I want you to open your Bibles
again to 1 Samuel 16. My subject this morning is who
is elected. Who is elected. Now I want more than anything in the world to be among that number of men
and women elect, chosen of God, redeemed by the blood of Christ,
born again by His Spirit. I want more than anything in
the world to be in that number. Who are they? Who's elected? Samuel In this passage comes
to the house of Jesse. He had been sent by God to seek
out and anoint one man among many who was chosen and elected
of God to be the king of Israel. And in the passage, we have much
instruction. Look with me beginning at verse
nine. Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by and he said, neither
hath the Lord chosen this, Again Jesse made seven of his sons
to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, The
Lord hath not chosen these. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are
here all thy children? And Jesse said, There remaineth
yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel
said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him, for we will not set down
till he come hither. And he sent and brought him in,
and, lo, he was ready, and with all of a beautiful countenance,
and goodly to look to. That is, he was a red-headed,
good-looking fellow, and the Lord said, Arise, anoint him,
for this is he. Then Samuel took the horn of
oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren, And the
Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up and went to
Ramon. Now Samuel had been sent of God
to find one king to anoint one man who was chosen of God. As I read this passage a little
bit ago, the Lord told Samuel, I've chosen a son of Jesse, one
of Jesse's sons. to be the king in the place of
Saul. Now Samuel, if he had been one of these modern fellows who
despises the gospel of God's electing grace, he might have
said, well, if the Lord's chosen one, no need for me to go. If
the Lord's chosen one of Jesse's sons, he'll be the king. That's
all right. No need for me to be diligent.
Oh, no, no. Samuel was given a command. And
he was encouraged to go with the hope that there was one in
Jesse's house who was chosen of God. Now, it would have been
impossible for Samuel to find out who God's elect was were
it not for the fact that the God who sent Samuel to Bethlehem
accompanied him and made his work successful. And like Samuel
of old, I've come here today seeking God's elect. I come with
hope, with inspiration, with encouragement, because I know
there's some elect folks around. I know there's some folks that
God's chosen, some folks that Christ has redeemed, some folks
who must and will be called by the Spirit of God, and so I preach
the gospel. Just like Samuel came seeking
God's elect among the sons of Jesse, I've come here seeking
God's elect by the command of God. May it be pleasing to our
God. to accompany his servant, and
put his words in my mouth, and cause my mouth to speak words
that will reach to your very hearts as the words of life from
the living God. Now, we don't know who God's
elect are, and we don't dare assume that we do. What was done
in the council halls of eternity is hidden in the mind of God
and that which is secret belongs to God. We dare not intrude where
God has shut the door. And yet God does make known what
his eternal purposes of grace are. He does discover to us his
secret work of election by the preaching of the gospel. We preach
the gospel to every creature. We command all men everywhere
to repent, saying, He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved,
but he that believeth not shall be damned. Now that's my word
to you. That's God's word to you. If
you believe and are baptized, you shall be saved. If you refuse
to believe, you most surely shall be damned. But in doing so, by
preaching the gospel of Christ, we wait upon the power of God,
the Holy Spirit, to apply that gospel to the hearts of men.
And when he does, if this day, if this hour, if as I speak to
you now, the Spirit of God graciously applies the word of his power
to your heart and causes you right now to believe on Christ,
if he does, That's the discovery of your election. That's the
discovery that God from eternity set his heart upon you. That's
the discovery of God's eternal purpose. By the preaching of
the gospel, God's elect are quickened, born again, raised from among
those who are spiritually dead, and called to Christ Jesus in
living faith. The gospel of Christ separates
the wheat from the chaff. It separates the precious from
the vile. And we discern who God's elect
are only by this means, by the preaching of the gospel. We don't
sit down and say, well, he doesn't look to me like he's one of the
elect, but I don't suppose she's, she's one of God's elect. No,
we preach the gospel. And we we we proclaim the word,
we we broadcast the precious seed, knowing that there's somebody
out there whose hearts are hearts prepared of God from old eternity
to receive the word that we sow. And when God's pleased to plant
the word in that heart, we'll know who they are, for they come
forth bearing fruit under the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle
Paul told the Thessalonians that he knew they were God's elect.
