We're actually going to be covering
a different portion of Scripture, but I'd like to read to you some
statements out of Romans 8. Not the whole chapter now, Romans
8 and some select verses. And then we'll go to Romans 11
and use a portion of verses there.
And then we'll go to, I'm not going to tell you the other ones
because you'd have to sneak a peek if I did. Somewhere in the New
Testament anyway. Alrighty. My title is, Who Are God's Elect? And from the perspective of ourselves,
to examine ourselves to see if indeed God has elected us by
his all-powerful grace. Now let's pray together. Lord, this book that we have
open before us is an amazing book indeed. It tells us how bad we are, and in Christ it tells us how
good we are. We go from absolute sinfulness
to no sin at all. What a dramatic, glorious change. Enable us this day, Lord, as
we gather in this place. We realize that compared to today's
religion, this ain't a drop in the bucket, but that does not
matter. The truth is often in the minority. We beg of you that you would
give us eyes to see and hearts to understand who your people
are and whether or not I am one of them. Lord, we beg for your blessing that preachers nothing If you
do not come by your Spirit into our midst, we could have a million people
gathered and it would be the same. Nothing, nothing at all,
except God determines to meet with us. No matter how small, we beg for
your mercy and your grace. In our Lord's precious and glorious
name, amen. Now, our first passage of scriptures
in Romans chapter 8. And I wish I could read you the
whole chapter, and the same is true of chapter 11. But we'll
settle for verses 28-34. Romans 8, verses 28-34. Now, some of these statements
you've been hearing all your lives, and many other statements
in this passage, some of us went too many decades
without ever knowing that this was even in the Bible. Let's
look at what's here. And we know that all things,
without exception, all things, work together for good to them
that love God. Well, preacher, everybody loves
God. That ain't so. That is not so. The only people that love God
are people that God loves, and He doesn't love everybody. But
I'll guarantee you one thing, He loves His people. He loves the body, the spiritual
body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is the church. We know that all things work
together for good. To them that love God, to them
that are thee called according to his purpose. Now I want you
to notice carefully, this statement, who are thee
called, this is a special people. in the human race, whom God issues
that irresistible call of his grace, and he says, come and
we come. And if he doesn't say it to me
and to you personally and individually, then we ain't a coming. We might
pretend to, we might profess to, we might be baptized, might
be a member of some church or this one, but that don't make
it so. Doesn't make it so. Alright,
verse 29. For whom God did foreknow. This is a people for whom did
God foreknow. How long has God known His people?
Well, He gave them to Christ in old eternity. In the covenant
of grace. And He gave us to Him with our
name. Not just a man or a woman, but
a certain man and a certain woman, according to his purpose. Now, you know that God runs everything
that takes place on this earth every day, 365 days a year? According
to his purpose. For whom He did foreknow. You might understand that better
if you said forelove. He that foreloved, He also did
predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son. And I'll guarantee you there
ain't another preacher in Harnett County that will dare use that
word predestination. They just ain't going to have
it, because you don't like it, neither do I. But I love it now. I had no sense. I ain't got much
now, you understand, but I didn't have any then. God predestinated His people
to be conformed to the image of His Son, the Lord Jesus, that
his Son, Christ Jesus, might be the firstborn among many brethren. And it is a sizable number. The
Bible tells us plainly that no man can count it that high. Verse 30, Moreover, whom he did
predestinate, Them he also called." Now, why did Paul have to use
that word, predestinate, twice? Because if it ain't there twice,
we ain't going to see it. We'll try to read it with one
eye shut and leave off the part we don't like. Listen, it ain't
God that needs changing, it's me and you that need changing. Verse 30, Moreover, whom God
did predestinate, them he also called. That's the irresistible
call of God's grace in the gospel. You can kick against it, you
can speak against it, you can holler and scream against it,
but you ain't a change in it. It is what it is. And it's always been this way
and it will always be this way. 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. Now when we started this little
train of events, Back in verse 28, the called according to his
purpose, and then we picked up another expression, and another
one, and another one, and another one. And now we come to this
glorious statement. Verse 31. What shall we then
say to these things? What is my reaction to what I've
just read? I know one thing, there ain't
no middle ground, you either love it or hate it. What shall we then say to these
things? And we're not left to figure
out what this is. It's right in front of us. Here
it is. If God be for us, who can be against us? Now, that doesn't mean that believers
won't have enemies. But they're under God's thumb.
