Since I was here with you in
March, I've had cataracts removed from
both my eyes. I had one on the left eye removed
in April, and one on the right eye removed in May. And the young
lady who did the surgery is an outstanding ophthalmologist. She graduated with my daughter
Becky from high school and went to college with her and went
to school with your pastor. Just a young lady, forty-three,
but she's a marvelous surgeon. She's our best. And when I found out that I had to
have this surgery, of course, I went to her. And she told me she was quite honored
to have the privilege of giving me better sight. I said, are
you going to give me better sight? She said, yes. She said, I'm
going to take that cataract out. and put a lens in, and I'll do
away with those big, thick glasses you wear. And you'll be able
to see much, much, much, much better than you ever have, than
you have in a long, long time, since I was 18. And I do. I read 2030 with the left eye
and about 2040 with the right eye last time I was in there.
They gradually improve over a period of weeks, and I'm seeing so well. I'm just so happy about it. In
fact, some of the nearsighted people in our church called her
and asked her if they would take their old ends out and put new
ones in. She said, No, I won't do that. But I'm real happy about it. I haven't, the site hasn't leveled
off to where I can get new glasses to read with. I'm doing well
at a distance, but I have to have glasses to read with. And
I asked her, she said, now you have to wait about three months
after the first surgery to get your permanent glasses. I said,
in the meantime, what do I do? She said, go to Wal-Mart. and
get you a pair of reading glasses, 2.50 plus, something like that. So these are them. And I got up the first Sunday
after I had this surgery, and I put them on like this. And some of them laughed, and
I said, You can laugh the first time,
but if anybody ever laughs again, like Nancy's doing now, you're
going before the elders. And I have to have them, but
I can't see with them or without them. I'm just in a real bad
state. But it'll get better. I've got
an appointment July the 22nd. to correct all of this. But I
see this pretty well, but it's just real confusing. So you put up with me. I may
use them some and not use them. But one thing one of the men
of the church said, you're pointing with those things. And I found myself doing that,
you know, pointing with these glasses. But one person said
it made me look sophisticated. So I need a lot of that. I need
all the help I can get to look sophisticated. I want you to
open your Bibles tonight to the book of II Thessalonians. I'm
going to bring you a message that I brought recently to our
people at home, and they were greatly blessed by this message. Many of them said they were.
They were greatly blessed. And I hadn't spoken on the subject
in a long time, but the title of my message tonight is The
Beloved Doctrine of Election. The Beloved Doctrine of Election. A friend of mine, a friend of
Brother Barnard's, many years ago, T.B. Freeman, some of you may remember
the name down in Florida, wrote a track and The title of the
tract was The Hated Doctrine of Election. He wrote the tract,
a pretty good-sized tract, and on the front, The Hated Doctrine
of Election. And he sent one of the first
copies to Brother Ralph Barnett up in Western Salem, North Carolina,
asking him to read it and offer some advice concerning the tract. And Brother Barnard wrote across
the front of it, changed the name of this tract. Changed the name. He said it's
not a hated doctrine, it's a beloved doctrine. Election is not the sinner's
enemy, it's the sinner's friend. If he had not chosen me, I would
have never been saved. I would have never chosen him.
It's a beloved doctrine. And that's what I'm going to
talk about this evening is the beloved doctrine of election.
When David, anointed king by Samuel the prophet
at a very early age, David, who was called in the scripture a
man after God's own heart. It's in there twice, isn't it?
Man after God's own God said, I have found David to be a man
after my own heart. Sweet psalmist of Israel, wrote
the most blessed psalms, and a mighty warrior. He said that the seed of David
would sit on the throne, the everlasting throne, the root
of Jesse, the tribe of Judah, the seed of David. What better example could we
have than David as far as relationship with God's concern? And when
David came to die, and they were all standing around
waiting for David to die, and I'm sure everyone listening to
see what his final exhortation would be, his final word. You
know, I, you remember, some of you have had loved ones die,
and you remember the last thing you heard them say, don't you?
