The other night, over in Madisonville, Kentucky,
where I preached in a Bible conference, I talked to several young men and young women who
were visiting from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, who were in the armed
forces. visiting in the Bible conference. One of them was there from a
southern state, I believe South Carolina, and I held a conversation with
him about his home church. He was talking about his home
church. He was a I suppose, a well-read
young man. He seemed to know what he was
talking about. He was very young, but he had been doing some reading. As we talked about his home church
and he mentioned his pastor, in the course of the conversation
I asked him this question. I said, Does your pastor preach
sovereign grace? And his reply prompted my message
for the night. I thought quite a bit about what
he answered. There are a lot of implications
in what he replied. I said, Does your pastor preach
sovereign grace? And he looked at me and he said,
Well, yes, but he doesn't harp on it. And I got to thinking about that
answer. How does a fellow harp on the grace of God? What would
you consider harping on the grace of God? How often do you have
to preach the grace of God to be harping on it? What's wrong
with harping on the grace of God? Can you think of anything
better to harp on? I just thought about a lot of
things, you know. And then I thought about this, to a man who doesn't,
now listen to me, to a man who doesn't believe in his heart
that salvation is by grace alone. To a man or woman who does not
in his heart, now he may in his head and he may in his catechism,
he may in his creed, he may in his denominational leanings,
he may in his profession But to a man who really does not
ascribe all that he is and has and ever will be totally, completely,
absolutely to the free grace of God, preaching it once a month
would be heartening on it to him, because he just doesn't want
to hear about grace, grace, grace, grace, grace. But to a man who
knows that he's undeserving, ill-deserving, hell-deserving,
To a man who knows that he's wretched, miserable, poor, and
blind, to a man who knows that he is undeserving of even the
least of God's favors or mercy, to a man that knows he's insufficient,
incapable, and unable of himself to breathe, let alone to call
on God, preaching at every service would not be harping on it. If
he heard nothing but the grace of God from morning till evening
and dreamed about it at night, it wouldn't be too much to him,
because he knows he is what he is by the grace of God. He even
knows that what he knows is by the grace of God, and what he
has is by the grace of God. And his theme song is, how great
a debtor daily I'm constrained to be." My friends, there's no subject
in this Bible that's not directly related to the grace of God.
I do not know of one thing, and I thought about this when I jotted
that down to make it one of the points in my introduction. There's
no subject in this Bible that is not directly related to the
grace, the free grace, the unmerited favor of God Almighty, except
one. You know what that is? There's
only one subject the grace of God has nothing with which to
do. That particular subject, one subject, one happening that
the grace of God had nothing to do with. That's the fall of
man. He did that by himself. That's
the only thing we've ever done as far as God's concerned, as
far as spiritual matters are concerned, as far as our relationship
with God. That's the only thing we've ever
done on our own, is follow everything else but the grace of God. For
example, it was God's grace that determined to save a people.
Turn back to Ephesians, that scripture I read a moment ago.
It was God's grace, it was God's free, unmerited grace, it was
God's free favor that determined in the first place to have a
people out of Adam's race. Go back before all of this came
to pass. Now, here Paul did it in the
Scripture I read a moment ago in verse 3 of Ephesians 1. Paul says, Praise God. Verse
3 of Ephesians 1, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ. He has blessed us. God's blessed
us. He's blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in the heavenlies in Christ." Now, Paul, watch this.
Paul is writing to this church at Ephesus, and he is talking
about the blessings that we have, spiritual blessings. God's blessed
us. We have redemption, remission
of sins. We have forgiveness. We have
life. We have fellowship with God.
We have sonship. We have adoption. We have a knowledge
of God, we have fellowship with God in prayer, we have these
things in Christ. Now watch it, watch the next
verse. According, according, because he hath chosen us in
Christ. That's the reason, John, I have
these blessings, because he chose me in Christ. That's what I'm
doing in Christ, because he chose me in Christ. That's how I got
in Christ, because God chose me in Christ. I'm in Christ. How did I get in Christ? I have
all these blessings in Christ, but how did I get in Christ?
