Now let's turn back to the text
in Ephesians 1. A person does not have to be a theologian
to be a believer. A person does not have to be
a theologian to be a child of God. Actually, I suppose it's been
my experience that most believers, most true, sincere believers
would find it very difficult to put into words what God has revealed to them
about Christ. I really feel like that the majority
people right here in this congregation who sat here for years and heard
the gospel, believe the gospel, love the gospel, trust Christ,
rest in Christ. If you were to ask them to stand
before even a small group and put into words what God has revealed
to them and what they feel in their hearts about Christ, most
of them would You're unable to do it. Unable
to do it. But if you were to preach the
gospel to them, as I try to each Lord's Day, and they hear it,
they say, now that's what I believe. What you read, that's what I
believe. What you preached this morning, that's what I believe.
I can't say it like that, but that's what I believe. You see, there's some things
that we know in here that we just are not able to articulate. I know and you know that we've
sinned and come short of the glory of God. We can say with
David, my sins are ever before me. Thank God they're not before
the Lord. Christ has put them away. But
they're ever before me. I can't forget them. Even David,
writing the Psalms, he said, Lord, forgive the sins of my
youth. He remembered them. God didn't.
He remembers our sins no more, but we do. We pray all the time,
like the public, and Lord, be merciful to me, the sinner. Don't
you? I know that. And then secondly, I know God's
holding. I think I realize more each The
day that passes and more I became acquainted with this scripture,
the holiness of God, more and more. And there's no way that
we can please God in this flesh or satisfy God. There's no way
we can satisfy His law, His justice, His holiness. The scripture tells
us that in the flesh no person can please God. It can't be done. The very best deed that we perform,
the best deeds we can possibly perform fall short of His glory. They're full of sin. The best
gift we can give, the greatest gift we can give, the best sermon
we can preach is inadequate. The best prayer we can pray,
we'll be ashamed of it some day. That's right. The very best we've
ever done, One day we'll say, oh what foolishness, what childishness,
what adolescence, what immaturity. What was I talking about? I like
what that Mexican, young Mexican preacher said when Brother Walter
called on him to lead in prayer for the first time in the school. He'd been in the school a good
while studying to be a preacher and Walter called on him for
the first time. to lead in public prayer in the school, and he
got up and the first words he said, Lord, forgive me for what
I'm about to say. That's right. God's holy. But thirdly, I know this. There's
someone with whom he is pleased. I know that God sent his only
begotten son into this world. He sent him into this world to
save sinners, like you and me. Paul said, of whom I am the chief.
God, in the fullness of time, sent forth His Son, made of a
woman, made under the law, to redeem us folks who are under
the law. To give us a righteousness, to
give us a holiness, to give us sanctification, to give us redemption
and wisdom. suffered for sin, the just for
the unjust, that he might literally bring us to God. I know that. And he's the one of whom the
Father said, I'm well pleased. This is my beloved son in whom
I'm well pleased. And I tell you, if I'm in him,
then he's pleased with me. He's pleased with me. If I'm
out of Christ, in the flesh no man can please God. In the flesh
dwelleth no good thing. But as his glory came down between
the cherubims over the mercy seat, even so his glory is revealed
in Christ and is upon Christ and upon those who are in Christ.
Thou me, with the glory which I had with thee before the world
was, and the glory which thou gavest me, I've given them."
Same glory. I know that. And fourthly, I
know this, and you know it, and it's hard for the average person
to put it into words, but as I'm saying these words, you're
saying, that's right. That's right. That's what I believe.
That's what I believe. I believe Him. I believe God's
promise in Christ. I believe all the promises of
God are in Christ. Yea, and amen. I believe His
Word. I believe His Son. I say with
a centurion, Lord, I believe. Help thou my unbelief. I don't
have perfect faith. Father's thing in the world for
me. Impossibility. My faith's little faith, weak
faith. But it's faith. And it's only
in Him. Whom do you say that I am? Whom
do you say that I, the Son of Man, am? I answer with the Apostle
Peter. I say you're the Christ. You're
the Christ, the Anointed. You are the Son of the Living
God. I believe and I'm sure that you are the Christ, the Son of
God. That's what I believe. I know
whom I have believed. I don't know when, but I know
whom. And it's not a great deal of
importance what, it's whom. That's right. I don't have the faintest idea
when the tribulation is going to be or if there ever will be
one, other than the one we're going through right now. This
is enough for me. If it's one greater than this,
I don't want to be in it. I don't know when Christ is coming.
