Elected - Enriched - Enlightened

I want you to turn to Ephesians
chapter 1. I'm going to tell you what is
perhaps to me the most discouraging, the most heartbreaking, the most
difficult part of the ministry. For me, the most difficult part
of the ministry, the most discouraging, is not studying, preparing messages. I could do that all the time. I never get weary at all. of studying God's Word and studying
the great writers of the past and preparing Sunday school lessons
and messages. I just enjoy it. When I quit
enjoying it, I'll quit doing it. But I enjoy it immensely.
And it's not preaching, it's not teaching, it's not traveling.
I enjoy that very, very much. For me, the most discouraging
part of the ministry and the most difficult is because people who never have ministered
know more about ministering than I do. People who have never pastored
a church know how to pastor a church better than I do. People who
have never preached a sermon know what ought to be preached.
And people who have never even come to know Christ no more theology
than I do. That's the most difficult part.
It's hard to find a willing hero. Did you know that? It's like
old A. Riley Copeland said one time,
he said if a fellow's going to be a doctor, he'll study for
a little while, he'll take an internship, he'll practice a
while, and then he'll start doctoring. If a fellow's going to be an
electrician, he won't try to put two wires together until
somebody shows him how. If a fellow's going to be an
automobile mechanic, he'll work on others' cars but not his own
until he learns something about it. But he said, every mother's
son knows all there is to know about God's Word. If you don't
believe it, ask them. They all have an opinion. It
doesn't matter about heaven, hell, salvation, the cross, anything
like that. They got an answer. They'll tell
you immediately what they think. Of course, it's wrong, but they'll
tell you what they think. God said, My thoughts are not
your thoughts. My ways are not your ways. There's a way that
seemeth right unto men. But the end is death and destruction. You know, I remember when Brother
Ronnie Lewis was down in Tennessee Temple College back in 1951,
1952 in that time, and he had some of Brother Barnard's tapes.
Well, at that time, Brother Barnard was about my age, about 51. He'd
been preaching 30 some odd years. And Brother Ronnie was playing
one of his tapes, and there was a boy just out of high school
He'd just graduated from high school, and he'd started the
preacher school. He was going to be a preacher. And he'd just
started the school, and he listened to Brother Barnard preach for
a few minutes, and he reared it back, and he said, I'd sure
like to debate that old fellow. And that's the attitude. I'd
take him on in a debate just any time. This is the discouraging
part. What God teaches you and what
God reveals to you, it's so difficult to find somebody that's willing
to sit down and listen. who's willing to learn. It's
a very discouraging thing. But now if you listen tonight,
if there's somebody here that doesn't know more than I know
about this passage, and if there's somebody here that has a willing
spirit and an open heart, I want God to, if I go to Ed Stevens
and ask him about building, I'm not going to tell him about building. I'm going to ask him. And I'm
going to listen to him. He's been in the building business
a long time. If I go to Andy Moore and ask
him about dentistry, I'm going to listen to him. I got that
much sense. If I go to Cecil Roach and talk to him about his
plan, I'm going to listen to him. He's been there 30 some
odd years. And if I go to one of you other
men in your business, Ralph Riddle's been working with the mines as
a mine inspector for 25 years. And I'm going to listen to it.
And if you can ask God to give you the grace. Now, if I'm not
that preacher, find you one. If God can give you the grace
and an open heart to sit down and listen. Not just take anything
that any man says. Years in the Scripture do not
give you spiritual wisdom. The Holy Spirit gives you spiritual
wisdom. But don't graduate from the school of theology till at
least you've listened for a little while. Because your soul's at
stake. You've got more at stake than
a few dollars. You've got more at stake than
a few earthly treasures. You've got your soul at stake.
And if you're not willing to listen to one of God's servants,
well, we're in trouble. We're in deep trouble. And this
Scripture tonight, it'll help you if you listen to it now.
Just don't have all the answers just yet. But let's approach
it now, let's look at it. Now, in Ephesians chapter 1,
start with verse 3. Blessing be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessing in the heavenlies in Christ, according as he chose
us in Christ before the foundation of the world. What's that saying?
