Now, here's the title of the
message this morning, Can You Rejoice in Electing Love? Now, some of you are going to
be greatly blessed by this message. Some of you are going to be troubled
by it. Some of you may even find yourself
confused by the message that I'm going to bring. But I want
you to listen to me. Will you listen for a little
while? Open your Bibles, please, to John chapter 15. And let me
read for you the first, well, verse 16. Let's read verse 16
of John chapter 15. And the subject, keep it in mind,
can you, can you rejoice in electing love? Now Christ said to his
disciples, you have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and
ordained you that you should go and bring forth much fruit. And so shall you be, my disciples,
that your fruit should remain, that whatsoever ye shall ask
of the Father in my name, he may give it you. You have not
chosen me, but I have chosen you." Now, the Master had eaten
the Passover supper with his disciples, and he had washed
the disciples' feet, and he had instituted the Lord's table,
he had given them the broken bread, saying, This is my body,
which is broken for you. And he had given them the wine,
saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for
many. And Judas had gone out to bargain
with the priest to betray his Lord, and our Master had said
to his disciples, Arise and let us go hence. He was going toward
the Garden of Gethsemane, where he prayed. But as he walked along
with his disciples, you will find him talking to them, beginning
with verse 1 of John 15, and he points out several things.
First of all, he tells them this. He says, Our relationship is
a living union. Our relationship is a living
union. I am the vine, ye are the branches. Abide in me, for without me you
can do nothing." Christ is saying to his disciples, this relationship
between me and you is a whole lot more than just a religious
affiliation. It's a whole lot more than a
group of men being in a denomination or in a religious doctrine or
even a religious profession. This relationship between me
and you, he says, is a living union. Like the vine and the
branches. I'm the vine and you're the branches.
Now, apart from me, you have no life. Just like branches,
apart from the vine, have no life in themselves. The life
is in the vine. That's where the strength is.
That's where the nourishment is. That's where the life is.
And the vine gives life to the branches. And if the branches
are severed from the vine, separated from the vine, the vine goes
on living. But the branches are withered and dead. And men soon
cast them into the fire. And Christ said, even so you,
if you abide in me, you have life. If you abide not in me,
you're dead, like withered branches. Without me, you can do nothing.
And this is the relationship between the Lord Jesus and his
people. It's a living union. It's a vital,
living union. But all the strength and all
the life and all the nourishment comes from Christ. He is our
life. The scripture says that when
Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye appear
with him in glory. Christ in you, that's the hope
of glory. He comes and brings life. He
comes and brings a new nature. He comes and brings divine life. And also he said in another place
that our relationship with him is like a head and a body. He's
the head, we're the body. And again he tells us this, he
says that our relationship with him is that living relationship
that he has with the Father. He said, The Father in me, I
in them, and thou in me. It's the same as the blessed
Trinity. You cannot divide the Trinity. Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit are one. And Christ and his people are
one. I in them and thou in me. You see that? So here is their
walking along, going toward him in his garden and going toward
the cross when he was to die for their sins and the grave
and the resurrection. He's talking to them and he's
saying to them, he says, our relationship, it's not just a
profession, it's not just a ceremonial or doctrinal position, it's a
living, vital union. I in them and thou in me. I am
the vine, you are the branches. All right? Then secondly, they
go on, and he says down here in verse 9 through 12, he says,
our relationship is one of love. Listen to him. He says, as the
Father loves me, so I love you. How much does the Father love
his Son? Have you ever thought about that? My Father loves me,
Christ said. How much does God love his Son?
He loves them immutably, everlastingly, unchangeably, infinitely. Just
keep going. Even so, he said, I love you.
That's the love Christ has for his people, an infinite. Having
loved his own, he loved them to the end. He loved them even
to the death of the cross. Greater love hath no man than
this, that a man lay down his life for his friends, but Christ
laid down his life for his enemies. We were his enemies. He loved
us when we were enemies. He committed his love toward
us, and why were we yet sinners? He died for us. And he goes on,
he says, now I love you like my father loves me, I love you.
And you continue in my love. And this is my commandment, look
down at verse 12, this is my commandment, that you love one
another as I have loved you. So I tell you, this thing of
Christianity, this thing of salvation is a whole lot more than just
joining the local church. It's a whole lot more than just
going through some ritual, getting a little water sprinkled on your
brow, or later on in life getting immersed beneath some water,
you know, and joining the church and getting elected to be a deacon
or a Sunday school teacher, or singing a little silly song,
or going through the motions. This thing of salvation, and
this is what Christ tells his disciples, our relationship is
a living union. Our relationship is one of love.
And by this shall all men know, ye are my disciples, if ye love
one another. And if any man love not his brother
whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?"
