I will turn back to the book
of 2 Thessalonians, the chapter which Brother Jay
read a moment ago, chapter 2, 2 Thessalonians. I read my text, verse 13. I'm speaking on the subject chosen
to salvation. chosen to salvation, but we are
bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved
of the Lord, because God has from the beginning chosen you
to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth. Now I take as my subject the
topic chosen to salvation, feeling assured and quite confident that
everyone here is convinced of three things. Now sometimes we
preachers stretch a point a little bit when we say these are the
most important three things in the Bible. And then we proceed
to give three things that are quite important, but not necessarily
the most important three things in the Bible. At that time, they
may be to us the three most important things. But I would, without
reservation, say that these three things have more to do with the
beginning of your understanding of the Scriptures and your knowledge
of the mysteries of God than any other three things. Now as
I say, I'm speaking on chosen to salvation, but you're not
going to get very far with that truth unless you're persuaded,
convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt, that these three things
are true. Number one, that this book is
God's Word. Now that's the first thing, and
that's quite important. You're not going to accept anything
as being infallible if you don't believe in an infallible source.
You're not going to accept anything as being the truth if you do
not believe that the source from which you received it is the
truth. So what I'm saying is this, is if this is not God's
word, then what verse 13 says is not so. That's just how far
it goes. It's not so. But if this is God's
word, what Paul wrote in verse 13 is to be received. It's a
true saying, and it's worthy of acceptation by all means.
I barely believe that this Bible is the inerrant, infallible,
eternal, verbally inspired Word of God.
This is our foundation. God said it, and that settles
it. He had said, I'll never leave you nor forsake you, so we can
boldly say the Lord is my helper. This is God's word. And then
the second thing that I assume that you believe is that God
is almighty, absolutely sovereign. I don't mean in some things,
I mean in all things. That God is absolutely sovereign.
He doeth according to his will, not only in the armies of heaven,
but among the inhabitants of this earth. that God Almighty
kills and makes alive, that God raises up and brings it down,
that God creates light and darkness, that God is absolutely sovereign
not only in creation and not only in providence, but He's
sovereign in salvation. David said, Our God's in the
heavens. He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased, whatsoever the
Lord pleased, that did He in heaven in earth, in the seas,
and all deep places. Paul said in Ephesians 1, he
worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. Paul
wrote in Romans 8, 28, for we know that all things work together
for good to them that love God, to them who are called according
to his purpose, for whom he foreknew, he predestinated. to be conformed
to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among
many brethren, and whom he predestinated, he called, whom he called, he
justified, whom he justified, he glorified. If God decrees
it, it shall be done. He is almighty, sovereign. He doeth as he pleases. He owes no explanation to any
creature. God said, Jeremiah, come down
to the potter's house. And he showed him how the potter
took the clay and made a vessel. It was marred in his hands. He
threw the clay away, got another, and made another vessel. He did
it according to his will. He said, I'm the potter, you're
the clay. I make vessels as it pleases me. Do you believe that?
Well, you won't go very far in understanding this book unless
you believe that the author of the book is absolutely, eternally,
immutably, infinitely sovereign in all things. Old Zanchius once wrote, he said,
as I sit and look at the grains of dust in the sun rays, I believe
that when those grains of dust fall to the earth, that they
fall exactly where God decreed for them to fall. And all the
forces of earth and hell can't move them one inch further. Our
Lord Jesus Christ said that, not a sparrow falls to the ground
without your father. He didn't say, without your father
knowing it, he said, without your father. He said, yea, barely
the hairs of your head are numbered. The sovereignty of God reaches
to the falling of a hair. You say that's going too far,
preacher. Don't believe you can go too far on this subject. I
don't believe you can give God too much glory. I don't think
that's going to be the issue against us in heaven, that we
gave God too much glory. I'd sure like to be charged with
that, wouldn't you? But I don't believe that's going
to be it at all. I think rather the other end is going to be
our problem. Not that we gave him too much
glory. Not that we ascribed too much
power to him, but that we gave him too little glory. Not that
we dignified him, but that we dignified men. And the third
thing is this. This Bible is God's Word. This
Bible is infallible. God is immutably sovereign. And thirdly, man. Just as you
can't say too much about the glory of God, you can't even
commence to begin to get started to touch the sinfulness of the
creature. Man is a fallen, fallen creature. How fallen? Completely fallen. Totally dead. Totally, extremely
dead. I don't mean dead mentally, I
don't mean dead physically, I mean dead spiritually. He is without
hope, he's without God, he's without Christ, he's without
help, he's dead in trespasses and sin. Man spiritually is as
dead as this pulpit is physically. Man is void of spiritual life,
he is void of spiritual knowledge, he is void of spiritual understanding,
he is void of ability. In fact, he is so dead that what
he thinks is light is darkness and what he thinks is darkness
is light. He is so dead that what he thinks is good is really
evil, and what he thinks is evil, child, is really good. That's
how dead he is. Isaiah said, from the sole of
his feet to the top of his head, there's no soundness in him.