He said, I know, brethren beloved, your election of God. I know
it. I know that you're chosen of God because the gospel has
produced certain profound, unmistakable effects upon you and in you. The gospel that we preach came
to you not in word only, but in power, in the Holy Ghost,
and in much assurance. By the witness of the Spirit
within, through the Word of God, these men had been declared to
be God's elect. And it's just that way that you
and I certify and discern our own election. By the witness
of the Holy Spirit, through the preaching of the Gospel, we have
been made to know through the Word that we are born again.
If our hearts are renewed by the Spirit, if we are new creatures
in Christ Jesus, if we are reconciled to God, if we are delivered from
dead works, if we are born again, we are indeed God's elect. If
we truly believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, we may with assurance
and with confidence declare that our names were written down in
the Book of Life before the world began. One popular evangelist
I heard this morning advertising his book, little booklet he sends
to everybody who says the sinner's prayer. There's a new name written
down in glory. I thought when I heard him say
that this morning, no, that ain't so. That there never has been
a new name written down in glory. Those who believe, those who
are born of God, those who are reconciled to God, their names
were written in the Book of Life of the Lamb, slain from the foundation
of the world. And the Lord God, in time, makes
known to us who we are and makes known to us that our names were
recorded in the Book of the Lamb before the world began. And that,
my friends, is the basis of our assurance and our confidence
before him. Now, this morning, I want, if
God will enable me, to show you how it is that we may know who
is elected unto eternal life. I want to show you who are God's
people, how you may know that you are elected unto eternal
life. And I want to speak to you who
yet believe not, and call upon you this hour to trust Jesus
Christ the Lord. And I speak to my own heart,
because I want by this word to certify my own election. I want
by this word to certify without question, without hesitancy,
with assurance, with confidence, not with presumption, But with
a well-based, well-grounded, well-founded assurance, I want
to know that I'm one of those who is elected of God. Now, let's
see what the Scripture says. I'll call your attention to three
things, using David for our example. To begin, let me talk to you
a little bit about the marvel of election. As you read this
16th chapter of 1 Samuel, Notice that Samuel came to the house
of Jesse seeking an elected king the man whom God had chosen and
That was the one Among all the sons of Jesse who was the least
likely to be chosen He was the least likely he was the one son
of Jesse that nobody Suspected God might take and make a king
out of him He was the only son of Jesse that nobody imagined
the Lord might be pleased to choose. When Jesse was called
by Samuel to the sacrifice, and Samuel said, now Jesse, one of
your boys is going to be king of Israel. God told me so. He said, one of your sons will
be the next king of Israel. And Jesse sent for all of his
sons. He said, boys, put on your best
attire. and get yourselves all spit-shined
and polished, and come to the prophet of God at the sacrifice,
he's gonna anoint one of y'all kings. He called all of his sons
in, and said, he said, David, you go feed the sheep. You go
feed the sheep. He called all of them. He had
eight sons. He called seven of them in, and
he sent the eighth one out to feed the sheep. You see, for
some reason, I don't know why, Jesse seems to have thought that
any one of his sons, except David, might be the king. Any one of
them, except David, might be the one chosen of God. Any one
of them, except David, might be the one that God would exalt
and honor. For some reason or another, nobody
imagined that David would be the object of God's choice. David's
father, Jesse, apparently didn't even want Samuel to know that
David was his son. Now, I don't know what kind of
fella David was in his youth. I don't have any idea. I know
what kind of fella God made him to be, but I don't know what
he was before. I know he was a shepherd. I know he defended
the sheep. I know he watched over his father's
flocks. But there was something about
David that Jesse didn't like. There was something about him
that caused Jesse to be ashamed of him. So that when Samuel says,
he says, are all your children here? Jesse said, well, There's
the youngest one, and he's out feeding the sheep. He's not here,
he's not fit to call. Yeah, I've got another son, but
I'd just as soon leave him out in the field somewhere. Now that's
unusual, because generally the youngest of many sons is the
object of his father's greatest tender care. Usually the youngest
of many sons is the one that's kind of spoiled and pampered.
