If you would open your Bibles
with me to the book of John, John chapter 15. You know, we always have a lot
to be thankful for. I'm thankful this morning. Julie's
back with us and Aaron's back. I prayed for this day. If we
can just get Cosetta and Barb back here, they're recovering.
Maybe we'll get the whole family. Very thankful. I want to remember
Brother Eric Floyd, who's preaching in Danville, Kentucky this morning.
And I got a request this week, Elio Che. A few of you have met
Elio. Elio's the pastor, is it Santun? He has taken over a lot of Cody
Groover's travel responsibilities or traveling, whatever you call
it. He travels to the churches that don't have a pastor. During
the pandemic, he's traveled to try to kind of check on people
and get them supplies and those kinds of things. Cody used to
give Elio his truck whenever it wore out, and Elio's mechanically
minded. He kind of keeps it running. But he is in need of a new truck.
The last time we were there, that truck had 300,000 miles
on it. It's hard to say how many miles
it's got on it now. And I would like for us to help
get him a new vehicle. So I'll try to put a reminder
about this in the bulletin if I don't get carried away, run
out of space. But I know this is a time of
year, everybody's finances for Christmas and those kinds of
things. But as Lord enables you, if you would give Mark somehow
on there so Luke knows to gather it up and send it. I would like
to help him get that truck so he can move around and continue
to help God's people there in Mexico. All right. John chapter 15, we'll begin
reading in verse 11. These things have I spoken unto
you that my joy might remain in you and that your joy might
be full. This is my commandment. that
you love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath
no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call
you not servants, for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth.
But I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard
of my Father I have made known unto you. Ye have not chosen
me, but I have chosen you. and ordained you that you should
go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain,
that whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name, he
may give it you. These things I command you, that
you love one another. If the world hates you, you know
that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world,
the world would love his own. But because you're not of the
world, but I've chosen you out of the world, therefore the world
hateth you. Remember the word. that I said
unto you, the servant's not greater than his Lord. If they persecuted
me, they'll persecute you also. If they have kept my saying,
they'll keep yours also. But all these things will they
do unto you for my name's sake. They'll do that in the name of
religion, and here's why they'll do it, because they know not
him that sent me. We'll end our reading there.
All right, let's stand, and Sean leads us in singing our call
to worship. Thy works not mine, O Christ,
speak gladness to this heart. They tell me all the work is
done, they bid my fear depart. Thy cross not mine, O Christ,
has borne the awful load. of sins that no one else could
bear but our incarnate God. Thy death, not mine, O Christ,
has paid the ransom due. Ten thousand, thousand deaths
like mine would have been all too few. ? My righteousness,
O Christ, alone can cover me ? No righteousness can satisfy
? Save that which is of Thee Okay, if you would now turn in
your hymnal to song number 209, Grace Greater Than Our Sin. Marvelous grace of our loving
Lord, Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt, Yonder on
Calvary's mount outpoured, There where the blood of the Lamb was
spilled. Grace, grace, God's grace, grace
that will pardon and cleanse within. Grace, grace, God's grace,
grace that is greater than all our sin. Sin and despair, like
the sea waves cold, threaten the soul with infinite loss. Grace that is greater, yes, grace
untold, points to the refuge, the mighty cross. Grace, grace, God's grace, grace
that will pardon and cleanse within. Grace, grace, God's grace,
grace that is greater than all our sin. Dark is the stain that
we cannot hide. What can avail to wash it away? Look, there is flowing a crimson
tide. Wider than snow you may be today. God's grace, grace that will
pardon and cleanse within. Grace, grace, God's grace, grace
that is greater than all our sin. Marvelous symphony, matchless
grace, freely bestowed on all who believe. You that are longing
to see His face, will you this moment His grace receive? Grace, grace, God's grace, grace
that will pardon and cleanse within. Grace, grace, God's grace,
grace that is greater than all our sins. If you would, turn with me to
the book of 2 Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians 2. Now we beseech you, brethren,
by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering
together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be
troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter, as
from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive
you by any means, for that day shall not come, except there
come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed the
son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all
that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he as God
sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
Remember ye not that when I was yet with you, I told you these
things? And now you know what withholdeth, that he might be
revealed in his time, for the mystery of iniquity doth already
work. Only he who now letteth will
let, until he be taken out of the way, and the end shall that
wicked be revealed. whom the Lord shall consume with
the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of
his coming. Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan
with all power and signs and lying wonders and with all deceivableness
of unrighteousness and them that perish because they receive not
the love of the truth that they might be saved. And for this
cause, God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe
a lie. and that they all might be damned
who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. But we're bound to give thanks
all the way to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth, whereunto he called you
by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions
which you've been taught, whether by word or our epistle. Now our
Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God even our Father, which hath
loved us and hath given us everlasting consolation and a good hope through
grace, comfort your hearts, establish you in every good word and work. Let's bow together. Our Father, We bow in your presence. We bow
a thankful people. How we thank you for our Lord
Jesus Christ. How we thank you for his obedience,
which is our only righteousness. How we thank you for his blood
that cleanses us from all sin. Father, we thank you for a place
where we can come and hear our Savior exalted, to meet together
with our brethren, to worship you, to hear your gospel preached,
And Father, I pray that you give us faith to believe and rest
in the Lord Jesus Christ as we hear him preached. We pray you
bless your word to give life and faith and comfort and assurance
to the hearts of your people. Father, we thank you for your
healing hand on our brethren who have been sick and hurting.
