Pray for me. I have enjoyed studying
and preparing this message. Pray that God will enable me
to deliver it to you and that he would make it a blessing to
you as well. Thessalonica was the capital
city of the Roman province in Macedonia. And when Paul and
Silas came there preaching the gospel of Christ, as we mentioned
in the reading, in chapter 1 of 1 Thessalonians. When they came,
they're preaching the gospel of Christ, telling them that
Christ must need suffer and rise again from the dead, and asserting
further that this Jesus of Nazareth was that Christ, was the Christ. And he did suffer and he did
rise from the dead. And after about three weeks of
that, the folks, religious folks especially, said, We've heard
enough of that. We can't stand any more of that.
And they led them out of town. But that's not the end of the
story. The Word of God is never preached
in vain. Though many opposed the preaching
of the gospel, many by the grace of God believed. And this church
was established, as we read there in chapter 1, it was a flourishing,
growing church. established in the gospel. And
after Paul and Silas had gone, left, Paul sent Timothy back
to see how things were going. Again, that's in Acts chapter
17. And Timothy comes back with this good report. And after hearing
that, Paul writes this first epistle and the second epistle
to the church there. He tells the saints at Thessalonica
that they were numbered among that vast multitude of sinners. I always want to emphasize that.
Because we're going to talk about election this morning. And when
people hear that word, there's all kinds of little boogeymen
pop up in their mind, perhaps the result of their own imagination. And perhaps the result of what
they've heard others say about what election is, contrary to
the Word of God. But the saints at Thessalonica,
Paul tells them plainly, were numbered among that vast multitude
of sinners. Not one or two. No, a multitude
that no man can number. Oh, the Lord Jesus Christ will
have a glorious crown. There will be a host of redeemed sinners that
will be with him, not maybe will be with him or hope to be with
him, oh no, will be with him in glory where he is. And Paul tells these believers
at Thessalonica that they were among them. Look at verse 4.
Verse 4, this is our text. Knowing, brethren beloved, your
election of God. How could Paul had known that. Is it possible to know if I'm
one of God's elect? It is indeed. It is indeed. And
Paul gives us the marks of God's elect, how he knew these people
were elect. And the same holds true for every
believing sinner. Peter even said, exhorted for
believers to give all diligence. Don't be lazy about this. about
this matter, but give all diligence to make your calling and election
sure. Now, that would be a useless,
fruitless exercise if it was not possible to know that I'm
one of God's elect. There's no comfort in an unknown
election, is there? If you believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, your faith in him is the result, not the cause of
election, but the result. You believe. because you were
chosen to. This is exactly what we read
in Acts chapter 13 verse 48. Now, this is a jawbreaker of
a verse for the free willers. We read here, and when the Gentiles
heard this, that is the gospel, they were glad and glorified
the word of the Lord and as many as were ordained to eternal life
believed. You see the order there? not
ordained because they believed, but believed because they had
already been ordained to eternal life. Again here, our text is
verse 4. The title of my message are these
words, these three words, knowing your election. Again, election
can be none. Now, how often have I, and I'm
sure you have too, when people hear, when the rumor gets out,
not that we try at all to conceal it, but that someone hears that
you believe election. They've said to you, well, I
thought election was one of those things God doesn't reveal. It's one of those things that
is too deep, too mysterious for us to understand. It's best just
to leave it alone. You ever heard that? I've had
pastors tell me that. I can't preach it. They're just
too mysterious. I've even been told that's a
dangerous doctrine. That's a dangerous doctrine.
My soul, who dares say such a thing? Who dares say such a thing? Any
doctrine in God's Word dangerous? Oh no. Should God have consulted
with them before he before he determined to save his people,
should he ask their advice? Oh no. And then the self-proclaimed
fundamentalist of our day, that's a misnomer, teaches election
in such a way as to make it dependent upon man and not God. That's not the doctrine of election
as we read it in God's Word. The success of it doesn't depend
upon man, but again, that's just indicative of every aspect of
salvation according to the free will scheme. It's all dependent
on its success for man and election they put in the same category.
