Ministry's Only Hope: Election (part 4) - [Ephesians 1:4ff]

The Glory of God in Election and the Search for a Second Blessing

Well, thank you ladies that was an apropos song for our sermon this morning a topic that will Certainly make us say to God be the glory. When I was a new Christian, it was 1989 and I wanted kind of something extra something more.

I was looking for maybe that extra blessing and I would work in the operating room all day and get home at about 3 30 in the afternoon. Kim would still be working. I would just get my Bible and I begin reading through it.

And my pastor at the time told me that if I really was special. And I really got a special anointing that I could begin to speak in tongues. And so I thought well, that's what I want because I want everything that God has to offer me and I was told to just begin to groan and so It's better when your wife's not around to try to start that.

And so I just would go into my bedroom and I would lay there with the Bible here and my head down and I would began to begin to groan. Because after all Romans 8 doesn't it say something about groaning and I would go.

And trying to get the thing kick-started because I want everything that God has for me. Well, I had a dog at the time. Her name was Marley and she thought I was sick. So Marley would come up and she would do that dog thing and kind of lick me make sure I'm alright.

Back at home well now I I figured out that I've got some kind of demonic dog because she's stopping me from getting my second blessing and This must be Satan in my dog. So like a good immature Christian not knowing too much.

I said I rebuke you Marley. Surprisingly, she went down to the end of the bed and laid down now. I've got it going on. Whoo. So we started up again. She came up started licking me again tail wagging and I rebuked her and she just kept licking me and licking me.

I figured I didn't have it all. Anyway, I gave up on that idea. But what I didn't give up on was wanting to know the greatness of God found in Scripture. Something that would just blow me over you've seen those commercials where the man sitting there in front of a speaker and it looks like the G forces are pushing against his head and he is just Affected by this sound coming.

And when someone first taught me the doctrine of God's sovereignty of cell in salvation that God chooses selects Predestined plucks out for his own glory and his own glory alone. It blew my mind. It was like the second blessing that I was looking for the wrong way.

It was always right before me. It was found right there in the pages of Scripture if I would just read it Everywhere you go you see God on his throne and God choosing for purposes. Rejecting others choosing some it was unbelievable to me.

It was undeniable that God would choose and select and elect. Bruce was sharing with me the other day when he first got saved he he didn't believe in election. So he would just read Romans 8 and then skip Romans 9 and then go to Romans 10 that right and Everywhere you look.

Here's this doctrine and someone's might say Mike. This is election part for today. It must be your hobby horse. And I can say with all Honesty and candor it is one of my hobby horses. Because it is one of God's hobby horses if I could say that with reverence God loves his sovereignty.

And he loves to be exalted and this is a doctrine that forces you to say he will not share his glory with another. Not when it comes to salvation not when it comes to preservation he will not share his glory with another but there's something in us that kind of Pushes back against it hence the long series on election.

Remember Spurgeon. He said I do not like that. I do not like divine election said one. Well I thought you would not whoever dreamed you would and There's something until we think about things from God's perspective that it is kind of hard to swallow.

So today Election part 4 as we look at Ephesians, please chapter 1 so we can understand truly what? Not just the Reformation taught not just what historical confessional creedal Christianity is taught.

But what Jesus taught what Paul taught what Peter taught what John taught? We have here the Bible teaching us that God is the supreme ruler and authority and no one gets saved by fortune by Chance by happenstance, but people get saved because God Chooses an eternity past not based on anyone's foreseen goodness or merit or works.

He chooses for his own glory and it is undeniably found in Scripture. Ephesians chapter 1 the outline for today is similar to the last two weeks. I'm going to ask you questions and then answer them about the doctrine of election.

Starting Ephesians, and then we'll branch out and I have about 20 questions. So 20 questions about evangelism. And a rather election and we've gone through eight I think and then today we're gonna do nine and ten.

How long we're gonna be in the series? I'm looking forward to finding out I don't want to rush this issue because it helps us understand praise it helps us understand Anthropology who is man without Christ.

It helps us to understand try you and working of the Godhead. It helps us understand really Christianity at its core. He helps us understand the godness of God that God is in fact God not by only name.

