(“Searching For The Chosen”)

II Timothy 2:8-10 (NASU)

“… I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory.” (II Timothy 2:10)

Heavenly Father, Your Spirit-inspired word (c.f. II Peter 1:20-21) tells us You have chosen a people from among all the sinners on earth to be Your own special possession (c.f. I Peter 2:9), not because there was anything in them that made them worthy or deserving, but simply because You chose to love them unconditionally (c.f. Deuteronomy 7:7). Furthermore, You have determined to save these people through the miracle of regeneration (c.f. John 3:3-8) so they have both the ability and the desire to repent of their sins and profess faith in Jesus Christ (c.f. Ephesians 2:8-9).

These are the lost sheep You have sent us to find (c.f. Luke 15:4) – the people we are specifically looking for as we try and build friendships with non-Christians – the people we are searching for as we go about fulfilling our Savior’s mandate to be His witnesses (c.f. Acts 1:8).

Make our search successful, not for our sake but Yours – lead us to those You have chosen to save, not so we can bask in sinful pride, but so Your name will be glorified (c.f. Psalm 115:1). Use the preaching of Your word this morning to give us the same willingness Paul had (c.f. II Timothy 2:8-10) – and more importantly, Jesus had! (c.f. Philippians 2:5-8) – (i.e. a willingness) to endure whatever we must for the sake of those You have chosen to save, and/or have sent us out to find. For we ask these things in Jesus’ name – Amen.

(A) OUR SAVIOR’S MANDATE

(1) Right before our Savior ascended back to heaven, He gave His disciples a mandate, saying: “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (c.f. Acts 1:8).

This mandate isn’t just for the eleven men who were with Jesus that day (c.f. Acts 1:1-6) – or the one hundred and twenty men and women who later gathered together in an upper room to devote themselves to prayer (c.f. Acts 1:13-15) – nor was it just for those who were present on the Day of Pentecost (c.f. Acts 2:1-4). This mandate is for every person who has repented of their sins and professed faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and only Savior of sinners (c.f. Acts 4:12) – which means our Lord’s mandate is for you and me!

(2) This mandate is not so much a command to be obeyed or disobeyed as a statement of fact – for if you look closely, you’ll see Jesus wasn’t telling His disciples they had a choice as to whether or not the Holy Spirit would come upon them – rather, He told them the Holy Spirit WOULD come upon them, saying, not “if,” but: “when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” (c.f. Acts 1:8a).

Likewise, Jesus didn’t tell His disciples they had to decide whether they wanted the power the Holy Spirit would bring with Him – instead, He told them they WOULD receive the Spirit’s power, saying: “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” (c.f. Acts 1:8a).

In the same way, Jesus didn’t tell His disciples they had to choose between being or not being His witnesses – rather, when He said, “You SHALL BE My witnesses” (c.f. Acts 1:8b), He was telling them this was part of the redemptive package – that one of the costs (if you will) (c.f. Luke 14:25-33) associated with being saved by grace through faith, was that those who are so saved WILL BE His witnesses.

(3) The point is, there’s no such thing as a Christian who’s not a witness of some kind – in part, because there’s no such a thing as a Christian who doesn’t have the Holy Spirit living inside them (c.f. Romans 8:14-16; II Corinthians 1:21-22). That means there’s no such thing as a Christian from whom God the Father has withheld the power to be one of Christ’s witnesses. The issue, then, (as is true with so much of the Christian life) (the issue) is learning to be what we already are in Christ (c.f. Ephesians 5:7-10) – hence, the only question (if there is one) is, what kind of witness will we be?

Nor do we have to worry if our witness isn’t exactly like someone else’s – in part, because God has made us all different, and/or gifted us differently (c.f. Matthew 25:14-15; I Corinthians 12:4-11). The only question we have to answer in this regard is, will we hide our light under a basket – or will we set it on a stand where it can give off as much illumination as possible (c.f. Matthew 5:15)?

(B) OUR THEOLOGY WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE

(1) Recently I’ve been trying to show you that what we believe about such basic doctrines as (for example) who God is, what happened at the Fall, and/or how salvation takes place will have a direct impact on how we go about trying to fulfill our Savior’s mandate to be His witnesses.

