So Ecclesiastes chapter three
and verse one. To everything there is a season
and a time to every purpose under the heaven. A time to be born
and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to
pluck up that which is planted. A time to kill and a time to
heal. A time to break down and a time
to build up. A time to weep and a time to
laugh. A time to mourn and a time to
dance. A time to cast away stones and
a time to gather stones together. A time to embrace and a time
to refrain from embracing. A time to get and a time to lose. a time to keep and a time to
cast away, a time to rend and a time to sow, a time to keep
silence and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to
hate, a time of war and a time of peace. Amen. May God bless to us this reading
from his word. Turn with me in your Bibles now
to Mark chapter 13, and we'll look at verse 20 in a few moments.
But just as you're doing that, let me make a few comments by
way of introduction. Today I want to think about and
speak about the Lord Jesus Christ as he ought always to be thought
about and spoken of. as a source of joy and help to
his people. When we consider this one whom
we love, and when we consider that he loves us, we should have
that sense of joy and peace and comfort in our souls. But I fear
that we have lost much of our first love for the Lord Jesus
Christ. God forgive us if that is indeed
the case. Do we have that sense of comfort
and peace when we come into his presence? I fear that we have
substituted formality for authenticity as we come into the presence
of the Godhead, as we come to the throne of our Redeemer King. And very often we come busily,
we come distractedly, we come even thoughtlessly into the presence
of God, as if we are doing God a favour, in coming to worship
him. The first thing I want to remind
us about today is the importance of this hour or so that we have
together on this occasion. And it's important for our day
and it's important for the week that lies ahead and it is important
for the rest of our lives and we ought to think of it and we
ought to see it with the significance that coming into the presence
of God has. God gives us these moments These
moments together, these moments of fellowship, these moments
of worship, these moments when the Lord himself is pleased to
draw close to us because he cares for us and because he cares for
our spiritual wellbeing. And there are many, many rich
seams to be mined in discovering the Lord Jesus Christ together. and we may this morning be separated
by distance and time zones and circumstances, but as we meet
together, we share in common as that called out, as that set
apart people, as free grace believers, an indissoluble union, and holy
interest in our blessed Saviour. God has brought us here today
and I believe that he has a message for us. I believe that he has
brought us here purposefully. A little verse in 1 Corinthians
chapter 1 verse 9 says this, God is faithful. Oh, I wish I
was faithful. God is faithful. by whom ye were
called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Today we have been called into
the fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ and as God has called
us May he grant us ears to hear and eyes to see and hearts that
are opened to the depositing of gospel truth into our souls,
that we may feed upon it, that we may be refreshed by it, that
we may be comforted in our hearts and in our lives, and that we
may have occasion to have praise drawn forth from us to the glory
of our God and the Saviour Jesus Christ. What I want to do today
is to draw attention to this little phrase from which I think
much comfort can be gained by the Lord's people. It's just
a little phrase. It's the phrase, for the elect's
sake. And maybe we read it and we pass
over it quickly, but I want us to dwell upon it momentarily. I want us to think about it,
and just as it were, to meditate briefly upon it, for the elect's
sake. We find it expressly mentioned
in Matthew 24, verse 22, in Mark 13, verse 20, and in 2 Timothy
2, verse 10. But in truth, it's a motivating
theme in the whole Bible. Mark 13, verse 20 says this,
and except that the Lord had shortened those days, No flesh
should be saved. The context is that he had shortened
days of tribulation, shortened days of trouble and anxiety,
shortened days when the people of God had to flee from their
homes, were under persecution, were under trouble. And it says,
except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be
saved. but for the elect's sake, whom
he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days. And I want to mention
just a few things with respect to this phrase. And the first
of these is this, that this phrase tells us, for the elect's sake,
that there is an election of grace by which certain men and
women are distinguished. Now it might seem strange that
I must begin with this point because election really ought
not to be something that I have to prove to you. God's choice
of certain individuals in the Word of God is so common that
it can be seen throughout Scripture and it should be, in truth, unnecessary
that we have to prove or demonstrate it. It should be simply taken
for granted that God has an elect people. But human nature And free will