Usually the youngest of many sons is the one that the old
man will kind of cater to. Anybody who's from a large family
will vouch for that. The baby is about always the
one that gets catered to. That's just the way it is, but
not with David. For some reason, David's brothers looked upon
him with scorn and contempt. Look over in chapter 17 and verse
28. When David was come to bring
some food to his brothers to take care of them. His father
sent him out to see how the boys were doing in the war with the
Philistines. David came and look in verse 28, Eliab, his eldest
brother, heard when he spake unto the men. David said to them,
he said, what shall be done to this man that killeth the Philistine?
Well, Eliab heard what he said, and Eliab's anger was kindled
against David. And he said, Why camest thou
down hither? I know why you came. With whom
hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy
pride and the naughtiness, the wickedness of thine heart. For
thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle. And
even Samuel, God's prophet, had no idea at first of God's election
of David. You see, like us, Samuel and
Jesse were far, far too impressed with the outward appearance of
things. All of David's brothers passed by before Samuel, one
after the other, and Samuel, judging by human reason, by outward
appearance, was ready to anoint any of them. Consulting with
flesh and blood, Samuel was ready to lay his hands upon any of
Jesse's sons, except David. Eliab came in. He must have been
an impressive looking fellow. He was of stature. He was a strong
man. He was Jesse's first born son.
He was a man of rank position and respect. Samuel was so impressed. He said, surely this is the Lord's
anointing. And the Lord said, I've rejected
him. Don't annoy him. Don't look on the outward appearance,
Samuel. Man's impressed by the outward appearance. The Lord
looks on the heart. I'm looking for something besides
this man. Abinadab, Jesse's second son, was a man of impressive,
pleasant disposition and moral character. Samuel was impressed,
greatly impressed. But the Lord said, I've not chosen
this. Shammah was Jesse's third son. A man of integrity, a man
well-educated, dependable, always there at his father's side. Samuel
was impressed with Shammah. But the Lord said, Samuel, I've
not chosen this. He looked at Eliab and Abinadab
and Shammah. And then Samuel said, well, Jesse,
bring the rest of your sons. And Jesse brought four more of
them. Go through the scriptures, you can find the names of all
of them but one. He even brought one that's never named in the
scriptures. He brought them before Samuel. Samuel was impressed
and God said, my elect's not among these. These fellows are
not the ones I've chosen. Pass them by, send them out.
I've rejected them. And finally, Samuel said, Jesse,
have you got another son? And Jesse said, yeah, yeah, there's
one, an eighth son. an eighth son. I don't know that there's any
significance to the numbers, but you know the number six is
incompletion, the number of man. The number seven is perfection,
the number of God. The number of eight is excess,
one too many. Yeah, I got one son too many. We didn't quit soon enough. David's
out feeding the sheep. David's out feeding the sheep.
I expect my mother and dad often thought that way. Got one too
many. Just got one too many. He's out
feeding the sheep. Samuel said, well, go out and
fetch him, because we're not going to sit down till he comes
here. And the Lord brought David in. And look at verse 12. He
sent, brought him in. Now he was ruddy and with all
of beautiful countenance and goodly to look to. And the Lord
said, arise, anoint him. This is he. This is the one. This is the man I've set my heart
upon. This is the man I've chosen to
replace. So this shall be the king of Israel. This is my elect. You see, in marvelous, sovereign
grace. God always chooses. God always
chooses the most unlikely of all men and women. as the objects
of his electing love and his saving mercy in Christ. He always
does, Lindsay. It never fails. Turn over to
1 Corinthians 6. Or 1 Corinthians 1, rather. I'm
sorry. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. This has long been one of
my favorite passages. Look at verse 26. For ye see
your calling, brethren. You can write in beside that
if you want to, your election. Calling an election same thing
just different times Those who are elect are called those who
are called or elect for you see your calling brethren How that
not many wise men after the flesh not many mighty not many noble
are called. Oh Yes, God does call some wise
men, but never because they're wise He does call some mighty
men, but never because they're mighty He does call some noble
men, but never because they're noble but look around you Look
around you. Let's see here. I don't see a doctor in the place.
I don't see a lawyer. Don't worry about that. We'll
get it later. I don't see a lawyer in the place. Most of us been to college. But
these days, every moron goes to college keeps having to work
for four more years. I don't see anything impressive.
