Kids can go to Junior Church. You can go to Luke 6. We'll get there in a minute. There's a weird sound coming on up here. We're working on the decrees of God. Today we're going to begin going from the general decrees to the confession, takes us then kind of in a funnel down to the decrees of God dealing with salvation. Does he decree anything in the aspect of salvation? Again, I'm going to read the seven paragraphs of chapter three, God's decrees out of the confession. Then we're going to leave that. We're going to wrestle with a couple things, and then next week we'll go back and look at each of those last three paragraphs individually. God hath decreed in himself from all eternity, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably, all things whatsoever comes to pass, yet so as thereby is God neither the author of sin nor hath fellowship with any therein, nor is violence offered to the will of the creature, nor yet is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established in which appears his wisdom in disposing all things in power and faithfulness in accomplishing his decree. Secondly, they stated, although God knoweth whatsoever may or can come to pass upon all supposed conditions, Yet hath he not decreed anything, because he foresaw it as future, or as that which would come to pass upon such conditions? Thirdly, by the decree of God, for the manifestation of his glory, some men and angels are predestined or foreordained to eternal life through Jesus Christ, to the praise of his glorious grace, others being left to act in their sin to their just condemnation, to the praise of his glorious justice. Paragraph 4, these angels and men, thus predestined and foreordained, are particularly and unchangeably designed, and their number so certain and definite that it cannot be either increased or diminished. Paragraph 5, those of mankind that are predestined to life, God, before the foundation of the world was laid, according to His eternal and immutable purpose, And the secret counsel and good pleasure of his will have chosen in Christ unto everlasting glory out of his mere free grace and love without any other thing in the creature as a condition or cause moving him thereunto. Paragraph six. As God hath appointed the elect unto glory, so he hath, by the eternal most free purpose of his will, foreordained all the means thereunto. Wherefore, they who are elected, being fallen in Adam, are redeemed by Christ, are effectually called unto faith in Christ, by his Spirit working in due season, are justified, adopted, sanctified, and kept by his power through faith, unto salvation, neither are any other redeemed by Christ, or effectually called justified, adopted, sanctified, and saved, but the elect only. Then lastly, paragraph 7, the doctrine of the high mystery of predestination is to be handled with special prudence and care, that men attending the will of God, revealed in his word, Yielding obedience thereunto may from the certainty of their effectual vocation be assured of their eternal election So shall this doctrine afford matter of praise reverence and admiration of God and of humility diligence and abundance Consolation to all that sincerely obey the Gospels So we're going to basically next week look at paragraph three four five six and seven in detail but we're going to break from that first and we're going to back up just a little bit here to lay just some groundwork that'll help us. First of all, this week, I don't know, it's just one of those weeks I appreciate I had a lot of people contact me, either calls or comments about last week's sermon and just how that it helped them and strengthened them. And I can personally give testimony that last week's sermon, the thought of God's decree, it challenged me even as I would say last week I was questioning God and his directing of my path and my family in some ways. So it really, it just kind of helped me to understand God, if he decrees all things, then I can find good in all things. I thought the verse, there's two things that came to me. I was driving back from work and, and trust in the Lord with all thine heart, lean not unto thine own understanding and all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths. There's no comfort in that verse of God cannot decree. How's he gonna direct your path if he can be thwarted by man? And then I thought of Matthew 6 where it talks about, you know, the birds of the field or the birds of the air and the lilies and how God takes care of them and God knows all the needs they have. And if God knows the needs they have and knows your needs, how much more will your heavenly father take care of you? How can he do that if he is not sovereignly able to decree that all things be taken care of for me? And so it just brought comfort, the idea of taking all these passages that I've learned as a child about trusting in God, but also recognizing I'm trusting the one who is in control. Because to trust in the one who's not in control really is just a hope. It's really not a trust. And so it was just a, by way of my own testimony, it was strengthening to me. The confession here takes us from the general decrees of God to that great question that has plagued the church for the last 175 years. Though small issues were present before that, the primary struggle over the subject of election began in the 1800s. There were some struggles in between there, but the real struggle, the real beginning, it was really more towards the 1900s and that transition there that these things began to become a difficult subject in the church. The reality is the confessions of the Protestant movement were strong in the doctrines of grace. Every one of the historic confessions will talk and deal with the subject of election. The Baptist confessions were solidly defending the doctrines of graces. We're looking at the London Baptist Confession. We see it there. The overwhelming majority of Baptist churches were holding to the doctrines of grace. I have in my office a book, and I'll use some of it next week, that takes the beginning of the Baptist movement in America, the churches, the first churches in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, all these different churches, it has either their confession faith or it has their covenant, as we would have a church covenant. And so it's a historic book, and so it puts all these covenants, and when you read their covenants, in their covenant is all five points of covenants. So the history of Baptists until about the mid to late 1800s was all Calvinistic with the exception of some general Baptists. And so you had the general Baptist, particular Baptist, and their argument was over unlimited atonement. General atonement, particular