Here's what it's saying. It's the doctrine of scripture,
whether we believe it or not. It's the doctrine of scripture,
whether we accept it or not, that what God does in time, God
intended to do and purposed to do from all eternity. That's
what he's saying. That what God intended to do
in time in 1978, whatever God intended to do this year, he
purposed to do it, he intended to do it all the time. If I am
redeemed, God intended to redeem me from all eternity. If I am
regenerated, if I am born again, if I am a child of God, then
God intended, God purposed from all eternity to regenerate me
and to give me new life and to bring me to himself. If I am
called to repentance, if I am called to genuine repentance
toward God and faith in Jesus Christ, then it was no surprise
to God. He intended to do it. You know
what the preacher said on radio a few weeks ago? He said, why
don't you surprise God and come to church Sunday morning? Well
now, my friends, that God is not the God of the Bible. If
I am called, if I am a child of God, God purposed to call
me from all eternity. Turn to Romans 8. Now just hold
Ephesians 1 there and let's study together a little bit. Let's
see what God says about himself. Let's see what God says about
himself. In Romans 8, verse 29, he says
this, "...for whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn
among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called." and whom he called, them he also justified,
and whom he justified, them he also glorified." What shall we
then say to these things? Paul said, I say this, if God
be for us, who can be against us? There are two ways to trace
your blessings. Now turn back to Ephesians 1,
let me show you something. There are two ways. Back 26 years
ago, I heard a preacher preach from this passage of Scripture,
and this helped me as much as anything I've ever heard. There
are two ways to trace your blessings. One of them is to start where
you are, and that's what Paul does here. Now look at verse
3. Paul says, "...Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us." with all spiritual blessings
in the heavenlies in Christ. God's blessed me. I have a mediator. I have a redeemer. I have one
who is my refuge and my strength. In Christ I have righteousness,
I have wisdom, I have redemption, I have sanctification. These
are spiritual blessings. I have pardon. I have the forgiveness
of sin. I am a child of God. John said,
Beloved, now are we sons of God. That's spiritual blessing. God's
given me physical blessings. He's given me good health. He's
given me many friends, a nice family. He's been my lovely wife. He's given me good food to eat
and clothes to wear. He's given me many physical,
material blessings, but these are spiritual blessings I'm talking
about. God hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings. All
that I need is in Christ. All that God requires is in Christ.
All that the law demands, all that the justice of God requires
is in Christ. I have those blessings. Now watch
it, verse 4. According. These blessings are
according to something. These blessings are because of
something. according as he hath chosen us in Christ before the
foundation of the world, that we should be holy, that we should
be blessed, that we should be without blame, that we should
be sons of God, that we should be without blemish and without
spot. You see that? Paul starts where he is. He says,
God bless me! I am blessed above all people.
I have spiritual blessings in Christ, in the heavenlies, seated
on the right hand of God, is my Redeemer. I have that. Why
do I have that? I have it not because I'm any
different from the worst person on earth, not because there's
any righteousness in me, not because I've cooperated with
God, not because I've produced some righteousness or merit,
but because he chose me. That's why I have it. Somebody starts there and says,
I'm blessed. Why are you blessed? Because I believe. Why are you
blessed? Because I made a decision. Why
are you blessed? Because I'm an American. Why
are you blessed? Because I'm a Protestant. Why
are you blessed? Because I'm a Baptist. That's not what Paul
said. He said, I'm blessed because God chose me. All right, what's
the next step? Verse 5. He chose me having,
having, having predestinated me. Predetermined. that we should
be children, predetermined that we should be children. He had
predestinated us to the adoption of children. We were children
of wrath. That's right, even as others. We were under the
same curse and condemnation of the law in which Adam By his
fall plunged us, but we've been adopted as sons of God. God predetermined. God predestinated us unto the
adoption of children by Jesus Christ. Now what's the next step? According to the good pleasure
of his own will. That's the way Paul traces his
blessing. He starts where he is. He said, God has blessed
me. And God blessed me because he
chose me out of Adam's race. Why? I do not know, but he chose
me. Somebody wrote this one time,
said, What was there in us that could merit esteem or give the
creature delight? "'Twas even so, Father, we must
ever sing, it sing good in thy sight.'" That's what our Lord
said one day when he lifted his eyes to heaven and he praised
the Father and he said, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, I thank
thee thou hast hid these things from the wise and the prudent.
