Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God #1

God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. Before time began, God chose those that He wanted to be the recipients of saving grace. How do evangelism and the sovereignty of God fit together? Quite simply, our sovereign God makes the fruits of evangelism possible in the first place. And today on The Truth Pulpit, Pastor Don Green will more fully unpack this truth as he continues our series, Titus, God's Glorious Plan of Grace.

Hi, I'm Bill Wright. Don will be laying out three principles over the next couple of broadcasts, the first of which concerns election. And Don, that doctrine often stirs up a hornet's nest of a reaction. Why is that?

Well, Bill, I think there are probably two reasons that come to my mind for those reactions as I sit here today in studio. First of all, there is a matter of pride here. Men want to play a part in the salvation of their own souls. They're happy for God to get some credit as long as they get a little bit of their own. Scripture doesn't allow for that. The doctrine of election humbles human pride. There's also the sense of ignorance, and perhaps people have been taught and misled about the true nature of the doctrine of election.

That's the thing that we're going to try to address and correct with our program here today. We'll again be in the first chapter of Titus, so turn there in your Bible as we join Pastor Don Green now in The Truth Pulpit. God determined that there would be a people that at the end of time would be praising His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And He determined, alongside of that, the means by which those people would come to be. He determined the means by which those people would be redeemed. All of this part of His sovereignty, all of this part of His divine plan, but what you and I have to understand, because it has such profound, magnificent implications for us individually as Christians and also for us corporately as a young church starting to take root, is that we have to understand the means by which God wanted this to take place. God did not simply, sovereignly, zap people to become redeemed. He didn't just sovereignly snap His fingers, as it were, and say, This group is now part of the family of God.

It was much more rich, it was much more textured, and He chose to do it through human instruments. And we see that in verse 3 when Paul says, God's promise from long ages ago is now being manifested in the proclamation with which I was entrusted. We see side by side God establishing eternal purposes. And side by side with that, the means, the roadmap to get there, is the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He works through the human proclamation of the gospel in order to bring about His sovereign, eternal purposes which He determined before time began. This is rich and magnificent and has very far-reaching consequences. Now I want to lay out three principles that will help you see this and help us understand not only the purposes of God, but the means by which He brings them to pass and what those implications are for us individually and as a church that is taking root. And we're going to be humbled by this, we're going to be awed by this, and we're going to have a greater understanding of the way God works out His sovereign purposes in bringing to pass the salvation of men and women from every tribe and tongue throughout the ages.

This is magnificent. Point number one, the reality of election. The reality of election. Paul describes in verse 1, he describes the redeemed as those who are chosen of God. Look at verse 1 with me. Paul, a bondservant of God, an apostle of Jesus Christ.

Now watch this. For the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness. What the Bible teaches in the fullness of its revelation is that God, as He had established this promise to Christ, I am going to give you, my son, a redeemed people. As God was doing that, prior to the foundation of the world, God chose, God knew in advance who He wanted to constitute that people. God chose certain men, women, and children out of the entire history of humanity to be the recipients of saving grace. He did this not through the works of what those people would do, not because He saw the future faith that these people would have.

God chose these people out of His sovereign prerogative for His sovereign pleasure so that He could deliver, watch this, this is really important, so that He could give to His son, the Lord Jesus Christ, exactly the gift that He wanted to give Him at the end of time. We have to understand that humanity, in one sense, is very secondary to God's purposes in salvation. The real purpose of God in salvation is for Him to say, my son, God the Father, speaking to God the Son, here is the gift that I have for you.

It's glorious, it's wonderful, it's magnificent. This is what God gets to do for His son. He gets to establish the parameters of the gift that He gives. And we must start, if we're going to think rightly about salvation, if we're going to think rightly about what God is doing as He works through the preaching of the Gospel, we have to start there. That what God is doing is He is bringing to pass in time, at the proper time throughout the outworking of the centuries, He is working out exactly the gift that He wants to give to His son, that He wants presented to His son at the end of time. And you and I, as redeemed people, you and I as Christians, we're a part of that. We get to be a part of that gift. We get to share in the outworking of these eternal purposes. We're a part of what God is giving to His son. And when you view it from that perspective, so much clarity is brought on the objections that are often brought to the doctrine of election. Why doesn't God give it to everyone? That's not fair.

What about this or that? Well, look, before you get to any of those human questions and the implications for man about the reality of election, you have to start and understand that God has the sovereign prerogative to do whatever He wishes with His gift of salvation. And it is up to God, it belongs to God, to give the gift that He wants to give to His son. Can you imagine, those of you that are parents, can you imagine that you sat and you determined a gift that you wanted to give to your beloved daughter, to a beloved son, and you say, I know that this is perfect for my son.

This is the athletic equipment that perfectly fits what he needs and he will excel and it will be good for him. This is the clothing that my daughter loves and I'll give that to her and here's how I'm going to go about doing it. I'm going to get it from this place and give it to her at this date and it's just going to be, I can't wait to see her face when she receives the gift that I have chosen for her out of my own choice.

