Predestination and Election ~Voddie Baucham~

as we look at Genesis chapter 25 and as we begin here in verse 19 and look at what is a very familiar passage of Scripture and also a difficult one for us to comprehend to sort of wrap our minds around so if you'll join me there in Genesis chapter 25 there's an overlap here in this series we are looking at the life of Isaac and the life of Jacob there's an overlap in this moment between Isaac's life and Jacob's life because we are introduced to Jacob and it's very important just like it's important for us to understand Abraham in order to understand Isaac it's important for us to understand Isaac in order to understand Jacob and vice-versa because much of who Jacob is is really caught up in the identity of his father and the identity of his grandfather also we don't have much information about Isaac unfortunately we know very few things about Isaac and most of them are not very positive your thought about that you look at the information that we have about Abraham tons of information about Abraham the whole lot of Genesis is devoted to the life of Abraham when it comes to the life of Isaac there's just a small sliver as though he's a kind of speed bump to get us from Abraham to Jacob if you will and most of what we see in Isaac's life is an unfortunate repetition of many of the failures of the life of Abraham in fact one of the only positive moments in the life of Isaac is a moment that we'll examine here in Genesis chapter 25 other than this moment here most of the moments in Isaac's life are not very positive look here beginning at verse 19 these are the generations of Isaac Abraham's son Abraham fathered Isaac and Isaac was 40 years old when he took Rebekah to be his wife the daughter of Bethuel the ark the aramean from paddan-aram the sister of Laban the aramean by the way that name Laban is going to occur again we're going to see Laban not only involved in this process of Isaac finding a wife but we're also going to see Laban involved in the process of Jacob finding a wife and Laban is an absolute scoundrel in the process so there's a little foreshadowing here of what is yet to come for Isaac's son and Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife because she was barren here's what's interesting we already see a parallel and a distinction between the life of Abraham in the life of Isaac both of them are dealing with Baroness in their wives in light of a promise from God God has made a promise to Abraham he's going to make Abraham a great nation the father of many nations and yet he has no son his wife is barren now we see Isaac who has the same promise he is the fruit of the promise and the next step in the promise so he's got to have some kids right well not for the first 20 years of his marriage there's nothing exactly a minute our father dealt with this and God you miraculously intervened and so here I am and now you mean to tell me at the next step in the juncture I can't have kids either but there's also a distinction in the midst of the parallel those are the distinction the distinction is Abraham you're going to have a son for what for real in his wife Sarah she laughs that's funny to her they don't trust God in fact eventually they go off and there's Hagar and you know and Ishmael and there's not trust in God right here immediately there's a distinction between Abraham and Isaac Isaac they're not able to conceive what is his response to get on his face before God not to try another route but to get on his face before Almighty God and begged that God would bring forth a child through his wife not to find another woman like his father did but to trust that God would provide the way God said he would provide that's interesting the Bible doesn't tell us this but it's hard not to believe that Isaac's experience with Ishmael the older brother who despised him may have had a little bit to do with this amen he saw that friction between Hagar and his mother he did not want to do that to his wife he saw the friction between Ishmael and him the seed of promise who came not from Hagar but from Sarah he did not repeat this no no no no I'm going to God we're not going to mess this up like that God's got to fix this it's got to happen here's the other thing that you need to recognize well let's read here a little further and the Lord granted his prayer and Rebecca his wife conceived that's just good the Lord granted his prayer and Rebecca his wife conceived a lot of people will read that and will say well a man so I thought God it already said that there was going to be you know there's multiple nations and so there had to be an heir so God's really just doing what God was going to do what the text says that God answered his prayer so was God not going to do what God promised to do unless he prayed or was he you know what not your department God answered his prayer God answered his prayer by the way when we pray in accordance with God's will God answers our prayer amen God answers our prayer do I know all the inner workings of how God answers my prayers when they're accordance with his will nope don't know that not my department my department pray that's my department that's Isaac's department the children verse 23 struggled together within her and she said if it is thus why is this happening to me so she went to inquire of the Lord and the Lord said to her now stop there 20 years she couldn't get pregnant 20 years in time Isaac's 42 time Isaac 60 20 years now she gets pregnant and it's rough God thank you for answering prayers and all but this is not good I mean I know I want a child I really do but there's something going on in here that's just not right I'd almost rather not you you you got explain this to me please Lord I don't know if there's any of you in the river had pregnancy like that before a man sick all the time baby just acting like a you know a Olympic gymnast was not good and it wasn't just normal not good this was so bad that she went and inquired of the Lord something is wrong here God something is not normal here something is beyond unusual here please explain to me why I'm having this kind of experience in this pregnancy Lord said to her two nations are in your womb two peoples from within you shall be divided by the way I want to pause here we - this on last week well we need to pause here and address this issue again because some would like to make God the author of sin by saying well God said to Abraham he was going to be the father of many nations and so you have Ishmael who's a separate nation so actually what Abraham did was really what needed to be done anyway because otherwise how are you going to get multiple