Sunday Sermon: Chosen By God (Matthew 10-11)

You are listening to the teaching ministry of Gabriel Hughes, pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Junction City, Kansas. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday on this podcast, we feature 20 minutes of Bible study through a New Testament book.

On Thursday is a study in the Old Testament, and then we answer questions from the listeners.

On Friday.

Each Sunday we are pleased to share our sermon series. Here's Pastor Gabe.

Preaching Through Matthew 10 and 11

I've been preaching here for 10 years, and in all of the sermons that I have preached, I've only, I've taught through entire chapters only a handful of times. There was the book of Jude I did in a single sermon once.

Back in February of 2015, we went through the entire book of Titus in a single month, and so I preached entire chapters per Sunday. I've preached through only one Old Testament book, and that's the book of Obadiah, because it's only a chapter long, so I did that in a single sermon.

I've been teaching an Old Testament class for the last nine years, but from this pulpit, I've only preached through one Old Testament book, and that's the book of Obadiah. So I've done entire chapters before.

I have never before gone through two chapters in a single sermon until just last week when we covered Matthew chapters 8 and 9, and we're going to do that again today as we look at Matthew chapters 10 and 11, continuing to blitz the gospel of Matthew until I say my last farewell and head to the promised land, which is Texas.

The Authority of the Apostles and the Closed Canon

Turn with me, if you will, to Matthew chapter 10 as Jesus calls His 12 disciples. Now, when we were in the Sermon on the Mount, I said to you that we had some of the most hard-hitting words of Christ in that sermon, and Jesus isn't pulling any punches here either.

While Jesus is mainly addressing His disciples here and commissioning His apostles, though that's the context of what we will read, there are still some valuable instructions, some great authority that is being given here even to the church today, and we'll understand those things as we go.

Let's look at Matthew chapter 10, starting in verse 1. And He called to Him His 12 disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to cast them out and to heal every disease and every affliction.

The names of the 12 apostles are these. First, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas, and Matthew the tax collector, who is the author of the gospel that we're reading here, James the son of Alphaeus and Thaddeus, Simon the zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Now, there are some teachers today who will tell you that the authority that Jesus gave to His disciples here is the same authority that Jesus gives to His disciples today. So just as He gave them the ability to cast out unclean spirits and heal every disease and every affliction, so He has given you this power to heal every disease as well.

These name-it-and-claim-it preachers are wolves. They are false teachers who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous.

Beasts.

Do not listen to what it is that they have to say. Even the miracles that they say that they have performed, they've not really done. There was a time and a place in which Jesus gave this power to His apostles to demonstrate that the word that they spoke truly came from God.

But Peter says in 2 Peter 1 that we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed. So there isn't a need for this miraculous confirmation any further. In Hebrews 2, verse 4, we read that God testified with them both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.

So it is by the will of God that these miraculous signs were performed, again to authenticate that the word that came from these men was a word that came from God. The apostle Paul said to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 12, 12 that the signs of a true apostle were performed among you, again demonstrating that this word that the apostle Paul preached to the Corinthians came from Christ and not from any man.

So if there's anyone who comes to you claiming to have the same authority as these apostles as we have here in the New Testament, let them raise the dead and then you may believe that they too had the power that Jesus granted to these apostles here in Matthew 10.

We have the scripture, the canon, that is 66 books from Genesis to Revelation. This is a closed canon. There is no need for this word to be added to. Therefore, there's no further need for these miraculous signs with the kind of regularity that we see them given here.

There's no need to authenticate a new word or revelation from God, for that word has already been fully confirmed. Verse 5, these 12 Jesus sent out instructing them, go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel and proclaim as you go saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

That sounds familiar, does it not? It's the very word that John the Baptist came preaching. It is the word that Jesus himself preached when he came out of the wilderness in Matthew 4, 17. The time has come.

The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel. And so the disciples are given that same instruction. He says to them, verse 8, heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons, you received without paying, give without pay, acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, no bag for your journey, no two tunics or sandals or a staff for the laborer deserves his food.

And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until.

You depart.

As you enter the house, greet it. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And if anyone will not listen to you or receive you, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town.

Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than it will be for them. Why is that? Because they saw the signs of God performed by these apostles to know that the word that was being spoken to them indeed came from God, and yet these people refused to believe.

It.

Sodom and Gomorrah didn't see those signs and wonders, and yet they were destroyed for the sin and the wickedness that they indulged in. Here, these people were, they saw, they had testified to them that this is the gospel of God.

Here are the signs that authenticate this word that we speak to you is from God, and yet the people wouldn't believe it. And so judgment, when it comes upon them, will be worse than it was for Sodom and Gomorrah.

And my friends, I tell you that judgment is coming upon America, and it will be worse for this nation than it was for Sodom and Gomorrah in that day. You've seen the statistics before that the average American has an average of how many Bibles in their home?

Three. The average American has as many as three Bibles in their home. They have the very word of God in their home. Again, as 2 Peter 1 says, the prophetic word more fully confirmed. It was confirmed by signs and wonders.

It has been written down and canonized. It's right there in your home, the voice of God in the pages of Scripture, the Bible. But we are not reading it, and most Americans especially not obeying it. And so when that judgment comes upon this nation, how terrible will that day be?

We are seeing precursors to that judgment playing out around us even now. Surely some of you have seen the photos of the fires that are ravaging the western side of the United States. You know, it's interesting that just this past week, California passed a law that lessened the penalties on pedophiles in the state of California.

For me to read the law to you would even be pornographic in how descriptive it is. It is horrible, this law, what it allows sexual predators to get away with. And at the same time that this law was passed in the state of California, we're seeing pictures come out of California that looks like something out of an apocalyptic film.

You're even seeing pictures of entire cities that are hazed with smoke and this orange glow over the city. Commentators have said it looks like living on Mars. There was one picture that I saw that was particularly astonishing that showed an entire mountainside engulfed in flames.

And in the foreground of this image is the silhouette of a suspension bridge. It's like driving over that bridge into hell. This is the picture, the landscape that is coming out of the west coast while they're continuing to celebrate themselves as they pass these godless laws.

Shouldn't this be a sign of some kind? And yet our nation continues to be steeped in godlessness, falling into more and more godlessness. Some of you have seen the film that recently hit Netflix and what that demonstrates and what that portrays.

When judgment comes upon America, it will be worse than Sodom and Gomorrah. In fact, Billy Graham has said that if God does not judge America, He owes Sodom and Gomorrah an apology. My friends, these things are to warn us about the judgment that is to come.

By the providence of God that we may not fall into judgment, but we would repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. Psalm 2, verse 12, it says, Turn from your sin, believe in Christ, and you will be saved from the judgment of God.

Jesus talked about it in the Sermon on the Mount. He talks about it even here with His disciples. For the preaching of the gospel is the rescue from the judgment of God coming against all the wickedness of sinful man.

Gentleness, Wisdom, and Persecution in Gospel Ministry

Verse 16, It's almost as if to say, understand the way that the wicked think, but don't act like.

The wicked.

Be gentle as doves in the way that we speak the gospel. The Apostle Paul said to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2, verse 25, God may perhaps grant repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may escape from the snare of the devil after being captured by him to do his will.

We don't win anyone to Christ by yelling at them or calling them names, although that's certainly going to be the way that they treat us. You're seeing that play out in the news right now. You're seeing these godless mobs that are swarming these public places, and they're berating people sitting at tables just trying to eat their food.

They've got the communist fist that they're holding up in the air, and they're demanding that these people pay homage, pay salute to them, or else they're going to continue to be made fun of and shouted down and harassed.

This is the way the world behaves. This is the way a godless people acts. But it's not the way that we as followers of Christ are supposed to act. You see, even the instruction that Jesus gives to the disciples here is for gentleness.

Though he talks about a wrath of God that'll come upon these people eventually in judgment, that's not the way that the disciples are to behave. They're to go to a people who will receive them. If they won't receive them, shake the dust off your feet.

Go to a people who will listen to you. And we must be that way also when it comes to speaking the gospel. If we're trying to share the gospel with one group, and they won't listen to us, don't continue there.

