Again, let me say it's a joy to see visitors present in our midst. We're glad for that. I trust you will sense a welcome and be spiritually encouraged this morning through worship service, through God's full presence. Open your Bibles, if you will, to 2 Peter chapter 1, and I would like for us to give reading this morning to verses 5 through 11. 2 Peter 1, 5-11. Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence. In your faith, supply moral excellence. And in your moral excellence, knowledge. And in your knowledge, self-control. And in your self-control, perseverance. And in your perseverance, Godliness. and in your godliness and brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you. For as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble. For in this way, the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be abundantly supplied to you. Let us repeat verse 10. Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you. For as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble. Let us pray. Our gracious God and Father in heaven, We bow in your presence this morning, acknowledging our desperate need of your grace to be upon us. We need, Lord, for you to quicken our minds and our hearts and our beings, that we might apply attention, yes, and all diligence to the matters that will be set before us in your word this day. Lord, we desire that your will and purpose be accomplished in each heart and life. We want the Holy Spirit to have liberty to move in our midst, unhindered, ungrieved, unquenched, and to apply truth to our hearts and to make it effective and cause us to be more conformed to the image of Christ, to the revealed will of God. Lord, we ask these things in Christ's name. Amen. In the space of five verses, the apostle emphasizes the vital importance of being diligent, of being diligent in spiritual matters. Verse 5, apply all diligence. Verse 10, be all the more diligent. Diligent. Diligence is demanding. Diligence requires time and concentrated effort. The Apostle is saying, I want you to give some time and some concentrated effort to these spiritual matters. And particularly the spiritual matter that we're considering this morning has to do about making certain about certain things. We all know what it is in our daily affairs to be careful and to make certain that we sign the check before we put it in the envelope. And the older we get, it seems that the more difficulty we have in wanting to make certain. Did I put my briefcase in the car? make certain about issues. And the apostle is saying, I want you to make certain about something. And he's writing to Christians. He's writing to brethren. And he's saying, Christians, brethren, I want you to be certain about His, that is God's calling, and God's choosing you. Now we're in our third sermon up on the exposition of 2 Peter. And by way of comment, let me just say that in our history, which began in 2001, we have not preached a series on the doctrines of grace. We've spoken to the issues. occasion, we have made some detailed reference to them, but to have a series of messages on what we understand as being the doctrines of grace, the depravity of man, unconditional election, limited or particular redemption, irresistible and perseverance of the saints. We have not preached a series of messages on those topics. However, in my considering this matter, we've come now to an issue where he says, I want, the apostle says, I want you to be diligent about this, to make certain. About what? Well, about his calling, his choosing. So I think it behooves us to give some effort and diligence to this matter as a church. You should do it individually, and I think we should do it as a church, to give some diligence to this matter of God's calling and God's choosing. Since God's calling is determined by His choosing, we will consider his choosing first, and then his calling. We project about three or four messages on the topic of election, or unconditional election, probably one message on the effectual call, and then We will try to sum up those messages in terms of some practical ways in which we are able to make certain in our own heart about God's calling, God's choosing. In Romans chapter 8, we find a very pivotal truth. I would ask you to turn to Romans 8, 29 and 30. Just as an aside, it might be a little cruel for some of our people. Romans 8, 29 and 30. And what we see in this verse is this. God calls those whom He foreknew and whom He predestined. Verse 29. For whom He foreknew. he also predestined to become conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren, and whom he predestined, these he also called." Now, I want us to turn to the book of Ephesians, chapter 1. And we're going to begin dealing with this matter of choosing, or this matter of election. Ephesians chapter 1, 1 through 5. Actually, I think we might just perhaps, well, let's begin with verse 2. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. You don't need to turn there, but let me just give you a verse or so from back in 1 Peter, 1 Peter chapter 1. Verses 1 and 2, you may just listen to this as he addresses the epistle to believers. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ to those who reside as aliens scattered throughout Coltus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. Notice he says, who are chosen. That's the way Peter makes reference to these believers, who are chosen And in verse 2, he says, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, they were chosen. Peter knows that. Peter acknowledges that. But how were they chosen? It was according to the foreknowledge of God. He links the two together. Now at this point, I want to introduce this thought. Foundational to the doctrine of election. is the doctrine of the total depravity of man. That is absolutely essential and foundational to this doctrine. Not only in the Word of God do we find an accurate description of man. You won't find it in the works of philosophy. You won't find it anywhere except in God's Word. Our confession of faith has concentrated those truths concerning the depravity of man into these words. Our first parents, by this sin, referring to the original sin, fell from their original righteousness in communion with God, and we in them were by death came upon all. All becoming dead in sin. Not sick. Not very sick. Not half dead. All becoming dead in sin. And the word used in the Confession of Faith is w-h-o-l-l-y, wholly, entirely, that is, defiled in all the faculties and parts of soul and body from this original corruption whereby we are utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to all evil, do precede all actual transgressions. You see, the Natural unregenerate man is described as being dead, alienated from the life of God, enemies of God, haters of God, spiritually blind, willfully ignorant, slaves of sin and of their own lust, and content that it be so. not only content that it be so, but taking a certain pride in the fact that it is so. So the question is this, would such a man left to himself ever truly repent of his sins, and embrace Christ as Lord and Savior? The answer is a resounding no. Isaiah 53, 6, all of us like sheep have gone astray. Each has turned to his own way. Romans 3, 10, 11, 12. There is none righteous, not even one. There is none who understands. There is none who seeks for God. They are all turned aside. Together they have become useless. There is none who does good, not even one. The natural unsaved man has no ability to seek God, and what is worse, no desire to seek Him. I always say there's a lot of people out there seeking God, but not the God of the Bible, and not on His terms. There are those whose depravity finds expression in becoming religious. But that religious aspect is no more than the activity of one still dead in their trespasses and sin. It is possible to be very religious and at the same time to be children of wrath. Now, that's a dark picture. That's a depressing, dreary, but very real picture of man apart from Christ. In spite of that, in spite of the dreadful and hopeless condition of fallen men, we do know this. Some men repent, and some men savingly believe in Christ. How does it come about? How does it happen that this man, dead in trespasses and sin, totally unresponsive to God, an enemy of God, a hater of God? We find the answer in two little words. Ephesians 2 verse 4, But God. But God, being rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together, don't overlook the next two little words, with Christ. By grace, you have insight. Those words, but God, may very well be the most important words in the language of scripture. Now there's some very obvious truths in the verses that we've looked at. Number one, it is God who takes the initiative, but God. Second, it is God who quickens the dead sinner. And third, all of those whom God quickens are saved. But there's another obvious truth. Not everyone is saved. Therefore, God does not quicken. All whom God quickens are saved. But not all are saved Therefore, we can correctly conclude God does not quicken all men. Whom then does he quicken? God quickens those whom he chooses to quicken. This means that God took the initiative in choosing in order that he might also take the initiative in quickening. Now the Apostle Paul has dealt with this matter of God taking the initiative in choosing. Let us go back again to Ephesians chapter 1 and verses 1 through 5. Let us begin with verse 3, Ephesians 1, 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. In Christ, notice verse 4, just as He chose us, in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him." Now this verse brings us face to face with the reality of the doctrine of divine election. These words were directed to the saints at Ephesus. There was a time when there were no saints in Ephesus. When Paul arrived on the scene in Ephesus, it was a city totally given over to idolatry. As far as we know, there were no believers in that city at that time. And Paul appeared on the scene as God's man, using God's methods and preaching God's message. And later we read about saints. Through the faithful preaching of God's Word and by the work of the Holy Spirit, there were those who became saints. And Paul could write back later to the saints and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. Now I want us to look at verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. He is reminding them in this letter that they are benefactors. They have received spiritual blessings. And he begins to enumerate those blessings. And notice carefully, the very first blessing that he enumerates is not having to do when they became saints, when they were saved. He doesn't start off there. When he speaks of spiritual blessings, he says in verse 4, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. That is the very first spiritual blessing that Paul puts right on top of the list. In the Scriptures, we find that God has made other sovereign choices. He sovereignly chose Israel. They were called an elect nation. They were elected and chosen and separated under privilege and service. We refer to that as national election. There's another type of election found in the scriptures. It has to do with positions. The Levites were chosen to be priests and there were those who were chosen by God to be kings. Later others were chosen to be prophets and later some apostles. We refer to this as vocational election. Christ himself is referred to as God's elect. But the election that we are considering this morning has to do with the election of souls unto salvation. And if you want the big terminology for it, it is soteriological election. What does the word election mean? It means to pick, to