God's Method of Grace

I invite your attention today
to the book of 1 John, the 5th chapter. I'm going to read two
verses, 1 John 5, 11 and 12. I want to speak to you on the
subject, God's method of grace. You remember that title, God's
method of grace, or how God saves sinners. In 1 John 5, 11 and
12, the scripture says, and this is the record. that God hath
given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life,
and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. Now, there
are four things of which I am absolutely sure. There are four
things about which I have not the slightest doubt. I wish you
would write these down and study them later. First of all, there
can be no saving blessings or benefits from God apart from
a living union with Jesus Christ. There can be absolutely no saving
benefits and no blessings to the sons of Adam from the hand
of God except as we are vitally united with Jesus Christ our
Lord. That's what the scripture said
that I just read. He that hath the Son hath life. And he that hath not the Son
of God, whatever he has, does not have life. Now, he may have
religion, he may have a faith, he may have a creed, but he does
not have life. Life is in Christ, and there's
no saving blessings or benefits to be derived from Almighty God
except that we are in Christ Jesus. Listen to this verse from
John 15. I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth
in me, and I in him, bringeth forth much fruit. Without me
you can do nothing." It's not union with the Church that brings
God's blessings, it's union with Christ. In 1 Corinthians 1, verse
30, the Scripture says, But of God are you in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. It is all in Christ. It is in
favor and mercy, grace and goodness come to us from God, but through
Christ, by union with Jesus Christ. The scripture says, to as many
as received him, Christ to them gave you the power, the right
to become sons of God. And Paul later wrote, you're
complete in Christ. So that's the first thing of
which I'm absolutely sure. There can be no saving benefits
or blessings from God to any son of Adam, except by union
with Jesus Christ. If we're in Christ, we have righteousness. If we're in Christ, we have wisdom. If we're in Christ, we have acceptance
with God, for we are accepted in the Beloved. If you go through
the first chapter of Ephesians, you'll find that we're chosen
in Christ, redeemed in Christ, loved in Christ, accepted in
Christ, seated in Christ, and our inheritance is because we're
joint heirs with Christ. Now, here's the second thing
of which I'm absolutely sure. There's not the slightest doubt.
There can be no union with Christ except by faith. Now, watch as
we climb these steps. First of all, there can be no
blessings from God upon any son of Adam except as that person
is in Christ. And a person cannot be in Christ
except by faith. Now, Paul gives us a good definition
of faith over in the book of 2 Timothy 1, verse 12. He says, I know whom I have believed. I am persuaded that he's able
to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. What
is faith? And we know he that believeth
on the Son hath everlasting life. Without faith, it's impossible
to believe God. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. The scripture
tells us God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten
son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but
have eternal life. When the Philippian jailer asked
Paul the question, what must I do to be saved, Paul said,
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. So what is it to believe on Christ? Well, from that scripture I just
read, 2 Timothy 1.12, I'm not ashamed, Paul said, I know whom
I have believed. I am persuaded he's able to keep
that which I've committed to him against that day. What is
faith? First of all, faith is knowledge.
It's a knowledge of Christ. I know whom I have believed. Now, Paul didn't say, I know
what I believe, though he did. I know when I believe, though
he did. He says, I know whom I have believed. I know who he is. He is Jesus
Christ, the Son of God. He is very God of very God. Behold,
the Lord himself shall give you a sign. A virgin shall be with
child, and bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name
Immanuel, God with us. I know who he is. Thou art the
Christ, the Son of the living God. His name shall be called
Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace. That's who he is. The Word was
made flesh. Dwelt among us. What are you
saying preacher that Jesus of Nazareth is God Almighty? That's
exactly what I'm saying Do you know who he is? He's not just
a healer or a prophet or a preacher. He's God in human flesh. That's
incarnation Secondly, I know what he did in the fullness of
time God sent forth his son made of a woman made under the law
as A man he was subject to the law as a man. He was made under
the law And he obeyed that law, that he might redeem those that
were born under the law. That's what he did. He redeemed
us by his life and by his death, by his obedience and by his submission,
by his active obedience and by his passive obedience. He came
to redeem us. That's what the Lord said to
Joseph when he announced the birth of Christ. Thou shalt call
his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sin.
