Paul said in II Thessalonians
2.13, we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren,
beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth. What is election? Old Dr. J.R. Grave was out working in
his rose garden one day. A dear lady who lived next door
to him walked over in the rose garden, and she said, Dr. Graves.
He said, Yes, ma'am. She said, You're a Baptist, aren't
you? He said, Yes, ma'am. She said, You Baptists believe
in election, don't you? He said, Yes, we do. She said,
I wish you'd explain it to me. He said, Well, are you saved?
She said, Yes, sir. He said, Who saved you? She said,
God did. He said, Did God save you on
purpose, or was it an accident? She said, well, God saved me
on purpose. He said, that, my dear lady, is election. Everything
God does, He does on purpose. There are no accidents with God.
Spurgeon used to say, election is this, the whole of the work
whereby a lost, ruined sinner is brought from death to life,
from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God's dear
Son. is of God and of Him only. As Jonas said, salvation is of
the Lord. As David wrote, the salvation
of the righteous is of the Lord. The whole of the work, all of
it. whereby a lost, ruined sinner is brought from death to life,
from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God's dear
Son, Alpha and Omega is of God and of Him only. God saved me,
and God saved me on purpose. For we know that all things work
together for good to them who love God, who are called according
to His purpose." Now, the second question. Here's a lecture taught
in the Bible. Well, turn to Matthew chapter
24. Let's just read a few verses.
I want you to follow with me while I read the Word of God.
And as I said, write down these scriptures. People are always
coming to me and they say, well, what are you going to do with
this? Well, I'm not going to do anything with that until I
do something with this. Let's read the Word of God and let's
be honest in our appraisal of the Word of God. Let's let God's
Word sit in judgment on our doctrine instead of making our doctrines
sit in judgment on God's word. Most people know already what
they believe and try to find the scripture to prove it. Now
let's look at God's word. Matthew 24, verse 24. For there
shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show
great signs and wonders, insomuch that if it were possible they
shall deceive the very elect. Now turn to verse 31 of that
same chapter, Matthew 24, 31. And he shall send his angels
with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together
his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the
other. The elect, this is a Bible term. And in reading these verses
tonight, turn to Mark 13, Mark 13. In reading these verses tonight,
I'm only giving you a few of the scriptures that refer to
the elect, the elect of God. Now in Mark chapter 13, verse
20, And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no
flesh should be saved. But for the elect's sake, whom
he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days. The elect, whom he
have chosen. Now John chapter 6. In the 6th
chapter of John we're going to read verse 37. What I'm saying
is this. Election is taught in the Bible.
I was up in Cerrito, West Virginia one time playing golf. Used to
be a golf course up there where the drive-in theater and the
bank is now. And we were playing golf, had
sand greens, and there was a filling station there. It's where Weather-Tite
located. That's free advertisement, Charlie.
Put a little bit in offering tonight. It's where Weather-Tite
Aluminum Products is located. That used to be a golf course.
Served a better purpose then than it does now. But anyway,
we were playing golf there, and I went in the filling station
to get a Coca-Cola. And there was a Bible open on the desk
in the filling station. I didn't know the man. didn't
know who he was or anything, sat in there drinking a Coca-Cola
and saw the Bible open. And that pleased me a great deal,
made my heart kind of jump. There was a man running a business
reading his Bible in between tending the pump. And I took
his Bible and I looked at it and I said, that's a nice Bible.
He said, well, thank you. He said, you believe in predestination.
Well, I didn't know why he asked me that. I said, well, I don't
know. I said, do you believe in it? He said, no. I said, well,
Why don't we see what the Bible says about it, and then decide
whether we believe it or not? He didn't know I was a preacher.
I don't know whether he was or not. But I said, let's see what
the Bible says about predestination. So I looked it up in the Concordance,
and I found that it's used four times, possibly five in the New
Testament. And I turned to where it was
used the first time, and I read it, and I said, it says here
that God had predestinated us to be conformed to the image
of his Son. I said, don't you want to be
conformed to the image of God's Son? He said, well, yeah, I do.
I said, well, that's what predestination is. God has predetermined all
of the means and all of the causes and all of the events that will
bring us someday to perfectly be conformed to the image of
God's Son. He predestinated all of those
things. And I read all those scriptures.
