This evening I would read again
one of the sermons of the late pastor, Mr. Ken Matrinola. This sermon is entitled God's
Sure Decree. It was a sermon preached on the
Lord's Day evening, December the 29th, 1991. So it's the last
Lord's Day of the year. The text is Psalm 148, verse
six. He hath made a decree which shall not pass. Psalm 148
verse 6, he hath made a decree which shall not pass. As it is the last service appointed
for the year and as it marks the conclusion of 21 years of
my ministry here at Salem, I would like to speak on the subject
of God's sure decree. to which decree I trace every
blessing and every favour which I have received and which we
have known as a church. In this psalm we find the words,
he hath made a decree which shall not pass. The psalmist speaks
of the wonders of the angelic and the terrestrial creation,
the name of the Lord which has been disclosed and the glory
of God which is above the earth and the heaven. In the center
of the psalm, he makes this great statement concerning the counsel
of God, the immutable character of God's decree. The decree of
God will not pass away. It is that which will stand when
all created things, as they now are, are no more. And it is thanks to that decree
that we, the people of God, have the hope of a glorious and an
everlasting salvation. What do we mean by God's decree? The dictionary tells us that
a decree is an order by one in authority, an edict or law, a
judicial decision, a predetermined purpose. The key to the definition
is that it is made by one in authority. There is an example
in the familiar words, Luke 2 verse 1, there went out a decree from
Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. Caesar's
edict was the instrument whereby the people in Palestine went
to their own towns and villages for registration or census taking. It brought Joseph and Mary to
Bethlehem, Ephratah, where he was born, made of a woman, made
under the law, whose goings forth have been of old from everlasting. The theological definition of
decree is very similar, except that the authority now is not
merely the authority of Caesar, or of any earthly ruler, but
it is the supreme authority of God Himself, He who is the one
true and living God, who has gloriously revealed Himself in
creation. The invisible things of Him from
the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead. God is also the One who keeps
all His creation in being according to His purpose. The Lord hath
prepared His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom ruleth over all. We believe that God is the God
of creation and also the God of providence. History is the
providential dealings of God with men and nations. We believe
also in redemption, and in that special redemption in that God
gave his Son, here in his love, not that we loved God, but that
he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our
sins. These great works of our God
creation, providence and redemption are sometimes referred to as
the external acts of God, which are known in time and which are
demonstrated in the lives of those within this chapel tonight.
But we must not overlook the fact that these external acts
of God are based upon the eternal decree of God. They have come
about because God has eternally willed that they should do so.
The decree of God, then, is His willing from all eternity concerning
all things which come to pass. Question 7 in the Shorter Catechism
says, What are the decrees of God? The decrees of God are His
eternal purpose according to the counsel of His will, whereby
for His own glory He hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass. Although the Catechism speaks
of the decrees of God, it is properly the decree of God. Decrees
suggests a succession of purposes, but we believe that all the purposes
of God relative to creation, providence and redemption are
but one great purpose, one great decree of the Eternal God from
everlasting. He hath made a decree. that is something of the definition
of the sure, the firm decree which shall not pass but we must
also have scriptural evidence and this abounds in for example
Isaiah's prophecy the Lord of hosts hath sworn saying surely
as I have thought so shall it come to pass and as I have purposed
so shall it stand Isaiah 14.24 I am God, and there is none else.
I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the
beginning and from ancient time the things that are not yet done,
saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.
I have spoken it. I will also bring it to pass.
I have purposed it. I will also do it. Isaiah 46,
9-11. In the New Testament, Paul says
concerning the salvation of God, wherein he hath abounded toward
us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the
mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he
hath purposed in himself. We have obtained an inheritance,
being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh
all things. after the counsel of his own
will. We've seen already that he is
within the scope or the extent of the decree of God. All my
pleasure. Isaiah 46 verse 10. And he worketh all things after
the counsel of his own will. Ephesians 1.11. We saw it in
the answer of the shorter catechism. He hath foreordained whatsoever
comes to pass. That is creation in every aspect
of it. He has created the invisible
things in heaven, the world of angels, the principalities and
powers. He has created the visible things,
the inanimate things, which are in the earth, which we call the
great forces of nature. He has created the animal kingdom.