atonement. Not so much over election, per se. Many of the writings of the early Church Fathers were promoting or defending the doctrines of grace. The recorded history of the Church is so strongly tied to the doctrines of grace that the opposite is really a new and a small portion of Church history. The Heidelberg Catechism, Belgic Confession, Canons of Dort, Westminster Confession, London Baptist Confession, Philadelphia Baptist Confession, Charleston Baptist Confession, and many other that time does not really permit right now all teach some aspects of what we just read under the decrees and election. So the question before us is as follows. Does God decree all things or at least everything that is required for his plan of redemption to go forth and be victorious? And then does God's decree then extend to salvation itself? So first we have, does God decree all things? That's what the confession states. That's what I would believe. Some would say, well, I believe he's just decreed everything necessary for salvation to take place. He decreed Christ, the crucifixion, and so forth, so the plan of redemption. Everything needed for the plan of redemption to be victorious has been decreed. And then that, you'll see that as we read those paragraphs, it then funnels down to, so does the decree of God now apply to salvation and its application itself? The doctrine of election is not up for debate. Let me explain what I mean by that. In other words, if the Bible states there is election, then there is the doctrine, the teaching of election. So the debate cannot be over election itself, but over what is election. recently had a conversation with someone that would not necessarily hold to my views of election, and I was surprised because they would take shots at me all the time about it. Now, just this moment of sincerity, the person looked at me and says, ''The doctrine of election I recognize is clearly taught in scripture. My struggle is what is it?'' So, I have read people say, ''I don't believe elections in the Bible.'' That's a difficult position to take because there's over 50 verses that either say elect, chose, or elected. So it's kind of there. So our struggle is what is it then, correct? What is election? That's what we have to wrestle with. You and I are actually called the elect. So what is election? So we're gonna ask the question, the confession presents to us, does God's decree follow into election for salvation, as the confession states. So we will first look at the teaching of election in scripture, then look at the declaration of the confession next week itself, all right? So you have the word, it's gonna be elect, election, chosen, chose, predestined, called in scripture. First of all, I wanna just define some of the words. You have election, Webster's 1828 defines election as this, the act of choosing a person to fill an office, power of choosing, Okay, that's just the general term. We had an election, what was it, November, two years ago, we elected, we made a choice, choosing. We have the power in our country to have an election. In the divine sense, Noah Webster says this, it's the predetermination of God by which persons are distinguished as objects of mercy, become subjects of grace, are sanctified and prepared for heaven. That is the 1828 Webster's Dictionary, his definition of election. And if I remember right, I'm not sure Noah Webster would be a classic Calvinist. But he is recognized, and this is the meaning of this word. By the way, in defining words, with the exception of the Greek word translated inspiration in 2 Timothy, these are everyday words. We always put a spiritual context to it. They're everyday words. So the word baptizo means to immerse. That's just a Greek word for immersion. They would use it in their everyday life. So when we see it in Scripture, then we add to it the theological implication of that word, but don't try to spiritualize all these words are spiritual words. They're just everyday language that is used by Christ and others in Scripture. Thayer's Greek lexicon says the word for election is defined as picked out, chosen, chosen by God, choice, or select. We have different words that are translated in our Bible as either elect, election, chosen, predestined, or called. They are ecleogami, make choice, choose out. This is one that's predominantly used. Eclektos means to select, by implication, shows favoritism, show favor, chosen, or elect. Eklogai, which is the verb aspect of selection, chosen, election. And then there's one other word, synekloktos, 4899. It just simply is a combination where we are co-elected. So like when we're joint heirs with Christ, that would be the idea. We are co, we're sharing this. We are elected together. There are over 50 verses using the word ekloktos or the form of it in scripture. So therefore we know, first of all, election is in the Bible. So now we're commanded to understand it, because it's there. We can't say, I don't want to talk about it. It's there. So we're going to work on it. But what I did, first of all, I am going to read pretty much, I think I got every scripture verse that uses some form of eclektos. First of all, translated as the word elect, Matthew 24, 22. and except those days should be shortened, there should be no flesh be saved, but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. Verse 24, for there shall arise false Christs and false prophets and shall show great signs and wonders in so much that if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Matthew 24, verse 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. Mark 13, verse 22, for false Christs and false prophets shall arise and show signs and wonders to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. Verse 27, and then shall he send his angels and shall gather together his elect from the four winds from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven. Luke 18, 7, and shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? Romans 833, who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justify it. Colossians 312, put on therefore as the elect of God, holy and beloved bowels of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long suffering. First Timothy 521, I charge thee before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality. Titus 1.1, Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness. 1 Peter 1.2, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, grace unto you and peace be multiplied. 1 Peter 2 6 wherefore also is contained in the Scriptures behold I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone elect precious and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. 