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Mark 13 and the Difference Between Jerusalem’s Fall and the Second Coming

13 and as he came out of the temple one of the disciples said to him look teacher what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings. And Jesus said to him do you see these great buildings. There will not be left.

There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down. And as he sat on the Mount of Olives office at the temple Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately tell us when these things be and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished.

And Jesus began to say to them see that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name saying I am he and they will lead many astray. And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars do not be alarmed.

This must take place. But the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains.

But be on your guard for they will deliver you over to councils and you will be beaten in synagogues. And you will stand before governors and kings for my sake to bear witness before them. And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations.

And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say but say whatever is given you in that hour. For it is not you who speak but the Holy Spirit. And brother will deliver brother over to death.

And the father his child and children will rise against parents and have them put to death. And you will be hated by all for my namesake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be let the reader understand.

Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not go down nor enter his house to take anything out. And let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak.

And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days pray that it may not happen in winter. For in those days there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now and never will be.

And if the Lord had not cut short the days no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect whom he chose he shortened the days. And then if anyone says to you look here is the Christ or look there he is.

Do not believe it. For false Christ's and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders to lead astray if possible the elect. But be on guard. I have told you all things beforehand. But in those days after the tribute after that tribulation the Sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light and the stars will be falling from heaven and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.

And then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

From the fig tree learn its lesson as soon as it branch as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves. You know that summer is near. So also when you see these things taking place you know that he is near at the very gates.

Truly I say to you this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away. But my words will not pass away. But concerning that day or that hour nor no one knows not even the angels in heaven nor the Sun but only the Father.

Be on guard. Keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge each with his work and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake.

Therefore stay awake. For you do not know when the master of the house will come in the evening or at midnight or when the rooster crows or in the morning lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you.

I say to all stay awake. Let's pray Lord as we read this passage we recognize that you are sovereign over all things and that you have everything planned out for our good and for your glory. And Lord we rejoice in this we rejoice that we can trust in you that you are a faithful God and Lord as we live our lives.

I pray that we would be on guard that we would stay awake. That we would eagerly and anxiously await your return. That we would live our lives to the praise of your glory. That we would fight our sin.

That we would put to death the deeds of the flesh. Lord help us to live lives that are pleasing to you that are worthy to the calling to which we have been called Lord let us remember that you are God and that you will have your way and that one day soon you will be returning for your church.

Lord we are so thankful for this. We're thankful that you will return that you will judge the world and that you will put in order everything that remains so Lord as we listen to the sermon this morning and as we sing songs as we fellowship Lord I pray that we would remember these great truths and that we would be on guard.

That we would be awake. That we would be ready for your glorious return. Thank you Lord in Jesus.

Name amen. Well let's turn in our Bible's place to the sixth chapter of John. Once again it's a little awkward difficult to read to Mark 13 without comment knowing that it is a passage that I believe it's so readily misunderstood by many most of that passage.

Mark 13 is addressing the fall of Jerusalem that took place in AD 70 Jesus talking about those days when the buildings of Jerusalem and the temple would be of course destroyed and that took place within that generation that he was speaking to those days of tribulation.

The problem is is that many evangelicals take those prophecies of AD 70 and not understanding the importance and implication of that event. And they project those prophecies to the end times and say these are prophecies of the second coming and I would argue I don't have time to go into it.

But when he's talking about those days in this generation all of that with view to the destruction of that generation and all the Christians fled Jerusalem when that occurred. The significant turning point is with verse 32 when Jesus said.

But concerning that day singular he was addressing those days the day would be destroyed but of that day in other words the second coming no one knows the hour. But you need to be watchful and ready because you know when it's going to take.

So may the Lord help us to always be ready to be on guard as the Lord Jesus said stay awake for you do not know when the master of the house the Lord is returning. Well we're working our way through the fourth discourse of Jesus here in the fourth gospel gospel and we have John 6 before us.

Hopefully in this discourse the Lord Jesus reveals himself to this crowd as the true bread from heaven that God the Father sent in order to give eternal life or spiritual life to the world. Of course when the scripture speaks of Jesus Christ who gives life to the world it's not a claim that everybody in the world everyone in the world will be saved receive eternal life for the it's merely saying that the entire world of course is without life that people everywhere is spiritually dead but Jesus Christ brings life to the world and the fact is the reason there's true life in the world.

