Alright, John chapter 15. The title of the message is The Glory
of Divine Election. And we touched on this verse
in the message last Sunday in verse 16. When our Lord says,
You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. He plainly tells
us, He chose the people. We didn't choose Him. He chose
His people. Now, I'd like to bring a message
on that this morning, the glory of his divine election. And it's
my desire to preach this message in such a way that we see our
utter need of Christ. I want to preach this message
in such a way that we can rejoice in Christ our Savior and rejoice
in God's mercies to us. I want to avoid preaching this
message trying to convince someone that election is true. No one
comes to Christ because we know election is true. No one comes
to Christ because we know that we're one of God's elect. Election
is a blessed, glorious truth that's taught in God's Word.
But you know, election is not the first thing that God teaches
His children. The first thing God teaches a
believer is that they're sinners. Everything we do is sinful. So we deserve God's wrath. And
we don't have any hope in anything we do, because everything we
do is sinful. The first thing God teaches His
people is we're sinners in need of a Savior. That's the first
thing. Then later on, well then, God shows us Christ. And when
we see Christ, The Savior, we run to Him. We beg Him for mercy
and find grace and mercy in Christ our substitute. Now that makes
me worship Him. Oh, how I worship Him. That God would show me who I
am and who Christ is and let me sit at His feet and find mercy. That makes me worship Him. Does
that make you worship Him? What a cause for worship. Now,
I come to Christ because I'm a sinner in need of a Savior.
And very soon after that, you know what He teaches me? That
God chose me from all eternity. And I came to Christ because
God chose me from all eternity and He was drawing me to His
Son. God made me His before time began. And that's the very reason
He sent the Gospel to me. And He revealed Christ to me.
And you know what? That makes me worship Him too.
That God would choose me from all of eternity? And He'd send
His Gospel to me? That He'd send His Son to die
for me? Does that make you worship? Oh, it just makes me a heart
worship. Every believer, I don't care
where you find them, every believer loves God's electing love. It's not something that we believe
because we have to. We love it. God chose me. I did not choose God. God chose
me, and I love that. I've heard this story a number
of times about a young preacher. He wrote a message entitled,
The Hated Doctrine of Election. And he brought it to an old preacher.
He wanted him to look at it. He wanted him to look at his
outline. And the old man tore it up and told him, now go write
another message on the loved doctrine of election. Every believer
loves God's electing love, the truth that God chose me, that
God chose me unto salvation before time began. Every believer loves
that. This is how the early church
referred to one another, as the elect. We call each other believers,
or sons and daughters. The early church called each
other the elect. In 2 John, John wrote that letter
to the elect lady, and in it he refers to her elect sister. This is how the early church
referred to one another, as the elect. So, as I said, my goal
is not to prove to you that election is so or that it's taught in
Scripture. My goal is that we'll be shut up to God's mercies. That we'll be shut up to Christ
and we'll rejoice in God's electing love. But in case you're wondering,
let me make this very clear. plainly teaches the truth of
election. I wouldn't preach it otherwise.
We preach the Word. The word elect or election is
used 27 times in the Scriptures. 23 times in the New Testament.
The first time the word is used is referring to Christ, my elect. The word chosen is used in the
New Testament more than 25 times referring specifically to the
people that God chose. The truth of election is taught
in the New Testament. And it's taught in the Old Testament,
too. All throughout the Old Testament, we see God's electing love pictured. His choice. His election of the
nation Israel. God chose that nation Israel,
the smallest nation on earth, and passed every other nation
by. That's God's election. Adam had
two sons. God chose one and passed the
other by. Many people, I don't know how
many millions of people were living on earth in the time of
Noah. God chose Noah and his family and every other person
on the face of the planet perished. God's electing love, his electing
choice. If you look back at Psalm 65,
election is a blessed truth that gives God's elect every blessing
that God has for sinners. Psalm 65 verse 4. Every blessing
we have is because of God's electing love. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell
in thy courts. We shall be satisfied with the
goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple. Why are we to
be satisfied with all the goodness of God's house? Because God chose
us. Blessed is the man that thou
choosest. Look in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. Election is cause
for thanksgiving. Election is not a reason to get
mad and fuss and fight and argue. Election is reason for thanksgiving. 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 13. But we're bound to give thanks
always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord. Because
God has, from the beginning, chosen you to salvation through
sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth. Whereunto
he called you by our gospel to the attaining of the glory of
our Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks because God has,
from the beginning, chosen you to salvation. And you know election
is the very glory of God revealed to men. In Exodus 33, you know
this story well. Moses asked God, show me your
glory. What did God tell Moses? I'll
make all my goodness to pass before thee. I will be gracious
to whom I will be gracious, and I'll show mercy on whom I will
show mercy. That's election. God showing
mercy to whom he will. God being gracious to whom he
will. That's election. And God said, that's my glory. So we can't preach the gospel
unless we preach election. Isn't that right? We can't preach
the gospel without preaching God's glory, can we? Election
is as necessary to salvation as the death of Christ on the
cross. Election is as necessary for salvation as the new birth.
