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God the Father draws you because He loves you!
Fred R. Coulter—September 14, 2019
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[42:35 to End of Video]
Many are called, but few are chosen! Why are few chosen? Because few repent! Chosen in the Greek: 'ekletos'—meaning selected
You need to understand that and keep that in mind, especially when difficult times come along. The faithful are the ones who endure to the end. Those who answer the call, the selected and the faithful! That's how it is!
Now let's look at something really, really important, because sometimes we don't really grasp what God is doing.
John 6:44: "No one… [zip, zada, nada] …can come to Me unless the Father…" Lot's of times we don't realize how much the Father is involved, but He is. The Protestants leave off the Father for Jesus only. Well, that's like having an eight cylinder car and it only runs on four. You're not going to go anyplace!
"…the Father Who sent Me…" (v 44). Jesus was sent, that's something, because God gives all of us independent free moral agency (IFMA). He has given us that because He wants us to choose. He could have made us robots, but what would that do?
Can a robot love you? God made us in His image so that He—we're going to see that the Father is very involved with us—and Christ work with us!
"…draws him…" (v 44). You remember that point in time when all of a sudden that the things in the Bible and the things of God came impressed upon your mind that that's what you wanted. and that's what you needed, and you couldn't put it down.
Many of us got the magazine and booklets (from the former WCG) and all of that was good. But if you forget about the Father and Jesus Christ—that their the Ones Who are in charge—and you get all involved in following men and traditions, then you get all out of kilter and God's punishment has to come, and it did!
"…and I will raise him up at the last day…. [this is why you have the Bible and why you pray and study] …It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.'…." (vs 44-45).
- How is that done?
- How does God do that?
First of all we have His complete Word, which all of the instruction that God wanted men and women to have. It's all there! Then the key to coming to understand God is that you become convicted of the Sabbath! The Sabbath is the key to being taught by God! You can add in there prayer and study, but the Sabbath is the beginning key.
- Why?
- What does God do on the Sabbath Day where His people are gathered?
or
- Where two or three are gathered? He is there in the midst, spiritually!
- How are you taught of God? Every time you read the Bible, you're being taught by God!
- you have God's Holy Spirit
- Christ is there
- Both have made Their dwelling place in your mind (John 14)
When we come together on the Sabbath and God's Spirit is in the mind and God's Spirit is among us, then we all learn. We need the Sabbath every week, because if not, just living in the world we run out of spiritual gas in six days. Have you ever had bad days come along and all of a sudden you stumble over into the Sabbath and you're very happy and thankful for the Sabbath? Whenever you read the Bible, you are being taught by the Father!
Jesus had to come and always have His independent free moral agency with the Spirit of God choosing to love God and do what the Father wanted Him to do. Remember that in the 'temptation' Satan wanted to get Jesus to do what he (Satan) wanted Jesus to do.
What was the first thing that Jesus answered back to Satan? Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God shall man live! So, not only being taught of God, you're being taught how to live, you're being taught how to prepare for the Kingdom.
John 5:19: "Therefore, Jesus answered and said to them, 'Truly, truly I say to you, the Son has no power to do anything of Himself…"—of in the Greek is 'ek'—out from his own choice; Jesus chose God the Father always!
"…but only what He sees the Father do. For whatever He does, these things the Son also does in the same manner" (v 19).
John 6:45 "…Therefore, everyone who has heard from the Father… [think about that] …and has learned… [being taught of God; if you're being taught of God, you're learning] …comes to Me."
That's quite a saying, isn't it? Think about that! Let's put it in perspective: All of us are here because of God the Father drawing us! The Sovereign of the universe Himself has drawn us, and brought us to Christ! Christ keeps us for the Father.
I'll tell you one thing, in studying there are so many spiritual things in the Gospel of John that you can study and study and restudy it and you're going to learn new things every time you study.
John 14:6: "Jesus said to him, 'I am the Way…'"—not a way. I know now how all the religions are going to come together. Recently the pope said that 'it's God's will that there be all the different religions.'
