I did choose the Lord Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Neiberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nybert. Our text for this morning is
found in Romans chapter 9. I'd like to read verses 11 through
13. I've entitled this message, Why
I Love Election. And before I get into the meat
of the message, let me say it's because I love the God of election. But I've entitled this message,
Why I Love Election. Now, beginning in verse 11 of
Romans chapter 9, the Apostle Paul speaks of two twins from
the same womb, Jacob and Esau. And he says, for the children,
being not yet 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, Rebekah,
the mother of these two boys, the elder shall serve the younger."
Now, the younger is supposed to be serving to the elder. But
God switches that. The elder Esau is going to serve
the younger Jacob as it is written, and he quotes a passage from
Malachi chapter 1, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Why I love election. It's because I love the God of
election, and I hope By the time this message is over, if you
don't love the God of election, you will now. Several weeks ago,
a pastor of a church here in central Kentucky was defending
his belief that the Bible is not the inspired, inerrant Word
of God. He thought there were some mistakes
in it, some cultural differences that people used back in the
time when it was written that would be archaic now, and there
was nothing inspired about those things. And he used the example
of Paul forbidding women to speak in the church. He said, I disagree
with Paul. I think that was cultural. And
he said, now I know some people will say, well, who are you to
pick out which part is inspired and which part isn't? Well, his
reply was, you may say you believe in the inerrancy of scripture
and that it's all inspired. You say that, but you don't really
believe it. Because if you really believe that, you'd have to believe
in election and predestination, because Paul definitely taught
election and predestination. So that shows you don't really
believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. I thought
that was very interesting. Because I do believe the Bible
is the inspired word of God, and I do believe in election
and predestination. God electing before time began
who would be saved and predestinating them to be just like the Lord
Jesus Christ. Why I love election is because
I love the God of election. But first, what is meant by election? Well, the word simply means to
choose. If I elect you, I choose you. The Lord said to his disciples
in John chapter 15, verse 16, you have not chosen me, but I
have chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring
forth fruit. Now, how many different ways
are there to take that? The Lord says you did not choose me. but
I chose you. Men today, and preachers today,
make salvation according to man's choice. If you choose him, you'll
be saved. Salvation isn't according to
man's choice, it's according to God's choice. He said, you
did not choose me, but I chose you. Now this is not some vague,
obscure teaching. Let's first take the angels.
There are angels who did not fall, and there are angels who
fell. called demons. Satan at one time was an angel,
and he's now a fallen angel. And you know the ones who did
not fall are called in I Timothy 5, the elect angels. The reason
they did not fall is because God chose them to not fall. That's the only reason they did
not fall. And what about Israel? You read
the pages of the Old Testament and there is no doubt that God
made a choice of Israel over the rest of the world. He didn't
choose the Jebusites and the Hittites and the Philistines
and so on. There was no word from God for them. There was
no sacrifice for them. There was no scripture for them.
There was no covenant for them. God made a difference between
Israel and everybody else. Exodus chapter 11 says, Against
the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against
man or beast, that you may know how that the Lord doth put a
difference between the Egyptians and Israel." God made the difference. God's choice made the difference.
And God chose the individuals He would save. And we have an
example of that in Jacob and Esau. For the children, the scripture
says, being not yet 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." And let me repeat, this is no
obscure teaching. It is a necessary part of the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Election, my friends, is part
of the gospel. Now, it's amazing to me to think
that in most churches in Lexington and all around the world, the
preachers never deal with this glorious truth regarding God's
electing mercy. But election is who God is. Election
is God being God. But in the early church, the
Lord Jesus used this term frequently. He said if it were possible they
would deceive the very elect. He said for the elect's sake
those days shall be shortened. He said he shall send his angels
and gather his elect, shall not God avenge his own elect which
cry unto him day and night. This doctrine is found throughout
the epistles. The saints are constantly called
the elect. Paul said to the Colossians, put on as the elect of God, holy
brethren, bows of mercy. He said to the Thessalonians,
knowing brethren beloved your election of God. Paul, a servant
of God according to the faith of God's elect, the faith that
all of God's elect possess. When Peter writes his general
epistle, he opens him with these words, this greeting to the people
who are elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.
