2. The Sifting of the Elect Wheat Psalm 50:5-15

Text: “Gather My saints together unto Me; those that have made a Covenant with Me by sacrifice.  And the Heavens shall declare his/her righteousness: for God is judge Himself.”

Psalm 50:5-6.

Good morning, elect Christian!  You are a genuine, Bible-believing, and born again (Spiritually regenerate, alive) Christian because the Lord God Almighty Himself has made you so.  Of ourselves, of our human will; of any human decision we have ever been called to make, or have made ourselves – we are NOTHING.  As the prophet Jonah cried out from the belly of the great fish, “Salvation is of the Lord!”  (Jonah 2:9)

If it is not, then you and I are not saved!  Check it out, professing Christian!  Don’t take my worthless word on such a vital matter of theological learning – take God’s inspired Word as your final Authority on all your beliefs and practice.

“Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in My Name, He may give it you.”  (John 15:16)

If you and I are truly ‘born again’, Spiritually regenerated from being a ‘dead spirit’ to be Eternally alive in Christ Jesus – it is the Lord God Almighty Who has performed this miracle of Divine Regeneration.  If we are not saved by God alone, we are not saved at all! (See the doctrine of Regeneration on our website www.ulsterchristians.org )

“But as many as received Him (Christ Jesus), to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His Name: which were born, not of blood (human procreation), nor of the will of the flesh (human will), nor of the will of man (man’s decision), but of God.”  (John 1:12-13)

The true, born again, Bible-believing, and Christ serving Christian is CREATED by God from being a dead, useless, spirit, to be a living, God-worshipping and honouring ‘...creature in Christ...’  Check it out from Holy Scriptures if this fact be true, beloved reader.

“For by grace (God’s given grace) are ye saved through faith (God-given faith); and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.  FOR (a conclusion) we are His workmanship, CREATED in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”  (Ephesians 2:8-10)

When the Lord God saves us, He creates us to be living spirits that are, for the first time in our naturally fallen lives, Spiritually alive and able to communicate with our Creator Lord God – a wonderful gift of Adam’s creation that was lost when Adam/Eve fell from grace through disobedience in Eden’s Garden. 

What had been Created by God to be Supernatural, became merely natural, with God’s curse upon them and us because of their original sin.  That is why the Living Lord God must intervene and by the Divine power of His Spirit, REGENERATE the dead spirit we are born with, and create us as ‘...new creatures in Christ...’ Hallelujah!  (Genesis 3:)

“Therefore (a conclusion) if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things (a dead, natural spirit) are passed away; behold (look, and fully understand) all things are become new.  And all things are of God, Who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation (the Gospel of Christ Crucified for sinners); to wit that God was in Christ, reconciling the world (the elect from all corners of the world) unto Himself, not imputing (putting to their account) their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation (the Gospel message).” (2 Corinthians 5:17-19)

Verse 5. “Gather My saints together unto Me. Go, ye swift-winged messengers, and separate the precious from the vile.  Gather out the wheat of the Heavenly garner.  Let the long-scattered, but elect people, known by My separating grace to be My sanctified ones, be now assembled in one place.  All are not all saints who seem to be so – a severance must be made; therefore let all who profess to be saints be gathered before My throne of judgment, and let them hear the Word which will search and try the whole, that the false may be convicted and the true revealed.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 231)

True, Bible-believing Christians have no anxiety concerning our Eternal Salvation – for our trust (full belief) is in a Sovereign Lord God Who has redeemed us for time and Eternity.

“Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth (knows, has always known, and will forever know) them that are His.  And let everyone that nameth the Name of Christ depart from iniquity.”  (2 Timothy 2:19)

Verse 5. “Those that have made a Covenant with Me by sacrifice. This is the grand test, and yet some have dared to imitate it.  The Covenant was ratified by the slaying of victims, the cutting and dividing of the offerings; this the righteous (Christians) have done by accepting with true faith the great propitiatory Sacrifice (offering by Christ to fully appease the wrath of our Holy Father-God), and this the pretenders have done in merely outward form.  Let them be gathered before the throne for trial and testing, and as many as have really ratified the Covenant by faith in the Lord Jesus shall be attested before all worlds as the objects of distinguishing grace, while formalists shall learn that outward sacrifices are all in vain.  Oh, solemn assize, how does my soul bow in awe at the prospect thereof!” (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 231)

To be Eternally secure in Christ Jesus is such a Divine blessing that brings our souls so much genuine and lasting peace, thus we are prudent to ‘...examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove (test) your own selves.  Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates (rejected of God)?  But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates.”  (2 Corinthians 13:5) 

Have we a love for the Lord Jesus?  Have we a testimony of repentance from sin, to follow hard after Him?  Do we mortify our weaknesses and failings, and sins?   Do we spend time in prayer and in private fellowship with the One Who has saved us?  If so, we prove ourselves to be Spiritually regenerate, and belonging to the Lord God Who has saved us.

Verse 6. “And the Heavens shall declare his/her righteousness: for God is Judge Himself. The people of God are called holy inasmuch as they are dedicated to God.  It is the duty and privilege of saints to consecrate themselves to the service of God.”  (Condensed from J. Sibree’s ‘Sermon Preached at the Reopening of Surrey Chapel’, 1830)

Thought: To we who are elect of God, His assurance: “And call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me.”  Amen, so be it, dear Lord God.