Preachers can talk about a little spark of good, a little flame
of righteousness, a little spark of spiritual life. It's not so.
He's dead. He has no more fire in him than
a refrigerator. He has no more life in him than
a corpse. Our God said he looked down from
heaven to see if there's one, just one, any, that did understand. And he found they all together
become filthy. They all together become unprofitable. There's none good. No, not one.
Every imagination, every imagination, a man's heart is evil continually. Always sinful. The natural man
is enmity. The natural mind is enmity against
God. It is not subject to the law
of God, and not only is not, but can't be. Neither indeed
can be. Romans 5 says, as in Adam, all
die, so in Christ are we made alive. By the disobedience of
one, we became sinners. Any spiritual knowledge or understanding
of anything that God has to say must begin from this foundation. And this is what most preachers
and most church people do not understand, that our only source
is God's Word, not this man. You see, Nahum, a black preacher
friend of ours, whom Jay and I know out in Missouri, preached
a sermon a few weeks ago on the subject, It Ain't Like You Thought
It Was. And he used as his text, Naaman.
And Naaman came to be healed to the tent door of the prophet
of God. And the prophet of God sent word
by Gehazi the servant out to him and said, go and bathe seven
times in the River Jordan and you'll be healed. And he said,
I thought, I thought. Well, it ain't like you thought
it was. It's just the opposite. Totally the opposite. So if we're
going to know anything, if we're going to know anything, we've
got to start with what God said. This is not our sword. Well,
I'll tell you what I think. I'd rather not hear what you
think. I'm confused enough with my thoughts. Well, this is what
Dr. So-and-so said. I'm not interested
in what he said either. But I sure am interested in what
Dr. Paul said, and Dr. Luke said, and Dr. John said,
because they spoke under the verbal inspiration and the divine
breathing of the Holy Ghost. The infallible Word of God. All
right? Assuming that you understand
those three things, assuming that you believe those three
things. Now, if you don't believe those three things, you might
as well close your ears and shut the book. And we'll give you
time to leave, because what I've got to say won't do you any good.
The Bible's the Word of God, God is on a sovereign throne,
and man is in the grave, spiritually dead as Lazarus was physically
dead. That's what the book says. All
right, now, we'll go from there on this subject. Chosen to salvation,
or election. What is election? What are we
saying when we say a man is chosen to salvation? What is Paul saying
here? God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation. Well, we're saying this. This
is what we're saying in plain old everyday language. Don't
you wish doctors would talk your language? You go in with something
wrong and sit down, he examines you, and you say, now tell me
what was wrong. And he proceeds to tell you.
When he gets through, you go out and a friend says, well,
what's wrong? I don't have the faintest idea. Well, didn't your doctor
tell you? He told me. And he said he understood, he
gave me something to treat it, but I couldn't tell you it saved
my life. And that's the way it is with most preachers. I couldn't
tell you what they're saying to save my life, but you'll understand
what I'm about to say here. Now listen, election. or choosing
to salvation is God's eternal choice. That means it took place
in eternity. God's eternal choice of some
people, not all, some, not to service, but to salvation. To
eternal life, not to the opportunity or probability or possibility,
but to the dead certainty of eternal salvation. Election is God's eternal choice
of some people to eternal life, and not because of anything he
saw in them or expected from them, not because of any merit
or righteousness about them, but because of his sovereign
mercy in Christ Jesus. And these whom he hath chosen
according to his own good pleasure, according to his own divine wisdom. These whom he hath chosen in
Jesus Christ shall be without the shadow of a doubt called,
justified, and glorified. That's what election is. Now
you don't believe that, you don't believe election. There's no
other kind. You can call it conditional, you can call it what you want
to, there ain't no such thing as election unless that's it
right there. That's Bible election. Now immediately, just like that,
someone say, where do you find that doctrine in the Bible? From
Genesis to Revelations, from Genesis to Revelations, when God made Adam, who decided
who would be made? God did. He didn't have any counsel.
He said, let us make man in our own image. Who decided in whose
image he'd be made? Who decided how tall he'd be?
How short? How fat? How slim? Who decided
how much brain he'd have? Who decided where he'd live?
Who decided who'd be his wife? It starts in Genesis chapter
2, out there where Well, first place starts in chapter one.
God made the world just like it pleased him. He made the Sahara
Desert hot and he made the Arctic Pole cold. He made it all just
like... He didn't take counsel with any heavenly creatures.
He made it just like he pleased. And then you come on down to
this man, Noah. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. I read
a children's Bible story. Let me tell you something, friends.
