I invite your attention back
to Isaiah chapter 1 and verse 9. Isaiah here refers to the entire
population of the children of God as a scrap of humanity, a remnant
of the human race. Now, he's describing all the
elect, all whom God will save, as a remnant, a remnant. Now, you know what a remnant
is? Remnants are generally held to be unwanted or unusable leftovers. That's how he describes the church,
the body of Jesus Christ. Now remnants are generally held
to be unwanted and unusable. Paul referred to believers as
the off-scouring of the universe. You know what off-scouring is,
is what you scrape off when you've used what you wanted. That's
what off-scouring is. Now Bill Carver used to make
a good living on leftovers. from mills and factories, he
ran a remnant shop. But when most folks think of
a remnant, they rarely think that the word represents a thing
of great or significant worth. More often than not, a remnant
is simply considered to be a useless scrap, a thing to be disregarded
and discarded. But we know from Scripture, from
this very book in Isaiah chapter 55, God's thoughts are not our
thoughts, neither are His ways our ways. As the heaven is high
above the earth, so far are His thoughts and His ways above our
thoughts and ways. Isaiah makes it clear that God's
interest is in, and He has concerned Himself with, a remnant. A remnant. What does that mean? He is merciful
to only a remnant. It means he has invested himself
and sought out only a remnant. What he has done What He does
and what He shall do on this earth is for a remnant. A remnant. His house, His temple
is a glorious house built with a remnant. Built with a remnant. God looks upon a remnant and saves them. God has ordained this remnant
to salvation according to this passage of Scripture. And if
that's so, then this scrap, though viewed as a remnant, is all. This remnant is all. This scrap is complete. This scrap of humanity is all
there is. The rest of humanity exists to
serve this scrap of humanity. Scripture says, except the Lord
of hosts, this is what our text said, had left us a very small
remnant. We should have been as Sodom
and we should have been as Gomorrah. And notice the language here
is qualitative. Our Lord inspires Isaiah to call
this scrap a very small remnant. a very small remnant. Now you know what you do when
you tell folks you go to church. The first thing they ask you
is, how many people you got? Isn't that what they ask? Here's
how you answer it. We have a very small remnant
there. Just tell them that. We have
a very small remnant. The Apostle Paul states in Romans
11 and 5, that out of that lost, fallen, depraved, ruined conglomerate
called the human race, there is a remnant according to the
election of grace, Romans 11.5. In Romans 9.27, he assures us
that a remnant shall be saved. That's the language. And with
men, a remnant is something left over. It's just waste material,
mural material that you can't find a use for. But with God,
God's remnant is the wheat and the rest of the world is chaff. God's remnant is wheat. The rest
of the world is chaff because of God's remnant. There is such
a thing as human history. Think about it. Because of God's
remnant, there is such a thing as human history. Without this
very little scrap, there would be nothing of this world that
would be of any eternal value to God whatsoever. In this world,
there is an elect remnant to whom God is completely and continually
and forever gracious. Except the Lord of hosts, had
left unto us a very small remnant. We should have all been like
Sodom and all been like Gomorrah. Now there is a remnant according
to the election of grace. That's what the Scriptures declare,
Romans 11, 5. And God is not going to save
all men. He's not going to save all men.
I know people think He does save all men. Because you never hear
anybody, no matter who they are, when somebody dies, that they
don't say, well, they're up yonder looking down on us. You never
hear anybody tell the truth and say, well, he's down there looking
up on us. Nobody ever says that. But everybody just has this good
feeling about dying, that when you die, everything's going to
be it. God is not going to save everybody. He's not going to
save everybody. It was never His intention to
save everybody. Show me that anywhere in Scripture.
