Welcome to a firm foundation presented by Princeton ministries with Dr. Ken Smith. This is Carol Smith, Ken’s wife. Please enjoy.

Our God and our father, we come before you asking that by your word that you would enlighten our hearts and minds. It Father, we would ask that you would help us to release our hands and father, that we would put aside our human instinct. Father, that we would come before you and ask you to teach us about the things that are a great mystery, about those motives that come from your heart, that would cause us to say that we are christians. Help us to see ourselves as you see us. For we ask this in Jesus’s name. Amen. Let me ask you a question. Do you really want to understand the deep teachings of God? Well, I do. And yet sometimes it seems that we as christians stroll along the shore of God’s grace and some of us don’t even get our feet wet.

Others of us will put our big toe into the lake. And there are some others who go out knee deep and they begin to wade with the children. There are a few who are able to go out into this great lake of God’s word and go to the water that is over their head and they are able to swim, but they seem to be fewer and fewer today. But today I’m not going to ask you to roll up your pants and wade knee deep. I’m not even asking you to come and to swim in water that’s over your head. I’m asking you to place upon your back an aqualung and to put a mask on your face and fins on your feet and to go out into the deep water of God’s word.

And that we shall dive as deeply as God’s spirit will give us breath. And as we go out into this great lake of God’s word, there on the surface, floating for all to see is salvation in Jesus Christ. You do not have to swim deeply. As a matter of fact, you don’t have to swim at all. You can stand on shore and look to the surface of God’s word, and there you will see that there is a Jesus Christ who offers to all who will come his salvation. But as we begin to go down there in front of us, we see just below the surface the mystery of God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. We dive a little deeper. The water seems to be getting a little more murky.

But there before us is the teaching of the church and fellowship and prayer and witnessing, and we say, yes, I can see it. But then we take a deeper breath. And there on the bottom of the lake is a chest. And in that chest are many jewels that it seems we seldom talk about or even consider. And so we take out a beautiful diamond and we look at its many facets and it’s called the sovereignty of God. And we begin to see how God is at work in all of his creation. We see another jewel that is seldom handled by Christians. We lift it up and we look at it and it is called election, predestination for ordination. And we look at this, we look for the fingerprints of those who have touched that jewel within the realm of the church.

And we see that really this has been handled many times. And yet it’s funny that as we consider the topic of predestination, there are many who think that this is like a brand-new doctrine. Where did you get this one from? And yet, if we look at the many teachings of scripture, we find that the doctrine of predestination, of election, of foreordination, is one that is so wrapped into all of scripture that if were to take out all of those verses that are related to this subject, we would literally place the scriptures in shreds. And unfortunately, it seems that we live in a day where this teaching has received comparatively little attention on the part of Christians.

However, if we simply looked at the church in past ages, we would find that most of all the evangelical churches and the churches that exist today in our own community, if you look at their creeds, their statement of belief, you will find that most churches in the christian church believe in the doctrine of predestination. Some people think this is a peculiar teaching to Presbyterians. Well, nothing could be further from the truth. As a matter of fact, if you look to the teachings of a number of denominations, for example, the Baptist Church has within its creeds and its historical belief the understanding and acceptance of predestination. The congregational Church, that is throughout New England in our own country, from its founding statements, believes in predestination. The Church of England, the Anglican Church, believes in predestination. The Episcopal Church believes in predestination.

The Lutheran church believes in predestination. The Puritans, the pilgrims believed in predestination. The covenanters of Scotland, the Huguenots of France. Why, if you were to go through a list of protestant churches, it is virtually a who’s who in the protestant world of the belief in the historical teaching of this doctrine. And if were to look to theologians over the history of the church, we would find not only did they believe in predestination. But they preached it with great fervency, with great urgency, as one of the key teachings of scripture that would begin to be an umbrella for all of the other teachings of scripture. And so we find that Augustine, John Wycliffe, Martin Luther, John Calvin Zwingley, George Whitfield, Charles Hodge, Jonathan Edwards, B. B. Warfield.

