Grace Bible Church
Pastor-Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Sunday,
December 23, 2018
Even if the date of our Lord’s birthday was discovered, even down to the last hour or the last minutes, we do not know the exact date and I believe that there are some very good reasons for that.
One of the main reasons why I believe that God the Father did not choose a date is because it would have been just be another petty event used by the ignorant unlearned ones.
JOH 3:15 that whoever believes may in Him have eternal life.
JOH 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.
JOH 3:17 “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him.
JOH 3:18 “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
JOH 3:36 “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
Not only was it a gift that all members of the human race were offered but as the Apostle Paul wrote, it was also a gift known to be called “His indescribable gift.”
2CO 9:15, we read “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!”
His indescribable gift, which means words cannot even express or describe the tremendous glory that the blessings of our Lord brings upon those who desire to follow Him, no matter what the cost may be.
To have prosperity over adversity;
To have success over failure;
To have encouragement over discouragement;
To have love over hate:
To have Joy over sorrow;
To have peace over pain;
Patience over control; etc.
The celebration of Christmas is a celebration of contentment and the inner happiness that our Lord wants us to teach, to preach, or to enjoy.
“Do not let the things of the world or the carnal cosmic system get control of you or your life.”
There are certain times that we need to focus in on what is really going on behind the scenes where Satan, as the god of this world, is doing what he normally does — which is to try and deceive us into fallen away from the plan of God.
Because we need to note more about our Lord and our Savior because you cannot afford to walk around anywhere you want and to do anything that you desire.
Look at Job 33:4 and notice what our Lord says; “And the breath from God has created me [a human being], and the breath [soul life] of the Almighty gives me [human] life.”
The “breath of God” is life, the source of life.
The Hebrew is phrase is “ruach El” – The Hebrew word ruach is equivalent to the Greek word pneuma.
It also means breath, spirit, life, and lifestyle.
This statement by Job is after the fall of man in the Garden and states the principle of the origin of human life, which is from God.
He wants us that we are right behind Him.
ISA 44:2 “Thus says the Lord who created you, who formed you outside [separated from] the womb.”
The Hebrew prepositional phrase is “mi beten” and should be translated “out from the womb.”
God formed you or gave you life “out from the womb”, “separated from the womb”, “outside the womb”, “away from the womb.”
Ecc 12:7 “Then the dust [biological life] will return to the earth as it was, and the breath [ruach, soul life] will return to God who gave it.”
Because of the character and nature of God and the imputation of sin at birth, God must provide salvation for everyone to whom He gives soul life at birth.
ISA 44:24 it says, “Thus says the Lord [Jehovah], your redeemer, the One who formed you outside the womb, `I, the Lord, am the maker of all things,
Man’s ability is limited to the formation or creation of biological life in the womb.
Human life does not exist until God creates soul life and imputes it to biological life after the fetus has left the womb.
Psa 100:3 Know that the Lord [Jesus Christ] Himself is God; it is He who has made us [the real you is your soul and that’s what He made], and not we ourselves;
“He made us” is a reference to the entire human race after Adam and the woman.
prin-God makes each one of us by creating soul life and imputing it to biological life at the point of birth.
We also know that this refers to TLJC because Jesus Christ is the creator of everything, Joh 1:3; Col 1:18; Heb 1:10.
The fact that you have human life is selection from the sovereignty of God.
The fact that any person believes in Christ and receives eternal life is a matter of common and efficacious grace.
At this point selection becomes election.
You are a royal priest sustained by logistical grace, a person in union with Christ, and you can function under the power of the Holy Spirit in the PPOG.
prin-The selection of the sovereignty of God at birth is followed by t0he election of the sovereignty of God at the point of regeneration.
prin-Selection precedes election.
Selection relates to physical birth;
Election relates to Spiritual birth.
Selection, salvation, and election explain the chronological concept of election.
The divine order then is this: We are selected by God to resolve the angelic conflict and we are saved by faith in Christ to enter into the PPOG.
We have been elected to fulfill the PPOG and thereby glorify Him upon the conveyance of His highest and best to us, i.e., our greater blessings for time and eternity.
Under selection, God willed “all mankind to be saved.”
Under election, only those who respond to that invitation will receive the benefits of election.
1Jo 2:2 “And He is the propitiation for our sins, but not for our sins only, but also for the entire world.”
Joh 3:16 “For God loved the world so much, that He gave His Son, the uniquely born one, that whosoever [anyone who] believes in Him shall never perish, but have eternal life.”
Act 10:43 “Of Him, all prophets bear witness that through His name, anyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sin.”
The sovereignty of God and the free will of man co-exist in human history in order to resolve the angelic conflict.
Even if there was no angelic conflict, free will would exist.
We know this because the angels possessed free will before the angelic conflict came into being.
In the divine decrees, both the sovereignty of God and the free will of man operate simultaneously.
That one decision was to provide for you your very own election related to His plan for your life, and to provide for you your very own predestination related to His plan for your life.
In the divine decree is a pre-creation record of each one of our lives, and it reads either winner or loser, depending upon your decisions.
The distinction between the winner and the loser is in the divine decree but never in the sovereignty of God.
The divine decrees consist of both inputs and outputs.
(1) “Input” is a technical word for facts being entered into a system.
(2) “Output” is the information signal discharged from the system.
Your output today is either positive or negative.
The whole purpose of the doctrine of election is to describe God’s way of providing invisible assets so we can fulfill His will and His plan.
Election expresses this sovereign will by providing equal privilege and equal opportunity for you, which we must use to fulfill His plan and to execute His will for our lives.
The election of the Church is the expression of the sovereign will of God for the Royal family of God as the body of Christ.
Therefore, the PPOG is mandated for the election of the Church.
You are elected to only one plan, the PPOG, which is God’s plan for your life.
JOH 15:16 says “You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and {that} your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He may give to you.
Of course the mechanics of the election of the Church is the baptism of the Spirit, the means of creating the new Spiritual species, the means of forming the Royal family of God, and the means of providing so many wonderful invisible assets.
A priest is a human being who represents people before God.
In the Church-age, since every believer is a priest, every believer represents himself before God.
Under the privacy of your priesthood, you are responsible for yourself before God.
Because he made you a priest so that you could represent yourself before Him.
A very vital part of representing yourself before God is to receive what you have been elected to receive.
As we noted this past week, what really gives God pleasure is when He is able to give to you that which He has elected you to receive…….fantastic blessing.
The Bible is the mind of Christ and Acts 20:35 tells us that God derives more pleasure from “giving to us” then He does from “receiving from us.”
As a royal priest, every believer has a direct line to God, which means he represents himself before God, he evaluates himself, and he offers prayer for himself.
The privacy of your priesthood is related to the importance of the P.M.A. Of B.D. and the resultant soul structure.