God's Ragtag Chosen

Q: What does the Bible say about God's chosen people?

The Bible teaches that God's chosen people are the weak and foolish in the eyes of the world, reflecting His grace not human merit. In 1 Corinthians 1:26-30, Paul declares that not many wise or noble are called, highlighting that God's choice is often contrary to human expectations. This choice is deliberate; God selects those who are viewed as nobodies and base things to demonstrate His grace and power. Through their weakness, His strength is made manifest, ensuring that no flesh will glory in His presence (1 Corinthians 1:29). Thus, true believers can take comfort in their status as God's chosen, not based on their accomplishments, but solely on His sovereign grace.

Q: How do we know that God chooses the weak and foolish?

Scripture explicitly states that God chooses the foolish things to confound the wise, exemplified in 1 Corinthians 1:27. In 1 Corinthians 1:27-28, Paul emphasizes that God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. This is evident throughout Scripture where God often chooses unlikely people or circumstances to fulfill His purposes, such as David, a shepherd boy, to be king. The purpose behind this divine choice is to showcase His power and wisdom, which stand in stark contrast to the wisdom of the world. Such choices lead to a clear understanding that any glory belongs to God alone, not to human accomplishments or intellect. This is foundational in Reformed theology, emphasizing the sovereignty of God in salvation.

Q: Why is humility important for Christians?

Humility is vital for Christians because it allows us to recognize our dependence on God's grace rather than our own abilities. Humility is a central theme in the Christian faith, often contrasted with pride, which Scripture identifies as an abomination (Proverbs 6:16-17). Those who enter the kingdom of God must come as little children, which signifies a posture of dependence and trust (Matthew 18:3). The emphasis on humility aligns with God's choice of the meek and lowly as His instruments to confound the wise and powerful. Recognizing that we have nothing to boast of in ourselves leads to true adoration of God's grace and encourages a spirit of service among believers, fostering unity and mutual encouragement in the faith.

Q: How does God's grace relate to our salvation?

God's grace is the unearned favor that enables our salvation, affirming that it is not by works but through faith in Christ alone. In sovereign grace theology, salvation is rooted in God's grace, which is given freely and not based on human merit (Ephesians 2:8-9). This is exemplified in 1 Corinthians 1:30-31, where Paul declares that believers are in Christ Jesus, who has been made our wisdom and righteousness. The doctrine of grace asserts that our salvation is entirely a result of God's discriminating grace, penetrating the hearts of the unworthy and transforming their lives. It reveals the fullness of His mercy and underscores that boasting in one's abilities or merits is futile. Hence, Christians are to glory in the Lord alone, recognizing His sovereign work in their salvation.

