Let's begin today in the gospel
of John. Gospel of John, chapter 15. John 15, we'll begin reading
in verse nine. As the father has loved me. So
have I loved you? Speaking to his disciples, continue
ye in my love. If you keep my commandments,
you shall abide in my love even as I have kept my father's commandments
and abide in his love. 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. An amazing
statement. All things that I have heard
of my father, I have made known unto you. You have not chosen
me, but I have chosen you and ordained you that you should
go forth and bring fruit and that your fruit should remain
at 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 hate 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 are not of the
world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the
world hateth you. Remember the word that I said
unto you, the servant is not greater than his Lord. If they
have persecuted me, they will persecute you. If they have kept
my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will
they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him
that sent me. If I had not come and spoken
unto them, they had had no sin. But now they have no cloak for
their sin. He that hateth me hateth my father
also. If I had not done among them
the works which none other man did, they had not had sin. But now Have they both seen and
hated both me and my father. But this cometh to pass that
the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law. They
hated me without a cause. But when the comforter has come
whom I will send unto you from the father even the spirit of
truth which proceeded from the father he shall testify of me. And you also shall bear witness
because you have been with me from the beginning. Now, our Savior makes an astounding
statement in verse nine. He says, As the father hath loved
me, so have I loved you. Continue ye in my love as the
father in the same fashion, in the same duration of time. Now,
we know that God the father loved his son from untold ages of eternity
past. And in that same way, our Savior
has loved us for just as long. Just think about that for a moment.
For as long as Christ has existed, which we can't comprehend, He
has loved us. We have been in Christ for as
long as He has been. Then in verse 16 of this chapter,
our Lord tells His disciples, ye have not chosen me, But I
have chosen you. And this statement is true of
every single believer, every child of God, despite what religious
folks tell us. The choice that reconciles lost
men to God is not in the smallest degree made by man. If you believe the word of God,
you cannot deny this fact. Now, I want to look at this subject
in depth today. and prove to you from God's word
that choosing the choosing that results in the salvation of lost
men and women is God's choosing alone. God's word calls this
election. And it is one of the most hated
doctrines by the religious world that there is. But it's true
nonetheless. Now the word chosen is found
119 times in the King James Bible. The word chose is found 27 times. The word chosen is found 58 times. And I want to look at several
places where those words are used and see if I can prove what
I say is true. Concerning whose choice it is,
it brings salvation to lost men and women will be looking at
several scriptures as we go through this. And I've titled this message,
You Have Not Chosen Me. Now, Proverbs 122, or verses
22 through 33 of Proverbs 1, speaks of the choices that natural
man makes when it comes to the things of God that leads to salvation.
We'll not read those for the sake of time, but I just want
to highlight just a couple. In verse 25, it says that we
by nature set at nought all of God's counsel, and we despise
his reproof. Verse 29 tells us about the choice
of men in their natural state of mind. For they hated knowledge. And did not choose the fear of
the Lord, which leads to their destruction, which is described
in verse 32 for the turning of the way of the simple shall slay
them. and the prosperity of fools shall
destroy them, the turning away from the truth of God's word
and the willful turning to lies. Now in Isaiah 66, if you want
to turn over there and look with me, Isaiah 66. Verses three and four. Isaiah 66, beginning in verse
three, It says he that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man. He that sacrifices a lamb as
if he cut off a dog's neck. He that offereth oblation as
if he offered swine's blood. He that burneth incense as if
he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own
ways and their soul delighteth in their abominations. And he
continues, I will choose their delusions and will bring their
fears upon them. Because when I called, none did
answer. When I spake, they did not hear,
but they did evil before my eyes and chose that in which I delight
not. Now, in our natural law state,
we hate any mention of a sovereign God who rules this universe.
in righteousness, holiness, and justice. But once we're given
faith to see and understand about God's abundant mercy toward us
that he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world,
we adore this doctrine that we refer to as election. Now, I've
had many conversations with lost men concerning the choices of
God about choosing the nation of
Israel, and they don't have any problem with God choosing the
nation of Israel and leaving the other Gentile nations to
perish. And they don't have the least
bit of problem with Christ choosing certain men to be his disciples
and leaving the other men of that region in darkness and in
ignorance. You know why? Because not one
of those choices affects them. But you tell them that they have
no say whatsoever in their salvation and they will fight you tooth
and nail. They will not hear of a sovereign
God who has mercy on whom he will have mercy and hardened
whom he will. They will not tolerate a God
that you tell them is perfectly just to hate Esau and to love
Jacob before they were ever born. They insist that they have a
hand in this thing called salvation, that they make the choice that
makes the death of Christ effectual or not. Now, ironically, when our God
chooses men and women to salvation, he doesn't choose the cream of
the crop. In first Corinthians chapter
one, it tells us that he uses weak and broken things to glorify
his name in first Corinthians 127 verses that we're very familiar
with. But God hath chosen the foolish
things of this world to confound the wise and God hath chosen
the weak things of this world to confound the things that are
mighty and base things of this world and things which are despised
has God chosen yea and things which are not to bring to naught
things that are. Now here's another verse that
proves to us that God's thoughts are not our thoughts, that God's
ways are not our ways. And the reason I say that, if
you were going against a strong enemy in battle, you would no
doubt pick the best trained, the most battle-hardened soldiers
that you could find. You would pick warriors. And if you're going to engage
in a battle of wits, you would absolutely choose the smartest,
the best, the sharpest thinkers and analysts that you could find.