It has great emphasis, great weight. The last thing, I remember
the last thing certain people have said. I remember Charlie
Payne, I went to visit him in the hospital. He had open heart
surgery and he didn't survive the surgery. Never again consciousness. And I was standing in his room
before they, in fact, his wife and I were the last ones to talk
to him. And they came and him to the
operating room. He looked up at me and he said,
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. That's the last thing
I ever heard him say. And I could tell you other experiences,
but I won't. But David was dying, and I'm
sure that his chief captains and his son Solomon and several
others were standing about the bed waiting to hear what he would
say. His words are recorded in 2 Samuel 23, 5. These be the
last words of David. You know what they were? He said,
I'm sure you do, he said, Although it be not so with my house, God the Lord hath made with me
an everlasting covenant. That's election. That's sovereign
grace. That's particular redemption.
That's discriminating mercy. God hath made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things, and sure. And this is all my
salvation and all my desire. I'm resting in nothing else.
I'm trusting in nothing else. I die with no other hope than
the fact He loved me and gave Himself for me. He made with
me a covenant of grace, a covenant of mercy, covenant mercies. And
that's the way he died, and that's the way I want to die. That's the way I want to die.
Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my latter end be like
Cephas, resting in God's sovereign mercy and sovereign grace. And
I have four questions. This will make this message easier
for you to understand and remember. I trust it will make it easier
for you to remember. Here are the four questions.
the doctrine of election. What is election? And the second
question is, how may I know that I'm elect? That's a good question,
isn't it? How may I know that I'm elect?
And the third question is, what are the effects of election?
What will election do for you if you really believe it, if
you really understand it? What effect will it have on you?
What effect does election have on those who believe it? And
then the fourth question is, why preach election? Why preaching? All right, let's
look at II Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 13. And Paul says, 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. What is the doctrine of election?
Well, first, it's a doctrine of praise. It's a cause for praise, not
for anger, not for argument, not for debate. It's a cause
for praise. Paul said, I'm bound to give
thanks for you because God hath chosen you to salvation. I'm
bound to give thanks. If he had not chosen me, I would
not have chosen him. The hymn writer said this, "'Tis
not that I did choose thee." Lord, that could not be. This
heart of mine would still refuse thee if you had not chosen me. And everywhere you find the doctrine
of election in the Scripture, you'll find it coupled with praise. Isn't that true? Everywhere you
find. Our Lord Jesus Christ talked
about the cities of Capernaum and Bethsaida and others in which
his mighty works were done, but they repented not. And then he
paused and lifted his eyes to heaven, and he said, Father,
I thank Thee. I thank Thee, Lord of heaven
and earth. I thank Thee. I praise Thee that Thou hast
hid these things from the wise and the prudent, and You have
revealed it to babes. Even so, Father, it seemed good
in thy sight." That's praise. And that's what Paul's doing
here. I'm bound to give thanks to God for you, because God hath
chosen you to salvation. Ephesians 1. All of you can quote
Ephesians 1, verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath chosen us in Christ. before the foundation of the
world. He's blessed us with all spiritual
blessings, 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, having predestinated us unto the adoption
of children according to the good pleasure of His own will.
in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sin, according
to the riches of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted into
the loving, to the praise of the glory of his grace." To the
praise of the glory of his grace. Election is a cause for praise.
It's not the cause to get mad and get all upset and argue and
have a knockdown drag out, it's a cause for praise. Praise. Praise God. Blessed, David said
in the Psalm sixty-five, blessed is the man whom thou choosest,
whom thou choosest, and causes to approach unto thee. That man
is blessed. Highly favored, happy, twice
blessed of God. In verse thirteen, we're bound
to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of
the Lord. Election is not only a cause
for praise, but it's based on love. Election is based on love. That's the reason Barnard said
to T.B., change the name. It's not the hated doctrine,
it's the beloved doctrine. But who's love for whom? He has
love for us. I thank God for you, Terry Kinsley,
because God from the beginning had chosen you to salvation because
he loved you. That's why he chose you, because
he loved you. That's right. You know, John wrote in 1 John,
herein is love. Here is love. I'm going to prick
up my ears and listen. This is an apostle writing under
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and he said, here is love. here's
love. I think I've seen certain forms
of love. I've stood at the front of our
church, have your marriage, your pastor, he was standing here,
and his best man over here, and we were waiting, and the door
opened, down the aisle came Middy. And I've gone through this many
times, many times. And I watched this young man
and He's looking at her, and he just loves her. Good night. He just loves her, and she comes
down smiling, and she sees him, and love is everywhere. And I've
gone, and it's just everywhere. It's just there's so much in
love, and that's a form of love. And then I've gone to the hospital,
and I visited mothers. And they'll have a little bundle
of joy there around, with their arms wrapped around them, you
know. And you look, I don't look at the baby, I look at the mother.