Today there are Christians who enjoy the gift of eternal life and the new life in Christ is because Jesus Christ sent his or came as a result of his father sending him. The father sent his son into the world to give life to the world and he did that and we enjoy that life today.

Now if we go back and consider what unfolds before us in this sixth chapter of John we see quite a fascinating transition take place between the beginning of the chapter in the end of the chapter. The chapter begins with well over 5 ,000 men and women who wanted to come and take Jesus by force to make him king it would seem that upon Jesus feeding the multitude with bread and fish the day before they believed him to be the promised prophet even the Messiah one like unto Moses they would have him to be their king well to prevent their desires from being realized Jesus first left them and went off to a mountain alone to pray and then he actually left the area that night perhaps avoiding to wake up and see them in the morning again wanting to make him king and he went across the sea to another part of Galilee but they followed him along the shore and they found him the next morning and so is here in this discourse becomes more direct with them and by the end of John chapter 6 these 5 ,000 men plus women and children all departed from him and only 12 his 12 disciples stayed with him and they were having their doubts and so through the course of this chapter John chapter 6 he whittles down this crowd who wanted to make him king and revealed himself to them for he truly was and essentially taught them that the only way they could come into favor with God is if God in his sovereignty was merciful and gracious to them and so he thinned out the crowds as it were and he did so by preaching to them very clearly forthrightly the sovereign grace of God and salvation.

He taught to them the doctrine of election, predestination, sovereign grace, effectual call and they didn't want anything to do with it and so he gave forth this discourse to this crowd teaching them the spiritual truth regarding their true spiritual condition and regarding his true spiritual authority.

He emphasized their inability and unwillingness to come to him in faith in order to receive the gift of eternal life and again he set before them very clearly the only way they possibly could come to him on the terms that he had declared to them as if his father God the Father would enable them to do so by his sovereign grace.

They did not and would not receive this teaching from him and so by again by the time the chapter ends concludes we read that all these would-be followers were fed up with him they had enough of his teaching and they walked away in unbelief and no doubt with disappointment he didn't realize their desires and oftentimes people will react to us in the same way do not offer them the Jesus of their desires they find what we're offering them is not what they expected or wanted and so again by the end of John chapter 6 only as twelve disciples remain but even they had trouble and troubled with what Jesus had told the crowds that day.

The Offense of Sovereign Grace and the Crowding-Thinning Effect of John 6

Well imagine their disillusionment. Jesus you know a few hours ago we had 5 ,000 people that wanted to make you king now we've got nobody. You can imagine that they were somewhat disappointed and disillusioned themselves and the Lord didn't really let them off the hook well now's your opportunity you want to go away also here's your chance and of course Peter responded Lord where are we going to go you've got the words of eternal life so they stuck it out even in their confusion and perhaps disappointment and disillusionment.

What the Lord Jesus did here in John chapter 6 was really contrary to all the counsel of modern church growth pundits he did not deal with this crowd as would be recommended to him by church leaders today unfortunately.

Gatherings however all like this all too like this crowd at the beginning of John chapter 6 that come to churches because the kind of Jesus that this crowd was looking for oftentimes is the kind of Jesus that they're being presented by preachers by pulpits.

There's a lot of would-be followers they're coming to Jesus because of what they perceive they're going to receive from him and as we've pointed out before oftentimes what God will initially begin to draw his people on himself by some very real practical felt concern personal needs and we're seeking help we're seeking relief so we come initially to Jesus but if there's any true reality to that spiritual endeavor we come to realize we ought to be seeking Jesus for who he is not just because of what he can give us and when we start proclaiming that kind of message we may get the same kind of reaction that these people gave to Jesus here in John chapter 6.

The fact is that fallen man does not like to hear that he deserves hell due to his sin and that there's actually no way he can remedy himself from his condition and so when they hear that only God can deliver them and he'll only do so if he chooses to do so it both humbles them and angers them as well.

Fallen man has no natural affinity to God the true God of the Bible and so when he set forth in his sovereignty in dispensing grace of salvation people react and reject him and reject that kind of message.

