Let's all stand and begin our
second service by singing 39. This is my father's world, 39. you This is my Father's world, and
to my listening ears all nature sings and round me rings the
music of the spheres. This is my Father's world, I
rest me in the thought Of rocks and trees, of skies and seasons,
and of wonders raw. This is my Father's world. The birds their carols raise. The morning light, the lily white,
declare their Maker's praise. This is my Father's world. He shines in all that's fair. In the rustling grass I hear
Him pass. He speaks to me everywhere. This is my Father's world. Oh, let me ne'er forget that
though the wrong seems all so strong, God is the ruler, yeah. This is my father's world. The battle is not done. Jesus who died shall be satisfied
and earth and heaven be one. Thank you. Gonna read Song of Solomon 6. Song of Solomon 6. Wither is thy beloved gone, O
thou fairest among women? Whither is thy beloved turned
aside, that we may seek him with thee? My beloved has gone down
into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens,
and to gather lilies. I am my beloved's, and my beloved
is mine. He feedeth among the lilies. Thou art beautiful, O my love. Sorry. As Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem,
terrible as an army with banners. Turn away thine eyes from me,
for they have overcome me. Thy hair is as a flock of goats
that appear from Gilead. Thy teeth are as a flock of sheep
which go up from the washing, whereof every one beareth twins,
and there is none barren among them. As a piece of pomegranate
are thy temples within thy locks. There are threescore queens and
fourscore concubines and virgins without number. My dove, my undefiled,
is but one. She is the only one of her mother.
She is the choice of her that bear her. The daughter saw her
and blessed her. Yea, the queens and the concubines,
and they praised her. Who is she that looketh forth
as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible,
as an army with banners. I went down into the garden of
nuts to see the fruits of the valley and to see whether the
vine flourished and the pomegranates budded. Wherever I was aware,
my soul made me like the chariots of a minute in. Return, return,
O Shulamite, return, return, that we may look upon thee. What
will you see in the Shulamite as it were the company of two
armies? Let's pray. Father, we come to you again
this morning thankful for the first message that you brought
us, Lord. And we ask that you open our hearts to hear the next
message and to pay very close attention with our minds and
hearts. And Father, teach us through
the pastor that you've sent us to bring the message. And Lord,
we're always thankful for him. Very appreciative that you brought
him to us. And Father, we pray that you
give him strength to bring the messages and give him strength
in the face of betrayers and traitors. And Father, we just
ask that you continue to watch over him as things come up and
things happen. Lord, just please let us be concerned
only about what goes on here, Father, and that the gospel always
be preached here. And we just ask that you Again,
continue to watch over the one that you sent to bring that message.
And Lord, we ask that you continue to watch over this congregation
and this church. We ask that you grow it as you
see fit or leave it just like it is. Father, that be whatever
your will is, Lord, we ask that you continue to impose your will
upon this congregation. And we just ask again that you
watch over and care for us all in Christ's name. Our second hymn will be 449.
To God be the glory. 449. To God be the glory, great things
He hath done, So loved He the world that He gave us His Son,
Who yielded His life in atonement for sin, and open the life gate
that all may go in. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
let the earth hear His voice. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
let the people rejoice. O come to the Father through
Jesus the Son, And give him the glory, great things he hath done. ? Perfect redemption, the purchase
of blood ? To every reliever, the promise of God ? The vilest
offender who truly believes ? That moment from Jesus a part it receives
? Praise the Lord, praise the Lord let the earth hear his voice. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
let the people rejoice. O come to the Father through
Jesus the Son, and give him the glory, great things he hath done. Great things He hath taught us,
great things He hath done, and great our rejoicing through Jesus
the Son. But purer and higher and greater
will be our wonder, our transport when Jesus we see. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
let the earth hear his voice. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
let the people rejoice. O come to the Father through
Jesus the Son, and give him the glory, great things he hath done. Thank you. Good morning, brethren. Let's
go to John 15. Our text is taken from here in
verse 16. Here our Lord says, Ye have not chosen
me, but I have chosen you and ordained you. that ye should
go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain,
that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he
may give it you." Now, this passage in which our Lord is speaking
here, He's talking to His disciples, and He's declaring to them that
they are a distinct group of people in this world. They are
people who have been chosen by the Lord Jesus Christ. He chose them. They didn't choose
him. He chose them. You know, in this
world, I guess with college, you would see this, where you
choose where you're gonna go to university or college of one
that has courses that you want, and you choose out your teacher. But when it comes to salvation,
we don't choose who our teacher is. We don't choose who our Lord
is. The Lord chooses His people. It's his choice. It's his election. And that's true of these apostles
here, these 11. And that is true of all God's
children. All God's children are chosen
by him. They are the elect of God. Our Lord was praying for his
disciples. He said in John 17 9, I pray for them. I pray for my
disciples. I pray not for the world. I pray not for the world, but
for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine. I pray for those whom my Father
chosen gave to me, and I've chosen them. They're my beloved. They're
my spouse. I love them. And Christ teaches
us election in the scriptures. Not only does he say it here,
you have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. He also was speaking
to many Jews. In Matthew 11, 25 and 26, we
see there that Christ thanked his father for hiding the things
of God from wise and prudent men, religious scholars, know-it-alls,
people who knew a thing or two about the Bible or thought they
did. And Christ said, I thank you, Father, for hiding these
truths, these spiritual truths from the wise and the prudent.
