who seriously studies the Bible,
at one time or the other, they're going to have to deal with the
doctrine of election. Anybody who seriously studies
the Bible. I remember one time reading where
Spurgeon said he was talking to a man who said, I've read
the Bible twice through on my knees, and I've never seen the
doctrine of election. And he says, well, you need to
get up and get in a comfortable chair then. There's no way you could
pay attention to what you're doing if you're reading on your
knees, because it is there. Anyone who seriously studies
the Bible at one time or the other, they're going to be confronted
with the doctrine of election. And I've entitled this message,
How to Meet the Doctrine of Election. How should I personally respond
to the doctrine of election. And the doctrine of election
is not some obscure doctrine that theologians debate over. But in reality, it is a non-essential
or unimportant doctrine, not in any way. Election is one of
the major things of the Bible. And let me say this. You can't preach the gospel,
not preach election. Somebody that does not preach
election does not preach the gospel. I don't care what it
is they preach. They don't preach the gospel if they do not preach
election. Election is a part of what we
call the gospel. And, you know, the early church
used this word in their everyday conversation. When Paul writes
to the church at Thessalonica, he says to them, knowing, brethren
beloved, your election of God. When Peter is closing his epistle
in 1 Peter 5, verse 13, he says the church that's at Babylon
elected together with you, salutes you. You see the way they use
the word in just their greetings and conversation. John in 2 John
writes to the elect lady. And then he says in the close
of that same epistle, the children of thy elect sister greet thee. Who is the first one to be called
the elect? Do you remember when God said
concerning His Son in Isaiah 42, Behold mine elect? Christ Jesus Himself is God's
elect. I love that hymn that says, Christ
be my first elect, He said, and then shows us in Him our living
head. Election is a prominent prominent
theme of the scripture. Now, what does the Bible mean
by the word? Well, it means, by definition, to pick out, to
choose. As a matter of fact, every time
you run across the word choose or chosen or chose in the Bible,
it's the verb form of the word election. It simply means to
choose. Would you turn with me for a
moment to Ephesians chapter one? Now, this passage of scripture
answers four questions regarding divine election, and this is
very important. Ephesians chapter one. Beginning in verse four. Of Ephesians
one, Paul, the apostle, says, according as he hath chosen,
you could just as easily say he hath elected us, that's the
verb form of the word elect. according as he hath elected
us in him. He chose us in him. Now, here's the first question
that election answers. Who chose who? What's it say? He chose us. Our Lord said in John chapter
15 verse 16 to his disciples. Now, I'm going to tell what the
Lord said. Here's what I say sometimes.
I've said, well, we choose him, but it's because he first chose
us. I've said that many times. We
don't choose him, but it's because he first chose us. You know what
the Lord said? The Lord said, you did not choose
me. But I chose you. And ordained
you. Who chose who? He chose Now, the second question our
text answers is when this choice was made. When did He choose
us? Many people would say, well,
He chose us when we believed. We chose Him, and then He, in
turn, chose us. He chose us when we believed. When was this choice made according
to our text? Verse 4 says, according as He
hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world. That's when this choice was made,
before time ever began, before the foundation of the world.
Paul put it this way in Romans chapter 9 verse 11. Listen to
these words. He says, for the children, talking
about Jacob and Esau, 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. This choice was made before they
were born. This choice was made before the very foundation of
the world. And here's the third question.
Ephesians one answers. Why did he choose us? Now, the common. Explanation
of election is, well, before the foundation of the world,
he chose us when he foresaw we would believe. He looked down
through the telescope of time, and he foresaw who would believe,
and he made his choice based upon who he foresaw would believe. Now, Romans 9-11, that passage
of Scripture that I just quoted already blows that out of the
water. The children being not yet born, neither having done
any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand. Obviously, that is not true. But our text in
Ephesians 1, verse 6 says we're elected, we're chosen, we're
saved to the praise of the glory of His grace. Now, that's why
God elected a people. That's the only reason we need.
