Paris Reidhead preaches about the sovereignty of God as revealed in Ephesians, emphasizing that God planned for children from eternity past out of His love. He explains how God made man in His image with the ability to think, feel, and will, taking a calculated risk to create beings capable of love. Reidhead delves into the fall of man, highlighting the choices made by Eve and Adam, leading to physical, legal, and spiritual death. He discusses the process of salvation, emphasizing that God planned and provided for the redemption of His children through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Loved with Everlasting Love Part 2 By Paris Reidhead* Father has given to us as a testimony and revelation to Thyself in Thy Word. And we thank Thee that the Holy Spirit, who caused it to be written exactly how Thou wanted us to receive it, is here with us, in us to open Thy Word. And to ministry to us the things that Thou has prepared for them that love Thee. Show us where we are give us a glimpse of where Thoust wants us to be and what Thoust want us to be. And quicken that resolve that we’ve made to be everything that the Lord Jesus intended us to be. So to that end speak to us through Thy Word and by Thy Spirit in Jesus Name and for His sake. Amen. Ephesians in the first Chapter. Last Lord’s Day when I was with you, we began by saying that the Bible does not teach systematize theology. The Bible teaches responsibility, privilege. Men systematize it. Men will take all that the Bible has to say about a given subject and organize it and arrange it, put it into a system and then interpret it. I see nothing wrong with that, as long as you remember who did what. If you remember that its men did the arranging and the systematizing, organizing, and God that gave the revelation, then there is no problem. You can benefit from what men have done. As long as you remember who did it. You don’t want to be confused about that. You want to keep your mind clear. You don’t want double exposure. You don’t want double vision. You want to see it exactly the way it is and the Scripture teaches responsibility and where God teaches responsibility He does it on the basis of theology, on the basis of truth. God teaches privilege and when He teaches privilege He does supported by truth. Now what we are talking about the sovereignty of God as that sovereignty is revealed in Ephesians here in the first Chapter. We saw in our consideration the other day the first five verses. We saw that the Father is infinite. He is omnipotent that is He has no limit to His attribute and that He has all power, limitless power and that this One is the source of all blessing. All blessing is from Him. We saw that the Father had only one Son. The eternal Father had an eternal Son with who He fellowshipped through all eternity past by and through eternal Spirit. The Son, the eternal Son, for He never began to be Son. He is eternal Son. The Son always did only that and all that which pleased the Father, from eternity past the Father has been absolutely pleased with the Son. Now, from eternity past God as Father has planned for, and may I say since the Scripture reveals that God is love, and that love ever always seeks an object. Someone like itself. Someone that needs that love and is capable of receiving it and returning it so as to satisfy the heart of the One who began this love processes. I say from eternity past God as Father has yearned for and longed for children. Now, in order for these to be the fit proper objects of His love they have to be like Him. We can only love that which is like us. Therefore, He had to give to these His children certain abilities, certain capacities make them like Himself. They had to be able to think and feel and will or to choose. Now to make a being that can think and that can feel and that can will represents a degree of hazard, because what if by certain thinking process they elect to feel something that isn’t for their best interest and they will to obtain that of which they have felt. In other words, when God made man to meet the need of His eternal heart, His yearning longing heart for a beloved for children to be the objects of His love it was a calculated risk. The only being that could be a fit object for His love had to be one who could think and feel and will and had to have, as a triangle would show, the mental aspect of His personality, the emotional aspect and the volitional aspect. And only then would he be in God’s image, God’s likeness and only then would he be an appropriate object for God’s love. Now if God had made man so that he could only think in a straight line as God wanted him to think and only feel within certain limits and only will in a certain restricted area, then man would not have been the object of His love. He would have been an automaton. He would have been a machine. Now let me illustrate the problem this presents. Suppose, you all of us as parents reared children sometime have been a little bit concerned because in the early years they behave so much like their parents. Probably father felt like the mother and