It says, 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 has revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in Thy sight. And someone might say, well,
I thought God loved everyone and wanted everyone to be saved. And they'll quote scriptures
like John 3.16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only
begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but
have everlasting life. and they don't take into account
that God is speaking to Nicodemus, a Jew, and the Jews were certain
that they and they alone were the people of God, and that all
the Gentiles were cast off. And Christ is saying, no, I have
my people scattered throughout the world, not just in and among
the Jews, an elect nation within the physical nation of Israel. I have a remnant there, an elect
remnant there, but I also have a remnant, an elect remnant in
the world. I am the one Savior, Christ said,
whom God has sent to save his people scattered throughout the
world. And then they'll quote a scripture
like 2 Peter 3.9, for God is not willing that any should perish,
but is longsuffering to us-ward, us-ward, us who hear and believe
this word by his grace and power. He's not willing that any of
us, his chosen elect people, should perish. but that every
one of us should come to repentance. And so this world continues.
The voice of the bridegroom is preached, declaring the gospel
throughout the kingdoms of the world until every last one of
God's elect chosen sheep is brought out of darkness and brought into
the fellowship and the light and the grace of God provided
abundantly and freely by his sovereign power in the Lord Jesus
Christ. So Christ preached election.
He rejoiced in election. The Apostle Peter preached election. He rejoiced in election. He said
in 1 Peter 1 verse 2, he wrote, he addressed his epistle specifically
to those chosen by God. He says in verse 2, elect according
to the foreknowledge of God the Father. And that word, that root
word there is foreordained. God knew them. He loved them. He elected them because he would
be kind and compassionate and gracious to them. Elect according
to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification
of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus Christ, grace unto you, and peace be multiplied. Grace
unto you who are the elect of God. And then he writes in 1
Peter 2 verse 9, saying, but ye are a chosen generation, a
royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should
show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness
into his marvelous light. They're a peculiar people. You
that are chosen of God are a peculiar people. You are chosen out of
the world, chosen by God before the foundation of the world and
given to Christ. And so to be chosen of God, it
means that God chose someone and he passed by others. He chose some and passed by others. He chose to bless some with the
spiritual blessings of our God in Christ, which leads you to
repentance, which leads you out of death and darkness into the
arms of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not because we did anything
to earn it. That would be saving ourselves.
We don't choose God. We don't choose Christ. Christ
chooses us. And He chose us to be gracious
to us. And He took it upon Himself to
ensure our salvation. Christ has a people whom He loves,
and they were chosen by God and given to Him. And He ensures
our salvation. So Christ declares it, Peter
declares it, Paul also declares election. He rejoices in the
election of God for the people of God. He said in Ephesians
1, verses 3 and 4, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us. us we're blessed with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ according as
he hath chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world that
we should be holy and without blame before him in love. So Paul preached election. David
also rejoiced in election. He wrote of our choosing and
said in Psalm 65, 4, blessed is the man whom thou choosest
and causest to approach unto thee that he may dwell in thy
courts. We, we that are chosen of God
shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy
temple. And so our salvation comes as
a direct result of our being chosen of God unto this salvation. And all the blessings of God.