He did so in order to glorify and exalt His own grace. We're
saved to the praise of the glory. We're chosen, we're elected to
the praise of the glory of His grace. Now, the fourth question
this passage of Scripture gives us is how he chose us. How did he choose us? Eeny, meeny,
miny, moe. Catch a tiger by the toe. I'm
going to pick this one and I'm going to not pick that one. Is
that the way he chose us? Certainly not. Look what verse
four says again, according as he hath chosen us, what are those
next two words? In Him. In Him. Now, I don't pretend to
understand this, but I do believe this. God's elect have always
been viewed in Him. In the Beloved. Christ be my first elect, He
said. Then He chose us in Him, our
living Head. A young man once wrote a pamphlet
He entitled, The Hated Doctrine of Election. And indeed, a lot
of folks hate the doctrine of election. You've run across that
yourself, haven't you? But a wise old preacher said, take it and
burn it. And write another one entitled,
The Beloved Doctrine of Election. Because indeed, it is beloved. by those who have been elected.
It's beloved by God's people. Now what does election tell us? You know it's in the Bible. We've
already read scriptures. You just can't be serious about
the Bible and avoid this holy doctrine. What does the doctrine
of election tell us? Well, first of all, it tells
us that God is God. He is in such complete control
that he chooses who will be saved and who he's going to pass by.
Now, that's how far God's control extends. And that means it extends
everywhere. God controls, according to the
scriptures, who he's going to choose. He said, I know whom
I have chosen. His control is such that he chooses who will
be saved and he chooses who he will pass by. That gives us some
idea of how much God is in control. He's God in reality, and not
in name only. The doctrine of election tells
us that salvation really is all of grace. It really is. Let me quote that passage of
Scripture I've already quoted twice again. Romans 9, 11 for
the children. Being not yet born, neither having
done any good or evil. Your good works can't recommend
you. Your bad works can't disqualify you. If God chooses you, He does
so as an act of His own free and sovereign will. He does it
simply because He wills to do it. He doesn't have to find a
reason in you or me to do it. Salvation is really by grace. It has nothing to do with your
works. That's good news to me. I sure
am thankful because if God had to find a reason in me to save
me, He wouldn't do it. Election tells us that a man
cannot save himself. Paul said in Romans 9, 16, it's
not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth. It's not
what a man wills, it's not what a man does, but of God which
showeth mercy. Election tells us that there's
not one single thing we can do to save ourselves. Another thing
that election does is it explains to us what Christ came to do.
You know, there's really no understanding of what Christ was doing without
an understanding of election. He said at the very outset of
his public ministry, when the angels announced his birth, they
said, Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save, who? His people. He shall save His
people from their sins. He said in John 6, 39, This is
the will of Him that sent me, that of all which He hath given
me I should lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last
day. When our Lord was dying on the cross, He was dying for
the elect. And He was accomplishing their
salvation. He was not making salvation available
for somebody if they do something to make it work. He was actually
accomplishing the salvation of everybody He died for. And in
reality, there's no true understanding of what Christ was doing on the
cross without some understanding of the doctrine of election.
The doctrine of election secures salvation. What do I mean by
that? Well, if there's no election,
there's no salvation. You know, people don't like election. They
don't like salvation because there won't be anybody saved
without an election of grace. No election, no salvation. A great multitude is guaranteed
to be saved. Our Lord said, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. Now understand this. Election
does not prevent people from being saved who would have been.
It's not like there's somebody who wants to know God and wants
to be saved, but they can't be because they're not elect. And
they come up and say, oh, have mercy. No, you're not one of
the elect. That never has happened. It never will. Election doesn't
prevent people from being saved who would have been. It saves
people who would have been damned. That's the truth. And election,
here's something else I learned from election. Election excludes
all attempts at salvation by works. Now, I can remember dealing
with this myself. I can remember when the Lord
confronted me with this. The Lord confronted me with this
fact. God had elected a people, and there wasn't one thing I
could do to make myself one of them. Not a thing. God had elected
a people. That's the truth. You can't be
honest with the scriptures and deny that. God has elected a
people and there's not one blessed thing that I could do to make
myself one of them. Now, how am I personally supposed
to respond to the doctrine of election? How are you, personally,
supposed to respond to this holy doctrine which is in the Word
of God? What is your response? How do I meet the doctrine of
election? Well, there are different responses.