We thank you for bringing Julie and Aaron back to us. Father,
we continue to pray for those who need you especially. Pray
for Novi that you'd undertaken her behalf, Father, in a mighty
way. Provide the means to heal her,
we pray. Pray for Crescetta and Barb that you'd be with them
and that you'd bring them all back to us soon, that we might
worship you together. Father, we thank you for the
many blessings of this life that you've so freely bestowed upon
us, and we pray that you'd give us an open hand to use these
things that you've given us for your glory and to help others.
Father, we ask you to forgive us of our many sins and beg of
you that you'd bless us this morning with your spirit and
enable us to hear a word from thee. Of course, in the precious
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, for his sake, we pray. Abide with me, fast falls the
eventide. The darkness deepens, Lord, with
me abide. When other helpers fall and comforts
flee, Help of the helpless, O, abide with me. Swift to its close ebbs out life's
little day, Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away. Change and decay in all around
I see. O Thou who changest not, abide
with me. I need thy presence every passing
hour. What but thy grace can foil the
tempter's power? Who like thyself my guide and
stay can be? Through cloud and sunshine, oh,
abide with me. Hold thou thy word before my
closing eyes. Shine through the gloom and point
me to the skies. Heaven's morning breaks and earth's
vain shadows flee. All right, let's open our Bibles. Again, now the book of 2 Thessalonians. I titled the message this morning,
The Truth About Election. The doctrine of election is so
plainly taught, as plainly taught as anything in God's Word. The word elect or election is
used 27 times in God's Word. The New Testament calls saved
people, people that know God, calls them believers two times. It calls them the elect 14 times. It's just impossible to preach
God's word to preach the gospel without preaching this doctrine
of election. You just can't read the Bible
with an open mind and not see this. It's just obvious. God
has elected a people. He says it over and over and
over again. Yet man hates the doctrine of election and they'll
just not have it. And the point of contention is
this. It's God's sovereignty and salvation
that God has the right choose a people to save and he has a
right to pass others by. The point of contention is God's
sovereignty and salvation. Is God God or not? That's the
point of contention. The issue really is who's in
charge of this matter of salvation. Do I decide to be saved and can
I choose God or does God have to choose me and does God have
to save me? Can I decide to accept Jesus as my personal savior,
or does God the Holy Spirit have to move in power, in mysterious
power, and cause me to be born again with a new nature and a
new heart? Which is it? Which is it? See, the issue, that's the issue,
because the person who did the choosing gets the glory, don't
they? And this truth of election is
so hated, it's so spoken against in our day, So it's important
that we understand the truth about this matter of God's electing
love. I tell you, the way we find out
the truth about anything is seeing what God's word has to say about
it. And I want to look in God's word this morning and see if
we can learn something about the truth about election. Our
first point is this. Election is the only hope that
any of us have to be saved. Verse 8 of 2 Thessalonians 2,
And then should that wicked be revealed whom the Lord shall
consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with
the brightness of his coming. Even him who's coming is after
the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders
and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that
perish because they receive not the love of the truth that they
might be saved. And for this cause, God shall send them strong
delusion that they should believe a lie. that they all might be
damned who believed not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. Now, every son of Adam is born
in sin. We're born under the power of
Satan. We walk after the prince of the
power of the air, Ephesians 2 tells us. And absolutely everyone would
be deceived. Everyone by our nature would
love a lie. We'd all be damned if we were
left to ourselves. Because we love what Paul calls
here, we love unrighteousness. We take pleasure, we love it,
we take pleasure in unrighteousness. And I'll tell you what that unrighteousness
is. It's our works of religion. We love it by nature. And we'd
be damned if we're left to ourselves trusting in that. Our nature
is blind and dead. that even when somebody tells
us we cannot believe, we cannot love any spiritual truth, because
we're dead, we're blind. Our nature is so dead in sin,
we're like that rich young ruler, we really think we can't earn
a righteousness before God by our works. When the fact is,
we can only earn eternal death by our works. Because death is
the wages, it's the just desserts of sin. So if left ourselves,
left our own words, trying to work our way to God, left ourselves
finding a way of salvation, finding a way of a true religion, left
ourselves, we would all perish. Every son of Adam would. But,
but, verse 13 begins, but God elected a people to save. I love the buts of scripture.
