I just have one verse I want
to read in Romans 8, in verse 33. I don't want to so much deal
with the context. I just have this one thought
on my mind in verse 33 of Romans chapter 8. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. This two words, God's elect. I want you to think with me a
few minutes about election, on election. God's elect. I know for a fact, there's a
lot of things I don't know, but I know for a fact, I believe
this with my heart. that there is no honest reader
of the Bible that can justly deny the doctrine
of election. Every honest reader of the Bible
will have to admit, whether he likes it or not, whether he loves
it or hates it, that there has been a number out of Adam's race
chosen, they have been selected, They have been set aside to salvation. They have been ordained to life
eternal. I believe the scriptures to be
too clear on this subject that no man can justly deny that truth. And I want to offer you this
evening three plain scriptures to prove this glorious subject. Scriptures that are very familiar.
I want you to turn to them with me and let's just glance at them.
Three passages. The first one is in Ephesians
chapter 1. Turn over to your right in Ephesians
chapter 1. If you have your Pew Bible, it
will be on page 1272. Look here at what he says in
verse 3, Ephesians chapter 1, verse 3. Look at some things
the apostle tells us. He begins with, Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in Christ. And here's what he says about
our doctrine that we're looking at. According as He hath chosen
us in Him, before the foundation of the world that we should be
holy and without blame before Him in love. What's the first
thing that we see here concerning election? That God does the choosing. Did you notice that? According
as He hath chosen us. It's something God does. You
have not chosen me. But I have chosen you." God does
it. Secondly, look at this. He has
chosen us in Him in Christ. Every blessing that God has for
time and eternity, spiritual blessings, is in Christ. Jesus Christ is said to be Himself
God's elect. Behold mine elect, in whom my
soul delighteth." God actually chose him. He is the servant
of God. He is God's elect. And then God
chose all the elect in Christ. We have nothing, not even election,
apart from being chosen in the Lord Jesus Christ. And thirdly,
he tells us here in verse 4, when it happened. When did God
make His choice? When did He choose? From before
the foundation of the world. Before time. Before He ever laid
the foundation. Before He ever said, let there
be light. Before He hung the lights in the heavens to give
light of day or light of night. Before the world was. Before time is when election
was accomplished. Revelation chapter 17 and verse
8 reminds us that the names of the elect were written in the
book of life from the very foundation of the world. Who did it? Who chooses? It's God's work. How does He choose us? In Christ.
And when did He do it? Before the foundation of the
world. And look here fourthly at the
end to which they were chosen, that they should be holy, notice
that, that they should be holy and without blame before Him
in love. He chose them before time that
they would be holy in time. He didn't choose them because
they were holy or He foresaw they would be holy. but he choose
to make them holy in time. I never could understand Mr. John Wesley denying so vehemently
the doctrine of election when he held so strongly to the doctrine
of holiness. You would think if a man loved
holiness, he would have to love election. Because where does
holiness come from? Its very foundation is in election. God elected that man to make
him holy in time. If any of us had holiness, I
think he'd, out of necessity, have to love election, wouldn't
you? The second scripture, look in
2 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 13. Holy and without blame before
Him. What a glorious end God has purposed in election. Holy and without blame before
Him. Look in 2 Thessalonians chapter
2 and look in verse 13. Paul said, We are bound to give
thanks always to God 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. Here
we're told some of the same things He already told us in our first
text. Who chose us? God. We're bound to give thanks
to God always for you. For He hath from the beginning
chosen you. Chosen you. And we also learn
here in this verse what we learned in our first text when He did
it. He hath from the beginning chosen you. before the world
ever was. If you can find the beginning,
then go there and you'll see when He chose His people. Now, when He says you're the
beginning, He's not talking about from the beginning of their conversion. God chose them when He called
them and saved them. But from the beginning of this
covenant of grace, There's a beginning from the foundation of the world,
then you read the scriptures, you go back beyond that, and
there's another beginning. When Christ was set up to be
the covenant head of His people. Listen to Proverbs 8, 23. Jesus
Christ talking, I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning,
or ever the earth was. That everlasting, that from the
beginning is from everlasting. But here he adds something new
in this verse, and he makes it clear. The apostle says that
God has chose his elect, look at this, to salvation. He didn't tell us that in the
first text. We assume it because the context
teaches, but here he makes it plain, doesn't he? Why does he
do this? Because there are men that believe
election is unto some office, that God set us aside to some
office, or He chose us for certain gifts of the Holy Spirit. But
Paul makes this plain. He has chosen us to a full and
free and everlasting salvation. Israel shall be saved in the
Lord with an everlasting salvation. Why? Because God has chosen them
to that. He has chosen them to that. How is all this brought about
in our experience? If He chose us to salvation,
how is this salvation brought about in our experience? Well,
He tells us, doesn't He? Through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth. He chose us that through sanctification
of the Spirit we would be saved. You know, anyone who professes
to believe in the Holy Ghost and in the power of the Holy
Ghost to convert a man, to sanctify the man's heart and life, if
a man believes that, then he should believe the lecture. Because that was the very way
that God determined to save. He chose us, set us aside for
the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. And belief of the
truth. If you and I are here this evening
and we love the truth, and we tell people the necessity of
believing the truth, then oh my how we ought to love election.
