Election: Its Defense, Evidences and Effect

Now let's read our text again,
1 Thessalonians chapter 1, verse 4 and 5. And I want you to use
your Bible tonight, and I want you to, if you care to, jot down a note
or two. You don't have to write down
very many notes. They're just one or two things
you might want to write down and remember on this subject.
on the subject, election, its defenses, its evidences, its
effects. The doctrine of election, its
defenses, its evidences, and its effects. And my text is 1
Thessalonians, chapter 1, verse 4. Knowing, brethren beloved,
your election of God. Now, as Charles Spurgeon said,
when we announce a topic such as this, election, when we read
a text like this, we get the following objection. First of
all, a man will say, well, why preach on such a profound and
controversial subject as election? Why preach on election? It's
profound, it's deep, it's controversial, so why preach on it? Answer,
because it is in the Word of God. Because it's in the Word
of God, and we're commanded to preach the Word of God. Paul
said, I've not shunned to declare unto you the whole counsel of
God, and election is part of that counsel. I've kept back
nothing profitable unto you, and a subject such as election
is most profitable. It's mentioned so many times
in God's words. And we must preach it. All right,
the second objection. All right, granted, election
is in the Bible. But shouldn't we keep back from
the people some things? Shouldn't we leave some things
to be settled by the preachers and the theologians and just
keep it from the people? answer. That's Roman Catholic
doctrine. That's what the Roman Catholic
Church was built upon. That was the very theory by which
the Catholics kept the Bible from the people and led them
to burn Bibles instead of letting people have the Word of God.
When men wanted to print the Bible, they tore up their printing
presses and burned their copies of God's Word. And this is what
led to the false doctrines invented by popes and priests, such as
purgatory, immaculate conception, the ascension of Mary, and so
forth. They kept back the Word from
the people. And the priest and pope decided
what they let the people have. That's popist doctrine. You don't
keep back anything that's in this book from the people. The
third objection. But aren't some doctrines dangerous? My friends, truth is never dangerous. Truth is never dangerous. If
it's properly preached and properly taught for the glory of God in
the power and strength of the Holy Spirit, truth can never
be dangerous. Is it so? It's not dangerous.
Error is dangerous. To teach a falsehood is dangerous,
but truth is never dangerous. It doesn't matter what the truth
is, it cannot be dangerous. The fourth objection, but do
not some men abuse the doctrine of election? Do not some men
misuse the doctrine of election? They certainly do. But if we
destroy all the things that men abuse and all the things that
men misuse, we wouldn't have anything left. For example, we
would have no ropes, because some men hang themselves with
ropes, so you'd have to do away with all ropes. We'd have no
knives, because men cut themselves. We wouldn't even have any water,
because men drown themselves. And you wouldn't have any medicine,
because men become drug addicts to medicine. So if you destroy
everything that men abuse, you wouldn't have anything left.
Of course men abuse the doctrine of election. They abuse every
doctrine in God's Word. But we do not keep back the truth
of God's Word because fools misuse it and abuse it. The next objection. But some men have taken the doctrine
of election and become indifferent to holiness. They become careless
in their daily lives, and they use the doctrine of election
as an excuse, and they become antinomian. Men have always found
an excuse for their sins. It doesn't matter under what
dispensation. Adam blames his sins on Eve.
Eve blames her sins on the serpent. Aaron blames his sins on the
fire. Just come down through the scripture
and you'll find, not only in the scripture, but in our own
experience, we always have been able to justify ourselves and
find some excuse for sin. And if a man didn't find the
doctrine of election as an excuse for his sin, he'd find something
else. One old man said, the sun will ripen a smelly weed just
as well as it'll ripen an apple tree. But the fault is not in
the sun, it's in the nature of the weed. When the sun shines and that
old smelly weed, obnoxious weed, grows and flourishes, well so
does the apple tree. It's the same sun that produces
fruit and produces a terrible odor. But the fault's not in
the sun, it's in the weed. It's of a different nature. And
men certainly, they've taken the doctrine of election, the
doctrine of preservation, the security of the believer, they
take a lot of these doctrines and they use them to become careless
and indifferent to holiness and righteousness, but that's not
the fault of the doctrine, that's the nature of the sinner. Sixthly,
but I've heard it said that believing in election will dampen your
missionary zeal and kill evangelism. Nobody taught Elexin more strongly
than our Lord. He said, All that my Father giveth
me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no
wise cast out. In John 17, 9, he said, I pray
not for the world, I pray for them which thou hast given me.
