Live from Buffalo Creek. If you would, turn in your Bibles this evening to Proverbs 22. Verse 1, Proverbs 22. And verse 1, a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches and loving favor rather than silver and gold. Of course, this has reference practically speaking to the fact that our testimony, a good name, is more important than wealth, popularity, fame, power, And certainly we ought to be representing the Lord Jesus Christ as one of his disciples, as his servants, as his children, as the elect of God, as his jewels, as a soldier of the Lord. These are some names actually that God has given to us as we represent the name of Jesus. And so tonight I want to start a little series. I don't know how long I'll go on this. I want to talk, I want to look at some of the names that God has given to His people throughout the Bible. These titles, these names that He identifies us. The first one I want to deal with is one that's precious to me. And that is the one that's found in 1 Peter chapter 1. 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 2. Elect, that means chosen. He identifies us, gives us this name, this title as the elect of God. Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. And that simply means this special love, this intimate love that He has for His elect. This love is so great, it's an everlasting love that God loved us from before the foundation of the world and chose us in Christ on account of this foreknowledge. This is not omniscience. This is a term of love that is specially reserved for God's elect. elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification of the Spirit. We are chosen of God. We are His elect. The result of that eternal election is the setting apart, the consecrating, the sanctifying of the Holy Spirit that is done first of all in the new birth, then in the indwelling of the Spirit as He sets us apart and sanctifies us, and then ultimately we're going to be glorified by the work of the Spirit. So we are the elect of God. On account of that, we are sanctified by the Spirit under obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, our Lord, because Before the world began, God determined to save a great number all over the world. And He gave them to Jesus Christ in that covenant. Jesus agreed to offer Himself, to die in our stead, to give His life, to shed His life's blood so that we would be forgiven cleansed, redeemed by the blood of the everlasting covenant. Now think about all that flows from that good name that God has given us, His elect, His chosen, His beloved. It says, grace unto you and peace be multiplied. I want to show you another passage that alludes to this name of election, this title that we're given over in Ephesians Chapter 1. You've read this many times, but I want to show you what flows from this electing grace. It says, verse 3, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as He has chosen us. We could say that He chose us, He elected us, He picked us out, He selected us, He had chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. The result of that title of being the elect of God is in time we are going to be made holy. And that's a glorious thing. Holy and without blame. How can that be? How can it be that we would wear this title of the elect of God and be without blame? Well, positionally, through justifying righteousness, we are without blame. We are justified from all things. We are declared not guilty in Christ, but practically That's our position. There's going to come a practical day when we are going to be entirely without blame, when we're glorified. Now unto Him who is able to keep us from falling and to present us faultless before the presence of His glory, with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Savior, be glory majesty, dominion, and power, both now and forever. Amen. Think about that. We're going to be presented faultless in Christ, without blame, before Him in love, having predestinated us. Now that word, that title of being God's elect goes right along with this idea of being predestinated, predetermined that we would be like Christ in in time, having predestinated us under the adoption of children by Jesus Christ Himself. And was any of this done because God saw something good in us? Something righteous in us? No! It's according to the good pleasure of His will. and God's will will never be thwarted. If you're an elect of God, if you're chosen in Christ, if Jesus redeemed you by His blood, I guarantee you that you are going to be drawn by the will of God to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. That's why Jesus said, All that the Father giveth me shall come unto me, and him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the will of him that sent me, that I should lose nothing, but raise him up again at the last day. How amazing is it, this title? The elect, the chosen, the beloved of God. And what flows from that sovereign purpose of God to the praise of the glory of His grace wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved. There's our position. God accepts us. on the basis of who we are, but who we are in Jesus Christ. We are in Christ Jesus, accepted in the Beloved, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace. Grace, grace, grace, grace. I'm here to tell you tonight that if it were not for God's electing grace, nobody would be saved. If God had not determined to choose us, to love us, to determine to save us, everybody would go to hell as they justly deserve because there's none that seeketh after God. They're all gone out of the way. They're together become unprofitable. There is none good, no, not one. Man's will is fouled up so bad that he's contrary to God at every turn. God, because of His electing grace, has determined to change our wills. You see what flows from this name? This title? Let's look at another one. Turn over to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. Now, you know what? This is one of the reasons why people, when people attend our church, I hope that they'll stick around long enough, listen to what the Bible says, you know, and how the saints of God in this assembly, how we converse with one another about what we believe and what the Bible stands for. Because, listen, there's not a lot of churches anymore that are actually using these terms. I remember when I was a young preacher. It's hard for me to finally fess up that I'm not the young preacher anymore. When I was a young preacher, and I mean I was, I was, I was, I didn't have much tact as a young preacher. Had a lot of A-tact. But I remember I was, we were trying to raise some support for mission work that we were starting. And I preached on the sovereignty of God in this church. And the preacher came up to me afterwards and he said, you know, you'd probably get a lot more support if you wouldn't use those terms. You can talk about