Because that's what God's chosen men to do. To believe the truth
in God. And you know if you're here this
afternoon and you don't yet know the truth and you don't believe
the truth, I tell you this, if God's chosen you to that end,
there's going to come a time when He's going to send light
into your conscience. He's going to send light into
your heart and you, by the power of the Holy Spirit, are going
to believe the truth and be saved. Election. Election. And I tell you this, When a man
begins to see what election is about, who did it, and what's
it unto, eternal salvation, how is it brought about through the
working of the Holy Spirit, setting that sinner apart, giving him
faith. When a man sees that, you know
what he'll do? He'll start giving thanks to
God. Isn't that what Paul says? We are bound to give thanks always
to God for you, brethren. Why? Because He has chosen you. We thank God for election. We thank God for the elect. There
was a man one time who wrote a book, Brother Barnard told
about, and the man sent him the book, and on the book he entitled
it, God's Despised Doctrine of Election. And he wanted Brother
Barnard to look at the book. And he marked through the title
and sent it back to him and said, change the title. It's not a
despised doctrine. He says, I love it. And you love
it. And God's children love it. And
we thank God for it, don't we? Oh, it's a blessed truth. The
blessed truth of election. So we've learned some things
in these first two passages, haven't we? God does the choosing. He does it in the Lord Jesus
Christ. He never does anything for a
sinner apart from Christ. He does it before the foundation
of the world. It's election unto salvation. Election is not salvation, but
it's unto salvation. And He sets that person aside,
chooses him, sets him aside for someday the Spirit to come to
him and work in his heart faith and repentance and holiness.
Look over another passage of Scripture. Look in 2 Timothy
chapter 1. 2 Timothy chapter 1. You know what we fail to do sometimes
as pastors and as preachers and teachers? We begin to assume
that everybody's heard this so much they're tired of hearing
it. If we don't continually reiterate
these truths, you know what we'll do? We'll lose them. I never
will forget a statement that a dear pastor friend of mine,
David Fletcher, made a few years ago. He got in the pulpit and
he took his text and he made this statement. He said, every
generation must hear the truth from us. If we go one generation
without teaching that generation the truth, we lose it. Truths
aren't received by some process of osmosis. Truths don't just
float down from the air like dew. Truths are taught. They're
taught. We reiterate them. We teach them
over and over again. Repetition. That's the way we
learn. That's the way we keep these
things in our hearts. And we need to take these simple
scriptures, plain scriptures, and go over them again and again. Look in 2 Timothy chapter 1 and
look in verse 8. Be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord, nor me his prisoner, but be thou
partaker of the affliction of the gospel according to the power
of God. Now look here in verse 9. Who
hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began." Notice
what the Apostle does here. He reverses the order that he
uses from our text that we just finished with. In the text that
I just read to you just a minute ago, he said, God hath chosen
us from the beginning to salvation. He begins there with election
unto salvation. Here he begins with salvation
and works his way back to election. God has saved us. He's called
us. And why did God save us? Why
did He call us? Why did He begin a work of repentance? Why did He begin a good work
of faith in our hearts? Why did God regenerate us? But
He gives the negative here, doesn't He? It wasn't because of our
works. He has saved us and He has called
us. Why? Well, Paul said, I tell
you, why not? Not because of any works that
we've done or because of any works God foresaw in us. He gives
two reasons for God saving us. First of all, it's according
to His Purpose. Boy, you learn purpose. You go
to the Scriptures and you learn about God's purpose, you'll learn
the Gospel. You'll learn the Gospel. Why
does He save any man? What's the cause? To fulfill
His purpose. On purpose. Boy, we all have
purposes, don't we? Don't we have schemes that we
come up with? Some of them come to fruitation,
but how many of them just dry up on the vine? We don't have
the wisdom to do it. We don't have the power to bring
them to pass. We have good intention, but that
dies. But you know God has purposes
too. And He is so wise, He is so determined, He is so powerful
that everything He purposes, He brings to pass. And His purposes
are eternal. And they're effectual. Listen
to Isaiah chapter 46. Listen to verse 12 and 13. You
can mark this down or keep it in your head and go over and
read it sometimes. Here's what the Lord said in
Isaiah chapter 46 in verse 12 and verse 13. He said, Hearken
unto me, you stout-hearted, you that are far from righteousness.