teaching has so pervaded our thinking and indeed our religious
practices and our religious world that it disguises what God has
clearly revealed. And free will says, we'll take
what we deserve. While free grace acknowledges
that we will get what we are given. Now it is true that when we come
to read about election on the face of the pages of scripture,
that we find the word used in different ways. And I only mention
this because if you speak to a free will believer about election,
undoubtedly they'll say, oh yes, but that is not salvation. That
is not election to salvation. That is election to an office
or an election to a privilege. And we do find that scripture
speaks about individuals being chosen to a particular role,
or like an apostle, or to a particular privilege that they have the
revelation of God given to them. But the reality is that the main
usage of the phrase, the word election or God's choice with
regard to the Scriptures is the election of grace or God's choice
of certain men and women, certain individuals to salvation, to
everlasting life. And there are many, many verses
that I could draw upon to prove this point. For time's sake,
and because we have thought about these things before, I just want
to mention a few to you. In John chapter 13, verse 18,
we read, I speak not of you all, Jesus is speaking, and he says,
I know whom I have chosen. And in Ephesians chapter 1 verse
4 we read there, He hath chosen us in Him, that is in Christ,
God hath chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the
world. that we should be holy and without
blame before him in love. So this tells us that God had
a people that he chose before that people ever made a choice
of him, before they ever were born or able to. exercise free
will, indeed before the foundation of the world, he chose a people
that would be holy and righteous and blameless and pure and sanctified
before him in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what we mean
by election. In 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 13,
we read, God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation. Paul is writing to the Thessalonians.
God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation. And Peter,
writing to his audience in 1 Peter 1, verse 2, says that they were
elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification
of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus Christ. So all the members of the Godhead,
the Father, the Holy Ghost and the Lord Jesus Christ involved
in this great work of election, in the covenant purpose of grace.
And Peter writes that we are thereby chosen. And he says,
grace unto you as indeed it was, God's grace, the election of
grace and God's peace, the covenant of peace be multiplied or experienced
by them, manifested amongst them. Perhaps just in conclusion to
say this, that Romans 11 verse 5 in this section is also a fine
verse in this subject, which it says, where Paul writing to
the Romans says, even so then, at this present time also, having
spoken about election in times past, he speaks now about election
at the time in which he's writing to the Romans, he says, at this
present time also, and what he says then is true of now, there
is a remnant, there is a chosen people according to the election
of grace. Now from these and other verses
we discover that election is God's choice and it's not dependent
or conditional on the creature, on us. on our will, on our actings,
on our doings, on our desires. And that is why we call it sovereign
election, or why we speak about sovereign grace, because it is
recognising that it is God's choice. It is God's powerful
authority to make that choice. that it's a free, definite, certain
and effectual choice that God himself makes and that it is
unalterable. Once made, it will never be withdrawn. and it will accomplish the ends
for which that choice was made. So that the Bible teaches us
that everything needed to fulfil that end and accomplish that
purpose of election is provided by God. So that's the first thing
I want to draw your attention to, simply to make us realise
or enable us and encourage us to realise that there is this
election of grace and that when the Lord Jesus Christ uses this
phrase, for the elect's sake, He is speaking about that people
that are distinguished from all others because of God's election
of grace. The second point is this, that
within this little phrase, for the elect's sake, we have bound
up in it this understanding that God has the wellbeing of the
elect at heart and that he acts upon it. I mentioned before,
I think, that we often use the phrase or hear the phrase, well,
we're doing it for the children's sake. And what that tells us
is that the parents or the grandparents, they act according to the well-being
of the children, or what they hope and what they expect, what
they desire to be the well-being of the children. And we understand
that. We do it for the sake of something. We do it for the well-being of
someone. And that's exactly what the phrase
means in this context also. For their sake means for their
cause, for their benefit, for their advantage. So when God
acts for the elect's sake, he is acting for our well-being,
