- Why don't we start
with a word of prayer. Father, we're thankful for your word, because your word is true. And in your word you
tell us that you love us, and in your word you tell
us that you chose us, and we're thankful for that. So Lord, as we open Scripture, we ask you to speak to us now, and we ask all of this
in Jesus name, amen. The title of my message
is Why God Chose You. Imagine for a moment, if
you could know the future. You know, if I could have a superpower, I don't know if I would really
want this one in particular, but imagine for a moment
if you knew the future. You knew everything that
was about to happen, you knew you would both play
in and win the next Superbowl. You knew how your favorite
show was going to end. You knew who was going
to be elected to office. You knew how the stock
market was going to go. Okay, if you had this knowledge, do you think it would affect
the choices you would make? Well, of course it would. Because, well, for starters you would make wise choices based on the facts. So if you knew that if
I walk into the street, a giant truck is coming, you probably wouldn't walk
in the street at that moment. If you knew the stock market
was going a certain direction or which stocks should be bought where you could make the most money, you would probably choose the
right stocks, I would think. And so, consider this,
God knows the future. And not only does he know the future, but he has a plan for the future. Think about this, when
Jesus walked this earth, he knew everything about everyone. He had their number,
he knew their thoughts. In fact, sometimes Jesus
would say to people, why are you thinking this in your heart. So if you were hanging around Jesus, he could read your mind, so you couldn't even think a bad thought without him knowing about it. So he knew all things,
and here's what's amazing. He chose Simon Peter, and yet he knew that Simon Peter would fail him. In fact, Jesus said to Peter, Peter, Peter, Satan
has been asking for you to be sifted as wheat, but I have prayed for
you that when you fail you will return again and
strengthen your brothers. Jesus was not only
predicting the fall of Peter, but he was predicting the
return of Peter as well. I bring this up because sometimes it looks like
God chooses losers, but God knows the big picture, and he knew Peter would come around. That brings us back to Esther. She was chosen by God. Handpicked by the Lord to literally, not only save her nation, but really in effect to
save the Jewish people. Now when we last left Esther,
a bad moon was rising. The villain of the story,
Haman, emerges on the scene. And now he has come into
power, as you recall. The king has put him as second in command. And not only that, but the
king has given to Haman his signet ring. That would be like giving
someone your credit cards, or giving them your passwords. Haman had access to all
the power of the king, and he hatches this wicked plot to eradicate the Jewish people
from the face of the earth. Why? Well, as we discovered together Haman was an avowed enemy of Israel, descended from the Amalekites. King Agag was spared was spared, and the Agagites were a race of people. And Haman was an Agagite, so he had a blood feud with Israel. And of course, our good
friend Mordecai and Esther were Jews, so they would
be on his hit list now with this plan. Let's look at Esther three,
starting at verse five. When Haman saw that
Mordecai would not bow down or show him respect, he
was was filled with rage. He had learned of Mordecai's nationality, so he decided it was not enough to lay hands on Mordecai alone. Instead he looked for a
way to destroy all the Jews throughout the entire empire of Xerxes. Now that would be the Persian Empire. So he's in power, he wants to
wipe the Jewish people out, and he gets the king's approval. You know, the Jewish people
just celebrated Purim, and it's really a celebration of the deliverance of the Jewish people as recorded in the book of Esther. And Prime Minister Netanyahu just spoke here in the United States, and he talked about that, and
talked about a new threat. Now it's not Haman, now it's Iran who wants to eradicate Israel. Iran, who has literally
threatened on multiple occasions to wipe Israel off the face of the map. So this is nothing new,
these threats against Israel and against the Jewish people in general. So, Mordecai catches wind of this plot. And so he, being a
government official himself, sends word to Esther, saying
you've got to do something. Meanwhile Esther is living
in the literal lap of luxury there in the palace of the king. She was secluded and isolated and knew nothing about
the plight of her people. So Mordecai is standing outside
of the walls of the palace, covered in sackcloth. He's in mourning because of
this threat against the Jews, and someone notices him
and says hey Esther, your cousin's outside,
