Ordained to Eternal Life

Q: What does the Bible say about being ordained to eternal life?

The Bible teaches that those ordained to eternal life are appointed by God before the foundation of the world to receive salvation. In Acts 13:48, it is stated that as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. This ordination signifies God's sovereign choice, indicating that before the world began, certain individuals were appointed to salvation. This concept is consistent throughout the Scriptures, as illustrated in 2 Timothy 1:9, where it is said that grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, highlighting that our salvation is rooted in God's eternal purpose and grace, not in our actions or decisions.

Q: How do we know election and predestination are true?

Election and predestination are affirmed in Scripture, particularly in passages like Ephesians 1:4-5 and Romans 8:29. The doctrines of election and predestination are foundational to Reformed theology and are explicitly stated in the Bible. For instance, Ephesians 1:4-5 declares that God chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, predestining us to adoption as His children. Additionally, Romans 8:29 explains that those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. These verses clearly illustrate that God's plan for salvation is based on His sovereign will and foreknowledge, not on our merits or actions.

Q: Why is understanding God's sovereignty important for Christians?

Understanding God's sovereignty is crucial as it assures believers that their salvation is secure and rests entirely on God's grace. The sovereignty of God is a comforting doctrine for Christians, as it emphasizes that He is in control of all things, including salvation. Acts 13:48 illustrates that those ordained to eternal life will believe, showing that God's election is effectively accomplished. Moreover, John 10:28-29 assures us that those whom Christ has saved will never perish and cannot be snatched from His hand. Recognizing God's sovereignty helps Christians to trust fully in His grace, knowing that their salvation does not depend on their efforts but on His unchanging will and purpose.

Q: What is the significance of justification in the Reformed tradition?

Justification is significant in Reformed theology as it underscores that sinners are declared righteous solely by faith in Christ's atoning work. In the Reformed tradition, justification is a key element of salvation, emphasizing that believers are declared righteous before God through faith in Christ, apart from works. Romans 5:1 states that being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. This doctrine highlights the importance of Christ's redemptive work as the sole basis for our acceptance by God. It assures believers that their standing before God is secure, not based on their performance but on Christ's righteousness imputed to them, which is critical in understanding the grace of God in salvation.

