It’s another Lord’s Day morning here in Lenoir, NC. I am getting ready to go to Calvary Baptist to preach again today. I am still a little road weary from my trip back from Alabama. I left there Friday night around 10:00 PM and arrived home around 5:00 AM. I slept a few hours, but once your internal clock is reset it takes a while for things to get back to normal. That is my experience, your mileage may vary. We had a good week in Alabama last week. I got to visit with nearly all my aunts and uncles. I even saw a few cousins I hadn’t seen in a coon’s age. (If you are not from the south, that means “in a long time”.) Now, back to today.
I have begun a journey through the book of Ephesians at Calvary Baptist. I am looking forward to preaching this amazing and wonderful book. It details the riches of grace that have been given to the body of Christ. Ephesians reveals the great spiritual wealth that has been handed to the believer, then the book tells us how to spend what we have been given for the glory of God. I am having a great time studying the book, and preparing and preaching the sermons. Right now, I am dealing with the issues of election, predestination and God’s sovereignty in salvation. I am discovering that there is a resistance in the human heart to these great doctrines.
Most people seem to think that salvation is synergistic in nature. That is, most people have been conditioned to believe that we cooperate with God to bring about our salvation. In truth, biblical salvation is monergistic. That is, God worked out our salvation in eternity past, then He comes to us in time, through the agency of the Holy Spirit, and brings us to a place of faith. We could never believe if He didn’t first supply the faith necessary to believe, Eph. 2:8. We could never get to Him unless He first came to us, Eph. 2:1. I will articulate what I believe the Bible teaches about salvation in the sermons I will prepare and post over the next few weeks. Most people who visit this blog, read the sermons I post, and who hear me preach them will; not agree with my statements. That doesn’t bother me! I would rather be biblical in my theology than I had to please the brethren. I say, with Paul, “let God be true and every man a liar”, Rom. 3:4.
I pray that your day in the Father’s house goes well. May He bless you as you hear His Word expounded. If you are the one who expounds that Word, preach it like it is Brother and let the chips fall where they may!
Alan
Fat Baptist 
Still visit and read your blog and sermons brother! Good word!
Hey Brother! I must admit that I have struggled with the doctrine of election. Because of our own pride, we want to “be in control”, even in our salvation. We like to believe that we control when and even how we accept God’s grace. Also, our minds tell us that if we believe in election and the sovereignty of God, then some people are destined to hell and no matter how much they desire God’s salvation, the Lord will refuse to save them. The reality is, if God gives them the desire for salvation, He WILL save them.
Anyway, I struggled with these issues for a long time. I also came from a “camp of preachers” that were not against election, but they were not strong and vocal about the doctrine. Because of this, I was apprehensive and unsure about these issues. Then on the other hand, I knew of some that were strong and vocal on election, but it seemed to be the ONLY thing they preached. No matter what the message, they found a way to end up on the sovereignty of God and the predestination of souls.
Finally, I had a great man of God make a statement to me about how and when to preach election, predestination and the sovereignty of God. He simply said, “Just preach the Book. When the Bible presents election, preach it. When the Bible presents whosoever will, preach it. Just preach the Word of God and it will explain itself.”
Since that time, and after a lot of prayer, study and thought, God has settled my heart on this doctrine. I used to “let up on the gas a little” when these verses came up in my verse by verse preaching. Now, I preach it all, full throttle and, as you say, let the chips fall where they may.
Thanks for preaching the whole counsel of God’s Word. I look forward to seeing your sermons on Ephesians. I have never preached through the book. I may use your notes as a help in preparing a study for my folks next year.
God bless you. I appreciate you making your sermons available and I know the Lord will bless you for it.
Randy
texaspreacher88 – Good to hear from you Brother. I hope all is well with you and yours.
Brother Randy – Thank you for the great reply. When it comes to salvation, I like what Evangelist Dana Williams had to say. He said, “If you want to go, you can go. If you don’t want to go, you ain’t going!” I too am settled about what I believe concerning the great doctrines of grace. No problems here. I thank God that “salvation is of the Lord.” God bless you brother!