It was never His purpose to save everyone. It was never His design
to save everyone. It was never even His desire
to save all men. Nowhere in Scripture do you find
that kind of language. God has chosen some, according
to Scripture, to save out of Adam's fallen race. And Isaiah
refers to that sum, that group, that church, that body, that
conglomerate of people, that thing called God's elite as a
remnant, a very small remnant, a very small remnant. Now no
one deserves God's mercy. No one deserves. In fact, that
is what you would call an oxymoron. If you can deserve mercy, it
ain't mercy. Because if it's mercy, it's because
you don't deserve it. So no one deserves mercy. We
are all in the position of deserving precisely what we have earned. and the wages of sin is death. That's what you've earned. We
deserve God's wrath because we are sinners and enemies of God. And if God had not elected some
to salvation in Jesus Christ for the glory of His namesake,
we would have all perished, and rightly so, under the wrath of
God. Be thankful for election. Praise
God for it. Because if He had left you where
you was, and all He had to do was just that, leave you like
you was born, that's all He had to do, you'd perish forever. How is this people described? We know this, in the latter part
of, after verse 9, verses 10 through 16, they're described
as a very religious people. We're not talking about drunks
and sluts and whores and all the things that society abhors.
We're not talking about what religion abhors. These people
met every time they were supposed to meet. They called for fast.
They called for new moons. And God said, I'm sick of that
mess. Away with it! Away with your new moons, and
your fast, and your solemn faith. I don't want anything to do with
it. Here's how they're described in verse 2. Hear, O heavens,
and give ear, O earth, for the Lord hath spoken. I have nourished
and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.
They have rebelled against me. The ox knows his owner. The ass knows his master's crib,
but Israel doth not know, nor doth my people consider." Ah,
sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity or crookedness,
a seed of evildoers, children that are corruptors. They have
forsaken the Lord. They have provoked the Holy One
of Israel into anger. They are all gone away backward.
Why should you be stricken anymore? Why should you revolt? You will
revolt more and more. The whole head is sick, the whole
heart is faint. From the sole of the foot even
to the head there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises
and putrefying sores that have not been closed, neither bound
up, nor mollified with ointment." The Word declares that our sin
is so great and the justice of God is so
inflexible that had God not elected a remnant, we would have all
had to perish justly had He not elected a remnant. We would have
all had to be completely destroyed. just like He destroyed Sodom,
and just like He destroyed Gomorrah. Now, every awakened sinner, and
when I use that term, I mean everyone who really knows they're
a sinner, not in the natural sense that you know you do bad
things. Everybody knows that. I'm talking
about you know that in your heart, by your nature, you would kill
God and get rid of Him if you could. That's what a sinner is. That's what a sinner is. And
every sinner awakened to that knowledge, every true sinner,
praises God and thanks God for electing grace. Every one of
them does. Those who hate election are those
who have not been chosen. Simple. For those who have been
chosen will praise God and thank Him forever. for what he's done. Election is a sweet love song
in this book, in this Bible. It's a love song in the Holy
Scriptures. Election is sovereign. Of that
there is no doubt. You had nothing to do with election.
I know men like to talk about that. I remember Billy Graham
saying one time, this is what I believe about election, that
God casts a vote for you and the devil casts a vote for you
and you cast the deciding vote. He said that was election. Barnard
said about that, the only problem with that is when that election
was held, you weren't old enough to vote. You weren't even around. Election is a sovereign act of
God. And it means exactly what it
says. The word eclektos means to choose out of. It means exactly
that. It doesn't mean anything more
than that. It doesn't mean anything less than that. But we understand
that. If you have 10,000 clothespins out here, say, and
they're all standing up, and you reach down and you pick three.
You've elected those three. You've selected those three.
What about the rest? Well, they're just what they
are. They've got no complaints. They've got no complaint, they're
just clothespin. God picked out, selected, chose
some unto salvation. He chose them as an act of His
sovereign will. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in Jesus Christ according, or based on the fact that, according
as He has chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him
in love, having predestinated us to the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ unto Himself. Election is a sovereign act. I don't know why God chose me.
I know there could be no answer in me. There could be no reason
in me. It couldn't be, because I know
me, and God does too. So if He chose me, it was according
to His will and according to His pleasure, and He knows why. And that's good enough for me.
I'm just thankful I was chosen. I'm just thankful I wasn't left
to myself. I'm thankful that he interrupted my career. Aren't
you? Has he stopped you in your willful,
woeful tracks toward hell? Not only that, election is unconditional. Rebecca, having conceived, the
children, not yet born, neither having done good or evil, that
the purpose of election might stand. God said, the elder shall
serve the younger, Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated. It's unconditional. That means
there was no condition upon which God chose you. There was no condition
that you could meet. He chose you because He's God,
and election is the result of immutable love. I have loved
thee with an everlasting love, therefore I have drawn thee to
Myself. It's immutable. If God chose
you to save, He's going to save you, and that will never change.
