in the heavenlies in Christ.
Their hour was justification, sanctification, righteousness,
and redemption. And secondly, verse 4 said, according
as he had chosen us, the Father chose us. He gave us these blessings
in the covenant of mercy, and he chose us in Christ. And he
chose us before we were born. In fact, he chose us before the
foundation of the world. He said to Jeremiah, before I
formed thee in the belly, I knew thee, and I sanctified thee,
and I made thee a messenger of the covenant. Did you ever stop
to think about some scriptures having to do with the conception
of children in the womb. God said John the Baptist was
filled with the Spirit from his mother's womb. John the Baptist,
when Elizabeth came into the presence of Mary, and John the
Baptist was in her womb, two or three months old, in the womb,
the baby leaped. You know, two of the most terrible sins of which this nation
can be guilty, it is wreaking within a wholesale
manner. One of them is homosexuality.
God destroyed Sodom for this sin. He literally burned it up
with fire from heaven. God hates this sin. When God
created man, he put man and woman in the garden. He established
an order. The family came before the establishment
of the Church. The family was the first institution
God put on this earth, the first. It's an order God established,
and woe be unto the persons that challenge that order. He created
them male and female, mother and father, husband and
wife. And for this cause, a man will leave his mother and father
and be joined to his wife, and a wife will leave her family
and be joined to that husband. There's a family. And he told
them to multiply and replenish this earth, have children. And
that's God's order. And God does not take it lightly
when people seek to destroy this order. And that's what our country's
doing. You call it anything you want
to, but it's one of the worst sins known to man and cursed
by God. And this nation is under a curse.
You wait and see. It's going to destroy this country.
The second is the murdering of babies. I saw in the paper the other
day about a woman in this area that killed her newborn child.
She didn't want it. And she neglected it to the point
it died. And they were going to put her
in jail. And I thought, why? Why would they put her in jail?
If she had killed the baby six months ago, they would have bragged
on her. That's all she had to do was
go down to the doctor and let him kill it. When is a child
a child? Well, John the Baptist was two
or three months old in the womb, and he was a child filled with
the Holy Ghost. And when he came into the presence,
when his mother in her womb brought him into the presence of Mary,
who's the mother who gave birth to Christ, that baby leaped in
the womb. He responded to his master. And our Lord said to Jeremiah,
before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee, you were a person,
you were a person to me. I formed you. I prohibited you,
I put you there, and you were a person. And I could go through
the scripture and give you illustration after illustration after illustration
that these babies are persons and they're being murdered. And
God's not going to hold this country guiltless if they keep
doing that. Millions every year have been
slaughtered just because people do not want them. That's the
two greatest sins of which we could be guilty. And we're headed
for the slippery slide. He chose us in Christ before
the foundation of the world, John, before we were born, before
he made the world. He chose his people. But I'll
tell you one of the things that rejoices my heart. A lot of those
babies you're murdering belong to God. That's right. They'll live again. in his presence. You're not doing yourself any
favor, but you're doing them a favor. That's exactly right. Elect infants. In fact, they're
all elect, the infants are. And he chose us, and then he
says in verse 5, and he predestinated us. He predestinated us unto
the adoption of children, made us his sons, his daughters. by
Jesus Christ. All of this, he blessed us in
Christ, he chose us in Christ, he predestinated us by Christ
to be children according to the good pleasure of his will. He
didn't base this choice on our will at all, but on his will. He worked with all things after
the counsel of his own will. Everything God does, he does
because he purposes to do it. There are no accidents with God.
That's when I learned the gospel 50 years ago, when I found out
there are no accidents with God. Everything he does, he does on
purpose, because he wills to do it. Then it says in verse
6, And he accepted us in the Beloved, to the praise of his
glory wherein he hath accepted us. We accept him because he
accepted us. We love him because he loved
us. We choose him because he chose us. We come to him because
he came to us. Savior, we bless thy Father's
name. Thy God and ours are both the
same. What heavenly blessings from
his throne flow down to us sinners through his Son. Christ be my
first elect, God said, and then chose our souls in Christ our
head. What is in us to merit esteem
or give our Creator delight? Well, "'Twas even so, Father,
I'll ever sing. It seemed good in thy sight.'"