not dressed very well. He looks pretty unhappy. She says, well send him some new clothes. And they send him some clothes. Talk about missing the point altogether. And so now Mordecai needs to tell Esther what's really coming down. And I have to say, this
reminds me a little bit of some people in the church. You know, we can be isolated
in our little Bible bubble. In our holy huddle. And we don't really care all that much about people that don't know the Lord. We're thinking, well that's their problem, why should I put a door
hanger on their door. Why should I give them an invitation. I know where I'm going
to church Easter Sunday. I know I'm saved, I know
where I'm going when I die. Yeah but, wait. You can't just stand
around in indifference while people are dying without God. God has put you where you
are for such a time as this, just as surely as God
put Esther where she was for such a time as this. Remember, cousin Mordecai said to Esther when she went into the
palace as the new queen. He said, don't tell anyone you're Jewish. But now he's saying, it's
time to step up your game. You need to play your hand
and declare who you are and do something to save your people. That brings us to Esther
chapter four, look at verse 13. Mordecai said to Esther,
don't think for a moment that because you're in the palace you will escape when all
the other Jews are killed. If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. But who knows that perhaps
you were made queen for such a time as this. Very interesting statement
that Mordecai makes to Esther. Here's what we need to
remember, God does not need us. Sometimes I've heard
people say God needs us. The reason God created humanity is because he was lonely up there in heaven, and wanted some companionship. Nonsense. God doesn't need anything or anyone. But having said that, it
is true that God wants us. It is true that God loves us. It is true that he longs for relationship and friendship with us. Now, here's the question. Can God reach lost people without us? Can he? Yes. But does he want to reach
lost people without us? No. Because the Bible says, how will they hear without a preacher, and
how will they preach unless they are sent. How beautiful are the feet of those that bring good tidings of peace. So, here's what Mordecai
is saying to Esther. Girl, listen. If you don't act on this, God will raise up somebody else, but don't think you're off the hook here, because you'll die along with
the rest of your fellow Jews, but did it ever occur to you
that you are where you are because God put you there? I mean, did it ever occur
to you that cranky neighbor, that difficult to deal with coworker, that person that you
come into contact with on a regular basis could
be your mission field. Did you ever stop and think
about praying for that person by name and praying for an opportunity to engage them in a conversation
to lead them to Christ. And so, she was chosen by God, and we've been chosen by God. That brings us to Ephesians,
pop over there really quick, Ephesians chapter one. Why did God choose us? How many of you believe
you've been chosen by God, raise your hand up? That's good. Why do you think God chose you? Well, here's the answer in Ephesians 1:4. Just as he chose us, before
the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having
predestined us to adoption, you might underline those
words adoption to adoption, as sons, by Jesus Christ himself, according to the good
pleasure of his will. Listen to this, before the world was made, before sin came in, God
chose you to be with him through all eternity. You say, but how do you know that? Because Jesus said you have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. Now the question that comes to our minds when we read that is well, but, why, why would God choose me? What goodness or merit did God see in me that he would choose me as his child. I hope you're not
disappointed by my answer. None. There was no goodness. There was no merit. It's not even because you were lovable, the fact is, he chose you despite you. Despite your sinfulness, despite my shortcomings he chose us. Despite our high opinions
that we hold of ourselves, God's choosing had nothing
to do with our value per se, it was based on his love. Why did God choose us? The answer is the same reason
he chose the nation Israel. The Lord said to Israel, he
didn't send his love upon them or choose them because
they were more in number than other people, for
they were the fewest. The Lord chose them because he loved them. That's why he chose Israel,
that's why he chose you, because he loved you, and he loves you. You say, but I don't understand that. Well, join the club, who understands it. Just rejoice in it. And that brings up the
subject of predestination. And by the way, the
greatest theological minds have grappled with predestination
for hundreds of years, and I'm going to settle
