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Voddie Baucham - Session 3: The Doctrines of Grace and Holiness · Voddie Baucham Sermons

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Speaker 1: Hm, well, good evening. It is indeed a delight to
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Speaker 1: be here. I have I've looked forward to this and
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Speaker 1: I will make one correction, happily make one correction. I
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Speaker 1: am no longer the dean of the School of Divinity
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Speaker 1: at the African Christian University. I turned that duty over
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Speaker 1: to Conrad, and I'm so happy it is best for everyone.
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Speaker 1: Because I'm a lot of things, an administrator is not
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Speaker 1: one of those things. So since since I started being
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Speaker 1: Dean of the School of Divinity, I've been trying to
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Speaker 1: con i mean convince someone that they needed to take
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Speaker 1: that mantle. So I'm delighted that doctor and Bayway now
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Speaker 1: holds that title and I just I just get to
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Speaker 1: each It's wonderful. My assignment today was to address the
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Speaker 1: doctrines of grace and holiness, the doctrines of grace and holiness,
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Speaker 1: And the interesting thing about that is when we think
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Speaker 1: about the doctrines of grace and holiness, oftentimes we're tempted
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Speaker 1: to think that those things are at odds. In fact,
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Speaker 1: one of the arguments that people attempt to make against
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Speaker 1: those of us who hold to the doctrines of grace
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Speaker 1: is that it militates against a pursuit of holiness. Yeah,
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Speaker 1: do you not have non Calvinist friends? Do you not?
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Speaker 1: Because that's the argument that's often made, right, because you know,
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Speaker 1: you believe that God is sovereign, He's in control of
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Speaker 1: all of it. And therefore the two things, what are
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Speaker 1: the two things that we're accused of not pursuing as
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Speaker 1: a result, Evangelism and holiness? Right, Evangelism and holiness. And again,
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Speaker 1: nothing could be further from the truth. Turn your attention
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Speaker 1: with me to the Second London Baptist Confession, Chapter thirteen,
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Speaker 1: paragraph one. Listen to this of sanctification. They who are
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Speaker 1: united to Christ, effectually called and regenerated, having a new heart,
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Speaker 1: a new spirit created in them through the virtue of
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Speaker 1: Christ's death and resurrection, are also farther sanctified, really and
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Speaker 1: personally through the same virtue. Hold on to that. We'll
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Speaker 1: come back to that. By His word and spirit dwelling
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Speaker 1: in them, the dominion of the whole body of sin
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Speaker 1: is destroyed, and the several lusts thereof are more and
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Speaker 1: more weakened and mortified, and they more and more quickened
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Speaker 1: and strengthened in all saving graces to the practice of
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Speaker 1: all true holiness. Without which no man shall see the Lord.
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Speaker 1: So it's a it's a now right lie that those
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Speaker 1: of us who believe in the doctrines of grace and
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Speaker 1: believe in the sovereignty of God as applied to the
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Speaker 1: salvation of sinners somehow see that at odds with the
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Speaker 1: pursuit of that true holiness without which no man shall
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Speaker 1: see the Lord. We've confessed that as long as we've
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Speaker 1: been confessing, Amen. And yet they accuse us of that.
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Speaker 1: But I'm not as worried about that as I am
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Speaker 1: about some of us, because some of us have an
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Speaker 1: idea that goes something like this. When it comes to justification,
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Speaker 1: God is absolutely sovereign, and he does that monegism Amen.
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Speaker 1: All the way God saves sinners. But when it comes
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Speaker 1: to sanctification and holiness, well that's something different. It's as
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Speaker 1: though God starts us on our way, and then after
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Speaker 1: he starts us on our way, he leaves us to
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Speaker 1: work out the rest as best we can. Let me
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Speaker 1: read that again. They who are unite to Christ, effectually
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Speaker 1: called regenerated, having a new heart and a new spirit
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Speaker 1: created in them through the virtue of Christ's death and resurrection,
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Speaker 1: are also farther sanctified really and personally through the same virtue.
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Speaker 1: The one who saves us is the one who sanctifies us.