And if your side comes out the victor, it would not be hard
to figure out why that came to pass. You had the superior team
in place. Not so with our guy. He chooses
Moses. who said, I don't even know how
to speak, Lord. I just, I'm not an orator. I have no idea why you're choosing
me. But he chose Moses to confound
Pharaoh. He chose David, just a young
lad with no battle experience, to go up against a giant who
had slain untold numbers of men, this man called Goliath. He sent
David to go up against him in battle, and David slew him, cut
off his head, and carried it around for a few days. And he
chooses a group of unlearned fishermen to be his disciples
and to be used to turn the Roman world upside down. He chooses a harlot named Rahab
to save alive those two spies. And God's word tells us why he
does this. One reason, that no flesh should
glory in his presence. The only reason that the examples
of faith that we find throughout this word and especially in Hebrews
chapter 11, the only reason that they had any success was because
God made them this promise, I will be with thee. Zechariah 4, 6
tells us then he answered and spake unto them or unto me saying
this is a word of the Lord under the rubble, not by might, not
by power, but by my spirit saith the Lord of hosts. This is how
God Almighty accomplishes all that he does by my spirit. But there is one choice out of
all the choices that God the father made that stands out far
above all others. God the Father chose Christ the
Son to be the one who would ransom the people that he chose from
eternity. Matthew 12, 18. This is a quote
from Isaiah. It says, Behold my servant whom
I have chosen, my beloved in whom my soul is well pleased.
I will put my spirit upon him and he shall show judgment. to
the Gentiles. God the Father spoke these same
words from heaven when Christ was baptized and he said this
is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. In first Peter
2 verse 4 says to whom coming as unto a lively stone a living
stone disallowed of the builders and disallowed of man but chosen
of God and precious. And Psalm 89 says this, then
now speak us in vision to thy holy one and said, I have laid
help upon one that is mighty. I have exalted one chosen out
of the people speaking of Christ. Now it takes one who is mighty
to redeem a number that no man can number. It takes one who
is mighty to bear an eternity's worth of suffering in three hours.
on a Roman cross, to pay an unimaginable debt that was due our sin, that
was due the sins of God's chosen ones. Now he tells us that he
is mighty to save. It takes one who is mighty to
crush the head of that rabid enemy of his people, Satan, who
would destroy us in a heartbeat were it not for the protection
of our mighty great shepherd. Now Moses made this statement
in Deuteronomy 721 to the children of Israel concerning their enemies. And he told them that their enemies
were greater and mightier than them. And that certainly applies
to us. Because we are the true Israel
of God. He said this to the nation of
Israel and it applies to us. Thou shall not be affrighted
at them. For the Lord thy God is among
you, a mighty God and terrible. Now, as a good shepherd is among
his flock, so is the Spirit of God always among us, protecting
us, guiding us, caring for us and feeding us. David wrote of
this in the Psalms. He said, Thou hast a mighty arm
strong as a hand and high is thy right hand, that mighty arm
that is our constant security, and protection. Now, Paul, when
writing to the Ephesians, said this in chapter 1, verse 3, verses
that we are thoroughly familiar with. Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings and heavenly places in Christ. Paul here makes
it plain that any and all blessings that we enjoy in this life, and
especially in that life which is to come, we enjoy because
we are in Christ Jesus, the same one in whom are hid all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge. Then verse four of Ephesians
one tells us this. It tells us how these blessings
came to be ours, not by anything that we could do, but according
as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. When
did he choose his people? Before the foundation of the
world. Just as Jacob and Esau before we had done any good or
evil. Now Paul knew a thing or two
about God's choosing of individuals for his good purpose. When God
spoke to Ananias in Acts chapter nine, he told him to go and seek
out this one called Saul of Tarsus in Ananias was a bit apprehensive,
and rightfully so. He said, Lord, this is the guy
that's been gathering up people and casting them into prison.
