us with an unholy calling, not according to our works, but according
to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ
Jesus before the world began." You and I, when we hear some
people quote the scriptures, and maybe we've even quoted this
ourselves, And sometimes we don't mean anything that's harmful
to the Scripture. We emphasize one portion of Scripture. But how often do we hear people
quoting one half of a verse and leaving the second half out? We have two familiar verses that
I bet you've heard quoted that way, in John chapter 6 and verse
37. How many times have we heard
people quote a portion of that verse that says, All that comes
to me, I will in no wise cast him out. But you know that's
only half of that verse. It's the last half, and it's
good, it's profitable. We've all used it to encourage
sinners and saints alike. But you remember what the first
half of that verse says. And the first half of that verse
explains the last half of the verse. Why do they come to Christ? All that the Father gives to
me, they shall come to me. And then Him that comes to me,
I will in no wise cast out. And then we often hear Romans
chapter 8 and verse 28. We often hear that quoted. And
we hear it quoted in half the verse. We hear the first half
of this quoted so much. All things work together for
good. And you know, we hear lost people
quoting that. I have lost loved ones that quote
that verse all the time. That portion of it. But you know,
the last portion of that verse is very important. Because all
things don't work together for good for everybody. Just as all
men don't come to Christ. But the last portion of that
verse explains the first portion of it. All things work together
for good to those who love God. Everything didn't work together
for good to Pharaoh, did it? Man, he got drownded. Everything
didn't work together for Judah's good. He went out and hanged
himself and went to his place. But everything, all things work
together for good to those who love God. And why do they love
Him? They are the called according
to His purpose. And that's what we want to look
at this morning. His purpose. I want to see some things here
in verse 9, according to His purpose. He hath saved us and
called us with an unholy calling, not according to our works, but
according to His own purpose and grace. His gracious purpose,
in other words, that was given us when? Before the world began. in Christ before the world began. What's the first thing that we
see about God's gracious purpose? What's the first thing we see
about any man's salvation? It's older than the world, isn't
it? It's older than time itself,
before the world began. Now, can you imagine when our
first parents had sinned. And they began to feel the guilt. They began to feel the shame
of what they had done. And they went off and hid themselves
after they made these silly fig leaves to cover their nakedness. And they hid behind some trees
there in the garden. And the Lord God came and said,
Adam, where are you? Where are you? Well, he knew
where he was. Let's be honest about it. Let's
not read the Scriptures and read them as some fool or silly person. He knew where they were. He knows
everything. But he was going to show them
where they were. He was going to condescend to show them what
they had got themselves into. Where are you? Think about where
you are. And he called them out from behind
those trees. And there they stood naked. I
just often wondered what happened to those fig leaves. Because
Adam said, I saw that I was naked. You're not naked. You've got
your fig leaves. I wonder sometimes if when the
Lord spoke and said, Adam, if those fig leaves didn't begin
to wilt. And Eve looked down and thought, oh, my soul. Oh,
my. But they just wilted, dried up,
and fell off. And there they stood naked before
God. Have you ate of the fruit? Have
you sinned against me? Have you did what I told you
not to do?" And boy, I tell you, he talked
to them just for a few minutes, and I imagine just about the
time they begin to think, boy, the next word is going to seal
our doom. We've seen His frowning face. We've felt the sense of His justice
and His wrath and His judgment. And the next word out of His
mouth is going to seal our eternal misery. Don't you think they
were amazed? Don't you think they were surprised
when, lo and behold, He brought out these skins and clothed their
shame? And they looked down and they
weren't naked anymore before Him? And when He sent them out
of this garden with the promise of the coming Redeemer to undo
what they just did? I bet you they were surprised,
don't you? And you and I come here to Artex
and we find out That that's what God had purposed
to do all along. Ain't that amazing? They didn't
know it. The angels may not have known
it. But the Lord had a purpose, even before they fell, to save
them and to call them and to clothe them. Now, that's gracious. That's grace. Even before justice was ever
revealed. And buddy, you know they felt
justice. Even before wrath was ever revealed. And they felt
something about that too. You know they did. You know they
did. But you know there was something
in the heart of God that was in His heart Even before
justice? Even before judgment? There's
something that our text reveals that was in the heart of God
before any other attribute was ever revealed. And you know what
it was? Grace. Grace. Love. Mercy. Well, I tell you, you and I look
around us sometimes and we look in us. Don't we have a sense
of our sin? Don't we have a sense of God's
judgment when we look around us and what's taking place today?