These door-to-door Bible salesmen, you better just not invite them
in. or book salesmen. You better just let them go their
way and get together if you don't know enough about Christian literature
with your pastor or assistant pastor or somebody that knows
and read the books before you hand them to your children. One
of these Bible story books said this, that God looked around
and found Noah, the only righteous man on the earth, and he said,
Noah, I'm going to save you because you've been good. That's not
what God's Word teaches. It teaches us that Noah found
grace in the eyes of the Lord. God chose Noah. And Abraham,
you know Abraham was an idolater when God called him, he was living
in the home of a man who was an idolater. And God chose Abraham,
he chose Abraham's seed, he chose Jacob, and he chose Israel, and
he chose Joseph, and he chose David, and you go all the way
down through the Old Testament, he chose Israel for himself. And then you come to the New
Testament and our Lord Jesus Christ said to his disciples,
you didn't choose me, I chose you. And then in John 17 he said,
I pray for them, I pray not for the world, but for them which
thou hast given me, for they are thine, and all thine are
mine, and I am thine. And then in John 6, he said,
All that my Father giveth me will come to me, and him that
cometh out of no wise cast out. I came down from heaven not to
do my will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the
will of him that sent me, that of all which he had given me
I lose nothing, but raise it up at the last day. Then in Acts 13, 48, Paul preached
to that outfit over there, and the scripture says, As many as
were ordained to eternal life believed. and i'll tell you when
you go to buying bible translations and brother let me tell you something
now i've been around preaching a little while and uh... you can improve on the king james
version of the bible i just made up my mind you can improve on
it i mean as a whole from genesis to revelation now you buy your
translation i bought the translation by moffitt for one reason first
corinthians thirteen the rest of it i wouldn't I don't care
anything about it. With you, Charlie, you got one
you rate. I bought the Amplified version to help me as I study.
I bought the Berkeley version to help as I study. I've got
the American Standard to help as I study. But I don't read
it in the pulpit, and I always read the King James Version with
any other translation. You can't improve on it. And
I'll tell you this, you find so many of these translations
that take the edge, take the power off these scriptures, that
New Living Bible and many others. I read one that said this, in
this verse, Acts 13, 48, that says, as many as were ordained
to eternal life, it says many as believe were ordained to eternal
life. It just turned it around backwards. The scripture says,
as many as were ordained to life by God's choice, by God's election,
by God's purpose, when the gospel was preached to them, they believed.
And people who are not His sheep, when the gospel is preached to
them, won't believe. You say, where is that? John
10. Turn over there and look at it. In John chapter 10. Now this is what I'm saying.
I'm saying His sheep will hear His voice. Goats will not hear. They don't have any ears. They
don't have any ears to hear. John 10, verse 24. Look at it. John 10, 24. Then came the Jews
round about him and said to him, How long do you make us to doubt?
If you be the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them,
I told you. And you believe not the works
that I do in my Father's name. They bear witness of you. Not
only did I tell you, but I showed you. But you believe not because
you are not of my sheep. You believe not because. You're
not of my sheep. That's why you don't believe.
As I said unto you, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them,
and they follow me. Ephesians 1.3 said, Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath chosen
us in Christ before the foundation of the world that we should be
holy and without blame before him in love having predestinated
us to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ according to
the good pleasure of his own will. I could go on for another
45 minutes just reading scripture on election. Talks about the
angels coming down and gathering his elect from the four corners.
Talks about Antichrist coming and deceiving, if it were possible,
the very elect. Talks about the purpose of God
according to election shall stand, not of him that willeth, not
of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Yes, it's
Bible. Well, when we say that, somebody
will pop up and say, but why preach on it? Why preach on Why
preach on such profound, mysterious things? Some people even call
it, back in the old days, high doctrine. They had what they
called high doctrine and low doctrine. This is high doctrine.
Somebody said to Brother Barnard one time about election, said,
that's awful deep. He said, it's not deep, it's
just so. That's the problem. That's the problem men have.
It's not because it's too deep for them, it's too true. It's
too flesh-stripping. It's too man's dignity, humbling,
that's what it is. It's too glorifying to God. Anything
an unsaved religionist doesn't want, it's God to be glorified.
He hates it. He won't let on like he does,
but he does. Well, let me tell you this. I'll give you three
reasons why we ought to put your sermon on election. Choose on
chosen to salvation or God choosing sinners. Number one, the first
good reason, and we ought not have to go any further, it's
in God's Word. That's the only reason a man
needs. It's in God's Word. His Word is to be preached. Whatever
it says in the book, it's to be preached. Paul said, Timothy,
preach the Word! Brother Lloyd Bush went to hear
a fellow last Sunday. I guess over there on vacation,
went to hear him. He preached on the energy crisis.
He had a good topic. There's a power shortage in his
pulpit. That's the problem. That's it
right there. There's a real power failure.