Wherever you see that word but so often on this side, You see
man, you see man's sin, you see man's shame, you see man's hopelessness,
you see man's darkness. But God, on the other side, you
see God in his glory and his brightness. You see God in his
goodness, God in his mercy, God in his grace, God in his saving
power. Oh, we'd all perish. We'd all
perish. But God chose a people to save
and nobody would be saved without it. God, it's election of a people. That's our only hope that we
could ever be saved. All right, number two. Election is a reason to give
thanks. Verse 13, Paul says, we're bound
to give thanks always to God for you, brethren. Now, I unashamedly
declare God's electing love. I never apologized for it. I
hate hearing somebody talk about how God elected a people that
God's sovereign and do it in such a way that they apologize
for it. Like, I'm sorry that you can't
be left to your own free will. No, I don't apologize for this
at all. God chose a people. He elected a people to save and
those people and those people only shall be saved. I do not
apologize for that. Matter of fact, I give thanks
for it. Don't you give thanks for it? Every one of us would
be apostate. We'd all deny the gospel. We
would love and believe a lie, just like the apostles talking
about the rest of the world. We'd all do that. We'd all do
that. If God didn't choose somebody to save, if God didn't choose
to deliver somebody, deliver his people from ourselves, to
deliver us from this present world, that's where we'd be.
Oh, I'm faint. I'm thankful God chose the people
to reach down and grab, pull them out of the cesspool of this
world, to pull them away from trusting themselves, to put them
in Christ. I'm thankful God chose the people,
aren't you? We ought to be. Here's another
reason to give thanks. God chose the people, chose the
people to save. And that election is for sinners. That election is for people that
don't deserve to be saved. What did God say? Jacob have
I loved. Esau have I hated. All of us
would like Esau. We want Esau to be our friend.
We want Esau to be our neighbor. We want Esau to be our buddy.
But God said, I love Jacob. I chose Jacob. Jacob, cheat and
supplanter. God said, that's who I chose.
That's who I set my love on. Sinners always give thanks for
election. Somebody that does not give thanks
for election and hates it, you know why? They don't think they're
a sinner. I mean, they might think they're
kind of bad, but not completely bad, you know. Sinners, I mean
real life sinners give thanks for God's electing love. It's
the only way we could be saved. I never would have chosen God
if he didn't choose me first, never. Election is necessary. If a sinner,
I mean a sinner now, somebody who's completely lost and dead
in sin, totally depraved, election is necessary if that sinner would
be saved. Isn't that right? If a man's
totally depraved, he can't do anything good. Everything he
does is only sinful. He lost in sin, he's dead in
sin, so he can't, He can't move, he can't come to Christ, he can't
hear God, he can't believe, he's dead. Just like a person who's
dead, the body dead in the casket, that corpse is not getting up.
That corpse can't hear you talk to him and lament and everybody's
around crying, you know, they lost their loved one. That body
in that casket is completely and totally unaffected, isn't
it? Because he's dead. The same thing's true about us
spiritually. Oh, we can hear the gospel. We can hear of Christ.
We can hear other folks in the congregation after service just
reveling in God's mercy and God's grace and the message of Christ
and be totally unaffected because we're dead. Well, if that dead
sinner is going to ever live, if that dead sinner is ever going
to believe Christ, if that dead sinner is ever going to come
to Christ, if he's ever going to do anything good, God's got
to do it for him, doesn't he? God's got to do it for him because
he can't earn salvation. So if anyone's going to be saved,
God's going to have to do all of the saving. And that's just
exactly what he did. From election to final glorification,
God has to do it all. And that's exactly what he did.