I mentioned this morning that
I was over here. I forget which day it was that
I was working on this particular message or trying to find the
message, but I got over early and I'm an early morning person,
some people like, some men like to study late at night for their
message, but I like the early morning. Came over pretty early
and wrestled and searched, read, just couldn't seem to come up
with anything. Anybody that's tried it, you
know what I'm talking about, whether it be a teacher or anybody,
you know what I'm talking about. I just couldn't come up with
with anything. Prayed, tried to pray, got up,
walked around, just anything I could to seek some direction
with a message in it. Rolled around, it just went on
for about four or five hours, from about seven till noon. And
I still couldn't come up with anything, and one of our ladies
came over for lunch, just kind of unexpectedly, brought me lunch. And we sat around talking, and
she told me something of her story, her and her husband. And after she left, I was so
blessed by the fellowship and with hearing about her, her life,
and the way the Lord had dealt with her and her husband, that
I had my message. I had it. It was so plain, and
I turned right to it and started studying it. And I believe it'll
be a blessing to you, too. But as I said, I've entitled
this, God's Ragtag Chosen People. I don't know where that saying
came from, but I've heard that for a long time. I don't know
what it means. I think it has something to do with just, well,
ragtag. Just worthless, you know. Seemingly
worthless. God's ragtag chosen people. But God says that there are seven
things that are an abomination to him. Six things he hates,
seven are an abomination. The first of which, he says,
is a proud look, or pride, in other words. Pride. Pride goeth
before fall, Scripture says. He that exalteth himself shall
be abased. Make no mistake about it. The Lord shall cut off all flattering
lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things, the scripture said. Turn over to Isaiah chapter 23
with me. Our text is in 1 Corinthians,
but in Isaiah chapter 23, listen to this. This is a serious,
revealing scripture. Isaiah 23, verse 9. Isaiah 23, 9. The Lord of hosts
hath purposed it to stain the pride of all glory. Isaiah 23, 9. He's purposed to
stain the pride of all glory and to bring into contempt all
the honorable. of the earth. That which is highly
esteemed among men is an abomination to God. In other words, that
man, that thing, whatever it is, that men esteem so highly,
is an abomination to God. An abomination. And the Apostle Paul, this is perhaps
one of my favorite scriptures. Speaking of God's discriminating
grace, he says, Who makes thee to differ from another? I'm going
to have framed a picture. I found a picture in Time magazine
of a man holding his little girl. He's an Ethiopian man, and he's
real gaunt looking, real thin from lack of nutrition or lack
of food, and his little baby is He's holding his little baby
girl in his arms, and she's dying, all beloaded, and so you've seen
the picture. And I want to take that picture and put it on one
side, and then take a picture of me and my healthy, robust
girl, and put it on the other side, and put this scripture
right in the middle of it, to remind me, who makes you to differ? Who makes you to differ from
another? Why is that man where he is, and why am I where I'm
at? the grace of God Almighty. No other reason. No other reason.
And what have you that you did not receive? Now, if you did
receive it, why do you glory as if you had not received it?
Nevertheless, men and women are full of pride, aren't they? The peacock has nothing over
a man. He's mild compared to a man and
a woman. Even though God gives us, gives
men and women and young people everything they have, everything
they are, all of their talents, all of their gifts, their beauty,
their strength, all of these things, God freely bestows it,
according to His good pleasure, discriminately. He gives it,
everything we have and are. Yet men still boast of it, as
if they themselves had attained it, don't they? We do. We catch
ourselves doing it all the time. We do. As if by our own wisdom
and strength we've got what we've got. Well, the worst form of pride is pride of knowledge,
pride of what we know, or think we know. If any man of scripture
says, if any man thinks he knows anything, He knows nothing, yet
is yelting up, doesn't he? If we think we're something when
we're nothing, we deceive ourselves, as Scripture says. And this is
the worst form of pride—pride of knowledge, of intellect—considering
ourselves to be wise and learned. Most everybody knows most everything,
don't they? Ask them. Ask me. I can ask you. Isn't that true? Most everybody knows everything
about anything. And this is especially true about
religion. Especially true. I mean, a man
or a woman, they might not be able to quote you one scripture
verbatim, exactly as it is, and tell you where it's found and
