Bear with me back to Matthew
25. Matthew 25. Our Lord spent the week leading
up to his crucifixion preaching to the multitude first. How kind, how wonderful, how
glorious that he would preach, that he would spend that time
preaching. And he preached to the multitude first, and then
he preached specifically to his disciples. And that's what he's
doing here in Matthew 25. He is speaking to his disciples. He gave two parables that we've
already looked at together. These two parables showed a division
between those that were his people and those that were not his people. He spelled out that some would
be welcomed in with him and some would not. He gave the parable of 10 virgins
waiting on the bridegroom, five and five. Five were welcomed
in, five were not. He gave the parable of profitable
and unprofitable servants. Some were rewarded, some were
damned, some were stripped and cast out. Our Lord finished this
chapter with the same teaching. He's teaching the same teaching. He reiterates this same message
of truth by describing to his disciples the last judgment,
the final judgment. of all men and women, and it
starts right here, verse 31. Matthew 25, verse 31, He said,
when the Son of Man shall come in His glory, when the Lord returns
on that final day, there's going to be a final day. We all have
our calendars, and we all make plans, and we put reminders in
our phones and things like that. There's going to come a day that
no more reminders matter. No more, no more days. There's going to be a final day. And when our Lord returns on
that final day, verse 31, when the son of man shall come in
his glory and all the holy angels with him. of which it says in Matthew 24,
if you look back a chapter to Matthew 24 verse 29, it says, immediately after the
tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened and the moon
shall not give her light and the stars shall fall from heaven
and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. and then shall
appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then shall
all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of
Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He shall send His angels
with a great sound of a trumpet, And they shall gather together
his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the
other. That's why all of his angels
are coming with him. All of his angels are coming.
And that's why it's because they have the responsibility of gathering
all of his elect people to Christ. On that day, they're going to
go get them. All right, back in Matthew 25, verse 31 says,
when the Son of Man shall come in His glory and all the holy
angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory. The throne of His glory, the
Son of Man, Jesus Christ. is the judge. All judgment has been committed
to the Son. We must all stand before the
judgment seat of Christ. If men and women knew that, it
would give them a newfound reverence and fear for this man who everyone
calls Jesus. He's the judge of this earth.
We must all stand before him. He is and will be the judge in
that day. Verse 31, when the son of man
shall come in his glory and all the holy angels with him, then
shall he sit upon the throne of his glory and before him shall
be gathered together all nations. Every soul on this earth. This really struck me. This really
struck me. Every soul on this earth. In
reading that, this really struck me. God Almighty. Jehovah. Jesus Christ. That's who I'm
talking about. Jehovah bodily. He is the God
of every soul on this earth. Every soul that is, every soul
that has been, every soul that ever will be. It does not matter
what nationality a person is. All nations will stand before
him. It doesn't matter what the known
God of a nationality is. It does not matter. It does not
matter what prophet a nationality follows. It doesn't matter whether
a nationality claims to worship and bow to and answer to Muhammad
or Buddha or any of the other 18,000 known little g-gods of
this earth. Everybody is going to stand before
this God Jesus Christ is the God of everybody. Everyone is going to be judged
by Jesus Christ. There are people in this world
who have never given Him a thought because He's not the little g
God of their nationality. And then all of a sudden, they're
going to be looking at Jesus Christ. And they're going to be judged
by Him. All souls, every nationality
is going to stand before Jesus Christ. Verse 31 says, When the
Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels
with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory, and
before Him shall be gathered all nations, and He shall separate
them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. As a shepherd divideth his sheep
from the goats. I want to speak for a minute
on the subject of election. I wanted to look at everything
that our Lord had to say in the rest of this chapter. Our brother
just read what he had to say on this final judgment, and I
wanted to look at the rest of this, but I could not get past
this subject of election. I just kept thinking about this
subject of election. I want to declare the truth of
God's election. We're going to have a Bible study
here for a minute. I feel like we had a little bit
of a message for our Bible study. So we're going to have a Bible
study for our message and we're going to look at this true declaration
of God's election. There are two types of people
in this world. Those that were elected by God
the Father before the foundation of the world and those that were
not. Every soul on this earth must
bow to God's election. People hear about God's election
and naturally they don't like it. And I understand I do understand
that this flesh is rebellious against God. It's sinful against
God. I have it too. I have it too. So I understand.
