THE DETERMINATE COUNSEL
by Dr.
Jack Hyles
Sunday Morning Sermon, February 23, 1997, transcribed
from audio tape.
Electronic Printing, September, 1997 by FFEP.
Acts 2:22-27
I want to speak this morning on the subject, The
Determinate Counsel. This by the way, is the sermon Peter preached on
Pentecost. It says, "Him," (talking about Jesus being delivered by the
determinate counsel. That word, 'determinate', means settling counsel - they
were going to settle something) "by the foreknowledge of God ye have taken
and by wicked hands have crucified and slain". I want to speak to you this
morning on the Determinate Committee, or the Settling Counsel, if you
please.
I told the men in the study a while ago before we came
in that I may have a spell while I am preaching this morning and in fact I
am about to have now just reading my outline.
There was a time in eternity past when the Eternal
Committee met. I do not know exactly who was on that committee. Of course
the Heavenly Father was on that committee. Of course his son, Jesus - he was
not called his Son then, He was the second listed person in the Godhead - he
was on that committee. And of course the Holy Spirit was on that committee.
I do not know if Gabriel was there or if Michael was there. I do not know
totally who was on it. But the Bible says that there was a Determinate
Counsel before the foundation of the world. And this committee had a
meeting. And at that meeting they settled a few things. By foreknowledge
they looked into the future and saw that man would fall. And then they loved
us, loved man, and wanted a plan to reclaim us. So, they settled a few
things. Now this morning I want you to notice what they settled.
Let's picture this committee. Are they around the
table? I don't know. Are they sitting in a room together? I don't know
exactly. Are they meeting on a cloud or a planet? I don't know. But
somewhere, before there was ever a world, before there was ever an animal,
before there was ever a bird, before there was ever a fish, before there was
ever a man, somewhere there was a committee that met called the Determinate
Counsel.
Now there are several things. First, they decided that
since man was a sinner they had to make a plan whereby they could reclaim
man. So this was the plan, and this was the only plan that they could have
made, that man had sinned and sin must be paid for. The Bible says that the
wages of sin is death. The Bible says that sin when it is finished bringeth
forth death. The Bible says that wherefore as by one man sin entered into
the world and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men for that all
have sinned. Somebody has got to pay for sin. Now that price is Hell. Either
you pay for it or find somebody to pay for it for you. So, they realized
that all of us were sinners and God, through his foreknowledge looked down
in the future with His telescope of prophecy and saw that you and I would
some day be sinners.
God, as I said a while ago, loved us so much that he
did not want us to go to Hell. He did not prepare Hell for us. Hell was
prepared for the Devil and his Angels. And if you die and go to Hell you
will be an intruder because God never intended for anybody to go to Hell.
God is not willing that any should perish that all should come to
repentance, the Bible says.
Now then, there must be a plan. Here was the plan.
There was nobody in the world who was without sin. This is way back yonder
in eternity past and God was looking down and God saw that man was going to
sin. So, the plan was that somebody who had never sinned, and would never
sin, would come to earth, become a man and live on the earth for 33 years.
Never sin. Never say what he shouldn't say. Never go where he shouldn't go.
Never hear what he shouldn't hear. Never think what he shouldn't think.
Never be what he shouldn't be and never be where he shouldn't be. Never sin.
And that only person who never sinned was the Son of God, Himself. And so
God became flesh, His name was Jesus Christ. And he came to the Earth and
lived a perfect life. And this was all determined by the Determinate
Counsel. All determined before there ever was a world. Before the foundation
of the world was laid. And they determined it.
And they determined that Jesus Christ would come and
live a perfect life. That he would go to the cross and on the cross he would
dip his own soul into Hell. And pay a penalty in your place and in my place
so that we do not have to pay that penalty.