Continue on with somebody else who will listen to you. Jesus talked about in Matthew 7, verse 6, not casting your pearls before swine, or they're just going to trample them underfoot. So if you're continuing to throw the gospel in front of somebody that won't receive it, but instead blasphemes God, they are swine trampling pearls.

Take that beautiful pearl of the good news of the gospel of Christ and give it to somebody who will treasure it and cherish it, believe in it, and be saved. As Jesus says to his disciples elsewhere, the fields are plentiful for harvest, but the workers are few.

And we must go to those who are truly hungering for the word of God and will feed upon it and so be saved. Beware of men, Jesus says, verse 17, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues.

And you will be dragged before governors and kings, for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the spirit of your father speaking through you.

Brother will deliver brother over to death, and father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death. And you will be hated by all for my name's sake, but the one who endures to the end will be saved.

Very sadly, I am seeing men and women who claim to be Christian brothers and sisters berating, turning over, chastising, criticizing their own brothers and sisters in the Lord, who are supposed to be their brothers and sisters, who are attempting to stand in faithfulness to the word of Christ in these days.

Like, for example, by keeping their church open when the government says that your church should be closed. Too many who call themselves brethren are criticizing those who are attempting to be faithful.

Now, they're not turning brothers and sisters over to death. That is happening in the world. You just don't see that in the United States. But woe to the person who turns on the body in that way, who becomes an accuser of the brethren.

Jesus has some harsh words for them in Matthew chapter 24. Such a person who beats his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards will be cut up by the master of the house and will be thrown out with the hypocrites.

There is a great penalty for those who turn against the bride of Christ. You will be hated by all for my name's sake, Jesus says, but the one who endures to the end will be saved. It's not enough that for a moment you proclaim Christ.

You must love him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength to the very end. And it is Christ himself who will keep you to the end. As the apostle Paul says to the Philippians, Philippians 1 -6, I am confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it at the day of Christ.

Those who turn from the way instead of continuing in it demonstrate that they were never walking in the way in the first place. We're going to talk about that some more next week when we get to the parable of the sower in chapter 13.

Let's stay on task. Verse 23, when they persecute you in one town, flee to the next. For truly I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. A disciple is not above his teacher nor a servant above his master.

It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household? Jesus himself was persecuted, so how much more will you be persecuted, you who are followers of the master?

Verse 26, so have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light. And what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Boy, that's an important lesson for today. Do not be man-pleasers. Be God-pleasers.

Do not fear man. Fear God. Seek to obey God. Whatever it costs you, as we've talked about in previous weeks, you gain so much more in the reward that is promised you in heaven above where Christ is. Do not fear man.

Do not trust in the things that man promises you. Don't trust in the things that the world is offering you. It doesn't even compare to the glory that is promised us in Christ. Nothing that the world has to offer you is going to last, even their promise of compassion or friendship.

The world's compassion is ugly compared to the compassion of Christ. The promises of this world, the friendship of the world, doesn't even compare to the friendship of Christ. What a friend we have in Jesus.

All our sins and griefs to bear. What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer. The world can't offer you that. We find these promises, these assurances, these comforts only in Christ. Do not fear those who destroy the body.

And then after that can't do anything, fear him who destroys both body and soul in hell. Why did Jesus talk so much about hell? He talked about it in the Sermon on the Mount. He's talking about it here.

No one talked about hell more than Jesus in the entire Bible. Why did he talk so much about it? So that you wouldn't go there. So that you would know the judgment that awaits those who have rebelled against God, which is every man who does not turn from his sin and follow the Lord Jesus Christ and live.

And it's in knowing this that, my friends, that we should love others because we don't want to see any of them perish either. As the Lord God says in Ezekiel chapter 18, I do not take delight in the death of the wicked, but rather that a man would repent of his way and so live.

And so we must desire to be carriers of the good news of the gospel that saves men's souls so that they would believe in Jesus and be saved. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny and not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your father, but even the hairs of your head are all numbered, showing how much God cares for you.

Fear not, therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows. Where have we heard that before? Well, Jesus talked about that in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 6, 26. God cares for the birds. He cares so much more for you.

