The Bold Challenge of God's Elect

David wrote the fools Have said in their hearts there
is no God They are corrupt They have done
abominable works There's none that do it good The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see
if there were any that did understand and seek God. But they're all
gone aside. They're all together become filthy. There is none that doeth good,
no, not one. And the voice in heaven said,
Justice, they're yours. Righteousness, they're yours. Holy Law, they now belong to
you. But out of the darkness of human
depravity, and out of the rubble of Adam's fall, And out of the
ruins of human righteousness, I hear a strong, brave voice
call, Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? There's silence. And then he speaks again, justice,
they're yours. Righteousness, they're yours. Holy law, they're yours. But
from the scales weighed and wanting, from the bitterness of sin's
gall, from the prison house of the damned, I hear again that
brave, strong voice call, who is he that condemns? God's elect. And they're silent. And he speaks again, Justice,
I said they're yours. Righteousness, they're yours.
Holy Law, they're yours. Take them. Found guilty with
Adam's treason. Their backs against the wall.
Condemned universally to death. But I hear once again that brave,
strong voice call, Who shall separate us from the love of
God? Wait a minute, justice. Wait a minute, righteousness.
Wait, holy law. Let's hear what this voice pleads. Let's hear his claim. The judge
of the earth will do right. The innocent shall not suffer.
God will by no means clear the guilty, but God will by no means
condemn the just. The just shall live. Let's hear
him speak. All right. You who've spoken,
who are you? Who are you? I'm God's elect. Well, who is God's elect? Well, they're those who love
God. It says here in Romans 8, 28,
the text we read, and we know that all things work together
for good, not for condemnation, for good to them who love God. But the natural man is enmity
against God. The natural man does not love
God. Does not the scripture say he
is despised and rejected of men? Does not the word of God say
the world hates him? No justice, all do not hate him. No righteousness, all do not
hate him. No holy law, all do not hate
him. Some love him. Did not the voice
of Peter say, Lord, you know all things? You know I love you. No, they didn't love him first. They love him because he first
loved them, but they love him. How they love his word, they
call it precious. How they love his promises, they
call them precious. How they love his son, they call
him precious. How they love his truth, Yes,
Justice, there are some who love God. They're His elect. They love Him. Well, go on. Who are God's elect? Well, they're
those who love God, and then there are those who are called
according to His purpose. It's the purpose of Satan to
ruin. It's the purpose of man to rebel. It's the purpose of God to redeem.
God says heaven will be populated. God says heaven will be populated
with a people like Christ. There will be a multitude, He
says, which no man can number as the stars of this vast universe,
as the sands of the seashore. There will be a vast number from
every tribe, kindred, nation, and tongue unto heaven that shall
forever praise His glorious name. Yes, justice, that's God's elect. They love him and they're called
according to his purpose. Well, go on. They're those whom
he foreknew. He chose out of Adam's race of
people. Did not he say to Jeremiah, before
I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee? Did not he say to that
young prophet, before you came out of your mother's womb, I
sanctified you? Did not Noah find grace in the
eyes of the Lord? Did not our God make a covenant
of grace with Abraham? Did not David, as he slipped
away from this earth, say, God hath made with me an everlasting
covenant, and this is all my desire and my salvation? He foreknew some people. Eternally,
He has known them. Eternally, He has loved them.
Eternally, He has named them His sons. That's who God's elect
are. Well, go on. There are those
whom He did predestinate. What do you mean, He did predestinate? Well, those whom He chose. He
predetermined, He destined that every one of them would be just
like His well-beloved sons. that heaven would be populated
with a people just like the Beloved Son, just like His Son, Jesus
Christ. He is only begotten. He not only
destined the end that they should be like Christ, but He destinated
the means to accomplish that goal. Sons of God by divine election. Sons of God by His own choice. Sons of God by His redemptive
power. And sons of God they shall be.
conformed perfectly to the image of His well-beloved. That's who
God's elect are. But go on. Well, there are those
whom He called. They wouldn't call on Him. He
called them. They wouldn't seek Him. He sought
them. They wouldn't come to Him. He
came to them. God will find His elect. He will
effectually call His elect. He found Abraham in idolatry,
and he said, Abraham, get thee out and go to a land I'll show
thee. He'll find them in religion like
Saul of Tarsus, in tradition and ceremonialism and legalism.
But he brought his heart down. He'll find them in sins, bondage
like the harlot. He'll find them in despair like
the thief, but he'll find them. And oh, when he finds them, He