and thou hast revealed them to babes." And you know what he
said after that? You remember? Even so, Father,
it seemed good in thy sight. Now, if you want to trace your
blessings, you start right here. God's blessed me because he chose
me. because he predestinated the
means, and he predestinated the way, and he predestinated the
end, that I should be a child of God. He adopted me. God's
the only one who can adopt, and God's the only one who can determine
who shall be adopted. And all of that according to
the good pleasure of his own will. Now then, if you want to
start with God, and this is what I'm saying, that whatever God
does in time, he intended to do in eternity. Whatever God
does in time, he purposed to do in eternity. Now, if you want
to start back with God and come this way, go back yonder before
this world had an existence. Go back before the foundations
of the world were ever laid. Go back before the morning stars
ever sang together. Go back before the moon and the
stars were ever put in place. Go back before the angels ever
existed, when only God, whenever that was, whenever that was,
and start there. Start with verse 5, the last
line. First you have God's will. According to the good pleasure
of his will. That's the last line in verse 5. What was his
will? To have a people. To populate
heaven. And come to the next line, just
above that. A people just like Christ. A people, all of them,
just like his Son. A people, all of them, as Barnard
says, that likes the things Christ likes. That loves the one Christ
loves. that rejoices in the will of
him unto whose will we bow like Christ. He'd go out with people
just like Christ. And you come up to the next line
in verse 4 and it says he chose them. He chose them back before
the world began, back before the foundations of this world.
He chose them out of Adam's fallen race. He chose them. He said
out of every kindred, tongue, people under heaven. He chose
them. And then it says in verse 3, and he blessed them. He blessed
them. He blessed them. So let us rejoice
and be glad. We've heard the gospel. We have
seen our sins. We have cried for mercy from
the hand of God. We have mourned over our guilt,
and we have repented before God, and we have embraced Christ and
received him as our Lord and our Savior. But the glory can
never be given to the creature. We're blessed because God blessed
us. We're loved because God loved
us. We're called because God called us. We're justified because
God justified us. We're sons of God because God
adopted us. And all of it according to the
good pleasure of his own will. Let me show you something. Turn
to Isaiah chapter 46. Isaiah 46. And let's read verse 9 and 10
of Isaiah 46, verse 9 and 10. And he says here, Isaiah 46,
9 and 10, remember, remember, the former things of old. I'm
God, and there's none else. I'm God, there's none like me.
Watch this now. I declare the end from the beginning,
and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying
my counsel shall stand. And I will do all my pleasure. Now turn to Numbers, if you will. Numbers chapter 23. Numbers 23
and let's read verse 19. Listen to this scripture. Numbers
23 verse 19. God is not a man that he should
lie. Neither the Son of Man that he
should repent, hath he said, shall he not do it? Hath he spoken,
shall he not make it good? Turn with me, if you will, to
Ephesians 3, verse 11. Now listen to this, Ephesians
3, 11. David said, Our God is in the heavens. He hath done
whatsoever he pleased in the heavens, in the earth, in the
seas, and in all deep places." And Paul, echoing the same thing,
says in verse 11, "...according to the eternal purpose which
he purposed in Jesus Christ our Lord." What kind of purpose is
it? An eternal purpose. Now, back in our text in Ephesians
1, you have set forth here the work of the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit in redemption. From verses 3 through 6, you
have the work of the Father. The Father, according to the
good pleasure of His will, predetermined to have a people just like Christ.
And He sent His Son into the world to be their Redeemer. He
called them, He blessed them, He called them unto Himself according
to the good pleasure of His own will, and they are a special
people unto Himself. Turn to 1 Peter 2. We read this
tonight back in the study. 1 Peter 2. One man said to me
this week, he said, It dawned upon me one day that I was a
special person to the Lord. And what a blessing it brought
to my heart. What confidence it brought to
my soul. I'm a special person. Do you
know that's true of every one of his elect? They're special.
They're special. Listen to this. Brother Roach
read this tonight back in the study. 1 Peter 2 verse 9. Listen to this. You are a chosen
generation. You are a royal priesthood. You are an holy nation. You are
a peculiar or purchased people that you should show forth the
praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his
marvelous light. One other scripture. Turn to
Deuteronomy 7, verse 6. Yes, sir, that's true. You are
a special people. Deuteronomy 7. Now, he's talking
to Israel here. the Israel of God. But what he
says of Israel, he says of you and me, because we are spiritual
Israel. And he says in Deuteronomy 7,
verse 6, Thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God. The Lord
thy God hath chosen thee to be a special, special people unto
himself. Above all the people that are
upon the face of the earth. The Lord didn't set his love
upon you nor choose you because you were more in number than
any people. You were the fewest of all. But
because you loved the Lord. Uh-uh. That's not what it says.