There is the response of fatalism. I don't have any doubt that there's
people in this room right now who believe in election and they
say, well, if I'm elect, I'll be saved. If I'm not, I won't. There's nothing I can do about
it. Therefore, I'm not going to worry about it. I'll just wait and see what
happens. I'll wait for something to happen. Now, let me say this. You young people, listen especially
to this. That's called fatalism. You are to seek the Lord with
all your heart, all your mind, all your strength. Your responsibility
is not to figure out with one whether or not you're elect.
Your responsibility is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Every young
person. And if you say, well, I'm just
waiting to find out if I'm elect. Well, you'll wait all the way
into hell. Now, that's that is serious stuff. A fatalistic attitude
toward election is utterly wrong. That's not the correct response
to election. Just having a fatalistic attitude.
Well, what will be, will be. Well, yeah, well, it's better
to say what will be, won't be. But don't just sit around and
wait like a knot on a log. You won't be saved in that kind
of attitude. So there's the fatalistic response. There's the argumentative
response that's found in Romans chapter nine. Would you turn
with me there for a moment? There are those who argue against
the doctrine of election. Paul said in verses 11 through
13 of Romans chapter nine for the children. Being not yet born,
neither having done any good or evil, but 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's written. Jacob have I loved,
but Esau have I hated. Well, what shall we say then?
How shall we respond? Is there unrighteousness with
God? Is God unfair in loving Jacob and hating Esau in selecting
Jacob and passing by Esau? Is God unrighteous in doing that?
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
runneth, nor of him that willeth, but of God that showeth mercy. For the scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I
might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth. Therefore, hath he mercy on whom
he will have mercy, and whom he will, he hardens. Well, here's
the next objection. Thou wilt say unto me, Why does
he yet find fault? For who has resisted his will?
If he's absolutely sovereign and if he's decided to harden
one and pass by another and save one and pass by another, well,
who can resist his will? How can he hold us responsible?
How can it be fair for him to hold us responsible for what
he's in control of? Look how Paul answers that. Verse
20. Nay, but O man, who are you to
reply against God? Since when do you have the moral
ability to set in judgment on God and say, I agree with this
or I don't agree with that? Or this is fair and that's not
fair. That cannot be done. Nay, but old man, who are you
to reply against God? Shall the thing form, say to
him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? Those are the arguments against
election, and you know that's wrong. We have in the scriptures
a wonderful example of a good response to the doctrine of election. Now, this is the response I want
to give. I hope I can put myself in this
dear woman's place and I hope I can give the same response
that she gives to the doctrine of election. Now, remember, I've
entitled this message How to Meet the Doctrine of Election.
How to meet, how to respond to the doctrine of election. Now
let's turn to Matthew chapter 15. Verse 21. Then Jesus went thence, he left
the place, As a matter of fact, up earlier in this passage of
scripture concerning these people, he left. He said, let them alone. Look in verse 14. Let them alone.
They be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead
the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. He left these people. Boy, that's a scary proposition,
isn't it? To have the Lord leave you? Well, he left these people. And we read in verse 21, then
Jesus went thence and departed. And he went to the coasts of
Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a woman of Canaan,
a Gentile woman, a woman in a place that God had cursed. God said,
Cursed be Canaan. Behold, a woman of Canaan came
out of the same coast and cried unto him, Have mercy on me, O
Lord, thou son of David. My daughter is grievously vexed
with the devil. Now, let's consider this woman.
