Amen. We'll turn to 1 Peter, please, in the chapter 1. 1 Peter, in the chapter 1, and as you turn there, we welcome one and all in the Savior's name. Thank you for joining with us this evening at our Bible study. And so 1 Peter 1, and we'll read the first nine verses off the chapter here, and then come to the word of God. The word of God says, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace unto you, and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that feareth not away reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time, wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations, Let the trial of your faith be much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found on to praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen ye love, in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. Amen. And we'll end, as we said, our reading at the end of the verse number nine. Now, tonight we want to continue on in our series on the doctrines of grace. You'll recall from last time we met together with regard to this particular subject, you'll recall that at the Council of Dort, that council convened there in Holland in the early part of the 17th century, That council drew up five points in reply to the five articles of remonstrance put forward by those who followed the teachings of Jacobus Arminius. In our last study we came to understand from the word of God that man is totally depraved. And because of that depravity, he is incapable of doing any spiritual good. Such has been the impact of the fallen man that he is unable to seek after God and certainly cannot choose God in salvation. The spiritual deadness that has taken hold of man requires then that they be quickened from that deadness by God and given new life in Jesus Christ. The sinner cannot will their salvation. We notice that in our reading in the verse number three, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy have begotten us again onto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. It is on the basis of God's mercy and not on the basis of man's choice that men and women are saved by the grace of God. Now the Savior spoke of man's inability, this need then, this requirement for divine intervention, If he is ever to be brought to saving faith in Jesus Christ there in John chapter 6 verse 44 Let me quote the verse to you Jesus Christ is a speaker here, and he says these words no man can come to me Except the father which has sent me draw him and I will raise him up in the last day no man can come to me speaking of Christ except the Father which hath sent me draw him." No clearer statement could you get regarding man's inability than the one in John 6 verse 44, only when the Father draws can the sinner come to Christ? It requires the Father to draw the sinner in order for that sinner to come to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now this evening we take the second letter in this acrostic tulip for our study this evening, the letter U, that stands for unconditional election. Now those that put forward the teaching of Arminius in those five articles of Remonstrance taught that God's choice of certain individuals onto salvation before the foundation of the world was based upon him foreseeing that they would respond to his call in the gospel god looked ahead in time this is their teaching and on seeing them receiving this call of god in the gospel god therefore on seeing that elected them to eternal life he selected only those whom he knew would of themselves freely believe the gospel election therefore was determined by or conditioned upon what man would do. If man believed, man therefore would be elected. The faith which God foresaw and upon which he based that choice was not given to the sinner by God, it wasn't created by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit, but it resulted solely from man's will. Man willed it, man exercised his faith and therefore was brought to a place of salvation. And therefore, according to Arminius, it was left entirely to man as to who would believe and therefore as to who would be elected onto salvation. God chose those, according to Arminius, those whom he knew would of their own free will choose Christ. And thus, the sinner's choice of God and not God's choice of the sinner is the ultimate cause of salvation in Arminianism. Calvinism, however, teaches that God's choice of certain individuals onto salvation before the foundation of the world rests solely on His sovereign will. God's choice of particular sinners, not based on some foreseen response by that sinner or by some obedience by that sinner, such as their faith or their good works or their repentance. On the contrary, it is God who gives to the sinner faith and repentance, whom He has chosen to be His own. These acts are the results They are not the cause of God's choice. Election, therefore, is not determined or conditioned by any virtuous quality or foreseen act within a person's life. Those whom God sovereignly elected, He brings by the ministry of the Spirit of God to a willing acceptance of Jesus Christ. And thus, it is God's choice of the sinner and not the sinner's choice of Christ that is the ultimate cause of Salvation. This is how the delegates at the Synod of Dort answered the teaching of Arminius regarding election. They said, this election is the unchangeable purpose of God, whereby before the foundation of the world, he hath out of mere grace according to the sovereign good pleasure of His will, chose from the whole human race a certain number of persons to redemption in Christ, whom He from all eternity appointed the mediator and head of the elect and the foundation of salvation." Now, beloved, if we are convinced from the Word of God, and I trust that we are, that man indeed is dead, and held captive by sin, that you're convinced that man is spiritually blind and deaf entirely to spiritual realities, and that every constituent part of man has been corrupted and controlled and contaminated by sin, then the only remedy for man's plight must lie outside of man. It