I don't know what's going to happen when He comes altogether. But I know whom. I know who's
coming. I know who's coming. Not when
or what, but I know who's coming. I know who came. And I know what
He did when He came. He died on that cross. And I
know why He died on that cross, that God may be just and justify.
and save a sinner like me, and make me sufficient meat for globe.
And I know where he is now, I tell you. He's at the right hand of
God, within the veil, seated, victorious over death, sin, hell,
and the grave, for my sake and your sake. I know that. And I
can say with Paul, for by grace I have been saved through faith,
and that not of myself, it's the gift of God, and not of works. as any man should boast. But
Paul writes here to the early church at Ephesus and tells them
how these blessings came to be ours. And I want to be a theologian. I don't have to be, but I want
to be. Theology is the study of God. So I want to know more
about Him and His will and His ways. That I might have a good
hope. And that I might glorify Christ.
That's the two reasons. I don't want to know just for
the sake of knowing. I don't want to know just for
the sake of information. I don't want to know so I can
argue more. I don't want to know so I can boast that I know more
than somebody else. That's not why I want to know
what this is saying. That my hope might be stronger. That my assurance might be stronger. and that I might give glory to
God, and that I might teach His people. So what we're going to
say here is how these blessings became ours. I was preaching.
A man invited me years ago to come down to Big Stone Gap, Virginia. Big Stone Gap, Virginia is down
below Jenkins, Grundy, just this side of Appalachia, Virginia,
on the Kentucky border. to a free-will Baptist church
and preach a week. And I went down, his name was
Caudill, the pastor, Mr. Caudill, and I went down and
I preached from this scripture here, Ephesians 1, what I'm going
to open for you this morning. And when I got through with the
message, I stepped down out of the pulpit, I was standing down
at the front, and an old gentleman came by. Snow-white hair, tall,
slim. He took me by the hand and tears
glistened in his eyes. This was back in the late 50s. I was 33 or 34 years old. But God had taught me the gospel.
And this old man looked at me and he said, son, I was young
enough to be his grandson. He said, son, I never heard it
preached like that before. But he said, I want you to know
that's how God saved me. That's how God saved me. And
that's what I'm saying. You don't have to believe in
election to be saved, but you have to believe in the Christ
who elected. You see, you don't have to believe
in particular redemption to be saved, but you have to believe
in redemption. And he whom redeemed. So let's see how these blessings
became ours. This man knew God. And he said,
I was blessed and that's how I came. Alright, let's look at
it for a few moments. Paul, no titles, no pretense, no vainglory,
just Paul. Verse 1, an apostle of Jesus
Christ by the will of God. God made me an apostle. God put
me in the ministry. I'm writing to the saints, to
believers, which are at Ephesus. This is the children's bread.
This will not be loved or believed by unbelievers. It's written
to believers. It's written to the faithful,
faithful in Christ Jesus, people who are in Christ. And he prays
that his desire for them is the same with every church to which
he writes. Grace be to you and peace, grace
and peace. You're not going to have peace
without grace. Grace comes first. And grace and peace is from God.
Here people say, well, I made my peace with God. It's a peace
which is no peace. God's the one that makes peace
through the blood of His cross. He gives peace. My peace I give
unto you. I give it from Him. From our
Lord Jesus Christ. Alright, watch this. Blessed
be the God and Father. Put this down in your mind, these
next triple verses, Paul is going to talk about the Father, and
the work of the Father in redeeming us. He said, Blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us. He hath blessed us already. Paul
starts where he is. Paul is a saved man. He is a
believer, and he says, God's blessed me. with all spiritual
blessings in the heavenly places in Christ. He's blessed me with
all spiritual blessings. He's given me everything I need
to live in glory. Spiritual blessings. They're not physical blessings. They're not material blessings.