it right here right now. (audience laughing) Because I have it all figured out. No I'm just kidding, I don't. But I'll take my best
shot at how I see it. It's been said quote,
try to explain election, that's predestination,
another word for it. Try to explain election
and you may lose your mind, try to explain it away and you may lose your soul, end quote. So, how does God predestine us. How does he choose us, what
is the basis for that choice. Some, who would identify
themselves as Calvinists, or being reformed, it's
irresistible grace. Irresistible grace is the teaching that no matter what you
think, you cannot resist the grace of God. It's a done deal, it's
decided in eternity, irresistible grace. You couldn't say no even if you wanted to. By the way, I disagree with that. And then there's even
what might be described as double pre-destination,
which means God has chosen that certain people go to heaven and certain people go to hell. He's chosen it, you have
no choice in the matter. God just decided on
whatever basis he chose. You're going to heaven,
heaven, hell, hell. That's not personal, by the way. (audience laughing) Hell, hell, heaven, heaven. I reject this teaching
completely, by the way. And a part of this is
also limited atonement, which means Christ only
died for the elect. In other words, Jesus
only died for the ones that he predestined, he only
died for the chosen ones, you have nothing to say in the matter. Now listen, this is incorrect. Because the Bible clearly
says that God loves the world. Christ did not just die for the elect, he died for the world, all sinners. Because Jesus said for God
so loved what, the world, that he gave his only begotten son. Over in Romans 5:6-8, it says we were without
strength, in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. It doesn't say he died for only the elect. For scarcely for a
righteous man one will die, perhaps for a good man
some would dare to die, but God demonstrated his love toward us that while we were yet
sinners Christ died for us. Now whether you like it or not, the Bible teaches both
predestination and free will. The Bible teaches that God chose you, but it also tells you
that you must choose him. It's sort of like this,
you're in your car, you're cruising down the freeway of life, and there's an off ramp. And the off ramp says,
whosoever will, let him come. And you've had a lot of people tell you they've pulled off on that off ramp and it's changed their life, and you just don't want
to break your routine. But week after week, month after month, you go out by that off ramp and you go, what's going on over there, I wonder if I should take that
turn and see what's going on. Whosoever will, let him come. So one day, you pull your
car off the off ramp, you park it, you get
it, and there's a door. Whosoever will, let him come. You open the door, you walk in, you shut the door behind you, and on the other side of
the door it's written, chosen in Christ from the
foundation of the world. How do you know if you're chosen by God? Believe in Jesus Christ and
you'll prove that you were. How do you find out if you're
not chosen, don't believe. It's really, in many ways up to you. You have a role to play in all of this. You see, you choose. So, will you choose him. Spurgeon said, it's a
good thing God chose me before I was born, because if
he had waited until afterwards he would have changed his mind. (audience laughing) But, Spurgeon was saying
that tongue in cheek. Which means, he meant it sarcastically. The fact is, God knew
exactly who you were. D.L. Moody, the great
evangelist, put it this way, quote the whosoever wills are the elect. The whosoever wont's are
the non-elect, end quote. It's not as though God
predestined some people to heaven and predestines others to
hell, he wants all to believe. And you could look at it this way. God predestines every person to be saved. In effect, the devil predestines
every person to be damned, man has the casting vote. You decide where you will spend eternity. But when you make that
decision and follow Christ, you prove you were chosen. You say, Greg, you've just
confused me even more. I know, I didn't say I
would make it make sense, I'd just take a shot at it. But here's what it comes down to. Sometimes people get so wound up in sort of, reformed thinking, that they can't even say
to a person God loves you. Because they think, well
what if I say God loves you to one of the non-elect who's
been predestined to hell. So I can't just say God loves you. Well, any theology that
would stop you from saying to a non-believer God loves you, any theology that would stop
you from sharing the Gospel is a false theology. Because Biblical theology
says to share the Gospel. (audience applauding) And we just celebrated the life of a man who dedicated everything
to that, Billy Graham. Sharing the Gospel. And as I pointed out, the greatest tribute we could pay to Billy