The creatures have not evolved, as we're told. Rather, they are
what they are because God made them. He has made man in his
own image and likeness, not evolved from the creatures, but made
sovereignly and uniquely. He has done all these things
according to his own purpose, his decree. What a God this is,
that we come before, who is sovereign over rational creatures, good
and bad, over individuals and over nations. He is the God who
reigns, and who is working out His purposes. King Nebuchadnezzar
was brought to acknowledge it. I blessed the Most High, and
I praised and honoured Him that liveth forever, whose dominion
is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation
to generation, and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing.
and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven and
among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his
hand or say unto him, What doest thou? It is an eternal decree. For
known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.
Acts 15, 18, which literally is, known from eternity are to
God all his works. God's decrees, says John Gill,
are himself decreeing. The eternal God decreeing is
the God who gives us an eternal decree in which all things are
embraced. It is a freely purposed decree,
for no one compelled God to purpose these things. No one put any
pressure upon Him. How could they? For when God
purposed these things, there was none to gainsay His will.
He existed alone in the sufficiency of the Godhead, Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit, one God, blessed forever. Therefore, when God
decreed, there was no force upon Him, no compulsion from outside
of Him to so decree. Who hath directed the Spirit
of the Lord, or being His counsellor, hath taught Him? With whom took
He counsel? And who instructed Him, and taught
Him in the path of judgment, and taught Him knowledge, and
showed to Him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are as a
drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance. Isaiah 40 verse 13 to 15 having made known unto us the
mystery of his will according to the good pleasure which he
hath purposed in himself." Ephesians 1.9. The Son, in acknowledgement
of the will of the Father, says, Even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in thy sight. It is also a wise decree Oh,
the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of
God. How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding
out. Our God is the only wise God
in whom can be no ignorance, in whom can be no error, in whom
can be no foolishness, He who knows from eternity all his works
in perfection, it is therefore impossible for such a one ever
to decree unwisely. It is an immutable decree. The
enemies of Daniel sought to find occasion against him concerning
the law of his God. Knowing his daily habit of prayer,
they got the king to seal an edict, a decree, that whosoever
pray to any other god than to Darius the king should be cast
into the den of lions. We read that they said to the
king, Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing,
that it be not changed according to the law of the Medes and the
Persians, which altereth not. If A mere earthly ruler could
be invoked to seal his decree so that it would be immutable
and impossible to set aside for any reason. Shall not the decree
of the God who is the true God be an immutable decree? He that sitteth upon the circle
of the earth and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers in
his sight. His decree is that which shall
not pass away until every detail, every part of it, is fully implemented. What He has purposed, He will
bring to pass. What He has thought, that He
will do. In Hebrews we read of the immutability,
the unchangeability of His counsel. Hebrews 6 verse 17. And thank
God that it is so. We live in a changing world and
we are those who are so full of change in ourselves. We are
hot one day and cold the next, up one day and down the next.
But blessed be the name of the Lord that His decree is a sure
decree. It is a secret decree. It says
where God has been pleased to reveal it. No man can penetrate
into the mystery of it. The mystery of God's secret will.
The secret things belong unto the Lord our God, but those things
which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever.