Open your Bibles tonight to the
Book of Acts, chapter 13 of the Book of Acts. The title of my message tonight
is, Ordained to Eternal Life. Ordained to
Eternal Life. Acts chapter 13, we'll begin
reading with verse 44. And the next Sabbath day came
almost the whole city to gather to hear the word of the Lord.
Paul and Barnabas were down in Antioch, and they had preached there and
stirred up quite a commotion. And according to this verse of
scripture, a huge crowd assembled to hear Paul preach the gospel
of God's grace. Verse 45 says, But when the Jews,
when the Jewish leaders, the religious leaders, the prominent
men in religion, saw the multitude, they saw this great host of people
who had come together to hear Paul, they were filled with envy. And they spake against those
things which were spoken by Paul. They spake against this gospel
of Christ, this gospel of the grace of God, contradicting Paul,
blaspheming And verse 46 says, then Paul and Barnabas waxed
bold, and they said, now it was necessary that the word of God
should first have been spoken to you, to you Jews. Now that's
true throughout the scripture. You're familiar with some of
these verses. In John 1, 11, it says, he came
unto his own. his own nation, his own temple,
his own people, and they received him not. Romans 1.16 says the
gospel is the power of God unto salvation to the Jew first, and
also to the Greek. And then that passage of scripture
that Bob read a moment ago, you don't turn to it, I'll just turn
over there and remind you of this. Paul was talking about
his burden for the conversion of the Jews. And he says, they
are my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to
whom pertaineth the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the
giving of the law, service of God, the promises. They had the
tabernacle, they had the priesthood, they had the ark of the covenant,
they had the mercy seat, they had all these things. Theirs
was the prophets. All of these Old Testament prophets
were Jews, whose are the fathers, and of whom, as concerning the
flesh, Christ came. He was made of the seed of David
according to the flesh. And then over in Romans 3, listen
to this, it says in Romans 3, what advantage hath the Jew?
Talking about those Jews in his day. Or what prophet is there
in circumcision? Much every way. Chiefly because
unto the Jews were committed the oracles of God. The prophets,
the priests, the tabernacle, the service of the tabernacle,
the ceremonies, the feast days were all committed to the Jews. And so Paul says here, and you
know when our Lord was talking to the woman at the well, he
said, you worship you know not what. We know what we worship. Salvation is of the Jews. Remember
that? So back in our text, Acts 13,
46, and Paul waxed bold and said to those Jewish leaders, to those
Pharisees and Sadducees and priests, it was necessary that the word
of God should first have been spoken to you. But seeing you
put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life.
Slow we turn to the Gentiles. But you know back here, let me
read you this, in Acts chapter 9 verse 15, when the Lord told
Ananias to go down into the street called Strait where this man
Saul of Tarsus would be there for him to speak to, he said,
I know that fellow, he's done much evil to the church. And
the Lord said to Ananias, now you go your way, he's a chosen
vessel to me, to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings
and the children of Israel. So when Paul says, I turn to
the Gentiles, he's fulfilling what God determined and required
and ordained him to do to begin with. But he said it was necessary
I preach to you first. But since you judge yourself
unworthy, I turn to the Gentiles. Verse 47, For so hath the Lord
commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the
Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation to the ends
of the earth. Now, when the Gentiles, this
great host of people here in Antioch, made up of Jew and And
when the Gentiles heard this, when they heard what Paul said,
when they heard about the promises of God to them also, salvation
of God to them also, they were glad. Oh, they were glad. They were so happy. And they
glorified the word of the Lord. You know, when I was studying
this, I just stopped and looked at that one phrase right They
glorified the Word of the Lord. They rejoiced in the Word. They
honored the Word. They believed the Word. They
received the Word. They rejoiced in the promise
of God, in the Word of God. Now let me tell you something.
This is where a man starts if he has any interest in truth. He starts with the Word of God.
There's absolutely no other foundation for faith than the Word of God.
Martin Luther said, feelings come, feelings go, and feelings
are deceiving. I trust the ever-living Word
of God. Nothing else is worth believing.
It's not what somebody said or somebody thinks or a group of
people think. Here's where a man starts. If
he has any interest in learning truth, If he has any interest
in salvation, if he has any interest in a real relationship with God,
he's going to have to begin right here, bow to the word of the
Lord. Now that scripture that I asked
Bob to read tonight, in some circles sets off fireworks. Why
does it set off fireworks? Because they won't glorify the
word of the Lord. They won't bow to the word of
the Lord. That's the word of the Lord. Unexplained. He didn't
explain a thing. He just read it. That's all you
have to do is read it. It's like one friend of mine
told a young preacher in college. They were in Bible school together
and they were arguing about sovereignty and election and predestination
and these things. A friend of mine told his opponent,
this man was arguing against it, he said, why don't you go
up to your room and read Romans 9. Now don't read any commentaries,
don't read any opinions on that chapter, just read that chapter,
nothing else. The young fellow says, I'm not
going to do it. He says, why won't you do it? He said, I'll
come back believing like you do. I heard another person say this,
they read Ephesians 1 to them and said, don't you believe that?
He said, not like you read it. Aren't people amazing? But
these folks here, when they heard this, they were glad, they glorified
the word of the Lord. They bowed to the word of God.
They forgot their thoughts and opinions. and they bowed to the
word of God. I read this several years ago.