It says because the Lord loved you. That's the reason. The reason is found in himself.
The reason is not found in you. The reason is found in himself.
He loved you. Herein is love, not that we love
God. He loved us. Look back at Ephesians chapter
2. Now listen to this. Ephesians, the second chapter,
and it describes a condition of every man, every son of Adam. He says in chapter 2, verse 1
of Ephesians, you hath be quickened who were dead in trespasses and
sin. In times past, You walked according
to the course of this world, according to the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children
of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation in
times past, fulfilling the lust of our flesh and the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and we were by nature, by birth,
children of wrath, even as others, but God. But God, who is rich
in mercy, For his great love, wherewith he loved us even when
we were dead, even when we were dead in sin, hath quickened us
together with Christ, by grace you say, and he hath raised us
up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in
Christ, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches
of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace, so you say. Why
am I a child of God? Because God the Father from all
eternity set his love upon me and made me a child. Why am I
redeemed? Because God the Father from all
eternity chose according to the good pleasure of his own will.
And look at verse 6, "...to the praise of the glory of his grace."
to the praise of the glory of his grace. He sent his affection
upon me. He made me a special person. You know, one of the prophets
calls us God's jewels, when he makes up his jewels. We're special
people, peculiar people, a precious people, a holy nation, a royal
priesthood. God sent his affections upon
us, and in time, He called us. Notice the second thing now.
Beginning with verse 6, the last line, you have the work of the
Son. The Father chose us. The Father
predestinated what we would be. The Father, according to the
good pleasure of his own will, determined to have a people.
He chose them. He made them his own. Now, the
Son came down here, first of all, it says in verse 6, wherein
he made us accepted in the Beloved. Turn to Hebrews 7, verse 25. What we're saying here is this,
God being holy, God being righteous, could never accept us in ourselves. We're too unholy, we're too unclean. God could never accept us in
ourselves because two cannot walk together except they be
agreed. God cannot receive guilt and sin and filth and uncleanness,
and that's what we are. We have to be in Christ. Now,
Hebrews 7.25 says this, Wherefore he is able also to save them
to the uttermost that come to God by him. seeing he ever liveth
to make intercession for them. Now listen to me. The work of
Christ for you and me didn't begin at Bethlehem. The work
of Christ for you and me, the work as surety, representative,
federal head, the work of the second Adam in mercy and grace
toward his people didn't begin at Calvary or Gethsemane. But
when did it begin? The work of Christ as our surety
began when God made him in the eternal covenant of grace, our
surety. Christ stood for his people before
his people ever fell. Christ stood for his people.
Christ represented us. Christ acted for us, Christ interceded
for us, it says He ever liveth to make intercession. Not ever
will live, but ever liveth. Always has interceded. Always
has been our surety. If Christ had not been, now listen
to this, and you think about this a little bit. If Christ
Jesus, our surety, our Redeemer, through His blood and righteousness,
If he had not stood for us and represented us when Adam fell,
the whole race would have been plunged into utter destruction,
damnation, and condemnation right then. Because God Almighty has
to have an atonement. God Almighty has to have a ransom. God Almighty has to have a sacrifice. His justice and His righteousness
would have demanded at that moment an enforcement of His justice. That's right. You wonder why. Turn to Revelation 13.8. Now,
you say, that's over my head. No, it's not really. Now listen.
Turn to Revelation 13. Let me show you something here. Revelation 13. Why was Christ
the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world? This is what's
wrong. The average preacher says this. God made the world. And then God made Adam and Eve
and put them in the garden. And he put them on probation.
And Adam and Eve, he gave them, he told them about the fruit
there. He told them about not to eat the forbidden fruit. They'd
fall and so forth. And God kind of drifted off and
came back and talked to them and drifted off to his house,
his place. And one day came and Adam wasn't
around. He said, Adam, where are you? And Adam didn't answer
him. He said, Adam, where are you?