For example, if we’re convinced everyone who makes a profession of faith in Christ must also be baptized by immersion in order to be saved, then that’s what we’re going to teach and practice. Hence, if a person makes a profession of faith, we will go to great lengths to make sure they are baptized as quickly as possible – within the hour, or at the very least, before the day is over – and we will do this even if we have to baptize them in a horse tank, or a fish pond, or an irrigation ditch.

If we believe God has predestined a certain number of people to eternal life, and that these people are going to be saved whether we do anything or not, then we may not be motivated to tell others about Christ, or even support the efforts of those who are trying to do so.¹

On the other hand, if we believe the number of people who wind up in heaven depends on how hard we work,² then we’re going to use any/every means possible (be they biblical or borrowed from the world) to get people to make even the barest profession of faith in Christ.

(2) Along these lines, then, I showed you that God (not man!) is sovereign over salvation.

The text I drew upon says, “as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed” (c.f. Acts 13:48b). But I could have easily drawn upon others passages as well – like Ephesians chapter one where Paul praises God, saying: ^{3“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, 4just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love 5He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved”} (c.f. Ephesians 1:3-6).

I could have also used the passage in Romans chapter nine, where God says: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and … compassion on whom I have compassion” (c.f. Romans 9:15) – or, I could have used this morning’s text, where Paul said: “I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen” (c.f. II Timothy 2:10a).

God’s sovereignty over salvation means the eternal destiny of men and women is in His hands, not ours – which, among other things, relieves us of the unbearable burden some try to put on us of supposedly being responsible for people going to hell because we didn’t try and talk to every seat mate on every flight we’ve ever taken, or every waitress in every restaurant in which we’ve eaten, and/or every co-worker with whom we’ve ever worked about Christ.

It also means we don’t have to water-down the Gospel to try and make it as palatable to as many people as possible – that we don’t have to compromise the truth, or leave out important details (like, for example, how offended and/or angry God is with us on account of our sin) (c.f. Psalm 11:7, KJV), (we don’t have to misrepresent the Gospel in any way) to try and get more people to make some kind of profession of faith.

The fact God is sovereign over salvation means we can take the time required to build relationships and/or friendships with people before we try and explain the Gospel to them, rather than going up to strangers and/or people we barely know and asking: “Are you saved?” It also means we don’t have to press people to make a decision before they’re ready to do so. When they’re ready to decide, they will – and the reason we know this is because we have God’s promise that “as many as (He has) appointed to eternal life (are going to believe)” (c.f. Acts 13:48b)!

(3) The last time we were together I showed you, that until God does what only He can do, the people with whom we are dealing are spiritually dead. As the text I drew upon says: “you were dead in your trespasses and sins” (c.f. Ephesians 2:1).

Since dead people are incapable of responding to outside stimuli (remember, “dead cats don’t purr!”), we need to remember that until the Holy Spirit regenerates them (c.f. John 3:3-8) we’re dealing with people who have neither the ability nor the desire (in and of themselves) to respond to the Gospel. Hence, we shouldn’t be surprised when the people with whom we’ve built a friendship don’t understand what we’re telling them – or when the people for whom we’ve been praying don’t respond positively to our attempts to tell them about Christ. Sadden? – Yes! Grieved? – Yes! But surprised? – No!

Since we’re dealing with dead people, we shouldn’t take their rejection of the Gospel personally, and/or beat ourselves up because we couldn’t convince them to repent and believe. We shouldn’t beat ourselves up over that any more than if we had stood outside Lazarus’s tomb and shouted: “Lazarus, come forth!” (c.f. John 11:43), only to have him remain in his tomb!

God alone is able to raise the dead – God alone is able to give spiritual life to those who are spiritually dead (c.f. Ephesians 2:4-5). Hence, all our witnessing needs to be preceded and/or accompanied by fervent prayer – prayer God would be merciful to the dead people with whom we are trying to build friendships – and/or that He would regenerate the spiritually dead, so they (like Lazarus) can hear, understand, and respond to the Gospel in repentance and faith!

(C) ARE WE SEARCHING FOR ANYONE IN PARTICULAR – AND IF SO, WHOM?

(1) As God gives us the grace to fulfill our Savior’s mandate to be His witnesses, another question we need to ask is, are we searching for anyone in particular?

(a) In one sense the answer is “No” – for the Bible says that collectively we Christians are to “go into ALL the world and preach the gospel to ALL creation” (c.f. Mark 16:15) – that we are to “go … and make disciples of ALL the nations” (c.f. Matthew 28:19a) – and that we are to be Christ’s witnesses “(not only) in Jerusalem … Judea and Samaria, (but also) to the remotest part(s) of the earth” (c.f. Acts 1:8b).