He said to the Pharisees, You are not of my sheep, my sheep
hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give
them eternal life. But our Lord Jesus Christ came into this world
to save sinners. He loved sinners. He came to
save sinners. He believed in election. He said,
Father, I thank thee, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast
hid these things from the wise and prudent, and thou hast revealed
them unto me. Even so, Father, it seemed good
in thy sight. Then he turned to the sinners
and said, Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden.
I'll give you rest. The Apostle Paul taught election.
2 Thessalonians 2 verse 13, he said, We are bound to give thanks
to God for you, brethren, beloved, because God hath from the beginning
chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit
and belief of the truth. Romans 8, 29, and 30, he said,
Whom he foreknew, he predestinated. Whom he predestinated, he called.
Whom he called, he justified. Whom he justified, he glorified.
And yet Paul was the first great missionary to the Gentiles. He
spent his very life preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. He
was put in prison. He was stoned. He was beaten.
He was shipwrecked. He finally was beheaded, preaching
the gospel to sinners. And time would not permit me
to name the Luthers, and the Calvins, and the Spurgeons, and
the Whitefields, and the Careys, and the Judsons, and every great
preacher whom God's ever used to believe the doctrine of election. But it did not make them less
missionary and less evangelistic, it made them more evangelistic.
It gave them a greater burden to say with the Apostle Paul,
I can do all things for the elect's sake that they might come to
know the Lord who chose them. in his own good pleasure and
purpose. Seventh, in the seventh place. But can we not preach
election too much? We certainly can. We certainly
can. Take any doctrine and preach
it exclusively and you distort it. The prettiest face in the
world would become ugly if you enlarge the nose, or enlarge
the mouth, or enlarge the ears. Proportion is beauty. And to
preach every truth in fair proportion, keeping back nothing nor exaggerating
any, is to preach the beauty of truth. We preach election,
we preach responsibility. We preach sovereignty, we preach
accountability. We preach God's purpose and grace,
we preach man's responsibility to obey God. We do not apologize
for telling men the truth. Yes, you preach any doctrine
exclusively, and you distort it. You make it ugly. You get it out of proportion
from the rest of the Word of God. I have a four-fold outline
tonight. I'm going to answer four questions
that I think will be helpful to you on this subject. Election,
its defenses, its evidences, and its effects. First of all,
I'm going to answer this question, what is the doctrine of election?
Then secondly, I'm going to answer this, what are the defenses?
the head built around the doctrine of election. In the third place,
what are the evidences that a man is elect? Are there some evidences
that we are elect? The Bible tells us some. And
in the fourth place, what are the effects of the doctrine of
election? Now, first of all, what is the
doctrine of election? We hear the doctrine of election.
I believe it. Most of you believe it. The Bible
teaches it. Our forefathers preached it.
It's in our catechism and our creeds and our confessions of
faith. What is the doctrine of election?
Paul said here, knowing, brethren, beloved, your election of God. First of all, the cause of election
or the motive of election is found in God, not in man. The
cause of election is found in God. God said, I will be merciful
to whom I will be merciful, I will be gracious to whom I will be
gracious, Exodus 33, 18 and 19. The cause or motive in election
is found in God. God is plenteous in mercy. God
delights to show mercy. God is love. The cause of salvation,
the motive for salvation, is not found in man. It's found
entirely and wholly and completely in God. Salvation began with
God. Salvation was purposed by God.