nations here's the answer one wife one pregnancy two nations no adultery necessary amen there is no excuse for what Abraham did it was sin plain and simple the end doesn't justify the means you don't go and help God out by sinning in order to bring about the promises that God has made and it doesn't matter how it turns out in the end sin is sin and we see here that God is more than capable of bringing about multiple nations without the help of adultery two nations are in your womb and two people from within you shall be divided the one shall be stronger than the other and then here's a twist the older contrary to tradition shall serve the younger the oldest son is supposed to be the primary air and in line for a double portion blessing he is supposed to be the primary means through which the family name is carried on God says I got some news for you number one there's two nations in your womb not one that's highly unusual Jacob there's going to be twelve sons from two wives and two concubines and they're still all going to be one nation Israel here we've got twins same mother and God says two nations not only the unusual twist of two nations but let me throw this monkey wrench in there it's not going to be the normal order the younger son contrary to tradition the younger son will be the stronger the older son will be the servant of the younger son in other words the promise is not contingent upon birth order or man's tradition the promise is contingent upon predestination and election verse 24 when our days to give birth were completed behold there were twins in her womb the first came out red all his body like a hairy cloak so they called his name Esau now his descendants are called Edom which refers to redness this thing Esau refers to the hairiness so you got this baby who comes out and he's red and hairy afterward his brother came out with his hand holding Esau's healed his hand was clutching to his older brothers a cave it's the word in the Hebrew a cave his hand came out clutching to his brother's a cave to his brothers heel so his name was called Yaakov which is a derivation of a cave which means he'll grabber or deceiver or conniver swindler Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them when the boys grew up Esau was a skillful hunter a man of the field while Jacob was a quiet man dwelling in tents Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game but Rebekah loved Jacob read between the lines this family has problems amen not only is there contention between the brothers but between mom and dad as well well and here's what we know we know that this contention between the brothers is going to grow we know that this contention between the brothers will define the two of them will define their relationship and it will also at times define the relationship between the two nations that they become we're here about Edom again throughout the Bible we also know that this conflict is going to come to a head between the mother and the father and there's going to be conflict as to whether or not they obey what God has spoken clearly about these two sons all of this foreshadowed right here in these few verses about the birth of Jacob and Esau here's what else is foreshadowed one commentator has written there's not much about Isaac's life that we know and perhaps that's because beyond the fact that he was a man of faith and prayer when it came to his wife conceiving ultimately his life degenerated into a thirst and hunger for wild game and being a horrible parent whose favoritism and inequity caused ripples for generations to come and yet predestination and election tagged him and not the son of Hagar not the sons of keturah and yet when it comes to Jacob when he starts out of course his name has been redeemed but when he starts out even his name even his name is a reference to the kind of character that we're going to see in the life of this young man who grows up into an older man who was a schemer and a conniver so much so that when he gets schemed and connived by Laban the response when you know his character is good for you it's what you get and yet and yet this was God's plan well we'll have much to say about this issue of Isaac and Jacob and Esau and a relationship between Jacob and Esau however before we go beyond this paragraph here there's a doctrinal issue that we must deal with you guys know I don't bring out the the computer and the slides all that often but there's some work that we need to do here in order to lay some theological groundwork otherwise there will be confusion and questions and misunderstanding and a bunch of other things as it relates to this issue of predestination and election because this is the seminal portrait the seminal portrayal of the doctrine of predestination in the scriptures and I'm not suggesting that the New Testament suggest that Romans chapter 9 is an exposition of this passage of Scripture Romans chapter 9 the seminal section in the New Testament on the doctrine of predestination and election is an exposition a doctrinal theological exposition of the Jacob and Esau birth narrative so before we go beyond and continue to look at the life of Isaac and go beyond and continue to look even more closely at the life of Jacob rounding out our understanding of the patriarchs there is an issue that has been bubbling beneath the surface all along that now comes to fruition it was a little bit easier to see as it related to Isaac and Ishmael I mean of course you know God made a promise to Abraham and Sarah Hagar is not part of that promise Hagar is outside we got the of course but again the doctrine of predestination and election is under the surface even there now it is full-blown and it is in our faces and it must be dealt with so what we'll do is we'll we'll explain the doctrine we'll see the source of the doctrine will defend the doctrine and we'll apply the doctrine of predestination this is a discussion that most churches would rather not have amen I mean it really is it's a discussion that most Christians would rather not have in fact what we much rather do is something like this well you know we really can't understand predestination and election so it's really of no benefit to sort of delve into those things at all folks if you don't delve into predestination and election you don't delve into the gospel you must delve into this issue and we will do just that the explanation of the doctrine that's where we'll start let me explain this doctrine of predestination and election and we'll explain it from our confession of faith the London Baptist confession we've read this issue of the doctrine of predestination election but I want to go