He tells them something He's going to do. He said, I will
bring my righteousness near. It shall not be for us, and my
salvation shall not tarry. I will place salvation in Zion
for my glory. I will place salvation in Zion
for my glory. Now that's a wonderful prediction.
He said my righteousness is coming, my salvation is not for us. And
then he backs that up in verses 9 through verse 11. And here's
how he backs it up. Remember the former things of
old, for I am God, and there is none else. I am God, and there
is none like me." How does God differ? How does He differ from
the gods of men's imagination? Well, He tells us, I declare
the end from the beginning. And from ancient times, those
things which be not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand,
and I will do all my pleasure. I call a ravenous bird from the
east, the man that executed my counsel from a poor country.
Yea, I have spoken it. I will bring it to pass. I have
purposed it. I will also do it, saith the
Lord. My righteousness is near. I'm
going to place salvation in Zion for my glory. I've purposed it
and I'll do it. I've purposed it and I'll do
it. Why does God save a man? Paul said to fulfill his purpose.
And he saves him on purpose. You've saved an accidenter on
purpose. That's a good question, ain't it? A man told me one time, he said,
you know, I don't think the Lord wants to know who's going to
be saved until they get to heaven. You believe we've got church
members that believe that? We need missionary work in our day,
don't we? And our churches is the ones that need them. Saving a man by purpose. God's purposes are eternal. Listen
to Ephesians chapter 3 verse 11. According to the eternal
purpose which God purposed in Christ Jesus the Lord, God's
eternal purpose, election is from eternity to eternity. Election is eternal. It's eternal. The second reason he gives here
for saving, look at this. He saved us and called us with
a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
His own purpose and what? You with me? You got your Bibles
open? Somebody tell me. His own purpose
and what? Grace. I just want to make sure
I haven't lost you in the last quarter. He saves on purpose. He saves because He's purposed
to save the person. And it's by His grace, not according
to our works, but according to His own grace. His purpose, His will, His pleasure,
and because of the grace that is in His heart. Why is there such a thing as
an election to start with? Because God has a gracious heart.
If He didn't have brethren, there would be no elect people. God
has a gracious heart, a grace that cannot be merited, it cannot
be earned, it cannot be deserved, and even first, it cannot be
received or sought after. It takes grace to receive grace,
just as it takes grace to believe grace. Grace, grace, grace. God's election is a gracious
election. And those who profess to love
grace and to be saved by grace should also profess election,
because election is by grace. It's by grace. And he says here in the last
portion of verse 9, this on purpose in grace, that's the ground of
it, which was given us in Christ Jesus, always in Christ Jesus,
when? before the foundation of the
world. Now, you take these three Scriptures
that we've just briefly looked at, and there's no way, brothers
and sisters, any man could look at these Scriptures and deny
that God has elected a people. It's too plain, isn't it? It's
just too plain. You cannot deny when He did it. And why He did it, and in whom
He did it. You cannot deny the ends of it
to eternal salvation. To be holy and without blame
before Him in love. Now, the statement is often made,
and it's directed by those and from those who oppose this great
truth, and it's directed at those who believe this truth, and the
statement is this. To believe such a doctrine would
make you arrogant and boastful and proud. Make you feel like you're special.
You ever had anybody tell you that? Oh, you think you're special. How arrogant, how proud. You
think you're better than we are. You ever had anybody tell you
that? My answer is this. An unconverted person who professes
to believe the doctrine of election, he probably is proud. He probably
is boastful. He probably is arrogant about
it because he's unconverted. But you take a man whom God has
converted, he is not boastful and proud and arrogant and doesn't
look upon himself as being special. Why? Well, first of all is this,
the Holy Spirit has called him. The Holy Spirit has taught him
of his misery. He's revealed Jesus Christ to
his heart. And I tell you, that man's in
a warfare. He's in a struggle with his sin.
And you know what his word is? Oh, wretched man that I am. But we find that in Romans chapter
7. Just one chapter over, before this chapter, Paul the Apostle
says, O wretched man that I am, when I would do good, evil is
present with me. I am a wretched man. Who shall
deliver me? Does that sound like an arrogant
man? No. Why? He's been called. I bet
you before the Lord converted him, I bet you when he thought
about election, I bet you he was arrogant about it. All the
Jews were. Because they believed themselves
to be God's special people. And they got so proud about it,
they looked down their noses at everybody else. But as soon
as God saved this man and humbled him, and he began to cry, O wretched
man that I am, he was amazed and humbled that it could be
said of him. You are God's elect. You find here in chapter 8 of
our text. In verse 26. Look at that. Look in chapter 8. And look in
verse 26. See if this sounds like an arrogant
person to you. In verse 26. Likewise, the Spirit
also helps our infirmities our weaknesses, for we know not what
we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself maketh
intercessions for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." We're
so full of infirmities, we don't even know what to pray for. Does
that sound like an arrogant person to you? You sound like a proud
person. Secondly, a converted man is
one that knows his need of mercy. That's what keeps him from being
proud and boastful. He's been taught his need of
mercy. Look in chapter 9 of Romans.