2 John 1 1 the elder unto the elect lady and her children whom I love in the truth and not I only but also all they that have known the truth and then the same chapter verse 13 the children of thy elect sister greet thee. So that is the word being translated as elect. So we know there is a people referred to as the elect in scripture. There is a people. Who are these people? Well, it is us. We're referred to as the elect. So it would not be improper. It might be outdated to walk around and say, hey, you're one of the elect. You're part of the elect. We're elect. Christ refers to us many times as elect. He refers to the elect angels. Christ himself is referred to as elect in 1 Peter 2.6. Now we have the word translated as election. Romans 9 11 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 Romans 11 verse 5 even so then it is at this present time Also, there is a remnant according to the election of grace Romans 11 7 What then is you'll have not obtained that which he seeketh for but election hath obtained it and the rest were blinded Romans 1128. As concerning the gospel, there are enemies for your sakes, but as touching the election, they are beloved for the Father's sake. 1 Thessalonians 1, 4. Knowing, brethren, beloved, your election of God. 2 Peter 1, 10. Wherefore, the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, ye shall never fall. Now we'll find where that word has been translated as chose or chosen. By the way, if you're trying to write these references down, I can print this off for you so you don't have to get them all down. Chose or chosen, Luke 6, 13. And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples, and of them he chose 12, whom also he named apostles. Luke 14, 7, and he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief runes, saying unto them, Acts 6, 6, 5. And the same pleased the whole multitude, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith, and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Acana, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicholas, a proselyte of Antioch. Acts 13, 17, the God of this people of Israel chose our fathers and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt. Acts 15, 40, and Paul chose Silas. Matthew 20, 16, so the last shall be first and the first shall be last, for many are called but few are chosen. Matthew 2214 for many are called, but few are chosen. Mark 1320 except the Lord had shortened those days. No flesh should be saved, but for the Alex sake whom he hath chosen hath he shortened the days Luke 1042. But one thing is needful and Mary hath chosen that good part. Luke 23 35 and the people stood beholding and the rulers also with them deriding him saying he saved others Let him save himself if he be Christ the chosen of God John 6 70 Jesus answered them have not I chosen you 12 and one of you is a devil John 13 18. I speak not of you all I know Whom I have chosen John's 1516, you have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit. John 1519, if you're of the world, the world will love his own, but you're not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. Acts 121, to the day in which he was taken up. After that, he, through the Holy Ghost, had given commandments to the apostles whom he had chosen. Acts 124, and they prayed and said, thou Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, show whether of these two thou hast chosen. Acts 1522, then please it the apostles and elders in the whole church to send chosen men of their own company. Acts 1525, it seemed good unto us being assembled with one accord to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul. Romans 16, 13, salute Rufus chosen in the Lord. 1 Corinthians 127, but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty. Verse 28, and the base things of the world and the things that are spies hath God chosen, yea, the things that are not to bring not these things that are. 2 Corinthians 8, 19, and not that thou only, but who was also chosen of the churches to travel with us. Ephesians 1 for according as he had chosen us in him before the foundation of the world 2nd Thessalonians 2 13 But 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 in the thought in the truth Second, Timothy 2 for no man that worth and tingle himself with the affairs of this life that he may please him who has chosen him to be a soldier. James 2 five. Hearken, my beloved brethren, hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he had promised to them that love him? First Peter 2 four to whom coming as unto living living stones disallowed indeed of men but chosen of God and precious. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. Procure your people that you should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Then Revelation 17, 14. These shall make war with the Lamb. The Lamb shall overcome them, for he is the Lord of lords, the King of kings, and they that are with him are called and chosen and faithful. So there is basically, there may have been one or two I missed, every single New Testament passage that uses some form of the word eclektos, translated elect, election, or chose, or chosen. So it's there. So what is it? The comfortable thing, and by the way, most churches in America will do the comfortable thing, is just ignore this. just run past it. I can remember back in my early ministry, I would try to come up with unique ways of defining election. I remember one time my thought was, If someone's to be elected president, they first have to run for president. So we decide to run for salvation and then God elects us. That was one of my ways of trying to finagle with this idea of elect, election, chose, or chosen. Well, I wanna go back and look at just secular uses, or what I would call common everyday languages of this word in the scripture. Go to Luke chapter six, all right? This has nothing to do with salvation, this passage. In fact, the next few won't. But it just gives us an idea of when it's used in just the common vernacular of the day, what would it mean? What would be the implications of it? So in Luke chapter six, we will look at verse 12 and 13, okay? And it came to pass in those days that he went out into the mountain to pray and continued all night in prayer. Jesus did this. And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples. So he's got all his disciples together. Don't think of the 12 at this moment. Think all the disciples together. And of them he chose 12, he elected 12, he selected 12, whom also he named apostles. So here we go from this group of disciples, we get our 12 now. When we think of disciples, we often think of the 12. The word disciple means follower of Christ. Sometimes disciples uses a large group, sometimes referencing the 12. So here in just a common vernacular, Jesus