ELECTION

Arthur W. Pink said, “Election is the root of all blessings… If election is taken away, everything is taken away… All spiritual blessings are given to us ‘According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world’ (Ephesians 1:3, 4).” John Calvin said, ‘We shall never be clearly convinced that our salvation flows from the fountain of God’s free mercy, till we are acquainted with his eternal election” (Institutes of the Christian Religion, volume 2, p. 415).

Mr. Pink said, “The knowledge that God has predestined me to eternal glory guarantees that no effort of Satan can possibly bring about my destruction, for if God is for me, who can be against me?”

I came to believe in election late in my ministry. It brought great peace to me in preaching the Gospel. It made me realize that the salvation of others depended not on my ability, and what joy it brought me (not to think that salvation depended on my own ability, but by God Himself). Hope came to me as I discovered that election saved the worst of sinners as trophies of God’s grace! Since the words “predestined,” “elect” and “chosen” are so prominent in the Bible, I finally felt I had to accept them, or else reject the Holy Scriptures as the divinely inspired Word of truth! if it were not true.

Let it be plainly preached that without election no one would be saved! I was not taught election in the seminary, and not in my own church.

The unfallen state of Satan. Please turn to Ezekiel 28:1 (p. 870 Scofield). Here we are told that Satan was the “prince” of Tyre. Now look at Ezekiel 28:12. The prince of Tyre was the king of that place. But Satan was the true king. Stand as I read Ezekiel 28:12-15 (p. 871).

“Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee” (Ezekiel 28:12-15).

This goes beyond the king of Tyre to Satan, the unseen ruler. The physical king of Tyre was not in Eden. This is a picture of Satan before he was cast out of Heaven. Remain standing and turn to Isaiah 14 (p. 726). I will read verses 12-17,

“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?” (Isaiah 14:12-17).

“Lucifer” means “son of the morning.” The key verse is verse 12.

“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!” (Isaiah 14:12).

You may be seated. Dr. Scofield says that verses 12-14 “refer to Satan, who is the prince of this world-system.” Dr. Scofield then says that Satan is “the unseen ruler of the world powers – Tyre, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, etc. …Lucifer can be none other than Satan. This passage is the beginning of sin in the universe. When Lucifer said, ‘I will’ sin began.” Lucifer said, “I will be like the most High [God],” verse 14.

Today Satan is “the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2; p. 1251). That is why the unconverted cannot be persuaded to stay in a church split. At the last Passover Jesus said, “One of you shall betray me” (John 13:21; p. 1134). Peter asked Jesus who it was. Jesus said, “He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot… And after the sop Satan entered into him” (John 13:26, 27; p. 1135). That is one of the highly important verses in the New Testament. Jesus told Judas that he (Judas) would betray Him. Then Judas ate the sop and “Satan entered into him.” A man who is demonized cannot stop betraying Christ.

You cannot persuade a man to stay in a church split when that man has become demon possessed. Why not? Because that person is under the control of Satan, and is not one of the elect.

Are you one of the elect? I know from the Bible that Waldrip and Kreighton are not among the elect. But I think there are at least two young men who left who probably are elect. We will see whether or not they are. Personally I think they are. Both Peter and Judas betrayed Jesus. But Peter repented and came back. Judas hanged himself and went to Hell. Will the two who left in the confusion repent and come back with us? It will take the grace of God for them to go through real repentance and come back with us. I think they may. That is why it seems to me that God lays on my heart to pray for them every night. I never pray for Waldrip and Kreighton to repent and come back. It is too clear that they are reprobate, and not among the elect. Read again Dr. Cagan’s sermon, “Two Pastors From Hell.” See if you agree with him. I think you will.

But the young men who ran away may well be like Peter. They may be enabled to repent and come back. They will if they are among the elect! They will not if they are not among the elect! Peter came back. The Prodigal Son came back. Why? Because God had chosen them. “Many are called, but few are chosen.”

Fill all my vision, Saviour, I pray,
     Let me see only Jesus today;
Though through the valley Thou leadest me,
     Thy fadeless glory encompasseth me.
Fill all my vision, Saviour divine,
     Till with Thy glory my spirit shall shine.
Fill all my vision, that all may see
     Thy Holy Image reflected in me.

Fill all my vision, every desire
     Keep for Thy glory; my soul inspire,
With Thy perfection, Thy holy love,
     Flooding my pathway with light from above.
Fill all my vision, Saviour divine,
     Till with Thy glory my spirit shall shine.
Fill all my vision, that all may see
     Thy Holy Image reflected in me.

Fill all my vision, let naught of sin
     Shadow the brightness shining within.
Let me see only Thy blessed face,
     Feasting my soul on Thy infinite grace.
Fill all my vision, Saviour divine,
     Till with Thy glory my spirit shall shine.
Fill all my vision, that all may see
     Thy Holy Image reflected in me.
(“Fill All My Vision” by Avis Burgeson Christiansen, 1895-1985).