so forth. But they know about the Bible, you know. They know
God. They know all there is to know. I don't know much about
the Bible, you know, but I know what I think. Well, this is especially
true about religion, about God and the Bible. And Paul says
in our text, look at 1 Corinthians 1. The Apostle Paul says here
in the text, excuse me, in 1 Corinthians 1, verse 20, he says, Where is
the wise? 1 Corinthians 1, verse 20. Where is the wise? The scribe or the disputer of
this world, where is the wise man, the man that thinks he's
wise? Where is this scribe, this Bible reader? Where is this agnostic,
this disputer? Let him come forth. Let him stand
before the scripture. Let him stand before the truth
of the gospel. Let's hear what he has to say
before God's word. Let him come forward. Let him
stand up and see if they can discredit what God really has
to say. Come on. Where are they? Where
are they? He's as if he's challenging them.
Where is the wise man? Let him come forth. He says here
in the second part of this verse, he says, hasn't God made foolish
the wisdom of this world? Hasn't God shown these worldly
wise men to be just what they are, just fools? I mean, they've
come and gone over the years, haven't they? All your agnostics,
all your worldly wise men, they've come and gone. They're dead.
They've gone the way of all flesh. They've come up with Darwin.
All of them have come up with their various wise philosophy
and theories and so forth. Where are they? They're standing
before a holy God now. Where are they? We've still got
them, though. They're still in our midst. And
God has revealed their wisdom to be just what it is. Foolish. Foolish, the wisdom of this world.
The fool has said, no God. The fool has said in his heart,
no God. Only a fool would say that. Well,
look at verse 21. For after that in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. God wisely chose, and
we're going to see this in a little while. God wisely chose, and
only God could have figured this out. for lack of a better expression,
he had to figure anything. Only God could have planned this,
the gospel the way it is, to hide it from the wise and the
prudent, revealing unto babe, so as to get all the glory. Only
God could have done that, and it was in wisdom that he did
that. He wisely chose not the wisdom of the world, not the
wisdom of the world, not science, Not reason, not rationale, else
men could figure this thing out for themselves, couldn't they?
They could pat themselves on the back. They could take the
credit for what they know, what they've become. But God, in His
wisdom, chose not to reveal Himself in that way, but rather by what
the world calls foolishness. Look at it. In the wisdom of
God, the world, by wisdom or science or reason, did not know
God, but it pleased God By the foolishness of preaching, what
I'm doing tonight, what the world calls foolishness, the foolishness
of preaching, old-fashioned preaching, to save them that believe. The
world calls it foolishness, don't they? They've totally gotten
away from it. You just look at, I looked the
other day, I had a fellow, that you all know, he took me out,
he's a realtor, he took me out, showed me some houses and And
I looked at his church bulletin, his program, and it's a pretty
big church around here, and I looked through it, and it was on Mother's
Day, that Mother's Day Sunday, and I looked through it, and
from start to finish, I mean, it was covered, both pages were
covered with print, things in it. And I looked, and I looked,
and I looked, there was, there was benediction, there was and
taught about the choir, there was dedication to the mothers,
there was this and that and the other, just on down the line,
song, come forward, come forward, and re-dedicate, on down the
line, and over on the next page, just kept going. I kept looking
for the sermon. I wanted to hear the man's sermon
title. I never found it. I don't think he even preached
that day. The day was dedicated to mom, preaching. It's foolishness now, isn't it?
It's foolishness. I ask this old-fashioned. We've gotten above
that. We share here. We do all these
things. But God, the Scripture says here
plainly, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching. I'll
prove it. When Christ came to this earth,
what was he, first and foremost? The Lord Jesus, when God became
a man, what was his occupation? He was a preacher. He was a preacher,
wasn't he? And he said about John the Baptist,
never been a man born among women greater than John the Baptist.
What was John? Preacher. He's a preacher. And because
our Lord took this office, took this task upon him, that kind
of dignifies it, doesn't it? That makes it pretty important
if you ask me, if you ask the Word. But it's not the preaching
of foolishness that we're hearing today. We're hearing nothing
but foolishness, aren't we? They might as well not preach. Might
as well. It's not preaching. It's foolishness. It's carrying on. It's just a