And that whole, God's whole purpose of salvation began in his electing
love for his people. And I sure am thankful. And here's
the third thing. Election is a loving truth. Paul
says, we're bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren,
beloved of the Lord. Beloved. You know, whenever we
talk about election, I've tried to say it often so far, even
in the message this morning. Not just about election, but
God's electing love. He's electing love. You know,
election is not a mean, hard doctrine that keeps people out.
Election is not this hateful doctrine where God, you know,
chooses an elite few to be saved and he just damns the rest of
mankind to hell. No. Damnation's got absolutely
nothing to do with election. God didn't elect some people
to be saved and elect other people to go to hell. Absolutely not.
All God has to do is send a man to hell and leave him alone.
And that's where they'll go naturally. That's where they'll go all on
their own. God just gotta leave a man to his own desires and
his own ways, and I'll tell you where he'll go. He'll be damned.
There's a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof
is the ways of death. God just leaves him alone, he'll
naturally go that way. But God chose to save a people.
And you know why he chose to save those people? Because God
loved those people. He loved them. There's a reason
to give thanks, isn't there? That God could love you and me
He loved sinners. He chose to save those people
because he loved them. Not because they were lovable.
No. But God loved them. He loved
them even though they weren't lovable. He loved them. He chose
them. And he put them in his son because
he already loved them. He sent his son to suffer and
die for them. Not to make it so God could love
them. God sent his son to die for those
people because he already loved them. Herein is love. Not that we love God, but he
loved us. And here's the proof of it. He
sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. We do love God, don't we? God's
people do love him. But why do we love him? Apostle
John says, because he first loved us. He first loved us and chose
a people to save. And this love is for people,
specific, exact people. God loved a people and he chose
a people by name specifically. God didn't just choose nations.
He didn't just say, well, I'm going to save X number of people
and just blindly reach and gather them out of Adam's fallen race.
And you know, no, he, he set his love on a people. The election
of God's people is personal. If you trust Christ, you know
why God chose you? He said his love on you. Election is not just a random
thing by chance. It's personal. I mean, that's
more than this mind can comprehend, isn't it? God chose you. He chose
a people on purpose. He wrote their names in the Lamb's
Book of Life because he loves those people. The difference
between saved and the lost is God's love. That's the difference
between Jacob and Esau. God loved one and hated the other.
It all depends upon God's love. Now I know the objection. Somebody
in the flesh, they're always going to say this. They say,
well, that's not fair. Really? What's unfair about it? What's unfair about it? You know,
God gives everybody exactly what they want. Exactly. If you want
to be saved on God's terms, you will. You absolutely will. But here's the thing. We have
a depraved nature that hates God, that wants our way. So nobody's ever going to want
to be saved on God's terms unless God chose them first and gives
them a new nature, gives them a new want to. Now I'll grant
you, if salvation is by the will of man, by the choice of man,
by the doing of man, then it would not be fair, unless everybody
had a chance. But if salvation is by grace,
salvation is by God's pure, undeserved mercy and grace, then sinners
have to be elected. They have to be elected to salvation
or they'll never choose God. Look at Romans chapter nine.
The apostle Paul dealt with this objection, People say, well,
that's not fair. It's not right. It's not fair
for God to save some and pass others by. Paul says, really? Really? That's not fair. Oh,
I guess it all depends on who God is, doesn't it? Look at Romans
9 verse 14. When in verse 13 it says, as
it is written, Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated. What if
somebody says that's not fair? Paul says, what shall we say
then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid, God forbid
we'd say that. For he saith to Moses, I'll have
mercy in whom I will have mercy. I'll have compassion in whom
I will have compassion. None of them deserve it, but
I'll have mercy in whom I will. I'll have compassion in whom
I will have compassion. So then it's not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.
For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose
have I raised thee up. that I might show my power in
thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the
earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and
whom he will, he hearteneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, why
doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Nay, but O man, who art thou that replyest against God? Who
do you think you are replying against God? Shall the thing
form, say to him that formed it? Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over
the clay of the same lump to make one vessel into honor and
another into dishonor? Isn't that God's right? Cannot
God do with his own as he pleases? Of course he can, because he's
God. Because he's God, of course he
can. Nobody deserves God's love. Nobody deserves his compassion.