Because God chose me in Christ. And then he goes back another
step, look, in verse 5. "...having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children." In other words, my blessings that
I now have were preceded by an act of God. accusing me. And that act of God was preceded
by a purpose of God, a predestinating purpose. God predetermined. The
word predestinated means predetermined, determined before it comes to
pass. And God determined that he would
have children, adopted some children by Jesus Christ. And before that,
came a will to do it, according to the good pleasure of his will.
Back many years ago, I think it was 1954. I never will forget
how much this helped me. I was young in the gospel of
grace, twenty-eight years old. Brother Fletcher came here from
Hampton, Virginia, and taught the book of Ephesians, the first
two chapters. And he got on these verses right
here, and he said, now, he said, if I trace my blessings I start
where I am. That's the only way I can trace
blessing is to start where I am. Start with the blessing. So he
said, I have been blessed by God. Everything I have is by
grace. I believe Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I do. Like a man that was here last
Sunday said something about, well, he said that preacher sure
believes what he preaches. I do, my friend. I believe it.
Believe the Bible is the Word of God. I believe Christ died
for our sins. I believe he redeemed us. I believe
we are children of God. I believe that. Like Bruce said
a while ago, as well as I know my name, I believe that. All
right, how do I get there? Take one step back. God chose
me in Christ. I am in Christ. I am redeemed
in Christ, forgiven in Christ, justified in Christ. Not because
I put myself in Christ, or my mother and daddy put me in Christ,
or my preacher put me in Christ, or my good works put me in Christ,
but God put me in Christ. He chose me in Christ. I don't
know why, I just know He did. And then why did He choose me
and why did He choose any of us? Because He predetermined
or predestinated that he was going to have some folks like
Christ. He was going to have a people. Heaven is going to
be populated, Barton said. God is going to have some children.
God is going to have a family. God is going to have a kingdom.
God is going to have a people, and every one of them is going
to be like his beloved, only begotten Son. He determined that. I know a lot of people use that
word predestination in reference to every time a kite falls, or
a tree falls, or a bird falls, but predestination has to do
with what we're going to be. God predetermined that we'd be
like Christ. Four or five times it's used
in the New Testament, every time it's in this direction. God predetermined
that everybody whom he saves is going to be like Christ. It's
just like He says, they're going to be like my son. That's predestinated. Everything that happens from
the time I've chosen to the time I resurrect them is working toward
that end, that purpose of making them like Christ. Now then, Mr. Fletcher said, I take one more
step back. God has blessed me because he chose me. He chose
us in Christ because he predetermined to have a people like Christ.
They'd never choose Him. They'd never come to Him. They'd
never seek Him. They'd never love Him. Well,
why did He predetermine to have a people like Christ? Because
that was His will. That was His good pleasure. So
He said, now, if I'm going to trace my blessings from that
end, from God's end, then I'll start with His good pleasure.
God had a purpose. God had a will. And that will
was to have a people. And then he kills those people.
And then when they were born on this earth, he blessed them
and called them to himself. Now, everything's related to
that. Making Christ our surety is related to the grace of God.
It was the grace of God that made Christ our surety. It was
the grace of God that gave Christ to people. It was the grace of
God that sent Christ into the world in the fullness of time.
We didn't bring Christ down. We didn't go up after Christ.
God so loved that he gave his Son. That's grace. In the fullness
of time, God sent forth his Son into the world. It was God's
grace that called me. Turn to Galatians chapter 1.
Listen to the Apostle Paul here. Galatians 1 verse 13. Paul talks about his religious
background. He said there, You've heard of
my conversation in times past in the Jews' religion, how that
beyond Nazareth I persecuted the Church of God and wasted
it, and I profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals
in my own nation, Galatians 1.14, being more exceedingly zealous
of the traditions of my Father. But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's
womb, and call me by his grace to reveal his Son in me, that
I might preach him among the heathen. Immediately I did not
confer with flesh and blood. That is what I was called when
it pleased God. Now wait a minute. When it pleased
God. God had already chosen me. God
had already predetermined that I would be like Christ. He is
a chosen vessel unto me, God said. From my mother's womb,
God had his designs and love and affection upon me. I was
an object of his grace. But when it pleased him, and
in this particular case, the Apostle Paul had come through
being born a Hebrew of Hebrews and a tribe of Benjamin and schooling
of Gamaliel and persecuting the Church and wrapped in his own
self-righteousness. That's the route he came. But
when it pleased God, God arrested him on the road to Damascus.
