disciples there baptized with
John's baptism and he preached the gospel to them and they were
baptized in Christ and he stayed there for over two years. Now
this epistle was written about the same time that he wrote Philippians
and Colossians and you remember the epistle to Philemon? Well
he was in Rome in prison when Onesimus came there to see him,
was converted. And Paul sent him back to his
master Philemon with that letter, that wonderful, wonderful letter
to Philemon. And that's when he wrote this
epistle to the church at Ephesus. He loved these people. He loved
these people. And when he was going to Rome,
knowing that he would never come back to see them, he called for
the elders of the church at Ephesus to come and Listen to what he
had to say and that's chapter 20 in Acts that you can read
later How that Paul talked to these men about his ministry
among them But it shows us here in chapter 3 verse 1 that Paul
was a prisoner when he wrote it In chapter 3 verse 1 he said
for this cause I Paul the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles
Chapter 4, verse 1, he mentions it again. I therefore, the prisoner
of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation
wherewith you call. And then in chapter 6, verse
20, he mentions it again, the fact that he's writing this from
prison. Ephesians 6, 20, for which I
am an ambassador in bonds, an ambassador in chains. that therein I may speak boldly
as I ought to speak." Now the purpose of these first 14 verses,
that's where we're going to be this evening, the first 14 verses
of Ephesians, and the purpose of these first 14 verses is twofold. One, Paul feared. He carried
with him a constant anxiety. that these ambitious false teachers
and preachers would enter in and draw away disciples from
Christ to follow them. Turn to Acts 20 and let's look
at that last sermon he preached to these elders at Ephesus and
see what I'm talking about, how he warned them about false teachers
and false preachers. He said in Acts 20 verse 28,
now this is the close of the message, Take heed, therefore,
unto yourselves and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost
has made you overseers, to feed the church of God which he hath
purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my
departing shall gravest wolves enter in among you, not sparing
the flock, and of your own selves." This is the thing that trouble
Paul. of your own selves shall men
arise, speaking perverse things." Why would they do that? To draw
away disciples after themselves. You see, everybody that goes
forth in the name of religion doesn't have the glory of God
as his goal and end and desire. If a man has the glory of God
as his end and goal, he's not going to draw a disciple after
himself, he's going to point them to Christ. Therefore verse
31 he said now you watch You elders watch and by the space
of three years. I cease not to warn everyone
Night and day with tears. He was that emphasis between
two and three years. I don't know exactly how long
he said three years, you know, I Cease not to warn you and now
brethren. I commend you to God the word
of his grace which is able to build you up, give you an inheritance
among all them that are sanctified. I've coveted nobody's silver,
gold, or apparel. You know that. All right, let's
go back to Ephesians 1. That's the first purpose of these
first 14 verses. And the second purpose is to
establish them more firmly in the doctrines of the gospel.
I love this chapter. I guess I preached from this
chapter So many, many times. I love this chapter. And in the
first Sovereign Grace Bible Conference held at Pollard Baptist Church
in 1954, one of the chief messages was from this chapter. First
14 verses. I'll remember it as long as I
live. All right, let's look at it.
He establishes them in the doctrines of the gospel. Now listen to
me. We can survive troubles and trials. We can even survive divisions
if it's over various things. But a people cannot survive a
departure from the doctrines of the gospel. Cannot survive
it. I think about the major denominations
today. I know a little bit about the
major denominations. I know a little bit about their
creeds and their catechisms and their confessions of faith. But
the Baptists in the days of Bunyan, and Gill, and Spurgeon, and Rippon,
and Teach, and those men, they held strongly to the doctrines
of the gospel. But since that day, the Baptist
churches have departed from their old confessions of faith. They
have left these doctrines of the gospel. And you can see what's
happened to them. The Presbyterians, in the days
of Knox, and Calvin, and Zwingli and those men, they held firmly
to their Westminster confession of faith, strong on grace, but
they've left it. The Lutherans in the days of
Lutheran and those men in Germany, they were solid on justification
by the free grace of God. The Church of England, you name
the great men, Watts, Newton, Cooper, Bishop Ryle, all of these
men, who stood so strong, firm for this gospel of grace. But
it's difficult to find among any of those denominations, Baptists,
Presbyterian, Lutheran, Episcopalian, Church of England, or Netherland
Reform. It's hard to find anybody that's
still holding firmly to the doctrines of grace. A people cannot survive
a departure from those doctrines. They can survive trials and troubles
and wranglings and splits and divisions over other things.