is praying all night, he comes down now, comes to his disciples, and of them he chooses 12. He selects 12, he elects 12. No difficulty understanding that in the definition of the word choose, and even in the context. The word choose is used here of a selection, an election, a choice. Look over at Luke chapter 10, another picture of it in a common vernacular being used. Luke chapter 10, verse, 38 and it came to pass as they went that he entered into a certain village and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house And she had a sister called Mary which was also at Jesus feet and he heard his work and heard his word But Martha was covered about much serving and it came to him and came to him and said Lord Dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone bid her therefore that she should help me So Martha's a little little upset here. Okay, tell Mary to get off her duff and get in the kitchen and help I'm doing all this work Verse 41, and Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things, but one thing is needful, one thing is important, and Mary hath chosen that good part. Mary hath decided, elected, selected, determined, chose the right one. He says there's many things that are important. And yes, what you're doing in the kitchen is important. But Mary recognizes there's something even more important than that, and she has chose, she has decided, she has selected the right thing here. Okay, this has nothing to do with salvation, this is just the word eclektos being translated in your scriptures according to the meaning of the word Mary has chosen. Go to Luke chapter 14. Luke chapter 14 verse 7, and he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms, saying unto them. So he's given this parable, they would come when the chief, the important people would come in, and when they would come into the banquet or the dinner or the fellowship, they would choose out the best seats, okay? This is Bob Euchre, you know, must be in the front row and he's way up in the back. They come in and they look and say, the best seats, I want the best seats. And when they see him, they choose those seats. They elect to go sit in those seats. They select those seats to sit in. Again, simply a proper translation of the term eclektos or a derivative of it here in Luke 14, verse seven. They selected, they elected, they chose the best seats. This is also the same idea, the word in Hebrew, translated in 1 Samuel 17, when David went to the brook, he's going to fight Goliath, and he goes down to the brook and it says, David chose out stones. David selected five smooth stones. David elected, he decided on, he took these stones to go fight Goliath. The common thought is that the choice is made by one and received by the other. The choice is not determined by the receptor. All the receptors were in a passive state. The stones didn't say, David, choose me. David chose the stones. The chief seats did not say, choose us. The rulers, the dignitaries, chose them. The disciples didn't say, ooh, ooh, pick me, Jesus came down and chose out 12. That's just simple definition used of the word eclektos in scripture, not in a salvation sense, just in the general sense, they're making choices, choices are being made. Nowhere in scripture does the meaning of elect, chose, chosen change when it is put into the context of salvation. So if I was years ago teaching on any of those passages, I would say, so Mary's made the right choice. Mary made the right decision. Mary selected the best thing to do was to listen to Jesus. David went out and he looked and he picked five stones. David chose five stones. David selected five stones. The chief priest would come in and they would look into the banquet hall and they'd look at all the seating and the arrangement and they would pick out the best seats. They would choose the best seats to sit in. And that would have been proper exegesis of that passage. Then when I come to the same word in the context of a salvation verse, I say, but that's not what it means there. But when did scripture ever say the definition of the word eclektos changed? It hasn't changed. Nowhere in scripture does the meaning of elect, choose, chosen change when it's placed in the context of salvation. Some would state that God foresaw the choice I would make and elected me. This would be attrition of scripture and change the definition of electas from choice to the definition of ratification or affirmation or to approve my decision, which is not at all what that verse means. And I cannot assign a definition to a word that it doesn't belong to. Eklaktos never means to affirm or to ratify. It means to select, to elect, to choose. Acts chapter 6 verse 36. Go there real quick. Acts chapter six, we will see a combination of two meanings here used. We will see election, selection made, and we will see ratification or affirmation made at the same time. They are different. Acts chapter six, verse three. Wherefore, brethren, the church has gotten larger, having issues, things aren't being taken care of, so the disciples come to the church and say, wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you, seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, to the ministry of the word. And the same pleased the multitude, it pleased the church, and the church chose, the church elected, the church selected Stephen, a man full of faith, and the Holy Ghost, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicholas, a proselyte of Antichrist. The church chose, elected, selected them. whom the apostles then set before the apostles, and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them. So the apostles said, you choose, we will ratify. Two different meanings, two different functions. The church elected seven, the apostles then ratified their choice or affirmed their choice in putting them in that position. I cannot make electos mean affirm, that's not what it means. The definition, it's like any other word. The definition, you know, I go out there and And I say I own a pickup truck. Can you picture what that means in your mind? Because you know what a definition of a pickup truck is. So you go outside, and there's my three-wheeled tricycle. And you're like, where's your truck? That's my truck. Pastor, that's not a truck. That's a bicycle. No, that's my truck. That's a bicycle. No, it's my truck. You can't say it's a truck. That's a truck. This is a bicycle. I can't give meanings to words I want. I'm bound by the meaning of the words for my interpretation. So every time I see eclektos or electemi, it has a meaning. It has a definition. As much as I hated English grammar growing up, and I blew off my English grammar as much as I could, I have learned in