The things which are revealed show us the greatness of our
God, the freeness of his grace to us, and the salvation which
is of the Lord. But we must ever remember that
we are to come with humility. The ground upon which we stand
is, as it were, holy ground. We must take the shoes from off
our feet to approach unto the mystery of God's will. Who are we to know those things
which God does not intend that we should know? But we can be
sure of this. His will is according to His
good pleasure and He will never do that which is contrary to
His holiness and His righteousness. It is an affection decree. The
purposes of men are often frustrated. Good men may purpose good things,
but find that they have no means to obtain the things or to bring
them to pass. Many a good desire is brought
to naught. Many a good scheme remains on
the drawing board and is never put into commission. But this
is not so with God. Our God is such that His wisdom
is always coupled to His power. He is able to do exceeding abundantly
above all that we ask or think. With God there is no lack of
knowledge, no limitation of means, no inadequacy of plan, and no
absence of power. What He purposes, He is able
also to bring to pass. This is not mere fatalism. There
are those who say if you believe that you're saying that things
must just happen and there is nothing but blind power which
is driving everything on. But no, it is nothing of the
sort. It is the good pleasure of His
will which motivates those things that are. It is the good pleasure
of His will which frustrates even the powers of darkness in
all their malign attempts to injure the testimony of God and
truth. and to bring to naught the church
of Christ upon the earth. Certainly there is nothing which
can overturn the purposes of God, but it is not just blind
power. It is rather power which is coupled
to his love, his goodness, his holiness, and his righteousness. Our God is, in Samuel Medley's
well-known words, too good to be unkind. too good to be unkind. This is the God who makes effectual
all that which he has purposed, using the best possible means
that his sovereign wisdom appoints, and all for his glory, and all
for the good of his chosen people. We could say much more on God's
decree in these general terms, but I want to speak now on God's
saving decree. because it is this which deeply
concerns us. In the decree of God, there is
a special decree whereby God says, as he declares to his servant
Moses, I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and
I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. This is the decree
in respect of Adam's race. whereby some are appointed to
salvation and others are not. This saving decree can be opened
up under two solemn aspects of divine election and divine reprobation. God help us to see these things
in the Word of God. God has eternally decreed And
God has eternally predestined within that decree that an innumerable
multitude of persons be conformed to the image of his dear Son
and granted all the blessings of eternal life. God has chosen
them to be His, notwithstanding the fact that every one of them
has sinned in Adam. For we are born in sin and shaken
in iniquity. and notwithstanding the fact
that every one of them is without righteousness, for there is none
righteous, no, not one. Yet God has decreed there be
an innumerable multitude of men and women of Adam's race who
will be blessed with eternal life and who will therefore know
the pardon of all their sins through the Redeemer, the provision
which God has made in His dear Son. Our forefathers believed
in these truths. Therefore, the Articles of Faith
of this church at Salem, Portsmouth, states, We believe in the everlasting
and unchangeable love of God, and that before the foundation
of the world, God did elect a certain number of the human race unto
everlasting salvation. We must see what the Bible teaches. For it is only through the teaching
of Scripture that we know that these things are so. There is
much opposition to the doctrine of election, although you would
think that all would gladly receive a truth which is so highly exalting
to God, and yet so comforting to the sinner who seeks to know
God. This opposition is not a new
thing. This doctrine was not well received when Christ himself
preached it. After his baptism he was driven
of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And
then he went into the synagogue at Nazareth, where there were
those who should have been his friends, but they were more like
the wicked spirits in their malice towards him. And it was as a
result of his preaching election, for he mentioned the day of Elijah
And he said, Many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias,
when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great
famine was throughout all the land, but unto none of them was
Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, the city of Zidon, unto a woman
that was a widow. There were many widows in Israel,
but it was not in the divine decree that Elijah should be
sustained by one of these widow women, but rather that he should
be sustained by the widow of Zarephath in the land of Zidon. Then the Lord continued, and
it was fuel to the fire of hatred in their hearts. Many lepers
were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none
of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. And all they
in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with
wrath, and rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led
him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built,
that they might cast him down headlong. But he passing through
the midst of them went his way. There was also opposition to
election later in Christ's ministry, when he declared, All that the
Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me
I will in no wise cast out, for I came down from heaven not to
do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this
is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he
hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again
at the last day. No man can come to me, except
the Father which hath sent me draw him. and I will raise him
up at the last day." What blessed words! What wonderful teaching! What words of encouragement!
But the reaction was, many therefore of his disciples, when they heard
this, said, this is a hard saying, who can hear it? When Jesus knew
in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto
them, doth this offend you? What if you shall see the Son
of Man ascend up where He was before? It is the Spirit that
quickeneth. The flesh profiteth nothing.
The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are
life. But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew
from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should
betray Him. And He said therefore, And he
said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come to me, except
it were given unto him of my father. From that time many of
his disciples went back and walked no more with him. This is the
testimony of the Word of God. When Christ preached election,
it was not welcome, it was not received. Why should we expect
it to be different in our day? In the human heart, there is
still that resentment, that barrier of pride, which raises every
objection to the truth that God sovereignly chooses whom he will,
and to whom he chooses, and to them alone he will be gracious. We believe, however, that it
is a precious doctrine, and that it is so clearly taught in Scripture,
It is taught in the New Testament in the use of certain words such
as know and foreknow. For example, nevertheless the
foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth
them that are his. He knew them from all eternity.