And Adam finally said, well, I'm over here. I hid. Why are
you hiding? Well, I was naked. Who told you
you were naked? Have you eaten of the forbidden
fruit? And it's all a surprise to God. And so God had to sit
down and figure out what he was going to do now that Adam had
fallen. My friends, let me tell you something. When God Almighty
came and encountered Adam in his sin and rebellion, God could
not speak to nor be spoken to by that sinner. unless there's
somebody between God and that sinner right then. God's justice. Do you realize when Christ hung
on that cross and our sins were laid on Him, what did God do?
Turned His back. Christ didn't have any sins of
His own. They were imputed sins. They were laid on Him. He bore
our sin. And God's righteousness cannot
tolerate sin. And when Adam fell right then,
There never would have been an Adam and Eve after that. There
never would have been a Cain and Abel. There never would have
been a Sam. There never would have been an Abraham. God would
have had to judge him right then just like he did Satan. When
Satan fell, he was cast into hell. That's right. Christ said, I saw him fall as
lightning from heaven. God said, when Satan said, I
will be like God, immediately God's wrath and judgment cast
him out of heaven. Immediately. No ransom, no redemption,
no salvation. That's right. Utter condemnation. But when Adam fell, there was
already a covenant of grace. There was already a covenant
of mercy. There was already a surety. There
was already a Savior. There was already a ransom, there
was already a Redeemer, there was already a cross, there was
already a Lamb. Let me show you that, Revelation
13, verse 8. And all that dwell upon the earth
shall worship him whose names are not written in the book of
life of the Lamb, slain before the foundation of the world.
And you realize that before the foundation of the world, there
wasn't a man. Before the foundation of the world, there wasn't a
tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Before the foundation
of the world, there wasn't a law given. Before the foundation
of the world, there wasn't a fall. Before the foundation of the
world, there wasn't a sinner. There was in the mind of God, because
God knows all things. There was in the mind of God,
God saw, God knew when he made this earth and gave man a free
will, and gave man a free will, that man could not stand. Nobody
has ever stood on his own. Well, you can trace man under
any circumstance. Let's trace a few quickly. Here
is Judas, an apostle. He couldn't stand. He was an
apostle. He walked side by side with the
Son of God himself, but he couldn't stand. We go back a little bit,
and we go back to David, God's own chosen, Solomon and David
both, king, sitting on an indisputable throne. They reigned, the most
powerful men of their day, had everything they wanted, everything.
They couldn't stand. Walked with God, talked with
God, inspired of the Spirit of God to write the beautiful Psalms
and the Proverbs. They couldn't stand. Well, let's
go back a little bit, go back a little bit to Moses. Moses
saw all that he saw, the glory of God, everything. One day God
told him to speak to a rock and get some water out of it for
the people. Did he do it? No, sir. He drew back his staff,
blessed everybody out, smote the rock. And God said, all right,
Moses, you'll just have to die for that. And that's what happened.
Abraham. Abraham brought from the land
of his fathers, going to the land of promise, led personally
by God. God appeared to him, talked to him, ran into a little
difficulty, lied twice, not once, twice. Told two different kings
that Sarah wasn't his wife, she was his sister. He's afraid somebody's
going to kill him. Noah, my soul, Noah lifted up on the water,
saved from the flood. Everybody else in the whole world
destroyed. He was a personal eyewitness to these things. Came
off that ark, first thing he did, planted a vineyard. Next
thing he did, made him some strong drink. Next thing he did, got
drunk. Brought reproach on his whole home. Adam, Adam put in
a perfect garden. No conflict, no trouble, no trials,
no tears, no disease, no knees, no nothing. He fell. Go back a little further. Satan,
Lucifer, the top angel, the sun of the morning, prince of the
power of the air, ruler, I believe, of this present world. He couldn't
stand. No creature has ever stood alone,
and neither can you. It's only by the grace of God
that we are what we are. And I'm saying this, that when
Adam stood in that garden, God knowing, he would fall. All of
it in the design and purpose of God, in his permissive will,
already standing for every sinner, was Christ the Lamb. slain in
the purpose of God, slain in the mind of God. Christ didn't
die until 4,000 years later in reality, but in God's purpose
he was already slain. In God's mind he was already
slain, because what God does in time, he purposed to do in
eternity. And Christ stood right then as
our surety. Now here's what I'm saying, and
I may make some folks unhappy, but this is what I'm saying.