You say, well, what if I sin? What if? What's wrong with you? I am the Lord, He said. I change
not. Therefore, because I change not,
you sons of Jacob, supplanter, tricker, snake in the grass,
mama's boys, are not going to be consumed. You ought to be,
because of what you are, you're sons of Jacob. But you're not
going to be consumed. Why? Because you all straightened
out your lives. Is that why? Because you went down an aisle,
because you made a profession of faith. Why? Because I change
not. I chose you before the foundation
of the world. I sent my Son to die in your
room instead. I made you righteous. I made
you holy by Him. I accepted you in Him. And that
will never change. And that's your salvation. You
didn't think you had anything to do with it, did you? I'm the
Lord. I change not. Therefore your
sons of Jacob are not to consent. And Isaiah, in this book of Isaiah,
reveals six things about God's gracious election of this remnant. For election is not salvation. Election is unto salvation. If
you're elect, you're going to be saved, but election doesn't
save you. Election chose you to be a beneficiary of the work
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what election did. But
Isaiah reveals some things. I'm telling you about the elect.
They're secure. I can say this about them. Everything
is going to be alright with them. You can rest on that. First of
all, let's look at some passages of Scripture. Look in Isaiah
10, verse 20. Though all of the elect are ruined
and scattered by the fall of Adam, the remnant shall return
unto the Lord. You can count on that. That's
what he said. In chapter 10, verse 22, it says, Though my
people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of
them shall return. The consumption decreed shall
overflow with righteousness, for the Lord God of hosts shall
make a consumption even determined in the midst of the land. A remnant
shall return." Which remnant? This remnant. It's like, didn't
He change remnants? The remnant spoken of in verse
1, except the Lord of hosts had left us a remnant. We should
be like Sodom and Gomorrah. So that remnant's going to turn
and return to the Lord. How's that going to happen? He's
going to change their mind and change their hearts and give
them repentance and give them faith. They're going to come
to Christ. He's going to teach them, for Scripture says, they
shall all be taught of the Father. And everyone that has been taught
and learned of the Father cometh to the Lord Jesus Christ. If
God teaches you who Christ is, you'll come to Him. You'll come
to Him. What if I don't want to? Don't
be silly. People are so silly. They think
themselves so grand. They think themselves so powerful.
I can say no to God. You said no to God since you
were born. If He gives you a new heart and mind, you're going
to say yes to Him the rest of your life. And you're going to want to.
You're going to be delighted. You know, I know a lot of people
look at Christianity as some kind of sorry, horrible life.
They do. Because they walk around with
glum faces and try to straighten out their life, try to straighten
everybody else's life out. They're just sad about this and sad about
that. Everything just... They walk
around like they're in chains all their life. I've never seen anything
in my life like it. This is a good life, folks. And you're doing
what you want to do. How come you're here today? Well,
you know, if I don't come to church, they won't give me a
pen. How come you're here? If you're
a believer, I know why you're here. You want to hear about
Christ. You want to hear about what He's done for you. Because
that will keep you going until Wednesday. Then come back Wednesday
and get another dose. Because you need it. Because
you need it. This remnant is going to turn to God. It says
it will. That's a clear declaration. Secondly, the remnant shall return
because Christ shall recover that which is lost. Look at Isaiah
chapter 11 and verse 10 and 11. And in that day there shall be
a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign, that's Christ,
of the people. So to it shall the Gentiles seek,
and his rest shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in
that day that the Lord shall set his hand upon the second
time to recover the remnant of his people. to recover the remnant
of his people, which shall be left from Assyria, and Egypt,
and Pathros, and Cush, and Elam, and Shinar, and Hamath, and from
the islands of the sea." That means the whole world. He's going
to set his hand. He's going to return that remnant,
the remnant of his people. So, Christ is going to be the
recoverer of this people, that ensign, that root of Jesse, that
root out of dry ground. Jesse's son and Jesse's Lord.
Thirdly, Christ is the only way by which God's remnant returns
to Him. Look at chapter 11 and verse
16. And there shall be a highway
for the remnant. There shall be a highway for
the remnant of His people, which shall be left from Assyria, like
as it was in Israel in the day that He came out of the land
of Egypt." What is that highway? Christ is the way, the truth,
and the life. And that word, way, means road.