vice versa as the opportunity presented itself. At any rate, suppose, to eliminate this recalcitrant, this stubbornness, this willfulness, this disobedience you could or would have when your children were that age been able to hypnotize them so that your mind totally controlled their mind, so that that child no longer has a will of its own. You know what is best for the child. You know what it’s going to be to its long term best interest and therefore you simply have eliminated the possibility of the child doing something that will hurt them by mind control, by hypnotizing them. Now, suppose you as a parent enjoyed having the child express love for you. You as father, mother long for love from your child. Now in order to protect against what the child might do that was wrong you hypnotize them, they are still under hypnotizes. Now, you as the parent want to have an expression of love. So, still under hypnotic control, you say to the child, “Walk across the room.” And like a little toy soldier, they walk across the room and stand in front of you. And the next order is, “Climb up on my lap,” and so mechanically the child climbs up on your lap. Then your next order is, “Put your arms around my neck.” Mechanically, little arm go out like a robot around your neck. And then you say, “Put your lips on my cheek.” And the child puts its head over and its lips on your cheek. Now say, “Mother, I love you.” And stiff little mechanical lips say, “Mother, I love you.” Now, let me ask you mother, would this in any way gratify or satisfy your heart? Her love from your child. Would it? No. Not at all. You see there is nothing about the compression, the auricular compression...the anatomical juxtaposition of the auricular muscles in the state of compression. There is nothing about that in any way gratifies the human heart. No more than pressing your lips together, that’s not a kiss. Finger tips together that’s not a kiss. Not an expression of love or not an expression of affection or of meaning. So God then making man in His image from eternity past for an object for His love. Made a calculated risk. He made him so that man could think and feel and will. That is he had a mind, emotions, and volitions. He could think, feel, and will. Now suppose, to protect man, having given to him these attributes, these capacities God would have then said well because he can think and feel and will, I therefore must control his environment. So that there is never any stimulation of his mind to the point where he thinks the wrong thoughts. He is perfectly free to think, but I am going to totally control every stimulation of his mind, so that at no time ever does he have anything coming into stimulate his thought contrary to what I want. Now let’s ask that question a little further. Do you feel that behavior on the part of your child, for instance. Suppose with your child you were to rear that child in an isolated environment no disease germs could get to them. No conversation could get to them. No literature could get to them. Nothing could touch that child physically or mentally that would stimulate their minds contrary to what you wanted. Would you feel any degree of happiness or pleasure at the behavior of a child that has been so insulated and so isolated? Of course not. Because the question would always be paramount in your mind, what would this one do were the opportunity given for them to think some another way that I have conditioned them to think. So when God made man with the capacity to think, the ability to feel, and the power to choose, He did something else the environment that He created for that man in His sovereign wisdom apparently was the very penal colony to which sometime the far distance past He had cast His arch enemy. The “Lord Jesus said I saw Satan fall as lighting from Heaven.” (Luke 10:18) Well, where did he fall to? You don’t have to...from this point the next moment or two you don’t have to agree with me at all. I’m going to give you some of my metaphysics and whenever I come to metaphysics I’ll identify it. You’re perfectly free to turn off your tape recorders. I can’t validate what I’m about to say. And when I can’t support it from Scripture, then I’m going to tell you I can’t support this from Scripture. But it does say in Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” And in Genesis 1:2 it says, “And the earth became (was) without form, and void;” not was made, but became. And “without form” means there was destruction of whatever order there was and “void” means death reigned. Well, what caused the destruction in Genesis 1:2? I can’t...I don’t know. But the “Lord Jesus said I saw Satan fall as lighting from Heaven.” Now, that’s Scripture. Paris Reidhead’s metaphysics is that the place he fell to is the earth. And that the earth became without form and void when he lit. Because who is he? He is the very opposite of God is this one. He is called “the god of this world.” (II Cor. 4:4a) And what are his attributes? God is love, so he is hate. God is light, so he is darkness. God is life, if he is the opposite then Satan is death. And God