So it's impossible to preach the gospel if we don't preach
election. Matter of fact, the very reason that we preach it
all is God's election. The very reason we evangelize
is election because we know this. God's election shall not fail.
His elect are going to hear and believe. The church at Thessalonica,
that's why they sounded the word abroad everywhere, because they
were the elect of God. Ananias one day, God told him,
he said to Saul down at the street down here, he's in this house,
you go preach to him. Ananias said, I don't want to do that.
I've heard about that fella. I don't want to do that. You
know why Ananias went to preach to Saul of Tarsus? Because God
said he's a chosen vessel unto me. Because of election. Ananias
went and preached because he believed God. His election shall
not fail. So, here's my first point. Election
is necessary. There can be no salvation without
God's election. Look in our text, verse 16 of
John chapter 15. You have not chosen me, but I've
chosen you. Now the reason election is necessary
is because of our nature. Our nature is a sin nature that
cannot and will not choose God. You have not chosen me. What
an indictment on human nature. You have not chosen me. You will
not choose me. You will not choose God. You
cannot choose God because of your nature. Why? Why wouldn't we choose God? Why
wouldn't we choose His Blessed Son that He sent into this world
to save sinners. Why wouldn't we choose Him? He's
altogether lovely. We don't choose Him because of
our nature. Because by nature we hate Him.
What an indictment against our nature, our sin nature. But God
chose a people. And you know, election never
makes the elect think that we're better than somebody else. It
never makes us look down our nose at other people. No. Election
humbles God's elect. I did not choose God. I refused
to choose God. Because of who I am, because
of my nature, I would not choose God. But God chose me. That's the most humbling thing.
God chose me. And that's why I said you can't
preach the gospel without preaching God's electing love. You can't
preach the gospel if you deny these truths that are so plainly
taught in scripture. When we preach election, we're
going to set forth God as He is, as God. And when we preach
election, we're going to set forth man as He is, as nothing,
just a sinner that's unable to help himself. And if God did
not choose some, No one would be saved. This is how horrible,
how horribly wretched and vile and lost in sin our nature is. If God didn't choose some, no
one would be saved. Look at Romans chapter nine.
No one would be saved because man by nature will not choose
Christ. They won't choose holiness. They
won't choose righteousness. They won't choose anything good.
So none would be saved if God didn't choose some. See if this
isn't what Paul says in Romans chapter 9, verse 29. As Isaiah
said before, except the Lord of Sabaoth, the Lord of hosts,
had left us a seed, if the Lord of hosts hadn't chosen a people
and made them his seed, we would have been a Sodom and been made
like unto Gomorrah. There'd none be saved if God
didn't choose that remnant and have a seed unto himself. Look
at 1 Corinthians chapter 1. So you know what all this means?
Election is for sinners. Election is even for the chief
of sinners. You can be too good for God to
choose you, but you can't be too sinful for God to choose
you. Look at 1 Corinthians 1 verse 26. For you see your calling,
brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many
mighty, not many noble are called, But God hath chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things which
are mighty. And base things of the world, and things which are
despised, those are the things God hath chosen. Yea, and things
which are not to bring to naught the things that are, that no
flesh should glory in his presence." God chooses people who have absolutely
no reason to glory. They're the lowest of the low,
the worst of the worst. Election is for sinners. And I want to drive this point
home. I want to make this so clear. Election is necessary. There's no salvation without
God's election. And I want to drive that home
for this reason. No one will worship until we realize we're
helpless before God. No one will worship until we
realize we can't do anything to make God save us. Now, we
can beg for mercy and we ought to. We can call on His name,
and we ought to. But there's nothing that we can
do to get God to save us. There's nothing we can do to
obligate God to save us. God's not the debtor. Now, we
are. We can't do anything to obligate
God to save us. Election means this. Salvation
is in the Lord. And we have no control over it
whatsoever. And the only response a sinner
can have to that truth is this. Worship. Just bow and worship
and beg for mercy. And I'm telling you, that's such
a good place to be. Because here's my second point.
