Welcome our visitors from here
and there. Had an old preacher one time,
we was having a meeting somewhere. Can't remember his name. Stanley
Townsend was his name. And they was asking where all
the preachers was from. One of them from this city and
that city, and old Stanley said, Stanley Townsend, here and now. He said, I'm from here and now. How you doing, Harley? Well, there are no announcements
other than everything's on schedule. Remember those who requested
prayer. Seek the Lord's help for them. Well, to announce that
Ralph Ammerman has passed in March. Many of you remember Ralph,
so remember Joyce in your prayers. Ralph had been fading pretty
bad for the last couple of years. Yes. Can you hear me now? Can you
hear me now? Well, there's so much people
talking out there that you can't hear me. Can you hear me now? Can you hear me? Can you hear
me? Okay. Thank you. Dee Park's situation is about
the same, but Moose's mother died this week. She was in her
90s. She's a good friend of my mother's,
and she's gone on to glory, and we're thankful that she's okay.
She's plumb better now, no problems at all. But remember Moose in
your prayers and that family. Seek the Lord's help for them.
We begin our worship service this morning with hymn number
62, Crown Him with Many Crowns. ? Hark how the heavenly anthem
drowns all music but its own ? ? Awake my soul and sing of
him who died for thee ? ? And hail him as thy matchless king
through all eternity ? Lord of love, behold his hands
and side. Rich wounds, yet miserable of
heart. An angel in the sky can fully
bear that sight. But downward bends his wandering
eye at mysteries so bright. Crown him the Lord of life, who
triumphed rose victorious to the strike
for those he came to save. His glories now we sing. Who died and rose on high. Who died eternal life to bring
and lives ? One with the Father, Lord of
Him ? One with the Father, Lord of Him ? One with the Father,
Lord of Him ? One with the Father, Lord of Him ? One with the Father,
Lord of Him ? One with the Father, Lord of Him ? One with the Father,
Lord of Him After scripture reading and prayer,
we'll sing hymn number 127. If you have your Bibles turn with me please
to Acts chapter 2. Part of the Pentecostal message
that Peter preached on the day of Pentecost. He said in verse 22, ye men of
Israel, Here are these words, Jesus of
Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders
and signs which God did by Him in the midst of you, as you yourselves
also know, Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God, ye have taken and by wicked hands have
crucified and slain, whom God hath raised up, having loosed
the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should
behold another. Let us pray. Our Father, we come
in the blessed name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, who indeed
rose victorious to the strife for those he came to save, who
even now sits at thy right hand, having purged our sins. We thank
you, Father, and we can approach into your presence boldly and
speak to you from our hearts concerning the glories of our
Lord. We will remember those who are
sick and those who are going through trials. Remember especially
Dee Parks and Christy and the kids and that entire family as
they struggle with Dee's cancer. We ask Lord you be with them.
Pray for Moose, the loss of his mother. We know that he's so
glad that she's finally left this world and gone to be with
her Lord. We thank you, Father, that you've
been so merciful to us. New mercies every day. Pray for those who are going through trials
at the moment. Brother Fred, he's having a little
sickness after this chemotherapy. We ask your Lord to help for
them. For Tracy Wright, She's still
not diagnosed with what's ailing her. We pray you'd continue to
minister to her and Bobby and his wife as they minister to
her. Pray for this congregation, Lord, that we'd be a lighthouse,
a hospital for sinners, a place where sinners can come to hear
the truth about Jesus Christ and the glories of what he's
done for his people. We ask your help, Lord, this
day. to cause us in our hearts to bow down and worship you in
spirit and in truth. Help us to say right things concerning
thee. Give us ears to hear and eyes
to see the glories of Jesus Christ. We pray in Christ's name. Amen. Hymn number 127. Man of sorrows, what a name For
the Son of God who came Ruined sinners to reclaim Hallelujah,
what a Savior ? Bearing shame and scoffing rude ? In my place
condemned he stood ? Sealed my pardon with his blood ? Hallelujah,
what a saint Guilty, vile, and helpless we,
spotless Lamb of God was He. Full atonement can it be? Hallelujah! What a Savior! It is finished was his cry. Now in heaven exalted I. Hallelujah, what a Savior. When he comes, our glorious King,
all is ransomed. I'm going to ask Steve and Sam
to receive the office this morning, please. Good to have you all back. Did
you have a good trip? Let us pray. Father, again we
approach in the name of Christ, that name, the only name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. That name that
is above every name. He is the unspeakable gift that
you have given to your children. And with him you have freely
given them all things. They lack nothing, they are complete
in him. As we return unto you that which you have freely given
us, let us do so with joy and thanksgiving, we pray in Christ's
name, amen. Mm-hmm. Turn your Bibles again to Acts
chapter 2. The title of my message this
morning is Precise Predestination. As you probably know, today is
one of the prominent days that Christendom and Christianity
celebrate, though there is no Biblical precedent for it. Folks
celebrate the Resurrection one day a year when it is actually
celebrated every time that the Gospel is actually preached.
