Thank you, Pastor. It is such
a great delight to be back with you. Open your Bibles, if you
will, to Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1. Every blessing of your life, every blessing of your life, must be traced to God's free,
sovereign, eternal, electing love. Every blessing. Every blessing. If those things
that you think are blessings are not traced to God's free,
electing love in Christ Jesus, All that you think is God's blessing
will prove to be God's everlasting curse upon you. If you die without Christ, all
those things you think have been blessings in life will only scream
in your soul forever in hell. Better you should die as a cannibal
in the middle of New Guinea than die without Christ sitting here
hearing the gospel of God's grace all your life. Every blessing
of God, every blessing arises from his free electing love in
Jesus Christ the Lord. The title of our message tonight
is God's election, the source and cause of all blessedness. Our text will be Ephesians chapter
1, verses 3 and 4. God's choice, God's election
of his people to salvation in Christ Jesus before the world
began is the source and cause of everything he does in this
world. Everything God does in providence
he does because he loved the people from everlasting and determined
to save them for the glory of his name to the praise of the
glory of his grace This is what God is accomplishing in day by
day providence He is saving his people according to his own purpose
of grace This is clearly the doctrine of the God the Holy
Ghost in our text Ephesians 1 verse 3 Blessed be the God and father
of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath
chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him. This is the doctrine of
our text, and this is the doctrine of the whole book of God. Hold your hands here in Ephesians
and turn back to Psalm 65. Very familiar verse of scripture,
but I want you to look at it. Psalm 65 and verse 4. Here election is spoken of as
being in the present tense. Though it was done before the
world began, it's spoken of as being in the present tense for
a very simple and clear reason. We know nothing about this grace
of God until we come to experience it in time. You don't know whether
you're one of God's elect until you believe on the Son of God.
You'll never know you're one of God's elect until you're born
of God and taught of God. The only way to read your election
in the book of life in the Lamb slain from the foundation of
the world is to believe on the Lord Jesus. If you believe, it's
because God chose you. If you believe it's because God
chose you. If you believe not there are
two reasons for it. One is because you're a rebel
and you refuse to believe and for that you will be forever
justly damned. The other is as our Lord put
it you believe not because you're not of my sheep. You will have
no faith in Christ except God give it to you according to his
eternal purpose of grace in election. No one, I repeat, knows his election
until he trusts the Savior. And all who trust Jesus Christ
the Lord are chosen of God. Now notice how the text reads.
Ephesians 1, I'm sorry, Psalm 65 verse 4. Blessed is the man
whom thou choosest. That's God's election. God chose
to save some in eternity and those whom he chose to save in
eternity, he graciously cuts out of the rest of mankind in
time and gathers to himself. When I lived in West Virginia,
I didn't know this for a good while, but I learned that range
laws were still in effect in the state of West Virginia. That
is, farmers used to let their cattle out in the range, and
they would just run wherever they wanted to run in the open
range until time to herd them up and take them to market. And
then they would go cut their cattle out of all the other cattle
and gather them in and take them to market. That's exactly what
the psalmist is talking about for all of God's elect There
is a time appointed when the Lord God will by his grace Cut
them out of humanity and bring them to himself There is a time appointed by
God from eternity called the time of love when he comes to
chosen sinners and gives them his grace. When he comes to chosen
sinners who have said, no, no, no, I won't have it. I won't
have it. But the scripture says when those
who are blessed of God, those who are chosen of God, the time
comes and causest to approach unto thee. Oh, how I thank God, how I thank
God, how I thank you, my God, that you would not take no from
me for an answer. How I thank God he would not
leave me to myself. He would not leave me to my will. He would not leave me to my determination. He would not leave me to my decision. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest and causest with irresistible, omnipotent mercy to approach
unto thee. All of those who are chosen of
God from eternity will at God's appointed time of grace be caused
to come to him, that he may dwell in thy courts. Sinners chosen
of God by grace are caused to dwell in his courts, not to visit
his courts, but to dwell there in the courts of divine worship.