Not over this. The whole thing is swept away.
Because God is jealous of the gospel of his son. What are you
talking about the doctrines of grace? Well, here's what I'm
talking about. Divine sovereignty. Divine sovereignty and predestination. Salvations of the Lord. From
beginning to end. From Alpha to Omega. The whole
of the work, whereby a lost sinner is lifted from the dunghill of
depravity and inability and sin, and washed in the blood of Christ,
made a new creature, taken to glory, stamped with the image
of his Son, all of that work is of God and of him only, in
his planning, in his execution, in his application, in his sustaining
power, in his ultimate perfection. It's of the Lord. Divine sovereignty
and predestination. Eternal election. Covenant mercies. The mercies of a covenant God.
Redemption. Righteousness. Sanctification. Wisdom only in Christ. Only in
Christ. Peace and pardon only in His
blood. Salvation by grace. Plus nothing
minus nothing. without the works of the flesh,
through the power of God's Spirit, quickening, awakening, calling,
regenerating, making men new creatures. And all this is done
for the glory of God. There are three verses in these
first 14 verses that show you that. Look at verse 6, "...to
the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us
acceptable." Why did he make us accept him, the Beloved, to
the praise of the glory of his grace? He'll share his glory
with no man. Look at verse 12. That we should
be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Look at verse 14. Which is the earnest of our inheritance
unto the redemption of the precious possession. Why? Unto the praise
of his glory. That's why. Oh my, if we stay
there, if we're grounded there, we're not moved away from these
doctrines of the gospel, we can survive. Church can survive. Our witness can survive. If anybody
learns well what I'm going to preach tonight, learns it well,
these first 14 verses of the book of Ephesians, He'll have
a foundation of grace which shall equip him for the full journey
through life. And he'll never be shaken off
that rock if he can be grounded right here. Learn it and learn
it well, and don't be moved away from it. Turn to Colossians 1.
This is what Paul is saying to the church at Colossae. He says
in Colossians 1, verse 19, It pleased God, it pleased God the
Father, that in Christ should all fullness dwell. Colossians
1.19. And having made peace through
the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things to himself. By him I say, by him alone, whether
it be things in the earth or things in heaven, people already
dead or people still living. And you that were one time alienated,
enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
in the body of his flesh through death. To present you, Christ
will present you holy, unblameable, unreprovable in God's sight.
If you continue in the faith, grounded, settled, and be not
moved away from the hope of the gospel, which you've heard, and
which was preached to every creature which is under heaven, whereof
I, Paul, have made a mention." You can survive if you learn
this. But if we don't learn it, and we don't continue in it,
you're in trouble. All right, let's look at verse
1. Paul, the writer is Paul. God uses men. by the Spirit of God. Holy men
wrote and spake as the Spirit moved them. Paul, his office,
an apostle. What's so important about that?
Let me show you. Ephesians 2, Ephesians 2.19,
an apostle. Now therefore, Ephesians 2.19,
look it, now therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners,
but your fellow citizens with the saints of the household of
God And you're built upon the foundation of the apostles and
the prophets. Those are the men God used to
write, the apostles and the prophets. We don't have any apostles today.
We don't have any prophets. The prophets of the Old Testament,
the apostles of the New Testament. Holy men of God, inspired men,
given divine powers, special gifts to write the Word of God.
And we are built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets.
Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. All right,
Ephesians 3, verse 4 and 5, listen to this. Verse 3, Ephesians 3,
how that by revelation, God made known unto me the mystery, as
I wrote afore to you in few words, whereby when you read it, you
may understand my knowledge and the mystery of Christ. which
in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is
now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets of the Spirit." So when Paul says, Paul, a man,
God uses me, an apostle of Jesus Christ, and the authority for
that apostleship is the next three or four words, by the will
of God. Not by his own will or not by
the will of men, not by the will of the church, but by the will
of God. He's an apostle. To whom is he writing? Now, folks
have a wrong impression today about the Word of God. The Word
of God is not written to everybody. The reason people can't understand
the Bible is it's not written to them. Nothing but the judgments
and the warnings But these epistles are not written to the world,
to the people of the world. Paul says plain and clearly,
I'm writing to the saints. I'm writing to the saints, which
are at Ephesus, the saints, sanctified. By one offering, he has sanctified
forever, protected forever them that are sanctified. Those that
are called of God, sanctified, this is their book. This is their
epistle, this is their letter, not written to the people out
there who don't love Christ and don't know Christ. They can't
understand it. The natural man receiveth not
the things of God, that foolishness to him, but he hath revealed
them unto us by his Spirit. Now, don't stop there. I said
I'm writing to the saints, which are in Ephesus, and to the faithful.