Nobody deserves for a son of God to suffer and die for them,
but in an act of unimaginable love, love that we cannot comprehend
in this life with these puny minds, in an act of unimaginable
love, Almighty God chose to save some sinners, some rebels against
him. He chose to save some of those
rebels out of Adam's fallen race because he loved them, because
he loved them. Election is a loving doctrine.
Election is eternal. Paul says, God had from the beginning
chosen you to salvation. Now, when's the beginning? You
know, we're so full of ourselves, we think the beginning is the
beginning of my life, the beginning of when I came into the world.
That's not the beginning. Well, is the beginning the first
time we ever heard the gospel? No, that's not the beginning.
The beginning is before the beginning of time. The beginning doesn't
have a start point, it's eternal. The beginning is just the only
way that we can understand it to say it. The beginning is when
God first purposed the redemption of his people. And that doesn't
have a beginning, it's eternal. God's elect were chosen before
the foundation of the world, before God created anything.
When only God existed, that's when he elected a people to save.
Now since election is eternal, that's another way of saying
this, man's works can't contribute to salvation. They can't, can
they, if election is eternal? If God's election happened before
man ever did anything, before man ever had a chance to do anything
good or anything evil, then election can't have anything to do with
the will of man. Salvation can't have anything to do with the
actions of man, can it? Salvation has everything to do with the
character of God. the will of God and the purpose
of God. We read this to open the service. The Lord told his
disciples in John 15 verse 16, you have not chosen me, but I've
chosen you. That's election. And every person
God saves knows that. This is what they know about
themselves. God chose me. I didn't choose him. God chose
me. Now God's, washed me in the blood
of His Son, and He's given me new nature. I do choose Him now. I wouldn't want salvation any
other way now, but that's only in response to Him choosing me
first, to Him calling me first, to Him revealing His Son to me
and in me first. I do choose Him now, but only
because God first chose me. See, election is a loving act,
and it's eternal. I sure am glad. There's ramifications
for that, that election is eternal. If God loves you right now, do
you know He's always loved you? He's loved you from before the
foundation of the world, and He always will. God's love is
unchanging. He said, I change not. His love
is eternal. And nothing that you can ever
do, nothing that any other creature ever does, nothing can ever happen,
nothing that you can do, nothing anybody does to you, nothing
can ever separate you from the love of God. which is in Christ
Jesus, our Lord, because His love is eternal. His election
is eternal. If Almighty God chose you in
His electing love, He'll never cast you out. Oh, I'm thankful,
aren't you? Thankful. Now fifth, election
is not salvation. It's not salvation. Election
is unto salvation. Paul says that God has from the
beginning chosen you to salvation, to salvation. Now you can't preach
the gospel without election. Nobody can ever be saved without
God's electing love, but election by itself is not salvation. Yes, the Father chose a people
to save, but now the Lord Jesus Christ must come and he must
redeem those people. He must pay for their sin, must
wash them from their sin, with the blood of his sacrifice. Christ
must come and suffer and die for them as their substitute.
Justice must be satisfied. Yes, God chose a sinful people
to save, but now justice has got to be satisfied for their
sin. And the only way it can be satisfied is the death of
the substitute. And the only suitable substitute,
the only substitute who can put away our sin, is God's own Son. Yes, the Father chose a people,
but Christ must come and suffer and die for them. But those elect,
they must be born again. They must be given repentance.
They must have faith towards the Lord Jesus Christ. See, God
didn't choose the people because they were holy. No, they weren't
holy. He chose the people to make them
holy in his son. He chose his people, he set his
love upon them, but they've got to be made holy. See, election
doesn't make anybody holy, does it? They have to be made holy. And they're made holy through
what Paul says here, through the sanctification of the spirit
and belief in the truth. Now, look at Jude chapter one. There's a threefold sanctification,
being made holy, being set apart. It's a threefold sanctification
every believer experiences. The first one is when we are
set apart by the Father in divine election. Jude, verse one. Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ
and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the
Father. and preserved in Jesus Christ
and called. They're sanctified by God the
Father when God elected the people and set them apart for His holy
use. He set them apart and put them
in His Son to redeem. All right, now look at 1 Corinthians. Here's the second sanctification.