There's a real energy crisis in these churches. And I'll tell
you where it comes from. Men won't preach the word. They're
not preaching God's word. Paul says, I've not shown to
declare unto you all the counsel of God. Can you imagine me being
such a coward? Can you imagine a Brother J being
such a compromiser as to know something in God's Word and refuse
to preach it because somebody might not like it, I can't imagine
that. I can't imagine. It's God's Word. The second reason is this. It's
good news. Brethren, I delight to preach
a sermon on God choosing men to salvation. I absolutely delight
in it. It's good news. You know why?
Because if there's not an election, nobody's going to be saved. Everybody's
going to hell if he can. Did you know that? They asked
that old colored fella, said, uh, who saved you? He said, the
Lord did. They said, what'd you do? He
said, I did the running, he did the catching. And that's the
way it is. God saved me. It's good news. If he hadn't have called me,
I'd have never called on him. He hadn't have loved me, I'd
have never loved him. He hadn't have chosen me, I'd
have never chosen him. Never! That goes back to that
third point, man's dead. Anybody that says he chose God
without God choosing him does not believe first the Bible,
does not believe he's a sinner, and does not believe God's Sovereign.
And he's in real trouble, he's in deep trouble. because he's
doubting God Almighty's glory. The third reason why we preach
it, and this is a reason I've probably never given you before,
but turn to a few passages of Scripture. In Romans 11, here's
the third reason for preaching a sermon on God choosing sinners,
in Romans 11, 29. Because God's choice of sinners
and God's elective grace is really the foundation of your preservation. It's the foundation of your being
kept. It's the foundation of your assurance. Did you know
that? Now, Christ is the object of faith, and Christ is the one
who preserves us and keeps us. But he says here in verse 29,
Romans 11, for the gifts and calling of God. Now, eternalize
the gift of God. That's what I'm preaching. Jesus
Christ, the unspeakable gift of God. Salvation is a divine
calling. I called you, God said. And that's
without change. It's without repentance. God's
not going to change anything he set out from all eternity
to do. Now, just one thing about that,
if God changes, he's got to change for the better, and if he does,
he's not perfect. Or he's got to change for the
worse, and if he does that, he ceases to be perfect. So God
can't change. He can't change. He said he declares
the end from the beginning and from ancient times the things
that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand. I'll
do all my good pleasure. He declares things to be as though
they already were that haven't even come to pass yet. Turn with
me to Numbers, Numbers 23. Here's a scripture that we really
ought to have underlined in our Bibles. This is the foundation. of preservation. This is a foundation
of security. In Numbers 23 verse 19, God's
not a man that he should lie. God's not a man that he should
lie, neither the son of man that he should change or repent. Hath
he said, and shall he not do it? Hath he spoken, shall he
not make it good? Well, who is your God? That's
a pretty good description of him right there, what he says
he'll do. And then turn to Malachi, the
last book in the Old Testament, I believe it's chapter 3, Malachi
the third chapter and verse 6, listen to this, Malachi 3, 6,
he says, I am the Lord, I change not, therefore you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. Now you notice He doesn't say,
I am the Lord, I change not, therefore you Gentiles or rebels
or unbelievers are not consumed already, but the judgment's coming.
He's talking to Jacob here, Israel. Who is Jacob? Israel. He said,
the reason you, you believers, You children of God are not consumed.
You know, it's not because your faith's so good and strong, and
not because your righteousness is so beautiful and pure, it's
because God doesn't change. If God changed one day at that
low point, that low point of faith, that low point of doubt,
that low point of rebellion, that low point of murmuring,
he'd cut you off. But no matter whether you're
in the high point of faith or the low point of doubt, no matter
whether you're in the high point of trusting or the low point
of murmuring, he's the same. And that's the reason you're
not consumed. It's good news. That's the reason. But here's
some objections. Somebody said, well, I'll tell
you, maybe it's so. Well, ain't that nice that you
agree. But maybe it's so. And this is what I say. Some
doctrines ought to be kept from the people. Now, there are a
lot of preachers who believe that. But that man's not your
friend. The man who believes that anything
God says ought to be deliberately. Now I may be keeping some things
from you because I don't know them, I haven't discovered them
yet. When I discover them, I'll give them, I'll pass them on
to you. But that's Catholicism, that's what led to the Reformation.
It's keeping back the word of God from the people, keeping
back the word of Christ from the people. That's what caused
the Reformation. Those men came out and said,
three things have got to be true. The scriptures have got to stand
alone without the traditions of the church. Salvation's got
to be by grace alone without obedience to the law, or obedience
to the mass, or obedience to the priest. And Christ, and Christ
alone is the mediator between men and God. And boy, they fought
and died for that, and you want me to hide it in a closet? And
not on your life. Because my sons and daughters
might have to fight and die for it if I don't preach it. And
then somebody says, what's a dangerous doctrine? My friend, truth's
never dangerous. Error's dangerous. Truth's not
dangerous. And then somebody says, well,
men will abuse the doctrine. They sure will. I promise you
they will. Men abuse everything. The natural
man abuses everything. They've taken everything good
and abused it. Even the means of salvation.