I'm not writing to unfaithful people. I'm writing to the faithful,
not only elected, not only saved, but openly, consistently, faithful
to Christ, faithful to the cause of Christ, faithful to the interest
of Christ, faithful to the kingdom of Christ. I'm writing to the
saints and to the faithful. Now, when you hear people say,
well, I don't understand that first chapter, don't expect them to. If you don't know God, you don't
know his word. If you don't love God, you don't love his word.
He's not writing to you. He's writing to the saints. And
the saints will hear it, and they'll understand it, and they'll
believe it, and they'll walk in it. The saints and the faithful. And don't expect unfaithful people
to receive it. Folks that drop around occasionally,
you know, they're not going to, they're not faithful. And God's
not going to show anything to an unfaithful person. All right,
listen to this, his prayer in verse 2. He says, Grace be to
you. Grace be to you. to whom? The
saints, the faithful. God's grace be to you, multiplied
grace and peace from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus
Christ. All right, that's the writer
and that's the folks to whom he's writing. Now look at verse
3. Now here is the cause and the reason for our salvation.
This is where it all started. This is where it all began. Let's
look at it. The cause and the reason for
our salvation. When David said, when I consider
the heavens, the sun, the moon, the stars, what is man that thou
art mindful of him? All right, here's the answer.
Here's the reason. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Bless God. Old Gill said we congratulate
God for his greatness. We congratulate God for his goodness. We ascribe all glory and honor
and praise to our wonderful God. We give him thanks for all mercies
and blessings, spiritual and material. For as our Lord said,
a man can receive nothing except it be given him from above. As
our Lord said, without me you can do nothing. As Paul wrote
to the Corinthians, who maketh thee to differ? What hast thou,
didst thou not receive? Bless God. Congratulate God. Glorify God who has blessed us. Alright. Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Now he's the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ as Christ is a man and mediator of his
people. Our Lord cried from the cross,
My God, My God, why dost thou forsake me? That's a man. He's
the God of that man. He's the God of that mediator.
He's the God of that intercessor. He's the God and Father of that
man. As our mediator, the man Christ Jesus. Secondly, He's
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, as Christ is the
eternal Son of God. He's the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Turn with me to John 20 and listen
to Christ here. This is our identification with
Him. This is our union with Christ.
This is how that He's the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ. John chapter 20, verse 17. Jesus said to Mary, touch
me not. I'm not yet ascended to my Father.
But go to my brethren and say unto them, I have seen to my
Father and your Father, and to my God and your God." That's
how he's the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord
Jesus, man, Christ, mediator. And being his God and Father,
he's my God and Father. Every word has a meaning. Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's how
he's my Father, only in Christ. The Pharisees said, we have one
Father, God. Christ said, if God were your
Father, you'd love me. You're of your Father, the Devil.
These were Pharisees. These were preachers. These were
students of the Scripture. These were religious men. These
were law-abiding Ceremonial legalist and he said your father's the
devil your father's not gone Christ is the God and father
of our Lord Jesus Christ and our father in Christ only in
Christ And as our God and father he
has blessed us He has blessed us with all spiritual blessing
now listen. These are not common blessings
These are not the kind of blessings that the world is looking for
today. These are not material, temporal riches and comforts
and luxuries and blessings that the flesh enjoys. These are heavenly
blessings. These are spiritual blessings.
