Introduction
1. Email funny by Ken and Shelia Bailey
While walking down the street one day a US senator is tragically hit by a truck and dies.
His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance.
"Welcome to heaven," says St. Peter. "Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a important government official around these parts, so we’re not sure what to do with you."
"No problem, just let me in," says the man.
"Well, I’d like to, but I have orders from higher up. What we’ll do is have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven. Then you can choose where to spend eternity."
"Really, I’ve made up my mind. I want to be in heaven," says the senator.
"I’m sorry, but we have our rules."
And with that, St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell.
The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a green golf course.
In the distance is a clubhouse and standing in front of it are all his friends and other politicians who had worked with him.
Everyone is very happy and in evening dress.
They run to greet him, shake his hand, and reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich at the expense of the people.
They play a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster, caviar and Diet Coke.
Also present is the devil, who, contrary to popular opinion...
really seems to be a very friendly guy who has a good time dancing and telling jokes.
They are having such a good time that before he realizes it, it is time to go.
Everyone gives him a hearty farewell and waves while the elevator rises...
The elevator goes up, up, up and the door reopens on heaven where St. Peter is waiting for him.
"Now it’s time to visit heaven."
So, 24 hours pass with the senator joining a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing.
They have a good time and, before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and St. Peter returns "Well, then, you’ve spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now choose your eternity."
The senator thinks about it for a minute, then he answers: "Well, I would never have said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think I would be better off in hell."
So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell.
Now the doors of the elevator open and he’s in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage, and fire and brimstone...
He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking through garbage as more garbage falls from above.
The devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulder.
"I don’t understand," whines the senator "Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and clubhouse, and we ate lobster and caviar, drank Diet Coke, and danced and had a great time. Now there’s just a wasteland full of garbage and fire and my friends look miserable. What happened?"
The devil looks at him, smiles and says, "Yesterday we were campaigning...... Today you voted."
2. Well, now that the campaigns are over...
We will see how those that were elected will govern...
Regardless of how you feel about the election...
and if whoever you voted for won or lost...
I want us to look at an election that we can all get excited about...
democrat, republican, independent...doesn’t matter what your political leanings are...
or even if you have NO political leanings...
And that is: Scriptural election...
3. As we have been studying the ABCs and XYZs of the Bible...
We come to the letter E...
E is for elect or election...
politically, election is how we select the government officials who will represent us in government...
we even have elections in church where we elect a Church Board... SS Supt, Missions President, and so forth.
theologically...Election is different...
Election is quite a complex doctrine...
There have been oodles of pages written explaining the doctrine from different perspectives...
I won’t be able to cover the doctrine in great depth in this type of format...
But I will certainly try to give a brief and simple overview of what I believe Scripture is telling us about this important doctrine...
Read Text: 2 Timothy 2:8-13, Ephesians 1:5, 11
1. The Doctrine of Election Explained...
A. Some will speak about “unconditional election”...
by which they usually mean that God has already chosen those people who will be saved...
and He has also chosen those who will be damned to hell...
So, in essence, God’s message is NOT for the whole world...
God’s message of the Good News of the Gospel of Christ is only for those who God has chosen...
For those who God has already chosen to spend eternity in hell...
Well, the Gospel message is not for them...
B. The reason that there are so many different doctrines is that the Bible says many different things...
if you read a verse here and a verse there that says certain things...
and you build your whole theology around one or two verses...
well, then that’s when some people get into trouble...
For example, there is one place in Scripture where it says that Jesus says that people who follow Him will pick up snakes with their hands and drink poison...(Mark 16:18)
Well, there are those who have taken that one verse and made snake handling the cornerstone of their worship practices...
You’ve got to consider the overall tone of Scripture...
Instead of picking out just a verse here and a verse there...
What is the overall atmosphere of God’s Word...
C. Regarding election...
those who point to a verse here or there to prove that there are some people who are predestined to be saved...
and their are some who are predestined to be sent to hell...
but there is so much Scriptural evidence to point to the fact that the Gospel is for everyone...
From the birth of Christ...
according to Luke 2:10...the angels brought the good news of great joy that will be for ALL people.
John 3:16, For God so loved the word that He gave His only begotten Son so that WHOSOVER believes in Him would not perish but have eternal life.
2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
Jesus said in John 12:32..But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself."
And I could point to many more...
But as you read your Bible...
You begin to get the picture that salvation is intended to be for everyone...
D. Which, of course, begs the question, “What are you going to do with the Scriptures about election and predestination”?...
and my answer is...
to understand election by understanding the tone of the whole Bible...
2. The Chosen People
A. God chose a specific nation...the Jewish nation...
in fact, we often refer to them as “the Chosen people”...