This is what I mean. They say, oh yes, We believe
in election. Have you ever heard anybody define
it this way? Most of the churches in our area
do. This is how I see election. It's
like this. God foresaw. They at least give
God the attribute of foreknowledge. God foresaw who would believe.
He looked down and saw who would believe, so he chose them to
believe. Now, doesn't that sound kind of stupid to you? Why would
it be necessary? Why would it be necessary for
God to choose those who would already choose? Oh, no, no, no.
As we read from Acts 13, as many as were ordained to eternal life
believed. Like the old man who was asked,
do you believe in the election? And he answered this way, yeah,
yeah, I believe in the election. I believe God voted for you,
and the devil voted against you, and however you vote, that's
the way the election goes. Oh no, no. But that's pretty
much what most churches say. God knew who would believe, so
therefore he chose them to believe. That represents God as depending
upon man. That sounds awful human, doesn't
it? Others say, oh my, if what you're
teaching is so, then it takes man completely out of the equation. I mean, you're violating, and
here's where the rubber meets the road. This is the issue.
You're violating man's free will. How can you violate something
that doesn't exist? Free will? There's no such critter. There's no such critter as free
will. But what about God's will? What
about God's honor? What about God's glory? My soul,
men are willing to sacrifice God's honor on the altar of man's
so-called free will? God forbid. God forbid that we
ever do such a thing. In other words, what I'm asking
is this. Who wears the crown? Who wears
the crown in this matter of salvation? God or man? Who gets the credit? Both can't. Salvation is either
all of man or all of God. It's either the result of man's
will and man's work and man's worth or it's because of God's
will and God's grace. Another popular religious Slogan
in our day, it's been around for a long time actually. God's
done all he can do, sinners are told. God's done all he can do,
the rest is up to you. I was told that butthole by soul
winners from time to time growing up and was told God's done all
he can do, the rest is up to you. And I thought, well, that's
a pitiful sounding God. If it's all up to me, if he's
done all he can do, then that God's not going to help me. He's
too small. That God's too small to help
me. That's what Marvin Stoniker told
someone years ago when concerning his wife Linda that was dying
of cancer. If you would just believe Marvin,
if you just had enough faith, she'd be healed. It's up to you."
And Marvin said, It's not up to me, it's up to God. Your God's
too small. And I tell you what, brothers
and sisters in Christ, if God Almighty, if God Almighty, well,
if He needs my help, He's not Almighty. But the God of Scripture,
the God who is the true God that these folks believed in and every
child of God believes in, if He needs my help in order to
save me, we're both in trouble. We are both in trouble, Billy.
I'm in a world of hurt if God Almighty needs my assistance
any step of the way. I mean any step of the way. In
election, in calling, in redemption, in faith, in regeneration, in
being preserved, in being brought to glory, in being presented
spotless before the throne of God. If I can put my finger on
any one of those and say, ah, there's my contribution, then
I don't have a hope. I don't have a hope. And I'm
robbing God of his glory. The text speaks of your election
by God. Election is the result of God's
choice. Election begins with God. It doesn't begin with man. It's God that makes the difference. You say, I don't like that. I
don't like that. That makes me uneasy. Well, if
you're without Jesus Christ, I hope you're uneasy. I hope
you're uneasy. God forbid that you should sit
under the sound of the gospel and catch a few Z's if you don't
know who the Lord God Almighty is in the person of His Son.
I hope you get real uncomfortable, so uncomfortable that you can't
shake it off. Go home and seek the Lord of
glory. Call upon him right now. You
say, well, Larry, aren't you going to give us a chance to
do that? Salvation's not by chance. You don't see an altar up here,
do you? Because we don't need one. Christ is our altar. I told you about that lady who
worked at a store downtown here. I'm sure I have. But I was in
there one day and she asked me who I was Well, I moved here
from Kentucky. What did you move here for? Well,
I'm pastoring a church. What church are you pastoring?
Fairmont Grace Church. Ooh, she said, ooh. I've heard of that
bunch. Them's an odd bunch. I said,
wow. She said, I went one time. I
don't know who was the pastor. It was probably 40 years ago.
But she said, and they preached, and they didn't give an altar
call. And she looked at me like I was
going to go, ooh, along with her, ooh, that's just terrible.