is do what Billy did. And what did Billy do? He talked to people about Jesus Christ. That was his passion. And he gave them an
opportunity to believe. So, Esther had a choice. She could just sit in luxury and forget about the
problems of the world, or she could put it all
on the line and act. And we have a choice, too. We don't have to share our faith, God can save people without us. There's a story in the book of Acts about a guy from Ethiopia
that went to Jerusalem searching for God, remember that story. He didn't find God. He did get a copy of
the Scripture, Isaiah. And by the way back in those
days with no printing presses, that was quite a gift they gave to him. But it was probably because
he was a foreign dignitary. Hand lettered by a scribe,
the scroll of Isaiah. So he's reading it,
trying to figure it out, leaving Jerusalem on his way back home. And meanwhile the Lord
speaks to a guy named Philip and says, go to the desert. And when Philip goes to
the desert in obedience and he sees the man from
Ethiopia and his entourage and Philip engages them with the Gospel. But it's interesting, an angel of the Lord told Philip to go to the
desert to talk to this man. Why didn't the angel of the Lord just go directly to the man from Ethiopia and give him the Gospel. Because the job of angels is not primarily to deliver the Gospel. That's our job, that's
what we're supposed to do. So God will orchestrate
events and put things in place so you can have those opportunities to lead people to Jesus Christ. So yes, the Bible is
filled with the call of God to non-believers to believe. Jesus said in John 11:26, whoever lives and believes
in him will never die. Romans 10:13, whoever will
call upon the name of the Lord will be saved, so the call
and the appeal is there. Okay so, we're predestined. But what are we predestined for? You know it amazes me,
people will argue about how we're predestined,
or why we're predestined, but they won't stop and think about what is the purpose of being predestined, and the answer is right
here, Ephesians 1:5. He predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good
pleasure of his will. Listen to this. God predestined you to be
adopted into his family as his very child. That's why he did it. Because he loved you and
he wanted to adopt you. I heard the story of two brothers, who were signing up for little league. They were to write down their
birth dates, which they did. But the coach noticed they were
both born on the same year, but they were born two months apart. He said, wait I'm a little
confused about you two brothers, how can you be brothers, and
both be born in the same year, a few months apart. And one of the boys said, we're adopted. The coach said, oh. Which one of you was adopted? They both said in unison, we don't know. What do you mean you don't know? How can you not know which
one of you was adopted. They said, well our dad said to us, he loved us both so much, he couldn't remember
which one was adopted. (audience laughing) I told that story to my wife and she said, how could a father be so stupid. (audience laughing) I said, you're missing the point. It's because the father
loved the boys, both. And we've been adopted into God's family. Notice the verse says, in verse five, according to his good pleasure. That we're predestinated to adoption by the pleasure of his will. God is happy to have done this for us. You know, when you have kids, how many of you have
children, raise your hand. How many of you have
grandchildren, raise your hand. It's different when you have
grandchildren, isn't it? You know, because the role of a parent is to raise a child to be responsible, to teach them what right and wrong are, to help them develop a work ethic. Most importantly to show them how to have faith in Jesus Christ. The role of a grandparent is
to fil the child with sugar, give them toys, have fun with them. I'm exaggerating. But the point is, a grandparent
can be more indulgent than a parent can be. It's sort of the reward
we get for parenting. And it's a punishment on our children for the misery they brought us, because we return their child
to them full of sugar, right. But you know, I do things for my grandkids because I want to. Because I know always with the parents it's do your homework, go
to bed, brush your teeth. So I come to them and say, who wants to go get ice
cream and buy a toy? Well, they like that idea. That's my good pleasure. I enjoy that because I enjoy
seeing them have a good time. I figure, you know what, they
have enough responsibilities. And it's not like I only
fill them with sugar. We have wonderful talks together about a lot of wonderful
things, but we have good food while we're doing it as well, you know. But the idea is that
this is my good pleasure. And it's God's good