Our Lord's Resurrection informs every doctrine of Scripture and
puts the seal of accomplishment on every aspect of His work on
Calvary Street. Just to mention a few, His Lordship
is tied to the Resurrection. His right to judge the world
is tied to the Resurrection. Justification, regeneration,
imputation, substitution, and election are all tied to the
Resurrection in Scripture. For the most part, the Resurrection
is celebrated by many who have not the slightest idea of what
it means or the power invested thereof. In this passage in Acts
that I read to you, part of the Sermon of Pentecost, Peter addresses
the Resurrection, but it is part of the precisely predestinated
work of God that secured the salvation of the elect. It is
important to consider to whom Peter is preaching at this time.
It says in verse 22, Ye men of Israel, ye men of Israel, hear
these words. So that is the crowd that he
is preaching to at this time. He is preaching to the men of
Israel, the same men who weeks before cried, Give us Barabbas
in place of Jesus Christ. They are those who hated Christ
without a cause, who shouted, Let his blood be on our head.
They were those who mocked him and stuck out their tongues as
he hung in agonies in blood. They are those who said in their
hearts, We will not have this man reign over us. Peter said
that Jesus of Nazareth was a man approved of God among them by
signs and miracles, a truth to which many gave credence. You
remember when Nicodemus came to our Lord at night in John
chapter 3, he said, We know that you are a man sent from God because
no man could do these things unless God had sent him, and
they followed him because of the miracles. these people followed
him for the miracles he did but sought his death when he opened
his mouth. Our Lord did fine until he spoke.
As long as he was healing folks and feeding thousands everybody
was fine with that. But the minute he opened his
mouth they wanted to throw him off of a hill or stone him to
death. Now what these men of Israel are about to hear is that
their venom and vitriol was ordained and they were in their bloodlust
agents of God, agents of God's predestinated purpose in the
salvation of the elect. They were being used and didn't
know it. They were being used. This was
an arrow to the heart of the supposed success of their venomous
venture. They thought they had got rid
of Christ. They thought they were done with this man from
Nazareth. when in fact they had played
their role in the greatest story ever told. That is the story
that God has written before the foundation of the world. And
when they heard that fateful day, what they heard that fateful
day was a systematic documentation, if you will, of the series of
events in which unbeknownst to them they played an integral
part. They were but malicious marionettes,
actually, their strings being manipulated in their deadly dance,
their steps ordered and their rhythm and cadence determined
by God Almighty. He ran the show that day. They
thought they were running the show. The first thing they heard
was that they had not captured or apprehended or ARRESTED Jesus
Christ. He was DELIVERED UNDER THEIR
HANDS. That's what it says. He was DELIVERED
by the DETERMINATE COUNSEL and FULL KNOWLEDGE of God. They thought,
We got Him. We got RID of Him. Peter said,
God GAVE Him to you. God GAVE Him to you. They heard
that He was DELIVERED by the DETERMINATE COUNSEL and foreknowledge
of God. Now some might like to take those
terms and make them great theological treatises, but you don't have
to. They mean simply what they mean. People understand predestination. They might say they don't. They
might say they're confused about it, but they're liars. And any
man who says he's confused about it is a liar. It's that simple. You predestinated like 400 things
before you got here today. You predestinated your destination,
how you was going to get here. You predestinated opening that
car door and putting that key in that switch. You did all of
that to get here. You didn't just wake up this
morning, close your eyes, and show up in church. You predestinated.
All men are practical predestinarians. That's what Lorraine Bettner
wrote in his book. They're all practical predestinarians
in that they won't give the same to God, but He predestinates
all things. He's in control of all things.
He is King of kings and Lord of lords, and He runs this show.
Like one man said, not a dust travels across the sunbeam. lest
its destination be ordained by God, where it will land, and
how long it will last in the air." Determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God, the determinate counsel of God is His sovereign
predestination, His sovereign predestination. Over in Ephesians
chapter 1, when it talks about the salvation of the people of
God whom He chose before the foundation of the world, and
he gave them an inheritance, and that inheritance was according
to HIS predestinated power. In Ephesians chapter 1 and verse
11 it says, In whom we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated,
that's the last time the word proorizo is used in the New Testament,
predestinated ACCORDING for based on the fact that, according to
the purpose of him, who worketh all things after the counsel
of his own will." There is that word, counsel, again. Christ
was delivered to these men's hands by the determinate counsel
and foreknowledge of God, and foreknowledge here does not speak
about knowing beforehand, but the word means to prearrange. It's not progenosko, it's progenos,
and it's a different means to prearrange or to ordain. Well, what does that mean? Let's
look over at Acts chapter 4, and the same thing is being set
forth. It says this in verse 27, Of a truth against thy holy
child Jesus, now what he's quoting from and what he's saying here
is taken from Psalm 2, Why do the heathen rage? Why do they
imagine a vain thing, saying, Let's cast these cords from us?
