Salvation is at God’s Good Pleasure

Transcript

GR 1141
01/24/1999
Salvation is at God's Good Pleasure
Galatians 1:1517
Gil Rugh


We are going back to the book of Galatians in our study together today. We took a break in this book, but now we are ready to return. And we took a break at one of those opportune times, right in the middle of a thought that Paul was developing. But that was intentional also because it is a great way to pick up the theme and emphasis that Paul is developing in writing to the Galatians. Remember the letter to the Galatians is a very intense letter. Paul is dealing with doctrinal heresy that was infiltrating the churches at Galatians. These were churches that he himself founded and established. He visited these churches on each of his three missionary journeys recorded in the book of Acts. He had a real and deep involvement with these people but now he writes because they are being swayed and confused and in danger of being lead away from the simplicity of their purity and devotion to Christ. The false teachers were what we call Judaizers. They were Jews who had come to profess faith in Jesus Christ. They declared that they believed that Jesus was the Messiah. They evidently professed faith in His death and resurrection. But according to the notes in Acts chapter 15 in connection with the council at Jerusalem to deal with some of these matters, they said that in addition to believing in Christ, you needed to keep the Mosaic Law and be circumcised in order to be saved. Then also as we'll see as we move through Galatians they believe that adheres to the Law was the way of life for the child of God. So Paul is very concerned to clarify issues for the believers at Galatia.

You know the danger to the church is magnified greatly when the false teaching is presented by those who claim to be part of us. They claim to believe the same Gospel. They claim to love the same Lord yet their message is different and that was a problem that followed Paul throughout His ministry. False teachershe warned the Ephesian elders in Acts chapter 20 that from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, seeking to draw the disciples away after them.

Paul had to do two things in confronting the error that was being presented at Galatia. Number one, he had to demonstrate that he himself was a true and genuine apostle and thus had apostolic authority. Second, and related to that, he needed to demonstrate that the Gospel which he preached, the gospel of grace was a message which he had received directly from God Himself. This was not a message he had picked up from other people but a message that he had received from God. You know the Judaizers had many things that could make their case sound convincing. They claimed to believe in Jesus Christ, but in that context they could also give the challenge would the God who gave the Old Testament, would the God who spoke so forcefully and clearly to Moses on Mount Sinai and communicated to Him in great detail His Law, would he just set that aside? No. God wants us to believe and follow His entire Word. The old covenant under Moses and now the truth concerning Christ and salvation by faith in Him but not by faith in Him apart from the Law.
You know, you could see how believers could begin to get confused and think well, they are not denying what we believe. They are just saying we are to be sure to include everything that God has given. And this kind of teaching can become very subtle and very destructive at the same time.

So Paul is demonstrating that his Gospel is God's Gospel and any variation from His Gospel is a departure from the truth of God and the Mosaic Law must be understood in the context of the purposes and plans that God had when He gave the Mosaic Law and he will get into that later in the letter. But now Paul is demonstrating that the message he received had divine authority.

In verses 11 and 12 he set down the case that he is going to demonstrate. "For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ." So that's his point. I didn't get my Gospel from man. I received it by direct revelation from Christ. Now he's going to support that claim.

We looked at verses 13 and 14 and Paul there gave a brief summary of his life before conversion to Christ. He was a zealous, fanatical opponent to the church and to the Gospel of God's grace. "For you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure, and tried to destroy it; and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions." As we noted when we studied these verses, the point Paul is making is there is no place in his pre-conversion life for any influence or teaching from those who oppose Judaism, from those who might have opposed the Mosaic Law as the way of salvation. Right up until the moment of his conversion he was actively and zealously persecuting and opposing those who preached the Gospel of God's grace in Christ. So you can't explain Paul's Gospel by saying well, you know, he c came under the influence of certain teachers or certain apostles and they were successful in changing his thinking and getting him to believe another message. No, Paul says, that's not the way it happened. And my life in Judaism is well enough known that that point is already proved.

