I would like us to turn again this morning to the passage that we have been studying for several Lord's Day mornings, Romans chapter 8, the jubilant and triumphant conclusion which the Apostle Paul writes in Romans chapter 8. You'll remember from previous sermons that in this chapter the Apostle Paul has been writing concerning specific subjects which are designed to bring hope to bring encouragement and certainly to bring comfort to the people of God. of movement of soul. You can't imagine the Apostle Paul just calmly putting this stuff on the parchment. There must have been a fire in his eye and an enthusiasm in his whole bearing to write the things that are written in this passage. Let me read these verses. Romans 8, verse 31. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also with him freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ Jesus that died, yea, rather that was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword Even as it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. The apostle asked these several questions. If God is for us, who is against us? If he spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also with him freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect and so forth? And all of those questions are meant to be rhetorical. It's like it's a smashing blow at every opposition. And the questions are meant to make an assertion. And we said that there are four assertions. Number one is the assertion in verse 31. I'm sorry, the assertion in verse 31 that nothing can be against us. In verse 32, that no good thing will be held from us. In verse 33, that no charge can be laid against us. And in verse 35 and following that nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus. We come this morning to the third of those declarations beginning in verse 33. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Nothing shall be charged to the elect of God. Now, there are two reasons why no charge can be successfully laid against the people of God. One is because it is God who justifies. And the other is because of the fourfold work of Christ. He died, He was raised, He was seated at the right hand of God, and He ever lives to make intercessions for us. Those two reasons, the work of God the Father in justifying us, and the work of Christ in that fourfold manner, those two things make it certain that no charge can ever be successfully laid against the people of God. What I would like us to do this morning is look only at the first part of that twofold reasoning in verse 33. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect, it is God that justifieth. Now, I think it would be helpful if we are to appreciate the teaching of this passage that we put a picture in our mind. A courtroom scene needs to be assumed if we're to rightly understand this passage. The reason I say that is because the word in the original that is translated shall lay anything to the charge The word that is so translated in the original is a legal term. It's a term that would be used to describe an official, formal accusation that would be made in a court of law that a prosecutor would make against a defendant. That's the picture that the Apostle Paul is raising in the minds of every Greek reader who would come across this document. who can bring a formal courtroom accusation against any of God's elect. And for those of you who used to watch the old Perry Mason programs, you should have a clear view of a courtroom scene in your mind. At the front and center is the judge. To his left is the table for the prosecuting attorney. And to the judge's right is the table for the defendant. Now think in terms of this picture. God is the judge. To his right is the table where the Christian, the defendant, is seated. To God's left is the table where the prosecutor, the one who makes accusations, is to be seated. The court session has begun. There's no one sitting in the prosecutor's chair. And the judge speaks forth this challenge. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect. Now, that's the picture that you have to have in your mind. Now, I'd like to take some of the details of that picture and expand upon them for our consideration this morning. Number one, I would like us to consider the nature of the charge that is referred to in this passage. The question is, who would dare, who would attempt to be successful in bringing a charge against the elect of God? Well, what is this charge? According to the context, it must be understood as a charge that would lead to condemnation. It is not merely an accusation of sin. It is not merely an attempt to prove that the Christian has sinned, but the charge has to be understood in terms of an accusation that would lead to condemnation, an accusation that is intended to prove that the Christian is not worthy of the privileges of being a Christian. Yet the charge in this passage must not be understood as some mere accusation of fault. Look at the passage. Verse 33. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? You understand the difference between an accusation that you've sinned and an accusation that you're worthy of being condemned? Somebody might stand up and rightly accuse you of sinning and succeed in that. But they could not, if they wanted, accuse you of that which would lead to your condemnation. They could not succeed in that. That's the nature of this charge. Further in the context, Paul is arguing that nothing is going to be able to separate you from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus. The point being that there are accusers, there are doubts, there are things that will be brought to you that would rest you from this confidence of being kept in the love of God in Christ Jesus. Those charges which would lead to your condemnation, those charges which would prove you unworthy of the privileges of being a Christian, those