And she said what people always say, how's anybody going to get
saved if you don't give an altar call? if you don't give them
a chance. Salvation is not by chance. Salvation
is the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. God has
saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our
works, but according to his own purpose and grace that was given
us in Christ Jesus before the world began. How are folks going
to be saved? God Almighty saves them. Salvation's
of the Lord. Oh, isn't that comforting to
know? You got a rebel son or a rebel daughter or a granddaughter
or a grandson or a companion. Isn't it a comfort to you to
know, child of God, that their salvation is not determined by
them but by God Almighty, that God's grace is such a powerful,
reigning, abounding thing? And it's not an offer. God's
grace isn't an offer, it's an operation. It's not what God
offers to do, it's what God does when he calls sinners out of
darkness into his marvelous light. Oh, what an encouragement to
pray for that rebel because you know you are all the proof you
need to be convinced of it. He brought you down and he can
bring that rebel down. He can bring him to the footstool
of sovereign grace. When God began to deal with my
heart, man, I thought, what is wrong with me? I don't understand. What's happening? Carlos, I thought, am I losing
my mind? Maybe I've taken one too many
drugs. What's wrong with me? Because
I began to think about eternity. Begin to think about my soul.
Begin to ask myself, how can this sinner be just with God? I never give that a serious thought
in my life. And I went to people who profess
to know God. Grandmother, what must I do to
be saved? The first thing you need to do is get that haircut.
You need a haircut. I needed a new heart. Needed
a new heart. and only God Almighty, only the
great physician of souls, Jesus Christ himself can perform that
operation and put Christ in you, the hope of glory. Who makes
the choice? Listen to this in Exodus chapter
11 verse 7. This is Moses telling the elders
of the children of Israel what God told them to tell them just
before he brought them out of Egypt. just before that Passover
lamb was slain. And everyone who was in the house
where the blood was applied, they left Egypt that day. And
they sang after they crossed the Red Sea. They said, God,
you've led forth the people that you redeemed. None of them's
lost. And that's what we read in Revelation
14. These before the throne of God,
the Lamb, and all those before his throne were redeemed from
among men. Not with everybody, but from
among men. God made a choice. Christ prayed,
Lord, Father, I pray not for the world, but for those who
you gave me out of the world. You mean he died for people that
he wouldn't even pray for? What utter nonsense. Everyone
that Jesus Christ redeemed when he died will be with him in glory. If not, if not, he failed. If not, it's not their fault,
it's his fault. That'll never happen. Moses said
this, but against any of the children of Israel shall not
a dog move his tongue against man or beast that you may know.
that you may know how that God doth put a difference between
the Egyptians and Israel. Remember when the church at Corinth
was getting puffed up with pride and Paul wrote to him and said,
why are you puffed up? You people got the big head.
You got no reason to have the big head. You forgot. Who made
you to differ from another? Who put the difference between
you and a sinner that's already in hell. Who's made the difference? God. You don't have nothing that
you didn't receive. And if you received it as a gift
of God's free grace, why are you bragging? You got nothing
to brag about. And then he went on, or rather
prior to that, Paul said, you see your calling, brethren, not
many mighty, not many noble are called, but God chooses what? Oh, glorious, glorious, strange
calling. God chooses the weak things and
the base things and the things the world considers nothing,
nothing. That's who he calls by his grace. And why does he do it? So that
no flesh should glory in his presence. What should they glory
in? In the Lord. Oh, let a man not
take pride in anything except the Lord's mighty grace in the
person of his dear son. Knowing brethren, be loved. There's
a strong indication of God's election. It begins with his
everlasting love. Brethren, be loved. Be loved
by Paul, loving one another, but more than that, be loved
by God. God's election arises from God's
eternal love for his people. Bobby sang it a moment ago, loved
with an everlasting love. and in time brought that love
to know. God's election arises from his
love for his people. Every blessing of grace can be
traced back to the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. This is exactly what Paul said
in Romans 8, whom he did foreknow. The word is forelove, love beforehand. And all those things that Paul
mentions flowing from that, is exactly because of God's love.
He predestined, He called, glorified, justified. All those things find
their origin, their reason for being at the throne of God's
everlasting love. Let me share something with you.
