Speaker Identification

Speaker 1 - Pastor Peter Nortier, Preacher
The only speaker delivers the sermon and identifies himself in the closing sign-off as Pastor Peter Nortier. The automated transcript renders the surname phonetically as "Northier," so the exact spelling requires verification.

Speaker 1: Take your Bibles now and turn back with me again, if you will, to Ephesians chapter 1. We are going to begin reading at verse 3 and continue through verse 12.

Our subject today is "The Bedrock of God's Purpose." Listen to God's Word and follow along in your Bible, if you will:

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved.

"In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace; wherein He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself: that in the dispensation of the fulness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him.

"In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will: that we should be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ."

Notice our subject today: "The Bedrock of God's Purpose." We are going to pick up where we left off last time and examine more of the purpose of God.

The bedrock of God's purpose is the great and hated doctrine of predestination. What I am setting forth is what the Bible clearly teaches and what we had better believe.

Some of you may be questioning everything being taught because of a lack of understanding and spiritual discernment, but that is understandable. Listen carefully and follow along in your Bible.

If what is being preached is not in Scripture, show me, and I will be the first to admit it. Then we will see what can be done about changing it. If you believe I am not preaching the Word of God, I want you to do one thing: Follow along in your Bible, and you will see very clearly that what we are setting forth is the truth of God.

As I have said before, predestination is the bedrock of God's purpose. The term comes from the original Greek word proorizo, which means to predetermine, decide beforehand, or foreordain. It refers to God's decree from eternity concerning what will occur.

This word is connected in the sermon with Ephesians 1:4, 9, and 11; Acts 2:22-24; 1 Peter 1:18-21; and 1 Peter 1:2-3. Predestination means to foreordain or determine beforehand.

If you examine it carefully, you will find that predestination is God's blueprint. It is the means by which He sets forth and carries out His eternal purpose. When that purpose is complete, you can be assured of one thing: Everything will have been accomplished as God predestinated it beforehand.

Back in 1689, the Baptist Confession of Faith included this teaching, although the vast majority of Baptists today do not even know what we are talking about. A group of Baptists came together and drew up a confession of faith. Concerning predestination, they said:

"By the decree of God, for the manifestation of His glory, some men and angels are predestinated or foreordained to eternal life through Jesus Christ, to the praise of His glorious grace; others being left to act in their sin to their own just condemnation, to the praise of His glorious justice.

"These angels and men, thus predestinated and foreordained, are particularly and unchangeably designed; and their number is so certain and definite that it cannot be either increased or decreased."

How true that is.

Many people today are confused because they do not understand what we mean when we speak about God's predestination.

Last time, we pointed out three things that were predestinated. What were they?

First, Israel was predestinated to occupy the center of the stage of human history in these latter days. People do not understand that God predestinated the nation of Israel to be a nation before Him forever.

Someone may say, "Wait a minute, Pastor. The Bible does not teach that."

My friend, it does. Take your Bible and turn with me to Jeremiah 31:35-37. We read:

"Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; the Lord of hosts is His name: if those ordinances depart from before Me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before Me forever.

"Thus saith the Lord: If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done."

Here we find that Israel is to be a nation before God forever. That is what He said, and we had better accept it for what it says.

The Jewish people have been persecuted, killed, harassed, hunted, and hounded from one end of the earth to the other. Yet they cannot be completely and eternally destroyed. Israel is to occupy the center of the stage of history. First, she is to be a nation before God forever.

The second thing God predestinated is that Israel would inherit the land promised to her through Abraham.

Some people will jump up and down and say, "Preacher, you are anti-Arab."

No, we are not, my friend. We love the Arabs, the Jews, the Gentiles, and everyone else because the Lord God of heaven has placed love in our hearts. All humankind is sinful today, and everyone needs to come to a saving knowledge of Christ.

In Genesis 15:18-21, the Lord God of heaven spoke to Abraham. Notice what He said:

"In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: the Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaim, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."

This promise was made to Abraham. We also find it reiterated concerning Isaac. From Isaac came the Jewish people, and from Isaac's line came the Lord Jesus Christ.

What about all the others? My friend, God did not promise the land to them. God promised it to the nation of Israel. She is to be a nation before God, and she is to inherit the land God promised through Abraham. Rest assured of one thing: She will receive it.

The third matter God brought out and predestinated according to His plan and will is this: The Israeli problem is a stumbling block to all nations at the present hour. This is another indication that we are in the last days.

In Zechariah 12:3, we read:

"And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it."

My friend, we saw a firsthand example when U.S. Marines were in Lebanon, supposedly keeping the peace. They did not keep the peace, and more than 200 of them lost their lives. It did not solve anything.

Do you know why? Only God will be able to solve this problem. Why? Because God predestinated that Israel would inherit the land. The Israeli problem will be a stumbling block to all nations.

God also predestinated that Israel's Messiah is the Lord Jesus Christ and that He will rule over them. In Zechariah 12:10, we read:

"And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn."

Beloved, Israel's Messiah is Christ. One day, He will return and rule over them. They will receive Him as the Messiah He is.