And God called him, God revealed Christ in him. And he may have
brought you another route. The Apostle Peter didn't come
that route. The Apostle Peter came down by the seashore, vile,
sinful, cursing, wretched fisherman. And another man comes another,
Onesimus. Onesimus was a slave. Onesimus
lived in the house of Philemon. He was just a slave, maybe a
black slave. But he escaped. He was an escaped
slave. He escaped to Rome. While in
Rome, he heard Paul preach and came to the knowledge of the
gospel. Paul sent him back home. So see, God's people come different
routes. But they come to the same place,
Calvary, to the cross. They come to Christ. And when
it pleases God, some are called very young. Paul said of Timothy,
from a child you knew the holy scriptures that were able to
make you wise to salvation. Some of you didn't know them
from a child, some of you did. Some of you came the religious
road, some of you came the Armenian road, some of you came the Roman
road, some of you came the rebel road, some of you came other
roads. But I'll tell you when you'll
come to Christ, when it pleases God by His grace to call you. You may be 50, 60 years old before
God calls you, but I'll guarantee you it's His grace that calls
you. We're all Arminians by nature,
we're all religious by nature, but only by grace are we Christians.
Only by grace are we believers, only by grace are we in Christ.
It pleased God to call me by his grace. And I'll tell you
this, turn to Jude 24. It's his grace that keeps us.
Now brethren, I'm telling you this, some of us have been shocked
to no end by developments in our lifetimes. I've watched preachers,
deacons, Sunday school teachers, church members, and people so
emphatic and energetic and zealous for what I'm preaching tonight fall along the wayside, depart
from in identification with the grace of God. I've seen Him go
into tongues. I've seen Him depart into mysticism. I've seen Him go into infidelity. I've seen Him go into materialism. I've seen Him go into every kind
of ism and schism you can think of. There's no reason for me
being lifted up. There's no reason for me and
myself to feel secure. It's just one reason that I don't
depart, and that's His grace. That's so in Jude chapter, not
one chapter, verse 24. Now unto Him that's able to keep
you from falling, to keep you from falling. And I mean, my
friend, with one hand on the doorknob of heaven to keep you
from falling. And he's the only one who's able.
I'm kept by his grace. It's his grace that chose me. It's his grace that loved me. It's his grace that sought me.
It's his grace that called me. It's his grace that kept me.
And Barnard said, emblazoned across the sky in glory will
be these words, Salvation is of the Lord, from start to finish.
Alpha to Omega. It will be God's grace that raises
me from the tomb and makes me like his son. And the song of
the glorified will be, Praise God for his wonderful grace. And it will be amazing grace
how sweet the sound that saves and keeps saving and effectually
saves a wretch like me. I once was lost, but if it wasn't
for God's grace it would be now. But now I see. I once was blind.
If it wasn't for God's grace, I'd be blind now. Or I'd go blind. But now I see. I don't see one
thing in which the natural man has to boast, to be honest with
you. Turn to Jeremiah, chapter 9. Really and truly, now, let's
think about it. What do we have to boast about? If you don't give God So this
boy says he doesn't harp on the grace of God. Well, my friend,
what else do you want me to harp on? If I'm going to harp, and
you know, I guess saints are supposed to harp, aren't they?
I see all these pictures, everybody's got to harp, play a harp. But
if I'm going to harp, what am I going to harp on if it's not
the grace of God? In Jeremiah 9.23, the Lord said,
Let not the wise man glow in his wisdom, So we're not going to talk about
our wisdom. I know what my wisdom is. It's foolishness. It's utter,
absolute foolishness. But of God are you in Christ
Jesus who's made unto us wisdom. So wisdom is by His grace. All
right? Neither let the mighty man grow in his might, in my
strength, in my courage, in my ability to hold out. I've seen
too many stronger than I thought. So I'm not going to glory in
my might, either physical might or mental might or spiritual
might. It's by his grace I stand. He
said this, Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he
fall. You think you stand? You better
take heed. It's only by God's grace you
stand. Let not the rich man glory his riches, any kind of riches,
riches of grace, riches of goods, riches of help, riches of anything. You may not glory in those riches,
but who make it be to differ? What do you have you didn't receive?
