What Jesus Said Before He Was Born (part 2) - [Hebrews 10]

What blows your mind? What makes you think, the more I contemplate that, the more incredibly great it is? Like the older I get, there are fewer and fewer of those kind of things. But what blows your proverbial mind?

I just had a list of a few things in no particular order. One was, when my wife Kim said yes, when I asked her, would you marry me, I could just transport back to the place where I was when I asked her.

My mind was blown when I watched each one of my children be born. Haley, Luke, Maddie, and Gracie. When I saw that, I thought, I cannot believe what I'm seeing. The wonders of evolution. I mean, I just could not believe it.

Nothing times eternity equals everything. I was just amazed. With all seriousness, I am still mind boggled. My mind is still in amazement that after everything that I've done in my unregenerate life, that I could be a pastor.

I could preach the word for a holy God. I'm amazed by that. My mind was blown away the first time I stood next to the Sea of Galilee and thought it might not be at this exact spot, but Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, walked by this body of water.

He also walked upon it as well. And my mind, of course, flashes to the time in 1989 where God showed me my sin, my need of a Savior, granted me faith and repentance and trust in Christ alone. That was mind boggling.

I used to be a child of darkness, then He transformed me into the kingdom of His light. But you know, there's something more mind-blowing than any of these things, and that is what happened within the Trinity before time began.

If you can get your mind wrapped around the idea that the Scriptures teach before time began, the Trinity had a discussion. The Trinity talked to one another. The Father, Son, and the Spirit, the Eternal Father, the Eternal Son, and the Eternal Spirit had a pact, had an agreement, had an arrangement, had a covenant, had a guarantee to show glory, their glory to the world.

That boggles my mind. Now, some of you I know well, some of you I don't know that well. For those of you that don't know me well and you'd like to know what gets me up in the morning, what makes Mike tick, what's he all about?

This topic today, it's it. I'm so glad I don't have to get up to you in front of you this morning and say, Art, it's another year, so let me give you my pastoral exhortation. You did a pretty good job last year, just do a better job this year.

You know, you were pretty nice last year, and it's nice to be nice after all, but I want you to be nicer this year. You were good last year, some of you were better than others, I know, but I just want you to be better this year when you see from Scripture that God, before time began, made a promise, and by the way, if you're a Christian, you're included in that promise.

You're not going to be thinking about your health, you're not going to be thinking about your finances, you're not going to be thinking about what could happen this year, you're going to think, I can't believe what's happening.

You'll be like Lloyd-Jones, and Lloyd-Jones says, if you get this down, you are going to be standing on your tiptoes, praising God. So let's turn our Bibles to Hebrews chapter 10, as we've had a small detour from 1 Corinthians.

Jonathan Edwards would have a detour once in a while, and he called those detours, occasional sermons. So here's an occasional sermon, Hebrews chapter 10, what did Jesus say before he was born? I thought I was done last week, but I'm so intrigued by the topic, so drawn in that I can't stop myself.

It's great. I'm like with Paul in Romans 11, where he says, oh, the depth and the riches. You know, that's a Greek word, oh, this interjection, oh, wow. Sometimes I like to push the envelope a little bit, so I'll just kind of push it to start.

If you're a Christian this morning, I dare you to just say, you know, this is kind of boring. You know, theology is boring. Remember, if you say theology is boring, theology is just truth about God. Doctrine doesn't really matter.

Remember, doctrine is truth about God. Truth about God doesn't matter. Truth about God is boring. When you look at this, you're going to say, no, I feel like standing on tiptoes. I feel like I want to just kind of explode.

So as far as I'm concerned, there might be an occasional sermon part three next week, because I'm in no rush. This is just where I want to just kind of set and marinate. This is what I call crockpot theology.

You just put all that meat in there and a barbecue sauce, and you get those special kind of the bread buns there, and you just kind of just let it cook all day long, and you just keep smelling it. You just think, when is it going to be ready?

We having lunch today here? Do we cancel that? You say, I'd like to praise God more. This topic relates to that. I'd like to have more assurance of my salvation. This topic relates to that. I wonder if you could lose your salvation.

This topic addresses that. What about free will? This topic addresses that. What about evangelism? This topic addresses that. A great Baptist preacher said, the proper study of a Christian is the Godhead.

The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy which can ever engage the intention of a child of God is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the great God whom he calls his Father.

There's something exceedingly improving to the mind in a contemplation of the divinity. It is a subject so vast that all our thoughts are lost in its immensity, so deep that our pride is drowned in its infinity.