Now I'm honest with you. I don't see a thing on earth
in this auditorium to impress God. Hardly anything to impress
men. Hardly anything to impress men.
You see your calling. There's nothing mighty, wise,
noble here. Look here what God says. But
God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. And God
hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things
which are mighty. And base things of the world
and things which are despised hath God chosen, yes, and things
that are not to bring to naught the things that are. Why would
he do that? Why would he choose poor beggars
rather than rich princes? Why would he choose uneducated
riffraff rather than well-refined society folk? Why would God choose
nobodies instead of somebodies? That no flesh should glory in
his presence. That's why you young people spend
your lives, your time, your energy, your money, everything saying,
I want to be somebody! I want to be somebody! Jesse
Jackson comes along and hollers, you are somebody! I am somebody! Oh, may God make you to see that
you're nobody. Nobody. Nobody. And I mean that. Nobody. You're
nothing. You're nothing. Nothing but contemptible
ungodliness and sin. Nothing but preacher. You can't say that to people.
Got to. Until you see that you're nothing,
Mark, you'll never trust Christ for everything. Until I see that
I'm nothing, I'll never look to Christ for everything. Until
you see that you're nothing, Merle, you'll never trust Christ.
You'll never come to Christ. God chose a nothing. He said,
David, I want to make you king of Israel. David, I'm going to
bring everybody and put them under your feet. David, I'm going
to make you a type of my own son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And
I'm going to cause your enemies to fall before you. And I'm going
to cause your throne to be established in Jesus Christ forever and every
day of every year of every age until time is no more and to
eternity. There shall never lack a man
to sit on your throne. His name's Jesus, the son of
David. That's God's choice. He chooses nobodies, nothings,
ignorant, foolish, weak, helpless men and women, so that he that
glorieth, he will glory in the Lord. That's God's way. Let me tell you a story. You've
heard it before, but it'll bear repetition. Our friends, Mike
and Barb Marcia, up in Minnesota are expecting a baby. They've
adopted a Korean child and supposed to be here anytime now. They
might have it with them at conference. Probably get it right afterwards.
But an old couple was going to adopt a child. They were getting
up in years. I say old couple, about our age,
40, 45, going to adopt a child. And they didn't have any children
of their own. So they went to the adoption
agency. The lady had an appointment for them to see them. She'd prepared
a special child to see that couple when they came. They're fairly
well to do. They drove up, got out of the
car. There's a little old red-headed, freckled-faced, snaggletoothed
boy standing there, dirty, grubby-looking. They got out of the car, the
boy picked up a rock, hurled it at that lady. They started
to go in the door. kicked the fella in the shins,
stuck out his tongue, made faces at him. They went in and sat
down. This lady said, well, I have,
I have just the perfect child picked out for you. They brought
little Mary Sue in, little beautiful blonde haired, blue eyed girl,
hair all done up in curls, fixed up the finest frilly dress, well
mannered, came in, spoke to the folks, and greeted them, and
curtsied for them, and sat down just quiet, and the lady began
telling about all this little girl's qualities. The man looked
at his wife, she looked at him, and they looked at the lady at
the adoption agency, and they said, you know, when we came
in out there, there was a meanest little old red-headed, freckle-faced,
snaggle-toothed boy. My wife got out of the car, he
picked up a rock and threw it at her. We walked by, kicked
me in the shin, stuck out his tongue, made faces at us. And
she said, oh, sir, I'm so sorry. I apologize. She said, we've
got 59 children in this orphanage up for adoption. She said, that's
Johnny. He's number 60. We got no hope
of ever getting rid of Johnny. Nobody wants Johnny. He said,
we do. What do you want with Johnny?