This was the foundation of the great reformation. Every one of us today feel the
effects of that great reformation. We are blessed by that great
reformation and those gallant, bold, courageous men who died
in that time for what they believed. And do you want to know the foundation
of that Reformation? A three-fold foundation. The
whole Reformation was wrapped up in these three things. These
people believed the Scriptures alone. The Scriptures alone,
not the creeds and catechisms and writings of men or dogmas
of the church. They just took the bare Word
of God alone. That's what they believed. That's
what they preached, the Word of God. That's what they said,
the Scriptures alone. Nothing added to it or taken
from it, just the scriptures alone. Secondly, they believe
Christ alone. Christ alone. Not the church
and Christ, but Christ. Not you and Christ, but Christ.
Christ alone. In Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily and you are complete in Him. Christ alone.
Not the water of baptism, not the sacraments as they call them,
and not anything, it's just Christ alone. He's sufficient, all in
all. Thirdly, grace alone. No works. Like Bob in his prayer
said, we're thankful Father nothing we have done, are doing, or ever
will do makes any contribution to the redemption of our souls.
It's by the free, unmerited, undeserved, sovereign grace of
God Almighty. Now if you can get a hold of
those three things, and live by them, and believe them, and
rest on them, It will be well with your soul. Before you start, it's the Word
alone. The Word alone. The Word alone. Now, so listen.
Look at that verse again. When these Gentiles heard this,
salvation was for the Gentiles too. They were glad. And they
glorified the Word of the Lord. They honored the Word of the
Lord. They listened to the Word of the Lord. And as many as were
ordained to eternal life, They didn't argue, they didn't
debate, they didn't dispute, they bowed to the word of God.
And as a result, as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. The Jews disputed, they debated,
they argued, they objected, they went their way. These people
received the word and were saved. Now what does the word ordained
mean here? As many as were ordained to eternal
life. What does that word mean? Well,
it means several things. Number one, it means to be appointed. Ordained is to be appointed. Turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter
5. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. It means to be appointed to eternal
life. In 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 9,
it says this, For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but he
hath appointed us to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who
died for us, that whether we wake or sleep we should live
together with him, as many as were ordained to life, as many
as were appointed by God. to life. When Samuel went down
to the house of Jesse to anoint a king, he went down to anoint
one whom God had what? Appointed. Whom God hath appointed. So we're
appointed to life. Secondly, it means to be chosen. Look at 2 Thessalonians chapter
2. It means to be chosen to life.
Ordained to life, is appointed to life. His chosen delight. In 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 13,
Paul says this, But we are bound to give thanks always to God
for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from
the beginning chosen you, ordained you, appointed you to salvation. Not to an office, to salvation. To salvation. through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth, whereunto he called you. He who ordained you and chose
you and appointed you called you. Whom he foreknew, he predestinated
to be conformed to the image of his Son. Whom he predestinated,
he called. How did he call you? By our gospel. To what? To the obtaining of
the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. You were ordained to life, you
were appointed to life, you were chosen to life, and you were
predestinated to life. Now immediately there rises up
someone objecting, saying, well, I don't think it's fair for God
to choose some and pass by others. Let me tell you something. This
ordination to life, to eternal life, this predestination to
be conformed to the image of God's Son, Is God, is not God
withholding from anyone something that person wants? That's to
misunderstand God's election and God's appointment to life. He's not withholding from anyone
that which they want or that which they desire. Election and
ordination to life is God giving to us who by nature do not want
it. Did you know that? Do you know anybody out there
that wants Christ and wants salvation, wants eternal life? Begging for
God's mercy like Bartimaeus? Everyone who wants God's mercy
will have it. Everyone who desires God's grace
will have it in Christ, if they desire it in Christ. Anyone who
desires salvation on God's terms or habit. But this ordination
to life, this appointment to life, is God giving to us that
which by nature we don't want, we do not desire. Saul of Tarsus
wasn't on his way to a prayer meeting when God stopped him,
rested him, and saved him. He was on his way to persecute
people who believed in Christ. You see, our Lord said the problem
with The sons of Adam is, you will not come to me that you
might have life. He says in Romans 5, when we
were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his son.
When we were what? Enemies. We were enemies of,
we weren't enemies of religion. Even the heathen Hottentot have
a religion. We weren't enemies of religion,
we were enemies of God. You hath be quickened who were
what? Dead in trespasses and sin. We weren't seeking God. We didn't love God. Here is love,
not that we loved God, He loved us. We were children of wrath,
even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy
for His great love for us, He called us, even when we were
what? Sinners! Christ died for us. Eternalized the gift of God.
Gift of God. In Romans 3, listen to this.
Turn to Romans 3, verse 10. Romans 3 verse 10. Do you really
believe this is the condition of every natural man? Listen
to Romans 3 verse 10. As it is written, there's none
righteous. No, not one. There's none that seeketh after
God. They're all gone out of the way. They're together become
unprofitable. There's none that doeth good.
No, not one. Isn't that true? Well then this
thing of predestination or ordination to life is not God withholding