Those who are called by God in this world will be found in God's
house worshiping with God's saints. And when this world is ended
and time is no more, they will everyone be found in God's house
in heavenly glory, worshiping at the throne of the land. Those
who are chosen and called by grace to life and faith in Christ
are kept and preserved by that same life and grace unto eternal
glory. Now look at the next slide. We
shall be satisfied. with the goodness of thy house,
even of thy holy temple. Blessed is that man, blessed
is that woman whom God has chosen, whom God causes continually to
approach to him. That man, that woman shall at
last be satisfied with all the goodness of God in his house. Blessed you are if your soul
finds no satisfaction with anything here. We had a couple in our
congregation had a baby this afternoon, a little girl, born
just before 3 o'clock. I sent a note to our folks. And
I ask the Lord God for her what I ask God for my own grandchildren
and for yours. Oh, God. Don't set the world
in her heart. Don't set the world in her heart.
Set Christ in her heart. Those who are chosen of God and
calls to approach to Him can never find satisfaction for their
souls with this world, we shall be satisfied in his presence
with the goodness of his house heaped upon us forever. No wonder
David sang, oh, the blessedness of the man whom thou choosest
and causes to approach unto thee. When he thought upon God's election,
as he brought the Ark of God up to Jerusalem to establish
a place for the worship of God. David understood that Ark represented
God's salvation. And he was leaping and dancing
before the ark. And his wife, Michael, saw his
daughter, looked out a window, and she saw David leaping and
dancing. She thought he'd making a fool of himself. And she asked,
why did you make a fool of yourself before everybody, dancing in
the streets? And he said, honey, you don't
understand. God chose me. He didn't choose
your daddy. and I will lead and make myself vile before men in
his honor. And when he lay on his deathbed,
he was still leaping and dancing before the ark. He said, oh,
God has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things,
ensure this is all my salvation. And this satisfies my soul. This
is all my desire. Now, I want us to look in the
scriptures tonight, and I want to talk to you about a very familiar
subject to this congregation. For you who are in this assembly,
and these preachers here, this will just be a refresher course,
and I hope God causes every word to bless your soul. If you're
not taught of God, the things I have to say tonight may be
shocking to some. But I pray that as we go through
the scriptures, God will cause his word to sink into your heart
and we will leave here tonight rejoicing in his grace, saying
thanks be unto God for his electing love. Now let me make seven statements
with regard to this matter of divine election. I'll be very
brief. Number one, This book teaches, this book
teaches, doesn't matter what the creeds say, doesn't matter
what your granddaddy or grandma says, doesn't matter what the
preacher up the road says, this book teaches that God chose some
of Adam's fallen race to eternal life and salvation in Christ
before the world began. Now that's not guessing about
this, that's not putting things together and coming up with this.
I'm talking about the plain statement of Holy Scripture. The plain
statement of Holy Scripture. There are some who will tell
you the Bible doesn't teach the doctrine of election. Those who
make such a foolish statement have either never read this book,
or they didn't pay any attention to the reading of the book, or
they forgot what they read, or they're just liars. There's no
in-between ground. There's no in-between ground.
