Go back to Psalm 145 again, with
Psalm 145. Great, great hymn, isn't it?
Great hymn we just sang in this great psalm. Notice with me,
look at verses 8 and 10, 8 through 10 again. The Lord, this is what
the Lord is, who the Lord is. This psalm is full of what He
does. and shall do for his people.
The Lord is, verse 8, gracious, full of compassion, slow to anger,
aren't you glad, and of great mercy. The Lord is good to all. His tender mercies are over all
his works. All thy works shall praise thee,
O Lord. Thy saints shall bless thee.
All men do not bless him and thank him and give him the glory
for all things, but his saints do. Because he called them, he
revealed himself to them. Look at verse 14. The Lord upholdeth
all that follow. Now he's talking about his people
here. And he raiseth all that be bowed
down. The eyes of all wait upon thee. Thou givest them their meat in
due season. You open your hand and satisfy
the desire of every living thing. He feeds everyone, everything.
The Lord is righteous in all His ways. What He does is right.
Holy, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hope in all His work. And here's our text. The Lord
is nigh, He's near unto all. that call upon him, to all that
call upon him in truth. Okay, this is a message for all.
All that call. A message for all to call. I
sent you some notes and three basic points. Number one, this
is going to, this message and every message should be for the
glory of God. To give Him all the glory for
all things. Because He first calls us. We
don't call until He calls us. And to give Him the glory for
calling us. And this is for those who call
on Him in truth. We'll see what that means in
a moment. And an encouragement or exhortation for everyone to
call. And those who do call, to keep
calling. All right, this is a message
to glorify God, and I mean God the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit, who calls his people out of darkness into his marvelous
light. From death unto life, he calls,
like he called Lazarus from the dead. And you have to equip him
who were dead in trespass and sin. I'm talking to believers
here, and the Lord has called. He calls his people. People know
Romans 10, verse 13, which says, For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. That's a wonderful verse.
It's part of a verse that's found in Joel, chapter 2. I want you
to turn there. I want you to know where this
is. OK, Joel, chapter 2, verse 32. It's a wonderful promise. Joel, right before Daniel, Hosea,
Joel, Amos. Okay, little tiny book. Joel chapter 2. Look at verse
32. And it shall come to pass that
whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered,
shall be saved from sin. from this world, from wrath,
from destruction. For in Mount Zion, that's the
church, and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, because that's
where the Gospels pray. You have it, Joel 2.32? You have
it? Some of you are still... All right. Whosoever shall call
on the name of the Lord shall be delivered. For in Mount Zion,
in Jerusalem, that's the church, shall be deliverance, because
that's where the Gospels pray, as the Lord has said, and in
the remnant whom the Lord shall call. Did you read that with
me? Who calls? Who calls first? See, modern
religion makes it sound like if you call, then God will call
you. No, it's the other way around. None will call unless God calls
them. He gets the glory. He gets the
glory for everything. He gets all glory. He who first
calls us. Now, the word call, I looked
it up in the dictionary. It has many meanings, but principally
it's to cry aloud with a boy, to command to come. Like if you
have a dog, you call that dog, don't you? Come. Depending on
how good of a trainer or Dog caller you are. Some of you are
not too good. I've seen you. You call that dog, come. Don't
you? That's a command. It's not a
request. Well, we may ask or try to call
whomever, whatever, our dogs or whoever. God doesn't try to
call people. His call is a command. In Psalm
71, verse 3, It says, Thou hast given commandment to save man. Salvation is not a request. Won't you accept Jesus? Won't
you accept Him? Make Him your Lord. That's not
in the Bible. It's by command. It's the Lord calling His people.
I'm going to say this at the outset. I'm going to declare
the end from the beginning. I'm going to say this in the
very end. In Revelation 14, it talks about those that are with
Him. You know how it describes Him? Those that are with Him
are the called, the chosen, and the faithful. He calls them. Look at Isaiah 43. This is one
of our favorite passages. Isaiah 43. Look over here. I'll
not have you turn to too many. I'll do it for you. But you know
these scriptures. Maybe everyone doesn't. But Isaiah
43. Look at this. Now, understand that Jacob represents
all of God's people. He said, Jacob have I loved.