brings them to Himself, and they willingly come. He drew me, and
I followed on, charmed to confess His voice divine. That's God's
elect. Those who love Him, those who
are called according to His purpose, those whom He foreknew and those
whom He predestinated and those whom He called will go on. They
are those whom He justifies. How can God be just and justify
folks like you? Well, in His wisdom, He found
a way. Love found a way to redeem my soul. Love found a way to
make me whole. Love found a way to justify my
soul. Love sent my Lord to the cross
of shame. Love found a way, praise His
name. Well, go on. God's elect are
those whom He glorifies, that in the ages to come that He might
show off, not their righteousness, but the riches of His grace in
His kindness toward them. Oh, justice! Out of all of this
ruin and rubble and rebellion, there's a people! Oh, righteousness! Out of all this corruption and
sin and guilt, there's a people! O holy love of God, out of all
of this evil and of all of this condemnation, there are people,
they're God's elect. They're God's elect. They're
those whom he has loved, and they're those who love him. They're
those whom he hath called, and they're those who have responded. They're those whom he hath justified,
whom he will glorify. That's God's elect. All right,
God's elect, let's hear you speak. We will listen. What is your
challenge? Well, our challenge, first of
all, is this. If God be for us, who can be
against us? If God be for us, if God be for
us in His eternal love, if God be for us in His covenant mercies,
if God be for us in His predestinating purposes, if God be for us in
substitution, if God be for us in atonement and sacrifice, if
God be for us in intercessory grace, if God be for us in effectual
call. Then who? Who in all of heaven? And I ask who in all of earth? And I ask who in the regions
of the dam? I call upon anyone who can be
against us. The angels cannot be against
us because he said in Hebrews chapter 1 that the angels, Hebrews
1.14, are actually God's ministering spirits sent
forth to minister for them, God's elect, who shall be the heirs
of salvation. The angels are not against us.
This is our claim, justice. Justice, are you listening? God's elect. We boldly challenge
anyone to be against us. If God's for us, if God's for
us, angels, you can't be against us. You've got to be our ministering
spirits. Satan, Satan cannot be against
us. His power's broken. Satan's defeated. The woman's seed has conquered
him. No man's seed could do it. Man
couldn't do it. The angels couldn't do it. The
religious forces couldn't do it. All the prayers of all the
people of all ages couldn't do it, but in one conquering sweep of his sword of righteousness,
the Son of Glory did it. He destroyed his power. Satan
can't be against us. He's defeated. He's in God's
chains. He's sentenced to eternal condemnation. The world cannot be against us
because our Lord said, I've overcome the world. In this world you'll
have trouble and trial and tribulation, but be of good cheer. I've overcome
the world. My peace I give unto you, not
as the world give it, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid. Our flesh cannot do it, it cannot
overcome us, because our flesh is already condemned to the dust.
Paul said, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from
this body of death? I thank God, I already have the
victory in Christ Jesus. So this is our first challenge,
O righteousness of God, O justice of God, O law of God. We say,
if God be for us, if God be for us in eternal love, if God be
for us in His full ordination, if God be for us in His predestinating
grace, if God be for us in justification, if God be for us in effectual
call, if God be for us in ultimate purpose, we say, angels, men,
self, Satan, Stand up if you dare. Stand up if you dare. They can't stand up. They've
already been destroyed. And all of their claims and all
of their charges have been answered. Can't answer. All right, elect
of God, continue. Speak again. All right. We answer who can lay anything
to the charge of God's elect. It is God that justifies. One
day there was an evil king called Belshazzar. And he had a rebellious,
wicked heart. And he was a proud, he was a
proud rebel. And he'd run out of, he'd exhausted
his imaginations of evil. And finally he chose to dishonor
and mock the living God. And so he said to his servants,
go down to the temple and bring me the golden, sacred, sanctified
vessels and they did. And they brought those vessels
of God and put them before him and he filled them with liquor
and he gave them to all of his princes and captains and concubines
and he said, let's drink and make merry. And then the hand
of a figure of a man's hand appeared on the wall and he began to write.
Mene, Mene, Tikal, Ufarsin. And he sent for God's prophet.
No, none of his wise men could read it. He sent for God's prophet.
He said, what's that say? God's prophet says, that says,
Belshazzar, thy kingdom is divided, given to the Medes and Persians.
And this night you'll die, for thou art weighed in the balances. and found wanting. That's right. You, God's elect, that's right.
All of mankind is weighed in the balances. You're weighed
by God's holy law and you're found wanting. That's right. Yes, that's right. The law of