He has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies. That's where they are, in Christ. In Christ, our Mediator. He has
blessed us with justification, righteousness, holiness, and
life eternal. He has blessed us with all that
heaven can bestow. All that heaven can bestow we
have in Christ. He has blessed us with all that
heaven can require in Christ. I have prepared a place for you
and you for the place. He has blessed us with all that
is needed to enter heaven and enjoy his blessings forever. Blessed to congratulate God for
his goodness and his grace and his mercy. The God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us. all that heaven can require,
all that heaven can demand, all that heaven can provide, and
all that I need to walk into heaven tonight. He has blessed
me in Christ. In Christ. Turn to 1 Peter chapter
1. See if this fits that statement
right there, in Christ. In 1 Peter 1 verse 3, blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which, according
to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a living hope of
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance
incorruptible, undefiled, faith is not a waste, reserved in heaven
for you. You know something that makes
you feel pretty important? call a restaurant, one of the big
ones, one of the fine ones, one of the ones where they wear black
suits and a white towel over their arm and walk around, you
know, and you walk in the door. You know it's a different place.
You've made reservations. And tell them your name. He says,
right this way. And you go over there and there's
a table with a lace tablecloth and seven or eight different
kind of knives and forks and spoons and a finger bowl and
a wine glass and another glass and But all this civil war and
this China, and your name is on a card right in the middle
of it. Reserved for Ron Trabant. Whoo! All ready. Food's prepared. That's what
we have right now. Reserved in heaven for you. If you hold out, no, listen,
who are kept by the power of God, who think unto salvation,
ready to be revealed at the last time. I tell you, That's where it all started.
Blessed be God. He's the cause, He's the reason
for our salvation. He blessed us. Now listen to
this, verse 4 through 6. And He did it according as He,
the Father, chose us in Christ before the foundation of the
world. I told you where it began, now I'm telling you when it began.
It began with God. And it didn't begin with God
when he looked down and saw you walk an aisle and wrote a new
name in glory. Now come on. This began with God and it began
before the foundation of the world. Paul said, I thank God
for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from
the beginning chosen you to salvation. He chose us to salvation. This
covenant and kingdom of grace is the covenant and kingdom of
Christ. It's made with Christ for his
glory on your behalf. God, in his eternal purpose,
determined to have a holy people, to populate that new heaven with
a holy people and new earth, built upon the chief cornerstone,
Christ Jesus, and he chose a people from every kindred, tribe, nation,
tongue unto heaven in Christ, and gave them to Christ, to redeem
them, and to make them holy, and bring them to God, and present
them holy, and without blame before him, spotless, sinless,
and righteous, before the world again." That's what that's saying. God bless God. that all that
heaven can supply and require and all I need in Christ, because
he chose me in Christ before the foundation of the world,
that I should be holy and without blame before him in love. Now, what's this? Having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children. What's this mean? It simply means
this, that God Almighty foreordain the persons, foreordain the Savior,
the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world, foreordain the
means, the everlasting gospel, and foreordain the end, that
we be conformed to his image." God foreordains it. God foreordains it. People in this day just don't
like the word predestination, but it's in the scriptures, it's
the word of God. Let's turn, if you will, to Acts
13, verse 48. Acts 13, verse 48. And here the scripture says Paul
was preaching to these Jews and they ridiculed his message. And
Paul said in verse 46 of Acts 13, then Paul and Barnabas waxed
bold and said, Now it was necessary the word of God should first
have been spoken to you. But seeing you put it from you,
and judge yourself unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn
to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded
us, saying, I have set thee to be alike Gentiles, if thou shouldest
be for salvation to the ends of the earth." And when the Gentiles
heard this, they were glad. And they glorified the word of
the Lord. And as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. As many as were predestinated.
As many as were ordained to eternal life, they believed. God had
predestinated us to the adoption of sons by Jesus Christ. All
right, one other scripture, Romans 8. Romans chapter 8, verse 20,
28. Now watch this, we know that all
things work together for good to them who love God, to them
who are called according to his purpose. That's where it started, his
purpose, him, when it started, for whom he did foreknow. Them
he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his
Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. And moreover
whom he did predestinate, whom he called, whom he justified,
whom he justified them he also glorified." Now back to my text,
Ephesians 1. In verse 6, look at this. He
said he, verse 5, he predestinated us to the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ, to himself, and it was according to the good
pleasure of his will, not my will, his will. He made me willing.