The Word of God specifically and universally upon every page
of inspiration teaches God's electing love. Now we can't look
at all the scriptures. Let me call your attention to
things that you can't possibly have missed. The scriptures speak
of elect angels, elect nation, and elect lady, and elect churches. God chose some of the heavenly
angels and passed by the others. That plain enough? One third
of the heavenly host were led astray by Satan, to whom God
gave no mercy. The Lord God speaks of two men
who were born into the world to our first parents, Adam and
Eve, Cain and Abel. God chose Abel and rejected Cain. That's what the book says. He
chose Noah and his family, eight souls, and millions perished. And God made the distinction. The Lord God chose Abram, but
no one else in his entire household. No one else in his family. The
Lord God chose Isaac and rejected Ishmael. When it came to Ishmael,
the Lord said, throw him out of the house. He shall not be
heir with the son of the free woman. God chose Jacob, but not
his brother Esau. He said, Jacob have I loved,
but Esau have I hated. Now, I don't know why folks have
trouble with that. I just don't understand it. So
what does that mean? If you should read that Don Fortner
loves Larry Sims and hates Lester Buckner, you wouldn't have any
trouble understanding that, would you? Anybody have any trouble
understanding that? No trouble. This is what God
says Jacob have I loved but Esau have I hated well, I don't like
that take it up with God That's the way it is. That's the way
it is God chose Israel the smallest of all nations the most insignificant
of all nations as the people to whom he would reveal himself
in the Old Testament all other nations he left in utter darkness
for 2,000 years for 2,000 years, God sent his prophets to no one
except the Jews, except on rare occasion. I mean, they didn't
even have a word from God. Is that right? Not a word. God
established his worship in Israel, and he established his worship
in Israel in such a way as to make it unappealing to men. They're
out there amongst all those heathen nations with all their beautiful,
gaudy temples and shrines and idol factories. And they met
up with a Jew and said, what do you worship? He said, you
see that big pup kit down there that looks real dirty? That's
where we worship God. did so by divine order because
that tabernacle was a picture of a man of sorrows despised
and rejected of men who men would never receive except God calls
them to receive him the Lord God chose Joseph but not Pharaoh
He was pleased to send his mercy to chosen people and only to
chosen people when the Lord God sent Moses to deliver the children
of Israel out of the bondage house of Egypt. And he told him
to take a lamb. And you tell the men of Israel,
every one of them, read the scriptures. I'll
give you exactly what it said. You go whisper to those fellas. They're coming out of here. Don't
tell the Egyptians anything about it. The Egyptians didn't have
a clue what's going on. They didn't have a clue what's
going on. These Israelites gathering up lambs, slaughtering lambs,
putting blood on a doorpost in the middle, going inside their
house. What on earth you fools doing? Hang on, you fixing to
see, we're going out of here. We're going out of here. But
God didn't tell Pharaoh. He didn't tell the Egyptians.
Why? Because God has his favorites. Read Deuteronomy chapter seven.
I used to apologize. Folks, you talk about election,
you just think you're something special. Well, no, no, I don't
believe. Well, yeah, I do. I am something
special. God says I am. He said, you're
special people to me. A special people to me, you're
the objects of my love, the objects of my choice. Now listen to just
a few texts in the New Testament. Many are called, but few are
chosen. Twice our Lord says that in two
chapters, Matthew 20 and Matthew 22. Many are called, but few
are chosen. What's that mean? We call sinners
to come to Christ. I call you right where you sit
right now. Don't wait till I get done. Right
where you are, come to Christ. Oh, God help you come to Christ.
Come to Christ and he won't cast you out. Come to Christ, he'll
receive you. Come to Christ just like you
are. Salvation is yours. If you believe on the son of
God, you have everlasting life. I'm calling you, but I can't
get you to come. And I'll tell you something else.
You can't get yourself to come. You ever tried to believe? You
ever tried to believe God? I tried. I tried. And everything I tried to do
believing, I was trying to do something. Couldn't believe until
God gave me faith in Christ. Many are called outwardly, but
only few are chosen. And they who are chosen, they
shall be called inwardly, irresistibly called to approach to God. Our
Savior said to his disciples, you have not chosen me, John
15, 16. You have not chosen me. But preacher, don't you think
that you have to choose God? You have to choose Christ? Yeah,
you do, but you won't. And you can't. You haven't chosen
me, I've chosen you. You didn't call on me, I called
you. Your choosing of me is because I chose you. Your calling on
me is because I called you. Your turning to me is because
I turned you to me. Turn to Romans chapter nine.