I read this the other day, I think in someone's bulletin, but it's
an article by a man lived years ago by the name of Edward Payson. He said, try for a moment to
conceive of a being without a beginning, a being who does not become older
as ages roll away. Fly back in imagination millions
of millions of millions of years until reason is confounded and
imagination is wearied in the flight. God then existed. And what may at first appear
paradoxical, he had been existed as long as he has now. I had no beginning, God said,
and I shall have no end. You would then be no nearer the
beginning of his existence than you are now, for it has no beginning. And you cannot approach to that
which does not exist, nor will his being ever come to an end.
and together, ages of ages, multiply them by the leaves on the trees
and the sand on the seashore and the dust of the earth, still
you will be no nearer the termination of Jehovah's existence than you
first began your calculation." Now, that's how long God Almighty
has loved his people. I have loved thee with an everlasting
love. The Lord, Jeremiah wrote, the
Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved
thee with an everlasting love. Therefore, therefore, what? I do nothing. I'll wait for them. I'm at their beck and call. My hands are tied. I love them,
but I can't interfere with their will. Oh, no, no. I love thee
with everlasting love. Therefore, therefore, with loving
kindness have I drawn thee." The Lord said, no man can come
unto me except the Father who has sent me draw him. And aren't you glad he does?
Aren't you? I know you are a child of God,
that the Lord Jesus Christ didn't leave you to your will, because
my will was this, just as he said, you will not come to me. You will not. Oh, but he comes
in majestic, sovereign grace and says, Lazarus, come out of
there. Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth. One hymn writer put it this way,
come, come, sing of God's electing love and his eternal purpose
good. Let sinners saved by sovereign
grace left heart and voice to God in praise. Before the angels
sang his praise, before God made the earth her son, he chose the
people he would save and gave them to his darling son. Wow. I don't have enough between my
ears to get much of a hold of that. Do you? But I rejoice in
it. Nothing in heaven or earth or
hell can alter God's most wise decree. Each chosen sinner shall
be saved, and so shall at last God's glory see. Knowing, brethren beloved, your
election of God. And then Paul, in the verses
that follow, give us five marks, evidence of God's election. Just very briefly. Notice what
he says in verse 5. God's elect are people, he says,
who hear the gospel. How shall they call upon him
in whom I have not heard? How should they believe in him
without the gospel? They are people who hear the
gospel preached and they receive the gospel. They receive it. As it is preached in the power
of God's Holy Spirit, the elect are those who are called by effectual,
irresistible, powerful grace, by the grace of God. They bow
to the Lord God. Verse 6, here's another mark.
Paul tells us, you became followers of us and of the Lord. God's
elect are those who follow Christ. Now, I know in our religious
day, this day of religious insanity, if anything is more insane than
the political climate in which we live, it's the religious climate.
They say a person can be a Christian, can be a believer, but never
bow to Jesus Christ. How ignorant. How ignorant. Paul says, when you heard the
gospel, you believed it. and you follow Christ. Chosen
sinners when saved by the grace of God are made disciples, followers
of Christ, voluntary servants of King Jesus. They gladly and
willingly bow to Him. They submit to the Son of God. He said, my sheep hear my voice
and I know them and they follow me. No exceptions, no exceptions. Paul says God's elect are a people
who are committed to Christ and the gospel of his grace for his
glory and the salvation of sinners. Here's another thing, the fourth
thing. Verse 9, God's elect experience repentance and conversion by
the power of his grace. They turn from their idols to
serve the living God. Believers forsake their idols
and their adulterous religious practices of their former life,
they are found worshiping God in Christ, the one true and living
God. In verse 10, God's elect are
waiting, Paul said. They're waiting for something.
