Good morning. It is now 11 a.m. on the 5th of September in the year 2020. It is the Sabbath day and this morning I want to talk about the biblical doctrine of double predestination. For some this will probably be a hard doctrine to understand. others it will probably you know be the exclamation point in understanding God's sovereignty and soteriology. That is who lives and who dies. I'm going to start this morning in Isaiah the 6th chapter verses 9 and 10 and he said Go and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not, and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. This week we're going to go deeper down the rabbit hole of truth and learn who exactly they are who are predestined to salvation and who they are that are also predestined to damnation. Like I said before this is going to be probably difficult for some to receive. Certainly those of the Arminian persuasion who out of curiosity may venture upon this ministry and listen. Now we see here in the opening text immediately we see the judgment of God being levied against the nation of Israel yet again. Moses having previously declared to the Israelites of this lack of perception and understanding in his farewell address to the children of Israel in the wilderness. Deuteronomy chapter 29 verses 2 through 4. And Moses called unto all Israel and said unto them, Ye have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh and unto all his servants and unto all his land. The great temptations which thine eyes have seen the signs and those great miracles. Yet the Lord hath not given you and heart to perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear unto this day." Notice please how Moses tells them that what they have seen in the past with their eyes in verses 2 and 3. And yet in verse 4 he also tells them that the Lord has not given them eyes to see nor ears to hear unto this very day. Well, how can this be? Well, to state quite simply, there's man's understanding and then there is God's understanding. Isaiah chapter 55 verses 8 through 9 And the Lord says, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, said the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. At the end of it all, God decides who lives and who dies. The Apostle Paul puts it like this in Romans chapter 9 verses 18 through 23, Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. And thou wilt say then unto me, Why does he yet find fault? for who has resisted his will? Nay, but, O man, who are you that replies against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why have you made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour and another unto dishonour? But what if God, willing to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy which He had aforeprepared unto glory? Right. Now getting back to this business of double predestination. Starting in Isaiah chapter 6 verse 9 we see the prophet Isaiah being directed by God to go to the people of the nation of Israel. His calling and election to the office of prophet being given him in the preceding verses, verses 1 through 8, and I will read them. Isaiah chapter 6 verse 1. In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims, each one had six wings, and with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. Now twain here means two. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. And then said I, Woe is me, for I am undone. Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. For mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar. And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips. and thine iniquity is taken away and thy sin purged. Also I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I, send me. And then we have the dreadful sentence passed down from the mouth of the Lord himself. And I'll read it again. Isaiah chapter 6 verses 9 and 10. And he said, Go and tell this people, meaning the children of Israel, Hear ye indeed, but understand not, and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat. their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed." And remember the word lest means for fear of that. Shut their eyes for fear that they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. Now we've seen this before regarding the people of Israel in Deuteronomy 32 and 33. What I'm referring to here is what it means to wax fat or to grow fat. Deuteronomy chapter 32 verse 15 and we actually covered this a couple of weeks ago but I'm going to read this again now that it's being said in a different context. But Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked. Thou art grown, that's what waxing means is grown, thou art grown fat and thou art waxed thick. Thou art covered with fatness. Then he forsook God which made him and lightly esteemed the rock his salvation. Now we know the rock of the man's salvation is the Lord Jesus Christ. But here Moses is already telling them what's going to happen. Okay? Deuteronomy 33 verse 5. And he was king in Jeshurun when the heads of the people and the tribes of Israel were gathered together. Again Jeshurun is another name for the house of Israel. And there is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky." Now again, Moses prophesies of this as well prior to Isaiah receiving that command from the Lord in chapter 6. Now again, Jeshurun is a poetic name for the people of God. And here I refer to Easton's Bible dictionary for the word Jeshurun. And then it says, a poetical name for the people of Israel used in token of affection, meaning the dear upright people. And that's Deuteronomy 32.15, Deuteronomy 33 verse 5 and 26, and also Isaiah chapter 44 verse 2. I've read these others but I'll read Isaiah 44 too so you can see it. Thus saith the Lord that made thee, and formed thee from the womb which will help thee. Fear not, O Jacob, my servant, and thou, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. Now please notice the first four letters of the words, Jeshurun, in verse 2 of chapter 44. And there are the letters J, E, S, and U. Who does that remind you all of? Jesu. I'm sure some of you have heard a song called P. Jesu. Jesu is another name for the Lord Jesus Christ. in this context God's people or the people of Christ. Jeshurun. Yet as we go back to chapter 6 and verses 9 through 10 that God is telling Isaiah to actually go and say thus to the children of Israel. You have eyes but cannot. That means you don't have the ability. You have eyes but you cannot see with understanding. You have ears but you cannot understand what you hear. And that's what this means to make the heart of this people fat. That's the end result. When the heart is fattened with prosperity and good living people and even in our day you can see it and hopefully