That's where you see the, that's where the joy is. She just loves
that little, and the dad's standing there like he's done something,
you know. And it's just a, it's a sweet scene. Here's love. But
you know, that's not what John says love is. Because sometimes
that love fades. Sad, isn't it? Sometimes it fades. But here's love. Not that we
loved each other, loved God. He loved us. Here is love, Johnson. You want lusty love? You want
experienced love? You want demonstration of it?
Here's love. God loved us and gave his Son
to be the propitiation for our sins. And that love never changes. It's infinite, everlasting, immutable,
unchangeable, indescribable, unspeakable, unsearchable. It's the love of God. That's
love. And that's what this whole thing's
based on. He loved us. He said, I've loved
you with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness
have I drawn you. He loved me. Oh, I tell you. I tell you. I wish I did love God like I
ought to. We will someday. But I'll tell
you this, He loves us. He loves us. And that's what
election's based on, His love for me. And then thirdly, it's
an eternal work. We're bound to give thanks always
to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath
from the beginning chosen you to salvation. When? John, we know three things, you
and I know three things, positively, without a doubt. I know, number
one, I know this, I didn't choose God. God chose me. Now I know that. Now that's just
a fact. Anybody that doesn't know that
doesn't know himself or God. Now I know He chose us. Secondly,
I know when He chose us. He chose us in Christ before
the foundation of the world. Before time began, before God
ever laid the first rock in this world, or the first star in the
universe, He chose us. That's what it said. Christ is
a lamb slain from the foundation of the world. God chose us in
Christ before the world began. God chose us from the beginning.
He chose us. The third thing I know is this.
What is it? It wasn't because of anything
he saw in me. The reason why he chose you or
me is according to the good pleasure of his own will. He didn't see
anything you would do, anything you would have, anything you
could contribute to him. What can we contribute to God?
All in the world God saw when he looked down through the ages
and saw us was a depraved heart, desperately wicked, who can know
it. That's exactly what he said.
But he set his affection upon her. I know that. You know that. Turn over to 2 Timothy, chapter
1, just a moment. 2 Timothy, chapter 1. And you know, while you're finding
that Titus, Paul said in Titus, he said, not by works of righteousness
which we've done, but according to his mercy, mercy, he had saved
just And here in 2 Timothy 1-9, he had saved us and called us
with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
his own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus
before this world began. Now that's... how could it be
any plainer? If words mean anything, how could
it be clearer? I didn't choose him, he chose
me. When did he choose me? Before the world began. Why did
he choose me? He found it in his own heart
to choose me. According to his own will, he
set his affection upon us. We love him because he loved
us. We seek him because he seeks
us. We call because he called. Everything
we do is preceded by something he does to motivate us. That's just, that's wonderful. You, I tell you, we better be
glad God didn't leave us to our wills. I mean now, I mean now. I mean from this point on, the
steps of a righteous man are ordered by the Lord. The what?
The walk? The steps, every step I take
is ordered by the Lord. Where I put my foot is ordained
by God. That's right. Oh, here's the
fourth thing. Election is unto salvation. Look at the text.
We're bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved
of the Lord, because God has from the beginning chosen you
to salvation. Now listen to me. Election's
not salvation. It's not salvation. Man's not
saved because he's elected. He's saved because Christ died
for him. He saved because Christ obeyed the law and gave us a
perfect standing, a perfect holiness, a perfect righteousness, and
put away our sins. He died just for the unjust. He died to bring us to God. Election
doesn't bring me to God. Christ does. You see that? You sure sure do. Now listen
to me. Election is not salvation. All
those old Jews believed in election. That's right. They believed they
were God's chosen people, but they didn't know Christ, and
they perished. They believed they were God's
chosen. Everyone believed in election.