Salvation comes from God. Salvation is ours because God
was pleased to give it. You cannot find in man any cause
of election, any motive for election. God loved the unlovable. God
forgave sinners. God loved us when we were dead
in trespasses and sin. The whole and complete cause
and motive and reason for election is found in God. Now watch this,
Chuck, now this is important. The necessity of election. The necessity for an election
is found in man. The cause of it's in God. The
reason, the motive is in God. But why must there be an election?
Why is election necessary? If God's going to have a people,
he has to elect a people. Why? Here are some reasons. You will not come to me that
you might have life. That's what Christ said. You
will not come to me. Our Lord said, how often would
I have gathered you unto myself as a hen doth gather her brood,
but you would not. Scripture says he came unto his
own, and his own received him not. Scripture says this is condemnation,
men love darkness rather than light, their deeds are evil.
Scripture says the natural mind is enmity against God, it's not
subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. Preaching of the
cross is foolishness to them that perish. Man is a sinful
creature. He's an evil creature. He's bound
by sin and bound by evil and bound by darkness and bound by
death. He does not know God and he does
not want to know God. Not by nature. Now he has a God
and he is a religious creature. But he does not want to know
the God of the Bible. He does not want to know the
living God. He does not have the will or desire to know the
living God. That's why election is necessary.
You will not come to me. If we're ever brought together,
I'm going to have to come to you. Christ said to his disciples,
you did not choose me, I chose you. You do not love me, I must
love you. You will not call, I must call
you. You will not seek, I must seek
you. Herein is love, not that we love
God. He loved us. We love ourselves.
We love our sin. We love our evil. Our particular
kind of evil. Whether it be pride, or selfishness,
or covetousness, or lust, or whatever it might be. We love
our particular brand of evil. We love ourselves. And when the
will of God crosses our will, that's when our real natures
are unveiled and revealed. Now get this right here and listen
carefully. Man is a free agent. He does not have a free will. I'm going to illustrate that.
I've had many of you ask me about that. You read it in some of
the old writers. You've heard it read how that
we do not deny the free agency of men, but we deny the free
will of men. I'm going to help you understand
that tonight. I'm going to clear that up as clear as I can clear
it up for every one of us. Ed Ballard, stand up, would you?
Stand up just a moment. Now be seated. Thank you. Now
I illustrated the free agency of man right there. Ed, without
any force or power outside of himself, stood up and he sat
back down. Agency means force or power or
activity. He is an agent. And it's a creation. Nobody held him down. Nobody
pushed him up. He stood up by himself. He had
the power to act. He had the power to be seated.
He had the power to stand up. He could do exactly what he wanted
to do. When I asked him to stand up,
he could have remained seated. But he sat there and moaned.
I tell you what went through his mind. I wonder what he was going to do. Why did he
pick on me? So he thought, it's not going
to hurt me to stand up. So he got up. And he stood up.
He had the power to do it. He had the force to do it. He
had the ability to do it. He had the strength to do it.
If we didn't have that, we'd be, Joe would be dead, dead logs. We'd be tin cans. The men who
crucified Christ had the power to do it. They had the strength
to do it. They had the hammer in their hands and the nails
in their hands. And they did it. We are free agents. We have the
power and the right. We feel an agent. Look it up
in the dictionary. It's an agency as an activity
or action. It's force. It's power. It's
movement. And we are free to do that. I'm
free if I want to jump over this thing right now. I'd make a fool
out of myself. I'd hurt myself. But there's
nobody, you're not going to stop me, are you? And there's no power
to hold me back. There's no power to pull me over.
I'm a free agent. I can stand up here and take
off my clothes in front of all these people. I'm a free agent. That's right. I can run out in
front of a truck. I'm a free agent. That's what
we're talking about in free agency. We have no power or force to
keep us from acting or speaking or doing what we wish to do.
Now then, before you will, Ed borrows Charles' knife. He's
got a pocket knife in his pocket. You borrow it and stab him in
there. Just cut her throat. Now you're not going to do that,
are you? He's not going to do that. He did the first thing
I asked him to do. Why doesn't he do the second?
