Now if you will, open your Bibles
to John Chapter 15. In the Sunday school lesson this
morning, I did the best I could do to
define and describe what this book calls and refers to as this
present evil world. This world. All that's in it. All that's about it. all that goes on in it, this
present evil world. He calls it an evil world because
everyone in it is evil. Isn't that what he said? He looked
down from heaven, looked at this world, saw that every imagination
of man, of the thoughts of his heart, was only evil continually. Even those who truly believe
and who've been born of God confess this, when I would do good, evil
is present with me. We're told to walk circumspectly. Do you ever stop when you come
to these words and say, what's that mean? Do you ever do that
in Scripture? Well, I paused. I saw that and
I thought, I wonder what that means. Here's what it means.
in accordance to all that he'd just said, in consideration of
everything that he'd said before, circumspectly, not as fools,
but wise, redeeming the time because the days, he said, are
evil. The days, tomorrow, day after
tomorrow, Next week, the days, all the days are evil. He said, beware of dogs, talking
about false prophets, what we call soul winners in our day.
Beware of dogs. Beware of evil workers. That's what they are. Evil men,
he said, and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and
being deceived. Demas, he said, hath forsaken
me, having loved this present world. That's that same present
world of which I spoke to you at the beginning, this present
evil world. He loved it. What we are and how we are and
where we are makes a world of difference. as to how we receive
and understand the gospel. Man has to be brought down. He has to be brought down. He
has to come down from his understanding and down from his reason and
down from his pride, down from things that he thought he knew. God said, you thought I was altogether
such a one as yourself, but he said, I'll reprove you. I'm going
to show you the difference. I'm going to show you who I am.
You thought. There's a way that seemeth right
unto a man, but the end thereof is death, destruction. We've
got to be brought down from our reasoning and down from our pride.
It's a humbling thing to say, I don't know, isn't it? It's a humbling thing to say,
I don't understand. That's where he's going to bring
you. Before you get any understanding, he's going to bring you to this
place where you convince yourself, not me. You don't have to convince
me of anything. You're the one that has to be
convinced, and he can do it. And when he does, here's what
you're convinced. I don't know anything. What's that mean? I don't know. I don't know. I
don't know. The gospel's only good news to
sinners. Everything in it is offensive
to the self-righteous man. There's no part of it. I had
fellows I worked with, and occasionally we'd eat with them. Talk with
them. And they were always searching
for some common ground, somewhere, somewhere, some common ground,
so that when they come together and when we come together to
eat, they could sit down and discuss these things and be on
the same note. And there's no common ground.
There's no common ground. There's grace and works. There's good, God good. and evil. There's no gray area. There's
no middle ground. No compromise. The Bible said He gave Himself for
our sins that He might deliver us from this present evil world
according to the will of God and our Father to whom be glory
forever and ever. Amen. That's what I want to try
to preach to you this morning. I get to use this word again,
circumspectly. I might just make that a part
of my vocabulary. I like that word. Considering
all that has been said, I said a lot during the Sunday
school, some of you Considering all that I see, I
want you to look with me at John 15, verse 16. You have not chosen me, but I've
chosen you. I've chosen you. There's only
one way for any man, any woman, any boy, any girl to escape the
curse of this world. and that is to be chosen of God. Is that too hard? That's what
this book teaches. That's what it teaches. Go over
to the book of Revelation and go through there and in each
one of these visions in Revelation takes the work of Christ beginning
to end. Each one of them takes this work.
And in these things, I don't know how many times it says,
whose names were not written in the book of life before the
foundation of the world. That's who followed the beast. All of them. All of them. Every
man's name that was not written in the Lamb's book of life before
the foundation of the world followed after the beast. They follow
after the course of this world and walk according to the prince
of the power of the air, that spirit of disobedience. Eleven men are sitting around
the Lord Jesus Christ. Apostles, preachers, evangelists,
missionaries, writers of the Scripture. These are men set
apart from that day forward whose names will be visible, whose
names will be recommended to all men. to read their words
sure inspired of God. God breathed what they said and
what they wrote and penned and put in this book. Holy men of
God, men upon whose words generations to come would rest the weight
of their souls. And to these blessed saints,
he says this, you didn't choose me. I chose you. I chose you. Don't you know their mind went
back to that day when they said, Matthew, follow me, follow me. Lay down your nets, John, Peter. I'm going to make you fishers
of men. You've not chosen me, but I've chosen you. Now the
whole reason I said what I said this morning concerning this
world is to persuade you by the power of God's Spirit to see
that sin has shut the door. It shut the door on all human
works and wants and wills and desire and worth. It slammed
the door on it. It's gone. It doesn't exist.