So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. Jesus says it this way in Luke 9, 26.

Whoever is ashamed of me and my word, of him will I be ashamed before my Father on that day when I return in the glory of my Father and of the holy angels. Whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father and a daughter against her mother and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

Whoever finds his life will lose it. And whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. I have come not to bring peace, but a sword. I've come to set family members against family members. And my friends understand, I know this as well as anybody.

I am estranged from my own brothers and sisters for this very reason. Now, this past week, I celebrated a birthday. I turned 40 years old, and I got some wonderful text messages from my siblings and, of course, from my parents.

They found out about me even moving to Texas and taking this job at First Baptist Church Lindale, and they offered their congratulations there as well. I know you're going to do great. It's going to be wonderful.

Congratulations, Gabe. And while I appreciate that, and I know that they mean well, it still broke my heart because I thought in my soul, if you only knew, if you only knew what I'm doing here, what I've been doing here for 10 years, and what I'm going to continue to do there as I'm called on to the ministry and continue the ministry there, I wish they knew the gospel that saves.

But because of the godliness that I am pursuing and the Christ-likeness that I desire and the gospel that I proclaim, my siblings don't want to have anything to do with that. And I am not as welcome in my family as I used to be because my siblings have fallen away from that.

They've walked away from it and don't know the truth. Jesus says, I am not come to bring peace to the earth, but a sword. That doesn't mean we're supposed to take up arms and go fight in a battle against flesh and blood.

For the apostle Paul says our war is not against flesh and blood. Ephesians 6, but it's against the spiritual forces in the spiritual places. The sword that we take up is the word of God. Know how to use this and handle it properly.

And with it, you can slay demons. Verse 40, whoever receives you receives me and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. If you know the son, you know the father. 1 John 2, 22, whoever does not know the son or the father is an antichrist and the spirit is not in him.

The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward. And the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person's reward.

And whoever gives one of these little ones, even a cup of cold water, because he is a disciple, truly I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward. The call that is upon each and every one of us to show love and compassion to the very body of Christ, to those fellow disciples that we are with.

Just like you would care for the members of your own household before you care for anybody else, so it is the same in the household of God. We are called and we have an obligation to show love and compassion to our brothers and sisters here first, before we're going out and showing charity to others in the world.

I think it's a good thing that we do charitable, kind acts, even within our own community. We should take the gospel with us as we go, but we have an obligation first to the children of God that are here, our own brothers and sisters that we grow with in sanctification as we are called to love each other and build each other up.

In Galatians chapter 6, the apostle Paul says, as each one has opportunity, let us show charity to everyone, especially to the household of faith. This is where we are obliged to show that love and compassion first, but then certainly love and compassion to those who are in this world that they may see Christ.

Remember what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, let your light shine before men so that they may give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Now we get to Matthew chapter 11, which is the halfway point in our sermon.

John the Baptist, the Kingdom of Heaven, and True Wisdom

When Jesus had finished instructing his 12 disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities. Now, when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, are you the one who is to come or shall we look for another?

And Jesus answered them, go and tell John what you hear and what you see. The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up and the poor have good news preached to them.

And blessed is the one who is not offended by me. As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John. What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see?

A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in king's houses. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, behold, I send my messenger before your face who will prepare your way before you.

Truly I say to you, among those born of women, there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.

For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John, and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. But to what shall I compare this generation?

It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates, we played the flute for you and you did not dance. We sang a dirge and you did not mourn. For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say he has a demon.

The son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, look at him, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds. We've talked about this before that Jesus keeping company with tax collectors and sinners does not mean it is okay for you to live in sin and excuse that as well.

Jesus was a friend of sinners and of tax collectors. He ate with the prostitutes, doesn't mean that Jesus went to brothels. Remember that Jesus said, I came not to call the healthy, but the sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.

Those who know that they are in sin, those who know that they need forgiveness and a savior who will rescue them. Those who think that they are righteous don't need a savior because, hey, I'm already righteous.