Nobody wants him. We want him. We want him. That's
me. Number 60. Nobody wants him. Number 8. One too many. Nobody. How about you? Huh? Any nobodies
here? Any nothings here? Any abominable, wretched dogs
like Caleb here? Anybody here who is nothing? I'm telling you, God Almighty
chooses nobodies for the praise of His name. for the glory of
his son. When David was anointed as God's
elect king, I'm sure that the most astounded, surprised person
in all the place was David himself. He never suspected such a thing. Somebody come and say, David,
your brother Eliab has just been anointed king, but always knew
Eliab would make something of himself. David, Shammah has just
been anointed by the prophet to be king in Saul's place. Well,
I always knew Shammah, oh, faithful, dependable Shammah, he'd make
something of himself. David, your brother Abinadab
has just been anointed by God's prophet to be the king of Israel
forever. Oh, Abinadab, he was always strong
and wise. I knew he'd amount to something. But the Lord said, David, I've
chosen you. I've chosen you. Me? Me? Me? Can't be. Can't be. Not me. My daddy didn't call me to come
sit down with the rest of the boys when we were going to sacrifice
to God. When all the family got together, I was out tending the
sheep. Not me. Not me. Yeah, you, you,
you. The Lord's chosen you. He never
got over the wonder of it. Even in his old age, as at the
beginning, David the king came and sat before the Lord, and
he said, who am I? Oh, Lord God, and what is mine
house that thou hast brought me hither to? Are you a believer? Do you trust the Lord Jesus Christ?
Do you have faith in Christ? Do you believe on Christ? Are
you reconciled to God? If so, ever seek from God a deep,
abiding sense of awe and wonder. This is the marvelous thing God
has done for you. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed on us. On us, Merle, on us. that we,
of all men, should be called the sons of God. Therefore the
world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. And beloved,
now are we the sons of God, and if doth not yet appear, what
we shall be. But we know that when he shall
appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Now, that's the marvel of God's
election. He chooses the most unlikely
as the objects of his mercy. Secondly, let me say something about the
marks of election. In due time, God always puts
the marks of his grace upon his elect. Marks by which they are
known, and these marks are tokens They are tokens of God's grace,
and they are inward, not outward. They're matters of the heart,
not matters of the deed. These marks of grace are things
seen by God, revealed in the hearts of his people. Men look
on the outward appearance as the mark of God's favor. How
many times have you said or heard somebody say, well, I know old
Chuck Dardy, He's got to be one of God's elect. I remember before
God saved him, how he used to behave. I remember what a rogue
he used to be. And now look at him. He's got
to be one of God's elect. That's the way men see. That's
not the way God sees. That's not the way God sees.
Richard, are you saying that grace doesn't change a man's
life? Oh, yes. But I'm telling you, many men's lives are changed
who know nothing of grace. Grace changes a man's heart.
Grace changes a man's heart. And these marks of election are
seen in the heart of the man. In the heart of the man. How can I stress that enough? David was one of God's elect.
I know he was. For he was a man after God's
own heart. And the Lord, looking on David's
heart, beheld characteristics of his own handiwork, characteristics
of his own grace. David's heart being changed was
not the cause of God's election, but rather his election was the
cause of his change. And when his heart was changed
by God, then he was fitted and qualified to be a king representing
God. But until then, he was not. Like
all other men, David was a sinner. He was in no way superior to
his brothers. He said, in sin did my mother
conceive me. But God changed his heart. And I'm telling you that if a
man's elect of God, Hubert, there's a change takes place right here. Right here. A change. A real change. A lasting change. Now that change will in many
ways extend out to the life. But I'm telling you, I'm telling
you now, a mere reformation of life is not the change of grace. It's just not the change. Turn
over to Psalm 23. Let me show you the kind of heart
David had. The kind of heart God gave him. The kind of heart
that identified him as one of God's elect. First of all, the Lord gave David
a believing heart. Here's David, king of Israel. He has all the cares of the nation
of Israel on his shoulders. He's responsible for the whole
round. Not only is he responsible as the king of Israel, he's responsible
as a prophet of God, and he's responsible as a writer of scripture,
and he's responsible as a representative of Jesus Christ in this world.
Oh, what a burden he has. More than that, David needed
pardon, for he was a sinner. He needed grace to sustain him
in the midst of his enemies to overcome them. He needed grace
to preserve him from the tempter's power, grace to restore him when
he was fallen, grace to uphold him, grace to keep him, grace
to cause him to be faithful. But when David looked at himself
and saw all his need, look at what he said. The Lord is my
shepherd. I shall not want. That's faith,
Lindsay. That's faith. But David, you're
a sinner. I want for nothing. But David,
look at all these people depending upon you. I want for nothing.
