If you'll take your Bibles and
turn with me to Romans, chapter 9. Romans, chapter 9. We're not getting any interference,
are we, Scott? Good. Okay. Romans, chapter 9. My text will be found in verse
11. Romans, chapter 9. I've entitled this message, The
Purpose of God. The purpose of God. The scripture says for the children. Speaking of Jacob and Esau, the
children not yet being 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. The purpose of
God according to election. The brother read just a second
ago Isaiah chapter 40, comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith
the Lord. Now there is no more a comforting
doctrine to God's people than the election of grace, nothing
more comforting, nothing more assuring to know that my salvation
is completely the purpose of God, purposed of God, and there
is nothing more troubling to this world than the doctrine
of God's election, the purpose according to election. And the apostle has showed to
us the purpose of national Israel in this chapter. He tells us
a national Israel was a chosen nation. They were a chosen people. He says that, verse 4, who are
Israelites, to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory,
and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of
God, and the promises, who are the fathers, and of whom concerning
the flesh Christ came, who is over all God blessed forever."
The nation of Israel was a blessed nation above every other nation. They were chosen of God. They
received great benefits. But we know this, that not all
national Israel were saved. Not all that nation that was
chosen were saved. In fact, we know the rulers of
Israel, they, when Jesus Christ came into the world, they crucified
Him. They rejected Him. They crucified
the Lord of glory. NOW DOES THEIR REJECTION, DOES
THE NATION OF ISRAEL, THEIR REJECTION OF THE MESSIAH UNDERMINE THE
WORD OF GOD? NOW LISTEN TO THE WORD OF GOD
IN PSALM 130, THIS IS JUST ONE OF MANY, BUT PSALM 130 AND VERSE
7 SAYS THIS, LET ISRAEL NOT ANY OTHER PEOPLE LET ISRAEL
HOPE IN THE LORD. WHY? FOR WITH THE LORD THERE
IS MERCY, WITH HIM IS PLENTEOUS REDEMPTION, AND HE SHALL REDEEM
ISRAEL FROM ALL HIS INIQUITIES. THEREFORE IS THE WORD OF GOD
MADE VOID BECAUSE THE NATION OF ISRAEL REJECTED HIM. WELL,
YOU KNOW, PAUL'S ANSWER IS RIGHT IN VERSE 6. HE SAID, NOT AS THOUGH
THE WORD OF GOD HAD TAKEN NONE EFFECT. WHY? FOR THEY ARE NOT
ALL ISRAEL THAT ARE OF ISRAEL. NOT ALL TRUE ISRAEL IS OF THE
SEED OF JACOB. AND SO THE WORD OF GOD IS NOT
MADE VOID BECAUSE ISRAEL REJECTED CHRIST. WELL HOW CAN WE RECONCILE
THE WORD OF GOD WITH THAT PROMISE? THAT ALL ISRAEL INIQUITIES SHOULD
BE REDEEMED? BECAUSE NOT ALL ISRAEL IS OF
THE SEED OF ABRAHAM. WHO IS OF THE SEED OF ABRAHAM
THEN? THAT'S WHAT I NEED TO KNOW. THAT'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW.
IF ISRAEL IS GOING TO BE REDEEMED AND ONLY ISRAEL IS THE HOPE IN
THE LORD, Then am I of this seed? Am I of this nation of Israel
where we know we're not of the natural descendant? But that
doesn't really matter, does it? The scripture says in Galatians
3, it says, They that are of faith, the same are the children
of Abraham. They that are of faith. So in this text, Paul says the
same things. And he's using Abraham and Isaac
then in these next verses to prove this. He says, Neither because are
they the seed, verse 7, of Abraham are they children. But in Isaac
shall thy seed be called, that is, they which are of the children
of flesh. These are not the children of
God, but the children of promise are counted for the seed. For this is the word of promise,
At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son. And so he's using Isaac as a
picture of this, of spiritual Israel. But you remember, Abraham
had two sons, didn't he? Abraham had two sons. He had
Ishmael and Isaac. Ishmael was cast out, and Isaac
was chosen. Isaac was saved. Ishmael was
lost. Both were sons of Abraham. You see, so it's not carnal descendants
that are saved. It is spiritual descendants. Those who are chosen of God,
well, one might then argue, well, it's because of their mothers. That made the distinction, right?