scripture, though, scripture's not hard to define. It's called English grammar. It's, you know, remember when you had to, you'd have the sentence, and then you had to diagram it. You know, you bring it down. Total waste. Unless you become a minister someday and you're like, oh, I wish I'd have paid attention, because I've got to do that today. What were you doing? You were breaking down a sentence to grasp the meaning of the sentence. Same thing with scripture, folks. It's not rocket science. These are sentences. These are paragraphs. You simply break them down. You outline them to get the meaning of what's said there. And by doing that, one of the things you do is you would look at words, the verbs, and the nouns, and all that other stuff. They've got all these other parts of speech out there somewhere. You take all that, and you would organize it, and you would get the grasp, the actual meaning of what the writer intended. Same thing with scripture. Any attempt to say that election of sinners by God is a ratification or an acceptance of God of sinners is to prostitute the very meaning of the word elect itself. So now let's look at this word used in the context of salvation verses. Look at John chapter 15. John 15, verse 16, Jesus elected, Jesus chose, and then appointed. We'll see again the two differences here. John 15, verse 16, ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. I remember someone getting mad when I pointed that out. I said, don't you tell me I didn't choose Christ. I know I choose him. Don't you tell me he chose me. I made the decision. I was like, why are you so upset that Jesus chose you? I said, maybe there's a verse that hints at this. You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. And, now notice a change in meaning here, ordained you that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit shall remain, that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give you. So we have the choosing of the sinner, the electing, the eclektos, and then we have the affirmation or the appointment of the sinner to do something, to bring forth fruit. Two completely different words, different meanings here. Ephesians 1, 3, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places, according as he hath chosen, eclektos, elected us in him before the foundation of the world. He has chosen me. It says he chose me in him. Eclektos, he elected. This is my election. Look at Mark chapter 13. Mark 13, verse 20, the elect, who are, we know there's this elect, who are they? Well, they're chosen of God, verse 20. And except the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved, but for the elect's sake, that's a group of people there referred to as the elect, whom he, God, hath chosen. So how do you become part of the elect? God chooses you to be part of the elect. So there's a group of people in this passage referred to as the elect. And these people that are referred to as the elect are made the elect by the choice of God. Look in the same chapter, verse 27. And then shall he send his angels and shall gather together his elect. So he's gonna send his angels to gather this group of people called the elect. Who do we think that group of people is, the lost? Does Jesus God ever refer to the lost as his elect? Never. He's a group of people. He's gonna send his angels into the four winds and the four parts of the earth, and they're going to gather together the elect, the chosen, the selected, the eclectos. Look at Colossians 3, verse 12. You're gonna turn a lot this morning. Colossians 3 verse number 12. Put on therefore as the elect of God. Now we know in this context you're referring to the church of Colossae. So he's dealing with Christians here and he's calling Christians the elect. He says, as the elect of God, you need to put on, you need to behave, you need to adorn yourself as his elect, holy and beloved vows of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering, and so forth. So the Christian here clearly is referred to as the elect of God. The very meaning of the word elect is to be select or chosen. Clearly, he's saying the Christian is the selected, chosen one of God. Elect. The elect need to adorn themselves. They need to put on, and he puts these character traits, which are actually Christ-likeness, the fruits of the Spirit, need to be part of the elect's life. Go to 1 Thessalonians 1. Verse one, Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus under the Church of the Thessalonians, which is in God, the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be unto you and peace from God, our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks to God always for you all making mention of you in our prayers. Remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and patience and hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of God and of our Father. Knowing, brethren, beloved, your election of God. Who's doing the election? It's connected to God. God has elected them. The Church of Thessalonica is believers, is Christians. Christians are the elect of God, knowing, brethren, your election, your selection, your choosing by God. For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power and the Holy Ghost, which is in much assurance, as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake. The election of God. 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 13. But we are bound to give thanks all the way to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen, electas. Chosen, elected you to what? Salvation. Well now we're getting even more specific. He says God has elected you to salvation Someone say when he says well, you elected me to adoption. That doesn't mean salvation That just means I'm brought in as a son. Okay, well never hard to argue this one. God has elected Selected chosen eclectos. It has a meaning to that word. You can't change that meaning the meaning means God selected you to be saved There's no other definition of that passage the elect chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth. We also have the reference to predestination. Not gonna spend a lot of time on that, though, but in Romans 8, 29, and 30, Ephesians 1, 5, and 11, he says he's predestined us. That means to limit in advance, to predetermine, to determine before, or to ordain us to something. So now let's go back to Matthew chapter 11, and let's start working scripturally through a few passages, just some exposition briefly to try and see some aspects of this taking place. See, election. selection, so to speak, in the process. This passage here, I remember sitting at the Shepherds Conference at John MacArthur's church. It's been five years, Kyle? It's been a while now. Sitting there at a table. If