He doesn't have the will to do that second. That's against your
nature. He loves her too much. Now he has the strength to do
it. He has the power. He's bigger than she is. He's
stronger than she is. He could right now take a knife,
if he had the will to do it, and cut her heart out. But he
doesn't have the will to do it. Now listen to me. Here's the
illustration. Sinner, receive Christ. Love Christ. Crown Christ the
Lord of your life. Can he do it? He certainly can.
If he had the will, Charlie. He doesn't have the will to do
that. He doesn't have the will. He doesn't have the desire. He
doesn't want to crown Christ. You can say to a believer, like
I said to Ed Dollard, curse Jesus Christ. I will not do it. I will
not do it. I don't have the will to. I don't
have the heart to. I love Christ. Well, praise Christ. I'll do that now. I've got that
will. Praise the Lord. A lost man, a dead sinner, he
is a free agent. He can come to church. He can
say, just like you, the songs that you're singing. He can read
the Bible as you read it. He can see the gospel as you
see it. He can hear the invitation as
you hear it. But there's no way that he can crown Christ and
enthrone Christ and receive Christ and believe Christ. Why? He does
not have the will. He does not have the desire.
He does not have the want to. Who makes the difference? Turn
to Psalm 110, verse 3. Psalm 110, verse 3. Psalm 110,
verse 3. Now listen to this. thy people, people who love God,
Psalm 110 verse 3, people who love Christ, people who bow to
Christ, people who exalt Christ, people who love his gospel shall
be willing in the day of thy power, in the day of thy power. God has to do an operation in
the beauty of holiness from the womb of the one. God has to do
an operation on these wills of ours that are bound in sin. We have a will to do evil, not
the will to do good. If God did not choose you, you'd
never choose Him. You don't will to do it. If God
did not call you, you'd never call on Him. You don't have the
will to do it. If God Almighty did not come
to you and will you and draw you, You'd never come to him. Now that's free agency, free
will, illustrate it. I said to Ed, stand up. And he
had the strength and the power, the ability to get to his feet
and to sit back down. There was no restraining force.
And that's the same way with you and me. We are free agents.
We can go out in the cold. We can come into the warmth.
We can go to church. We can stay away from church.
We can curse. or we can speak plainly or righteously,
we can do those things. There's nobody put words in my
mouth and forces me to do these things. I'm a free agent. But
my will, by nature, when I told him to take the life of his precious
daughter, no way, no way. That's not his will. That's not
his desire. And the very demons of hell would
have to fill him and twist his mind and change his mind. Think
what an operation it would require on him to get him to do a thing
like this. It would take the very forces of hell to do it. Powerful forces. And that's the
same thing that must be done to get a sinner to bow to Christ.
It takes the forces of God. It takes the power. It's against
our nature. It's against our will to enthrone
Christ. We love self. We don't love God.
We love darkness, we don't love life. We love evil, we don't
love holiness. We love sin, we don't love truth.
And that's the reason Christ didn't make you do it. You have
to be born again. There has to be a complete reversal
of your nature. There has to be a new nature
and a new will to make you love what you hate and make you hate
what you love. Does that help you? That's the
necessity of election. That's the reason God must choose.
And that sinner has as much aversion to crowning Christ as Ed has
to killing his daughter. So that's why there's just as
much aversion. There's just as much rejection. It takes the power of God to
make him do what he doesn't like to do. some of you can go, I
had a young lady write me and she listens to my tapes and she
said this, she said when you come to the end of a message
and say I must quit, she said always she wouldn't quit, but
she said I remember the day when I wish Purchase quit before we
got started because I just detested to listen to Purchase. Election is sovereign. God said,
I'll have mercy on whom I will. Election is free. Whatever may
be God's reason for choosing you, it's not found in you, it's
found in Him. Election is irreversible. The
gifts and calling of God are without change. God said, I am
the Lord, therefore your sons of Jacob are not consumed. Election
is effectual. He said whom he foreknew, he
predestinated. Whom he predestinated, he called.