He said, well, I've never seen that like that before. Well,
now, my friends, what you and I ought to do is get us a Bible. You can buy one pretty cheap
now, you know. And let's quit accepting what
we've always been taught. You know, to admit you were wrong
yesterday is to admit you're a little smarter today. Isn't
that right? If I admit I didn't know something
yesterday, but I found it out today, that's to admit that I'm
smarter now than I was yesterday. I hope I'm smarter today than
I was yesterday. I hope I don't have a closed
Bible and a closed mind. I hope before God I've got an
open Bible and an open mind. But let's look here at John chapter
6, verse 37, Christ said, All that the Father giveth me shall
come to me, and him that cometh to me I'll in no wise cast out.
Now, we live in a dishonest generation. We live in a generation where
men quote half a verse. They quote a verse like this,
Whosoever will may come. The Bible doesn't say that anywhere
from Genesis to Revelation. That's just a few words taken
and wrongly taken out of a verse. What the Bible does say is, the
Spirit and the bride say, come. And let him that heareth say,
come. And him that is athirst, come. And whosoever will, let
him take the water of life freely. That's what the Bible says. And
that's a whole lot different meaning from whosoever will may
come. It's whosoever will, let him
take the water of life. Are you thirsty? Well, no, I'm
not. Well, don't you come then. You've got no invitation. You've
got no, there's always a condition on every invitation. Though your
sins be as scarlet, I'll make them white as snow. Are your
sins as scarlet? Well, no, I'm not such a bad
feller. Then don't come. Come unto me all you that labor
and are heavy laden, I'll give you rest. Are you laboring and
heavy laden unto sin? Well, no, I'm not. Then Christ
didn't invite you. Whosoever's a thirst, let him
come. Take the water of life. Are you thirsty? Well, no, I'm
not. Then you're not invited. And it says here, and people
quote this verse, "...him that cometh to me I'll in no wise
cast out." The Bible doesn't say that. It says, "...all that
my Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh under
those conditions I won't cast out." Isn't that what it says?
That's what that verse says I'm reading. Look at verse 44, "...no
man can come to me." No man can come to me except the Father
which sent me drawing, and I'll raise him up at the last day."
John 13, turn to John 13, verse 18. In the 13th chapter of John,
verse 18, Christ is speaking to the disciples, and He says,
I speak not of you all. John 13, 18, I know whom I have
chosen. but that the scripture might
be fulfilled, he that eateth bread with me hath lifted up
his heel against me." I speak not of all of you, I know whom
I have chosen. In John 15, turn over there,
John 15 verse 16, Christ again speaking to the disciples, you
have not chosen me, I have chosen you and ordained
you. that you should go and bring
forth fruit, and your fruit should remain, that whatsoever you shall
ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you." John 17,
9. Turn over here. John 17, 9. I
pray for them. I pray for them. Christ six times
in the seventeenth chapter of John uses this phrase, "...those
whom thou hast given me." those whom thou hast given me." Now
watch what he says in John 17, 9. I pray not for the world,
but for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine.
Strangest thing in the world to me is that men should contend
that Christ's will and desire is to save the whole world when
he refused to pray for the world. The strangest thing in the world
to me is that men should contend that Christ made an effort on
the cross to save the whole world and then turned around and said,
I pray not for the world. And that's what he said. I don't
pray for the world. I don't pray for every human
being. If he prayed for every human being, they'd be saved
because the Father answers every prayer the Son prays. He said,
Father, I know you hear me always. He couldn't pray for the world.
If he had prayed for the world, the whole world would be saved.
If he died for the world, the whole world would be saved. Christ
said it is finished. What he came to do was finished.