But I have to give this caveat to start, buyer beware. When you learn about this God, this great God, he's not the pantheistic God who just says, whatever happens. He's not the deist God that says, you know, it's just all wound up, just let her go.

He's the God that when you understand him, he demands everything, complete allegiance. And as we study this also, it's very, very humbling. The Puritan John Flavel said, they that know God will be humble, and they that know themselves cannot be proud.

So I like that. I like it when the focus is taken off of me, because when I focus on myself too much, frankly, sometimes I'm not that happy. It's not that good. And everything in our society is you, you, you.

I ate Kashi cereal this morning, and the name of my Kashi cereal was called what? You. It's a big you. It's all about you. And I was glad for the pomegranates, and I was glad for the boysenberries or whatever, but it was about us.

And here, this idea, what happened in eternity past between the Father, Son, and the Spirit. By the way, where were you during that council? I wasn't there. You weren't there. This is pre-us. And so that's what makes it so fascinating.

That's what makes it so great. Left to ourselves, we'd be like Charles Haffey. Do you remember Charles Haffey, 2002? He wanted to change his name. Some people change their name to interesting things, numbers, Ochocinco, you know, you get your name changed.

This man wanted to get his name changed to God, G-O-D. I think this is probably against the ACLU's ruling, though. The judge said no. Imagine that. The judge says no. So the guy said, okay, I want to change my name to I am who I am.

The judge said, well, what would your first name be then and all that? He said, I am. But you know, that's who I am, too. That's who you are. We're about ourselves. The pride and the arrogance and creatures thinking they're creators.

So I like this topic. So we can be with Jehoshaphat saying, O our God, our eyes are upon you. Well, we're in Hebrews chapter 10. What did Jesus say before he was born? As you know, this writer, the writer of Hebrews, is trying to tell people, some Christians, some not, that Jesus is great.

Everything about Jesus is better. He's more perfect. And the focus should be upon Christ. Don't deviate. Don't divert off from Christ Jesus. Make sure you be focused on the shepherd and the mediator of your soul.

And basically he says to these Jews, don't turn your back on Jesus. Turn your back on everything but Jesus is really his theme. And our outline this morning will be a little bit different. I think basically what I want you to do is see maybe the who, what, when, where, why, and how of your salvation.

I don't think I'm going to get through all of those. And so we're just going to look at the what and the who and the why of what happened in eternity past. So that you can be more thankful, praise God more, and we're going to look at what's called by theologians the covenant of redemption.

If you want to call it an agreement, you can, an arrangement, you can, a promise, you can, a guarantee, you can. I'm not a dispensationalist. I'm not a covenant theologian. When dispensationalists teach the truth, I believe it.

When covenant theologians teach the truth, I believe it. I believe in the covenant of redemption, but I also believe there's a future for Israel. But the language of covenant is biblical language. Listen to Jesus.

This cup that is poured out for you is the new, what? Covenant in my blood. Paul, when he quoted Jesus in 1 Corinthians 11, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.

I read you this morning in Hebrews chapter 13, by the blood of the eternal, what? Covenant. A bond that is blood bought, a solemn promise. Salvation, according to Jesus, has to be thought of or conceived in some way with representation, with a federal nature, with covenant.

And so today we'll look at the covenant of redemption. Number one, the what of the covenant. I want you to understand the what of the covenant, this eternal covenant, so your praise increases. It's going to have to, because that's what it's designed to do.

Focus off ourselves and focus upon the Lord. The what of the covenant, and this is where we were last week. I'll just read these verses to set the tone because many were gone. Hebrews 10, verse 1. Now remember, the first four verses are to show us and to show the readers that continual sacrifices show that there is an inadequate forgiveness.

Because if it was adequate, one sacrifice, over. Hebrews 10, verse 1. For since the law has but a shadow of good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year make perfect those who draw near.

Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered? Yes, since the worshipers having once been cleansed would no longer have any consciousness of sins. But it doesn't clean your conscience. Verse 3. But in these sacrifices, Yom Kippur, every other one for that matter, there's a reminder of sins every year.

The good news is, sacrifice showed that we were sinful, that the Israelites were sinful. Verse 10. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. It just won't happen. And then the writer of Hebrews quotes scripture to clinch his case.

You ever heard preachers do that? The Bible says, and very often New Testament writers do that. And so here we overhear the what of the covenant. The son talking to the father before time began, before he was born, Hebrews 10, 5.