We're willing, but we're made willing by his grace. Thy people
shall be willing in the day of his power. Now watch verse 6. And this is to the praise of
the glory of his grace wherein he hath made us accept. He has
made us accepted in the beloved. And what I hear today constantly
is present-day religion and preachers puts a lot of emphasis on you're
accepting Him. Accept Jesus, accept Jesus as
your personal Savior, and you're knowing Him. Now there is a sense
in which we do receive Christ. There's a sense in which we do
believe Christ, that we do receive Him. Lay hold of Christ. Lay hold of eternal life. God
makes us willing to seek the Lord. Seek the Lord. Cry for
mercy. God, be merciful to me, the sinner.
Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. We do receive
him. We do seek him. We do know him. And while that
has some merit, I'll tell you something more important. Does
he know me? Does he know me? And Paul talks
about that. Look at Galatians chapter 4. People say, I know God. Does
he know you? That's what he said to those
folks in Matthew 7 at the judgment. They said, Lord, we preached
in your name. Indicating they knew him. Your
name. I used your name all my life. All my ministry, I used
your name. I cast out devils. There are many wonderful works
in your name. I never knew you. I never knew you. So the important
thing there is not them claiming to know Him, Him owning them. I know my sheep,
he said. I know them. My sheep know me
and they follow me, but the reason they do is I know them. Look
at Galatians 4 verse 9. But now after you have known
God, or rather, are known of God. That's why you know God,
He knows you. That's why you love God, He loves
you first. That's why you came to Christ,
He came to you. That's why you sought the Lord,
He sought you. This is true now. Or rather, are known of God. I'll turn you again to the weak
and beggarly elements where unto you desire to be again in bondage?" The question, the big question,
does he know me? And the other question is, does
he accept me? This is what he said in our text,
he made us accepted in the beloved. He made us worthy. He made us
meet sufficient to be a partaker of that fellowship. Job, don't
you turn to this. I'll just turn over there and
read it. But Job struggled with this several times in the book
of Job. He and his friends would ask
questions like this. How can a man be justified with
God? How can a man be clean that's
born of a woman? Look at the moon, it shineth
not. The stars are not pure in God's sight. How much more abominable
is a man who drinks iniquity like the water? How much less
man that's a worm and the son of man who's a worm? How can
God have anything to do with him? The worm talked about accepting
a king. The wretched, vile rebel talking
about accepting a partner. I accept forgiveness. Do you
now? Better come from the other direction.
I forgive you. I accept you. And he made us
accepted, listen, in the beloved. And I'm so strong on this because
I believe it so strongly. God's love is in Christ and only
in Christ. God's mercy is in Christ and
only in Christ. I just know that so. And God
receiving and embracing a sinner is only in Christ. And because
of Christ, He loves His Son. He loves me because I'm in His
Son. And here's, listen to this, here's our salvation, verse 7,
in whom we have redemption, in Christ. He is, we have redemption
in Him. We were in bondage, He set us
free. We were in bondage to the law,
to the justice of God. He set us free in Him. In Him,
we obeyed the law. In Him, we honored the law. In
Him, we satisfied justice, fully and completely. In Him, those
things were imputed to me. And therefore, there's no charge
against me. In Him, I have redemption. Through His blood, I have the
forgiveness of sin according to the riches of His grace. He
is my wisdom. He's not just some truth I've
learned. He is the truth. The gospel is a mystery to men
because they see the gospel as a system of facts. We see the
gospel as a person. That's right. Old Barnard used
to say the disciples didn't believe in the resurrection of the dead.
Only, as a doctrine, they walked with a risen Christ. They walked with a risen Christ.