back yonder before this world ever started. Everyone who will
someday sing the song of Moses and the Lamb were in God's eternal
redemptive purpose, in God Almighty's redemptive grace, in His covenant
of mercy. They belonged to Him. They were
His. He knew them. And Christ right
there stood for them. And as Spurgeon said, with regard
to justification, I must hold. I can do no other. I must hold
that in the moment that Jesus Christ paid my debt, they were
all canceled. In the hour that he worked out
my righteousness, it was mine. Therefore, as a believer, I say
that I was complete in Christ before I was ever born. As far
as the purpose, justice, righteousness of a holy God is concerned, that
which is carried out in time. was done in eternity. Turn back to our text, Ephesians
1. We are accepted in the Beloved. When? Right now. We are accepted
in the Beloved. When? When he died. We are accepted
in the Beloved. When? Before the foundations
of the world. We were in Christ. That gives
you confidence and assurance. Verse 7, in Christ we have redemption. Verse 9, Christ made known unto
us the mystery of God's will. How am I going to know God's
will of redemption in Christ? That's the only way I can find
it. You know, I hear people say, well, I can go out in the woods
and worship God. Well, that may be so. That may
be so. You may go out in the woods and
look at the streams and the trees and the stars and the moon and
all these things and have some thoughts of God. Well, let me
ask you a question. What God? Well, God, no. What God? What God? Well, the God of the trees, the
God of the rivers, the God of the sun, moon, and the stars.
Tell me about Him. Well, He's just God, but I want to know
about Him. How can I know Him? How can I recognize Him? How
can I know Him? How can He speak to me? How can
I hope for mercy? See, I'm a sinner. And I've got
to have forgiveness. Now, how do I get forgiveness?
There's only one way to find out the mercy of God and the
grace of God, and that's in Christ. Christ came down here in the
flesh. Philip said, Show us the Father.
He said, He that has seen me has seen the Father. I've got
to see Christ, and see in him God's mercy, and see in him God's
righteousness, and see in him God's wisdom, and see in him
God's intention to redeem. And he went to the cross, and
God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. He shed
his blood, he was buried and rose again, and he revealed to
me the mercy of God. He revealed to me the righteousness
of God. He made known to me the mystery of God's redemptive will. That's what preaching is all
about, to make Christ known. And then in verse 11 it says,
in Christ we have obtained an inheritance. Now watch verse
12, that we should be to the praise of his glory. You see,
all of these verses end with one note, to the praise of his
glory. The Father blessed us, chose
us, predestinated us. The Father, according to the
good pleasure of his will, made us his children. The Son became
our surety. In him I am accepted by a holy
God. I am accepted by a righteous
God. I am accepted and embraced and
made a son by a God who cannot look upon sin. In Christ I'm
accepted because in Christ I'm redeemed. And Christ has made
known unto me the mystery of this redemption, that it's in
Him that I am redeemed. And He has enriched me by giving
me an inheritance that's undefiled, that's reserved, that fadeth
not away. And all that to the praise of
his glory. Now last of all, verse 13. In whom you trusted after
you heard. You trusted Christ. You believed
on him. After you heard the word of truth. Not error. Not what somebody
thought. This is the important thing.
This goes back to what I was talking about a while ago, about
the discouraging note in the ministry. People are willing
to hear anything but the truth. But Christ said that. Turn to
John, I believe it's chapter 6. It may take me a moment to
find this, but I want you to look at this. I believe it's
in John 6. The fifth chapter it is Christ said this he said
in verse 43 John chapter 5 43 and this is human nature this
human nature Christ said I am come John 5 43 list. I am come
in my father's name and You receive me not If another come in his
own name Him you will receive and I'm azing A fella can come
today, he can get on television, and he can be a millionaire. He can live in a mansion. He
can be the biggest crook that ever walked. He can wear the
biggest diamond ring and the flashiest clothes and drive Rolls
Royces and Cadillacs. He can have service running around
everywhere. He can be the biggest crook that ever walked. And people
will support him to no end. They keep on filling his bank
accounts. He can give away gimmicks. He
can go to the Holy Land and come back with little old pieces of
wood that he got from the Mount of Olives and people just send
thousands of dollars in to get that little old piece of wood.
He can send out vials of water that came from the Jordan River
and people send in thousands of dollars to get that little
old vial of water. Dirty, low-down, hucksters that God ought not
let live. But there they are. They can
go around this country telling lies on God. They can talk about
healing people that have never been healed. And people will
support them to no end. But let a man get on television
or radio and tell the truth. And he'll have to have somebody
back of him because they're not going to support him. And that's
what Christ says. I'll come in my Father's name.