Every believer is made holy, made unblameable by the Lord
Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 1. Verse two, Paul says he's writing
under the church of God, which is at Corinth, to them that are
sanctified. How? How are they sanctified?
In Christ Jesus, called to be saints with all that in every
place call upon the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, both theirs
and ours. They're sanctified in Christ Jesus. They're made
saints when Christ made them holy. He made them holy by his
obedience. And when the Holy Spirit comes
and gives them a new nature, that's the third sanctification.
God's people are given a holy nature in the new birth by God,
the Holy Spirit. And that's what Paul's talking
about here. Back in our text, a believer is sanctified by the
Holy Spirit in the new birth. They're made holy in the new
birth when the Holy Spirit causes a new holy nature, a sinless
nature to be born in us. Paul says we're sanctified by
the Holy Spirit and belief of the truth. Now, what's the truth
he's talking about here? Well, it's Christ. He's the whole
truth of God. He's the truth of the whole Word
of God. I can tell you how to know if
you're one of God's elect. I can tell you how to know. You
can know this if the Holy Spirit sanctified you. I can tell you.
You want to know? Do you believe God's Word? I mean, do you believe every
word of it? You hear somebody preach the word, and you say,
yeah, that's it. I see that. That's in the word
of God. I believe that. You hear somebody preach the word, and
you say, wow, I never heard that before. That runs contrary to
everything everybody taught me growing up in religion. That's
all the opposite of that. That's the opposite of everything
I used to trust in. But I believe it. I believe it
because I see it in the word of God. I don't understand everything
there is to know about that, but I believe it because I see
it in God's word. That person has been sanctified
by God the Holy Spirit. They've been given a nature that
believes God. Now, election is not salvation.
It's unto salvation. All right? When are God's elect
saved? When are they? I see that they're
sanctified by the Spirit and through belief in the truth,
but when is one of God's elects saved? When does that happen?
Well, here's the sixth thing. God calls his elect. He calls
them through the preaching of the gospel. Verse 14, whereunto
he called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of
our Lord Jesus Christ. You know, God elected a people.
He sent His Son to die for them. His Son did. He came. He was
their representative. He obeyed God's law perfectly
as their representative and made them righteous. He made sin for
them and put their sin away by His sacrifice. By the sacrifice
of Himself, the blood of God was shed to put away the sin
of His people. That's the most glorious story that's ever been
told. But if God chose you to salvation and His Son died for
you, He's not going to let something so glorious be unknown to you.
He can let you in on it. I tell you how he's going to
let you in on it through the preaching of the gospel. And
you're going to hear it and you're going to believe it. That's it. That's my hope. You know, a lot
of people hear the sound of the gospel with these natural ears
and all they hear is words. There's, there's no life to it.
They just, they don't understand. It's kind of like our dog. You
know, I can just insult that dog. I can say the worst things
about that dog. And sometimes I do. But as long
as I say it in a sweet voice, like I'm talking to a baby, he
just wags his tail and so happy, you know. He doesn't understand
what I'm saying. He just, he doesn't have the
capacity. That's us by nature. We can hear
the words, and you understand what the words mean, but we don't
hear it. We don't believe it. We don't
love it. But God's elect, when they hear, they hear. They hear
the gospel. They hear it with an ear of faith,
and they believe it, and they love it. There cannot ever be
any salvation apart from hearing the gospel. And I mean the gospel,
not just hearing any preaching, not just hearing anybody make
comments on the word of God. There's no salvation apart from
hearing the gospel. You cannot be saved by hearing
the preaching of a lie. It's utterly impossible. Paul
says here, weren't he called to you by our gospel? Wait a
minute, I'm in the wrong, oh, verse, end of verse 13, belief
of the truth. Belief of the truth. It's the
truth that saves. Well, what is the gospel? What
is the gospel that God uses to save his people? You know, there
are many, aren't there? There are many so-called gospels
and false gospels, false good news. Paul talks about another
gospel. He told the Galatians, I can't
believe you're so removed, so soon removed to another gospel.
