All right, if you wish to follow
along, turn to Genesis chapter 25. Now before I read my text
for this morning, I will make a few statements and then I'll
read the text. Genesis chapter 25. In case you're
not very familiar with the Bible, that's the first book in the
Bible. Oh, I'm sorry, the Old Testament. Some of you wasn't even listening,
you're still looking for Genesis, aren't you? You didn't get that,
it was supposed to be a joke. Some people believe there is
an Old Testament and a New. There is one Bible. Old and New
Testaments. All right, you're at Genesis
chapter 25? Good, I'm not gonna read yet. When you think of Abraham,
and I've talked about Abraham, I've talked about Isaac. When
you think of Abraham, one thing that should stand out concerning
the subject of Abraham and the account of his life, one thing
should stand out. That is the grand, glorious,
beautiful gift of God called faith. Abraham throughout Old
and New Testament is described, not with these words, but described
in this way as the epitome the true being of a believer. This man is said to have walked
with God. This man believed God, and it's
the first man that it was ever said of, though he was not the
first one it was ever true of. But he's the first one that it
ever says, and Abraham believed in the Lord, and it was counted. that is imputed unto him for
righteousness. If you think about Isaac, this
is one thing, at least one thing we should think of, and it stands
at the top of the account of Isaac and his life. That is God's
sovereign promise. God's sovereign promise manifested
in the creative power of God in regeneration and conversion
to Christ. That's what we ought to think
of when we think of Isaac. But what about Jacob? What about
Jacob? He's my subject this morning
in a very loose way. Jacob equals this. This ought
to be the top thing. Granted, most folk probably would
not think of this when they think of Jacob. They would think of
something else. They would think of the Sunday school lessons
they've heard in Jacob's Ladder and the angels going up and down,
right? Well, that's certainly a part of the account. But anyone
who's ever been instructed by a God-sent pastor knows this
when you think about Jacob. God's election of grace. You can't have even an academic
understanding of the Bible and not understand that Jacob stands
as the epitome, the prime example of a fallen son of Adam being
chosen by God. He's the epitome of it. So much
so, in one place it's, well, in two places. And we'll probably
look at one of those places. It is said this, Jacob have I
loved. But then in contrast, Esau have
I hated. The election of grace. Now, let's
look at Genesis chapter 25 and verse 19. And these are the generations
of Isaac. It's an amazing thing when you
read the generations of Isaac. You know how many generations
of Isaac there was? One. One. These are the generations of
Isaac. Abraham's son, Abraham begat Isaac. And Isaac was 40
years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel,
the Syrian of Paddanaran, the sister of Laban the Syrian. And
Isaac entreated the Lord. Now notice it has right here
passed over the whole life of Isaac up till he gets married. Now it hasn't passed over it
in the whole account, but it does here. And Isaac entreated
the Lord for his wife because she was barren. and the Lord
was entreated of him. Your prayer and your prayers
to God do matter. They do not change God's sovereign
purpose. But we are to pray and ask for
things. Why? Because God said so. It honors him in us seeking his
face, especially for those things we know we cannot bring to pass. This was the problem here. Because
she was barren, what could he do about that? He could do as
much about that as you can do about your justification in God's
sight. Nothing, nothing. Now Isaac entreated
the Lord for his wife because she was barren, and the Lord
was entreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. Now I said
he had one generation. He did, but it was two nations
born at one time. That's what we're going to see.