charges which, if proven, would separate you from God, Those are the kinds of charges that are being considered in this passage. Many charges would be laid against you that would prove you guilty of sin. Paul is not disputing that. But no charges can be brought against you that prove that you are to be condemned. No charges can be brought against you that prove that you ought not and may not have the privileges associated with being a Christian. No charge can be brought against you that would justify you being separated from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. All right. Second detail that I would like us to take up from that picture is to consider the possible accusers. In the picture I said, the prosecutor's table was empty. But that doesn't mean there are no prosecution witnesses. The fact is, and those of you who are Christians can quickly attest to this, there are many that make accusations against the people of God. Who are these possible accusers? Well, one is conscience. Perhaps the most difficult to deal with is conscience. Conscience is always rising up in the mind and soul and affections of the Christian and accusing him and accusing him and accusing him. Now, for the most part, it's the result of a poorly trained conscience, but conscience is nonetheless doing that. Conscience is rising up and saying that you don't pray sincerely enough. Conscience is rising up in prayer and saying that your repentance isn't thorough enough. It's not far reaching enough. Conscience is rising up and saying your love of the brethren is too mixed with fault. You can't be a Christian and have all of these bad thoughts about the people of God in your minds. Conscience is always rising up and accusing far beyond what it has warrant to accuse. But nonetheless, it is doing so. Another possible accuser is the past. Some of us have lived lives that we would be very ashamed if they were known. The past is a horrible accuser because you begin to live in a way that under the blessing of God is somewhat close to the biblical pattern. The past memories are always coming back. and accusing you that you could never be a Christian. In the light of what you've done, in the light of the way you've lived, in the light of the way you've hurt people, in the light of this, in the light of that, in the light of the ongoing effects of your wicked past, I cannot be a Christian. This is impossible. The past is a powerful accuser. Another accuser is the world. And you don't need to think long to think of illustrations of that. You have a family that is unconverted. Your children will accuse you of inconsistencies. Your parents will say, well, you're not really that different. Somebody else in the world that you work with will look for every opportunity to find something inconsistent in your life, and they'll mark out inconsistencies in your life that they would never consider worth mentioning in the life of an ungodly person. And they'll come to you and say, you call yourself a Christian? You call yourself a Christian and do this? You do this and you do that? The world is very quick to make its accusations against you. Of course, the chief and supreme accuser is the devil himself. According to Revelation chapter 12 and verse 10, he is said to be the accuser of the brethren. And the implication, though not the direct statement, is that he makes these accusations before God day and night. It's hard to understand exactly what that passage means. It's easier to understand what it means when you think of him accusing us that he uses conscience. He puts dark thoughts within our path. He puts foreboding circumstances that cause us to doubt. What it means for him to accuse us before God is something that I would hardly know how to explain. The only illustration that we might have of that is the way that he made accusations about Job. Remember how Satan went to God and said, Job just serves you because of the way you treat him. Job is no good man. He's no righteous man. He's just a greedy kind of man. You treat him good, so he responds and he loves you. But you treat him bad and he'll hate you. Well, that was an accusation that Satan brought against God in the face, against Job, rather, in the face of the Lord God. Satan is said to be the accuser of the brethren. There are many prosecutors that might come to that table and try to come to that table if they would have their opportunity. So we've looked now at two details. One is we've looked at these possible accusers, and the other is we've looked at the charge. Now, the question that has to be asked at this point is how do we answer these accusations? How do we answer the accusations of conscience? Because many of the facts are right, which conscience accuses us of. How do we answer the accusation of the past? How do we answer the accusation of the world? How do we answer the accusation of the unconverted husband who points out this fault and this fault and this fault? How do we answer the accusations of Satan, which are subtle and largely based in fact? Well, this passage gives us two ways in which these charges are to be addressed. Appreciate this passage does not say that we try to address these charges by trying to prove that we are without sin. It does not say that we address these accusers by trying to demonstrate that we are more righteous than sinful. It does not say that we are to try and address these accusers by proving that we have progressed so much in sanctification that God will no doubt be pleased with the situation. There is a totally different kind of reasoning in this passage. If we were to reason on the basis of how much we've improved by grace, if we were to argue against these accusations on the basis of how much more righteousness than sin there is in our life, we would fail in our attempt to respond to these accusations because there is not enough righteousness in our