you can see it that people who grow rich and are prosperous, they get lazy, they get fat. They become unconcerned about the things of the kingdom of God. They think all is going well with them because of God's common grace in their life. And they think because of this common grace that everything is kosher. Everything is right with them. They are God's people. They're doing what God wants them to do. And it's all gravy. Well guess what? The Bible says that when you get like this that you neglect God, that you reject God. And from Deuteronomy 32 15 we actually see what was entailed in fatness. Again, they then forsook God which made them and lightly esteemed the rock of their salvation. And ironically, this is exactly what they did when the Lord Jesus himself was among them. They did. Were the Jews the chosen people? Of course they were. But in the end, as they were chosen nationally to be the people of God, they were also chosen to enter and to go into utter destruction and damnation. Man in our day and age in his utter and complete depravity actually believes that he can make a decision for Christ. And it's unbelievable that they actually believe they can do it. I know I did it long ago. I prayed the sinner's prayer and behold, I am a Christian automatically entitled to all the benefits of the church. And believe me, how a man comes to this conclusion is beyond me. It really is. I don't know why I did it. Maybe, I mean, I was just a boy. I'm sure a lot of you have the same experience. You probably went to some, I don't know, some summer backyard barbecue or something with the local church there and, you know. you were convinced to read John 3.16 and because you read it then automatically you're a Christian. Again, I'm ad-libbing. This isn't in the notes. Now granted, sure, okay, there are a couple of verses that make it seem that a man can choose Christ of his or her own free will. But when you take these verses and you place them in their proper context and then cross-verify them using a proper biblical hermeneutic, which is interpreting scripture with the scripture, you can see that these verses that make it seem like a man can choose Christ, they easily fall apart. Okay. Now here are some of the verses of how God describes his visible people. Okay. These are people that actually call themselves Christians in our day. And in those days they were Jews. Children of Israel. Hebrews. Okay? The people of God. Isaiah chapter 29 verse 13. Okay? Wherefore the Lord said for as much as this people draw near me with their mouth and with their lips do honor me but have removed their heart far from me and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men. And how often do we see this? How often do we see this in churches? I know I've seen it. I'm sure there are a lot of you who are listening who have seen it. You go to church, you see people, you know, they're throwing their money and their tithe money into the basket. They've got their hands up. The rock bands are going or the choir is singing or more than likely nowadays it's the rock band. You see the teenagers jumping up and down there like they're at some kind of rock concert and people are singing their songs and it's all just a gravy time. Okay? And they're looking like Christians or what people perceive to be Christians or Christianity. Okay? The Bible says it's not so. God says this people draw near me with their mouth. In other words, the praises are there. Their visible conduct is there. But are they really Christian? No. God says they've removed their heart far from me and that any fear toward him is taught by the precept of men and nowadays you don't even see any fear of God. It's all prosperity. Everything is great. How wonderful it is that God allowed me to choose him. And they show it. They show it in the churches. They show it in the way they conduct their lives. They think because they listen to a song that everything...that they are definitely Christians. They're definitely the people of God. They give this visible representation of what a Christian is supposed to be. Eyes towards the heaven. Smile on the face. A fake humility. All of it. Okay? No. Not a chance. Isaiah chapter 30 verse 8. Now go, write it before them in a table and note it in a book that it may be for the time to come forever and ever. I'm reading now from Isaiah chapter 30 verses 8 through 14. Isaiah 30 verses 8 through 14. Now remember this is all in the context of a double predestination. That there are people that are chosen to eternal life and that there are people chosen for damnation. Now I'm describing that. I'm describing what it actually is and he's professing people of God. Why? They are predestined to damnation. Okay? Isaiah chapter 30 verses 8 through 14. Now go! Write it before them in a table and note it in a book that it may be for the time to come forever and ever that this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord. I'm going to stop for a minute and have you think about this for a minute. Rebellious people, lying children, and children that will not hear the law of the Lord. Well, what is our generation like today? In the Protestant Church, where are we being taught the law of the Lord? We're not. And I'm speaking generally. But generally in the modern church, the modern Protestant Church in America, in Europe, in Australia, They're not being taught the law of God. They think that they're exempt from the law. Okay? That the law has no place in the dispensation of grace. But right here, the Lord is saying they will not hear the law. And I'm telling you, and I'm sure most of you get it, that they're not hearing the law of the Lord now. Isaiah chapter 30 verse 10, which say to the seers, See not. And to the prophets, prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things. Talk about our best life now. Prophesy deceits. Get you out of the way. Turn aside out of the path. Cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us. Wherefore, thus saith the Holy One of Israel, because you despise this word and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon, therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant, like the breach of a dam. Once it's a little crack and then all of a sudden, boom, it's gone. And here come the floodwaters. Verse 14, and he shall break it as the breaking of the potter's vessel that is broken in pieces. He shall not spare so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth or the hearth. or to take water withal out of the pit. Staggering stuff. Really staggering. Now the next set of verses, in my opinion, I'm just saying it's my opinion and I'm sure I think there are others that think like I do, okay, but this is where it all started. This