Come on now, name one thing. What do you have you didn't receive? Now, if you didn't receive it,
God says, why do you boast as if you didn't receive? I don't
know anything else to glory in besides the grace of God. I stand
on my two feet tonight by the grace of God. I raise my arm
by the grace of God. I see, I hear, I speak. I live
by the grace of God. But, verse 24, let him that gloryeth,
glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord
which exercised lovingkindness, judgment, righteousness in the
earth. These are the things in which
I delight, saith the Lord." God forbid, Paul said, God forbid
that I should glory save in what? In the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ. I fail to see where any son of
Adam has one thing in which to glory except the grace of Sovereign
grace is the answer to human sin. Sovereign grace is the answer
to human inability. Sovereign grace is the answer
to human unwillingness. Sovereign grace is the answer
to human weakness. Sovereign grace is the answer
to human guilt. Sovereign grace is the answer
to every need. The grace of God. It was grace that taught my heart
to fear. and grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear
the hour I first believed. Through many dangers, toils and
snares, I have already come. It's grace that brought me safe
thus far. It's grace that will lead me
home." I want to give you seven things,
and I'll close from Matthew 11. Will you turn to Matthew 11?
Matthew chapter 11, the Lord Jesus Christ here gives us seven
things about the grace of God. I think this is a worthy outline
to be looked into and to be considered and to be remembered if God gives
us the grace. Even that, it's by his grace
I remember anything. It's by his grace I understand
anything. It's only by his grace that I
comprehend anything. Man cannot comprehend God except
by his grace. In Matthew 11.25, the first thing
I see here, now watch, this is important. Here is the spirit
in which to regard the sovereign grace of God. Our Lord Jesus
Christ at that time, verse 25, answered and said, I thank thee,
I thank thee, O Lord, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
you have hid these things from the wise and prudent, and you
have revealed them to babes, I thank you, I thank you. Thank God, he is purposed to
say. Thank God he elected a people. Thank God that he didn't leave
us in our sins. Thank God that he didn't leave
us in our rebellion like he did the angels of old. Thank God
he chose us. If you haven't noticed this,
now, here are two things that I noticed in particular. When
Paul writes about the Lord choosing a people for his glory, Paul
nearly always, when he mentions election, he does it with thanksgiving. in Ephesians, which I read a
moment ago, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who chose us. In II Thessalonians 2.13, Beloved,
I thank God for you, because God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation. Every time Paul mentions election,
practically every time, he usually is giving thanks for God's elective
grace. When we preach it today, men
get angry. They don't give thanks, they
get angry. They don't praise God, they find
fault. Now, that's hard to understand.
And here the Lord Jesus Christ, in Matthew 11, verse 25, says,
I thank you, Father. I thank you, you've revealed
this to me. I thank you in your good pleasure
you passed by some, but you didn't pass by all of them. I thank
you, Father, that you've chosen me. I'll tell you something else
that's interesting. Nearly every time Paul mentions election,
he's thanking God And he's talking about that election leading to
godliness, holiness, and righteousness. You never touch it. He said,
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
has blessed us with all spiritual blessings, and the heavenlies
in Christ, according as he chose us in Christ before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy. I'm bound to give thanks for
you, brethren, the love of the Lord, because God hath from the
beginning chosen you to salvation. through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth, nearly every time. Paul mentions
election, he mentions praising God and righteous living. Nearly
every time, now listen to me, that we preach it today, men
get angry and they start talking about this doctrine will lead
to sin. You ever notice that? That's two things that will crop
up. You mentioned out on the job. You may sit in a church,
the doctrine of election, the doctrine of God choosing a people,
and somebody will get angry. You won't hear people. You'll
get into argument and anger and harsh words and divisions. You won't hear it by saying,
Praise God! Woo! Praise God! He kills the people.