James describes him as the father of lights. from whom all the
blessings, all goodness comes down from above from our God
unto needy sinners chosen by God to whom He will be gracious
and merciful and compassionate to. He does this for us. And it comes down to needy sinners
through the Mediator, that Mediator who also was chosen by the Father
unto this work of salvation, even Christ Jesus our Lord. It's according as He hath chosen
us in Him, in Christ, before the foundation of the world.
And therefore, we conclude, we know, that not one for whom Christ
died shall perish, shall die outside of Christ, and not one
shall go to hell for whom Christ died, because he accomplished
our deliverance from thy death. They shall be brought into the
salvation which God has ordained for them. We read, thy people
shall be willing in the day of thy power. We're going to hear
it. When God moves upon us, when
he moves as he moved upon the face of the waters, we shall
hear, we shall experience and know that power of God who delivers
us up out of that death, out of that grave of this flesh and
bring us into the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, we're
told in Acts 13, 48, that the Gentiles hearing Paul preaching
to the Jews and hearing them rejected and say, I don't want
to hear this. We don't believe this. They said,
hey, Paul, can we hear this message? Will you preach this message
to us? And it says when the Gentiles heard this, he came and preached
to them. They were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as
many as were ordained unto eternal life believed. They were chosen. They were ordained to that life
by God. And so when they heard it, in
the hour appointed, the Spirit of God coming upon them, giving
them the hearing of faith, they rejoiced in that word. They received
that word. They believed in the Lord Jesus
Christ, the faith of Jesus Christ. They believed him. And so in
John 15, 16, our Lord is telling us this very blessed truth. You've
not chosen me, but I've chosen you. and ordained you, that ye
should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain.
You're not going to fail to obtain that which you seek. Because
it's all of me, he says, that whatsoever ye shall ask of the
Father in my name, he may give it you. And so every child of
God rejoices in this glorious fountain of grace, free, sovereign,
almighty, sufficient grace given to us from God the Father for
his chosen people. because he loves you and will
be gracious to you. Our election and our salvation
is not the cause of something we have done, something we do,
or something that we will yet do. It's because of everything
that our God does for us, has done for us, and will yet do
for us, because it's all according to his purpose. So I want to
give you six things about election in this message. Declaring to
you that election is personal. It is personal. That election
is according to God's purpose. That election is in Christ. That election is unto salvation. That's the purpose for it, to
bring us unto salvation. That our election is unconditional,
not based on a condition in us. It's on the condition of Christ,
but not on the condition of us. And that this election is always
effectual, always leads thee to repentance and salvation in
Christ. So we'll title this message,
Election Is. Election Is. So first, election
is always personal. It's always personal. God chose
some to be gracious to. He came to those who are sinners,
fallen and ruined, and He is purposed in Himself before we
ever were born to be gracious to them. And the rest He passed
by. And we know, because the Scripture
hath concluded all in sin, all under sin, because we see that
in the Scriptures, that those whom our Lord passes by and does
not show grace to, they will die in their sins. They will
die in their sins because they will not believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. They will not come to him that
they might have life. As he said to the Jews in John
5, 40, he says, I know you, but you will not come unto me that
you might have life. I'm declaring the truth to you,
he says, but they were offended in him and they would not come
to him for life. And so we preach the truth. We
declare the truth of God. We urge men, hear this word,
call out upon the true and living God that he may be gracious to
you. And our hope is, our confidence
is that God will bless them, that he will pour out his spirit
upon them, giving them the hearing of faith to hear that word and
deliver them from that pit of darkness which we all were in
before grace came to us in the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's personal. It's personal. And religious
folks, they hear this, and they don't have a problem with hearing
God speak of election in a general sense. Religion doesn't mind
hearing of God's election in a general sense. It speaks of
elect angels. Paul wrote to Timothy, writing
before the elect angels. They hear of God saying to Israel
that you're mine elect. They have no problem with that
kind of election. They hear when Peter wrote to the church that
is at Babylon, being elected together, being elected together
with the saints. A religious man doesn't mind
general statements about election, but God makes it personal. He
comes to his people. in power and in glory, and He
causes them to approach unto God, being chosen of God, to
hear this word and to believe Him, when so many others, hearing
the same word, being raised the same way, and yet they don't
hear it, and they don't believe. Our God makes it personal. You know, sometimes you hear,
it's not personal, it's business. Well, it's personal with God.