whole business crushing God's visible people Okay, it seems now it seems and appears that from this particular day onward that God was indeed set upon utterly crushing the people of Israel Okay, Exodus chapter 32 Those of you who know your Bible know where I'm gonna go with this so just be patient bear with me Exodus chapter 32 verses 7 through 10, And the Lord said unto Moses, Go and get thee down, for thy people which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made them a molten calf. and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people. Not I am seeing this people, but have seen this people. behold it is a stiff-necked people. Now therefore let me alone that my wrath may wax hot against them and that I may consume them and I will make of thee a great nation." Now think about this for just a moment, okay? God has just delivered the children of Israel from the hand of Pharaoh. Ten devastating acts of God's power that crushed Egypt. He parted the Red Sea to pave the way for their escape. He gave them manna in the wilderness. He spoke to them from Mount Sinai. He gave them his law. And all of this happened within the space of a few months. A few months. And then what do they go and do? They cause Aaron to build them an idol. Which is an immediate violation of the first through the third commandments. A couple of months. They go from slavery, to deliverance, to hearing the very voice of God himself, to getting bread from heaven, and then almost in the next breath, building an idol, and falling down before it, and worshipping it, and giving sacrifices unto it, and pouring out drink offerings unto it. Now when we consider the history of the people of Israel, that is those of you who have actually read your Old Testament, okay? When we consider the history of the people of Israel, how can one come to the conclusion in this very day that they even can call themselves the chosen people of God? How can they? And it was from right back then, in the days of the wilderness. And I could go on and on and on with example after example after example. Joshua. Judges. First Samuel. The Chronicles. And again, I'm not going to do that because continuing. As a result of all of this, God killed every last one of them. And he did. We come to the scouting of the land of Canaan, or Joshua, Caleb, and ten others from the other tribes. Their scouts have just returned from spying out the land. And they deliver an evil report unto Moses. Okay, now I'm going to read this for you. Numbers chapter 13 verses 32 and 33 and carrying over into Numbers 14 verses 1 through a lot. 1 through a lot. I'm scrolling down here on the notes here. Okay. Numbers 14 1 through 39. So basically you're going to get 41 verses. So again, bear with me, but you know, you know how I preach. I like to bring everything into their, into its context. Okay. So that you understand that this is what's happened. And they brought up an evil report. I'm reading from Numbers 13 verse 32. And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land through which we have gone to search it is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof. And all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. And there we saw the giants, the son of Anak. these are the Anacoms, which come of the giants. And we were in our own sight as grasshoppers and so we were in their sight. Now moving to Numbers 14 verse 1 because it continues. And the congregation lifted up their voice and cried and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron. And the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt, or would God we had died in this wilderness? And wherefore, why has the Lord brought us unto this land? To fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? Were it not better for us to return unto Egypt? And they said one to another, Let us make a captain and let us return into Egypt. Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel. And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent or tore their clothes. And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land which we pass through to search it is an exceeding good land. If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land and give it us, a land which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land. for they are bred for us. Their defense is departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Fear them not." But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel. And the Lord said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? And how long will it be before they believe me? For all the signs which I have showed among them, and I've already expressed them to you prior to reading this portion, I will smite them with the pestilence and disinherit them and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they. And Moses said unto the Lord, Then the Egyptians shall hear it, for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them. And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land, for they have heard that you, Lord, are among this people, that you, Lord, are seen face to face, and that your cloud stands over them, and that you go before them. by daytime in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night. Now if you shall kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of you will speak, saying, Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land which he sweared unto them, and therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness. And now I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying, The Lord is long-suffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people, according unto the greatness of thy mercy. and as thou hast forgiven this people from Egypt even until now. And the Lord said, I have pardoned according to thy word, but as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord. Because all those men which have seen my glory and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened, that means listened, have not listened to my voice, surely they shall not see the land which I swear unto their fathers. Neither shall any of them that provoked me see it. But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereunto he went, and his seed shall possess it. Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley. Tomorrow turn you and get you into the wilderness by way of the Red Sea. And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, How long shall I bear with this evil congregation which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel which they murmur against me. Now say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, As ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you. Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness, and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me. Doubtless ye shall not come into the land concerning which I swear to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephoneh and Joshua the son of Nun. But your little ones, which you said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised. But as for you, your carcasses, they shall fall in this wilderness. And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms until your carcasses be wasted in the wilderness. After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year shall you bear your iniquities even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise. I the LORD have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation that are gathered together against me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die. and the men which Moses sent to search the land who returned and made all the congregation to murmur against him by bringing up a slander upon the land. Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land died by the plague before the Lord. But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephoneh which were of the men that went to search the land, lived still. And Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel, and the people mourned greatly, slaughtered on the spot, predestined to damnation. First they were told they were the children of the people, but in truth they were not. They died. And again, this is only the first of the many judgments levied against God's visible people, the children of Israel. Okay, now since this sermon is about double predestination, I'm going to leave this to suffice for the first part of it. That is the choosing of and the dying of. I got the dying of part there, but anyway. God chose Israel. This is ultimately what I'm trying to say to you. I brought this to you a couple of weeks ago. And they did not choose God first. Okay, the Lord has dealt with them thus. They were delivered as a nation unto damnation. Again any reading of the Old Testament you will see. that the greater part of the nation of Israel who were God's chosen people died and certainly did not enter into the kingdom of God. And you can look at pretty much the same thing this day because we have a visible people of God also called Christians. And truly this should cause all of you to examine yourselves. I even had to examine myself again after reading this. Okay, because I mean we have to take these things seriously. Life is not all prosperity and gravy. And here is the indictment that is levied upon the visible people of God that even also remains in the mouth professors of our day. I'm going to read this again. I already read it before. Isaiah chapter 29. Okay, but I'm gonna read it a little deeper from verses 13 through 16. Isaiah 29 verses 13 through 16. Wherefore the Lord said for as much as this people draw near me with their mouth and with their lips do honor me but have removed their heart far from me and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men. continue. An example by the precept of men is sermons on hell. Like say a person hears about hell and they hear that they're gonna burn for eternity and because they don't want to burn for eternity on that basis they go well okay I raise my hand I want to be a Christian I don't want to burn. Okay that that's what this that's a definition of being taught by the precept of men. Isaiah 29 verse 14, Therefore behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder. For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us, and who knoweth us? Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay. Or shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? Or the thing formed say of him that framed it, He hath no understanding? again as Paul reminded us in Romans chapter 9 verses 14 through 23. And I'm reading this again and you'll notice that I read these things over and over and over and over again so that those who are listening get it pounded into the mind. Okay, this is how God is. This is how God is and there's no changing it. Okay, Romans chapter 9 verses 14 through 23. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? With regard to double predestination for example. Is there unrighteousness with God? Well, God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. And I will have compassion on him whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, Can't make the decision. Nor of him that runneth. You can't fake it and pretend to be a Christian. But of God that showeth mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up. that I might show my power in thee and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. See that's what Paul's saying here is that he rose Pharaoh up deliberately so that he could destroy him. That's what that means. Romans 9 chapter 9 verse 18. Therefore have mercy on whom he will have mercy and whom he will he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, why doth he yet find fault? For who is resistant as well? It's like they're going to say, well, why kill me? You made me. How come you didn't make me this way instead of that way? Why didn't you make me one of God's elect? Why did you move me to damnation? Okay? I'm sure this will be the same excuse that will come out of this sermon. Well, how does Paul answer this? Nay, but, O man, who are you to reply against God? If that's not a hammer, I don't know what is. Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why have you made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, Of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, And another unto dishonour? What if God, willing to show his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted, made, predestined, fitted to destruction? And he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy which he had aforeprepared unto glory. That means that he did it before the foundation of the world. We've covered that portion also before. God makes those for the sole purpose of crushing them. And God also makes those whom he chose to give to Christ. And that's what I come away with out of this. And I hope that's what you come away with out of this too. Now let me finish. The Lord Jesus himself confirms God's predestination of the nation of Israel to utter destruction with this very short explanation. See, now before I stayed completely in the Old Testament with all of this, but for those of you who will try to drop the dispensation of grace and that God's law doesn't apply to us, here's Christ himself saying this. Matthew chapter 13 verses 10 through 17. And the disciples came and said unto him, why do you speak to them in parables? And he answered and said unto