One of the words, the way, means the road. Back in the days of early Canaan, there were six
cities set up as cities of refuge on each side of the Jordan. And
these cities, had a road to them. Now, if you were guilty of manslaughter,
that means you, in the example given, you were chopping wood
and the axe blade flew off the end of your handle and it fell
on a brother and killed him. That's manslaughter. Because
you killed a family member of somebody, they had a right to
hunt you down. And your only hope was to find the city of
refuge. But God had made it so that no
matter where you were in the city or out in the wilderness,
there was a sign pointing to that road. Always. And there were priests assigned
to make sure to cut back the weeds and dust those signs off
so everybody would know where the city of refuge was. And if
you killed that guy unknowingly, you didn't mean to, and the justice
of that family wanted to be vengeful upon you, you lit out on that
road to that city of refuge. And when you got in that city
of refuge, you never came out until the high priest died. And when the high priest died,
you were set free. Christ is our city of refuge.
He's the road. He's the highway. You see, there
is a highway for this remnant. People are going in all different
directions. They have to have GPS to get them there. We know
the way. It's the highway to the Lord
Jesus Christ. He's the way, the truth, and
the life. That's how they're going to return.
Of course, God's elect remnant are those who are prayed for. They're prayed for. Look at chapter
37 of Isaiah. Chapter 37 and verse 4. It may be the Lord thy God will
hear the words of Rabbe Sheke, whom the king of Assyria, his
master, sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove
the words which the Lord thy God hath heard. Wherefore, lift
up thy prayer for the remnant that is left." God may hear the
words of wicked men and destroy them. But you see, those wicked
men are all around the people of God. So you pray for the people
of God. You pray for the remnant. The
remnant is prayed for. Fifthly, God's elect shall escape
the judgment of God. Look at chapter 37, verse 31
and 32. They shall escape. And the remnant that is escaped
of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bring
fruit upward, bear fruit upward. For out of Jerusalem shall go
forth a remnant, and they shall escape up to Mount Zion, which
is a church. The zeal of the Lord of the hosts
shall do this." That is a guarantee. They are going to escape and
they are going to plant roots downward into Christ and bear
fruit upward towards heaven. That's the language here. And
six, that God will preserve and keep His remnant in the midst
of their troubles. Look over at Isaiah 46, verses 3 and 4. Harken unto me,
O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel,
which are born by me. That's B-O-R-N-E, carried by
me. From the belly, which was carried
from the womb, And even to your old age, I am He. And even to hoar hairs will I
carry you. I have made, and I will bear. Even I will carry you and deliver
you." That remnant, they are going to be all right, ain't
they? Everything is okay with them from stem to stern, from
start to finish. It is clear that in the Word
of God that there is a remnant according to the election of
grace, and by that grace they are secure. They are secure. The remainder of humanity, those
who do not make up this very small scrap, they exist and flourish
because this remnant is on the earth. It's on the earth. God's interested in the remnant.
The rest serve the remnant. And they exist because the remnant
is here. Why does God destroy this wicked
world? Doesn't it deserve to be destroyed?
Don't what man is doing to mankind, doesn't that make him worthy
of death? Why doesn't He destroy it? The
only thing that keeps God from destroying this world and its
vile inhabitants is the fact that He has an elect remnant
in this world. He has an elect remnant in this
world. And He's determined to save them. Had not the Lord of
hosts left us a very small remnant, we would have all been as Sodom
and as Gomorrah. God endures those vessels He
has made for destruction because living among them are those vessels
He has created for His mercy and His glory. That's what He
says in Romans chapter 9. What if God? willing to show
His wrath, endured with much longsuffering the vessels fitted
or made to destroy, that He might show His glory to the vessels
of mercy which He has made." How come the vessels made for
destruction aren't destroyed yet? because He's showing mercy
to the vessels of mercy, which He's made out of the same adamic
lump of clay. God is long-suffering with men
because He's not willing that any of His elect would ever perish.