through this and take a few moments to explain this for you okay and let me say this already as we start because here's the business that some people will take well you know of course you know you go to the confession of faith that's man's words that's not the Scriptures absolutely we're going to get to the scriptural explanation but we need to have these synthesized for us and that's the only reason that we have a confession of faith in the first place this is the position to which we hold as a church okay number one this is chapter three in the London Baptist confession God hath decreed in himself from all eternity by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will freely and unchangeably all things whatsoever come to pass all things whatsoever come to pass yet so as thereby is God neither the author of sin nor hath fellowship with any therein nor is violence offered to the will of the creature nor yet is the Liberty or contingency of second causes taken away but rather established in which appears his wisdom in disposing all things and power and faithfulness in accomplishing his decrees in other words there is no contradiction whatsoever between God's sovereignty and man's responsibility man is responsible man is accountable make no mistake about that this is one of the greatest problems that people have when it comes to the doctrine of predestination and that is we believe that somehow it removes accountability and it removes you know some some some issue of man being responsible for the sin that he commits nothing could be further from the truth that is not the doctrine of predestination we'll make this clearer as we go along but for now we're just stating the doctrine number two although God knows what so ever may or can come to pass upon all supposed conditions yet has he not decreed anything because he foresaw it as future or as that which would come to pass upon such conditions in other words God did not choose Jacob over Esau because he looked down the quarter of time and saw that Esau would be the one to respond favorably that's the prescient view of election yea yea God chose people to be saved but only because he foresaw that they would choose him that's not sovereignty that's God being a time traveler that's God having a special trick that he can do that's God having no power whatsoever no control whatsoever he is absolutely helpless and just happened to saw something and then made a decision in order to lie to us and make us think that he was sovereign that's not predestination there is no predestination when you see something and then make a decision based upon knowing the outcome that's like believing that a newscaster has some special powers because the newscaster is showing you a video clip that they saw before you saw so they know exactly what's happening and they say now watch this and in a second you're going to see this on the right side of your screen Wow they're sovereign no they just saw it before you did and by the way that's the prescient view of election God's not sovereign he just saw it before you did and then after he saw it he came back and he said here is what I have declared is going to happen because I'm God no you just saw the video clip before everybody else you have no power you have no authority that is not the doctrine of predestination three by the decree of God for the manifestation of his glory some men and angels are predestinated or foreordained to eternal life through Jesus Christ to the praise of his glorious grace others being left to act in their sin that phrase is important well God just chose some people to go to hell being left to act in their sin - they're just condemnation to the praise of his glorious justice every human being who has lived or will live deserves to die and go to hell all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God predestination is not about God saying well I'm gonna make you good and I'm gonna make you bad so that I can make you go to heaven and you go to hell no here it is all of us fell in Adam and from Adam on every man is born in sin and shaped and iniquity and deserves death hell and the grave here's the glorious grace of God and predestination God says I'm not I'm not I'm not gonna allow them all to go I'm gonna save some why just to show off my grace that's why that's why what about the others they will get what their sin deserves and what they desire it's not God's injustice that sends men to hell it's man's sin that sends him to hell and the fact that God in His grace and mercy has elected to save some shows His grace and mercy not his guilt for punishing sin God makes no man sinned every man sins because he wants to sin he's bent towards sin oh well what about we'll get to those question number four these angels and men thus predestinated and foreordained are particularly and unchangeably designated and their numbers so certain and definite that it cannot be either increased or diminished how many people are going to heaven the exact number that God chose before the foundation of the world not one more not one less number five those of mankind that are predestinated to life God before the foundation of the world was laid according to his eternal and immutable purpose and the secret counsel and good pleasure of his will his purpose his will this is why had chosen in Christ under everlasting glory out of his mere free grace and love that's the other problem with the prescient view there's no grace in the first thing of view there's no love in the prescient view I love you and I saved you no you didn't you just saw that I was going to be smarter than other people or more pious than other people and choose you and because you saw that I was going to choose you then you decided to love me then you decided to save me that's not your Loree that's my glory hath chosen in Christ unto everlasting glory out of his mere free grace and love without any other thing in the creature as a condition or caused moving him there unto nothing in the creature made God choose him why there is none who does good there is none righteous there is none who seeks after God by the way that destroys this whole concept of the prescient view of election there's none who seek after God really well then if there's none who seek after God how did God look down the corner of history and see some who would seek him and then predestinate them based on the fact that he knew that they would seek him if none seek God answer he couldn't he couldn't we're dead in our trespasses and sins dead men seek nothing not almost dead not close to dead not kind of dead dead dead in trespasses dead and sin and it is the power of God that makes