What's coming next? Satan doesn't do it all at once! If God willed it, there would be all these religions and their practices would be equal. So, when the miracles start, and there will be because Matt. 24 said that there will be false prophets arise and give great signs and wonders to even deceive the elect if possible!
So, when all of these miracles start, and all people feel good, and everyone is all accepted, then that's when all the religions get together. All of the other work that's been done… I used to think the first seal was opened some time ago, but that's not true. All of that is preparation. When the first seal is opened, it's going to be Satan's spirit of miracles going around to all the religions. There will be miracles in all of them: Protestant, Catholic, Buddhist, Hindu, whatever, they'll all come together.
Verse 6: "Jesus said to him, 'I am the Way…'"—not a way; not one of many] …and the Truth…" You cannot understand the Truth unless you believe and follow Jesus Christ Who came and did the will of the Father, and Both of them with the Holy Spirit are within us!
"…and the Life…" (v 6). There's going to be no eternal life without Christ! He was the Firstborn from the dead.
"…no one comes to the Father except through Me" (v 6). So, God draws, and unless they repent, they go away.
I wonder how many times that has happened to someone? They didn't answer the call! Then the Father works with Christ for our conversion.
How important is teaching? That's what we're to do! We are to teach, teach, teach! Not rule over, because Christ is to rule over you! The Father is in you and we are to teach the Word of God! That's what's so important.
Let's examine our relationship with God. Here we are out in the world. Can you remember when God first dealt with you? You didn't know it was God, but that was the drawing of the Father! You're out there and:
- you had some sort of traumatic thing in your life you had difficulties in your marriage
- you had difficulties in your own life
- you had sins in your own life
- whatever it may be
With me, I was out walking one night, and I just looked up through the fog of San Francisco Bay and saw a couple of stars up there, and I cried out to God and said, 'O God, I need help!' The only think that I remembered was from my Aunt Grace was ask and you shall receive. 'I'm asking for help!' Well, about ten days later I heard they World Tomorrow program and I knew that was it. So, we respond!
God wants us to come out of sin, and today it's a lot harder, because sin comes into the house through the television screen.
Ephesians 2:1: "Now, you were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you walked in times past according to the course of this world…"—just the way that things did!
To tell you how hard it is to come out of the world, I'll bet all of you know Christmas carols, and it makes it difficult shopping during that time of the year!
"…according to the prince of the power of the air…" (v 2)—Satan the devil, and he's busy! He's got permission that whenever God gives the specific permission, he's going to bring everything together in a one-world government and one-world religion.
Maybe it's a little setback right now because of Donald Trump, he's disrupting the 'deep state' and all of the elite. We don't know what's going to happen, but we know this: everything is on God's schedule! Not our own thoughts of what His schedule might be.
"…the spirit that is now working within the children of disobedience" (v 2)—the general spirit of Satan the devil in the air, and all the demons!
Some of this disobedience people can be very nice. Look at how nice people are during Christmas time. But they're still sinning like crazy. How much money do they give to God? They buy presents for everybody else! They're totally off, but it looks like they're doing good.
Remember that Satan always brings a benefit! Always!
Verse 3: "Among whom also we all once had our conduct in the lusts of our flesh, doing the things willed by the flesh and by the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as the rest of the world. But God, Who is rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us…" (vs 3-4).
- Why did God intervene in your life? Because He loves you!
- What are we to respond back to God?
- How are we to use our free moral agency to respond back to Him?
- To love Him how?
- with all our heart, mind, soul and being
- love our neighbor as ourselves
- the brethren as Jesus Christ loved us
- even our enemies
God has loved us! I tell you what, you add this to your prayer every day: God, help me to love You with all my heart, with all my mind, with all my soul and with all my being! That will help you more than anything else to understand what kind of relationship you have with God, and how much He loves us.
Look at us! We're a motley crew of people that the world would just reject with a snap of a finger. But we're going to rule the world under Christ. That's how much He loves us!
Verse 5: "Even when we were dead in our trespasses, has made us alive together with Christ. (For you have been saved by grace.)"
The next verse is a prophecy. He has saved you, now what is the ultimate goal?