A lot of people like to quote about 6 or 7 words of 2 Peter
3, 9 and leave out the 17 middle words. They like to say, well,
you know, the Bible says God is not willing that any should
perish. It does not say that. Now, in the light of what men
are saying, as Peter teaches in 2 Peter 3, that they're mocking
God, they're mocking His long-suffering, and they begin to say, well,
He's been so long away, He ain't coming back. So He's not going to be punished
sin at all. And Peter answers saying, God is not slack concerning
His promises. Men count slackness, but is longsuffering
to us. We're not willing that any of
us should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Who's
the us? It's that remnant. According
to the election of Greg, God is longsuffering to the world,
those who are not His. who despise His name. He suffers
them long. He endures their existence because
every one of His children are going to come to repentance.
That's a guarantee of the Word of God. Think about Sodom and
Gomorrah. Lot was the only one who made
it out. One man. You say, well, what
was he doing there anyway? I don't know. I have no idea. But you know what God said about
him? Lot was a righteous man, and his righteous soul was vexed
daily by those things that went on around him. So why didn't
he leave? Well, he didn't. Lot liked cities. He did. If you read the Scriptures, when
him and Abraham split, he said, I reckon I can go over there
to Zohar, that little city. It's a little city, you know,
a little city. I like cities. After he destroyed
something, can I go to Zohar? He liked cities. He liked city living.
A lot of people liked city living. And he did. He liked the protection
of it. But it got to be a pretty bad place. A whole lot of people
in those two cities. When all the fire and brimstone
fell from heaven and burnt those things to the ground and made
them crisp. You look up on the hill. And one fellow left. A remnant. A scrap. A scrap of humanity left. Think
about it. Religious men think otherwise. They think the
long-suffering with man is not an indication, or rather is an
indication, that God is not willing to punish sin. They think, well,
He hasn't done it yet, so He won't do it. So their heart is
set to do evil, it says in Ecclesiastes chapter 8. God is long-suffering with men
in the end of time. He said, I've shortened the days
for the elect's sake. For the elect's sake, I've shortened
the days. I said, a short period of time
for the elect's sake. In Revelation, when those angels of destruction sent from
God come, he tells them, touch not the earth and don't touch
anyone whose my mark is in their forehead. My mark is in their
forehead. God will punish sin, but not
yet. In Isaiah chapter 63, when he
talks about him that came from Bozra with garments soaked in wine or blood, and
who is he? It is I who is mighty to save.
And he goes on to say, Vengeance is in my heart, but the day of
my redeeming has come. And there is vengeance in God's
heart. And it's seething, and it's roiling, and one day it's
going to come to fruition. Why doesn't it come to fruition
now? Because in this world, the day of His redeemed has come,
this remnant according to the election of grace. Humanity,
the rest of humanity, benefits, succeeds, and flourishes because
this remnant is here on this earth. God's goodness to men
in general is the result of His goodness to His elect remnant
in particular. God blessed Egypt. Because Joseph
was there. And he was sent there to save
many people alive. And God blessed Egypt to have
its seven years of great plenty. Seven years. God gave power to
Cyrus, a pagan king who by all records applied to his pagan
gods on his deathbed. But he used Cyrus and the riches
of that pagan nation for the sake of God's elect. He said,
Osiris, I've raised you up. And he did. Historically, they
say Osiris was a smart king. When he took over a nation, he
left the local government and the government in power and said,
you just pay us tribute and we'll leave you to do your own business.
They said, that's smart politician. Well, how come he's a smart politician?
God said, you're my servant. I've chosen you to raise you
up to do this particular deed, to deliver my people Israel. from Babylon. He was raised up
for the elect's sake. God blessed the house of Obed-Edom
because the Ark of the Covenant was there. He providentially
and temporally blesses the men and women of this world for the
sake of the elect remnant. That's why they're blessed. In
a word, all men benefit because He is merciful to His elect.
All humanity benefits. You go out and plant a garden.
You're a believer. Next door neighbor, he plants
a garden. He's an unbeliever. It rains on both your gardens.
God's nice that way. But you know who it rains for?