They had two different mothers. So obviously, Ishmael was rejected
because he was a bastard son. And Isaac was accepted because
he was a son of Sarah. Well, that's not true because
the promise was made before both of them were born. He was a son
of promise, a son of a covenant, and Ishmael was a son of the
flesh. So in order to not be distracted
by that, Paul then uses another illustration of this. In verse
9 he says, in verse 10, he said, and not only this, but when Rebekah
had conceived, even by one, even by our father Isaac, So then
these two sons, Isaac, that Isaac, that were the seed
of Isaac, the son of promise, were Ishmael and Jacob. I mean, Jacob and Esau. These
two sons of Isaac were born of the same father and the same
mother. They were born in the same womb at the same time. And yet the Scripture says Esau
was rejected and Jacob was loved. Jacob was saved, Jacob believed
Christ, and Esau rejected the birthright for a cup of soup. What made the difference? What
made the difference in these two sons? Why was Jacob loved and Esau
rejected? Here it is, the purpose of God. The purpose of God according
to election made the difference. That made the difference. The
purpose and will of God regarding spiritual Israel. It was said
before the sons were even born, before they had done any good
or evil, that the purpose of God's own free grace, according
to His own sovereign purpose, God chose and loved Jacob and
hated and rejected Esau, listen, before they were born. Before
they were born. Now see, Jacob was of the true
Israel of God. HE SHOULD RECEIVE ALL THE PROMISES
AFFORDED TO ISRAEL BY JESUS CHRIST SIMPLY BECAUSE GOD LOVED HIM. GOD PURPOSED TO SAVE JACOB. AND SO NOW THEN LET US SEE GOD'S
GRACE AND CONSIDER THIS PURPOSE. I WANT US TO CONSIDER THIS PURPOSE
OF GOD ACCORDING TO ELECTION. THEN CONSIDER THE PURPOSE OF
GOD CONCERNING HOW ISRAEL IS SAVED. and then see the purpose
of God in calling Israel, in calling His elect. Those are
the three things I wanted to see this morning. Now here, Jacob
and Esau, they represent all men. Jacob is going to represent
the spiritual seed of Israel, and Esau is going to represent
all of those that are not the elect of God. This is a microchasm
of all men. This morning, you're either one
or the other. You're either one or the other.
There's no middle ground here. You're either Jacob or you're Esau.
You're either Jacob or you're Esau. These two people represent
all of mankind. So, I want you to, first of all,
if God purposed election, I want you to see the necessity of election. THE NECESSITY OF ELECTION. ELECTION WAS NECESSARY BECAUSE
OF THIS. ALL OF US WERE BORN OF ADAM. ALL OF US HAD THE SAME FATHER. AS JACOB AND ESAU HAD THE SAME
FATHER OF ISAAC, ISAAC HAD THE FATHER OF ABRAHAM. ABRAHAM WAS
A SON OF ADAM. WE ALL WERE CHILDREN OF ADAM. all sons of Adam. And Adam was
created perfect. He was created upright. He was
without sin. He communed with God, was intelligent
and good. He was made by God to be a representative
man. Adam represented all his race,
all his posterity. And so long as Adam obeyed the
will of God, the command of God, do you realize he only had one
commandment? One. Thou shalt not eat of the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day thou eatest
thereof thou shalt surely die. One commandment, and as long
as he obeyed that commandment, he and his posterity were safe. But as soon as he did eat, he
died. HE DIED SPIRITUALLY. HE LIVED
TO BE NINE HUNDRED AND SOMETHING YEARS OLD. HE DIDN'T DIE PHYSICALLY.