It seems like the world is putting so much emphasis on wealth and
vocations and careers and popularity and health and homes and cars
and all of these things. But he's not talking about these
things yet. He's blessed me with spiritual
blessing, wisdom, righteousness, holiness, sanctification, redemption. He said in Colossians, he's made
us meet sufficient to inherit glory. He's blessed me with all
spiritual blessings in the heavenly, not in my garage, not in my hometown where it counts
most. Lay up for yourselves treasures
in heaven where moth and rust does not
corrupt and thieves don't break through and steal. He's given
me a heavenly inheritance, a home, a kingdom, a family, a father. A whole, everything, in Christ,
in the heavenlies, I have it now. Now am I a child of God. Where did I get it? God gave
it to me. He's blessed me. This is a blessing. We look at
somebody that's popular and powerful and strong and these sports figures,
you know, driving triple, I was trying to say Mercedes, but I
will not say that. Some other car. And we say, boy,
they're blessed. I don't know. If a man doesn't
have a hope of glory, he's not blessed. But He blessed us in
Christ. Now watch it. Take a step back. Why did He bless us? According
as He chose us. God chose us. I read that to
you a while ago. I thank God for you brethren,
beloved of the Lord, because God has from the beginning chosen
you. He said to his disciples, you
didn't choose me, I chose you. He chose us. He chose us in Christ. When did he choose us? He chose
us before the foundation of the world. Known unto God are all his works
from the beginning. Election is not up for debate.
God chose us. before the foundation of the
world. For what purpose? That we should be holy. Not because
we are holy. Somebody says, well, God looked
down and saw who would be holy. No, He chose us that we should
be holy in Christ and without blame. Where? Before Him, in
His presence. Who shall stand, who shall ascend
into the hill of the Lord? Who shall stand in His holy presence?
He that's holy. Well, before the foundation of
the world, He chose us in Christ that we should stand before Him,
holy and without blame, unreprovable, unblameable, before Him in love. Now watch this, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children, you know this word I guess, more
than any other word in the Bible, causes more anger and opposition
than any other. People say, you don't believe
in predestination, do you? Well, my friend, if you believe
the Bible, you have to believe in predestination. It's a Bible
word. It's in the Word of God three
or four times. But what folks do not understand is the meaning
of the Bible word predestination. Average person, this is their
comment, well, you believe in predestination, you believe God
predestinated some to heaven and some to hell no matter what.
That's not what the Bible teaches. Every time the word is used,
it's used like right here, having predestinated us to the adoption
of children. Who is His son? Christ Jesus
is His son. And He has predestinated, now
the word predetermined, our destination is predetermined, predestinated,
us to be sons of God, like Christ. Turn with me to Romans 8, Romans
chapter 8, and we'll help you with this now if you'll listen
to me. You see, God doesn't have to predestinate a man to hell,
just leave him alone, he'll go to hell. God doesn't have a predestinated
man to do evil. He's born doing evil. He's born
with the nature of evil. Just leave Him alone. Don't restrain
Him. I told my Sunday school class
this morning, in Romans chapter 1, where it talks about God gave
them up, God gave them over, God gave them up three times.
What does it mean, God gave them up? God lifted His restraining
hand. God lifted His providential restraint. and left them to themselves.
That's when God gives a man up, He removes the fence. He lifts
the restraints. He takes away the preventative
things, prevenient grace, and just lets him do what he will
do by nature. None of you here, this preacher
included, do what we are capable of doing because God won't let
us. He restrains us. He restrains
us. Thank God for His restraining
grace. Don't ever take away those restraints. Don't leave me alone. You know,
when Christ said of Ephraim, leave him alone, that's horrible. Leave him alone. He's turned
to his idols. Don't leave me alone. When He
said of the Pharisees, the disciples said, they got angry at what
you said. Leave them alone. Boy, you don't want that. Well, I'm going to have my way. Please don't have your way. You'll
ruin us all. Ruin us all. And here in Romans
chapter 8, all that God has to do is leave a man alone. But
now here in Romans 8, it says in verse 28, And we know that
all things work together for good to them that love God, to
them who are called. according to His purpose, by
whom He did foreknow. He's always known them, always
loved them, chose them. He did predestinate. To what? Be conformed to the image of
His Son. That's what predestination is.