Now what he is going to do in verses 15 to 17 is begin to show that after his conversion there was no place for influence from others as well. Well, we think, my, is he making a big deal here? Does it matter whether he got his gospel from Peter or Ananius or another believer or if he got it directly from God? Yes it does. Because he has to demonstrate that the Gospel he is preaching has God's final and absolute authority. And that is crucial for us. Is the book of Galatians a message given directly from God or is it a collection of thoughts from various men that have been put together by the apostle Paul in a letter? That becomes very important for you and I today. All we believe about Jesus Christ, about God and His salvation is found in what is said in this Word. If this book, the Bible, is not indeed God's Word to mankind, then we are astride with a collection of men's ideas, maybe some true, maybe some false, but they are of little value and help. So as believers in Jesus Christ we have planted ourselves firmly upon the truth that this indeed is God's revelation.

There's a strong contrast that comes out between verses 13 and 14 and verse 15 and 16. In verses 13 and 14 Paul talks about what he had accomplished where he was going. My former manner of life, my excelling beyond my contemporaries. But with verses 15 and 16 the emphasis changes totally from what Paul had done and accomplished to what God did and what God accomplished. And that is the dramatic change that is brought about in a life at conversion. It turns from a life that is centered on self and what I do and what I accomplish and the works that I have been successful in to what God and His sovereign love and power has done in and for me.

So you note verse 15, "But when God who had set me apart from my mother's womb, and called me though His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me, so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus." The substance of what he is saying here is found at the end of verse 16 and the first part of verse 17. Following his conversion he did not consult with other people nor did he go up to Jerusalem to converse with those who were already apostles. So he is demonstrating he did not receive his Gospel from other people. And he is not putting down others, for example, the apostles at Jerusalem. But what he is saying is he himself is an apostle and he has received direct revelation from God and so the Gospel he is preaching has the divine stamp.

The connection in verse 15 is but when God was pleased. So in our English Bibles we've broken it down maybe to make it read a little better. "But when God," and then the end of the verse, "was pleased to reveal His Son in me." And then he'll elaborate a little more fully on God. I want to pick up what he says there. "But when God was pleased to reveal His Son in me." Paul makes clear that his salvation was founded in the good pleasure of God. And Paul was saved when it pleased God to intervene in Paul's life and turn him from himself and his sin to Jesus Christ the One and only Savior.

Just after the book of Galatians is the book of Ephesians. Turn there if you would. Ephesians chapter 1. Paul is talking about the sovereign work that God did even before He created the world in selecting some to experience the salvation He would provide in Christ. He says in verse 4 of Ephesians 1. "Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself." Note this. "According to the kind intention of His will." And that word we have translated "kind intention" here in our English Bible is the same word we have translated "was pleased" in Galatians 1:15. In Galatians it was a verb. Here it's a noun. When God was pleased. When God predestined us according to His good pleasure as the King James has it. It has the idea God acting according to what pleases Him. Now there's a flavor of kind intention when that word "good pleasure" is used of God because it refers to the fact that God is pleased to deal kindly with us in providing His salvation.

Look down in verse 9, "He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention." There's our word again. "According to His good pleasure." God's salvation centers in His good pleasure. This is elaborated or explained in verse 11 of Ephesians 1, "Also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will." You see that God is working sovereignly according to what pleases Him. He counsels with no one but Himself. Now I take it what we have here is God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit counseling together among themselves and then acting according to what pleases them. He acts according to His good pleasure.

So Paul takes his salvation back to the good pleasure of God. Keep going in your Bibles. After the book of Ephesians is the book of Philippians. Philippians chapter 2. The end of verse 12 for time. This is the last statement of verse 12 of Philippians 2, "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." There's our word again. Translated "kind intention" in Ephesians 1:59. The verb form "was pleased" in Galatians 1:15, drawing attention that it was God who was the author and cause of Paul's salvation.

Now I want to stress this because it's important that we be clear in our minds regarding the sovereignty of God in salvation. I sometimes remind you bad theology always catches up to you. Bad theologywell, we say that's not so major. But sooner or later that bad theology will catch up to you and cause major problems. If we are not clear in our understanding that salvation is God's sovereign work both according to the choosing of those who will be saved and the timing of their salvation and the manner of their salvation with regards to the details of when and where and how they will believe, we will get ourselves into problems. And the evangelical church has gotten into much difficulty today over this. We think it's not a major issue. Let's not talk about the sovereignty of God in salvation. Salvation being according to His good pleasure. Some people don't like that. Well, of course they don't. Fallen beings want to be God. That's the great appeal. You will be like God. That's the great offense. God is telling me it will be His way and I'm telling Him over my dead body. And He's telling me that's right because the wages of sin is death. But if we are not clear that salvation takes place in the context when God was pleased to reveal His Son, the One who would set me apart, the One who had called me, we begin to develop ideas and plans to be more successful in reaching more people. And we see it as our job to develop methods and schemes that will draw people and we begin to confuse this with God's work and plan of redemption in salvation. And we think building a church with large numbers is the same thing as the dynamic power of God according to His good pleasure changing the hearts and lives of people.