bunch of Tommy Rot, whatever that is. And it's not the foolish
preaching. You've seen them preach foolishly.
You've seen them and heard them preach all manner of foolishness
that's so far from the gospel that it's not within spitting
distance of the gospel. And then you've heard them, you've
seen them get up here and act like fools, dancing. You know
how Jimmy Swagger dances around. It's no wonder the world thinks
this is a pack of foolishness. But it's the preaching of the
cross. It's the plain, unadorned, scriptural preaching of the cross,
the blood, the gospel, as we know it, as we love it here,
the gospel. Plain, straightforward, sound
preaching. Thus saith the Lord. This is
it. That's what God is pleased with,
the preaching of the cross. though, really, is the type of
preaching that they call foolishness. Now, this bloody religion, we
can really do without that. You see, I got to mention the
Methodist Church. I know a lot of people. Most
of your—I may really get myself in trouble here—but most of your
high and your bank presidents, all of your high and mighty people
now, people that are somebodies in this world, are in these denominations,
Methodism and so forth, because there's no preaching going on.
There's no preaching going on. Well, look at verse 22. The Jews
require a sign. That is, the religious, the religionists,
the religious people Now, they require signs. These people that
are religious fanatics, you know, you've heard them, you've seen
them, they come in, praise the Lord, brother, how are you this
morning? Oh, amen. Hallelujah. It's a good day,
isn't it? Amen, brother. Religionists. They require signs. So today, the thing with religionists,
people that are pretty sincere in their religion, is the charismatic
movement. tongues, healing, great works,
marvelous things. They require signs. Look at this. The Greek seeks after wisdom, verse 22.
The Jews require a sign, but the Greeks—now, that's the worldly
wise men, the scholars, the intellects. They seek after something deep,
intellectual, philosophical, you know. Read us a paper on
Christianity in the fourth century. Read us a paper. Let's talk about
prophecy, philosophy, deeper things, you know. Let's get into
the deeper aspects of this thing, of the Christian walk. They require,
they seek after wisdom. I want to learn, you know, they're
ever learning, the scripture said. Ever learning, but never
coming to a knowledge of what? Truth. Whose truth? Christ. He is the way, the truth. They
don't want the plain, simple preaching of Christ and him crucified.
That's not enough. But, verse 23, we, and we can
confidently say that here, we preach Christ. Crucify. That's our message. He's our
message. He is our message. Substitution. We're not ashamed
of that. That's the message here, isn't
it, Terry? That is the message. If somebody wants to come, you
want to bring somebody here, that's what they're going to
hear. Substitution. How that Christ had to come down
and pour out his soul unto death to take the place of hell-deserving
sinners. That's what we preach here, substitution,
redemption by a bloody sacrifice, the sacrifice of God's Son. That's
what we preach here. We preach Christ, the King that
we preached this morning, and crucified on a cross. He had
to die. He had to die for our sins. The whole of our preaching constantly
consists of setting forth with authority with confidence, with
authority, proclaiming the absolute lordship of Jesus Christ, his
person, the absolute necessity of his blood sacrifice for acceptance
with God. That's the whole of our preaching
here. Substitution. Substitution. Substitution. That's the gospel in a word.
Substitution. Substitution. Imputed righteousness. Imputed righteousness. Romans
4 is full of it, isn't it? Imputed righteousness. That's
the message here. But under the Jews, look at it here, verse
23, under the Jews, this is a stumbling block. Under the religious Jews,
and we have them around here, we've got Jews. We've got modern-day
Jews. They dress like them even. I
see these people in their garb like the Jews used to wear, that
made broad their phylacteries, that liked to stand on street
corners. The Jews who like to drive certain color cars, I see them and I think, they're
in such bondage. And I want to say, man or woman,
if you knew Christ, the gracious and merciful, if you knew him,
he'd set you free. You're in bondage to this. Bondage. I mean, they're literally
in bondage, aren't they? We've got them today. We've got
the Jews. This thing of imputed righteousness
gets in the way of their works. No, no, we've got to do something
now. It's not just in Christ. It's not just his imputed righteousness.
It's not that just God accepts us into beloved. We've got to
do certain things now. We've got to dress a certain
way. We've got to look. God, you know, he looks at the
way we... That's not what I hear in the scripture. It says God
doesn't think like a man, doesn't look at the outward countenance