And when he closes that same epistle, he says, the church
that's at Babylon elected together with you salutes you. When John
writes, he writes to the elect lady. And he said, the children
of thy elect sister greet thee. This was a part of the everyday
conversation of the early church. If you would have come to someone
in the early church and said, do you believe in election? They
would have looked at you incredulously and said, of course I do. It's
part of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a central
teaching of scripture. And let me say once again, Election
is God being God. I love that statement. Election is God being God. The children, speaking of Jacob
and Esau, before they were born, having done neither good or evil,
that the purpose of God God's got a purpose. But the purpose
of God, according to election, might stand not of works, but
of him that calleth. That's God's purpose, that salvation
might not be of works. Works are anything you do. There's nothing you can do to
save yourself, to make yourself more savable, to contribute to
your salvation. There's nothing you can do. That's what salvation by works
means. It means there's something you
can do, whether it's keep the 10 commandments or of your own
free will, except Jesus is your personal savior. That's salvation
by your works. But God's purpose is that salvation
might not be of works, but of him that calleth. the sovereign, effectual, irresistible,
invincible, efficacious call of God. When He calls, people
respond. They always respond. He saved
us, Paul said, and he called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace which
were given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Now it was said unto her, Rebecca,
the elder shall serve the younger. That's the opposite of the way
we would do it, and that's the opposite of the custom of that
time. The elder shall serve the younger, as it's written, And
he quotes Malachi chapter 1 where God said, Jacob have I loved
and Esau have I hated. Now I'm going to talk a little
bit more about that statement in just a few moments, but election
is necessary to the gospel. If there's no election, there
would be no salvation. Now somebody may be thinking,
should election be preached publicly? Should we tell lost people about
election? Is it in the Bible? Of course
it should be preached publicly. Somebody may ask the question,
can you preach the gospel and not preach election? No, because
you can't preach the gospel and leave out grace. And you don't
really believe in grace at all if you don't believe in election.
Election tells us of the grace of God. You cannot, listen to
me, you cannot preach the gospel and not preach election. You
can't believe the gospel and not believe election because
election tells us who God is. He really is in control. He controls everything. That's what election states.
God is God. Now that verse of Scripture where
God said, Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated, how does
that make you feel? Be honest. when you hear about
God making a difference. God choosing one over the other
and hating one and loving the other. How does that make you
feel? Do you feel like it is unfair?
Do you bristle at this secretly? Now, let me say this. If a woman had twins and she
showed favoritism, to one over the other, it wouldn't be right,
would it? But this is not the same. This
is God. Both of these people, Jacob and
Esau, deserve destruction. They deserve to be sent to hell.
They're both sinful men, but God in His mercy chose Jacob
unto salvation. He put him in his son. He caused
him to be in his son because he's gracious. He said, I will
be gracious. Esau was an enemy of God. Esau had no love for
God. Esau deserved the hatred of God. And remember this, God's hatred
is not like our hatred. It has something to do with his
pristine character, his holiness, his righteousness. That's why
he hated Esau. But when you hear these statements
from the scripture, how do they make you feel? Do I say, it seems
unfair? Now, if those are my feelings,
I've never really been reconciled to God. I'm sitting in judgment. on God. I'm not a worshiper,
but I'm a judge. And I am secretly saying in my
heart, I'm more fair than God. If I was God, I wouldn't do that. But let me say this, if salvation
were up to me or you, ultimately nobody would be saved. Because
after someone sinned against us once, twice, 10,000, 100,000,
a million times, there's the point where we would say, that's
enough. I won't have it. Send them to hell. If it was
up to me, in reality, I may say I'd save everybody. But let somebody
do me wrong so many times, and there's a time when I'd say enough
is enough, but that's not the way God is. Thank God for election. Don't sit in judgment on God
and judge him harshly because he chose a people to salvation.