Predestination has to do with what we're going to be. Did you
know that? Election has to do with who's
going to be. God chose people, and He predestinated
everyone whom He chose to be just like the Lord Jesus. In
heaven, we're going to wear the same garment. We're going to
love the same things Christ loves, delight in the same things in
which He delights, know the same things that He knows, and have
the same glory He has. We're all going to be like Christ. God's predetermined it. He's
predestinated. So when anybody asks you, anytime
in the future, do you believe in predestination? You say, what
are you talking about? Well, God predestinates some
to heaven and some to hell. No, sir, I don't. You don't? No, sir, I don't. I believe in
predestination as the Bible teaches it. God blessed us with all spiritual
blessings because He chose us in Christ. Heaven! predetermined,
predestinated that everybody whom he chooses will be just
like Christ. Now that's so. And I can't be
like Christ if he doesn't determine it. I can't be like Christ if
he doesn't do it. I'll give you an assignment.
Tell you what, you're in our part company now. I'll see you
in glory. And I'm going to be like Christ,
because he's going to make me like Christ. You're going to
make yourself like Christ? That would be a tough assignment. Where are you going to start,
Ronnie? What are you going to do? God's got to do it. Salvation is of the Lord. He's
got to quicken me. He has to give me life. He has
to reveal the gospel to me. He has to keep me. He has to
give me dying grace. He has to raise me. He has to
give me a new body. He has to take me to glory. You
see, that little Jewish boy named Joseph, his father's delight,
but his father couldn't put him on the throne in Egypt and save
a nation. His brothers could put him in
the pit, but they couldn't put him on the throne. Potiphar could
put him in jail, but he couldn't put him on the throne. But I
tell you who could is who did. God predestinated Joseph to be
king, and God worked everything out through his life, every little
bit, every little detail, every little mountain and valley, every
little success or failure, everything, until that day he sat on that
throne. God predestinated it. And I'm
telling you, God's blessed us with all we need in heaven and
the places, in Christ. Because he chose to do it. And
he's predetermined that everybody whom he saves is going to be
like Christ. That's what he did. And you're going to be like Christ.
He's going to do it. What's my destination? You say,
my destination is heaven. No, it's more than that. If you get to heaven and you're
not like Christ, they'll throw you out. My destination is to
be like Christ. That's what Paul said, to be
with Him, to be like Him. So God, my destination has been
predetermined by the Father who chose me. Now look at the next
line. According to the good pleasure of His will. It's God who did
it. Who maketh thee to differ? Now
come on. You and me, we're different,
we have a difference. Somebody came to this church recently
and said, your church is different. Well, who made it different?
I didn't do it. You didn't do it. God did it.
Our message is different. Our gospel is different. Our
methods are different. Our music is different. Why?
Because of Christ. He did it according to His will.
It's not in us. It's not of us. It's not because
of us. It's of God. Of God are you in
Christ Jesus, that no flesh should glory in His presence. We're
not bragging. We don't have anything to brag
about. We've got something to rejoice about, but not brag about. And he did it, verse 6, why did
he do it? "...to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein
he made us accepted." Who does accepting? Won't you accept Jesus? Christ is not up for your acceptance
or rejection. He accepted us. God accepted
me. in Christ. And the only way he
could accept me in Christ is to make me so that I could be accepted.
He can't accept a rebel. He had to crush me. He can't
accept a renegade. He had to save me. He can't accept
a person filled with sin. He had to wash me. He made me
accepted. Not just acceptable. but accepted
in Christ. Now look at what the Son did,
our hurry, in whom? We have redemption. We have it
now, not somewhere in the future. We have redemption how? Through
His blood He died for us. We have the forgiveness of sin,
all sin. Listen to me, past, present,
and future. And then some people have trouble
with that. They say, well, our past sins are forgiven, but you
mean, Sins we hadn't even committed yet are future? Yeah, all forgiven. If there weren't, I'd perish.
