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Sermon #1959 Miscellaneous Sermons
Title: God’s Free, Sovereign, Unconditional, Electing Love
Text: Deuteronomy 7:1-10 Subject: Divine Election Date: Sunday Morning — February 26, 2012 Tape # AA-52 Reading: Deuteronomy 6:1-25 Introduction:
Open your Bibles to Deuteronomy 7. If the Lord will enable me, I want to preach to you today about — God’s Free, Sovereign, Unconditional, Electing Love.
Proposition: This is what I want you to see clearly from our text and from the Scriptures as a whole. This is the doctrine taught throughout the Book of God. — God’s choice and election of his people is not the result of something we do, have done, or might do, but the cause of everything he does, has done, and will yet do for us.
Distinguishing Grace
Verse 1 — “When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou.”
What wonderful, distinguishing grace is displayed throughout the Book of God to his chosen! God not only chose Israel in preference to other nations, he chose them in preference to the seven greatest and mightiest monarchies of the world in that day. So it is in God’s choice of his elect, his spiritual Israel, in this Gospel day (1 Corinthians 1:26-27; Matthew 11:25-26).
(1 Corinthians 1:26-31) “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, [are called]: 27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, [yea], and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 29 That no flesh should glory in his presence. 30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: 31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.”
(Matthew 11:25-26) “At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. 26 Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.”
Enemies Destroyed
Verse 2 — “And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, [and] utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them.”
To the carnal mind all the Word of God is confusing. It is full of gins and snares to trap and trip up the reprobate, causing them to stumble over the Stumbling Stone Christ Jesus headlong into hell. Some imagine that this is an example of the way wars should be fought. Others read such passages as this and think it describes a cruel and barbaric law. But if we read the chapter as God the Holy Spirit intends it, as describing something spiritual, it is sweeter than honey in the honey-comb.
The enemies Israel met and combated in Canaan were all typical of the spiritual foes warring against God’s Israel today. What are the seven nations that come out against you and me? · Vain Thoughts! · The Care of this World! · Vile Lusts! · Rebellions against our God! · Murmuring Unbelief! · The World! · Satan!
All these, in league against us, assault our souls continually. Who would make peace with these deadly foes? No mercy can be shown. They must be slain. — “Crucify the flesh with the affections and lusts thereof!” — “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5). Our enemies are God’s enemies. They would rob us of our souls, rob us of our heavenly inheritance, and rob God of his crown and his glory. — But that shall not happen. Blessed be God, we shall yet triumph over the world, the flesh, and the devil!
Unequally Yoked
Verses 3-4 — “Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. 4 For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.”
What folly they pursue who choose to ignore this Divine prohibition, given to us both by law to Israel and by the Gospel (2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1). If you choose to take for your friends and companions those who hate God, you will not influence them for good. They will seduce you to evil, and turn you away from following Christ. — But there is more in this command than a warning against marrying outside the faith. This is a warning against any union with idolatry.
(2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1) “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in [them]; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean [thing]; and I will receive you, 18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. 7:1 ¶ Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”
Idolatry Destroyed
Verse 5 — “But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.”
God make me like Josiah, consumed with zeal for you and your people, zealous in the destruction of idolatry!
(2 Chronicles 34:1-4) “Josiah [was] eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years. 2 And he did [that which was] right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined [neither] to the right hand, nor to the left. 3 For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young (when he was 16 years old), he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year (when he was 18 years old) he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images. 4 And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that [were] on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust [of them], and strowed [it] upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them.”
Holy, Chosen, Special
Verse 6 — “For thou [art] an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that [are] upon the face of the earth.”