Let's look at the scripture. I referred to it already, but
let's look at it. Romans chapter nine, verse 11. the children being not yet born,
neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of
God, according to election, might stand, not of works, but of him
that calleth. Now, I can't tell you the number
of times I've heard fellows say, this has got nothing to do with
salvation. And I've read commentary that says, this is not talking
about salvation. Well, it looks to me like that's exactly what
he's talking about. Now, this was done, God said
this was done that the purpose of God, according to election,
might stand. Not of works, but of him that
calleth. It was said unto her, said to Rebekah, the elder shall
serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? How do
you respond to that? If you stand outside the church
building right down the road here, or the one right down the
road here, or the one back over here, and you just stand out
there Sunday morning as folks come out and say, did you know
God chooses some folks, doesn't choose others? You know what
they'll say to that? Well, that ain't fair. That ain't right. That's just not right. There's
no fairness in that. Paul anticipated that. What shall
we say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? Who are you? Who am I to set ourselves in
judgment over God Almighty? If God did it, pastor, it's right.
If God does it, it's right, whether I understand it or not, whether
I like it or not. If God does it, it's right. Is
there unrighteousness with God? God forbid, for he saith to Moses,
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I'll have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. Now, people say, well, okay,
the Bible teaches election, but it's not really very important.
It's not. It's not. Do you remember where
this text is taken from? Back in the book of Exodus, Moses
said, he said, I beseech thee, show me your glory. God, show me who you are. Show
me who you are. Show me your glory. He said,
all right, stand over here, and I'm going to show you who I am.
And this is how he describes himself. I will have mercy on
whom I will have mercy. And I will have compassion on
whom I will have compassion. This is my glory. Everything
and everybody is subject to me. and my will, everything. So then,
so then, this is the conclusion of the matter, the conclusion
given by divine inspiration. It is not, it is not, it is not
of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that
showeth mercy. What? What about man's free will? It is not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Many
years ago, Brother Mahan and myself and our wives, my daughter,
Brother Bill Clark, Charlie Payne, a bunch of us driving from Ashland
over to Cincinnati, Ohio to watch the Cincinnati Reds play baseball
on the professional ball game I'd ever attended in my life.
On the way over, driving through the country, Back in our part
of the country, we got a whole slew of church buildings called
Free Will Baptist. They don't have those in Europe.
I've never seen one of them in Europe, anywhere. Bill said,
as we drove by after passing by a dozen of those things, he
said, this is the only place in the world where they advertise
apostasy. free will badness, what nonsense. It's not of him
that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth
mercy. Well, what is this talking about? Verse 17. For the scripture
saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised
thee up that I might show my power in thee and that my name
might be declared throughout all the earth. God says to Pharaoh,
Pharaoh, I established the nation of Egypt, and I sent you on the
throne of the most powerful nation in the world. I made that nation
the most powerful nation in the world so that that nation might
be a dwelling place for the growing of my people for 400 years. so that at the appointed time,
when I would bring them out according to covenant mercy, as I swore
to Abraham 400 years after they first went down into Egypt, I
raised you up so that the world may know you were nothing but
an instrument in my hand for my glory to save my people alive. Oh, if you ever get a hold of
that, it'll sail your boat through troubled waters. Everything God
does in this world. He does for his elect For his
elect everything He raises up nations and puts down nations. He gives life to men and takes
their lives For the saving of his elect and when he's done
when he's done the whole world all of heaven And earth and hell
will see, oh my soul, look at that. Look at that, the earth
in all the years of her existence helped the woman and her child. Nothing else, nothing else. This
world, hear me children of God, is no hindrance to God. And this world is no hindrance
to God's church. And this world is no hindrance
to the gospel of God's grace. I soon will be 67 years old,
and I've been preaching the gospel of God's grace since I was 17
years old. And I'm more excited about it
now, Brother Terry, than I've ever been in my life. Do you
know what our Lord promised? He said, on this rock, I'll build
my church. And the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it. Shall not prevail against it.
Now, gates are not weapons of offense. I've
never seen, even in Hollywood, where an army picked up a gate
and charged somebody with it. Gates are not weapons of offense.