Now this morning you have one choice of two. And I'm
digressing here, but you have one choice of two. Either you pay your own
debt or you find somebody who has never sinned to pay it for you. Only one
never sinned, and that's Jesus Christ. The Pope has sinned so he can't pay
your debt. The priest has sinned, he can't pay your debt. The Archbishop has
sinned, he can't pay your debt. And the church has sinned so it can't pay
your debt. Nobody can pay your debt unless he is free of sin. So Jesus came,
and lived and died, and paid a debt he did not owe so you would have the
debt paid for you. Now all you have got to do is by faith, realize you are
sinner, that you owe this sin debt, and accept the payment that God has made
for you through his Son, and at that moment you become a child of God. Now
this plan was made before the foundation of the Earth was laid. Several
times you find in the Bible, something happened before the foundation of the
Earth.
So this committee met and this committee decided that
Jesus would suffer and his blood would be shed and that salvation would be
finished. Now all of this was decided before the foundation of the world.
Then he comes along and in Hebrews 9:26 it says, Jesus suffered before the
foundation of the world. Did he suffer before the foundation of the world?
No, he did not suffer Calvary until 2,000 years ago. But when God decides
something it is all settled. This was the Settling Committee. This was the
committee that settled the matter. When God decides on something it is as
good as done. So, in the mind of God, Jesus was slain before the foundation
of the world.
Then it says in I Peter 1:20, that his blood was shed
before the foundation of the world. Does that mean that he had to shed his
blood before the world was created? No, it means in the mind of God that God
settled it and when God settles it then it is taken care of. And so in the
mind of God his blood was shed before the foundation of the world.
The Bible says in Hebrews 4:3, salvation was finished
before the foundation of the world. Does that mean that salvation was
finished way back yonder? No, it means that God decided to do it and when
God decides to do something it is as good as done. For example: When you
make a promise to make a payment on the first of every month, it ought to be
that it is as good as done. May I say this? Whenever I go in debt for
something my debts are paid before they come due? Why? Because when I make a
promise to make a payment the first of every month, I don't make it the
second of every month, I make it the first of every month. It is all settled
and when I sign that paper it is as good as paid.
Now when God and the Determinate Counsel met before
the world was ever created, they decided that Jesus would come. That he
would go to the cross. He would shed his blood, he would be buried, he would
rise again and salvation would be finished before the foundation of the
world.
In that Determinate Counsel, in that Settling Counsel,
that looked down and saw that you and I would sin. That Settling Counsel
that looked down and saw that you and I were lost. In that Settling Counsel
that decided that Jesus would come. In that Settling Counsel that decided
that he would shed his blood. In that Settling Counsel that decided that he
would rise from the dead after 72 hours. In that Settling Counsel they also
decided that all I would have to do was choose to be saved. They decided
that I would not have to get baptized to be saved. They decided that I would
not have to join the church to be saved. They decided that I would not have
to live a good life to be saved. They decided that I would not have to be
baptized to be saved. They decided that I would not have to take communion
to be saved. They decided that I would not have to take the sacraments to be
saved. In the Determinate Counsel it was all settled that all I would have
to do is choose to rely on Jesus to take me to Heaven.
You say, "Brother Hyles, my church doesn't believe
that." I'd rather depend on the Determinate Counsel than your church.
"My denomination says that the Pope can pardon sin."
I'd rather depend on what the Determinate Counsel said. When God the Father
and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit met before there was ever a world
and decided that all you ever had to do was to understand that you are a
sinner, understand that you were lost and owe the debt. Understand that
Jesus paid that Jesus paid that debt and trust him and rely on him to take
you to Heaven. That was determined back yonder before there was ever a
world. So this counsel is meeting still. They are around the eternal table
in Heaven. So, it is all settled. Someone on the counsel said, "We know that
Hyles is going to trust Jesus. We can look down there in the future and see
that Hyles is going to trust Jesus. We may as well put his name in the Book
of Life." And God looked down and saw me as a little boy almost 11 years of
age down in the Ghettos of the southwest part of Dallas, Texas. And God saw
me trusting Jesus, and he said, "Aw shoot, put his name down now." (Yeah, I
am about to have a spell, these microphones may fall like bowling pins, I
might make a strike this morning.) I am trying to say, ladies and gentlemen,
that this was done by the Determinate Counsel. God the Father, God the Holy
Spirit, God the Son met and determined that I was going to get saved as they
watched on Heaven's video. And they saw me walking the aisle and they
decided to make it possible for me to get saved by faith in Jesus Christ.