HE BEGAN TO DIE PHYSICALLY. BUT GOD SAID, IN THE DAY THOU
EATEST THEREOF, THOU SHALT SURELY DIE. AND HE DID DIE THE VERY
SECOND HE SINNED. HE DIED SPIRITUALLY. AND IN HIM,
AS A REPRESENTATIVE, ALL OF US WERE BORN DEAD IN SIN. EVERY MAN. NO MAN ESCAPES THIS
SEED. NO MAN ESCAPES THIS SIN. We're
born into it, Romans 5 and verse 12, Wherefore, as by one man,
sin entered into the world. I don't like that. Doesn't matter.
Doesn't matter what we like. This is the fact. By one man,
sin entered into the world. And death by sin. And so death passed upon all
men. What's the evidence? ALL HAVE
SINNED. YOU AND I SINNED IN ADAM. WE SINNED IN HIM. AND WE WERE
BORN DEAD IN TRESPASSES AND SIN. THEREFORE WE ARE ALL BORN DEAD.
WE ARE ALL BORN LIARS AND THIEVES. NO ONE TAUGHT US TO LIE. ISN'T
THAT RIGHT? YOU'VE HAD CHILDREN. DID YOU TEACH THEM TO LIE? THEY
FIGURED THAT ONE OUT BY THEMSELVES. I know that because I figured
it out by myself. We are estranged, God said, estranged
from the womb speaking lies. David said, In sin did my mother
conceive me. I was conceived in sin. And so
all we are by nature is sin. All we can do is sin. YOU REALIZE WHEN AARON WENT IN
AND DID THE HOLY COMMANDMENTS OF GOD, HE WENT IN AND OFFERED
THOSE SACRIFICES, THAT HE HAD TO MAKE A SACRIFICE FOR THE HOLY
THINGS. WHY? BECAUSE EVERYTHING WE TOUCH
IS CONTAMINATED WITH SIN, DRIPPING WITH SIN. WE'RE ALL BORN SINFUL,
WE'RE ALL BORN We all try to rob God of His glory. That's
our nature. Why men hate election is this, they want to rob God
of His glory. They want to take something that belongs to God,
glory belongs to God, and man says, well, I want some of it.
I want to have some glory in this salvation. I want to do
something. I want to have some merit. I want to have some goodness
in myself. They'd rather bow down to idols
of gold and silver and wood, and the works of men's hands.
They would rather submit to a god of their own imagination than
to bow to the only true and living God. And what the result, then, of
this fall is, is that the people of Israel, is that all of us
by nature are at enmity against God. This is the result. This
is the result. Look back in chapter 8 of Romans
and look at verse 7. For because the carnal mind is
what? Enmity. It doesn't say is at
enmity. It is enmity. The carnal mind
is enmity against God. What's the proof? For it is not
subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then, here's
the conclusion, they that are in the flesh cannot please God. You see our condition? Our condition is a ruined condition. And like these sons of Isaac,
we were conceived in sin, born dead in trespasses, and there
is no difference in these two sons, and there is no difference
in us. We are all together become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good,
listen, no, not one. Now listen, the reason men hate
election is because they get the fall wrong. One man said,
you're wrong on the fall, you're wrong on it all. You miss this,
you don't see the necessity of election. You haven't seen man's
ruin. Man by nature is ruined. You
know this, if a man by nature were given the best preachers,
able to preach the clearest message of the gospel of Jesus Christ,
and he were to live a thousand years, if salvation was dependent
upon that man making a choice, making a decision for Christ,
he would never be saved. How do you know that? Because
Jesus Christ, the greatest preacher, came into the world, didn't he?
THE GREATEST PREACHER PREACHING THE PLAINEST MESSAGE. I AM THE
BREAD OF LIFE. HE THAT EATETH MY FLESH AND DRINKETH
MY BLOOD SHALL NEVER HUNGER OR THIRST. THEY SHALL BE SAVED.