Verse 6: "And He has raised us up together…"—not yet; this is what is called a prophetic perfect. It's the way God looks at the finished product before it's finished.
"…and has caused us to sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (v 6). When will that take place? At the resurrection!
This is put in here to encourage us, and inspire us to really see what the goal is. That God would do this! That God would call all the people that He has called wherever they are! There are a lot of people we don't even know anything about. We're just one small group, even if you include everyone in the Christian Biblical Church of God, we're one small group. Everyone of us are nothing but a speck of dust!
Verse 7: "So that in the ages that are coming… [we will be in those ages] …He might show the exceeding riches of His grace…"
We don't completely comprehend the fullness of the grace of God. Protestants know nothing about it! They believe that it's only the forgiveness of sin. What were we taught years ago? Love is outgoing concern! Nonsense! Love is part of your whole being to God! We were also taught that grace is the forgiveness of sin! That's a good start, but grace is your whole relationship with God! That's what it is!
- you can pray to God
- you can love God
- you can love the brethren
- you can understand the Word of God
All of that is part of it! So, what is God doing?
Verse 8: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this especially is not of your own selves; it is the gift of God."
You can't buy it, you can't earn it; it is free from God, but with great responsibility!
Verse 9: "Not of works…"—our works, because we're going to see that there are works that we are to do.
What would have been if Job would have been resurrected in the Kingdom of God without the trial of Satan? He'd get up there and say, 'Lord, here I am! Why don't You let sit right next to You. Look how good I've been on this earth?'
Do you know what Job's sin was? Self-righteousness is just a two word explanation, but that's not all of it! He thought that he was as good as God! And he worshipped, in his mind, himself! 'I did this, I did that!' Go through and study it that way. The first time I read the book of Job, I thought that maybe God was wrong! But He wasn't!
Verse 10: "For we are His workmanship…" With His Spirit in us, God is working in us! That's why we have to be diligent and respond to God, because we have to choose to be diligent, rather than choosing to be lazy; or choose to be half-hearted.
"…being created in Christ Jesus…" (v 10). Creation is still going on, and for us right up here in our mind and in our heart!
Romans 6:17: "But thanks be to God, that you were the servants of sin…" That's after baptism!
Remember, baptism is conjoining you to the very death of Jesus Christ, and your baptism in the watery grave is your covenant pledge of your death if you do not succeed because of sin! Christ's covenant pledge is His death and shed blood, so in baptism you're joined together.
"…but you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered to you; and having been delivered from sin…" (vs 17-18). Doesn't mean you don't sin!
Remember the sermon that I gave recently on that—Rom. 7 & 8—you might go over that again: The Law of the Spirit of Life. That's very important. God knows you're going to sin. That's why the daily prayer says, 'Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.'
- don't go around with a grudge
- don't go to bed mad
Go pray and get rid of the anger. It's not going to do you any good. You're going to toss and turn! Why go to bed when you're angry. Have you ever done that? Toss all night and wake up in the morning feeling rotten! Why? I was stupid and didn't get rid of my anger!
"…you became the servants of righteousness. I speak from a human point of view because of the weakness of your flesh; for just as you once yielded your members in bondage to uncleanness, and to lawlessness unto lawlessness…" (vs 18-19).
That's quite a statement! That is a perfect description of television! Lawlessness unto lawlessness unto lawlessness! If you have a sharp eye, you can see all of the innuendos that are mind-changers in the commercials. Watch for those one-second flashes of the parts of the body that should never be exposed. We have all of those things assault us! When they were back in the Piedmont Mountains, they didn't have any of that. Yes, they had persecution from time to time, but they understood what it was, and went singing hymn to their death.
Even some of the Catholic officials said, 'They're better Christians than we are. They would pray for their enemies right while they were lighting the fire to burn them!
The next time you think you have a hard day, think on that! If the plumbing goes bad, call a plumber; whatever!
"…lawlessness unto lawlessness…" That's what you have in your mind!