Every one of them. And they believed because they
were chosen, they were saved. That's not so. Now I'm glad. Now listen to me. I rejoice that
the Lord didn't pass me by. I rejoice that he didn't leave
me in darkness. I rejoice that he didn't leave
me in the kingdom of evil. I rejoice, and I'm thankful and
praise his name, that he chose us in Christ before the world
began. But I don't look to that covenant
and to election to save me. I look to Christ. Isn't that
right? We look to Christ. We look to
our Mediator. We look to the Son of God. I
am—you read it over there. Let's turn over there. Terry
read this in a study a little while ago in Revelation 5. Here's the people in heaven.
Here they are, a number which no man can number, out of every
tribe, nation, kindred, and tongue unto heaven. And verse 9 of Revelation
5 says, they sung a new song. What was it? Thou art worthy
to take the book, and to open the seals thereof, for thou was
slain. has redeemed us to God by thy
blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation,
and hath made us under our guard kings and priests, and we shall
reign, not because we were elect, but because Christ died for us."
I hope I'm making that clear like I ought to. The saints in
glory do not praise election. They praise him who elected.
in that right posture. They don't praise the doctrine,
they praise the person. I'm not saved because I'm elected.
I'm elected to salvation. We're elected to salvation. And
that's one of the... I've got some friends that are,
I'm afraid, are married to a doctrine. And it's fearful. It's fearful. We're married to a person. We're
one with a person. And we look to Him. We rest in
Him. We trust. He is my peace. He
is my peace. Well, somebody says, I love the
sovereignty of God, Brother May, and why don't we word it this
way? I love the God who's sovereign.
It's like a fellow said, well, I believe in prayer. Well, I
wouldn't shock anybody, but I don't. I believe in God who answers
prayer. Prayer's not a, it's not a magic
recipe, is it? And we don't trust prayer, we
trust Him. It's Him. And so election, we,
I love to study it and preach it, but it's Christ who elected
Him. Christ is, is our Redeemer. And then notice this, election. What is the doctrine of election?
Verse thirteen, one more time, look at it. He calls, he calls
for praise. We're bound to give thanks to
God for you, brethren. It's based on love, beloved of
the Lord. It's an eternal act and work
God had from the beginning chosen you, and it's true salvation.
And listen, it's always through sanctification of the Spirit
and belief of the truth. Always. Salvation of the elect
is always accompanied by two things. the Spirit and the Word,
always. Sanctification of the Spirit
and belief of the Word. Now, listen to me. You know,
Mary, when the angel said, You're going to have a son, she said,
Not possible. I don't know a man. Not possible. A woman cannot
have a child unless there's a man and a seed. That's right. That's the reason Joseph, you
know, he had to be told that. That child being born of her
is the Son of God. The Holy Spirit came upon her. And he's the seed of woman. And
when a man is born again, woman, man or woman, boy or girl is
born again, there's two present. There's the Holy Spirit and the
Word of God. Always. When life is begotten
by nature, there's a person and a seed. And when life is begotten
by the Spirit, is the Spirit and the seed. Of his own will
begat he us with the Word." Isn't that right? We're born again,
not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible seed, the Word
of God. So that's what he's saying here,
sanctification of the Spirit. The Spirit comes and sets...
I told him tonight about Ron Traban and Trish. over here to preach. I married
them thirty-some-odd years ago. They were both school teachers.
They were in college then. They were both going to teach
school. And they came to church, sat on the back row for fifteen
years. Never heard a word I said. They
were just religious. Never ever saw them. Never in
their homes. I saw him on Sunday morning way
back there in the back. As far back as they could get.
Ronnie said he used to count the tiles. One, two, three, four,
five. He'd count all the tiles in the
roof of the church, you know. He knew how many tiles were there.
He'd watch people nod their heads and wonder why they're nodding
their heads, you know. He used to tell me that. One Sunday morning,
the Holy Spirit took the Word and put it in here. And I came
out And I studied Sunday night and said, I looked back there
and there, they sat Sunday night. They'd never been to church on
Sunday night in 15 years. Came out Wednesday night and
said, I thought, uh-oh, something's going on here. God's doing something. The Holy Spirit and the Word.