They're not waiting to see what happens over in Jerusalem, the
holy land. It's no more holy over there
than it is here. No, they're waiting, Paul says,
for the Lord of glory. They're waiting for the great
shepherd. Peter said, in the last days,
men will mock that, make fun of that. Where's the sign of
his coming? Oh, he's coming. He's coming. He's on the way. This same Jesus you see ascending
back to heaven shall so come in like manner as you have seen
him go. How did he go? In glorious triumph,
majesty, victorious over hell and death and the grave. That
same mighty Savior is coming back for his people that where
he is, they may be also. As Don says, we're standing on
the tiptoe of faith. What are we looking for? What
are we waiting for? King Jesus, he's coming back. He's coming back to get those
for whom he shed his precious blood for. In chapter 5 of this
epistle, verse 9, we read, For God hath not appointed us to
wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. Let me share with you something
I copied from a message that Brother Henry Mayhem preached
in 2012. It's on Free Grace Radio, called
Chosen to Salvation, and this was his text, 2 Thessalonians
2 and 13. 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, not service, to
salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth. And Henry gave this story as
an illustration, answering the question, what is election? And
he said, old Dr. J.R. Graves was out working in
his rose garden one day, and a lady, a dear lady, a neighbor
who lived next door, walked over in his rose garden and she asked
him, Dr. Graves, and he said, yes, ma'am.
She said, you're a Baptist, aren't you? He said, yes, ma'am. She said, you Baptists believe
election, don't you? Well, not many do today. I don't
know how long ago this was. But you Baptists believe election,
don't you? And he said, yes, we do. And
she said, I wish you would explain it to me. And he said, well,
are you saved? And she said, yes, sir. He said,
who saved you? She said, God did. He said, did
God save you on purpose, or was it an accident? And she said,
well, God saved me on purpose. And he said, that, my dear lady,
is election. Everything God does, he does
on purpose. There's no accidents with God. David said, the salvation of
the righteous is of the Lord. Thank God that that's so. Let me wrap this up. Give me a few minutes. Just by
mentioning three things. There are more but three things.
Three sweet benefits of knowing your election. Just three. Knowing your election, it's personal.
It's the source of all grace now and glory hereafter. David
put it this way, blessed is the man. Billy, you were talking
about it before service. Not blessed is the man who has
a lot of this world's material goods. Not blessed is the man
that's rich. Who's blessed? Who's the most
blessed man on this earth? Who? Who is the most blessed
man there could possibly be on this earth? David said, blessed
is the man whom God chooses and calls us to approach unto thee. That's a blessed man. That is
a blessed man. Glory, hallelujah. If Jesus Christ
has revealed himself to you, you are a blessed man or a woman.
Nobody's got any more than you have. Nobody's richer than you. You're rich in grace. You're
rich in mercy. You have a mansion in heaven,
and Jesus Christ, who has his way, wills that you be with him
where he is. How about that? How about that? All that the Father giveth me,
Christ said, that's election. Shall come to me, that's calling. Blessed is the one whom God chooses,
but he doesn't stop there, and calls us to approach unto thee. One is as effectual as the other. God called Saul of Tarsus by
his grace because he was a chosen vessel to me, God said. Imagine that. I declare There
was nobody in Jerusalem that day more unlikely to be a candidate
for grace than Saul of Tarsus, humanly speaking. Ask the high
priest. Oh, Saul's my right-hand man.
I don't have to worry as long as Saul's around. Man, he's going
to put a stop to this nonsense about Jesus Christ being the
Son of God. I've got Paul. He's stamping
them out. Right now, he's on his way to
Damascus with a saddlebag full of warrants to bring those Christians
back. And sovereign grace said to Saul
of Tarsus, come down sinner. And now Paul stands to preach
that glorious gospel that concerns God's son that he wants labor
to destroy. Oh, that's amazing grace, is
it not? And Paul was as much one of God's
chosen vessels of mercy when he was madly persecuting Christ's
church as when he afterwards stands to preach the gospel.