But David, how will you meet the enemies? I want for nothing. But David, how will you be able
to feed the people or to feed your own family? I want for nothing. But David, how will you overcome
the temptations of Satan? I want for nothing. The Lord's
my shepherd. The Lord's my shepherd. I trust
Him. I trust Him. Bob Pontzer, are
you resting on Christ alone for everything? If so, you're one
of God's elect. That's what I'm saying. David
had a believing heart. Elect sinners are given hearts
of faith, hearts to believe God, hearts to trust God. More than
that, David possessed a heart consecrated and devoted to Christ. We don't talk much about consecration
these days, do we? Now, David's heart was consecrated
to God. Bobby, his heart was fixed on
Christ. Fixed on Christ. And my brother, if our hearts
are fixed on Christ, we're God's elect. And if they're not, we've not yet been called by
grace. David said, he makes me to lie down in green pastures.
He leadeth me beside the still waters. You see, David's heart
meditated upon and communed with Christ, finding peace and rest
and contentment in him. When he was weary, cold and despondent,
his heart was revived and refreshed and restored by Christ. He restoreth
my soul. His heart was ruled by his devotion
to the honor of Christ's name. He leadeth me in the paths of
righteousness for his name's sake. Oh, no, David's heart of flesh
was still a heart of flesh. His old evil nature of sin was
still his old evil nature of sin. It never got any better,
never got any better, just got worse. Read Psalm 73, you'll
see that David still had that old Adamic nature. Sin had not
been eradicated from him, but grace had given him a new heart,
a new will, and a new nature. So that though no other man could
see it, no one knew it at times, but David and his God. And sometimes
only his God. Sometimes only his God. David
had a heart committed, dedicated, consecrated, devoted to Christ. Simon, do you love me? Do you love me? The Lord didn't say, Matthew
does Simon love me Matthew said no he doesn't No, don't look
like it to me He didn't say John does Simon love me John would
have said no, I don't think so He didn't say James does Simon
love me James said no. No, I don't believe so Lord said
Simon Do you love me? Do you love me? And he said, Lord, you know everything. You know everything. You know what I've said. And
you know what I've done. You know my weakness, my sin,
and my infirmity. I offer no excuse. You know everything.
But Lord, you know that I love you. You know that I love you. In his heart of hearts, in his
innermost being, he loved Christ. That's the way it was with David.
In his heart of hearts, in his innermost being, he truly loved
Christ. Do you love him? Do you love
him? I'm going to tell you something.
Nobody under the sun can answer that question for you. Nobody. I started to say nobody but yourself.
I take that back. Nobody but God himself can answer
that question for you. Do you love him? In your heart
of hearts, do you love Christ? Yes, I do. Yes, I do. I wouldn't take anything in this
world for him. I'm willing to give anything
in this world for him or at his beck and call. Anything. Anybody. Anybody. Willing. Willing. We love him because he chose
us. Because he first loved us. That's
the cause of our love. David had a bold, confident heart. He said, yea, though I walk through
the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou
art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort
me. Thou preparest a table before
me in the presence of thine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil,
my cup runneth over. Surely, goodness and mercy. shall follow me all the days
of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."
David was as bold as a lion because
he was confident of God's goodness. He had no fear of man and no
fear of circumstances. Oh, the preacher, didn't he tremble
before Achish? Yes, he did. Didn't he mess up
there? Yes, he did. He's just like us. But in the tenor of his life,
in the course of his being, the character of his heart was boldness
and confidence. Because he believed God. He believed
God. Why should I flinch before Goliath? Why are you piquing me? You're
standing before the God of heaven. You come out to me with a staff
and with a sling. No, I come to you and I'm going
to destroy you in the name of the living God with this little
pebble." He didn't know what fear was.
He believed God. He believed God. He'd take on
anything or anybody, do anything, go anywhere. He believed God.