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Speaker 1: The one who saves us is the one who sets
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Speaker 1: us apart for himself. He makes us holy. In other words,
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Speaker 1: and yet I say this and will simultaneously acknowledge the
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Speaker 1: fact that we are called to pursue holiness. Be holy
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Speaker 1: as I am holy, saying Chrintian seventy to one. Since
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Speaker 1: we have those promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from
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Speaker 1: every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion
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Speaker 1: in the fear of God. There it is Ephesians four
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Speaker 1: twenty two to twenty four, same book that we're going
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Speaker 1: to look at. Here in a moment, we're going to
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Speaker 1: look at chapter one. But in Pheesians four, put off
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Speaker 1: your old self, which belongs to your former manner of
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Speaker 1: life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and be renewed
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Speaker 1: in the spirit of your minds. Had to put on
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Speaker 1: the new self, created after the likeness of God in
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Speaker 1: true righteousness and holiness. Hebrews twelve fourteen. Strive for peace
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Speaker 1: with everyone and for the holiness without which no one
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Speaker 1: will see the Lord there's that verse from which we
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Speaker 1: get that statement in chapter thirteen first Thessalonians four three
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Speaker 1: through seven. For this is the word of God your sanctification,
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Speaker 1: that you abstain from sexual immorality, that each world one
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Speaker 1: of you know how to control his own body in
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Speaker 1: holiness and honor, not in the passions of lust, like
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Speaker 1: the gentiles who do not know God. That no one
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Speaker 1: transgress and wrong his brother in this manner, because the
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Speaker 1: Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we
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Speaker 1: told you before and solemnly warn you. For God has
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Speaker 1: not called us to or God called us for impurity,
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Speaker 1: but in holiness. So what do we do with this?
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Speaker 1: What do we do with the fact that God is
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Speaker 1: the one who sets us apart. God is the one
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Speaker 1: who makes us holy, that we believe in monarchism, that
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Speaker 1: God saves us, and that God sanctifies us, and yet
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Speaker 1: we're called to pursue this holiness. Well, the short and
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Speaker 1: simple answer is we do this same thing with that
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Speaker 1: that we do with repent and believe. Amen, God is
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Speaker 1: sovereign in the salvation of sinners. God saves us from
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Speaker 1: beginning to end. And yet we call men to repent
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Speaker 1: and believe. God is the one who sets us apart
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Speaker 1: and makes us holy. And yet we are called to
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Speaker 1: be holy as he is holy, to pursue holiness. Let
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Speaker 1: me begin with an illustration to sort of set the
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Speaker 1: stage for you before we look at our text today,
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Speaker 1: which will be in Ephesians chapter one. The illustration comes
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Speaker 1: from an experience that I had. My days are all
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Speaker 1: messed up. I just flew in from Soco on Friday,
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Speaker 1: and and then flew to Mississippi and THENTO, Florida, and
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Speaker 1: then here, and I'm just yeah. So last night this
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Speaker 1: morning sometime, it was dark outside and I wasn't supposed
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Speaker 1: to be up, h but I but I woke up
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Speaker 1: and it was one of those moments I just I
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Speaker 1: was up up, dark outside, not supposed to be up,
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Speaker 1: but I was up up, and I did what I
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Speaker 1: do maybe a thousand times a day. I took my
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Speaker 1: thumb and I reached for this ring and it wasn't there.
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Speaker 1: So now I wasn't just up up. I was up, up, up,
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Speaker 1: looking for my ring, turning on lights, pulling back covers, look, look,
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Speaker 1: looking looking for my ring. Now, eventually, as you can see,
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Speaker 1: I found my ring. And this ring is important. This
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Speaker 1: ring is important because this ring was a symbol the
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Speaker 1: fact that I have been set apart for one, set
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Speaker 1: apart for her and for her alone. Now, listen, I'm
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Speaker 1: not married because I wear the ring. I wear the
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Speaker 1: ring because I'm married. Some of you haven't gotten it still.
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Speaker 1: Here's why we have a problem with the idea of
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Speaker 1: God's sovereignty and the pursuit of holiness, because somewhere we've
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Speaker 1: gotten the idea that holiness is something that we do
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Speaker 1: so that we can be set apart for God. And
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Speaker 1: so we come up with these lists of things that
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Speaker 1: we do and these lists of things that we don't do.
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Speaker 1: And when people ask us about whether or not we're
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Speaker 1: a Christian, we answer and the affirmative. And then the
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Speaker 1: evidence that we give is I used to do this,
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Speaker 1: now I don't anymore. I used to not do that,
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Speaker 1: and now I do not that any of those things
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Speaker 1: are bad. Amen, But we got it backwards. God does
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Speaker 1: not welcome us and receive us because we've done the
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Speaker 1: holiness stuff. But we do the holiness stuff as a
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Speaker 1: result of God having made us holy. Me not pursuing
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Speaker 1: another woman. Before this was absolutely no virtue whatsoever. Amen.