Can you imagine? Somebody hears you talking about this and steps in and starts to tell you that you should give her a different gift? Someone that doesn't even know you? Someone says, that's not the right gift for your son. And what about your cousins? Why aren't you giving gifts to your cousin at this time as well? What's the matter with you?

And you step back and you say, who do you think you are? This is my family relationship. This is the son and daughter that I love. I know what will please them and I want to give them this. This is none of your business to question the gift that I would give to my own family, that I would give to my beloved son.

Get back in the proper place where you belong. This isn't yours to decide. We have to view it from that perspective. Salvation, Jonah 2-9 says, belongs to the Lord. Salvation is his gift. And first and foremost, it is the father's gift to the son. And we, as men and women, who share in the redemption that he's planned, are part of it. Can you imagine bringing accusations against a holy God that a man whose breath is in his nostrils knows better about what's good and righteous and just than what the holy God, the holy creator of the universe does? Please.

That's totally inappropriate. Particularly when we see, watch this, it is so inappropriate for man to respond this way because the Bible clearly teaches that God chose who would be saved as an exercise of his sovereign prerogative. As the holder of the gift that he's going to give to his son, God has the prerogative to be able to give it as he wishes. I want you to see this in a few passages. We'll go through this rather quickly. Ephesians chapter 1, I want you to see Ephesians chapter 1, one of the cornerstone passages of this, just after the book of Galatians, just before the book of Philippians in your Bible in your New Testament. We must have the right perspective on this or we'll go wrong at every other point in the existence of Christianity.

When this is clear, everything falls into place. When this is obscured or attacked or mocked or misrepresented, the clarity and the glory of God and salvation is proportionately diminished as well. Ephesians chapter 1, the same apostle that wrote Titus is writing Ephesians, and he opens up in verse 3 and notice how he is praising and blessing God. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world.

This is just exactly what we've been saying all along. God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, before time began. God chose those that he wanted to be the recipients of saving grace. Turn in your Bibles to the right toward the book of Revelation to 2 Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians.

What I want you to see is simply this, and there's so much more that I could and probably should bring out, but for the sake of time I won't. I just want you to see that this is not an isolated theme in the New Testament, nor is it an isolated theme in the Old Testament. God chose the nation of Israel in the Old Testament to be the unique recipients and dispensers of his revelation. He chose a nation.

He chose one nation amongst the nations of the world. This is his prerogative. And we must, we must humble ourselves and acknowledge that if this is what God wants to do, then he has the complete freedom and pleasure to do that, and it is not ours to argue with it. It is ours to submit and worship and give him glory and honor him for what he did. We must understand, oh, we must understand who God is and who we are. If you get that straight in your mind that God is the sovereign glorious majesty of the universe, and we are creatures with a limited lifespan and a limited perspective diminished by our own sin, when you start from the right perspective, then you don't think that you're going to bring God to account to what you think is fair.

You're simply going to put your hand over your mouth and say, if this is what Scripture teaches, then God has done all things well, and I will submit and bow to him and receive this with humility. 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 13. The Apostle Paul says, But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren, beloved by the Lord.

They're the objects. They're the recipients of God's love. They're beloved by the Lord.

Why should you give thanks for them, Paul? Because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation. God chose you from the beginning for salvation. Paul says, And I am an apostle. I am a sent one of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am sent in order to turn the Gentiles from the dominion of darkness to the kingdom of light.

And here you are. You're in the kingdom of light. I can see that Christ is carrying out his purposes, and that gives me cause and grounds for thanks. I have been able to share in ministry to you. I see the Lord Jesus Christ saving you and bringing you to pass.

I see the fruit of ministry, and I know that it's simply a carrying out of the purposes of God from before the beginning of time, and therefore I thank God for you. He chose you from the beginning for salvation. Turn over just a couple of more pages in your Bibles to 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 10. Paul, who suffered much as an apostle, and he's writing here in 2 Timothy at the end of his life, and he says, For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen.

They're chosen. And I'm an apostle. I'm one sent by Christ. I'm commissioned for the sake of the faith of these chosen ones. And therefore, in the wisdom of God, I understand that I suffer for this. I endure it all. I patiently endure these sufferings for the sake of those that God chose before the beginning of the foundation of the world so that they would be certain to receive the salvation that he appointed to them. And notice here in 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 10, the end goal that is in mind from salvation. He says, I endure these things for the sake of those who are chosen so that there's a purpose in that they may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory. I endure these things so that they'll be saved not only in this life, but they'll receive with it eternal glory. They'll be in heaven throughout all of time. They'll be in the eternal state loving and praising God.

That's going to be glorious. They're going to see Christ. That's why I endure these things. It's inconsequential by comparison that I would endure a few years of suffering if I could carry out my commission.

This is Paul speaking. If I can carry out my commission from Christ, if I can fulfill that, God would save the ones that he chose and they would receive eternal glory. That's the point of it all.

My personal suffering is secondary. You see, the Bible teaches the reality of election. And when you understand why God saves us, it's so that he can present something to his Son, then you realize that God should do exactly what he wants to do. It is not unfair. It is not unjust. It is not unrighteous that God did not choose everyone for salvation.