I'm going to get to the kingdom of God by my own righteousness. And boy, are they going to be surprised on that day when they hear Jesus say, as he said in Matthew chapter seven, depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.

I never knew you. The righteousness that we enter into the kingdom of God with is a righteousness that is not our own. It is the righteousness that has been given to us by Christ. We enter into the kingdom of God with a borrowed righteousness.

It has been imputed to us. Our sins have been placed upon him on the cross. He died as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. His righteousness has been given to us. As we read in 2 Corinthians 5 21, for our sake, he became sin who knew no sin, that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

That's our sins upon Christ, where he died for us, taking the wrath of God upon himself, drinking the cup of God's wrath as he died on the cross. And all who believe in him, we have imputed to us his righteousness so that when God looks at us, he doesn't see the wicked man or woman deserving of the wrath of God.

He sees the righteousness of his son. And we are loved by God by faith in him. We've gone from being treasonous criminals to fellow heirs of the kingdom. We've gone from being the objects of God's wrath to the objects of his love and his mercy.

My friends, turn from your sin. And I urge you, as we have been speaking about the judgment of God over the course of what we have considered and what we have read today, turn from your wickedness. Do not think that you can enter the kingdom of God celebrating yourself.

You enter the kingdom of God, proclaiming the righteousness of God in him. Believe in Jesus, and you will be saved. And confirm your calling and election, as Peter says in 2 Peter 1, by living the way that Jesus lived, 1 John 2, 4, and 5, that we would walk in the way that he has walked, that we obey his commandments.

For as it said to us also in 1 John, he who says, I know him, but does not keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. If you have been transformed by God, live in the righteousness that he has given to you by faith in his son.

Verse 20, Jesus began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done because they did not repent. Woe to you, Terazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyree and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyree and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.

But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you. At that time, Jesus declared, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children.

Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him. You have come to faith and believed in the Father. You have been filled with the Holy Spirit because you had faith in Jesus, because Jesus chose you to reveal Himself to.

Because the Father had chosen you, that you might see the Son, and that the Son would reveal to you the Father. You have come to this faith not by your choosing, but by God's choosing. Ephesians 2, 8, and 9, it is by grace you are saved through faith.

This is not your own doing, not a result of works. It is by the will of God so that no man may boast. And we also read right at the beginning of John, John 1, hang on as I turn there, in verse 18, no one has ever seen God.

The only God who is at the Father's side, He has made Him known. Earlier in verse 12, to all who did receive Him, who believe in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

You have been chosen by God for salvation. You have seen the glory of God in the face of the Son, Jesus Christ, because God has shown it to you. You have no excuse not to believe. You must believe. So turn from your sin and be saved.

And this burden, as Christ says, that He places upon you, it's not heavy, it is light, because it is the burden of His righteousness. Take my yoke upon you, He says. Now, a yoke was placed upon animals.

The yoke that joined two oxen together. So this is a working instrument. There is indeed work for us to do. As Ephesians 2 goes on to say in verse 10, for you are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared for you beforehand, that you should walk in them.

So there is a work that you must do, confirming, verifying to whom you belong, Jesus Christ, the righteous one. As you do this work in His name, you have taken His yoke upon you and done what He has called for you to do.

Jesus said to His disciples that I have called you that you may go and bear fruit. He said to them in John 14, 15, you will show me that you love me when you obey my commandments. And He gives this instruction to us at the end of the Gospel of Matthew, Matthew 28, what we refer to as the Great Commission.

Verses 19 and 20, go and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always to the very end of the age.

There is an instruction and a commandment that has been given to us by God, and we must obey it. If you are the sheep of God, you will obey the voice of the shepherd. Repent and believe are not suggestions, they are commands.

And those who are His sheep will obey them. Those who are not His sheep will not. Jesus talked about these things in John 10, where He also says there that the Father has given them to Me, I give them eternal life, and no one will ever snatch them out of My hand.

My Father who's given them to Me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. I and the Father are one. If you are those who have been called by God, predestined for this in Jesus Christ, through whom you have seen the Father, for the Son has chosen you to reveal Him to you, then you have this assurance of your salvation, and that no one will snatch you out of His hand.