It's not here. It's a figment of your imagination. There is nothing in you to bring
you to God. There is nothing in this world,
no one to assist you. There is none that understandeth.
There is none that seeketh after God. Men and women are hopelessly,
helplessly bound in chains of darkness. Where will you go? What will you do? How shall you
escape? the bonds of your nature and
the bonds of this world. How are you going to get loose?
You can't do it. You can't do it. These eleven
men would soon watch the one in whom they vested all that
they had, all their hopes, their jobs, their future, everything.
They vested everything in Him. Leaned on Him for all. Persuaded
that He was the Christ. And they'd watch him be taken,
shamefully treated, mocked, and publicly ridiculed. Without resistance,
be taken and laid on wooden timbers and nailed. Nails driven through
his feet and hands. Fasten him to the boards and
raise him up. Pierce his side with a spear.
Give him vinegar and gall on a sponge. Laugh at him while
he twisted in pain. Laughed at him, sat below his
cross when he'd given up the gold and gambled for the few
clothes that he had on his back to comfort their broken hearts. He'd press upon them that he
was not there only as a man. But the God-man, the God-man,
sent of the Father. You're my friends. If you were my servants, I wouldn't
say anything to you. He didn't tell the Jews anything,
did he? They were his servants. They just did. Even though they
did what was on their heart and did exactly what they wanted
to do with him, they did exactly what God determined before to
be done. They were no more than servants.
That's all they were. God used them. He endures those
vessels of wrath fitted for destruction. He endures them and uses them
just like He used Pharaoh of old. Scent of the Father. You're my
friend. He said, I'll tell you how you
know you're friends. I'm telling you what the Father
told me to tell you. I'm saying of God, I'm here under
His direction. Why do I say that? Because before
you can see any value in your election, you have to see value
in His. That's right. God first chose
Him and then chose us in Him. Ain't that what Ephesians 1 says?
According as He hath chosen us in Him. Ain't that what that
says? He first chose Him. He's the firstborn. He's the
firstborn. He is God's elect and all the
rest are chosen in Him. All things that I've heard of
my Father I've made known unto you. Here's the first thing He
told me. You've not chosen me, I chose
you. That's the first thing my Father wants you to know. You're
my friend. And as my friend, I'm going to
tell you what the Father sent me here to tell you. Here's what
he sent me here to tell you. I chose you. I know what you
are. I know where you've been. I know
your birth. I know what makeup you have.
I know what you are. And I chose you. I chose you. You didn't choose me. I chose
you. I ordained you, ain't that what he said? That you should
go forth and bring forth fruit, and your fruit's gonna remain.
It ain't gonna fall off. It's gonna stay on. It ain't
gonna fail next year because of the drought. It's gonna keep
on producing. And anything, anything, oh, I wish I could get a hold of
this. Anything that you ask of my Father in my name, I'll give
it to you. I'll give it to you. He tells us to pray. Father, our Father, which art
in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be
done, on earth as it is in heaven. Forgive us this day." Oh, would
God forgive me? Said He would. Huh? Anything you ask in my name,
He'll give it to you. He'll give it to you. Now let me give you three things
this morning, three things I know about being chosen of God. Here's the first thing. I know
that election, that's what we're talking about, being chosen of
God, is according to the Scriptures. This is not some doctrine of
a cult. It's not some strange, mysterious
thing that's contrary to the scriptures. Election is according
to the scriptures. Not one scripture, many, many,
many scriptures. Twenty-seven times the word elected,
election, all the sentences of the word is found in the scriptures. And I don't know how many times
chosen and choose, and that type of thing is in there. And on
many occasions, he just told them this. He told those Pharisees,
he said, you believe not because you're not of my sheep. As I
said unto you, my sheep hear my voice. Huh? That's election,
isn't it? Scriptures plainly teach that
God chose a people. False prophets said that this
election, talking about the Jewish nation, That's what he's talking
about. Barnard used to say there's two
ways you can get out from under any scripture. Say that it had
to do something with the millennium or write it off to the Jews.
And that's how this world, that's how they deal with election.