That's entirely the wrong perspective. We need to remember that all of humanity has fallen sinful and rebellious against God. You and I were born into sin and we lived out sin and we enjoyed sin and rebelled against God and did not thank him and did not love him and did not obey him. For some quantity of years prior to our conversion, it would have been righteous and just for him to have judged us and condemned us to pour out his wrath upon us for our totally inexcusable rebellion and ingratitude toward him. And everyone in humanity falls under that condemnation. And so, what we see is that it's not unfair that God didn't choose everyone for salvation. What we see is that it's gracious that he chose anyone for salvation. The fact that some are saved is an expression of grace, not an expression of injustice. Perish the thought. Let such profaned things never come from our lips. And bring an accusation of injustice against God. Who are you, oh man, that answers a back to God like that?

Paul says in Romans 9. Let me give you another illustration to help you illustrate this. Suppose that you're all watching and I'm interacting with Nancy after the service and I reach into my wallet and I pull out a $20 bill and say, Nancy, I want to give you a gift. I hope that this encourages you.

Go have a nice meal someplace or whatever you want to do. But this is for you. And I want you to have it. Better yet, suppose that you gave that gift to Nancy and people are watching as you do. That would be a gracious gift on your part. Nancy has no claim on anything that's yours. Nothing that's in your wallet belongs to hers. You took what was yours and you gave it to her and said, this is an expression of love to encourage you along the way this week.

And you do that and it gives you pleasure to do that. That would be a good, loving, gracious thing for you to do. Nancy, don't get any ideas here. This is just an illustration. Not a promise. You give that gift to Nancy. Does that suddenly obligate you to give $20 to everyone else that's in the room? Does the fact that you show kindness to one obligate you to show kindness, the same kindness to everyone?

Obviously not. As you give one gift, you still retain possession and prerogative over everything else that you still own. If someone came up to you, if I came up to you and I said, hey, I saw you gave $20 to Nancy, where's mine?

You would look at me and say, what is the matter with you? You're sick. It doesn't work that way. I didn't offer the gift to you. That doesn't mean I've wronged you. It simply means that I was gracious to Nancy.

It's what I wanted to do. And if somebody tried to insist, no, you must give $20 to everyone, you would say, I'm sorry, this conversation's over. It's time for you to go. And you would be right and just to say that. Your gift doesn't obligate you to someone who makes demands who has no claim on you. You would automatically, listen, for those of you that have wrestled with this doctrine and are still not sure where you come out on it, if you put yourself in the position of the giver of the gift, you will automatically embrace God's prerogative to do what he wants with salvation because you would never tolerate somebody demanding that from you.

You would recognize it for the greed and the ingratitude that it is. If I've been gracious to one, I haven't wronged you by not extending the same gift to you. My gift to one doesn't obligate me to give the gift to everyone. Salvation belongs to the Lord. It's his to distribute as he wishes.

That's the reality of election. Scripture teaches it. God is gracious and good.

And let me say one other thing here before we leave this topic. It's so hard to isolate one strand of these theological issues and just focus on them because you can focus on election and just think that it turns it into something cold and that's not the case of Scripture's teaching at all. What you have to understand is, although God has a particular redemptive love for his elect, it's not that he's suddenly ungracious to those who don't receive salvation. He is good to them. He sends the sun and the rain upon them equally, the righteous with the unrighteous. He pours out goodness and they enjoy the graces of human love and human enjoyment and relationships.

All the while suppressing the knowledge of God and rejecting Christ and showing no regard for him, God is good to them all along anyway. They get to wake up and see a beautiful sunrise. They get to wake up and enjoy their families. They get to wake up and do other things that they find contentment in. All of this is an expression of the goodness of God upon their lives.

The fact that he goes further with some does not mean that he's been unkind and ungracious to others. We need to see all of this from God's perspective and bow and honor and worship him in response. That's the reality of election. As Pastor Don Green has reminded us today on the Truth Pulpit, whether the doctrine of election appeals to your understanding or not, Scripture most assuredly teaches it. But given our fallen state and our own inability, how wonderful that God takes care of every aspect of our salvation.

So how does evangelism fit in? Don will cover that on our next broadcast. Do join us. Right now, Don's back here in studio with us with some closing words. As we close today, I just want to make something available to you. As you listen to these radio broadcasts, they have to fit into a 25-minute format, and we're very grateful for the opportunity the Lord's given us to do just that. But the radio messages are born out of a longer sermon message that contains more information, more background, a fuller explanation of the passage than what we're able to do on radio. So I encourage you to go to our website and find the link that says Follow Don's Pulpit. That will lead you to a podcast that gives you the full-length sermons from every Sunday and every Tuesday from My Pulpit. I really think that it will minister to you over time to hear the full-length messages. So we make that available for free, and we would love you to join us in that way as well. Just visit us at thetruthpulpit.com. Again, that's thetruthpulpit.com. Now for Don Green, I'm Bill Wright, and we'll see you next time for more from The Truth Pulpit.