Boy, we do. Do you ever have a sense and
an apprehension of His frowning face? And boy, it gets you down. You get depressed about it all. You begin to think of His justice
and what you deserve and what He ought to give you. But you know there's something
in the heart of God that you and I ought to think about. The
first thing that was ever revealed in His heart was not even justice,
but it was grace. It's mercy. It's love. It's goodness. It's kindness. Go back before
the foundation of the world and what's the first thing we find?
In the heart of God, grace. His own purpose and grace given
you in Christ before the world had its beginning. That's amazing. That's amazing. I'm just certain
that there's never been a sin as great as Adam's sin. I just think it was the most
willful, it was the most in-your-face sin that any man has ever committed. He wasn't deceived in the transgression. God told him that you can eat
of every tree in this garden. Just one tree. One tree told
him what it was. the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil, told him where it was in the midst of the garden,
told him what the consequences would be. You'll die if you eat
of it. And not only that, he made him upright. He made him
strong. He never had to yield to any
temptation. He had power over any sin that
would come his way. And to sin in that light? To fall in with God's enemy,
Satan? And then when he had sinned,
he wasn't broken-hearted, was he? If he had come and bowed
down and said, Lord, look what I've done. I've ruined myself. I've ruined my wife and my future
posterity. I've ruined everything. But he
didn't do that. He hid. And then when the Lord called
him to account, what did he say? It's your fault. If you hadn't
have gave me this woman, I'd have never did this. Isn't that
what he said? And brothers and sisters, look at
the effects of that sin that he's had. It was the greatest
sin, the greatest. The Bible says Adam offended
God. Through the offense of one, many
were made sinners. And yet, in spite of every bit
of this, in spite of all this awful, miserable, black, hateful
sin, there was grace. The greatest
sin that was ever committed, and yet here is grace to cover
it. Here is a mercy that is higher than the heavens. Here is a love
that passes all knowledge, God knowing all of this. He already
had purpose grace to call this man and to save him. That's grace,
isn't it? That's grace. It's not only grace and a gracious
purpose, but I'm telling you, it's a grace and a gracious purpose
that will stand the most awful test that comes
against Him. If grace was ever going to fail,
if God was ever going to fail in His purpose, don't you think
it would have been right here? Don't you think He would have
said, no, wait, I'm going to have to rethink this. I know
I have a gracious purpose. But I didn't know sin was going
to be this bad. I didn't know rebellion was going
to be this bad. I didn't know I was going to
feel like this. I've got to revert to plan B. I've got to rethink
this. He didn't say that, did he? You see, God is not like us.
God doesn't plan things and right in the middle has to change it. He knew everything. But He's
a sovereign God with a gracious purpose. And where sin abounded. And boy, you can imagine how
it abounded in that day. But there was something abounded
over that sin. And that was grace. He saved
us according to His own purpose and grace which was given us. It stood. Not only was it not
defeated, it wasn't even altered, not one bit. Somebody said, some
fundamentalist, I think, made this statement that Christ came
to the Jews and offered himself to them if they would accept
him as king. And because they didn't accept him as king, he
had to go to the cross. Fundamentalism is the mess in
our day. God has never changed His purpose. He don't have to. Thank God for
it, don't you? He's had a purpose of grace.
And He says, My purpose shall stand. I'll do all My pleasure. I've spoken it. It will come
to pass. I purposed it and I will do it. I, I, I. It's all about I. Not this I,
not that I, but that I. I, I. You know the reason you're
saved this morning, dear brothers and sisters? Because He's God. That's why. If He's not God,
you won't be saved. We have hope this morning because
God is eternally different than you and I are. My purpose shall
stand. I will do. free, sovereign grace towards
the most dreadful sinner this world had ever known, miserable
Adam. Miserable Adam. The God of all grace, the triune
God, has a gracious purpose. And in the garden, when this
sin entered, grace abounded over it. Grace abounded. You know grace is unmeasurable.