Paul acknowledged this very danger when he wrote to the Corinthians and said when I came to you I didn't come with worldly wisdom because I did not want your faith to be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. Therefore, I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. But you see today in the church we've lost of the fact that it is the message of Christ crucified that God uses according to His good pleasure to save the elect. So we have decided when you preach about sin, when you preach about salvation by faith in Christ alone, when you preach about the absolute sovereignty of an allpowerful and allholy God, people will be offended and not come so let's play that down. We don't deny it. We just don't think it's a good idea to do on Sunday morning. And you see pretty soon we've slid into a plan that is not God's plan but it's blurred in our thinking because it works so well.

I've shared with you on many occasions and I will probably share it on many more occasions. A number of years ago I was meeting with one of major leaders in the church growth movement. This goes back to the late 70s. I was talking about the principles of church growth that they were developing and seeing implemented in churches and I said the thing that bothers me about these principles is where is the theology. And this professor said to me, "That's the beautiful thing, Gil. These principles work whatever your theology." And I told him I think that's the problem. But you know what? The evangelical church and the non-evangelical church have implemented these principles and are seeing great numerical growth in many places. And we think we are being effective when it may very well be a sign of unfaithfulness. I'm not saying bigness or smallness guarantees effectiveness. I am saying faithfulness to God is key.

So our theology of salvation is centered in the fact God is sovereign in salvation. He acts according to what pleases Him. And let me tell you there's no way around this. The salvation that God offers in His grace by faith in Christ is a humbling salvation. He will not barter it with people who might find it offensive to be told they are wretched, vile, helldeserving, hellbound sinners. And this salvation is offered as a free gift and to receive it you must bow before Him believing the message that He says is true that we are sinners and Christ is the Savior.

Back in Galatians chapter 1 and verse 15. But when God was pleased. When it was God's good pleasure He acted to bring about my salvation Paul says. But he elaborates on this God and His work. But when God . . . And this is the God who had set me apart from my mother's womb. The God who had called me through His grace that is acting according to His good pleasure. God who had set me apart from my mother's womb. Paul saw that both his salvation and his service was marked out and appointed by God before he was ever born. We saw this in Ephesians chapter 1 where God had choose us in Christ before He ever created the world. Paul here takes it back to before he began physical life at birth. From my mother's wombthe time when he was in the womb. Before I ever entered this world, He had set me apart. And this is not new. This is consistent with the doctrine of the Old Testament scriptures as well.

Turn back to the book of Isaiah chapter 49. Right about the middle of your Bible just before the book of Jeremiah where Rob had you turn a little bit ago. Isaiah the prophet writes and says verse 1, "Listen to Me, O islands, and pay attention, you peoples from afar. The LORD called Me from the womb from the body of My mother He named Me." God's sovereign selection and appointment of me to be His servant and His prophet goes back to my mother's womb, back to the beginning of my human existence. Down in verse 5, "And now s says the LORD, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant." You see the recognition of the sovereign hand of God. It wasn't boy I worked and I struggled and I finally found the Lord. Well, I might humanly speak of that but in reality the recognition is God had sovereignly set me apart from my mother's womb. He had sovereignly appointed me to be a prophet.

Turn over a few pages to the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah chapter 1. Jeremiah speaks in verse 4 and says, "Now the word of the LORD came to me saying." Here is God revealing how He has worked. "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you." Now you are aware in the Old Testament when we use this word to know of God it doesn't mean God just had information. I knew you. Well, God is omniscient. He knows everyone. But that word "know" has the idea of choosing. I knew you in a special way. I had selected you. Before I formed you in the womb I knew you. Before you were born I consecrated you. I have appointed you a prophet to the nations. Both the choice of Jeremiah to salvation and the appointment of Jeremiah to service took place before he was born. Sovereign work of a sovereign God.