Gates are weapons of defense. It is our business with the gospel
of God's free grace to stomp over the gates of hell and the
gates of hell will never prevail. Doesn't matter how things look,
doesn't matter how things appear, everything going exactly the
way God intends and His church, His gospel, His kingdom is prevailing
over the gates of hell and shall yet prevail. What does he say? For the scripture saith to Pharaoh,
even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that my power
might be, I might show my power in thee, that my name might be
declared throughout all the earth. Therefore, he hath he mercy on
whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. And
there's absolutely no question then, the Bible clearly teaches,
distinctly teaches the doctrine of election. God chose some to
salvation. Here's the second thing. The
purpose of God in all things is the saving of his elect. Turn
to one of our favorite texts, I'm sure it's yours as well as
mine, Romans chapter eight, Romans the eighth chapter. Everybody quotes a portion of
Romans chapter 8 anytime something bad happens, and they sort of
quote it. They say, well, everything's
going to turn out all right. That's sort of quoting it. All things
work for good. That's sort of quoting it. But
that's not quoting it. Look at what Romans 8.28 says.
We know that all things work together for good. to them that love God, to them
who are thee called according to his purpose. Oh, my. Everything works together for
good. Some years ago, I had purchased
a used John Deere riding mower. Shelby and I mow about three
and a half acres of ground every week, and it's helped a lot.
But I always put off mowing until the last thing I could have to
do before it gets dark. And so I was out mowing and it
was getting dark and I had my mind on preaching on Sunday mornings
on Saturday and I'm just clipping along good. Man, that ain't running
good. Never had anything like it. It
was running good. And I looked behind me and I realized I wasn't cutting
any grass. I hadn't cut anything. Just when I first started out,
cut a little patch, wasn't cutting a thing. And I made two or three
swipes around the yard. One of them was wrong. You know
what I'd done? When I first started, I hit a
little stump and it stripped a little, what do you call it,
a carter pin? A carter key, what do you call that thing? Just
that little pin in there, just stripped that little thing out. It wasn't even a quarter of an
inch thick. And the whole machine was useless for mowing. because
that one little pin about an inch long. The whole thing was
useless for mowing. All they could do is make noise
and give you a ride. All they did. How come? Because one piece
was gone. Now hear me. In the machinery
of providence, nothing is ever loose or missing or destroyed. All things, all things, Good
and bad, heavenly and hellish, pleasant and painful, work like
one great piece of machinery together for good. For good to a specific people,
to them who are thee called according to his purpose. Well, what's
that? Read the next line. for whom
he did foreknow, whom he loved from everlasting and foreordained.
He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his
son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Everything
in time is worked by God for good. Worked by God for good. Somebody said, well, that makes
us puppets on a string. Well, I won't object to that. I won't
object to that. Rebel puppets but puppets on
God's string. And you're not going to move.
You're not going to wiggle. You're not going to think about
moving or wiggling except according to God's decree for my good. I said what I wanted to say.
You're not going to move. You're not going to wiggle. You're
not going to think about moving or wiggling in any way except
by God's eternal decree for me. This is what the book says. He
performeth all things for me. Everything. And that's true with
regard to everyone of God's elect. Predestination is the all-inclusive
purpose of God by which he sovereignly determined all things that come
to pass in time for the salvation of his elect. I love the way
Isaac Watts put it. Keep silence all created things
and Wait, your maker's not. My soul stands trembling while
she sings the honors of her God. Life, death, and hell, and worlds
unknown hang on his firm decree. He sent so no precarious throne
nor borrows leave to be. Chained to his throne, a volume
lies with all the fates of men, with every angel's form and size
drawn by the eternal pit. His providence, unfolds the book
and makes his counsel shine. Each opening leaf and every stroke
fulfills some bright design. Here he exalts neglected worms
to scepters and a throne. And then the next page he turns
and treads the monarch down. Not Gabriel asks the reason why,
nor God the reason gives, nor dares the favored angel pry between
the folded leaves. My God, I would not long to see
my fate with curious eyes. What gloomy lines are writ for
me or what bright scenes may rise? In thy fair book of life
and grace may I but find my name. Recorded in some humble place
beneath my lord the land number three The purpose of God shall be accomplished The purpose of God shall be accomplished
all that God purposed God performs This book never talks about God
trying to do something, or planning to do something, or desiring
to do something, except what he accomplishes. What he desires,
he does. What he wills, he performs. What he purposed, he accomplishes,
always, always. Many years ago, sitting on the
hearth of my dear friend, Brother Harry Graham, who's pastored
in Asheboro, North Carolina for many years. He's with the Lord
now. He was many years my senior. I was just 19 years old. And
I learned so much from him. I was sitting on his heart. We
were chatting a little bit. And I said, Brother Harry, I believe the
Lord's trying to teach me something. He said, hold on, Brother Don. He said,
God doesn't try. If God teaches, you'll get the
lesson. And God always accomplishes what he intends, always. with everybody, all the time.