God charges us with disobedience. The law of God charges us having
offended even in one point. We're guilty of all. That's right.
We've tipped the scales. We're wanting, just like old
Belshazzar. Also you're weighed by the Word
of God and found wanting. That's right. He has commanded
and we have refused. He has spoken and we have rebelled.
And you're weighed by the righteousness of God and found wanting. You
compare yourselves with other fallen creatures, but compared
to the Holy God, you are a wicked creature. In the light of God's
holiness and righteousness, you are a sinful creature. That's
right. We're weighed by our own conscience. If you justify yourself,
your own mouth will condemn you. That's right. But there was a
man. There was a man, Justice, who
was weighed, and he wasn't found wanting. There was a man, Justice,
who stood as our representative one day, and he was weighed in
the balances of God's holy law, and he kept it perfect. And he
was weighed in the balances of God's Word and will, and he kept
it perfectly. And he was weighed in the balances
of God's righteousness, and he balanced them all. A man. A man called Christ Jesus. And
He was our representative, and He was our federal head, and
He represented us, and He was the one who justified us, and
so we challenge again, who can lay anything to the charge of
God's elect? We challenge God's law. Law of
God, examine me. No, not me, examine Him, my Lord,
and me in Him. Do you find any fault? I find
no fault. Come on, God's justice and God's
righteousness, examine me, search to see if you can find any wicked
way in me. Try me. Weigh me. In Him. Not in myself. In Him. And you will be saying
with Pilate, I find no fault in this man. So who can lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It's not a matter of will we
be condemned. We can't be condemned. All right,
go on, God's elect. All right, here's our third challenge.
Who is he that condemned him? It is Christ that died. Do you
know who this is, justice of God who died? He in whom it is
said God was in Christ, who met and paid the full penalty of
every sin of every believer. He died. But that is no sign
that God's righteousness was satisfied. He died. He died like
any other man. He shed His blood, ran from His
hands and face and side, just like any other man. And He was
taken to a grave, and He was buried. All right, so what? Justice,
He arose. He arose. Who is He that condemned? Christ died, yea, rather, is
risen again. He bore our sins, and when He
was buried and laid in that tomb, all was quiet, and the universe
was waiting. Will God, will the Father accept
His sacrifice? Will the Father accept His offering?
Will the Father accept His atonement? Will the High Priest come out
of that Holy of Holies? One day that stone rolled away
and Christ the Lord stepped forth, risen for our justification.
All that he did, accepted. All whom he represented, accepted
in the Beloved. He's risen. Wait a minute, Justice.
Who is also at the right hand of God. That's where he is. He's on the right hand of the
Scripture says, Majesty. The right hand is a place of
power. To which of the angels said he
at any time, Sit thou on my right hand! That place was reserved
for Christ and his people. That place was reserved for Christ
and his elect. That place was reserved for Christ
and his jewels, Christ and his brethren, Christ and his church. Justice of God would you reach
up on the right hand of God and tear from his bosom his beloved? Then you cannot take me because
that's where I'm seated with Christ in the heaven Pretty good challenge Who'd you
say you are I'm God's elect You down there in that mess, you
down there in that darkness and rubble, who are you? I'm God's
elect. That's who I am. I'm God's elect. Those whom He foreknew, and those
whom He predestinated, and those whom He called, and those whom
He justified, and those whom He glorified. And I say, if God
be for me, no one can be against me. And I say, who in all of this
universe step forth and bring one charge against God's elect?
And I say unto you, who can take from his right hand his only
beloved? You who would be the enemies
of God's elect, you would be a fool to challenge
him. They're on his right hand. All
right, go on. Well, you said you had four challenges. I have a fourth challenge, verse
35. Who shall separate me from the
love of Christ? Who shall separate me from the
love of Christ? His love's eternal. Shall Christ
love today and hate tomorrow? He's the same yesterday, today,
and forever. Shall Christ call today and refuse
tomorrow? Shall Christ embrace today and
refuse tomorrow? His loves are eternal! And His
love is infinite. It's without bounds. It's unknown,
unrecognized, unexplainable. It's God Himself. He who has
God's love has God because God is love. His love is unchangeable. It is infinite. It is eternal.
Shall tribulation separate me from the love of God? Pressure
from without. Shall distress? Pressure from
within. Shall persecution, slander, and
rejection? Shall famine? Shall nakedness? Shall peril, dangers in this
world? Shall sword? In all these things,
we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. Wait a minute,
God's elect. I've heard you, I've heard your
challenge. You want to add nothing to that.
What is your challenge again, God's elect? My challenge is