It was two peoples born at one time, and look, And Rebekah's
wife conceived, verse 21. And the children struggled together
within her. And let me tell you what, these
two peoples, these two nations, still struggle today. And I'm not talking about the
Jews and the Arabs. No. I'm talking about the elect
and the reprobate. The children struggled together
within her, and she said, if it be so, that is, if this is
God's blessing, that's what she's talking about. She knew she was
pregnant. It wasn't about the pregnancy itself, it's why this
turmoil in my body? If it be so, why am I thus? Why is there, if this is the
blessing of God? You ever felt that way? But it was the blessing of God. And she went to inquire of the
Lord. Wise thing to do. A wise thing
to do. Don't ever think, well God will
just drop this in my lap. He may do it. He may do it. A lot of times, Mason Lilly,
he does. He drops things right in our
lap. But that does not make it wrong
to inquire of the Lord. You're better off to inquire
of the Lord. That way when he drops it in
your lap, you'll have a little idea what to do with it. You'll have a little bit of an
idea what to do with it. Seek God's face. Do not look at circumstances. Circumstances will kill you because
you can't figure them out. You don't know what the end of
those circumstances are. She didn't hear, did she? So she inquired, she went to
inquire of the Lord. And the Lord said unto her, now
look at it, two nations are in thy womb. And it could have passed right
over the next phrase. but it didn't. Now there were
two nations, two nations in thy womb, and, as Joe said, connected,
yet we're talking about something besides. You see what he's saying? Two nations are in thy womb,
and two manner of people. Do you see that? We're not just
talking here about the descendants, the physical descendants of Jacob,
and the physical descendants of Esau. We are talking about,
yes, that's true, two nations. Two separate nations, but also
two different kind of people. And I'm here to declare by the
preponderant testimony of God, though you will not read it directly
in our text, this is talking about the elect, Those that God
chose. And the reprobate, those that
God has rejected. Reprobation, let me just throw
this in there. Reprobation does not mean what
most people think it to mean today. Now it may mean that from
Webster's dictionary, but Webster's does not dictate the truth of
God. The truth of God in the scripture, the word reprobation,
and it's actually in the book of God. It's an English word
translated from both Hebrew and Greek. It means this, to have
been rejected. We think of, well, he's an old
reprobate. That means he's out there and he's fooling around
with his wife and he's not paying his bills and that may be so. But that person may be elect. not reprobate. We use it to describe
a person's deeds. God describes it as a people. Somebody says I don't like that.
I don't care. I don't care because God's word
means more than my opinion and my emotions and yours about the
matter. The Lord said to her, two nations
are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated
from thy bowels, and the one people shall be stronger than
the other. And the elder shall serve the younger. And this, this was a strange thing, especially
in this day. For that to be said to anyone,
the elder shall serve the younger. practice and tradition amongst
many peoples and nations in that time, in a very loose way, I
mean that now, amongst many peoples and nations was that the elder
son, when the father died, the elder son took over everything.
It's just the way it was. But this lets us know God does
not go by human tradition. God does not operate upon the
principles of human design. As a matter of fact, God may
use human design and principles, and then he may just turn right
around to stir the pot up. And move totally contrary to
all that. The elder shall serve the younger. My title and my subject this
morning is this. Jacob, and listen to the title. I know we give titles, that's
probably a habit, especially in this country. But it's not
just Jacob, the election of grace, because I want us to see something
this morning. Oh, God help us to see something this morning.
It is Jacob, God's election of grace. It's not just the election
of grace, though the scripture, Paul even calls it the election
of grace. Mac, it is the election of grace,
but it's much more than that. You cannot separate the election
from the elector. You just can't do it. If you avoid or reject vehemently
the election of grace, you are avoiding or rejecting vehemently
the elector. We say, and rightfully so, a
man's not saved by knowledge. A man or a woman is not saved
by knowledge. A man or a woman is saved by Jesus Christ. But
we are not saved apart from knowledge. We're not saved apart from knowledge. We will either know the true
and living God and Jesus Christ whom he sent, or we know nothing
about eternal life. And this knowledge is more than
just physical facts. It's more than just academic
adherence to facts in the Bible. This knowledge, it is facts. It is adhering to facts, but