That's the answer. He accepted us, verse 7, and
here we take up our Savior's redeeming work. He accepted us
because in Christ we have redemption. We have redemption. We are redeemed
in Christ. How? Through his blood. It doesn't
say we are redeemed through his birth. I'm glad he was born. He had
to be born to die. But it doesn't say we are redeemed
through his love. Or redeemed through even his
power. Or his grace. But his blood. Redeemed through
his blood. Turn to 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter declares in verse 18
how we are redeemed. He says, For as much as you know,
you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from
your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers,
but you were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. as
of a lamb without blemish and without spot, who barely was
foreordained before the foundation of the world. God ordained the
Savior before the foundation of the world and the elect before
the foundation of the world. And he was manifest in these
last times for you, and you were manifest in these last days as
his. He was manifest in these last
days for you and to you. Who by him do believe in God
that raised him from the dead and gave him glory, that your
faith and hope might be in God? There is a scripture over in
Leviticus 17 that you need to underline if you haven't already.
I know I've read it to you before, but it may have been some time.
We are redeemed by the blood of Christ. Christ in the manger
didn't save us. Christ in our example didn't
save us. Christ our substitute saved us. He shed his blood. He says in
Leviticus 17 verse 11, For the life of the flesh is in the blood,
and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement
for your souls. It is the blood that maketh atonement
for the souls. Modern religion is making little
of the blood. Let us make much of the blood.
What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
That's the message of the whole Old Testament. Turn to Hebrews
9. That is the message of all the Old Testament ceremonies.
It's the blood. It's the blood that makes the
atonement for the soul. Without the shedding of blood,
there's no remission. Look at Hebrews 9. Now these things were thus ordained,
when they were ordained. The priest went always into the
first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. But into
the second, the Holy of Holies, went the high priest alone once
every year, not without blood. Not without blood. Cain tried
that without blood. which he offered for himself
and for the heirs of the people, the Holy Ghost, this signifying
that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest
while that first tabernacle was standing, which was a figure
for the time then present, in which were offered gifts and
sacrifices that could not make him that did the service perfect
as pertaining to the conscience, because they stood only in meats
and drinks and different washings and coronal ordinances imposed
on them until the time of Reformation. It was animal blood. Animal blood
can't atone for human sin. But here it is, but Christ being
come, a high priest of good things to come, and by a greater, more
perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not
of this building, neither by the blood of goats and calves,
but by his own blood, he entered into the holy place, having obtained
eternal redemption for us. He entered into the presence
of the Father, and Mike sang about it. When he died, when
he shed his blood on Calvary's cross, the veil in the temple
was rent in twain from top to bottom. No more Passover, no
more sacrifice, no more lambs and goats and bullets slain,
no more priesthood to offer sacrifices. It's all over, because Christ,
our Passover, Christ by atonement shed his blood, our sins are
put away. We have redemption through his
blood. The forgiveness of sins, all
sins, past, present and future, sins before conversion, after
conversion, sins of omission, commission, sins that we don't
even know about, they were forgiven through his blood. All right,
verse 8, in Christ we have rediction. Now, in Christ we have wisdom.
What's there, verse 8 and 9? Wherein he, Christ, hath abounded
toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the
mystery of his will, the mystery of his grace, the mystery of
his blood. according to the good pleasure
which he purposed in himself. Now, Bob read this a while ago
over in 1 Corinthians 2. I want you to look over there
just a moment. 1 Corinthians 2. The natural man, it doesn't
matter whether he's religious or irreligious. It doesn't matter
whether he's a nice fellow or a bad fellow. It doesn't matter
whether he's socially good or socially bad. The natural man.
Son of Adam, who hasn't been born again of God and the Spirit
of God. This is what we're talking about
here. Now, verse 14, verse 2, the natural man. That's opposed
to spiritual man. This is what we all are when
we come into the world, a natural man. Look at what it says about
him. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God. He won't receive them. He won't embrace them. He won't
believe them. He won't have any interest in
them. He won't entertain them. He will not have them. He doesn't
receive them. Why? There's foolishness to them.
