WEBVTT 00:00:02.479 --> 00:00:05.200 Again, very thankful to be at Bethlehem Church this morning. 00:00:05.280 --> 00:00:08.080 And we uh do have our meeting announcement. 00:00:08.160 --> 00:00:16.800 Uh it will be uh Elder Danny Wisner from Georgia uh will be with us uh this coming Friday of this week, uh the 28th. 00:00:17.039 --> 00:00:24.320 Uh he'll be with us at uh we'll have supper at 6 o'clock on Friday night, and then service beginning at 7 o'clock. 00:00:24.559 --> 00:00:29.519 Uh we'll have uh service on Saturday, this coming Saturday, the 29th. 00:00:29.600 --> 00:00:39.439 Uh we'll have service Saturday morning, lunch, and then Saturday afternoon service, no night service, and then Brother Danny will be with us uh also on Sunday morning. 00:00:39.759 --> 00:00:42.640 Uh he will stay with us uh through this coming Sunday morning. 00:00:42.719 --> 00:00:47.200 So do please pray for him uh and he and his wife Lydia are both supposed to come. 00:00:47.280 --> 00:00:49.119 So please please pray for them and their trip. 00:00:49.200 --> 00:01:04.239 I think Brother Danny is originally from Louisiana, and uh he's gonna be traveling from Georgia to Louisiana first to see his folks and stop in and see them, and so uh he'll be here uh with them a day or so ahead of time, and so just please pray for their travels as well. 00:01:04.480 --> 00:01:07.840 But that is this coming uh weekend that we do have our meeting. 00:01:09.920 --> 00:01:13.200 Uh we can discuss that this afternoon, whatever the ladies decide. 00:01:13.280 --> 00:01:15.920 If not, we'll make sure he gets fed one way or another. 00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:17.519 So but we can discuss that after church. 00:01:17.599 --> 00:01:18.640 Thank you, Brother Mole. 00:01:19.040 --> 00:01:21.599 Uh and we do need to discuss that. 00:01:22.159 --> 00:01:37.920 Um this morning, brothers and sisters, the uh you know, last Sunday we have uh again been preaching through Baptist teachings, and uh last Sunday we began talking about uh predestination, providence, and permission. 00:01:38.159 --> 00:01:40.640 And last Sunday we talked about providence. 00:01:41.040 --> 00:01:45.040 This Sunday we are going to begin talking about predestination. 00:01:45.599 --> 00:02:02.079 And it is most likely going to take me more than one Sunday to do that, but I want to, with the Lord's help, do this in a very understandable way and uh not a hurried way, uh, hopefully to the Lord's glory, and please pray for me that I would get out of the way. 00:02:02.159 --> 00:02:10.960 Uh this morning we are going to be, and uh we're gonna primarily look at Ephesians chapter 1 and 2, and then uh we'll go from there. 00:02:11.120 --> 00:02:14.479 But I want to read for you before we get started this morning. 00:02:14.719 --> 00:02:19.120 I was reminded by one of the songs that we sang early on this morning. 00:02:19.360 --> 00:02:27.360 It's uh a song written, uh, it's in our small book, number 23, My Lord, I did not choose you. 00:02:28.319 --> 00:02:38.719 And the words read this way My Lord, I did not choose you, for that could never be. 00:02:39.680 --> 00:03:01.680 Uh, I'm not going to comment a whole lot on this song, but I do want to point a few things out is that the the writer of this psalm was born in 1789 and died in 1855, and the idea of predestination election is not um it's not exclusive to printed Baptists. 00:03:01.840 --> 00:03:05.840 We believe that it was very clearly taught in the Bible that the Apostle Paul taught it. 00:03:06.159 --> 00:03:16.479 And I just want you to see that here as a writer who lived and died in the 17 and 1800s, that here he is saying the same thing that we're saying today. 00:03:17.039 --> 00:03:23.039 My Lord, I did not choose you, for that could never be. 00:03:23.360 --> 00:03:24.960 Why does he say it that way? 00:03:25.680 --> 00:03:33.759 What he's basically conveying to us is in his understanding of the Bible, is that man is not able to choose God. 00:03:34.400 --> 00:03:37.280 That God had to intervene and choose man. 00:03:37.439 --> 00:03:41.599 So he says, My Lord, I did not choose you, for that could never be. 00:03:41.919 --> 00:03:47.840 My heart would still refuse you had you not chosen me. 00:03:48.080 --> 00:03:52.719 In other words, he's saying that this man understands his own sinfulness. 00:03:53.039 --> 00:03:54.879 He understands the depravity of man. 00:03:55.039 --> 00:04:03.120 He understands that without the Lord's intervention in his life, that he would have never sought out the Lord, he would have never come to the Lord. 00:04:03.439 --> 00:04:09.199 Oh, my heart would still refuse you had you not chosen me. 00:04:09.680 --> 00:04:15.520 You took the sin that stained me, you cleansed me, made me new. 00:04:15.919 --> 00:04:21.279 Of old you have ordained me that I should live in you. 00:04:21.600 --> 00:04:27.040 He's saying, Lord, you're the one who chose me for salvation. 00:04:27.360 --> 00:04:32.959 You changed my mind, you changed my heart, and that's a work that you did. 00:04:33.199 --> 00:04:34.000 I didn't do that. 00:04:34.160 --> 00:04:50.879 See, the one of the distinguishing characteristics about what primitive Baptists believe and believers in grace believe is that we believe that lost men and women do not choose God of their own choice, of their own volition. 00:04:51.279 --> 00:05:14.079 We believe that God, through the Holy Spirit, is the one who chooses them first, bornes them again, literally saves them to heaven, and at that very point their minds are open to see and understand and hear the gospel and the word of God, and they're at that point then and only then they want to seek after God and follow God. 00:05:14.319 --> 00:05:17.120 But in their lost natural state, they didn't want to do that. 00:05:17.199 --> 00:05:21.519 So God had to do the transforming work of grace first. 