But by the way, he does things so we're just gonna take our time. We're gonna work through these 20 questions and we can see this this real purpose drivenness of God choosing people. For his glory. I could probably be more pushy.

And be like Martin Luther. He just had a way with words. He was always so politically correct if you know what I mean. When people said I don't want to know any more about election. I've heard everything I need to know.

He said for people who aren't interested in election. He said Those who aren't interested in this issue quote shall know nothing. Whatever of Christian matters and shall be far behind all the people of the earth.

He that does not feel this let him confess that he is no Christian. I Wouldn't go that far. But it's an important talk doctrine. It's an important topic. Everybody needs to know about this doctrine. So question number one and we're just basically letting the text speak.

I have nothing else to preach besides the Bible and so just letting the teak the the text speak and teach. Question number one we saw two weeks ago. Do you view election as something for mature Christians only and we looked right there in chapter 1 verse 1 that it's not just for mature Christians, it's for all the Saints.

Do you see there in one be to the Saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ? Jesus if you're a Christian at this church called Ephesus and it was a circular letter sent to all kinds of other churches.

You need to know about this doctrine that says what in verse 4 the father chooses. Verse 5 he predestines according to his will. Everyone needs to know about it. It's not one of these secret things that we don't teach in new members class new Christians class.

And then later, you know when you've been a Christian for 20 years, we try we drop the bomb on you. No, we we teach it from the get-go that God is sovereign in all things. Not just the weather not just in the affairs of man, but in everything including Salvation.

Question 2 do you think election stifles praise in other words? If God is some fatalistic impersonal a chooser than who wants to praise a God like that. If you remember verse 6 all this talk about choosing and electing.

Leads to verse 6 to the what to the praise of the glory of his grace. God is to be blessed. Paul says in verse 3 He is to be spoken well of a word only used of God in the New Testament. To speak well of someone in the New Testament was to speak well of one and one alone God.

This is a Jewish kind of praise in verse 3 through verse 14. It's very customary back in those days to give a blessing. Election doesn't stifle praise it gives you praise. It makes you want to extol our Lord.

Question number 3. Do you think all Christians believe in election? Answer we learned the last two weeks yes. They all do because it's right there in your text you have to believe God chose and God predestined.

You just might make it God centered or man centered. You might make a different rationale behind the words. Give the vocabulary word a different meaning, but you believe in election. It is either a conditioned on man what he will think do say.

Or it is unconditioned on man. It is only conditioned on the good pleasure of God. Number four when you believe when do you believe election took place found in verse 4? We just were taking the passage as it would come verse 4 when do you believe election took place it tells us?

Before the foundation of the what world it could not be more explicit. The language is very clear the language is God doesn't foresee something. He does it before time because if he did it before time it's called Pre destiny.

If he does it after time then it's called what post destiny. Man does not ordain himself. He does not give himself faith. God does this before the foundation of the world. Question 5 again? We're going quickly you can get the tapes the last couple weeks if you want to look at this in detail.

Again found from Ephesians chapter 1 question 5. Do you believe election is based on a person's faith? Do you believe election is based on a person's faith and so far we've seen it's for all Christians this doctrine.

It should elicit praise not stifle it. 3 everyone believes in it. For when did it take place eternity past and 5 is it based on a person's faith? How could it be verse 4? How did he choose us? He chose us in him.

It's a word He chose us for himself by himself unto himself before the foundation of the world. What's next? That we should be holy and blameless before him. Not because we would be not because we were.

And it is clear elsewhere in Ephesians 2 and Philippians 1 that even faith is a gift. Faith is an instrument of salvation. It is not the means it does not cause salvation. Salvation is dependent on the Lord not on our faith.

And you say well What about foreknowledge and we looked at Romans 8 for a long time last week. God foreknows everyone. With Prescience with knowledge ahead of time, but that's not what the word is talking about at all.

Remember in Matthew chapter 7 when some people come to Jesus on Judgment Day and he will say depart from me. I never what? Knew you did he know of them intellectually? Did he know everything they thought said did ate went wherever they whatever they did.