us alive together with Christ to the praise of his glory and not our own 6 as God has appointed the elect under glory so he has by the eternal and most three purpose of his will for ordained all the means there unto don't miss this one because this answers the question that people ask he was a well if that's the case of God has already elected people why should we preach the gospel first of all because he told us to is good enough answer for me amen but listen to this wherefore they who are elected being fallen in Adam are redeemed by Christ are effectually called unto faith in Christ by his Spirit working in due season where does that come from the preaching of the gospel God has decreed that it's the gospel that he will use to call forth his elect are justified adopted sanctified and kept by his power through faith unto salvation neither are any other redeemed by Christ or affectionately called justified adopted sanctified or saved but the elect only this doctrine far from teaching that we shouldn't share the gospel gives us the only reason to ever expect any success in doing so amen it is the means that God has decreed it's the process that God uses to call his elect unto himself so yes repentance and faith we call for it what would you call people to repentance and faith if it's only God that would allow them because that's the way they're saved repent believe cry out to God yeah well if he hasn't chosen me that I can't that's not your business repent believe stop trying to do other people's business in their department and just worry about yours well I want to cry out and ask God to save me but what if he hasn't chosen me really really first of all how will you ever know that unless you repent and believe secondly why would an non-elect person even care that's evidence of your election not reason to question it and they're people who weep and wail I just I want so desperately to be I love Jesus and I want him to save me and I my case seems like God has brought regeneration into your soul yeah but not just what if he just doesn't I mean what if he what if he what if he what if he what he's calling you to himself he's giving you a yearning for him so wait a minute wait you eat this is what you believe about God you believe God goes around going watch this I'm gonna make this one want me and I'm not going to save him that's what you say when you act like that that's what you're accusing God of when you act like that you're asking a question that you're not capable of answering and then you got no business asking in the first place and you're accusing God of being like a kid who uses a magnifying glass to burn ants what's this stop already repent believe cry out to God 7 this doctrine or the doctrine of this high mystery of predestination is to be handled with special prudence and care that men attending the will of God revealed in his word and yielding obedience there unto may from the certainty of their effectual vocation be assured of their eternal election there it is assure to their eternal election so shall this doctrine afford matter of praise reverence and admiration of God and of humility diligence and abundant consolation to all that sincerely obey the gospel an arrogant Calvinist ought to be a contradiction in terms the attitude is not will on one of the elect no the attitude is I'm one of the elect God be praised there is nothing in me there is nothing about me I got should have been interested in saving but to the praise of his glory according to the counsel of his own will not because of anything that he saw in me but in spite of everything that he saw in me God called me out of darkness into his marvelous light I'm humbled I'm overwhelmed that ought to be the response to the doctrine of predestination now the source of the doctrine we've seen the source of the doctrine here in the texts that we've already examined but let's look here at some other passages of scripture first in Romans chapter 9 Romans chapter 9 you you want to see intellectual gymnastics watch and Armenian teach through Romans chapter 9 there's so much that has to be explained away in Romans chapter 9 if you don't believe in the doctrine of predestination and election and will just see it we'll just let's just look here okay but it is not as though the Word of God has failed for not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring but through Isaac shall your offspring be named okay he's going right back to Genesis this means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God but the children of the promise are counted as offspring for this is what the promise said about this time next year I will return and you shall have a son or Sarah shall have a son and not only so but also when Rebecca had conceived children by one man our forefather Isaac though they were not yet born and look at this it explodes the prescient view and had done nothing either good or bad in order why did this happen before anything was done in order to show that God was really good at seeing the future no that's not what the Bible teaches in order that God's purpose of election might continue not because of words but because of him who calls where do you get the pressing of view from in that well no he just saw who would choose him you've got to rip this out of the Bible in order to believe that the New Testament goes out of its way to destroy that myth it had absolutely nothing to do with who Jacob was or who Esau was they were both dirty rotten scoundrels she was told the older will serve the younger as it is written Jacob I loved but he saw I hated what had they done nothing completely a matter of election and predestination in fact Jacob doesn't get his act together until God meets him and breaks his hip God takes him by force so much for all those folks who you know the Holy Spirit is a gentleman he would never force himself on anyone help you broke Isaac's hip that's forcing yourself on someone amen Holy Spirit said gentlemen he would never force himself on anyone really how about that John the Baptist fella in the womb yeah he was begging for the spirit in there how about Mary overshadowed by the Most High the Holy Spirit is the second third person of the Trinity I was finished third person than Trinity he's God he's not running for God he's God he needs permission for nothing he's God again in Romans nine I love the way Paul handles this in Romans nine because he answers the questions that people always ask about predestination in other words our culture is not the first in which people ask these very same questions and he answers them what shall we say then is there injustice on God's part it met the question people