The things of God, this, what we're reading, God's everlasting
covenant of mercy, God's grace to us, it's foolishness to us. The things I've been talking
about, the sins of our nation. They see nothing wrong with these
things. I'm foolish, I'm a bigot. And you are too, to even say
these things. But the natural man, he just
won't have the things of God. They're foolishness to him, and
he can't even know them. You can read them to him, and
he can't know them. Why? Because they're spiritually discerned,
they're spiritually understood, and he won't have them. All right,
here's my question. You and I, by birth, are natural
men. We were born of a human mother
and a human father, and that which is born of the flesh is
flesh, and we are natural men. How is it we understand? How
is it we understand? Kings and princes and wise men,
professors, intellectuals, they don't understand it. Here's the
reason. Look at verse 7, chapter 2 of
1 Corinthians. We speak the wisdom of God in
a mystery. Great is the mystery of godliness.
God was manifest in the flesh. There's the mystery of Christ
in his church. There's the mystery of the Jew and the Gentile. There's
the mystery of his body. There's the mystery of his incarnation,
his death. How can God die? That's a mystery.
How can Jesus Christ walk on this earth and never leave the
bosom of the Father? You figure that out. How can
he be David's son, be David's Lord? These are mysteries. How
can a man be just with God? If a man dies, shall he live
again? Mysteries. And we speak these mysteries.
We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom
which God ordained before the world. It's our glory. Read on.
Which none of the princes, the leaders, the rulers of this world
knew. For had they known it, they wouldn't
have crucified the Lord of Glory. You listened a while ago while
I talked about how they treated the Son of God. Laughed while
he died. Ridiculed him, mocked him. He
never did anything but good. He never said anything but right.
He never hurt anyone. He did nothing but heal. He was
holiness personified. Even Pilate said, I can't find
anything wrong with this man. Yet those evil hearts just added
to his burden and to his sorrow as they laughed at him. Come
on down, we believe you, King of the Jews. Verse 9, But it is written, The
human eye hath not seen, or ear heard, neither hath even entered
the heart of man with things God hath prepared for them that
love him. And that's Christ saying, I go to prepare a place for you.
That's not talking about making a city, that's talking about
preparing you a place. Preparing you so you can sit
before God, stand before God. Listen to verse 10. But God hath
revealed them to us by his Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God. What man knows the things
of a man? Here's an illustration. save
the spirit of the man that's in him. A man sitting right there
beside you, you don't know what he's thinking, you don't know
the state of his heart, you don't know the state of his mind and
soul, not even if you're married to him. The only one who knows
is the spirit of that man in you. Now, you can find out because
he can tell you. He can tell you. And the things
of God knoweth no man, but he sure can tell you. if he is pleased
to. He sure can give you an ear to
hear if he is pleased to, and an eye to see, and a heart to
understand if he is pleased to. So the things that the God knoweth
no man but the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the
Spirit of this world, but the Spirit which is of God, that
we may know the things that are freely given to us of God. Our
Lord said they shall be taught of God. they shall be taught
of God. And that's what you have, you've
been taught of God. That's the reason that these
scriptures live for you, and that's the reason when we preach
the power of God, you rejoice. And the love of God, you rejoice.
And the grace of God, you rejoice. And the sacrifice of Christ,
you rejoice. Because the Son of God has come
and given us an understanding. an understanding that we may
know him that is true, and that we are in him that is true, in
Christ, and this is the true God, and this is eternal life.