These false prophets stand up and they say, when he's talking
about election, he's talking about the nation of Israel. Never talks
about election concerning the Gentiles. That's what they say. But the
Scriptures say something a little different. They say that the
great potter will make the riches of his glory known on the vessels
of mercy which he aforeprepared unto glory, even us whom he hath
called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles. Of that remnant of Jews who did
believe, It said that they were a remnant according to the election
of grace, and that Israel did not obtain what it sought for
as a nation. But the election obtained it,
and the rest of them were blinded. Election. To the Gentiles at
Antioch, Paul preached the gospel. The Jews wouldn't have it. He
turned to the Gentiles, and it says, as many as were ordained
to eternal life believed. concerning all the promises of
God, and all the benefits of grace, and all the accomplishments
of Christ, and all the means ordained, and even the presence
and power of God's Holy Spirit, the seal and earnest of our inheritance,
all of these spiritual blessings purposed of God in the heavens,
in Christ, is said to be in Ephesians 1-4, according as He hath chosen
us in Him. For the world began, and before
the world became the world, before the fall of it, the curse of
it, the ruin of it, the evil of it, the darkness of it, the
bondage of it, He set us apart by divine election and chose
us, He said, out of the world. For His people be born in Adam,
they were predestinated, He said, to the adoption of children. That's something, isn't it? And though they would in time
receive Adam's cursed nature and bear his image and vent out
the poison of his heart, because they're all sons, God did send
forth the Spirit of His Son into their hearts, and every last
one of them is going to cry, Abba, Father. You can deny all you want to,
but this blessed book teaches without apology, the eternal
election of a people to the glory of him who loved them. Election. I've chosen you. Boy, I used to be scared to death
to say that. I put my hand on my election,
you know, kind of. Election! How sweet it is to the ears of
the sinner when he finds out where he's at. He's in the world.
He's cursed. He's condemned. He can do nothing
for himself. The door's been slammed. God
comes along and opens it up with election. He said, I chose you. Think about, oh, what was his name? Brabus. sitting down in that
old cell down there in the dungeon. He could just hear when the crowd's
roar went up. He could hear what they were
saying, but he couldn't hear what they were saying in between. And he heard them holler, Crucify
Him! Crucify Him! And he could hear some more muttering,
and they said, Give us Barabbas! Oh, my soul. trembling down that old dungeon.
He knew what was coming. Heard them guards' feet coming
down that hallway. Opened that door. He said, you're
free to go. Huh? Another's been chosen to
take your place. And we know, Paul said, that
all things work together for good to them that love God, to
them who are the called according to His purpose." That's the second
thing I know about this thing of election. Elections in agreement
with and according to the will and purpose of God. Sure it is. All things work together for
good to them who love God, to them who are the called according
to His purpose, for, based on this, for this reason, Whom He
did foreknow, that word is foreordain, He did also predestinate, determine
the end from the beginning. He did also predestinate to be
conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn
among many brethren. And whom He did predestinate,
He called, and whom He called, He justified, and whom He justified,
He glorified. If God be for us, If God be for me, who's going
to be against me? You see what I'm saying? It's
not all up to you, it's all up to Him. This world's been sang asleep
with that, it's all up to you. Won't you accept Jesus? The question
is, will He accept you? Isn't that what he told them?
You've not chosen me, I chose you. I chose you. If God be for us, who can be
against us? The very first question, an enlightened
soul who discovers himself for what he is, who he is, in his
helpless, hopeless condition, is God for me? How can that be? Can God be for
me? Is there a way? There's no way
in the world for me. I'm not even for myself. Can
God be for me? The hymn writer said, and can
it be that I should gain an interest
in the Savior's blood Died He for me, who caused His pain for
me, who Him to death pursued? Can He be for me? Oh, let a man see himself bound
in an evil world, bound in an evil nature, bound under a holy
law, bound and delivered into the hands of a just and holy
God, and he'll hang on every word you have to say about a
lecture. Mmm. Can God be for me? Oh, that should be the sweetest
song you ever heard. Could it be that the great God
of glory has purposed to save sinners like me? Oh, I tell you, that's good news
to a sinner. I'm a rebel, but he saves rebels.
Huh? I'm a sinner. This is a faithful
saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners of whom I'm chief. But I'm a Pharisee.
Paul said, He saved me first that in me I might be a pattern
to all the rest. The chief of the Pharisees and
therefore the chief of sinners. But I'm filthy like the leper
fall down on your knee before you. I am unclean, then press
through the crowd and touch his garment. Oh, election is according to
the purpose of God. God hath saved us, He said, and
called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to His own purpose and grace, given us in Christ
Jesus before the world began. That's II Timothy 1.9 if you're
taking note. God is willing to save sinners. It's His will to save sinners.