ask election and predestination somehow God he's unjust by no means for he says the Moses I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion so then it depends not on human will or exertion but on God who has mercy again does not depend on human will for the scripture says to Pharaoh for this very purpose I have raised you up that I might show my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth so then he has mercy on whomever he wills and he hardens whom ever he wills he's God folks how about this one you will say to me then why does God find fault aren't men just sinning because God made him sinful didn't he just decree all that who can resist his will how is God going to find fault nobody can resist his will but who are you oh man to answer back to God well what is moulded say to it smolder why have you made me like this has the Potter no right over the clay to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use what if God desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power has endured with much patience vessels of Wrath prepared for destruction in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of Mercy which he has prepared beforehand for glory even us whom he has called not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles as indeed he says in Hosea those who were not my people I will call my people and her who was not believed who has who was not believed I will call up not beloved excuse me I will call beloved and in the very place where it was said to them you are not my people there they will be called sons of the Living God and again he continues Isaiah cries out concerning Israel though the number of the sons of Israel be is the sand of the sea only a remnant of them will be saved for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay and as Isaiah predicted if the Lord of Hosts had not left us offspring we would have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah if it wasn't for what God did in his plan of election and predestination all of us would have been like Sodom all of us would have been like Gomorrah there is not one person who deserves the mercy of God and the only way anyone gets saved is by the grace and mercy of God in Ephesians chapter one verses 11 through 14 another amazing section of Scripture as it relates to the doctrine of election look here blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him in love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ according to his ability to see who would choose him no according to the purpose of his will to the praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us in the beloved in him we have obtained an inheritance having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will that's the God we serve the God who works all things according to the counsel of his will so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory in him you also when you heard the word of truth the gospel of your salvation and believed in him there those means again why preach the gospel because that's what God uses were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory that's very important if we don't believe in a God who is powerful enough to predestined people then we probably won't believe in a God who's powerful enough to keep those whom he saves here's some other verses psalm 115 3 our God is in the heavens he does all that he pleases that's that that goes over those who jet you know God somehow out there he's just hoping he's just pining he just really you know oh you didn't really need you he desperately lifted just please I hope you will please would you please just believe in me please please please no that is not my God my God is in the heavens he does whatever pleases him John 5:21 for as the father raises the dead and gives them life so also the son gives life to whom he will john 665 and he said this is why i told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the father jesus said no one can come to him not no one will no one can no one is able to come to jesus apart from the father working in them bringing them predestination and election are absolutely necessary or there is no salvation so again this completely refutes the prescient view God just looked down the corridor of history and he saw the ones who would be good enough he saw the ones who would be smart enough he saw the ones you know who would hear preachers that were persuasive enough and he made his choice based on that no not at all again in John 6:35 240 jesus said to him I'm the bread of life whoever comes to me shall not hunger and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst but I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe all that the father gives me will come to me a lot of people think for example that john 3:16 is a problem for those who believe in the doctrines of grace know it it says a whosoever will absolutely right whoever believes but who's going to believe the elect jesus says it here listen to him again he's on the bread of life whoever comes to me shall not hunger amen I believe in the doctrines of grace and I believe that wholeheartedly whoever comes to Jesus without hunger whoever believes in Me shall never thirst I believe in that whoever comes to Christ whoever believes in Christ whoever repents of their sins will be saved you get no argument from me whatsoever however I also know that all men are born in sin shaped in iniquity and that they're dead in their sins and unless a supernatural act of God occurs first they cannot believe they cannot have faith they cannot repent of their sin they're incapable so do I believe the whosoever's yes but it's predicated upon predestination an election otherwise there are some people who are smarter than others more right than others more godly than others and are somehow able to figure this thing out unlike other people and they're to be praised for their salvation not God all that the father gives me will come to me whoever comes to me I will never cast out for I've come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me and this is the will of him who sent me that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me by the way you want an eternal security passage there it is right there but raise it up on the last day for this is the will of my father that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day there's whoever's all over that passage of Scripture and there's election and predestination all over that passage of Scripture there is no contradiction between the two whoever believes will be saved but you cannot believe you cannot believe in and of yourself apart from the grace of God making