They do only what He lets them do. And He does that as long
as it glorifies Himself and His Son. And when that can no longer
be, then it is gone. I think I'm on verse 33, is that
right? Oh, excuse me, 32. Thank you
very much. You know, I did that in West
Virginia and they didn't see a blame thing. Nobody. I doubt that. Verse 32, He that
spared not his own son, God, who spared not his own son, the
Lord Jesus Christ, Deliver Him up for us all. Whoa! Preacher, you've been telling
it wrong. You said Christ didn't die for everybody. Well, listen. Don't turn me off
yet. Let's see what we can find out.
I take it that this all are all those that God put to the charge
and account of the Lord Jesus Christ. to come to this world
and put on human flesh, live thirty years of perfect obedience,
and spend three years in his public life and ministry, going
everywhere that could be imagined in that part of the world. He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, How shall he not with Him, with
Christ, freely give us all things? Now, Curtis, that ain't talking
about Mercedes. If you missed the Bible class, you
can't figure out why I said that to that fellow over there. But
he knows. Verse 33. Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? God has an elect people. This world was created in order
to put God's grace to those people on display. So that every being
on this earth, human I'm talking about, He is without excuse,
for God has spoken in so many different ways and places and
by so many different people and things. It is tragic that we
can see things, hear things, and it just goes in one ear and
out the other. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. It
is God that declares us to be just, righteous, holy, perfectly
so in God's sight, because it is in our Lord Jesus Christ and
Him crucified that we have such a being before God. Without Christ
and Him crucified, without Christ in His blood, God could have
nothing to do with any member of the human race. Not me, not
you, not anybody. Oh, preacher, I've known some
pretty holy people. You ain't God, are you? You can't
tell what's holy and what ain't, and neither can I. When you get home, go to the
mirror and say, you're a sinner from head to toe. Head to toe. Alright, verse 34. Who is he
that condemns? It is Christ that died. Now,
if Christ died as my representative, I cannot die spiritually. Sure, we're going to die physically.
I cannot die spiritually if Christ, indeed God, in my room, placed
instead. And then he restates it in a
different expression in the middle part of verse 34. Yea, rather,
that is, risen again. Christ died in crucifixion and
now He's risen again, who is even at the right hand of God,
who also makes intercession for us. And that's where He is right
now. On a throne in eternal glory. And all He does is state what
He wants, and it's His. He governs this whole world.
and everything in it. That's when you're having a good
day or a bad day. It doesn't matter. It doesn't
matter. God uses everything to His glory
and to the honor and glory of His Son. Chapter 11. I'm trying
to make it 9. Chapter 11. Just verses 1 through 6, Romans
11. I say then, has God cast away
his people? God forbid. For I also am an
Israelite of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin, God
has not cast away His people. What kind of people are they?
Here it is. Whom He foreknew. That means that people that God
loved in Christ before the world was ever made. God has not cast away His people
which He foreknew. I don't like this word W-O-T. I don't even know if it's in
the dictionary anymore, but surely it's not in our vocabulary. So I just put it like this. His
people which he foreknew, know you not what the Scripture says
of Elijah? How he made intercession to God
against Israel. And here's what he said. Lord,
they've killed your prophets, they've digged down your altars,
and I'm left alone, and they seek my life. Now, he's in what
you call a pity party, right? But the Lord doesn't leave him
there. He's got no right to be there. Because just because he
can't see it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. And the same is
true of us. Verse 4, but what says the answer
of God unto him, unto Elijah? I have reserved to myself seven
thousand men who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. That number could have been seven
million. And if God said it, it's true. Even so then, here's the most
important verse for us in this eleventh chapter that we're reading.
We're about down to the end of our reading. Verse 5, even so then, because
of what we have just read and heard, even so then, at this
present time also, there is a remnant according to the election of
grace. Every generation who ever lived
on the face of this earth had at least opportunities to
know the truth, but decided we're not really interested. So what
if God said this, that, or the other? Well, there'll be a day
that we'll despise what we thought and said on those occasions. Alright, we've got to do verse
6. Now this is going to give us some understanding of this
election of grace. And if by grace, if God's salvation is by the
grace of God in Christ, then it is no more of works. And it's never been of works. My soul, Adam and Eve, got kicked
out of the garden because their works were so wonderful. Yeah,
put that in quotation marks. Sinful, ungodly, God-hating, just like me and
just like you. If by grace, then it is no more
of works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it
is no more grace. Otherwise, work is no more work. So religion takes words out of
the Bible and redefines them, such as grace and sovereignty
and I don't know how many others. But in order to hold on to this,
that has some reverence in people's eyes, and some of it is pure
idolatry, but at least it tells us some things, and people get
kind of antsy when they find out you're no longer preaching
this and you're no longer preaching that, and you're just getting
rid of these things because they stick in your craw. And you can't
digest them. But there it is, in two little
short reads. There is an election of grace.