All of this was promised through Gabriel to Mary before she gave birth to the Lord Jesus Christ. In Luke 1:31-33, we read:

"And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call His name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David: and He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end."

This is one of the things that has been predestinated. Predestination is the bedrock of God's purpose.

The second major subject we want to consider today is that predestination also includes the salvation of all God's elect.

Someone comes along, jumps up and down, and says, "Preacher, Christ died for every person."

No, He did not. He did not die for those who are in hell at this hour. Many of you believe He did, but you have not studied your Bible, my friend. You do not know what you are talking about.

If one soul for whom the Lord Jesus Christ died goes to hell, then the death of the Lord Jesus Christ is absolutely useless. That is how emphatic we are about it.

This, I maintain, is what the Word of God clearly teaches: Christ Jesus died for the elect of God. All God's elect were chosen, named, and ordained before the foundation of the world.

That is why I read Ephesians 1 to you. The vast majority of churches today skip that chapter as though it had a plague, but it is one of the blessed chapters in the Word of God.

All God's elect are going to be saved. They will be called by God through the preaching of the gospel. When our Lord saves them, He confers repentance and faith upon them through grace. This makes salvation wholly of the Lord God of heaven, wholly of God, and wholly of grace.

God's elect are also commissioned by the Lord God of heaven to do good works after salvation. In Ephesians 2:8-10, we again see ordination or predestination set forth:

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."

What are these good works?

The first good work you are to do after you are saved is begin praying for the salvation of all God's elect.

The second thing you need to do is go out and speak to your neighbors, friends, relatives, acquaintances, and associates. Talk to them about being saved. It is important because you never know what your testimony will do.

When you give your testimony after the Lord God of heaven has saved you, the Lord may be pleased to use it. Through that testimony, He may give a sinner the effectual call. That is how a sinner is brought to a saving knowledge of Christ.

God gives the sinner the effectual call, which results in repentance and faith being granted to that sinner and in belief in the Lord Jesus Christ.

When that person is saved, beloved, he knows he is saved. He knows who did the saving. He may never understand why the Lord God of heaven saved him or be able to explain it clearly, but he knows that it occurred in his soul. He knows the Lord Jesus Christ is his absolute, all-sufficient Lord and Savior.

As he grows in grace and discovers that God predestinated him before the foundation of the world to be saved, his heart wells up with adoration, appreciation, and gratitude toward the Lord God of heaven.

He resolves to do one thing: serve the Lord to the best of his ability for as long as God gives him breath.

This is why people today do not understand it. Some people are like flaming fires for the Lord God of heaven. When you talk to them about being saved, they tell you how God did it: how God broke them down at His feet and made them stand before Him as lost sinners.

Broken down in dust and ashes before the Lord Jesus Christ, they knew that God could save or condemn them and that it was entirely in God's hands. But, to their amazement and wonder, the Lord Jesus reached down and rescued them from the pit of sin, the condemnation of the law, and the penalty of death.

He gave them the privilege of knowing Him and adopted them into His family. I tell you now, it is the greatest thing that ever happens to an individual, and the person can never get over it.

From then on, that person tries to work - not to work his way to heaven, but to work for God because he has been saved. He wants others to enjoy the salvation the Lord has granted to him.

Many of you look at the doctrine of predestination, jump up and down, and say, "Pastor, if I believed that, I would not do anything."

No, my friend. That is exactly the opposite viewpoint.

When you know God has predestinated some to be saved, and that He will call them through what Scripture calls the foolishness of preaching and through the weakness of your witness, it puts zest and fortitude into your backbone.

You go out and talk to people about Christ because you know that somewhere God's elect are out there. They are going to come, no matter who they may be or how long it takes.

It is all of God, is it not? It is all of grace. Some of you can say amen to that, and I hope all of you can before this broadcast draws to a close.

There is a third matter we want to examine in these closing moments. Within the predestination of God's purpose, God has a purpose concerning the wicked and their destiny. God has a purpose concerning all things.

The thing you and I must understand is that our Lord works all things after the counsel of His will. Scripture says the wicked shall be turned into hell.

In Romans 9:14-21, our Lord speaks of God's purpose concerning the wicked and uses Pharaoh as an example. Beginning in Romans 9:14, we read:

"What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For He saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

"So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. For the Scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show My power in thee, and that My name might be declared throughout all the earth.

"Therefore hath He mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will He hardeneth."

My friend, in these closing moments, ask yourself this question: Has the Lord God of heaven had mercy upon you?

You may say, "Pastor, I do not know."

You had better begin to find out. God does not have to save you, my friend, but you will fulfill the purpose of God. If you die and go to hell, it will be to the glory of God's justice. If the Lord saves you, it will be to the praise of the glory of His grace.

You can be saved only through the Lord Jesus Christ. If God has begun to stir your heart and place fear in your soul, begin now to cry to the Lord with this prayer: "Lord, show me my need of Thee."

Then, when He does, your prayer will be, "Lord, show me Christ." When He does, you will be saved.

My hope is that He will save you, even at this hour.

Until we meet again, this is Pastor Peter Nortier saying goodbye. May the Lord spare you before it is too late.