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[0:00] Salem Chapel, Peterborough, December 16th, 1979.

[0:22] Mr Howard, the evening service. We turn this evening to the words found in the first epistle of Paul from the Ephesians, in the first chapter, and at the third verse, Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 3.

[0:56] Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, who we should be holy, and without blame before him in love, having predestinated us under the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good temper of his will, for the praise and glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the good life.

[1:55] Now, in announcing this text, I continue the subject that I was lecturing before you this morning.

[2:06] That is the great doctrine of unconditional election. the good doctrine of the gospel. It is one of the leading doctrines of the gospel.

[2:24] It is one of the most comforting doctrines of the gospel. Those who make the doctrine of the gospel, and the heart, do the doctrine of his service, do the gospel of his service?

[2:44] For the glad news of the gospel is that from among those who can't help themselves, God's chosen son, the eternal right we tell them.

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[3:28] of a number of spheres in which God operates this selective principle. It isn't only in relation to the matter of salvation, it is in relation to various other things.

[3:51] And I called attention this morning, first of all, to the fact that there is such a thing as national direct or racial direct.

[4:06] Where do we make it? The simple fact of scripture and of history is that all the nations are located here, God shows one.

[4:21] And set aside the others. That is, he is so far as his redeeming purpose is concerned. He didn't set aside any nation or any man so far as his sovereign government in the universe is concerned.

[4:39] But so far as his redeeming purpose is concerned, God chose out of all the nations.

[4:50] Why? The Jews. And made them the means of his saving salvation. For it was through the Jews that the word of salvation was with, in the Holy Spirit.

[5:08] It was through the Jews that the word living became correct for the person of Jesus and that.

[5:20] Salvation in that sense is of Jews. But why a Jew? Why not some other nation, some other nation? Simply because God trusts.

[5:34] God elects. God seals. One nation, one land. For a position of privilege, in which he appointed no act.

[5:49] So, first of all, the elective or selective principle relates to the nation.

[6:05] The nation is national or ethnic elect. And then we saw in the second place this morning that this selective principle applies also in relation to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[6:26] That not only is there national elective, there is messianic elective. As of all the human beings, one person, Jesus of heaven, Mary's son, was turned out elective.

[6:52] To be the one in whom the word should be made for. You make up the totality of the human race, or you reckon up the totality of the elect race, the Jewish people, without all the hundreds of thousands of millions, messianic elective means the choice of one.

[7:21] Jesus is magical. So when we speak about unconditional election, when we speak about the free will of God, the free choice of God, we must understand that it operates in more than one sphere.

[7:43] There is choice of a nation. There is choice of a messiah. As to the nation, God spoke, but he said, Israel, my children.

[8:01] As to the messiah, the power of the children of God. And the power of the children of God. And the power of the children of God.

[8:11] Unconditional election is that God, by his own, with unhappled, unconditioned action, will choose who he owns, when he owns, when he owns, or what he owns.

[8:33] So this evening I come to a third way, or a third realm or sphere, in which this principle of elective operates.

[8:51] And I would put it like this to say that this elective or selective principle pervades all scripture and all history in relation to the matter of elective to office.

[9:09] Elective to office. Or if you like, in function, or work, or service, or duty. Now by this I mean that individual and personal the personal appointment of men to the discharge of certain things, certain activities, certain offices or functions, is an activity, a great activity of God.

[9:49] Elective. It causes men to do this. Elective to office. And that is something which attains both in the church and in the world.

[10:09] You can read the pastoral epistles of the New Testament, in particular, the Lent's of Timothy and Titus, you read about various offices that God is established in the church.

[10:21] Elders, demons, pastors, and so on. God appoints men to office in the church.

[10:35] But as well as those formal and prominent offices, God also elects and chooses men in the church, that is among his people, to, shall we say, relatively humbler duties, or offices.

[10:59] He does this by the stone gifts, sometimes. While his people has an unusual and extraordinary prayer, God calls that person to be an intercessor in an unusual and special way.

[11:15] Choice, election, to office. Sometimes God gives one or another of his people, as it were, undonely paid.

[11:29] we make them a doubt. And we look at ourselves, and we understand. There are warriors, in the realm of time, called, thousand, to office, duty, work, in relation to a particular situation, a particular cause, or reason, at a particular point in time in history.

[11:55] In that, from the war, within the realm of the spirit of the church. But God does this also in the world. The world is under the government of God, which owns the church.

[12:11] The church is his body, in a peculiar, a respectful, and an unusual way. But, God does not resign his document of the world. The quips of the power of the air, the rulers of the darkness of this world, the kings and the queens that sit on the crones of the nations, they are all under these acts.