They've taken Mary and made a god out of her. They've taken the
apostles and made special saints and good luck charms out of them. They've taken baptism, which
is to confess Christ and to show forth our identification with
Christ and made a savior out of it. They've taken the Lord's
supper. and made salvation out of it. They've taken Jerusalem
and made it a holy Mecca for men to go visit and feel close
to God. They've taken the law and made
a Savior out of the law. Men will abuse everything, and
they'll abuse election. I promise you they will. They'll
abuse everything that's good and gracious. And then fourthly,
somebody said, well, election leads to antinomianism. Alone
it will. It certainly will, if you take
it alone, if you take it out of its context, and take it out
of its setting, and take it out of its, at its proportion to
other scriptures, it certainly will lead to antinomianism. But men have always looked for
an excuse for sin, always, they always have, and those who look
shall find. If a man wants an excuse for
his devilment, he'll find one even if he has to use the word
of God. If a man wants an alibi, an excuse for his rebellion,
his sins, he will find one even if he has to use a precious doctrine. Somebody else says, well preaching
election will destroy evangelism. Election will destroy fleshly,
phony, false evangelism. But it will not destroy true
evangelism. It will give you the right motive
for evangelism. It will give you the right the
right methods in evangelism. The Apostle Paul believed and
taught the doctrine of election, and no man in this world has
ever suffered in preaching the gospel to sinners like Paul suffered. No man ever prayed for sinners
like Paul prayed for him, and no man ever interceded for sinners
like Paul interceded for him, saying, I could wish myself a
curse from Christ for my brethren, according to the flesh. Augustine,
Calvin, Luther, Whitfield, Hooks, Knox, Spurgeon, Bunyan. These
men all believe what I'm preaching. Judson and Carey, two of the
greatest pioneer missionaries the world's ever seen. Brainerd,
one of the greatest missionaries to the Indian. These men, Indians,
these men believe these truths. And rather than looking for an
excuse to sit home, it drove them out into the wilderness,
it drove them out across the oceans, it drove them into heathen
countries to tell the good news of Christ. And I say that any
man that gets a hold of any doctrine in God's Word and prays less
and studies less and desires the salvation of sinners less
and gives less, he's missed the doctrine totally. There's nothing
wrong with the doctrine, the problem's with him. He wasn't
right with God to begin with. We preach the gospel of God's
sovereign grace in Christ to sinners, lost people. We go out
here to where men have never heard the gospel and we tell
them that God loves sinners and Christ died for sinners. God
Almighty is sovereign in salvation and salvation is of the Lord
from beginning to end, Alpha to Omega. Why? Because our Lord
told us to. You say, what? By what authority
do you go out and take the gospel to a sinner if you believe that
God chose people before the world began? Number one, Christ told
me to. He said, go into all the world
and preach the gospel to every creature. Now that's the same
Lord that said in John 17, 9, I pray not for the world. And
yet he told me to go into all the world and preach the gospel
to every creature. I'm supposed to preach the gospel
to people that he didn't pray for. I'm supposed to preach the gospel
to people whom our Lord knows will not hear me. He says there's
scripture for that. Well, there's two or three verses
over in the Old Testament. He told one of the prophets,
he said, you go to these people and preach the truth to them.
Go preach to them. And they're not going to hear
you. And they're not going to believe you. But you go preach
to them. Thus saith the Lord. He said, Ezekiel, I have made
you a watchman. And if you don't warn sinners,
they'll die in their sins and I'll require their blood at your
hand. But if you warn them and they die in their sins, you've
delivered your soul. That's my first authority. I've
got a commission, this church has got a commission from the
Lord himself that tells us to go to everybody we know and tell
them who God is. And tell them what shape they're
in by the fall and tell them who can do something about it
and the only one who can, the Lord Jesus Christ. to tell them
that he by his life wrought out a perfect righteousness and by
his death a perfect atonement. Tell them! Tell them! You can't
save them, but tell them about God who can. Every creature. And then secondly, we preach
the gospel to lost people because Christ commanded us to preach
the gospel to every creature. And secondly, because preaching
is God's means and God's way. of calling sinners to himself.
Did you know that? That's right. He said in Romans
chapter 1 verse 16, the gospel is the power. And that word,
I think, I don't know Greek, but I think that word is dunamis
or dynamite. Power. Great power. The gospel
is the power of God unto salvation. Unto salvation. The gospel is.
