A Christian Sermon on God’s Foreknowledge or Election to Salvation

For many Christians, the doctrine of election is perceived as one of the most perplexing articles of the faith. In this sermon by Martin Chemnitz (1522-1586) on the “Parable of the Wedding Feast” from Matthew 22:1-14, the reader is given a good overview of the biblical teaching of election by one of the great theologians of the Lutheran Reformation. This 1573 sermon anticipates the more extensive treatment of this article of the faith which is found in Article 11 of the Formula of Concord in the Book of Concord (1580), of which Martin Chemnitz was one of the primary authors.