lives to address these accusations. There is not enough growth in grace to address these accusations. If that were the way that we had to address these accusations, we would be, of all people, without hope. But there is a different kind of reasoning. The passage gives two reasons why a Christian cannot be charged in such a way that leads to his condemnation and loss of privileges as a Christian. Now, look at what these two reasons are. Two reasons why no charge can succeed against the Christian. The first is because the Christian is the elect of God. The second is because it is God who justifies. Two reasons why all these accusations cannot succeed. Because the Christian is the elect of God. And secondly, because it is God who justifies. In the first place, because the Christian is the elect of God, it is absurd to accuse the Christian of being unworthy of the privileges of being a Christian, because no one has ever considered him worthy in the first place. It is a ridiculous argument for conscience or for the devil or for the world to come to you and to try to persuade you that you are unworthy of these privileges and ought really to be condemned. It is a foolish argument to come with that because no one has ever said anything to the contrary. We are the people of God on the basis of election. We are not the people of God on the basis of our faith. We are not the people of God on the basis of our repentance. We are not the people of God on the basis of our good works. We are the people of God on the basis of his sovereign choice. If we were the people of God on the basis of our election, I'm sorry, on the basis of our faith, then the accuser could point up all the deficiencies in our faith and demonstrate, of course, you must not be worthy at all. You should be condemned. If our standing with God was dependent upon the strength and sincerity of our repentance, then the accuser of the brethren could come and find all kinds of niches in our repentance, all kinds of areas of inadequacy and demonstrate, in fact, that we should be condemned. If our standing with God was dependent upon our growth in grace or upon our sincerity after conversion or upon anything like that. If our standing with God was dependent upon that, accusers could come and tear apart that standing and demonstrate that we haven't grown enough, and we haven't been sincere enough, and we haven't been all of this. But that would miss the whole basis of our standing. It would be an argument that has no point. It would be like shooting at a duck in that direction when the duck's over there. It would have no effect, because our standing is on the basis of our being the elect people of God. It is not based upon anything in ourselves. I would like us for a moment to consider some key passages on the doctrine of election and then bring them back to bear upon this passage. It would be impossible in the few minutes that I want to give to this to give anything like a balanced treatment of the biblical doctrine of election. So please don't think it will be that. But I would like us to see some major biblical emphases on the matter of election and then bring them back to the application of this passage. Please turn to Second Thessalonians, chapter 2 and verse 13. Second Thessalonians, chapter 2 and verse 13. Chapter 2, verse 13, Paul says, But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, for that God chose you from the beginning unto salvation in sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth, whereunto he called you through our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. I just noticed several things that are said in this passage about the subject of election. Number one, it is God is the one who has done the choosing. We are bound to give thanks to God, always for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, for that God chose you. Every place that the subject of election is discussed, it is always in this way. God is the one who has done the choosing. It is not that we have somehow cajoled God. It is not that we have somehow made application and he has responded. It is that God himself has taken the sovereign initiative. Notice, secondly, the obvious point is that he did choose. He did not He chose. There was not some contest that was put forward to determine who was the most worthy and those who earned their place would become the elect of God. It was not a matter of earning. It's a matter of choosing. In the second and third place, notice that it is in reference to individuals. God did not choose a mass. God chose you as individuals. There is not some big pool called the elect and anybody can jump into it. Individual people are the elect, and certainly they form a mass, but it is as individual people that they form a mass. Some people want to say that election is just like you have a great large open field. That's the elect. Now, anybody can get in there. That's not at all the point. Individuals are the ones who are specifically chosen by God. And notice also that it says they are chosen unto salvation. They are not chosen unto opportunity. It's not that God looks upon some. Westerners, as opposed to some in the central parts of Africa, and says, OK, I will elect these Westerners to the opportunity of hearing the gospel. And those other folks, I just won't allow them to have the opportunity. It is not an election to opportunity. It is an election unto salvation. And it's very specific in this passage. It's very specific in this passage, and it says this salvation is in sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth. That's what you're chosen to. And the passage goes on to say, then, whereunto he called you. In other words, this choice by God of individuals to bring them to salvation, which took place before the beginnings of the world, at a point in time, he actually went out by his spirit, took a hold of those