And then you'll hear this guy over here will say, That kind
of doctrine will lead to lasciviousness. That kind of doctrine will lead
to licentiousness. That kind of doctrine will lead
to sin. That kind of doctrine leads to carelessness and indifference.
That's not what Paul said. It shows them that we should
be holy. Thank God. All right, notice
the second thing, and I'll hurry. First, we have the spirit in
which sovereign grace is to be received with thanksgiving. Secondly,
we have the author of grace. I thank thee, Father. I thank thee, Father. All of
this is of God. God chose us, God called us,
God loved us. Now listen to me, and I'll help
you here. It is true that every believer
does choose God. One time we sang that song somewhere
in a church, I Choose Jesus. You ever hear that song, When
I Need a Friend? And somebody got upset. Well,
I'm not singing songs like that. Now wait a minute. Let's don't
become fatalists. I did choose Jesus, but He chose
me first. One time I preached a sermon
on sinners ought to seek the Lord. Seek the Lord. That's all. All the way through
that sermon, I cried for men, women, boys and girls to seek
the Lord. Seek the Lord. Cry out to God. I preached a sermon, Five Things
a Lost Sinner Can Do. Two or three people got mad at
me. I mean, friends. I mean, sovereign graces, Bruce.
You see, a man can't seek God. Now, wait a minute. Hold on.
The Bible doesn't say a man can't seek God. It says he won't. I
did seek the Lord, and you better seek him, too. But I'll tell
you this, those who seek him effectually, he sought them first. You see, that's the difference.
And I say to you tonight, I love the Lord. Some might think you're
being presumptuous to say, I love the Lord. Well, I do love the
Lord. Peter said, Lord, you know all things. You know I love you.
Don't love Him like I ought to. Don't love Him like I want to.
Don't love Him like I expect to. But I love Him. But I love Him because He loved
me first. Now, brethren, let's get this thing clear. Christ
said to his disciples, You have not chosen me, but they did choose
him. I chose you first. I loved you
first. We love him because he first
loved us. Turn to Romans 13. This will
help you a little bit. Romans 13. And don't be afraid
to preach a sermon to call on men to repent. They better repent. Romans chapter Romans chapter
10, if you will. Don't be afraid to preach the
sermon and call on men to seek the Lord. They'd better seek
the Lord. Now, brother, he's not obligated
to save you, but you'd better seek him. You'd better seek him. Don't be afraid to call on men
to love Christ and to choose Christ and to believe on Christ
and to run after Christ and to lay hold on Christ. Just know
this, that if they didn't, He laid hold on them first. He loved
them first. Now look at verse 13 of Romans
10. Verse 12, there is no difference
between the Jew and the Gentile. The same Lord over all is rich
unto all that call upon him. Whosoever, that's a big word,
whosoever, Jew, Gentile, white, black, rich, poor, short, old,
young, black, white, wise or unwise, free or born, whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Call on
him, he'll hear you. God have mercy a thief called
on him one time in the eleventh hour of his life and he heard
him. A publican, a despised, wretched publican cried on him,
called on him and he heard him. A harlot called on him, A blind
Bartimaeus called on him, a Zacchaeus called on him. You call on him. But how are you going to call
on him if you don't believe in him? How are you going to believe
on him if you don't hear of him? And how are you going to hear
if somebody don't preach to you? And how is somebody going to
preach to you unless God sends him? So my friend, listen to
me. Way back under When this whole
thing started, God had a purpose. And I recognized just as much
as one day the Lord Jesus Christ went there in that garden and
fell on his knees to pray. And a bunch of soldiers came
pushing their way through the leaves and through the trees
with lanterns and swords and staves and spears. And they came
and he said, Whom seek ye? They said, Jesus of Nazareth. He said, I'm he. They laid hold
on him and took him down there to the high priest's place, and
then to the pilot's hall, and then to the soldier's hall, and
beat him, and spat upon him, and persecuted him, and mocked
him, and ridiculed him. And then they took him on trial,
and they took him down the hill and nailed him to a cross. And
they took him down to the cross and put him in a tomb. everything
they did, God determined before to be done. Do you believe that?