It was completed. He can't fail. Now, your little
Jesus may be a failure, but the Christ of the Bible is not. He
shall not fail. I pray not for the world. I pray
for them which thou hast given me out of the world. All mine
are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them. Now
turn to Acts 13.48. In Acts 13, verse 48, what I
want you to do is write these scriptures down, and approach
them with an open heart and a prayerful heart, and pray, O God, I'm a
child, teach me. A proud sinner is going to learn
nothing. God resisteth the proud. God
is not going to teach a haughty man, an arrogant man, anything. Pride goeth before destruction,
and a haughty spirit before the fall. in Acts 13.48, and when
the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and they glorified
the word of the Lord. And as many as were ordained
to life, to eternal life, they believed. Now, people have tried
for generations to turn that around and make that say, as
many as believed were ordained to life, but that's not what
the scripture says. It says, as many as were ordained
to eternal life, Now turn to Romans 9. I had an unusual experience
when I read this scripture one time. Every time I look at it,
I think about it. In fact, some of the men were
present when this took place. But I was trying to teach the
whole counsel of God, the Word of God. I was trying to be honest
with the congregation of which I was the pastor, and I was getting
quite a bit of static and quite a bit of rebellion. And one Sunday
I decided, well, I'd just take the Bible and read the Bible.
I was teaching a men's Bible class. There were a lot of men
there. And I started reading at verse 10 of Romans 9. And
this is what I did. I stood before that class and
I started reading. Didn't make a comment, just read.
And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even
our father Isaac, for the children being not yet born, neither having
done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth. It was said
unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. As it is written,
Jacob have a love, but Esau have a hated. And what shall we say
then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? God forbid! For he said to Moses, I will
have mercy on whom I will have mercy. and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then, it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.
For the Scripture saith to Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have
I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that
my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath
he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth."
And when I got there, a fellow stopped me. And I said, Yes,
sir? You're teaching that God chose
certain men out of the race to save them before they were ever
born. I said, no sir, I'm not either.
He said, yes you are. That's exactly what you're teaching.
I said, I beg your pardon, I'm not teaching anything. I'm just
reading God's word. That's the conclusion you drew
from me reading the word of God. And he got up and walked out
and never came back in church again. so rebellious and so hateful
that even the word of God wouldn't break his heart. Now, my friend,
if you're in that shape, there's no hope for you. There's no help
for you. What conclusion did you draw
when I just read that? You know what the conclusion
you came up with. That's salvation of the Lord.
Jacob had a love. Brother Magruder told me one
time, his dad was a preacher over in Missouri, an old-time
Baptist preacher. And Magruder said that his dad
preached the doctrines of grace, and one day he went in to study
and was talking to his dad, and he said, Dad, he said, I don't
understand that verse in Romans 9, 13, Jacob have a love and
Esau have a hated. He said, I don't understand how
God could hate Esau. And his dad tried to explain
it to him, and then Mac told me, he said, after I grew up
and came to know something about the depravity of the human heart,
the rebellion of mankind against God, the evil and sin in this
world, the satanic principles on which this world turns. He
said, My question, if I could see my dad today, would not be,
How can God hate Esau? My question would be, Dad, how
in the world could God love Jacob? If you ever see yourself as a
sinner, condemned before the law of God, the question won't
be, how can God hate Esau? I know how God could hate Esau.
Esau was a hateful person, and so are we. The question is, how
could a holy God love Jacob? And how could God love you, huh?
Do you have any reason why God should love you? Turn to Romans
11. In Romans 11, verse 5, listen
to this. At this present time, also, there
is a rendement according to the election of grace. And if by
grace, then is it no more of works. Otherwise, grace is no
more grace. Right now, there's a rendement,
there's a handful, according to the election of grace. Look
at verse 7. Israel hath not obtained that which ye seeketh for. Israel
sought it in their ceremonies. Israel sought it in their work.
Israel sought it in their own righteousness, and they didn't
find it there. But the election hath obtained
it, because God opened their eyes and let them see that Christ
was their righteousness. God opened their ears and let
them hear the sweet sounds of forgiveness through Christ's
blood. And the rest of them were blinded. God's word. Then if you look at Ephesians
chapter one, in Ephesians the first chapter, and as I say I'm
just hitting some high points, giving you some of the scriptures
in the word of God that teach election. In Ephesians 1, listen
to verse 3, No. God chose us. When? Before the foundation of
the world. Why? Because He willed it. Now, that's what that verse teaches.
Now, if you will have to, you say, that doesn't mean that.
Well, what does it mean? Does ye must be born again mean ye
must be born again? Well, yeah, that's what that,
why doesn't this mean that? When we talk about everlasting
life in heaven, does it mean that? Well, sure it means that.
Well, why doesn't this mean what it says? When it talks about eternal condemnation
in hell, does it mean that? When it talks about Christ died
on a cross, did he really die on a cross? Why doesn't this
mean this? Because we don't want it to.