And he makes it personal in bringing the word of salvation to those
whom he chose and loves. Jacob have I loved, but Esau
have I hated. That's what the Lord said. And a lot of people say, well,
that's about nations. Well, nations are filled up of
individual people. And Peter said, you are a holy
nation, a people gathered out of every tongue, tribe, and people,
and nation into this nation of our God, a holy nation chosen
before by our God. Jacob have I loved, but Esau
have I hated. And he tells us plainly in Romans
9, 11, the children being not yet born
neither having done any good or evil that the purpose of God
according to election might stand not of works but of him that
calleth." And so God calls his people out of darkness and gives
them light in the face of Christ. We read again in Romans 9 17
and you could turn there you might as well turn to Romans
9 because we'll see a few verses in this area. Romans 9 17 we read that 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." Pharaoh was hardened
against the Lord and the Lord gave him, he raised him up in
that power to that position that he might show his power and glory
in Pharaoh, that he might show the love and the power and what
he's willing and able to do for his people for the salvation
and deliverance of his people against the backdrop of a mighty
man in the earth who hated and despised God. And he showed love
for his people and hardened Pharaoh's already hard heart. He hardened
it more and displayed his glory against the backdrop of wicked
Pharaoh. And so lecturing is true in a
general sense, but it's always personal, and it's made personal
when God brings it to a sinner, dead in trespasses and sins,
in darkness and in blindness, and delivers them out of that
darkness, causing them to hear what God is declaring. in His
Son Jesus Christ. Romans 9, 15 and 16 For ye saith
to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I
will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then
it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but
of God that showeth mercy. God brings it right down to personal
individuals and calls them out of darkness and gives them life
in his Son. And we're told even of Noah.
We're told Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. And God
was gracious to Noah's three sons and their three wives and
Noah's wife. And those eight souls were put
into the ark, a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, and all the
rest perished under the wrath of God. It's personal. The election
is personal. It's for those whom God chooses. Second, our choosing is according
to God's purpose. Election is according to God's
purpose. So God makes it clear in his
word that the purpose of God and all that we see, the things
that we see and understand, it's all purpose to accomplish the
salvation of his people. You're there in Romans? Go to
Romans 8. Go to Romans 8, verse 28 through 30. Here we see that the purpose
of God is to bring about our salvation for his glory. And
we know that all things work together for good to them that
love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, those
are individuals, God knows them, he also did predestinate, he
determined their walk, he determined the things that should come upon
them and their walk to the Savior by His glory and power. He also
did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that
He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
He did predestinate, them He also called, and whom He called,
them He also justified, and whom He justified, them He also glorified. And so his purpose for his people,
the reason why we're here is for the salvation of his son
to be wrought in the heart of his people, to bring us out of
death and to bring us into light and glory, to call upon the name
of our God, to worship and praise him and glorify him for this
gracious salvation that we do not deserve, but that he gave
graciously, compassionately to us. And so all this is for our
salvation. Now, if you're not convinced
by Romans 8, turn over to Ephesians 1. And I would encourage you
to read Ephesians 1 at home and all of Romans 9 to see this more. But Ephesians 1, verse 4 through
5 says, it's according as God hath chosen us in Christ before
the foundation of the world, before any works that we did.
that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
Himself. So what did he base his choosing
and predestination on? He tells us it's according to
the good pleasure of his will. So we're chosen by God unto salvation
according to his good pleasure, not by our works. And he tells
us that his purpose is to save the elect. Look down at verse
11 and 12. In whom also we have obtained
an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.
He's not taking in outside information. It's all according to his own
counsel. That we should be to the praise
of his glory who first trusted in Christ. Now that last verse
is beautiful. Let's read that again, that we
should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ. And so the father chose a people
by sovereign election. And He entrusted our salvation,
He gave us into the hands, He committed this work of salvation
in Christ. Into the hands of His Son who
came as the Savior, the Christ to save God's people from their
sins. And so it's the Father who first
trusted in Christ. The Father first laid all the
hope of your salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so the third point we see
is that election is in Christ. When you're looking at the spiritual
blessings that God pours out upon his people, We see that
all the spiritual blessings of God are poured out to us in Christ. Our choosing is in Christ. Our predestination is in Christ. Our adoption is in Christ. Our acceptance with God is in
Christ. Our redemption, our purchase,
is in the Lord Jesus Christ. We receive the forgiveness of
sins in Christ. God reveals Himself to us so
that we learn of Him. Our understanding has grown.