I am the good shepherd and know my sheep. My sheep hear my voice
and I know them and they follow me. for whom he did foreknow. He also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of his Son. God hath not cast away his
people whom he foreknew. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, he hath taken, and by wicked
hands hath crucified and slain. Elect according to the foreknowledge
of God the Father. It can also be seen in words
such as elect, choose, and election. For example, ye have not chosen
me, but I have chosen you. God hath chosen the foolish things
of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the
weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty,
according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world. hath not God chosen the poor
of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of his kingdom? Because
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation, that the purpose of God according
to election might stand. There is a remnant according
to the election of grace. Brethren, give diligence to make
your calling and election sure. The word predestinate also means
literally foreordain, whom he did foreknow. He also did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be
the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
and them he also called, and whom he called, them he also
justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified. in love, having predestinated
us according to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
himself according to the good pleasure of his will. This is a small selection of
scripture proofs, but what can we say about this election of
our God, his saving decree? Firstly, it is the election of
the Father, We believe that all the persons of the Godhead were
involved in our salvation. They all equally willed the salvation
of the elect. But we say that in the revelation
which is given to us, it is attributed to the Father. It is the Father
who wills and chooses, knowing, brethren beloved, your election
of God, that is, the Father. God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth. I have manifested thy name unto
the men which thou gavest me out of the world, says Christ.
Thine they were, and thou gavest them me. It is the Father's work,
it is the Father who chooses, it is the Son who represents,
redeems and brings to glory. It is the Holy Ghost who applies
these benefits to us in the appointed time, through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth. Secondly, what is the
character of those who are chosen? Are they chosen because they're
better than others? By no means! We who know grace
in our hearts are living evidence that we are not chosen for any
good thing in us. What good thing is there in any
one of us? Even after grace has come to
us, there is nothing whatsoever which would merit God's choosing
of us. That is why we love free grace so much in this little
congregation. Those who are chosen are sinners
of Adam's race and such were some of you. We are all sinners
by nature. We are chosen because He would
have us. He has chosen us first. John Gill puts it very succinctly
when he says God chooses men nakedly and abstractly considered
simply as men. He has chosen his people without
any consideration of what they are or what they would become
or what they would achieve. Jonathan Edwards says, a man
chooses out gems from a heap of stones because they differ
and are precious. But God chooses his people and
therefore they become gems and very different from others. None
of us are better than others. We are not chosen for any good
thing in us. As Robert Murray McShane says
in the hymn, chosen not for good in me, wakened up from wrath
to flee, hidden in the Saviour's side, by the Spirit sanctified. Oh, that we might be kept humble,
and that we might remember that this is a free election. It is
not for anything in the creature. We must also remember that not
all are saved. Where there is a great multitude
which no man could number of all nations and kindreds and
people and tongues relative to all who have ever lived upon
the face of the earth, there are not many. For many are called,
but few are chosen. They are, however, from all backgrounds,
all nations, all peoples, all tongues. For the gospel promise
is unto you and to your children and to all that are afar off,
even as many as the Lord our God shall call. The great sixfold
statement of gospel truth says concerning preaching, preached
unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world. What a wonderful
gospel it is. It is for all sorts and conditions
of men. But in the decree it is according
to the choice which God has made. He has chosen a diverse people
from different backgrounds and walks of life, and Christ being
lifted up draws all that great number of men unto himself. He
it is who makes continual intercession for them. I pray not for the
world, he says, but for them which thou gavest me out of the
world. Thine they were, and Thou gavest them me." There then is
the nature of this election. They are chosen in time. The
very circumstances, the very date, the very place, the very
preacher and the very witness are all in the saving decree. Nothing is left to chance. What a wonderful thing, what
lines these are of Ryland, his decree, who formed the earth,
fixed my first and second birth. Parents, native place and time,
all appointed were by him. And also those of John Kent,
the appointed time rolls on apace, not to propose, but call by grace,
to change the heart, renew the will, and turn the feet to Zion's
hill. It is a glorious doctrine. It's
a glorious doctrine. What a comfort it is to the preacher
to know that God has decreed the salvation of a people and
despite his stammering words and his failings, God will make
the word effectual if it is his purpose to do so. He will cause
his word to prosper in the thing to which he sends it and bring
glory to his name. It is also an unconditional election.