It takes away human glory. It destroys human works. It leaves
us as beggars, dependent on God and not on our own flesh. That's
the reason we don't want it to mean that. We're not people travel under
the smokescreen of concern for others. No, it isn't. It's concern
for this old proud flesh. We're not willing to be humbled.
We're not willing to admit that everything we have spiritually
is by God's grace, and grace alone we're not willing. We want
some praise and credit. Turn to 1 Thessalonians 1. 1
Thessalonians 1, verse 4 and 5. Knowing, brethren beloved,
your election of God. Knowing, brethren beloved, your
election of God, for our gospel came not unto you in word only,
but also in power, in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance,
as you know what manner of men we were among you for your sakes,
and you became followers of us and of the Lord." Now turn to
II Timothy 2.10. 2 Timothy 2.10, here is a wealth
of Scripture that nobody will touch. And you hear preaching
on the radio, and you hear preaching on the television, you hear preaching
in the pulpit, and here are hundreds of verses that nobody will touch.
They won't deal with them, they won't preach them, because when
you read them, they preach themselves. They give God the glory and make
man a recipient of a gift. 2 Timothy 2.10, listen, Therefore,
Paul said, I endure all things for the elect's sake, that they
may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with
eternal glory. Paul said, that's why I'm here.
He said, I suffer trouble, verse 9, I even have been put in jail,
but I endure it for the elect's sake. God's got some people here,
and I'm here looking them out. I'm here to preach to them. I'm
here to declare the gospel to them until they obtain salvation
which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. That's why any
preacher is where he is. It's because God's got an elect
people. He's not there scavenging like
a scavenger out in the dump heap of the world trying to find some
old piece of tin that'll let God use it. He's looking for
God's sheep. And he'll find them too. Elections taught in the Bible.
Now here's another question that I want to pose. Why do I believe
in election other than the fact it's taught in the scriptures?
That's sufficient. It's taught in God's Word. But I believe
in election for another reason. I believe in election because,
and this is very simple, man is man and God is God. That's why I believe in election.
Man is fallen and depraved and corrupt, and he will not come
to God. God is sovereign, God is almighty,
and he will not let everybody perish. It has pleased him to
have a people for his name. If man is fallen, if man is dead,
if man is depraved, if man loves darkness rather than light, if
man will not come to Christ, if the law cannot save If men
do not know God, if the natural mind is enmity against God, then
God must initiate salvation. God must make men willing. God
must quicken and give life, because man cannot and will not do it
for himself. They came to Christ and they
said, who then can be saved? He said, with men, it's impossible. That's why I believe election,
because salvation with men is impossible. Impossible! But with God, all things are
possible. And I believe in election because
man is man, fallen, depraved, and will not come, cannot come.
And I believe it because God is almighty, and if God cannot
fail, and if God can do everything, if God works everything according
to the good pleasure of His will, which the Bible says, if God
knows the end from the beginning, if God gave a people to Christ,
if God's going to have inhabitants in glory, then all whom He sets
out to save are going to be saved. Because God is God. God is God. A lady came up to
me a few days ago who was objecting to sovereign grace, and she read
a verse description. She said, What does that mean?
I tried to tell her. She said, I don't believe that.