you alive under Christ John 15 you did not choose me but I chose you amen hallelujah praise the Lord we can just stop right there okay and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide so that whoever so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give it to you by the way this flies in the face of those who say oh no when you believe in the doctrines of grace you know that whole once saved always saved if you can live any way they want to know part of election and predestination is that you will bear fruit in keeping with your salvation if you're not bearing fruit that's evidence that you're not elect or at least you're not saved but to all who did receive him who believed in his name he gave the right to become children of God who were born not of blood Isaac not Ishmael Jacob not Esau not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man being born again is not a work of man being born again is not a work of the flesh and being born again by the way precedes our faith it's not a byproduct of our faith here's what modern American evangelicalism has said you need to walk this aisle and pray this prayer and if you walk this aisle and pray this prayer then you won't be born again in other words you will born yourself again it's not what the Bible teaches the Bible teaches you have to be born again in order to come to faith and repentance and being born again is not something you do it is a supernatural act of God your hands are not on it that's why in John 3 Jesus compares it to the wind that blows wherever it will John 17 1 and 2 when Jesus had spoken these words he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said father the hour has come glorify your son so that the son may glorify you since you have given him authority over all flesh to give eternal life to all whom you have given him to whom does Jesus give eternal life all that the father has given him here's the other Beauty salvation is not just about the love that the father has for the elect but the elect are in fact a love gift from the father to the son 2nd Timothy 1:8 and 9 therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord nor of me his prisoner but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God who saved us and called us to a holy calling not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the age began and here again in John 17 I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world yours they were and you gave them to me and they have kept your word now they know that everything that you have given me is from you for I have given them the words that you gave me and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you in other words they're those means again you give them the word because God uses that to save and call his elect they have believed that you sent me I am praying for them I am NOT praying for the world I am praying for them I am NOT praying for the world Jesus is praying to his father thanking his father for the ones that had been given to him Jesus is not saying old father I just hope I just hope that there's more I just hope that there's more know he knows we came for not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me for they are yours all mine are yours and yours are mine and I'm glorified in them and I'm no longer in the world but they are in the world and I'm coming to you Holy Father keep them in your name which you have given me that they may be one even as we are one finally Romans eight was so familiar with this we know that for those who love God all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose for those whom he for new notice that the text does not say for those who he foreknew would choose him those whom he foreknew not those whose actions he foreknew not those whose faith he foreknew but those individuals whom he foreknew or whom he for loved those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son in order that he might be the was born among many brothers and those whom he predestined he also called those whom he called he also justified those whom he justified he also glorified cannot separate salvation from predestination in an election defense of the doctor share this with you this is from Laureen Buettner in his book the reformed doctrine of predestination listen to this now if future events are for known to God they cannot by any possibility take a turn contrary to his knowledge follow this a line at a time if future events are for known to God then they can't take a turn contrary to what God knows if things take a turn contrary to what God knows then God didn't know okay if the course of future events is for known history will follow that course as definitely as a locomotive follows the rails from New York to Chicago the Armenian doctrine in rejecting for ordination rejects the theistic basic for foreknowledge common sense tells us that no one can that that no event can be for known unless by some means either physical or mental it has been predetermined you can't for know it unless it's been predetermined if it's unfolding and there are multiple possibilities you can't for know the outcome you can only for know the outcome if the outcome has been predetermined okay that's the only way if the outcome hasn't been predetermined you do not have foreknowledge our choice as to what determines the certainty of future events narrows down to two alternatives Buettner says there's only two possibilities the forward nation of the wise and merciful Heavenly Father or the working of blind physical that's it here's my problem with the pressing of view God doesn't determine the future he can merely see into it and as he sees into it things work themselves out according to what fate blind physical faint it's either fate or the Ford nation how about loving Heavenly Father in which do we believe if it's the former and God just looks and watches things sort of work themselves out and then makes his decisions based upon what he sees how on earth do we argue against the evolutionists because that's a form of moral and ethical evolution is it not just sort of works itself out and God makes a decision based upon the outcome so that he ends up on the winning team I didn't work folks that didn't work there is predestination in forward nation what about the application of the doctrine what do we do with this number one turn your adoration toward God as you celebrate his grace and not your ability that's the first application of his doctrine the beauty of the doctrines of grace is that it gives us cause to praise God and not man if we believe that our salvation is merely a byproduct of God having seen something in us that pleased him