3. Elect of God
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"The elect of God." Coloss. 3:12
This is the result of the Divine choice. As one of a chosen generation, I am actually the elect of God. How wonderful is such a title! How glorious is such a relationship! How inconceivable to me the love which has conferred it upon one so guilty and so unprofitable! What encouraging and blessed thoughts does such a title suggest! Let me meditate upon them, and strive to improve and employ them.
If I am really the elect of God,
1. Then God has greatly LOVED me, and I also ought to love him. The only motive which can lead to choice is love. If God has thus chosen me, how great must have been his love! When I think of my own unworthiness, guiltiness, and ruin--how repulsive my whole character must have been to him, who cannot look upon iniquity but with abhorrence; how great is the love with which he has loved me, to pass over all these reasons for his aversion! When I think of the boundless extent of his mercies, his glorious salvation, the forbearing grace and tenderness which he has displayed, the promises which he has given me, and the provisions which he has made for me, how amazing has been his love! What earnest, devoted love he deserves in return from me! Surely I can never love him too much. My best offerings must always be cold and worthless. My most ardent praise can never reach the measure of his claims. But nothing can move or excite my love, like a conviction and knowledge of his love first to me. Oh that I might realize it and think of it more!
2. Then God will certainly PROTECT me, and I ought to depend upon him. If he is able to guard that which he has loved and chosen, he will certainly do it. But he is infinitely able. No power is beyond his control. No enemy can successfully resist him. All things are in his hands. All things are open to his sight. How safe am I, then, in doing his will, wherever he shall lead me! With perfect confidence I ought to depend upon him, and go forward in the path of duty without fear. Every place is safe, where he requires me to be. How happy is the spirit of daily constant dependence! To trust always. To have no fears. To rest all upon God. To feel sure of his protection. This is the privilege of God's elect. This is my privilege. Let me daily try to enjoy and improve it.
3. Then God will surely WATCH me, and I ought to strive in everything to please him. If I am one of his elect, what I do, and where I am, can never be indifferent to him. His eye must be always upon his elect. He says, "To this man will I look." He lives in them. Their character is always an honor or a dishonor to him. A weed that a man will neglect in a common, he will not allow in his garden. God will more surely correct the faults of his elect than of others. "You only have I known," he says, "of all the families of the earth--therefore will I punish you for all your iniquities," Amos 3:2. In the assurance of this, how careful and earnest ought I to be! How circumspectly ought I to walk; in all things conformed to his will; seeking at all times to understand and to follow his commands! Let me daily strive to set him before me, and to do those things which please him.
4. Then God will certainly PROVIDE for me, and I ought to confide in him entirely. He is able to supply all my needs here and hereafter. He can give me grace and glory. He will withhold no good thing from me. Then let me have no anxiety for this life, and no despair or despondency about the future. Let me press forward in my heavenly way, walk humbly with my God, and find all my peace and hope in him. If he is my portion, it is enough. I cannot lack. He will prepare a habitation for his elect. He will himself be a strong tower of defense for them. There I may be permitted to come with all boldness--to run and be safe. I have no cause for fear or doubt. God has become my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid. The work which he begins he is able to complete, and he will complete it. Oh how precious is the assurance of his unfailing love in Christ Jesus my Lord!
5. Then how UNSPEAKABLE is this privilege! To be loved, protected, watched, provided for, by God himself! When I think of such a title, let me feel its incitement to duty. How can I be listless, or prayerless, or wandering, or rebellious, when I have such privileges and such hopes! As the elect of God, let me be deeply humble, not proud or self-confident. Let me seek the constant guidance and teaching of his Holy Spirit. He will put his Spirit upon his elect. They shall be holy as he is holy. Let me walk ever in the Spirit, quietly, gratefully trusting in my God. He loved me before the foundation of the world. He will love me with an everlasting love. If through grace, I am faithful to him, nothing shall separate me from his love.
My name from the palms of his hands,
Eternity will not erase;
Engraved on his heart it remains,
In marks of indelible grace.
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