Now I think it's important to note that both the selection to salvation and the appointment to service occur before our earthly life. And I take it that pattern is true of all of us. It's not just well Isaiah. Of course, he was exceptional. Jeremiah exceptional, Paul exceptional. But in Ephesians chapter 1 Paul says that all believers were chosen before the foundation of the world. And when He choose me to salvation in Christ that meant I would be a member of the Body of Christ. And I take it the indicationand there's other indications as well in Scripture we won't take time foris that in that choice there was an appointment to service. You think God just piled up body parts. I'm going to add them to the body of Christ. Don't have any idea what they are going to be but I'll put them there. No, when he choose you to be a member of the Body, I take it he ordained and appointed what your function would be. And that was before you were born.

Isn't that remarkable? Here we are gathered together as believers in Jesus Christ as His servants and the reality is God had chosen you for Himself and appointed you as His servant and how you would carry out that service before you were ever born. We can look back and see all the things that happened to bring us to this point. And I must recognize in it all and behind it all was the sovereign God who had set forth His plan for me before I was born.

So in Galatians 1 verse 15 Paul said this is the God "'who set me apart, even from my mother's womb." In Romans chapter 1 verse 1 Paul said he was set apart for the Gospel of God. So in that set apart there is the recognition not only of his salvation but of his service. We could talk about others verses like Romans chapter 9 verses 10 to 13. You have Esau and Jacob. "And the elder shall serve the younger. Jacob I've loved. Esau I've hated. The elder shall serve the younger." Both their call to salvation . . . selection to salvation and appointment for service is set out before they were born.

He not only set me apart from my mother's womb Galatians 1:15 says but He called me through His grace. Paul made a similar statement in verse 6 of chapter 1, "I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel." Called by the grace of Christ. You are called through His grace. And that call is a reference to what what we call the effectual call of God. We call it the effectual call because it is a call that is always effective. As Paul uses this word of believers, it's a call that goes out only to those that God has chosen. It's a call that always results in their saying yes and believing in Jesus Christ.

Back up to the book of Romans. A little bit toward the front of your Bible, in front of Galatians, just before the letters to the Corinthians. Romans chapter 8. We are not going to elaborate greatly on the call of God because we did that in connection with our study of verse 6 in chapter 1, but let me just remind you of Romans chapter 8. Great comfort because verse 28 says all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. And you know why? God is sovereign. God causes all things to work together for good for His people. "For those whom He foreknew." There's that word "foreknow." Remember Jeremiah? "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you." I chose you. Whom He foreknew, whom He chose beforehand. "He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son." And those He predestined, He also called; whom He called He justified; whom He justified, He glorified." So you see the call of God there is effective. Because those who are called are justified.

In the Gospels the word "called" is used more generally. Jesus said many are called but few are chosen. But when Paul uses this word he narrows it down. The call only goes to the chosen. You give the message out to everyone but the call of God to the heart for salvation and resulting in salvation is only carried to those He has chosen. He is sovereign.

In Romans chapter 9 while you are here verse 11. I just referred to this a moment ago. "For though the twins were not yet born, and had not done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose according to His choice [according to election] would stand, not because of works, but because of Him who calls." Why are you saved today? Because of God's good pleasure. Because of Him who called you to salvation.

Come back to Galatians chapter 1. Paul has sort of inserted a parenthesis here an elaboration. But when God was pleased. The God who set me apart from my mother's womb, the God who called me by His grace. And the call is always by grace. No one earns it or deserves it or merits it. It is through His grace. When this God was pleased to reveal His Son in me. This refers to the timing of His salvation. The call who had set me apart, the God who called me, was now pleased. It was His good pleasure that His Son would be revealed in me. And that would refer to His salvation. At least the initial revelation would be at his conversion on the road to Damascus in Acts chapter 9. Where that light shone from heaven, he was struck blind, he had that personal confrontation with Jesus Christ. That's when Jesus Christ was revealed in his heart and life. He used a similar kind of expression to talk about our salvation to talk about our salvation in 1 Corinthians chapter 4 with the light of the Gospel shining in our hearts. It's like the light's turned on. Something is revealed and made known to us, though we never understood and believed in this way before. That's what happens at salvation. Christ indeed is revealed in us and we talked about Him before. We may have professed to know Him before but now reality takes place within the heart and mind of a person and Christ is revealed in us and that is something only God can do. I can present this truth to you, I can talk to you about this truth, I can encourage you and beg you to believe this message, but only God can change your heart. Only God can reveal His Son in you and that is according to what pleases Him.