then we have a reason to boast God saw something in me God saw that I was going to choose him and he said good job voting you soften your heart more than other people you were smarter than other people you figured out the gospel and because you did I'm going to apply the blood of Jesus to your life and you will come to heaven and you and I will share glory together Jesus paid a lot some to him I owe sin had left a crimson stain we washed it white as snow no jesus paid it all all to him I owe sin had left a crimson stain he washed it white as snow the only thing I brought to the party was the sin that it would be forgiven secondly share the gospel with confidence knowing that God has guaranteed the salvation of his elect and success does not depend on us amen this is freedom folks people are going to be saved we know it why because of the predetermined pre destination work of God the foreknowledge of God the forward nation of God the election of God God's got a people out there and when we preach the gospel the gospel is what God uses to call his elect to himself so we go when we preach and we preach with confidence knowing that the Spirit of God will do his work now here's what's interesting some will argue that believing in the doctrine of predestination will kill evangelism because why should we evangelize because we already know what's going to happen because God has already made this determination so why should you go evangelize let me ask you this if you take the prescient view people are chosen or elected based on what that God already saw in the future that they were going to choose it which means you end up at the same place just for a different reason so we could ask the same question why preach the gospel if you hold to the prescient view if God has already seen something in that person do you see what I'm saying what's the difference there the only difference there is where the glory belongs and what the Scriptures teach because in the prescient view we believe that men are saved and they're for known and predestined and called and justified and sanctified and glorified because of what God looked down the corridors of time and already saw how is that not an issue for our motivation for preaching the gospel any idea that God from the foundation of the earth has elected and predestined the people for himself to the praise of his glory huh as far as motivation for the gospel you see the point don't fall for the why we should share the gospel live another way we need to apply this doctor avoid introspective navel-gazing as a means of discovering whether or not you are elect just repent and believe the gospel all this pining over whether or not God has chosen you what is that let that go God has not called you to determine whether or not before the foundation of the earth he has decreed your salvation you don't get to see that deal with what you know what do you know you know that whoever believes shall be saved you know that whoever comes to repentance and faith will be saved so what do you do repent believe cry out to God beg him to wash you with the blood of his beloved son and save you from your sin that's what you do forget the what-ifs that does nothing for me that ties me up in knots it accomplishes absolutely nothing except taking my eyes off of responding to the gospel don't do that also and relate it to it avoid spending more time worrying about whether or not your children are elect than you do sharing the gospel with them you got parents who Pine over what if one of my babies is not elect what if what if God hasn't chosen one of them well what if God hasn't well what if God hasn't well what if God has it well what if God hasn't I know nothing of that here's what I know I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ because it is the power of God unto salvation to all those who believe therefore all I know is I'm sharing the gospel regularly continuously with all of my children because that's the means that God uses to call forth his elect that's what I'm doing it is of absolutely no benefit for me to twiddle my thumbs and worry about whether or not our children are elect that is of absolutely no benefit and that is not what I'm called to not at all because here's what I'm saying we read about these unreached people groups who don't have the Bible in their language who don't have a single church or a single Christian in their land and then here I am a Christian with more Bibles in my house and I can shake a stick at know the gospel been saved by the gospel committed to sharing the gospel in my home and God sent that baby to my house how about I work with that amen God's called me unto himself given me the gospel a passion for this young person and everyday to preach to them how about I work with that instead of twiddling my thumbs and tining over whether or not and again that's not the question don't ask the question that you can't answer because you can't answer that question what if this person is like what this person is not elect and we all do it we all do it I can't answer that question you can't answer that question so what do we deal with we deal with what we know preach the gospel that's what we know these people have an opportunity to hear the gospel that's what we know that's what we work with that's what we spend our time on that's what we spend our energy on not asking questions that I can't answer I can't figure that out I don't know that I'm too busy working out my own salvation with fear and trembling amen working on my own assurance of my salvation don't tie yourself up and knots about that and certainly don't let it hinder you from preaching the gospel from sharing the gospel again and again and again and again and again we're not in the Department of seeing that's not the question question is not is this person one of the elect the question is is this person here in the gospel believe in the gospel resting on the gospel bearing fruit as a result those are the questions and those are the only questions I mean the fact of the matter is it could be a long time from now your children can be long gone out of your house and you dead and gone before they come to faith in Christ so what do you gain by pining over whether or not they're elect nothing nothing just giving the gospel just God disabled this is something that adoptive parents often struggle with - you know these children coming into our home from other places and you know other families and this is that any other and what if we just what if we go out and we grab one who's not elect really how about we just go our home is a gospel outpost God's gonna send us kids that he believes need to be raised