Whom he called, he justified. Whom he justified, he glorified.
And election is personal. Personal. The Lord knoweth them
that are here. Alright, here's the second point,
and I've got to move along. What are the defenses of the
doctrine of election? Now, remember under the first
head what is election. The cause of it, the motive of
it, the reason for it is found in God, not in the creature.
The necessity for it is found in the creature. While he is
a free agent, and while he does not have any restraining forces
to keep him from acting, he doesn't have the will to act. He doesn't
have the will to act. He loves darkness. And God has
to act upon him, God has to change his nature, give him a new nature. Now what are the defenses of
election? That which guards it against attacks, against abuse
and misuse. Now if you'll remember this,
this will help you when you're talking about the doctrine of
election to guard against misuse and abuse. First of all, now
listen to this, it's true. Election is not a doctrine understood
at the beginning of your spiritual life. Election is not a doctrine
which is understood at the beginning of your spiritual life. Not normally. Not usually. You don't teach
a child math by beginning with algebra. You don't teach a child
math by beginning with trigonometry. You start with 1 and 1 or 2,
2 and 2 or 3. That's where you start. And even
so, You begin at the wrong end when you try to know your election
before you know anything about repentance toward God and faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. You're starting at the wrong
end. Where a sinner starts is, O Lord, be merciful to me, a
sinner. The publican in the temple, what
did he know about original sin? What did he know about elective
grace? What did he know about persevering
power? He knew two things. He was a
sinner. And he sinned against God. And
he wanted mercy. And he cried for mercy. That's
where you start. You start with your sin. You start with your
need. You start with repentance. You start with faith. You start
with the blood of Christ. You start with trusting the Redeemer. That's where you start. God the
Holy Spirit enables you to study his word and grow in grace and
the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. You come to that place
where you give diligence and endeavor to make your calling
and election sure. But one of the first things you
make sure is your repentance and your faith. Your repentance
toward God and your faith in Christ. That's the important
thing. Secondly, that hedge is about the doctrines of grace,
the doctrine of election. It's not something that you teach
babes in Christ. It's not something you understand
before you understand mercy. You understand mercy before you
understand election. And then secondly, election is
not inconsistent with the promises of mercy in God's Word. The Bible
does not say, Ho, everyone that's elect, come ye to the waters.
What does it say? It says, Ho, everyone that is
a first, come to the waters. The Bible does not say, Come
unto me, all ye that are elect, and I will give you rest. It
says, Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden. That's
where the sinner starts. He doesn't know anything about
the decrees of God. He knows something about God's
judgment and God's wrath. The Bible does not say he that
is elect hath eternal life, it says he that believeth hath everlasting
life. You are to be concerned with
being thirsty, you are to be concerned with being laboring
and heavy laden, you are to be concerned with believing on Christ. The Bible does not say whosoever
is elect and calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved, it
just says whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall
be saved. That's what it says. We have been commanded by our
Lord to preach the gospel to every creature. He says, go ye
into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
And he did not add, when you find one of the elect, he shall
be saved. And you tell him the good news
that he's saved. No, sir. He says, you go preach
the gospel to every creature, and he that believeth and is
baptized shall be saved. And he that believeth not shall
be damned. That hedge is about the doctrine of election and
keeps people from abusing it and attacking it and misusing
it. You want Christ? Come on. The doctrine of election
holds no one back from coming to Christ. It prevents no one
from coming to Christ. It enables men to come to Christ.
It's not the sinner's enemy. Election is the sinner's best
friend. And then thirdly, now get this,
this is so important. Election does not deliver us,
and this is one of the charges brought against it, this is what
the enemies of God's grace bring against, railing accusation against
it on this basis. Election, being one of the elect,
does not deliver you from your responsibility to believe on
Christ. Nor does it deliver you from
your responsibility to walk in holiness and in obedience to
God's Now here are three important things. My business, your business,
is not with the decrees and counsel of God, but with the Christ of
God. That's who I do business with.