[12:39] And there are times in history, where there are times to run through history, to demonstrate the fact, and so is, there are times when God chooses them, and puts them into office, in the world, it may be in civil society.

[12:59] whether to govern, whether to govern, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, whether to chastise the nation, whether to be benevolent.

[13:11] The nations are, there he can. There is a drop in the bucket, to him. And, he governs and guides and controls all, and only, the behaviors, of the world.

[13:29] Second, there is, we may say, the difference. Sometimes, God chooses, or, elects, or, to be a person. And, there is, the difference.

[13:42] Sometimes, God chooses, or, elects, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or,iya...

[14:07] or, or, or, or, or, at the moment.

[14:19] And sometimes, does, elect, and, to harvest. Now it is important to remember that the election to harvest and the election to salvation are two different ways. If you can grasp that distinction you will see the answer to a great many problems. A current problem is anyway in scripture and in this case of definitely non-christian and godly, pagan and godly person, God sometimes elects such men, chooses such men to fulfil the ticket in the past but he doesn't choose them to return to the past. A very kind allowing one to draw up a long, long list of these persons but I give you one by way of this question. One that is all straight in my understanding at any rate is an exceptional artist. If you are familiar with the later chapters in the prophecy of

[15:46] Isaiah you are familiar with the character of Silas of Persia. Now Silas of Persia was a he.

[16:00] If he followed which presumably he did the religion of his own land of Nazareth he was a to And yet, if you're familiar with those certain chapters in Isaiah, you also know that there are passages in which God, by the prophets, speaks of silence, mind and mind.

[16:44] I am right. And that Hebrew word, read in anointed, is the same word which is the word translated Messiah. And in those same later chapters in the book of Isaiah, you will read of the Lord Jesus Christ as God's anointed, God's Messiah.

[17:10] So you're confronted with the amazing fact that God uses exactly the same terms, the same descriptions of his anointed chosen son, the saviour for his church and people, and the same terms for Silas of Kirk, Cater, Zoroast.

[17:40] Not a Jew, not a Hebrew, not a Godly man, not a believer. What's the explanation? The explanation is that Silas was chosen to perform a perpetual task.

[17:58] Silas was not chosen to salvation, he was chosen to office. And what was the office? Well, you remember the situation.

[18:09] The remnants of the chosen nation, Judah and Benjamin, the two tribes, were in captivity in battle.

[18:21] Battling in conflict, the homeland of the Jews. Taking the Jews into captivity, and there they get, for a long time.

[18:32] But then, the pattern of world history changed. The Babylonian world power was superseded and overgrown by the Persian world power.

[18:46] The great, dominant power of the land. And this man, Cyrus, was a great military man. And he was put at the head of the armies of Persia.

[19:01] And he actually succeeded to the leadership of the nation of Persia. And he came against Babylon, he conquered Babylon. Babylon, and setting free the city of Babylon, and well as the whole of Babylonia.

[19:17] He set free the Jews. But here's the remarkable thing. That when Babylon was overthrown by his times of Persia, the very first thing that the conquering hero did, Silas, was to set the Jews free.

[19:39] Now, stop and think. Stop and visualise and imagine, again, what the great military commander, at the head of an army, has to do when he comes.

[19:58] Think of the matters of civil administration, he's got to attend to in the conversation. Think of the matters of military administration, he's got to attend to. Think of the matters of things that he has got to overcoat.

[20:11] Oh, he has his subordinates to help him, of course. But I'm still saying, it is one of the sparkling things of all history, that when Silas and Persia conquered Babylon, the first thing in England, is to set free the active Jews and send them back to their own land and the Jews.

[20:38] And you can't tell us because thank God left us, who aren't prawda. And he say, The prot elbows are LA and the autre, and I think that this helps».

[20:52] I think that this vector is the number of people who buzzes is that with the local Chinese- trash and family anti-carsigh space. of the elect and I think I am writing it in saying that the great significance of that matter the record of it is contained twice over in Holy Spirit in the last chapter of 2nd Chronicles and in the first chapter of the book of Esther you will read twice also the record of how Cyrus the pagan person taken hold of thy God chosen through office did this thing to which he was elect oh there is such a thing as elect into office among ungodliness a son when God changes who he wills to do what he wills with no reference to personal salvation at all have we not seen it in the history of our own nation did we not see it in the last war in the particular leadership of this nation where a man was raised up to coordinate all the resources all the affairs of this nation and deliver the nation from a would-be oppressor that is in action to office we have no necessary reference to someone and if you look through the history of our nation and if you look through the history of our nation you will find that happening are more than one of people

[22:37] John Coward then says somewhere in his writings that there are times when God puts chains on devils and sends them on his ends and so he does and why not he is a sovereign God he doesn't always and he sovereignly use clean vessels clean in the sense of spiritual he uses them in the world he is never possible to know just who God gives you elections in office and elections for salvation are not necessarily the same thing that can be seen I say in the election of definitely non-Christian and ungodly persons or let us look at the same thing in the realm of professedly Christian or Godly persons

[23:47] Godly persons or at least professedly Godly persons Christians may be elect to office and not necessarily elect to some place what do I think?