What did you say before you were born? Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, sacrifices and offerings, you, the father, have not desired, he's not talking to an angel, he's not talking to himself, but a body you have prepared for me.

In burnt offerings, he gives a list, in sin offerings, both plural, you've taken no pleasure. Then I said, behold, talking to the father, I have come to do your will, oh God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.

There we get a peek into the what of the covenant, the eternal arrangement, the pact or promise between the father and the son to go rescue a people by the power of the spirit of God. He came into the world for that very purpose.

By the way, some sacrifices in the Old Testament, well, all of them were not made by willing participants. Did you get some of the sheep in, you'd have to get the Judas goat. By the way, I have a confession here.

My font is now 12 instead of 11. I fought this for years and I've been preaching from 11 font for 20 years and I finally made it up to 20. I mean, to 12, excuse me. This makes it 20. They weren't happy to be slaughtered, they actually had to be led in there by this kind of fake leader goat, Judas goat, but Jesus, he offered his body what?

Willingly. It was a real body, it wasn't an animal body. It was once for all sacrificed to atone the sins of the people. Jewish sacrifices couldn't do that. True or false? Sacrifice was a substitute for godly conduct in the Old Testament.

As long as you have a sacrifice, you're good. No, the sacrifice needed to be perfect. God wanted the worshiper to be obedient. Who could be the perfect obedient worshiper? The perfect obedient person?

Well, Jesus had to be. That's why he said, I have come to do your will. We looked at this last week. What was said? We don't know everything that was said before time, but I liked Mr. Spurgeon in what he calls the mysterious council chamber.

And this is Spurgeon trying to put into biblical conversation what the Father, Son, and the Spirit each said. It's beautiful. Pay attention. I, the Most High Jehovah, do hereby give unto my only begotten and well-beloved Son a people countless beyond the number of the stars, who shall be by him washed from sin, preserved and kept, and led, and by him at least presented before my throne without spot or wrinkle or any such thing.

I covenant by oath and swear by myself, because I can swear by no greater, that I give Christ Jesus to redeem these objects of my eternal love. Them I will forgive through the merit of his blood. To these will I give a perfect righteousness.

These will I adopt and make my sons and daughters, and these shall reign with me through Christ eternal. Now, those aren't the exact words, but that's exactly what the Father did. The Holy Spirit said, according to Spurgeon, I hereby covenant that all whom the Father giveth to the Son, I will in due time quicken.

I will show them their need of redemption. I will cut off from them all groundless hope and destroy their refuge of lies. I will bring them to the blood of sprinkling. I will give them faith, whereby this blood is to be applied to them.

I will work in them every grace. I will cleanse them and drive out all their depravity, and they shall be presented at last spotless and faultless. The Son, the Father, the Spirit talking to one another, well, what's the Son say?

This is maybe the best. My Father, on my part, I covenant that in the fullfulness of time, I will become man. I will take upon myself the form and nature of the fallen race. I will live in their wretched world, and for my people, will I keep the law perfectly.

I will work out a spotless righteousness, which shall be acceptable to the demands of thy just and holy law. In due time, I will bear the sins of all my people. Thou shalt exact their debts on me. The chastisement of their peace, I will endure, and by my stripes, they will be healed.

My Father, said the Son, I covenant and promise that I will be obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. I will magnify thy law and make it honorable. I will suffer all they ought to have suffered.

I will endure the curse of thy law, and all the vials of thy wrath shall be emptied and spit upon my head. I will then rise again. I will ascend into heaven. I will intercede for them at the right hand, and I will make myself responsible for every one of them.

Surety, that not one of those whom thou hast given me shall ever be lost. That I shall bring all my sheep, of whom by thy blood thou hast constituted me the shepherd. I will bring everyone safe to thee at last.

Turn with me, if you would, to James chapter 1. James chapter 1. That is a masterpiece. We don't know if exactly word for word, but there was plenty of biblical language in there. What happened before time began?

The Father, Son, and the Spirit had an eternal pact, an agreement, a guarantee, yes, a covenant. And it was their wills, the one eternal will of God, that decided who was going to be saved and should anybody be saved.

God could have said, oh, you know what, like the angels, no salvation. He could have decided, let's save everyone. But here, what happened? Whose will was it? I ask you now, why, if you're going to heaven, why are you going to heaven?