He knew them, but he didn't know them in a personal way in a loving way in a relationship way. So here before time begins God says I'm going to personally choose to set affection on people. Before time even begins and those people then he predestines if you believe that foreknowledge is based on faith.

Then we have a man-centered salvation. By the way, the text in Romans 8 says those whom he foreknew he predestined. If you believe this foreknowledge is based on on just knowing ahead of time. He foreknows all ahead of time and you have universal salvation.

He just knows and loves. Man isn't willing to come to him to Christ. So God loves them ahead of time. Now I read something this week that just Gripped me. I've been a Christian for some time now, and I read a lot of things.

But I don't read really anything new and you don't really want me to do anything new. I've got the new doctrine today. Welcome to church. We've got a new doctrine for you. That's the time when the shepherd's crook could come out.

But it said it in a way that just so helped me understand that faith doesn't save you. That shorthand that's true. But it is Jesus Christ that saves. Yes, we would all believe in that. So what role does faith have.

And Horatius Bonar said this in a title and an article entitled not faith, but Christ. This is crucial. He said quote. Faith is not our Savior. It was not faith that was born at Bethlehem and died on Golgotha for us.

It was not faith that loved us and gave itself for us. That bore our sins in its own body on the tree that died and rose again for our sins. It is a sin bearer that we need and our faith cannot be a sin bearer.

Faith cannot expiate no any guilt can accomplish no propitiation can pay no penalty. Faith cannot wash away stain. Faith can provide no righteousness. Faith brings us to the cross, but in itself it has no merit and no virtue.

Faith is not Christ nor the cross of Christ. Faith is not the blood nor the sacrifice. Our faith does not divide the work of salvation between itself and the cross. Faith is the acknowledgement that the cross alone saves and that it saves alone.

Faith can add nothing to the cross nor to its healing virtue. It owns the fullness and sufficiency and suitableness of the work done there. Faith does not come to Calvary to do anything. It comes to see the glorious spectacle of all things done and to accept this completion without Misgivings it listens to the it is finished of the sin bearer and says a man.

We are not saved because we came up with our faith. We are saved by Christ perfect work in his life and his death. Resurrection Ascension and we just look at that and God turns our heart. So we say a man That is music to my ears that is to God alone be the glory.

It's not half your faith that saves and half Christ's work. But it is all God's work and we are not saved because of faith. We are saved because of Christ's death on our behalf. We are saved through faith.

We must believe. But even that belief is not meritorious. That's what we talked about last week. I'm glad by the way on a side note if our faith saved us how good does your faith have to be to save you?

Everything God requires perfect and to have perfect faith in the Savior. I'd rather have a perfect Savior and an imperfect immature faith wouldn't you? It's not co-mingling them together. If God required that faith saved you your own faith saved you and I know sometimes in Scripture It says you're saved by grace through faith, but the raw fact no nothing else on the outside your faith saved you.

How perfect does your faith have to be. It is going to be imperfect because it comes from a person who's imperfect. Like me and like you. But here our faith says there's nothing good in my hands that I'm clinging to.

I'm just looking to the cross. That's it. And we say with the hearty. Amen. It is the Christ on the cross that saves alone. God does not choose people based on their faith by the way for a million years He would wait for them to believe on their own and they would never ever believe.

Number six, do you believe election as unloving? I mean after all People that don't like elections. The first thing they do is they say it's unloving. Do you see the text in verse 4? The end of verse 4 in the beginning of verse 5.

It should be all one sense in love. He what? Predestined us. We should be praising God for election because it shows how much he loves us. He loves me. He loves his children. And It shouldn't be well, you know, why didn't God choose everybody?

It should be why did God choose me out of all the people he chose me? All my sins all my skeletons all my selling out to Satan. Michael Horton said in a wonderful way God is more love than you are sin.

This is not an arbitrary choosing. This is out of love and out of compassion. Just like when God chose Israel Deuteronomy 7, why did God choose Israel because the Lord Yahweh loves you. This is God's attitude.

It's one of love. Number seven closely related is election impersonal and sterile elections for all Christians it elicits praise. Everyone has to believe in it or you get a scissors out for your to your Bible.

