Let me go ahead and get started.
So, if you would, turn with me to 1 Thessalonians 1. I'm going to read the first four verses for
now. 1 Thessalonians 1. Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus,
and to 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 the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks to God
always for you 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, brethren beloved, your election of God. Paul speaks here of knowing something. He is actually saying he knows
something, their election of God. Now he is also speaking
to them and letting them know that they will know this as well.
But from the context, he knows this from their works. And that's
the context in verse three. It says, remembering without
ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and so on. He is remembering the things
they have done to support the gospel. support him in particular,
but this all based on the hope they have in their Lord Jesus
Christ. If you love God and are with
patience waiting on Christ to return, it will cause you to
love the brethren, be with the brethren and do things for the
brethren. Now that's not what I want to
talk about specifically today. I want to concentrate on the
fourth verse, knowing Brethren, beloved, your election of God. So this divine selection comes
from God. Now in this passage, it tells
us how we know this. And I will get to that later,
but I want to talk about election. Now just to be clear, this does
not say knowing the doctrine of election. It is saying knowing
the work of God in election. And that's what it's talking
about. I want to use those questions that a lot of people use when
they're trying to learn a subject or whatever, how, when, where,
what, or who, as it concerns election. And my title is Chosen. So first, how were we chosen? Christ tells his disciples in
John 15, ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. So how
was this choosing, so how this choosing was done was by sovereign
choice. Turn with me to a very familiar
passage, Romans 9, Romans 9. If you want to follow along. Romans 9 and verse 11. For the children being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God, according to election, might stand, not of works, but
of him that calleth. It was said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. Based on the purpose of God,
That is, based on his sovereign choice alone, he chose some people. It had nothing to do with their
works at any time. God chose some before they were
ever brought forth from the womb, so they had done neither good
or evil. As has been said, he did not choose the worst of the worst,
and he did not choose the best of the best. He chose purely
based on his sovereign will to do as he pleases. Also, as has
been said before, we know the one thing that was not involved
in his sovereign choice, that is what you and I would do. What you and I would do had and
has nothing to do with it. It clearly says, not of works,
but of him that calleth. Turn over to Romans 11 real quick,
Romans 11. Verses five and six. Even so, then, at this present
time also, there is a remnant according to the election of
grace. And if by grace, then it is no
more 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 we also see here again how
this choosing was done. It was based on the grace of
God. It is called the election of
grace. The God who is rich in mercy,
willing to be gracious to a people, in order to give glory to his
name for being such a gracious God, purposed in himself to choose
a people. We see it here again in Romans. I didn't turn from it now. In
Romans 11, verse 6. And 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. This election is the election
of grace. Grace can only come from God
because we do not have the power or the authority to show grace
in the way that God has shown to some. Those some are those
he chose in grace. If it is by grace, and it is,
because it says it is the election of grace, then it is not of works. Do what you will, but it has
no bearing on God choosing anyone. And I want to be clear to anyone
listening to me, God is not now choosing people. God has chosen
his people. He did this all on his own. He did not have anyone giving
him any input, and he did not look at what anyone was doing. because that is works and it
is not of works. But he did this before you and
I or anyone from Adam on ever lived. So this leads me to when. So when did God choose? Turn
with me to Ephesians 1. Ephesians 1. Again, familiar. Ephesians 1 verses 3 and 4. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath
chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him in love. I know I'm not telling you all
something new or giving you any more great insight into God's
word. Others have said this before,
too. I'm just repeating what they have said and what I have
said before. I'm just telling you what God's
word says. Those of us who are interested
in what God says and not man will enjoy hearing God's word
repeated to them, even if others have said it a million times.
We want to hear the story of what God has done over and over. But all of this choosing we see
again here that it is according to God. According as he is what
it says. What was according to he? The
choosing. But then it tells us very clearly
that he did this choosing in Christ. from before, before,
before the foundation of the world. We were not around and
we had nothing to do with it, nor would we or do we ever have
anything to do with it. Where were you before the foundation
of the world? Only in the mind and purpose
of God. You and I and anyone else did
not exist. So he did it before you and I
even existed, and it has nothing to do with works. So can we know
any more about what any of this choosing was based on? We sure
can, and we can kind of see it here in this passage. So this
leads me to where were we chosen? We certainly can say we were
chosen in the mind of God and that is true, but that does not
tell the whole thing about this choosing and where it was done.
So right back in Ephesians 1 verse 4. According as he hath chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world that we should be
holy and without blame before him in love. According as He, that is God
the Father, has chosen us, that is His people, in Him, that is
in Jesus Christ the Lord. We were chosen in Christ. There was no other place to choose
us but in Jesus Christ. Because outside of Christ is
nothing but condemnation. And that we worked for. But there is a reason that the
where we were chosen was in the Son of God. It says that we should
be holy and without blame before Him in love. The only place that
this would be possible so that we would not be consumed of God
is to be chosen in Jesus Christ the Lord. Because of what He
was pleased to do. It was his whole purpose to do
this. Man is absolutely evil. Every single one of us are capable,
if it were not for the restraint of God, that we would be the
most wicked person in the world. That's what our works get us.