So Christ has made known to us, verse 9, he redeemed us, forgave
our sins, and verse 9 says he gave us wisdom, he made known
unto us the mystery of his will. And he did this according to
his good pleasure, which he purposed in himself. And now in Christ we have righteousness. What's this? That in the dispensation
of the fulness of times, and I'm sure looking forward to that
fulness of times, aren't you? He might gather together in one
all things in Christ. all people in Christ, all purpose
in Christ, the covenant of Christ. He's going to gather together
in one all things in Christ which are in heaven. When Paul wrote
this, there were more redeemed people in heaven than there were
on this earth. Go back to Abel and all the believers,
and he's going to gather together in one all things in Christ which
are in heaven. and you Ephesians who are here
on earth and all the other believers on earth. But we're one. And
this is what our Savior prayed about in John 17. And you just
must turn over here and see this, this oneness. This oneness. Now I'm talking about the righteousness
that we have and the sanctification and the justification. We're
one with Christ. In John 17, verse 20, listen
to it. Our Lord is praying to the Father
and he said, Neither pray I for these alone, but for them which
shall believe on me through their word, that they all may be one. As thou, Father, art in me, and
I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world
may believe thou hast sent me, and the glory which thou gavest
me I have given them. that they may be one as we are
one. Now watch this, I in them, and thou in me, that they may
be made perfect, perfect and one. That the world may know that
thou hast sent me, and you love them just like you love me. That is awesome, awesome. Redeemed in Christ, forgiven
in Christ, given wisdom in Christ and now perfected. We are one
with him, we wear his name, we are sons of God. We are one with him in blessing,
we are heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ. We are one in him
in glory, he said in Romans 8, that we may be glorified together,
not them without us or us without them, but all at once. In Christ we have redemption,
forgiveness, wisdom, righteousness, and now inheritance and reward. In whom also we have obtained
an inheritance? In Christ. Being predestinated according
to the purpose of him who chose us, of him who accepted us, of
him who gave us Christ. who worketh all things after
the counsel of his own will. You see, the scriptures do not
praise man's will like preachers do. Praise is the will of God. See, the human will is in bondage.
God's got the only free will. He worketh all things after the
counsel of his own will. He's the only one with a free
will. Our will is in bondage. So in Christ we have an inheritance. And I've been preaching on that
lately in Colossians 1, 12, that he has made us fit, qualified
to be a partaker of that inheritance. That inheritance. We're joint
heirs with Christ in that inheritance. And it says in Peter that there's
an inheritance, I read it this morning, there's an inheritance,
undefiled, incorruptible, reserved in heaven,
But you were kept by the power of God as an inheritance. And
we're joint heirs with Christ in all things that are his. And
this is our reward. And what about rewards? What
about rewards? Preachers are always talking
about rewards. We're going to my rewards and
my rewards. Well, let's learn the first thing
about this subject. is the words not plural in reference
to a believer. It's always singular. It's not
rewards. Try to find it in the Bible.
It's not that. Rewards, plural is not, but now
reward is. And you know something about
the law of first mention, don't you? Whatever, however a subject
is mentioned first in the word of God, that's the meaning all
the way through, first mention. What's the first time reward
is used in the word of God? Genesis 15 verse 1. Let's look
at it. Genesis 15 verse 1. When God
spoke to Abraham, and he said in Genesis 15 verse 1, After
these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision,
saying, Fear not, Abram, I am thy shield, and I am thy exceeding
great reward. I am your reward. Our Savior
is coming, and his not rewards are with him, his reward is with
him. The Bible knows nothing about
degrees and glory, or personal prizes. Honestly, honestly, it's
not in the And if you'll think a little bit about the four things
I'm going to say next, think a little bit about these four
things, and the subject of personal prizes, personal recognition
and degrees of glory and rewards will become a laughing matter.
Now listen to this. Number one. If every believer
is a son or a daughter of God, son of God. How can there be
any difference between his children? Second, if every believer is
a joint heir with Christ of all things, what additional can you
add? I'm an heir of all things. Thirdly, if a believer is going
to be like Christ, everyone just like him, conformed to What could
you add to me? What could you give me that would
delight me or thrill me or make me happy if I'm just like him? Complete! Fourthly, if a believer
is a king-priest and all of his brothers and sisters are king-priests,
who wears the crown? Christ does, because he's the
head. Where do you put a crown? Where
do you put a crown? Don't you talk about wearing
a crown. Will there be any stars in my crown? Boy, you're not
even going to have a crown talking like that. The crown's on the
head, not the body. And he's the head of the church.