from people that which they desire and that which they want. It's
God in his grace and mercy awakening people who by nature don't want
it and conferring upon them his free sovereign mercy and his
grace. What this is saying here in our
text, look at it again. When the Gentiles heard this,
they were glad, verse 48, and they glorified the word of the
Lord. And as many as were ordained, as many as God had chosen, as
many as God had appointed, as many as God had predestinated
to be conformed to the image of his Son, as many as were ordained
to life, they believed. They heard the word. The gospel
was preached. The word was preached. But all
men rejected it except those ordained to life. They heard
it. And they honored and glorified it, and they believed it. You
see, those whom God hath ordained to life will believe. Now look
at verse 49. And the word of the Lord was
published throughout all that region, the same gospel. But
what was the response? But the Jews stirred up. These
religious leaders, they stirred up the devout and honorable women. They got the religious women
stirred up, you know, and boy, when you do that, you've got
a fight on your hands. And they stirred up the chief
men of the city, and they persecuted Paul and Barnabas. These things
always follow the true preaching of the gospel. As men as were
ordained to life, believe it. The religious folks fight it.
They stir up the women and the preachers and the chief men of
the city. They persecute those who preach
it. Isn't that true? It's always so. They persecute
those that preach it. And then they expel them out
of their coast. If they have the power, if they
can do it, they'll run them out of town. What were these men
preaching? They were preaching the character
of God. They were preaching the truth about sinners. They were
preaching the person and work of Christ. They were preaching
salvation by grace. That's what they were preaching.
So they threw them out of town and they shook off the dust of
their feet against them and they came to Iconium. Now what's the
response of the disciples through all of this? They preached the
word. Few people believed it. The leaders
and the women and the chief men all fought them, persecuted them,
ran them out of town. Verse 52, the disciples were
filled with joy. They were filled with joy. They
weren't off somewhere in the corner moping saying nobody likes
me, everybody's against me, they don't like my message, they don't
like what I preach. No, they were happy. Filled with
joy and filled with the Holy Ghost. Rejoicing in Christ Jesus. Now I want to look more closely
at this phrase, ordained eternal life. The scripture says several
things about people who are ordained to eternal life. Those who are
ordained to eternal life, besides what I've read right here, those
who are ordained to eternal life will hear the gospel. They'll
not only hear it with these ears, they'll hear it with the heart.
They won't dispute and debate and argue, they'll bow to the
word of God, they'll glorify the word of God, they'll say,
well, if that's what the Lord says, that's what I believe.
It meets my needs. It fits my case. And I bow to
it, and I honor God's Word, and I say, Amen, so be it. So be
it. And I'm going to be still, and
I'm going to listen to the Word, and learn what the Word has to
say, and whatever the Word has to say, that's what I'm going
to believe. And that's where I'm going to rest my case. And
that's where I'm going to build my house, on that foundation.
But some more things in the Scriptures are said about these people who
are ordained to eternal life. Here are five things I want to
give you. You can jot them down if you'd like to, put them in
the back of your Bible or somewhere. But here's the first one. Ordained
to eternal life. The first thing is the time of
this ordination. When? These people who heard
the word, when were they ordained to eternal life? It was not when
they believed. It was before the world began.
Do you believe that? That's what scripture says. I
want you to turn to these scriptures. 2 Timothy chapter 1. When were
these people ordained to eternal life? Well, they were ordained
to eternal life before the world began. In 2 Timothy 1 verse 8,
scripture says here, 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 a holy
calling, not according to our works, but according to his own
purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before
the world began." When did God give us this grace and this mercy
in Christ? before the world began. You see,
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation. Isn't that
what I read a while ago? God chose us in Christ before the
foundation of the world. The scripture says, known unto
God are all his works from the beginning. He declares the end
from the beginning. There's no new thing with God.
There's nothing done in time that God didn't purpose and decree
in eternity. That's the God who's omniscient,
omnipresent, and omnipotent. Let me ask you to turn to Isaiah
46. Listen carefully to this. And
I know this is not the God that's being preached today, but I say
that the God being preached today is not the God of Scripture.
The gospel being preached today is not the gospel of Scripture.
In Isaiah 46, verse 9, listen to this. This ought to be underlined
and underscored in every Bible. Isaiah 46, 9. Remember, the former
things of old. I am God. There's none else. I am God. There's none like me. What did David accuse us of,
writing on the inspiration of the Holy Spirit? thou thoughtest
I was altogether such a one as thyself." He says, I am God, there is none
like me. I declare the end from the beginning. And from ancient times there
are things that are not yet done, saying my counsel shall stand,
I'll do all my pleasure. Calling a ravenous bird from
the east, the man that executeth my counsel from the far country,
I have spoken it, I'll bring it to pass. I've purposed it,
I'll do it. His covenant is an everlasting
covenant. Christ is the Lamb slain before
the foundation of the world. Everything that's done in time
by Almighty God, by the power of His Spirit, was decreed and
purposed before the world began. That's true. That's when the
book of life was written before the foundation of the world. All right, the second thing about
these people who are ordained to life, that's the time of their
ordination. Secondly, I want you to see the
freeness of it, the grace of it. God didn't choose us to salvation