Furthermore, when given a glimpse of the end result of Christ’s redemptive work, the Book of Revelation reminds us Jesus has “purchased for God with (His) blood men from EVERY tribe and tongue and people and nation” (c.f. Revelation 5:9) – and again, that the day is coming when “a great multitude which no one could count, from EVERY nation and ALL tribes and peoples and tongues, (will stand) before (God’s) throne and before the Lamb (and) cry out with a loud voice … ‘Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb’” (c.f. Revelation 7:9-10).

In one sense, then, we are not searching for anyone in particular – we’re simply looking for opportunities to share the Gospel with anybody who will listen, be they “Jew or Greek, slave or free man, male or female” (c.f. Galatians 3:28). We’re searching for anyone who will talk with us about spiritual matters, come to a home bible study, and/or accept our invitation to attend church where they will have an opportunity to sit under the preaching of God’s word. In this sense, then, we are simply looking for anyone who will give us the time of day (so to speak).

(b) On the other hand, however, our answer to the question, “Are we looking for anyone in particular?” is, “Yes”! For the truth is, we ARE searching for a specific group of people – people we have no way of recognizing ahead of time – people whose identity can only be determined after the fact (as it were) – people whom Scripture variously calls “the elect” (c.f. Matthew 24:31), and/or the “chosen” (c.f. Revelation 17:14) – people whom Jesus referred to as “My sheep” (c.f. John 10:26), and to whom the Father swore a covenant oath, saying: “I will be their God, and they shall be My people” (c.f. II Corinthians 6:16d).

The fact is, we’re searching for the people Scripture says, “God has chosen … from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth … (and is now) call(ing) … through (the) gospel, that (they might) gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (c.f. II Thessalonians 2:13-14). As we strive (by God’s enabling grace) to fulfill our Savior’s mandate to be His witnesses, we’re searching for those Scripture calls “God’s own possession” (c.f. I Peter 2:9) – those He has “appointed to eternal life” (c.f. Acts 13:48b) – and/or those He has “chosen for His own inheritance” (c.f. Psalm 33:12b).

(2) In this morning’s text, Paul said he was willing to “endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they (might) obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus” (c.f. II Timothy 2:10). In his case, that included some “hardships” you and I may never be called upon to “endure” – like shipwreck (c.f. II Corinthians 1:25), or “imprisonment as a criminal” (c.f. II Timothy 2:9) – so those God had “chosen” to save might actually be saved!

(a) A few verses earlier Paul said that by God’s grace he was willing to “suffer hardship”, like a “soldier in active service”, “an athlete” competing to “win (a) prize”, and/or a “hard-working farmer” trying to raise a crop (c.f. II Timothy 2:3-6) if it meant being used by God to help “those (He had) chosen” to “obtain the salvation” for which He chose them!

(b) I like the way John MacArthur put it – for, in commenting on today’s text, he said the desire of Paul’s heart was to “reach the elect, the ones who were already chosen, in order that they might take hold of the faith already granted them (by) God’s sovereign decree.”³

The desire of Paul’s heart ought to the desire of our hearts as well! Hence, it would be appropriate to ask God to give us a desire to be used by Him to search for and find “those who are chosen, so that they might obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus” (c.f. II Timothy 2:9).

(3) Not only our text, but Scripture as a whole testifies that God has “chosen” to save certain people – and that these people WILL, in fact, BE saved!

(a) Here are some representative examples of what Scripture has to say about God “choosing” to save certain people – “the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth” (c.f. Deuteronomy 7:6) – and again: “Blessed (are) the people whom (God) has chosen for His own inheritance” (c.f. Psalm 33:12) – and again: “How blessed is the one whom You choose and bring near to You to dwell in Your courts” (c.f. Psalm 65:4a) – and again: “No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him” (c.f. Matthew 11:27, NIV) – and again: “be … diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you” (c.f. II Peter 1:10b) – and once more: “God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth” (c.f. II Thessalonians 2:13b).