Although there are those who challenge this and say that election
is simply God's knowing in advance those who will choose Christ
as their saviour. But that is no election at all.
That reduces the will of God to nothing, because it makes
the will of man superior to the will of God. That says that eternal
election hinges upon the will of a man. And it is only when
God sees that it is the will of a man to choose the Son that
this influences God to elect such a one. This puts God beneath
man, which is where so much contemporary preaching would have him. So much of 20th century evangelism
has gone astray because it makes God's will subordinate to man's
will. But it is not so. It is what
God purposes. God requires no man to be his
counsellor. He does not need to see what
a man will do with the gospel before he chooses that man unto
salvation. If a man receives the Son of
God savingly, because God has chosen him. While in the English language
the word for knowledge may convey the idea of knowing something
in advance, it never means that in scripture. In the New Testament,
for knowledge is always for ordination. It is always synonymous with
predestination. So that if men receive Christ,
it is because God has willed that they should receive him.
Christ was delivered by the predeterminate and foreknown counsel of God,
as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. Because it is they only who will
believe and no other. It's absurd from the very doctrine
of the decree itself to say that it is conditional on man's will. It is an unconditional decree.
God has willed these things freely. God has willed them with no coercion
upon himself, and there is certainly no requirement that man should
be a co-operator. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. It is by means of election. It
is by the gospel of grace. It is by the Redeemer preached.
It is by the blood of Christ. It is by the righteousness which
Christ has obtained for us, so that a man's sins are taken away
and God's family are fit to be received into heaven. They are
declared to be righteous by the righteousness of Christ made
over, imputed to them. When that flows into the heart,
in the experience of it, we can say with the Apostle, being justified,
By faith we have peace with God. Have you that peace with God,
peace in Christ? Peace not through any righteousness
which you have tried to establish as the ground of your acceptance
with God? Are you rather resting on the
finished work and the perfect righteousness of Christ? That
is God's way. That is the means by which his
election is effected so that he is both just and the justifier
of him which believeth in Jesus. So that no voice can be raised
who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect. It is God that justifieth. God
has dealt with our sins. God has put it away, not because
he has overlooked it, but because he has thoroughly judged it,
condemned it, and brought execution of sentence upon it in another. It has been done in the person
of his dear Son. He that spared not his own Son,
but delivered him up for us all. The just for the unjust to bring
us unto God. This is the gospel, which we
have to declare. We believe in preaching. We believe
that in the electing purpose, in the saving decree, by the
foolishness of preaching, God will have his gospel made known. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God. The gospel is to go out through
the whole earth, and God will make it effectual where he wills
to be gracious. It is a wonderful comfort to
the preacher to know that he stands proclaiming that which
God has decreed from all eternity to be with power to those to
whom he will have mercy and to whom his mercy will be extended
and who will be brought into eternal life according to the
good pleasure of his will. There is nothing hit or miss
about it. Nothing hit or miss about it.
There is no need for us to belabor people with ingenious arguments
in order that their minds might collapse and that they might
be brought to consent to what we're proposing. They shall be
made willing. They shall be made willing. God
will do it. We are to preach, and I trust
that we preach with feeling, and that we preach with warmth,
and with desire that we might see souls saved. For we know
not who the objects of that saving choice are, yet we believe that
it is God who must do the work. In Toplady's well-known words,
Thou must save, and Thou alone. It is a glorious work of God. The glory is His alone and the
blessing is ours. There is, however, a second aspect
of the saving decree which I will very briefly attempt
to mention. That is divine reprobation. The
question of those who are not elect What is their state? By the word reprobate we mean
such as are not elected to life in Christ. This is the problem
which many have with the doctrine of election. Clearly not all
are saved. The Word of God makes this abundantly
plain. So if there is a saving decree,
if election is what Scripture declares that it is, and predestination
is the will of God, It is manifest that God has not willed equally
to save all men. There are, therefore, those who
are saved and there are those who are not. For those who are
the sheep of Christ, the words of welcome are addressed, Come
ye, blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world. But there are those goats on the other side to whom
the word of sentence is pronounced depart from me ye cursed into
everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels there
is a difference between the sheep and the goats Christ said to
those who were his gainsayers and opponents but ye believe
not because ye are not of my sheep If they were of Christ's
sheep, then they would be brought to believe. But, he says, ye
are not my sheep. Only the sheep of Christ will
be saved. Only the elect of God will be
brought to saving faith in Jesus Christ. The rest are goats. The goats may resemble sheep,
and often do. They may deceive the very sheep
of Christ in the churches on earth, making people think that
they are sheep. But God knows, the foundation
of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them
that are his. In the day when the judge shall
sit upon the throne, he will rightly discriminate and set
the sheep on the one side and the goats on the other. There
will not be one of the sheep amongst the goats in that day,
but neither will there be one of the goats among the sheep.