people, and called them, brought them unto the experience of salvation. All right, turn now to Ephesians chapter 1. Try to hold all of these thoughts in your mind until we come back to Romans chapter 8. Ephesians chapter 1, verses 3 through 5 and verse 11. Verse 3, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blemish before him in love, having foreordained us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto himself, according to the good pleasure of his will. Verse 11, in whom also we have been made a heritage, having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his will. Just notice three things in addition to what we looked at in Second Thessalonians. Number one, this choice was made before the foundations of the world. It was not made while we lived. It was not made after we had done good or bad. It was made before we even existed. Number two, appreciate that this election, it says, is unto holiness. It is not on the basis of holiness. It's not that God has looked out and seen some people that would be godly and would be good, and so he's chosen them. No, he's looked out and seen wicked people, and he's chosen them to bring them unto godliness, to change them and to make them finally be godly. And in the third place, according to verses 5 and 11, the reason that he did this is simply because it pleased him. The reason is not to be found in ourselves. The reason that any individual is chosen by God is not to be found in that person. It's not that he has certain gifts or certain abilities or anything. The reason is not in that person. The reason is in God. It pleased God. And we will want to know forever why he chose some and why he didn't choose another. But there will not be an answer given. The answer is simply that that's what pleased him. Now, the third passage is in Romans chapter nine. In Romans 9, verses 10-12, you have the account of the election of one individual, the election of Jacob, as opposed to his twin brother, Esau. Romans 9, verses 10-12. And not only so, but Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau, But Rebecca, also having conceived by one, even by our father Isaac, for the children being not yet born, neither having done anything good or bad, 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, even as it is written, Jacob I loved, But Esau I hated. Verse 14. What shall we say then? Now, Paul is anticipating an objection. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God for him to choose one and not to choose another, to love one and to hate another? Is there unrighteousness with God? Paul can't even conceive of the thought. God forbid. For he saith 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 hath mercy." Well, now appreciate some of the details of this passage. Here are these twins, one mother, one father. A decision was made by God, a choice was made by God about them before they were even born. The passage says God declared this choice to Rebekah, not only that he made it in his mind, but he declared it to Rebekah before the children were born for a specific purpose. The specific purpose was so that everyone would know the choice was not made on the basis of what they had done because they hadn't had an opportunity to do anything good or to do anything bad. The choice was made, the passage said, so that the purposes of God, according to election, might stand. The election, the choice, it says, was made because of one simple thing. God loved Jacob, and he hated Esau. Now, that's a sobering, sobering passage. And people will do all they can to bleed it of what it says, to make it fit their conceptions of what God ought to be. We ought to do everything we can to bleed our mind of humanistic conceptions and fill our mind with biblical statements and biblical views of what God is really like. The point of the passage is, though here are two individuals, God loved one and not the other, before they ever had any opportunity to do good or bad, God chose one because He loved that one, not because there was anything good about Jacob. And the fact is, as you know, the early life of Jacob was very despicable. Jacob was not a good man. Jacob was not a wonderful man. He was a despicable man. He was a deceptive man. By the grace of God, he was changed. But there was nothing lovely about Jacob in the beginning. But God loved him. His heart was set upon him. Election and salvation, which issues from election, is never based upon merit, never based upon worthiness, but only based upon God's good pleasure. And so you can have Paul saying in many places, words like these. Second Timothy chapter one in verse nine, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, not by works of righteousness. Titus three, five, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us. Now, what is the application of all this about election to our text back in Romans chapter 8? I ask you to turn back to Romans chapter 8. What is the application of this doctrine of election? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Well, here is the accuser. Let's say in this case, the accuser is conscience. accusing us of sin and accusing us of how unworthy we are to be Christians and accusing us that we are so unworthy that we should rather receive condemnation and not receive the privileges of grace. And conscience comes with all the arguments of our inconsistencies and all the shameful things that conscience knows are in our mind that nobody else knows about. Conscience comes and presses its case. And he makes it cogently What is our response to be? Well, our response to conscience is to say, yes, it is true. All this catalog of faults that you have found is true. But my standing with God does not rest upon my worth. My standing with God rests upon his sovereign choice of me. And that will never be a statement that is tinged with arrogance. It will be a statement that is shrouded