Spurgeon once wrote a sermon I pulled it off my shelf yesterday and took a look at it thought I would give this little quote from it he entitled the sermon our manifesto and he spoke about preaching God's free sovereign grace to the world and what kind of reaction we get from that.

Spurgeon wrote we are sure that the gospel we have preached is not after men because men do not take to it. It is opposed even to this day middle in 19th century London if anything is hated bitterly it's the out and out gospel of the grace of God especially if that hateful word sovereignty is mentioned with it.

Dare to say he will have mercy on whom he will have mercy and he will have compassion on whom he will have compassion and furious critics will revile you without stint. The modern religionist not only hates the doctrine of sovereign grace but he raves and rages at the mention of it.

He would sooner hear you blaspheme than preach election by the father atonement by the son or regeneration by the spirit. If you want to see a man worked up till the satanic is clearly uppermost let some of the new divines hear you preach a free grace sermon.

The gospel which is after men will be welcomed by men but it needs a divine operation upon the heart and mind to make a man willing to receive into his utmost soul this distasteful gospel of the grace of God.

My brethren do not try to make it tasteful to carnal minds. Hide not the offense of the cross lest you make it of none effect. The angles and corners of the gospel are its strength to pare them off is to deprive it of power.

Toning down is not the increase of strength but the death of it. Why even among the sects you must have noticed that their distinguishing points are the horns of their power and when these are practically omitted the sect is a feat.

Learn then that if you take Christ out of Christianity, Christianity is dead. If you remove grace out of the gospel, the gospel is gone. If the people do not like the doctrine of grace give them all the more of it.

That our gospel offends the king's enemies is no regret to us. And of course he was a champion of proclaiming the grace of God. Commonly Spurgeon though that aspect of his preaching is forgotten. In fact, Ian Murray a generation ago wrote the book The Forgotten Spurgeon in which he brought out the fact that Spurgeon was solidly reformed in his understanding and preaching.

Now just by way of review last week as we began to consider this discourse we came to verses 30 through 40 and it's really a section of this discourse that we could describe as God the Father sent Jesus to give eternal life to his elect.

And as we considered last week we read first the crowd challenging Jesus in verses 30 and 31. Therefore they said to him what sign will you perform then that we may see it and believe you? What work will you do?

Our fathers ate the manna in the desert as it's written he gave them bread from heaven to eat. They wanted him to prove himself to be a second Moses coming to them. Our Lord responded to their challenge, he corrected the crowd in verses 32 and 33.

Then Jesus said to them most assuredly I say to you Moses did not give you the bread from heaven but my father gives you the true bread from heaven for the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.

Well the crowd then in response and reaction to Jesus, the crowd requested a continual supply of this bread, verse 34. And they said to him Lord give us this bread always. They wanted this bread that would enable them to live forever.

However it's clear from the context it had not yet registered in their thinking that Jesus himself was that bread. They were still looking for some bread physically probably practically that would enable them no longer to become hungry.

And so then Jesus declared himself to be the true bread from heaven in verses 35 through 40. And Jesus said to them I am the bread of life he who comes to me shall never hunger he who believes in me shall never thirst.

But I said to you that you have seen me and yet you do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me and the one who comes to me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.

This is the will of the Father who sent me that of all he has given me I should lose nothing but should raise it up at the last day. This is the will of him who sent me that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day.

Well we began to break down this paragraph last week somewhat and we pointed out in verse 35a there's one of the clear statements of deity on the part of the Lord Jesus. The first two words of that statement I am the bread of life was Jesus making the claim he was the Jehovah the Old Testament who appeared to Moses in the burning bush.

Moses asked him what name shall I tell the Israelites? What name is yours that I should tell them you sent me? Tell them I am who sent you and hear Jesus when he makes this proclamation ego e me. I am the bread of life he was making this claim that he was God.

And then Jesus's claim to grant the fullness of eternal life is found in the second clause of verse 35. He who comes to me shall never hunger he who believes in me shall never thirst. Jesus Christ is making it very clear that true meaning true everlasting enjoyment in this life is bound up in him.

Christ is at the heart in the center of all creation. Life is in him and so we read of the centrality of Jesus Christ and as Christians we recognize that or at least we should and we ought to live accordingly because Jesus Christ himself is the source of life the purpose of life the way of life the greatest blessing of life with him as a possession of life he gives meaning he's very the source of meaning for life power of life assurance of life and certainly the promise of future life in Christ is everything.