00:05:21.680 --> 00:05:33.439 In other words, we believe that God burns again a person first and saves them to heaven ever before he has faith or wants to seek God or follow God. 00:05:33.600 --> 00:05:49.199 The songwriter goes on to say, unless your grace had called me and taught my opening mind, the world would have enthralled me to heavenly glories blind. 00:05:49.279 --> 00:05:59.600 He's saying, Lord, unless you dropped the scales off my eyes, I would have been so enticed by the world that I would have never wanted anything to do with you. 00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:06.959 My heart knows none above you, for your rich grace I thirst. 00:06:07.920 --> 00:06:13.519 I know that if I love you, you must have loved me first. 00:06:13.680 --> 00:06:22.319 In other words, brothers and sisters, what's so beautiful about, you know, and some people get real sideways about the doctrines of grace and about predestination. 00:06:22.720 --> 00:06:29.519 I want to tell you this morning that, you know, the Bible talks about spiritual milk and it talks about spiritual meat. 00:06:29.839 --> 00:06:42.000 And when we talk about things like the gospel, about the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross, and about his great sacrifice, that, brothers and sisters, is the milk. 00:06:42.240 --> 00:06:46.319 That is the thing that is so nourishing to a babe in Christ. 00:06:46.480 --> 00:06:46.959 Amen? 00:06:47.120 --> 00:06:50.560 That we want to hear about the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:06:50.639 --> 00:06:57.279 That is the thing that someone who is just now, that their mind is literally being opened by the Lord. 00:06:57.439 --> 00:06:59.040 That's what they crave. 00:06:59.279 --> 00:07:12.639 And by the way, what you and I are talking about today, about how God actually works out the mechanics of those operations and salvation, what you and I are talking about today is meat. 00:07:12.959 --> 00:07:15.920 It is difficult for people to chew. 00:07:16.160 --> 00:07:31.680 Brothers and sisters, uh not only the Baptists, but many faiths and orders have struggled with the concepts in the Bible of God's electing grace, of God's predestination, of God choosing man and man not choosing God. 00:07:31.759 --> 00:07:41.839 And even the Apostle Paul, thousands of years ago, wrote about those that would be objectors to the idea that God is the one who is choosing us. 00:07:42.079 --> 00:07:44.240 So this is not something that's new. 00:07:44.480 --> 00:07:51.439 But I just want to be very clear and plain this morning that what we're talking about today, brothers and sisters, is meat. 00:07:51.600 --> 00:07:54.560 I mean, it is like steak, it is roast beef. 00:07:54.639 --> 00:07:56.240 And I don't mean that lightly. 00:07:56.319 --> 00:08:13.439 I say that to say that for a spiritual babe in Christ, if you were to full tilt and come and talk about all the mechanics of predestination election, that could actually be very off-putting and offend a little child of God who is not ready to eat spiritual meat. 00:08:13.680 --> 00:08:20.639 Now, brothers and sisters, you and I, again, I'm not claiming that you and I are some elevated or high or knowledgeable believers. 00:08:20.720 --> 00:08:21.920 I'm not saying that. 00:08:22.480 --> 00:08:29.360 You and I at this church are attempting to work through some of the doctrines of the faith. 00:08:29.680 --> 00:08:34.960 And the very doctrines of the faith are so very important, they are our foundation. 00:08:35.200 --> 00:08:42.639 You know, there's been a trend in the last, well, for a long time, that, well, you know, the that Jesus Christ really wasn't born of a virgin. 00:08:42.799 --> 00:08:45.440 You know, that, you know, you know, we believe that he was a good man. 00:08:46.000 --> 00:08:52.720 Some people even believe that he was a savior, but I just can't logically understand that a man could be born of a virgin. 00:08:52.799 --> 00:08:53.919 That just can't be. 00:08:54.159 --> 00:09:02.000 And so some Christians, in their mind, they have reconciled the fact that, okay, well, I don't believe that Christ was born of a virgin, but yet I still believe he's a savior. 00:09:02.159 --> 00:09:05.200 Well, see, there's a tremendous problem with that. 00:09:05.519 --> 00:09:13.679 Because, see, we believe that the Bible clearly teaches that man inherits the sin nature through the line of Adam through the Father. 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:27.039 And so, if Jesus Christ was born of man and of woman, then he would have inherited a sin nature from his father, and therefore he would have been condemned under that already. 00:09:27.200 --> 00:09:31.360 He would have had to spend all his time redeeming himself and not us. 00:09:31.679 --> 00:09:42.720 And so it is, in other words, the idea of a virgin birth, that is a point of doctrine that has to be established, that if that is untrue, then the foundation falls down. 00:09:42.960 --> 00:09:50.639 And so, again, what you and I are talking about this morning in predestination election, I willingly admit that this is not an easy subject. 00:09:50.799 --> 00:09:57.200 It's not easy to hear, and there's much contention of different Christians about what they believe about this. 00:09:57.360 --> 00:10:02.799 And so the Lord be our help this morning to understand what all this means. 00:10:03.200 --> 00:10:07.919 And so let's try not to use as much church language and more plain language. 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:18.159 But I want you to see the hymn writer understands that I love the fact that he says, My heart knows none above you, for your rich grace I thirst. 