it's more than that. It's a relationship with the
factor. You see, believing election is
about believing God because God is the elector. And it's far
more important than God just choosing us, or someone, because
the election of grace. God's election of grace began
with God's election of the Son. He was always the Son, and He
was always elected, and I can't explain this, but He was elected
by the Father and it was the son first. And I can't explain
that, and that's probably a bad way to try to state it, but he
is God's chosen one. And those who are chosen are
chosen where? In him. So if you deny or vehemently
reject the elector, you are also denying or ignoring or vehemently
rejecting his son. his son. This is much more than
do you believe this doctrine or not. This is do you, do I,
does anyone who hears me, do you believe God? Think about it. People today
love to pretend, at least some do, especially those denominations
that really like to talk about doctrine get into theology and
that kind of thing. Men and women today, they love
to pretend that election is too profound to even understand. Thus they justify this for their
ignoring of the election. Or maybe even worse, not just
ignoring it, but hating it. Because after all, people argue
about it and nobody's supposed to argue. The apostle Paul did
with some people when he went to Jerusalem one time. The apostle
Paul did when he went to Antioch one time. And he said, I didn't
put up with them not even for an hour. So the truth of God
might continue with you. It's not about not arguing. It's
about bowing down to the truth of God revealed in this word. Some men like to pretend that
the election is too profound. I was brought up in a denomination
that looked at it that way. Yes, election's there, but it's
really too profound. Election is not profound. Other than these really two young
people here, the baby and the other one, everybody here understands
the word election. It means you choose somebody. And there can be no election
unless you at least have two to choose from. Come on now, right? Technically,
maybe I could say you could reject one if only one existed, but
that's not an election, that's a reprobation. So if you're going to choose
someone, you got to reject someone else. If there's going to be an actual
election, there must be a rejection. And when you go to the booth,
if you go to the booth and vote, you're not only choosing someone,
if you choose, if you hit the little thing or push the button
or whatever it is, you're also rejecting everybody else that's
on that ticket for that office. Are you not? and they don't give us the right
to vote for all of them if we want to. And if you do, if you try to vote for all of
them, you're just a waste of good space. And I'm not even
telling you who you ought to vote for, but if you could vote
for all sides, you're a waste of good space. Because if you don't know what
you stand for, I don't want to get into politics. Men pretend like the election
is too profound. So just leave it to the side.
Oh no. Oh no. We dare not leave it to
the side because to try to leave the election of grace to the
side is to try to leave God to the side. It is not that the election is
not understandable. It's just the fact that the elect,
it's just the fact, I'm sorry, it's just the fact that the unregenerate
man hates the God who elects. And there's a very good illustration.
I'm not turning to it, but it's an illustration seen in the account
of our Lord himself. The first time he went to go,
once he started his public ministry, once he went back to his own
hometown to begin to preach, he stood up, unrolled a scroll,
and read from the book of Isaiah, just a few verses. And he said,
this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. And he handed,
rolled the book back up, gave it to the minister, and sat down.
And they start, what gracious words. And there are thousands
upon thousands. If you just read the Bible, they'll
say, oh, amen, brother. But when you start emphasizing
what you read, and give examples of what you've read, then the
tide changes. Because our Lord stood before
this group of Jewish men and women in the synagogue. And said
there were many widows in Israel. And he means by that, there were
many Jewish widows in Israel at the time of Elias the prophet.
And God didn't feed one of them. God went out and fed a Gentile.
And there were many lepers in Israel. And he means Jewish lepers. God didn't heal a one of them.
He went out and healed a Syrian. And all of a sudden, his words
were no longer gracious to them. Though grace was exactly what
he was talking about. As a matter of fact, it was God's
election of grace that he was clearly propounding upon. And
you know what they did? They took him out of the synagogue,
led him up to a brow of a hill, go cast him down a headlong,
kill him. Bust his head wide open on the ground. And he incognito,
through sovereign power, just passed right out of the midst
of it. Election's not hard to understand.
It's impossible to love unless God Almighty moves upon you in
grace. Now you may understand it academically.
