And let us look at that fourth verse
in this psalm of hallelujahs and this psalm of praise. Listen to what it says. You know, I read these Scriptures,
21 of them, and they all are really saying, praise the
Lord, bless the Lord, bless His holy name. And it tells us why. It tells us that whatsoever the
Lord pleased that He did in heaven, earth, and seas, and deep places. It talks about the vapors that
ascend from the ends of the earth. vapors that come up and are carried
over to various places and drop the water all over the world. The Lord does that. He makes
the lightning for the rain. He bringeth the wind out of His
treasure. He killed all the firstborn of
Egypt. all that, slew great nations,
mighty kings. God did that. Verse 4, For the
Lord, this is God who did all these things, the God that we
praise and thank. For the Lord hath chosen Jacob
unto himself. That's what the Lord did. The Lord hath chosen Jacob unto
himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure. The Lord did that. Now, Israel is not necessarily to be confined
to the Israelites who are Jews outwardly. But there is a true
spiritual Israel that cometh from the Gentiles and the Jews. They are the truth of the Gospels
brought home to their hearts and they are made one, one body. Over here in the book of Romans,
you turn with me to the second chapter of the book of Romans
in the last verse, or the twenty-eighth and the twenty-ninth verse of
the second chapter of the book of Romans. And this will stand
for what I have said about who this Israel is that he hath chosen
for his particular treasure. Listen to what it says. For he is not a Jew which is
one outwardly. Just because he was born of Jewish
parents and circumcised on the seventh day, just because he
went to the temple, did this and that, is not a Jew which
is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward
in the flesh. But he is a Jew which is one
inward leg. His heart has been circumcised. God has brought home to his heart
the truth of the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
he knows the Father, he knows the Son, he knows the Holy Spirit. He is a Jew which is one outward
leg and circumcision is that of the heart and in the spirit,
not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God. Now, I said all that to say that
when it says that the Lord hath chosen Jacob unto himself and
Israel for his peculiar treasure, that Jacob and Israel, he is
talking about his people that He chose unto Himself before
time ever was. That's who He has reference to.
Now, if there's anything, if there's anything that makes a
believer's heart sing unto the Lord, it's the
recollection that God has chosen Him. If there's anything that
can bring about joy in a man's heart, it's when he's reminded
by the Spirit through the Scriptures that God has chosen him. Now, that will make your heart
to rejoice. That will bring about joy in
your heart. You remember this verse of Scripture? This verse of Scripture in light
of what I've said. There's not anything that makes
the believer's heart sing unto the Lord and rejoice any more
than the recollection that he has been chosen by God and God
Father, and God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit has fixed
His love upon them. Now, the Scripture, Ye have not
chosen me. Do you recollect that Scripture? Ye, you, you, you, me, you, ye
have not chosen me. I have chosen you. Does it not say here, The Lord
hath chosen Jacob? And if you and I have any reason
whatsoever to believe that we are in the family of God by way
of adoption, if you and I have any reason to believe that we
have any claim on God through Jesus Christ. It's because He
has chosen us, not that we have chosen Him. Let me say it again
now. I have chosen you. You have not
chosen me. But in reality, we have chosen
Him. We have chosen Him. But the reason
we have chosen Him is because He hath made us known, made it
known unto us that He hath chosen us, that He first chose us. Not that we loved Him, but that
He first loved us. In eternity past, He loved us,
He chose us. Before, while we were yet unborn,
without being, in his mind and eternal purpose. He looked over
every member of the human race that ever shall be born. He looked them all over and he
handpicked those that would be the recipient
of his mercy and his blessings. And he said, I've chosen you. You have not chosen me, but I
have chosen you. And that's the truth. So help
me God. This is one of the best reasons
that I know of why you and I, if we are in the Lord Jesus Christ,
that we should adore and love the Lord God with all of our
heart and all of our mind and all of our strength. If the Lord
has made us his people, we will with joy and goodness declare
him and own him to be our God and our Father and our Savior. If he has blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus, we certainly will return
to him our best service Our best praise, our loudest
praise will return unto him. Now, I want you to see here in
this verse the first thing that lies upon the surface of this
verse. Notice what he says. The first
thing that lies upon the surface of the verse is His choice, for
the Lord hath chosen His choice. It is a divine choice. It is God's choice. It is the
Lord Himself who made the heavens and the earth. It is Jehovah
God in whose hands all things are. It is a divine choice. He has made the choice, and though
sometimes we speak of it as if it were a commonplace truth,
He has made the choice, and it is a very wonderful, wonderful,
glorious thing. Yet, if we look into the very
depths of this, we shall find out that it is truly a marvelous
and wonderful thing that He should ever have chosen any of the fallen
race of Adam. Isn't that a wonderful thing,
that He chose some? He chose some. a remnant, a piece,