because he saw what we would do. That's not election. God didn't choose us to salvation
because of anything he saw in us. We were all under condemnation
and wrath. We were all in sin. There is no difference. That's
what Scripture keeps saying, that there is no difference. All is sin and comes short of
the glory of God. God is no respecter of a man's
person because his person hasn't got anything in it to respect.
Isn't that right? Titus says this, it's not by
works of righteousness which we have done, but according to
his mercy that he chose us, his mercy that he saved us, his mercy
that he ordained us to life. Turn with me to Ephesians 2.
This is a scripture with which you're so familiar. Do you see
what I'm trying to say? This choosing, this ordination,
this appointment to life, is not God looking down and seeing
what you will do, or seeing what is in you, or seeing what about
you will cooperate. Left alone, you'll never cooperate
with God. Left alone, you'll never hear
God. Left alone, you'll never desire God. We'll go our own
way, like sheep we've gone astray, everyone turns to his own way,
not God's way. We have a way, but it's not God's
way. We have thoughts, but they're not God's thoughts. We have love,
but it's not the love of God. We think, but we don't think
on God. We're dead. In Ephesians 2 verse 8, For by
grace, for by grace are you saved, or have you been saved, through
faith, and that not of yourselves, even faith's the gift of God.
It's not works, lest any man should boast, where his workmanship
created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before
ordained that we should walk in them. My friends, the awakening
is of God. You hath thee quickened who were
dead. The desire of Christ is of God. Repentance is the gift
of God. It's the goodness of God that
led thee to repentance. Faith is the gift of God. Sustaining
grace is the gift of God. Continuance in the faith. We're
kept by the power of God through faith. What God requires, God provides. We have nothing of which to boast.
And what God provides, God accepts. Do you understand what I'm saying?
What God requires, everything that He requires, He provides.
That's what you prayed a moment ago. God requires righteousness. Christ provides it. God requires
holiness, Christ provided it. God requires a payment for sin,
Christ provided it. God requires faithfulness, Christ
provided it. Everything God requires of you
and me, Christ gave us, we have in him. By the grace of God,
Paul said, I am what I am. Thy people shall be willing,
when? In the day of thy power. We're not going to quicken anyone,
we're not going to convert anyone, we're not going to convict anyone.
God will. The Son quickeneth whom he will.
Read that. Turn to John 5. Listen to that. John chapter 5. See, this is
a quickening. In John chapter 5, our Lord Jesus
Christ said this in verse 21. John 5, verse 21. For as the
Father raiseth up the dead, We're not speaking here of the physically
dead. We'll get to that in a few moments.
We're talking about the spiritually dead. Dead sinners in Adam all
die. You know what scripture says?
Even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. For the Father judgeth
no man, but hath committed all judgment to the Son. That all
men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He
that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father that sent him.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and
believes on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall
not come into condemnation, but is passed from a state of death
to a state of life. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
that I was coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the
voice of the Son of God, And they that hear shall live. What
is this dead? That's spiritually dead. That's
not the physically dead. For as the Father hath life in
himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself,
and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because
he is the Son of Man. That's what he prayed in John
7. He said, Father, you've given me authority over all flesh that
I should give eternal life to as many as you've given me. Now
here's the resurrection, verse 28, marvel not at this. For the
hour is coming in which all that are in the graves shall hear
his voice, and come forth. They that have done good, and
that good is faith, love in Christ, believe in Christ, good in Christ,
unto the resurrection of life. They that have done evil, unto
the resurrection of damnation. Oh, there's coming a time when
he'll speak, and the graves will give up their days. But this
time here is when he speaks, the spiritual grave yields up
its dead. And we who are quickened to life
will never die. Oh, this body will sleep, but
I'm not the body. Somebody says a man has a soul.
No, he doesn't. He is a soul. He has a body. You see what I'm
saying? And my body will sleep, but my
soul will never die. Never die. So there's two resurrections
here. There's the spiritual resurrection
when he speaks and the dead awake and the dead are quickened and
the dead are given eternal life. And then there's the physical
resurrection. So it's free. It's a gift of God. He'll quicken whom he will. The
Son will quicken whom he will. That's what Bob read. He said,
I'll be merciful to whom I will be merciful. I'll be gracious
to whom I will be gracious. So it's not of him that will
it. The problem is we don't will it. Our will is in bondage to
our sins. Our third thing about them is
this, the certainty of their ordination to life. The time
before the foundation of the world, the grace of it, it's
free, gift of God. We didn't earn it, merit it,
contribute to it, from Alpha to Omega. It's the gift of God.
Thirdly, the certainty of it. Will all those in God's covenant
be saved? Will all the elect be saved?
Will all for whom Christ died come to faith? A man asked a
friend of mine the other day, do you believe a man can be saved
and then be lost? Depends on who saved him. Depends on whether or not he's
one of those whom the Lord foreknew. None of them will be lost. None
of the elect will be lost. Turn to John 6. Our Lord clearly,
clearly declares that in John 6, verse 37. Listen. None of
those ordained, all as many as were ordained alike believed.
And they continue to believe. And they never quit believing.
John said, if they've been of us, they will continue with us.