And Paul argued you are complete in him and so we should attempt as we read and study the Word of God we hear Jesus preaching to make sure there's nothing that obscures our sight of him and value of him.

He is all in all. Jesus Christ is to us life itself. Jesus said I am the way the truth and the life he is our peace he is our hope he is our very life and so let all who believe on him confess that we are in him and seek to be satisfied in him even again as we profess in faith that we are complete in him as the scriptures say let us certainly be content in him all to the glory of God and the one who comes to see this in him and trust themselves to him he is promised that that one shall never hunger and never thirst there is a settlement of the soul a satisfaction of peace that is characteristic of the Christian who truly sees understands and lives with the reality.

Jesus Christ is all in all and in him. I'm okay and regardless of whatever else is going on in this world. Nevertheless we read in verse 36 that the crowd continued in unbelief he declared to them that although the true spiritual eternal life was in him and would be given to them and believe on him none of them actually did so none of them no one present had responded to him in true faith believing on him for who he was in truth and so our Lord declared these words to this gathering but I said to you that you have seen me and yet you do not believe.

He wasn't talking about just some of those that were present he was talking about all of those present I would assume accepting his 12 disciples or at least 11 of them. The fact is there was something very defective and deficient about these people and that they failed to see him for who he is.

There was something very deviant and distorted that these people refused to believe on him given the remarkable signs that had already borne witness to his true identity even the incontrovertible proof of his person.

You've seen the signs and yet you don't believe and yet we recognize there was nothing really unique about this gathering of people than any gathering of people throughout history for this is how the Word of God portrays all people in this world unless mercy and grace imparts life to raise them from their spiritually dead condition.

People do not have the ability or the desire in and of themselves to believe on Jesus in spite of all the signs that you can lay before them all the miracles that will not produce saving faith it'll gain a fascinated crowd but it will not produce conversion.

You remember in Luke 16 with the rich man and Lazarus they both died and then they went to hell and the rich man became very concerned as he was in torments and he called out to father Abraham whom he saw in the distance where Lazarus the pauper was being comforted by Abraham.

Abraham send Lazarus back to my house and speak to my five brothers lest they come to this place of torment and Jesus in telling this story and it wasn't a parable or actually names persons mentioned it was a literal account Abraham told Jesus had Abraham saying to this rich man they have Moses and the prophets they have the scriptures and the rich man responded oh they won't believe Moses and the prophets but if they saw a man come back from the dead like Lazarus then they'd believe and Jesus again said to Abraham if they did not believe Moses and the prophets they would not believe even if somebody came back from the dead.

No miracle even if we could raise a dead man to life right here that would not convert a single soul. It takes the power of God the work of God in the soul through the holy scriptures. Moses and the prophets Jesus said to Abraham and that is the means that God uses to bring salvation to his people through grace through sovereign grace and somehow there are those who argue today that we need to have a powerful religion a powerful Christianity where people see miracles and signs and then they will believe.

No it might get you 5 ,000 people that want to claim Jesus as king but it's a faulty faith they have a wrong view of things a wrong view of the kingdom a wrong view of themselves and a wrong view of Jesus and when you begin to proclaim the sovereign grace of God and Jesus Christ you'll watch that crowd thin out real quickly because people do not like this kind of message as Spurgeon wrote about as we saw earlier.

The holy scriptures the written Word of God do not present a favorable picture of natural man's condition. The Word of God teaches that all people of course are fallen, lost, spiritually blind, enslaved to Satan and dead in sin that's how we're born into this world.

In a word all people everywhere in terms that's been used since the early days of the Protestants are totally depraved and this is why we need a spiritual life from outside of us to come to us. God in his mercy and grace has to impart spiritual life to us because again the Bible teaches us the Word of God teaches us just being born into this world unless we're transformed by the grace of God we're going to abide in death.

It's all up to the mercy and grace of God because we are powerless to bring about a transition even into faith in Jesus Christ apart from the revelation of God himself to the soul and Jesus makes this very clear in this passage.

We won't go through that list because we have at other times but clearly man, fallen man is described as spiritually blind, ignorant, proud, self-willed and enslaved as well as helpless to bring remedy to himself.