Jacob loved the Lord later, but who loved who first? The Lord
loved Jacob. He said he loved Jacob. Who called
who first? Look at it. Verse 1, Now thus
saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, he that formed thee,
O Israel, fear not, I have redeemed thee, I have called thee. By
thy name, thou art mine. He called me long before I heard.
We just sang that. Verse 3, I am the Lord thy God,
the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. I gave Egypt for thy ransom,
Ethiopian Sea for thee. Thou was precious in my sight.
I have loved thee. That's not talking about every
single person. That's talking about God's elect, God's people.
Jacob have I loved. Look down at verse 6. I will
say to the north, give up the south, keep not back, bring my
sons from far, my daughters from the ends of the earth. It's not
an invite, it's a divine call and command. When God says come,
you will come. Aren't you glad? You won't until
he does it. Those you love, those you have
a burden for, they will not come unless God calls them. And we're
going to see what that call is in a moment. Verse 7, for everyone
that is called by my name, I have created him for my glory. I have
formed him. This is the new birth. I have
made him. Bring forth the blind people
who have eyed the deafened of you. It says in verse 12, I have
declared, I have saved, I have showed. You are my witnesses. Before the day, verse 13, it
was I am he. As none can deliver out of my
hand, I will work and who shall let it? Modern false religion
says, let go and let God, let God save you. Let Jesus into
your life. The Bible doesn't say that. The
God of the Bible says, I will do according to my will. And
in our armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth,
and none can stay my hand or say unto me, what doest thou?
I will work. And who shall let it? Who shall
prevent it? Aren't you glad? I was like salt of Tarsus. And
the Lord said to Saul when he called Saul. Saul wasn't seeking
the Lord. He hated the truth. But the Lord
chose him and called him that day. And the Lord said to Saul, it's
hard for thee to kick against the bricks. You can't resist. It's called irresistible grace. So he calls his people. Romans 8, you know these scriptures,
most people quote just verse 28. Need to keep reading. Romans 8, let me read it to you.
We know, who? Who knows it? God's people. That
all things work together for good to them that love God. Why
does anybody love God? What John said? Because he first
loved them. So if somebody doesn't love God,
what does that mean? God doesn't love them. Is that
right? If somebody does love God, what
does that mean? God loves them. Or they wouldn't love God. They
hate God. That's what Romans 3 says. All
right? They called, who are the called
according to his purpose. He calls whom he will. For whom
he did foreknow, that is, Love before the world began. Choose
before the world began. He also did predestinate. Predetermine
their destiny. To be conformed to the image
of his Son. That he might be the firstborn
among many brethren. Verse 30. Moreover, whom he did
predestinate, them he also called. And whom he called, them he also
justified. Who does the saving? Who does
the calling? Who does the choosing? Who does
all this? Salvation is of the Lord. And whom he justified,
them also glorified. What do you say to this thing?
Let the amen sound from his people again. They know. 1 Corinthians
1. I do want you to turn there.
1 Corinthians 1. All of God's people know who
called who. Ask Abraham. Ask Jacob. Ask David. Ask Mephibosheth. Ask them. 1 Corinthians 1. See, it's God's glory. Because
it is God who first calls His people. It's the glory of Him.
God the Father, God the Son. That God chooses any is amazing,
isn't it? But that God would choose many
is wonderful. That He calls any. Brother John
came by the study. We were talking about Adam and
Eve shook their fist in the face of God, just like Satan did,
didn't they? Satan said, I will. My will. Free will. Satan said, I will
be God. God says, no, you won't. There's
one God. God says, I will do it. My will. Man doesn't have
free will. God alone has free will. And
Adam and Eve, that's what they wanted to do. And it's amazing
that God didn't just, right then and there, destroy them right
there. But he didn't. But he did. He
came calling. He called on them, these sinners,
these rebels. Romans 1, and we're going to
read 1 Corinthians 1, but many of these epistles begin this
way. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ,
called to be an apostle. Paul didn't apply for the job.
Paul wasn't seeking the job. Paul didn't go to school for
the job. God called him. That's what it said, separated
under the gospel of God. Paul went on to say, In Romans
1, he said, among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ.