And that went on for weeks. They never missed a service,
never missed a Bible study. And one day, I was sitting in
my home or church one day. He called and said, would you
come over and talk to us? I said, yeah. So I got in the
car and went over there. I'd never been in their home.
And I went inside the house, and I said, what do you want
to talk about? He said, I believe—tears came in—he said, I believe the
Lord saved us. You see, but it's always the
Spirit and the Word. Paul said that in Galatians 1.
Listen. God who separated me from my mother's womb called
me by His grace. and revealed His Son in me. He
chose me, He called me by Spirit, and He revealed His Son. How? Through the Word. Through
the Word. And that's what—that's election. And that's beautiful. That's
so precious. How can I believe anything else?
That's what the Word teaches. All right, here's the second
question. How's our election known? How do you know you're
God's Turn to 2 Peter 1. 2 Peter chapter 1. You can't read
the Lamb's Book alive. You haven't been able to peer
into the awesome covenant. How do you know you're one of
God's elect? Peter wrote here in 2 Peter 1.10, Wherefore the
rather brethren give diligence to make your calling and election
sure. If you do these things, you'll
never fail. Make your what? Your calling
sure. Your calling. If you're called,
you're one of God's elect. But which is first? The calling. God called. Paul wrote, and it's
said that 1 Thessalonians was his first epistle. I don't know
that, but that's what they claim. His first epistle Paul ever wrote
was 1 Thessalonians. And he wrote to them, and he
said, Brethren, I know your election of God. Remember that verse,
1 Thessalonians 1, verse 4? Knowing, brethren, beloved, your
election of God. And in much assurance, and in
the Holy Ghost, you heard, you were called. That's how you know
you're elected. Everybody who's elected is going
to be called. Whom he foreknew, he predestinated. Whom he predestinated,
he called. The other night I went to high
school graduation. My granddaughter, Carrie, graduated
from high school last Friday night, and Paul came over and
we all went. They give a special award every
year to the outstanding male and female graduates of Ashland
High School, and the 280-some-odd graduates in that class. And
we were all sitting there in the big gymnasium, and there
were all the children, and there was Kerry. You just see your
own, you know. There's 280, but all you see
is your own. And we were sitting there, and
this lady got up to give the counselors and the principal
and the teachers pick an outstanding girl and outstanding boy. Nobody
knows who it is but the counselor. and the faculty. And she got
up and she said the most outstanding student, female student, of the
class of 1996 is this, this, went to Beta Club and to name
different things. And then she called Carrie Coffey. And Carrie got up, went up there
before all that crowd, gave her a standing ovation, gave her
a diamond ring and And she came over to the house after the graduation.
I said, honey, did you know that you were going to get that? Oh,
no. No, I didn't. I said, you didn't
have an idea? She said, no. I thought Haley
would get it, or one of the other girls. She said, I didn't think
I'd get it. I said, when did you know you
got it? She said, when they called my name. And I didn't know I was one of
God's elect, John. But I found it out when he called
my name." That's right. When he called you by his word,
you'll know. You'd have never, Joe, you'd
have never believed this if he hadn't called you. You'd despise this like
your religious friends despised it if he hadn't called you. You'd
get no joy out of this if he hadn't called you. That's how
I know you're one of God's elect. He called you. He revealed his
gospel. See me pointing with these things?
That's what they say. He calls you by our gospel. He
revealed the truth to you. You listen to me. The Bible does
not say, oh, everyone that's elected, come to the water. It
says, everyone that's thirsty. And you were thirsty. Who made
you thirsty? He did. The Bible doesn't say,
come unto me all ye that are elect, and I'll give you rest.
It says, come unto me all ye that are labor, weary, heavy
laden, and I'll give you rest. The Bible
doesn't say, He that's elected hath eternal life. It says, He
that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. That's how
you know you're elect. I believe on the Son. I believe
Him. I believe everything He said.
I believe it more all the time. The Bible does not say, whosoever
is elected shall be saved. It says, whosoever shall call
on the name of the Lord shall be saved. That's how you know
you're one of God's elect. That's right. So don't try to
peer into the books of God. The secret things belong to the
Lord. But Carrie told me, she said, the counselor knew that
I was the one. And our counselor knows, too.