It took place before the foundation of time. It's not based on foreseen faith. It's very loving. And number seven, it's personal. He chose us in love. He predestined us in love. Verse 5 says what to adoptions as and like I said last week to push the envelope robots machines.

No, God is by nature a Savior by essence by nature by his own will he makes us sons. Daughters, this is not Antiseptic and sterile. I remember working in the operating room we'd have to sterilize the instruments and so they would put those instruments they clean them off in a solution and then put the instruments in a what an Autoclave and that autoclave I think if memory serves me went up to 270 degrees C.

Is that right? Pardon me. It was really hot. Anyway, it just killed all the germs. And you think you know this doctrine of God choosing somehow fatalistically it just makes it all sterile and kind of Cellophane it's personal.

He adopts us as sons and daughters into his family. You should think just for a moment about what it means to be God's child. To have God as your father and it should turn your life right side up. This is not an impersonal force choosing us some kind of cloning language a Personal God choosing personal creatures because he loved them for no apparent reason except his own.

Number eight is your view of election grace based as your view grace based and if you take a look at verse six It says to the praise of the glory of his grace. It's not of our faith, but we praise him because of his grace and you see it is freely bestowed.

It is be graced on people. Why did he choose anyone. Because it was according to his will and I would say that you cannot understand the grace of salvation. Fully until you can say I believe in unconditional election.

If you look at the passage there Election harms no one. It's gracious. Everybody's like well, what about people who aren't going to go to heaven. Election is not the cause of anyone going to hell. Election is only and always the cause of those deserving health to go to heaven election doesn't damn.

When you say it does. Then you forget about verse 6 it is his grace sin sends men to hell an election plucks them out of what they deserve and Rescues them any election that's conditioned on us our foreseen faith that what we would do would not be a gracious election.

The Nature of Free Will in Salvation

Number nine now we get to the new stuff number nine. Number ten by the way is going to be about evangelism. So we're gonna do the hard one first nine and then we're gonna do number ten about evangelism and I'm doing it in this order because.

The text in chapter 1 verse 6 of Ephesians lends itself to this very topic and so that's why we'll do hard first then easy number nine the hard one first. Do you believe an unbeliever's will is totally free?

Do you believe an unbeliever's will is totally free in other words do unbelievers people who aren't Christians do they have free will? This could be a whole sermon. It just might turn out to be. Sometimes I come on Sunday morning just to hear what I'm gonna say.

All right, let's just look at the focus here and see what Paul's trying to say. Certainly we would all affirm in verse 5 of Ephesians 1. That he predestines us in love to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ himself.

According to the kind intention of what his will does not lose that. It is according to his will that he does things his benevolence his good pleasure his sovereign will and good pleasure. Because it pleased him to do that.

I want to show you three other passages. That talk about God's will in salvation. Okay, let's just quickly do these and we can kind of do them in biblical chronological order. John 1 13 if you have your Bibles turn to John 1 13.

And I just want to first make the case. That we are saved by the will of God before we get into what the definition of free will is what it is. Not we are saved by God's will that's what Ephesians 1 says and I want to show you that in Romans and John and in James Jesus is the one.

Whose will counts or the triune God in other words? And actually I think more of you are gonna agree with me than disagree with me this morning. It just depends what our definitions are. John chapter 1 verse 13.

Certainly verse 12 is true and we could talk about that in the evangelism section. But verse 13 is also true and it comes in the same sentence as verse 12. It's one sentence these people who were saved were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh.

They were not saved by their own will that was not the cause of their salvation their own will or the man who runs. No, that's Romans not nor the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God's will.

Ephesians chapter 1 you're saved because of God's will. John chapter 1 you're saved because of what God's will. John 6, please. We'll just go ahead just a hair. John chapter 6. John 6 verse 44. Not talking about the word will but the same idea we might as well go there.

John 6 44 more about this in a couple weeks. No one can come to me. John 6 44. Jesus said unless the father who sent me draws him I will raise him up on the last day. The father's initiative. Romans chapter 9 verse 16.

Romans 9 16 to the chapter that Bruce was not willing to read. Till of his own free will he decided to do it. Romans 9 16. We'll we'll go through Romans 9 in a couple weeks as well. Romans 9 16 again.