Because you believed? No. Through your faith? Yes. But the only reason you're going to heaven is because God's will chose you in the eternal counsel of God. Whose will saved you? I ask the question, where was faith in this eternal counsel?

I ask the question, where was free will in this eternal counsel? Whose will saved us? James 1 .18, of His own will. That's just like the language of Hebrews 10 about the will of the Son. Of His own will, He brought us forth by the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of His creatures.

God saved you by His own deliberate purpose and will. And you say, you know what, here you go again with all this kind of God's sovereign over who goes to heaven and all that. Of course I'm doing that, because that's exactly what you need.

You need that. You need to say to yourself, before Jesus was born, He had a conversation with the Father and the Son. This eternal, mysterious counsel, a conversation, that's what we need to understand.

By the way, who could come up with such a thing? Listen to what they say in heaven, you are worthy, O Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things and by your will they were created and have their being.

Our faith wasn't in the counsel. We weren't in the counsel. Free will wasn't in the counsel. God wasn't up in the counsel saying, you know what, let's look down the corridors of time and we'll pick those who are, like Calvin said, who are really handsome, who are pretty.

Let's pick the pretty ones. And without going off on too much of a deviation, what gives God more glory? Choosing the depraved people and then redeeming them and making them conform to the image of His Son, or choosing people that are pretty good?

I've said this a hundred times because I think it's so effective. When you see total makeovers, the makeup artist picks certain kinds of people to give a total makeover. What do they pick? Do they pick beautiful people to makeover or do they pick ugly people to makeover?

They pick ugly people. You're all looking at me like, I sure hope he doesn't say ugly from the pulpit again. Because then you say, the makeup artist, the hairdresser, those kind of people, they're good.

What they do, their handiwork is excellent. We are not saved because of faith. Faith is not salvific. We are saved through faith, not because of faith. We're saved because of the love of God in the triune counsel before eternity passed.

Our slogan should be with Ephesians chapter 2 regarding all of our salvation, not of ourselves, not of ourselves, not of ourselves, not of ourselves. Sometime when someone says to you, when did you get saved?

If you ask me, Mike, when did you get saved? I'd be tempted to just say, well, it was 1989 and my father died in January. I bought my first house in April. I asked him to marry me on May 6th. We got married on June 6th.

There's a lot of big things going on in my life and then around September, that's when I believed and trusted Christ Jesus with my life. That's true. But how about when someone says to you, when did you get saved?

Well, let me just tell you about what Jesus said before he was born in the eternal counsels of the trinity, because that's when I was ultimately saved, it was then. It's when the Father, Son, and the Spirit said, I'm going to pick some and I'm going to have the Son die for those sons, the Spirit will regenerate those sons, and before eternity passed, God chose me.

That would be an interesting testimony. God by himself, for himself, to please himself, chose us in eternity past, which now I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's go to point number two. Firstly, the what of the covenant, the what of the promise, now secondly, the when.

I've already said it, but I couldn't help myself. When did this all happen? When did this agreement, pact, arrangement, covenant happen? Turn to Titus chapter one, Titus chapter one, you're going to want to put a big crease in your Bible so your Bible just naturally folds open to Titus one.

Dr. Zemeck said, all good theologians have their Bibles open naturally to Romans five. I just got my fist out and made a huge crease in there so I would be a neophyte theologian. Titus one when it comes to the eternal counsels of God.

By the way, this is not just stuff for, well, you know, this is when I go to seminary, I'll learn this. This is for you in the pew. If you can't read, you need to know this. Paul's writing in Ephesians.

Paul's writing to Titus at Crete. A lot of people couldn't even read, but they needed to know this. You go, well, you know, the whole election thing, chosen, predestination, we talk about that on a Wednesday night study, but not Sunday morning.

Paul said, you need to know this. If you don't know this, there's something in your life that's lacking. And look at Titus chapter one. It's the same here. I was just in Greece and I wanted to fly to Crete so badly just to stand there.

Somebody even said, I'll pay for your flight to fly from Athens to Crete. I wanted to just get off the flight, look around, see if everybody were all liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons, get back on, said I've been to Crete.

I was too sick. I think they are all liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons, but let's see. I don't know if they all still are, but they used to be. Let's find out. Titus chapter one, Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ.

Why are you in ministry, Paul? For the sake of the faith of God's elect. I'm in ministry because there are people who are not born again, but have been chosen by God. And I know like James chapter one, verse 18, I preach the gospel and God saves through the preaching of the gospel.