Fallen man is lost, he is spiritually dead. Only through God's grace working in the soul to bring one to faith in Jesus Christ is this sinful condition corrected and conquered. It has to begin with God.

We live in a God-centered universe although fallen man thinks he's at the center of all things. God is the center of all things and so Jesus in these few words declared to them their depravity, but I said to you that you have seen me and yet you do not believe.

There was an unwillingness but also an incapability on their part because they were sinners. They had seen many miracles and signs but they did not believe and what was true of that 5 ,000 plus is true of any group of people anywhere.

The fact is sin has rendered us not only unwilling but also unable to truly see him for who he is so as to believe on him for the salvation of our souls. We don't have that capability, that capacity apart from the grace of God.

So even though the Lord Jesus spoke of the unwillingness and inability of fallen man to come to him he declared in verse 37, nevertheless God would save his elect through Jesus Christ. Jesus begins to proclaim sovereign grace.

The Lord Jesus declared the absolute truth that the elect of God would be saved onto eternal life. Jesus declared in verse 37, all that the Father gives me will come to me and the one who comes to me I will by no means cast out.

And so our Lord gave this assuring word in verse 37 that even though none believed all would not be lost, Jesus Christ would see to it that there would be some, in fact many, from every nation saved. This verse 37 is very rich if you look at it closely.

In fact we would argue, for those who have ears to hear, it affirms three of the five doctrines of grace that historically characterizes Reformed theology. Three out of five is in John 6 37. In Sunday school we're presently addressing the subject what is a Reformed church and we've stated there that there are at least ten principles that characterize a Reformed church historically.

These include the church holding to the five solas of the Reformation as well as the five doctrines of grace or commonly called or referred to as the doctrines of Calvinism. Just by quick summary for those that may not be informed about these matters, what are the five solas of the Protestant Reformation?

Well these are five foundational principles which Protestants of Europe espoused which eventually led to their separation from Roman Catholicism because Rome did not believe in these five principles, these five solas.

They were believed historically by all Reformed or Protestant denominations that broke from Rome. Again they're commonly, these five principles are commonly known by five Latin phrases, each phrase containing the word sola.

Sola is spelt differently depending on the noun that it's an adjective and depending on the case of the noun in Latin it changes the form of the word sola. But we have these five principles, first sola sceptura, second sola fide, third sola gratia, fourth sola christus, and fifth sola deo gloria.

And these five expressions or principles may be translated and explained as follows. The truth of God is known by scripture alone, sola scriptura. And the scriptures alone teach the justification before God, in other words the forgiveness of sins and coming into a right relationship with God is through faith alone, sola fide.

And that the whole of salvation is by God's grace alone, sola gratia. Through Jesus Christ alone, sola christus. And that work of salvation is accomplished for the glory of God alone, sola deo gloria.

And so that's the meaning of those five Latin phrases. And these are the main tenets and principles that were espoused through the Protestant Reformation. Rome did not believe these, Protestants do. But in addition to these five solas, Protestants have historically espoused five doctrines of grace, which are commonly referred to as the five doctrines of Calvinism, even though these five doctrines were articulated as five fifty years after Calvin died.

These were the doctrines of Protestant churches in Europe. And they were articulated by a council, the Council of Dort that met over a hundred and thirty occasions over a period of six or seven months.

And these biblical truths were the outworking of this council. Protestants believed the Bible to teach these things. And these five doctrines are as follows. First, the total depravity of man, man's a sinner.

Second, God's unconditional election of the lost to be saved. That is, God doesn't choose people to be saved because of something special about them. He makes his choice unconditionally. Third, the definite or limited atonement of Jesus' death for his people, he died to save his sheep.

Fourth, the irresistible grace of God in his calling to salvation. When you're a lost man, if God wants to save your soul, he's going to accomplish what he wants to do. And he's going to deal with all your objections, all your rebellion, and he's going to bring you to the place where you're calling out for mercy.

It's all due to the grace of God. Otherwise it wouldn't happen. And then fifthly, the final perseverance of true believers under their full and final salvation. He doesn't lose a want. He saves them everlastingly.

I actually don't mention these doctrines of grace a great deal. Everything we teach, of course, and preach is consistent with these five doctrines, but it's not a doctrinal hobby horse that we ride around here and try and impose on everybody.