I could go on and on of a list of who’s who in theological study who believed and taught this doctrine. And yet, as Lorraine Botner tells us, up until about 100 years ago, this doctrine of predestination was boldly set forth by the great majority of ministers and teachers in the protestant church. Yet today, in some churches, this doctrine is considered to be an obsolete teaching. We take it out every now and then and blow the dust off of this teaching, and then we place it somewhere back in the catacombs. There are some people who just simply hearing the word predestination, election, it’s as though you have waved a red flag in front of an enraged bull, and out they come, ready to attack.

And I can see from the look on a few faces that there may be a few here who share the same concern about the doctrine. Well, the question of predestination or election is not to be answered by what is men’s reaction to this doctrine, but rather is it a biblical teaching? Now, the belief of predestination is that God, from the beginning of time, has planned and knows by name every individual who will ever put their faith in Jesus Christ. Not only does he know that, but he ordained that it would occur. And so when Jesus says that all that the father has given to me will come, we have the wonderful promise that every single sheep will come to Jesus Christ, who God from the beginning of time had decreed that they would come.

I also want to let you know that this doctrine, in a peculiar way, sheds a light on the heart of christians, and it also casts a light on the heart of unbelievers. In the book of John, the 6th chapter, it’s interesting to note that Jesus on four occasions makes reference that no one can come to Jesus to himself unless it has been granted to him by my father four times in that chapter, that phrase or that thought occurs. Now, it seems that people gladly came to Jesus when he was delivering his sermon on the mount. And people came with great enthusiasm by the thousands when Jesus was going to heal. We find that they came literally by the thousands.

When it was known that Jesus was about to perform a miracle, and bread and fish would be multiplied, they would come when Jesus was going to heal. They would come when Jesus was going to teach. But John, chapter six, verse 65, says that no one can come to me, says Jesus, unless it has been granted to him by my father. That sounds an awful lot like election. That sounds an awful lot as though Jesus knew that there were people in that crowd who would not come, who would never come. But there were also people in that crowd who would come. And those who the father had granted would come and would respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And then we read in John 666, from that time, many of his disciples went away and walked with Jesus no more, that they were there when Jesus would heal. They were there when Jesus would feed. They were there when Jesus would perform miracles. But once Jesus declared that his father had given a number of people who had come to him, the people not only declared that this is too hard, but they refused to come and to name themselves as a disciple of Jesus Christ. So in a peculiar way, this doctrine begins to cast a light on our own heart. I remember the first time that I ever heard about the doctrine of election or predestination. There was a man saying that God, from the beginning of time, had decided that certain people would become Christians and that others would not.

I was not a Christian. When I heard that. I was so enraged. I don’t remember ever being as angry as I was at that teaching, to the point that the longer he talked, it was as though my vision was blinded. And as I looked at him with rage inside. You mean to say that there’s nothing I can do to become a Christian. You mean to say that God has decreed from the beginning of time a set number of people who are going to become christians. You mean to say that I can’t be good enough to become a Christian. You mean to say that I don’t deserve to go to heaven? That man said, that’s exactly what I mean to say. I left that room outraged at the narrowness and the bigotry of that belief.

And now I stand before you to proclaim that God, from the beginning of time has called a people to himself, and not one of those sheep shall be lost. Except, said Jesus, the son of perdition, Judas. Lest you think that Judas was truly a believer and then stopped believing, then after this teaching, Jesus turns to his twelve and he asks them, do you too want to go away? And Simon Peter says, but to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. And almost as though Jesus wants to underscore how important it is that he chose them and not they who chose him. He closes this whole discourse when he says, did I not choose you? The twelve.

Well, when we look at the subject of election or predestination, first we must see that we live in a world that is already determined to a great extent. Something or someone has determined that a lizard is a lizard and that a rose is a rose. Some force, some process, something has already determined many things in the world in which we live. What will be a sparrow, what will be an eagle, what will be a rabbit, what will be a giraffe. But it’s also true within the world of men and women, we know that some are born as boys, some as girls. There are some who are very clever and quick to understand. There are others who are dull. There are some who are born into homes that are rich. There are some who are born into homes that are poor.