is truth and Satan is a lie. So this god was cast out of heaven, this one who would be like God. Put down in his own little terrain could use his attributes and create his world. “The world was without form and void.” Now there are more stars than they’ve ever been able to count, and more planets. They still don’t know how big, or how far, or how many. I am certain that if God in His sovereignty had wanted some other place to put man He would have been able to work it out. But the place he came was the place without form and void. And then we find there begins a recreation and the Spirit of God brewed over the face of the deep. The Lord said, “Light be!” That was the first thing. And then there was light and darkness to show the contrast. And then this planet was recreated. And what you have record of in Genesis the first Chapter is the recreation of the planet. The preparation of it is the habitat for man. And He made a garden and He put man in the mist of the garden. And He knew whose terrain He was on. And He knew all about the one who was there. One day He said to Adam and Eve, you can’t come in to the garden anymore. And He put an angel there with a flaming sword to keep them out. Now if God and His sovereignty that wished, have so willed He could have sent that angel two days or a little while earlier to keep Satan out. But He didn’t do that. In His sovereignty, He permitted the prince of darkness, the god of this world in the form of a serpent to speak to Mother Eve. And what did he do? He spoke ideas to her mind. Now, what was it that God had done when He made man in His image? He gave him the ability to think. And what is the proposition that is coming from the god of this world to Mother Eve? It’s an idea. An idea in effect says, you think God loves you. God doesn’t love, God’s your enemy. You thought He was your friend. You think God wants you to be happy. He doesn’t want you to be happy. He wants you to be miserable. Why look at this fruit, He told you not to eat it. He knows it is good to eat. He knows that it will make you wise. He knows it will make you like God and He doesn’t want you to be like God. Who is saying this? The one is who before said, I’ll put my throne above the throne of the most high. I’ll be like the most high. That’s the one who is saying that. He knows you will be like God. But you see, you have to understand we don’t know what angels were. We don’t know much about them. But we do know the Bible does not say they’re made in the image and likeness of God. Only one so described is man. And we do not know much about the attitude or the relationship between angels and God. But we do know that the Bible says that God loved man. And it doesn’t say He love angels. Now I don’t know what His attitude was. I just know what it says and what it doesn’t say. Therefore, the only creature made in the image and likeness of God is man. And to this member of this race to Mother Eve the proposition was presented to her mind to satisfy her good appetites in a bad way. That’s what temptation always is. The proposition presented to the intellect to satisfy a good appetite in a bad way. She thought about it. And the more she thought the more she felt. The more she felt the more she thought and the more she thought the more she felt. And it went on. It was a revolving process. She felt, she thought, she felt more, she thought more until finally she decided. She exercised her volition and made a choice. And that’s always the way it goes. It’s always the way it goes. Mental, emotional, volitional. Mental, emotional, volitional. She thought, she felt, she decided. She thought, she felt, she decided. Ever and always that way. Words to the intellect ideas simulate the mind, which affected the emotions, which affected the will. And so Mother Eve chose. She sinned. She decided to satisfy a good appetite in a bad way. Temptation that is the proposition presented to the intellect to satisfy a good appetite in a bad way. That’s why when the Lord Jesus “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” (Heb. 4:15) He rejected it, the temptation. Temptation is not sin. So what happen was that Mother Eve sinned. And when she sinned, went back to Adam had to report what she had done. In effect she said, Adam you have a choice, you can stick with me if you like what you got or you can stick with God. But I’ve already done what God told us not to do. Now she was beguiled as she listen to this but he now is making a decision that is not in the same beguile as she listen to this but he now is making a decision that is not in the same degree. His temptation is there, but it’s different. Not the precise temptation. Apparently, Lucifer did not tempt Adam the same way. It may not have been effective with Adam, but it was with Eve. Now, the issue is, are you going to go back to the state you were in before when you were alone? Are you going to have Eve whom you can see all 24 hours a day or God whom you visit a few minutes in the cool of the afternoon? What are you going to have? What are you going to do? And so his decision is that he is going to