It's His will and He set aside some for just this purpose, to
glorify His name. And then thirdly, I know this
about being chosen of God. Election has an end. It has an end. My friend, election is not salvation. Because I agree with the doctrine
does not mean I'm saved. I've known a lot of men who sat
and argued with you all night long over election who didn't
know God. They didn't know God. Had no
interest in Christ. Bore no fruit. Election's not
salvation, it's unto salvation. Election is the open door. It's
the open door. If God had not chosen you, you
could never choose Him, because you can't shake free from what
you are. That's right. You can't get loose. Election's the open door. Sin
had shut the door. Shut up the prison house. Justice
turned the key. The only way out of this bondage
is divine intervention. That's it. There's no other way
out. Of God is He made unto us. Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. All things are of God who hath
reconciled us unto Himself by Jesus Christ. Of God. Of God. He just keeps telling
us that all the way through the Scriptures. With man, it's impossible,
but with God, all things are possible. Election opens the
door and it brings us to Christ. If you pass through that door
of election, the very first thing you... There was a door, John
said, opened in heaven. A door. And you look through
the door and the first thing you see is Christ. That's the only place election
leads. Leads you to Christ. We are bound, he said, to give
thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord,
because God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation, watch
it now, through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth, whereunto He called you by our gospel to the obtaining
of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is what it is all
about. What it is all about. Election
opens the door of hope and brings us to the fountain of it. It
opens the door to eternal glory, eternal love, eternal redemption. And we see it in His face. Election
can only be perceived by calling. Where there is no calling, there
is no election. Calling involves the work of
the Holy Ghost. He sets us apart in the sanctification
of regeneration. Explain that. I can't. You just
have to experience it. Paul said, listen to how he words
this. We're circumcised with the circumcision
made without hands, and putting off the body of the sins of the
flesh by the circumcision of Christ. buried with him in baptism,
wherein you are also risen with him through the faith of the
operation of God who raised him from the dead." Do you understand
that? You will if you ever experience
it. That will make perfect sense to you. You hath equated who
were dead. Boy, I can identify with that.
Dead. Turn with me to I Thessalonians
chapter 1. I'm saying this, I know these
three things about election. Election is according to the
Scriptures. Election is in agreement with
the will and purpose of God. And election is unto an end. It's unto salvation. Somebody said, well, election
is being elected unto the possibility. You can't find that anywhere
in the Scriptures. I Thessalonians 1.4 Knowing brethren,
beloved, your election of God. Wouldn't you like to know that? I mean 100% for sure. Know that. Wouldn't you like
to know that God, the eternal, omnipotent, unchangeable God
has chosen you to salvation? How could Paul And I know he's
not left himself. I know he's not exaggerating
here because he's under divine inspiration. How could Paul,
under divine inspiration, say to these people that he knew
their election of God? Well, here's what he said. Number
one. It's down in verse 5. Our gospel
came not unto you in word only. but also in power and in the
Holy Ghost and in much assurance. The gospel you heard affected
the change. That's what he said. It wasn't
another theory. It wasn't just another doctrine.
This thing got hold of them. I mean brought them to a standstill. Condemned everything they ever
hoped in. Set up before them a glory that
they had never before seen. Caused them to rest all that
they had. Put all their eggs in one basket.
Rested everything on Christ alone. Came to them in power. Came to
them in the Holy Ghost through a regeneration of spirit. And it came to them in assurance.
He poured that blood Only the Holy Spirit can do that. Take
that blood, that blood, that blood of Christ, that justifying
blood and take it and anoint your conscience with it to where
your conscience won't cry anymore. Much assurance. The gospel you heard affected
the change that caused you to rest in the testimony of God.
You quit listening to men and started listening to God. Does
God say He elected a people? Wow, He does, don't He? I'll tell you what I discovered.
I discovered it on every page. I don't know how I ever missed
it. Well, I do too. I'm blind. Caused you to hope
in His gospel. Caused you to turn from yourself
to God. Caused you to submit to His means. Caused you to bow to His authority. It wasn't just words and speculations
and theories, but it was hope and evidence and reason. Huh? There was a time when you sat
in those pews, perhaps, and sat there, and these things were
just theories. They were just doctrines. They
were just teachings. They were just something to debate
about, something to argue about, something when you take over
on the riverbank and your friends that you knew didn't believe
in election, you'd go over and argue with them about it, knowing
that you could shut them up because elections according to the scripture.