But people hear about this and they don't like it. Naturally,
they don't believe it. They don't agree with it. They
don't want to hear it. But here's the thing about it.
Here's the thing about it. We are either going to be quickened
and called to bow to God's sovereignty in election right now in mercy
and grace, or we are going to be made to bow to it on the day
of judgment. But every soul on this earth
will eventually realize the truth of God's election. Everybody,
everybody, will realize the truth of God's election. God the Father
elected, that means chose, a particular people to save. And that election was held before
this world or anything in this world was ever created. And I want to prove that with
a few scriptures. This is why I say we're going
to have a Bible study. We're about to spend most of the rest
of our time just proving it with scripture, okay? I'm going to
turn quickly through some scriptures. You can, well, turn. I'll wait
on you. Turn with me, all right? Go to
Isaiah 45. Isaiah 45. Verse 4, it says, For Jacob my
servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee
by thy name, I have surnamed thee. A surname is a last name.
I've put a name on you. He said, Though thou hast not
known me. People very wrongly say that
God looked down through time to see who would believe on Him
and who would obey Him and that's who He chose to save. That's
who He elected. That is completely false. He
said right here, you didn't even know me. You didn't even know
me. I elected you and I put my name
on you before you ever even knew who I was. That's election. That's election. Look at Isaiah
65 with me. The Lord here is speaking of
glory. He is speaking of eternity. And in verse 9, Isaiah 65 verse
9, He said, I will bring forth a seed out
of Jacob and out of Judah, and inheritor of my mountains, and
mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there."
He said, my elect, my elect people will inherit it. Verse 22, he
said, they shall not build and another inhabit. They shall not
plant and another eat, for as the days of a tree are the days
of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of
their hands." God has an elect people that he has particularly
redeemed. An elect people from fallen Adam,
fallen man, sin-filled mankind. that He has particularly redeemed. And that is who is going to be
with Him in glory. Look with me at Matthew 24. Matthew 24 verse 22 says, and except those days should
be shortened, there should no flesh be saved but for the elect's
sake. Those days shall be shortened.
Everything that God does is for the elect's sake. Boy, that's
an awesome thought to think of. Everything that happens in this
world, everything that he does in this world is for the elect's
sake. It's not for the world's sake.
It's for the elect's sake, the ones that God the Father chose
to save and gave them to the Lord Jesus Christ to do so. Everything that God does is specifically
for the souls that were given to Jesus Christ. Everything God
does. It's for the souls that were
given to Jesus Christ. Go with me to John 17. John 17 verse 1, these words
spake Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father,
the hour is come. Glorify thy son that thy son
also may glorify thee as thou hast given him power over all
flesh. that he should give eternal life
to as many as thou hast given him. He is speaking of his elect. Verse 9, he said, I pray for
them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine. The Lord Jesus Christ said, that's
who I'm praying for, the elect, the chosen ones, the ordained
ones. That's who I pray for, the ordained
ones. Look with me now at Acts chapter
13. Acts 13 verse 48. And when the Gentiles heard this,
they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord and as many
as were ordained to eternal life. That means as many as were elected,
believed. That's who will believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Here's the commandment of God's Word. Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's who will believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. The souls who were elected to
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. The souls who were ordained to
eternal life. That does not say as many as
believed were ordained to eternal life. It doesn't say that. It
says as many as were ordained to eternal life, believed. Go with me to Romans 8. Romans 8 verse 29 says, For whom he did foreknow, that
word means elect. He plainly says so here in just
a few verses. Whom he did foreknow, he also
did predestinate. Yes, predestinate. Probably 19
years ago, Hannah and I were just married, and we traveled up to Ashland,
Kentucky to see Henry and Doris. And she was staying on for a
little while. I had to go back home and go to work. And I was
traveling home by myself, and there was a sheetrock truck that
flipped over on the interstate. And sheetrock was all over the
interstate. You couldn't get around it. And it was so blocked
up, they had to come get crews to remove all this sheetrock
and get that truck turned up right again and get it gone.