[24:05] you are really out here leave to mention only one or two names to be the place of Baal the place of but we have a place of hope there are many who would put Solomon in this chapter not always do any how well Solomon began desiring wisdom how disastrously he had been behaving with anyone that he seemed but he seemed to be there was this impression of this how I professedly as church or God be a person being called to serve and yet not being necessarily being called to salvation which is terrible because because you see here are men who entered the service of God Baal sovereign

[25:07] Jews held office in the poor people in a godly way in a capacitively religious and spiritual way of heaven they fulfilled godly office but according to the effort we have often they made a bad ending now I don't think there is any need for me to expand all three of these cases Judas Iscariot is the outstanding case and if we look at him we shall save the point Judas Iscariot was called to the office of the apostle of of of the office of apostle was a limited office there were twelve or one or two more added and no more there were no successes to the apostles and apostles not the same thing as the disciples all the Lord's powers were disciples and all the disciples and all the disciples and not all the Lord's powers are apostles again that's a distinction very necessary to make in leading the life all apostles were disciples but not all the disciples were at once it's carried through I say was put to the same office as

[26:39] Jones, Peter and John on the same on the same terms for the same spiritual purposes of the same spiritual service as his fellow apostles election to office is not necessarily the same thing as election to service now if you understand that you then realise that the loss of Judas Iscariot is not to be understood as the defeat of the election of grace and the loss of Judas Iscariot is not to be regarded as an exception to the perseverance of the saints that Judas was elected to the office that Judas was elected to office is beyond dispute that Judas was elected to so life is something no one would do and is something which on the face of the New Testament evidence that hardly behaved the election to office the election to office the election to office is not necessarily the same thing as the election to service and you see the solemn thing that Iscariot sets before us and warns us about is this that election to office and the engownment of gift by which one may fulfil that is not necessarily the same thing as election to service which of course is the explanation of our Lord's work when he speaks about those who go to him or who will go to him in the last day and say the Lord have we not prophesied in thine life have we not passed out devils have we not done any wonderful work we've done this and we've done it in thine life and it has been done they were elected but what was the Lord saying?

[29:01] our elected elected to office and elected to some of them our own different things and we've done it Paul recognised this when he spoke of himself being a pastor not that he meant that he would be a pastor in himself personally but he recognised the fact that there are those who can stand up and can be used in the service of God as Iscariot as an apostle and yet the council is the end of the work there is election to office it is not necessarily the same thing as election to service and you see within this is the fact that election to office may be a temporary whereas election to salvation is an eternal if God puts a man into office he may put him into office for a time and then he will look

[30:22] God may pay deep to man and enable a man and then give and endow a man with the ability to fulfill office in the church in his book for a time and then he will look once a Christian always a Christian but he doesn't follow because one at once held office when he's always holding that office under divine approval office may be withdrawn remote or rehearsed salvation is never withdrawn to a vote or rehearsed this is a point again which were there time to demonstrate in this series if you know anything about the revival or the awakening which took place in Wales since 1904 and 5 you know the instrument used of the institution of that awakening was a young man then not even an ordained minister named Evan Roberts he was a man who stood up in the pulpit and prayed and called on God and the spirit of God fell and people fell on their faces convicted of sin and convicted of sin whether revival when the awakening was over and done

[31:55] Evan Roberts became a minister and was 30 or more years in the ministry and had a most undistinguished ministry until he stated thanks I'm not passing justice he had a ministry I mean that was not in any way remarkable for the outstanding use that God made of it in the heavens of St. Louis this is not my name when one says office can be discovered and office can be restored by God so then we see the principle of election and selection in Holy Scripture and the Holy Scripture is a great and the principle of election and selection in Holy Scripture is a great and the principle of election and selection in Holy Scripture first of all it is natural God chooses a nation Israel and God then that principle is seen in a messianic word the Lord Jesus Christ is chosen of God elect and faithful then we see that election may be functional in the sense of choosing and sending certain names to do certain things in terms of office and function and business so then now against that broader background of the elective selective principle in Scripture as a whole as a whole we may approach the fact that this principle is also related to the matter of individual and personal and personal just as there is natural election and messianic election and election of it so there is election to salvation to salvation or soteric election soteric means saving there are one or two things about that election one or two features that need to be noticed first of all election to salvation is eternal the choice is made in eternity in other words it means that it's something that was a hundred before time began as we read in our text he had chosen us in him before the foundation of the world or as Paul says to Timothy 2 to 1 9 chosen the world began it is a choosing that arises from God's eternal inscrutable all-wine world election to salvation is eternal again election to salvation is culvert which means that it is not something it is not a choice that is constrained or coerced or called for or called for by anything in men we do not call it for we do not plan we do not deserve we have no entitlement to it