The key that God wants, "…so now yield your members in bondage to righteousness unto sanctification" (v 19)—the process of being made Holy so that at the resurrection you leave all the flesh and dust behind, and now you're a spirit son or daughter of God!
Isn't that something? Leave it all behind! It won't be there! It will be gone!
You have lost some people here in this congregation. Look at it this way: God has spared them from the trouble ahead! They made it! They're going to be in the Kingdom of God! We have to be faithful, and we don't know how long it's going to be.
Sidebar: Some people are talking about the 2030s. Well, in 2030, that's 2,000th anniversary of the crucifixion of Christ.
- What day was Christ crucified on? Passover Day!
- What day of the week was it? Wednesday!
- Guess what the Passover is in 2030? Wednesday!
Is God on time? or not? Anybody who has calendar problems, you better think on that, because your stupid calendar of your own homemade making of it will not be as perfect as that. That 2,000 years to the day and the week and the 14th day of the 1st month! We're dealing with God, Who is fantastic!
Ephesians 2:10: "For we are His workmanship…" God is working with you!
- How does God do that? Spiritually!
- What is one of the things that the Spirit of God does for you? Convicts you have sin in the mind and heart!
- Why? So that you can repent!
- How is that for love? That's pretty good! That's fantastic!
If you have sin pop into your mind, you just might right there ask God to rebuke it and cleanse you from it, because He's exposing it to you so you may repent. Isn't that something?
God is not there to bang, pound and beat on us! Those are the trials that come outside. God is there to help us, to teach us, to encourage us so that we are created in the image of Christ!
"…being created in Christ Jesus unto the good works that God ordained beforehand in order that we might walk in them" (v 10)
Verse 15: "Having annulled in His flesh…" What does annul mean? To remove as never having existed! Think on that!
"…the enmity… [all the laws of the religions of men starting with Judaism] …the law of commandments contained in the decrees of men, so that in Himself He might create both into one new man, making peace" (v 15). Think about that! God is creating spiritually in you:
- His character
- His mind
- His thoughts
But you have to use your free moral agency:
- to study
- to pray
- to think on these things
- to grow in grace and knowledge
- to walk in faith
You've heard me say that we stand in grace, walk in faith, believe in hope and live in love! All of those are the things that we are to do.
Verse 16: "And that He might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross, having slain the enmity by it. Now when He came, He preached the Gospel—peace to you who were far off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have…" (vs 16-18).
This is the whole thing of prayer and study, and why God has called us. Keeping the Sabbath, keeping the Holy Days and Passover.
Verse 18: "For through Him we both have direct access by one Spirit to the Father."
- What did Jesus say that Passover night about the Father?
- What did He tell the disciples?
Up to this point you have asked nothing in My name! Ask and you will receive and you pray to the Father in My name! Because the Father Himself loves you! That's what it's all about.
What's the first words in the daily prayer? Our Father Who is in heaven! Daily! God is right there deeply concerned with us in everything that we do.
Verse 19: "So then, you are no longer aliens and foreigners; but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of the household of God. You are being built up…" (vs 19-20)—present tense passive; it's a process!
Now, I know that we're all going to get old and feeble. Peter did. Remember what Jesus said? Peter looked at John and said, 'Lord, what's going to happen to him (John)? What is it to you if I desire that he remain until I come? But I tell you, when you are old you're going to be led around where you don't want to be led!
Peter ended up needing a lot of help and was probably not in too good a shape physically. It's going to happen to all of us. I don't think hardly any of us here are going to be alive when Christ returns, and we'll be changed instantaneously. How far down the road, we don't know, because we don't know what the world is going to become like.
Bill and I were talking about that, and he mentioned that he thought that there would be an advancement in technology that's going to come that will be so fantastic before the end comes. I agree with that. What would that be? Who knows? Twenty years ago you couldn't think of having a digital Bible on a laptop in church. That's why we always have to remain faithful!
Verse 20: "You are being built up on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief Cornerstone in Whom all the building, being conjointly fitted together, is increasing into a Holy temple in the Lord; in Whom you also are being built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit" (vs 20-22). That's quite a thing!