a part of the whole he chose. Now, in his mysterious sovereignty,
when I speak of sovereignty, I speak of his might and power
and right to do as he pleased. It is mysterious, the mysterious
sovereignty of God, that he saves one unbelieving, dying thief. He touches his heart and he leaves
the heart of another dying thief untouched. Mysterious sovereignty. God does as He pleases in His mysterious sovereignty. He did not choose fallen angels,
did He? Not one of the fallen angels
did He choose. that are of God's making and
creation, who do His bidding. A gang of them, how many, I don't
know. Lucifer seems to be the head
of them. They rebelled against God and God cast them out. They're
cast out, reserved in chains until the time of judgment. God, in his mysterious sovereignty,
passed over them, did not choose one of them. Not one of them
did he choose. But he did choose some. out of
Adam's fallen race. The Bible says that our Lord
took upon himself the seed of Abraham, not the
nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham. Why was it that all the hosts, of spiritual beings that fell
with Lucifer were left in their fallen state without a ray of
a hope of salvation. They have not a ray of hope of
being rescued or delivered. They are there forever. When the Bible says, where the
tree falls, that's where it'll be. That will be true and is
true with the fallen angels. They don't have a ray of hope
of being recovered. They're gone to the pit forever
and forever and forever and forever. They're there for eternity. We can never understand it and
I cannot give you no answer. That's the way it is. I could say, as the Lord Jesus
Christ said in the eleventh chapter of Matthew, let me read that,
eleventh chapter of the book of Matthew, this is the only
answer I can give for what happened. It says in verse 25, At that
time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord
of heaven and earth, God of all things, because thou hast hid
these things, hid these truths, hid the gospel, because thou
hast hid these things from the wise and the prudent, from the
smart alecks of this world. I thank you that you hid these
truths from them, hid the gospel from them, and have revealed
the gospel, these truths unto babies, unto babes, spiritual
babes. And this is his answer. He said,
Even so, Father, for it seemed good in thy sight. And that's the only answer that
I can give. For the mysterious sovereignty
of God that he passed by fallen angels and left them go, and
they're without a ray of hope of ever being delivered. All
I can say is, Even so, Father, for it seemed good in thy sight." It's His divine choice. Don't
ever forget that. It's God's divine choice. And
His choice was His and His alone, uninfluenced by anything. And when we understand, I believe,
if God will teach us and give us some understanding and open
our eyes and our ears that we can hear, that this choice was God's and
His alone. It will bring about in our hearts
and in our conscience the highest joy to know that God Almighty
hath chosen us, huh? Listen, when Joshua, who was
the high priest after Aaron was taken, he was the high priest
and it says that he was standing before the angel of the Lord.
And Satan was standing at his right hand to resist him. Do you remember that? And the
Lord said unto the accuser, The Lord rebuketh thee, O Satan,
even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem. That was a slap, a
painful slap in the face of Satan. He tried to resist Joshua. Our Lord said, The Lord rebuked
thee, even he that hath chosen Jerusalem. Slapping his face. The Lord has chosen his people. The Lord has chosen his people,
listen to me now, and Satan cannot change the choice. of God, no
matter what He does. His choice will never be changed.
The choice of God is always a sovereign choice. And about this point
of His sovereignty, we are not left to speculation, for Paul
has told us over here in the book of Romans, chapter 8, I
believe. Chapter 9, verse 11, and I'm
going to read this verse in light of what I said. I said, the choice
being of God, I have chosen Jacob. Jacob I have chosen. Remember that now. The choice
being of God is also a sovereign choice. And I said about this
point of His sovereign choice, we are not left to guess or to
speculate. For Paul tells us here in Romans,
chapter 9 and verse 11, for the children being not yet born,
I hope you're listening to me this morning, for the children
being not yet born, neither having done any good or any evil, that
the purpose of God according to election might stand, not
of works, but of him that calleth. It was said unto her, The elder
shall serve the younger. It is written, Jacob, is that
not the man we're talking about? For the Lord hath chosen Jacob,
sovereign divine choice, no speculation, no guesswork. The Apostle Paul, the writer
of 13, 14 books of the Bible, inspired of God. Every believer
and every religionists, everyone that is identified in the least
and most remote way with the Bible, agrees, never argues,
that the Apostle Paul, as a man, was probably the most committed,
dedicated man that ever walked the face of the earth. apart
from the man Christ Jesus. And this is what he said. I know
there is a lot of stuttering and a lot of stammering and a
lot of excusing and accusing that goes on when I read and
preach from Scriptures like this, but the Scriptures stand. They cannot be shaken or moved. It's not me, it's Him, it's God
that says these things. Listen, it is written, Jacob
have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Now, the purpose of God, was
made good in this case apart from personal character. For in Jacob, no character had
been developed. It was before he had been born,
before he had been. God said, Jacob have I loved."