Because Jesus had decided to go - so he went before
the foundation of the world. He decided to live a perfect life - so he lived
a perfect life before the foundation of the world. He decided to die on
Calvary - so he was a lamb slain before the foundation of the world. He
decided to shed his blood - so his blood was shed before the foundation of
the world. He decided to be buried and rise again - so he was buried and
rose again before the foundation of the world. And he said, "O.K., so we see
that he is going to get saved, go ahead and write his name..." That means
that my name has been written in the Book of Life ever since the Counsel met
back yonder. So, my name was entered.
So, this Counsel said, "See that little boy down
yonder? In August, 1937 that little boy, almost 11 years old, is walking the
aisle and trusting Jesus as his Saviour. He's going to get saved! Write his
name down." That isn't all. The Bible says in Romans 8 that he is
predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son. So God said, "Let's
just make him a perfect body." And Jesus was at that Counsel and said,
"Father, why don't you make just like the one that I am going to have?" That
means that before there was ever a world God decided to send his Son. His
Son decided to come. His Son decided to die. The blood of his Son was all
shed. He had been buried and risen. And salvation was completed before there
was ever a bird to fly in the air, a fish to swim in the sea or a beast to
roam the field. Or a man to live on the earth. Before there was ever a tree
grown, before there was ever a weed, before there was ever a flower, before
there was ever grass, before there was ever a planet God looked down, and
that Counsel met, and they said, "That boy is going to receive Jesus as his
Saviour and we have foreordained that Jesus would come and live and die and
rise and that anybody that would choose him can be saved, and that little
boy is doing it, so go ahead and write his name down." But that isn't all,
they said, "Go ahead and get a body ready for him."
You talk about falling from Grace? You say, "If you
sin, your name won't be in the Book of Life." My name has been there for
eternity.
So, the Counsel decided to put my name in Heaven. The
Counsel decide to make my body just like his.
For example, the Counsel is meeting again. They look
down in eternity future and see that Jesus said that he would go and live
and die. A lamb slain before the foundation of the world, blood shed before
the foundation of the world, my name written in Heaven before the foundation
of the world, predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son. That
means that when you see me in Heaven you'll say, "Good morning, Jesus."
And I'll say, "Hold it, I'm not Jesus."
And you'll say, "Well, I'll declare, you look just
like him."
And I'll say to you, "So do you."
That means that you'll look like me (you always wanted
to look like me haven't you?).
I have already been predestined to be conformed to the
image of his Son. So, the committee meets and says, "Jack is going to trust
Jesus, go ahead and write his name in Heaven. May as well make his body now
also, no use in waiting until he gets raptured. Let's also go ahead and
justify him." Whom he hath predestinated them he also called, whom he hath
called them he also justified. We are not talking about when I got saved, we
are talking about way back yonder before there was anything. Not before
there was ever a world but before there was ever a foundation laid, a
universe. This committee met and said, "Go ahead and justify him."
Here is what they said. "Is it O.K. with you fella's?
Go ahead and raise your hand if it is O.K.. It's all settled right? It is
all settled that Jesus is going to go, right? He is going to live and die,
right? He is going to be raised from the dead, right? Anybody that will
trust what he did will get saved, right? And it's not by good works, not by
joining the church, not by being baptized, not by taking communion, not by
taking the sacraments, it's just by trusting on what Jesus is going to do?"
(Going to do nothing because he has already done it because in the mind of
God, God said he would do it).
Listen, this little piddling bunch of people writing
new Bibles trying to change what God said. God said it before the foundation
of the world! Don't you change what God said back yonder! Don't you change
what God said before there was ever a world, bless God, here is what God
said right here! I am sick and tired of this Bible of the Month Club! This
interesting and I don't understand this - the only folks that can understand
the King James Bible are dumb folks like us. All the scholars need a better
Bible. And I agree with them. They don't have the Holy Spirit living in them
to teach them the Bible and I agree with them.