Some hold the view that the reprobate are simply passed over. That
when others are saved, they are omitted or passed over. I think,
however, that is somewhat inadequate. Our 1689 Confession of Faith,
although it's largely based on the Westminster Confession, expressed
it in these terms, and somewhat gibbed at the stronger statement
of the Westminster Confession, which states, by the decree of
God, for the manifestation of his glory, some men and angels
are predestinated unto everlasting life, and others foreordained
to everlasting death. Now the 1689 Confession has substituted
instead others being left to act in their sin to their just
condemnation to the praise of His glorious justice. I don't think that we should
be afraid to use the words of the Westminster Confession because it cannot be evaded.
For if God has decreed all things which come to pass, and if he
has foreordained blessing to some, then he must have foreordained
likewise that there be no blessing to the others. Reprobation means
the rejection of some. The receiving of some is election,
and the blessings of election follow that choice. But reprobation
is the rejection of others. John Gill prefers the word rejection
to reprobation. He says, not only because some
find reprobation has a disagreeable ring to it, but because the reprobation
of the non-elect is because God has rejected them. You cannot
get away from that. They are reprobate because God
has rejected them. They are without the blessings
of salvation. They are passed by. They are
condemned because they are sinners. It is not that they are those
who are without sin. The elect who enter into heaven
will not say that they have never sinned, but rather that although
they were such sinners, God showed them mercy. He showed them that
His dear Son had died in their room instead. And never will
the reprobate enter hell and claim that they have never sinned.
But they were just elected to be there. It is the sin of a
man which brings about his condemnation, but it is the will of God which
determines who will be saved and who will be passed over and
brought to the just recompense of their sinning. Again, what is the evidence of
Scripture? It is in the general character
of God's decree. For surely the very principle
of the decree means that this must be included in it. It cannot
be said that God has chosen a people to whom he wills to be gracious
and pretend that he has simply forgotten the others. The Lord hath made all things
for himself, yea, even the wicked, for the day of evil. Proverbs
16 verse 4. Of the special saving decree,
John Gill says that even common sense tells us that of persons
or things, if some are chosen, others must be left. If there
is a remnant of the sons of men according to the election of
grace, then there are others not included in it, which are
left unchosen and called the rest. Even so then, at this present
time also, there is a remnant according to the election of
grace. the election have obtained it
and the rest were blinded or hardened. Pharaoh hardened his heart but
he hardened his heart because God willed in his decree that
he should harden his heart. 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. Therefore hath he mercy, on whom
he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. Another example is that of Esau
and Jacob. Even before they were born we
are told that the elder shall serve the younger. Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. so you see that in the scripture
there is this clear distinction made between God's purpose to
some and his purpose to others unto you therefore which believe
he is precious but unto them which are disobedient the stone
which the builders disallowed The same is made the head of
the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to
them which stumble at the word, being disobedient, whereunto
also they were appointed. Whereunto also they were appointed. At that time Jesus answered and
said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast
revealed them unto babes. The same Father who revealed
these things to the babes also willed that there should be the
hiding of them to the worldly wise and the self-reliant. There are so many scriptures
which speak of the means rather than the end, but where the end
is determined, It is the end which determines the failure
of the means. I refer to the many places where
there is the fulfilment of Isaiah's prophecy. Hear ye indeed, but
understand not, and see ye indeed, but perceive not. As in the words
of the Lord himself, by hearing ye shall hear, and shall not
understand. And seeing ye shall see, and
shall not perceive, for this people's heart is waxed gross,
and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed,
lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear
with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should
be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes,
for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say
unto you, that many prophets and righteous men have desired
to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them,
and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
That quotation from Isaiah is used six times in the New Testament.