He is the resurrection. He is our wisdom. He is our forgiveness. He is our life. We're one in
him. What he has, we have. Who he
is, we are. Where he is, we are. Seated in
Christ at the right hand of God. In whom we have redemption. Have
it right now. The forgiveness of sin, and it's
all according to the riches of his grace. It's not because of
anything we've done. And he hath abounded toward us
in all wisdom and prudence. And what's this? Having made
known unto us the mystery of his will, made known to the saints,
to the faithful, to the believers. Do you understand this? The Son
of God has come and given us an understanding. He hath made
known the mystery of his will, given us an understanding according
to the good pleasure which he purposed in himself. And in the
dispensation of the fulness of time, he's going to gather together
in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, Moses,
Elijah, Isaiah, Abel, Jacob, Joseph, David, all things in
heaven, all things which are on the earth, Gentiles, Jews,
Ashlanders, Buckeyes, Hillbillies, to have them all together in
one in Christ. Even in him, in him now. Not
in the Baptist Church, or the Catholic Church, or the Pentecostal
Church, or not in a system of doctrine, in him, him, him. In whom we have redemption. In whom we're accepted. Verse
11, in whom we have obtained an inheritance. Being predestinated according
to the purpose of him. He works all things after the
counsel of his own will. Now, it's too much talk today
about rewards for believers and Christians and status, degrees
of glory in heaven. Too much talk of that. I want
to show you the law of first mention. I want to show you first
time reward is mentioned in the Bible. Genesis 15. First time
it's mentioned, it's mentioned to that man of faith. That man
who left his home and country not knowing where he's going
because he believed God. That man to whom God promised a son in
his old age, being born by an old wife and he didn't know how,
but believed God. who gave the best land to Lot,
that man who refused the riches of the world, that man who sacrificed
his son ready to plunge a knife in his heart as a sacrifice to
God, that man who set his firstborn son on the road in the wilderness,
trusting God. Boy, he's bound to have some
reward. He's bound to have a castle bigger than mine than yours. After these things, the word
of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, Genesis 15, verse 1,
saying, Fear not, Abraham, I am thy shield, and I am thy exceeding
great reward. And that's what it means for
a believer all the way through this Bible. Singular. Not, I'm
your rewards, and I'm going to give you some rewards. I'm going
to give you some things that I'm not going to give anybody
else. I'm your reward. And to the least child of the
kingdom of God. Same thing said about the early
war. Now, listen to this. If every
believer is a son of God, or a daughter of God, if every believer is a joint
heir with Christ, if every believer is conformed to his image, if
every believer is made like Christ, David said, I'll await with your
likeness. Well, if that's so of him, that's so of me. Would
you please tell me Where this rewards business fits in? How
can I be, how can anybody be higher than that? A son of God, a joint heir with
Christ, made just like the Son of God. Know as I have been known. He is our reward. how deceptive this religious
system is in this day. It's completely away from the
Word of God. First shall be last, last. Our Lord said to those
people in Matthew 11, among the sons of men, there's not one
greater than John the Baptist. Not one. Christ said that. Yet,
in the kingdom of heaven, The least is greater than he.
Isn't that something? In whom we have redemption, in
whom we have understanding, the mysteries of the gospel, in whom
we have already obtained an inheritance. It's already ours, it's ours.
All that heaven can supply. All right, closing. Here's the
calling. He said whom he predestinated,
he called. How does he call? Verse 13, in whom you also, the
saints and faithful, nobody else, in whom you also trusted, when? After you heard the word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation, which I've just talked about.
And this is a hearing with the heart, where it's hearing his
voice through the word, in whom also, after you believed, you
were sealed. with that Holy Spirit of promise.
You heard, you believed, and you were sealed. And the sealing
of the Covenant is not circumcision. It's not catechism. The sealing
of the Covenant is the Holy Spirit. If any man have not the Spirit
of Christ, he's none of these. No man can call Jesus Lord by
the Holy Spirit. And you see it with the Holy
Spirit of promise, which is the earnest, the pledge, our inheritance,
until the redemption of the purchased possession, until it is fulfilled
and actually becomes ours. When we close our eyes here,
immediately go to be with our Lord. That's the redemption. redemption of the purchased possession.
That's when we enter in to his glory. All right, I hope that's
a blessing for you. And let me say this. Preacher, elder, believer, whomever. This is the doctrine of the gospel.
This is the doctrine of Christ. This way God saves sinners. You
learn that. I believe this, continue in this,
this gospel, stand in this gospel, no matter who departs from it,
no matter who. You see, you can't explain this
now. It has to be revealed. It's not
written to all the people, but they don't understand it. Don't
expect them to. It's written to the saints, to the faithful,
people in whom God's doing a work of grace. And when you start,
when you begin to understand this, begin to see it, begin
to lay hold of it, God's working in you. That's the reason Paul
said to young Timothy, from a child, you've known the scriptures that
will make you wise to salvation. Timothy's mama taught him these
things, his grandmother and his mother. You teach your children
these things, and don't try to explain this away. Just teach
it just like it is, just like it is. That's the way he teaches,
just like it is. And God will honor it.