stay with Eve. That’s his decision. That’s his sin. That is the decision that he makes. Now, what has happened in this? Well, they have died. “The day that thou eatest thou shalt surely die.” (Gen. 2:17) In what aspects did death come? Well, look at it for a moment. Because that’s what you see here in this next verse in Ephesians Chapter 1. What happened? Well, first they died in the since of physical. Physical death became the consequence. Up until then, God had made man so that he was capable of living indefinitely because every cell in the human body is renewed every so often and age is an insult to the Creator. He made us so we could go on living indefinitely. If it hadn’t been for another principle that He introduced because of man’s mortal character. Man began to die physically. Then man came under legal death at that point man forfeited all right and claim upon God. The only thing that man could ask of God at that time was be just when you judge me. That was the only claim he had because he had sinned and therefore God had no longer any responsibility to care for man. Man had taken himself away. You’ve seen ads in the paper having left my bed and board I’m no longer responsible for the bills and debts and obligations of so and so. Legal death. Legally no longer responsible. That’s what happen when man sinned. Then the third thing that happened was that man was separated, death is always separation, from fellowship with God. The ad is expressed in that first pair hiding in the garden when God is expected to be in the garden. Trying to pull the leaves down over them whispering to one another, “Get down, get down so He can’t see you.” They no longer want fellowship with God. There is no longer any basis for it. And then of course the last is eternal death, eternal separation from God in Hell, a place of punishment because of the nature of the crime against God. Well, all of these things happened. Now God had foreseen them in His being in His infinite, limitless attributes, He had anticipated and foreseen this. So as God had from eternity past longed for children and God had planned that at a certain point in time He would make a being in His image and in His likeness to be His child. So God had recognized and realized exactly what He had to do with that being. The kind of opportunity He had to give to man and He knew the kind of opportunity He had to give to man. He also would know the response that man would make not because He had too. Now, let me ask you, why did Mother Eve sin? What was it that caused her to sin? What was it? Did I hear someone say a fallen sinful nature? No. There wasn’t any fallen sinful nature. It was a choice. A mind, emotions, will. And then what made Adam sin? A fallen sinful nature? No. A mind to think of alternatives. Emotions, will. Up until that time 100% of all the people in the world sinned and they didn’t have a fallen sinful nature. It was only two, but that is still 100%. The point I am trying to make is, that the element of sin that gives sin character of a crime is the fact that it is the function of the intellect, the emotions, and the will! The choice. The choice. So what am I pointing out? I am pointing out this, that in that environment God knew that with no other inducement than just a proposition to the intellect, the function of the emotions, and the will would be exercised contrary to Him. God anticipated this. God saw this. Now, if that could be true with that first pair? Then it would be subsequently true of all that were to follow, because they would have not only the proposition to the intellect, the emotions and the will, but they would have the environment and their natures. So it would be true then, subsequently that, “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23) “There is none righteous, no, not one. There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; ” (Rom. 3:10-12a) Now, God for saw that, before He ever made man in the first place. That’s what you’ve got to understand in His sovereignty God decided to make man knowing all of this would occur. Knowing all of this, why? Because His Son was the lamb slain from before the foundation of the world. ...As a bride groom for a bride I will, I will be willing to give myself to redeem this one that we are going to make that I will make in Our image and Our likeness. Because He is the agent of our creation. The Son. But in making man even before He made him He had to anticipate everything that was going to happen. God worked out all the details there. Everything is in place. Everything has been anticipated. No room for error. No room for chance. We are told that in America out of the new businesses that are started by people who want to go into business 95% fail in the first two years. And four additional percent will fail in the next three years. So by the end of five years only one or two out of one hundred that started out are still functioning. And the reason? Well it’s simple, they didn’t do their homework. They didn’t get the facts. They didn’t find out what was involved. They didn’t realize what had to be done. This