To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints. It's everywhere in it. All right,
look at 1 Corinthians 1. Here it is again, verse 1. Paul,
called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ. How? Through the will
of God. And Sosthenes, our brother, under
the church. Now look down at verse, well
two, under the church of God, which is at Corinth or the church
at Rocky Mount, to them they're sanctified, set apart in Christ
Jesus, called to be saints. Rome doesn't make people saints.
They talk about canonizing people. Well, they can do that all they
want to, but it doesn't make them saints. Who makes saints?
God does. Sanctified, that's what they
meant. set apart, called saints, with all that in every place
called. They called all the saints, called
on Him. Why? Because He called them.
You see who gets the glory? Well, what are we to do? Well,
I'll tell you in a little bit. But you won't ask that question
if He calls you. All right? How does God call
us? Second Thessalonians, Chapter 2. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. He calls all his people the same
way, not sitting on a mountainside, not in a dream, not in a vision,
not in a sign, not through a deathbed experience, not through sickness
and sorrow and this and that and the other. He calls all his
people by the gospel. The gospel is the call of God,
the power of God unto salvation, quickens dead sinners. Opens
blind eyes to who God is and what man is and what we are and
who Christ is and our need of him. Breaks the heart, the gospel. Christ crucified. Look at 2 Thessalonians
2 verse 13. We're bound to give thanks always
to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord. The true preacher
does not thank people for coming to church. Nowhere will you find
that in the Bible. The true preacher of God thanks
God for bringing people to church. Or you wouldn't come. If God
doesn't call us and bring us, we won't come. If God doesn't
do something for us, we have no interest in God whatsoever.
We hate God. We despise Him. That's what the
Scripture says. So it says, God hath from the
beginning chosen you to salvation. From the beginning of what? Before
the beginning of the world. through sanctification of the
Spirit, the Holy Spirit setting apart those that God chose, and
belief of the truth. This is what separates God's
people from the rest of the world. They believe the truth, the truth
about God, the truth about man, the truth about Christ, the truth
about salvation, the truth of His Word. Whereunto, verse 14,
He called you by our gospel. You see that? Yes, John, I want to read the
rest of that. To the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Called to see his glory. The
gospel is the light of the knowledge. For those that sat in darkness,
a great light has shone round about them. The light, the knowledge,
and the glory of God in the person, the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The gospel call is a call to repentance. Repentance toward
God. There is no gospel without repentance.
There is no salvation without repentance. Do you hear the word
repentance anymore? No, you don't. No, you don't.
What you do, you did from John the Baptist, you did from our
Lord, and you do from every other true preacher. Repent. That's
the first thing Peter said at Pentecost, didn't he? Repent.
Well, what if? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Well, how do we repent? How does anybody repent? Romans
2, 4. The goodness of God leads you
to repentance. Or you wouldn't repent. You wouldn't
do it. Repentance is toward God. David
said, Against thee and thee only have I sinned and done this evil.
And I said, I've lived my whole life and haven't given you a
thought. You sent your son down here to earth and I didn't care.
And you ought to snuff me out. You know, be done with it, but
have mercy upon that. That's repentant. For Christ's
sake. It's repentance toward God and
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, I don't deserve to be saved,
but I believe Christ died for sinners and that's what I am.
I believe. I don't have a righteousness.
I don't, I can't get to heaven by my goodness, by my morality.
I don't have a righteousness. I'm not good enough. I'm not
holy enough. God is holy in all His way, in all His way. But
Lord, I believe that Jesus Christ came down here, the righteous
one, to give His righteousness to a people. This is what it
means to call upon Him in truth. Look at our text back in John,
uh, Psalm 145. It says, The Lord is mine unto
all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in
truth. All that call upon him in truth. The truth as it is in the Lord
Jesus Christ. What did Christ say of himself
in John 14, 6? I am the way. There is no other way. To God. To be accepted by God. To righteousness with God. I am the truth. I am the life. You can't give yourself life.
Christ said, I am come that they might have it. to give life.