And I just did a little search in my own notes and I noticed, well, we're here almost 21 years and almost a thousand Sunday morning sermons. I mentioned the doctrines of grace specifically in 25 sermons out of 1 ,000.

That's not a great deal. But again, our teaching, we believe, is consistent with these. Without going into great detail, we may say that in the statements recorded in John 6, the Lord Jesus affirms the first, second, fourth, and fifth points of these five doctrines.

And in verse 37, that we just read above, we have three of the doctrines of grace addressed by the Lord Jesus. And so verse 37a, Jesus declared, all that the Father gives me will come to me. This affirms the second point of the five doctrines of grace, unconditional election of sinners by the Father, that he perfects from eternity to save through Jesus Christ.

And then the second clause of verse 37, Jesus declared, all that the Father gives me will come to me. That affirms the fourth point of the five doctrines of grace, the effectual call of God unto salvation.

The ones the Father elected will come to Jesus in faith and repentance. The Holy Spirit will regenerate the sinner, placing within his soul the principle of spiritual life, which shows forth itself in the grace of faith and repentance.

And then Jesus declared in verse 37c, the third clause of that verse, this is the will of the Father who sent me, that of all that he's given me, I should lose nothing but should raise it up the last day.

That affirms the fifth doctrine of grace, the perseverance of the saints. So this one verse affirms three out of the five. Aside from these three of the five doctrines of grace affirmed in this one verse, we may look two verses further in John 6 to John 6 39, and here Jesus declared that though all these people had heard him and had seen signs that he had done, they remained in their unbelief.

And Jesus said to them, but I said to you that you've seen me, you do not believe. This affirms the first of the five doctrines of grace, total depravity. And so within three verses we have four of the doctrines of grace affirmed.

Now certainly that fifth doctrine, the middle one, definite atonement or limited atonement, might be rather difficult to find here in John chapter 6, but it's certainly not difficult to find in John's gospel.

And so later on, for example, we read of the Lord Jesus in John chapter 10, that he came to lay down his life for the sheep. He came to save his sheep, and these would be his elect. Don't misunderstand, that doesn't mean that we don't offer Jesus freely and fully to everyone, we do.

We preach the gospel to every creature. Any sinner anywhere in the world can have forgiveness of sins and eternal life if they turn from their sin and believe on Jesus Christ. We offer Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior to every fallen human being.

But we know that only his sheep are going to hear his voice through the gospel, and by the power of the Holy Spirit and the grace of God, they will come. And that's what Jesus declares in John chapter 10.

And so all the doctrines of grace are set forth here in the gospel of John. I have a book written by a Baptist, probably in the 1950s, God's Gracious Purpose, where he talks about the doctrines of grace, all set forth in the gospel of John.

And so the gospel of John clearly sets forth the sovereignty of God in very clear and stark terms. And so John 637, all that the Father gives me will come to me, the one who comes to me I will in no wise cast out.

All the elect will receive his salvation, all that the Father gives me. The Bible talks about God's election of sinners unto salvation. Our confession of faith states it this way, those of mankind that are predestinated to life, God before the foundation of the world was laid according to his eternal and immutable, that's unchangeable purpose, and the secret counsel and good pleasure of his will hath 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.

That is a statement of unconditional election. If you're a Christian, it's because God the Father chose you from eternity. And at that time when he chose you, he regarded you as being in union with his son Jesus Christ.

It's not because you were special in the sense that you were better than anybody else or less sinful than anybody else or more believing than anybody else, more wise than anybody else, but because God determined I'm going to glorify myself in mercy and grace by saving your soul.

If you're a Christian you were one of them. You came to know God when you believed on Christ. God knew you from eternity. He had you on his heart. In fact the scriptures say, we'll see it later in John 17, God the Father loves you to the same degree that he loves Jesus Christ his son because he sees you in union with him.

And therefore because he loves you with that everlasting love, he would not let you be damned. He would send forth his son to save your soul. God gets the glory for it all and no one should take credit for anything.

Even in those early days of my Christian life in the 70s, I came to the doctrines of grace in 1980. You know when I was arguing as the Arminian, now everybody saves themselves, God made a plan and everybody's free will, everybody has the ability.