And when it's time for you to know, He'll call you, through
your pastor, through the Word, through the preacher, through
the Word, through the Spirit in the Word. He'll call you.
And He'll keep calling. My sheep hear my voice. I give
them eternal life and they'll never perish. All right, what
are the effects of election? Well, turn to Ephesians 2. Ephesians
2. Ephesians chapter 2. Let's look
at this a minute. Ephesians chapter 2. Now then, Ephesians 2 says in
verse 1, You hath bequickened who were dead in trespasses and
sins, wherein in times past you walked according to the course
of this world, according to the prince of the piety of the air,
the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.
among whom also we all had our behavior, our conversation, our
citizenship in times past, and the lust of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of our flesh, and of the mind were by nature children
of wrath even as others." That's what we were. I know that. That's what we were. Ungodly,
without hope, without help, without God, without Christ. That's what
we were. And what did God do? Listen,
verse four. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead, dead in trespasses and sin, quickened us to gather with
Christ by gracious faith." That's what God did. When you realize
what you were, and see what he did, and really realize what
he did. And listen, and what we are now,
listen. Verse 6, And he hath raised us
up together, and made us sit together in the heavenlies in
Christ. That's what he's done. That's
what we are now. We're seated with Christ in the heavenlies.
And then look what he's going to do, listen. Verse 7, That
in the ages to come, He might show the exceeding riches of
his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." Listen,
when you know what you were, and what God did, and what we
have now, and what we're going to have, that brings joy to your
heart. So that's the effect of election.
It makes you rejoice in Him. Rejoice. Rejoice. Secondly, I'll tell you, this
is my lecture. It not only produces joy. And
let's do, let's do this. I've tried to learn this through
the years. Let's quit arguing sovereignty
and election. Let's just quit arguing, because
it's, it's, if a man doesn't see it, he's not going to sit
and, oh, God opens his eyes. And it's, it's, it kind of gives
the wrong impression that, that we're We're not happy with what
we believe, and we're trying to force it on someone. So let's
do, every time we mention this, let's rejoice in it. Let's rejoice
in it. Rejoice in his mercy. Rejoice
in his grace. Rejoice in his covenant. Rejoice
in these things. Be happy. Be happy. And I'll tell you a second thing.
The true knowledge of election, it produces and it promotes humility. Now, brother, I'll tell you,
and my dear friends, I'll tell you this. Grace and pride are
incomparable. Incompatible means they can't
get along. Where you find grace in the heart, you don't find
pride, you find humility. God said, Who maketh thee to
differ? What do you have you didn't receive? It just, it doesn't
produce pride. It produces humility. Paul, humility. Paul said, I am what I am by
the grace of God. The grace of God, and that's the reason grace
churches, where people believe grace, are generally free from
strife and discord and trouble, because everybody feels like
they're the chief of sinners. They're less than the least of
all the saints. We're not worthy to be called a child of God.
We're—it produces humility. You go first. Oh, you go first. You know, let's say it your way. That's just the spirit of grace. It's humility. And then thirdly,
it comforts you. Election comforts. And we know
that all things work together for good to them who love God,
who are the called according to his purpose. Now, these trials
are heavy. These burdens are heavy. To walk
through this world is a difficult but we know who's on the throne.
And he, nothing can take place in the believer's life that's
not ordained and purposed of the heavenly Father. I know that,
and you know that. That gives you comfort. Where
else can you get comfort? You start talking about if, if
we'd have done this, if we'd have done that, if we hadn't
have done this, you got problems. He overrules. Even our mistakes,
our bad judgment is overruled for His glory. That's right. And then I think, I believe it
gives assurance. Whom He foreknew, He predestinated. Whom He predestinated, He called
him. He called, He justified him. He justified, He glorified.
It gives us assurance. Election gives you assurance.
I'll tell you this, election makes dying a lot easier, too.
David found comfort in God's sovereign mercy. And I'll tell
you this, fourth, in the next place, sixthly, election assures
us that our preaching's not in vain. It's not in vain. He said, My word will not return
to me void. It'll accomplish that word to
our sin. It's not in vain. Paul said, I endure all things
for the elect's sake, that they might come to knowledge of Christ.