Here Moses dared to tell the children of Israel three things about themselves, three things God the Holy Spirit inspired him to declare. These three things I declare to you who are God’s Israel, to you who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
1. You are a holy people unto the Lord your God. · By Righteousness Imputed in Justification · By Righteousness Imparted in Sanctification
2. The Lord Your God has chosen you.
Let me camp here a while. Imagine that. God has chosen you! — You! — Of all people, you! Did you know that this Book, the Bible, the Book of God talks about a special, distinct group of people called “the chosen”? These chosen ones are God’s elect, the people He has chosen unto salvation. · They were redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, because they are the chosen. · They must and shall be regenerated, called, and saved, because they are the chosen. · They shall be preserved unto everlasting glory. They cannot perish, because they are the chosen. · They cannot be lost, because they are the chosen. · They cannot be condemned, because they are the chosen. · The chosen are uniquely special to God, because they are the chosen.
Do you rejoice in that? Do you rejoice in electing love? Paul did. He said, — “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:3-4). — “We are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth” (2 Thessalonians 2:13).
Do you rejoice in electing love? Peter did. He said, — “Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light...Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father” (1 Peter 2:9; 1:2).
Do you rejoice in electing love? David did. He leaped and danced before the ark of God, because God had chosen him above Saul. He said, — “Although my house be not so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure: for this is all my salvation and all desire” (2 Samuel 23:5).
Do you rejoice in electing love? Our Lord Jesus did. We read it earlier. He said, “I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: Even so, Father, for it seemed good in thy sight” (Matthew 11:25-26). Our Lord Jesus Christ taught the doctrine of Divine election plainly and clearly. He rejoiced in it and gave thanks for it.
On the night before his crucifixion, in order to comfort encourage, and strengthen his disciples, he told them about his marvelous electing love in these words: — “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 remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of my Father in my name, he may give it you” (John 15:16).
Do you rejoice in electing love? Every believer should be filled with joy and praise toward God when he hears the good news of God’s electing love in Christ. Indeed, every believer, as he reads the Word of God and is taught of God the Holy Spirit, understanding the gospel of God’s free and sovereign grace in Christ, does rejoice in electing love: — God’s eternal choice and election of his people in Christ unto salvation and eternal life.
Election is the source and fountain of all the blessings of grace. All the blessings of Divine mercy flow down to needy sinners from the throne of God, through the mediation of our Lord Jesus Christ, — “according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world.”
Do you rejoice in electing love? I hope that you have learned to do so. I hope that your heart is as full of joy at the thought of Divine election as David’s was. When he thought about God’s eternal, electing love, he sang, — “Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple” (Psalm 65:4).
As for me, I do rejoice in electing love. I most gladly acknowledge God’s election.
‘Tis not that I did choose Thee, For Lord that could not be, , This heart would still refuse Thee, But Thou hast chosen me. Thou, free the sin that stained me, Washed and set me free, And to this end ordained me, That I should live to Thee.
“Twas sovereign mercy called me, And taught my opening mind; The world had else enthralled me, To heavenly glories blind. My heart owns none before Thee, For Thy rich grace I thirst, This knowing, if I love Thee – Thou must have loved me first!
Thank God for his free, sovereign, eternal, electing love in Christ! Now, let’s go back to our text, Deuteronomy 7. We are at verse 6. You are a holy people. You are a chosen people.
3. And the Lord God chose you to be a special people unto himself above all the people of the earth.
Oh my brother, my sister, God has chosen us, sinners such as we are, to be a special people unto himself. — “Ye are not your own. For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” — “Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.”
That word “special” is bursting with meaning. It means you are… · God’s peculiar treasure. · His choice jewels. · His valued property. · His workmanship — Masterpieces! · Under his watchful eye, protection, and constant care!
Unconditional Election
Read verse 7 and learn that God’s eternal choice of his people to salvation in Christ was an unconditional election of grace.
Verse 7 — “The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye [were] the fewest of all people.”
God did not choose us and he does not save us because of our works. His choice of us was not based upon foreseen merit, or our foreseen choice of Christ, or our foreseen faith in him. Oh, no! Our only merit before God is Christ. · Our choice of him is the result of his choosing us. · Our faith in him is the fruit and result of his election. · Our love for him is the result of his love for us.
(2 Timothy 1:9) “Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.”