But in Jesus Christ, if you were chosen in him, then God sees
Jesus Christ when he sees you. Because you are in his son if
you were chosen. And I'm going to say this and
explain it later. If you were chosen in him and
placed in him. Being chosen in Christ and being
placed in Christ are two different things. But both go together,
although they are separate. But both will happen if you were
chosen from before the foundation of the world. But being chosen
in Christ, it tells us how it is that we would be holy and
without blame before him in love. Verses six and seven. To the
praise of the glory of his grace wherein he hath made us accepted
in the beloved in whom we have redemption through His blood,
the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace."
All of this is to the praise of His grace. And His grace is
not just in Him choosing us. It is seen in what Jesus Christ,
who is God, would do. So let's finish up these questions.
Who is it that God has chosen? Now what I'm going to say might
be a surprise to some, but most who are hearing me know this.
Who did God choose? First, Jesus Christ the Lord. Isaiah 42, one. Behold my servant,
whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth. I have
put my spirit upon him, he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. Behold my servant. Who of us
can say that God is saying that about us? Only because we are
in him could it be said of us. But God Almighty, God the Father
says, behold my servant. This is who you need to look
to. What do we read in the New Testament of Christ when he was
here on this earth? It says in different places something
like this. I must be about my Father's business. Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
was the servant of God and a servant in whom one can behold because
he always did the Father's will. Then it says whom I uphold. You want to know why so many
people go to hell who say they serve God or who say they love
God? Because they deny the Son. They
do not behold his Son whom God upholds. They will not bow down
to God because Jesus Christ is God. Whether you be a Jew or
a Gentile, it does not matter. Jesus Christ is God of all. But
let's move on, it then says, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth. Here is one who was chosen and
it did involve his works. He walked in this world and was
totally perfect in all he did. And the father says, he delighteth
in him. because he always did the Father's
will, including by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God, he went and died on that tree, being forsaken of the Father. So Jesus Christ is the elect
of God, the chosen of God, the anointed one, you could say.
He was chosen because he was the only one that could perform
the Father's will. But as we read in the question
on where, it says, We were chosen in Christ the Lord. So who are
those chosen in Jesus Christ? The short answer is this, sinners. Some may be outwardly worse than
others, but inwardly they are full of dead man's bones. But
all that were chosen in him are dead in trespasses and in sin,
or were dead in trespasses and sin. I have to say it like that.
The ones who were chosen in Christ are ungodly people. The word
ungodly used in Romans 5, 6, where it says Christ in due time
died for the ungodly. The word there for ungodly is
derived from a word that means revere, adore, devout, religious,
or worship. But this word is the opposite
of the word it is derived from. So here is what ungodly means.
To all those who might hear me, this is what ungodly means, and
if you think different of yourself, then Christ did not die for you,
and you are yet in your sins. The word means not reverential
to God. They do not adore or behold Jesus
Christ. They are not devout followers
of God. They are not religious toward
God, and they do not worship God. In fact, the scripture actually
says we hated God. That is who he chose. So folks,
if anyone wants to argue how good they are, then you know
one of two things are true. Either Christ did not choose
them and die for them, or Christ has not revealed himself to them
yet. So now that leads me to my conclusion. We've just went over the doctrine
of election. It is clearly in God's word and
we can clearly see what it says in his word. When it comes to
some doctrines of scripture, some folks react a certain way. And I'm gonna say it like this.
In what I have said and in other doctrines spoken by preachers,
it is like you are getting close to some folks hummingbird feeder.
Some people are like hummingbirds. I was standing out in the front
of our deck one day, and Paula has some hummingbird feeders
hanging there. And I was standing in front of
it, and all of a sudden, I heard a loud buzzing in my ear around
my head. And if most of you don't know,
I'm terrified of bees. It could be a wasp, hornet, whatever.
It doesn't matter if it flies around, it has a stinger, it's
a bee to me. And I'm afraid of it, especially when it flies
around my head. Well, I did not know it was a hummingbird, so
I'm flinging my arms all around my head, running around. In these
instances, if I think there is a bee flying around my head,
and if anything's on my head, it'll go off. I'll fling it off.
I see this feeder all the time, so I'm not thinking anything
of it. But I finally noticed this little bird. It was about
this big, flying at my head. He did not poke me. He was just
flying around my head with a loud buzz. I have not had one poking
yet, at least not yet, and I don't know if they do that or not.