Election is an act of God's love. Our Lord said, you've not chosen
me, but I've chosen you. You have rejected me, but I've
chosen you. Earlier in our study in John
15, our Lord says, makes it so clear, He loves His people. In verse 9, he says, as the Father
hath loved me, that's how I love you. You continue in my love.
Verse 12, he says, this is my commandment that you love one
another as I've loved you. I love you with a great love,
he said. Greater love hath no man than
this. And a man lay down his life for his friends, and I'm
laying down my life for you, he says, because I love you.
And after he makes it so clear, he loves his people. Then he
says, I've chosen you. Election is an act of God's love. Election is not choosing some
to hell and some to heaven. That would be an act of hate,
wouldn't it? An act of justice or whatever you want to call
it. Election is an act of love. God didn't have to choose anybody
to go to hell. Men are just leave them alone. They're condemned
to hell on their own because of their own sin. But God elected. He chose some out of Adam's fallen
race because he loved them. Because of his great love. You
mean to tell me, I just told you elections for sinners. So
you're telling me God chose sinners to save? That's exactly what
I'm saying, because that's what Scripture says. My soul, that's
love, isn't it? That God would choose sinners.
Election is an act of love. Third, election is personal. Our Lord says, I have chosen
you. God doesn't choose nations. God
doesn't choose denominations. God chooses people. People. He set His love on a particular
people. On you. On you. How are you ever going to get
over that? Can you get over God's love for you? Can that just become
a trite thing to you? Yeah, God loves me. You know,
God loves you and so do I. Can that ever become a trite
thing to you? Can you ever get tired of hearing
Christ died for you? Can you ever get tired of hearing
Christ would die for your sins? You! Of all people! No, I can't. I can't get over it. It makes
me worship, but I can't get over it. He chose people. God chose
me. He chose His bride. And He made
her Now that's personal, isn't it? Janet's my wife. That's a personal relationship.
I don't have that relationship with anybody else. Christ chose
His bride. That's personal, isn't it? And
Christ dwells in the hearts of His people. Now that's a close,
intimate union with Christ. He dwells in the hearts of His
people. Election personal. Fourthly,
election is eternal. Our Lord says, I have chosen
you. He doesn't say, I will choose
you if you choose me. He doesn't say, I will choose
you if you're going to fail here, and Peter's going to deny me,
and you're all going to desert me, and you're not going to be
acting right, and you're going to leave the ministry and go
off to fishing. But if you come back and you start acting right,
then I'll choose you. Not what he says. He knew that's
what they were going to do. He told Peter that's what he
was going to do. And then, maybe when he was talking,
he might have looked at Peter. As he's talking to all of his
people, maybe he looked at Peter and said, but I've chosen you.
Isn't that comforting? I have, past tense, chosen you. Well, when did he choose me? How past tense is this? in eternity. God told Jeremiah, before I formed
you in the belly, I knew thee. I ordained thee. I chose thee
to be mine. Look in Ephesians chapter 1.
Ephesians chapter 1 tells us what the Lord meant when he's
speaking to Jeremiah and told him, before I formed you in the
belly, I knew thee. Well, was it right before his
mother conceived him? No. Before then. It was in eternity
past. Ephesians 1 verse 3, 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, when? Before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
Him in love. Election is eternal. Now this
does not mean that God looked down through the telescope of
time and he saw who would choose him so that he chose them. That would make God's election
unnecessary. We've already seen God's election
is necessary. You did not choose me. We cannot
choose him. If God just looked down through
time and he saw who would choose him and then he chose them, that
would just be God taking credit for what man was going to do
anyway. The fact that God's election is eternal before the foundation
of the world means this. Election is unconditional. Now we, all of us here, are five-point
calculus, tulip. You know what that U in tulip
means? It means unconditional election. And all that means,
unconditional election, simply means this. There are no conditions
you have to meet in order to have it. No conditions at all.