IF YOU BELIEVE ON ME, YOU SHALL BE SAVED. IT'S A CLEAR MESSAGE,
ISN'T IT? BELIEVE ON ME AND YOU SHALL BE
SAVED. AND THEY BEGIN TO MURMUR AMONG THEMSELVES. YOU REMEMBER
WHAT JESUS SAID? WHY MURMUR YOU AMONG YOURSELVES? No man can come unto me. Is that plain language? I mean,
can you get any clearer than that? No man can. No man has the ability to come
unto me. This is our condition by nature. No man can come unto me, is what
our Lord said. Yet I know this, some will. I'm one of them. I have come
to Christ. You who have come to Christ,
you believed on Christ. How is it that you came to Christ
when Jesus said, No man can come unto me? Listen, there's an exception. He says, Except the Father which
hath sent me draw You see, there's the difference, isn't it? What
made the difference between you and anyone else? Why did you
come? Because the Father drew you. You see, it was the Father's
purpose to draw you, and that's why you came. You came because
God purposed it. I know that Jesus Christ has
redeemed Israel, and I know all Israel shall come to Him. Jesus
said that in that same chapter in John chapter six. He says,
ALL THAT THE FATHER GIVETH ME SHALL COME TO ME. AND HIM THAT
COMETH TO ME, WHAT? I WILL LET NO WISE CAST OUT.
WHY? BECAUSE THAT'S THE WILL OF THE
FATHER. THE WILL OF THE FATHER. THE FATHER MUST DRAW. IN ROMAN
EPHESIANS CHAPTER 2, AND YOU THAT WERE DEAD IN TRESPASSES
AND SIN HATH HE QUICKENED. YOU WERE QUICKENED, RESURRECTED
BY THE POWER OF GOD UNTO SALVATION. Now let me ask you this. Was
the fall of Adam on accident or on purpose? Was the fall of Adam on accident
or was it on purpose? Was it by design or chance? Did God desire to save men by
Adam's obedience and then, oops, all of a sudden his plan changed?
Adam ruined his plan. Is that what happened? We know
that's not what happened. We know this, that God cannot
change. Why do I know that? Because God
said that. Behold, I, the Lord, change not. Therefore, you sons
of Jacob are not consumed. We know that God's purpose, His
decree, is an eternal decree. EVERYTHING GOD PURPOSED, HE PURPOSED
FROM ETERNITY. Go to Isaiah chapter 46. Look
at Isaiah chapter 46. Read this with me and see if
that's not true. Isaiah chapter 46, and look at verse 9. God says, Remember the former
things of old, for I am God, and there is none else. I am
God, and there is none like me. You know the difference between
the true God and all false gods is this. Sovereignty. False gods are not sovereign. THEIR WILL CAN BE THWARTED, THEIR
PURPOSE CAN BE DEFEATED. GOD SAYS, I'M GOD AND THERE'S
NO OTHER GOD LIKE ME. WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE? HERE IT
IS, VERSE 10, DECLARING THE END FROM THE BEGINNING AND FROM ANCIENT
TIMES THE THINGS THAT WERE NOT YET DONE, SAYING THIS, MY COUNSEL
SHALL STAND AND I WILL DO ALL MY PLEASURE. SEE THE DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN A REAL GOD AND A FALSE GOD? WHATEVER GOD PURPOSED, That's
what He does. Whatever God purposed, that's
what He does. And all that God has decreed
and purposed, all that God has planned from the beginning to
the end shall stand and He will do all His pleasure. Friends, all the acts of God
in providence were fixed and settled in eternity. You know
what providence is? Providence is the eternal decree
of God being worked out. This morning, this is not chance
that we're here, is it? This was decreed, purposed of
God from eternity. Everything that takes place in
time is purposed, purposed of God. I like this in Job chapter 23
in verse 13, I think it is. He says, He is of one mind who
can turn Him. What His soul desireth, that
will He do. See, God's of one mind. You know, God's purpose,
it doesn't say purposes as though there are many purposes. God
has one purpose. One purpose. He is of one mind
who can turn Him. All the suffering, all of the
grief, all of the pain, all of the sorrows and joys and blessings
and goodnesses are according to the purpose of God who worketh
all things after the counsel of His own will. You see, the
rise and fall of men and nations are determined by God. The thing
that's happening to our country, do you not suppose that's determined
of God? Should that not give you comfort
to understand that? You believe, at least, it should give you
great comfort to understand. This is purposed. This is all
purposed of God. It's ordained of God. And all
things are taking place right now according to the purpose
of God, the will of God, who is of one mind, one purpose.