So there was nothing about his nature and nothing about his
character that would entice God to make mistakes. If anyone says, and this is,
I know those that stutter and stammer, those that say, I couldn't
serve a God like that, I remember years ago, years ago, a long
time ago, thirty-five, thirty-eight, thirty-nine years ago, I talked
to a preacher, a preacher that led the church in which I was
ordained, led them to recall my ordination. They said, He's not worthy of
preaching. He's been preaching. this damnable
doctrine of election. And they said, the preacher said,
I cannot serve a God like that. That's what he said. It wasn't long ago, a week or so
ago, a lady called me, called Martha. I wasn't there. And she
said, we was cleaning out the church building and said, we
found this We found this ordination paper here of your husband's. We'd like to give it back to
you." So I seen her in the restaurant not too long ago. And I said,
I appreciate your concern. But I said, you took it away
from me. You said I couldn't preach no
more. You said I couldn't even marry people. You said I was
a disgrace to the ministry. I don't want it back. I said
I've been preaching now for 40 years since that took place. I don't want it. They stammer
and stutter over this scripture. This is
what they say, if anyone says that The choice was made by God
on the account of foreseen character. This here tells us that there
was no good foreseen character to see. He was yet unborn, still in his
mother's womb. He had not done good nor evil,
yet God said, Jacob have I loved. Has He got a right to do that?
Has He got that right? He's God over all and above all. There's none like unto Him. There's none besides Him. He's
all they are. Ain't no more, no need to look. He's got that right. He's God. He's God. I wish we could really
understand a little bit about God, infinite and wise, full
of everlasting mercy and goodness and kindness and grace, unchangeableness. Oh, no. The Scripture tells us
that there's no good character to foresee. If you know somewhat
of the nature of this man Jacob, you'll agree with me that there
is nothing in him to give reason why any mortal on the top side
of God's green earth that would choose him, certainly nothing
in him that would give reason why God would choose him. There
was nothing foreseen about him except the Lord foresees that
he, the Lord, will make him gracious. But that is not the reason why
he makes him gracious. There is, in the back of all
of this, the reason that God gave Moses. And this is what God said to
Moses. Moses said, Show me thy glory. And God said to Moses, I will
have mercy on whom I will have mercy. And I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. The truth of God's right to make a choice is largely, it should be preached. People don't like to hear this
for this reason, because when they hear this,
and if any of it falls upon their conscience and upon their heart,
they are made to recognize immediately that God owes them And they like
to retain this false reasoning that God owes them something. But if they ever get a hold of
what I'm talking about, this election of God, the sovereign
choice of God, will produce a spirit in them so as to make them feel
that they have no claim whatsoever on God. They have no right to
His mercy. None of us, the best of men that
ever lived, have no right to the mercy of God. Moses had no
right to the mercy of God. Paul had no right to the mercy
of God. Peter had no right. James, John,
Bartholomew, Peter, Philip and all the rest had no right to
the mercy of God. I know this, if a man ever gets
that mercy, it's simply because God chooses to give it to him. I know that. And this choice
was made by the great king who has the right to do as he wills
and who exercises that right and who can stay his hand, who
can say unto God, you can't do it. When God stretches forth
his arm, when he bares his Who can thwart it? Who can interfere
with the will and the purpose of God who willed it? The truth stands unwavering in
this verse. God has chosen Jacob. The truth stands. And listen, that was that which
lies upon the surface of the verse. For the Lord hath chosen
Jacob. But look under the next two words. He's chosen him unto himself. The choice is divine and the
choice is sovereign. He chose him unto himself. What does that
mean? What does that mean? He has chosen
him unto himself. Well, it does not mean that he's
chosen him unto heaven. It doesn't say that Jacob is
chosen unto heaven, although that's the end result, but that's
not what it says. It doesn't say that he has chosen
Jacob unto special favors, although that is the end result. But he
said he has chosen him unto himself, unto himself. That means that
Jacob is not his own. And if God hath chosen us in
Christ before the world ever was, he hath chosen us unto himself. And we are not our own because
we were bought with a price, and the price is the precious
blood of the Lamb of God. And we belong to him. He hath
chosen us. unto himself. What does that mean? Well, chosen
unto himself that Jacob might know him. Let me read something
to you. In John, the book of John, chapter
17, I want to read this. It says this, chapter 17. Now, this is not Matthew speaking. This is not Paul speaking. This is not Luke speaking. This is not Mark. This is not
Peter. These words speak Jesus. Chapter 17, verse 1. These words
speak Jesus. is God's Christ. Jesus is the
second person in the Trinity. Jesus is equal with God. And Jesus spake these words,
lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has
come. That is, my time has come. glorify thy son, that thy son
also may glorify thee." He continues praying unto the
Father. And he said, "...as thou hast
given him power over all flesh," that is, the Father gave the
Lord Jesus Christ power over all flesh, "...that he," that
the Lord Jesus, "...should give," not pay, not pay, not be bribed
or made to compromise in some form or manner, but that he should
give, G-I-V-E, give, a gift, give eternal life. Oh, what a great token of the
everlasting love of God that he would give a son of Polonais,
a daughter of Polonais, that he would give any one of us this
gift of eternal life, which is any son. But he said that he
should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that
they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
thou seest." Now, what it means when it says that he chose him unto himself, it means that he knew the Father,
that he found out who the Father was. And life eternal is knowing
who God is. in Christ. That's life eternal. You can memorize every scripture
in the Bible. You can remember books and chapters
and all that. But life is not in the scriptures. They're not there. Read the Bible. You ought to read the Bible.