So to call upon Him in truth, call upon God in truth, is to
call upon Him in faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, believing
that He is all your salvation, all your hope, all your righteousness,
all your sanctification, your wisdom, your redemption, all,
all and in all. So God gets the glory, Lord Allah. All right, look at our text. Here's a, here's a word of comfort
for all who call. God gets the glory if anyone
calls. No one will by Isaiah 59 says, none call, there's none
to call upon Him, not one. So He calls us. And it's not
an invite, it's a command. And it says in verse 18, the
promise is, the Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon
Him. All that the Lord calls, they
call. Let me read this to you. You know these verses. In Ezekiel
36. The Lord says, I'm not doing
this for your sake. I'm doing it for my sake, my
holy name's sake, for my glory and honor. He said, I will take
you from among the heathen. I will gather you out of your
country and bring you. Notice he doesn't ask them anything. Notice, he says, what all he
will do for his people. I will sprinkle clean water upon
you and you shall be clean. from all your filthiness, from
your idols, I will cleanse you. You can't cleanse yourself. You
can't put away one sin. Well, Jesus Christ can, and He
did all the sins of all of God's people. A new heart will I give
you. A new spirit will I put within
you. I'll take away that stony heart and give you a heart, a
flesh, a broken heart, a contrite heart. I will put my spirit within
you and I'll cause you to walk in my statue. You'll dwell in
the land. You shall be my people. I will
be your God. He doesn't ask anybody anything.
He's telling them. I will save you from all your
uncleanness. I'll call for the corn. I'm going
to feed you. I'm going to multiply the fruit.
Not for your sakes, saith the Lord. Be ashamed and confounded. Loathe yourself for your own
iniquities. But this is what I have determined to do for my
people, because God is gracious, because God is merciful. Sovereign
mercy. Sovereign grace. Now listen.
It's I'll cause you to dwell in the cities, that is, in the
churches. I, the Lord, have spoken it. I will do it. And then he says, listen, I will
yet be inquired of to do it for them. They're going to ask me
why? Because he purposed it. See, I don't understand. Well,
I do. I understand that I won't come
unless he says come. I won't call unless he says call.
And if I do call, it's because he called me. I know you ask
every person in Scripture whom the Lord saved. Did you call
him or did he call you? Mary Magdalene? Seven devils? Seriously? The thief on the cross? He called him. He gets the glory,
you see. But they all call on him. They
all call on him, don't they? Lord, remember me. They all call
him. Our text says it. Our text says
in Psalm 145, the Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon
him, to all that call upon him in truth, to all that call, whosoever. Most people know one verse in
the Bible, John 3, 16, whosoever. And they make that sound like
that salvation is completely up to whosoever will, whosoever
will call, whosoever will believe. It's all up to them. That's not
what that is. That's glorifying God and choosing
whosoever. That God would choose anybody
is an amazing, amazing grace. Now here's the point. This is
the glory of God who calls and causes to call whosoever, no
matter who it is, rich, poor, young, old, black, white, male,
female, Jew and Gentile. He's so good. He says all these
classes are different sexes and from all places all over the
world. He calls people from all walks
of life and every nation, kindred, tribe. Isn't God good? Nobody
would call on him. But he calls all these people.
Who's got a problem with that? Nobody would call unless he called
them. And he's so good, and he's so gracious, and so merciful,
he calls whosoever. Whosoever they are, no matter
where they are. No matter where they are. Every
nation, every kindred, every Tongue under heaven from Austria
to Australia? From New Zealand to New York?
Would you call... I better watch my center. I'm from the South. I don't think
I'd call anybody from the North. And vice versa. Right? But God calls them. I say to
the North, give up. To the South, East, West, bring
my people. From Finland to Franklin, from
New Zealand to New York, Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California,
Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho,
Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland,
Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana,
Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire. I learned that in the fifth grade.
But he's got a people from everywhere. You think about it. From the
dark corners of Appalachia, Grundy, Virginia. This is somebody from
Grundy, Virginia. Rochester, New York. Buffalo,
New York. Where in the... Rocky Mount,
Virginia. Boyd County, Kentucky. Brother
Henry Sawyer from Corn Valley. Anybody know where Corn Valley
is? Only a person from Grundy would know what we're talking
about. Peas in a pod. Why? I mean, they're far off. Far from
God, all of us. You were without God, without
Christ. Far off. Enemies in your own mind, by
wicked word, by unbelief. But God called you by His presence. Called you to come here to discuss.
He called you into the pole. He said, My sheep hear my voice.