Nothing hinders him, but all, all that appears to hinder him.
Oh God, help me to learn to believe this. All that appears to hinder him,
all that appears to hinder him, all that appears to be surely
that which will put an end to God's purpose, is only an instrument
by which he performs his purpose. Read Isaiah chapter 14 about
the fall of Lucifer. Whether it's referring to Satan
or somebody else, it doesn't matter, just read the text. Let's apply
it to Satan anyway. He said, I'm gonna huff and puff
and blow your house down. I'm gonna take over the God business.
And the Lord God responds, oh, oh, what am I going to do? The
devil's decided to rebel. Oh, oh, what's the plan now? No. He said, this is the purpose
that is purposed in all the earth. This is exactly what I've ordered
for my glory and for my people, exactly. Remember the former
things of old. I am God and there is none else. There is none like me, declaring
the end from the beginning and from ancient times the things
that are not yet done, saying my counsel shall stand and I
will do all my pleasure. If my prophet's hungry, I'll
send him a carnivorous bird to carry meat to him every day. Who ever heard tell of a raven
feeding a man? Only somebody who read this book. Only somebody
who read this book. God's purpose stands. Number
four, God's election, like all other blessings of grace, is
in Christ, in Christ. Election took place before the
world began. This election that took place
before the world began is that by which we were from everlasting,
blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. And it was
all in Christ. In Christ. In Christ. Everything
God does for sinners. Everything God gives to sinners,
everything God requires of sinners, everything God receives from
sinners is in Christ, in Christ. And what God requires, what God
requires from you, I'm not looking for something
to say, I want your attention. What God requires from you, God
gives. God never requires anything,
Pastor, except what he gives, does he? He requires faith, he
gives it. He requires repentance, he gives
it. He requires a broken heart, he'll break it. He requires humility,
he'll humble you. He requires you feel your need
of him, he'll make you feel it. What God requires, God supplies
and God gives. And it does it in Christ, our
blessed mediator. Number five, God's election of sinners in
Christ is unto salvation. We're bound to give thanks always
to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God has
from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth. whereunto he called you
by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, I have absolutely no hesitancy
in declaring, and I've been declaring it since I was 17 years old,
that God's people were saved from eternity. accepted in the
beloved, justified, sanctified, called, and glorified in Jesus
Christ. Now, that's not me guessing.
We read it in Ephesians chapter 1, and we read it in Romans chapter
8. That's the very language of Holy Scripture. I know people
say, well, that's speaking prophetically. This is strange, I know. This is hard for folks to get.