So everybody ended up just putting their cars in park, turning their
cars off. It was like a movie. Everyone
was standing in the interstate. Everybody's out of their cars.
We were there a long time. And a man behind me, this older,
I guess he was about my dad's age, he started talking this
and that, and he brought up religion a little bit and asked questions,
and I talked with him, you know, what I knew to say, and he could
tell that I knew something about the Bible. Oh, he just really
was impressed with me. He really liked me. He said,
my son is your age, and he's just on the wrong path, and he's
been in trouble all his life. And man, I just wish you could
talk to my son. I think you could straighten
him out, and this and that, and all kinds of stuff. And he made
some other statement. I don't remember what it was.
But I said something. He goes, wait a minute. You're
not a predestiner, are you? I said, yes, I am. Oh, no. Uh-uh. No way. And then he didn't
like me anymore. He didn't like me anymore. You
don't believe that the Almighty, Sovereign, Holy, Eternal God
mapped out exactly what He wanted to have done, do you? Yes, I
do. Like when Henry went in that
gas station to get something to drink, and the man there at
the register had a Bible sitting on the counter, and Henry said,
that's a nice Bible you have there. The guy said, thank you. He said, I know who you are.
I've seen you on TV. He said, you have? He said, yeah. He said,
you preach predestination, don't you? You believe in predestination,
don't you? Henry said, well, I don't know.
What does the Bible say about it? God said, I don't know. He said, well, let me see your
Bible there. He turned to Romans 8, verse 29 says, for whom he
did foreknow, He also did predestinate. That word literally means He
limited in advance. It just kept getting more narrow
and more narrow until the final point ended at Jesus Christ.
Whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of his Son." Henry said, oh, okay, so predestination
is what conforms God's people to the image of Christ. He said,
you want to be like Christ, don't you? And the man said, well,
yeah. He said, then you believe in
predestination too. 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, them He also called, and whom He called,
them He also justified. and whom He justified, them He
also glorified. What shall we then say to these
things?" I'll tell you one thing we can say to these things. It
sounds like God is doing all of it. It sounds like God is
the author, the doer, and the finisher of all of it. It says,
He, He, He, He, He. That's the first thing we can
say to these things. The next thing is, if God be for us, who
can be against us? He that spared not His own Son. Why did He spare not His own
Son? For His elect's sake. He that spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all. Who? For everybody? God gave
His Son to die for everybody? No. Who's He talking about? Whom
He did foreknow. He's talking about His elect.
Verse 32, He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him
up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us
all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justified. It's God that justified us. And
Romans 9 plainly tells us He did that before any of us were
ever even born. It's God that justified us and He did it before
we were ever born. Look at Romans 9 verse 11. It
says, For 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. It was said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. Oh, people say, I just don't
understand that. That's just not fair. How could
he? not love Esau. How could he hate Esau? God's
people say, I don't understand it either. But Esau's not the
one I have the problem with. Esau was a sinner against God,
just like every other human being on this earth. How could God
love Jacob? That's the question. Verse 13, as it is written, Jacob
have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he said 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. It's of God that shows mercy. God shows mercy to whom he is
pleased to show mercy. Because He's God. That's what
we bow to. He's God. That's what I want
men and women to know. He's God. He's God. And He shows mercy to whoever
He's pleased to show mercy to. And He was pleased to show mercy
to His elect. His sinful elect. Look with me
at Romans 11. Verse 5 says, even so then at
this present time also there is a remnant according to the
election of grace. God's people were elected by
grace. God's people were elected to
receive the grace of God. Ephesians 1 verse 4 says they
were elected to receive it in Christ Jesus. according as He
hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love." In
love, in love. Election is the mercy of God
to a sinner. Election is the grace of God
to a sinner. Election is the kindness of God
to a sinner. Election is the love of God to
a sinner. Election is the love of God to
a sinner. You want to talk about God's
love? Let's talk about election. The Apostle Paul said in 2 Thessalonians
2.13, We are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren,