The Lord gave David a holy heart. You read the 119th Psalm. David
says, I delight in thy law. With Paul, he said, I delight
in the law of God after the inward man, not the natural man. The
natural man hates the law. The natural man despises the
law. The natural man hates holiness. But there's an inward man in
God's people that truly loves, seeks, desires, pursues after
holiness, perfect holiness, perfect holiness. At the same time, God
gave David a humbled and broken heart over his sin. David knew himself. God made
him know himself. And if you ever get to know yourself,
you're not going to be some strutting peacock. No. No, if you ever get to know who
you are before a holy God, you're going to tremble. Acknowledging your sin. I spent the time in Sunday school
this morning talking to our ladies about this thing of knowing our
sin. Knowing our sin. West Roseboom,
you got to be made to see your sin or you'll never trust the
Savior. You got to be stripped or you'll
never be clothed. You got to be humbled in the
dust or you'll never be exalted to the throne. Got to be broken,
wounded, or you'll never be healed and made whole. Got to be. Got
to be. Man's got to see his sin. And
only Christ can give you that. Only Christ can make you see
your sin. Say, well, I know we're all sinners.
That's not what I'm talking about. Well, everybody does some things
that are wrong. That's not what I'm talking about. You haven't
seen your sin yet. You haven't seen it yet. Well, You know, we all fail and
come short of what we ought to do. You hadn't seen your sin
yet. Hadn't seen your sin yet. Lord God, I transgressed your
law in every point. And I've come short of every
requirement. And worst of all, in my heart,
I'm nothing else but sin. Nothing else but sin That's what
you are that's what you are How would you like You stop now
I'm talking to everybody here one at a time talking to Teresa
and David and Buddy and Dietra and Don and Shelby I'm talking
one at a time to everybody here now listen to me I Know we put
up a facade. We try to be goody two-shoes
to everybody else How would you like for just one person in this
world to know what goes on in your mind and in your heart?
I'm talking about just one person. Anybody. Anybody. People tell me, well I never
think about doing this thing. I never think about it. You're
a liar. You're a liar. Either a liar or deceived, there's
no evil abomination or imagination that hasn't been rooted in your
heart for a long time. Now, that's right. That's right. So what all does that include?
You just put it down just as low, just as vile, just as corruptible,
just as abominable as you can possibly put it. That's what's
in us by nature. That's what's in us. And until
you come to acknowledge your sin, You will never come to Christ
and trust a Savior. Never. As long as you've got
any goodness in you, as long as you look upon yourself as
being in the least measure worthy of anything from a holy God,
you will never trust Christ alone. That's right, Dale. Nobody will.
Nobody will. I acknowledge my sins. I acknowledge
my transgression, my sin. What I am is ever before me.
Against thee, the only, have I sinned. And if you send me
to hell, you'll be doing what's right. The day Job said, I've
heard, now I see, I bore myself. I hate what I am. That was David's
heart broken over sin. But David had a constant, persevering
heart. Oh, he had his faults. He was
a sinner. And he well knew his own corruptions. But David was constant, steady,
and persevering. He was not a demis, ready to
forsake Christ for the love of the world. All the days of his
life, David believed God, served God, and sought the glory of
God. And he died like he lived, believing God even to the end. But what about Bathsheba? What
about faith? What about Uriah? What about
faith? What about numbering Israel?
What about faith? I'm telling you that in the teeth
of his faults and infirmities and sins, David continually believed
God. That's right. And even when his
old man was opposed to all that was right and just and true,
David in his heart, buddy, followed Christ. You want proof of it? You want proof of it? First Samuel
12, Nathan the prophet came to the king. Now, I'm going to tell
you something. I wouldn't want to be in Nathan's
shoes. I wouldn't want to be in his shoes. He wasn't just
coming to his boss over at I.B. and Bob. He was going to the
king. He was going to the king. He wasn't just going to a governor
that had been elected to be unelected. He was going to the king. He
wasn't just going to some president that has no real power, just
a figurehead. He was going to the king. To
the king who could speak a word and kill him. To the king who
had absolute power. To the king, nobody defied. He's going to the king. And he
said, David, I'm going to tell you a story. I'm going to tell
you a story about a man. A man who's a thief, and a murderer,
and an adulterer. David said, find me that man,
I'll kill him. Nathan said, you're the man. You're the man. David said, Oh
my God, Nathan, you're right. I am. There's his heart. There's his heart. Well, I've got to quit. Let me
give you one more thing. Our text speaks of the manifestation
of election as well. Turn back there to first Samuel
16. Here's the manifestation of election.
There comes a time when God's secret work of grace in eternity
is made manifest to each of his elect. That which God promised
before the world began is revealed in due time. That which God did
from eternity in the covenant of grace is made manifest at
God's appointed time by the preaching of the gospel. Taking David's
example again, Let me show you how God manifests his electing
grace to his elect ones. Maybe there's somebody here today.