But actually, all my sins were future when Christ died. He put
away all our sins. According to the riches of his
grace, which he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence. Now watch this. He not only redeemed
us, but he enlightened us. How do you know God? Christ reveals
God. There isn't any way to know God
in His grace, mercy, and saving truth except in Christ. The heavens
declare the glory of God. The firmament shows His handiwork,
but only His Son shows His grace and His mercy to sinners. So
Christ came and He made known to us the mystery of God's will,
His will of redemption. He made known unto us Show me
the Father." He there seemed to have seen the Father. No man
has seen God at any time. The Son has revealed Him. The
Son revealed. He made known unto us the mystery
of God's will, and He did it according to the good pleasure
which He purposed in Himself. God purposed to reveal Himself
to us. And He sent His Son down here
to do it. And He did it because in the
dispensation of the fullness of time, when all this is over,
He'll gather together in one, all things in Christ. God's going
to gather together His elect from the four corners of the
earth, from heaven, from earth. Those that are already gone to
glory and these that are living, He's going to gather them all
together in Christ, in Christ. Both which are in heaven, Moses,
our loved ones who are gone, ourselves, He's going to gather
together. Our friends in Mexico, Australia,
and the United States are always going to gather together and
want all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, which are
on earth, even in Him. Now, please, don't try to find,
oh Lord, when the saints go marching
in, I want to be in that number. Well, if you're in Christ, you'll
be in that number. But don't try to find that gathering
in a pool, in water, in an altar, in a profession, in your works,
in your tithing, in your Sabbaths, in Catholicism, or Baptists,
or Methodists, in a denominator. He's going to gather together
all things in Christ. Because verse 11 says, "...in
whom," in Christ, "...we have obtained an inheritance." We
have obtained an inheritance. What is this inheritance? The
inheritance of a son. Now, you remember I told you
He predestinated us to be sons? We have obtained an inheritance
being predestinated to that inheritance according to the good pleasure,
according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after
the counsel of His own will. Romans 8 again. Turn over there.
Romans 8. predestinated us to be conformed
to the image of His Son, to be sons of God. And what's a son? A son's an heir. A son's an heir. As Chuck Stapleton's sitting
there, and right down from him is a son. That son's his heir. If he died, that son's his heir. Of all that he has, that's his
heir. Now watch this, listen. Because he's a son, I'm not his
heir, nor are you. But the son is. Now watch this.
Romans 8, 16. The Spirit beareth witness, the
Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit, with children
of God. And if we're children, then we're heirs. We're heirs
of God and we're joint heirs with Christ. If so be that we
suffer with Him, we'll be glorified together. I'm an heir. because
he predestinated me to be an heir. I'm an heir because I'm
a son. Christ is the heir. He's the
son. I'm a joint heir with Him, in
Him. That's what predestination is.
In whom we have, verse 11, in whom, Ephesians 1, we have obtained
an inheritance, undefiled, incorruptible, reserved in heaven for you. Because
He's predestinated us according to the purpose of Him who works
all things after the counsel of His own will, that we should
be sons adopted and heirs. Now verse 12, and He did it to
the praise that we should be to the praise of His glory who
first trusted in Christ. Now briefly, here's the Holy
Spirit's work. The Father chose us, predestinated
us to be sons, accepted us. The Son redeemed us, enlightened
us, and gave us an inheritance, enriched us. Now the Spirit,
in whom you trusted. Who did you trust? Christ. Not
the preacher. Not the Baptist church. Christ.
In whom you trusted. When? After you heard the Word
of Truth. The Gospel of your salvation. In whom also after you believe. I believe this. I believe Him,
don't you? And because we believe, we're
sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, you girls. You've watched
your mother can things. You do it all like it's supposed
to be done, the jar and the heat and all these things. Put it
down in there and put a lid on. And it seals, it snaps, that
lid snaps in place and seals. And you put it on the shelf and
it just sits there for months and years. It never spoils because
it's sealed. And we're sealed, the Holy Spirit
seals us in Christ. And people run around arguing
about once saved, always saved. That's wasted breath. If a person,
if God put him in Christ, And God accepted him in Christ. God
made him a son. He's sealed. He can't depart. He won't depart. He can't spoil.