them, but you don't have to use the terms elect or predestinate. And as naive as I was, all right, I was all of 26 years old. I looked him right in the eye and I said, well, I don't know how you can explain these things without reading what the Bible says. And the Bible uses these words. So why should we shy away from them or try to dance around them? I don't think we should. Because that term, the name, the title, the elect of God, what a privilege. that we are so unworthy of. It ought to have a special place in our hearts. Look here in Romans 8. And look at this. You've read this, I know. Notice the language here. And He uses the name elect at the end of it, at the end of this section. It says in verse 28, And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. We are not only the elect of God, we are the called of God according to His purpose. Do you believe that everything is working out for good? Do you believe God has everything in your life under control? That everything He has sent you, everything He has done in you and is doing in you and will do in you is ultimately for your good and for His glory? This is the promise. Even the difficult things are for our good to cause us to trust Him more. For whom He did foreknow, elect according to the foreknowledge of God. This special love that He has for His people. He also did predestinate. He predetermined something regarding the elect to be conformed to the image of His Son. That's what is happening in sanctification. As we live for the Lord, He's changing us. into the image of Christ. Ultimately, in glorification, we're going to be completely conformed. All this flows from God's electing grace, this title, this name that He's given us. To be conformed to the image of His Son that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate, them He also called, and whom He called, them He also justified, and whom He justified, them He also glorified." Wow! All that flowing from His electing grace. What shall we then say to these things? If God before us, who can be against us? He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Because we are chosen in Christ, we are redeemed by His blood, we are indwelt by His Spirit, The devil can't charge us with sin. The law cannot condemn us because we are God's elect. Chosen in Christ. Redeemed by Christ. We died with Christ. Our sins were laid upon His body on that tree. 1 Peter chapter 2. Now, one other, I want to show you, and I know I've showed you this before, but I think it's really neat. The word elect, the title given, I think is interchangeable with the word beloved or beloved of God. I'm going to show you why I believe this. Turn over to Isaiah 42. This will open up a lot of things. Isaiah 42, let's read this carefully. Behold, my servant whom I uphold. And it's talking about the Lord Jesus here, the ultimate servant of God. His title, mine elect. in whom my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. Now turn over with me if you would. Jesus is actually quoting this passage in Matthew 12. Matthew chapter 12 and verse 18. It is very interesting. Well, let's read verse 17, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaias the prophet saying, behold, my servant, remember Isaiah 42, one whom I have chosen. Now in Isaiah, it says mine elect here. It says my beloved. in whom my soul is well pleased, I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall show judgment to the Gentiles." So I think these terms, elect and beloved, are so closely related that Jesus Himself interchanged them. And He certainly has the authority to do that. Mine elect, my beloved. Turn over to Colossians 3.12. This is our title, Elect, Chosen of God, Beloved, Colossians 3. I tell you what, if you claim to be the elect of God, chosen of God, you ought to live like it. Colossians gives you the practical side of this title. It says in verse 12, put on therefore as the elect of God. How does He describe us? Holy and beloved. It goes right along with Ephesians 1 as well. Bows of mercies. These are things that if you wear the name of God's elect, these things should be in you. They ought to be evident. Put on therefore as the elect of God, holy and beloved. Bows of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one another, forgiving one another. If any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness, the ultimate aim of Christian maturity. is to grow in love like Christ. You're going to wear the name of God's elect, you better prove it. You better give evidence. Now, I want to explain one other passage, keeping this in mind, the term elect and beloved, chosen of God. show you in 2 Peter there's a verse that people take out of context. And I want you to see in chapter 3, he starts out and he says, this 2nd epistle, beloved, elect. chosen of God. I now write unto you, in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance." And if you'll look back in 1 Peter and in 2 Peter, he uses this term to describe God's people, the elect of God, beloved. Now, go to verse 8. It says, but beloved, now notice that, he uses the term, beloved, elect, chosen of God, be not ignorant of this one thing that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years is one day. Now listen carefully. How this goes together, because everybody takes this verse out of context and says, they say that it's God's will that nobody perish in their sins. I'm here to tell you that if that were God's will, everybody would be saved, because God's will is never thwarted. But you've got to understand the context here. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise. He has made promises to His elect, to His beloved, to His chosen. As some men count slackness, but as longsuffering, and notice the use of this word, longsuffering to us-ward. Who is He talking about? Who are the us-ward? I've got a little line that goes all back up to verse 8 and then to verse 1. Who are the usward that He's made this promise to? That He'll be long-suffering to? His elect. His beloved. His chosen. Not willing that any of the usward, not willing that any of the beloved, not willing that any of the chosen of God should perish. But that all should come to repentance. And that is exactly what Jesus said in a different way in John 6, 37 through 39. That we are guaranteed because of God's promise to His elect that none that were given to Jesus to die for will perish in their sins because they will be brought, called by divine grace. So there's an important connection between the word beloved and elect, chosen of God, and also the use of the word us-ward. See, He's not talking about all men indiscriminately, He's talking about the chosen of God, the beloved of God. Well, you know what? I think I got about 13 names. That's the first one. I meant to go through this a lot quicker. Well, I get something on my mind and I got to let it out. It's from the Word.