She said, I believe it's the will of God that everybody be
saved. I said, Do you really? She said, Yes, I do. I said,
Is everybody going to be saved? She said, No. People are already
in hell. Then I said, God's will is not
going to be done. You worship a God whose will is not going
to be done. And yet the Lord Jesus prayed
himself, Thy will be done. And every time you pray the Lord's
prayer, you pray the same thing, Thy will be done. And you're
telling me it's not going to be well? It don't be done. Christ
said, If you ask anything according to my will, it shall be done. We are so confused. People are
so confused about this matter of who God is. They've got God
in a box. This generation's got a Mickey
Mouse God. That's right. They've got a peanut
God, Barnard used to call him. They've got a God who wants to
and can't, who wills to and is not able, who is disappointed,
defeated, and frustrated, who is hamstrung by men who have
more power than he does. And that's not the God of the
Bible. Can I not do with my own what I will, God said? He said,
you run down to the potter's house, and I'll teach you something. That pottery, that clay is in
the hands of the potter, and he'll fashion and mold it according
to his will. That clay has no power over the
potter. The potter has power over the
clay. Let's go back to our text. 2
Thessalonians 2 verse 13. If there were no other text in
the Bible but this one, I'd have to believe in divine election. Paul says, we're bound to give
thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord,
because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation. And
I'm glad I can preach this without apologizing for it. I'm glad
I can preach this without trying to have to try to explain it
away. Wouldn't that be awful? to have
to stand up here before a group of intelligent men and women
and say, now that doesn't mean that. A lot of preachers who
hide behind this, in their Greek it means this. We are bound to
give thanks for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation. There are six
things that I want to present which will help, I think, us
grow in our knowledge of this blessed truth. First of all,
election is a doctrine of praise. Paul, the doctrine of election
is a doctrine of praise, a doctrine of praise. Paul always praised
God for his grace. He praised God for his covenant
mercy. He praised God for his grace
in Christ Jesus. Look at Ephesians 1. Listen to
him. He says there in our text, he
said, we're bound to give thanks because God had chosen you. Thank
God he chose you. And then in Ephesians 1, verse
3, he says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who hath chosen us in Christ. Blessed be God. It's
a doctrine of praise. The amazing thing, it's a great
mystery to me. Keep Ephesians 1 open there a
minute. It's amazing to me that men today murmur against and
complain about that which Paul, for which Paul praised God. People today take the doctrine
of election and murmur against it, and Paul thanked God for
it. They complain about it, and Paul thanked God for it. He said,
Bless God He chose us. I thank God he chose you, he
said. The doctrine of praise. In Ephesians chapter 1 here,
it tells us the work of the Father. He chose us, he predestinated
us to the adoption of sons, According to the good pleasure of His will,
verse 6, look at it, "...to the praise of the glory of His grace."
Boy, if you ever see where you were, and your inability and
your helplessness, and God could have left you alone, He could
have passed you by, and yet He was pleased to choose you, you'll
praise His grace. And then it tells us in the next
few verses how that Christ, verse 7, bought redemption through
His blood. Verse 9, made known to us the
mystery of His will. Verse 11, gave us an inheritance
in heaven. Verse 12, that we should be to
the praise of His glory. When you look at the cross and
see how Christ suffered for us and died for us, He didn't have
to. He said, no man takes my life from me, I lay it down.
And how he willingly loved you and came down here to save you.
He said, one of my sheep is lost. And he left the 99 and went out
in the wilderness and found it. And somebody sits around and
murmurs about it. No. He knows God. He praises
God. And the next few verses tells
how the Holy Spirit revealed the truth to us. Verse 13, we
heard the truth. And verse 13, we were sealed
with the Holy Spirit. And then verse 14, God gave us
the Spirit as a token of our inheritance until it becomes
ours, the last line in verse 14, unto the praise of His glory. I don't want to hear anybody
else call the doctrine of election a hated doctrine. Praise God
for it. It's only ignorant people that
say things like that. It's only people who've never
known what they were, and where they were, and how hopeless they
were, who know nothing of the mercies of God and the grace
of God. God didn't please to save the angels that fell. He
reserved them under condemnation. It says in Hebrews, He took not
on Himself the nature of angels, but the nature of the seed of
Abraham. Thank God for that. And then secondly, the doctrine
of election. Let's look at our text again. Paul says, I'm bound
to give thanks for you, brethren. It's a doctrine of love. Beloved
of the Lord. Beloved of the Lord. God's election
of a people to redeem is because God loved them. Could I show
you that? Turn to Deuteronomy 7. It wasn't because you were
lovely It wasn't because you were gracious. It wasn't because
you were talented. It wasn't because you were holy.
It wasn't because God needed you. He said to Israel in Deuteronomy
7, verse 7, The Lord did not 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. And because
he would keep the oath which you swore to your fathers, hath
the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you
out of the house of bondman from the hand of Pharaoh, king of
Egypt." Why'd he do that? He loved you. You didn't love him. What does
the Scripture say in 1 John, here in his love? Not that we
love God, but that he loved us. 1 John 3, verse 1, says, Behold
what manner of love the Father hath bestowed on us that we should
be called the sons of God. In Jeremiah 31, verse 3, it says,
I have drawn you, he said, with an everlasting love. We didn't
love him. He loved us when we were unlovely.