00:10:18.399 --> 00:10:39.279 The word grace means the free, unearned, unmerited love and favor of God toward sinful man, and for the man who has been enlightened by the choosing and grace of God to see his sin, it is such a great blessing for him to say, Lord, I don't deserve you, but yet you chose me. 00:10:39.679 --> 00:10:41.519 And for that grace I thirst. 00:10:41.679 --> 00:10:48.240 He goes on to say, I know that if I love you, you must have loved me first. 00:10:48.879 --> 00:11:05.200 In other words, God, I would not have chosen you because I'm a sinner and I'm depraved, and my mind goes to the things of the world, but because you chose me, now and only now I love you. 00:11:05.440 --> 00:11:07.039 Look at the last line. 00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:12.080 Your love has been forever, from all eternity. 00:11:12.960 --> 00:11:18.639 Its drawing power never shall be withdrawn from me. 00:11:18.799 --> 00:11:19.519 Now stop. 00:11:20.399 --> 00:11:23.600 So God's grace has a drawing power. 00:11:23.759 --> 00:11:24.879 Yes, it does. 00:11:25.200 --> 00:11:27.120 And God is a sovereign God. 00:11:27.519 --> 00:11:31.679 And when he draws someone unto himself, they're not going to say no. 00:11:32.240 --> 00:11:37.679 Because God didn't start a work, he that began a good work in you will be faithful to carry it on to the day of completion. 00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:42.720 If God first drew you unto himself, you are one of his. 00:11:42.960 --> 00:11:44.320 You're going to be one of his. 00:11:44.559 --> 00:11:48.639 When God wants a particular fish, he's going to catch that particular fish. 00:11:48.879 --> 00:11:50.080 He doesn't try to do that. 00:11:50.240 --> 00:11:52.000 He does that every single time. 00:11:52.240 --> 00:11:53.679 Jesus is the good shepherd. 00:11:53.759 --> 00:11:54.399 He is never. 00:11:54.879 --> 00:11:57.360 Again, I'm not trying to make cliches. 00:11:57.440 --> 00:12:20.159 I'm trying to make biblical statements based on the account of the Bible that if you had a shepherd out in a field and you were a flock owner, and you had appointed a shepherd over your field and you had a hundred sheep, and you came back a day later, a week later, a month later, even five years later, and you're, you know, by that time your flock should have increased, right? 00:12:20.240 --> 00:12:21.519 They should have grown. 00:12:21.679 --> 00:12:28.000 Well, what if you came back, you know, a year from now and the flock wasn't a hundred, the flock was seventy-five. 00:12:28.480 --> 00:12:29.360 Well, wait a minute. 00:12:29.840 --> 00:12:32.639 You're saying that you lost a quarter of the sheep? 00:12:32.879 --> 00:12:35.440 That you were put in charge over. 00:12:35.519 --> 00:12:44.480 Well, the wolves got some, and some fell in the creek, and well, we went to that far pasture to feed them, and some of them just got so lost, and I wasn't fixing to go chase them up the mountains. 00:12:45.200 --> 00:12:46.480 That's a bad shepherd. 00:12:46.559 --> 00:12:47.840 You would fire that man. 00:12:48.639 --> 00:12:54.080 Jesus leaves the 90 and 9 to go find the one. 00:12:54.639 --> 00:12:57.200 He has never lost a single sheep. 00:12:57.279 --> 00:12:58.480 That's not a cliche. 00:12:58.799 --> 00:13:05.759 That's a biblical concept that Christ has never lost a single one that he set out to save. 00:13:06.080 --> 00:13:06.960 Why is that? 00:13:07.440 --> 00:13:09.440 Because God is a sovereign God. 00:13:10.799 --> 00:13:16.480 He says, I feel that I'm kept by the strength of love divine. 00:13:16.960 --> 00:13:19.039 Kept by the grace of God, as it were. 00:13:19.279 --> 00:13:30.399 And when I wake in heaven, now this is key, and when I wake in heaven, all glory shall be thine. 00:13:30.960 --> 00:13:45.919 See, what a lot of people don't think about is this is that if I, as a preacher, had anything to do with people's salvation, true eternal salvation, then I would have something to brag about. 00:13:46.240 --> 00:13:51.039 Well, man, I you know what I went and preached at a giant rally, and there was 5,000 people there. 00:13:51.120 --> 00:13:51.679 And you know what? 00:13:51.759 --> 00:13:56.000 On that night, 758 people made a decision for the Lord. 00:13:56.159 --> 00:14:08.000 Look, as a result of my ministry and my works and my hard labor, 750 people came to know Christ and are now saved and bound for heaven as a result of my works. 00:14:08.240 --> 00:14:13.600 No, no man has ever done that except the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:14:13.919 --> 00:14:18.240 He is the only man that has ever saved anybody to heaven. 00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:37.919 Not a single preacher that is, not even the apostle Paul or Moses the lawgiver or Isaiah the great prophet, not a single one of those preachers of the word has ever saved a single human being to heaven. 00:14:38.240 --> 00:14:50.240 Now, have all of those men, and I hope myself, helped to timely save individuals here on earth from ignorance and a wayward life? 00:14:50.399 --> 00:14:55.039 Yes, I hope so, and I know for a fact that all those men in the Bible did. 00:14:55.200 --> 00:14:55.519 Okay? 00:14:56.240 --> 00:15:01.200 But they never saved anyone to heaven because that is not the operation of men. 00:15:01.279 --> 00:15:03.919 That is the operation of the Holy Spirit. 00:15:04.000 --> 00:15:06.159 That is an eternal work of God. 00:15:06.960 --> 00:15:08.799 And see, that's the thing. 00:15:09.039 --> 00:15:13.679 The preachers don't have anything to glory in because they didn't do that work. 00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:15.679 Well, what about the sinner? 