Let's read some more from Zachariah
for our scripture reading tonight. We'll start in chapter 13, verse
1. And in that day, it's the latter
days, that's our day. It's the days between the first
and second coming of Christ. In that day there shall be a
fountain open to the house of David and to the inhabitants
of Jerusalem. And this fountain is going to
be for sin and for uncleanness. Sinners are going to find themselves
washed in this fountain. And it shall come to pass in
that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will cut off the names
of the idols out of the land and they shall no more be remembered. I'm always a little, well, I'm
very encouraged when A person who's recently heard the gospel
calls me and tells me that they're being accused of being cultic,
they're being accused of being arrogant, they're being accused
of splitting up their family, all because they have seen the
idols for what they are and they've refused them. When the Lord teaches
you the gospel, you just can't, you can't go back to the idols.
That's part of the work of grace that he does in the heart. And
also, I was caused the prophets and the unclean spirits to pass
out of the land. You can't go back and listen
to those men anymore. And it shall come to pass that
when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother
that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live. For
thou speakest lies in the name of the Lord, and his father and
his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesied."
You know, that's our experience. When the Lord teaches you the
gospel and gives you a love for Christ, even your own family
members, your own children, you can't agree with them. And it shall come to pass in
that day that the prophets shall be ashamed, every one of his
vision, when he hath prophesied, neither shall he wear rough garment
to deceive. And he shall say, I am no prophet,
I am a husbandman, for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth.
And one shall say unto him, what are these wounds in thine hands?
Then he shall answer, those with which I was wounded in the house
of my friends." Let's pray together. Our Heavenly Father, we pray
that You would send Your Spirit in power to enable us to look
to Christ, to gaze upon Him, to see Him in His wounds and
to know that He was wounded in the house of His friends. To
know, Lord, that what he went through was for us. And we pray that you would grieve
our hearts and cause us to cry with Job, behold, I am vile. And to know that all of our righteousness
is found in the glorious person of our Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ. For it's in his name we pray.
Amen. Let's stand together again. We'll
sing hymn number 158 from the hardback timinal. 158 from the
hardback. Will you open your Bibles with
me to Acts chapter 16? And I want to begin with one
verse. I've titled this message simply,
Irresistible Grace. Irresistible Grace. In verse
14 of Acts chapter 16, And a certain woman named Lydia, Now God had
already given the Apostle Paul a vision and directed him to Philippi. And here he was directed to a
group of women that were meeting down by the river and praying. And this certain woman named
Lydia, a seller of purple of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped
God. heard us. She heard the gospel. She didn't just hear it with
her natural ears. She heard it effectually. She heard it irresistibly. And look at this next phrase,
whose heart the Lord opened. whose heart the Lord opened,
and she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul." Why
did she attend unto the things that the Apostle Paul was preaching?
Because God had opened her heart. If you believe the gospel, I
mean, believe the gospel. Believe that salvation is of
the Lord and that it was completely accomplished through the finished
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. That He is all your righteousness
and all your sanctification, all your redemption, all your
wisdom. Your all in all is in Christ. If you believe the gospel,
if you have faith, If you're resting in the finished work
and the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, if you love the God of
free and sovereign grace, why? Why? Why do you? Why would you believe something
that would put you at such odds with everybody else in the world? Why would you embrace something
that would cause such contention in your own family? Why would you love that which
everybody else hates? And why would you hate that which
everybody else loves? Why? Why? Why are you different? The answer is irresistible or
effectual grace. You didn't decide to be different. He made you to differ. In Acts chapter 17 the Apostle
Paul preaches the gospel there in Athens as we saw Sunday and
some mocked and some said we'll come back again and hear you
tomorrow and others believed. What made the difference? The
answer is irresistible grace. Now we believe that all the gospel
stands or falls together. I was talking to someone yesterday
and they were telling me about some church they had been attending
that was a 3.5 Calvinist. 3.5. We believe. that the atoning work of the
Lord Jesus Christ was limited to and effectual for the elect. We believe that our God has the
sovereign right to choose according to his good pleasure and will
those whom he will have mercy upon and those whom he will harden,
he'll harden and no man can question him. call his sovereign purpose
into question. We believe that election was
unconditioned. We do not believe that God looked
down through the corridors of time and he saw those who would
choose him or he saw those who were more virtuous than others
and then he backed up the clock and chose them. We believe that the only reason
that we believe is because the Lord did a work of irresistible
grace in our hearts. We believe that in the day of
His power, He opened the eyes of our understanding and He shut
us up to Christ. We didn't have any place else
to go and we would not have chosen Him had He not done a work of
grace in our hearts. We believe that those whom the
Lord saves, He causes to persevere. That we can't fall away. That
He keeps us from falling and presents us faultless, unblameable,
and irreprovable before a holy God. And in all of our struggles
with sin, we can't not believe. Those who would say that they
are four-point Calvinist or 3.5 whatever that means Calvinist
they oftentimes will raise objections about the atonement and they'll
say well it was for all men it was purposed for all men They'll
raise questions about election. They'll say, well, that's not
fair. Why would God elect some? The real problem, as we've seen
on many occasions, the real problem with those who don't believe
the gospel has nothing to do with limited atonement. It has
nothing to do with irresistible grace. It has nothing to do with
perseverance of the saints. It has everything to do with
total depravity. Turn to me to Job chapter 40.