That's what this book says, whether you believe it or not. Some fellow
down at the foot of the cross said, Don't tear that robe! That's
a seamless garment. I've never seen one like it.
He didn't read the Bible to find out he was supposed to say that.
He just came to his own wicked mind. Don't tear that robe, let's
cast lots for it." And they cast lots. One thousand years before
that, David said, they cast lots for my garment. They plucked out his beard. You
know, the man didn't read the Bible to find out he was supposed
to do that. The Bible said they plucked out his beard, pierced
his hands and feet, sold him for thirty pieces of silver.
All of that, and I'm saying this to you. The author of divine
grace is God the Father, and I come to you tonight as his
servant preaching this message. And this message was born a long
time ago, and this congregation was in the mind and purpose of
God brought together a long time ago. And what you do with this
message was decreed a long time ago. Huh? Oh, that's so. There's nothing
left to chance. It's not blind faith in which
we trust. It's grace. It's the grace of
God. It's the purpose and plan of
Almighty God. All right, the third thing about
this Matthew 11. First of all, the spirit in which
grace is to be received. Thank you, Father. And the author
of it is the Father. And what's this third thing?
to do what he will. Now, my friend, let me tell you
something. Does God have the power to do what he will? He
does if he's God. Secondly, does God have the right
to do what he will when he does if he's God? Now, listen to this. Scripture says, Can I not do
with my own what I will? What's your answer to that? Our
Lord gave a, here's where that came from. I believe that's in
Matthew 20. I'm not sure. Matthew 20, yeah,
verse 15. Is it not lawful for me to do
what I will with my own? Is your eye evil because I'm
good? The Lord gave a parable one time. He said a fellow owned
a big vineyard. Went out one morning, some fellow
standing around. Went out six o'clock in the morning.
some fellas standing around, he said, you fellas want to work?
Well, they said, yeah, we'll work. Will you work for a penny
a day? Now, a penny is a whole lot of money then. We'd say,
let's change that so you can get the right idea. You want
to work for $30? Why, we sure will. Come on. Took him down, put him to work.
Worked all day, $30. Picked the grapes. You got your
deal, boss. Went to work. Oh, about 9 o'clock,
he went down to the to the park again, saw some more fellas sittin'
there, I said, you fellas wanna work? Yeah, we'd like to work. Nine o'clock in the morning.
You work for $30 a day? We sure will. My vineyards right
down the road there. Go down there and start workin'.
They did. About 12 o'clock, he went out there again. All that
gang out there workin'. He went down there and he said,
you saw some more men? I said, you fellas wanna work?
Sure do. $30 a day? $30. I'll work for $30. 12 o'clock
now, did you know that? Pay you $30. They started working. About 5 o'clock in the evening,
about an hour before quitting time, he went down to the park
and he found four or five fellows sitting around there. Been there
all day and hadn't seen him. He said, you fellas want to work?
Yes, sir. Will you work for $30? We sure will. All right, 6 o'clock
came. All the men came out of the building.
Here they come, all of them. Some of them hired at 6, 9, 12,
3, 5. Just one day, just been there
an hour, they all came out and he started paying them. Every
one of them, thirty dollars, thirty dollars, thirty dollars.
Those fellows that went to work at six turned around and said,
Hey, wait a minute. That fellow didn't work but an
hour. He got thirty dollars. I worked all day long and I just
got thirty dollars. And the Lord looked at him and
said, What did you agree to work for? He said, $30. I said, what'd
you get? $30. Can I not do with my own
what I will? What's that right there? Is your
eye evil because I'm good? Huh? Oh, he's the potter. We're the
clay. You better remember that, big
boy. Turn around with mine. I know you deserve a bigger crown
than I do because you've been on the battlefield longer than
I have. Oh, my, my, my. Romans chapter
9, let's look at this, verse 20. Oh, man, just who are you? Just who are you that answereth
or disputeth with God? Shall the thing formed say to
him that formed it? Romans 9, 20. Why did you make
me like this? Doth not the putter have power
over the clay of the same lump of the same daddy, make one vessel
under honor and another under dishonor. Huh? I know you say that's hard. No,
that's not hard. That's a prerogative that you
exercise every day. Can I not do with my own what
I will? You want to part your hair in
the middle? You part in the middle. Ain't nobody's business, is it? If you want to take your car
and drag-strip it up the hill and burn your tires up, burn
them up. It's your tires. And yet we deny God the same
right to do with His own what He will. It's mine. How many times have you said
that in your lifetime? Well, it's mine. If I want to give it away, I'll
give it away. It's mine. Well, I'll tell you
this, this world belongs to my Lord, and he has all power over
all flesh that he'll give eternal life to as many as God gave him.