cannot come from inside of man. If man is entirely dead in their trespasses and sins, if he is deaf to the voice of God, if he is unable to get himself to God, therefore the remedy for sin must be found entirely outside of man. The reformed view of election, known as unconditional election, means that God has not seen any foreseen action or condition on the part of man that would encourage him or induce him ever to save an individual. He didn't look down into time and say, there was David Stewart. He's now a preacher, and because of that, I am going to choose him to become one of my children. That is not the view that is presented in unconditional election. election, the choice, the choosing of God rests entirely on God's sovereign decision. His choice to choose whomsoever He has pleased to save. And so this word unconditional, when we simply use that, we're simply stating that our election does not depend on anything outside of God, such as our works, or our unforeseen faith, or some merit within us. It is entirely unconditional with regard to ourselves. Now the word election simply means divine selection or choice. We know what elections are. We've got plenty of them in the country. What do we do whenever an election comes up? What we do is we opt for someone. We select them. We choose them from a field of candidates. We don't choose everyone, we're not allowed to do that. Depending on what election it is, there is a choice that is made, there is an opting that is made, and the choosing of one candidate leads to the bypassing of other candidates. That's simply the way it works. To choose one candidate in an election means that the other candidates must be passed by. They must be passed by. Now throughout the scriptures we find that God does select, He does choose, He does elect individuals, families, and even nations to fulfill His will and His purpose. It's very strange then that those who deny this doctrine feel to recognize that. Some believers have difficulty in believing that God could pass by some and choose others, and yet they have no problem, no difficulty in believing that God chose Abraham to become the father of the faithful, from among all of the heathen that lived in the Ur of the Chaldees, And he left others in that very country, in that very same location, he left them to their heathendom. You cannot deny it. God chose Abraham. to become the father of the faithful. And in choosing Abram, he bypassed all others in the Earl of the Chaldees. He set his election, his electing love upon Abraham, choosing him out of that place and bringing him eventually into the land of Canaan. And so those who deny the doctrine of election, they have no difficulty in believing that. Why should God choose a nation? You think of the nations that were in the world during the days of Holy Scripture, the record of Scripture that we have from Genesis to Revelation. Why did God choose Israel? Why did He not choose some other nation that was in the world, some other grouping of people? It was God's perfect and electing choice to do so. We do not need to speculate why God chose Israel. The answer is given to us there in Deuteronomy 7, and the verse number 7 and 8, if you want to turn there. Deuteronomy 7, and the verses 7 and 8. The Word of God says, And so here we have a choice is being made, because ye were more in number than any people, for ye were the fewest of all people, but because the Lord loved you. That's the simple reason. God didn't choose you because of your military strength, because of the numbers that you had within your nation. If he had have done that, we read here that he would have chosen another nation. But God's purpose, God's reasoning, why God chose Israel, these Jews, these Hebrew people, was simply because God loved them. God loved them, that was the only reason. It wasn't found in them. There was no merit in them. God simply loved them. You think of why the Lord would disregard the family laws of Israel when he chose Jacob over Esau. Jacob have I loved. Esau have I hated. Esau was the firstborn. And yet God, as it were, he disregards the family laws of Israel, and for his own purpose and his own wisdom, he chose to set his love upon the younger son, Jacob. God made a choice between the two twins, and he chose Jacob. We have the answer over there given in Romans chapter 9 verse 11 and 12. For the children being not yet born, this is speaking of Isaac and Jacob, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth. It is said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger, as it is written, Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated. And so that before they ever did any good, before they did any evil, God had a purpose, and that purpose was according to election. The electing purposes of God. And thus he chose Jacob. And here at Esau, you think of why, why did God pass by Eliab, and Abinadab, and Shammah, and the other sons of Jesse, and chose David, the youngest to be anointed king over Israel? It was simply because God purposed to do so. That was His choice. That was God's choice. You think of the 12 disciples that the Lord Jesus Christ called to be His disciples. Were there no other men in Israel? There were a multitude of men in Israel. Thousands, maybe millions of men in Israel at that particular time. And yet God, out of all of the ranks of meals that were available, God chose 12 men. And God said He chose 12. There in John chapter 6 in the verse 70, he says, Jesus answered them, have not I chosen you 12? And one of you is a devil. I have chosen you 12. I have selected you. I have elected you. Out of all of men in Israel, I chose you. And so whether we like it or not, the repeated record of Scripture is a story of unconditional election. God chooses some and bypasses others. Now, those who deny this doctrine of election must come up with an explanation as to why the Lord Jesus Christ spoke about an elect people. Jesus spoke about an elect people. Listen to these words if you want to turn so you can see it, Matthew 24. I'll point you to three verses