And the scripture says, if any man say he loves God and hates
his brother, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him. God
says that. So you see, Christ is speaking
to these disciples, and he is defining redemption. He is defining
salvation. what they are and where they
are, positionally. And then the third thing he says
is this. He says our relationship, the relationship between me and
you is a living, vital union, it's a love relationship, and
it's a familiar family union. Now listen to him. He says in
verse 15, I call you not servants. I call you not servants. The
servant is not informed concerning the master's counsel, will, or
purpose. The servant just blindly carries
out orders. He doesn't know. His master,
the servant, his master tells him to do something and he does
it. He doesn't know why he's doing it. He doesn't know why
his master wants him to do it. He doesn't know what his master's
purpose is. He doesn't know what the object
or goal of his master is. He just blindly carries out orders,
but not the son. You see, he said, I didn't call
you servants, I called you friends. Because he said, I have revealed
to you the secrets of my Father. I have revealed to you the mysteries
of my Father. Over in Luke chapter 10, verse
23 and 24, there's an interesting verse of scripture. Listen to
it, if you will. Luke 10, 23, Christ turned to
his disciples, and he said, to them privately. Blessed are the
eyes which see the things that you see. Blessed are the ears
that hear the things that you hear. For I tell you that many
prophets and many kings have desired to see those things which
you see, and have not seen them, and have desired to hear those
things which you have heard, and they have not heard them.
Blessed are your eyes, they see, and your ears, they hear." He
said, I call you not servants, I call you friends, because the
servant doesn't know his master's counsel, and his master's will,
and his master's purpose. But I've brought you, my friends,
into the secret counsel halls of God, and I've shown you the
wisdom and power of God in redemption. I've shown you the mysteries
of the gospel. And if our gospel be hid, it's
hid to them that are lost. in whom the God of this world
hath blinded the minds of them, lest the glorious light of the
gospel of Christ should shine unto them, and they should be
saved. But God hath revealed them, God hath shown them, God
hath manifested the light, he hath opened our hearts and shown
the glorious gospel of his glory in the face of Christ Jesus in
our hearts. Thank God. He says, I've revealed
to you the counsel and the will and the wisdom and the purpose
of my Father. That's salvation. That's this
relationship. As this man, Jesus Christ, God
in the flesh, our Lord and Savior, our great Redeemer, walks along
with these 11 names, these 11 precious believers, and he tells
them, he says, there's a living relationship between us. I'm
divine. There's a love relationship between
us. There's a family relationship
between us. And then he brings out a most
humbling and blessed truth. He looks at them and he says,
but you did not choose me. Don't get high and lifted up,
proud and conceited, egotistical and haughty. You didn't choose
me. I chose you. That's humbling,
isn't it? It's humbling to think that Christ
is the light and we love darkness rather than light because our
deeds are evil. It's humbling to know that Christ,
the great shepherd, says to Israel, how oft would I have gathered
you unto myself as a hen that gather her brood, but you would
not. It's humbling to think that Christ
is the bread and starving men had rather eat the husk of the
swine than go to Christ. It's astounding and humbling
to know that Christ is the precious, clear, crystal-clear water of
life, and yet we'd rather drink from the infested, corrupted
cisterns of this world than to drink from him. That's the nature
of man. That's the mess we're in. We
call bitter sweet and sweet bitter. We call light darkness and darkness
light. We call life death and death
light. We call good evil and evil good.
We're twisted, warped, perverted. We don't understand. None that
understand. That's humbling. He said, you
didn't choose me. I chose you. How blessed it is to know he
chose us, though. He didn't leave us alone. He
could have passed us by, but he didn't. He could have left
us alone, but he didn't. Herein is love. Not that we love
him, but that he loved us. We love him because he first
loved us. That's what he says. You have not chosen me. I chose
you. My friends, I rejoice in God's
electing love. I like that old song written
several hundred years ago, "'Tis not that I did choose thee, for
Lord, that could not be. This heart would still refuse
thee, but thou hast chosen me." He could have passed me by, but
he didn't. He could have left me in my darkness,
but he didn't. He could have justly condemned
me, but he didn't. And he could have done the same
thing to these disciples, but he didn't. He said, all of these
things are true of our relationship, but you didn't establish that
relationship, you didn't effect it, you didn't accomplish it,
you didn't even desire it. I chose you. Now then, I want
to open this scripture up just step by step as these truths
appear in the text. First of all, Christ said, you
didn't choose me. And I want to deal with the question,
why do men not choose Christ? If Christ is the water of life,
why don't men choose Christ? If Christ is the way to God,
why do men not choose Christ? If Christ is the only foundation
that can be laid, why don't men build their own? Why do men not
choose Christ? Well, I'll give you three reasons.