And now Job says, who can turn it? Who can change it? You got
a bunch of people running around thinking they could change things,
right? All they're doing is the purpose of God. Whatever they
do is purposed of God. And seeing God purposed and decreed
all things and is of one mind and none can change Him, all
that His soul desires He will do. Now look at man, born dead
in sins, opposing God, despising His Word and His Son. Man, by
nature, daily seeks to overthrow God and rejects his son, persecutes
his church, runs madly to hell. That's what man's doing. By nature,
that's what man does. Satan seeks to overthrow God
and rule. But you know what? The Scripture
says the heathen rage... Why did the heathen rage and
the people imagine a vain thing? They said, let's cast his cords
from us. We don't want him anymore. And the God in heaven shall laugh. That's what He's doing, laughing.
Laughing at their purpose. So then if God has planned and
decreed all providence, what is it all for? Why would God
allow such a thing as the fall? Why would He decree it? Purpose
it? Here it is. His whole purpose
for everything He does is this. the salvation of Israel. That's
what God's doing. Everything that is happening
is for the salvation of Israel. for the salvation of His people,
to save Israel, not according to their works, not according
to their merit, but according to His purpose in grace. Go back
to your text. Look at that. He said this, the
children not yet being born, neither having done good or evil,
both ruined, both under the fall of Adam, both sinners. Yet God
chose to save one according to the election, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand, listen, not of works. Not of works. And so the purpose
of God is according to election. Because we all fell in Adam,
there is no hope of our saving ourselves. There's no hope of
saving yourself. Therefore God before the fall
who purposed all things had purpose to save some. He purposed to
save some of Adam's race for his own glory. God willing to
manifest his glory purposed to save some of a fallen race. You see, God in love chose Jacob. Even so it is with all spiritual
Israel. God, in His sovereign will and
purpose, purposed to save the elect. He purposed to save and
purposed to make them holy. To make them holy. He purposed
to adopt sons, but not according to their works, not according
to the good pleasure of their will, but only according to the
praise of the glory of His grace. Do you know how hard men have
to work to get rid of election in Scripture? How hard do you suppose they
have to work? I remember Brother Don Fortner and he was in seminary
school. He told this story. He said they just really tried
hard to get rid of election in their seminary. So they forbid
the students to say the word elect or election or predestination. And of course, Brother Don picked
up his Bible and he started reading all the scriptures where it showed
the elect. He said, like Isaiah 45, he said,
Now Jacob, for my servant's sake, Israel, mine bleep. my elect
is what it says but he had he just said bleep and he did that
with a with all these other scriptures you know elect according to foreknowledge
of God the father Peter said through sanctification of the
Spirit he just bleeped it out you can't read the Word of God
without reading the word elect or election or predestination
it's in there Men work hard to get rid of it, and when they
can't get rid of it, what do they do? They try to rest it. They try
to twist it to make it according to works. They say, well, God
chose a people, but He looked down there and He saw what they
would do, and that's why He chose them. That's not what my text
says. My text says, before they had
done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand. Listen, not of works. Election is not of works. It
is not of will. It is of grace. Grace. And so, behold then the glory of election.
that if God had not chosen us, we would have never chosen Him.