And that's how he saved us, by coming down here in the flesh
obeying the law and dying on the cross for our sins. I know
who he is. I and my father are one, he said. I know what he
did. He obeyed the law and died on
the cross of Calvary as the God-man, and I know why he did it. If
you look at Romans 3, 26, it tells us that God set forth his
Son, who was made of a woman and made under the law. He set
him forth to be a propitiation for sin, that God might be just
and justify the ungodly. There's only one way that God
can be just and save sinners, and that's for a substitute to
bear our guilt, honor his law, and satisfy his justice. So first
of all, faith in Christ is a knowledge of Christ. I know whom I have
believed. And secondly, faith in Christ
is confidence in Christ. I know him, who he is, what he
did, why he did it, and I am persuaded, confident, assured
that he is able to keep that which I've committed to him.
He is able, Paul said in Hebrews, to save to the uttermost them
that come to God by him. He is able because he offered
a sufficient sacrifice. He is able because he, in his
obedience, perfected for us a perfect righteousness. He is able to
save us because he is the God-man, perfect God and perfect man.
He's not only able to save us, but he's able, Abraham believed,
to perform all that he promised. And he is able, the scripture
says, to keep you from falling and to present you faultless
before his throne with exceeding joy. And he's able to raise our
bow bodies, Paul wrote in Philippians, and make them like his glorious
body. Yes, he's able. So faith is knowledge
of Christ, who he is, what he did, why he did it. Faith is
confidence in Christ, trust. You see that word, you, meaning
faith, many times to trust the Lord. Job said, though he slay
me, I'll trust him. We sing songs simply trusting,
trusting Jesus. And thirdly, faith is committal
to Christ. I know whom I have believed.
I'm persuaded, I'm confident that he's able to keep that which
I committed to him. Faith is a committal to Christ.
Intelligently, I have received him as my Lord and Savior. Lovingly
I have embraced him as my hope and eternally I have committed
everything to him One day when our Lord had preached and the
people began to leave he turned to his disciples the twelve and
he said will you also go away and That's when one of the disciples
spoke those tremendous words Lord to whom shall we go? To
whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. There's nowhere else to go. There's no one else to turn
to Christ is the only hope the sinner has. And I have committed
my soul to him. So two things. I'm confident,
positive, sure of this. There can be no blessing from
God except that we're united with Christ. The blessings come
through Christ. And we cannot be united to Christ
without faith. Now here's the third thing of
which I'm absolutely sure. There can be no faith without
the preaching of the gospel. That's right. There can be no
faith in Christ without the preaching of the gospel. Now listen to
these scriptures. Romans 10, 17. Faith cometh by hearing,
not by seeing. We don't walk by sight, we walk
by faith. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God. 1 Corinthians 1, 17. It pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching, preaching the gospel of Christ
to save them that believe. Romans 10, 13. shall call upon the name of the
Lord, out of need, out of a broken heart, out of sin's misery shall
be saved. But how shall they call on him
in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in
him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher?" Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. It's the
gospel of God. It's the gospel of His grace.
It's the gospel of His glory. It's the gospel of a crucified
Redeemer. It's the gospel of God's grace
and mercy. I'm not ashamed of that gospel.
It's the free gospel to all sinners who need it. I'm not ashamed
of it. It's the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believes it. And John 5.24, our Lord said,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, most assuredly and solemnly,
I say to you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him
that sent me hath everlasting life." So there can be no faith
in Christ without the hearing of the gospel. A man must hear
the gospel. He must hear the gospel of Jesus
Christ, the gospel of sovereign mercy, the gospel of redeeming
grace. He's got to hear that gospel
in order to believe. You cannot trust an unrevealed
Savior. You cannot commit your soul to
one whom you do not know. If you don't know who he is and
what he did and why he did it and where he is now, how are
you going to trust him? So you've got to hear. That's
what the Ethiopian eunuch said to Philip when he was reading
Isaiah 53. That's the gospel. He was wounded
for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities. And the eunuch
said, of whom does the prophet speak? Of himself or some other
man? I don't even know. And so Philip
began right there and preached unto him Jesus Christ. And believing
on Christ, he received Christ, and receiving Christ, he was
saved. Fourthly, I'm sure of this, there can be no blessings
from God except if we're united with Christ. They come through
Christ. There can be no union with Christ except by faith.
Without faith, it's impossible to please God. He that cometh
to God must believe that he is and that he's the rewarder of
them that diligently seek him. And there can be no faith without
the preaching of the gospel. And all the preaching of the
gospel in this world will not effect a saving union with Christ,
will not beget faith in a sinner's heart apart from the work of
the Holy Spirit. I know that. If my voice is the
only voice you hear, nothing of any eternal value will be
accomplished to you, nothing for the glory of God will be
accomplished. You must hear him speak who speaks from heaven.
There can be no effectual preaching of the Word of God apart from
the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. John 6.44, our Lord
said, No man can come to me except my Father which sent me draw
him. And they shall all be taught of God. And every one that hath
learned of the Father cometh unto me. Let the angels be preachers.