is a tendency of the human heart. To leap half taught, half prepared. Are we going to attribute that to God? Never. Not our God. Not the God of the Bible. Not this One who is infinity above all of His attributes. Infinite wisdom, infinite knowledge, infinite power, limitless in all, are we going to attribute that to Him? We’ll accept it for ourselves we know it is true, but not for Him. So we are going to have to realize before God ever started this undertaking, He knew all that was involved in it. And when He decided how He would save man He knew to whom those methods could be effective with the limits that He must impose upon Himself. How He would do it. So what do we find? So from eternity past therefore God the Father has planned and purposed all that this family to be of His children would ever need, before He made the world. He purposed salvation and He knew everything His children were going to need. He knew what was going to happen. He knew what sin was going to do, damage it would do. He knew all about it. So before He made the world He had already anticipated everything that His children were ever going to need. I think that is wonderful. He planned it, because He knew what they would need. He purposed it. He knew what they would need. That’s before the world began. Now in the fullness of time, God the Son came into the world not only to satisfy the laws demands in regard to these that were to be adopted into the family. Because the law had to be satisfy. Not only to pay the penalty for sin so that God could be gracious forgive sinners that. That was only one aspect that was the legal aspect of what the Lord Jesus did on Calvary. But the other aspect was this God had planned everything that man was going to need. God had purposed everything that man was going to need, that included justification, that included satisfying the law, but it was much more than satisfying the law. It was everything that man was going to need. Do you see? God in His sovereign good pleasure said, these that I’m going to adopt into my family I’m going to give them everything they need, to be everything I want them to be. So when the Lord Jesus came He said, He came to do the will of the Father. What was the will of the Father? The will of the Father was that He accomplish everything that the Father intended for Him to accomplish. So, before God made the world, He planned and He purposed our salvation. And in the fullness of time the Son by His death and burial and resurrection, provided everything the Father purposed. Now do you see? The Father anticipated and He planned and purposed, the Son in the fullness of time provide not only justification, not only regeneration, but also our sanctification and our provision for everything we’re are going to need to be everything the Father wants. The Father purposed, the Son provided. Now, we find in the latter part of this text verses 13 and 14, that everything before the foundation of the world that God the Father planned and purposed. Everything that in the fullness of time God the Son provided. Now, God the Holy Spirit is waiting to perfect in us, make real to us, accomplish in us, everything that the Father planned and the Son provided. That’s all in His sovereign good pleasure of His will. Oh, this gets to be pretty not heady, but hearty stuff, doesn’t it? It really gets down to the heart. You find out how much He knew about you and how much He loved you and how much He provided for you. Let me replace one word in what you said and I think I could handle it, as far as the advisory is concerned. ‘Permit’ permit the advisory to do what he did, because there is a big difference between His making him do it and permitting him to do it. He did it. Okay now. Now we go back, I can’t find it I have a mental block. As I say I have a marvelous memory, but it is awfully short. At Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the mind heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit,” which He has given us. (I Cor. 2:9,10a) So from eternity past, God the Father planned, God the Son provided, God the Holy Spirit perfected. Now let’s look for a moment. Who are the adopted? Who are the ones who are going to be the heirs of this great salvation? What’s the invitation on the gate? What does it say out there on that gate? Does it say only the elect dare enter? Ah, it doesn’t say only the elect may enter. What does it say? Whosoever will may come. That’s what the message is to the world. Whosoever will may come. “Whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:15) See we don’t need to worry about who the elect are, that’s not any responsibility of ours. Our responsibility is to all men everywhere and plead with them to repent the way Paul did in Ephesus. He said I was with you night and day, house to house teaching repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Don’t you ever worry that someone is going saved that God didn’t know about. Oh no. Don’t worry about that. We’ll tend to our business and we can trust God to take care of His. That fair enough? Is that fair enough? We’ll take care of our business and let God take care of His. And not worry about whether or not He is up to it. any rate, it says, “ So the message that we give as we go out is this, “Turn ye, turn ye for why will ye die,” “as I live saith the Lord I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn and live.” (Eze. 33:11b; 33:11a) “Repent!” was the call that John the Baptist put out. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, thou shall be saved,” said Paul to the Philippian jailer. (Acts 16:31) Now, whosoever will may come. Look at it the great door, whosoever will may come. Everyone, everywhere is invited. Now the fact that when we get inside we turn around and look at the inside of the gate and it says chosen by Christ before the foundation of the world. That doesn’t worry me. It has two aspects to that everyone that would repent was chosen and everyone who would believe was chosen. Everyone who would come was chosen, so the responsibility goes back to what about those that didn’t repent and didn’t believe. I don’t know it was their choice. They chose not to. God put the same spirit to plead with men, same message. I don’t know why one comes and one doesn’t. I saw lots of things I don’t know. As soon as I can define electricity, I have a lot of problems I am going to take up with God. Really do. But until they, I find out what electricity is and somebody defines it, then I going to leave some of these other problems. Look we make our coffee with electricity. We fix our toast with electricity. We cook with electricity. We cool with electricity. We get hot with electricity. And nobody knows what it is. So since that’s the case then there are some problems, some questions I haven’t had answered yet. But I can tell you the day we get a definition of what electricity is, then I really going to start pestering God about some of the questions I haven’t had answered yet. But until then that time I think I will concentrate and wait for electricity dealing with that every day all the time. And the other questions really aren’t interfering with anything anyhow. I can go to sinners everywhere and say, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved.” Whosoever will may come! “Whosoever believeth on Him shall not perish, but shall have eternal life.” I am not restricted. Some other theoretical, philosophical questions, yes. I am curiosity about it. But you see it would just as silly for me not to cook or cool or heat or whatever or be entertained or news or educated by electricity, as it would, I can’t define it. As for one to say, “Until I can answer that question.” Nonsense, sheer nonsense. Let’s be consistent. Lots of things we don’t understand. Lots of things. Now, we do know this, that there is no reason at all in us, in anyone, why we should be among those that are placed in the family of God as His children. Why we are accepted in the beloved? Nothing in us, you know we are all cut off the same bolt of goods. Maybe you were a little different woof than mine. Mine bolt might have been a little more coarser burlap, a little more velvety silk. But whatever the woof is, I have news for you, the warp is the same. The warp is the same. “All have sinned and have come short of the glory of God.” The up and out, the down and out, all the same. So we know that in us there’s nothing at all to commend us to Him. Not because of us, but because of Him. Now having seen a little bit about how we are accepted and adopted for the Son’s sake, not our own. We ought to take a look as to how this provision that God has made for the upbringing of those adopted into His family is going to operate. In verse 7, “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;” Oh, it is through the shedding of His blood that our past sins are removed. (Eph. 1:7) That satisfies the Law. “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” (Eze. 18:4) The Lord Jesus identified with us and each one who will ever be part of that family. And He died in our place and in our stead. So all of us that are in this family of the Father came as sinners, by nature, by choice, and by practice. And we were brought to see the death of Christ. Christ died for sinners. Christ died for us. We were sinners. And all of us that came into His family came by the same process. Identically the same process brought each of us into Christ. It’s amazing. Where ever it may have been where you met the Lord, it was a process. Now you may not have even known the steps of the process. I’ve talk to you about them in the past, but I want to just refresh your mind in a moment. The process by which God brings one out of death into life is always the same. It can all happen in a minute. In John Bunyan’s1 case, it took 8 years. Maybe in yours it took longer, but they all happen. The first phase of the divine operations is awaking. God the Spirit broods over your heart the same way He brooded over the world in Genesis 1. “Light be.” And the sinner is awaked. Discontent, unhappiness, dissatisfaction, there is something wrong with my life. I thought when I got here, everything would be fine. I am here and it’s