The Church of Jesus Christ has said that all of these things that are before us as living illustrations, that something has predetermined many of the parts of our own life, that something is not fate, just mere chance. The church has been very clear to say, nor is it man who has determined these things. What has the church said through the centuries as taught in the scripture? The church has said that there is a sovereign God who has declared from the beginning all that shall occur. Why are you a boy? Because God planned it that way. Why are you a girl? Because God planned it that way. Why is one born into a rich home, another into a poor home? Because it’s all part of the plan and the understanding of God.

And I think that anyone who looks at life has already concluded that much of life is already determined to one extent or another. Well, what does the Bible teach on the topic of election or predestination? Well, first, if were to remove those words, election, the chosen, the foreordained, we would find that to expunge those words from the Bible would leave us with a scripture that would have no meaning. For it is found not in an isolated verse, but it is wrapped throughout the scripture. And the scripture teach there is a group of people who are called the elect, those who Jesus said, on a day God shall call with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather his elect, who shall lay any charge to God’s elect.

Paul said that he would endure all things for the elect’s sake, knowing, beloved, your election of God, what about predestination? Well, in ephesians we find having predestined us unto adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will being predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things after the counsel of his own will. And in the book of Romans there is to be found what is referred to as the golden chain, that chain which seeks to explain eternity past, to eternity future. And how God has called men and women to faith. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, the scriptures tell us, them he also called. And whom he called, them he also justified. And whom he justified, them he also glorified. Now, a word of caution on looking at this doctrine.

It is very easy to take this doctrine and to place it outside of our understanding of God the Father who is sovereign. It is very easy to take this doctrine and place it on a shelf and leave it alone, as though it were not related to the church, as though it were not related topics like justification and sanctification and glorification. But all of these are tied in to the subject that is before us, predestination. And to look at this alone is to distort its importance. It must be understood within the context of the entire teaching of scripture. Now, the question that is fairly asked, well, why did God predestinate or elect or foreordain that there would be some people who would receive eternal life? Well, I would be troubled if there were just a single verse that tried to answer that question.

But when we look to scripture, we find that God is so concerned about this particular teaching that he takes not a single verse, but he takes not even a single chapter. But he devotes three entire chapters that we might not misunderstand this particular doctrine. And so he takes the book of Romans, chapter eight, chapter nine, and chapter ten, all to focus upon the question of how is it that God has called some people to himself? Well, in those chapters we learn that there are some reasons why God did not choose us. One of those is found in Romans, chapter nine, verse eleven. Here we are told that the children not yet being born, nor having done either good or evil, that the purpose of God, according to election, might stand. And who is he talking about?

Verse 13, Jacob and Esau, these two born in their mother’s womb. He says that for the purpose of election, I chose one and I did not choose the other, unless you think it was because of something that they had done good in the future. He makes it very clear, having not yet been born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God, according to election, might stand not of works. We know that God has not called anyone to be a Christian because they are an outstanding shining jewel. That God looks down from heaven and says, I’ve got to have one of those in my church. It is not because you have been good enough. As a matter of fact, it’s not because you have even been bad enough. But rather, the reason that God chose one over the other.

Is that his purpose of election might stand. Another reason we know that is not the reason that God has elected some to eternal life. Is found in Romans, chapter nine, verse 16. Here we read. So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. In other words, there is no one who is a Christian. Because God looked at them and said, you will become a Christian because you want to become one so badly or because you have tried so hard. No, he says, it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. Why is anyone a Christian? It is because of the mercy of God. Not because of anything I’ve done. Simply because of his mercy. Why has God predestined some to eternal life?

The closest we can come to answer is found in Romans, chapter nine, verse 15. When God, who is our creator, says this, I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy. And I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion. If ever there was a declaration of scripture that would pronounce the majesty, the might, the power of this God who we say we worship, we are quickly reminded of our place in his creation. And perhaps the most difficult part of the doctrine of predestination. Is to say that there are some who God has ordained from the beginning of time. That they will not believe. And that Jesus, when he looked over Jerusalem, he wept because they would not come. Their hearts were so opposed, their wills were so lifted, high in pride and arrogance. To be able to say, look at me.