in a gospel outpost I'm liking those odds amen I know that all of this is easier said than done I get that it is much easier to say we need to turn our praise and adoration toward God and not ourselves it is it's much easier to say that than it is to do because the fact of the matter is all of us when we share our testimony it's I I grew up here I used to live like this then I trusted Christ then I got saved then I started living like this then I I that's the way most people share their testimony you'd never know that Jesus saved them again it's easier said than done it's easier said than done you know share the gospel with people knowing that God has his elect out there and the gospel is a means that will call them forth do it that's easier said than done because we don't like the whole rejection thing we're scared we're going to say the wrong thing we're scared we're going to mess it up we're scared we're going to lose friends we're scared we're scared were scared I realized that it's easier said than done now I realized that avoiding this sort of introspective navel-gazing is easier said than done because every one of us does things from time to time and thinks things from time to time that make us go and no way I'm saved can't say man you ought to say ouch every last one of us we have those days where we just go I you know what I I may just be deceived this stuff that I'm wrestling with stuff that's gone that comes back stuff that you even saw I'm getting praise God he delivered me from ABC and XYZ and then all of a sudden one day it could be years later and there it is trust me I realize this is easier said than done and the last one of course is easier said that done which parent among us who believes in the doctrine of election and predestination can say that we've never had that moment where we've questioned that little baby's there and you know kind of cooing and I'm and everything else and then all of a sudden out of nowhere it just comes across your mind what if this little precious thing is not one of the elect that happens to us folks I realize that happens to us it happens to us all that's why we have sermons amen because you need to be reminded of this stuff and I need to be reminded more which is why I get to live with this for weeks before I share it with you for whatever time we have thank you very much so whatever you're thinking right now about how much you needed this just remember I've been living with it ten times longer than you've had to live with it here today amen that's why we have sermons because we need to be reminded again and again and again and again and again of all of these things because they're all much easier said than done nevertheless by the power of the gospel and according to His grace we're going to get there for his praise his glory and his namesake does everybody at this church understand all of this ah no I understand it better today than I did two weeks ago does everybody at this church fully agree with all of this ah no no is everybody at this church finished wrestling with all of this uh no no absolutely not but this is the doctrine upon which we stand this is who we are and here's what unites us remember this as we go here's what unites us even folks here at this church some members of this church who are not here who are not here have said you know what we're not there but that's the doctrine of this church so I'm going to keep searching I'm going to keep learning I'm going to keep reading and I'm going to keep walking with my brothers and sisters praying that God will reveal his truth to me what more can we ask for so we don't have classes of members here those who are special full-fledged members because they embrace the doctrines of grace and others who are not quite there yet who have to be endured with patience until they finally walk into the second blessing help you if you believe that okay trust me trust me we know that there are people who wrestle with this and struggle with this but here's the good news nobody has to wrestle or struggle with I wonder where the church stands on this amen because I don't know about you but I'm a whole lot better when I can say you know what we're in a little bit of disagreement on this little thing over here and that's okay cuz we know where it is and we can work through it I'm much better there than I am you know I I really hope we're unified but I have no idea whatsoever what the stance is on filling the blank boy it's hard to have unity err so we don't present this in order to say with arrogance this is us take it all the way or leave it but we communicate it with confidence saying this is where we stand and we want you to know with clarity and assurance that this is what you're going to get from us and I hope today is there maybe some of you who've been here for a while and you know that this is where we are but I hope today that you understand that it's not only where we are but there's a reason that it's where we are because we believe that it's what the Scriptures teach rather clearly I hope you also understand this relationship between our confession of faith that unites us and our belief that the Scriptures are completely sufficient and they are our standard for faith and practice to some last question someone last questions like this and we deal with this in our 1689 class you know oh why have a confession at all no Creed but Christ really what do you mean when you say Christ well we just believed the Bible really Apocrypha in or out see it's real easy to be flippant you know and to knock the idea of having a confession we just need to center around Jesus well he has to be defined we just need to center around the Bible well that has to be defined so our confession of faith doesn't supersede the Scriptures it just basically boils down our stream of thought and tradition and position on the key scriptural doctrines so that you know what this church means when it says we believe the Bible and we believe in Jesus now I hope you've seen that today I hope you've also seen that the reason we love the London Baptist confession of 1689 which is not the confession of faith for most southern matress churches at all is because of how thorough and how biblical I hope you see that as we read the confession we came back and we read all those passages and you if you looked carefully you saw where every phrase in the confession came from as we examine those passages of Scripture that's why it's our confession let's pray you

Channel: Hannah Gremmels

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Id: DH31wuNoois

Length: 79min 17sec (4757 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 04 2015