A man will never be saved, elect or non-elect, without hearing
the gospel. Never. Never, he can't be. Never. Because he hath begotten
us unto a living hope. Of his own will begat he us with
the word of truth. He says we are born again, not
of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible seed by the Word of God. And
1 Corinthians 1.21 says it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe. And in John 20 verse 31 it says
these things are written that you might believe on the Son
of God and believing you might have life in His name. And Romans
10, 13 says, Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord
shall be saved. But how shall they call on Him in whom they
have not believed? And how shall they believe in
Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent? Thank
God for those that preach. How beautiful are their feet
upon the mountain. It's God's way. It's God's means. The third reason why I preach
the gospel to every creature and sinners Christ told me to,
and the gospel according to the Word of God is God's means and
God's way of calling His elect, Paul said, I endure all things
for the elect's sake that they might come to a knowledge of
salvation in Christ. The third thing, though, is I
have no way of knowing who the elect are, so I have to preach
to everybody. I don't have any way of knowing.
They don't wear any special thing up here that says they want to
elect. And they can't wear something up here that says they want to
elect. They might wear something and deceive some folks, but God
doesn't look on our lapel pins. He looks on our hearts. This
is where the issue is settled. It's not settled on the bumper
of your car or on your lapel or your tie. It's settled in
the heart. That's where the business goes
on. And so I can't see in here. I can't see anything. God can.
I look on the outward flesh and I have to preach the gospel to
every creature and I have to keep preaching it to every creature
because somebody may profess to know God and claim to know
God and not know God. So I've got to preach to him
until he dies in hopes that God will route him out of his refuge
of lies or God will stop him somewhere down the road and show
him he's going to hell on the religious road. The most religious
creature in the universe other than God himself is Satan. You
think about that a little while, it's so. He's the most religious
person in the universe outside of God Almighty. God, the fourth
reason why I preach to every creature is God who ordained
the end also ordained the mean. We don't preach election, we
preach Christ. We preach Christ. You don't arrive
at Christ through doctrine. You don't learn election and
sovereignty and then get to Christ. You get to Christ and then you
learn those things. Most folks don't even know anything about
election until after they're saved. That's right. You see, here's the thing. You
go through the Bible and you find verses like this in John
1. Talk about the Jew, it said he
came to his own and his own received him not. But, as many as received
him, to them gave he the privilege, the right, the power to become
sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. Now that's
human responsibility, there's faith, there's a good evangelical
message. Just telling sinners, receive
Christ, believe on Christ, close with Christ. You see that? But
the next verse says, which were born, not of the will of the
flesh, not of the will of man, but of God. You have there a
responsibility. You have there a man's responsibility
and opportunity to ask many as received him. To them gave he
the right to become sons of God, even to them that believe on
his name. Become sons by faith. They were born of God. How about John 6, 37? Him that cometh to me, I'll in no wise
cast out. That's what it says. And that's
true. Not a doubt about it. Come on,
you thirsty? The water's running clear and
clean and cool for you. Come on. The table's spread. Come on, you hungry? Come on!
Him that cometh out of no wise cast out. No hungry sinner has
ever been turned away from the table of God's mercy. No thirsty
sinner has ever been turned away from the well of living water.
No weary miserable sinner has ever been turned away from the
mercy of God. But all that my Father giveth
me shall come. And him that cometh out of no
wise cast out. They come because they're thirsty,
but God in His mercy made them thirsty. They come because they're
hungry, but God Almighty, working in the power of His own might,
showed them like He did Noah, the storms are coming, and they
run for safety. They know something the world
doesn't know. They feel something the world doesn't feel. They
have a hunger the world doesn't have. They have a thirst the
world knows nothing about. And it's all of God. That's right. Matthew 11, 27. Let's turn over.
I want you to look at this one. Matthew 11, 27. Here our Lord
Jesus Christ is praying. Matthew 11, 27. And He says here,
He says in Matthew 11, verse 27, back here in 25, He said,
at that time He answered and said, I thank you, Father, Lord
of heaven and earth. Because thou hast hid these things
from the wise and the prudent. It's not that God has to put
them in a place where man can't find them. The way God hides
things from a man is just leave him in his darkness. It's right
there. Salvation, faith, grace is now
unto you. It's right there in your mouth.
That man that mashed his finger there, they'd holler, Jesus Christ,
he said, Salvation, right there. That's salvation, Jesus Christ.
It's right in his dirty mouth. Right in his mouth, salvation.
But it's head to him. It's right in his mouth, but
he can't feel it. It's right here in his hands and he doesn't
see it. You see, God doesn't have to take something and stick
it down here to hide it from you. He can lay it right in your
hand. You can't see it because you don't have eyes to see. He
can shout it in your ear and you can't hear it. A deaf man
doesn't hear. The most beautiful music in the
world. He has no use for it. He's deaf! And that's what our
Lord's saying. Our gospel be hid. It's hid to
them that are lost. He says here you've hidden it
from the smart alecks and the wise and prudent and you've revealed
it to a bunch of babies. Because, Father, it seemed good
in your sight. All things are delivered unto
me of my Father, and no man knows the Son but the Father, and no
man knows the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son will
reveal him." And then he turned right around and said, Come unto
me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you
rest. And that was as sincere an invitation
as any man ever heard. That was as true a welcome as
any man ever heard. Come on. You weary? Come on. You heavy laden? Come
on. But not many folks are weary.