00:15:15.919 --> 00:15:27.919 What about the young man or young woman who chose in any given worship service, or while he was driving down the road in his car and listening to a gospel song or something like that? 00:15:28.159 --> 00:15:35.279 What about the young person, or even the old person who, for 50, 60, 70 years they've run from the Lord, quote unquote. 00:15:35.440 --> 00:15:41.039 And now all of a sudden they've decided to, quote unquote, choose Christ. 00:15:42.080 --> 00:15:55.519 Did that individual, that young person or that old person, did they, as a result of their choice, save themselves to heaven in immortal glory, i.e., saving themselves from hellfire? 00:15:55.759 --> 00:15:57.039 No, they did not. 00:15:57.360 --> 00:15:58.639 No, they did not. 00:15:59.200 --> 00:16:04.879 Well, what happened there, Brother Josh, if that person literally made that actual choice? 00:16:05.120 --> 00:16:14.720 What happened is that God first and foremost chose them, opened their mind to see and understand the gospel. 00:16:14.879 --> 00:16:24.080 Therefore, the young person in the church or the old person driving down the road listening to the gospel song, for the first time heard something that they had never heard before. 00:16:24.240 --> 00:16:24.720 Why? 00:16:24.960 --> 00:16:36.720 Because the Holy Spirit opened their mind and their heart and their soul and their eyes to have the spirit of faith and understanding, and then therefore they were pricked in their heart to respond to that. 00:16:36.799 --> 00:16:41.279 And amen and praise the Lord that they did positively respond to that. 00:16:41.519 --> 00:16:54.720 But what you understand is the actual saving, regenerating, born-again work was done before they chose to have faith or to join the church or to confess the Lord. 00:16:55.039 --> 00:16:59.360 They were bound and saved for heaven before that happened. 00:16:59.600 --> 00:17:01.600 And God did that eternal work. 00:17:01.759 --> 00:17:08.079 I'm thankful and I praise the Lord that that person, those persons have chosen to follow Christ, and we should. 00:17:08.160 --> 00:17:11.839 And by the way, that's why I'm here today as a preacher. 00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:25.200 I'm here to encourage and to equip and to build up and to edify and to preach the word of God so that you understand and so that the Holy Spirit might take that word and he might prick your heart. 00:17:25.279 --> 00:17:26.720 But I didn't do that. 00:17:27.119 --> 00:17:28.319 God did that. 00:17:28.640 --> 00:17:34.960 And I want to see more people, old and young, come to know the Lord and come to diligently follow the Lord. 00:17:35.039 --> 00:17:43.440 And by the way, people who believe in predestination and election absolutely 100% believe in evangelism. 00:17:43.759 --> 00:17:57.279 The Apostle Paul, the great missionary and evangelist in the New Testament, was one of the greatest, and he was the one who wrote some of the doctrines of election with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. 00:17:57.920 --> 00:18:07.920 But see, you understand that the Apostle Paul, and we believe that we understand that evangelism is not saving man's souls to heaven. 00:18:08.160 --> 00:18:18.720 Instead, we believe that evangelism is bringing the gospel, the good news, the milk, to those whom the Lord is burning again. 00:18:18.960 --> 00:18:23.200 And then therefore they are the ones who can hear and respond to that. 00:18:23.440 --> 00:18:28.079 And then we want to come alongside of them and disciple them and help them walk with the Lord. 00:18:28.319 --> 00:18:29.920 But we didn't save them to heaven. 00:18:30.079 --> 00:18:40.079 We helped save them here on earth to walk with the Lord from their ignorance to save them out of following the world and instead of following Christ right here and right now. 00:18:40.400 --> 00:18:51.839 And that is what evangelism is is helping to save people timely here on earth to an understanding of what the Lord has already done in their lives. 00:18:52.720 --> 00:19:03.519 Now, so my point is this got this gospel songwriter says, and when I wake in heaven, all glory shall be thine. 00:19:03.759 --> 00:19:14.559 See, I didn't save anybody to heaven, and the sinner who chose the gospel and chose to follow Christ, he didn't save himself to heaven. 00:19:14.880 --> 00:19:15.680 God did that. 00:19:15.839 --> 00:19:18.880 So all the glory goes to God, not to man. 00:19:19.599 --> 00:19:25.359 Now, did that man or woman make a godly choice and a choice that will bless their life? 00:19:25.519 --> 00:19:26.079 Absolutely. 00:19:26.240 --> 00:19:27.680 Here and now in time. 00:19:28.079 --> 00:19:32.880 But God is the one who saved them to heaven, because if we love him, he first loved us. 00:19:32.960 --> 00:19:37.039 Let's dive off into Ephesians chapter 1. 00:19:37.359 --> 00:19:38.640 Ephesians chapter 1. 00:19:38.799 --> 00:19:47.279 There are, you know, there are passages of scripture that people like to avoid in the Bible. 00:19:47.599 --> 00:19:50.000 And there are passages of scriptures that we love. 00:19:50.400 --> 00:19:54.480 In Ephesians chapter 1 and Romans chapter 8 and 9. 00:19:54.720 --> 00:20:01.039 Some of these chapters are books of the Bible that some people don't really like to talk about a whole lot. 00:20:01.599 --> 00:20:07.599 But we want to talk about them, brothers and sisters, because all the word of God is profitable, right? 00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:13.359 For rebuke, for training and righteousness, you know, for our edification, every bit of it. 00:20:13.440 --> 00:20:14.559 It's all the word of God. 00:20:14.640 --> 00:20:16.640 So let's just dive into it. 00:20:16.880 --> 00:20:22.000 So I want you to understand, and we're going to try to keep all this in context. 