God did choose a people in Christ and gave them to him in old eternity. And the Lord Jesus came and lived
and bled and died, not for the whole world, but for those very
same people that God gave him in eternity past. And that includes
the people for whom Christ died, includes God's elect, who came
after He died on Calvary's tree to this very day and for as long
as this world stands. And when the last sheep of God
is within the fold, this whole world is going to be just folded
up and removed out of its place. And men will be begging and screaming
and hollering, Oh, please have mercy on me. And the day of mercy
is gone. Gone. A good picture of that
is Matthew 7, verses 21 to 43, where these people came to Christ
and were trying to remind Him of everything they'd done in
His name and how dedicated they were to serving Him. But it ends on a sad note. He
said, you claim to know me, but I don't know you. Now, if he doesn't know me, savingly
know me, I can't know him. And all those works that they
brought to him and reminded him of what they had done, they weren't
any good. He said, Depart from me, you
workers of iniquity. I never knew you. You said you knew me, but you
didn't. I never knew you. And I'm going
to tell you, if Christ never knows me, I ain't never going
to know him. Who are God's elect? All right,
now if you'll turn to the right to 1 Thessalonians, that's just
after the book of Colossians. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. It's sometimes surprising that
we find statements pertaining to one subject in this place,
and then we find it in another place, and another place, and
another place. I mean, some things are too good
not to have everywhere. And this is certainly one of
them. And when Paul took the gospel to the Thessalonians,
1 Thessalonians, have you found it? Chapter 1. When Paul and
Silas and Timothy went, this is sometime after their initial
preaching tour in that province. Paul and Silas and Timothy unto
the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be unto you and peace from
God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks
to God always for you. Now let me read that in a southern
expression. We give thanks to God always
to you all. Y'all. making mention of you
in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith and
labor of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ
in the sight of God and our Father. Knowing, listen up, knowing,
brethren, Paul is writing to the congregation at Thessalonica,
knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God. Now, don't ask
me how Paul figured that out. I just know that when he was
there, he knew these people well enough to make an honest assessment. And beyond that, since his words
are encased in this book that cannot be mistaken, then everything
he wrote is true and has to be true, and it still is, and it
always will be. Alright, verse 5. For our gospel
came not unto you in word only. We heard with something besides
the physical ears or the natural sight of the eyes. We've seen more than that, or
we're not born again. Our gospel came not to you in
word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and in
much assurance. As you know what manner of men
we were among you for your sake, and you became followers of us
and of the Lord, having received the word with much affliction,
with joy of the Holy Ghost, or the Holy Spirit, so that you
were, I'm just going to change that and call it examples, so
that you were examples to all that believe in Macedonia and
Achaia, both of which are like counties, you know, fairly large
in land area. For from you, From the Thessalonian
congregation and people, from you sounded out the word of the
Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achia, but also in every place
your faith to God is spread abroad, so that we need not speak to
speak anything. For they themselves, that is
the people to whom these people carried the gospel, they themselves
show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, Let me read that more carefully.
They themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had
unto you, unto the Thessalonians, and how you turn to God from
idols. Now I'm going to have a little
word with you about that in just a little bit. How you turn to
God from idols to serve the living and true God? And to wait for
His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus,
who delivered us from the wrath to come. The wrath to come. Alright,
now we've got a little, I hope, I don't know how much time. Well,
we've still got a little bit of time. If it was 5 minutes to 12, I'd
have to hurry up, but I don't think I need to this morning. Let me get things where I can
find them. Let's start with verse 5. Our gospel came not unto you
in word only. What we're looking for in these
This section of verses 5 through 10 in 1 Thessalonians 1, we're
looking for specific evidences of God's electing grace. Now, it's plain as day that Paul
said they were God's elect. and that God in Christ justified
them, but let's see how it is put in words in these verses
and in a couple of references in other places. Let's see, the first thing I
was supposed to read to you in regard to the fifth verse
of 1 Thessalonians 1. Here's what Isaiah had to say.