Turn to Ephesians 2. I'll show you something about
it here in Ephesians chapter 2. The doctrine of election is
a doctrine of love. It says in verse 1 of Ephesians
2, we were dead in trespasses and sin. In verse 2 it says we
walked according to the course of this world. In verse 3 it
says we had our conversation in the lust of the flesh, and
we were by nature the children of wrath. And verse 4 says, but
God. It's not but I made a decision,
but I changed my mind. But I saw where I was headed,
but I saw the grass is greener on the other side, but I heard
a good sermon. It says that's the way we were,
but God, who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith
he loved us even when we were dead, he quickened us with Christ. The difference is God, not you. It's not but I anything, it's
but God. I was on the slippery slide to
hell. I was on the toboggan road to eternal damnation. I was on
the Damascus road to burning. But God stopped me, because He
loved me. And He wouldn't let me go. Oh,
love that will not let me go. Look back at the text. The doctrine
of election is a doctrine of praise. Secondly, it's a doctrine
of love. Thirdly, it's a doctrine of eternal
grace. God has from the beginning chosen
you. Now, my friends, I want you to
look at Acts 15, verse 18. God hath from the beginning.
Can you tell me when the beginning was? Well, the Scripture says in the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God, and all things were made by Him. That's pretty far
back, isn't it? Pretty far peace. Way back yonder,
in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation. And here it
says in Acts 15, 18, Known unto God are all his works from the
beginning of the world. That's when it took place. That's
when God loved you. That's when God chose you. When
no sun, moon, or stars were in the sky, when no angel walked
across the heavens, when no earth was hurled into space, when there
was no being, no motion, no time, God loved us and chose us. And he said, I am the Lord, I
change not. The same yesterday, today, and
forever. In John chapter 6, verse 64,
it says, Jesus knew from the beginning who would betray him
and who would believe him. From the beginning. This grace
of God is eternal. God hath from the beginning.
Now look at the text again. Let's move on. It's a doctrine
of It's a doctrine of praise, it's a doctrine of love, it's
a doctrine of eternal grace, it's a doctrine of redemption.
God has from the beginning chosen you, one two-letter word here
that's vitally important, to salvation. To salvation. Now my friends, and I want this
clearly understood, election is not salvation. It is unto
salvation. A man is not saved, he is not
made a new creature, he is not presented faultless as a child
of God before the throne of God because of election, but because
Christ died for him. Because Christ is his substitute,
because Christ is his savior. Election didn't save me, Christ
did. I was elected to salvation. Christ lived for me. He died
for me. I am saved. I am forgiven because
Christ satisfied the justice of God. Election didn't satisfy
the justice of God. Christ did. I am righteous because
Christ obeyed the law. I am healed by His stripes. God chose us in Christ. He called Christ His elect. Christ is the firstborn of every
creature. We were chosen in Christ. We
were elected to be saved. Now stay with me a minute. Listen
real carefully. Oh, Brother Mews, you say don't
move a hand or a hair. Just a minute. Now then, somebody
says, well, what about all the other people in the world? What about all the other people?
Now let me ask you something. Is there anybody here who wishes
to be holy? Is anybody here who wishes to
be regenerated? Is anybody here who wishes to
be sanctified? Who wants above all things to
be like Christ? Is anybody here who wants to
be delivered from sin? Who wants to walk with God? Is anybody here who wants to
live in and love God? and be filled with the Spirit
of God. Is anybody here who wants to
be just like Christ? Somebody says, Preacher, I do.
Oh, believe me, then you're elected. You are elected. You are chosen. Anybody who wants what I've just
talked about can have it. I thought you preached God elected
people to heaven or to hell. That's not what I preached. Now,
somebody may preach that, but I don't. The scripture says we
are elected to be holy and without blame. He has chosen us in Christ
that we might be holy, that we might be a peculiar people. Men
are elected to salvation. Men are elected to holiness and
through that to heaven. But when God elects His people
to make them like Christ, they enjoy a little bit of heaven
right here. It's not just a future thing. I'm going to go on. Now
listen. But somebody else out there said, well, I don't want
to be holy. I don't want to give up the world. I don't want to
give up evil. I don't love worship. I don't
enjoy the presence of God. I don't love the Word of God.