Now, you better remember that. He'll do with his own what he
will. That's something. All right,
Matthew 11 again. Let's look at this first. Here's
the spirit in which to look at sovereign grace. I thank you.
Here's the author of it, the Father. Here's his right to act
as he will. He's Lord of heaven and earth.
He's Lord of heaven and earth. All right, the fourth thing,
here's the objects of his grace. You've hid these things from
the wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes. Babes see truth because it's
revealed to them. The wise and prudent cannot see
the truth, for they trust in their own and their own knowledge,
which is darkness." That's right. The Lord is nigh unto them of
a broken heart. He saveth such as be of a contrite
spirit. Turn to the book of Daniel just
a moment. Let me show you something here.
Daniel, if you will, chapter 4. Daniel chapter 4. Pride, my friend, is a fatal,
fatal spirit. Pride goes before destruction,
the Holy Spirit before the fall. And this is what we're talking
about. God gives grace to the humble. He rejected and resisted
the proud. We need to learn this. The Pharisees
were proud men. The Hylats and Publicans were
humble men and women. And here we have in Daniel 4
in verse 29. We'll look at this a moment.
At the end of twelve months, Nebuchadnezzar walked in the
palace of the kingdom of Babylon, and he said, Is not this great
Babylon that I have built, for the house of the kingdom by the
might of my power, for the honor of my majesty? While the word
was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven saying,
King Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken, the kingdom has
departed from you. drive you from men, and your
dwelling will be with the beast of the field, and make you to
eat grass, as oxen seven times shall pass over thee, till you
know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and gives
it to whomsoever he will." That's the lesson that is learned in
grace. God rules and he gives it to
whom he And verse 34 said, At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar,
lifted up my eyes, my understanding returned to me, and I blessed
the Most High and honored him that lives forever, whose dominion
is an everlasting dominion, his kingdoms from generation to generation,
and all the inhabitants of this earth are reputed as nothing.
And he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven among
the inhabitants of this earth, and none can stand to him, stay
his hand, or say unto him, What are you doing? It's praise God,
whatever you do. That's what our Lord's saying
here. He's hid it from the wise and prudent, the rebellious and
the proud, and he's revealed it to those simple children who
are willing to say, God's will be done. Look at the fifth thing
quickly. Here's the reason for his grace, verse 26. The reason
for grace, even so, Father, it seemed good in your sight. I
can't go any further than that. And that's good enough for every
obedient son of God. Why did God permit the fall? It seemed good in his sight.
Why did God permit Saul of Tarsus to persecute Christians and to
help stone Stephen? It seemed good in his sight.
Why did God choose me and pass by my sister or brother or relative? It seemed good in his sight.
That's the only answer Christ gave. I thank you, Lord of heaven
and earth. You hid these things from the
wise and prudent, and you reveal it to me, because it seemed good
in your sight. Now watch this, 6 in the 6th
place. Here's the channel of all grace.
All things are delivered unto me from my Father. Here's the
Spirit. Thank you, Father, the author
of grace, the Father. The objects of grace, the poor.
The reason for grace, it seemed good in his sight. And here,
the channel, it's all in Christ. All things are delivered unto
me of my Father. All things are put into the hands
of Christ. All things that pertain to God are all things that pertain
to me. The honoring of the law was put
into the hands of Christ. The satisfying of God's justice
was put in the hands of Christ. The reconciling of a holy God
to sinners was put in the hands of Christ. The mediatorial work
put in the hands of Christ. The redemption of sinners, the
sanctification of sinners, the justification of sinners, the
calling of sinners, the keeping of sinners, and the glorification
of sinners all put in the hands of Christ. Everything delivered
underneath of my Father And no man knows the Son but the Father,
and no man knows the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son
will reveal Him." He to whom the Son will reveal
Him. Now, in the seventh place, and
here's what the average religionist can't comprehend. He says, how
do you preach? God chose a people and then turned
right around. and tells people to come to God.