pleasure when he adopted us into his family. I mean, think about that adoption. I don't know about you, but I was adopted. That's where I got my name Laurie. I never knew my biological father. In fact, I found out later in life that the guy my mom told me was my dad was in fact not my dad at all. And so, I did track down my
biological father years later, after my mother had died. The problem was, he had,
senility was setting in, and he didn't remember my mother, and he didn't really know who I was, and so it was a little
underwhelming, to say the least. But the one man, of all
of my mother's husbands, and she had seven, and a lot
of boyfriends in between. The one man that treated me like a father should treat a son was a gentleman named Oscar Laurie. And he cared for me,
and he disciplined me, and he tried to teach me right from wrong. And it was heartbreaking to me, when I as a little boy
was taken away from him, because I always regarded him as my dad. And one of my great joys in life was I was able to go back to the
East Coast, where he lived, and track him down in my young adult years when I was just starting to pastor, and I was able to share
the Gospel with him and lead him to Christ. So, that was a great joy to say thank you for what you did for me and now let me, sort of, return the favor a little bit. But the Lord put that all together. But, to be adopted is a great thing, because you're really chosen. You're chosen by the
person, by the parents. And God has chosen us to
be his adopted children. I mean, the Bible uses different pictures to describe us, we're like a
slave out in the open market. And that's when the Bible says you've not received the spirit of bondage, like a slave, but one of adoption, whereby you cry Abba Father. So here's the picture. You're in the slave
market, you're chained up. No one's bidding on you. No wants you. And Jesus comes in and
says, I'll take this one, and I'll pay retail, he
doesn't even bargain for you. You're so grateful to have been purchased, he looks like he'll be a nice master. He says, okay I'm your new master. That's wonderful master, I'll follow you wherever you want me to go. Okay good, let's go to the courthouse. Why? Because I'm now adopting you as my child. That's what God did for us. He took us out of the slavery of sin, and adopted us as his own child. That's why we have so
much to be thankful for, we were chosen by him. And here's something amazing, look at verse six of Ephesians one. To the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he made us
accepted in the beloved. I want to tell you something that may blow your mind right now. I'll start with a question. How many of you believe
that God the Father loves God the Son, raise your hand up, if you believe he loves the Son. Okay now, here's something
I want to tell you. God the Father in heaven loves you as much as he loves Jesus Christ, his son. Did you know that? So don't ever doubt that God loves you. You say, well what is that based on. Oh that's based on the
statement of the Lord himself and what is the real Lord's Prayer, found in John 17:22. He says to the Father, may they experience such perfect unity that
the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. Look, I stand accepted in
the beloved, the Bible says. What does that mean? I stand in Christ. So stop with the I'm not
worthy, I don't deserve it. You never deserved it,
you'll never be worthy. Bottom line, God chose
you, God forgave you, God adopted you, and you stand in Christ loved as much as the
Father loves his own Son. On the cross, God treated Jesus as if he had personally
committed every sin ever committed by every person who had ever believed, though
he committed none of them. Let me say that again. On the cross, God the Father treated Jesus as if he had personally
committed every sin ever committed by every
person who had ever believed, though he never committed any of them. That's called the
doctrine of substitution. Listen, he died in our
place, our substitute, God punished Jesus as
though he lived your life, that we might become the
righteousness of God in him. So, he gave his life for my life. And that is why I have
this position with God. Jesus lived to the age of 33 years old. Why did he live here on
this earth 33 years old. Jesus could have done
everything he came to do literally over the weekend. He could have just descended from heaven, died on the cross, rose
from the dead, done deal. You're all good. But he walked among us as a man, for all those years before
he began his public ministry, which was relatively short. Why did he do it? Because he lived a perfect life. He was righteous in every way, and he passed every single test. 33 years old. My granddaughters Stella and Lucy were talking to me awhile ago, and they said Papa,
that's what they call me, how old do you want to
be when you're in heaven? You know, people ask, how
old will we be in heaven? It's like, you know, because