here, Matthew chapter 24. Jesus Christ is the speaker. He says in the verse 22, Look there at the verse 24. For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. And then verse 31, And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Who are these elect? Well, for the Arminian, it's hard to answer who these elect are. These are God's people, God's chosen people, those whom God has chosen onto eternal life. We need also ask the Arminian who then are given to Christ by the Father. You see, the Father said, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. There are a people that have been given to Christ. These people have been given to Christ by the Father. They are the elect of God. These have been chosen. They have been chosen to be saved before the foundation of the world, before they ever came to be the sons. They have already been given to the Son by the Father who chose these people. These are His people, His own people. God the Son isn't the only one who speaks about this group of people who are known as the elect. The apostle Paul speaks of them. He refers to them over there in Romans 8 verse 33. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. He speaks again of them in Colossians 3 verse 12. Put on therefore as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, and longsuffering. Peter speaks about the elect. We read his own statement there in the verse number two, speaking about those strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. He speaks of them as being elect according to the foreknowledge of God. That takes us back into eternity past. God's foreknowledge and God electing them and God choosing them before they ever came into existence. God had a people given to the Son. And for those people the Son came to die for, His people. He shall save His people. There is a people who are His people. He shall save His people from their sin. It is therefore no doubt that Christ and Peter and Paul spoke about the elect, but we not only have passages that speak directly of election or of the elect, we have other portions of Scripture that use other terms. I think of the term chosen or the term ordained, the term predestined, the term appointed. And really these terms, they show that Christ's people are distinguished from the rest of humanity by divine choice. Let me give you a little taster menu if I could use that term or put it that way regarding some of the texts. Let me give you a text for each of them. Let's think about that word chosen. Ephesians 1 verse 3 and 4. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings. in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath chosen us in him." When did he do that? When did God choose us? Did he choose us whenever we repented of our sin? It says here that he chose us before the foundation of the world. Before the foundation of the world, a people chosen. It's a marvelous thought. Before man ever lived on this earth, Before man ever fell, God had a chosen people. A chosen people. What about this word, ordained? Acts 13, 48. And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. As many that were ordained to eternal life, they believed. They couldn't but believe. Because they had been ordained to it. They had been appointed to it. They had been chosen to it. And thank God those that heard the word, as many as were ordained to eternal life, not all believed. And thus it must mean that all are not ordained to eternal life. Only those who are ordained to eternal life will believe. What about this word, predestinate, Romans 8, verse 29 and 30? For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate, to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, notice the order, them he also called, and them he called, them he also justified, and them he justified, them he also glorified. Note the order, God predestinated, then God called, then God justified, and then eventually God glorifies. This is the divine order that is given. The word appointed, 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 9, for God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. God has appointed us onto salvation, not onto wrath. Thank God for that. God has not appointed us to that. God has not, as it were, determined that is to be the course of our life and the end of life, as it were, for us. In hell to experience everlasting wrath, God hasn't appointed us to that. Praise God for that. but he has appointed us unto salvation. And why did he do it? Not because he saw any good in us. We sung it tonight, that's why we sang McShane's hymn. Chosen not for good in me, wakened up from wrath to flee. You see, as I've already stated, the ground on which that choice is made has nothing to do with us. but rather God's election was grounded on the good pleasure of God. As God put it, he puts it so simply through the pen man of the Apostle Paul, and this is where we must as it were camp. This is where we must set up our camp with regard to this very doctrine. And listen to the words there in Romans 9 verse 15. God is the speaker here and he says, I will have mercy. on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion, on whom I will have compassion." And that's where we need to stay, and that's what we simply need to accept. We cannot question Almighty God with regard to whom He chooses and whom He passes by. God is mercy on whom He is mercy. He is compassion on whom He is on compassion. You see, the charge that is so often made against God by those who will deny this doctrine is, how could God choose some to eternal life and leave others to die in their sin? But my reply to them is this, why did God choose any? Why did God choose any of us to be His children and not leave us all to die in our sin? That's the question that needs to be asked. Louis Burkhoff, he wrote, theologian, he wrote this, it is sometimes said that the doctrine of predestination, out of which there comes this doctrine of election, exposes God to the charge of injustice. that he's not being fair. But this is hardly correct. Listen to what he says. We could speak