choose. from among others. Let us think about the word in a non-theological use. You don't need to turn there, but listen. Luke 6.13, And when day came, he called his disciples to him, and he chose twelve of them out of all the disciples that were following Christ at the time. Out of that number he chose twelve. He has selected them. There were those who were not chosen to be apostles. In Luke 14.7, and he began speaking a parable to the invited guests, and when he noticed how they had been picking out the places of honor at the table, they were choosing, I want this seat. Not all the rest. This is the seat I want at the table. Picking, choosing from among others. A specific choice was made. Acts 6, 5, and the statement found approval with the whole congregation, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit. Stephen was picked out. from among others. Acts 15, 7, And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, Brethren, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. Was this a choice that Peter made? And then God ratified the choice? Not at all. It was a divine, sovereign choice made by God. Now that is the same word that is used in Ephesians just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless. It is simply a choosing up from among others. It conveys to us this idea that the one making the choice is active and the one who is being chosen is passive. Therefore, election is not the ratifying of a choice that was made by another. Divine election is God exercising His prerogative of divine sovereignty. Now hear me well, whether we like it or whether we do not like it, dear ones, election is a fact. It is a biblical truth. When did God make the choice? Ask that question again. When did God make the choice? Well, in Ephesians, we are told that he made the choice before the foundation of the world. That is, before the world was created. In other words, in eternity past, before creation, before the creation of man. Now, I want you to go back to Ephesians 1-4, and there's two other words we need to look at very carefully. Ephesians 1 forward, just as He chose us, and here are the next two words, in Him. That sovereign choice was not made apart from a vital relationship and union with Christ. Very crucial to a correct understanding of the doctrine of election. Dear ones, we must not ignore, overlook, or in any way minimize these two yet profound words, in him. In him. It does not read, just as he chose us before the foundation of the world. Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, inserts these two words in him. What is the significance of these two words? What truths do they convey? As we carefully examine the text, we see that there are three persons involved in the act of election. God is involved, sinful man is involved, Christ is involved. So, in this choosing of those persons whom God purposed to save, there are three people. Perhaps we might also ask the question, well, what is behind all of this? God is infinitely holy, and yet He has purposed to save sinners in order that sinful sinners might be made holy. And as we read these verses, we do see that election is unto holiness. And we might ask, how is it that a holy and just God could ever conceive of such a glorious purpose of making those holy who deserve nothing but the eternal wrath of God? Whatever takes place in the process of divine election must of necessity be consistent with the other attributes of God. God's distinguishing love cannot cancel His holiness, nor can His sovereignty cancel His justice. It is exactly at this point that these two little words, in Him, take on special meaning. It is that way that God can make that choice. and not violate His holiness, nor violate His justice in doing so. There was another choice made before it, a foundation of the world. We considered it a little bit back in 1 Peter. Listen. 1 Peter 1, 18 and 20. Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your feudal way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with the precious blood as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ, for he was foreknown, we could translate it foreordained, before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you. He is telling us that Christ was foreknown, foreordained before the foundation of the world. Couple this with Revelation 13.8, all who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world. In the book of the Lamb, who has been slain. And then King James reads, slain from the foundation of the world. What do we see? We see that God made another choice in eternity past. God not only purposed to save a people, He purposed, chose, and ordained Christ to be slain for those people. There is that inseparable link between Christ and His people. Christ made mention of it. Christ said, all that the Father gives me shall come to me. Christ said, For I have come down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that of all that he has given me, I lose nothing. And in Christ's accessory prayer, he made it very clear. He said, I ask on their behalf. I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom thou hast given me. He was interceding. Not for the world. Christ made that very clear. He said, I'm interceding for those whom you've given me. May I say this? There is no way that this work and ministry of intercession can be separated from the work of atonement. It just cannot happen. Those for whom Christ interceded are those for whom Christ made atonement. If you carefully study John 17, Christ again and again makes it clear that He was interceding for those whom the Father had given Him. So we see that there were two very important choices made in eternity past. A choice on God's part to save a people. A choice for Christ to be slain. And we observe in Ephesians 1 that the two are inseparable. Paul cannot mention divine election and eternity past without connecting it with the relationship that it bears to Christ. Perhaps the best commentary in all of the Bible on Ephesians 1-4 is found in 2 Timothy 1-9. Please turn there. 