God said it. Jesus said "I'll go, good as done. I'll
die, good as done. I'll shed my blood, good as done. I'll rise from the
dead, good as done. Anybody that trusts me can be saved, good as done.
Jack's going to trust me, good as done. His name's going to be written in
the book, write it down. He's going to have a body like mine, get it ready.
And he is going to be justified!"
To the recording angel he said, "Look, if Jack ever
sins, don't write it down." That was in the Determinate Counsel. Did you
hear what I said? The average person meeting in church this morning has no
idea what grace is all about. You couldn't be saved by works because it was
settled before you were here. It was settled before you could work.
God looked down and saw that you would trust him and
God said, go ahead now and put his name down, and go ahead now and make a
body for him and go ahead no and see to it that no sin is charged to his
account. That was settled way back yonder. And that was not all, Jesus said
to record those sins next to his name instead. To put a note next to Jack's
name not to put any sins on his record but to put them on Jesus' record.
Why? Because Jesus has already died.
In the mind of God Jesus came before there was ever a
world. In the mind of God he lived a perfect life before there was a world.
In the mind of God he went to Calvary before there was a world. In the mind
of God he was buried before there was a world. In the mind of God he shed
his blood before there was a world. In the mind of God he rose again before
there was a world. In the mind of God I was saved before there was ever a
world. God did not choose me to be saved, I had to choose to do that. But
God, having foreknowledge, saw that I would be saved and in the mind of God
my name was written in the book before the foundation of the world. In the
mind of God my glorified body was already prepared before the foundation of
the world. In the mind of God I was justified before the foundation of the
world. In the mind of God it was settled that I my sins would not be
recorded against me before the foundation of the world. In the mind of God
it was settled that my sins would be charged to Jesus. Before the foundation
of the world! Well, glory!!
And this committee is still meeting here. "How many
want to vote for Jesus to go? How many want to vote for Jesus to live a
perfect life? To die for the sins of all the world? How many want to vote
for Jesus to be buried and to rise again? How many want to vote for
salvation to be simply by trusting in Jesus?" "It's unanimous."
I've got good news for you, the committee has met. It
is unanimous.
See that little boy down there in the ghetto getting
saved? Let's get him a body just like Jesus' body. Let's justify him now.
Let's decide right now to put beside his name, enter no sins here. And let's
decide now to put beside his name, enter sins against Jesus' record. He's
going to go to Heaven, let's just go ahead and make his place ready now.
Let's get his house ready now. Let's make him a home in Heaven. That's what
it says, the kingdom prepared before the foundation of the world.
What a deal. You say, "If you don't behave you may
lose your salvation." Yeah, you'll lose your salvation, but you won't lose
his salvation. His was settled before there was a world. His was settled
before there was a foundation of the world and my name was written there, I
was glorified, I was justified and God decided to prepare a home for me!
That decision was made by the committee, the Determinate Counsel in Heaven.
So God said to get it ready.
Did you know that if you trusted Christ as your
Saviour, you had to do it because the Bible says whosoever WILL may come.
You have to WILL to trust Christ as your Saviour.
Those Pathfinders that sang a while ago, you are just
as important to God as anybody. Those mission men and those homeless people
and you bus kids and sailors. Did you know if you trusted Christ as your
Saviour, that God looked down and saw that you would and before there was
ever a world he decided to go ahead and get the whole deal done?
That's what the writer meant when he said, "The old
account was settled long ago." He did not mean the old account was settled
in 1937 when I trusted Christ. He wasn't talking about the old account was
settled at Calvary when Jesus died. He was saying the old account was
settled in eternity past when God said he will come, it's as good as
settled. When God said, he will die, it's as good as settled. When God said
he will shed his blood, it's as good as done. When God said he will rise
again, it's as good as done. God said since it is as good as done, just do
the whole thing now!
And that means that this morning all this can become
valid for you, just like that. You say, "Preacher, who said that I can get
saved without getting baptized?" The Determinate Counsel said it. "Who said
I can get saved without being confirmed?" The Determinate Counsel said it.