They like it where they are. But that's a sincere, truthful
declaration. No man knows the Son but the
Father, and no man knows the Father but the Son, and He to
whom the Son will reveal Him. But you out there, are you weary? Come on home! But the dumb donkey's
smarter than you. He knows his master's crib, and
you don't know your master's crib. Last of all, I want you to turn
back to 2 Thessalonians 2.13. We'll show you something delightful
here, and then we'll close. In 2 Thessalonians 2.13, let's
just take A few sentences here now quickly, and I'll move along,
but oh, the beauty of God's Word. First, election is a doctrine
of praise. In verse 13, he says, we're bound
to give thanks. Just bound to. I tell you, when
I think God chose me and you and didn't leave us in our darkness
and rebellion and sin, that just makes my heart so glad. I'm glad
the Lord chose you. That's what Paul said, I'm just
bound to give thanks. Just bound to give thanks. Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has chosen
us. Bless his name. And then election
is a doctrine of love. He said I'm just bound to give
thanks always to God. For you brethren, beloved of
the Lord. Let me read you a scripture over
here right quick. Over here in Deuteronomy chapter 7 verse 6. He says over here, He says, Israel,
you are a holy people unto the Lord your God, and the Lord thy
God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself above all
the people on the face of the earth. Deuteronomy 7, verse 6.
Verse 7, now, the Lord didn't set his love upon you, nor choose
you because you were more in number than any people. You were
the fewest of all, but because the Lord loved you. That's why. The Lord loved you and the Lord
would keep the promise he made to your father. God's love and
God's purpose. All right, then back here at
our text, election is a doctrine of praise, a doctrine of love,
it's a doctrine of sovereignty because I'm just bound to give
thanks because God has chosen you. God did it. The preacher
didn't, the church didn't, you don't need to be afraid of these
silly looking men running around in these women's clothes, these
black robes and with these big crosses on their chest making
funny signs and throwing water everywhere. You don't need to
be afraid of them. They don't choose anybody. God chooses sinners. God does. God has chosen you. It's a doctrine of sovereignty.
It's a doctrine of eternal grace. God has from the beginning chosen
you. That's when He did it. God never
does anything in time He hadn't determined to do in eternity.
Now if you've got a God that waits on something to happen
in order to decide what He's going to do about it, you've
got a problem on your hands, because He doesn't foresee anything.
And I'll tell you this, God doesn't foresee anything, He foreordains
it. God sees it as happening because
He ordains it to happen. There's a lot of difference And
then this election is unto salvation. He says, God hath from the beginning
chosen you to salvation. Election is unto salvation. It's
not salvation, it's unto salvation. Those people who are elected
will be saved. Those people will be saved who
are elected, but salvation is not election, and election is
not salvation. It's unto salvation. In this
thing of predestination, Roth taught me this years ago. He
said election and predestination are not the same. I hear people
using them interchangeably. God elected the object. God predestinated
the end. And predestinated the means to
bring that object to this decreed end. You see what I'm saying?
God's election has to do with persons. Predestination has to
do with the means. that are used in that person's
life to bring them to God's determined end. They're going to be like
Christ. He predestined that I'd hear this gospel. He predestined
that I'd repent and believe. He predestined that I'd know
you and that God would use you in my life and me in your life
and all these things to bring us to Christ, to know Christ,
to be like Christ. He's predestined the work of
Christ, the obedience of Christ, the death of Christ, the intercession
of Christ. There's so much, I just can't even touch it. But He's
predestinated these things. When I hear people say in letters
and all, talking about men being predestinated to heaven or predestinated
to hell, that's not scriptural. I'm elected in Christ. I'm chosen
in Christ. I'm redeemed in Christ. I'm predestinated
to be like Christ. God's predestinated all of the
ends and the means. He has predestinated. And that's
why I should be like Christ. Chosen us to salvation. To salvation. Through what's this? Election
is applied by the Spirit. Through sanctification of the
Spirit. Sanctification is a setting apart. It's a making holy. It's a declaring to be holy.
It's a work of righteousness and belief of the truth. Election
is a doctrine of means. Belief of the truth. A man will
never be saved who doesn't believe the truth. If thou shalt confess
with thy mouth Jesus to be Lord, and believe in thine heart, God
hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with
a heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with a mouth confession is
made unto salvation. Whosoever will, let him take
the water of life. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. Go take the gospel to every creature.
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth
not, he'll be damned." He doesn't say, go preach the gospel to
every creature and the elect will be saved and the non-elect
will be damned. He says, he that believeth will be saved and he
that believeth not shall be damned. Men aren't in hell going to say,
Lord, I'm here because you didn't elect me. You're there because
you wouldn't receive Christ. You were a sinner. You were a
rebel. If any man's saved, it'll be
God's fault. If any man goes to hell, it'll be his own fault.