00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:25.440 We're going to try to not hop around a lot today. 00:20:26.799 --> 00:20:33.839 So the Apostle Paul wrote this letter to the Ephesian church. 00:20:34.160 --> 00:20:39.839 And in the Ephesian church, it was a mixture of Jews and Gentiles. 00:20:40.240 --> 00:20:42.799 And he is educating both of them. 00:20:43.200 --> 00:20:47.599 But some of the language in Ephesians is just that. 00:20:47.920 --> 00:20:50.400 It's talking about Jews and Gentiles. 00:20:50.640 --> 00:20:53.680 And so when we get to that point, we'll look at that too. 00:20:54.079 --> 00:21:00.480 But let's just dive right into Ephesians chapter 1, verse 1, and just see what it says. 00:21:01.200 --> 00:21:03.759 So Ephesians chapter 1, verse 1. 00:21:04.079 --> 00:21:15.920 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. 00:21:16.640 --> 00:21:28.240 So in the first verse, we read and understand that Paul is telling the Ephesian church that, he said that he is an apostle by the will of God. 00:21:28.400 --> 00:21:29.759 What does that mean? 00:21:30.319 --> 00:21:41.440 That means that Paul himself is telling the Ephesians that I want you to understand that I'm an apostle by the will of God. 00:21:41.599 --> 00:21:42.640 What does that mean? 00:21:42.880 --> 00:21:52.240 It means that Paul did not choose of his own quote unquote free will and accord to be an apostle and preacher of Jesus Christ. 00:21:52.319 --> 00:21:53.440 Is that not right? 00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:59.759 Y'all will remember that Paul was a Pharisee who. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:26.160 And a very educated young man, and he was very zealous in the Jews' religion, and he was going on the Damascus road to actually imprison Christians and to persecute them, and he was specifically targeting those people who were followers of Jesus Christ because he saw Jesus Christ as an enemy to the Jewish religion. 00:22:26.480 --> 00:22:50.400 Someone who claimed to be the Messiah, and Paul thought that Jesus was doing harm to his beloved Jewish religion that he was so zealous in, and he was going to go and make sure that he got rid of those people that were that were propagating such terrible beliefs that Jesus is the Messiah and he's the Savior and things like that. 00:22:50.480 --> 00:22:54.319 And he wanted to stamp out all of that of the Jews' religion. 00:22:54.640 --> 00:23:00.559 And then we know that the Lord struck him down on the Damascus road and opened his eyes to see. 00:23:01.599 --> 00:23:04.240 And who art thou, Lord? 00:23:04.799 --> 00:23:08.160 You know, uh, I'm Jesus Christ. 00:23:08.480 --> 00:23:11.039 Paul, why are you kicking against the pricks? 00:23:11.279 --> 00:23:17.359 The Holy Spirit is leading you to understand who I am, and you don't see who I am. 00:23:17.599 --> 00:23:25.599 So the Lord literally did a dramatic work in calling the apostle Paul to be one of the twelve apostles. 00:23:26.720 --> 00:23:38.640 And but what I want you to see is that did the apostle Paul choose Christ or did Christ choose the Apostle Paul? 00:23:39.519 --> 00:23:43.119 Well, obviously, the Lord chose Paul. 00:23:43.359 --> 00:24:13.039 Paul was actually a persecutor of the church, and Paul goes on to say that he believed himself to be the greatest of sinners because after God did a regenerating or born again work in the Apostle Paul, Paul felt so very ashamed that he had persecuted Christ and the church before in his ignorance when he didn't know about Christ and he wanted to stamp Christ out of the Jewish religion. 00:24:13.759 --> 00:24:24.799 And Paul later came to understand through the grace of God that, you know, I'm literally, I was harming the people that are my brothers and sisters in Christ. 00:24:25.200 --> 00:24:31.759 And if y'all will remember in the beginning of Paul's ministry, there were a lot of people that were fearful about Paul. 00:24:31.920 --> 00:24:38.319 Well, we don't really want to have that preacher come to our church because wasn't he the one that put Christians in prison? 00:24:38.480 --> 00:24:48.319 And he had to have other godly men basically come alongside of him and witness on his behalf to say that this man has been transformed by the grace of God. 00:24:48.559 --> 00:25:21.440 So I just want you to see that in the beginning of the book, where Paul talks about God choosing people, Paul is actually not only talking about that God chose him to be an apostle, and that Paul wasn't signing up or seeking out that mission, but he's also talking about the fact that God literally chose him and by his electing and predestining grace, chose him to salvation because Paul was actually 100% opposed to that. 00:25:22.160 --> 00:25:33.440 So the very opening verse, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, not by the will of Paul, not by the choosing of Paul, but by the choosing of God. 00:25:33.599 --> 00:25:35.599 And he's who's he writing to? 00:25:36.079 --> 00:25:40.000 To the saints which are in Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. 00:25:40.079 --> 00:25:46.720 So you understand that this book was written and targeted to born-again believers. 00:25:46.880 --> 00:25:51.759 He is writing to regenerate people's minds who understand. 00:25:52.480 --> 00:25:53.680 Verse 2. 00:25:54.160 --> 00:26:02.079 So he greets them Grace be to you, and peace from God our Father. 00:26:02.559 --> 00:26:05.599 So Paul doesn't say that flippantly. 00:26:05.920 --> 00:26:13.119 Because, see, while God is the creator of all, God is not the saving father of all. 00:26:13.279 --> 00:26:19.200 In other words, we read in the New Testament, even by Jesus Christ, that there are sheep and there are goats. 