God will laugh and mock them and have them in derision. It
says, Of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom whom thou
hast appointed, that word appointed means Christ, both Herod and
Pontius Pilate, who were enemies up to this point and became friends
against Christ, along with the Gentiles and the people of Israel.
So everybody is involved. You and I are there. The Jews
are there. The political power of Rome is
there. The political power of the Jews are there. Herod, Pontius
Pilate, the people of Israel and the Gentiles. Why were they
there? Well, we know they had carried
Christ to that place. They had spit in His face. They
had put a crown of thorns on His head. They had ripped His
body open with 360 furrows from a cat of nine tails. They had
beat Him with sticks and with their fists. He was a bloody
mess. He was a sacrificed lamb. He
looked like he had been drawn and quartered. That's what they
did to him. They were full of hatred for
him. They hated him without a cause, but they hated him nonetheless.
Well, why were they there? They were there because that's
where God had put them. That's where God had put them.
He had gathered them. That's what it says. for to do
whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done."
That's the first use of the word proorizo in scripture, the first
use of the word predestinated in the New Testament. Why were
they there? They were there to get Christ
out of the way. No, they were there to do exactly,
precisely, and by the numbers what God had before prepared
or ordained or predestinated to be done. They were actors,
you see. They were actors. Shakespeare
wasn't far off the mark when he said the whole world is a
stage, and we are but actors therein playing our parts, and
that's true. Folks say, well, that makes me
a puppet. I don't mind being a puppet if God's pulling the
strings. I'll be honest with you. I don't mind that at all.
These people were doing EXACTLY what God had gathered them to
do. They were acting in their HATRED
for God, but their hatred was ORDAINED of God. He was DELIVERED
by the DETERMINANT COUNSEL and FOREIGN KNOWLEDGE of God. And
next, the role they played is revealed in verse 23 of our text,
Him being DELIVERED by the DETERMINANT COUNSEL and FOREIGN KNOWLEDGE
of God, by wicked hands that have crucified
and slain." This was part of the ordination. This is part
of the determined counsel of God. Their wicked, crucifying,
and slaying hands were the instrument that God employed to fulfill
the Scriptures concerning the abuse of the Messiah. They had
done their worst in order to accomplish God's best, and that's
just the truth. They had crucified Him according
to Scriptures, over in Psalm 22, centuries before. David wrote
these words that our Lord spoke on Calvary. Some say He quoted
the whole of Psalm 22. I don't know whether that's the
case, but certainly many things were fulfilled in this psalm
at Calvary. In verse 1 it says, My God, my
God, why hast Thou forsaken me? Why art Thou so far from helping
me and from the words of my worrying? That's what our Lord said on
the cross. After those three hours of darkness, When our Lord
poured out His wrath on Christ for the sins of His people, when
He suffered the punishment that was due them and in eternal hell,
He came out alive and well. God didn't kill Him. Man didn't
kill Him. Nobody killed Him. He died of His own volition and
power. He said, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? but sometimes our lord asked
a question so people ask the question why indeed it got forsaken
him because he was made to be seen for his people now if you
want to try to explain that go ahead i can't explain it way
too big for this poor old finite mind to deal with those infinite
things but they didn't slay him though it says they had slayed
him here that word is used to reveal their intent and the desire
of their heart remember according to the law if it's in your heart
you've done it you don't become a murderer because
you kill somebody you kill somebody because you're a murderer and
that's a whole different ball game he died of his own power
voluntarily because he was the price that was required for the
sin debt of his elect to be paid he died of his own power he said
that in John chapter 10 when he was talking about giving
his life for the sheep, and that's who he died for, and they will
hear his voice, and they will follow him, and not all men are
sheep. Those who hear his voice are
sheep. Those who don't hear his voice don't hear because they're
not sheep. But in John chapter 10, in verse
15, he says, As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father,
and I lay down my life for the sheep. As he lays down his life,
he says, Other sheep have I, which are not of this fold. He's
talking about the Jewish fold. He's talking about the Gentiles,
the other sheep. Them also I must bring, they shall hear my voice. And there shall be one fold and
one shepherd. Therefore doth my Father love
me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it up again.
No man taketh it from me. but I lay it down of myself."