(b) God’s choice as to who He saves is unconditional – which means (among other things) that it isn’t based on any supposed merit or worth in some as opposed to others – nor is it based on any response He supposedly foresees people will or will not make.⁴ We know God’s choice is unconditional because the Scripture says: “The Lord did not … choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the Lord loved you (He) redeemed you from the house of slavery” (c.f. Deuteronomy 7:7-8) – and again: “(God) saved us and called us … not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity” (c.f. II Timothy 1:9) – and again (using His choice of Jacob over Esau as an example): “for though the twins (i.e. Jacob and Esau) were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, it was said to her, ‘The older will serve the younger’” (c.f. Romans 9:11-12) – and again: “(we) were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (c.f. John 1:13) – and once more (God speaking): “‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’ So then”, Paul concludes, “it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy” (c.f. Romans 9:15-16).

(c) All those God chooses to save will be saved – not one of them will be lost. We know this because Jesus said: “My sheep hear My voice … I give (them) eternal life … and they will never perish” (c.f. John 10:27-28) – and again: “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me” (c.f. John 6:37a) – and again: “I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. (And) This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing” (c.f. John 6:38-39) – and once more: “Of those whom You have given Me I lost not one” (c.f. John 18:9).

(d) Since we don’t know who God’s chosen people are – since they don’t have a “C” (for “Chosen”) branded on their forehead – you and I are to share Christ with anyone and everyone who will listen. Like the sower Jesus spoke of in Matthew chapter thirteen, we are to scatter the seed of the Gospel everywhere we can, even though we know ahead of time that only some of it will fall on good ground (c.f. Matthew 13:3-8). Like the fisherman Jesus spoke of in that same chapter, we are to cast as wide a net as possible, even though we know some the fish we catch will turn out to be bad (c.f. Matthew 13:47-50). Hence, Paul once said (in part): “To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law … to those who are without law, as without law … to the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men (i.e. within the parameters allowed by Scripture), so that I may by all means save some” (c.f. I Corinthians 9:20-22).

(e) At the same time, however, the “some” we are searching for among our family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and/or the nations, are “those (God has graciously) chosen” to save (c.f. II Timothy 2:10).

(D) WHAT IMPACT DOES THIS HAVE ON OUR EFFORTS TO BE CHRIST’S WITNESSES?

(1) What impact, then, does this knowledge have on our efforts to fulfill Jesus’ mandate? For one thing, if/when our witness doesn’t yield the desired results, we don’t have to worry that some people who could have been saved may end up being lost – and/or that if they are lost, it may be our fault.

If the people we are dealing with are among those God has “chosen”, then they will eventually come to Christ in repentance and faith – if not now, then later – if not through our efforts, then through someone else’s. We can be absolutely sure God will not allow any of His “chosen” people to perish. He did not choose them just so He could lose them!

In this regard, then, the familiar verse from Philippians chapter one certainly applies, that says: “He who began a good work in you will perfect it” (c.f. Philippians 1:6b) – and from Romans chapter eight: “those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified” (c.f. Romans 8:30, NIV) – and from First Thessalonians chapter five: “Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass” (c.f. I Thessalonians 5:24) – and from Isaiah chapter forty-six: “Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it” (c.f. Isaiah 46:11b).

(2) Second, even though some of our efforts to bring others to Christ will be unsuccessful, and/or even meet with opposition, the fact God has “chosen” to save some – and that all those He has “chosen” to save WILL BE saved – means we can legitimately expect to meet with some measure of success.

We acknowledge God grants different levels of success to different people, as seems best to Him (c.f. Matthew 13:8; Luke 19:12-19). Hence, we must guard against getting too caught up in numbers, for the number of people who come to Christ as a result of our individual and/or corporate witness is not the point. The point is, complete failure is impossible – indeed, some measure of success is guaranteed! For God has not only “chosen” who He will save, He’s also “chosen” the means by which He will save them – and you and I are part of that means.

Hence, before He ascended back to heaven, Jesus told His disciples: “You shall be My witnesses” (c.f. Acts 1:8) – while in this morning’s text, Paul said he was willing to “endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they also may (not “may” in the sense of “maybe”, but “may” in the sense of that which is certain!) (“that they also may) obtain the salvation which in Christ Jesus” (c.f. II Timothy 2:10).

¹MacArthur: II Timothy; p. 61.

²PCANews: Evangelism and the Reformed Faith; by

Marshall C. St. John; p. 1.

³MacArthur: Ephesians; p. 12.

⁴Steele and Thomas: The Five Points of Calvinism; p. 33.