I'm in ministry for justification and their knowledge of the truth, which accords to godliness. I'm also in ministry, not just for justification, but for sanctification. So people learn about God and his truth and, and they become more godly in their practice in hope of eternal life.

I'm also in ministry, not just for justification, not just for sanctification, but for glorification to make sure they are through the gospel promises, faithful to the end. And then he says something wild right here.

See it in verse two in hope of eternal life, which God who never lies promised before the ages began, before the ages began, who was there for him to promise to whom did he make the promise angels? Angels?

No. People? No. UFOs? No. The only person who existed in eternity past was a triune God, the father, son, and the spirit. And before time began, there was a promise made from one to another, to another, a promise.

Now what does he say here? The God who can't lie. Why does he say that? Well, look down at verse 12, because Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons. You know what the word Crete means? Cretidzo?

It means to lie. I've been to Madagascar, I've been to Sri Lanka, and I've been to Lyre, the island of lyres. That's what Crete means, lie. Everything about Cretans, they were liars. I'm not talking about the Christians there, but the unbelievers.

That's all they did was lie. They worshiped Zeus, and Zeus had to lie to sleep with some other kind of goddess. The Cretans lied about Zeus was actually buried there. History says he wasn't buried there, but they're always saying, you know what, Zeus, he was buried here.

Everything about the Cretans was lie, lie, lie, lie, lie. And so Paul's writing to Titus in the middle of a bunch of liars. I've got some news for you. God made a promise before time, and do you know something about God?

Let me tell you about God. He doesn't what? He doesn't Cretidzo. He's not a liar. He's talking about his nature there. How meaningful that is in this Cretan context. But I'd have you look at the passage again in verse two.

The promise before ages began, before time began, God decided to come up with a redemptive plan for humanity. People were chosen. Names were written down. The exact same language is used in the second book of Timothy.

Listen to this. God saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. Let me show you another passage.

Go to Ephesians chapter one. Ephesians chapter one is the same kind of language. You ask yourself the question, when did this happen? Was salvation plan B? Was he taken off guard when it comes to sin and Adam?

When did the plan of salvation start? We always talk about that, the plan of salvation. It started in the triune Godhead before time began. You say, well, you know, that's just not that big a deal for me, it just doesn't really rev me up.

Well, friend, that's why I'm trying to preach to you today, because this is supposed to motivate ministry. Timothy, you're with a bunch of Cretans. You're on the Titus, you're on this island, you're with all these people.

Ministry's hard, life's hard. Let me tell you something that would be good for your soul. Think about the eternal Godhead. And Ephesians one does the same thing. Look at verse three. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him, better underline these words, before the foundation of the world.

Not that we were holy, but that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love, he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will. What gives God the most praise?

In choosing. Choosing after we choose, or choosing before time begins? And the answer is, according to Paul, before the foundation of the world. Free election, his own choice. Revelation 13, from the foundation of the world.

Revelation 17, from the foundation of the world. And think, beloved, if God does look down the quarters of time and eternity passed and says, let's pick certain people, they're all going to be depraved.

They're all going to be sinful. I don't know where we got this, let's look down the quarters of time slogan. I was on the radio, I'd say, probably from Satan is where we got it, because it robs God glory.

God never chooses anybody because of who they are, because that would be works-based. I heard on the radio yesterday, when someone said, you know, but when I believed in Jesus, all my sins were forgiven, past, present, and future.

Then the radio host said, now that's kind of presumptuous. If you think that when you got saved, you got saved from all your past sins, fine. Present sins, fine, but future sins, now we have to disagree with that.

God's going to take a look at your entire work and judge you on the pattern of your lifestyle. And I thought, I hope not, or I am damned. If God looks at my life and judges my life based on what I have done, I am undone.

I need for Christ to step in front of me and say, Father, you've given me this child to redeem and I've redeemed him. And you could look at my life from baptism, from birth to baptism, to transfiguration, to resurrection, to ascension.

You look at that perfect righteousness and based on my life, then judge him. He chose us before the foundation of the world. The Father, Son, and the Spirit met in a conference, as it were, Lloyd-Jones says.

Listen to this. Jesus said, I have authority to lay down my life and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I receive from my Father. When did he receive that commandment from his Father?

Birth, baptism, transfiguration, resurrection, ascension. When did he receive it? In eternity past. That is amazing to me. In eternity past. Number three, the what of the covenant? God would redeem some for his glory.