I know them. I call them. And they follow
me. That's not a request. Aren't
you glad salvation is not a request? It's by command. I sure am. I'm
the prodigal son. Whosoever, whosoever, no matter
who they are, no matter where they are, no matter what they
have done, No matter what. Whosoever. The chief of sinners. Harlots. In fact, he calls more of these
than anybody. Thieves, drunkards, adulterers,
homosexuals, idolaters, fornicators, revilers, extortioners. Such
were some of you. But God. Isn't it good? You didn't have anything to do
with it. Never have, never will. And he calls you to call. And
whosoever shall call shall be saved. This is good news. He says, whosoever shall call,
not keep the law. Doesn't say whosoever shall climb
Mount Sinai, whosoever keep all the commandments. You can't.
You've broken every one of them. Whosoever shall call, just ask. Keep the law, not do this, not
do that, not quit this, quit that. Call. Be saved. Ask, seek not. Lord, save me. Done. Isn't that something? Lord, that woman whose daughter
was Bex, three word, Lord, help me. Did he? He sure did. He sure did. I've been wanting to preach from
Isaiah 41. I'll just read it for you right
now. I gave you a verse Monday morning. Listen to this. He says
it three times. He's talking to his people. Feared
thou not, I am with thee. Be not dismayed, I am thy God. I will strengthen thee. Yea.
I like that word yea, don't you? Yea. All the promises of God
in Christ are what? Yea. And amen. Not if and but
maybe if you would. No, no, no. Yea. I will help
thee. Yea. I will uphold thee with
the right hand of my righteousness. Sister Helen wrote me back and
said, we know who the right hand of his righteousness is, don't
we? Our God has hands, all right,
and they're Jesus Christ. He's the right hand. He goes
on to say, I, the Lord thy God, will hold thy right hand, saying
unto thee, fear not, I will help thee. Do you need help? He said over and over, and I
can't tell you how many times he says it in Scripture, call
on me in the day of trouble, And I'll hear you. And I'll save
you. I'll deliver you. Man that's
born a woman is a few days and full of trouble. Is there a day
that goes by that you don't have some kind of trouble? She said,
I will help thee. Fear not, thou worm, Jacob. God doesn't call men some...
Fear not, thou worm, Jacob. Ye men of Israel, I will help
thee. Sayeth the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Whosoever shall call upon him,
this is who we call on, the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
the God of the Bible, the God of scriptures, God who is God,
in truth, in Christ's name, by faith in Christ. Listen to me
now. I'm going to say this very boldly
and dogmatically. God does not and will not hear any or whosoever
it is who calls through any other name. God does not hear anyone
who calls in the name of Mary. No, he does not. There's one
mediator between men and God, the man, Christ Jesus. There's
one name given under heaven among men, whereby we must be saved.
That's what Peter preached, and they hated him for. And they
crucified him for saying it. Christ said, I'm the way. No
man cometh unto the Father but by man. Buddhists, Islam, Muslims. In a night like this, like that.
No, no, no. One night we call upon God. Yeah. Jesus Christ. Mohammed, Buddha,
doesn't matter how sincere they are. God won't hear. One name, one way to be heard,
one way to be accepted by God, the blood and the righteousness
of Jesus Christ. That's what this book is. So
we call on him and truth is true belief, true repentance, true
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now here's great comfort, and
I want you to, everybody to listen to it. It says in verse 18, the
Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him. He's near. Draw nigh unto God, James said,
and he'll draw nigh unto you. He called upon me in the day
of trouble. He's a very present help in times of trouble. I'll
help you. I will help you. I will help
you. Look at verse 19. He says he will fulfill the desire
of them that fear him. Do you fear God? I know you do. I listen to you,
some of you, most of you. All of God's people fear the
Lord. That's the beginning of saving wisdom. They never quit
fearing God. Why is it that you sometimes
think you're going to miss salvation? You're going to miss Christ.
You're going to not make it to glory someday. If God accepts
other people, not you. Why? That's the fear of the Lord. Do you understand that? That's the fear of the Lord.
Because you're such a sinner, God has shown you something of
your sin. Not all of it, but something of it. And you fear
you're going to miss him because you're such a sinner, because
God's holy. You know he's holy. He can't save me. He wouldn't
save me. I'm too bad. That's the fear of the Lord.