The first thing that I would notice about this woman is she
knew who the Lord was. She believed he was the son of
David. She really believed that. She
believed He was the only Messiah, the only Savior of sinners. She
believed this. Now, she didn't know whether
He knew her. She wasn't sure whether or not she was somebody
he came to save, but she did believe he was the Savior. That's
something she had no doubt about. She knew who he was. And she proved that when she
said, have mercy upon me, thou son of David. The son of David
is God's son, the Messiah, the only Savior. Have mercy on me,
O son of David. She believed who he was. And
you know what? I do too. I believe that Jesus Christ is
the Son of David. I believe He's God's promised
Messiah. I believe He is God the Son. I believe He's the only Savior
of sinners. Do you believe that? Not only did this woman come
with the knowledge of who He was, she came with a great need. She said, my daughter is grievously
vexed with the devil. Now, can you imagine if you had
a child that was demon possessed? I can't imagine anything that
would be more difficult than having a child possessed by a
devil. She came with a great need. And
you can bet she came in dead earnest when she was saying,
have mercy upon me, O Lord, that son of David, my daughter is
grievously vexed with the devil. She was in dead earnest. She
had a great need. And you know what? I've got a
great need too. I've got a great need of mercy. I have a great need for God to
not deal with me according to what I deserve. I have a need
to be delivered from my sin. I'm grievously vexed with the
devil, the demons of my sin. I am. I don't feel any different
than this woman did. Not a bit different. As the Lord
is my witness, I can put myself in her place. I'm grievously
vexed. My sin is ever before me. I have
a great need. I need mercy. Nobody else does. I do. I need mercy. I can't have
God give me what I deserve. If He does, I'm going to hell. And this woman came for the right
thing. She said, have mercy on me. She didn't come trying to
bargain with him. She didn't come trying to strike a deal
with him. If you do this, I'll do that. If you have mercy on my
daughter, I'll do this, and I'll do that, and I'll give you this,
and I'll give you that, and I'll never do this again. Nothing like that.
She came with one desire. She came seeking mercy. And that's what I'm doing right
now as I talk to you. I'm crying out for mercy. Lord, have mercy
on me. Have mercy upon me, O Lord, thou
son of David. My daughter is grievously vexed
with the devil. Now, this woman comes with a
pretty impressive resume. She comes on who the Lord is,
and she didn't know he knew who she was, but she knew who he
was. She came with a great need. And she came for the right thing.
She came for mercy. And look at how the Lord responded
to her. Verse 23. But he answered her, not a word. He did not respond to her cry. He ignored her. And as I've already said, she
came the right way. But he answered her, not a word. Have you ever
had to deal, listen to me please, have you ever had to deal with
the silence of God? Where you pray, and your prayers
don't get any further than the ceiling. Where you ask, and you
cry, and He answers you not a word. No response whatsoever. You're wasting your time. He's
not answering you. And that's what He did to this
woman at this time. The Scripture tells us this. He answered her,
not a word. Now, that's pretty rough, isn't
it? When you pray and the heavens
are brass, you ask for mercy, no reply. He answered her, not
a word. Well, what did she do when he
ignored her? Well, let's go on reading. And
his disciples came and besought him, saying, send her away, for
she crieth after us. Now, let me correct the disciples
here. She wasn't crying after them. It is amazing how arrogant
and stupid disciples can be. She wasn't crying after them.
She wasn't even thinking about them. But she continued to cry
after him, even when he didn't answer her, even when he ignored
her, even when she dealt with the silence of the Lord Jesus
Christ, she continued to cry. Now, why did she continue to
cry? Because she didn't have anywhere else to go. It's not
like she had any other options. It's not like, well, I'll try
something else. She knew there wasn't anything else. She knew
that the only hope she had was the Lord Jesus Christ. So she
continued to cry. It was annoying everybody else.
Send her away. She cries after us. But the Lord
didn't send her away. He allowed her to continue to
cry. Verse 24, Now here she is, crying so pathetically,
but actually so powerfully. You know, I see the greatness
of this woman's faith already. You know, if the Lord ignores
us, we'll give up. Well, no point in me praying. No point in me
doing it. We'll just give up. Not this woman. She continued
crying. And look what verse 24 says.
But he answered. And he's speaking to his disciples.