[35:46] God owes us God owns house now here is the answer to the man who says as he so often why should God choose one another another the answer to that is this why should God choose any of those or this who do you think is the answer to the man who says God owns house now who do you think has a right to the church who has any claring on God in terms of grace and salvation according to holy scripture all have sinned and all have come short therefore all are under the wrath of the condemnation none any claring God owns house nothing so election is not a reward for faith or belief or repentance even assuming that we were attainable of such things the operative principle of election to salvation is the good maker of a sovereign

[37:10] God will he doesn't choose in response to something he sees in us he chooses in response to something he thinks in himself and that is the eternal life he sets his life here and there as he will as our text puts it in verse 5 according to the good measure of his will his according to the purpose of him who work their whole after the cancer becomes ill and that is your time that is the of of of calm with your own head of or calm with your own he loves so election to salvation is first eternal and second it is solemn election to salvation in the third phrase is gracious why those who are elected and chosen are called the election of

[38:30] Christ rose to the left of power election has in view the praise of the glory of his Christ that we should be Ephesians 1-12 that we should be to the praise of his glory election is not the choice of those who have chosen themselves election is the choice of the weak who despise the foolish the helpless the hopeless the dead the malawed the lost for the end of no doubt theарищ its the halfway the effective 존 the the good it is the choice of the bad it is the choosing of

[39:31] It isn't the choosing of men because of what's in them, it should be choosing of men because of what isn't it, of what aim in sovereign Christ will put in them, by his redemption that is in Christ, by the Holy Spirit.

[39:53] Election to salvation is of sheer justice, it is praise, it is righteous, it is for nothing, for nothing that we are and for nothing that we can do, for we now repent and believe unless he enables us to do nothing.

[40:18] So election to salvation is eternal, it is sovereign, it is gracious, and in the fourth place it is unkind, it is reversible, it is revolted, because it is depleted. Paul speaks in Romans 11 and 9 about the purpose of God calling to election. In other words, this is the design, this is the purpose, this is the intention, this is the end that God has in me. He should do it with an ending being.

[41:06] And because he is who he is and what he is, that end is the healing. And the guarantee of that achievement, in effect, the guarantee of the final perseverance of the saints, is the inutility of God, God unkindly. The fact that he doesn't change his mind, the fact that he doesn't go back on his parents, the fact that he doesn't write his promises, God's immutable character guarantees the fulfillment of this selective person, where by the vessels of mercy are formed to bear and to blow.

[42:01] And that is the reason why the Apostle Paul makes that remarkable statement in Romans 8, where he speaks that chain of themes, sort of the golden chain as it's sometimes called, Romans 8 verses 29 and 13, who he doesn't say, who he didn't know, he also did predestinate, who he did predestinate, then he also called, who he called, then he also justified, and then he justified, then he also glorified.

[42:40] He doesn't say, then he will glorify in the eternal life. It is the heirs tenth, it is an eternal life. The glorification of God's elect is as certain as the fact that they are elect, as of.

[43:02] So, election to salvation is eternal, sovereign, righteous, unchangeable.

[43:13] And the fifth and final point I would make about it is that election to salvation is in Christ and holy in Christ. You want a word for it? Election to salvation is Christo-sense, in Christ.

[43:32] There is no election out of Christ. There is no choice, which is needed in Christ. The doctrine of election has sometimes, and alas is sometimes, presented, in such a way that it appears, or at least it gives people the impression, that Christ is bypassed.

[43:57] That election is vested in the sovereign, who's truth of the world. Well, that's the only thing that counts. And people end up by saying, well, does election bypass the Lord Jesus Christ?

[44:11] Well, that question cannot arise if election is preached according to the Holy Spirit. Election for salvation is wrongly conceived, if it is conceived of God, a part of God.

[44:30] And so I would make myself deliberate from what I said this morning in this line. In the economy of salvation, the Father initiates the holy purpose of redemption.

[44:48] The Son exited the fulfilment of the covenant of it. And the Spirit applies the deniates of the Lord.

[45:04] So there is no election without the Father to decrease it. There is no election without the Father to decrease it. There is no election without the Father to decrease it.

[45:19] That depends, by the non secreting moment the powers it. Chürする to π de c meus pagãos. That happens. That happens.