You can't a bit more measure grace. It's immeasurable. You know what the Bible says
about grace. Here's what the Bible says about grace. That
Jesus Christ, the Word, who is God, was made flesh and dwelt
among us. He that made heaven dwells among
us. And John said we beheld His glory. Now listen to this. Here's His
glory. As the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth. He's full. Full. Now, if you can measure the heart
of Jesus Christ. You can measure the purpose,
the person of Jesus Christ. You can measure His grace. And
you know what the Bible says about Him? The Bible not only
says that He fills heaven and earth, but this earth, this universe
is in Him. He's above heaven. He's outside
of it. If they ever find the bounds
of this universe and they can get outside of it, there will
be God. In Him dwells all the fullness. In Him. How immense He must be,
the Son of God, because in Him dwells all the fullness of the
Godhead, the Deity. In Him. His capacity is immeasurable. And yet the Bible says He is
full of grace. Full of grace. You can't, oh
is there grace, is there enough in him to save me, poor me, look
how awful I am, look how I'm falling, I just don't know. How
are you saved? By grace? How much does he have? He's full of it. Well, I think
if he has that capacity, then he can probably save you. Oh, what a blessed thing. And
he's manifested. He's manifested to fallen, poor
sinners. I don't know what old God is
doing in the nations, in this universe. I have no idea. I know
very little of what He's doing in my own heart. But I know this. I know this. He's not sitting
passive. He's not sitting up in heaven
waiting to see what people are going to do. He's not done all he can and
hopes somebody will do something for him. That's not the God of this Bible.
I'll tell you what he's doing. I may not be able to see what
he's doing and know what he's doing, but I do know what he's
doing. I know what he has done. I know
what he's doing now. I know what he's going to do.
He's going to do this, and He is doing this, everything that
He's purposed to do. That's what He's doing. And what's
He purposed to do? And this is the glory of this
God, this Troned God. What has He purposed to do? Save
poor, fallen sinners in Christ, thy His gospel. He hath saved
you and called you, not according to your works, but according
to His own purpose and grace. Known unto God are all His works. He's working, isn't He? His works from the beginning
of the world. God is working. He's not sitting
passive. He's busy. What's He doing? He's ruling
the nations. He's working. Every groan of
the heart after Him, that's His work. Every eye that glances
with tears in it for mercy from Him, that's His work. Every glance
of faith and confidence in Him, that's His work. And known unto
Him are all His works from the beginning of the world. He's doing it all. He's working. And His purpose includes this.
His chief purpose. And everything else He does is
subservient to this purpose. to save poor, fallen sinners. And you know, here's the amazing
thing, brothers and sisters, to save them from that thing
which he hates the worst, sin. Sin. He saves you from what? From your sin. You and I read a lot in the Bible
about sins and iniquities. I looked in the Bible this week,
and I think it was like 800 and something times, the word sins
and iniquities are mentioned. That's a lot of times, isn't
it? But you know, and this is very
telling, the first time in the Bible where these two words are
mentioned, sins and iniquities, it's very telling, I think. You
never see those words mentioned in the book of Genesis. Now,
ain't that amazing? Can you imagine when the Holy
Spirit moved upon Moses or whoever it was that wrote the book of
Genesis? And he's writing chapter after chapter, and he keeps thinking,
Lord, do you want me to mention sins? No, hold off on that. Do you want me to mention iniquities? No, don't say anything about
it. And we finish the whole book of Genesis, and Joseph dies,
and they put him in a casket down in Egypt, and the writer
says, Lord, do you want me to mention sins? No, don't mention
them. You know it's never mentioned
in the book of Exodus? I can't tell him, I said. Can't you see
the writer, he writes about the Exodus out of Egypt? Wandering
in the wilderness? Lord, shouldn't we say something
about iniquities? You know, this seems like to
me it's everywhere and abounding. Not yet. Hold off on that. And he closes the book of Exodus
and the presence of God. That cloud covers the tabernacle
and the fire leads them of the night. God's presence is with
them. Lord, don't you think, Lord,
say something about sins? No, hold off on that. You know
the first place these two words are mentioned in the Bible is
in Leviticus chapter 16. And you know what that chapter
has to do with? The Day of Atonement. Ain't this amazing? Let me read
to you what it says in Leviticus chapter 16 and verse 16. Speaking of Aaron the high priest.
taking blood into the holiest of all, and sprinkling it upon
the mercy seat. And he shall make an atonement
for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children
of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins."
That's the first place that it's mentioned. Isn't that amazing?