That means we don't have to be good enough to get it. If you're
still there in Ephesians, look across the page, Ephesians 2,
verse 6. We don't have to be good enough
to get it. It's eternal. And you have to
be quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sin, wherein in
time past you walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit
that now worketh in the children of disobedience, among whom also
we all have our conversation in time past, in the lust of
our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the And we're
by nature the children of wrath even as others. Now that removes
any hope that there's something in us that would make God choose
us. We're children of wrath. We're wrathful, hateful children
who deserve God's wrath. But God, who's rich in mercy,
for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace
are you saved. You don't have to be good enough.
It's unconditional election. God loved the people and he chose
them despite who they were. He chose them in Christ because
of who Christ is. If you look back in Romans chapter
9, election is an act of pure mercy. Because it's unconditional,
election is an act of pure mercy. You cannot earn it. And you don't
have to earn it. It's mercy. Romans 9 verse 10. And not only this, but when Rebecca
also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac, 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, not something you can earn, but of him that
calleth. It was said unto her, The elders shall serve the younger.
As it is written, Jacob have I loved. See, election is an
act of love. Jacob have I loved. have I hated. Election's eternal. You cannot
earn it. It's an act of God's mercy. Then
fifth, election is not salvation. Election is unto salvation. God chose to save a people. But
now Christ had to come and die for those people. He had to come
save them. Back in our text in John 15,
this is why he says in verse 13, God chose the people, but
Christ had to save them. This is why he says, greater
love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his
friends. The Lord Jesus Christ had to
go lay down his life as a sacrifice for his elect. Now, there can
be no salvation without election, but there can be no salvation
and there can be no forgiveness of sin without the blood of the
sacrifice either. There must be both. There must
be election. and there must be a blood sacrifice. Elections unto salvation. Then
there must be the new birth. It takes all. See, all these
go together in order to have salvation, but you can't have
it without election. Then sixth, election causes the
elect to bring forth fruit. See that in verse 16? You've
not chosen me, but I've chosen you, and I've ordained you that
you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should
remain. Now what fruit is our Lord talking
about here? Did you go bring forth fruit?
Well first, He's talking about the fruit of faith. It's impossible
to have faith without election. That's the first fruit is faith.
Look back in John chapter 10. The fruit of faith, belief in
the Lord Jesus Christ is impossible without election. John 10 verse 25. Jesus answered them, I told you,
and you believe not. If you have no faith, you did
not believe. The works that I do in my Father's
name, they bear witness of me, but you believe not. Why don't
they believe? Well, they're just not as smart
as John and Peter and James. No, you believe not because you're
not of my sheep. You believe not because I didn't
choose you to be my sheep. That's why you don't believe.
Faith is the gift of God. And if you believe, the only
reason that you believe is you're God's elect. And God gave you
the gift of faith in His Son. That's what he says in verse
27 of John 10. My sheep, those whom I have chosen,
they hear my voice. And I know them. I've always
known them. And they follow me. And you know,
if you look over in Acts 13, this is what every believer knows. I only believe because God chose
me. and he gave me faith. Acts 13, verse 47. For so hath God commanded us,
saying, I have set thee to be a light unto the Gentiles, that
thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. And
when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad. And they glorified
the word of the Lord, and as many as were ordained to eternal
life, as many as God elected unto salvation, did what? Believed. All those who were God's elect
believed. That's the first fruit. It's
the fruit of faith. But then there's all the fruit
of the Spirit. The fruit of love and joy and peace and longsuffering. You can't have any of that fruit
without election. Because all that fruit is contrary
to the nature of the flesh. And the reason for this fruit,
our Lord said, I have ordained you that you go bear fruit and
your fruit remain. The reason for this fruit is
not so that eventually we grow in grace so much we become those
old men, old women in the faith and we bear fruit somehow to
our glory. No. Election, just like all of
salvation, is for God's glory and the glory of Christ. We bring
forth this fruit, the fruit of election, so God gets all the
glory. Back in verse 8 of John 15, we looked at this a few weeks
ago. Herein is my Father glorified,
that you bear much fruit. That's why we bear this fruit,
so that God's glorified. And then last, election unites
us to Christ. I have ordained you that you
should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain,
that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he
may give it you." Now God elected a people. He put those people
in His Son. They're united to Christ. And
that union is so real that the Father will always give me what
I ask for. Not because of me. Because I'm
in Christ. He always gives his son what
he asks for. And you know, we use the example,
I use it many times about praying for a million dollars. So I try
to think of a different illustration. Here's something else we cherish
a whole lot around here. University of Kentucky Basketball
Championship. I think people pray for that. Will God give me that if I pray
for it? Will he? No, he won't. Because I don't
need another championship, just like I don't need a million dollars.