in the deepest sense of humility, that I, with all these faults which conscience can bring to the fore, I have been chosen by God to be His child. I repeat what I said earlier. If our standing with God did depend upon our faith or upon our repentance, or upon our progress in sanctification, or upon our increasing usefulness, or upon some other thing, then, if that were true, then, when the accuser comes and reminds us of all of our faults and inconsistencies, then we would be forced to admit that we are not worthy and not acceptable to God, and worthy only of condemnation. But that's not the fact. We are not accepted by God on the basis of our faith or repentance or sanctification. We are the people of God solely because He has elected us to be so. He has chosen us to be so. And thus the accuser bringing these correct accusations cannot find us worthy of condemnation. There is a second line of reasoning which this passage takes up. When these accusers would come and make their accusations, which have a solid basis in fact, we are in the first place to remind the accuser that we stand where we do because we've been chosen, not because we're worthy. But in the second place, we are to reason with these accusers with this statement, it is God that justifies who are you. to say to the face of conscience, to say to the face of the world, to say to the face of the unconverted husband who's always picking out our inconsistencies, to say to whoever would accuse us, it is God that justifies who are you. Appreciate the power of the argument in this passage. There are so many details here, but I don't want us to get bogged down in the details and to lose the thrust of the passage. You understand, most of you have been here for a long time, you understand what Paul has been saying in so many places in the book about the subject of justification. Justification is also a legal term. It's a statement, it's a pronouncement by a judge. It's a pronouncement that someone is right, that someone is right in reference to law, that their conduct is not wrong, that they are right in reference to law. Here's the person who's brought to the judge. He's been accused of breaking the speed limit. The speed limit was 55 miles an hour. He's been accused of going 75 miles an hour. When the evidence is all in, it proves that he's going 55 miles an hour, and the judge says, you are justified. There's nothing wrong with you. You're not guilty of anything. You've perfectly kept the law. You're justified. Well, Paul has demonstrated already that God justifies the ungodly. In Romans chapter 4 and verse 5, God justifies the ungodly. He takes the people that are very guilty of breaking His law. He takes the people that were traveling 75 miles an hour in the 55 mile an hour zone. He takes those people and He says, you are just. You remember the argument of Paul, how can he do that? How can He take someone that is a liar? And how can He take someone that is a thief? How can He take someone who is guilty of breaking the law and say, you're justified? How can He do that? You remember the argument. These texts say in Romans chapter 3, in Romans chapter 5, in Philippians chapter 3, in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, those texts say that the very obedience of Jesus, the very righteous conduct of the Lord Jesus Christ is given to the elect of God, so that when we stand before God's judgment, what God's eye focuses upon, is not how much we've sinned and not how much we've disobeyed Him, but what God's judgmental eye falls upon is this record that we have Jesus' obedience at every point given over to us. And so when He tests us to see if we're liars, He sees Jesus' perfect honesty. When he tests us to see if we're adulterers, he sees Jesus' perfect moral purity. And in the basis of what he sees in our record book, he says, you are justified. He justifies the ungodly because he gives to the ungodly the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's just, in a moment, what should be expanded upon for hours and what Paul has dealt with before. But come back to the thrust of this argument. Here's the courtroom scene. Here's these accusers trying to come to the prosecutor's bench and make their statement. And they do make their statement. Who are they? It is God. It is God who justifies. It is God who says you have the righteousness of Christ. It is God who says you're accepted. Who is conscience to speak? Conscience is not the judge. Conscience has no standing in the matter. You know what standing is in a legal term? You know, you can't just have anybody sue anybody. If you If you are trying to sue the cigarette companies because somebody's died of lung poisoning and of cancer, you can't just come out and say, I'd like to sue those folks and go do it. You've got to have standing. You've got to have some legal basis to represent such a person before the court. Conscience has no standing in God's court. Who is conscience? The world certainly has no standing in God's court. Who is the world to make an accusation about us to God? Religious hypocrites have no standing in God's court. Who are they to make accusations against the people of God? There is only one who can make accusations in God's court. It's God's law. But we have come to the end of God's law in terms of justification. We have been removed from the curse of the law. But better still, We have the righteousness of Jesus, which perfectly satisfies every demand of God's law. Law has nothing to say to us. Law doesn't come to us and says, you've broken the third commandment, and you've broken the fifth commandment, and you've broken the sixth commandment. Because when law looks at our record, it sees Jesus' record and says, you've perfectly kept the fifth commandment, and the sixth commandment, and the seventh commandment. The point of the passage is, who could make an accusation against