I'm just trying to show you what are we going to believe if you've ever got a problem theologically? Here's what you do first start. Listening and reading and learning what you already know to be true.

What about this whole free will thing? Well, what do we know to be true first? So what we know to be true number one is we're saved by God's will. And Romans chapter 9 verse 16 also echoes John. So then it does not depend on the man who what?

Wills are the man who runs, but it does depend on a God who has mercy. And then lastly James 1 18 there'd be other verses, but I picked these especially Romans John and James because it has the word will there so we can see that it is God's will saving us.

James 1 18. Or I can just read it if you'd like James 1 18 in the exercise of His will it was God's will. He brought us forth by the word of truth. So that we might be as it were the firstfruits among many creatures.

We have a problem the world teaches free will. Many churches treat teach free will. What's the definition of free will before we get into? Any of that one God's will saves us. Would you affirm that? You say you're setting me up.

Well, not really. I'm just trying to show you What the Bible teaches all right free will what's the definition? I don't want to define it yet. But would you say an unbeliever is? Free from God's will.

Well, you say well, maybe I just read you several verses. I don't see how you could but let's just say how about this do you think a person who's an unbeliever is? Free to do his own will and he's free from Satan's will.

You think unbelievers go around doing their own free will or do you think they're doing the bidding of another Satan? Which one do you think? If free from external influences mean nobody's telling you what to do or nobody's guiding you then let's turn to another passage 2nd Timothy chapter 2 and I want to show you that it seems very Clear in Scripture to me that if your definition of free will is free from any external influence.

You've got to modify your position because 2nd Timothy chapter 2 verse 24 25 and 26 Paul is telling Timothy in Pastoral ministry talk, how do we deal with unbelievers? We have to remember that unbelievers are bound in their will and they do Satan's will their pawns.

They think they're free, but the worst kind of freedom is slavery, even though you think you're free. 2nd Timothy 2 24 and the Lord's bond servant must not be quarrelsome. But be kind to all able to teach patient when wrong with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition.

If perhaps God may grant them repentance. Leading to the knowledge of the truth and that they these people who need repentance may come to their senses and Escape the snare of the devil having been held captive by him to do his Satan's will.

Unbelievers do Satan's will and they think they're free you say well. You know believers have free will that means you know at the end of the day they have to choose if they want God. Or not. Well, I'm telling you that will is a will that's enslaved to Satan and what does that satanic will?

Choose God or what? The what are Unbelievers free from external influence. One. They're not free from God's influence. Two. They're not free from Satan's influence. Three if you'll turn to Romans six.

They're not even free from their own sinful influence now. We're moving from the outside to the inside and all this I'm trying to lead you up to the point where it's going to take an act of a triune God to save you and Therefore all the praise will go to God and this whole idea about free will is not a biblical concept if it is defined defined improperly.

All right. Romans chapter 6. I'm trying to say we're not free from Satan's will we're not free from God's will and Certainly when I say we we as unbelievers when we were unbelievers. We're not free from our own sin.

Romans 6 20 for when you were slaves of what? Sin you were free in regard to righteousness. You could do whatever you want as long as it wasn't picking goodness and righteousness. Here's the best way to illustrate it.

Whatever nature you have you are free to choose whatever you'd like as long as it's within that nature. That is to say unbelievers have a nature and that is a depraved nature of fallen nature and slave to sin nature and Bondage to Satan nature and they freely choose everything according to their own nature.

Edwards would say here's the nature. Here's the will never separate those because you can only choose to do what your nature will allow. Let's think about a lion in the zoo. You want to feed lion meat?

What does that lion do because he's hungry? Well, he eats. How about if you decide to give the lion straw? Can he with his own teeth chew up that straw and that hay and and Masticate it eat it and just swallow it.

Yes, but he never will. He'll even die before he does it. Well, he might not die before he does that. He might kill the foolish zookeeper first and eat him. But it is his nature and lions have a nature to eat meat.

Sinners have a nature to what we are fallen in Adam. And we can only do what our nature will allow and so people can. I don't like to use the word freely. I like to use the word voluntarily. Choose. Unbelievers voluntarily choose according to their nature, but we know that nature's fallen.