Oh, I pray so. Chosen of God from eternity.
And this is the hour of mercy. When God will make you to know
that you belong to his. This is what he'll do for you.
First of all, God will send his spirit into your heart. and fetch you to Christ. That's
what he'll do. Samuel said to Jesse in verse
11, send and fetch him. I like that. Fetching grace.
He didn't say send and invite him. He said send and fetch him.
He didn't say send and ask him. He said send and fetch him. He
didn't say send and ask him if he wouldn't pretty please come
to Jesus. He said send and fetch him. The Lord's given a command. Fetch him. And when the Spirit
of God comes to call God's elect, when He comes calling, He fetches
the sinner. And when the Lord fetches, He
will make you most willing to come to Christ. Most willing. I went to church and heard men
preach. And I had one problem. I had
one problem. I'll be honest with you. Same
problem you've got. Same problem you got. It wasn't
that I didn't want to go to heaven when I died. I didn't. It wasn't
that I didn't want to change my life. I wanted my life to
be changed. I really did. I was sick and tired of the misery
I was bringing on myself and bringing on everybody else. I
wanted a different life. It wasn't that I didn't want to escape
hell. I wanted that. You want those
things. Everybody here wants those things.
You want to go to heaven when you die. You don't want to go
to hell. You want to change your life. And if that's all there
is to it, you're saved right now. But there was another problem. I would not come and submit to
the rule of Jesus Christ, my king. I didn't want him my king. I didn't want him as my king.
I wouldn't have him as my king. I wouldn't bow to him as my king.
No, sir. No, sir. Not on your life. I'll
be my own master. Nobody's going to tell me what
to do. Nobody's going to control my life. Nobody's going to have
absolute rule over me. I won't give in. But one day. God said to his spirit, I'm speaking
figuratively, you know that. The time's come. Go and fetch
Don Fortner. And that fetching grace laid
hold of my heart. And I came to Christ more willingly than
I'd ever rejected him. I called him more willingly than
I'd ever refused to call him. I sought him more willingly than
I could ever imagine despising him. I wanted him with all my
heart. That's what David did. Samuel
said, go fetch him. Somebody went out there and said,
David, The Lord has sent Samuel down
here to your house to anoint a king among one of your brothers. And they've all been rejected.
He wants to see you. I believe I'll go home. And off
he went. Off he went. More than that,
when the Lord God calls, he will anoint you Conceal you with his
Holy Spirit right in the midst of your brethren look in verse
14 and Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst
of his brethren and The Spirit of the Lord came upon David from
that day That's the seal of the covenant
In the Old Testament, it was circumcision. In the New Testament,
it's the Holy Spirit circumcising the heart, the anointing of the
Spirit, the seal of the Spirit of God, sealed into redemption. Something else will happen. As a manifestation of your election,
you're going to have some trouble. You're going to have some trouble.
You're going to be cast into a warfare from which there is
no treaty and no truce so long as time stands. Saul's going
to be your enemy. He's going to be your enemy.
You can bank on it. If you fall in love with and
follow King Jesus, the world who nailed him to the tree is
going to despise you. Oh, sometimes when they're a
little melancholy, they'll come and talk to you and you can play
your harp of grace and they'll be real happy. But after their
melancholy season is gone, watch out, the javelin's in his hand.
And the world will despise you, even those of your own household. But in the end, you will conquer
all your enemies by God's almighty grace. and you will be crowned
as a king to reign forever with Christ Jesus. And it will be
worth it all when we see Jesus. Last trials will seem so small
when we see Christ. One glimpse of his dear face,
all sorrow will erase. So bravely run the race till
we see Christ. Who is elected? The most unlikely. Who's elected? Those who've been
born again by God's Spirit. Who's elected? Every sinner who
believes on the Lord Jesus Christ. God help you then to believe
for Christ's sake. Amen.