I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my Father. Scripture said He made His soul
an offering for sin. He gave Himself for His sheep.
That's the language. He said He gave His back to the
smiters. How did they touch Him? He gave Himself. God delivered
Him into their hands. in John chapter 18 when they
came to arrest him the priest and the army they had their weapons
and their lanterns and they came out to arrest the Lord Jesus
Christ because Judas had kissed him and betrayed him they came
to arrest him they said and he said who you fellas looking for
and they said we're looking for Jesus rest and he said ego I am and
they fell down they knocked those words knocked them flat on the
back and he let them stir a little bit and let them stand back up
again he said who's that you looking for And I expect timidly
was pretty much temerity. They said, Jesus of Nazareth?
And he said, that's me. You can take me, but with a caveat. He said, if you take me, these
have to go free. That's substitution. And just
so you'd understand, so they would understand, the scripture
says he said that. so the scriptures might be fulfilled
that i have lost nothing but raise it up again in the last
day how did that get him he gave
himself to them he gave himself to them he gave his back to the
smiters he gave his face to them that pluck off the hair he did
not hide his face from spitting where they cleared their throats
and spat in his face, the Lord of Glory. You want to know what
men feel about God? I know this time of the year
and today especially, everybody's going to be really liking Jesus. They're all going to be liking
Jesus today and they'll like Him at Christmas time when He's
a baby. They'll like Him just fine then. But you want to know
what really people feel about Christ? Look at the cross. You
want to know what happens when men are allowed to touch God
Look at the cross. Look at what he suffered. You'll
find out what we by nature think about God. We're God-haters,
and we would, if we could, kill God and set ourselves on His
throne, and that's what we would like to do. They thought, these
people, Somewhat that they had ended the Nazarene's career,
but because he had spoke of rising from the dead in his messages
They wanted to be sure And so they once he was in his tomb
they rolled a great big rock and on it up a great big stone
And they did it to plug up the hole They sealed it and set guards
around it to assure that they would forever Silence this promise
to rise again. They're gonna fix it where he
ain't getting out of here Breathing a sigh, they walked away in proud
relief that they were done away with this itinerant preacher,
this flash-in-the-pan prophet. But the determinate counsel had
purposed otherwise. God raised him up, loosed him
from his pains of death. That is what it says back in
our text in verse 23. Or verse 24, Whom God raised
up, having loosed the pains of death. because it was not possible
that he should be holding of it. The stone was rolled away
and he came forth because it was not possible. Why wasn't
it possible? Because of the determinant counsel
and foreknowledge of God. It was not possible. It was not
possible. The old song says death could
not keep its prey. He tore the bars away. He tore
the bars away. the thwarted schemes of men.
The men of Israel were the successful accomplishment of God's purpose.
God employed failure on their part for success on His. Why? Because all things are done
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. This is
precise predestination. And the resurrection settled
so many things hear ye the word of the Lord about the resurrection. Romans 1 concerning his son Jesus
Christ our Lord which was made the seed of David according to
the flesh and declared to be the Son of God with power according
to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection of the dead. Romans 14 for to this end Christ
both died rose and revived that he might be LORD both of the
dead and the living. Scripture says, He hath appointed
a day in Acts 17 in the which he would judge the world in righteousness
by that man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance
to all men in that he hath raised him from the dead, who was delivered
for our offenses, it says in Romans chapter 4, and raised
again for our justification. Romans 8, Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth, who
is he that condemneth it, as Christ has died, yea, rather,
and is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. Peter said, To the strangers
scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and
Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto the obedience
of the sprinkle of the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace unto you,
and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy
has begotten us again into a living, lively hope. How? By the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead. But I would not have you ignorant,
brethren," Paul said, concerning them which are asleep in II Thessalonians,
that ye sorrow not, even as those who have no hope. For we believe
that Jesus died and rose again, and even so also them which sleep
in Jesus he will bring with him. and God hath both raised up the
Lord, it says, and will also raise us up by His power, Paul
said in Corinthians, to wait for His Son from heaven, whom
He raised from the dead. It's tied to everything. Even
Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come, even when
we were dead in sins, He hath quickened us together with Christ
by grace, or you say, and has raised us up together and made
us to sit together in heavenly places in Jesus Christ. This is the resurrection, a thing
ordained, predestinated precisely by God. You men of Israel, hear these
words, Jesus of Nazareth, man approved of God among you by
miracles and wonders and signs which God did by him in the midst
of you as you yourselves also know. Him being delivered by
the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and with
wicked hands have slain and crucified, whom God hath raised up, having
loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should
behold them thereof. He is risen, and that settles
so many things in Scripture. Father, bless us to understand
and pray in Christ's name. Amen.