But there are some people, when you speak of doctrines from the
scripture, they will start buzzing around your head. They will get
defensive, is what I'm trying to say, cause aggravation. They are buzzing around because
you are next to their feeder, too close to where they get their
nourishment. Not just the doctrine of election,
but maybe you might talk about the doctrine of forsake not the
assembling of yourselves together, or anything in scripture. They
will say or think, doing their buzzing, where you're saying
I have to do this or that. Or they will say you don't care
how I'm treated or how you treat me. And let me say this on this
one. There are times when I do not
do for or give someone what they want or even what they need when
I could have. So I'm not saying that I do not
do that. We are fallen, sinful, ungodly
sinners and we do not always do what we should. That's not
an excuse, it's just the facts. I sometimes think, when I get
to thinking those kind of thoughts myself, But how much worse have
I done? But when it comes to a doctrine
like election, some folks start doing their buzzing. They do
not want you to mess around with what feeds them. They will say,
are you saying you have to believe in election before you can be
saved? I'm not saying that at all. In fact, I will go a lot
further than that. Man, when and if he is saved,
But at the time he is saved, he pretty much knows nothing
at all. First Corinthians 121, for after
that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them to believe. You may be the most
notable theologian in the world, but until God reveals himself
to you in the gospel, you know nothing. When he does reveal
himself to you, it is not your wisdom, but God's if he has revealed
himself to you. But let's go back to our text. First Thessalonians. And let's go to verse five now. For our gospel came not unto
you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Ghost,
and in much assurance, as ye know what manner of men we were
among you for your sake. You will know something, though,
because we are told here, knowing brethren, beloved of the Lord,
your election of God. You will come to know that you
are elected, but it's more than that. You will come to know who
it is that has elected you. And you may not even understand
anything about the doctrine of election that I just went through. But you will learn in God's good
time and you will come to love it. If what happens to you is
what happens next in our text, How do we all know this? 1 Thessalonians
1, verse 5 again. For our gospel came not unto
you in word only. The gospel does come to us in
word, but not word only. But also in power. Who has any
power at all? We read in Romans 5, 6 that when
we were without strength, Christ died for the ungodly. And we
know if we at some point have strength, it is not of us, but
of him. Because he has all power and
might. It goes on and says, and in the
Holy Ghost, you will know nothing apart from the Spirit of God,
not the preacher. And then it goes on, and in much
assurance, assurance in what He has done because that is what
the gospel is about. It is about Jesus Christ and
Him crucified. It is about His work and not
ours. What does it say in Ephesians
2, verses 8 and 9? For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. Then back in 1 Thessalonians,
it goes on to say, as ye know what manner of men we were among
you for your sake. Then verse six, and ye became
followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much
affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost. If you have always known
these things, then it is like Henry Mahan told someone. If
you have known these things all your life, then that is too long.
You will, as it says here, hear this gospel in much affliction. And that's not just affliction
out there. This is talking about affliction
in here. But what does this say here?
And ye became followers of us and of the Lord. When you hear
his gospel in this way, you will begin to hang out with God's
people. After all, you will not hear the gospel elsewhere. If
the gospel has come to you in power and of the Holy Ghost and
in much assurance and in much affliction because you know you
are a sinner, then you will not want to be anywhere else. That
does, any place else that does not teach, and listen to me,
not that they teach the doctrine of election, although they will,
but that you will want to be around them because they teach
the God of election. They will teach the one in whom
we are elected and the one in whom because of what he has done
has made us acceptable before God in love. The scripture teaches
us that we are chosen in Christ and were chosen from before the
foundation of the world and that had nothing to do with our works
but his will and purpose and what the son's works would do. But this choosing is not salvation,
it is unto it. What am I trying to say? We were
chosen in Christ, but before this time that we read of here
in our text where the gospel comes to us in power, before
this time we were not or have not been placed in Christ. If
we are chosen of God at all. God does in time place us in
his dear son. How can I say this? Because we
are born the children of wrath, even as others. What does it
tell us in Ephesians 1, 10 and 11? That in the dispensation
of the fullness of times, he might gather together in one
all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on
earth, even in him, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance
being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will. That in the
dispensation of the fullness of times, he might gather together
in one all things in Christ. Now this is not just talking
about that time when the gospel comes, but this also refers to,
I believe, that time when he returns. But it is true that
in time he comes to pull one to himself and place them in
himself. Those who are dead in trespasses
and in sin, he comes to and gives spiritual life. He sends them
the gospel wherein by the God-given faith that we have, we believe
him and know him. What does the scripture say,
Colossians 1, 12 through 14? Giving thanks unto the Father
which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light, who hath delivered us from the power of
darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear
Son, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness
of sins. He comes to us in life-giving
power to give us spiritual life. and sends us the gospel, and
both of these must happen for this to be true of us. But when
this does happen, we are placed in Christ. If we are already
in Christ, why do we need to be translated into his kingdom?
I would expect that if we are in him, we are in the kingdom,
right? The kingdom is where the key
is. We are translated into the kingdom of his dear son. We were
not before, but then we are. Again, we have more scripture
to support this, Galatians 4, 5 through 7. To redeem them that
were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God
has sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts, crying,
Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a
servant, but a son. And if a son, then an heir of
God through Christ. There was a time I was just a
servant, a chosen servant, but just a servant. But then there
comes that time where we receive the adoption of sons, placed
in Christ. So now if God does all this and
has done all this, you can count on it. because he says so, you
can know your election which is of God by his power in him
sending you this gospel. Knowing your election, that is
in Christ Jesus the Lord, assuring us of salvation because of what
he has done, amen. Dear Lord God, cause us to look
to you. All things come from you, dear
Lord. Thank you for allowing us to be here and apply these
words to our hearts, your Lord. All these things we ask in your
name, amen.