We saw this a couple of weeks ago, but there's a word here
in this text that I've come to understand more powerfully, and
I want you to see it. In Job chapter 40, what is it
that brought Job to believe the gospel? Was it the loss of his
children? Was it his difficult circumstances? Was it his leprosy? What was it? Truth is, a person
could experience the horrors of hell, and I'm going to show
you that from the scriptures, and not believe the gospel. Not
believe the gospel. None of those things brought
him to repentance. It wasn't until Elihu preached
the gospel. And as soon as Elihu finished
preaching, the Lord began to speak. And Job, after hearing
the voice of God, that's our hope, isn't it? When the gospels
preach, that God will speak. And that men will hear from God
in their hearts. And if they do, this will be
their experience. Look at verse 4 of Job chapter
40. I brought this out a couple of
weeks ago. I am vile, but I missed the first word of that verse. Behold! I never saw this before! I'm amazed! Behold! Can you believe it? Job had been
justifying himself. Job had been, well, he said,
let me bring my case before God. I'll prove to him that I'm not
worthy of this. At one point, Job said, I am going to hold
on to my righteousness, and I will not turn it loose until I die. Now, after hearing the gospel,
what's he say? Behold. Oh, I never saw it before. I never saw it before. Has the
Lord caused you to be able to say, behold, I am vile? There's a difference between
believing in the doctrine of total depravity and having God
make you to be totally depraved. in the same way that there's
a difference between believing in the doctrine of election and
resting in the God who sovereignly elected a people. There's a difference
between believing in limited atonement and knowing that what
the Lord Jesus Christ did was for you. Oh! Behold! Behold! I never saw it before. I'm amazed. I mean, Job, the Scripture says
prior to this, that from the crown of his head to the sole
of his foot, he was full of sores and boils. And he scraped himself
with potsherds in order to try to get some relief. You know,
I don't know what all that means. But this man was a mess. And
all of a sudden, after God speaks, he makes this this announcement
and this revelation is made to him behold I am vile I had spoken
without knowledge he puts his hand over his mouth you read
it right there and you say I'm not going to speak again and
he doesn't until chapter 42 when he confesses that broken heart
that God had given him. Truly, the problem that men have
is total depravity. If the Lord ever makes us to
be a sinner, all the rest of it will make perfect sense. The
gospel stands or falls together. It does. And when the Lord's
pleased to speak, the first thing that comes out of our mouth is
the same thing that came out of Isaiah's mouth. Woe is me. I'm undone. I've seen the king. I've seen God. I'm a man of unclean
lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips. Who's going
to help me? They're all just like me. Behold, I'm vile. And if the Lord makes us to be
a sinner, if He makes us vile, if He causes us to know that
all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags before Him, that
there is none that doeth good, no, not one, and that the Lord
Jesus Christ is the only hope of acceptance that we have before
God, then we will be able to rejoice in the glorious truth
of grace that God made to be irresistible. Irresistible. Lord, had you not made it irresistible,
I wouldn't have believed. If the grace of God could be
resisted, you can be sure that we would. When Paul speaks in
1 Timothy chapter 3 verse 16 about the mystery of godliness,
behold the mystery of godliness, that God was manifested in the
flesh. And one of the things that he
says in that verse as relating to a great and glorious mystery
of godliness is that he was believed on in the world. Are you amazed that you're a
believer? He must make us willing by the
irresistible persuasion of His power. There's five things I want to
say about irresistible grace quickly. The first one is that
it is taught clearly in the Word of God. The second thing is that
it is the work of the Holy Spirit. The third thing is that it makes
God to be the author of salvation. The fourth thing is that it destroys
the notion of free will. And the fifth thing is that irresistible
grace humbles. the saved. It humbles the saved. If a man doesn't believe that
the grace of God is absolutely irresistible and effectual toward
those whom God is pleased to make himself known, then he doesn't
believe the Bible. Don't tell me you're a Bible-believing
person. But you don't believe, but you
think that everybody's got a chance. That it's ultimately up to the
individual. Psalm 110 verse 3, Thy people
shall be willing in the day of thy power. Oh, that's pretty
clear. I'm gonna make them willing.