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Speaker 1: There was no virtue in that because actually I had
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Speaker 1: to pursue this one before I put this. Amen, how
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Speaker 1: many of you know unless you pursue them. Yeah, some
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Speaker 1: of you single folks need okay, all right, So so
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Speaker 1: there was no virtue in that and that and that
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Speaker 1: not pursuing. But when this is on and I've been
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Speaker 1: set apart for one now, the not pursuing means something different.
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Speaker 1: But it is related to the fact that I've been
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Speaker 1: set apart. It grows out of the fact that I've
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Speaker 1: been set apart. Same is true with our holiness. It
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Speaker 1: is a gift from God. It begins and ends with God,
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Speaker 1: and we pursue it because He's given it to us.
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Speaker 1: He doesn't give it to us because we pursue it.
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Speaker 1: Look at Ephesian Chapter one, and let's unpack this. It's
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Speaker 1: one thing for me to say it. It's another thing
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Speaker 1: for us to see it in the text. Amen. We
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Speaker 1: look at those first fourteen verses, and much of my
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Speaker 1: time is going to be spent with us looking at
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Speaker 1: these verses again and again and again. Paul an apostle
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Speaker 1: of Christ Jesus by the Wood of God to the
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Speaker 1: saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ. Jesus,
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Speaker 1: Grace to you peace from God, our Father and the
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Speaker 1: Lord Jesus Christ. Now now here's the meat of our text.
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Speaker 1: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
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Speaker 1: who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing
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Speaker 1: in the heavenly places, even as He chose us in
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Speaker 1: Him before the foundation of the world, that we should
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Speaker 1: be holy and blameless before him. There it is in
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Speaker 1: love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons
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Speaker 1: through Christ Jesus, according to the purpose of his will.
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Speaker 1: By the way, every time I read this, every time
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Speaker 1: I read this, I just I feel for people who
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Speaker 1: have to run through the mental gymnastics of not seeing
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Speaker 1: the sovereignty of God in salvation. By I just what
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Speaker 1: do you do? Verse six To the praise of His
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Speaker 1: glorious grace with which He has blessed us in the
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Speaker 1: beloved in Him, we have redemption through His blood, the
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Speaker 1: forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
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Speaker 1: which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight,
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Speaker 1: making known to us the mystery of his will according
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Speaker 1: to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ. In
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Speaker 1: Christ as a plan for the for the fullness of time,
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Speaker 1: to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and
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Speaker 1: things on earth. Sorry, there's a glare here in Him.
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Speaker 1: We have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined there. It
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Speaker 1: is again according to the purpose of Him who works
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Speaker 1: all things according to the counsel of his will, so
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Speaker 1: that we, who were the first to hope in Christ,
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Speaker 1: might be to the praise of His glory in Him.
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Speaker 1: You also, when you heard the Word of Truth, the
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Speaker 1: Gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed
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Speaker 1: with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of
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Speaker 1: our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the
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Speaker 1: praise of His glory. Amen, Alleluiah, and praise the Lord.
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Speaker 1: The gift, this glorious gift of holiness. Four things I
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Speaker 1: want you to see about this gift from this text.
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Speaker 1: Number one, I want you to see that holiness is
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Speaker 1: a gift from the thrice Holy Triune God. Holiness is
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Speaker 1: a gift from the thrist Holy Triune God. Notice what
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Speaker 1: we see here in the progression of this text. Look
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Speaker 1: at verses three and four. Verses three and four, we
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Speaker 1: see the Father blessed be the God, the Father of
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Speaker 1: our Lord, Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ
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Speaker 1: with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as
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Speaker 1: He shows us in Him before the foundation of the world,
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Speaker 1: that we should be holy and blameless before Him. And
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Speaker 1: so we have God the Father who's blessing us. And
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Speaker 1: then look at verse seven, and him we have redemption
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Speaker 1: through his blood. This is God the Son, the forgiveness
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Speaker 1: of our trespasses according to the riches of His grace.
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Speaker 1: So now we have the Son's participation in this gift
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Speaker 1: of holiness. And then look at verses thirteen and fourteen.