00:26:19.519 --> 00:26:22.480 And Jesus Christ will separate the sheep from the goats. 00:26:22.640 --> 00:26:25.759 And Jesus Christ did not die to save the goats. 00:26:26.000 --> 00:26:42.400 And so what I want you to see is even small language in the Bible is important that when he says, Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, he is writing in the previous verse he's already acknowledged, he's writing to the church, he's writing to born-again believers. 00:26:42.559 --> 00:26:46.000 So Paul's saying, I'm writing to you people that are like me. 00:26:46.160 --> 00:26:51.200 I'm writing to people that have regenerate born-again minds, whom the Lord has opened you up. 00:26:51.279 --> 00:26:54.720 So therefore, God is my father, and God is your father. 00:26:54.960 --> 00:26:59.680 I believe by God's grace I'm a sheep of his pasture, and I believe you are sheep of his pasture. 00:26:59.920 --> 00:27:02.640 So that's the folks that he's writing to. 00:27:03.519 --> 00:27:08.480 Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:27:09.680 --> 00:27:19.440 Notice also that he uh puts God, the Father, and the Son together, and so he's giving them both honor, which the Jews would not do. 00:27:19.680 --> 00:27:21.359 The Jews didn't want to honor Christ. 00:27:21.440 --> 00:27:22.720 They thought he was a usurper. 00:27:22.799 --> 00:27:25.200 They thought he was, you know, claimed to be the Messiah. 00:27:25.279 --> 00:27:30.000 Paul recognizes that Christ is the Messiah and he is the Son of God. 00:27:30.319 --> 00:27:31.519 Verse 3. 00:27:33.039 --> 00:27:34.319 And I want y'all to. 00:27:45.119 --> 00:28:05.279 Do y'all know that the doctrine of predestination, which basically means that God before the foundation of the world chose all of his children that he would elect, that he chose them. 00:28:06.480 --> 00:28:11.119 His decision, his choice, and he gave that a numerable number. 00:28:11.440 --> 00:28:13.039 So many, so many. 00:28:13.279 --> 00:28:20.000 The Bible tells us more numerous than the sands of the sea or the stars in heaven, that we can't count them. 00:28:21.039 --> 00:28:22.720 It's not a few. 00:28:22.960 --> 00:28:24.880 It's not a small number. 00:28:28.000 --> 00:28:40.880 But what I want you to understand is that God gets all the glory 100% for every born-again and saved person in heaven. 00:28:41.119 --> 00:28:41.759 Amen? 00:28:43.279 --> 00:28:57.599 Not any man except the Lord Jesus Christ gets credit and glory and praise for any soul going to heaven except the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:28:58.079 --> 00:28:58.960 Not one. 00:28:59.440 --> 00:29:00.240 Only him. 00:29:04.079 --> 00:29:21.039 So Paul right here says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us, this group of believers, himself included, that he's writing to and about. 00:29:21.680 --> 00:29:32.880 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. 00:29:33.359 --> 00:29:34.880 Brothers and sisters. 00:29:47.519 --> 00:29:58.240 It is a doctrine that gives all glory to God and by and it's showing that man cannot and does not get any of the credit. 00:30:03.759 --> 00:30:05.680 And I want to say this. 00:30:06.559 --> 00:30:21.200 When people that do not understand or believe in God's electing grace, predestination, they hear that word, and their sensibilities get pricked, they get offended. 00:30:21.759 --> 00:30:26.160 And let me tell you, I was in that place at one time in my life. 00:30:26.960 --> 00:30:33.200 And um, but but why is it that we get offended? 00:30:34.000 --> 00:30:38.240 We get offended because we don't like that. 00:30:38.960 --> 00:30:47.359 In other words, we get offended because we think in our mind that I don't think God should operate that way. 00:30:48.000 --> 00:30:54.319 That I don't think God should choose somebody to heaven and not choose somebody else. 00:30:54.640 --> 00:30:56.880 And that offends us. 00:30:57.599 --> 00:31:02.240 That God, I don't like the way that you did salvation. 00:31:02.559 --> 00:31:06.960 Instead, I think salvation should be done a different way. 00:31:07.200 --> 00:31:12.559 I think you should just offer it to everybody and that everybody should have a choice. 00:31:13.440 --> 00:31:15.119 But there's a problem with that. 00:31:15.359 --> 00:31:19.519 The problem is that who do you and I think we are? 00:31:20.559 --> 00:31:21.680 No offense. 00:31:21.920 --> 00:31:24.559 But yes, please be offended. 00:31:24.799 --> 00:31:32.319 Because you just offended God when you said, God, I don't like the way that you chose to do salvation. 00:31:32.559 --> 00:31:37.359 You and I, and by the way, in Romans chapter 9, that's exactly Paul's answer. 00:31:38.880 --> 00:31:50.160 Paul literally doesn't give an answer in Romans chapter 9 that Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated, and whom he will, you know, he chooses, and whom he will, he hardeneth. 00:31:51.119 --> 00:31:59.359 And literally Paul's answer is that does the clay tell the potter what to do? 00:32:00.079 --> 00:32:00.400 No. 00:32:02.160 --> 00:32:03.519 Brothers and sisters. 00:32:06.160 --> 00:32:16.160 Charles Spurgeon said one time, you know, the Bible says, Whosoever will call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 00:32:16.400 --> 00:32:19.279 And that is a 100% true statement. 00:32:20.480 --> 00:32:38.000 And I'm up here preaching the gospel, hoping that the men and women that I'm talking to, whether in this church or wherever this goes on the internet or whatever, I'm hoping that they hear the word of God and they are pricked in their heart and minds. 