All she was doing was crying, and his disciples said, send
her away, she's crying after us. And he answered his disciples
in her hearing, and he said, I'm not sent, but unto the lost
sheep of the house of Israel. I'm not sent to save everybody. Only the lost sheep. of the house
of Israel." Now, be honest. What is that but election? I did not come to save everybody. She's crying for my mercy. I
did not come to save everybody. I only came to save the lost
sheep of the house of Israel. Have mercy on me. I have a great
need. I only came to save the elect."
And that's our Lord's response to this woman. What does she do? I love verse
25. Then, then has to do with time. Perhaps she'd never done this
before, but she does now. Then, after he made this announcement,
I'm not sent, but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel,
Verse 25 says, Then came she and what? Worshipped Him. She, perhaps for the first time
in her life, I don't know. Then came she and worshipped
Him. Now, I've said this many times,
you'll only worship an absolute sovereign. If you have any control, if you're
able to manipulate anything, you will not worship. You will
only worship one in whose hands you are, and he can do with you
whatever he is pleased to do. He can save you, or he can damn
you, and whatever he does is right, and there's nothing you
can do to get him to do one or the other. Then came she and worshipped
him. You will only worship an absolute
sovereign. This is true worship. She's saying, if you don't save
me, if you don't give me this mercy, you're still to be worshipped. Do you believe that? If he passes you by, You know,
we sing that song, while on others thou art calling, do not pass
me by. If he does pass you by, is he
still worthy of worship? He's the Lord. Then came she
and worshiped him. You know that song we sing, holy,
holy, holy. Though the darkness hide thee,
though the eye of sinful man thy glory may not see. Only thou
art holy, there is none beside thee, perfect in power and love
and purity. I thought of that song like this
while I was thinking of this passage of scripture. Holy, holy,
holy, though the darkness hide thee, though the eye of sinful
me thy glory may not see. Only thou art holy, there is
none beside thee, perfect in power in love and purity. Question, do you worship the
Christ who only came to save His people? If not, you never really worshipped
at all. Then came she and worshipped
Him, and she said the only thing she knew to say, Lord, look in
verse 25, Then came she and worshipped Him, saying, Lord, help me. If you don't help me, I will
not be helped. Help me. Lord, help me. Lord, in my inability, in my
sinfulness, in my whatever it is you want to say about me,
I agree with everything that you say regarding me. It's true.
But Lord, help me once again. If you don't have anywhere else
to go, you'll continue to cry for help. Lord, help me. Help me. Help me. Verse 26. But he answered. and said, it is not meat. It is not right. Here you come crying to me for
help. It is not right to take the children's bread. What's
the children's bread? The gospel. That's the children's
bread. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And he says it's not right to take the children's
bread. and to throw it out to the dogs. He says to this woman, you are nothing more than a dog. It's not right to take my gospel
grace, the precious things of my children, and throw it out
to the dogs. Now, you put yourself in this
woman's place. She came with a great need. She
came with a knowledge of who He is, and she came asking for
the right thing. And she met a silence. He confronts
her with the doctrine of election. And you know what she did? She
worshipped Him. She worshipped Him. She didn't get mad and say,
that's not fair. How is it that you can save one
and pass by another? No, she worshipped Him for who
He is. And she cried out so pitifully, Lord, help me. And then he says,
it's not right to take my gospel grace and throw it out to the
dogs. How would you respond to that? I wonder if at that time I might
say, well, I've had enough. All right, if that's the way
you are, OK. Nothing I can do about it. I
mean, I've done all I can do. I give up. All right. How would
you respond? How did this woman respond? Verse 27, and she said, Truth, capital T-R-U-T-H, Truth,
Lord, whatever you say is the truth. It's the truth that I'm nothing
more than a dog. It's the truth that you are the
Lord. It's the truth that you came
only for your children. And it's the truth that I'm not
worthy of the least of your mercies. Truth, Lord, if the truth was
ever told, it was told just now. Truth, Lord. She didn't say it
is not fair. She didn't say I won't be spoken
to like that. She knew who was speaking and she gave the only
appropriate response to anything the Lord says. Whatever he says,
what is our response? The truth. That's the truth. And every believer will respond
just like that. That's the truth. It's the truth
that I'm a dog. But you're the Lord, and I'm
your dog. And this woman says, in true,
genuine humility, I do not expect a place setting with your children.