Christ did it. He just got through saying, now
watch this. He rebuked these cities in which his mighty works
were done. And then he stopped and he said, I thank you, Father,
Lord of Sovereign of heaven and earth, because you hid these
things, these things, gospel, truth, righteousness, from the
wise and prudent, and you revealed it to me because it seemed good
in your sight. And Father, you've put everything
in my hands. You've delivered everything into
my hands, and none of these sons of Adam ever will know you unless
I reveal you to them. And then in that same words,
he looked and he said, come to me, all you that labor and are
heavy laden. Are you laboring, heavy laden,
confused, distressed, bereaved, in despair, sinful, unable to
do anything? You come to me. I'll give you
rest. The one who knows the Father's
purpose has come. The one who is the surety of
the Father's purpose has come. The one who has all power and
authority to make men come says, Come! The one who died and rose again
and is even now seated at the right hand of God says to every
sinner, Come! And I'll give you rest. Quit
trying to reconcile truth and start believing it. Quit trying
to explain the Word of God and receive it. Quit trying to comprehend
and understand and bring God down because you can't see God
as where He is. Don't redesign Him and bring
Him down and make Him what you want Him to be. Just bow by faith
and believe God. I don't understand everything
in this book. If I did, I'd be gone. I don't
even hope to understand it all. But I believe it. And I'll tell
you this. The more I believe it, the more
I understand it. That's right. A lot of these
things back years ago, when we first started looking into them,
they were quite confusing. But more and more, I'll tell
you the truth, I've got so far to go, I feel like I've just
walked in the door, but I'm understanding more and more. Our understanding,
more and more, God is almighty. Man's so far from God. And the only one who can bring
us together is the Lord Jesus Christ. And he has to do it of
his own initiative. He has to do it of his own power.
He has to do it of his own will, because I don't have any power.
I don't have any will to come. Christ said, you will not come
to me. So somebody's got to come down here and get me. And if
he comes and gets me, it's on purpose. Not an accident. He didn't just happen to pass
by. He did it on purpose. But now, I'll call on him, and
I'll hold on to him. And I'll keep the faith. He'll
keep me, and I'll keep holding to him. He will not leave me,
I will not leave him. He will not forsake me, I will
not forsake him. He will keep me in pairs of righteousness,
and Cecil, I will stay in pairs of righteousness. He'll keep
me in the truth, and I'll stay in the truth. And one of them
just sowers the other one. One just is sowing. This is what
the people couldn't understand about this man Spurgeon. The
fatalist said he's an Arminian, and the Arminian said he's a
fatalist. And nobody could understand the man, just like nobody understood
Christ. And nobody understands a believer. A believer understands, but he's
not understood. I brought a message on that not
long ago. But he understands, and he understands it more and
more. It's by grace. Thank God for His grace. Our
Father in Heaven, we thank You. All that we could say what's in our heart, But we are on good ground to
borrow the words of our Master. I thank Thee, Father, Lord of
heaven and earth. because you have hid these things
from the wise and the prudent, and you have revealed them to
babes, for even so farther it seemed good in thy sight. This
is restful and comforting, and a joy to our heart to know that
you have not passed us by. You have given us a delight in
thy grace, and a love for thy grace, and confidence in thy
grace, and dependence on thy grace. Be our teacher and grant
unto us the willing spirit of a disciple and learner. We want
to learn. We want to know for our good
and for thy glory. And we pray this for Christ's
sake. Amen. Let's sing that amazing grace,
Ronnie, if you will, as our closing hymn. Amazing grace! Let's stand,
please. Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, But now am found,
was blind, but now I see. Was grace that taught my heart
to fear, and grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear
the hour I first believed. Through many dangers, toils and
snares, I have already found His grace that brought Keep safe
thus far, and grace will lead you home.