00:32:38.319 --> 00:32:43.359 And the truth is that whosoever will call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 00:32:43.519 --> 00:32:45.119 That is a true statement. 00:32:45.519 --> 00:32:58.160 But I fully understand that behind that statement is the fact that unless God opens their mind to see and understand that they won't ever call upon the name of the Lord. 00:32:58.400 --> 00:33:00.799 They don't want to do that, they don't want to seek him. 00:33:01.200 --> 00:33:14.720 But the person out there, whether young or old, who does want to seek him and does want to follow after him and does feel pricked in their mind and their heart that I need to follow Christ, I need to join the church, I need to be saved, I need to. 00:33:15.039 --> 00:33:15.599 Amen. 00:33:15.759 --> 00:33:22.240 You should be, and you should repent, and you should go join a church, and you should surrender and submit your life to the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:33:22.400 --> 00:33:32.240 And that is the gospel message, and it is good news, but you understand that in doing that, you're not saving yourself to heaven, you're saving yourself to a timely understanding of who Christ is. 00:33:32.400 --> 00:33:36.160 He's already saved you to heaven, and yes, you should now go walk with him. 00:33:36.640 --> 00:33:39.359 You should forsake the world and follow Christ. 00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:44.160 Any man that will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 00:33:44.319 --> 00:33:45.519 Luke 9, 23. 00:33:50.079 --> 00:34:05.200 Predestination does not mean that we don't do evangelism, but it absolutely means that we do evangelism differently because the preachers and the witnesses aren't saving people to heaven. 00:34:06.000 --> 00:34:20.400 We're saving people to a knowledge of what God has already done in their lives, and now we want them to have the great blessing that we have to understand that a little bit better and walk with him and serve him a little bit better. 00:34:21.599 --> 00:34:26.960 And then we want them and us together to grow in grace and in knowledge of him. 00:34:27.679 --> 00:34:30.000 Because what is our purpose here in this world? 00:34:30.239 --> 00:34:31.679 To glorify God. 00:34:32.320 --> 00:34:43.119 See, that's the other thing, brothers and sisters, is that in our sensibilities as human beings, we want to be in control. 00:34:44.559 --> 00:34:53.119 Brother Josh, I don't like the fact that you were telling me that you believe the Bible says that God is the one who chooses me. 00:34:53.280 --> 00:34:55.039 I didn't get to choose God. 00:34:55.440 --> 00:34:56.960 That doesn't sound right to me. 00:34:57.119 --> 00:34:59.360 Or I don't like the way that sounds. 00:34:59.440 --> 00:35:00.480 You understand what I'm saying? 00:35:00.639 --> 00:35:05.679 And brothers and sisters, I've I 100% acknowledge that emotion. 00:35:06.159 --> 00:35:08.800 Because that is our default human nature. 00:35:09.760 --> 00:35:32.559 But my job as the preacher of the gospel, the word of God, is to tell you the truth of the Bible, and then therefore it's your job not to question how the Lord has gone about his mode of salvation, but instead it is to submit yourself to him, to humble yourself under him, because he is Almighty God. 00:35:32.719 --> 00:35:34.880 He is the potter and you are the clay. 00:35:35.119 --> 00:35:37.679 You don't tell God what to do. 00:35:38.000 --> 00:35:38.639 Amen. 00:35:39.199 --> 00:35:40.480 You are the clay. 00:35:40.559 --> 00:35:48.880 And by the way, not only are you and I clay, you and I are tainted, sinful, despicable clay that deserves to be cast down. 00:35:49.119 --> 00:35:58.000 But by the grace of God, by his intervening love, he chose to save me, a wretched sinner. 00:35:58.159 --> 00:36:03.119 He chose to save the apostle Paul, a persecutor and murderer of Christians. 00:36:04.079 --> 00:36:04.960 And you know why? 00:36:05.119 --> 00:36:09.280 You know why you know why I believe that the apostle Paul was so zealous? 00:36:09.599 --> 00:36:36.639 Because after the apostle Paul saved him, let me back up, after Christ and the Lord saved the Apostle Paul, the Apostle Paul probably better than most understood what the Lord had actually done in his life, and therefore he had to tell everybody, everywhere, about it forever till the last breath departed from his body. 00:36:36.880 --> 00:36:44.400 Therefore, the Lord turned the Apostle Paul into the greatest preaching machine that has ever existed on planet earth. 00:36:44.639 --> 00:36:46.559 I have to write about it, I have to proclaim it. 00:36:46.639 --> 00:36:49.679 I don't care if people throw me in prison and beat me and cast me down. 00:36:50.000 --> 00:37:06.239 I don't care if they murder me, I must tell everyone, everywhere, all the time, until the day I die, what the Lord has done for me, what he is doing in you, and I must proclaim that, and that is my mission, and I have a mission, and I will not stop until it's done, until God takes me to heaven and moral glory. 00:37:06.320 --> 00:37:08.719 And that is exactly what the Apostle Paul did. 00:37:08.800 --> 00:37:11.280 And you know what fired that furnace? 00:37:11.599 --> 00:37:12.239 Grace. 00:37:14.480 --> 00:37:15.119 Grace. 00:37:15.360 --> 00:37:16.400 And he wrote about it. 00:37:16.559 --> 00:37:21.039 The Apostle Paul wrote about the saving grace, this God choosing him. 00:37:21.440 --> 00:37:27.440 And the Apostle Paul was not mad that God chose him, he was thankful that God chose him. 00:37:28.960 --> 00:37:36.000 See, predestination, brothers and sisters, is not some harsh, calloused doctrine. 00:37:36.239 --> 00:37:39.440 Brothers and sisters, it is the root of the tree. 00:37:40.719 --> 00:37:47.840 It is the foundation by which mine and your saving faith is based on. 00:37:48.079 --> 00:37:59.119 For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. 