Election

Driving home: It's as though Paul was so conscious of the interrelatedness of God's salvation, the place of the Father in electing, the place of the Son in redeeming, the place of the Spirit in sealing, that he would not even have a s…

Martin uses Ezekiel's vision to describe the complex, interrelated structure of Paul's single, long sentence in Ephesians 1:3-14, where truths are overlaid and interconnected.

As one attempts to somehow lay out the structure of this great hymn of praise, I'm thought, I'm brought back to think again and again of Ezekiel's visions of the wheels within the wheels. There was this great movement that he had in this apocalyptic vision, and there was symmetry and order, and yet it was complex, for there were wheels spinning within wheels. That's the way I feel when I try to diagram this great sentence, for it's really only one sentence. It's as though Paul was so conscious of the interrelatedness of God's salvation, the place of the Father in electing, the place of the Son...

1:55 - 3:24 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The sermon begins by focusing on the 'fact of election' in Ephesians 1:4, emphasizing that Paul presents this doctrine within a rapturous burst of praise to God, not as a debated…

This metaphor illustrates Paul's aggressive, polemical approach in Galatians, contrasting it with the devotional tone of Ephesians 1.

Now he is not below doing that. You take up the book of Galatians, and Paul comes out with his cudgels and his swords and his machine guns and his cudgels are going and his machine guns are blazing. And he says, right at the outset, he bypasses even formal greetings. And he says, if we, an angel, anybody comes brings another gospel.

6:47 - 7:10 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not regard doctrine as unrelated to heart religion; if you want to love God like Paul, you must think hard and long on great doctrines like election.

Martin challenges listeners to imagine themselves bursting out in praise like Paul, even in public places, as a result of deep reflection on doctrines like election.

That you find yourself forgetting where you are sometimes and in the middle of a subway in New York, or in the middle of a bus going into Newark, bursting out, blessed be God! How are you going to come to that place? By thinking hard and long on the great doctrine of election. That's how Paul came to that place.

10:21 - 10:41 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not approach the doctrine of election with a combative spirit, seeking to 'skin those Arminians,' but rather with a spirit of worship and praise.

This vivid metaphor describes the wrong spirit of those who approach the doctrine of election as a 'call to arms' against theological opponents, rather than with a spirit of worship.

And a remembrance of the context of this statement, the climate of it, will keep us from thinking there is any kind of warfare between a burning devotional heart and a mind that thinks hard and long and clearly about great Christian doctrines. Then there is, on the other hand, the mentality which always regards the very mention of the word election as a call to arms. To some people, to say the word election is tantamount to saying, pick up your cudgel, get out your machine guns, and then get your bludgeon all spattered with the skull bones of Arminians and wet with the blood of those who deny ...

10:53 - 11:53 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The essence of election is defined as 'graciously sovereign selectivity,' meaning God picks out for Himself from a mass of undifferentiated things, with the choice determining the…

The story of David selecting five stones from the brook is used to illustrate the concept of sovereign selection, where the choice creates the difference among otherwise similar items.

They were all apostles until God made a choice and now one of them is the mouthpiece to bring the gospel to the Gentiles. Same word used in the instance with David selecting the five stones out of the brook. In 1 Samuel 17, he selected, he elected five stones. A brook bed full of stones, all in the same condition, but when a selection is made, now the difference in that which is selected is determined by the will and purpose of the selector.

24:51 - 25:21 Read in full sermon

The point: Understand that the doctrine of election never bars a sinner from Jesus Christ; if you are conscious of your need, come to Christ, for God has not put a roadblock.

Martin uses the metaphor of a 'roadblock' with 'ELECTION! No trespassing' to refute the idea that the doctrine of election hinders sinners from coming to Christ.

Listen. The doctrine of election never once barred the way of a sinner to Jesus Christ. Never once did any sinner conscious of his need and that his answer was in Christ set out to lay hold of Christ and find God put a roadblock in front of him and in it big bold letters, ELECTION! No trespassing.

45:10 - 45:32 Read in full sermon

The point: Understand that the doctrine of election never bars a sinner from Jesus Christ; if you are conscious of your need, come to Christ, for God has not put a roadblock.

This metaphor illustrates that election, far from being a barrier, actually 'paved the road' for a great multitude of sinners to come to Christ, who otherwise never would have.

No sinner would have paved it. God said, I'll pave it and I'll see that some people get on it and they'll come unto my Son and will be eternal monuments of my sovereign mercy. Oh, if you're here this morning a stranger to grace and to Christ, you say, what gospel is there in that? For me, my friend, it's the most glorious gospel.

46:00 - 46:23 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not have reservations about ascribing to God the praise for your salvation, rooted in an intelligent grasp and adoring wonder before the doctrine of election.

Martin addresses the objection that election makes one a 'puppet' by arguing that sinners are already puppets, manipulated by their lusts and the devil, and true freedom comes only through Christ.

And if you go out this morning and say, oh, I don't believe that doctrine. I don't believe that doctrine. It'll make me a little puppet. My friend, when you come to the discovery that that's precisely what you are by nature, my Bible says that sinners are taken captive by the devil unto His will.

47:45 - 48:05 Read in full sermon