Our knowledge of the true and living God is in Christ. We know His will and purpose
in Christ. Our inheritance is in Christ. And our glorification, our receiving
of that eternal life eternity in heaven with God is in Christ
and so we find that it's all in Christ look at verse 3 Ephesians
1 verse 3 blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ And what our God is
teaching us is that all the benefits of God, all the spiritual blessings
of God are found in the Lord Jesus Christ and in Him alone. There are no blessings of God.
There is no joy, no fellowship, no forgiveness, no salvation,
no adoption, no receiving, no acceptance with God, no inheritance,
but in the Lord Jesus Christ, not outside of him. Apart from Christ, there are
no blessings, no grace. So we read in Romans 5 now, Romans
5, verse 8 and 11, We see this election. But God
commendeth his love toward us. You can't say that for people
outside of Christ. We don't know if God loves them
until he manifests this grace in them. And he does. He does.
We labor with people. We labor with our loved ones
because In the day of his grace they shall hear. But God commendeth
his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. Much more than being now justified
by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath. through Him. In Christ we are saved from wrath.
Outside of Christ, you're under the wrath of God. You're yet
under that wrath of God. And so, the purpose of Christ
in coming to the earth in the flesh is that He came, He lived,
and He died for that people whom God chose and gave to Him. And He went to the cross willingly
for them. to lay down his life for them,
to give his life for them. and to do for them what they
couldn't do. While we were yet enemies, while
we were yet in darkness, and he delivered us. He put us to
death to those things in the body of sin and delivers us from
that and establishes our life in the Lord Jesus Christ and
that redeeming grace. And so we read in Matthew 121,
thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save his people
from their sins. He is the successful Savior,
and He does not fail. All for whom He gave His life
and spilled His blood, they shall come out of darkness, they shall
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and they shall have light and
life and fellowship with God in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now
the fourth thing is that salvation is, or rather election is, unto
salvation. In other words, the purpose why
God elects anybody is unto salvation. It is true with the apostles
and with pastors, he elects some to certain roles, to certain
parts in the body, to have a part in the body. But we're talking
about the election of salvation. It's always unto salvation. It's not just for playing games.
We are elected unto salvation. And so, what we understand, though,
is that election itself, that's not salvation. We're not saved
by election alone, but election is unto salvation. All who are
elected shall be brought unto salvation. They were saved by
Christ and they shall be brought to a knowledge of the salvation
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn over to 2 Thessalonians
2 now. 2 Thessalonians 2, and keep a marker
there, because we're going to look at it here and then come
back on the last point. 2 Thessalonians 2, 13 and 14. Paul says we're bound. I'll give
you a few more seconds. 2 Thessalonians 2, 13. But we are bound to give thanks
all the way to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the truth, whereunto he called you
by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ. And so the purpose of God's electing
grace is to take you out of that death and deliver you into the
arms of the Lord Jesus Christ. To take you from that death in
Adam and deliver you safe into the arms of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because God hath from the beginning
chosen you unto salvation. God didn't elect us to give us
a chance at salvation, to have a chance to go to God and to
gain salvation, to take it and to make it ours. And he doesn't
give us a chance for salvation. This salvation is sure and certain
and fixed by God in Christ. And so it's not based on something
we do. like many in so-called churches
teaches that we get ourselves saved by faith, that God made
it possible for salvation and all who come to Christ and will
believe that then God will open the gates of salvation to them
because they did something like believing on the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's not how scripture teaches it. Scripture teaches that salvation
is a gift of God. Now we'll see that in a bit there. We believe because we have been
redeemed by Christ. We believe because He has sent
the Spirit to our hearts and manifested faith in us, which
looks not to what we've done, but looks to Christ, whom God
has sent, believing that He indeed is. The salvation of God. And that He is my life. He is
my hope. He is my salvation. He is my
forgiveness. Lord, receive me. Save me, Lord. He works that in our hearts. To trust Him. To believe Him.
Now, we'll come back to 2 Thessalonians 2 in a moment. But let me give
you the fifth thing, because it's related to this. That salvation
is unconditional. That is, it's not conditioned
on something you or I do. God isn't waiting for man to
do something to save himself, to make use of the components
or parts of salvation that he put together, and that now we've
got to assemble it up and make it work for us. No. That would
leave it to chance. That would leave man to be the
author of his own salvation, making use of some things that
God provided for him. God does all the works from A
to Z, from start to finish, from beginning to end. It's all in
Christ. It's all of our God. It's not based on something we
do. Paul when writing to Timothy in 2nd Timothy 1 9 said that
God hath saved us and called us within holy calling. It's
just. It's perfect. It's right. Mercy
and truth have kissed, have met together. It's not according
to our works, he says, but according to his own purpose and grace.