like a man, does he? Where does he look? On the heart. on the
heart. But this Christ gets it, this
thing of imputed righteousness, of a substitute, a mediator,
a redeemer, imputed righteousness, it gets in the way of my works.
You mean I don't have to do, you mean there's nothing I can
do to set me apart? That's the sanctification of
the Holy Spirit, what that is. It takes the Holy Spirit to set
you apart. to make you acceptable to God. It's not the way you
dress, it's not touch-not, taste-not, handle-not, that's not it. That's
a show of will-worship, isn't it? Will-worship. Which things
are to perish with the easing? Jews. Under the Jews, it's a
stumbling block. Christ crucified. Under the Greeks,
look at verse 23, under the Greeks, foolishness. Foolishness. Justification
by faith. Now, come on. You mean to tell
me that an old, ignorant, unlearned laborer, or whatever, who may
be illiterate, he comes in and a man preaches the gospel. He
preaches what you call the gospel. He comes in, and that man believes
that in his heart. He believes what you're saying
is true, and he believes it with all his heart, and he says I
trust in Christ. Christ is my only hope. That
that's all there is to it? That that's salvation? Come on. There's got to be more to it
than that. Oh, now, now, now. There's got to be more to it
than that. Like that old simple fellow said, I forget what he
said, but he said, I may know nothing at all, but Jesus Christ
is my all in all. He's my all in all. No, the just,
or those whom God has declared to be innocent people, whom God
has declared to be accepted, shall live by faith. Period. Period. By faith in the
Son of God. Just look in the hand. Looking
unto Jesus, the author and finisher, the one who does it all. Done.
Done. Done. Not do. Done. That's it. But the Greeks, they say, that's
not enough. That's just not enough. There's got to be more to it
than that. Foolishness. Foolishness. Look at verse 24.
But, to them that are called, to them that are called, both Jews
and Greeks, we've got some of them in here. Some of you were
Jews, I believe. You were religious Jews, weren't you? I know you
were. Some of you, you were working
your way to heaven, weren't you? Trying to make yourself acceptable.
Shirley, now, trying to keep ten commandments. She wasn't. At least she's honest. Some of
you were Jews, weren't you? Religionists trying to work your
way to heaven. But to the Jews, them that are
called both Jews and Greeks, that's me. You're looking at a Greek. I
thought I knew everything there was to know. I thought, I told,
this haunts me to this day, but listen to it and praise the grace
of God. I said this to one of my young
cronies one time. I was studying Eastern philosophy
and religion. I was into Hinduism, Buddhism. I'd sit cross-legged on my roof. I thought I was smart. You think
about that. You know, I thought I was smart. And everybody else was stupid.
Well, I told a friend of mine at the time, I had recently read
some little book by some mystic over in the middle of India who
had taken some passages of scripture, some of our Lord's sayings, and
taken them and had done an exposition on them. And I read that, of
course, he just totally warped what our Lord said, took it out
totally, just blasted it. And I said to that friend of
mine, I said, I've got a book that can refute or deny everything
my father's been preaching for thirty years. You're talking about haunting
somebody now. That haunts me. But, here I am. Here I am. Under the Greeks,
those which are Jews, under them that are called both Jews and
Greeks, Christ, verse 24, the power of God. We see Christ as
the very power of God, that salvation is indeed all in his hands, that
he is the power of God, he and he alone, not us, him. He is
the power of God. All power is given unto him in
heaven and in earth, heaven and earth. He's the power of God,
and he's the wisdom of God. He's the wisdom of God. In the
gospel, because God has chosen us, God has called us by his
grace, we see that this is the wisest plan ever to be devised. The wisest plan ever to be devised,
how the God-man came to earth to enable God to be just and
justifier. Just and justifier. No mere mortal
man as I've said before, could have devised the gospel story.
It's the wisest plan ever to be devised. It took the infinite
wisdom of God Almighty to come up with this, how that God could
declare innocent a guilty man. You could take all these Greeks,
all these intellectuals, and put them together for years and
years, and they couldn't have come up with this, couldn't they?
Only God could have done this. Look at verse 25. Because the
foolishness of God, or that which they call foolishness, this gospel,
is wiser than man. The foolishness of God is wiser
than anything. This gospel is wiser than anything
ever conceived by man. And the weakness of God, or that
which the world calls weakness, that is preaching, discipleship,
Christianity. And I, you know, I agree with