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Speaker 1: And him, you also, when you heard the Word of Truth,
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Speaker 1: the Gospel of your salvation and believed in him, were
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Speaker 1: sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee
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Speaker 1: of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to
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Speaker 1: the praise of His glory. So this gift of ours
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Speaker 1: that we see here is given to us by the
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Speaker 1: thrice Holy Triune God, God the Father, God the Son,
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Speaker 1: God the Spirit. This holiness that is our gift, this
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Speaker 1: being set apart for God. God does this as God
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Speaker 1: the Father and God the Son and God the Spirit. Saints.
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Speaker 1: There's not even any room for us. Amen, be like
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Speaker 1: a toddler. You know, when have you ever been around
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Speaker 1: and trying to move something or do some work, and
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Speaker 1: there's a toddler around. The toddler wants to that, he
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Speaker 1: wants to help. And so here you are picking up
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Speaker 1: this heavy thing, and the toddler comes along and they
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Speaker 1: put their hand on the heavy thing so that they
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Speaker 1: can they can, and you let them, you just you
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Speaker 1: let them. But it's handled. Your holiness is handled. The
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Speaker 1: thrice holy Triune God, the eternal, sovereign, omnipotent God, has
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Speaker 1: gifted you with holiness, has set you apart for himself
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Speaker 1: and by himself. You did not help God set you apart.
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Speaker 1: God set you apart for himself. The Father and the
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Speaker 1: Son and the Spirit worked in conjunction within the Godhead
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Speaker 1: in order to set apart of people for the praise
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Speaker 1: of His glory. And by the way, several times we
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Speaker 1: read in this text that it was for the praise
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Speaker 1: of his glory. Amen, if you helped God make you holy,
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Speaker 1: you would share in the praise, and it wouldn't just
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Speaker 1: be the praise of His glory, it would be And
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Speaker 1: we're in South Carolina, it would be the praise of
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Speaker 1: y'all's glory. This is a gift from the thrice holy
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Speaker 1: Tryune God. Secondly, this gift is orchestrated by the Father.
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Speaker 1: It's orchestrated by the Father. Look at the text again,
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Speaker 1: and this time I want us to pay attention to
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Speaker 1: the verbs. In verse three, who has blessed us? Verse four,
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Speaker 1: he chose Us. Verse five, he predestined Us. Verse six,
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Speaker 1: he has blessed us. In case you didn't catch it
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Speaker 1: the first time. Verse eight, he lavished upon Us, verse nine,
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Speaker 1: making known to us. At the end of verse nine,
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Speaker 1: he set forth. God orchestrated this. God did this work.
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Speaker 1: God saved the people for his own glory. All of
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Speaker 1: these verbs, these action words, point to what it is
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Speaker 1: that the Father has done. Even the work that the
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Speaker 1: son accomplishes, and even the work that the spirit accomplishes.
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Speaker 1: They accomplished this at the of the Father, who ortistrains
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Speaker 1: the work. She reminds me of John seventeen, where we
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Speaker 1: look at the work that God has done in the
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Speaker 1: Covenant of Redemption, that the Father, out of love for
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Speaker 1: the son, bequeaths a people to the son. It gives
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Speaker 1: a people to the Son, out of his love for
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Speaker 1: the Son, and the son, out of his love for
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Speaker 1: the Father, redeems the people whom the Father has given
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Speaker 1: to him, and the Spirit, who is the personification of
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Speaker 1: the love between the Father and the Son, actually applies
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Speaker 1: that redemption to those whom the Father has given and
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Speaker 1: for whom the Son has died to redeem. This is
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Speaker 1: how we are saved. This is how we are set apart.
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Speaker 1: This is how we become his. But not only look
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Speaker 1: at the work of the Father, but look at the
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Speaker 1: work of the Son. The son purchases this people. Look
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Speaker 1: with me in verse seven, and him We have redemption
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Speaker 1: through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to
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Speaker 1: the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us
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Speaker 1: in our wisdom and insight, making known to us the
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Speaker 1: mystery of his will. But beyond that, that's sort of
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Speaker 1: the general statement of what he did. But look back
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Speaker 1: at the text again. We looked before, and we looked
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Speaker 1: at those verses. Let's look at these prepositional phrases. Look
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Speaker 1: at verse four. He didn't just choose us, He chose
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Speaker 1: us in him. Look with me at verse five, predestined
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Speaker 1: through Jesus Christ. Look at verse six, he blessed us
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Speaker 1: in the beloved. Verse seven begins with in Him, and
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Speaker 1: then we had this redemption what through his blood? Look
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Speaker 1: down with me. At the end of verse nine he
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Speaker 1: set forth in Christ, and in the middle of verse
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Speaker 1: nine to unite all things in him. Look at verse
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Speaker 1: eleven in him, look at verse thirteen in him in Christ.