But God said to Ananias, speaking of Saul, for he is a chosen vessel
unto me to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and the
children of Israel. Now, Saul was not looking to
be saved on the road to Damascus. On the contrary. He was looking
to round up any that he found worshiping this fraud called
Jesus. But he was a chosen vessel of
God's mercy and grace. So is every believer who comes
to a saving knowledge of our Lord. We want nothing to do with
this one initially when we first hear of this God who tells us
what to do. We want nothing to do with it.
We prefer to be left to our own ways. We'll decide our own fate. Thank you. But because we, as Paul, are chosen
vessels of God's mercy, he steps in our way and turns us onto
a path that leads to our hearing of the true gospel of Christ
and him crucified. And then gives us faith to believe
on that name, which is above every name. Now, the elect are
spoken of in Psalm 33, 12. Blessed is the nation whose God
is the Lord and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance,
the people who are made fit by God to receive the inheritance
of the saints and light spoken of in Colossians 3 16. All things that our God does
he does with a purpose. He does them on purpose. He tells us as much in Isaiah
14 24. I love this verse and quote it
often Isaiah 14 24. The Lord of hosts has sworn saying
surely as I have thought so shall it come to pass. As I have purposed,
so shall it stand. God never makes a plan. Never. You know what a plan is? I looked up the definition of
a plan. Men talk about God's plan of salvation, God's plan
for your life. Plan means a proposed or intended
course of action is a step-by-step guide on how to get something
done. But if even one of those steps fails, the entire plan
falls apart, and then you have to go to what we call Plan B. Our God never has a Plan B. You
know why? Because He never has a Plan A.
What He does have is a purpose that He simply thinks, and without
any effort, it comes to pass. And those verses in Romans 8
make us aware of the endgame of our God and choosing a particular
people that the purpose of God according to election might stand. That's a verse that the religious
world just skips over the election the choosing of a particular
people to be his for eternity. Now in the Gospel of Mark chapter
13 The Lord Jesus is giving four of his disciples a description
of the last days. And in Mark 13 20, he says, listen
closely to this wording. The Lord is talking about future
events and except the Lord had shortened those days. No flesh
should be saved, but for the elect sake whom he had chosen,
he hath shortened the days. Now our Lord is talking about
things that are going to occur occur in the future. But he's
speaking of them in the past tense. He hath shortened the
days in the mind of God. It is already done because as
he has purposed so shall it come to pass. It's as good as done. Now in second Thessalonians 2
13 Paul writes but we are bound to give thanks always 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. Here Paul tells the Thessalonians
that he is obligated, he is bound to give thanks to God, that all
gracious God that we serve for the fact that these saints were
picked out from among the mass of humanity to be the objects
of God's mercy and love. They were selected, if you will,
to receive the most blessed gift that any man or woman can ever
receive. Salvation through Christ is our
Lord, through Christ's blood. And the means that God uses are
first the setting apart, the sanctifying for a special purpose,
salvation. And the second is the belief
of the truth, the truth that Christ Jesus and his righteousness
are the only means that God uses to bring men and women by faith
to salvation. Now, Paul wrote of this. Or Peter,
I should say, wrote of this in first Peter two nine, he said,
but you are a chosen generation. A royal priesthood. And Holy
Nation, a peculiar people, that you should show forth the praise
of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous
light. And in the previous two verses
speaks of those who are not chosen of God, but rather are left in
their unbelief to perish forever. It says where unto they were
appointed, appointed in eternity past. But he tells them in verse nine
that their fate is quite the opposite. They are chosen to
receive the manifold blessings from a gracious and merciful
father. Peter calls us a royal priesthood. Now in Revelation 1 6 and describing
the chosen people of God, it says that Christ hath made us
kings and priests unto God and his father. In describing the
chosen people of God, Isaiah says this, And the Gentiles shall
see thy righteousness in all kings thy glory, and thou shalt
be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name.