We gather here tonight and preach this message. Paul sings that
song. You'll gather here Sunday. We'll
preach. Sometimes we feel like, well,
we say the same thing over and over, preach to God. That's right,
but it's not in vain. It's not in vain. God will use
it in his divine purpose, for his glory, when it pleases him.
All right, here's the last question, and I'll close. Why should election
be preached to all men? Well, number one, because it's
the Word of God. That's the reason. That's the
reason I'm preaching. Sovereignty and election in particular,
it's the Word of God. Particular redemption is what
God says. I can't preach anything. Necessities
laid upon me, worries under me if I don't preach the gospel.
We're not sent to preach what we think, we're sent to preach
his word. And Paul said, I've kept back
nothing profitable unto you. I'm not shunned, declaring to
you all the counsel of God. And then secondly, we preach
election because it glorifies God. It gives God all the glory. Who saved whom gives him all
the glory. Salvations of the Lord from start
to finish. start to finish. It's of the
Lord in its planning, it's of the Lord in its execution, it's
of the Lord in its sustaining power, it's of the Lord in its
ultimate perfection. It's of the Lord in its application.
It's all of God from start to finish. Somebody asked Spurgeon
one day, I said, what is your Calvinism? What is your Calvinism? He said, very simple, the whole
of the the whole of the work, whereby a lost sinner is lifted
from the dunghill, from the dunghill, and washed, and given life, and
sanctified, and cleansed, and robed in righteousness, and lifted
to the right hand of God, and made a son of God and a prince
and a king and a priest to reign with Christ, all of the work
from the dunghill to the throne is of the Lord and of Him only. That's my calculus. It's all
of grace. And here's the third reason for
preaching it. It's the sinner's only hope.
It's my only hope that God chose me and Christ died for me and
the Holy Spirit called me. Now listen, We take you back
there to the deep waters of the sea and down many, many fathoms,
fathoms, down to the bottom of the sea is a great fish. And inside that fish, closed
up, he sat in prison, iron bars around him forever. seaweed wrapped
around his head is a dead man called Jonah. I believe Jonah died in that
fish's belly. I don't believe he—I don't believe
he lived. As Jonah was in the belly of
the fish, so shall the Son of Man be in the earth, dead. Jonah did when he first went
in there. He said, I'll look towards the temple. Jonah uttered
these three words, four words, salvation, five words, is of
the Lord. And his hope of getting out of
that fished belly and back standing on the land is entirely one hundred
percent of the Lord. And there you got the same hope.
Isn't that right? If you are brought out of a spiritual
grave, dead and trespassed as a and put it in the right hand
of God. I'll tell you who will start
it, and who will apply it, and who will execute it, and who
will finish it, and who will seat you there. Here's a hand
of God, and He'll get all the glory. And that's my hope. That's
my hope. Salvation's of the Lord. I cry
out of the depths, out of the depths, David said in Psalm 1,
Out of the dead have I cried unto thee, O God. Lord, hear
my voice. Lord, if thou should mark iniquity,
who would stand? But this forgiveness was made,
that thou mayest defend." The beloved doctrine of the nation.
How could anybody not love it and give thanks, young or old? All right, thank you. I'm so thankful for that message. I hate it when men add things
to messages after they're preached. I hate that. Preachers are bad
about that. And I'm not going to do it right
now. But I couldn't help but think
how that we were chosen to hear that message. I didn't announce. Sunday that he was coming to
preach, and I'm glad I did. But I thank God. We're bound
to give thanks tonight that God chose us from the beginning to
come here and hear this message. Highly favored. I was blessed
by that. I appreciate it. All right, let's
stand and give God thanks for the Word. Our Lord, we do thank you that
we've been here tonight. We believe you have spoken to
us through your word. We've seen you high and lifted
up. We've seen Christ as our only hope, and we take comfort
and have come to him by faith. And we believe this is the work
of your Holy Spirit. Thank you, Lord, for bringing
us here. Thank you for giving us an understanding that we may
know Him that is true, the true God and eternal life. And it's
in Jesus Christ's name we've met together tonight. Amen. Thank you.