It shows why, when it is the same gospel which is preached,
there are different results. There are those who receive it,
and there are those who are hardened under it. As Thomas Watson said,
the same sun which melts the wax is hardening the clay. In conclusion, let us look at
the nature of reprobation. There are two parts, the passing
over, the preterition of those whom God has rejected and their
condemnation because of their sin. It is never to be thought
that they are condemned simply because they are passed over.
That is a caricature of the doctrine which men in their hatred to
these truths like to put forward. That is to say that God is merely
in an arbitrary fashion taking one here and another there. As a Scottish poet Robert Burns
puts it, in holy will is prayer. sends one to heaven and ten to
hell, all for thy glory, Lord. But that is not God's way. God
is not under any obligation to save any. We cannot take issue
with Him and argue the matter and say that it is not fair.
Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? for who
hath resisted his will? Nay, but O man, who art thou
that replies against God. shall the thing formed, say to
him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the
pot a power over the clay of the same lump to make one vessel
unto honour and another unto dishonour? What if God, willing
to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with
much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction,
and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the
vessels of mercy which he hath afore prepared unto glory? It
is not an arbitrary thing. It is the will of God. He has
willed to pass over. He has rejected some, but they
are condemned because they are sinners in Adam. It is their
sin which takes them down into hell. The Westminster Confession
puts it in these words. The rest of mankind God was pleased
according to the unsearchable counsel of his own will whereby
he extendeth or withholdeth mercy as he pleaseth but the glory
of his sovereign power over his creatures to pass by and to ordain
them to dishonor and wrath for their sin to the praise of his
glorious justice. It is therefore a sovereign decision
and a condemnation which is because of their sin that God might still
be just even in the condemnation of the sinner. God will be glorified
in either of these two ways by the saving of the elect or by
the condemnation of the reprobate. God will have the glory. It is
a glorious doctrine. It's a solemn doctrine. It's
a deep doctrine. Some maintain it's too deep for
it to be preached, saying rather that it is a foundation doctrine.
A doctrine which you should not see, like the foundation of a
house. But if you've ever come to doubt whether your house will
stand, you ought to see if you've got foundations under you. I want to know whether my salvation
will stand. and whether I shall stand in
the great day of judgment. Therefore I must know if the
foundations are secure. I must know what the sure decree,
the saving decree, is. It is a blessed doctrine. Jonathan
Edwards, in his Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God,
said that when revival came to America in the 1740s, no sermons
that I preached were so blessed of God to the saving of sinners
than my sermons preached on God's counsel and God's election. We are not to withhold the truth
of God because we think people will not like it or that they
may be put off by it. It is solemn, it is deep, it
is that which should humble us. It may even initially cause resentment
to be felt, but surely it is better that people should be
stirred to think about these things, that they might search
the scriptures for themselves, and find that these things are
true, and believe them, rather than they should hear the smooth
words which are upon many men's tongues in so many pulpits, which
leave people totally unconcerned. It's surely better to be faithful
to the Word of God, and tell them that it is not their decision,
but rather it is God's decision about them which counts. That
it is the preaching of the Gospel, and that is what we stand for.
That is how the apostles preached. That is how the apostles taught.
They wrote their epistles to ordinary people, many of whom
had never been to school, that they didn't think these doctrines
were too high to include them in their letters to the churches.
Romans, chapters 9, 10 and 11 in particular are full of these
doctrines which set forth that which is humbling to the sinner
and we need to be humbled and that which is manifestly exalting
to our God and to our dear Saviour who shall see of the travail
of his soul and shall be satisfied. Well there it is, the Westminster
Confession states, the doctrine of this high mystery of predestination
is to be handled with special prudence and care. So shall this
doctrine afford matter of praise, reverence, and admiration of
God, and of humility, diligence, and abundant consolation to all
that sincerely obey the gospel. Oh the depth of the riches both
of the wisdom and the knowledge of God for of him and through
him and to him are all things to whom be glory forever. Amen. Let us before we come to prayer Sing together the hymn number
78. The tune, if I can find it, is Whitburn, 435. Fixed was the eternal state of
man ere time its rapid course began. Appointed by God's firm
decree to endless joy or misery. Hymn number 78.