John 6, 37, listen, "...all that my Father giveth me shall come
to me. And him that cometh to me I will nevertheless cast out.
I came down from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will
of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will
which hath sent me. And of all which he hath given
me I should lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last
day." Does that answer it? Will all the elect be saved?
Christ said, of all that he gave me, I lose nothing. Does that
answer it? Will all for whom he died be
saved? Will all in the covenant of grace be saved? I lose nothing,
nothing, nothing. Look at verse 44. No man can
come to me. John 6, 44. No man desires to
come to me. No man, be his natural state
what it is, be his ability what it is, can, has the ability to
come to me. Believe on me, except the Father
which sent me drawing. God's got to draw him, God's
got to woo him, God's got to call him, and I raise him up
at the last day. It's written in the prophets,
they shall all, they shall be all taught of God. Every man
that has heard, every man that has learned of the Father, you
come to me. Now, people may learn of preachers and religious leaders
and catechism teachers, they won't come to Christ, but if
any man ever hears from God, and learns of God, he comes to
Christ. He doesn't come to a preacher or to an ordinance or to a profession. He comes to Christ. Every man,
every man, every single one of them that hears from God and
is called of God and taught of God will come to Christ. Now,
he'll never leave Him either. Turn to John 10. That's just
fact. I'll tell you the reason people
of falling from their profession is because it's theirs, it's
not his. Another reason why people are getting religion and losing
it, that's so they got religion, they didn't come to Christ. If
a man ever comes to Christ, he'll never leave Him. Listen to John
10, verse 14. I'm the good shepherd, I know
my sheep, and they know me, I'm known of mine. As the Father
knoweth me, even so I know the Father. I lay down my life for
the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this foal, Peter,
James, John, Nathanael, the rest of them, them I must bring, I
must. And they shall hear my voice,
no doubt about it. They shall be one foal and one
shepherd. I saw where they shall." And
in verse 24, the Jews came round about him, John 10, 24, and they
said, How long are you going to make us doubt? If you be the
Christ, tell us plainly. He said, I told you. You didn't
believe me. The works that I do in my Father's
name, they bear witness of me. But you believe not because you
are not of my sheep. As many as were ordained to eternal
life believe. The rest of them didn't believe.
You know what that says, Tom? I told you and you didn't believe.
And you didn't believe because you are not of my sheep. You
are not ordained to life. Had you been ordained to life,
you would have believed. I said to you, my sheep, hear
my voice. And I know them, and they follow
me, and I give them. I don't sell it to them. I give
them eternal life. It's not a cooperative effort.
I give them eternal life. A gift's not a gift if you pay
something for it. A gift's not a gift if you contribute
to it. A gift's not a gift if you return
something in exchange for it. I give them eternal life, and
they shall never perish. And neither shall any man pluck
them out of my hands. My Father gave them me, and He
is greater than all, and no man can pluck them out of my Father's
hand. See, my Father and I are one.
His purpose is my purpose. His covenant is my covenant.
His will is my will. His doings are my doings. Shall they all be saved? Well,
if you say, well, I think, you blow the whole thing when you
start thinking. It's what these people honored
the Word of God. They believed the Word of God.
That's what God said. It doesn't matter what Henry
Mahan says, it's what God said. And the reason people don't want
to think about the Bible is most preachers are not preaching with
the Bible laying right there. They get up and take a text and
depart from it, a long ways away from it. They need to take this
Word and open it up and leave it open. and get the people to
open theirs. You go to a lot of churches,
you'd be the only one with a Bible if you take a Bible. And find
out what God says. Here's the fourth thing. Now
here's one of the keys. Watch this now. The key, I guess.
These people are ordained to life. The person in whom they
were ordained to life. Now the time before the world
began, it's free. It'll continue. but the person
in whom they were ordained to life. Now, many folks who study
what is called the doctrines of grace, I hear people say,
well, I came to the knowledge of the doctrines of grace. I
bet it didn't help you any. I bet it didn't help you. I bet
it just made you contrary. I didn't come to the knowledge
of a doctrine. I came to the knowledge of a person. John,
there's a difference. You can know the doctrines of
grace and not know grace. That's right. A lot of people
study what they call and preach what they call the doctrines
of grace. Sovereignty, election, predestination, and all the related
truth, but they fail at one major point. The person in whom all
these blessings rest. The person in whom all these
graces abide. The fountain, the source, the
giver of life. You talk about sovereignty? It's
Christ that's sovereign. We don't preach the sovereignty
of God, we preach the God who is sovereign. That's his character. That's who God is. If he's not
God, he's not God. Let God be God. If he's not sovereign,
he's not God. If he's not omnipotent, he's
not God. Talk about the covenant. He brought
again from the dead that great shepherd of the sheep through
the blood of the everlasting covenant. Christ is the surety
of that covenant. He's the life of it, the heart
of it. You talk about hope, Christ in you, that's the hope. You
hear people say, I've got a good hope. You've got a good hope
if you've got Christ, because there's no hope outside Christ.
Christ in you is the hope of glory. Life, eternal life, Christ
is our life. He said, when Christ shall appear,
you shall be made like him, because he is a resurrection. He said,
I am the resurrection. Did you notice over in 2 Timothy,
we'll turn back over there just a moment, and this is something
maybe we missed when we were looking at something else. In
2 Timothy 1 verse 9, look at this again. 2 Timothy 1 verse