Even acknowledge it academically, but you're not gonna love it
so much that you begin to love God. You begin to love God. Because this, after all, is what
it's all about. God shows us in this book who
he is so that we would love him as he is. Because after Adam's
fall in the garden, we all want God to be who we want God to
be. And by nature we refuse to bow down to who God is revealed
in this book. God has the right to do with
his own creation is not a debatable thought. God has the right to
do with his own as he pleases. I wanna give you, now think about
this. This has all been introduction
so far, but I want you to think about this next statement. I
want to give you seven facts. Notice how I said that. I want
to give you seven facts about God's election of grace. There
are probably more than these seven, but I want to give you
at least these seven facts, plural, about God's election of grace. but these facts must all come
together because these facts all together constitute God's
one truth. Did you hear what I just said? There are people say, I believe
in election. And they may agree with one of
these seven things but then despise the other six. It don't work
that way. You see, God doesn't have truths. He has truth. Truth. As a matter of fact, nowhere
in the Bible is truth unless it's used in the possessive sense. Nowhere is truth plural when
it refers to God ever used. It's always truth, singular. In other words, God does not
give us the right to pick and choose what we want about him. God is one. Right? And you'll either receive
all the facts, plural, about God. You may not understand them.
You might not be able to articulate them to others. You may not know
how one fact plays over or against the other. You may not be able
to explain it. But if you are saved, you will
believe all the facts because you believe God is God. So here are these seven things.
It's five minutes till 12. This ain't gonna be no two-part
message. Number one, God loves the elect and the elect only. God's election of grace is connected
to God's love. mentioned it, Romans chapter
nine, there is one verse there, and it's quoted from the Old
Testament by Paul. Jacob have I loved, and this
is a direct connection to the election of grace. It says that
the next few verses down, that the purpose of God, according
to election might stand, it was said unto her, the elder should
serve the younger. That's exactly what we just read this morning.
Talk about the same text, right? And it says, Jacob have I loved. Esau have I hated. And someone says, what's it really
mean? It means exactly what it says. God loved Jacob. God hated Esau. Which means God chose, blessed,
his favor was toward Jacob. When it comes to the election
of grace. But he had rejected Esau. He had rejected Esau. God's love today is prostituted
to the highest bidder. Now do you hear what I'm saying?
God's love today by this anti-Christ religious denominational world
is prostituted to the highest bidder. Now different denominations
may have different coin that they use. It may be the coin
of faith. It may be the coin of faith and
repentance. It may be the other coin of faith,
repentance, and baptism. It may be whatever kinds of coins,
but they're prostituting God's love out to the highest bidder.
God loves us all, and if you'll then do this. Well, maybe I thought he already
loved me. Did he love me unconditionally?
Or must I buy his love? Will he love me when he puts
me in hell? Because I wouldn't buy his love with faith? Do you
see, now somebody said that, you're confounding the issue.
No, I'm exposing their error for what it really is. Now if I, a few years ago, not being married any longer,
just so nobody thinks I'm trying to cover anything up, not being
married any longer. If I'd have told you folks that
there's one, two, three, four women right there, and I love
all of them. So I'm gonna see who can do the
best for me. I don't think y'all would want
me standing here behind this desk preaching to you about grace
and mercy and compassion. Do you want, would you? No, God says this. the ones that God loves. He says,
everyone I love, that's what, everyone I love, I rebuke and
chasten. Everyone! Everyone! Revelation three, verse
19. Hebrews 12, six puts it this
way, and I don't want to misquote this one, because look at what
it says. What did I say, Hebrews, did
I say three? 12, six, yes. Hebrews 12, listen to what it
says. For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth. Now that word
chasten don't mean to beat. It means to correct. If God loves
you, he's gonna correct you. Now most people think this is
about Christians, and when Christians mess up, then God comes along
and straightens you out. That's certainly true, but look, for
whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth. If God loves you, I don't care
where you are, Yes, sir. If you're in the dregs of immorality,
if God loves you, he gonna correct you. Yes, sir. If you're in the
dregs of false religion, if God Almighty loves you, he gonna
correct you. Yes, sir. Look, because it says
two things. For whom the Lord loveth, he
chasteneth and scourgeth. That means he puts pain on. That's
exactly right. That's what it means. He puts
pain on every son he receiveth. So you see, God loves us even
before we were officially sons. And he corrected us, but even
after he corrects us, Mason, he still will what? Scourge us. And look, if ye endure chastening,
God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom
the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement,
whereof? A-L-L. All the loved. Whereof all are partakers, then
are ye what? You remember what I said, this
is the real meaning of this word here, bastards, really is in
the Greek. You know what it is? Bastards. That's what it means,
illegitimate. Then are ye bastard. Whereof
all are partakers, then are ye bastards and not sons. God loves the elect and elect
only. and then put a great old big
period right there after it. Because God's love, according
to Paul in Romans 8, the last verse, is in Christ Jesus. Remember,
Christ Jesus is the elected one. Everyone else who was elected
by God the Father was chosen, elected in him. Because that's
where his love's at. Secondly, God's election took
place before the foundation of the world. Ephesians 1, three
through six. It is clear. It's what the book
says. Even as it's chosen us in him
before the foundation of the world. Some say, well, we believe
in election, but God elects you when you believe. No, did you
believe before the foundation of the world? You didn't even
exist before the foundation of the world. As a matter of fact,
when you first came into existence in your mommy's womb, King David
the prophet said this of you and of himself as well. In sin
did my mother conceive me. And I remember Earl Cochran saying
this years ago. And I was brought up in religion.