God was pleased to reveal His Son in me. And let me just say I don't think this revelation has to be limited just to his experience on the Damascus road. It began there. We better go back to Acts chapter 26. Acts chapter 26. Paul is giving his testimony before Herod Agrippa, king of the Jews, a portion of his father's realm, Herod the Great. And in verse 13 as Paul gives his testimony he says, Acts 26:13, "At midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun." And then jump down verse 16 Paul is told by Christ, "Get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things which I will appear to you." "In which I will appear to you." So you see here this revelation begins at Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus but it's not ended there. I will continue. "Things in which I will appear to you." That's the direct revelation that Paul is going to continue to get from Christ.

"Rescuing you from the Jewish people, from the Gentiles to whom I am sending you." Very beginning Paul is told that his ministry would not be to Jews. It would be to Gentiles. "To open their eyes so they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who had been sanctified by faith in Me." The very beginning Paul gets a message that is strong on substance. You are going to preach about sin, about forgiveness, about an inheritance that is entered into by faith in Me. He's not going to send him out to give lectures, to talk about things that people will find helpful and interesting, but to proclaim an eternally true message that God and His grace will use to transform and change the hearts and lives of those that He has chosen.

I take it that this revelation probably continued over the three days. Acts 9:9 tells us that Paul got up on the Damascus road and went to the city of Damascus and for three days he was there blind until Ananius came on the scene. I assume that there were additional appearances and revelation given to Paul during those three days because he comes out of that blindness, gets baptized and hits the road running, preaching the Gospel. There are other occasions provided for us as well. Come back to Galatians chapter 1 and we'll see.

Paul received this revelation of Christ at his conversion "so that I might preach among the Gentiles," he says in verse 16. The purpose of God revealing Himself to Paul naturally included Paul's salvation. But it included more than that. It included Paul's service to the living God so that he might be a preacher of the Gospel to the Gentiles. Again, I think it is important that we see in the context of salvation is the appointment to serving God. When God calls us to Himself to the salvation that He has provided it is not just call us so we can escape hell and that's it. Now get on with your life since you've been spared the fear of hell. No, He calls us to salvation which causes us to be born again and be born into the family of God, to become servants of the living God so Paul receives this revelation that He might be a preacher to the Gentiles. He won't be preaching to the Jews. He won't be preaching the Law. It doesn't mean Paul never preached to Jews. But the focus of his ministry was to the Gentiles and that will come out later on in the book of Galatians as we study it together.

Paul says my response to this revelation from Christ I did not consult with flesh and blood. So the first reaction might have been, I've got to talk to people about this. I got to, you know, get brought up to speed. No, I didn't immediately consult with other peopleflesh and blood. Nor did he take off for Jerusalem. Boy, if I'm going to be an apostle, I got to get up there and talk with these apostles, find out what they know, fill in the gaps. No, he didn't immediately go to Jerusalem where the apostles were centered. The point is he's not putting down the other apostles, but what he is doing is making clear that he is an apostle and that his message came directly from God. It is true because it is divine in its origin. So you see there's no room here for Paul to learn it after his conversion as well. What did he do? I didn't go to Jerusalem. I went away to Arabia. And then I came back to Damascus. Verse 18, "Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem." Three years passed from Paul's conversion to his trip to Jerusalem. By that time he was already heavily involved in preaching. In fact, Acts chapter 9 tells us he'll get chased out of Damascus for preaching the Gospel. So he had it well in hand and well learned before he ever went to Jerusalem, before he ever had consultation with the other apostles.

So what is he saying? My message is from God. This is God's truth. Don't think I've got a message from other men that maybe part true and part error. Don't think I'm confused and didn't understand. Let me tell you I have the standard. And when that standard is measured with the standard of the other apostles in later times, there is no conflict. There is only one God with one truth. But what he is saying is these Judaizers who are saying I'm wrong, my message is not precisely accurate, are themselves heretics and in error.