Thou shalt be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord and a
royal diadem in the hand of thy God. One meaning of this word
royal is to be of kingly ancestry, a person of noble blood. Now
that is a fitting description of the saints of God, if there
ever was one. We are children of the king of
this whole earth. Made to be part of the family
of God, made of noble blood by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ,
chosen to be adopted children of God Almighty. And next, Peter
calls us a holy nation. And I read that, and I thought,
holy? Really? You? Holy? Me? Holy? How can a people who do nothing
but sin, are nothing but sin, come forth from the womb speaking
lies? How can they possibly be called
holy? Answer? not by anything that
they can do. They must be made holy by a source
outside of themselves. Now, Ephesians 525 gives us some
insight into how this takes place. Husbands, love your wives, even
as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it, that he
might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by
the word that he might present it to himself a glorious church
not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that it should
be holy and without blemish. Colossians chapter one says much
the same thing and having made peace through the blood of his
cross by him to reconcile all things unto himself by him I
say whether they be things in earth or things in heaven, and
you that were sometimes alienated in enemies in your mind by wicked
works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through
death to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable
in his sight. This is how wretched sinners
can be made to be seen by God strict and holy law at being
fit to enter into the very presence of the throne of God through
the blood and death of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are made a holy
nation. And then Peter calls the elect
of God a peculiar people. Now one of the meanings of this
word peculiar is belonging distinctively to one person something or someone
special. or unique distinctive in nature
from others. And the only reason the only
reason that we are distinct in nature from others is because
our God had chosen to give us a new nature that new nature
that new man put in us by the Spirit of God. Now Psalm 135
for says is for the Lord has chosen Jacob unto himself and
Israel for his peculiar treasure. This first is not talking about
the individual named Jacob and later called Israel. It's referring
to the true Church, the Living Church of the Holy God, the people
whom he has set aside, who he has sanctified to be vessels
of his mercy. Those set apart, set aside, chosen
in Christ Jesus. This verse says that those chosen
of God are his peculiar treasure. Now, our treasure obviously is
something that's extremely valuable, extremely precious, which is
what God's people are to him. They are his Children. And are
not your Children one of the most precious things that you
have? Our Lord said in Luke 1234, for
where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. So we
are called God's peculiar treasure. And then we're told that where
your treasure is, your heart will be also. So if we are called
God's peculiar treasure, it tells us that we are near to his heart
as near as Christ himself, who is called the apple of God's
eye, his beloved. son. These were peculiar treasure
that we just read from the Psalms. They're also used in exodus 19
to describe God's chosen people. It reads this. Now, therefore,
if you will obey my voice indeed and keep my covenant, then you
shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people for
all the earth is mine. And we know that we meet those
requirements. of obeying God's voice and keeping
his commandments. Not in ourself, but we meet those
commandments because we are in Christ and have been from eternity. Paul described this to Titus
in chapter two, verse 14. He says, speaking of Christ who
gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and
purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works. Then Paul writes or he states
the reason for Christ Jesus giving himself that he might redeem
us from all iniquity. Now this doesn't mean that it
could go either way. He might redeem us. He might
not redeem us. He is saying that because Christ
has met all demands of God's holy law. for his chosen people,
he can now legally free us from all iniquity, which would otherwise
have led to our condemnation because he took that iniquity
upon himself like that scapegoat and carried it so far away that
the all seeing eye of a holy God cannot find it. So how can we who are the most blessed people
on the face of this earth. How can we not be the most thankful
the most joyful the most prayerful the most rejoicing the happiest
of anyone anywhere. It is a disgrace and I use that
word purposely for those of us who claim to be children of God
to walk around Moping, downhearted. What's wrong? I spilled my coffee
on my shirt today. I had a flat tire on the way
to work. What's wrong? You know, I've just been blue
lately. We should be the most happy people
on the face of this earth. David wrote in Psalm 144, happy
is that people whose God is the Lord. We're like the people over
whom King Solomon reigned, of whom the Queen of Sheba wrote
this. Happy are thy men and happy are thy servants, which stand
continually before thee and hear thy wisdom. The wisdom that is
found in this book that you hold in your lap. The wisdom which
is given unto us in the person of Christ Jesus, whom Paul told
the Corinthians, is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and
sanctification and redemption. David also wrote in Psalm 146,
happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose
hope is in the Lord his God. Happy, having God Almighty as
our help and our hope. Who could ask for more? Now,
the truth of election is despised by those who are relying on their
own merits and their own works to recommend them to God for
the simple reason that it removes man and his so-called free will
from this entire process of this thing called salvation. But for
those of us who have been given faith in Christ, it is one of
the most blessed truths to be found in all of Holy Scripture.
When we Sometimes use the term, speaking of someone special,
we say, boy, he's one in a million. And you know what? That term
could be applied to the people of God. It is a rare thing, a
rare thing, to be one of God's chosen people. I don't think that that really
registers with us sometimes. You look around this world of
eight billion souls, and the majority of them are
God has left to perish. And even in the majority of what
we call the Christian world, there's very few to whom God
reveals the truth of Christ and him crucified. Very few who are the elect of God. What
did our Lord say? Many are called, but few are
chosen. God's elect are a rare thing.
Out of the mass of humanity, God selected you. God selected
me to be among those called the redeemed of the Lord. And when our God makes this truth
real to your heart, you won't strut around, and Don used to
say, pop your suspenders. You won't strut around thinking
that you're something special. When you talk to men and women
about election, they think, well, you really think you're something
special, don't you? No, because before God teaches
you that truth of election, he teaches you that you are worthless,
that you are a wretch, and that you're condemned by your own
works and your heart before he speaks peace to that heart. We should be. humbled in our
very heart by the fact that God hath, from the beginning, chosen
you to salvation. Billy, come lead us in a song,
please.