acting for our advantage. And it shows us that he distinguishes
in this world between those who are the elect and those who are
not. And he acts for the well-being
of the elect. Now we've said it many times,
bears repetition, that election is founded upon God's love. And
so we find the Lord saying in scripture, yea, I have loved
thee with an everlasting love. Therefore with loving kindness
have I drawn thee. That everlasting love, that love
which motivates God is the love for which he is able to say he
acts for the elect's sake. That's Jeremiah 31 verse 3. In
Isaiah 43 verse 4, the Lord speaks again and he says, Since or because
thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and
I have loved thee, therefore will I give men for thee and
people for thee. Now to be precious in God's sight
or to be honourable in his sight is not because we have any inherent
value in ourselves, or indeed that we have done anything honourable
that merits God's pleasure in us, but it is because God looks
upon our representative, our substitute, that one who stands
as our surety, that one who is the Lord Jesus Christ into whom
we are placed in the covenant purpose of God. It is because
God sees us in Christ that he regards us as precious and he
regards us as honourable. And God says, because I've loved
you, because you are in Christ, because you are elected according
to my purpose, I will act on your behalf. I will do wonderful
things for you. I will amaze you by the things
that I am doing to preserve and to protect and to deliver you,
to redeem you out of sin and out of the clutches of the devil,
out of the demands of the holy law, out of death itself. I will give men for thee and
people for thy life. In the particular reference that
we have in Mark chapter 13 here, we see that the references to
the shortening of days for the elect's sake. And what is true
then in the context of what the Lord Jesus Christ was saying
in Matthew and Mark is also true as we see when Paul makes use
of it later in his epistles, that these are characteristics
of God's dealings with this world for the sake of his elect. Everything that happens in this
world is with an eye to the elect. Everything that God has ordained
in this world, every providence, every circumstance, every eventuality,
is with an eye to the well-being of the elect. It is all for the
elect's sake. Those who have been chosen of
God he regards them, he views them, he beholds them in love
and he directs all his activities to their well-being and to their
eternal deliverance and glory. Nothing happens in life. I wish,
I wish I could get this into my own heart. I wish you could
lay hold upon this in your own mind and in your own head, in
your own thoughts, that we could together grasp the fact that
nothing happens in this life, whether it's personal, whether
it's private, whether it's public, whether it's local, whether it's
national, whether it's international. that does not have the well-being
of God's elect at its motivating core. And whether we are thinking about
many people in that great congregation which is the sum total of all
God's elect, or whether we are thinking about one lone individual, one lonely individual, me, you, Because of God's love for us,
he has our everlasting well-being at heart and nothing happens
that is not for the sake of the elect. Now the particular example
that we have before us concerns time and a shortening of days
for the sake of the elect. And I think that's interesting
and I think it's noteworthy in the context of this little verse,
which is that verse which is before us today, so I want to
refer to it. And that's my third point. that
God's timings, not only the circumstances, not only the events, but the
timings of those circumstances and events are arranged according
to the need of the elect. Do we not often find ourselves
becoming impatient Patience. Patience is a privilege indeed. It's a grace from God. But we
are so prone to be impatient and I dare say that when the
rubber hits the road, what that really means especially for those
of us who have some understanding of sovereign grace and God's
dominion over this world. What that really means is that
we are being impatient with God. We are saying, God, why are you
not hurrying up? Why are you not doing things
more quickly? whether it's for our deliverance
from the troubles that we're in, whether it's from recovery
from perhaps the illnesses or the sicknesses that we have been
subject to, whether it's a judgment that we are under because the
Lord for our well-being chastens those that he loves. We often
find ourselves saying, why so long? Why does this keep happening? Why is it that one's not enough? Why does it have to be two? Why
does it have to be 10? Why is it a long procession? Why is it a whole list of challenges
that I have to face one after another after another? Why do
these trials come like a train in a long procession? And that's
always been the cry of the people of God. That was the cry in the
Psalm that we read, Psalm 74, the cry of Asaph. That was the
reason why Asaph said, let me teach you how to speak to God.
and how the people of God are taught to go to Him with our
prayers, our petitions, because of the troubles that we feel.