us when God is the one who justifies? You see the point? If we were dependent upon a good conscience to be justified, if conscience, in fact, was the one who justified us, we'd be in trouble. If we were dependent upon the judgment of the world to determine whether or not we should go to heaven, If it was the world who justified us, we'd be in trouble, because they could find all our faults. If we were dependent upon the people of God to justify us, we'd be in trouble, because they see the faults too. But we are dependent upon God to justify us. If he says we're not justified, there is no hope. If he says we're justified, there is no accuser. And that's the point of the passage. Who can lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God who justifies. Now there are just a few applications that I'd like to make and then we'll be done. The first is to the people of God. I would encourage you who have access to Martin Lloyd-Jones' volume on his sermons on the Book of Romans to read his sermon on this text. He asks a very helpful question. He asks a question there to the Christians. He says, how do you view yourself? Do you view yourselves as the elect of God? Do you view yourselves as the special, chosen, peculiar, precious people of God? He asks, he says, do you ever think about how you became a Christian? Do you think of becoming Christian because you believed or because you repented or because of this or because of that? Or do you think of this? You're a Christian because God has thought about you from before the foundations of the world. He set his affections upon you and he's done what was necessary to get you to come to him, to give you love for him and to make you his child. The point that he's trying to make is how do you look at being a Christian? Do you look at it from the perspective of human beings or do you look at it from the perspective of God? And the point that he continues to make then is if you look at being a Christian simply on the standpoint of your faith and what you did and all the rest, if that's how you see it, you'll have a very low view of what it is to be a Christian. You'll not only have a very low view of what it is to be a Christian, you'll have a very unstable view of what it is to be a Christian. Because if you're only thinking in terms of how you became a Christian, Then you're going to be seeing all your faults and you're going to be wondering, am I really a Christian at all? But if you see things from the divine perspective and you see that the reason that you have faith, the reason that you've repented, the reason that you have a longing for righteousness with all of your failures and inconsistencies and all the things that conscience does say to you, nonetheless, that you are striving to please God, the reason that that's so is because God has thought about you and loved you and chosen you and brought you to himself. What a different view of being a Christian that makes. It doesn't make being a Christian such a burden. It makes being a Christian an unspeakable privilege to consider it in that perspective. And then all the struggles that go along with being a Christian are seen in the context of privilege, not in the context of, oh, I got to do this, and I got to do this, and I got to do this, so I'm going to be a Christian. No, you have been made a Christian by the sovereign choice of God. That means many serious difficulties. But they are difficulties in the context of unspeakable privilege, not difficulties in the context of unbearable burdens. The second application to those who are Christians is that there are some Christians who doubt that they're elect. There are some people who really are elect and really are converted, but they doubt it. And of course, as long as they doubt it, they can't have the assurance and the confidence that a passage like this is supposed to give to them. Well, let me say two things to you. One, it's not normal so to doubt. It's not proper so to doubt. This passage is not addressed to the elite. This passage is addressed to the general people of God. The people of God are to be confident. The people of God are to know their election. So you've heard this before, but I say it again. Don't let that doubt become normal to you. Don't let yourself accept that as something you just live with. It ought to be dealt with. And the second thing then to say to Christians who doubt their place in election, the second thing to say to you, is saturate your mind with that passage in 2 Peter chapter 1 that tells you how to make your calling and election sure. The passage simply says to grow in grace. You can read it and get the details, but that's basically what the passage says. It says to take your faith, to add to it vigor, nobility, and to do the things that a Christian is to do. And in the context of doing those things, you will be given assurance of your calling and of your election. Don't let yourself doubt. Give yourself with diligence to doing the things that a Christian should do. Don't sit back and say, well, I may not be a Christian, So what's, how can I ever, no. If you believe, if you've repented, if you are striving to please God, then you have reason to hope that you're a Christian. And you should go to that passage and follow its directives and look to God to give you the assurance of that case. It is not a natural thing to believe the gospel, to repent of sin, and to be striving to please God. That is not a natural thing. That is the fruit of election. That is the fruit of God's choosing you, putting His Spirit upon you, and drawing you to Himself. And if you doubt that, then you're exhorted on the basis of that passage to give yourself with diligence to Christian virtues, so that in that context of growing in grace, you would be assured and made confident of your election. And then I would like to say these few things to those of you who are