"Who said that I can get saved without having the priest absolve my sins?"
The Determinate Counsel said it. "Who said that I can get saved without
getting baptized or taking the Lord's Supper or the Sacraments?" The
Determinate Counsel said it. Anybody that says that you can get saved by
taking the sacraments is totally disregarding the divine Determinate Counsel
of Almighty God.
I love this. My mother would say to me when I was a
little boy. "Son, I loved you before you were born. When I heard you were
coming I loved you. Before you were ever born I loved you. Before you ever
breathed your first breath I loved you. Before I ever saw you, I loved you."
For God so loved the world that he gave his only
begotten son. You say, "Oh, that means he gave him at Calvary." No, he gave
him before the foundation of the world. And by the way, that means from the
time the Determinate Counsel met until the time that Jesus was crucified the
Father would look at him and say to himself, "He's got to die." You folks
who have sat beside little children who have wilted away from an incurable
illness. And you've looked at them and said to yourself, they've got to die,
they've got to die, they've got to die! I can't stand to look at it!
The Heavenly Father, for thousands of years, knew that
Jesus had to go to Calvary every time he looked at him. He who was perfect
love, who loved more deeply than anybody could ever love knew that he had to
go to Calvary. All that was settled in the Determinate Counsel when the
Settling Committee met and decided. That means that all that meeting was
decided because God loves you. For God so loved that he gave. And he gave in
eternity past. And he said Son, I'll let you go. And at that Determinate
Counsel, through his foreknowledge, God looked down and saw that you would
trust him if you will. And God put your name in his book. Justified you just
as if you never sinned. Prepared your body for eternity just like Jesus'
body. Decided not to ever record any sins against your name. Decided to
record every sin you commit on the account of Jesus. And decided to prepare
you a home in Heaven before the foundation of the world in this Determinate
Counsel meeting.
Now listen to me carefully. Don't you let your priest
keep you from going to heaven when you die. Don't you let the Pope keep you
from going to Heaven when you die. Don't you let anybody or anything like
your bottle of liquor or your lust for a licentious life keep you out of
Heaven and send your soul to Hell!
All this can be yours. Truck drivers - when you walk
out those doors this morning to get in your truck, you can have your name in
Heaven. You can be justified. God will put your sins against Jesus and won't
record your sins against you. God has a home in Heaven he wants you to
claim.
You sailors can go back to your base with your name in
Heaven, sins forgiven as God's child. And be redeemed with the blood of
Calvary. You can do it this morning! I don't care who you are or how deep in
sin you have gone. At that Determinate Counsel, before there was ever a
world, it was all settled.
The old account was settled long ago. Long ago, long
ago. The old account was settled long ago. And yes it's clear today, for
he's washed my sins away.
Jesus paid it all. Where? On Calvary? Yes but in the
mind of God it was paid before there was ever a world. Come this morning and
claim what's yours.
You say, "What do I have to do?"
Nothing. It has all been done.
"That seems too easy to me."
Forget what it seems to you and think what it seems to
God. He loves you. He loves you mission man and sailor lad and he loves you
truck driver. He loves the Pathfinders and he loves all of us. And he said,
"I loved you so much it was an eternal love before the foundation of the
world." And he'll make you his child this morning and you can go to Heaven
when you die.
You say, "Brother Hyles, what church do I join?"
It doesn't make a flip of difference what church you
join, as far as going to Heaven is concerned.
Come every soul by sin oppressed, there's mercy with
the Lord, and he will surely give you rest by trusting in his Word.
Only trust him, that's it! When? Now. He will save
you. When? Now.
You folks who aren't saved ought to be running down
this aisle. I recall one service we had a man in the balcony. I told the
plan of salvation he got so happy that about five minutes before I finished
my sermon he came running down the aisle and trusted Christ.
I preached in East Texas one Christmas
night. An old alcoholic was sitting in the back corner. About five or ten
minutes away from the end of my sermon he stood up and yelled, "Hey
reverend, I can't wait no longer!" And he ran down the aisle and trusted
Jesus as his Saviour. Walk the aisle and say yes to Christ.
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