this world. Most so-called Christians are
wimps. They are weaklings. Christ wasn't
a wimp, was he? Pilate himself, an ignorant, atheistic despot, said of him,
Behold that man. Now, there's a man, he said.
He saw them all come and go. He saw the strongest of the Roman
guard, the Roman centurions, come before him. Mighty men.
He saw them all. He looked at Christ, who endured
all manner of things, and he said, Behold the man. Now, there's
a man, and a real Christian, a real believer. He's a man.
She's a woman, not a weakling. Oh, they're meek, all right.
But what the world calls weakness, this thing of true discipleship,
it has overcome and outlived every form and age of opposition. Every form. Hebrews 11 is so
clear concerning that. 4. Look at this. Verse 26. Here's proof. Listen. Verse 26. Listen. This is going to be a
blessing to you. Verse 26. Brethren, you see your calling,
brethren, that not many wise men after the flesh, not many
mighty, not many noble, are called. Are there any doctors in here?
I don't see one. I don't see one. Any Ph.D.s? If there is, don't raise your
hand. I don't think there are any Ph.D.s in here. I'm not sure
if there's any masters, but any renowned scholars, any lawyers, any world figures, any politicians? Is there a mayor? Where's the mayor? The governor? Any entertainers? any real popular citizens? Anybody
in here hold any weight down City Hall? Anybody? No? Isn't there anybody in here that
has any importance at all? Anybody? No? You must be God's chosen. That's
what it says right there, doesn't it? You must be God's chosen.
You see your calling, brethren. However, not many wise men, and
I think it was one of the queens, said she thanked God for the
letter M, because it says not many wise men, not many noble
are called. But you see your calling, brethren,
don't you? You see your calling. You must be God's ragtag chosen
people. Look at this, verse 27. God has
chosen the foolish things of the world. Foolish things! You
don't have a lot of knowledge, do you? You don't know much about
the things of this world, do you? You're not particularly
abreast of current affairs in government and society, are you? Do you keep up with these things? Anything other than Deer Abbey?
You're not up on the social news, or you know all the social graces. You know, somebody gets around
talking about certain things. You might feel pretty foolish,
don't you? Because you don't know much about it. You haven't
particularly been interested in it, haven't kept up on it,
have you? You feel kind of foolish, don't you? I have. I've been in that situation.
People talking about something that I'm totally ignorant of
in this world. Did you hear about it? No, I
didn't hear about it. What? Well, look at this, God
has chosen the foolish things, fools, those that the world calls
fools, foolish things of the world to confound the wise. I
tell you what, you may not know much about this world and worldly
affairs and so forth, but you take a believer. Terry, you let
the conversation turn. You let it come around to Scripture.
You let the conversation come around to the gospel. Now, you
listen to a believer then. This worldly wise man had shut
his mouth on it. You let the conversation turn
to the gospel, to God's Word, and the true believer is a wise
man, indeed with knowledge, able to give every man a reason for
the hope that's within him, a scriptural reason. He's able to back it
up, a reason for the hope that's within him. while the world pleads
their thoughts. I don't know much about that,
but here's what I think. Well, God's thoughts are not
your thoughts. There's a way that seems right to a man, and
the end is distracting. The believer is wise in the Scriptures,
and that's the only place it counts. That's true wisdom. And he has chosen the foolish
thing, fools in this world, to confound the wise. Look at this,
and God has chosen the weak things of the world. I don't know about
you, but I don't feel too sure of myself very often. I try to
act like it. I put on a good front out there
in the world. But most of the time, Joe, I'm
scared to death. I'll just be honest with you.
Maybe this is not a good confession from your pastor, but I am most
of the time. I feel like a weak baby, unable
to say or do anything. Weak. Feel pretty helpless about
just most everything. Pretty helpless. Don't you? In
the job? Places? You think to yourself,
what am I going to say if something comes up? What am I going to
say? Oh, what if I can't think of what? Feel pretty weak, don't
you? Weak. Not so quick to boast. Not so
quick to boast. But the world says, you've got
to believe in yourself, man. You've got to believe in yourself.
You've got to have some self-confidence. Only the strong survive. You've
got to grab the gusto. It's a dog-eat-dog world out
there, and only the strong survive. But let me say this. The believer
now, the true believer, really is, is generally the best and
hardest worker on the job. He is. professing Christians