Look at all that I know. Why I am a chemist, why I am a businessman, why I am a success in life. And you mean to say that there is nothing that I can do. I must simply cry out to God for his mercy if I would be saved? Yes. Isn’t it amazing that you and I, who understand so little about life? I don’t understand how my wife can go into the kitchen and take some flour and some apples. And a couple of hours later I’m eating a hot apple pie. I don’t understand how that happens. I don’t understand how yeast causes flour to rise. Do you? I don’t understand. When I get in the car and I turn on the radio. How I can hear that music. Do you understand all of that? Do you understand the intricacies of the computers? I don’t.

There are many things in this life that I simply don’t understand. I would have to say most of the things that are happening around me I don’t understand. And yet we come before God and we demand of him, I will not believe in you until I can understand. I will not put my faith in you until I understand every subtlety of this teaching of election or predestination. I will not put my faith ignorantly in you as we go shooting down the highway at 70 miles an hour in a car that we don’t understand, why the brakes work in an engine that we don’t understand, why it moves or slows down. How foolish we would be if were to say, I will not go in that car until I understand every function of every nut and screw and bolt.

Why we would look at such a person who would say, you’re a fool. Stay home. Why is it that we can become so arrogant to this God? Job faced that question, and God answered him. He said, who is this who asks questions without knowledge? Prepare yourself, says God, I will question you. And so, Job, who is prepared to ask the question of God? Why has all this suffering fallen on me? God says, simply answer these questions. Where were you when the world was made and the foundations of the earth were laid? Job, can you hold back the sea? Job, can you cause the hail to fall from the sky? Job, are you able to unloose a thunderbolt and make it strike the mark? Job, can you give strength to a horse? Job, are you able to cause an eagle to fly overhead?

And job is silent. He concludes, I know God that you can do anything and that no purpose of yours will be withheld from you. The doctrine of predestination election keeps no one out of heaven. As a matter of fact, this teaching populates heaven. For it is God who in his mercy has reached down and touched hearts and minds that they might believe and trust. Because the closing on this teaching is found in the book of Romans, chapter ten, the continuation of the teaching on predestination. And it amazes me that it is precisely this verse that is used by so many in an attempt to counter the teaching of predestination. And yet the context of this verse is the context of the teaching on predestination. Romans ten, verse nine.

If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. And verse ten for with the heart one believes to righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made to salvation. I think the problem with christians is we have been listening to the confessions from the mouth, which is a confession of belief in Jesus Christ. But we have not asked ourselves, how can someone confess that? And it’s told to us in the verse. For with the heart one believes your heart. And my heart is a dead heart spiritually, until God comes and touches that heart that it might believe. And it is from that heart that comes forth this confession.

And I would encourage all who are within the sound of my voice that you would not let this teaching stand in the way of your confessing Jesus Christ, of putting your faith in him, that you might know him and love him, that you might humbly call upon God and ask him to change your heart. For the problem is not in the words, the problem is in the heart. And it is God who is that great surgeon who performs heart surgery and takes dead, cold, stone like hearts and he changes them into hearts of flesh, hearts that are able then to speak forth. I believe in Jesus Christ, for it is Jesus, the same Jesus who believed that no one could come to him except the father would send them.

It is Jesus who says, come to me, and him who comes to me, I, Jesus, will in no way cast out. Come to Jesus Christ. Ask him to change your heart, that you might confess with your lips that Jesus is the Christ. Let us pray. Our God and our father. As we come up for air, we realize that we have looked for a few moments at some of the deep things that are hidden in your word. And Father, we ask that we would be the type of Christian who would not say, give me the shore, give me the surface, let me only wade knee deep. Father, help us to dive into your word, to be submerged, to look at our world through your word.

And Father, we ask that your spirit would change hearts, that we might trust in you and confess that you are the sovereign God who knows all from yesterday, today, and forever, and that all would be brought to your glory, for we ask this in Jesus’s name. Amen.

Thank you for listening to a firm foundation presented by Princeton ministries. This programming is supported by you, the listener. You may go to our website, princetonministries.org or send your donation to Princeton Ministries Post office box 2171, Princeton, New Jersey 8543. That’s Princeton Ministries, post office box 2171, Princeton, New Jersey 8543. The Lord bless you and Dr. Smith looks forward to hearing from you. We would like to thank Rone’s web development company for making this webcast possible. You can find their link at the bottom of our website, princetonministries.org.