“`Twas with an everlasting love That God His own elect embraced, Before He made the worlds above, Or earth on her huge columns placed.
O love, how high thy glories swell, How great, immutable, and free! Ten thousand sins, as black as hell, Are swallowed up, O love, in thee!
Loved when a wretch defiled with sin, At war with heaven, in league with hell, A slave to every lust obscene, Who, living, lived but to rebel.
Believer, here thy comfort stands, From first to last salvation’s free; And everlasting love demands An everlasting song from thee.” John Kent
Free, Sovereign Election
Read on…
In verse 8 Moses tells us that God’s election is free, sovereign election. Do you ask, “Why would God choose me?” The answer is found here.
Verse 8 — “But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Commenting on verse 8 Robert Hawker wrote, “I hardly know a passage in the Old Testament more sweetly expressive of the freeness and sovereignty of grace; and more encouraging at the same time to the mind of every poor enquiring sinner. Dear Jesus! and are all the numberless proofs of thy mercy towards thy people, the sole result of the Father's everlasting love, thine own most free and unmerited grace, and the blessed Spirit's fellowship? Lord! help me ever to keep these gracious testimonies in view, to comfort my soul in a dark and trying hour.”
Effectual Election
Look at verse 8 again and learn that God’s election is effectual.
Verse 8 — “But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
As God’s choice of Israel was the cause of their redemption and deliverance out of Egypt by blood and by power, so God’s election of his people is the cause of redemption, grace, salvation, and eternal blessedness in Christ Jesus (Psalm 65:4; Romans 8:28-31; Ephesians 1:3-14; 1 John 4:19).
Our Faithful God
Verse 9 “Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he [is] God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations.”
This is our God, the God we trust, on whom we rest, by whom we have all grace and the certain assurance of everlasting salvation in Christ, by the gift of faith in his dear Son. This is our ever faithful God! · Faithful to His Son! · Faithful to His Covenant! · Faithful to His Word! · Faithful to Us! — “If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.” — “God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” — “The Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.”
Judgment Sure
In verse 10 God’s faithful servant spoke to the immortal souls before him as I must speak to you, faithfully. · Trust Christ, and all this salvation, all this grace is yours! · If you refuse to trust God’s Son, if you dare defy him and perish in your hatred of God, everlasting damnation shall be yours!
Verse 10 — “And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face.”
I have no way of knowing until God makes it manifest, but perhaps the reason you are here today is God’s election. It may be that he has graciously and sovereignly brought you here that he might bring life and immortality to light in your soul through the gospel you have heard.
Do you now find yourself trusting the Lord Jesus Christ as your only, all-sufficient Lord and Savior? If you do, if you truly trust the Son of God, it is because “God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation!”
Let every child of God give praise honor, and glory to him forever for his free, electing love and favor, sovereignly and graciously bestowed upon us from eternity in Christ. He who chose us redeemed us, called us, gave us life and faith in Christ; and he will keep us unto eternal glory by his grace.
Who shall condemn to endless flames The chosen people of our God, Since in the book of life our names Are written in the Savior’s blood?
Christ for the sins of His elect Has full, complete atonement made; And justice never can expect That the same debt should twice be paid.
Neither the craft and power of hell, According to God’s faithful Word, Nor all the sins that in us dwell, Can separate us from our Lord.
Nothing in life, nothing in death, No powers on earth, no powers above, (Our God has sworn, the God of truth!) Can change His purposes of love.
His sovereign mercy knows no end, His faithfulness shall yet endure; And those who on His Word depend Shall find His Word forever sure!
How I thank God for his free, sovereign, unconditional, electing love! How sweet, how immeasurably sweet it is to hear my Savior say to me, as I look to him in faith, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you!” Loved by Christ! — Redeemed by Christ! — Befriended by Christ! — Taught by Christ! — All because I was chosen by Christ before the worlds were made! — Now, his joy remains in me and my joy in him is full!
(Psalms 115:1) “Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake.”
Amen!
Don Fortner
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