that were embarrassing to their profession. But true believers
now, they're the best workers on the job. They are. They've
got the best reputation as a worker. They're the best workers on the
job. But you ask them, and they'll say, oh, nothing. I'm just doing
my job. I'm just doing my job. But Christ
said, and he read it there, blessed are the meek. Blessed are the
meek, and this is what the world calls weak, meekness, because
they're going to confound, look at it, God's chosen the weak
things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.
To confound the things which are mighty. It's going to be
utter confusion to the upper class, to the upper crust of
society someday. I mean the high and mighty, the
noble, the wise men of the flesh. It's going to be utter confusion
to them. to look up, like that rich man in hell, to look up
and see Lazarus sitting up there. Lazarus, that old beggar sitting
out at the gate, is on the throne. This ain't right. It's going
to confound them. Well, I was somebody. Who was he? He was chosen. That's who he was—chosen. Well, look at this, verse 28,
"...and base things of the world." God's chosen base things. Terry,
you're a pretty basic fellow, aren't you? Pretty basic. Not much fancy about you, is
he? Joe ain't much fancy about truck
drivers. He's an old truck driver. School teacher. Steve, you're
not a professor, are you? Just a school teacher. Is there
anything real romantic about being a bank teller? The world
doesn't esteem that too highly, do they? How about a jewelry salesman,
Nancy? That ain't much, is it? A maintenance
man, Louis? Not much. A retired painter? The world don't have anything
for a retired painter. A store clerk? A railroader? A diesel mechanic? Ain't much
there, just base things. Look at this. Things which are
despised, despicable. Blue collar, you know. The poor. All these things that Joe read
in Matthew 5. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are the meek. Blessed
are they that mourn. Blessed are they that hunger
and thirst. Blessed. The uneducated, the classless,
the aging. Ladies, you elderly ladies, the
world doesn't have much for you. They don't think much about an
80-year-old woman. Don't need you. But you're chosen. You're chosen. The moral, serious,
sober believers. Preston, Preston, I had a guy
ask me at work one time, he said, what's wrong with you? He said,
Why don't you laugh with us? You never laugh with us. You
sit over here and read. What's wrong with you? I said,
Well, if you ever talk about something I want to talk about,
I'll talk with you. Well, he says he's chosen these
things, the things that are not. Look at that. Chosen the things
that are nothing. Things that are nothing. bank
president walking down the street. You know, Mr. President, you
know Henry Sord? Who? Henry Sord, he owns a gas
station? He ain't nothing. You know anything? He ain't nothing, are you? God's
chosen things he's not. Nothings. Nothings. To bring
to nothing. things that are to bring to God
is chosen the simple, the meek, the lowly. He chose a simple
little converted monk, Martin Luther, to give us this very
book. A simple little monk sitting
in a damp little cave. God saved that man. And we have
this book as a result of that, this translation, the King James
Version. Martin Luther was responsible
for that. Why then? Why all this? You see your calling,
brethren. You see all these things about yourself. Don't you feel
that about yourself? It's you, isn't it? Nancy, it's you, isn't
it? Joe, it just ain't much, are you, to this world. You're
precious to God Almighty, though. Goodness. He sent his Son down
here to die for you. Why? Verse 29, "...that no flesh
should glory in his presence." Oh, after in the wisdom of God,
the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching, to save them that believe that no flesh, not many
mighty, not many noble, not many mighty or wise men after the
flesh are called, but God's chosen the foolish things and no flesh. God has chosen the weak things
and no flesh. God has chosen nobodies, nothings. that no flesh should glory in
his presence. You see the wisdom of God in
this? And how thankful I am. Goodness, my, my. Why did God
choose us this way? That no flesh should glory in
his presence. You see, the scripture says,
and I'll quit, God is a jealous God. He's a jealous God. He will not share his glory with
another. He won't do it. No man or woman is ever going
to be able to boast of their birth. John read about it in
a study. Not of blood, not of the will
of man, not of the will of the flesh. Nobody is going to be
able to boast of their birth, their family lineage, their ancestry,
their power, their might, their riches, their wealth, their wisdom,
their learning, their talents. Nothing. God is no respecter
of persons. By the way, God gave them all
they had anyway. It's kind of like Hannah. Every
now and then she'll, somebody will say, you're cute. And she's
got to the point at times where she goes around and says, I'm