Proud religionists don't have that fear. I'm saved. I'm sure
for heaven's sake I'm already there. Why? Because I quit this,
I quit that. Because I joined a church. Because
I was baptized. Because I accepted Jesus. And I'm on my way to global
halloween. Oh, are you now? God's people have fear, don't
they? He will fulfill the desire of
them that fear Him. What is your desire? Lord, I want this. Lord, I want
that. Desire, David said it, he said it for all of God's people.
Can you say that? One thing have I desired of the Lord, and that
will I seek Him. That will I call for. That will
I go for. that I may dwell in the house
of the Lord all the days of my life, behold the beauty of the
Lord Jesus Christ, and inquire in his temple." Like Ruth, she had one desire,
didn't she? She left her home, her family,
her friends, the prospects of a husband and all of that to
go with Naomi to the land of bread. And she said, You're God's
my God, your people, my people, where you go, I'll go and where
you die, die. That's where I want to be. That's
what I want. One desire. That's what we say to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Lord. Can I go? I want to be with you. And that's
what he said in John 17, I will that they be with me where I
am. He will fulfill desire of them that fear him, he will hear
their cry, and he will save them. He will. Now here's an exhortation
to everyone to call. So call. The Lord says, seek
him while he may be found. Today is the day of salvation.
Call upon him while he's near. Where is he? where two or three
are gathered in his name. We come here, if we come here
in truth, to worship God in spirit and truth, the Father seeketh
such a worship. To rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ, he will
hear us. And God is near. So call, call. Let me give you
some, some good, wise scriptural counsel, OK? Call on the Lord.
Call on the Lord. Constantly. Continuously. Without ceasing. That's what
he said. Pray without ceasing. Stop calling on people so much. Nobody can help you with anything. Vain is the help of man. They
can't help you. The only way a human being can
help you is to give you a word from God. Stop calling on people
so much. Stop trusting in the arm of the
flesh. Stop. Literally stop calling people
all the time and start calling on the Lord. Is that not good
counsel? Call upon the Lord. It says the
Lord is nigh then to call on him. Who are you close to? Are you close to those that don't
have anything to do with you? Are you close to those that ignore
you and don't, you know, go about their business and rarely call
you and rarely come over and rarely ask about you? Are you? Draw nigh unto God. Draw nigh
unto Him. Call on Him. Call on Him. Commune with that
God. Psalm 4 says, be still. It says, Commune with thy heart
upon thy bed and be still. Call on the Lord, literally.
Stop calling on people. Call more on the Lord. His presence,
nigh, God is nigh unto them that call upon Him. His presence is
a feeling of safety, of salvation. If you don't feel He is nigh,
you're going to fear everything and everyone. Yes, you will. His presence is assurance. I
remember thinking when I knew my dad was angry at me, oh boy,
I didn't have any peace. Peace is contentment. God's presence
is contentment. Wisdom. Patience. Joy. Strength. The world weakens you. The Lord
strengthens you. And keep calling. Keep calling. In Psalm 116, Brother Stephen,
let me just read this to you. When I sent out the text, Brother
Stephen just fired back one scripture to me, Psalm 116. And I reread it, and sure enough,
all through here, call. David said, I love the Lord because
he heard my voice and my supplication. Because he's confined his ear
unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. How do you know the Lord's called
you? Well, he's given you repentance, he's given you faith in Christ,
given you a need for Christ, given you a love, a belief for
the truth. Love for the God of the Bible
and the Christ of Scripture. Love for His people. Love for
fellowship. Love for worship. Love for His
Word. Love for His worship. A desire
to worship Him. He's called you. And I'm telling
you, whoever the Lord calls, He keeps calling. He keeps calling. He'll never quit calling you
once He calls you by His grace. He'll never quit calling you.
And you'll never quit calling. Oh, there might be a time when
you go out after something, but He calls you back, doesn't He?
Tell me if it isn't so. We've all played the prodigal,
even as believers. Tell me if it isn't so. That
you go after the world, and your mind goes after this and that
and the other, your heart. Did He leave you? You're back. It's because He never quits calling.
And you'll never quit calling. Tell me. You might go a little
while without talking, praying, calling on the Lord a little
while, but you can't go long, can you? Something's going to
happen to make you cry out, Help! I can't do it. Whosoever shall call on Him. All right, stand with me.