When the power of the Holy Spirit comes upon you, Nicodemus, He's
going to make you willing. He's going to open the eyes of
your understanding. He's going to take away that
heart of stone. He's going to put in a heart
of flesh. He's going to cause you to believe. You're not going
to have a choice about it. Coming to Christ is not a choice.
Zechariah 4, verse 6, God says, It is not by might nor by power,
but by My Spirit, saith the Lord. Irresistible grace is taught
clearly in the scriptures. Romans chapter 9 verse 16 says,
It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth. It's
not based on your decision, and it's not based on your works,
but it is of God who showeth mercy. Irresistible grace. In Ephesians chapter 2 verse
16, the scripture says, that you who were dead in your trespasses
and sins. Ephesians 2 verse 1. He has quickened
together. He has made alive. We're born into the family of
God the same way we're born spiritually, physically. Same way we're born
physically. You know, I've heard mothers
that are giving birth to a child say, boy, that baby wanted out.
Truth is, the baby didn't want out. It was your body that forced
that baby out. Your body said, that's enough.
He's ready. He's mature. And I can't handle
him anymore. If it was up to the baby, if
the baby had a choice, the baby would stay right where it is.
The baby's not in the womb of the mother thinking, boy, I wonder
what the world's going to be like out there. The baby's perfectly
content and comfortable right where it is. It's the mother's
body that forces the baby out. And that birth is irresistible.
The baby can't resist it. He's pushed out. It's the same
way in our spiritual birth. We don't sit in our sin and think,
well, I wonder what it's like knowing God. The Lord opens our hearts in
the same way that He opened Lydia's heart. And He forces us into
His kingdom, into the light, and gives us faith to believe.
It's irresistible. And the Bible teaches it clearly.
And not only teaches it by precept, but it teaches it by example. What was the difference? between
an apostle by the name of Judas Iscariot that spent three years
in the presence of the Son of God. He saw the miracles that
he performed. He saw what he had done. He heard
his voice. He looked into his eyes. He heard
the tenderness of his love and affection and he saw what he
did. He walked with him. Judas went
out with the other apostles and preached. And then you have another man
by the name of Saul of Tarsus, who is just the opposite of Judas.
He's trying to stamp out the gospel. He's trying to quiet
this new faith. And he's not looking for God. and the day of his love came,
and the day of power came, and the windows of heaven opened,
and the light of the gospel shined into his heart, and God knocked
him off his high horse. What made the difference between
Judas Iscariot and Saul of Tarsus? I mean you would think that if
it was up to their circumstances that would result in salvation
that Judas had a lot better chance of being saved than Saul of Tarsus.