You know the issue is the same for our day for Paul's day. This truth of God is the absolute authority. When you agree with this truth, you are right. When you disagree with it, you are wrong period. There can be no fudging of this truth, no alteration of this truth. I've seen an advertisement for a book, Roman Catholic. I don't remember who sent it to me. It came in the mail a few months ago. It said this book was the definitive answer. It was certified to be free from doctrinal error and it was the book that would answer those who thought that salvation was by faith alone in Christ alone. It would prove that that is not true. Now the thing that amazes me that we have people who claim to be believers in evangelical churches saying we ought to be getting together with Roman Catholics. At the same time Roman Catholics are putting out a book they claim is free from doctrinal error that is attacking the concept that salvation is by faith alone in Christ alone. By grace aloneI believe they also added that. I say we have the same kind of problem that Paul had with the Judaizers, do we not? And yet many in the church are saying, look, we don't have to be so negative. We don't have to be so harsh. We don't have to divide over these things. If you do not divide over the truth, what will you divide over?

So we have to be firmly planted and clearly fixed on the fact that God has spoken. He spoke to the apostle Paul. I wish I could tell you He spoke to me last night and I'm looking for another appearance tonight. That would sort of lead me to stand up and say here's what I have to say. But you know what, I have it secondhand. I didn't get it directly from God. I got it from God through Paul. I have it written down here for me now. That's the same way you got it but it's just as authoritative and just as final. And the only thing that brings about salvation.

Let me summarize some of the things he said about our salvation here. I've made a list of points. I'll run through them quickly. He showed several things about salvation as he was showing that he didn't get his revelation from men. Number one these are all about salvationit is the work of God. It is the work of God. It occurs when God is pleases. It's according to His good pleasure. It occurs before we begin our earthly life as far as the plan of God. It is the work of God. It is founded in His good pleasurewhen God was pleased to reveal His Son in me. It is founded in His good pleasure. Number three, it includes our service for Him. We will talk more about this tonight but we as the evangelical church have accepted a counterfeit Christianity at great cost and great damage to the church. And that is you can have a salvation which maybe in y no way really changes your life. Our salvation includes our service for Him. Number four, it is planned before our birth. It is planned before our birth. He set me apart from my mother's womb. Number five, it is initiated by God. It is initiated by God. Some of these become variations but it's the same general theme obviously that it is God who is working. But God is the initiator. He not only set me apart from my mother's womb but then I came to believe in Him when He was pleased. That's what Paul says. "But when God was pleased to reveal His Son in me." So the timing of that salvation it is initiated by God.

Number six, it is a result of His grace. He called me through His grace. The call of God would point to the initiation of God as well. It wasn't me calling out God, where are you. God, I'm here. It was God calling me. And it was a result of His grace. And number seven, it focuses in His Son.

It's a glorious salvation. It's planned and carried out by a sovereign God. Is there any excuse or reason that we as the people of God ought to get this mixed up and confused and blurred. God has not called me to build a big church. God has not called me to gather a lot of people to hear me preach. God has called and appointed me to proclaim the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. In His grace that might mean many will come to hear; it might mean few will come to hear. But God forbid that we should in any way adjust or alter that message to make it more popular and palatable to people. For then we will have people who will place their faith in the wisdom and cleverness of men and be diluted into thinking that is God's salvation. What our desire is that that their faith might be in the power of God because it is that power that they have experienced in their lives by God's grace through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.

Let's pray together. Father, it is good for us to be reminded again and again and again that you are God and we are not. That you are the One who has absolute sovereignty, complete authority, and it is Your will and Your purposes that are carried out. And we as the church of Jesus Christ must be clear and settled and firmly planted on the truth of Your Word, the truth of who you are and the truth of how You work. We are hear today as testimonies of Your great grace, of Your power in calling us to a salvation that opened our blinded eyes and revealed to our hearts and minds Your Son who is the Savior. Lord, I pray that we might have a holy fear of becoming men pleasers, of being unfaithful to You our God and to the call that we have received and the responsibility that we have to be obedient and to proclaim with clarity and purity the message of Your grace in the gospel of Your Son. And Lord you know us as we are here today and You know that perhaps in this audience as You see the hearts, You know who truly knows You and who does not. And Lord, I ask by Your grace that You would convict of sin and open the eyes of those who are lost that they might bow before You and place their faith in Your Son, Jesus Christ. And it's in His name we pray, amen.