you can listen in to. This morning I want to speak
to some of the younger people about a subject which is called
election. Election is a Bible word that
means choosing or choice. When we choose something or we
make a choice from different things, that's called in the
Bible electing. We elect which one that we will
take. And sometimes you may have heard
your mums or your dads talking about going to an election. And that is where people choose
the leaders of their community or their country. Perhaps they
would choose a president or they choose a prime minister or in
another country they choose a chancellor and these are the people that
are chosen by the population in the country to lead that nation. But in the Bible, it is not the
people who choose God to rule over them, but rather it's the
other way around. And God chooses the people that
he will have worship him. The very first time that we hear
about an elect person in the Scripture, it's speaking about
the most important person. It is speaking about the Lord
Jesus Christ Himself. And that shows us that while
God chooses individuals, He also chooses to certain roles and
tasks. And the first person we ever
hear about as being elect in Scripture is the Lord Jesus Christ. And in Isaiah 42 verse 1, we're
told this, Behold, my servant, whom I uphold, mine elect, in
whom my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit upon him,
he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. So here we see
that the Lord Jesus Christ was elected by God his Father to
a certain particular task. And God the Father, or the Eternal
God, the Triune God, they say, behold my servant. And the Lord
Jesus Christ is sometimes called the suffering servant in scripture
because he served his people and suffered for his people. And we are told that God delighted
in his choice of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Spirit of God
was upon him and the responsibilities that were given to the Lord Jesus
in the covenant purposes of God are revealed to us in this verse
which speaks of election. The Lord Jesus Christ was chosen
by the Father before the world began to save his people. But Jesus is not the only elect
person in Scripture, because we're also told that God chose
angels. there are elect angels, angels
that have been chosen to particular tasks and also for particular
responsibilities and position. And the elect angels are angels
that God has retained for his particular duties and responsibilities. And sometimes people are called
elect because they are given special jobs or tasks like the
prophets in the Old Testament or the apostles in the New Testament. And the Lord Jesus Christ said
to his disciples, you have not chosen me, but I have chosen
you. So God chooses people for certain
tasks. But the most common usage of
this word election has to do with a people whom God has loved
since before the beginning of the world. God loved a people
in eternity. And while that people were not
yet born because the world wasn't even created, yet God loved that
people for he knew that they would be born And he knew that
he wanted them for himself to worship him in spirit and in
truth, to share a relationship with him, to join him in glory,
to be by his side, to be united to his son, to be his family. And God loved that people so
much that he worked out a plan of redemption and recovery for
when sin would afflict and affect them. and that people are called
his people of choice, his chosen people, his elect people. And in Matthew chapter 24 and
verse 31, we read, So God's elect are scattered in this world,
all over the world. They're in towns and villages.
They're in cities. They're in different countries.
And God has his people that he loves all over the world. And
he sends his angels to gather those people up. Let me tell
you how he does that. He's not talking here about the
end of the world. He's talking about the spread
of the gospel. And the angels are those who
minister the gospel. That means that as far as you're
concerned this morning, I'm an angel. Did you know that? I'm an angel
because I've been sent to minister to you. I've been sent to bring
the gospel to you. And when I've come to give the
gospel, that's the way in which the Lord sends his angels out
into the world to collect his elect from the four winds, from
one side of heaven to the other. and the elect are being gathered
in through the preaching of the gospel. And it's a wonderful
thing that God has chosen a people to save them. And we're told
in scripture that God has done that because of his love for
his people, but he has done it with an end, a purpose in mind. And in Ephesians chapter one,
verse four, we are told what that purpose is. Listen to these
words, they're really great. He hath chosen us in him before
the foundation of the world that we should be holy without blame
before him in love. We are chosen to be holy perfect. We are chosen to be holy, righteous,
blameless and to receive the love of God. We are chosen to
be united to the Lord Jesus Christ with such perfect fitness that
everything that was ever required for us to be united with the
Lord Jesus Christ would be supplied and provided and freely granted
to us. God elects people. People don't elect God. And that is something that we
have to understand. Because when we're growing up,
and when we're listening to different people speaking, we will be given
the impression that people choose God. In fact, sometimes you'll
go to a church and they'll make a great big thing about the fact
that they want people to choose God. And the Bible clearly states
that it is God's prerogative. He's the king. He chooses whomsoever
he will. Now, I was going to read something
at this stage from Romans chapter nine. So let me just do that. You don't have to turn to it,
but listen to these words because they're really very interesting.
It tells us a little bit about God's election. And it says there
in Romans chapter nine, verse 11, for the children not yet
being born, this is, to do with Jacob and Esau, Isaac's children. For the children not yet being
born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand, not of works, but
of him that calleth, it was said unto her, the elder shall serve
the younger. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, But Esau have I hated. That's God's choice. What shall
we say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God that he should choose one and not choose the other? Paul
says, God forbid, absolutely not. For he says to Moses, I
will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that
willeth, not of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. It's God's will to choose his
people. And in 2 Timothy 1, verse 9,
we read that God has saved us and called us with an holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to his own purpose
and grace, which was given us in Jesus, in Christ Jesus, before
the world began. God shows us in Scripture that
He makes us right with Himself. He makes us holy. He makes us
righteous. He makes us blameless that we
might stand before Him in love because He justifies His people
in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul says, who will lay
anything to the charge of God's elect, the people He has chosen,
because Jesus Christ has justified them. Someone might wonder, am I one of God's elect? If God has chosen people and
passed over other people, if God has chosen one like Jacob,
whom he loved, and not chosen another like Esau, I wonder if
I'm one of God's elect. We're told in the book of Peter,
1 Peter 1, verse 2, that we are elect according to the foreknowledge
of God through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience
and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. And that gives
us a clue about finding out whether or not we are one of the elect
or not. In John 6, verse 37, we read
these words. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. Do you see what that's saying?
Do you see what John has said there? If God has chosen someone,
then he sends his holy angel to preach to that person, when
that message goes out about the death of the Lord Jesus Christ,
there is a call in the message. There is a call that comes to
the hearts of those who are elect. And that calling is the power
of the gospel. It's the power of God the Holy
Spirit in the hearts of His people. And the Word of God tells us
clearly that everyone that the Father has given to the Lord
Jesus Christ will come when they hear the gospel preached. In Psalm 65, verse four, we have
these words. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest. That's election. And causeth
to approach unto thee. That's the call that comes through
the gospel and the call that is received by faith. Blessed
is the man whom thou choosest and causest to approach unto
thee, that he may dwell in thy courts, in the presence of God
in heaven. We shall be satisfied with the
goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple. How do we know
if we're one of the Lord's elect? When the gospel is preached,
We believe it and we come to the Lord Jesus Christ in faith. That's it. It's as simple as
that. How do we know whether God has
loved us from before time? Because when the gospel is preached,
we believe it and we come in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ,
trusting in him, believing in him. Thank you very much for
your attention this morning.