called Irresistible Grace. I'm gonna show you what great
things you must suffer for my name's sake. The rest of the men that were
with Saul didn't know, they heard a sound, but they didn't know
what was being said. Why did Saul hear it? Irresistible Grace. Luke chapter 23 verse 39 the
scripture says that one of those thieves on the side of the Lord
Jesus Christ hanging there on the cross and he would have been
nailed to a cross the same way the Lord was it was just a matter
of hours before he was gonna pass from this world and he cast
aspersions and railings on the Lord Jesus Christ He mocked him
and he said, if you be the Christ, save yourself and us. And in verse 40, the other thief
said, what's the matter with you? Don't you, don't you know
that we're in judgment here? And he cried and asked the Lord
for mercy. What made the difference? What
made the difference? Irresistible grace. Jacob, Esau stayed home. Had a good relationship with
Isaac and was faithful son. Jacob had to run off to another
land. It seemed like everywhere Jacob
went he got in trouble. Jacob I have loved, Esau I have
hated." What made the difference? Why is it that Jacob met the
Lord there at the river Jabbok and wrestled with Him, had his
name changed from supplanter to Prince Israel? What made the difference? It's
called irresistible grace. Irresistible grace. You know identical twins. have
exactly the same DNA. They do. The first time that egg divides,
it divides into two individuals. And two people are born with
exactly the same DNA. I know identical twins. One of them loves the gospel.
Probably listening to us right now. And his brother, raised
in the same circumstances and has the exact same DNA that he
has, has no interest in the gospel of God's grace. What makes the
difference? It's called irresistible grace.
Turn with me to Revelation chapter 16. Revelation chapter 16. I mentioned earlier that if a
person came back from hell, they would not believe the gospel.
If the Lord was not pleased to do for them what He did for Lydia,
if the Lord was not pleased to make His grace irresistible to
them, they would resist it and die again and go right back to
the same place. Look at Revelation chapter 16
at verse 8, And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the
sun, and the power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great
heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over
these plagues. And they repented not to give
him glory. And the fifth angel poured out
his vial upon the seat of the beast, and his kingdom was full
of darkness. And they gnawed their tongues
for pain, and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their
pain and their sores, and repented not of their deeds." Why not? I mean, they're gnawing their
tongues in pain. They're being scorched with heat and fire and
they're blaspheming God and they won't repent. Why? Who maketh he to differ? It's
called irresistible grace. Irresistible grace is taught
clearly in the scriptures. It's taught in precept, and it's
taught in example, and if a person doesn't believe that grace is
completely irresistible, they do not believe the Bible, and
I make no apologies for saying that. There's a lot of people, I know
there's not, I don't think there's anybody here tonight, but there's
people that listen, there's people that that pride themselves in
being Bible-believing, conservative Christians. And they don't believe
in irresistible grace. They do not believe the Word
of God. Second thing about irresistible
grace is that it is the work of the third person of the triune
Godhead. to not believe in irresistible
grace is to deny the Holy Spirit his power to convert and to convince
and it is to deny what the Lord said in John chapter 16 it's
expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away the Holy
Spirit won't come but when he comes the comforter And the Comforter
comes. He will convince the world of
sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. Of sin, because they
believe not on me. Of righteousness, because I go
to my Father. And of judgment, because the Prince of this world
is judged. That's His work. That's His work. And when He sets to do something,
it's just like when the Father set out to choose a people. When
the Father elected a people, that was His work. When the Son
came in order to redeem those that were chosen by the Father,
that was His work. This gospel of salvation of sinners,
it was thought by God, it was wrought by Christ, and it was
brought by the Holy Spirit. And all three members of the
triune God must be successful in what they've set out to do.
an irresistible grace. It's regeneration. It's the opening
of the eyes. It's the taking out of the heart
of stone and putting in the heart of flesh. It's the belief of
the truth. Listen to what Paul said, In
2 Thessalonians chapter 2, we are bound to give thanks to God
always for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath
from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the Spirit unto the belief of the truth. Without the Spirit of God, we
wouldn't believe the truth. The ministry of the Holy Spirit
is to make the truth of the gospel irresistible to those whom Christ
died for and those whom God had chosen before the world began.
It's His work. It's His work. And to deny irresistible
grace would be to deny would be the same thing as to say that
the Lord Jesus Christ wasn't successful in what He came to
do. Or that the Father is somehow
frustrated in that He really wants everybody to be saved,
but He just can't get it done. Irresistible grace is taught
clearly in the Word of God. And it is the work of the Holy
Spirit. Irresistible grace, thirdly,
makes God the author of salvation. It makes Him the author of salvation.