9. He had saved us and called us
with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
his own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus. before the world began. That's
where the hope is. That's where the grace is. That's
where the mercy is. It's in Christ Jesus. Everything
he purposed, he purposed in Christ Jesus. Turn to Ephesians 1. A
man may believe the doctrines of election and sovereignty and
particular addiction, these things, and not know Christ. But if a
man knows Christ, he believes those doctrines. You see, you
don't arrive at Christ through doctrine, you arrive at doctrine
through Christ. You find out who He is, when
you find out who He is, you find out His character, and His attributes,
and His doings, and His purposes. Look at Ephesians 1, 3. Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies, where? In
Christ. That's where the blessings are,
in Christ. According as He chose us, where? In Christ, before
the foundation of the world. That we should behold Him without
blame before Him in love, having predestinated us to the adoption
of children by Christ, by Jesus Christ Himself, according to
the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of
His grace wherein He made us accepted, where? In Christ, in
the Beloved. in whom in Christ we have redemption
through his blood, the forgiveness of sin according to the riches
of his grace. You know, when Paul stated that portion of scripture that
we know so well, for whom he did foreknow, he did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of his son. God's predestination
has to do with Christ. We're going to be like Christ.
And whom he predestinated, he called. And whom he called, he
justified. And whom he justified, he glorified.
Now, what should we say to these things? Well, we say, if God
be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own
son, how shall he not with him freely give us all things? We have all things in Christ.
Why do we have the promise of all things? He spared not his
own son. Who is he that can bring anything
to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justified. Who
can lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is Christ
that died, risen again, ascended, seated at the right hand of God.
So here's the key to it. It's not my doctrines that save
me, it's my Redeemer that saves me. It's not the presence of
doctrine in my head that glorifies God, it's love for Christ in
my heart that glorifies God. It's not resting in a truth,
it's resting in a person. Is that clear what I'm saying?
It's Christ in you, the hope of glory. So the key to all this
ordination, He's ordained us and appointed us and predestinated
us and chosen us to be like Christ. He's going to be the firstborn
among many brethren. Now here's the fifth thing. The
glory of this ordination. You know, when you hear a man
preach, and there are a lot of preachers, there are just a lot
of preachers, it's a real discouraging and frustrating thing. All the
voices that are being heard, all of them using Bibles, But
there are several questions which ought to be considered when we
hear a preacher and examine that man's message. Examine his message. What's his motive? What's his
message? What's he setting out to do? What's he trying to do? There are four things. Number one, consider the character
and attributes of the God he preaches. How great is his God? How big is this God? How glorious
and majestic is this God? How almighty is this God? Listen to a man preach and how
does he come across when he talks about God? The reverence and
awe and fear of God, the glory and power of God. Does he talk
about what God wants to do and can't do, what God would like
to do and not able to do? Does he talk about how God depends
on you or how you depend on God? How does he come across talks
about God? What's your idea of God when you hear this man preach? Does he stress, strongly stress
the total impossibility of your ever coming to God or knowing
God or communicating with God apart from God's pleasure and
purpose? God dwells in a light to which
no man can approach. No man's ever seen God or ever
will except in Christ. That's so. You know, if you're
in the Niagara River and you're rushing toward the falls, you
only got one hope. Not in anything in you and of
you or about you. Whatever you grab hold of, it's
going over with you. You got one hope. From the shore,
somebody will throw you a line. That's the only hope. And I'll
tell you, rushing down the Niagara River of life towards certain
sheer destruction, everything you lay hold of, every body you
lay hold of, everything you consider in yourself or scheme you come
up with is just going to perish with you. Your only hope is that
God, from glory, will cast you the one life, the one mediator,
and that's Christ Jesus. He'll give you Christ. You turn
your eyes to Christ, He'll lay hold of you by the hand of Christ.
That's your only prayer and hope. And He got to throw it. And He's
not standing over there waving it like this, waiting on you
to do something about it. That's exactly right. And secondly,
when you listen to a preacher, you find out in his message the
character and condition of the man he preaches. Is man dead
or slightly wounded? Because of the fall in the garden,
did he lose his sight or just kind of dimmed his sight? Is
his will in bondage or is his will still in operation? Is the
power of choice affected by his nature? Come on now, what kind
of man does he preach? I'll tell you what this Bible
preaches, sinners are dead. They're not dead physically,
they're not dead morally, they're not dead mentally, they're dead
spiritually. They are moral, responsible individuals,
and God will hold account for their actions. That's right. But they're dead to God. They
don't know God, don't want God, don't seek God, don't cry after
God. That's exactly right. God is
totally opposite from everything in their minds and in their thoughts.
Oh, they'll take a life after death. Even the old Indians talk
about a happy hunting ground, but if it's a happy hunting ground,
it's not a person. They don't care whether there's anybody
there or not, just as long as they have some buffalo to shoot. Paul said, I have a desire to
depart and be with Christ. So this man that he preaches,
I want to know what power does this man possess? What strength
does he possess? What are the desires of this
man he preaches? The man in the Bible, the man