Everybody ought to read the Bible. It's the Word of God. But the
life is not in the scriptures. is in Jesus Christ. That's where
it's at. The Bible talks about Him from
first to start. He knew the Father. He found
out who the Father was. And He found out who the Son
was. And He found out who the Holy
Spirit was. Do you and I this morning know
the Father, know the Son, know the Holy Spirit? The Lord chose
Jacob unto Himself. He's chose us. Then it's chosen unto Himself. We belong to Him, lock, stock
and barrel. We don't belong to our children,
we don't belong to our wives, like we belong to Him. Well, the Lord chose Jacob and
the Lord chose his seed. that they might keep the truth
alive in this world. Who's going to keep the truth
alive in this world if the chosen of Jacob don't do it? If the
chosen of God, like Jacob, and Jacob's seed, if they don't do
it, who's going to keep it alive? Listen, the Lord has put us in
trust with his gospel. He's given us this treasure in
earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and
not of ourselves. He's given us the truth that
that truth might be preserved among men. Listen to me now. There's no true worship of God
under heaven except that which is rendered under God from the
hearts of God's people. I know there's churches everywhere
you look. There is a building that says
this is the church, the Baptist church, the Methodist church,
the Catholic church, all them churches. But that's no true
sign of that being God's people. If they know God, most of these
people in these churches, if I were to tell them this morning
what I've told you, if they could shoot me, they wouldn't get about
it. They'd say, that's the craziest
man that ever lived upon the face of the earth, and the best
thing that anyone could do for him is to put him out of his
misery. and shut him up once and for all. No such a thing. God doesn't have any favorites.
It's whosoever will. Yeah, but who are them whosoever
will? Who will on his own? Left to
himself, who will make the choice? None. None. It's when God makes
us willing. in the day of his power. There is no true worship of God
under heaven except that which is rendered unto God by his own
people. Men might make their ceremonies
and their rituals as gorgeous and beautiful as they possibly
can make them. They may have their fancy music
and choirs with their gowns and all of their candles and candelabras
and all of those things. But they add to nothing. They
may make a great show of their piety and great displays of their
music, talents and abilities, but when it's all said and done,
when the water has been completely wrung out of the rag, there is
no true worship except that which comes from the hearts in which
the Spirit of God dwells. They are those that God gave
Christ before the world ever was. I ask this question to myself
and I ask this question to you this morning. Am I, or you, one
of the chosen seed? Can you say, like the Apostle
Paul, I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ? Are
you and I branded slaves of Jesus the Christ, yet free men rejoicing
in the liberty that we have? If the Son shall make you free,
ye shall be free indeed. Oh, do you feel here this morning
shut up to just one course in life? Can you say with the Apostle
Paul, I press towards tomorrow? What about that blood mark when the Israelites were held
in bondage by the Egyptians and their Pharaoh? And God said unto
the patriarchs, Take the lamb, put him up, check him out, No
blemishes on the Lamb. Bring Him in. Offer Him. Catch the blood of the sacrificial
Lamb. Put it on the side post and put
it on the lentil post. And when I see the blood, I'll
pass over you. The question is this. It was
the blood that made the difference. Where there was no blood, there
was destruction. The death angel destroyed all
of those that were not under the devil. It was the blood that makes the
difference. Do you have the blood mark on you? Has the atoning
sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ whom God hath sent, who came,
born, of a sinful woman. A sinful woman brought forth
a sinless child. And that child lived in this
life for thirty-some years and was without sin, absolutely immaculate
and perfect. No sin in him. But the Bible
says sin was laid on him. Was your sin laid on Him? Has
the Lord revealed unto you the atoning
sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ? Has it been laid home to your
heart and to your conscience? Has the Lord made any difference
between you and the rest of mankind? Have you heard that voice? Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Have you heard
the voice of God crying, Come out from among us and be a shepherd? I'll be your God and you'll be
mine. You have that blood in your heart. Election is not salvation. Election is unto salvation. It's not salvation. I'm not trusting in election.
I'm trusting in Christ and Christ alone.