beloved of the Lord. loved of the Lord, because God
hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth. I'm about done. I don't want to scare you by
saying this, but there are three things that I
want us to understand about God's election. Number one, it's a
truth that cannot be denied. It just cannot be denied. Men
and women try to deny it all they want to, but the eternal
word of God has declared, this is the word that will stand forever,
and it has declared God's election. God elected a particular people
to save. The first thing I want us to
understand is it's a truth that cannot be denied. The second
thing is this. It is the most loving thing that
a sinner against God could ever know. It is the most loving thing. For some reason, people see it
as being a stern, hard thing coming from God Almighty. They
hear about election and they see God as just being mean and
hard and stern. No, no, if He was going to do
that, He would have left all men and women alone. That's not the case at all. Election
is God extending His love. God commended His love to sinful
rebels against Him. You know, somebody does something
against us and we buck up against it and we say, I'm done with
you. Thank God that's not God. I mean, He did it to people against
Him, rebels against Him, those that hated Him and cried, kill
Him, I hate Him. Father, forgive them. Election is God extending His
love to sinful rebels against Him. Every soul on this earth
is a sinful rebel against God. Every soul on this earth is willingly
not knowingly, but willingly running headfirst into eternal
damnation. Election is God Almighty putting
His right hand in front of them, in front of a hell-bent, hell-bound
sinner saying, I am not going to let you go. Because of sin, all souls enter
this world damned. Everybody. Everybody. You mean
God chose some to be saved and chose some to be damned? No,
everybody was already damned. In Adam, all died. In Adam, all
had sinned. God's election is what saved
His own from that damnation. Election is only unto salvation. Election is unto Jesus Christ.
That's what it's unto, Jesus Christ. Election is God the Father
giving a sinner to the broken body and the shed blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. God's people were elected to
be washed in Him. They were elected to be cleansed
in Him. They were elected to be forgiven
in Him. They were elected to be holy
and righteous and justified and sanctified in Him. And that's
the most loving thing a sinner could ever know. That's the most
loving thing. So I truly want us to understand,
number one, election is a truth that can't be denied. Number
two, it is the most loving thing that we could ever know. Being
chosen of God in Christ, that's the most loving thing we could
ever know. And number three, if we have been elected, this
is how we will know we have been elected. If we have been elected,
this is how we'll know. Go with me to John 10. John chapter 10. In our text,
our Lord said He was going to divide His sheep from the goats. He refers to his elect as sheep. And he said, this is how you
can tell who my sheep are, right here. John 10 verse 24, Then came the Jews round about
him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If
thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you
And you believed not. The works that I do in my father's
name, they bear witness of me. But you believed not because
you are not of my sheep. As I said unto you, my sheep
hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. And I give
unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall
any man pluck them out of my hand." If we are His sheep, we
will hear His voice in His Word, and we won't butt against it. What will His voice say to us
from His Word? It'll say, you're all sinners.
You're all sinners, and your only hope is that God chose you
and gave you to Jesus Christ. There's nothing you can do to
reinstate yourself. There's nothing you can do to
redeem yourself. It's Jesus Christ alone, or it's
nothing. If we are His sheep, we will
hear His voice and His Word. We will hear what His Word has
to say to us, and we won't butt against it. We'll believe it
and we'll bow to it and we'll love it. And we won't desire for it to
be any other way. Do you want it to be any other way? Goats hear the word and they
say, but, wait a minute now, but. Not sheep. Sheep say, amen. That's what sheep say. Look at verse 14. Our Lord said,
I'm the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even
so know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. And
other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also I
must bring, and they shall hear my voice. There's gonna be one
fold and one shepherd. Oh, the love, oh, the love. Amen, Lord, for your own glory,
for our good, gather your elect to yourself. Come get us, Lord,
come quickly. I pray that everybody here, I
pray every soul here might be able to say, the Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall
not want. Savior, like a shepherd, lead
us. Thou hast bought us, thine we
are.