you've ever been to a church in California, it's so wonderful. They don't have hallways. Everything's outdoors. You walk out of your classroom, you're outdoors. Their hallways are outdoors. There's picnic tables all over the place, places to hook up your iPhone and everything. It's just a whole different, they have like slushy stands and fruit stands and all this stuff we would do one month out of the year and be done. And so we're sitting at this table and there was two brothers, friends of ours, they were both finishing their doctorate degree at Master Seminary. Both would argue they were Calvinists, one was five point, one was four point, they were arguing limited atonement, I remember this. And me and Kyle are sitting here as non-Calvinists in a Calvinist setting, and we're listening to this contently. And I remember looking at the one, I said, I don't agree with any of it, but if I do become one, I take all five points because it makes no sense. Why would he die for people that are in hell? Because when Jesus was crucified, there's a whole thousands of years before that of people dying and going to hell. Did he die for the sins of the people that are already in hell? So I just, that was my mind. And of course, the one brother's like, yeah, we like your thinking, even though you're completely wrong, you don't believe us on any of this, but if you did, you admit, and the other one's like, well, he's not even a Calvinist, he can't get in this. It was kind of, so I'm looking to disprove them. I am going to show John MacArthur, Al Mohler, Mark Dever, Phil, I'm gonna show all of these guys, you're wrong, you're dumb, you don't know what you're talking about. So I'm preparing and I go to this passage of scripture. I started reading it and I stopped and said, nevermind. They're like, what? I said, nevermind, it hit me, look at this. Matthew chapter 11, verse number 20. Then began Christ to abrade the cities where most of his mighty works were done because they repented not. Woe unto you, Chorazin! Woe unto you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes." And my argumentation was, see, they made a choice. Because I was arguing on conditional election. No, it's not. It is conditional. You have to make the choice. That was my point of use in this passage. So I start reading it, and I stopped. I said, never mind. He goes, what do you mean? I said, never mind. I want to go there. He goes, what? I said, Jesus just said if these mighty miracles had been done in Sodom and Gomorrah, they would have repented. That's what it says, right? Let's continue reading. Verse 22, but I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyree inside in the day of judgment than you. And thou Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell. For the mighty works which have been done in thee had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. So I stopped and it dawned on me Jesus just said if these mighty miracles that were done in Capernaum had been done in Sodom and Gomorrah they would have repented and believed Why weren't those mighty works done there because God chose not to do them there And I stopped I was like Whoa He laughed because he knew what I just stumbled on I Clearly the scripture just said God speaking if I'd have done these miracles in Sodom they would have repented So I immediately went to the struggle then why didn't God do those miracles in Sodom if he knew they would have repented Continue reading he answers Verse 25, and at that time, Jesus answered and said, Jesus begins to worship and praise God. I thank thee, O Father. I praise thee, I rejoice in thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and has revealed them unto babes. I praise you and thank you, God, because you have hidden the truth of the gospel from the wise and the prudent. It doesn't say they rejected the gospel, it says God hid it from them. Well, why on earth would God do such a thing? Verse 26 tells me, even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. The ESV translates that, for such was your gracious will. And I sat there at this conference thinking, God, states Sodom and Gomorrah would have repented if he did the miracles there, but he didn't do the miracles there. I was dumbfounded. I was hit between the eyes that I'm not going to argue and I'm going to study. God hid these things from them. After Christ has preached and performed miracles, the unrepentant heart is on its way. By the way, in that passage, for all those that think we need to have a new signs and miracles and all that to happen to have a great revival, one of the greatest miracles ever done was in Capernaum and they rejected Christ. We don't need signs and miracles, we need the power of the gospel. We need Christians to preach the gospel. Christ pronounces judgment on him. It'll be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon. It'll be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for you, because you had the mighty works of God done, and you rejected the mighty works of God being done, and then Christ praises God for hiding the mighty works from them. Jesus found praise and joy in this. Go to John chapter six. John chapter six is an interesting chapter. I remember when I came back from that conference, I bought my wife and my kids all an English standard version of the Bible. And I gave my wife one and she started looking at difficult passages that chapters that she just marked in her mind that sometimes can be a little difficult trying to figure out, you know, back and forth what's going on. One of them was John chapter six. And there's statements made in John chapter six that we have to determine what they mean. And we'll find the beginning in verse 35. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger. He that believeth on me shall never thirst. But I said unto you, ye have not seen me and believe not. You haven't believed. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. Two statements in verse 37. Number one, the Father has given certain ones to Christ. They will come. There's your unconditional election. And anyone that does come to me, I will not cast out. So that removes the argumentation, well, what you're saying is someone might want to get saved when they can't because they're not part of the elect. Absolutely not. Jesus has said, anyone that comes to me will not be cast out. Nobody convicted of their sin, putting their faith and trust in Jesus Christ, oh, sorry, you weren't in that book beforehand, so I can't accept you. The whole reason they would have repentance and faith is because they're the elect. It's because Ephesians 2, they were quickened, made alive from their deadness and trespasses and sins. He says, those that come to me, those that have been given to me are the Father, and all those that come to me I will in no wise cast out. The Father has given to Christ people. Those that are given will not be rejected. Those that are given will not be lost. Look at verse 39. And this is the Father's will, which has sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day." Not only does he say, there's people given to me, and I will not reject them, he also says, everyone that is given to me, I will not lose. The whole eternal security argumentation is a direct attack on the Trinity of the Father and the Son. It breaks their union. He says, all that the Father has given me, I've obeyed the Father's will. And all that He has given me, I will lose nothing. Now this, everyone that has been given to me will be raised again on the last day. So he loses none, none are cast out, they are raised on the last day. Those that are given will be raised the last day. Look at verse 40. And this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day. Christ will not lose his people. No one can come to Christ though. Here's the catch in verse 44. No man can come to me except the father which has sent me draw him and I will raise him up the last day. No one can come to the son unless the father draw him. We would call that conviction. Nobody comes to the son except the father draws him. And all that the father draws will be what? Raised on the last day. There's no chance left there. That's a stated fact. Number one, I am the truth, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Nobody gets to the Father but through Christ. Nobody's brought to Christ for salvation that the Father does not draw, and everyone he draws will be raised the last day. Go to John chapter 10. John 10, verse one. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that entereth in not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same as a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calleth his own sheep by name and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of strangers. Jesus has a flock, sheep, that follow his voice, and only his voice. He says, I have sheep. Those sheep know my voice, they follow my voice, and they will not follow another voice. He also has a picture of some other sheep trying to get in that aren't his. They're trying to come some other way, whatever it is, they're not his, they don't get in. There are some that attempt to come in that are not His sheep, they are rejected. Jesus has other sheep that are His, and He will wait for all His sheep to come. Now drop down the verse. Well, let's just start in verse six. This parable, Jesus spake Jesus unto them, but they understood not what things they were which He spake unto them. Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved and go in and out and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal and to kill and to destroy. I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. He's laid down his life for his sheep. But he that is a hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth. The wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is a hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. Intimate relationship here. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father, and I laid down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold. They're not part of it yet them also I must bring he says there's other sheep that are not in the fold yet I need to bring them and they shall hear my voice And there shall be one fold and one shepherd therefore doth my father love me because I lay down my life that I might take it up again He has sheep, He has other sheep, those sheep He's been long-suffering for, He knows them, they know Him, He will bring them into one fold. John chapter 17, verse number 1. These words spake Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven and say, Father, the hour has come, glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee. This is a prayer, this is a very personal prayer Christ is having with the Father. And it has to do with this crucifixion. Christ being God knows all that's about to transpire. and all that He's going to go through. And He's praying to His Father. He's pouring out His heart to the Father. Verse 2, As thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given Him. Oh, stop. I've got to go back to verse 1 again. These words speak Jesus Lifted up his eyes to heaven and said father So we have Jesus talking to the father the hours come glorify thy son and thy son also may glorify thee as thou has given him power Authority over flesh. God has given the Son Authority over all flesh Why was Jesus given authority to all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as has been given to him? Jesus, worshiping his Father, says, Father, you have given me all authority over all flesh, and the reason you have given me all authority over all flesh is that I may redeem all those that you have given me. Continue reading. And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. I have glorified Thee on the earth. I have finished the work which Thou hast given me to do. Oh, and now, O Father, glorify Thou me with Thine own self, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was. I have manifested Thy name unto the men which Thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they were, and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. For I have given unto them the words which thou hast gavest me, and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them, I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine, and all Mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them. He's talking about, Father, thank you. You have given me a people for eternal life. I have obeyed your word. Glorify me in them. Because I have brought and I have redeemed those you have given me. Acts 13, we're almost done. Acts 13, verse 48, one simple passage. I'll go up to verse 44, we'll get the whole context here. And the next Sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God. They're preaching in the city. And when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. They're arguing now, they're trying to discredit Paul. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold and said, it was necessary that the word of God should first be spoken to you. But seeing you put it from you and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. So now they're preaching to the Gentiles here, which is a problem. For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. And when the Gentiles heard this, they hear the message of the gospel, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many of the Gentiles that were ordained to eternal life believed. Who believed here? Those that were ordained to eternal life. Those that were ordained, that word ordained means to arrange in an orderly manner, assign, appoint, determine, those were given eternal life. The Gentiles hear this, they are glad, they rejoice, and as many as were determined, appointed, selected for eternal life believed. This word ordained here is the same one translated in Romans 13, 1. Let every soul be subject unto higher powers, for there is no power of God, and the powers that be are ordained of God. God has selected and created the powers that be. And here it's talking about government in Romans 13. Paul's edification of a young church. 1 Thessalonians 1, 1, 4. It's one of the first epistles written. It's a new church. It's a young church. Paul wants to edify them. In writing them, he's rejoicing and praising them. And he says, knowing, brethren, beloved, your election of God. I know of your election of God. The word eclektos, your choosing of God. Again, in 2 Thessalonians 2.13, but we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen, elected, electa, selected you to salvation. God's election of Jacob and Esau, Romans 9, 11, and 12, 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. And then the challenge Peter gives the believer in 2 Peter 1 and verse 10. Wherefore, though rather, brethren, give diligence, give diligence to make your calling and election sure. He challenges the believer, give diligence to make sure your election is sure. What is the context there of election? Salvation. He refers to their salvation as eclektos, the choice, the selecting. Well, I think that has to do with God saw the derivative. No, then you just change the meaning of election to ratification. And never in any way, in any Greek lexicon, anywhere in the history of the world does eclektos have the meaning of ratification. or affirmation, or acceptance. It's always one acting on the passive one, electing, choosing the passive. So he challenges them and challenges us today. Wherefore, the rather brethren give diligence to make your calling and election sure. Your election, your eclektos. your choosing of God. Make it that it be sure. We will look at the confession next week. You have to have a biblical theology of election. The Bible commands it. It's everywhere in there. You say, oh, I disagree with your definition of it. OK. But you have to have a working theology, by the way, that doesn't break the meaning of electas. You can't add another meaning to a word that it doesn't carry. It's like those that believe baptism, immersion, baptizo means to sprinkle. No, it doesn't. There's a different Greek word for sprinkle. There's a different Greek word for pour, and there's a very different Greek word for immerse. It's called baptizo. That's why we say baptism is by immersion. Because the Holy Spirit inspired that they use baptizo, not sprinkle. So when people say, well, I think that can be sprinkling, you don't have any right to add a meaning to the word that God didn't intend it to have. We don't have that authority. We don't have that ability. That's not ours to do. God divinely inspired the writer to use the word baptizo, not the Greek word for sprinkle. That's a descriptive word of what they did. That's why we hold to immersion baptism because there's no other meaning to the word baptizo. There's no other meaning to eclectos other than to select and to choose. So you can't add a different meaning to it. God chose, selected them unto salvation. 2 Thessalonians 2.13. Now is that determined by God's decree? or God's omniscience in seeing that the decision that we would make. Even if that is our position that is based on omniscience, God looked in the future, saw the decision we would make. Repeatedly, He refers to the select, the elect, the group. It's already determined then either by His decree or by our decision, but they're done. So I can't get away from that struggle while then you're saying it's a set number. Yes, it is. Either it's a set number because God decreed a set number or it's a set number because God saw everyone that was going to get saved, knows who's going to get saved, and so that's his elect. Well, what if someone gets saved he didn't see? You just destroyed God because he's no longer on mission now. Now something happened that he didn't see. You just created a major theological crisis because you just said something happened in the future God didn't know about. So either way, the elect are elected by God's action, or the elect are God's affirmation of those that believe in Him, therefore in time past He made them the elect. There is a group of people, us, called the elect. We are the elect of God. Next week we're going to look at the Old Testament too. We have no trouble with God electing Israel. By the way, his electing of Abraham was his non-electing of others. Abraham had brothers, why not them? And were there blessings given because you were Israel? Absolutely. Elect angels, a couple of passages referred to the elect angels. Did the angels make that choice? Christ is referred to as the elect of God. Well, it's okay to have the definition of elect to mean choice and select those, but anytime it comes to a passage of salvation, well, it doesn't mean that he chose. No offense, but Peter talks about those that rest and twist the scriptures to their own destruction. Eclektos means to choose, to select. He said, well, pastor, there's a lot of struggle with that. I never said there wasn't. It's been five years and I still struggle through it sometimes. but I still have to define a verse for what it says. In Acts 13, 48, it says, who believed that day? Who got saved that day? As many as were ordained to eternal life, those are the ones that got saved. That's what it says. What about? There's a lot of what abouts with that. But that's what the verse says. My struggle with it does not mean that, well, you know what, I don't like that, so I'm gonna play with it. so I can somehow fit it into this other mold. That's just what that verse says. Well, what about whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord? Absolutely. I've never seen anyone call upon the name of the Lord who were not quickened by the Holy Spirit. And all that call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Because all those that come to him, he will not cast out. I'm saying look before that time where the Father says, I have given those that will come to Him, John chapter 6. Election. Study it. Look at it. Develop a consistent biblical theology that doesn't destroy other aspects of God and determine the doctrine of election. And then we'll take this definition and see why they wrote what they did in the confession next week.