of injustice only if man had a claim on God and that God owed man eternal salvation. But the situation is entirely different if all men have forfeited the blessing of God as they have. No one has the right to call God to account for electing some and rejecting others, he would have been perfectly just if he had not saved Enni. B.B. Warfield, another theologian, he remarked, the marvel of marvels is not that God in His infinite love has not elected all this guilty race to be saved, but that He has elected Enni. That's the marvel. that God has set his love upon any of us. That's the marvel. And we could nearly call, but we would not do it. We could call, as it were, looking at our own human perspective, we could call God into question, why did you ever set your love upon us whenever we knew ourselves? And yet he did. You see, the Apostle Paul, he, by the Spirit of God, he foresees this argumentation that would happen in the future by those who would deny the doctrine of unconditional election. And that's why he's prompted by the Spirit of God to write Romans chapter 9. It's a good chapter to read. I'm not going to read it for you. But within that chapter, we find that the clay has no right to question the actions of the potter, in the same way that the creature has no right to question the purpose of the Creator. Who are we to say to God who he should show or not show mercy to? God as a sovereign, and that's what He is. He's sovereign. He is Lord, has the absolute right to do as He pleases with the creatures of His own hand. And it is there that man with his finite wisdom and his oft times flawed understanding must leave it. We must come to the point whenever we consider the doctrine of election to say that He hath done all things well. He's done all things well. And so this doctrine, I believe, is presented in Scripture, God choosing some to eternal life. And as a result of that choice, passing others by to suffer, to suffer eternal damnation. But that's His prerogative. That's His prerogative. Now, as we think about this doctrine, What effect does it have on us as believers? Here you are tonight, chosen in Christ, ordained to eternal life, chosen out of the masses of humanity. What is it now? Nearly 1.9 million people in Northern Ireland. Do you know what it is in the world? Well, there's the seven or up to the eight billion people in this world, and yet, here you are tonight, look at us, such a small company of people, and yet God has set his electing love upon you. And in that love, he has drawn you savingly onto himself by that irresistible call of grace. What effect does that have on the child of God? Can I say in the first place, this doctrine, it humbles us. It humbles us. To be chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world is a most humbling truth. to know that God has ordained me to eternal life, not because he foresaw any good in me, but simply because he purposed to do so. Out of his own good pleasure abases me to the point that I cannot but thank him for his mercy. Despite my inability to choose him, because of my total depravity and my spiritual inability, God in mercy, despite me unable to choose him, God in mercy has chosen me." That is humbling. That is abasing. You think of it. Why did God save you and not your friend at school? Why did God save you and not your work colleague that you'll stand beside tomorrow? Why did God choose you? not the person who'll serve you at the grocery store tomorrow in the will of God. The simple reason is it was because of God's good pleasure, simply because of his good pleasure. That's humbling. I remember sitting on holidays there in Matlock, you heard me talk about it in the gospel service, we were in a little play park quite a lot of people around me. And as I sat there and I looked at all of those parents and looked at all of those children, I just thought to myself, why did God save me? Why did God save me? Why did he not save these people here around me? Why did God set his electing love on me and not on these people? You know, as I thought about that, it humbled me because that's what Election does the doctrine. It doesn't make us arrogant. I am one of the elect. It humbles us to think that God would ever love me. As the little children's hymn goes, oh, what a wonder that Jesus loves me. This doctrine of election, it does something else. It strips us. It strips us of any confidence that we have in the flesh. You know, we're prone to pride ourselves in our own righteousness. We're prone to boast of our own works, but we're tempted to think that we're saved because of this or that. But instead of that, the doctrine of unconditional election teaches us that it is faith alone that saves. It is faith alone that unites us to the Lamb, irrespective of our works. after we came to Jesus Christ. And so to understand that God has chosen us and that we have not chosen him removes any grounds of boasting in self. By grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. This doctrine of election does a third thing. It puts us in our place. You see, the doctrine of election causes us to submit to God's sovereignty in election. Unconditional election is the reminder that God is sovereign when it comes to salvation, and not man. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. You see, God chooses who to save, when to save, and how to save, because salvation belongeth to the Lord. He is the author and finisher of faith. It is not in man's power to save. That is God's business. He saves whom he wills, and we cannot question that. And so it puts us into our place. It puts us into our place. The doctrine of election does a fourth thing. It inspires us. You see, one misconception that is peddled by opponents of this doctrine is that unconditional election stifles evangelism. Well, if God has chosen some, those some will come to faith in Jesus Christ. Why evangelize? Why involve yourself in missions? Why go out into the open air? Why hand out gospel tracts? God's people will come to him. They are his people, and being his people, they will be drawn to him. Brethren and sisters, the reality is the opposite. It does not stifle evangelism. In actual fact, it empowers and inspires evangelism. Because whenever one correctly understands that God has not only elected a certain grouping of people to salvation, but He has ordained the means by which they will be brought to salvation, that is through the preaching of the gospel, It then empowers the spreading of the gospel, and it inspires evangelism. We go out knowing that God has a people. We go out knowing that God has chosen a people before the foundation of the world, and that people will be brought to Christ, but they will be brought to Christ through the preaching of the gospel. It was like Spurgeon said, he says, if I could lift up every person's shirt and if everyone had a line of yellow painted up the back of the individual to determine them or to show them that they were one of the elect, he says, that's what I would do. I would lift every man's shirt and see if he was one of the elect and preach the gospel to them. But God hasn't done that, Spurgeon said, and therefore I preach to every man. I evangelize every place, knowing that in that place, God is a people. What did God say to Paul? I have much people in this city. God had a people already and they weren't saved. They weren't in the family of God. They hadn't been born again yet. But God had a people. Who were they? They were his elect. They were those that were chosen, ordained to eternal life. But how did those people come to Christ? Through the ministry of the apostle Paul. And so this doctrine of election does not, does not hamper or hinder evangelism. A biblical understanding of election helps us to share the gospel freely with all people, knowing that any one of them could be Christ's sheep whom he is calling into his fold. You know, Paul wrote to Timothy, and this is what he said in 2 Timothy 2 verse 10, Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sake. that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Jesus Christ with eternal glory. Paul endured all that he did as an evangelist and as a missionary for the elect's sake. This was what inspired him, God as a people. And by my preaching and through my preaching of God was so ordained to use that by the Spirit of God and apply truth to the soul, the elect of God will be brought. They will obtain salvation, which is in Jesus Christ with eternal glory. It is not for us to determine who the elect and who the non-elect are. The gospel is to be preached to all, because that's what Christ told us to do. People say, well, why preach? Why evangelize? Because we're commanded to do so. Though he spoke of an elect people, he told the church to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, knowing that in that company were his sheep, were his people, those whom he died for on Calvary's cross. The doctrine of election embodens us. You know, there is no person as bold or as confident, and I say that not in an arrogant way, but as a person who knows that they are the elect of God. What worry do we have if we are God's chosen? We're His chosen. We need to remember that whenever the world is against us. I'm one of God's elect. I'm chosen in God. I'm chosen off God, and therefore I must be precious to Him. And though the world will throw me out, I'm not afraid because He has took me in. If God has elected me and if God has chosen me, will He ever reverse that choice? Never. Once chosen in Christ, we cannot be unchosen. Once elect, we cannot become unelected. And then this doctrine quickly, it sanctifies us in the sense that it encourages the work of sanctification in us to know that we are chosen of God should they incur any leanings that we have to commit sin. How can we sin against the one who has chosen us? How can we sin against the one who has chosen us from among the teeming masses of humanity? Matthew Henry wrote, none can know their election but by their conformity to Christ, for all who are chosen are chosen to sanctification. You know, we didn't choose to be born in the physical sense. Other people chose for that to happen. Our parents, our mothers and fathers, they chose that. And in the same way, we do not choose to be born in the spiritual sense. That is a choice that is outside of us. John, speaking of those who believe in Christ's name and thereby become the sons of God, he goes on to say in John 1 verse 12, which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. They were born of God. God willed it. God purposed it. We simply must come to accept the word of Christ on this matter of election. When he said there in John 15, verse 16, ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you that ye should go and bring forth fruit and that your fruit should be remained. One theologian, he said, this salvation is not an afterthought of God. The redemption of his people, the salvation of his church, my eternal salvation, these actions are not a postscript to the divine activity. Instead, from the very foundation of the world, God had a sovereign plan to save a significant portion of the human race, and he moves heaven and earth to bring it to pass. The simple fact is that if God had not chosen me, I would never have chosen Him. Why He chose me, that I do not know, but He did. And we will have all eternity to praise Him for it, you and I, to know that He has chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world. May God bless these thoughts to our hearts for Christ's sake. Let's bow in prayer. We've been quite long this evening. Apologize for that. Our loving Father, how humbled we are this evening as we consider how God has chosen us and how God has set his love upon us. We look at ourselves and we could see many individuals that we know of in our own spheres of influence, our own friends, family circle, work colleagues, and we could certainly see them to be, in our estimation, better candidates for salvation. And yet, thou didst love us and choose us, and thou didst die for us. We just thank thee for it, and we pray that what we have considered to