This is the work of him that sent me. This is the work of
God. They asked Christ, they said, how shall we work the works
of God? He said, this is the work of God, that you believe
on him whom God has sent. That's your first responsibility.
Your first responsibility is not to dig into the decrees of
God, and dig into the deep counsels of God, and dig into the purposes
of God from before the foundation of the world. Your responsibility
is to seek Christ, and to love Christ, and to believe on Christ,
and to worship Christ. That's your responsibility. Anyway, secondly, we go to Christ
first, and then to the Father. You can't get to the decrees
of God without going to Christ. Because all of the decrees of
God are in Christ. That's right. We go to the cross,
and then to the decree. We go to redemption, and then
to election. We receive Christ, and then we
receive the right to sonship. He said, for as many as receive
Him. to them gave he the right to
become sons of God. It doesn't say those that have
the right to become sons of God receive Christ. No, sir. It says
to as many as receive Christ, to them gave he the right to
sonship. You don't start with the decree. That brings me to
the third thing. You don't arrive at Christ for doctrine. You don't
learn the doctrines and then come to Christ. This is one of
the most deadly Deadly, dangerous things that are positions a person
can get in. It's to become a Calvinist before
it becomes a Christian. You're in trouble. You're in
real trouble. When you become a person that's
got the answers, you know the decrees, you know the deep teachings,
you know the purposes, you know all those things, without Christ,
you've got a wrong grasp on those things. Because none of the decrees
of God, or the purposes of God, or the counsel of God can be
interpreted except in the person of Christ. Not so. That sinner,
no man knoweth the Father. Watch this now. And when you
talk about understanding election, and you're not saved, you don't
understand election. You've got a perversion of it.
Well, you say, I believe in predestination. Are you saved? Are you a child
of God? Do you love Christ? No, I've never been converted.
You don't know anything about predestination. You don't know. You are as dumb as dumb can be. You are as perverted in your
doctrine as you can be. It is impossible for a man who
does not know Christ to understand the counsels and decrees and
purposes of God because they are interpreted in Christ. I'm
telling you the truth. No man knoweth the Father, except
the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him. Isn't that what
Scripture says? Alright, the Father, that's his attributes,
that's his characteristics, that's his purposes, that's his will,
that's his plan, and you mean to tell me you understand those
things and you don't know the Son? Well, you've got a perverted
doctrine. You've got a twisted doctrine.
That's the reason there's so many of what we call Calvinistic
preachers who don't preach the grace of God as the Scripture
teaches. They haven't learned Christ yet. A man cannot learn
the decrees until he learns Christ. He cannot learn the counsel of
God until he comes to the Christ of God. No man coming to the
Father but by me, Christ said. I am the way. I am the truth.
I am the life. A man cannot know the truth who
does not know Christ. And when you start discussing
the purposes of God and the sovereignty of God in election and the decrees
of God with an unsaved man, you're in trouble too. Because there's
no way that that man can understand those things except as he sees
the beauty and the glory of Jesus Christ. That's right. He can't
do it. No way. And that's the reason
a lot of times I go somewhere to preach, and people want to
hear me preach on election and predestination and these things,
and most of the folks in the congregation are unsaved. They
don't need to hear election. They need to hear sin and judgment
and wrath and law and Christ and redemption and the cross
and the blood. Those are the things that Hedge
it about. What are they? Briefly. First of all, it is
this. Election is not a doctrine understood
at the beginning of spiritual life. Secondly, election is not
inconsistent with the promises of God's mercy. And thirdly,
election does not deliver us from our responsibility to believe
on Christ and to walk in obedience to God's word and walk in holiness
before the Lord. Now, thirdly, what are the evidences
of election? Well, look at 1 Thessalonians
4. Let's look at our text here. What are the evidences? Our text
says in verse 4, knowing brethren beloved your election of God.
Our text says that the apostle knew the election of these people.