But then it came. It came to you in power and it
came to you in assurance and it had reason with it. Here's
the reason. God loved me and chose me. I'd never chosen Him. He chose
me. It had hope in it. It had evidence
in it. Look at this, verse 6. You become
followers of us. I tell you, if ever there was
a reason for me to believe in the election of God, it's for
somebody to fall down and follow me. It'd take the work of the
Holy Spirit to do that. There's nothing in me for a man
to follow. And Paul felt the same way, but
he said, you become followers of us and the Lord. Somehow, someway, in the grace
of God and by the power of His Spirit, you could see God's hand
on that man. God's work in him. God's words
in his mouth. You could see that. You could
feel that. You knew that. Paul said, that's
election. That's election. Oh, he said,
I know your election. I'm hated of this world, despised
of this world. They hire people to lie on me
and hire false witnesses and hire thugs to take me out and
beat me. They put me up before the courts and ridicule me before
me and put my picture and my name up there on the building
and wanted on a little wanted poster, wanted Paul. False prophet. But these people wasn't like
that. These people loved him. They listened to him. They followed
him. And he said, now I know your election of God. God's people submit themselves
to God's authority, not imperfection, but the tenor of their life is
to bow. And any man who goes about picking
and always destroying and always demanding answers and always
against the pastor, always questioning what he says, he's got no evidence
of election. They didn't have any evidence.
The election of God is unto salvation and it leaves His sheep in submission
to that man of God, us and the Lord. He said, look here in verse
7, you become examples to all that believe. Now let me tell
you something. Believers all have the same story. Everyone I've ever met, And I've
met them from all over the world. Those Mexicans down there, clear
out in the middle of the Yucatan jungle, living in thatched huts.
You know what their story is? Saved by grace. Saved by grace. They're all the same. They all
have the same story. Believers all have the same motive.
They all love one another. They're all interested in the
glory of God. Believers all have the same object
of faith, Christ. And believers all wrestle over
sin. He said, you become examples
of that. You become examples. I used to
have a fellow down there in Ball, Louisiana years ago where I pastored.
He was always telling me, I was just a young man. I deserved
to be told things. But this thing got under my skin
pretty quick. He said, preacher, we don't do
things down here like you all do up north. Oh, yeah, you do. Yeah, you do. You do them exactly
the same way. People down here are the same
people up there. They all hate God, all of them. They all hate
pastoral authority. They hate that. He can't tell
me what to do. He will for it's all over if
you're of God. Maybe you're not elect of God.
That's a good evidence that you're not. Geography had nothing to do with
the things of God. God's church is God's church
in any age, any society, anywhere in the world. All the same. Look here in verse 8. From you,
from you, he said, not from me, from you sounded out the gospel. You can no more be quiet about
the gospel. Old Ralph Barner used to say, It'll leak out on
you. It leaked out on them. It leaked out on them. Any man
who's ever been called knows something about the power of
God unto salvation, knows how God called him, and knows that
his only hope, and the only hope for anybody else, is that God
calls. And how does He call? through His gospel. They didn't join in on the parades
and the marches. They didn't do any of them things.
Here's what they did. Sounded out the gospel. That's
what they did. Verse 9, you turn to God from
your idols. Any man who still desires to
stay in the old temple knows nothing of the resurrection of
the new one. Now, I'm telling you the truth. Oh, we believe, but we just stay
here because we like the area. We just stay here because our
relatives live here. We believe what you say, but
we stay here because our children. I just preach over here good
with children. We just stay here because my
kids like it here. That's why we stay here. We stay
here because this church has a basketball program. Huh? He said, I know your election
of God because you turned to God from your idols. That's what
he called them, idols. He turned you. He turned you. The election of God. Here's what
our Lord told His disciples, I've chosen you out of the world. That's why I went to such great
lengths this morning to tell you what this world is. He's
chosen you out of it, turned you away from it, took the idols
away from you. And because it's out of this
world and we're no longer of the world, this world hates us.
It does. Now you can go on and be still.
Don't open your mouth. Don't say anything. This world
will still go right on loving you. But as much as this mouth
speaks of His glory and of His person
and of His Father, And of this gospel, that's how much this
world hates you. Hates you. The more of him that's
testified, the more they hate. I've chosen you and ordained
you that you should go forth and bring forth fruit. Every tree which my heavenly
Father hath not planted shall be rooted up. But he said, I
ordained you. And here's why we're dangerous.
You're going to go forth, you're going to bring forth fruit, and
your fruit's going to stay. How long is it going to stay?
These all died in faith. That's how long it's going to
stay. And anything you ask, if you're chosen of God, if you're
His, His son, anything you ask that's in not compromising to
His name, He'll give it to you. He'll give it to you. Our Father, how full, how full
this heart ought to be with request. How often we ought to come to
your throne, speak of our children and our neighbors, Speak of those who come to hear
us. Speak of those open doors that
you've given to us, knowing that you rule over providence and
rule over even the devils in hell who abide here, who are
rulers of the darkness. And knowing, knowing by the Word
of God and by the experience of our own heart that you give
us what we ask. Oh, teach us something about
electing grace. We ask you for Christ's sake.
Amen.