if God be for me, if God be for me, in His eternal purpose, in
His predestinating grace, in His sacrifice on Calvary, in
His divine calling, who can be against me? What is your challenge? My challenge is, who can lay
anything to my charge? God's justified me. God's justified
me. He's borne all my guilt and all
my shame and all my sin and paid my debt. I'm justified. I'm innocent. I'm without sin.
And who can condemn me? Christ died for me. Was buried
and rose again. And He right now is seated at
the Father's right hand. And I am in Him. And I'm accepted
in the Beloved. And your fourth challenge was
no one can separate him from his beloved. It's his bride whom
he has chosen and whom he shall have. I don't detect in your
challenge anything which you have done. I've done nothing. I don't detect in your challenge
any merit which you might have. I don't have any. I don't detect
in your challenge any righteousness which you have produced. I don't
have any righteousness. I don't detect in your challenge
any promises of faithfulness and loyalty. I can't promise
that. In other words, all of your claims
and all of your challenges are based not upon what you have
done, but what somebody else has done. That's right. All of your claims to glory and
your claims to salvation and your claims to forgiveness and
justification is not on the basis of any contribution which you
have made at all, not at all, but solely and totally and completely
on Him. The answer comes back. Step forward,
holy law of God, and speak. What should be done with God's
elect? The law of God steps forward and says, I've tried him in every
point and I find no sin. I've tested him in every area
and I find no fault. I've examined him from the sole
of his feet to the top of his head. as long as he walked on
this earth, and I find no fault. I'm well pleased, not guilty."
Step forward, righteousness of God, and speak! The righteousness
of God looks and says his mind is pure, pure as God himself. His heart is free, free from
affliction, enmity, and sin. His soul is full of the presence
and holiness of God. His hands are clean. His feet
walk the paths of holiness, not guilty. Justice, step forward
and speak. Justice says, my wrath is exhausted. I have spent all of the wrath
that I have stored up for all the rebels of all time on him. My judgment has fallen upon him. My penalty is fully paid. And I stand and say, let him
go. Let him go, not guilty. Enter, God's elect, into the
kingdom prepared for you from before the foundation of the
world. Enter, God's elect, into the presence of the Most Holy
King. Enter, God's elect, God's justified,
God's holy people. Walk with your heads high. and
your voice is raised in praise, this is your kingdom and your
God and your Father. Free from the law, O happy condition,
Jesus has bled and there's remission, O cursed by the law and bruised
by the foul, but Christ hath redeemed us once for all. Now
we're free, there's no condemnation, Jesus provides a perfect salvation. Cling to the cross, the burden
will fall. Christ has redeemed us once for
all. Children of God. Children of
God. Oh, glorious calling. Surely,
surely, His grace will keep us from falling. And one day, passing
from death to life that is called, blessed salvation. once for all. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them who are in Christ Jesus, who are God's elect. Hate that doctrine? Not I. Love those promises? Cling to
those promises and provisions? Hope in God's purpose? I know now what David meant when
those people stood around his bed and said, have you a final
word, oh King David? I have a final word. I have a
final word. God hath made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things and sure. And this is all my
salvation and my desire. I have no plea. I have no merit of my own. My plea is
His mercy and His grace. That will open the door of glory
for you if you can plead, if you can issue forth the bold
challenge of God's elect. That will open the door. Our
Father in Heaven Thank you for your presence. Thank you for
the confidence and assurance that we can have in Christ. Thank
you, O Lord, for the bold challenge of God's elect. It is God that
justifies. It is Christ that dines. It is
the Savior who loved us and not that we loved him. We shall never
be separated from his love. None of these things can part
us from him who made us his own because he's for us. And because
He's for us, no one can be against us. And we plead His merits and
His righteousness and His precious blood. Oh, wash me in the blood,
and I shall be whiter than the snow. For His glory and for His
praise we ask these things. Amen.

The Bold Challenge of God's Elect

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

Joshua

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Music

Recent Comments

About

Legal

Subscribe

Account

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Recent Comments

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Collections

Music

About

Legal

Subscribe

The Bold Challenge of God's Elect

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

More from Henry Mahan

Related Sermons

Same Scripture

Articles by Henry Mahan

Books by Henry Mahan

Joshua

Where this book stands in the tradition

Plato

Augustine

The Western Christian Tradition

This Book