I'll tell you the truth. You don't believe me. You let
some shyster, some huckster, somebody making merchandise of
your soul come lying on God. And everybody believes him. Well,
look at this verse here. He said, You trusted after you
heard the word of truth. Truth. Truth. The gospel of your salvation
in whom you believe. Now, Bradman, let a clear note
be sounded. And let me sound this. I can't
explain this. I just know it's so. come every
soul by sin oppressed with mercy in the Lord. And he'll surely
give you rest by trusting in his Son." I don't care who you
are. I don't care if you're black or white. I don't care if you're
a harlot or a housewife. I don't care if you're rich or
poor. I don't care if you're old or young. I don't care if
you're learned or ignorant. I don't care if you're short
or tall, I don't care who you are, where you hail from, if
you'll come to Christ, he'll save you. That's so. Listen to these scriptures. Come
unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, I'll give you
rest. Ho, everyone that thirsteth. Thirsteth for what? The water
of life. Come, he said, and drink. Whosoever
will. Whosoever will. Whosoever is
atheist, whosoever has a broken heart, whosoever needs mercy,
come to Christ. The way is open, the door is
open. If you stay away, it's because you will it, not him.
That's so. But let those who come give him
the glory. Look at this next line. It said,
After you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation,
you were sealed with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit sealed
you in Christ. My sheep, he said, hear my voice,
I give them eternal life, they shall never perish, neither shall
any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them
is greater than all, no man can pluck them out of my Father's
hand, sealed by the Spirit of God. And you know what else? Verse 14, And that Holy Spirit
is the earnest, the pledge of that inheritance, until the redemption
of the purchased possession, and all of it to the praise of
his glory. All of it to the praise of his
glory. The Father, to the praise of
his glory, chose some people and predestinated them to be
like Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will. To
the praise of his glory, the Son, to the praise of his glory,
became their surety. They were loved in him, accepted
in him, chosen in him, redeemed in him. Enlightened in him enriched
in him the Holy Spirit came down here in time and the Spirit of
the Living God calls them Makes them willing and brings them
to Christ Brings them to Christ You know what Paul said one verse
and I'll let you go turn to first Thessalonians You know what Paul
said about this elective grace and how we can recognize it one
who's an object of it one who's been made by God, one of his
own. In verse 4 and 5 of 1 Thessalonians
1, listen to Paul. He said, Brethren, Beloved, I
know, I know your election of God. How do you know it, Paul? Verse 5, For our gospel came
not to you in word only, but in power. in the Holy Ghost,
in much assurance, as you know what manner of men we were among
you. And you became followers of us and of the Lord. Our gospel,
first of all, came to you in power. It didn't come just in
word. Theology, doctrine, denominational
tradition came in power. This gospel came in power. And
you became a follower of the Lord. Now read on. And you were
examples to all that believed. They saw a change in your life.
They saw something happen to you. They saw that you weren't
the same person you were. Read on. And from you sounded
out the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia,
but also in every place your faith to God was spread abroad. In other words, you became missionary
minded. You wanted others to know this gospel, this Christ
that you knew. In verse 9, he said the last line, and you turned
to God from your idols. to serve the living God. And
verse 10, and to wait for his Son from heaven. That's how I
know you are the elect. That's how I know. Those are
evidences of election. I don't know who the elect are.
I just know that these are the evidences of it. They come to
Christ, they love Christ, they know Christ, and that God, by
his Spirit, makes them more like Christ. They want to be his elect.
Our Father, we're grateful for thy word. Oh, how we hunger. Oh, how we long to know thy word. Not that we may boast of our
knowledge. We know nothing as we ought to
know it. We're ignorant. We know in part. We prophesy
in part. But Lord, as we know thy word,
we know more of thee because thou art revealed in thy word.
We know more of ourselves because we see ourselves in thy word. We know more of thy son and the
grace and glory of his redemption because it's revealed in thy
word. We have more assurance and confidence because faith
cometh by hearing thy word. And so we pray, make us students
of the word and let the Holy Spirit be our teacher. And grant,
O Lord, unto each of us that blessed assurance.

Elected - Enriched - Enlightened

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