Eph. 3 is one of the most tremendous chapters in the Bible. We're going to see that what we have and what we know, and what we're able to do today was completely unknown ages ago. Wouldn't even be thought of. I wonder what the apostles thought. When you read some of these things, what Christ taught the apostles, when He told them to go to Jerusalem and you wait until you endued with power from on high! Then beginning in Jerusalem you preach the remission of sins, and you preach unto the ends of the earth!
- I wonder what they thought?
- Where was the end of the earth?
But today, we now know that that's getting possible! I still have yet have someone e-mail me from Antarctica, but I hope that they will.
Here's Paul in prison. All the apostles did all the things that they did, and they thought that right into the middle of the 60sA.D. that Christ was going to return in their lifetime. What a boon that became to the fake Christianity after the death of John. They could say, 'See, these things were true.' But they weren't, because none of them had a span of vision over 2,000 years. Here's Paul in prison and the change that he has.
Lots of times when you're in the midst of a terrible trial, God will reveal something about yourself or something about the Word of God as a blessing for going through it. Sometimes when you are in trouble and you are praying and looking to God, you're more inspired in your prayer than you be normally. Here's Paul and let's see what He says.
Ephesians 3:1: "For this cause I, Paul, am the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles." Could God have stopped Paul being imprisoned? Of course!
Verse 2: "If indeed you have heard of the ministry of the grace of God that was given to me for you; how He made known to me by revelation the mystery…"—meaning secret!
You all have secret knowledge of God that the world does not have! What is that secret knowledge?
- Who God the Father is
- Who Jesus Christ is
- the Sabbath
- the Passover
- the Holy days
- what God's plan is
None of them know what's going to happen to all the people who died, who never were called. Jesus didn't come until 4,000 years after the re-creation of the earth for mankind! What about all of them? God's plan is so much greater. That's God's secret that you know!
Think about what blessing that is that God would give to us the knowledge of His secret! What a fantastic thing that is!
"…(even as I wrote briefly before, so that when you read this, you will be able to comprehend my understanding in the mystery of Christ)" (v 4). That's another mystery!
How did God become that pinpoint of life to be born from the virgin Mary? Talk about humbling Himself! Think about that! Have you ever had someone tell you to be humble? Look at how much Jesus willingly humbled Himself. The mystery of Christ!
Verse 5: "Which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His Holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit." All of them got this same knowledge at the same time!
Verse 6: "That the Gentiles might be joint heirs, and a joint body, and joint partakers of His promise in Christ through the Gospel, of which I became a servant according to the gift of the grace of God, which was given to me through the inner working of His power" (vs 6-7). That's what God wants: The inner working of the Spirit of God in each one of us!
- as we pray
- as we study
- as we relate to one another
- as we live our lives
Verse 8: "To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, was this grace given…" Think about that! When Saul first started out—before he became Paul—he thought he was really doing the will of God by the high priest to go out and bring these people in and put them in prison, and even have some of them killed. He was going 'up the ladder' in Judaism (Gal. 1), more than anybody else.
Then God knocked him down on the ground as he was going to Damascus. Later he said that he was one like an apostle, like born out of season and shouldn't have been called an apostle and the least of an apostle.
Notice how his humility has grown, v 8: "To me, who am less than the least of all the saints…" That's what it is!
What did Jesus say? The one who would become great among you, let him becomes your slave'—Greek: 'doulous.' A slave always serves what the master wants, and always does what the master wants. Not a great office like the pope. NO!
"…that I might preach the Gospel among the Gentiles—even the unsearchable riches of Christ; and that I might enlighten all as to what is the fellowship of the mystery…" (vs 8-9). Our fellowship is with God the Father and Jesus Christ! (John 1)
"…that has been hidden from the ages in God…" (v 9). I wonder how many people really wanted to know? All the philosophers in the past, all cut off from God, all thought that they had 'great brains.' Some of them are really smart. 'We'll figure out what life is; we'll figure out what it is, and we'll let everybody know!' That's the religions of the world! They don't know!