It was the cry of the Old Testament saints when they waited for the
consolation of Israel, for the promise of the Messiah, for the
coming of the Christ. That's what Simeon was doing
in the temple. Do you remember when Mary and
Joseph took the Lord Jesus Christ up to the temple? there to give
thanks for him. They met Simeon and Simeon were
told, amongst others, Anna was there too, were those believers,
those elect people of God, those faithful believers of that Old
Testament dispensation who waited for the consolation of Israel.
And we know that Simeon waited because the Holy Spirit had taught
him, he had revealed to him that he would not die until he saw
the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, had come. What an experience
that must have been for old Simeon as he took the Christ child into
his arms and cradled him and was able to declare, Lord, let
thy servant depart in peace. The consolation of Israel. When
will the promises of God be fulfilled? You know, perhaps our impetuousness
is defendable because we are a people that are preoccupied
with promises, God's promises, the promises of what God is going
to do. So it is part of the structure,
part of the environment in which a promise is made that there
is going to be a speculation, a wonder, even a guessing, as
to when the fulfilment of these promises will be. But we as the Lord's people must
learn that scripture has a timescale. What does the scripture say about
that timescale? It says that things will happen
just at the right moment. You who feel your need for deliverance. It will happen at the right moment. You who want recovery from your
condition, it will happen just at the right moment. You who
are under judgment and chastisement of the Lord, who feel that coldness
and desire to have renewed fellowship and a warmth in your relationship
with the Lord again that perhaps you've lost, it will happen. And we have the right to go before
the Lord and ask and petition him for these things. But let
us know this, that there is a precision, there is a timiousness with respect
to these things. Let me read you some verses from
Galatians chapter 4. It's verse four and five. It
says there, But when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth
his Son, made of a woman made under the law, to redeem them
that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption
of sons. the fullness of the time, the
time that had been agreed, the time that had been fixed upon
between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the time
that had been determined from all eternity in this council
and covenant purpose of peace. When God the Son should assume
human nature and human form in the mother's womb, that time
when John the Baptist would also be born, that time when Mary
would be betrothed to Joseph, that time when Herod would be
on the throne, that time when the Romans would be in power
in the land, when all history had come to that precise point
which the angels had anticipated, which the Old Testament had looked
forward to, which wise men searched for, exactly as planned. When the fullness of the time
was come, thou shalt arise and have mercy upon Zion, for the
time to favour her, yea the set time, is come. Psalm 102 verse
13. Romans 5 verse 6 says, for when
we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the
ungodly. Every event connected with that
vast plan was arranged with such infinite wisdom as left nothing
to be added and nothing to be taken away. The whole was formed
in that everlasting covenant. It was ordered in all things
and sure, says David. And what is true then is true
now and is true forever. Every eventuality and circumstance
is in the hand of our God. And I just want to make another
brief point. I've got four points today, and
we're in point three. And this is a little rider to
point three, because we're speaking about for the sake of the elect
or for the elect's sake. But I want to draw your attention
just to this as a little sort of sub point to point three.
And it's this, that the reprobate, those who are non-elect, they
according to what we've been thinking about and reading here,
they are jeopardised for the sake of the elect. We read earlier
about God giving men and nations for the love that he had to his
people. And those who teach a universal
love and who teach free will, I wonder how they deal with the
implications of this verse. But in order to shield and in
order to protect the elect, says the Lord Jesus Christ, the
reprobate will be prematurely damned. Think about that. For the sake of the elect, for
the elect's sake, these days of trouble will be shortened.