2 Timothy 1, and we will read verses 8 and 9. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me as prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us. with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity. From all eternity. God had a purpose. God manifested His grace in Christ. When was that purpose effective? Ah, you say, when I repented and believed. That's not what Paul says when he writes to Timothy. Paul tells Timothy it was effective from all eternity. Now, why would God in eternity past see fit to ordain the death of His Son, choose a people in union with Christ, and bestow upon them His own purpose and grace, and all of that before time began? Such a great and mighty provision certainly implies that there must have been some sort of drastic need Do you begin to follow my thinking? If God saw fit that it was necessary to plan from all eternity past to ordain the death of His Son, to choose a people and bestow upon those people His purpose and grace, before time began, why would God do that? There was a great need. And great need implies great provision. What was the drastic need? It was the need of a totally depraved heart. God fully comprehended the extent of human depravity, even though we do not. And I'm certain that if we could study the depravity of man in its fullest detail, we would never ever be able to fully understand all that that involves. But God knew. And because He knew, He made the kind of provision that it would take for man to be saved. totally depraved sinner in his mind, his emotions, his will. And we can verify all of that from the Scriptures. But I want you to look concerning particularly the will, because that is very often an issue in this whole matter. Romans 8, 7, Because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God, for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not able to do so. And those who are in the flesh, verse 8, cannot please God. They do not have the ability. There is nothing that the unsaved man can do to please God. He has total inability in spiritual matters. And I want to make it very clear this morning, if we attribute to man some ability on his own to believe, to trust, to recognize that it is even the right thing to do, dear ones, we are attributing to man something that God has never attributed. God has clearly said, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Would it please God for man to trust Him? Yes. Can he? No. Not according to the Word of God. He does not have the ability to do so. Let me follow this observation with you very closely. Suppose we do attribute a little bit of ability to man. God has never done that. Well, let's suppose we say, well, I want to attribute a little bit of ability to man. Where do you stop? Why not attribute a little bit more to him? Why stop there? Why not attribute just a little bit more to it? Let me make some brief conclusions and then some applications. Here are the conclusions. God has quickened certain individuals. All whom God quickens are saved. Not all are saved. Therefore, God does not quicken everyone. God chooses, and God makes that choice in eternity. God's choice was not based upon any foreseen good in man, but rather upon man's deplorable, depraved, and desperate condition. What other conclusion can we draw? Salvation is all of grace. And if we don't believe that, You are robbing God of His glory. Applications. First of all, an application to those who may be here outside of Christ. I want to say to you, dear soul, outside of Christ, what we have been speaking about this morning offers hope. It offers hope. There is hope. That hope is not to be found in yourself. That hope is to be found in the sovereign purpose of God. If God had not elected, none would have ever been saved. The fact that he elected means that some will be saved. All of the elect. There is hope. What then should a lost person do? Sit around wondering. I wonder if I'm of the elect. You should not do that. You should flee to Christ. Christ said, all that the Father gives me shall come to me, and the one who comes to me I will not cast out. And you, dear sinner friend, can flee to Christ this morning, and take Him at His Word, and not sit around trying to figure out, am I elect or am I not elect? Go. For those who have reason to believe it, you're saved. Doesn't this make your salvation more precious? More meaningful? Doesn't it humble you? Why, we understood it's a very humbling truth. The last application is simply this. What we've been considering this morning provides a biblical basis for evangelism. I said a biblical basis for evangelism. Paul said, I suffer all things for the sake of the elect. Paul saw many people come to Christ. Many. Using the methods that God had ordained. And nothing more. And in this 21st century, dear people, we have absolutely no warrant to use any other method than what God has ordained, and we don't have to. God has been pleased to ordain the methods by which He will bring His people to Himself. God willing, we will consider a more defining doctrine of election. We will look at the doctrine of election as it is in the Gospel. Then we will probably take a couple of sermons to deal with the objections to this doctrine. We will close without a postlude. Father, we thank you for these truths. We must confess that your ways are not our ways. We realize, Lord, that the human mind sometimes finds these truths very, very difficult. But this morning, God, we bow not at the altar of our understanding. We bow at the altar of divine revelation. Your ways are not our ways, and we're glad they're not. Use these truths to bring about your purpose. In Christ's name we ask. Amen.