First of all, men do not choose Christ because they do not feel
their need of Christ. That's the first reason. One
day our Lord was eating with publicans and sinners. In Matthew,
you'll find this, Matthew 9, 10 through 13. And a group of
religious Pharisees, men who professed themselves to be moral
and righteous and good, who looked down upon others, they saw him
eating with these publicans, sinners, and harlots. And they
said to his disciples, off to the side, they said, why does
your master eat with publicans and sinners? And Christ knew
their thoughts. And he said to them, The well
do not need a physician, but those that are sick. You go learn
what that means. Verily I say unto you, I am not
come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. And you
know the people who go to the doctor's office, seek the doctor,
want the doctor, need the doctor, are those people who are sick.
That's what Christ is saying. And men who choose Christ, who
believe on Christ, and who embrace Christ, and who want Christ,
the Savior, the Redeemer, His righteousness, His forgiveness,
His pardon, His cleansing blood, are those who need Christ. They're
sinners. They're sinners, and they know it. They're helpless
sinners, and they know it. They're guilty sinners, and they
know it. They're fallen sinners, and they know it. They're hell-deserving
sinners, and they know it. But the innocent, the innocent
doesn't feel any need of mercy, and he doesn't seek it. The good
do not feel any need of grace, so he doesn't seek it. The man
who does not feel his sins, who does not feel his weakness, he
does not seek help, call for help. I will lift up mine eyes
unto the hills from whence cometh my help. The man who is strong
and moral and good, he doesn't need any help. That's the reason
why men do not choose Christ. They do not feel their need of
Christ. We be not sinners. The second reason why men do
not choose Christ is they see no wisdom in a crucified Savior. Now, they can understand a good
prophet who comes and says a lot of moral things and gives a moral
code or creed by which men are delivered. They can understand
a man who comes and sets up an earthly kingdom and reigns over
a nation. They can understand a modern
healer who will come and relieve men's distress, sort of a But
they don't understand a crucified Savior. They do not see any wisdom
in that. They do not see any wisdom of
God at all in that. The Scripture says the preaching
of the cross is to them who are perishing foolishness. Now the
preaching of good works is not foolishness. The preaching of
moral codes is not foolishness. The preaching of philosophy is
not foolishness. The preaching of the cross. What
is the cross? The cross is death. Substitutionary
death. The cross is sin offering, sacrifice. And that's what is foolishness,
sheer nonsense to this world. They see no law to be honored.
They see no justice to be satisfied. They see no righteousness to
be imputed. They see no requirements to be
met. Therefore, the preaching of a crucified Savior, a substitute,
is foolishness. Foolishness, sheer nonsense.
But now, to those who are being saved, the cross is the wisdom
of God and the power of God. It's the wisdom of God in that
the cross reveals how that God can be just and justify me. Christ
paid my debt. He ransomed me. He redeemed me.
He was my substitute. He took my guilt. And gave me
his grace. He took my death and gave me
life. He took my hell and gave me salvation. He's a substitute. God poured his wrath out on his
son in my place. I see the wisdom of God in the
cross. I see the power of God in the cross. How that Christ
by his blood cleansed us from all sin. It's infinite, immutable
blood. It's not how much he shed, it's
who shed it. It's who died. Thirdly, men do not choose Christ
because they do not wish to be made holy. They do not wish to
be made holy. We want our way, not God's way.
We want our will, not God's will. That was Satan's sin. That was
Adam's sin. My will be done, not God's will.
We want to do our thing. Now if we can get to heaven doing
our own thing, that's fine. If we can get saved and do our
own thing, fine, we'll accept that kind of religion, but Christ
demands to be your Lord, your sovereign, supreme, eternal Lord. If thou shalt confess with thy
mouth Jesus to be Lord, and believe in thine heart that God hath
raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Christ is Lord,
he's supreme Lord of all whom he saved. But we cry, we'll not
have this man reign over us. When Saul of Tarsus met Christ,
He said, who are you, Lord? He said, I'm Jesus of Nazareth.
You know the next line? Well, I'll tell you this, I'll
be saved, but I'm not going to do this, I'm not going to do
that. No. He said, Lord, what will you
have me do? You're my Lord, I'm your servant.
You speak, your servant is. Men will not lay down their arms
of rebellion. They will not surrender their
weapons of warfare. They'll not stack their arms.
They'll not surrender completely, absolutely, to the royal claims
of King Jesus. They're not going to have it.