There's nothing free about it in terms of I can freely choose God on my own. They cannot they're slaves. There's a problem and that problem is today's churches. We have forgot the Reformation and The central issue in Luther split with the Roman Catholic Church was about the what?

The bondage of the will because it affects everything else. Man has a will. I don't argue with that all people have wills. But those wills are bound to their nature and we've just read in Romans that were there needing external influence by God's will and That Satan is clouding their minds their own sin is clouding their minds.

And we have to be careful. I could just push you a little farther. Will you have free will in heaven. A free will in heaven? I mean people say this I'm not a human if I'm. I don't have free will. I must be a robot.

Friends forget the robot stuff first of all. Romans 9 says your clay is a better illustration than a robot. But if you think you're a robot as an unbeliever because you have no free will then what about you Christian in heaven?

Do you have free will in heaven? Well, we can define it two ways. If your will is tied to your nature. You can make all the decisions you'd like which will include not sinning. You cannot sin in heaven.

Can you? I mean origin taught. Eventually you're there long enough, then you probably could but that guy had other problems. If you're in heaven your will is free to do whatever your nature will allow and your nature says I magnify thee.

I glorify Thee. I bow down. I exalt thee. I'm with all my other friends and family in church and we Worthy as the lamb and you will freely choose to do that. God doesn't believe for you. He doesn't somehow make you some kind of robot.

You with your own will with your own nature choose God. Let me make it even pushier. Did Jesus have a free will on earth or was his will bound to his nature? Here's this whole. Could Jesus have sinned.

Jesus could not have sinned. So he must have been a robot because he couldn't choose not to sin. What makes a person. A person has nothing to do. Can they make choices according to their nature? That is a person by the way.

You should do a study on what a person actually is and the Latin concept of person, but that's all moot Jesus freely. Chose according to his own nature. Yes, we see a robot. No, but he could not choose to sin.

He could not choose to fall because his nature was not only human. It was what divine. So all this talk about free will. Here's the summary. If free will means God cannot choose me and save me until I say Okay.

That's the wrong view of free will. If free will is this that unbelievers have a nature that's depraved and they can Voluntarily choose to sin whatever way they want then I believe in that kind of free will the mind chooses.

Because of its nature I believe in that and when we're in glory We will be free to do whatever our nature will allow which will never be to sin. I'm glad for that by the way. People are responsible. We'll get to that next week, but people are not free.

Election and the Necessity of Evangelism

They are slaves to Satan sin themselves and the world and it takes the grace of God to come and rescue us by his will. Question number 10. Question number 10. Here's what you've been coming for waiting for.

Does election inhibit evangelism. Does election. Since God's gonna save whoever he wants. Make us not evangelize. I mean after all when William Carey came into the to the office with all these men and and he said, you know I want to go on a missions trip and I I know people are dying without Christ.

I know that they're lost and they need the gospel. They all said you know what whoever's elects gonna get saved with or without you. We won't give you the money. William Carey. Is that the right thing to do?

Of course, it wasn't the right thing to do. God ordains Salvation and he ordains the means to salvation. The ends who will be saved the means prayer and evangelism. How about farming worked on a farm for a while?

We had to cut weeds out of the cornfield and out of the bean field. God ordains how many bushels the farmer would reap and he also ordains the planting and the weeding and the feeding. Yes. How about have you ever had a child who's sick.

God ordains that they either get well or get promoted to glory. They get well and they get well to the ordained means of prayer. Doctors medicine and antibiotics. It's not just the end. It's the end in the means and God saves his elect through prayer and evangelism.

J. Packer wrote a wonderful book called Evangelism and the sovereignty of God. Now let me have you go to acts 18 and here's another passage that I just hope motivates you acts 18. It's one of my favorite passages in the Bible.

Get a new passage every week. That's my favorite. This is my favorite this week. When I get to read scripture, I get to choose any chapter of the Bible to read and it's so hard to choose one. Here acts 18 is one of those passages that you just fly by if you're not careful.

And you just don't get to exact the richness and the glory of God in this passage. And it's going to help you be a good evangelist and think about election properly. Elections the only hope for ministry and evangelism and that's what this passage will show.