Let the angels from the throne of God be preachers, but till
God the Holy Spirit draws the sinner by regenerating power,
by quickening power, by awakening power, he will not come. Christ
said, you will not come to me that you might have life. The
Holy Spirit must draw the center. The natural man receiveth not
the things of God, they're foolishness to him. But God hath revealed
them unto us by his Spirit. God reveals the gospel to us
by the Holy Spirit. One old hymn writer years ago
wrote these words, The Spirit, like a heavenly wind, blows on
the sons of flesh, creates anew a heavenly mind, and forms the
man afresh. Our quickened souls awake and
rise from the long sleep of death. On Jesus Christ we fix our eyes,
and praise employs our breath. This is God's method of grace.
This is the way God deals with sinners. And though men and women
may have different experiences, they may be 40 years of age when
they're brought to Christ, or 10 years of age, I don't know.
They have different experiences, yet this is true of all. There
can be no blessing from the hand of God except as we are united
in Christ, joined in Christ. All God's blessings come through
Christ. And there can be no union with Christ apart from faith.
Saving faith. And there can be no saving faith
in a Christ of whom you haven't heard. You've got to hear of
him. That's the reason we preach the
gospel. And we're not just going forth crying, believe, believe,
believe. We're telling men on whom they
should believe and what he did that merits their belief and
their trust and their confidence. And there can be no effectual
preaching unless the Holy Spirit anoints our preaching. It's not
by might, it's not by power, it's not by gimmicks, it's not
by methods, it's not by entertainment, it's by my spirit, says the Lord. We're born of the water, the
word, and the spirit. We're born from above. We're
born of God. This is God's method of grace.
Now I want to illustrate it to you. In John chapter 4, if you
turn over there to the 4th chapter of John, our Lord, was on his
way to a certain place and it said he must need to go through
Samaria. And as he went through Samaria, as he came to Samaria,
he came to Jacob's well. And the scripture says he sat
down on the well and sent the disciples on into town to get
some food. And while he was sitting on the
well, a woman came to draw water. And our Lord spoke to her and
dealt with her and brought her to faith in himself and brought
her to salvation. And I'm going to show you three
or four things about this encounter with this Samaritan woman that
reveals or illustrates how God saves sinners. Now, first of
all, our Lord, the Lord of Glory, these four things will help you.
The Lord of Glory crossed her path. That's right. He crossed
her path. He did it sovereignly. He did
it on purpose. He did it because he willed to
do it. He crossed her path. It says in John 4, 6 through
7, Jesus sat down on the well. Jesus sat down on the well. And
there cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water, and Jesus said
to her, Give me to drink. He crossed her path. He confronted
her. The Lord Jesus Christ encountered
this sinner whom he purposed to save. Now, I don't know when,
and I don't know where, But I do know this, if the Lord of glory
is pleased to save your soul, if the Lord of glory is pleased
to bring you to a knowledge of himself, if he is pleased to
redeem you, then he will someday in some way cross your path. You will have an encounter with
Jesus Christ. You will be confronted, maybe
on this broadcast, you will be confronted. Maybe as you hear
a preacher from the pulpit, maybe as you read the Bible. But you
will be confronted with the claims of Jesus Christ. The claims of
King Jesus. The royal claims of the Lord
of Glory. You're going to encounter Christ,
the living Christ. Not just some Jesus or a Jesus,
but the Lord of Glory. He's going to cross your path.
He's going to confront you with his claims. Now you go through
the scriptures. You go through the scriptures
and you'll find that all who were brought to a saving knowledge
of Jesus Christ had an unforgettable encounter with the Lord of Glory. They met him and he met them.
And he dealt with them. And they came in submission and
surrender. Look at Paul on the road to Damascus.
Look at Matthew sitting at the receipt of customs. Look at this
Samaritan woman at the well. Look at Zacchaeus up the tree.
Look at the thief on the cross. Every one of them had a positive,
unforgettable encounter with the Lord of Glory. It wasn't
just some little silly religious decision that they made under
some high-pressure evangelist or some type of emotional experience.
They had an encounter with Christ. And they faced the claims of
King Jesus. And it was submit, surrender,
or rebel. And you'll have that encounter.
If God's pleased to deal with you, you will have an unforgettable
encounter with the Lord of glory in some way. He'll cross your
path, and you'll know it when you meet him and meet his claim. You're not turning down a preacher
and turning down a denomination or turning down a revival or
turning down the last train out of the station. You meet the
Lord, and you deal with him. The Lord crossed her path and
then he created an interest. That's right. He created an interest.