00:37:59.440 --> 00:38:01.840 You and I have nothing to boast about. 00:38:02.079 --> 00:38:09.440 I am a bankrupt sinner without Christ, but now standing before you here, brothers and sisters, I am a son of a king. 00:38:09.760 --> 00:38:10.400 Amen. 00:38:10.639 --> 00:38:17.679 Not by my choosing, not by my doing, not by my good works, and oh look at look at I look, I redeemed myself. 00:38:18.000 --> 00:38:27.199 I saved myself by a choice I made as a nine-year-old boy to walk an aisle and pray a prayer and to pray the sinner's prayer in a Southern Baptist church when I was nine years old. 00:38:27.440 --> 00:38:27.760 No. 00:38:28.559 --> 00:38:31.119 That did not save me to heaven in a mortal glory. 00:38:31.199 --> 00:38:32.880 You know what saved me to heaven in immortal glory? 00:38:33.119 --> 00:38:38.639 The fact that the Holy Spirit born me again before I ever walked that aisle and prayed that prayer. 00:38:38.800 --> 00:38:52.239 Now, am I thankful that I walked that aisle and prayed a prayer and listened to the preaching of the minister in that Southern Baptist church and positively responded to that and joined the church and have attempted ever since I was nine years old to walk with the Lord as best I can? 00:38:52.400 --> 00:38:54.639 Yes, I am so thankful that I did that. 00:38:55.039 --> 00:38:56.880 And I'm thankful that that minister preached that. 00:38:56.960 --> 00:39:00.480 And I'm thankful that I'm preaching to hear to you this morning. 00:39:01.280 --> 00:39:04.719 But I want you to know that God saved me, not me. 00:39:05.920 --> 00:39:06.639 God saved. 00:39:06.960 --> 00:39:07.599 And you know what? 00:39:07.760 --> 00:39:11.280 You and I aren't saved any different than the Apostle Paul was. 00:39:12.719 --> 00:39:23.920 God intervened in my life and yours and born us again and saved us, just like you did the Apostle Paul, except mine wasn't as fancy and dramatic and it wasn't written about in the Bible like the Apostle Paul's was. 00:39:24.079 --> 00:39:24.719 Amen. 00:39:25.280 --> 00:39:26.079 You know what? 00:39:26.880 --> 00:39:33.840 The thief on the cross was saved just like the apostle Paul was by the grace of God. 00:39:34.000 --> 00:39:36.800 He was saved just like I was, except it was different. 00:39:36.960 --> 00:39:41.119 Like in other words, the thief on the cross didn't have very much time, did he? 00:39:41.519 --> 00:39:46.800 He had hours, not days or years or decades, right? 00:39:47.599 --> 00:39:51.199 He had literally hours before he would perish. 00:39:51.519 --> 00:39:56.639 But the Lord born him again and saved him the exact same way that he saved the apostle Paul. 00:39:56.800 --> 00:40:00.400 He saved him the exact same way that he saved Daniel in the Old Testament. 00:40:00.559 --> 00:40:04.800 Except Daniel didn't have the gospel, the good news of the New Testament. 00:40:04.960 --> 00:40:08.079 He was just operating in the knowledge of the Old Testament that he had. 00:40:08.639 --> 00:40:10.800 But God saved Daniel the same way. 00:40:11.039 --> 00:40:12.559 By the grace of God. 00:40:13.679 --> 00:40:19.599 So Paul is writing to the Ephesians and trying to tell them about this grace. 00:40:20.159 --> 00:40:25.039 Now that I'm not even into this, and we have about three minutes left. 00:40:26.000 --> 00:40:26.320 Oh. 00:40:29.679 --> 00:40:32.000 We're not going to make it to Romans chapter 9. 00:40:32.079 --> 00:40:32.400 Okay? 00:40:32.639 --> 00:40:35.199 We're not even going to make it through Ephesians chapter 1. 00:40:35.440 --> 00:40:38.880 And we get to the really, really good stuff even in Ephesians chapter 2. 00:40:39.440 --> 00:40:41.599 But let's just get a few of these verses. 00:40:41.920 --> 00:40:57.519 But I just want you to see, brothers and sisters, in Ephesians chapter 1, verse 3, when the Apostle Paul says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings and heavenly places in Christ. 00:40:57.599 --> 00:41:03.199 It means that God the Father is the one who has blessed us with heaven and with salvation. 00:41:03.360 --> 00:41:06.400 And you and I did not do that for ourselves. 00:41:06.719 --> 00:41:13.360 God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit is the one who did that in us, and he gets all the credit, he gets all the glory. 00:41:13.679 --> 00:41:16.079 Man, the preacher, the sinner, gets none. 00:41:16.320 --> 00:41:18.639 Zero, 100% forever. 00:41:19.039 --> 00:41:20.000 Only Christ. 00:41:20.159 --> 00:41:21.679 Only God, only the Holy Spirit. 00:41:21.840 --> 00:41:23.599 Now, verse 4. 00:41:23.840 --> 00:41:25.920 So here Paul starts teaching. 00:41:26.079 --> 00:41:29.440 And so we're going to get this one thing today, and we're going to have to be done. 00:41:30.559 --> 00:41:57.920 So the Apostle Paul tells the Ephesians, hey Ephesians, according as he, that's Father God, has chosen us, he's chosen me, the Apostle Paul, he's chosen you, the Ephesian believers, in him, that's in Christ, because Christ was a lamb slain before the foundation of the world, and also in his electing grace. 00:41:58.079 --> 00:42:02.880 According as he, Father God, has chosen us in Christ, when did he choose us? 00:42:03.199 --> 00:42:12.079 Before the foundation of the world, that we, as believers, should be holy and without blame before him in love. 00:42:12.480 --> 00:42:25.679 So, Father God is not, as according to some preachers of other faiths and orders say, you need to come and you need to get saved today and you need to repent. 00:42:26.000 --> 00:42:27.199 You do need to repent. 00:42:27.679 --> 00:42:28.880 You and I both. 00:42:29.119 --> 00:42:30.320 But you know what? 00:42:30.960 --> 00:42:42.239