So listen carefully. When God intends to say something's
going to be, He doesn't say it has been. When God intends to say something's
going to happen, something's going to come to pass, He says
it's going to happen. It's going to come to pass. When
God says you who He predestinated, He justified, and He called,
and He glorified, Somehow or another, I just can't help but
think God intended to say that so that we'd understand it being
something already done. We were accepted in the beloved. There's
no question about that. But don't ever imagine that election
by itself in eternity is salvation. That which God accomplished in
eternity, God accomplishes in time. and you will never be saved
except you believe on the Son of God by the power of his grace
in time election and predestination and effectual atonement notwithstanding
apart from you being sanctified by God the Holy Spirit That is
born again, that's what the word means. Given a holy new nature,
made partakers of the nature of Jesus Christ himself. Having
Christ formed in you by his grace, you will not enter into glory. And God accomplishes that through
the foolishness of preaching. Where unto he called you by our
gospel. Several years ago I was flying
out of Louisville, Kentucky. going to a meeting. I forgot
where I was going and one of those TSA fellas had to open
my briefcase up and he saw my Bible laying on top. He said,
are you a preacher? I said, yes, sir. He said, where are you from?
I said, Danville, Kentucky. And I got a hunch he had heard of
me because he knew one of the preachers half a mile down the road. He
said, you don't believe in that election and predestination stuff,
do you? I said, well, of course I do. It's right there in the
book. Well, why are you going somewhere to preach if you believe
in election predestination? That's because I believe in election
predestination. If I didn't, I wouldn't go tell
anybody anything. I wouldn't have anything to tell them. I
go to preach with this blessed assurance. God will call out
his elect. God will call out his elect.
And Brother Terry, we don't pull any tricks. Larry, we don't have
to con folks into making a profession of faith. We just preach the
gospel, pray, and ask God to bless his word. And astonishingly,
he does. Astonishingly, he does. Rarely
as we would choose for him to do so. Rarely when we would choose
for him to do so. but he always calls out his elect. He sends a preacher with a message
of Christ crucified and sinners chosen and redeemed, called by
grace. Has something strange happened
to them? Has something strange happened
to them? They find themselves believing
God. It has something. It has something.
They just find themselves believing God. Just every now and then somebody
will meet me at the door and say, Brother Don, I don't know
when it happened. I don't know how to explain it, but I trust Christ. I found myself believing God.
The Lord saved me. The Lord saved me. Didn't you
walk in front of the church and sign a decision card and sing
a hundred verses of just as I am and ask somebody to deal with
you and lead you down the Romans road? No, no. I just found myself believing. I found myself believing. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest and causest. to approach unto thee. Oh what
a blessing of God's grace he calls out his elect by his omnipotent
mercy at his appointed time of love by the operation of his
grace. Now hear this sixth thing God's
eternal choice of his people to salvation in Christ was an
unconditional election of grace. Turn to 2 Timothy chapter one.
2 Timothy chapter one. One of the very last things our
Savior told his disciples before he left this world is you have
not chosen me, but I've chosen you. I can assure you Should
you be around me when I'm about to leave this world and I know
I'm leaving, I won't be telling you a joke. I won't be trying to make you
laugh. I'm gonna try my best to say
something to you that you can't forget that's important to your
soul for the glory of God. The last words a man speaks when
he knows they're his last words, you'd be wise to listen to them.
Our Lord said, you've not chosen me. Don't ever forget that. I've
chosen you and I've called you. The apostle Paul is writing his
very last epistle to his son in the faith. And it says in
2 Timothy 1 verse 9, God hath saved us and called us with an
holy calling, not according to our works, Not because he looked
out with a long knowledge of omniscience and saw that we would
pretty please accept Jesus. Not because he saw that we would
make ourselves different from somebody else. Not because he
saw that we would do something good. Not according to our works,
but according to his own purpose and grace. which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began. God's election is unconditional. God's salvation is unconditional. It's free. It's free. God doesn't require anything
from you. Before he saves you, as he's
saving you, or after he saves you. God gives the whole thing
freely, freely, freely. To quote my dear friend, Brother
Harry Graham again, I know folks all the time, you gotta be careful,
it's got man's responsibility, we gotta be careful we balance
things with man's responsibility. Well, I'll be honest with you, That's a lopsided balance. I've
heard too much about it all my life. Brother Graham said, I
asked him one time when I was 19 years old, about what's this
matter of man's responsibility? How do we put that in place here
with God's sovereignty in election? He said, Brother Don, I don't
know a whole lot about that stuff, but I can tell you this, our
responsibility I reckon that's our response to his ability.