Everybody deserves to be damned. Election opens wide the door
of mercy to sinners. Oh, how I love those words for
the children being not yet 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 as it is written,
Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Does God really
hate people? Well, let me remind you. God's
hatred is not like our hatred. Our hatred is evil. His hatred
is a righteous and holy hatred. And Psalm 5.5 says, Thou hatest
all workers of iniquity. Yes, God really does hate people. He hated Esau and he loved Jacob. The amazing, staggering thing
is that he loved Jacob. This sinful, deceitful, Manipulative
man, Jacob. His name means healed. And how
deceptive he was. He swindled his brother. He swindled
Laban. He was a deceitful man. He was
a sinful man. Yet God says, I love Jacob. Jacob have I loved. Now that's
why I'm amazed. I'm not amazed by his hatred
for Esau because I can see why God would hate me. And he's righteous,
he's holy. I can see why he would cut me
off forever and leave me to myself. So I don't have any problem with
him hating Esau. What I'm staggered by, what I'm
amazed by, is how could he love Jacob? That sinful man, Jacob,
that manipulative, deceitful man, Jacob. And you can read
through the pages of Genesis how many times he tried to deceive
people to get what he wanted. That sinful man, Jacob, God said,
I love Him. That is what is amazing. Why
do I love election? Because I love the God of election. Election is nothing less than
God being God, Him being in absolute control of salvation. Now, Paul
anticipated men's objections to this in verse 14. He said,
what shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? Is God unfair in loving one and hating the other? God
forbid, for he saith to Moses, I'll have mercy on whom I will
have mercy, and I'll have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
So then, it's not of him that willeth. nor of him that runneth."
Well, I thought men had a free will. Well, you thought wrong
then. It's not of him that willeth. Man's will is controlled by his
nature. Free will never saved anybody. It's not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Salvation is of the Lord. I love election. because I love
the God of election." Now let me give you these reasons why
this sinner speaking to you loves election. I've already said this
several times, but let me say it again. First, I love it because
it's God being God. This is the God of the Bible.
He's not God by an empty title but can't make sure His will
is done. This is a man-made God that's like that. It's a figment
of man's depraved imagination. Election says God really is God. He is in absolute sovereign control. And election gives a real sinner
hope. Now, what do I mean by a real
sinner? You know, most people would take the title of sinner,
and if you tell them what the Bible means by that, they'll say, oh,
I'm not like that. But a real sinner is somebody who all they
do is sin. If they did it, that makes it
sin no matter what it is. They cannot not sin. They cannot
look down their nose in moral superiority at anybody. And they
know they have no claims on God because of their sinfulness.
But election opens wide the door of grace for a sinful man because
it tells us that salvation is not of works. Your bad works
can't disqualify you. Your good works can't recommend
you. What good news that is to a sinner. It may discourage a
self-righteous man, but it doesn't discourage a real sinner because
that real sinner finds out salvation is on my works. That's good news
indeed. I love election because it glorifies
God. Moses said in Exodus chapter
33, show me your glory. Now, he'd already seen the giving
of the law. He'd seen the parting of the Red Sea. He had seen manna
come from heaven. He'd seen waters come out of
a rock that was smitten. He'd seen the ten plagues. He'd
seen all these things, and yet he says, I beseech you, show
me your glory. I haven't seen it yet. And God
replied, I'll make all my goodness pass before you. God's goodness
is his capacity to save sinners. Proclaim the name of the Lord
before you, and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and
I'll show mercy on whom I will show mercy. This is the passage
that Paul quoted in Romans 9, vindicating God in all he does. When people would accuse him
of unfairness, he sayeth to Moses, I'll have mercy on whom I will
have mercy, and I'll have compassion on whom I will have compassion. I love election because election
flows from the great truth of union with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 1.4 says, according as he hath chosen us in him before
the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without
blame before him. What a glorious truth. I was
chosen in Christ. I don't understand that, but
I believe it. I was chosen in Christ. He didn't
look at me and then put me in Christ. I've always been in the
Beloved. The eternal union of God's elect
with Christ. How we love election because
it flows from the glorious truth of the believer's eternal union
with the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. I love election because
election magnifies the freeness of God's grace. Jacob have I
loved. What was lovable in Jacob? If
you read his history, there was nothing lovable in him, in and
of himself. But God loves freely. Only he can do that. And he said,
Jacob have I loved. How God's grace is magnified. And I know this. When I stand
in glory, I'll know that the grace of God is magnified in
my salvation because it's got to be all His grace. With Jacob,
it had to be all His grace. With me, it has to be all of
grace. I love election because it is
the great stripping doctrine. What do I mean by that? It strips
us of all hopes of self-salvation. We find out we're in the hands
of a sovereign God. Now, I remember when I first
dealt with this truth that God chose who would be saved before
the foundation of the world, it made me angry. And the reason
it made me angry is it took all of salvation out of my hands. There's nothing I can do to save
myself. I was in the hands of a sovereign
God who could save me or damn me just as He's pleased to do.