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Speaker 1: So the Father does this work, but he does this
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Speaker 1: work in Christ, this redemp of ours, that is in Christ.
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Speaker 1: And there are two things that we see here that
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Speaker 1: we have as a result of this work of Christ,
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Speaker 1: and both of them are significant. One of them is
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Speaker 1: the obvious one, this redemption that we have in Christ,
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Speaker 1: all of sin and fall short of the glory of God.
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Speaker 1: The miracle of holiness is that we are an unholy people. Amen.
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Speaker 1: The reason that we need this supernatural work to make
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Speaker 1: us holy is because we are unholy people. How are
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Speaker 1: unholy people going to make themselves holy? That's like nothing
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Speaker 1: exploding and creating everything. Amen. Somebody, where does an unholy
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Speaker 1: person be? Again to express holiness? There is none righteous, no,
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Speaker 1: not even one. No one seeks after God, none of us.
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Speaker 1: So how is someone who is guilty before a holy God?
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Speaker 1: How is someone for whom every inclination is towards sin,
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Speaker 1: all the time, going to all of a sudden find
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Speaker 1: it in himself or herself to even desire holiness, let
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Speaker 1: alone move toward holiness. It has to be alien, It
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Speaker 1: has to come from outside. We have to be redeemed,
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Speaker 1: We have to be justified. We have to be changed
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Speaker 1: supernaturally from what we were to what we become. That's
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Speaker 1: the only way that we could ever even think about holiness,
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Speaker 1: let alone do anything that would be acceptable before perfect,
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Speaker 1: holy and righteous God. This redemption is necessary. God had
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Speaker 1: to make him who knew no sin, to be sin
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Speaker 1: for us, so that we might become the righteousness of
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Speaker 1: God in him. It's all we, like sheep, as Isaiah says,
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Speaker 1: gone astray. Each of us had turned to his own way.
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Speaker 1: But God hath laid upon him the iniquity of us.
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Speaker 1: All this is the only way that God could be,
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Speaker 1: as pauls as in Romans three, both just and that
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Speaker 1: he must pour out his wrath on sin, and the
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Speaker 1: justifier of the one who places faith in Jesus Christ
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Speaker 1: penal substitutionary atonement. And I know in some circles that's cussing,
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Speaker 1: but there is no other way. There is no other way.
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Speaker 1: But it's not only that. He also refers here to
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Speaker 1: what I like to call the lost step in the
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Speaker 1: order salutis. Most people when they talk about the order Salutists,
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Speaker 1: they talk about justification and sanctification and glorification. Amen, And
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Speaker 1: that that's it. That's yet. Yes, justification and and and
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Speaker 1: and sanctification and glorification. Oh my, but we forget one.
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Speaker 1: It's justification, adoption, sanctification, glorification. And I'm not just saying that.
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Speaker 1: I'll show you in a minute. But look back with
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Speaker 1: me verse five. He predestined us for adoption to himself
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Speaker 1: as sons through Jesus Christ. So Christ's work did not
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Speaker 1: just justify us, but through Christ's work we are also adopted.
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Speaker 1: Go back with me if you will. And right before
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Speaker 1: the paragraph that we read, chapter thirteen of sanctification in
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Speaker 1: the second Lend the Baptist Confession, is the one paragraph
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Speaker 1: chapter right before chapter twelve on adoption. There's only one
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Speaker 1: paragraph there on adoption. And you'll notice that it's adoption
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Speaker 1: and then sanctification. And this is incredibly important. Listen to this.