I like that pretty good. I like that pretty good. I like
that pretty good. Salvation's God's work. We contribute
nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Some years ago I was preaching
in a conference and a real legalistic fella preached right in front
of me and he He said, living the Christian life is like walking
a tightrope. He said, you walk a tightrope,
but you gotta have a balanced beam. And if you have too much
God's sovereignty over here, you tip over and fall off the
rope. I have too much man's responsibility over here, you tip over and fall
off the rope, so you gotta walk the tightrope with an even balanced
beam in your hands. And the fool was crazy enough
to sit there and stay while I preached. And I got up behind him, and
I already decided what I was going to preach, wherever I got there.
First Corinthians 1, verse 30, I said, of him are ye in Christ
Jesus, who of God has made unto us wisdom and righteousness and
sanctification and redemption, that according as it is written,
let him that glorieth glory in the Lord, that no flesh glory
in his presence. And there was about three or
four feet in front of the pulpit. Shelby was sitting there. And
I stepped out, and he's sitting about where Brother Terry's sitting,
and I said, living the Christian life ain't walking a tightrope.
It's standing on a rock, and here it is. Salvation by God's
free grace. Salvation by God's free grace. You don't contribute anything.
You don't do anything. Oh, but what about after we're
saved? Tell me what you contributed since you were saved. Tell me. Tell me. Now, I know who I'm
talking to. I'm talking to you folks I've
known. I've known some of you folks for 40 years or better.
Some of you have been more than 40 years. Brother Terry had been
a faithful pastor. My soul, you've been a faithful
pastor since a long time before I met you. Faithful man. Preaching
the gospel of God's free grace. I've known this man for 40 years.
I've been married to this woman for 47 years come June. Let me
tell you something I know. You've never had a thought, never
a thought let alone a deed fit for God to accept. Now what about your works? What
about your works? Well, Brother Dunn, how do you
grow in grace? Keep growing down. As you therefore
have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. You walk with God just like you
first came to God, a helpless, empty-handed, bankrupt, dirty,
vile sinner with nothing to offer God but his sod. That's all. This election, God's salvation,
is absolutely unconditional. One last thing. You're right
there in 2 Timothy 1. Look at verse 10. but is now made manifest by the
appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death
and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. God's election is always effectual. Let's look at those two verses
together. Look at this. God hath saved us and called
us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according
to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ
Jesus before the world began, but is now made manifest by the
appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death
and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. Brother Don, that looks to me
like Paul is saying that we were saved before the world began. And in time, God lets us know
in the experience of his grace that we were saved before the
world began. It does look that way, doesn't it? Why? Well, that's hard-shelled doctrine.
I don't care if it's Buddhist doctrine. If it's so, it's so. That's exactly
what happens. God saved us in eternity. God saved us at Calvary. God saved us in the calling of
his grace when he brought life and immortality to light in your
soul by the gospel. When he opened the windows of heaven,
and dropped Christ into you. When the Son of God knocked down
your heart's door and entered in and set up his throne in you,
in the sweet and blessed experience of his grace, all because of
God's electing love. I asked Les when he started attending
services here, and he's getting real old, he couldn't remember
the date, But he remembered when, when he and Bobby started dating.
Why on this earth do you reckon God calls that pretty blonde-headed
gal to get your attention, and you start coming to church? Why
on this earth? I don't know all that, but I
know one. I know one, because before the world began, God chose
you. and planted you right here in
the middle of this place called Alabama, out here in the country,
and brought you a little old church building most folks would
think about stopping at when they come by, to hear a fella
preach, who folks weren't much impressed with, just men who
worked the job and preached on the weekends. That's about how
everybody thought about your daddy, wasn't it? It preaches
on the side. How come? How come? Because God
arranged from eternity to set Christ in your heart and set
you in glory. That's called God's election. the source and cause of all blessedness. Thank God for His electing love. Amen.