What is the gospel? The gospel that God uses to save
his elect. Well, there's just one. It's
the gospel of Christ. It's the gospel that declares
who Christ is. It declares him and his glory, the glory of the
salvation of his elect, that he did all the saving, that by
his obedience, he made his people righteous, that he's gonna call
his people, that he's gonna keep his people, that he'll never
let them go. Salvation is dependent upon his
work, his love, his blood, his mercy, his grace that he has
for his people. It's the salvation, the gospel,
that declares salvation in Christ. And that brings me to my seventh
point. Election has everything to do with Christ. Everything. Paul says here, verse 14, to
the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. And that
glory that he's talking about here is the glory of Christ in
salvation. It's the glory that will be revealed
when he returns. But it's also the glory that's
revealed to his people right now. through the preaching of
the gospel. Look at Isaiah chapter 42. Election is just like everything
else in the gospel. It all has to do with Christ. Christ is God's first elect and
we're elected in him. Isaiah 42, verse one. Behold my servant
whom I uphold mine elect. Here the father calls his son
mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth. I put my spirit upon him, and
he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not
cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.
A bruised reed shall he not break, and a smoking flax shall he not
quench. He shall bring forth judgment
unto truth. He shall not fail, nor be discouraged,
So he has set judgment in the earth and the aisles wait for
his law. See, this is the glory that all
of God's elect see, the glory, how he brings forth salvation
to his people, that he doesn't just crush out the weakest of
his people, but he saves them by his grace. And God calls his
elect by the gospel of Christ. And he calls them to Christ,
to Christ. He doesn't call them to doctrine. He doesn't call them to catechism.
He calls them to Christ. So that God's elect see Christ. We see Him like Isaiah saw Him.
He's high and lifted up. He's sitting on His throne, high
and lifted up. His train fills the temple. His
glory is consuming. God calls His elect to Christ
and they love Him. They bow to Him and they worship
Him. He's their all. See, salvation is all in Christ. It all depends on him, depends
upon his person, his glorious, perfect person. It depends on
his work. See, election isn't salvation.
Christ is salvation. Christ is salvation. Election
didn't die for me. Christ died for me. Election
is not my savior. Christ is my savior. Election
put me in Christ so that I trust him, but Christ is my savior.
And all of my salvation depends upon Him. And if I see Him, if
God the Holy Spirit ever shows me, just gives me a glimpse of
Christ, and I see Him by faith, I'm going to tell you what, I'll
have absolutely no problem with God's electing love. If I see
Him in His glory, I'll have no problem understanding He had
to choose me. He had to choose me. And He had
to come and put my sin away. He had to come and make me righteous.
He had to call me to Himself. He's got to hold me and keep
me or I'm going to run off and be apostate. It's all in Him.
It's all because of Him. And since salvation is all in
Christ, it's all dependent upon Him, that gives me such peace
and such comfort to know it doesn't depend on me. You couldn't have
peace of heart You can't have comfort for your heart and assurance
of salvation if salvation depends on us. It can't be had. But if it's all in Christ, oh,
that gives peace and comfort, doesn't it? He shall not fail.
Salvation depends on Christ. So, verse 15, back in our text. Since it's all in Christ, verse
15, therefore, brethren, stand fast. and hold the traditions
which you've been taught, whether by word or by our epistle. Now,
understanding the truth of election, that doesn't make a person live
a carefree life, being totally indifferent to sin, totally indifferent
to our conduct, saying, well, you know, it doesn't matter what
I do, I'm gonna be saved. Not at all. If that's what we
think, we haven't seen Christ. We don't believe him, we don't
know him. That attitude, but you know, It's just, it doesn't
matter what I do. That attitude is contrary to
grace. And I say this to us here at Hurricane Road Grace Church.
God's given us a great gift. Given us the gospel of Christ
to preach to our generation. God's given that to us. Let's
stand fast in it. Stand fast in Christ. Stand fast
in your liberty from the law. Stand fast in that. Stand fast
for your liberty to the ceremony of religion and trust Christ. God's given us the gospel of
his son to preach to our generation. Hold it fast. Hold it fast. Don't ever take a step back from
it. Don't retreat. Don't compromise. Hold it fast. The truth of election
gives God all the glory and salvation. Hold him fast. Hold fast to him. Your election makes sinners worship
God. And here's why I say that. You
know the only time that we'll ever worship? When we know we're
powerless. That leper that came to our Lord
and told him, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean or make
me whole, however he said it. Scripture says he came and worshiped
him. He worshipped. He worshipped even before he
knew if the Lord was going to do anything for him or not. He
worshipped him because he was helpless. The Lord could do with
him as he pleased. That's the only time that we'll
ever worship when we know we're powerless. We can't get God to
do what we want him to do. We're powerless. All we can do
is beg him. That's worship. Well, God's election
teaches us that we're powerless. Now hold fast to that. Hold fast
to that, that worship of Christ. And then here's the last thing.
