{"id":2843,"date":"2014-04-26T10:51:39","date_gmt":"2014-04-26T10:51:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=2843"},"modified":"2014-04-26T10:51:39","modified_gmt":"2014-04-26T10:51:39","slug":"o-the-wonders-couched-in-electing-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=2843","title":{"rendered":"O the wonders couched in electing love!"},"content":{"rendered":"

O the wonders couched in electing <\/em>love!<\/strong>
\n(James Smith, \u201cGod\u2019s Special Treasure\u201d 1860)
\n\u201cFor you are a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. Of all the people on earth \u2014 the Lord your God has chosen <\/em>you to be His own special treasure!<\/strong>\u201d Deuteronomy 7:6<\/p>\n

God highly prizes His people. Yes, it is impossible to say how highly He prizes them. Those are wondrous words, \u201cFor the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself, Israel for His own special treasure!\u201d Psalm 135:4
\nDid the shepherd <\/em>prize his flock? God calls His people, \u201cHis flock, His beautiful <\/em>flock.\u201d<\/p>\n

Does the miser <\/em>prize his wealth? God says of His people, \u201cYou shall be a special treasure <\/em>unto Me above all people; for all the earth is mine.\u201d
\nDoes the prince <\/em>prize his jewels? God says of His people, \u201cThey shall be Mine, in that day when I make up My jewels!\u201d <\/em>
\nDoes the bridegroom <\/em>prize his beloved and dearly purchased bride? It is written, \u201cAs the bridegroom rejoices over the bride \u2014 so shall your God rejoice <\/em>over you!\u201d
\nDoes the reigning monarch <\/em>prize his crown? God has said, \u201cYou shall be a crown of glory<\/em> in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem<\/em> in the hand of your God.\u201d
\nWhat wondrous love, such expressions as these represent! How precious must the Lord\u2019s people be to Him! Truly they are His special treasure!
\n<\/em>God CHOSE<\/strong> them to be special unto Himself. He chose them out from among others. He chose them in preference <\/em>to others.
\nHe chose them out from others, on purpose that they may be a special people unto Himself. And in so doing, He acted FREELY. It was not on account of anything He saw <\/em>in them, or on account of anything He expected <\/em>from them; but in the exercise of His most free and holy sovereignty \u2014 He chose them to participate in the glory of His Son!
\nIn choosing them, He acted also DELIBERATELY. It was no hasty choice. His thoughts <\/em>had been eternally filled with them. His heart <\/em>had been eternally set upon them. Therefore He chose them in Christ before the foundation of the world!
\nIn choosing them, He acted WISELY \u2014 as He really desired to have them. For each one of them is ready to confess that if God had not chosen them \u2014 that they would never have chosen Him! The nature <\/em>regulates the choice<\/em>; and as our nature is carnal and impure \u2014 we would never have chosen God, who is spiritual and holy.
\nHis choice was just an early expression of His LOVE. The love which chose them \u2014 would do<\/em> anything for them, and give <\/em>anything to them! Therefore God spared not His own Son \u2014 but delivered Him up for them all; and in so doing, gave them the assurance that He will also freely give them all things in Christ.<\/p>\n

O the wonders couched in electing <\/em>love!<\/strong><\/p>\n

This act of choosing such creatures as we are,<\/em> to be a special people unto Himself, displays . . .
\nsuch grace,
\nsuch condescension,
\nsuch infinite wisdom and love!
\nGod\u2019s election says, \u201cThe Lord loves you!\u201d Loves us! Yes, and with a love that is eternal, immutable, sovereign, infinite, and free! All the love of God is lavished <\/em>upon us as His special people in Christ. Oh, those wondrous words of Jesus, \u201cYou have loved them \u2014 even as You have loved Me!\u201d John 17:23
\nBut few among the worldly wise<\/em>,
\nBut few of nobler <\/em>race,
\nObtain the favor of Your eyes, Almighty King of grace!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

O the wonders couched in electing love! (James Smith, \u201cGod\u2019s Special Treasure\u201d 1860) \u201cFor you are a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. Of all the people on earth \u2014 the Lord your God has chosen you to be His own special treasure!\u201d Deuteronomy 7:6 God highly prizes His people. Yes, it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[93,17,10,41,34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-author-james-smith","category-atonement","category-election","category-the-eternal-covenant","category-gods-love"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2843"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2843\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2844,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2843\/revisions\/2844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}