He waited this long? And so shall he do for the tabernacle
of the congregation that remains among them in the midst of their
uncleanness. And Aaron shall take the live
goat, and lay his hands upon its head, and confess over it
all the iniquities of the children of Israel." First time that word
is used. And a clean man shall take him
out into a land that is not inhabited and let him go. Now you can mention sins. Now
you can mention iniquities, because now I've atoned for them. Now
I've put them away. What does that tell us, brothers
and sisters? Sins and iniquities are an awful thing. But the child of God is only
permitted to think of them and confess them and grieve over
them in this life, that they've been purged, that they've been
cleansed, that they've been atoned for. They've been put away by
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. You think about your sins? You're
not to despair. You are not to so grieve that
it strips your conscience of its peace with God and think
that He has hid His face. You are to only think of your
sins in this light. Now, isn't that wonderful? You know the first place sins
are mentioned in the New Testament? Matthew chapter 1 and verse 21. And we all know what that says.
His name shall be called Jesus, for He shall save His people
from their sins." And then we come here to our
text. And when did God purpose to save
them? Before they ever had a being.
Isn't that amazing? Oh, if you could this morning,
dear child of God, if you could As dear old Spurgeon said, get
upon the wings of faith and soar back to the foundation of this
earth, back to the beginning of creation where time began. And then if you had faith to
soar back into eternity, back to another beginning, back yonder
where the eternal covenant of grace was fixed. And God and
the Son and the Holy Spirit plotted, schemed and purposed to redeem
a great host out of Adam's race. If you have the faith, you could
stand there and you could glance upon a book that is called the
Lamb's Book of Life. And you could see God writing
your name down in that book. Isn't that grace? Isn't that
grace? I'm going to save Clarence Poor
from his sins and to make him appreciate it more and bow before
me with admiration. I'm going to tell him after I
saved him that I purposed to do it even before the world began. Even wrote his name down. in
the Lamb's Book of Life. Isn't that grace? Oh, brothers and sisters, that's
a herd of grace. Boys, God teaches us the nature
of sin, and He does. Oh, He teaches us. You know more
about your sin now than you did ten years ago, don't you? And
how God hates it. Now you hate it. You hate yourself
because of it? But as He teaches us the nature
of sin, He also has to teach us the nature of His purpose. And what is God's purpose? It's
of a redeeming nature. He saved us according to His
purpose and His grace. Jesus by His death saved us from
the penalty of sin, from the guilt of sin, because He bore
that in His own body upon the tree. Now He is saving us from
its power, its dominion, and its love, because He has given
us the Spirit of God's Son into our hearts. And soon He will
save us from the presence of it, because He will resurrect
our bodies and take us to heaven. to be with Himself. He saved
us. He saved us. Who does this purpose concern?
Let's look at that just for a minute. Who does this purpose concern?
Well, here in verse 9, the Apostle Paul said, He saved us. He saved
us. So if you limit it to them two,
He at least purposed to save those two, didn't He? Timothy,
he purposed to save me by his grace and he purposed to save
you by his grace before the world had its beginning. Somebody said,
well, it's limited to those two. Now you can't stretch it beyond
those two. Okay. Okay. That's fine. That's fine
for the sake of argument. We go over to 2 Thessalonians
chapter 2 and verse 13. And Paul was writing to the whole
church there, and he said, God hath from the beginning chosen
you. How many does that include? All
that church that had been born again, that was in Christ. Well,
but that just included them, Bruce. You can't stretch it to
include nobody but that church there. Okay, let's go to Ephesians.
Chapter 1 and verse 3 and verse 4 and verse 5. Paul writing to
the saints there and said, God has from the beginning chosen
you in Christ to salvation. He's predestinated you. At least
it included those saints there, didn't it? Yeah, but it just
included them. Aren't you amazed how people
will twist and struggle to explain away a precious truth? Go over to Romans chapter 8 and
verse 29 and 30. Those he foreknew, He predestinated
to be conformed to the image of Christ. Those He predestinated,
He called. Then He called, He justified.
Then He justified, He glorified. Who does that include? Everybody
according to you. Everybody He predestinated. The
whole host of heaven, everybody that goes there was selected,
was chosen, was set aside to go there. That was God's purpose
of grace. Are you in Christ this morning? Have you saw your sin washed
away in His blood? Is your faith in the blood of
Christ this morning? Can you say with the Apostle
Peter, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God? Are you
in Christ? And this purpose includes you?