not Christians. You think of these different accusers that could come to the bar of God before you. Now really listen to me. It's almost over. It's hot. You've been sitting a long time. Just listen to these last things that I'm going to say, please. You who are not Christians, think. Think, please, of the power of these witnesses. Conscience is a very powerful witness against you, because conscience knows. Conscience is with you. Now, what I see is very little. What the person sitting beside you sees is very little. Conscience, though. You'd like to strangle conscience, because conscience sees everything. It sees what you think. It sees what you feel. It sees the lust that nobody else is aware of. It sees the deceptiveness. It sees the anger that nobody else is aware of. But conscience is a rascal. Conscience will not be quiet in the final day. Conscience will rise up and damn you because it will say all the things that are true. Of all the other witnesses that could be brought against you, conscience is one terribly to be feared. Satan is an accuser to be greatly feared because he is without mercy. And the Bible doesn't say that what I'm going to say is true, but you think along these lines if it could be true. If in the day of judgment, Satan, the accuser of the brethren, if he could accuse you, he would use every guile and every malicious way to expose every detail of your sins. But as hard as those accusers would be to face, think what it would be if the judge, too, became your accuser. You think of an American courtroom scene and all the ideals of justice in America. The ideal is that the judge is neutral. The ideal is that the judge knows the law. And all he cares about is seeing whether or not you fit the law, and he has to be persuaded. I shouldn't even say that he's neutral. Justice is supposed to be neutral, but the judge and the jury are to assume that you're innocent until you're proven guilty. And so you have this hope. If you're brought into a courtroom and you're accused of something, you have this hope. Even if you're guilty, you have this hope. that the evidence will be presented in such a way that the judge will not be persuaded to change his mind from assuming your innocence to assuming your guilt. You go into a courtroom, you ought to have that position. Can you imagine the despair that would come over you if you went into such a courtroom and you knew the judge was against you? That it really didn't matter what all the witnesses said, he was predisposed against you. Didn't matter what Witness A says, and doesn't matter what Evidence B is, it doesn't matter what because He's already against you. Well, that's the point of the Bible. That even if conscience would be silent, God is against those who will not love His Son. God will bring into judgment every secret work. God who justifies or damns is opposed to all those who do not love his Son. There is no hope. There is no legal maneuvering. There is no extenuation of guilt. There is no way to argue with this judge because he is against you unless you love his Son. His justice is inflexible. He is committed to your destruction unless you love his Son. This matter of God justifying is a two-sided picture. God justifies the ungodly. You who are ungodly, there's hope for you, because God can justify you. With all of your sins, they can be forgiven, and the righteousness of Jesus can be given to you, so that with all your terrible record, you can still stand before God, and He'll accept you. Because you have Jesus' obedience, He would justify you, the ungodly. But the other side of that is, God, who is the judge, will not justify anyone who is outside of Christ, because their sins are so large and obvious that they must be damned to hell. Well, there's great comfort for the people of God in this passage. There's great comfort for the ungodly in this passage, if they would come to God through Christ for justification. But if they would endeavor to stand before God alone, There is no hope, and there is a judgment that will come without remedy. May God enable us all to come to Christ, wherein is much security for the most godless among us. Let us pray together. Our Father, we must acknowledge to you that some of us have known much of the accusations of conscience and the accusations of others who know us well, and we feel deeply the accusation of conscience and are greatly ashamed of our sins. We sincerely thank you that you have chosen us and loved us for reasons outside of ourselves, And we sincerely thank you that you justify us in the face of these many reasons and these many accusations that can be brought against us. We thank you for Christ. We thank you for His obedience and for your willingness to give it to us. We thank you for His death and for His carrying our sins and for them being removed from us and for your wrath being laid upon Him and also removed from us. We thank you, O God, for these wonderful provisions. Blessed be thy name. Help us please to know something of this jubilant hope that Paul writes of in these verses. We pray that your true people would contemplate what it is to be chosen by you, and that that reality of election would lead us more and more to holiness and to obedience. We pray that for those who are not sincere in their faith, but are only false professors of Christianity, that you would please not allow them to take any comfort in this doctrine of election, but that you would expose their lack of holiness. and finally bring them to true faith in Christ. And we do pray with all of our heart, we pray for those who are here who have never known you, and who have not known your grace, and who have not loved Christ, and who do not attempt to obey Him. We pray, Father, that you would make them long to be justified from all of their sins, and that you would bring them to the Lord Jesus even today. We pray in Christ's name, amen.