And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and
the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness. The meek also shall increase
their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice
in the Holy One of Israel. For the terrible one is brought
to nothing, and the scorner is consumed. And all that watch
for iniquity are cut off, that make a man an offender for one
word, and lay a snare for him that is reproved in the gate,
and turns aside the just for something of insignificance. They like certain things that
they find in the Bible and take it from its context and put it
in their list of rules and regulations. Religion loves rules and regulations. But if the truth be told, they
don't keep them. I'm sure we've tried it at least
a few times to keep the law of God, the Ten Commandments. And
according to the Lord Jesus, he's the only person with human
flesh who's ever done so. Nobody else has. The Pope hasn't.
All the bishops in the world haven't. All the religious people
in the world haven't. If we've kept the law, it has
to be in Christ, and no place else. The meek also shall inherit their
joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the
Holy One of Israel. For the terrible one is brought
to nothing, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch
for iniquity, that is, they watch other people trying to find out
when they make a mistake, you know, and step out of the straight
and narrow, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off. These people who are holier than
anybody else are destined for a different destination than
they're prepared for, I promise you. It ain't going to be heaven,
it's going to be hell. But make a man an offender for
a word, and lay a snare for him that reproves in the gate, and
turn aside the just for a thing of naught. Therefore, says the
Lord who redeemed Abraham concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall
not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale. But when he sees his children,
when Jacob sees his children, God says, the work of my hands
in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name and sanctify
the Holy One of Jacob, namely the Lord Jesus, and shall fear
none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must
be saved." Well, preacher, I love God, but I don't love Christ.
Well, you're lying there when you say you love God. You can't
love God and not love His Son. You can't love God and not love
this book that He puts before us and has miraculously Oh, century
after century after century has kept this book intact. Because
there were plenty of times and plenty of people that would have
loved nothing better than to shred it to pieces so they could
just make everybody believe whatever they said is the right religion. But indeed it isn't. It most
certainly is not. Alright, now we're coming back
to verse 5. These people have heard the gospel
of Christ, and it was not in word only, but it was in power. Take Lydia in the book of Acts, whose heart did what? The Lord opened. She heard the gospel of Christ.
How on earth did she do it? Plenty of others there that didn't.
All because God opened her heart. And if you and I are believers,
that's how we become believers. God has to perform a miracle
of His grace in our soul. And this hearing of the gospel
is not only in power, but it must also be in the Holy Spirit. Or as some of our readings showed
this morning, the Holy Ghost. They're interchangeable terms.
You can have whichever one you please, or both of them. I know you all are wondering, about my absence of brain. Well, it's like trading cars. I may do that real quick, pretty
soon. I need something upstairs. In Acts chapter 4, we have these
statements. Be it known unto you all and
to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ
of Nazareth, Whom you have crucified, whom God raised from the dead,
even by Him does this man stand before you whole." This was the
man that Peter and John passed by going to the temple
in Jerusalem, and they turned and said for the man to rise
and take up his bed and walk, and this he certainly did. This
is the stone which was set at naught of you builders. This
Lord, Jesus Christ, is the stone whom these Jewish builders could
not tolerate. He must go. We've got to get
rid of Him. We're going to lose our religion. We're going to lose our wonderful
status in that religion. If he'd have said he came to
get rid of the Roman domination, they'd have hugged his neck till
it hurt. But no, when they found out why he was coming, by the
way, why did he come? To save sinners. To save sinners. Paul adds, of
whom I'm chief. This is the stone which was set
at naught of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.
Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none
other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be
saved." Now we come to the second verse in 1 Thessalonians 1, that
would be verse 6. And Paul is referring now to
the believers in Thessalonica. And you became followers of us
and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction,
with joy in the Holy Spirit. You became followers of us, but
more importantly, and of the Lord, followers of Christ. not followers of men. Never,
never, never. I'll read you a statement out
of John chapter 10. Now this is to shed some light
on what Paul is speaking here in regard to the followers of
the Lord and receiving The word of the
gospel in much affliction and with joy of the Holy Ghost. John
chapter 10. Then came the Jews round about
him, that is, about the Lord Jesus, and they said unto him,
How long do you make us to doubt? And I'm telling you, they've
seen some things you and I ain't ever seen. I mean literally,
physically. But outward things can't change
inward things. Seeing with these eyes is not
the same as seeing through the eyes of the soul. How long do you make us to doubt
if you be the Christ? Tell us plainly. The Lord 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 believe
not. Boy, if this ain't election,
I don't know what is. If you believe not, because you're
not of my sheep, as I said unto you. And Matthew 25 makes an
absolute airtight case. I dare you to try to overturn
it. There's only two kinds of people
in this world. One is a sheep and the other
is a goat. And you don't find any changing from one side to
the other. You just can't do it. You cannot
do it. Our Lord said, but you believe
not, because you are not of my sheep. My sheep hear my voice,
and I know them, and they follow me. Boy, some days I wonder about
that. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow
me. God help us. And I give unto them eternal
life. Notice the word give. You can't earn it. You can't
buy it. It's free or it ain't at all. I give unto them eternal life,
and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand." These people became followers
of the Lord. In verses 7 and 8, we find that
they became examples and witnesses. Let me read you those two verses. Verses 7 and 8. We're still in
1 Thessalonians 1. "...so that you were examples
to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. For from you sounded
out the word of the Lord, not only in those provinces that
were closest to Thessalonica, but also," he said, "...in Macedonia
and Achaia, and in every place your faith to God is spread abroad,
so that We need not speak anything. Don't need to say a word. Not a word. They became examples
and witnesses. Let me get you to turn one more
time. Maybe two. Let me see where my other one
is. John. Man, you can hardly preach one
message without getting to John somehow or another. Chapter 6. In the closing part of John chapter
6, A fairly large crowd earlier
in this chapter are following and listening to the Lord Jesus. And beginning at about verse
63 and following, we find these people have left off following
Him. They didn't like what He had
to say. Verse 66, from that time, And the word time is added by
the translators. I don't think it's talking about
time. I think it is from that. That is, that we have just read
in this chapter. From that, many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him."
Now, do you understand that they never were his disciples? But
they thought they were. At one time, they aspired to
be. But they've heard something now that they can't swallow,
and it's stuck in their craw. Then said Jesus, verse 67, unto
the twelve, Will you also go away? Then Simon Peter answered
him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal
life, and we believe and are sure that you are that Christ,
the Son of the living God. Now that, my friend, is what you
call true discipleship. And even one of them was lying,
and that's Judas Iscariot. So the question is then in regard
to these Thessalonians folks and their being examples and
witnesses, here's what we witness to. Who Christ is. Never who Christ used to be. Whatever he used to be, he still
is. And not what Christ one day will be, because he's already
right now what he is. Past, present, and future. I
mean, you do believe he's God, don't you? Then God can't change. You can't quit being God. You
just can't do that. Not only who he is, but what
he's done for poor, helpless sinners. And the third influence
of this, examples and witnesses. Why he did it. Why did the Lord
Jesus come to this earth? He knew what awaited him. The Holy Three-in-One, Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit, determined the precise time, place, events,
and circumstances to bring our Lord Jesus into this world, that
He might live for thirty years with perfect obedience to the
law and person of God, that His people might be made perfect
in Him. Not only who he is, but what
he's done. And why he did it. Why did he
do it? He did it for his people. He
did it for the honor and glory of God. And where is he now? Craig, Doug, Curtis, Ed, Somebody
will have to bail me out on this. Why did he do it? Where is he
now? Where is he now? He's in heaven
interceding. Interceding. Verse 9 in our passage, 1 Thessalonians
1.9, It says they turned to God from idols. I already promised
you, I had this, oh my goodness, but I've got to tell you a little
bit about this. Do you remember when you got rid of your idol? Can you recall? When did you leave false religion? You must have or you can't be
born again. I had a lot of help understanding
mine because mine involved getting put out of Baptist churches.
It was plain as day that what they believed and what I preached
was not the same thing. Turn to God for miles. The first book I can remember
getting hold of in regard to that matter was A.W. Pink's The Sovereignty of God.
And I want you to know it turned me upside down. And to show you how dumb and
stupid I was, I started preaching it. I think I might have lasted
another nine months, but that was it. I mean, they came to
me specifically with these words. If you'll go back to preaching
like you used to, he said, please don't leave. But he said, we
can't handle what you're preaching now. That's exactly right. And he's right. And these people are said to
have waited for the Son of God from heaven.