He said to this woman, if you knew the gift of God and who
it is speaking to you, you would ask me and I'd give you living
water. If you knew the gift of God. Now this woman knew tradition.
She was full of tradition. She said, how is it that you,
a Jew, are speaking to me, a Samaritan? Don't you know that the Jews
have no dealings with the Samaritans? She's well read on that. She
knew the traditions, that the Jews and the Samaritans were
different and they didn't have anything to do with one another.
She knew that. She knew tradition. And then she knew religion. She
said, our father Jacob gave us this wealth. She knew about all
the old fathers. She knew about Jacob, she knew
about Abraham, she knew about Moses, and she knew about the
building of the well. She had religion. She knew about
those things. She worshipped. She talked about
worshipping the mountain. She had ceremony. She knew ceremony. She said, well, you Jews worship
in Jerusalem and we Samaritans worship in the mountain. She
knew tradition and religion and ceremony, and we are up to our
necks in that today. But she didn't know the Lord.
She didn't know Christ. She didn't know the gift of God.
She didn't know the unspeakable gift. She knew nothing of the
living water. Salvation is not something you
do for God. Salvation is not a certain kind
of garb that you clothe yourself with. Salvation is not taking
so many steps in a little silly ceremony. Salvation, redemption,
is something God does for you. Christ said if you knew the gift
of God, the unspeakable gift of God, the living gift of God. You would ask me and I'd give
you living water. If you knew who was speaking
to you, if you knew who is Jesus Christ, prophet, teacher, healer,
till God in human flesh I see, my thoughts no comfort find,
the holy, just, and sacred three are terrors to my mind. He's
God Almighty. who it is speaking to you, you'd
ask of me and I'd give you living water, not mansions in the sky,
living water, living water, not a ritual, not an ordinance, not
a doctrine, living water, peace and rest and joy and life, you'd
ask me. And then the third thing, our
Lord crossed her path and then he created an interest for she
said, Lord, give me this water, give me this water. And he presented
a problem, a problem that every sinner faces who comes to know
Christ. He presented the problem of sin.
He said to her, first, go call your husband. And she said, I
don't have a husband. And he said, in that, you've
spoken truth. You don't have a husband. You've
had five. And the man you're living with
now is not your husband. Now, he presents a sin question.
When God deals with us in mercy and in grace and in salvation,
he encounters us and he creates an interest. He gets us interested
in this thing of mercy and grace and life and eternal hope. But
what are you going to do about your sins? And she said, well,
when the Messiah comes, he'll tell us all about it. What are
you going to do about your sins? An awakened sinner always faces
the problem of sins. What to do about my past sins,
my present sins, my future sins? They're there and they're real.
David said, my sins are ever before me. Against thee and thee
only have I sinned. If any man say he hath no sin,
he deceives himself and the truth is not in him. What are we going
to do about our sins? You know, George Whitefield preached
a great sermon one time on Holy Spirit conviction. He said the
Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, S-I-N. That's our nature. That's the nature of evil and
guilt with which we're born, the root of sin, the taproot.
The Holy Spirit convinces us of S-I-N-S. That's our sins of
words and tongue and action and imagination and these things
that are so real and so everyday. And then the Holy Spirit convicts
us of the sin of our righteousness, that even our righteousnesses
are plagued and tainted with evil and corruption in the sight
of God. So what are we going to do about
our sins? And the woman said, well, when the Messiah comes,
he'll tell us all things. And then our Lord presented a
remedy. He said, I am he. I am he. I'm the one who came to deal
with your sins. She said, when the Messiah comes,
he'll tell us the answer to this question, what to do about sin.
And Christ said, I am he. I am he. There are two ways to
view the work of Christ. in the flesh when he came down
here to this earth. That is, to view his work as
it was performed toward God. He offered himself to God as
a sacrifice for our sins. It was offered unto the Lord,
just like the Old Testament lamb was slain before the Lord. and
the incense was burned unto the Lord, and the blood was put on
the altar before the Lord. Christ Jesus came and satisfied
the justice of God and the holiness of God and honored the law of
God. And then his sacrifice or his work can be viewed toward
me. It was for me. It was on my behalf. By his stripes
I am healed. When Jesus to my sinful soul
applies his precious blood to pardon, cleanse, and make me
whole, I sing, thank you, my gracious God. He crossed my path. He created an interest. He presented
a problem, sin. He presented a cure, a remedy.
I am He. I am the Redeemer. I died to
set you free.

God's Method of Grace

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God's Method of Grace

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