That's the reason they don't choose Christ. They'll do about
anything you tell them to do to get saved. They'll crawl on
their knees so far, and they'll burn candles, and they'll say
so many Hail Mary's, and they'll get baptized. They'll walk down
an aisle, shake your hand, raise this hand, raise that hand. Do
about anything you want them to do, but they won't bow to
Christ Jesus. They want a Lord. They want a
Savior. They don't want a Lord. They
want a doormat named Jesus. They don't want a Lord. They
want a fire escape. They don't want a Lord. They
want an insurance policy to collect if they need it. They're not
gonna have this man right, you know, that was the issue they
crucified Christ. What was the charge? He said
he was king Those soldiers when they took him in Pilate's Hall
and beat him and mocked him in what in what? office In what
character did they mock him? They said, you're a king, then
we'll put a crown on your head. You're a king, then we'll put
a robe on your back. You're a king, then we'll give
you a scepter. It was as king that Christ was
mocked. It was as king that Christ was
persecuted. It was as king that Christ was
crucified. It was as king that Christ was
rejected. They said, we have no king but
Caesar. Now, they'll take a savior. They'll take a fellow that'll
feed the multitude and heal the sick, but not a king. I'm telling
the truth. That's the reason men don't choose
Christ. They reject him as king. Lord, that's key to the kingdom
of God. You didn't choose me, Christ
said. I chose you. All right, let's see the next
thing. I chose you. Christ looked at these 11 men,
and he said, I chose you. That movie, The Ten Commandments,
that was on recently, very good, good movie, well made, and had
some beautiful things in it, as true as Hollywood's ever been
to the Bible. It left some things to be desired.
But there's one illustration in there that I thought was tremendous.
Moses was sitting at the foot of that great mountain, And his
wife was talking to him about God. And he said, I don't know
your God. I don't know your God. But she
said, Moses, he knows you. He knows you. And my friend,
that's true. Christ said, I know my sheep.
I know my sheep. Other sheep I have which are
not of this fold, them I must bring. He said, Jeremiah, read
Jeremiah 1 5. Jeremiah, before I formed thee
in the belly, I knew thee. I sanctified thee, I ordained
thee a prophet before you came out of your mother's womb. I
knew you, Moses, he knows you. The foundation of God hath this
seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his." Yes, he does. He foreknew
them, he ordained them, he predestinated them, he called them, he justified
them, he glorified them. Solitarsis, holding the coats
of those madmen stoning Stephen. Saul of Tarsus going to the high
priest, requesting letters to persecute believers. Saul of
Tarsus riding his horse, leading an army of men to cast believers
into prison. Saul of Tarsus, you don't know
Jesus Christ, but he knows you. He knows you, and he'll have
you. He'll bring you. All that my Father giveth me
shall come to me. Old Peter sat with a fire warm
in his hands, and that little girl came up and said, Why are
you one of the disciples? He said, I know not the man.
No, but he knows you, Peter. He knows you. He said, I chose
you. When did he choose us? That's
a good question. Isn't that a natural question?
When did he choose us? Well, the scripture says, According
as he chose us in Christ, before the foundation of the world.
Ephesians 1.4. 2 Thessalonians 2 says, Beloved,
I give thanks to God for you, brethren, because God hath from
the beginning chosen you to salvation. Before I was born, before I believed,
before Adam fell, before God created the world, before Satan
rebelled, before the morning stars sang together, God had
a people in his wisdom and righteousness chosen and given to Christ, for
whom Christ suffered and died and for whom he now intercedes.
from the beginning, why did he choose you? Why did he choose
me? Now that's a good question. Why
did he choose us? And the only answer, you can
study till you die, and the only answer you can come up with,
you can't find anything in yourself to recommend you to God. You
can't find any reason in any creature that would merit the
righteousness and love and mercy of God. You know what our Lord
gave the answer? One day he rejoiced in spirit
and lifted his eyes to heaven, Matthew 11.26, and he said, Father,
I thank you, Lord of heaven and earth. You have hid these things
from the wise and prudent, but you revealed them to babe. Watch
it. Even so, Father, it seemed good in thy sight. In Mark 3.13,
the scripture says, he went up to a mountain and he called to
him whom he would. Romans 9, 15 and 16 says, I will
have mercy on whom I will have mercy. I will be gracious to
whom I will be gracious. So if you want to answer these
questions, Christ said you didn't choose me. Left to yourself,
you'd still be out there in the dark. Left to yourself, you'd
still be out there in rebellion. Left to yourself, you'd still
be walking the ways of evil. I chose you. I chose you. When did I choose you? Before
the world began. Why did I choose you? because
it seemed good in my sight." And Paul wrote, according to
the good pleasure of his own will. There were two apostasies,
one in heaven and one on earth. Satan led one in heaven, and
the angels followed him. And Adam led the one on earth,
and we followed him. And God chose to show mercy,
not to the angels who fell, but to men. He took not on himself
the nature of angels, but he took on himself the seed of Abraham.
He died for men. You see that? I ordained you
that you should go and bring forth fruit for my glory and
that your fruit might remain. Now, two messages on this tape.