You. And don't you just wish your
neighbor would thank you? You ought to. Only reason he's
getting rain is because God's sending rain to you. It rains
on the just and the unjust. It rains for the just. The sun
shines on the just and the unjust, but it shines only for this little
scrap of humanity called a remnant according to the election of
grace. Now, the diminutive language employed here refers to the fact
that at any given time in history, the church seems to be small,
a small little thing. A small little thing. To the
world, it has very little significance. But in the end, this little scrap
will be a number which no man can number. Greater than the
sands of the sea, a great multitude, ten thousands times ten thousands
and thousands of thousands according to Scripture. But at any one
time in this world, in any society, in any place, it is a very small
remnant. Now I know people, some preachers
like to say, well, you know, I'm going to try to keep my church
small. I'd like to preach to a thousand people every Sunday,
but I know they wouldn't listen to me. But if they did, if they
showed up, I'd preach to them. And I'd preach the same thing I'm preaching
to you this morning. But it'd be wonderful to see
this place full every time. It'd be wonderful. I'd have to
knock out the back walls and tell more people about Christ. But
that's okay if it does. We started out with, what was
it, Ralph 12? Ralph and Loretta and Crow, I
think the last three of the original outfit. Peggy came, see I got
here in October. Peggy came not much after that,
just a few weeks after that. We started out with twelve. We've
got a little more than twelve now. But you know what we've got? We've got a little scrap. A little scrap of humanity. That's
all right. I don't want to diminish it.
There are ways I could. I had a friend down in Florida.
Not a great friend, but he was sort of a friend. We were more
or less an acquaintance. He was a preacher. He didn't care much
for me. But he told me one time that
he had got that church down to eight people. And he was happy
about that. And those eight people just happened
to be his wife and his six children. Those eight people made up his
church. Now here's how he did it. He made a book of bylaws
and covenants of what it means to be a church member. 356 pages long. And you had to
learn that thing by heart before you could become a member. And
I told him, I said, I could never become a member of your church.
I wouldn't dare read that mess. Maybe that's why he don't like
me. I don't know. But he had figured out a way
to make that church small. Now God doesn't say, make your
church small. He says, my church at any given
time in this world, to the world, seems insignificant, but it's
the remnant that I've chosen to save. It's the remnant I've
chosen to save. Our Lord said, many are called,
but few are chosen. Few are chosen. We call all men
to repent. We call all men to believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ. We tell everybody we meet about
Christ. And the chosen will hear. Straight is the gate and narrow
is the way, and few there be that find it, saith the Scripture.
God has always done His work with just a few. Do you know
that? He always has. A small, feeble remnant here
and there. Think of Gideon's army. It started
out with 32,000 men. And God says, that's just too
many. He said, you know, if we do it with 32,000 men, these
people are going to be proud of what they did. Let's knock
it down a hair. First He knocked it down 22,000.
Then knocked it down another 9,700 and Gideon went out with
300 men out of 32,000 and whooped the enemy real bad. Did Gideon
do it? No, God did it. That is only 300 men against
the whole nation. In the time of Noah, some people
said there were upwards of maybe 10 to 12 million people upon
the earth, maybe more. How many people found grace in
God's sight? Now the other seven were tag-alongs.
Noah found grace in the eyes of God. God looked upon Noah
with grace. Was Noah any different than the
rest of those people who were standing around him, who with
the very thoughts and imaginations of their heart continually were
evil against God? He was no different whatsoever.
Noah was just like them. What made the difference? God
looked on him in grace. And that one man, that's why
we're here today. That one man, God said, you built
an ark. What's an ark? It's a kind of a floating house.
What's floating? I'm going to open up heaven,
and I'm going to open up the fountains of the deep. And everybody
but you and your seven family members, and two of each unclean
animal and seven of each clean animal, upon the face of the
earth, I'm going to destroy. One man. God works in small things. God works in small things. Abraham. All the people and families in
that whole outfittings. Ur of Chaldees and all there.
Iraq, Iran. One man, Abraham, I'll make a
covenant with you. You're going to leave your country
and go to a place you don't even know about. And I'm going to
bless you and bless every family that blesses you and curse every
family that curses you. One man, Abraham, out of all
the other people on the face of the earth. In the whole time
span of the Old Testament, one nation was dealt with. Every
other nation was left alone. Israel was dealt with. God met
with one man, one time a year, for redemption on the Day of
Atonement. One man, one time a year, in a 15 by 15 foot cubicle,
in all the space that was upon the earth in a 15 by 15 foot
cubicle. One man. A scrap. A remnant. A remnant. Through the centuries
of human history, God has used small, seemingly insignificant
remnant to build His kingdom. Martin Luther, who started the
Reformation, he was a cad. He was crude, bad-mouthed, rough
as a cob. You read anything about him,
he was a tough, one tough customer. John Calvin. He was as thin as
a reed. He was a feeble man. He was almost
crippled, could hardly carry himself. John Bunyan, he was
a tinker. What they did, he went to people's
houses and if they had a pot that was busted, he would take
lead and heat it up and patch the hole in their pot. He was
a tinker. God used him. God used him. Spurgeon. The story goes that the night
he was asked to preach at New Park Street, he walked in and
he had a little old 19-year-old whip behind the ears, a fop.