You wear the crown. That's right. That's just so.
All right, in Christ we have full redemption, wisdom of God,
Perfect righteousness, inheritance and great reward. And verse 12,
now watch this carefully, I'm going to tell you something here
that will be a blessing. That we should be, that we should
be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ,
in whom you also trusted after you heard. So that's everybody
who trusts in Christ. That we should be to the praise
of his glory. Now the Amplified Bible says
that we've been destined and appointed to live for the praise
of his glory, and that's true, nothing wrong with that. But
that's not what this says, that I should live for his glory,
though I do want to, sure will. But this says I should be, whether
actively showing forth his glory or passively. By the grace of
God, I am what I am, and what I am is for his glory, that I
should be. Let me read you something that
I came across. When I look upon flowers and
ferns and lilies and blooming trees, I realize the meaning
of my Master's words. Sullivan in all his glory was
not erect like one of these. These flowers exist to show the
glory of their Creator, by being what he made them. They show
the glory of God by being, not by doing anything. They don't
move. But by being what he made them, and standing where he planted
them, and giving forth the fragrance and beauty that he put in them
and on them, whether men see them or Think of the desert rose,
think of the blooming cactus, which stand unseen by any human
eye. But they bloom, and their petals
move in the wind, and they enjoy the kiss of God's dew, and they
pour forth their fragrance into the desert air, and God is glorified
by their very existence. might be found doing the same. Be, just be for his glory, that
we should be. All of this, God chose us and
blessed us and predestinated us, accepted us and Christ redeemed
us and forgave us and taught us and made us perfect and gave
us an inheritance that we should be for the praise of his glory. his glory, whether actively or
passively, it doesn't matter. Verse 13, in whom you also trusted,
now Paul talked about the disciples, they first trusted in Christ,
but you also trusted, you also trusted. When did you trust? When you heard, when you heard
the word of truth. Trusting follows one thing always,
always, hearing the word of truth. That's the importance of preaching
the gospel. Whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved. But how shall they call on him
in whom they've not believed? And how shall they believe in
him of whom they've not heard? And how can they hear without
a preacher in whom you trusted after you heard the word of truth? Truth now, not just preaching,
but preaching the truth, the word of truth, the gospel. The
doctrine of Christ, the gospel of your salvation. These folks
coming to your door to try to get you to keep Saturday as a
Sabbath, that's not going to do you any good. They come to
your door and get you to join some kind of organization or
read some kind of, that's not going to do you any good. You've
got to hear the gospel of salvation, the doctrine of Christ, the truth
of who he is and who you are, what God did, why he did it,
what's in Christ. And after you heard, what follows
here? Trusting, believing. What follows
believing? You are sealed. Sealed with that
Holy Spirit of promise. Sealed. Sealing as if forever
in Christ, never to be separated. Who can separate me from the
love of God which is in Christ Jesus? Not anything or anybody.
And he that hath begun that good work will finish it. It's his
work. All of this is his work, the
Father, the Son, the Spirit. You heard, you trusted, and he
seals you, the Spirit seals you. Spurgeon wrote this, I want you
to listen to this and I'll close. There is no point anywhere between
the first day that grace was born in my heart and the day
that I shall enter heaven. that at any time I might say,
this depends on me. Now I must rely on my strength.
Now I must make it through. Or my faith must do this, at
no time. From the dunghill to the throne
of perfection, Jesus Christ is my wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
redemption, and my reward. And my salvation began in him
before the world was ever created. It was obtained by him when he
was manifested in the flesh. It was revealed to me when his
spirit taught me the word. It's been sustained, and it'll
be perfected in him. And I look at my sins, and I
say, he's my atonement. And I look at the law, and I
say, he's my sanctification. And I look at all my needs, and
I say, he's my shepherd. And I look at death, and I say,
he's my life. And I look at judgment, and I
say, he's my justifier. And I look at eternity, and I
say, he's my hope. Now that's the doctrine of Christ. That's it. Just one. The doctrine
of Christ.