Deuteronomy 14:2 says, “you are a people holy to the Lord your God. Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the Lord has chosen you to be his treasured possession
But the question is...chosen for what?...
are they chosen to receive salvation and that everyone is chosen to be lost?...
No...
They were chosen to be the first recipients of the Messiah...
The Messiah would come from among the Jews...
He would minister to and among the Jews...
But the Gospel message was and is intended for everyone...
Israel was chosen to be the recipients of God’s love...
so that Israel would in turn make God’s love known to all people.1
In Genesis 12:3, God says, “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."
They were blessed...not just for their own benefit...
they were blessed...in order to be a blessing to others...
B. I suppose that God could have somehow expressed His love to all people all at one time...
But that wasn’t His plan...
God’s plan was to reveal His love and His Son first to a particular people...
and then, those people would in turn share God’s love and the Gospel message throughout the world.
Just because God elected to use the Jewish people...
that doesn’t mean that all Jewish people would follow God....
there was no unconditional election there...
some of the Jews chose to follow God...
some chose to follow other gods...
some chose to following nothing other than their own desires...
and that’s the way it is today...
God’s plan as been given to all...
First to the Jew...and then to the rest of the world...
That’s the whole meaning of Scripture...
Jesus told His disciples to preach the Gospel throughout the world and make disciples of ALL nations.
Jesus didn’t die on the cross for a select few...
Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the entire world...
Conclusion: The Doctrine of Election in Practice
1. With the doctrine of election the way some people believe it...
there could crop up within us an uncertainly about whether God really wants us to be saved or not...
Someone might think, “well, I think I’m saved...but what if I’m not one of God’s elect...
then, not matter what I do, I will still be lost”...
But God doesn’t want you to live with doubt...
God doesn’t want you to live with skepticism...
Election doesn’t mean that God elects just some to get saved and some to be lost...
election means that God has picked what will happen to those people who CHOSE to accept Christ and to those who CHOSE to reject Christ.
Predestination does not determine who gets picked for salvation...
predestination is what happens to those who accept God’s offer of salvation.
God’s offer of salvation is a gift...
He doesn’t predestine or force it on us...
we chose to accept the gift or to reject the gift...
God has a predetermined plan to bring us safely through to heaven...
It’s up to us whether we will follow God’s plan...
or step out on our own.
You are free to accept God’s gift...and many of you have...
and you certainly have the hope of heaven...if you remain faithful to Him...
and...sadly, many people have already rejected that plan...
Not because of God’s diabolical scheme to exclude certain people...
But because they have exercised their free will...
and they have decided or elected to reject Christ.
2. Frank Moore is a well-known theologian and author in Nazarene circles...
He wrote a book called “Coffee Shop Theology”...
and a second book called, “More Coffee Shop Theology”...
In this book, he gives an excellent illustration of election and predestination that explains it better than anything else I’ve read...
He writes:
A city bus passes in front of my office every day. The sign on thefront says “downtown”. The bus driver does NOT carry a list of people who can and can’t ride the bus; everyone with a dollar bill is welcome. Neither does he drive wherever his imagination takes him each day. He has a predetermined travel plan that takes the bus from our suburb to the center of the city. If I choose to get on that bus, the bus company guarantees that I will end up downtown. I am not forced to stay on the bus all the way to its final destination. I can pull the cord over the window and get off any time I want. But if I choose to stay with my original decision, I will get downtown sooner or later. That’s the way predestination works. The bus of salvation passes by our heart. Jesus Christ sits in the drivers seat. The sign on the front reads “heaven”. The driver does NOT have a predetermined list of riders; He invites everyone to come aboard. If we choose to get on the bus, God guarantees that we will end up in heaven. We are not forced to stay on the bus all the way to its final destination. We can get off any time we want. But if we choose to stay with our original decision, we are certain to make it to heaven some day. In a world of uncertainty, that’s one thing for sure!”2
3. Well, here we are up to the letter E in our Biblical ABCs...
E is for election...
I’m sure glad that this political election is over for awhile!!!
I get tired of all the politicking and all the negative campaigning...
But I’m also glad that our SPIRITUAL election does not end...
At least God doesn’t end it...
He has chosen you for eternity...
He has elected you to live for Him...
He has predestined you to make heaven your home...
He gives us the plan...
He gives us the strength and the help to make it through...
He gives us His Son Jesus as the atoning sacrifice for our sins...
And, He even gives us the free will to chose NOT to go with Christ!...
So, the only way our SPIRITUAL election will end...
is if we so choose...
4. Well, regardless of your feelings about yesterday’s election...
I hope you are excited about your election through Jesus Christ!