if you make it to 99, do you want to be 99 in heaven? Probably not, right. Do you want to be three
in heaven, probably not. So I said I don't know, I say 33. That's a good age. And I said, by the way,
that was the age of Jesus. And then my granddaughter Stella said, well that was the age
of my daddy Christopher, who's in heaven, our son Christopher went to be with the Lord
when he was 33 years old. And then she thought about
it for a moment and said, hmm there must have been a reason. I thought that was interesting. Then Lucy said to me, I want
to be two when I'm in heaven. I said, you want to be two? Why do you want to be two? She said, because I miss the old me. (audience laughing) That's Lucy and Stella in
a nutshell right there, those comments. You know, I'm not trying
to be a psychologist here for a moment, but, you know, I don't know what kind of dad you had, I already told you I didn't have a dad, so I had no point of
reference to speak of, except for Oscar Laurie, which was pretty short lived, actually. But maybe when you think of a father you had a distant father,
an uncommunicative father, maybe you have an absent
father, maybe a cold father. Then again, maybe you had a
super affectionate father, a loving father, a
nurturing supportive father, I don't know, but whatever
father you had on this earth I just want you to know that your Father in heaven is better, even if you had an awesome dad. Or maybe you had, yeah it's true. (audience applauding) Or maybe you had a
horrible dad, I don't know. But your Father in heaven is
perfect, and he loves you. And you've been made accepted in him. Listen, God put you are for a reason. God has a plan for your life. God put Esther where she was for a reason. We need to find that reason, and we need to do what we can to bring honor and glory for the Lord. There's two things we
can do with our lives. We can chase after the empty
promises of this world, and just waste them, and many do. They waste their entire life. Or you can say, I want God's will, I want to discover God's plan, I want to take the
position he's given to me, whatever it is, wherever it is, and leverage it and use it for his glory. Let me close with this. How do you know if you're chosen by God. Well as I said earlier,
believe in Jesus Christ and you'll prove that you are. Now I would assume everybody here would already be a Christian. But I don't think we
should always assume that. Because it's possible there's someone here who has never asked Jesus Christ to forgive them of their sin. It's possible that one of
you is here at this study, and you're thinking, I'm not really sure if my sin is forgiven. I mean, I want to think
that, but I'm not sure of it, but I would like to be. Listen, remember this. Jesus died on the cross for your sin and he rose again from the dead, and now he stands at the door of your life and he knocks and he says, if you'll hear his
voice and open the door, he will come in. It doesn't say it's all predetermined and you have nothing to say about it, you can open the door or
you could not open the door. Yes, he can be resisted. It's not an irresistible grace,
it is a resistible grace. That is why the Bible says, harden not your heart if
you can hear his voice. So, you do have a choice in
the matter, a big choice. But if you want to prove
you're chosen by God, I urge you to believe in
Jesus Christ right now. And if you're not sure that you do, I'd like to give you an opportunity to, as we bow our heads in prayer. Let's all bow our heads
right now, everybody praying. Father, thank you for loving us so much that you sent Jesus
Christ to die on the cross for each of our sins. And he paid the price for our sin. He stood in the gap for
each and every one of us, and Lord, we are so thankful for that. And then he rose again from the dead. And now Lord, we know that
you offer your forgiveness to anyone who would believe. So I pray now for anybody here. Anybody watching or
listening wherever they are, if they don't know you yet,
help them to come to you, help them to believe in you now we ask. Now when our heads are bowed
and our eyes are closed and we're praying, is there
someone here that would say I'm not sure if my sin is forgiven. I don't know absolutely that I
will go to heaven when I die. I want to be certain that
my life is right with God. I want to know that my sin is forgiven. If that's you, if you
would like Jesus Christ to come into your life and
forgive you of your sin, or if you've fallen away from the Lord and you need to come back to him again, just pray this prayer with me right now. Just pray this simple prayer. Lord Jesus, I know I'm a sinner. But I know you're the Savior
who died on the cross for me, and rose again from the dead. Lord I choose to follow you
from this moment forward as my Savior and my Lord,
as my God and my friend, in Jesus name I pray, amen.