He knew they were elected. How did he know it? How did he
know they were elected? The way by which the apostle
knew their election is the way we know ours. Alright, look at
verse 5, number 1. Our gospel, the gospel of Christ,
the gospel of addiction, did not come to you in word only.
That's the way most people hear the gospel. Words, words, words. It's a battle of words. It's
an oratory of words. It's enticing words of man's
wisdom. It's intellectual words. It's argumentative words. It's
debatable words. It's just words. But he said,
you heard the gospel in power. Power to convince you of sin
and power to break your heart and power to crush your rebellion
power to reveal Christ, and power to bring faith, and power to
rest in Christ with confidence and assurance. You heard the
gospel in power. You heard the gospel in the Holy
Ghost. You heard the gospel in much assurance. Life changing. Thought changing. Attitude changing. You see that? That's the power
of God. That's where you heard the gospel.
Then he said in verse 6, And you became followers of us and
of the Lord. He became followers of his word.
He became followers of his ministry. He became followers of the Lord
Jesus Christ. My sheep hear my voice, hear
my voice. They don't hear just words, they
hear him speak through his word. They hear him speak in power.
And they become followers. He said they hear my word and
they follow me. They follow me. Alright? Thirdly,
verse 7. So that you were examples or
examples. You became examples to other
people in your conduct, in your conversation, in your attitude,
in your behavior. God did something for you. Your
life was changed. You're not perfect. I'm not.
Nobody else is on this earth. But you're growing in grace.
And you're showing forth the love of Christ and the mercy
of Christ. And people can see that you're different. God's
done something for you. You became examples. Verse 8,
you became missionaries. Far from you sounded out the
word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia, Nicaea, where you
live, but also in every place your faith to God is spread abroad.
You became interested in other people. You witnessed to them. You played tape for them. You
gave books to them. You told them what God had done
for you. You became a witness for Christ. And then verse 9,
the last line says, you turn from your idols. You turn from
your idols. We have our own particular brand
of idols. Some of us worship our children,
some worship ourselves, and some worship the things of this world,
and some worship pleasure and entertainment, and some worship
this, that, and the other. But you turn from idols to serve
the living God. Christ became your Lord and your
Master and your King. You became more interested in
him and his word and his way than you did anything else in
this world. And verse 10, you were waiting for the return of
the Son of God. You're waiting for him to come or to call you
home. You're waiting. All right, the fourth thing quickly,
and I'll close with this. What are the effects of the doctrine
of electing? What are the effects? I'll give
you five or six. What does election do? First
of all, it brings joy to the heart. I'll tell you this, I'm
glad God chose me. Oh, I tell you, I'm glad He didn't
pass me by. I'm glad He didn't leave me to
myself, to my own choice, to my own way, to my own will. I'm
glad He made me willing in the day of His power. I'm glad He
came to the dungeon and darkness and death of sin and gave me
life and truth Caused me to want Him. Our Lord
Jesus, when He mentioned election, He said, You hid these things
from the wise and prudent, but You revealed them to babes. I
thank You, Father. Paul said, We're bound to give
thanks that God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation.
It brings joy to the heart. Secondly, it promotes humility.
It promotes humility. The proudest people on this earth
are those people who think that God can't get along without them.
The proudest people on this earth are those who think they're doing
something for God. They're serving God. They're laboring in the
kingdom of God. They're winning souls to Jesus. They're giving
their tithes. They're holding out and holding
out and being faithful and keeping on, keeping on. Who makes you
to differ? 1 Corinthians 4, 7. What do you have you didn't receive?