My ears were tender. He said, David wasn't talking
about copulation there. He wasn't saying that David's
mommy and daddy wasn't married when he was conceived. No, he's
saying that when my mommy and daddy came together, even if
they're both believers, the only thing they could bring forth
from that union was sin. In sin did my mother conceive
me. Born in sin, shapen in iniquity. That's what the book teaches.
Secondly, the second thing, God's election of grace took place
before the world began. Thirdly, election alone does
not affect natural birth and its fall in the state. Go back
and read sometimes Ephesians two verses one through three,
where Paul taught chapter one, he called those people elect,
chosen, right? Predestinated, they didn't even
believe. In chapter two, he says, you're
just like everybody else by nature. Didn't it? God chose you before
the world began, but you were born just like everybody else. People think that we're saying,
oh God must have seen something in us, and actually. That's what
this anti-Christ religious world is saying. When they say God
looked down into the future, seeing who would either believe
or believe and repent or believe and repent and be baptized or
one and on and on, then God chose those people. That's not so. By nature, none seek God. By nature, there's none that
understandeth. There's none that fear God. The
poison of asps is under our lips. The election alone, election
alone does not affect our natural birth and its fallen state. The
elect are just as bad as the reprobate. That's why the word
reprobate in the scriptures never used of an old drunk out there.
Well, he's an old reprobate. Well, God saves drunks. Some
drunks are chosen of God. And some very sober people were
never chosen of God, but yea, rejected. Number four, election
alone, that's election by itself, is not salvation. Second Thessalonians
2.13, but we are bound to give thanks for God, beloved of the
Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation. And yet, God's election of grace
is a part of eternal salvation. Paul told Timothy, God gave you
and me grace in Christ before the world began. Somebody says,
explain that, preacher. I'm not into explaining business.
I'm into proclaiming business. What people like that want to
do is try to argue some point. I'm not here to argue some point.
I'm saying the election alone wasn't your salvation. If it
was, then Christ didn't have to come and die. You didn't have to hear the gospel.
No, I'm jumping ahead on another point, ain't I? Election alone
is not salvation, and yet the election is a part of eternal
salvation. If God didn't choose you before
the world began, you will perish. and justly so. And justly so. Number five, God's election in
eternity has the worship of Christ. It has the praise of Christ.