He wasn't, he didn't open this up to outside counsel. It's his
own purpose and grace, which was given us. God caused us to
approach unto him. It was given to us in Christ
Jesus before the world began. So our salvation is ordained
of God before any works are done by man. It's but it's ordained
of God before the fall of man. God purposed and ordained this
salvation for his people and in the Lord Jesus Christ. So
our faith is not a work of the flesh. It's not. If we say that,
well, it's your faith that saved you. You've got to do this. And
we don't think that comes from the gift of God, by power and
glory and his might, that it's somehow something of our flesh
to get ourselves saved. Faith, that would make faith
a work of the flesh. But he tells us that faith is
the gift of God. For by grace are you saved, through
faith, and that, that faith is not of yourselves, it is the
gift of God. Ephesians 2.8. And we're also
told in Galatians 5.22 that faith is a fruit, not of the flesh,
but of the spirit. Fruits of the flesh are wickedness,
they're malice, they're hatred, they're violence. They're wicked. They're thievings, they're stealings,
there's murders, there's adulteries. Those are all the works of the
flesh, but faith, faith is a fruit of the spirit, right? He says,
but the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith. Faith, it's a fruit of the spirit,
not of this flesh. Therefore, faith follows our
being born again. Faith isn't why we're born again.
It doesn't come from us. It doesn't come from man. It
comes from the gift of God, the fruit of the spirit. Faith follows
our being given life, being regenerated, born again by the spirit of God. So only after the new birth do
we see the kingdom of God and hear the voice of the son of
God and hear his glorious gospel, that good news, but the hearing
of faith. hearing what the Spirit testifies
to the churches, and says to them, hearing the voice of the
groom, and hearing the voice of the Spirit, and hearing the
voice of the Church, the Bride of Christ, say, Come. Come to
the fountain. Come to the waters. Come to Christ. for salvation. He is hope. That's
when we hear it because he's done a work of grace and power
and glory in us. So it follows the new birth.
So election isn't conditioned on something we do. It's according
to God's goodwill and purpose. Now this brings us to the sixth
and final thing that election is. It's always effectual. Always effectual. all who were
chosen of God shall be called and shall be saved in the time,
in the hour appointed by God for their salvation and it's
by his irresistible grace given to us in Christ who established
this covenant of grace that God may be gracious and is just in
being gracious to us. Let's return to 2 Thessalonians
2.13 He says first, but we are bound
to give thanks always to God for you. There's the thanksgiving. We don't thank man. God doesn't
thank you. Oh, thank you for believing on
me. Thank you for making my son your savior and your Lord. No,
that's silly. That's nonsense. We give God
the thanks and the praise for the salvation of his people.
And we're told because God has from the beginning chosen you,
that personal you to salvation. We're dealing with the power
and glory of God, not the fickle will of man. Man hears this. The Jew hears Christ and stumbles
over him. The Greek hears and says, that's
foolishness. But to us, which are being saved,
it is the power of God. The preaching of the cross, the
preaching of what Christ has done for us, is the power of
God unto salvation. We see also here in this verse
the working, the gift of the Spirit, saying that it's through
sanctification of the Spirit. The Spirit separates you from
all those other perishing sinners and causes you to hear that word.
Now many hear it, many are called, but few are chosen. Few are given that hearing of
faith when they hear that word preached. And it's because the
Spirit regenerates you who were chosen by God before the foundation
of the world, given that, raised to life in that new man, born
of the seed of Christ. And he says, you're chosen of
God for belief of the truth. He's separated you out and brought
you to this, to hear this word, to believe that word spoken to
you in the preaching of the gospel. And so you must hear the gospel.