You understand there would be no salvation without the election
of God. There would be no salvation had
God not made a choice, had God not made choice among us. The
scripture says this, except the Lord of hosts had left a very
small remnant, we should have all been as Sodom and been like
them of Gomorrah. You see, there's a remnant because
God chose one. And this is all for the glory
of God. Now then, we see the necessity of election. We're
all ruined. Had God not made election, had
God not purposed to save some, none would be saved. But because
God has chosen Jacob, because God had chosen Jacob not according
to works, there's hope. There's hope for the sons of
Adam. There's hope. Well, how, since
God purposed to save some, how did He purpose to save them?
How did He purpose to save them? Simply by Jesus Christ. This is how they should be saved.
ELECTION IS ALWAYS UNTO SALVATION. ELECTION IS NOT SALVATION, IT'S
UNTO SALVATION. THEY WERE CHOSEN TO BE SAVED,
NOT BY THEIR WORKS, BUT BY THE WORK OF ANOTHER. YOU SEE, YOU
WERE A SINNER BY THE WORK OF ANOTHER. AND YES, YOU WERE A
SINNER BY YOUR WORKS, THERE'S NO DOUBT ABOUT THAT, BUT YOU
WERE FIRST OF ALL MADE SINNER BY A REPRESENTATIVE. HOW THEN
SHOULD THE ELECT BE MADE HOLY EXCEPT BY A REPRESENTATIVE? BY THE WORK OF ANOTHER, AND JESUS
CHRIST IS THAT WORK. GO TO EPHESIANS, CHAPTER 1. EPHESIANS,
CHAPTER 1, WE CAN SEE THE ELECTION OF GOD, AND THEN WE CAN SEE THE
PURPOSE OF GOD AND HOW THE ELECT ARE SAVED. EPHESIANS, CHAPTER
1 AND VERSE 4, IT SAYS, ACCORDING AS GOD HATH CHOSEN US IN HIM,
IN CHRIST, WHEN? before the foundation of the
world now listen here's here's why here's the purpose we should
be holy and without blame before see that's why he chose that
we should be holy Now, here's the motivation. In
love. Jacob, have I loved. In love,
having predestinated us under the adoption of children. How
should we, sons of Adam, become sons of God? Here it is, by Jesus
Christ. He does this to bring us to Himself,
according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of
the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the
Beloved. When were you accepted in the
Beloved? When God put you in Christ, you were accepted in
the Beloved. from eternity before the foundation
of the world. God's elect were in Christ. He put them there
on purpose, on purpose. And listen, this is how they
should be made holy in verse 7. In Christ, in whom we have
redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according
to the riches of His grace. Look now at the promise of God
from the beginning that the seed of the woman should crush the
head of the serpent. Christ, the seed, should come
in the flesh. and that he who is God should
be made man, and by his death he should make the elect holy. See the purpose of God? Christ
came according to the purpose and will of God. For what purpose? To save Israel. You know, when
Jesus came in John chapter 10, he said, I came to lay down my
life for the sheep. Not for the goats. The sheep.
The sheep. My sheep shall hear my voice. I know them. Now why does he
know them? The Father gave them to him.
He, in a covenant, took responsibility for their salvation. YOU WHO
ARE THE ELECT OF GOD, LISTEN TO THE COMFORT OF THIS, ALL YOUR
SALVATION, CHRIST SAID, I'LL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR IT. WHAT'S
LEFT FOR YOU? NOTHING. HE TOOK IT ALL. HE TOOK IT ALL. GOD, BEING OF
ONE MIND, CHOSE A PEOPLE AND GAVE THEM TO CHRIST TO SAVE THEM. OVER IN I CORINTHIANS, CHAPTER
1, The Apostle in this verse says this, But of God are you
in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. You see, Christ has made all
of these things for us. To all those He put in Christ,
God made Christ to be our sanctification, Christ to be our redemption,
Christ to be our wisdom, Christ to be our righteousness, Christ
to be everything. And so, when He came into the
world, the Scripture says He set His face like a flint, like
steel, to do the will of God. He did the will of God. I came
not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me.