But I'm telling you, I need mercy. I need the forgiveness of sin.
I need the blood of Christ to be applied to my heart. I need
Christ to be my righteousness. I need His presence. I beg for
it every day that He give me His presence. I need Him to be
my comforter. I need Him to worship. We can't
worship this morning if He's not with us. Do you need him? Is that what you need, the forgiveness
of sin? Do you need mercy? Then pray
for it. Our Lord said, whatever you ask,
my Father will give it to you. Now in closing, I'd like to use
this illustration. Look at Matthew chapter 15. This
is the truth, the glory of divine election. So how should a sinner
deal with the truth of election when we meet it. You've met the
truth, the glory of divine election this morning. How should you
deal with it? How should I deal with it? Matthew 15, verse 21. Then Jesus
went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.
And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coast and
cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son
of David. My daughter is grievously vexed
with the devil. And this woman starts out with
a real problem. This is a real problem. And she
comes to the right person, doesn't she? With a good plea. This woman
knows who the Lord Jesus is. She calls him the Son of David.
The Messiah, the Savior. You're the Son of God. He's the
right person. And she comes with the right
plea, begging for mercy. Now, you know, that impresses
me. It really does. It impresses me. And it impresses
me, because you don't see that too often. But look at our Lord's
response, verse 23. He answered her, not a word.
And His disciples came and besought Him, saying, Send her away, for
she cries after us. She came with a real problem,
to the right person, with the right plea, and our Lord was
silent. Have you ever known the Lord
to be silent when you pray? I have. But you know, that didn't stop
this woman Not at all. She kept crying. She kept crying
to anybody she thought knew the Lord, who could go to the Lord
for her and get the Lord to help her. And the disciples were irritated. They wanted the Lord to send
her away. Lord, she's annoying us. Would you send her away?
She's not one of us. She's this woman of Canaan. Send
her away. Isn't that some compassion? Well, how often are we guilty
of the very same thing? I pray God give us a heart of
compassion for the lost. And I'm also thankful the disciple's
lack of compassion did not stop the electing mercy of the Lord.
In my faults, in my failure, my lack of compassion, not going
to stop the mercy of the Lord either, but I still pray for
a heart of compassion. Well, verse 24, but he finally
answered her. And he said, I'm not sent, but
in the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Now here, our Lord
sets forth the truth of election in unmistakable terms. You can't
misunderstand what he's saying. Our Lord came only to save the
elect. He didn't come to save everybody.
He came to save his elect, the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
And he's going to pass everybody else by. That's exactly what
he's saying. You can't misunderstand what
he's saying. Christ did not come to save everybody. He came to
save His elect. Now, how are you going to respond
to that truth? How do we respond to that truth? Christ only came
to save His elect. He's going to pass everybody
else by. Well, I can tell you how a sinner
responds to that truth. Verse 25. Then came she and worshipped Him,
saying, Lord, help me. Now, election. Never. stops anyone from coming to Christ
and begging for mercy. Never. Matter of fact, it's election,
it's God's sovereignty that makes a sinner come to Christ and worship
in the first place. This woman came with a problem,
with a good plea to the right person, but she didn't start
worshiping until she met the Sovereign. He chooses whom He
will. Now she's truly worshiping. She
truly worshiping. When faced with the truth of
election, that Christ came only to save His elect, sinners will
worship. Because sinners only worship
when we realize we're worthless and we're helpless. And Christ
is all. And He's got all the power. Salvation
is all in Him. And this is so important, and
I plead with you. Don't make the same mistake I
made. You just make yourself miserable. I can't tell you how
many years I prayed, Lord, show me I'm one of your elect. Please
don't do that. That's the wrong plea. Don't
ask God to show you you're one of the elect. Beg God for mercy. What we need is mercy. What we
need is forgiveness. And that's exactly what this
woman did because she needed mercy more than anything else.