And when you hear it in the hour appointed, maybe not the first
time, but when God determines it, you'll hear that word, and
you shall believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And you think of
how many never hear. How many have never heard the
gospel? Somewhere in the world, there's
many perishing sinners who never hear. But he chose you and separated
you to hear that word and made it personal to you and brought
that salvation to your heart. And so we're predestinated by
now unto it. Now in second Corinthians two
14, he says, where unto he called you by our gospel, making you
to hear it in faith. And he makes it effectual to
you to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. We don't know who the elect are. We don't even know that we are
the elect. but we hope in God and trust
him and believe his word who manifests in us that faith and
hope which looks to the Lord Jesus Christ alone. We don't
know who his people are. We don't go up to the people
and preach to those we think are the elect because we're always
wrong. Not just often, we're always
wrong. We always think we know, but God shows us that his people
come from all places, the base, the unwise, the foolish things
of the world. And he does it in a way that
glorifies his name, that glorifies his son and shows forth his power
and glory. And he brings us to call out
and cry out to him. to show mercy to us, to reveal
this faith and hope in us and in those whom we love and to
whom we preach this word to. We trust Him and we cry out to
Him because He does it all in the walk of faith so that we
lean not on our own understanding, not on our own wisdom, but that
we lean upon Him for this work of salvation. but he manifests
it in his children. You that believe Christ, that
have no hope but Christ, that's a manifestation that you are
the sons and daughters of God because he does that work in
his people. And so we're not going to boast in ourselves and
what we've done to save ourselves by our works or our faith. We
confess it's all of grace. As Paul wrote at the end of 1
Corinthians 1, verse 30 and 31, when he said, but of God are
ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, redemption, that according as it's written, he
that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. And so he does that,
he makes us to glory in him. Now in that light, that we have
been chosen of God and that it's all of His glory and power. Now
hear this word of His promise spoken to you in John 15, verse
16. I'll close with this. Ye have
not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you that ye
should go and bring forth fruit, the fruit of faith, the fruit
of love, the fruit of gentleness and peace and kindness, and that
your fruit should remain. God is not unjust to forget your
works in Christ, what he's wrought in you, your hope in him, that
whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give
it you. And so we see the power and the
glory of our God in salvation by His Son Jesus Christ for you
whom He loves and has revealed this hope of salvation, this
faith in Christ in you. So praise God, thank Him, give
Him all the praise and glory and trust Him to work this which
He started in you and to bring it all the way to the end because
it's all in His hand from beginning to end. Amen. All right, let's go to the Lord
in prayer. Our gracious Lord, we thank you, Father, for your
power. Lord, we stand in awe of your word. Lord, help us to
behold the beauty, the love, the grace of our God in the face
of Jesus Christ. or let us not look on the things
that we must do, or the things that we think we must do. Let us not look on our sins of
the past, or worry about our sins in the future. Let us look
to Christ, to rest in him alone, to trust you, Lord, for all things,
to see your hand providing all things. Lord, this is what we
ask, not that we may do for ourselves, but that we may see and behold,
time after time, the work, the grace, the power, the glory of
our God in the face of Jesus Christ, revealing to us, giving
to us all blessings, all the benefits of salvation in Christ. Lord, help us, use us to preach
this word, to sound it forth from this pulpit, to declare
the glories of Christ, To speak these things to all the sinners
whom you bring across our path, help us to be faithful in declaring
Christ to them. And Lord, cause your people to
hear this word by the hearing of faith, by the sanctification
of your spirit, doing for sinners what you do in the Lord Jesus
Christ, to give them light, life, liberty in the Lord, our Savior. Lord, thank you for these people. Thank you for my brethren. Thank
you, Lord, for for this work here. Help us, Lord, establish
this work. And as our brother prays off
them, Lord, if you be pleased to grow it, please grow it. Help
us to be faithful in that. And Lord, if you are pleased
to keep it this size till the end, Lord, then help us to be
faithful in it as well. It's in Christ's name. We praying
if thanks. Amen. Our closing hymn will be Blessed
Assurance, 255. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory
divine. Heir of salvation, purchase of
God. Born of His Spirit, washed in
His blood. This is my story, this is my
song. ? Praising the Savior all the
day long ? ? This is my story, this is my song ? ? Praising
my Savior all the day long ? ? Perfect submission, perfect delight ?
? Visions of rapture now burst on my sight ? ? Angels descending
bring from above ? ? Echoes of mercy, whispers of love ? ? This
is my story, this is my song ? ? Praising my Savior all the
day long ? ? This is my story, this is my song ? Praising my
Saviour all the day long. Perfect submission, all is at
rest. I in my Saviour am happy and
blessed. Watching and waiting, looking
above. Filled with His goodness, lost
in His love. This is my story, this is my
song, praising my Saviour all the day long. This is my story,
this is my song, praising my Saviour all the day long. Thank you.