Do you know what a fop is? That's a fella that likes to
carry a handkerchief like this and has lace around his sleeves.
They saw him walk in and they said, oh my soul, what in the
world is this coming in this door to preach for us 19 years
old? He stood up there and preached the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And they said, we love that little boy. We loved that little boy. He
pastored a church that had over 5,000 members. Metropolitan Tabernacle. Preached the gospel to the day
die. Small things. Just look at us. Ain't nothing
to us. We were in the mouth of the hill
of beans. I've been told that by many people. People actually said,
that little group you got, who do you think you are? That little
outfit, y'all think y'all so special? Oh, we know we're not
special. We know God is. We know God is. God works through history with
such a tiny scrap, so that the excellency of the power may be
of God and not of us, is what Scripture says. So He'll get
the glory. The Lord says, despise not the
day of small things. A little girl showed Naaman the
way of life. I hear there's a prophet over here who can help people.
I got leprosy. I'm going to die." And the little girl said, I'll take
you to his house. A little girl. People setting
out, 4,000, 5,000, hungry. Didn't listen to Christ's preach.
He looked at them and he said, boy, they're starving. A little
boy come down the road with some fishes and some bread. A little
boy. Well, why didn't he call a caterer? Why didn't he call
for help to drop manna down? He could, he's God, isn't he?
He uses little things. That little boy was instrumental
in the feeding of 4,000, 5,000, thousands and thousands of people. You see, God's gospel is for
the remnant according to the election of grace. That's who
I preach to. I'm looking for the elect. I
am. I'm looking for sheep. I'm looking for lost sheep. How
do you do that? Well, I can't see who they are.
I don't know who they are. They don't have a stripe painted
on their back. They don't have a sign on their lapel that says, I'm
a lost sheep, help me out. I don't know who they are. I
don't know whether they are or they aren't. But I know God has a
remnant, and He has some lost sheep out in this world. And
I'm looking for them, and there ain't but one way to find them,
and that's to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. I ought
to find them. They'll hear His voice, and they'll
perk up. I've had folks say, well, I don't believe what you
say. I just tell them, I'm not talking to you. I'm not. If you don't believe what I have
to say, it's all right. I'm not going to be mad at you. I'm not going
to sweat it. I'm not going to cry and weep.
I'm not. Because no matter what I did,
it will not change the fact that you won't believe. Will it? Only God can give faith and He
gives faith to this remnant according to the election of grace. And
so I'm looking and I'm preaching the one thing that perks up the
ears of lost sheep, the one thing that perks up the heart of lost
and ruined sinners who are chosen of God. They hear the gospel. Christ said, My sheep hear My
voice and they follow Me and I give unto them eternal life.
And they were sheep for they heard Him. They weren't goats, they were
sheep. They were sheep. Every one of God's elect remnant
shall be saved. All Israel shall be saved. All
Israel, all of God's elect shall be saved. And God's not angry
with them. God's happy with them, contented
with them. Well, He's invited them into
their presence, into His presence. Come into my house. Come to Papa's
house. Come and sit at Papa's feet.
That's how He treats His children. He's not mad at the children.
There's a remnant according to the election of grace. And because
there is a remnant, there's hope. Think about it.
It's not over yet. This old world, this old globe
is still turning on its axis. It's still moving. How come? Because God still has a remnant
here. And if there is a remnant, we know it's chosen by grace
alone. And if by grace alone, there's
hope for me. If I don't have anything to do
with it, If I can't save myself, then there's hope for me if salvation
is by grace alone. What a thing! Except God had
left us a very small remnant, we should have all been like
Solomon and like Gomorrah. Father, bless us through our
understanding and prayer in Christ's name. Amen.