It has love for Christ. It has faith in Christ. It has
service to Christ. It has submission to Christ as
its goal in time. A lot of people think, we're
saying, well, God chose some to heaven and didn't choose others
to hell. Well, that's not what we're talking
about. We're not even talking like that. God chose the people
to worship his son. God chose the people to believe
His Son. God chose the people to repent
toward Him and have faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ. God chose
the people to follow His Son, to bow to His Son, to believe
His Son. It's all about the Son. That's
the goal of election. Go back then and look at 2 Thessalonians
2 and read verse 13 and 14. Whereunto He called you by our
gospel, What? To the obtaining of the glory
of the Lord Jesus Christ. So again, God's election in eternity
has the worship of Christ as its end goal. Number six, God's
election of grace in eternity can only be known by gospel conversion. It's the only way anybody's gonna
ever know that they're one of the elect of God. 1 Thessalonians
1, verses 4 through 10, in the first part of that, he says,
knowing, brethren, your election of God. Now, how can you know
that if it took place, no, since it took place before the foundation
of the world? Because that election is unto
conversion to Christ. You're converted to Christ by
the preaching of the gospel. So he says, knowing, brethren,
your election of God, because our gospel came not to you in
word only. but in power and in much assurance. Not assurance about yourself,
but assurance in Christ. And in much assurance, the power
of God Almighty, the Holy Ghost. And what, ye became followers
of, and it's amazing when Paul says, of us. And of the Lord. You see, your first connection
to God Almighty in gospel preaching is God's people. It's God's people. That's your first connection
to God in gospel preaching, is with God's people, because you're
gonna meet up with one of God's people, even if you're reading
it from a preacher that preached 200 years ago, and you're reading
the printed out message, and you're reading that, Mack Hatfield,
you're joining up with that man you're reading there. God Almighty
uses that truth and crutches your mind and your heart and
bows you before Jesus Christ. Or if you're sitting in an assembly
like this, and you're hearing a man preach one-on-one, or you're
talking to somebody at work, And they begin to speak to you
of the glories of the person and work of Jesus Christ. And
God conquers your heart. Your first connection to God
through gospel preaching is with God's people. You became followers
of us and of the Lord. And right at the end of it, he
basically puts it, you turned to God from idols. Oh, don't try to turn from your
idols first and then get to God. You'll never get rid of all the
idols. Turn to God. Then you'll have
a really good reason to start letting go. Letting go. And then it says he ends it this
way, that chapter, and to wait. Wait for who? Wait to get to
heaven. That's certainly true. But it says what? And to wait
for his son from heaven. because Christ is the end goal
of the election of grace. Where was I at? Number six, here's
number seven. God's election of grace in eternity
and its goal of gospel conversion to Christ does not make the elect
personally superior to others in morality. Even conversion to Christ still
don't make you morally superior to other people. The Apostle
Paul himself, read Romans 7, specifically verses 14 through
25. But in one of those verses, even
the great Apostle Paul, and I don't mind saying it that way. He probably
wouldn't want me to say it that way, but I'm gonna say it that
way. Even the great Apostle Paul, as he's being moved by the Holy
Spirit of God to write down or at least say to someone else
who's writing down his words. He says these words, oh, wretched
man that I am. And then he doesn't say, what
can I do? He says, who shall deliver me
from this body of death? Why, because he'd run up on God's
who. Even more, God's who had run
up on him. Didn't he? God's who actually
confronted him, didn't he? Here's a question. You think
you're one of the elect of God? Has God's who ever run up on
you? Has God's who ever stopped you
in your tracks and knocked you to the dust and caused you to
cry out, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? Don't be a word of the afraid
doing. You don't do nothing to get it, but bless God, once you
get it, you wanna do a whole lot of doing. Because he's worthy
to be served. He's worthy to be honored. He's
worthy to be bowed to. Quick in closing. Hear me now.
You reject the election, you're not just rejecting a doctrine. You reject the election, you
reject the elector. It's that simple. It's that simple. Number two, the election of grace
is God in love through the authority of predestinating power, choosing
his loved ones to worship Christ. You hear what I said? The election
and predestination all have to do with Christ. This is why it
is so opposed. Men like to say, well, we don't
like that, because you preach God chose some to heaven, chose others
to hell. That's not really why, because we don't say that. So
how could that really be why, when we don't say it? As a matter
of fact, Mac, we try to say it's not that. They don't care about
that. You know why it really is? Because they don't want to
worship Christ. That's why they don't like God's election of
grace. Now take me to heaven, oh yeah. Let me miss hell, oh
yeah. And I'll worship Christ then.
That ain't what the election's about. The election is about
fallen, sinful, corrupt men and women being brought to worship
Jesus Christ now. Now. So I sum it up this way,
number three. Every elect person, and I say
every one of them. Every elect person, once converted
to Christ, they rejoice. They're glad for. They like. They love the God of electing
grace. Father, may these words be true
to our heart in Christ, amen. All right, let's stand and close
with number 417.