Ain't that wonderful? Isn't that wonderful? Just find
yourself in Christ. And then you don't have to doubt
this election. He chose you. He purposed to save you. I'm
going to tell this. I've told it so much. But I told
it to an old lady myself so it would become mine. Charles Perkins
was the first one that ever did this. I asked my dear old neighbor
before she died, a few years before she died. I said, friend,
has the Lord saved you? She said, I believe he has. I
said, did he save you by accident? Or did he save you on purpose?
Well, nobody's going to say he saved me by accident. I don't
care how far out there they are, but when they start to go there,
they just can't say it, can they? Well, he saved me on purpose,
I guess. When did he purpose to save me? Well, I don't really know. Do
you mind if I tell you? And you quote this verse. See what grace doesn't have to
wait. Grace doesn't have to look to
free will. Grace doesn't have to look down
through time to see if man will do something. Grace is free. Grace is sovereign. We read about
reigning grace, don't we? We read about the throne of grace. Grace had a purpose. And then
in time, grace fulfills that purpose. I'm going to save that
man. I'm going to save him. Oh, you
hope to save him. No, I'm going to save him. Lord,
I know you desire to save him. No, I'm going to save him. Lord,
I know you wish that you... No, I'm going to save him. I'm
going to save him. And then he saves him. He saves
him. And then makes him happy. Makes
him happy. Had a fellow tell me, he said,
you're violating man's will and you're stripping him of his integrity. Integrity? I thought he lost
all of it back in the garden. I thought he lost his free will
back in the garden. I thought he was a slave. I thought
if God left him to his self now, he'd perish. And I don't think I'm wrong about
that. When the Lord saves you, I tell
you what, and you find out that he purposed to do it, don't fill
your heart with gratitude. Boy, it just bows you in thankfulness. Because you know, if He left
you to yourself, you're going to be lost forever. I know we'll forget, and I've
told you this too. First Sovereign Grace Conference I ever attended.
I haven't been saved but a few days. Went to a Sovereign Grace
Conference. Good conference. I don't remember
anything about it. My memory time is a good conference. But
one thing I remember about that conference, the closing prayer.
The closing prayer. The pastor got up and said, well,
that's the last preacher, and I want old brother so-and-so
to dismiss us in prayer. And I looked over, and this old
gray-headed man stood with his hands on the back of the pew.
And I never will forget what he said. He just took his time. He approached unto the throne
of grace, and he said, oh, Father, our Father, thank you for your
elected life. I thought, man, that's it. Thank
you. Thank you. Thank you for your
elected life. A man sent a book to Brother
Barnard, and the title of it was God's Despised Doctrine of
Election. Brother Barnard looked at it
and sent it back to him. He said, Brother, change the
title. I love his election. The saints love his election. Change the title to something
like this. The Blessed Doctrine and Covenants.
Has God chosen you? Are you in Christ? I tell you, this is the sinner's
only hope, is it not? A lost man has no reason to despise
this truth. Without this truth, none of us
would have any hope. If you could have read in here
that God has chosen nobody, then we all might despair. But if
He's chosen a great multitude, and that's fixed, He may have chosen you. There's
a lot of people who found out that He chose me. So they're surprised. They're
happy surprised. Can you imagine Mary Magdalene
that had seven devils? She found out she had one of
them? Oh, such a woman as that? Yeah. Yeah, because he chose
people like that. You imagine Saul of Tarsus killing
Christians? The Lord humbled him, put his
face in the dust. But he found out that he was
a chosen vessel. He's one of mine. The poor thief
on the cross with one foot in the grave, ready to perish condemned. Lord, be merciful to me. Remember
me when you come into your kingdom. And he found out he's one of
them. Oh, King Manasseh, wicked, the
Lord speaking to him, wouldn't hear. Burned his kids in the
fire. The Lord sent his enemies against
him. Took a bunch of briars and made handcuffs out of them. Bound
him, took him, threw him in the dungeon. And down there in those
afflictions, he humbled himself and sought the Lord. And he found
out he was one of them. You may be one of them. I don't
know. You may not know. But I'll tell
you how you can find out. You come to Christ. You find yourself accepted in
Him. Then you can go right here with this great Apostle and say,
He saved me. Not according to my works. Not
according to anything I've ever done or ever could do. Not anything
that He foresaw in me. There's no good in me. There's
none good. Not anything that I can ever
do. Without Him, I can't even believe and repent. But according
to His own purpose and grace. Isn't that wonderful? Oh, there's
no other gospel besides this, and there's no other gospel like
this. This is the hope of poor, fallen sinners. And we bless
God for it. Let's pray.