them, because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. Now remember, he's saying this about God's visible people. To them it is not given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. Verse 12, For whosoever hath to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance. But whosoever hath not from him shall be taken away, even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables because seeing or because they seeing see not and hearing they hear not neither do they understand and in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah which saith, and again this is what started the sermon off today, Isaiah chapter 6 verses 9 and 10. By hearing ye shall hear and shall not understand and seeing ye shall see and shall not perceive. For this people's heart is waxed gross and and their ears are dull of hearing and their eyes they have closed for fear that at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and should understand with their heart and should be converted and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes for they see and your ears for they hear. For truly I say unto you that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which you see and have not seen them and to hear those things which you hear and have not heard them. This concludes the first segment. Again I've been going on for a little while so I'm only going to finish this up here with a little second portion here. With regard to God choosing His elect in Christ I will only post a few verses that will remind everyone of this truth and again I've said this over and over and over again and I'm going to say it again so that way there is no excuse No excuse. Nobody's going to be able to go stand before the throne on the day of judgment and say, nobody ever told me. Okay. Again, this has been done a couple of times already for those who follow this ministry, but for those who may be listening or drawn here for the first time, I would again direct you to my sermon or the sermon that the Lord had me preach titled the Codex of Christianity. It's all right there. It is an exegesis of the Gospel of John. Everybody should listen to it. And remember, I don't get paid for any of this. I don't do it for money. This is for your benefit. First, to serve the Lord as he commands us to serve by discipling nations, preaching the gospel. And the second is for your benefit, like I've said before. also the two sermon series on the doctrines of grace. It's all right there. Okay, but again, I'm gonna do this again. I'm gonna do it again. I'm gonna do it again. I'm gonna do it again. Okay? John chapter 15 verse 16. You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit and that your fruit should remain. that whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you." Okay, John Calvin seems to think that this verse doesn't apply to Christians other than the Apostles. And I would sell John Calvin to his face that he's dead wrong. This applies to all of God's elect, not just the Apostles. Granted, we don't have the ability to perform miracles. Okay, but we do have the ability to preach that gospel. Okay? Now here are some further scriptures for your consideration. John chapter 15 verse 19. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, because I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Okay? John chapter 6 verse 70. And Jesus answered them. Have I not chosen you twelve one of you is a devil?" Now here is the exclamation point of the sermon. Judas Iscariot. In Judas Iscariot we see the perfect example of a double predestination. Twelve disciples chosen right there. Christ says it himself. He chose the twelve and one of them is a devil. Eleven of those twelve were chosen to live, one chosen to damnation. There's no decision here. Okay? None of it. And again, here's the second verse to confirm it. John chapter 13 verse 18. I speak not of you all. I know whom I have chosen, but that the scripture may be fulfilled. He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me. And the bottom line is, brothers and sisters, Judas never had a prayer. No matter what was in his heart, no matter what happened, and remember he had the same gift given to him as the other eleven. He was set forth. He performed miracles. He preached the gospel. He cast out devils, even himself being a devil. But he was predestined to damnation. I think this will be sufficient, I hope, to conclude the point that it is God alone that chooses who lives and who dies. at the end of it all. Now we who have been chosen to eternal life must remember to thank God in Christ every single day for His mercy toward us. Okay, because we certainly do not deserve it. In closing this morning, I would ask that we remember to take up our cross every day. In this, we should also remember the lessons learned from today when we look at others who have not been so fortunate. And I'm talking about election. There are a lot of us who know people who call themselves Christians and yet know for sure for a surety that they are not. We preach to them and they mock us. We try to tell them the truth in love and they call us judgmental and legalists and everything else. I myself have been guilty in the past of wanting to see the hand of God in judgment toward a wicked nation. I hold my hands up. I've seen it. I've begged God to kill these people so that there would be others that would see it. and turn based on that. But I was wrong to think like that. And if anyone else thinks that way, I'm telling you, you're wrong. Don't think that way. See, I know now that I should have more mercy towards those who are not of us. Yeah, they're not of us. OK, but we should still have mercy toward them and try not to treat them any differently. We should pray more for their salvation. Because with God all things are possible. We may not think that they'll ever turn, but we don't know for sure. Because we all have our portion given to us by the same God. Where God has shown us mercy and has predestined others to damnation. We see it. We think it's going to happen, but maybe not. Who knows? I mean, the Apostle Paul is a great example of that. Now again, I personally, truly, in front of the whole world, repent of being like this and of feeling like this. Okay? I was wrong. I should have more mercy because God showed mercy on me and I need to remember that. And I hope that if there are others out there who have thought similarly, that you too would be moved to repent of this as well. For we are all only saved by grace alone. Let us pray. Father, I thank you that you have hidden these truths from the wise and the prudent and have revealed them unto babes. And I also thank you for the privilege of preaching your word to your people. In Jesus name, Amen.