of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, once we're in Christ,
we're in Christ forever, nothing, listen, nothing from his love
can sever, nothing. Paul asked that question, didn't
he? In Romans 8, what shall separate us from the love of God which
is in Christ Jesus? Shall tribulation? No, that's
been tried. Shall distress? No, that's been
tried. Shall persecution? No, that's
been tried too. Well, what about famine and nakedness
and peril and sword? Paul said, no, no, no, never. We are more than conquerors. Instead of those things working
against us in the hands of our great physician, they work for
us like the storm on the sea. It only served to bring them
to their destination. Nothing shall separate us from
the love of God. which is in Christ Jesus. Blessed
is the man whom God chooses and knows his election. Here's a
second thing. There's only three. The second
thing, other than the blessing of election, is the comfort of
election. Think of it. God chose you to
salvation. What sweet assurance of our security,
our acceptance by God, because we were chosen in Christ Jesus. and the great shepherd will have
all his sheep with him where he is. That's what happened a
few weeks ago to my good buddy, Dave Coleman. In the early morning
of May 25th, Jesus Christ went into that hospice care unit in
Lexington, Kentucky, and told David Coleman, it's time to come
home. His oldest daughter called me
not long after that and she said, Larry, my daddy is singing in
heaven right now, right now. We were driving up there. I did
the committal at the grace site Wednesday morning but as we drove
up there I had a CD of Davey and many of you have it. He was
singing Robin looked over at me and she said, do you need
to pull over? I said, no, just give me some tissues. I'll be
all right. I'll miss my buddy, but I rejoice
to know, as David was singing on that CD, I'm so glad God saves
old sinners. I'm surprised and amazed how
he sets them free. Oh, but the biggest surprise
in God saving old sinners is that he would set an old sinner
like me. And then just shortly after that,
a few days after David, Brother Henry Mahan, on May the 31st,
Christ came and took him to glory. I think the last letter I had
from Brother Henry, he repeated something I'd heard him say and
read that he wrote many times. He said, I hope every time that
I lay down at night that I don't wake up here." Well, on May 31st, he didn't. He didn't. He woke up there. He woke up there. Beholding the
King in his beauty. Thank God our election, like
everything else in salvation, rests on God's unchanging grace. in the Lord Jesus Christ. One more thing. It is such an
encouraging truth, isn't it? Election. People have asked me,
who didn't have better sense, if I believed what you did, I
just wouldn't preach. And I'd say, no, if I believed
what you did, I wouldn't preach. If I believed that the salvation
of a sinner was dependent upon them, What's the point? I mean,
if it's true that God's done all he can and we're waiting
on the sinner, we'll be waiting forever because they're never
of their own going to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. God's
election of sinners to salvation is never anything but encouragement
to preach. Paul, don't be afraid. Speak.
Hold not your peace. I've got much people in this
city. Preach the gospel to them. And thank God that that's so.
There is always a remnant according to the election of grace. Nothing
else. Elijah, he was having one of
those pity parties, sitting in that cave and said, well, I'm
the only one left. The only one left. Now they're trying, Jezebel,
she wants to kill me. I'm the only prophet left. And
God said, Elijah, I know something you don't. I've got 7,000 reserved. Reserved. That's not bowed their
knee to Baal. They're my people. They're my
people. I've chosen their mind. They're
reserved and preserved. And Paul said, even so at this
present time, in Paul's day, there is a remnant according
to the election of grace. And child of God, as long as
this world stands, the very fact that God's allowing it to stand
is proof there still must be a remnant according to the election
of grace. Otherwise, God would have done
finished it. He would have finished it. The only reason God allows
this world to carry on, He's still calling out His elect. And He'll do so as long as time
shall be. And when time shall be no more,
He'll bring them all home to heaven to be with Him forever
and none, not one, She'll be lost. Now let me ask you this. Do you know your election of
God? Child of God? Then you're bound. You're obligated
to give thanks to God because he chose you from the beginning.
Do you want to know if you're one of God's elect? I can tell
you how. The only way to believe. Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved and you'll
know by that gift of faith that you are one of God's chosen.
He chose you, and give him the praise. Josiah Condor wrote a
hymn. Let me finish with just reading
it. He wrote, "'Tis not that I did
choose thee, for, Lord, that could not be. This heart would
still refuse thee, but thou hast chosen me. Thou, from the sin
that stained me, washed me and set me free, and to this end
ordained me that I should live with thee. Isn't that something? Isn't that something? For a sovereign
mercy called me and taught my opening mind. The world had else
enthralled me to heavenly glories blind. My heart owns none before
thee. For thy rich grace I thirst,
this knowing if I love thee. Thou must, thou must have loved
me first. God bless you. God bless you.