Now, if you received it, why do you glory as if you didn't
receive it? David said, Lord, who am I and
what is my house that you should show such mercy to earth? But
Phibosheth said, oh, who am I, King David, that you should show
mercy to such a dead dog? Election promotes humility. I
realize that everything I have, everything I know, everything
I am, everything I ever hope to be, is by the free grace and
mercy of God, not because of anything I've ever said, done,
given, or thought, or known, or will know. It's by the free
gift of God's grace. He did it according to the good
pleasure of His will, not because of anything He will receive in
return for me or anything He saw in me. Thirdly, election
gives comfort in hard trials. We know that all things work
together for good to them that love God. I know that. And if
God Almighty is pleased to come down tonight and take the dearest
thing on this earth away from me, I'll look up to Him and I
hope to say with Job, though he's slaving out The Lord gave
and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.
Well, brother, we can say blessed be the name of the Lord as long
as God's giving, but can you say it when God take it? The
Lord give it and the Lord take it, blessed be the name of the
Lord. Not the Lord give it, blessed be the name of the Lord. The
Lord give it, blessed be the name of the Lord. The Lord take
it, blessed be the name of the Lord. Well, a man who knows that
God orders his life, and God Almighty controls his life, and
God Almighty plans his life, he can bless the Lord in the
hardest trial, in the most severe trial. It brings comfort. It's
the only place you can find comfort. And then fourth, fifthly, it
gives God the glory. In the fourth place, it gives
God the glory. God has chosen the foolish things to confound
the wise. God has chosen the things that
are not to bring are nothing to bring to naught the things
that are, that no flesh had glory in his presence." 1 Corinthians
1, 26-29. He called us to the praise of
the glory of his grace. I tell you something else it
does. Election gives assurance, because I know this. You know
who is going to be glorified? Those whom he calls. You know
who is going to be called? Those whom he justifies. You
know who is going to be justified? Those whom he predestinated.
You know who he predestinated? Those he knew. That gives me
assurance. If God defiled me, who can be
against me? Who can lay anything to the charge
of God's elect? Romans 8, 29-34. Who is he that
condemned me? God justified me. God chose me. Christ died for me. The Holy
Spirit called me. There's not a force or power
on heaven, earth, or hell that can touch me. If that's true
of me, if God foreknew me and predestinated me, and justified
me and called me, he will glorify me. Not a doubt about it. You
can't break that covenant. It gives me assurance. And then
it sends a man to the prayer closet. Now men may preach, sinners
save thyself, but you know what men must pray? God be merciful
to me, a sinner. A fellow might rant and rave
and stomp and sputter and fume and holler, sinners save thyself,
but when he goes to pray, God be merciful. A man may preach
free will, but he has to pray, thy will be done. A man may preach
to try to get witnesses and preachers and soul winners, but when he
prays, he has to pray that the Lord of the harvest will raise
up laborers and send them forth. A man may preach the dignity
of men, but when he prays, he has to pray, forgive my sins.
A man may preach the faithfulness of men, but when he prays, he
has to pray unto him that's able to keep us from falling. Unto
him be the glory. And then what will election do?
In the last place, it'll make a man endeavor to be like Christ.
We love him. Why? He first loved us. We're
kind. Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another. Why? As God, for Christ's sake,
has forgiven you. We're merciful. Christ said,
be ye merciful as your Father in heaven is merciful. We witnessed
and prayed twice. Peter said, we can't help but
tell those things that we've seen in others. It has to happen
in here. And when it happens in here,
it begins to show out here. Those are the effects of a lecture.
It's a doctrine for which I give the deepest and the most heartfelt
thanks to God. It's a friend of sinners. It's
the open door to sinners. It's the mercy of God. Our Father,
we are thankful that you did not leave us to our own will,
but you made us willing. You did not leave us to our own
desires, but you gave us desires in a painting after day. You
did not leave us to our own understanding in a way that seems right, and
the end is death and destruction. But you sent your Son to give
us an understanding. the true God in eternal life.
You chose us and loved us in Christ, predestinated us to be
conformed to his image, redeemed us by his precious blood, gave
us a perfect holiness and righteousness, and called us by your Spirit
out of darkness into the light of Christ. And we have the promise
and assurance and confidence that all whom you call, you'll
glorify.

Election: Its Defense, Evidences and Effect

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Election: Its Defense, Evidences and Effect

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