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Speaker 1: All those that are justified, God vouchsafed in and for
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Speaker 1: the sake of his only son, Jesus Christ, to make
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Speaker 1: partakers of the grace of adoption, by which they are
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Speaker 1: taken into the number and enjoy the liberties and privileges
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Speaker 1: of children of God, have His name put on them,
30:19
Speaker 1: receive the spirit of adoption, have access to the throne
30:22
Speaker 1: of grace with boldness, are enabled to cry ah Bah Father,
30:26
Speaker 1: are pitied, protected, provided for, and chastened by Him as
30:32
Speaker 1: by a father, yet never cast off, but sealed to
30:37
Speaker 1: the day of redemption, and inherit the promises as heirs
30:41
Speaker 1: of everlasting salvation. Don't you leave that off anymore? Don't
30:49
Speaker 1: you leave it off anymore. So many people wrestle with assurance.
30:56
Speaker 1: And there are a number of reasons that people wrestle
30:59
Speaker 1: with assurance. And I'm not talking about people who wrestle because
31:01
Speaker 1: of some besetting sin or because of whatever. There are
31:06
Speaker 1: a number of people who wrestle with assurance because all
31:09
Speaker 1: they have is justification and sanctification and glorification. And God
31:15
Speaker 1: is this judge who has made declarations and decrees. But
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Speaker 1: adoption says, he's my daddy. I am not just his subject.
31:33
Speaker 1: I am his son, and I am every bit a
31:39
Speaker 1: son that the son is a son. Do you hear
31:46
Speaker 1: that I am his child? And amazingly, as his child,
31:56
Speaker 1: it makes sense that I would be conformed to the
31:59
Speaker 1: image of It makes sense that if I am a
32:03
Speaker 1: child in the family of God, that I would reflect
32:07
Speaker 1: the family image. I say this as an adoptive father.
32:19
Speaker 1: It's interesting. I was speaking with my oldest daughter not
32:25
Speaker 1: long ago, and we're doing some family tree stuff. And
32:28
Speaker 1: we're riding in the car going somewhere with the ones.
32:33
Speaker 1: We have seven kids who are there with us in
32:35
Speaker 1: Lusaka and two who are here in the US, and
32:37
Speaker 1: our grandkids who are here in the US. And our
32:39
Speaker 1: oldest daughter was doing some some you know, family tree stuff,
32:43
Speaker 1: and she says, you know, you've done your DNA stuff
32:46
Speaker 1: and Mom's done her DNA stuff, so I don't have
32:48
Speaker 1: to do my DNA stuff because you know, I got
32:50
Speaker 1: your DNA and her DNA. Un Listen, I haven't told
32:53
Speaker 1: me something, you know, and so we've got it right.
32:56
Speaker 1: And so I've done that. But I need this and
32:59
Speaker 1: I need that, none need the other. And so the
33:01
Speaker 1: call ends and one of my sons says, well, Dad,
33:08
Speaker 1: I guess then when I want to do my family tree,
33:11
Speaker 1: I can just use you and Mom's DNA too, And
33:19
Speaker 1: it was one of those moments, and there have been
33:21
Speaker 1: many where we have to be reminded that some of
33:28
Speaker 1: our children came into our home through adoption. And so
33:38
Speaker 1: I said, well, I mean, you know, Son, you you can,
33:42
Speaker 1: you can, you can, Yes, you can, and that'll that'll, that'll,
33:49
Speaker 1: that'll give you the you know, the the Bockham side
33:52
Speaker 1: of it, but your your DNA would also give you
33:56
Speaker 1: some other information.
33:59
Speaker 2: And that's when he went, oh, yeah.
34:10
Speaker 1: We're frequently asked questions like what it's like to love
34:18
Speaker 1: and I'll use the words that people use our real
34:21
Speaker 1: children compared to our adopted children, to which I always respond,
34:26
Speaker 1: they're all real, they're all real. Well you know you
34:31
Speaker 1: know what I mean, Your your your your natural children
34:33
Speaker 1: versus your adopted children, to which I respond, well, depending
34:37
Speaker 1: on how you define a natural none of them, you know.
34:40
Speaker 1: But uh, well you know, your your own children versus
34:45
Speaker 1: your to which I respond, I double dog dare you
34:49
Speaker 1: to point to any one of them and say they're
34:52
Speaker 1: not my own. But here's where you're getting at, And
34:59
Speaker 1: here's that's where the hang up is. We believe that
35:03
Speaker 1: loving a child is tied up in biology because we're
35:09
Speaker 1: closet Darwinians. If you believe that, let me remind you
35:21
Speaker 1: of something. My closest living relative, my next of kin,
35:28
Speaker 1: is not related to me by blood. And I love
35:39
Speaker 1: no one on this earth more. Why is this important?