I don't love the gospel. Then my friend, why do you grumble
that God hasn't elected you to a life that by your own admission
you don't like? You don't want. Huh? Well, I don't think it's fair
for God to elect you and pass me by. Do you want it? Well,
no, I don't. Well, don't grumble if God doesn't make you take
it. You wouldn't be happy. You'd be miserable. If God chose
you to holiness, you wouldn't like it. If God forced you into
the kingdom of God, you'd rebel against it. One preacher said
if God took you to heaven, you'd get a wheelbarrow and a shovel
and dig up the gold and try to sell the streets. You'd have
the angels fighting for dark. You wouldn't like it up there.
You prefer drunkenness to sobriety, you prefer dishonesty to honesty,
you prefer evil to good, and the most ridiculous thing I ever
heard is for a man to complain that he hasn't been elected to
something that he doesn't want. Suppose the church here has individual
opera seats, and every seat is full, absolutely full, not a
seat left. And a fellow standing outside
the church, there's not a seat left now, and he's standing outside
the church, and he said, it's a shame. It's a dirty shame that
they don't make that place bigger. It's a shame. I don't have a
place in that. I don't like the preacher, and
I don't like his gospel, and I don't like the folks who are
there, but I think I'd be miserable if I was in there, but it's not
right for them not to provide me a seat. This is ridiculous, and you see
the folly of it. Almighty God is going to save
all whom he can wisely save. And God Almighty is going to
redeem all who want redemption. And God Almighty is going to
make holy everybody who's willing to be made holy. And God Almighty
is going to bring to Christ every person who wants to come to Christ. That's right. I don't care who
it is. I don't care where he is, what
color his skin is. I care not what denomination
he is. I say every man. Now I didn't say he's going to
take everybody to heaven that wants to go to heaven. I said
he's going to make holy everybody who wants to be holy. And he's
going to make a part of Christ everybody who wants to be a part
of Christ. He chose you to salvation. Now
look at the next line. Election is a doctrine of holiness.
Now listen to me. There have been thousands of
people who have been ruined by misunderstanding election and
misunderstanding a decision for Christ. Let me quote some scripture.
If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. If any man have
not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. If any man love
not our Lord Jesus Christ, he is accursed. If any man love
not his brother, he is a liar and the truth is not in him.
If any man love the world, the love of God is not in him. I
know the elect are not perfect, and they're not spotless, but
you can take their lives as a whole, and you can take the direction
and tenor and bent of their wills. They love God, and they love
his commandments, and they love his law, and they love his people,
and they walk in communion with him because God chose them to
salvation through sanctification of the Spirit. And they have
a victorious life because they have a victorious Lord. And then
last of all, and I close, election is a doctrine of means. You say,
well, you say God chose people to salvation, He's going to save
them whether we preach or not. No, He's not. No, He's not either. You turn to Romans 10, in Romans
chapter 10, it says, in Romans 10, whosoever shall call upon
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 are they going
to hear without a preacher? God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit, and what? Belief
of the truth. And those two things are essential.
The setting apart of the Holy Spirit, the work of the Holy
Spirit, and the hearing of the word of God. God hath chosen
by the foolishness of preaching to save them that what? And as
many as were ordained to eternal life did what? They believed. No unbeliever will ever get into
heaven whether he's elect or non-elect. And no man will ever
be saved without hearing the gospel. Knowing, brethren, beloved,
your election of God for our gospel. Our gospel came to you
in power. Have you felt your sins? Have
you heard the gospel? Do you want God's grace? Will
you receive him? Will you believe him? Yes, I
will preach you. Then God made you willing, and
you're one of the elect. And I say this in closing. Christ
is the doctrine, and Christ is the doctor. Christ is the revelation,
and Christ is the revealer. And Christ is the light of men,
and Christ is the illuminator. And Christ is the message, and
Christ is the messenger. And He is exalted in every word
of the gospel because Jesus Christ is the sum and substance of the
gospel. And we have been back in eternity
chosen of God and predestinated to be like His Son. And men will
praise Him in heaven who have learned to praise Him on this
earth. Our Father, bless this message. We confess that we know
nothing. We are but children. Now let's turn in our