He won't spoil. He's in Christ. He's preserved. He's sealed in Christ. And He
sealed us with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest,
the token. His Spirit beareth witness with
our spirit that we're sons of God, Until the redemption of
the precious possession under the praise of His glory. Some
of our dear loved ones who believe this gospel. Now, we have the token, the pledge
of the Spirit. They have the reality. They've
entered into it. The redemption of the precious
possession is there. Now my friends, I'm going to
tell you this and then I'll close. I want you to open your Bibles
to John 7. John chapter 7. John chapter 7. And there's no
debate here. Somebody said, well, I want to
debate that with you. I wouldn't for not five minutes.
There's no debate. That's the truth. That's the
Word of God. That's the way God saves sinners.
That's how these blessings came out. And anyone here that can't
receive that, believe that, please go somewhere else. That's where
I feel. Because this is the Word of God.
We don't buck the Word of God. We don't argue with the Word
of God. And here's the reason in John 7. Read what our Lord
said. John 7, verse 16. Now listen
to it. Jesus answered in John 7, verse
16, My doctrine is not mine. It's His that sent me. Now that's
what I say. This doctrine I preached this morning is not mine. It's
His that sent me. It's His doctrine. God's Word. Not to be argued. That's what
my Master said. As my representative, as the Redeemer, as the man Christ
Jesus, He said, My doctrine is His that sent me. Now listen.
Next verse. If any man will, do his will. We want to do his will? His will is his way. He made
known his ways to Moses, his acts to the children of Israel.
That's all they saw were acts. Moses said, show me thy way. Show me thy will. You want to
know his will? You want to do his will? Alright,
listen. If any man will, do his will. If any wants to. He'll
know of the doctrine, whether it's of God or whether I speak
of myself. Anybody here, it doesn't matter preacher or who it is,
if he really wants to know God's will, there it is. God will reveal
it to him if he really wants to. You see, most of your relatives
that argue with you on these points, they don't want to know
God's will. They want their will, free will,
my will. I will. God can't violate my
will." You'd be surprised. You'd be surprised. Cain wasn't willing to be a vagabond,
but that's what he was. He said, my punishment's greater
than I can bear. That's all right, it's yours. The people who stood in the judgment
said, Lord, we preached in your name, did many wonderful works.
He said, depart from me. You reckon they went willingly?
His will sent them. If you really want to know His
will, really want to, you'll know it, whether this is of God
or whether I speak of myself. You see verse 18? He that speaketh
of himself, he seeks his own glory. You see, if a man stands
up here and talks about what we do, and you do, and I do,
and the world does, and our denomination does, he's seeking his own glory. It's obvious I'm not seeking
my glory. This kind of preaching doesn't
bring you glory here on this earth. I tell you whose glory I'm seeking
is His glory. The glory of His election, the glory of His salvation,
the glory of His cross, the glory of His covenant, the glory of
His blood. You see, when a man speaks of
himself, he does it because he's seeking his own glory. And He
that seeketh His glory that sent Him. Let God be true, whatever manner
lie. The same is true, and there's
no unrighteousness in it. Now that, you see, that's the
sum and substance of it. And I say, you young people,
you run across young people in school with you who do not believe
these things, and feel sorry for them. They haven't been taught.
You've been taught. You young people have been taught
the Word. You've been taught by your parents
and by your pastor. And God has taught you. But they
haven't been taught. Their preachers haven't been
honest with them. And their parents, who are hoodwinked
by the preachers, haven't been honest with them. But this is
what God says. And this is what glorifies God.
This gospel glorifies God. It's the gospel of His glory,
isn't it? My doctrine is not mine. It's His assentment. And if any man will, know his
will. He'll know it. He'll know that
this is God's. But a man that speaks of himself
seeks his own glory. But he that seeks the glory of
him that sent him. Are we seeking his glory? Let
everything we do be done for the glory of God. Are you seeking his glory? In
whatever we do, word or deed, preaching whatever, hope, faith,
God, to God be the glory. We sing it. Well, he's true. You're true. You're true. True. Alright, let's sing a song.