35:48
Speaker 1: Because God has adopted us and set us apart as
35:55
Speaker 1: his own children, and he loves us as sons and daughters.
36:03
Speaker 1: And when you understand this, you understand how and why
36:09
Speaker 1: our holiness would grow out of that. We don't become
36:14
Speaker 1: God's child because of our efforts in holiness. Our efforts
36:21
Speaker 1: and holiness are born out of our adoption into the
36:26
Speaker 1: family of God. Christ does this. Christ purchases this. We're his,
36:42
Speaker 1: We're his. Finally, we see that this gift is guaranteed
36:54
Speaker 1: by the spirit. Look down with me beginning of verse eleven,
37:05
Speaker 1: geinna verse eleven. And and this is the point when
37:11
Speaker 1: we talk about, for example, the doctrines of grace, right
37:13
Speaker 1: when we talk about the tulip, and when we get
37:18
Speaker 1: to you know, total depravity on merriative favor and limited
37:25
Speaker 1: atonement and irresistible grace, and we get down to perseverance,
37:34
Speaker 1: we see that from beginning to end, God saves his people.
37:40
Speaker 1: Amen and those who want to, you know, monkey around
37:46
Speaker 1: with the sanctification part. They sort of they insert something
37:51
Speaker 1: in there but between the eye and the ped and
37:58
Speaker 1: that thing that they insert between the eye and the
38:00
Speaker 1: P actually puts the P in doubt. Amen, Because if
38:07
Speaker 1: there's something, if there's something that God is taking his
38:11
Speaker 1: hands off of and trusting me with before he can
38:20
Speaker 1: finish the p, there's a problem. Because you know my
38:26
Speaker 1: favorite John MacArthur quote, if you could lose your salvation,
38:32
Speaker 1: you would, But look here verse eleven. In him, we
38:44
Speaker 1: haven't obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the
38:51
Speaker 1: purpose of Him who works all things according to the
38:54
Speaker 1: counsel of his will. That leaves no room. He works
38:58
Speaker 1: all things according to the council of his will. You
39:02
Speaker 1: are not part of that council. You don't get a
39:06
Speaker 1: seat at that table. Amen. So that we who were
39:12
Speaker 1: the first to hope in Christ might be to the
39:15
Speaker 1: praise of His glory. There it is again in Him.
39:18
Speaker 1: You also, when you heard the Word of truth, the
39:21
Speaker 1: Gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed
39:26
Speaker 1: with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of
39:30
Speaker 1: our inheritance. Until we acquire possession of it to the
39:35
Speaker 1: praise of His glory. The Holy Spirit is the guarantee.
39:48
Speaker 1: It's it's the it's the promisory node. It's the earnest money.
39:52
Speaker 1: Remember the first time we bought a house, one of
39:55
Speaker 1: the scariest things ever in the world, And we're get
40:00
Speaker 1: ready by the house, and they told us that we
40:01
Speaker 1: had to write an earnest money contract. What in the world. Yes,
40:07
Speaker 1: you write this contract, and they know you're serious because
40:09
Speaker 1: you write this contract and you give them this check
40:12
Speaker 1: and if you back out, you lose the check. Say wait, wait,
40:17
Speaker 1: what say? Yes, you better be serious before you buy
40:21
Speaker 1: this because when you buy it, you attach this check,
40:24
Speaker 1: and if you don't finish the purchase that you promised
40:27
Speaker 1: to make, they keep your earnest money. They keep your guarantee.
40:33
Speaker 1: That that's what this reference is to. Here. God has
40:38
Speaker 1: put earnest money down on you, and if he fails
40:45
Speaker 1: to follow through and save you, save you, he'd have
40:50
Speaker 1: to lose his earnest money. His earnest money is the
40:53
Speaker 1: third person of the Trinity, which means that the only
40:57
Speaker 1: way that someone who's actually saved can stop being saved
41:01
Speaker 1: is if God stops being God. You're his from beginning
41:18
Speaker 1: to end. You're his. And again, I know about all
41:27
Speaker 1: the what if questions and what about these people who
41:29
Speaker 1: live like this? And what about these people who do that?