And this is the Father's will which has sent me, that of all
He hath given me, I should lose What a glorious salvation this
is! That all of the elect were in
Christ as He was obeying the law of God, we were obeying the
law of God. When He died on Calvary's tree,
we died on Calvary's tree. And the scripture says, He hath
made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we should be
made the righteousness of God in Him. Oh, behold at Calvary. Look at Calvary. You want to
see how the elect were saved? How God purposed our salvation?
Then you've got to look at the cross. The cross is everything,
my friends. It's on which all of history
hinges. The cross of Christ. It was there
that God poured out His wrath on His Son as He bare our sins
in His own body on the tree. And see that Jesus Christ, on
purpose, died. I thought this very interesting.
You know this, that those Jews said, We can't kill Him on the
Passover. He said, we've got to wait till after the Passover
to kill him. Pilate tried everything in the world to set him free. And God said, no, you'll kill
him today. Why? God purposed it. What could they do? They did
exactly what they wanted to do. But in doing what they wanted
to do, they killed the Lord of glory. What purpose would they
kill the Lord of Glory? To save God's elect. I told you, everything God's
doing is for His elect. Everything. Jesus Christ, He died on Calvary's
tree and what happened? He actually saved His people. This is the difference between
true religion and false religion right there. The success of Christ.
The success of Christ. The scripture declares that he
hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. This man, after
he had offered one sacrifice for sin, sat down on the right
hand of God, expecting till his enemy had been made a footstool.
It is finished, Christ said. All that God purposed, Christ
said, it's finished. The salvation of his elect is
finished. And thirdly, we see not only
the purpose of God in election. We see the purpose of God in
the redemption of the elect. We also see the purpose of God
in calling His elect. It is God's purpose that everyone
He chose, everyone Christ redeemed, that He also call them. That's
God's purpose. Look back at your text. You see
that the purpose of God according to election might stand. Not of works, but what? Him that
calleth. It was said unto her, The elder
shall serve the younger, as it is written, Jacob have I loved,
but Esau have I hated." You see, God is a calling God. It's His
purpose to call His elect. Over in 2 Thessalonians, we see
both the election and calling of God very clearly. It says,
2 Thessalonians 2, 13, We are bound to give thanks always to
God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath
from the beginning chosen you to salvation, and that salvation
was accomplished by Christ. Here's how it's applied. Through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth. Salvation is by the grace of
God according to the purpose of God. Salvation, then, is all of God. all of God. It was the Father
who chose us. It was the Son who redeemed us.
And if you are ever called, it will be by the Holy Spirit of
God. God the Holy Spirit will call all Christ redeemed. all that the Father chose. Now, Jacob and Esau were both
born in the same condition, spiritually depraved, both of them worthy
of only divine justice. But God loved Jacob, God redeemed
Jacob, and therefore what? God called Jacob. God called
Jacob. And all that the Father chose
and all that are redeemed, the Spirit will call. you see the
beauty of this that you who do believe i want you to behold
the glory of this god was of one mind to save you if you're
saved this morning isn't it the comfort of all comforts to know
that god himself engages in all your salvation and if god's of one mind to save
you who can turn Who can thwart his purpose? No one. You listen to this. Not even you. Scripture says, while we were
yet in our sins, Christ died. God knows who you are. God knows
how vile you are. And in spite of it all, He said, I loved you. I redeemed you. I called you,
and I'm of one mind to save you. Behold, how often did he stand at the
door and knock, and we barred the door. Before He called us in power,
how many times have you heard this gospel and rejected it?
And yet at the appointed time of grace, He put His hand to
the hole of your heart, and the smell of grace, the power of
the Spirit of God raised your dead soul to see your sin and
need of Christ. And you, without hesitation,
fled to Christ. You fled to Christ. What made
the difference? How is it you were called? How
is it you were justified? How is it you were sanctified?
Above your peers, above your fellows. How is that? Who maketh
thee to differ from another? Or what hast thou thou hast not
received? If we are saved, it is all of
grace. It's all the purpose of God.