Look here in verse 15. You see if this isn't your attitude.
Look in verse 15. For he saith to Moses, the Lord
saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and
I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then
it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but
it is of the sovereign God that showeth mercy. For the Scripture
saith to Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised you
up, that I might show my power in you, 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." You know what this passage is
telling us? That mercy is undeserved. Mercy is unmerited. It's not
something you do something to get. Mercy is for the miserable. It comes from the heart of Jesus
Christ, right where you are in your misery. I will have mercy. And when we find out that God
will have mercy, what do we begin to cry? We cry like that publican,
God have mercy on me. Does that sound like an arrogant
man? No. No. Oh, you're special. Well, you
ask that publican in the temple how special he feels himself
to be. Those people that say you think you're special, they
don't even understand the first concept of election. That they're
chosen not because of anything in them, not for their sake,
but for God's own pleasure, by His grace. They don't understand
that. But I tell you, let the Holy
Spirit begin His work of grace in the heart. You'll understand
it. We understand it, don't we? The Lord Jesus said, Shall not
the Father avenge His own elect that cry day and night unto Him? How do you know you'll want to
hear it? You cry. You cry. Hey, some of you have
been crying for years, haven't you? You've been crying to the
Lord for years, haven't you? You just go to Him overnight.
Sometimes you go to Him earlier in the morning. Sometimes you
go to Him driving down the road. Day and night, year after year,
you cry unto the Lord. Why? Because that's what His
elect do. And you talk about arrogance,
He's beating it out of them. You talk about pride, He's whipping
them out of it. Now, you'll find them crying,
but you won't find them bragging that they're special. Oh, I'm one of His. But praise
be to Him for it. And no credit to me. Another reason the converted
cannot be arrogant and proud is found here in my text, the
way in which they are identified by the Holy Spirit. These two
little words, who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect. God's elect. You are God's because He's elected you. You
are God's because He's chosen you. How often does He say, You're
mine. You're mine. I've chosen you
as mine. It's been my good pleasure to
make you my people. You're God's elect. I love what the Master said in
Mark 13 20. He said, Except the Lord had shortened those days,
no flesh should be saved, but for the elect's sake, whom he
hath chosen. For the elect's sake, whom he
hath chosen. Who are the elect? Those whom
he hath chosen. From the beginning, all humanity
belonged to the triune God, and He was free to do with all of
them as He pleased. And it pleased Him to make you
and you and you His people. You know everybody's God's by
creation. Every man should own that, and
one day they will. Many are His by redemption because
Jesus Christ has purchased them with His own blood. You're not
your own. You're bought with a price. And
those are also His by His choice. He has chosen you for His own. Doesn't that fill your heart
with gratitude? To think that you're His? And brothers and
sisters, if God has made you His, you ought to own it. You
ought to never doubt it again the rest of your life. You ought
to say, I'm His by creation, I'm His by redemption, and I'm
His because He chose me to be His. on. I'll never doubt it
and I'll never deny it again in my heart. And I tell you what,
you let your faith get a hold of that. That's your God's elect. And you'll be like an old dog
laying at the door of his master. Just waiting for him to come
out and get a glimpse of your master. Just get a glimpse of
the redeeming face of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm His. I'm His. I'm God's elect. Do you know why the elect will
never perish? Do you know why one elect soul
will never fall away? Do you know why every elect soul
will make it through this world of devils and sin and finally
make heaven His home? Do you know why every elect body
will be raised from the grave and be with the Lord Jesus Christ
throughout eternity? Do you know why that will happen?
You know why there's no possibility that anything but that will happen?
You know why? This verse tells us. They're
God's elect. They're God's elect. They had
nothing to do with that. They're God's by His choice,
and by His choice, He has choosing them for His own, assures them
that they shall never perish. I don't know of a truth in the
Bible that would give a believer more assurance than the doctrine
of election. The Lord Jesus Christ said in
John chapter 6, He said, This is the will of Him that sent
that of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but
should raise it up again at the last day." If I was ever a primitive
Baptist, that would be one verse that I would grab hold of. Because
what he does, he says, they'll be raised up, they'll be saved
at last, simply because the Father has given them to me. Must I die for them? Yes. Must
I call them and regenerate them and work in them to will and
do? Yes. But he said the very fact that the Father gave them
to me secures their eternal redemption. My Father which gave them me
is greater than all, and let any man or devil Try to pluck
them out of that hand. You can't do it. You can't do
it. Isn't this a very affectionate
way to describe you? God's elect. Think of yourself that way. Because
you are. You are, if you're in Christ.
God bless this Word. Let's pray.