- it's not by might'
- it's not by power
- it's not by mind
- it's not by bloodline
It's by God's Spirit! "…unsearchable riches of Christ…" might enlighten them; hidden for ages!
"…Who created all things by Jesus Christ; so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the Church…" (vs 9-10). That includes everybody!
Don't leave it to the elders or ministers to do it. All of us have our part to do. What we need to do, as elders, in teaching the brethren is teach the Word of God, teach the Word of God, teach the Word of God, so, that you can live your life the way that God wants you to live. Ministers can't come along and live your life for you. God wants you to do it. That's how you get strength. We're to be here to help, serve and encourage, and to keep your mind on the mystery of God—which is now known—to enter into the Kingdom of God as kings and priests!
"…to the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places, according to His eternal purpose…" (vs 10-11)—the purpose of God! We're all here today because of the purpose of God:
- the Sabbath
- the Word of God
- the messages
- the ordination
Next Sabbath you'll be here because of the purpose of God! Soon we'll have the Feast.
"…which He has wrought in Christ Jesus our Lord, in Whom we have boldness and direct access with confidence through His very own faith" (vs 11-12). That's quite a thing! God wants to give us the very faith of Christ!
Everything that God wants to give us is greater than anything we could imagine. Then when we're spirit beings, I think we're all going to be absolutely astonished beyond words!
Verse 13: "So then, I beseech you not to faint at my tribulations for you, which are working for your glory. For this cause I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (vs 13-14).
Imagine that in the prison there, getting on his knees. I don't know if he had chains on or not, praying to God. Asking God to open the minds of the brethren, writing this epistle. Little did he know that here, 2,000 years later, we would be reading these words in an entirely different language. An amazing thing! God is so great that He's caused the Bible to be translated in more languages than any other book for the very purpose of preparing for the Gospel to be preached to the world so that when He calls people it's already there!
Verse 14: "For this cause I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ of Whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named… [that includes all of the angels that were loyal and faithful; the Family of God] …that He may grant you…" (vs 14-16).
Think about this; this is a personal prayer Paul for everyone who would read it. This is what he wants God to grant us, and to have burned in our heart and mind.
Verse 16: "That He may grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power by His Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith… [here's how we are to live]: …and that being rooted and grounded in love, you may be fully able to comprehend…" (vs 16-18).
- God doesn't want us ignorant
- God doesn't want us with things that aren't true
God is the One Who makes it possible for us to comprehend! Isn't that amazing?
We all know and feel right now that we're comprehending that are very inspiring, which they are. This is the very heart and core of God's plan.
"…with all the saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height" (v 18).
- How great is it going to be?
- How marvelous is it going to be?
- We have to get there, and we will!
Verse 19: "And to know the love of Christ, which surpasses human knowledge… [this is the secret of God for every one of His saints all down through time, through the time of Christ including the patriarchs before]: …so that you… [put your name there] …may be filled with all the fullness of God."
That's quite a statement! To be the very sons and daughters of God! We have such great work ahead of us to do! That's a tremendous thing. Will it happen? Of course!
Verse 20: "Now, to Him Who is able to do exceeding abundantly… [a double superlative] …above all that we ask or think… [we've got to get there so we can know it] …according to the power that is working in us, to Him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all generations, even into the ages of eternity. Amen" (vs 20-21).
Brethren, keep this always in the forefront of your mind:
- God has called you
- God has given you His Spirit
- God loves you
- God wants you in His Kingdom
But we all have to have our part in it so that it is accomplished!
Scriptural References:
- John 6:44-45
- John 5:19
- John 6:45
- John 14:6
- Ephesians 2:1-10
- Romans 6:17-19
- Ephesians 2:10, 15-22
- Ephesians 3:1-21
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
- Matthew 24
- Romans 7; 8
- Galatians 1
- John 1
Also referenced: Sermon:
The Law of the Spirit of Life
FRC:bo
Transcribed: 9/22/19
Copyright 2019—All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for review purposes, no part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means without the written permission of the copyright owner. This includes electronic and mechanical photocopying or recording, as well as the use of information storage and retrieval systems.