It is all the will of God and none of our own. We fled to Christ
and believed because He gave us life. So then let me ask you
this, who gets the glory? You who are saved, who gets the
glory? Not 99.9% of the glory, who gets
all the glory? It was God who chose me, not
according to my works or merits. It was Christ who redeemed me,
not because I was worthy. Matter of fact, I was the most
vile. Why did He call me? according to the purpose of God
and for the glory of God. He called me. And what is the
result of everyone He calls? They believe. Faith is not hard to understand,
just impossible to do. Men want to believe in Christ,
they just want something They want to have some merit in it. It takes divine power to strip
a man of every merit, of every work and worth. And when God
does that, where else are you going to go but Christ? It's
then we flee to Him for refuge. Read on in your text, I know
this, men will object. Men will object. And Paul recognizing
this by the Holy Spirit even states your objection. Is there unrighteousness with
God? Is God right to choose Jacob and reject Esau? When did God
reject Esau? He rejected him at the same time
He chose Jacob. Before they were born, not having
done good or evil, Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated. And you will say to me, is that
unrighteous? Is that unfair? You want fair? God send us all to hell. That's
fair. That's right. They both deserved
hell. who is rich in mercy, wherewith
He loved us, He sent His Son, saved us. You'll say, is that
unrighteous? Is it unrighteousness with God?
What did Paul say? God forbid. God told you before. He said, I'll have mercy on whom
I'll have mercy. I will have compassion on whom
I will have compassion. So then, listen to the conclusion
of this. So then, it is not of him that
willeth. There's free will works religion
right out the window. It is not of him that willeth,
nor him that runneth. That does away with all works
religion. All salvation by any work. See,
ELECTION, SALVATION IS NOT BY THE WILL OF MAN, NOR IS IT BY
THE WORK OF MAN, BUT GOD THAT SHOWETH MERCY. You see, God's going to save
Israel because that's His purpose. He's going to do it out of mercy. Now let me ask you this, are
you a sinner in need of mercy? If you're going to hold on to
anything you've done, you hold on to it all the way to hell.
You want to hold on to your free will decision, hold on to it
all the way to hell. You want to hold on to your religious
works, hold on to them all the way to hell. I know this, God's
elect are sinners. Sinners. Sinners who have no hope in themselves,
no good works in themselves, no value in themselves. Listen,
if I can ever find one of these, I'll find one of God's elect. If God ever show you that about
yourself, He'll show it to you and you'll flee to Christ. And those who have, you have
this comfort. Your salvation is of the Lord. Your salvation's, listen, it's
on purpose. You didn't slip into this thing,
did you? It wasn't by accident, was it? I remember a man telling
me about this, Ralph Barnard. A lady come up to him and said,
you know, I know there's a difference between your religion and ours. Is this a matter of election?
He said, I'm really confused. I don't understand. And he said
this, Did God save you on accident or on purpose? And she just puzzled. She said, well, on purpose. He
said, you understand election. You understand election. It's
on purpose. Now whose purpose? Yours or God's? God's purpose. And because it's God's purpose,
you listen. It's done. It's done. Your salvation is not... It's
something you haven't yet fully experienced, but it's done. No work required. God chose you. Christ redeemed you. The Spirit
called you. And you know what? This is a
promise of God that He's going to keep you. He's going to keep
you. I know that everything in you
at times seems to oppose that. The sin in your nature seems
to kick so hard at the purpose and will of God. And at times you say, how is
it possible that I should be one? Because it's not up to you. It wasn't you who called you.
It wasn't you who saved you. It was God. And He did it by
grace. Free. Grace. Is there any other kind? No. The purpose of God. Now may God comfort you who are
called. If He's not called you, I tell
you this, believe on Christ. Oh, plead for mercy. You know
what you'll find? You'll find mercy. Every elect
person has found it. Isn't that right? Have you not
found it? I found it. You'll find it. May God bless
us together.