Election is a comforting doctrine. Verse 16. Now our Lord Jesus
Christ himself, and God even our Father, which hath loved
us and hath given us everlasting consolation and a good hope through
grace, comfort your hearts, establish you in every good word and work. Now, when you want to comfort
the hearts of God's people, I'll tell you what to do. You remind
them of God's electing love. God's electing love gives us
everlasting consolation. It gives us a good hope through
God's grace. God hadn't brought you this far.
God chose you. God saved you by his grace. He
ain't brought you this far to cast you out. That's all that
gives us comfort, doesn't it? God elected a people, and I'll
tell you what, He's going to save those people. He's not going
to fail to save them. The Father began the work in
election. The Son accomplished the work by His life, by His
obedience, by His sacrifice, by His death, by His resurrection
for His people. He accomplished the work of salvation.
God the Holy Spirit applies that work to the hearts of His people
in the new birth. Well, you can rest assured, God's
begun the work. He's going to finish it. He's
going to finish it. He's going to preserve His people
to the end, and nothing that ever happens in time, nothing,
nothing, something's going through your head, not that, nothing,
nothing can ever cause God to cast away his people, nothing.
As a matter of fact, everything that happens in time, even when
we don't understand it, even when it causes us pain and discomfort
and we don't understand what's going on, Everything that's happening
is happening for this purpose. It's done by God. I mean, is
God God? Is God in control? Then everything
that's happening is happening under His direct control, isn't
it? You know why it's happening? To accomplish God's purpose of
the redemption of His people. And that's all it takes to comfort
the hearts of God's people. When we don't understand, when
it's causing us pain and I don't understand, That can comfort
my heart. God's doing this on purpose to
save his people. Well, then it must be all right.
I don't understand it, but I believe it. See, God's electing love
as a comforting doctrine. Don't you love that doctrine?
Aren't you thankful? That's the truth of it. Aren't
you thankful for it? I pray the Lord will make that
so in all of us. Let's bow together. Our Father, how we thank you
for this glorious truth of your electing love, that you choose
a completely undeserving people, set your love upon them, put
them in your son, that he'd come and redeem them by his perfect
life and by his perfect sacrifice. Father, how we thank you that
you send the Holy Spirit to the hearts of your people to reveal
your son to us and in us. He said you do it through the
preaching of your word, through the preaching of the gospel.
Father, I pray you bless your word as it's been preached this
morning. Father, bless your word. Our commentary on it is so weak
and stumbling. How can we ever, our comments
ever do you justice, do you the glory of your grace and your
mercy justice? But Father, take your word as
it's been preached and apply it to the hearts of your people.
that we might believe the Lord Jesus Christ and the rest in
Him. Father, take Your Word to comfort the hearts of Your people
by causing us to continue to rely on Christ alone. Of course,
in His blessed name, we pray and give thanks. Amen. Alright, Sean. Okay, if you would. Turn to song number
464 and stand as we sing, I Will Praise Him. When I saw the cleansing fountain
open wide for all my sin, I obeyed the Spirit's calling when He
said, Will thou be clean? I will praise Him, I will praise
Him, praise the Lamb for sinners slain. Give Him glory, all ye
people, for His blood can wash away each stain. Though the way seemed straight
and narrow, all I claimed was swept away. My ambitions, plans,
and wishes at my feet in ashes lay. I will praise Him. I will praise Him. Praise the
Lamb for sinners slain. Give Him glory, all ye people,
for His blood can wash away each stain. Then God's fire upon the
altar of my heart was set aflame. I shall never cease to praise
Him. Glory, glory to His name. I will praise Him, I will praise
Him, praise the Lamb for sinners slain. Give Him glory, all ye
people, for His blood can wash away each stain. Blessed be the name of Jesus. I'm so glad He took me in. He's forgiven my transgressions. He has cleansed my heart from
sin. I will praise Him, I will praise
Him, praise the Lamb for sinners slain. Give Him glory, all ye
people, for His blood can wash away each stain. Glory, glory to the Father. Glory, glory to the Son. Glory, glory to the Spirit. Glory to the three in one. I will praise Him, I will praise
Him, praise the Lamb for sinners slain. Give Him glory, all ye
people, for His blood can wash away each stain.