by nature, the things of God are foolishness to him. And here's
the third thing, the person and work of his Redeemer. This Jesus
that they're preaching, the Jesus I'm hearing preached today is
a Jesus who tried and failed. Now he just absolutely failed.
He sits on one side and the devil's on the other and they're battling. Christ's not battling with the
devil. He's already defeated him. The prince of this world
is judged and what? Cast out. A woman wrote me this
week, or last week, and asked me if demons and the devil had
any deeds with God's people. And I said, not unless God lets
him. That's right, not unless God lets him. He couldn't touch
Job without God's permission. He said to Peter, Satan hath
desired thee that he may sift thee as wheat. The Lord Jesus
has to give Satan any power or strength he has over any of his
elect. He can't touch you. You're immortal
till God takes you home. Why, that's so. I'll never leave
you nor forsake you, Christ said. Lord, I'm with you always. The
devil and Christ, they're not partners in this business. They're
not combatants. They're not rivals. Christ is
on his own. The devil's conquered and whipped
and defeated and cast out. He's got no dealings with God's
kingdom or God's people. Our Lord Jesus didn't fail. He
didn't come down here to try to save people. He came to save
sinners. He didn't come to try to seek
the lost. He came to seek and to save the lost. The Lord Jesus
Christ said, I know my sheep. I lay down my life for my sheep.
My sheep will hear my voice and they'll follow me and none of
them will be lost. We don't have a Savior who's
trying to do anything. I get so weary of preachers saying,
now, what God's trying to show you is this. God's not trying
to show you anything. Now, just don't elevate yourself
to that position that a holy God comes down and tries to show
you something. Let me tell you, he who invented
the eye and made it see could make it see. He who made the
earth can sure make it here. He who let them build that wall
of Jericho, and it took them years to build that thing, took
him that long to tear it down. And that's so. I don't preach
a God who is limited in any shape, form, or fashion in regard to
any human being. He'll do what He will, when He
will, with whom He will. And everybody's going to glorify
either His grace or His justice. He raised everybody up to occupy
this world and this kingdom to accomplish His purpose and bring
Him glory. He said, Pharaoh, there's Moses
and Pharaoh. Moses, God used for His glory.
Pharaoh, He said, I raised you up to accomplish My purpose and
to show My power in you. And He cast him in the river.
Now, that's just so. That's our God. Well, somebody
says, I don't like that. Well, that doesn't matter. It
won't change a thing. Honestly, it won't change. We're
so filled with our self-importance. Do you know five minutes after
you've gone most people will say, who? Who? Tom who? That's
right. And me too. Henry who? Who was
that fella? We just fill with too much self-importance. And if God doesn't shut our mouths
and strip us and humble us and break us and put in the dust,
he'll damn us now. He's not going to let you confuse
and tear up his kingdom. The people who are going to live
in glory are those who are in total submission to an almighty
sovereign God. They bow up there because they
bowed down here. They submit up there because
they submitted down here. And if you can't submit, You
can perish. Turn or burn. He's got to do
that. He's got to put all this opposition
where it can do no more harm. And here's the fourth thing about
a preacher, the character of his God, the character of his
man, the character of his Redeemer. Christ is seated. And fourthly,
who gets the glory in the salvation of a sinner? Who gets the glory? Turn with me to 1 Corinthians
1. Who gets the glory? 1 Corinthians
1. Who gets all the glory for your
salvation, or in your salvation? 1 Corinthians 1, verse 26. Listen to this. For you see your
calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh,
not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God hath chosen
the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God
hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things
which are mighty, and the base things of the world and things
which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and the things which are
not, to bring to naught the things that are, that no flesh should
glory in his presence. And that'll do away with all
your so-called rewards in heaven and your crowns And all this
other stuff people are preaching about God lining people up up
there and praising and bragging on them and giving them rewards
for what they did down here. Anything you do is by His grace.
You don't do it, He does it through you. It's not I, Paul said, but
Christ that worketh within me. Let no flesh get glory in His
presence. We don't want glory. But of Him
are you in Christ Jesus? who of God is made unto us wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, that according
as it is written, he that gloryeth, let him glory in the Lord, unto
him who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own precious
blood. Unto him be the glory, both now
and forever. That's how to find out if a man's
preaching the truth. Who gets the glory? who gets
the glory, now and forever, who gets the glory. Our Father, take
thy word tonight and make it a blessing. Oh, how precious,
comforting, assuring is thy word. Not unto us, not unto us, O Lord. To thy name be the glory, both
now and forever. Glorify Thyself through this
message. Reveal it to the hearts of Thy
people. We know those who are ordained to eternal life believe
all that we might believe. In Christ's name I pray, Amen.

Ordained to Eternal Life

What does the Bible say about being ordained to eternal life?

How do we know election and predestination are true?

Why is understanding God's sovereignty important for Christians?

What is the significance of justification in the Reformed tradition?

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Ordained to Eternal Life

What does the Bible say about being ordained to eternal life?

How do we know election and predestination are true?

Why is understanding God's sovereignty important for Christians?

What is the significance of justification in the Reformed tradition?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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