That's not what I'm about right now. I don't expect a place setting
with your children. But I, as a dog, your dog, will
be grateful, infinitely grateful for any crumbs of mercy. that
come my way. This is what is called humility. A just estimate of oneself. Truth, Lord. Everything you say
is true. Everything you do is right. But
oh, if I can have the crumbs that fall from the table, I'll
be so grateful. Verse 28. Now, this is what is amazing.
Verse 28, Then Jesus answered and said unto her, Now he speaks
directly to her. And you know, I can't help but
think while our Lord was treating this woman this way, It was paining
him to do it. You see, he knew this woman was
somebody that he'd come to die for. He knew this woman was someone
he'd come to save. He knew it. Oh, he knew it. Remember
when Joseph spoke roughly to his brothers, but then he'd put
his head back and start weeping. He'd speak roughly to them, but
he'd speak weak. Our Lord was doing this for this woman's good.
He was bringing her to this place. It was an act of mercy what our
Lord was doing to this woman. And you know what? Everything
the Lord sends your way is mercy. It may seem difficult. It may
seem like He's being harsh with you. You think, where is He?
The heavens are brass. I can't get through to Him. He's
not responding to me. He's not answering me. It may
seem that He's being harsh to you, but you know what it is? Mercy, mercy, mercy. He was so merciful to this woman.
And look what he says to her. Jesus answered and said unto
her, O woman, great is thy faith. Now this is one of only two times
the Lord calls somebody's faith great faith. What is great faith
was whatever the Lord calls it. You and I don't have enough sense
to know what great faith is. Do you believe that? What He
calls great faith is what great faith is. Now this woman was
a woman of great faith. Our Lord gives that testimony
concerning her. O woman, great is thy faith. Well, what's so great about it?
Because I dare say that most people would look at this woman
as a woman who needs to get her self-esteem pumped up. She's
a woman who just has problems, emotional problems, and she would
let people talk to her that way, and she's just groveling and
begging and so on. I'm sure there are people who
would not guess that this woman had great faith, but she did
because the Lord said she did. And that's enough of a testimony
for me to know that she did have great faith. Now, what was so
great about her faith? She knew that Jesus Christ, the
Lord, was her only hope. And she would not be turned away. He could say no, and she was
going to keep begging. He could say, I'm only come for
the elect, and she's going to keep crying. And she's going
to keep worshipping. She knew that the Lord Jesus
Christ was the only hope she had. And she wasn't going to
go anywhere else. She continued to cry. Now that
is what the Lord himself calls great faith. This is worthy of
our study and our imitation. And then he says unto her, Oh,
woman, I can see his words, pregnant with love, as he says this to
her. This is somebody that he was coming to die for. Oh, woman,
great is thy faith. Be it unto thee, even as thou
wilt. And the Scripture says her daughter
was made whole from that very hour. And you know what the Lord
says to faith? Be it unto thee, even as thou
wilt. Well, what do you will? What
do you wish? What do you desire? Well, I know
what I desire. Oh, that I may win Christ and
be found in Him. That's what I wish. That's what
I desire. And He says to everyone who has
that desire, Be it unto thee, even as thou wilt. Do you desire
to be saved by grace? Is that a desire that's in your
heart when God looks at you? Well, be it unto thee, even as
thou wilt." How should I respond to the doctrine of election?
How should I meet the doctrine of election? The same way this
woman did. Election never has kept a sinner
from coming to Christ. People present it that way. Oh,
that'll discourage people. No, it doesn't. Election never
has kept a sinner from coming to Christ. The opposite is true. Remember the words of our Lord
in John 6, 37. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. That's how to meet the doctrine
of election. Let's pray together.