They will be damned prematurely for the sake of the elect. How
does a free willer deal with that? The Lord says he would
shorten the days. Now that doesn't mean to say
that they're going to become 23 hours instead of 24. Or we sometimes
talk about the days are getting short now that winter has come
in. But what the Lord is saying there is that he will bring to
an end. And whether that's the end of
time or whether that's the end of the process, what it is telling
us is that for the well-being of his people, for the sake of
his people, he will withhold and withdraw them from any greater
distress than is absolutely necessary for their good and for God's
glory. So I want now to take this fourth
point and I really just want to make it a quick application
for our help and for our encouragement. And it's this, and you'll need
to put your thinking hats on to follow me here, so I hope
you're not too tired yet. But here's the point. Christ,
the son of man and his people, are inextricably joined together
in this great work of election. We as sinners are in an Adam
state nature. And yet, in this covenant of
election, we have been bound together in relationship with
the Lord Jesus Christ. So when Mark writes that it is
for the elect's sake whom he hath chosen that he has shortened
the days, Watch this. Watch what I'm doing here. Mark
says that the days will be shortened for the elect's sake whom he
hath chosen. Watch what God says in Isaiah
42 verse 1. God turns the attention of the
prophets, turns the attention of the church, turns the attention
of his people, and he says, behold. Now when God says behold, it
does us well to look. God says, behold my servant whom
I uphold, mine elect in whom my soul delighteth. Now at your
leisure I would like you to read Matthew chapter 12 verse 18 to
21, but let me tell you what that says. That says that this
verse applies not to the church as the elect of God, but to the
Lord Jesus Christ himself as the first elect. the first elect. Now if you're very attentive
you'll hear us talking about the first elect and the final
hymn when we come to read it together in a few minutes. But
this is Christ that is being spoken about here and this is
showing us that an election Christ was the first elect, the God-man
was the first choice and all those who come after him are
like that one who is the head with his people in train. He is like the one who pulls
his people behind him, who draws his people after him. It is Christ
the God-man in whom the Lord God takes primary pleasure and
in whom we are honoured as his chosen people. It is the God-Man
in whom the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit delights. He
is God's anointed, God's chosen Messiah to redeem the chosen
people, the redeemed people. and all who are chosen to be
redeemed and delivered from their sins are chosen, are elected
in the elect, in the anointed, in the Messiah. So let us recap. Both Christ, the anointed one,
and the bride, the chosen people, are together the elect of God. Now, here's where you need to
have your thinking caps on. Let me state this categorically. the penal sufferings of the Lord
Jesus Christ, his sufferings for sin, his sufferings on the
cross, the punishment that he bore for our sins on the cross
are over. They are done. They are completed.
Now that ought not to be a surprise to you because the Lord Jesus
Christ drank that cup of suffering on the cross. The Father gave
it to him and he drained it dry. on the cross. But hear what I'm
saying. The sufferings of Christ are
not ended. His punishment for our sin is
complete. It was completed on the cross.
But as the One who is joined together with His people and
united eternally with them, He continues to be afflicted in
our afflictions, troubled in our tribulations, pained in our
sufferings, And that is what Paul is referring to throughout
his epistles when he speaks of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus
Christ or the afflictions of the Lord Jesus Christ in his
people. Now here's the application. Brother
and sister in Christ, are you pained today? The Lord Jesus
Christ is suffering with you. in your pain. Are you tried and
tempted today? The Lord Jesus Christ shares
in your affliction right now. Are you downcast? Are you depressed? Are you disheartened? Jesus,
our Jesus, is touched with the feeling of our infirmities. We are not ever alone in our
trials, in our troubles, in our temptations. And says our Comforter,
the Lord Jesus Christ, your heavenly Father and mine has shortened
the days of our affliction and curtailed the time of our suffering
in this world. Friends, soon our weakness and
our weariness will be at an end. Soon the reasons will be manifest. Soon the purpose will be evident. Soon the end will be accomplished. And for the sake of the elect
Son of God, and for the sake of His elect people, every tear
shall be wiped away and our union with Christ will be consummated
and our everlasting joy will be complete. We are not alone
in our trials and our troubles. We are not alone in this life. Yes, we have a burden to bear. Yes, we have a yoke to carry,
trials to endure, aches and pains to experience. But our Lord is
with us, and for the elect's sake those days will be shortened. Amen.