He'll take full responsibility. If a man goes to heaven, he's
not going to praise his faith, he's going to praise Christ.
If a man goes to hell, he's not going to blame Christ, he's going
to blame his own rebellion. He could have been saved if he'd
have wanted to. I got good news. You say, I don't
understand it. No. There's no way you can understand
it either because eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard, neither
hath it entered the heart of man the things God's prepared
for them that love him. The natural man understandeth
not, receiveth not the things of the Spirit. They're foolishness
to him, neither can he know them. They're spiritually understood
and he's spiritually dead. Everybody here, I guarantee you
if I ask for a show of hands, every redeemed person in this
building understood exactly what I was preaching tonight. Understood
it perfectly. They can see, God chose, we believe. God gives the grace, God gives
the faith, God gives the repentance. And yet it's my responsibility.
And they can see how that we're to preach the gospel to every
creature, every creature. And anybody who wants to be saved
can be, and will be. I'll tell you this, I'll give
you... Brother Barnard used to say, while you're feeding the
sheep, throw something out for the goats. Don't leave them going
home chewing on nothing. But I'll give you something else.
Every lost man is going to be saved. Every lost man. My Lord said He came to seek
and to save the lost. You say, well, preacher, everybody's
lost. No, they're not. Well, they are too. Ask them.
Ask them. They're not lost. They're in
pretty good shape. God is going to save every sinner.
Every sinner is going to be saved. But preacher, every man is a
sinner, are they? I challenge you to start tomorrow
asking, see if you can find a sinner. See if you can find a sinner.
A sinner is the hardest thing in the world, Herman, to find
in this world. You preach down at the jail, you don't find many
sinners. Those fellows in there have been framed. Those fellows
in there got with the wrong crowd. If they hadn't been in that crowd,
they'd never got there. They were without work and on welfare
and had to have something for the baby, so they stole it. They're
not sinners. No, sir. Rarely do you meet a
sinner. A sinner is a sacred thing. The
Holy Ghost hath made him so. But if you find one, if you find
a sinner, a man that's plum lost, a man behind bars that says,
I ought to be here, a man going to hell that says, I ought to
go there, A man at sin, it ain't nobody's fault but his own. The
psychiatrist tells you it's your daddy's fault, he whipped you
when you was a little boy, you know. Or it's the man next door's
fault, he was mean to you. Somebody's fault, it ain't yours.
But if you find a man, it's where he is because it's his own fault. and he belongs there, and he
ought to be there, and God owes him nothing, and God ought to
send him to hell, and God would be just to damn him, you please
let me have that man's name. I've got good news for him. I'm
going to go straight to him and tell him Christ died for him,
because the Scripture says he died for the ungodly, and you
found you an ungodly man. And you don't believe these things,
so you say, now what's being preached? That's the reason they're
so. That's the reason they're so. Because what's being preached
never has been what God Almighty preached. That's the reason it's
so well received. Men will receive. Christ said
another come in his own name, you'll receive him. But I come
in my Father's name, you'll receive me not. Men love darkness, they
hate light. Our Father, we rejoice in this
Word. We believe and are persuaded
in our hearts, and we don't claim to know our hearts. The heart
is deceitful and desperately wicked. Who can know it? But,
Lord, as well as we know what we understand and what we believe,
we believe this book to be Thy Word. And what faith we have
is in Thy Word, and we believe that Thou, Almighty, none can
stay Thy hand. Thy arm is not shortened, it
cannot save. or ear too heavy they cannot
hear. And we believe the condition we're in is because of our own
sin. We lay the blame at nobody's
door. We take full responsibility for every one of our evil thoughts
and evil deeds and evil words. We're getting what we deserve.
If you send us to hell, you'd be clear and just and righteous.
And not only us, but all of our people and all of our family
and all the sons of Adam. But Lord, we thank you that you're
pleased to save some. And that in your grace and mercy
and love and wisdom you're going to redeem a people as the sands
of the seashore and the stars of the sky. And how we long to
be one of them. It's the desire of our very souls
and hearts and minds to be like Christ. To be one of those for
whom he suffered, bled and died. Lord, we seek Thee, we search
for Thee, we pant after Thee, we long for the living God in
this dry and thirsty land. Leave us not alone, leave us
not to ourselves, leave us not to our own understanding or the
traditions and customs of man-made religion, but please be pleased,
O God, in Thy sovereign power to unstop these deaf ears and
let us hear Thee speak through Thy Word. and open these blind
eyes that we might behold the beauty and glory of our Lord
Jesus Christ in our hearts that we might understand the mysteries
of thy gospel. That gospel is the gospel of
thy glory. Reveal it to us, for Christ's
sake we pray. Amen.