cute, aren't I? And we're trying to get that out of her. Honey,
God made you the way you are. He didn't have to make you cute.
So don't say that. Don't say that. If somebody else
wants to call you that, fine, but don't you say it. Here's a better illustration.
If I give her something, I give her a tricycle, which I did recently,
and she goes around boasting and bragging about it. See my
tricycle? You don't have one like this,
do you? And I catch her, I grab her by the nape of the neck and
pull her back. Who gave you that? Why are you boasting and mad
as if you did it, got it yourself? I bet he gave you that. Now you
hush up, and you let ride it whoever wants to ride it. See,
God's a jealous God. He gave everybody what they have
anyway. He gave it to them. And nobody's
going to boast in His presence, in His presence. No man will
ever be able to attribute his salvation to anything but the
sovereign, discriminating grace of Almighty God. It pleased God.
That's the only reason a man's ever going to be able to say,
Why did God choose you? Why? He pleased God. He just pleased to do so. What
right do you have to be in here, to go into heaven? Got no right
at all. I'm here on the rights of another.
I'm here on the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look
at verse 30. That no flesh should go in his
presence, but you called you ragtag chosen of God, though
you are in Christ Jesus, my soul. You're in Christ Jesus, who of
God has been made unto us wisdom. Terry, we know everything we
need to know. I said it before, I'm 33 years old, and if I live
another 30 years and learn some more things about this world,
what will I know? I know all I need to know to get by around
here. Thank you. I need to know Him. I know all
I need to know how to live. I need to know how to die. whom
to die in. That's who I need to know. I
need to be in Christ. And he's made unto us everything
we need to know. Wisdom. Wisdom, isn't it? Righteousness. That righteousness
we need to be accepted by this holy God. God has given us that
in Christ. Has put that imputed to our account
because of Christ. Sanctification. We don't need
to wrap our heads up. Christ is our covering. You ladies
don't need to cover your heads. Christ is our covering. Sanctification. Redemption. We don't need to
pay for our past. Christ did it for us. He did
it for me. I don't need to pay for my past. He did it for me on a bloody
sacrifice. A bloody sacrifice. Verse 31,
that according as it is written, He that glorieth," that's Jeremiah
9, 23-24, "...he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." Yeah, the world likes to brag,
like I began this message. Nothing worse than pride. They
like to brag, don't they? So you want to hear some bragging.
You want to hear some bragging. You let the conversation come
around to Christ. Then you're going to hear the
believer brag. You're going to start hearing him brag. You know,
the world likes to talk about what they've done or what they're
doing, don't they? Well, I know what I'm doing.
What are you doing? Oh, we're baptizing so many over here every
month. How about you? How big? How many
are you running? Like Scott Richardson said, like
cattle. How many are you running on Sundays?
But you let the conversation come around to Christ, and you're
going to hear some bragging. Yeah, let's talk about him. Let's
talk about what he's done now. I don't want to talk about what
I've done. I haven't done anything. All my righteousness is filthy
rags. I've never done anything worth
notice. But what he has, let's talk about
him. Let's talk about him. And a believer, he'll brag. And
the byword for a believer is he must increase. He keeps getting
bigger in our eyes, doesn't he? But I must decrease. We keep
getting lower, and we keep getting to be less and less, more of
a nothing. Can you get any less than nothing?
Sometimes, I wish I could say it in the way I think it, sometimes
I think to myself, after I get lifted up with a little pride,
you know, the Lord seems to bring me to myself, and all I can say
about myself is, you ain't nothing but a bunch of manure. You ever think that? Man, you
ain't nothing. You lift it up every now and
then, don't you? And then the Lord pierces your heart and says,
you vile wretch, you ain't nothing. Done. Done. Sing this song, too. I've sung
it before, but it goes with the message. I love you.

God's Ragtag Chosen

What does the Bible say about God's chosen people?

How do we know that God chooses the weak and foolish?

Why is humility important for Christians?

How does God's grace relate to our salvation?

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God's Ragtag Chosen

What does the Bible say about God's chosen people?

How do we know that God chooses the weak and foolish?

Why is humility important for Christians?

How does God's grace relate to our salvation?

Sermon Transcript

About Paul Mahan

Comments

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