41:31
Speaker 1: And what about these people? Listen, listen, listen, one John
41:37
Speaker 1: two nineteen. They went out from among us because they
41:43
Speaker 1: were not all of us. If they had been of us,
41:47
Speaker 1: they would have remained. Why because he loses none. Your
42:08
Speaker 1: holiness is tied up in this. And the beauty of
42:18
Speaker 1: this is that when we grasp this, there is incredible freedom.
42:34
Speaker 1: If I had to go every day and earn this,
42:44
Speaker 1: if I had to spend every day guarding, guarding my eyes,
42:50
Speaker 1: guarding my thoughts, guarding all the just everything, so that
42:54
Speaker 1: I could earn this, so that I could hope to
42:56
Speaker 1: come home at the end of the day, and she's
42:57
Speaker 1: still there. No, But when I recognize that I've been
43:09
Speaker 1: set apart, that I am my beloved and my beloved
43:14
Speaker 1: is mine, I still do all those things. Amen, But
43:21
Speaker 1: not so I can earn this, but because it's true,
43:27
Speaker 1: because it's real, because I am what it says I am,
43:38
Speaker 1: I'm set apart. That's the way we view holiness, and
43:44
Speaker 1: it frees us to pursue holiness genuinely pursue holiness. The
43:51
Speaker 1: other way around, we're not pursuing holiness. We're actually pursuing
43:55
Speaker 1: self righteousness, which is not holy. But when we recognize
44:06
Speaker 1: that the trying God has granted us this gift, that
44:15
Speaker 1: God the Father caught, the Son, God the Spirit have
44:20
Speaker 1: provided and uphold and maintain this gift of holiness, then
44:30
Speaker 1: it becomes our delight to pursue it. Not only that,
44:37
Speaker 1: but we have the very power of the thrice holy
44:41
Speaker 1: Triune God enabling us to do it. You see, if
44:48
Speaker 1: it's the other way around that I'm doing it in
44:51
Speaker 1: my might and in my power, which will always be insufficient.
45:00
Speaker 1: But when I understand it rightly, the same power that
45:06
Speaker 1: raised Christ from the dead has set me apart as
45:12
Speaker 1: holy and has empowered and enabled me to live like
45:18
Speaker 1: one who is holy, to offer before a thrice holy
45:25
Speaker 1: God works that are acceptable in His sight because I
45:32
Speaker 1: do them in Christ as a redeemed and adopted child
45:39
Speaker 1: of the most High God. And there is absolutely no
45:45
Speaker 1: inconsistency whatsoever between the sovereignty of God in saving his
45:53
Speaker 1: people and his people pursuing holiness. Let's pray, Gracious God,
46:22
Speaker 1: our heavenly Father, Thank you for reminding us today of
46:31
Speaker 1: the significance and of the reality of those words. That
46:36
Speaker 1: you are indeed our heavenly father. You are the God
46:42
Speaker 1: and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and you have
46:45
Speaker 1: adopted us as sons and daughters. You have set us apart.
46:53
Speaker 1: You've made us holy things. You've made us a holy people,
47:00
Speaker 1: set apart for you. Grant by your grace that we
47:06
Speaker 1: might walk in accordance with that reality, not walking as
47:12
Speaker 1: those who believe that somehow we can earn it, but
47:18
Speaker 1: walking as those who believe that it is ours because
47:28
Speaker 1: it's a gift that we've received from the thrist holy
47:33
Speaker 1: Triune God, that it is ours, because it has been
47:39
Speaker 1: purchased by Christ, who redeemed us and through whom we
47:47
Speaker 1: have this precious gift of adoption. And because your spirit,
47:55
Speaker 1: your Holy Spirit, is our guarantee and the guardian of
48:06
Speaker 1: those whom you've set apart. Grant by your grace that
48:11
Speaker 1: this would never make us lax or lazy, but that
48:16
Speaker 1: instead it would renew our desire to pursue that holiness
48:28
Speaker 1: without which no man will see the Lord. May we
48:35
Speaker 1: walk in a manner worthy of our calling, and as
48:40
Speaker 1: we do grant us grace that we might be so
48:45
Speaker 1: careful to give your name all the praise, for it
48:50
Speaker 1: is all of grace, it is all of Christ. And
48:59
Speaker 1: we ask the things. Believe these things because we do
49:07
Speaker 1: ask them in the name of our Lord, Savior, Master,
49:12
Speaker 1: Redeemer and soon coming King Jesus, who is the Christ.
49:20
Speaker 1: In his name, all God's people said Amen.