And that made me mad at first, but you know what it did after
that? It made me cry out for mercy. Lord, I need your mercy. If you don't choose me, it's
over for me. It's the great stripping doctrine. It lets a man know
that there's absolutely nothing he can do to save himself. And election is the doctrine
that produces true humility. That person who really believes
election says, why me? Why would the Lord choose me? Why would He set His love on
me when I'm so unworthy? And election is the great doctrine
of thanksgiving. Paul said in II Thessalonians
2, verse 13, but we're bound to thank God always for you,
brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning
chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit
and belief of the truth. I love election because it guarantees
my holiness and blamelessness. These are things that I never
could achieve. According as He hath chosen us in Him before
the foundation of the world, that we should be holy. and without
blame before Him. The only way I'll be holy and
without blame before Him is for Him to choose me to be holy and
without blame before Him. I love election because it opens
wide the door of mercy to the very chief of sinners. My sinfulness
will not close the door of mercy on me because salvation is not
of works, but of Him that calleth. Election, I love election because
it's a great encouragement for evangelism. People say, well,
if you believe in election, you won't believe in missions or
evangelism. Well, that's not so. That's just not so. That's
a lie, is all that is. You know, when Paul was in Corinth,
God said to him, fear not, Paul, be not afraid, but hold not thy
peace, but speak everything that I say, because I have much people
in this city. That's why Paul preached. He
knew God had an elect people and that God would save them
through the preaching of the gospel. All the great missionaries
of the past have believed in election. Judson and Cary and
all those men who opened up missions, they all believed in the election
and the God of election. And I love election. because
it's the doctrine of worship. You've never worshipped God unless
you've worshipped the God of election. Now let me show you
that in the scripture. Here's a woman, and I want us
to see how she dealt with election. Verse 21, Then Jesus went thence,
and departed in the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. This is Matthew
15, verse 21. Verse 22, And behold, a woman of Canaan came out of
the same coast, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy upon
me, O LORD, thou Son of David! for my daughter is grievously
vexed with the devil. Now she came with an impressive
resume. She had a great need, a demon-possessed
daughter. She knew who the Lord was, the
son of David. She came for the right thing,
for mercy. But look what the scripture says,
but he answered her, not a word. He was silent to her. He didn't
respond to her. Now, it didn't stop her from
continuing to cry, though. It never does stop a real sinner. It might stop someone who's trusting
in their works, but it doesn't stop a real sinner. And his disciples
came and besought him, saying, Send her away, for she crieth
after us. But he answered and said, I am
not sent, but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Now,
what is that election? He said, I didn't come to save
everybody. I've only come for the lost sheep of the house of
Israel. My gospel is for them. Now, how
did that woman respond at this time? Did she get mad and turn
on her heels and leave? Did she say that's not fair?
No, the scripture says in verse 25, then came she and worshipped
him. Now she didn't know if the Lord
would do anything for her or not, but she knew he was worthy
of worship without reference to what he did for her. Then
came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. If you don't help me, I will
not be helped. Oh, what a attitude she had toward
election and the Christ of election who came only to save the lost
sheep of the house of Israel. Now let's go on reading. But
he answered and said, it's not meat to take the children's bread
and to cast it to dogs. He's saying my gospel is for
my children. It's not for dogs. And he was
saying by way of implication, you're a dog. Now, did she get
mad? Did she get upset? Here's how
she responded, and she said, Truth, Lord. If I ever heard
the truth, that's it. I am a dog. That's me. I'm a dog. Truth, Lord, yet the
dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table.
She says, I may be a dog, but I'm your dog. And I'm not expecting
a place setting with the children, but I'd be awful thankful for
any crumbs of mercy that fall my way. And look what the Lord
says to her. Then Jesus answered and said
unto her, O woman, great is thy faith, be it unto thee even as
thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole that very hour. I love election
because I love the God of election and what election does. To request
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