She didn't say, well, Lord, show me I'm one of the lost sheep
of the house of Israel. No, she said, Lord, help me. She's begging for mercy. I don't
come to Christ because I know I'm on God's left. I come to
Christ because I'm a sinner who needs a Savior. I need mercy. I need to be washed in the blood
of Christ. Lord, help me. In verse 26, but he answered
and said, it's not me. It's not right to take the children's
bread and cast it to dogs. Our Lord tells her. My heart's
broken for her. Lord, help me. She must not have come low enough
yet. Because our Lord says you don't deserve mercy. You don't
deserve for me to help you. You don't deserve that I've chosen
you. You're just a dog. And it's not right for me to
give the children's bread to dogs. Now here's another bold
plain statement that our Lord makes about our nature. He tells
us who we really are. We're a dog. I mean, a dog. Just the lowest on the food chain,
a dog. Well, here's another truth the
sinner's got to come to face with now. We've got to come to
face with this. God's electing love. God only
sent His Son to save His elect, and I'm a dog. I'm not worthy
of this. How are you going to handle that?
You won't get offended and leave? Not if you're a sinner, you won't.
She agrees with him. Look at verse 27. She said, Truth,
Lord. Yet the dogs eat of the crumbs
which fall from their master's table. Lord, you're right. Let
God be true in every man a liar. You're right. I'm a dog. I don't
deserve the least of your mercies. All I'm begging you for is table
scraps. Because scraps from the master's table is a whole lot
better than a bowl heaped over with dog food. Just give me some
crumbs. That's why I'm begging. Lord,
just give me some crumbs. In verse 28, Then Jesus answered
and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith. Be it unto thee
even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole
that very hour. Now back in our text, Our Lord
says, Whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in mine name, he
may give it you. She got what she asked for, didn't
she? She got mercy. She got what she asked for. That's
what the Lord promised. That's how a sinner meets the
truth, the glory of divine election. Now, this is the truth. God elected
a people. Only those people will be saved.
And I'm telling you, they'll be saved. There's no doubt they'll
be saved. There's no chance they'll be
lost. And this is also true. Everyone who begs for mercy,
everyone who begs for mercy, without exception, gets it. How are you going to meet that truth?
I'll tell you how I'm going to meet that truth. I'm going to
come to Christ. I'm going to beg for mercy. Lord
said He'd be merciful, didn't He? You come to Christ and beg
for mercy. Pretty soon, this is what you'll
realize. He elected you. He drew you to. He's the one
putting your heart to beg for mercy. Because He chose you. Because He delights to show mercy.
And He does this. He teaches us this so that we
understand this. Salvation is of the Lord. From
beginning to end, salvation is of the Lord. And when the Lord
shows us that, then we start to see some of the glory of divine
election. God lets us see it, and I hope
he has this morning. We'll worship on it. All right,
let's bow in prayer. Our Father, how we thank you for the glorious
truth that you revealed to us from your Word. You put it in
your Word for us to read. Be able to understand and see
who you are. That you're holy. That you're
sovereign. And that we're nothing. What
sinful, vile, wretched dogs we are. Yet to the glory of your
person, you loved the people. And you elected them. Put them
in your Son. Elected them unto salvation.
You sent your Son to die for them. To put their sin away. through the blood of His sacrifice.
And you send your Spirit to reveal Christ to us, to give us faith
in Him, to cause us to run to Him and beg for mercy. Father, we're so thankful. Human
language is not sufficient to say how thankful we are. And
Father, we pray that You'd keep us begging for mercy. Keep us
at Your feet begging for mercy, for table scraps from our Master. Father, we pray You'd bless Your
Word. Bless Your Word to the hearts of Your people to strengthen
our faith and our confidence in the Savior, to cause those
that don't know You to run to Christ and be as this poor woman
we read about, begging for mercy with no pretense about who and
what they are, but begging for mercy. Father, how we thank You. It's in the precious name of
our Lord Jesus Christ For His sake we pray, Amen.