not fine. I don’t what it is. Something is the matter. What is it? Awaking, distress, unrest, discontent there’s awaking. And when the Word comes and it’s brought, then 1 John Bunyan (1628 – 1688) An English writer and Baptist preacher and the author of the religious allegory “The Pilgrim's Progress.” that awaking assures in another phase of conviction. When we are convinced that God is righteous and we are sinners. Conviction is when we take sides with God against ourselves. The next phase is repentance. We change our mind. We have been god up until now in our own lives. We renounce it. The fourth phase is faith reaches out through the years of history to embrace the Son of God. And the fifth is the witness of the Spirit to our own hearts whereby we can call all mighty God, Abba, Father. Awaking, conviction, repentance, faith, witness of the Spirit. Everyone who’s in the family of God has come that way. You may not remember when awaking become conviction or when conviction became repentance. May all happen in a minute. May take years. May go from one back to another. But it all is there once we’re in the Father’s family. We’re there because each aspect of it has something of great value. Now, the point I want to leave you with today as we start to consider the 8th to the 12th verses, is that all the adopted children, everyone brought into the Father’s family are taught to know God’s will. And the one thing that characterizes the children of God is desire to know God’s will. The one thing we have in common, regardless of what our background was when we came to Christ, one thing we have in common. You know it is astounding to me to watch the animals on the farm. When you see a little leggy foal that’s born and you look at that weak sprawly thing, with legs so long. It gets up and stumbles and falls all over itself. Puts its foot in its own ear. You know, it’s just a bundle of bones. A bag of bones. But there is something in that little foal, if it’s born alive, that makes it want to walk. It will try to get up. It will stumble and get up again. Strength coming with each effort. There is something in that little life there, that bundle of bones, that bag of bones, that said you don’t lay here all wrapped up in your feet and lie in the grass and smell the weeds. There is some life there, some pressure, some instinct, something that says, “Stand up!” So it tries and it tries and it tries every time a little stronger till it stands. Then been able to stand up, there is something in it that says, “Walk!” So one stumbling step after another on those spindly legs. And there is some pressure that says, “Eat.” Now they never had a foal’s operating manual. Now, nobody gave it an operating manual with step by step directions. No, no they didn’t do that. But there is some life in it! And it says, “Eat.” And it isn’t long until it has made the ultimate connection. And it has discovered that nature provided it with an ongoing source of nourishment. And I tell you, to me this is thrilling. This is wonderful. Why? Because it proves to me the little foal has life. Now when I find someone that says they have been born into the family of God. They pass from death to life. And they are willing to lie down next to the sin they have lived in all their years with no pressure to stand above it. With no inter desire to walk from it! And no appetite to feed on that new nourishment. Look, when I look at a foal and his legs don’t move, its ears don’t twitch, eyes stare, no desire to stand, no desire to walk and no desire to eat, please don’t think I am cruel when I dig a hole and roll it in. The little foal is dead. And please don’t think me cruel, when I find those that name the name of the Father in heaven say that they have been born into the family of God and they brethren of Jesus Christ and they have no desire to stand and to walk and to feed. It that cruel? I think not. Everyone who has been born into the Father’s family has a desire to know the will of God and to do the will of God and to be the best evidence you have that you’re His today. There is a cry in your heart, “Oh to be like Thee, oh to be like Thee blessed redeemer, pure as Thou art; Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness; Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.2” That’s the cry of life in a child of God. Father, we thank Thee for all that Thou has done to the good pleasure of Thy will. Redeemed by the blood of Christ that we might be to the praise of the glory of Thy grace. So Father stirs us up with that yearning, longing to fulfill all that Thou hast purposed and planned and in all the Lord Jesus provided and all the Holy Spirit is willing and waiting to perfect in us. We ask it now not for our sakes, but to glorify Thee the God of all grace. In the name of our Jesus we pray, Amen. * Reference such as: Delivered at The 4th Presbyterian Church, Discerners Class, Bethesda, MD on Sunday, August 22, 1982 by Paris W. Reidhead, Pastor. ©PRBTMI 1982 2 “Oh! To Be Like Thee” By Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897, Music by William James Kirkpatrick, 1897.