The when of the covenant? In eternity past. The who of the covenant? We've already discussed it, but I'll make the implicit now explicit. The who of the covenant, the Father, Son, and Spirit. The Father, Son, and the Spirit, equal in essence, equal in nature, but a kind of a division of labor.

Father is the originator, Son the executive, Spirit the applier. Look at Ephesians chapter one. We see that, don't we? God is to be praised and you see the different emphasis of the Trinity in salvation.

The Father chooses, verse four of Ephesians one, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world. So God's to be praised because of predestination. Secondly, look at the Son's work. Again, they're equal, yet they had different roles in the economy of salvation.

Jesus, verse seven, in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses. So the Father chooses, he's the originator. The Son redeems, he executes the plan, the covenant. And then down in verses 13 and 14, you have the Spirit.

In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promise, Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory.

Divide it up perfectly. And lastly, number four, the why of the covenant. The what of the covenant, the Father, Son, and the Spirit make this arrangement. The when in eternity past, the who, we've already talked about that.

And now the why. Why the covenant? Why would God do this? Charlie picked the right song to sing before we got up here. Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name be the glory. Psalm 115. True or false?

God is jealous. God by nature is jealous. God is very jealous. And we're afraid to say he's jealous, aren't we? Because every time we think of jealousy, we think about, you know, somebody talked to my wife in a public place and I become sinfully jealous.

The Lord, Exodus 34, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. Deuteronomy 4, God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. Joshua 24, he is a jealous God. God is so jealous for his glory. He's going to construct a plan of salvation in eternity past.

So only he receives that glory, not some kind of creature, not some kind of fallible creature, frail creature, finite creature, sinful creature, but only God. And Paul begins to do what when it comes to Ephesians chapter 1 verses 3 and following.

He praises God. By the way, Paul, would you please calm down? You've been a Christian now for 25 years since you saw Jesus on the Damascus road. The new Christians get really excited. They're the ones who are always, Jesus is great.

He's coming back. I got to tell other people about Jesus. I can't believe he picked me. We just pat people on the forehead and say, you'll get over that. Tusk, tusk. Paul, 25 years later, he's just shouting.

He's doing what Lloyd-Jones talked about later, standing on his tiptoes saying, God is to be praised. And who gets the praise here? Who's the one to be extolled? And if you look at verse 6, verse 12, and verse 14, you'll see a little refrain.

And here's the refrain. The main word is blessed in verse 3, but there's a refrain to this nice little song. Actually, it's one sentence, verse 3 to 14 in the Greek. Do you see the little refrain? Verse 6, to the praise of his free will, man's free will.

Verse 12, to the praise of man's free will. Verse 14, to the praise of man's free will. Friends, if you had free will before you were saved, you wouldn't need a savior. But since Adam fell, we're in bondage.

Our wills are affected and we need someone else to come along to save us. No, what does it say here? To the praise of his glorious grace. When it comes to election, God is to be praised because he chose us freely.

When it comes to redemption, were we there? Was your faith at Calvary? Did your faith die on a cross? Did your free will die on a cross? No, Jesus died on the cross, so it's to the praise of his glory.

And then down to verse 14, to the praise of his glory. Did your faith regenerate you? Did your free will regenerate you? Did your faith seal you? No, God did all that. And our response, of course, we have a visitor today, I probably should just say it so we see that when God saves us, of course, he doesn't repent for you.

He doesn't believe for you. You, with your own nature that has been changed, now freely say, I worship you, I adore you, I believe in you. I'm trying to say, though, that that comes secondarily, not primarily.

When you get to heaven, whose praise will you sing? You'll be singing God's praise. And you say, well, you know what? But this is all kind of esoteric. Let me put it this way. How about losing your salvation?

If you gain your salvation, you can lose your salvation. But if in the councils of eternity past, the father, son, and the spirit, the father as originator said, here's a group of people I want you to go redeem.

The son says, I'll go redeem them. The spirit says, in time, I'll gladly quicken them. If you can lose your salvation, it is a blight upon not you. It defames and muddies and sullies the eternal nature of God who cannot act like an evil beast, lazy glutton, or a liar.

Say, well, I'm really struggling with eternal security. I'm really struggling with, can I lose my salvation? Then your struggle needs to be pointing back to eternity past. Because that's where you'll get your eternal security.

And you'll say, in light of what he's done, of course, I should persevere to the end. What does Paul do? Paul says, blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's all about him. Salvation, as I said last week, is not primarily about us.