Paul put it like this, he that glorieth, let him glory in the
Lord. Jonah said, salvations of the
Lord. If you deny irresistible grace,
or don't rejoice in the fact that God made His grace irresistible
to you, then you are adding into the equation of salvation something
done by man. It's just that simple. If grace can be resisted, then
salvation's not of the Lord, and man is the master of his
own destiny. If grace can be resisted, then
that puts salvation ultimately in our hands, not in God's, and
it robs him of his glory. A certain woman by the name of
Lydia heard what Paul was preaching, and the reason she gave attention
to it is because the Lord opened her heart. He opened her heart. I hope this message will do for
you what it's doing for me. Lord, would you open my heart?
Lord, would you not leave me to myself? Lord, would you make
yourself irresistible to me? Lord, don't shut me up. Don't
give me a chance. Cause me to come unto thee. Force
yourself upon me. Lord, if you don't, If you don't,
I'll go the way of Cain." Irresistible grace, fourthly, destroys the
notion of free will. It destroys the notion of free
will. James put it like this, of his own will begat he us. He birthed us. Remember that
baby being pushed out irresistibly? Baby can't stay there. Let's
say that baby consciously decides, you know, I think I'll just stay
right here. That ain't gonna work. That mother's gonna get
that baby out of there. It's just an irresistible birth.
He begat us with the word of truth. Paul talks about it in Colossians
chapter 2 and he says, the doctrines of men have, and what is the
premier doctrine of man? Free will. That's the premier
doctrine of man. That God has given you a will
that enables you to choose or not choose. and to determine
the destiny of your own soul based on your own free will. Do men have a will? Certainly
they have a will. They have a will, but it's not
free. It's in bondage to their nature. And here's irresistible
grace. Regeneration is what God does
when he changes our nature. The doctrines of men have a show
of wisdom in will-worship. Colossians chapter 2. In will-worship. That's all men are doing. And
we've been there. That's how we come into this
world, thinking, well, you know, I decide what I'm going to eat,
I decide what I'm going to wear, I decide what I'm going to say.
Surely I can decide the destiny of my soul. Lord, forgive me. I used to believe
this. And it's like those prophets
over there in Zechariah. They've grieved over what they
used to prophesy. I don't think I'll ever forget
a woman coming to me years and years ago. She was crying. She wanted her husband to be
saved. And I'll never forget my words
to that woman. I looked her right in the eye. That's all I knew.
I looked her right in the eye and I said, not even God can
change your husband's will. I said that. Not even God can change your
husband's will. It is not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth. It's of God that showeth mercy. Turn with me to Exodus chapter
15, verse 9. The enemy, the enemy, the unbeliever,
the lost man, The enemy said, Exodus 15 verse 9, I will pursue. I'll look into this. I'll consider
this as an option for me. I'll pursue. And you know what? I think I'll overtake. I'm going
to grab God and force him to save me. I'm going to let Jesus
come into my heart. I'm going to overtake Him. I
will divide the spoil. Notice in this verse, I will
is mentioned six times. Six times. Six is the number
of man. And here's man's worshiping of
himself. I will pursue. I will overtake. I will divide the spoil. I'll
make what Jesus did work for me. My lust shall be satisfied upon
them. I'll be able to take pride in
the fact that I let God come into my life. I gave my heart
to Jesus. I'm going to divide the spoil
for myself. I'm not going to give Him all
the glory. I'm going to take some of the glory for myself.
This is the voice of the enemy. I will draw my sword. What is
the sword a picture of in the scripture? It's a picture of
the tongue, isn't it? It's a picture of our words. I'll say that prayer. I'll speak those words and God
will be obligated to hear my prayer and to save me. I'll draw
my own sword and my hand shall destroy them. My works, which
is my will, I'm gonna get salvation for myself. Verse 10, thou didst blow. Oh, there's the Spirit of God.
God blew, and the sea covered them, and they sank as lead in
the mighty waters. Who is like unto thee, O Lord,
among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in
holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? Thou stretchest
out thy right hand, and the earth swallowed them. Thou, in thy mercy, hath led
forth the people which thou hast redeemed. Thou hast guided them
in thy strength, guided them in thy strength unto thy holy
habitation. Lord, you did it all. Now there,
right in there in those two verses or three verses is a clear contrast
between free will religion and those who know that the grace
that they've experienced was irresistible. Irresistible. Fifthly, Irresistible grace. Not only
is taught clearly in the scripture, not only is irresistible grace
the work of the Holy Spirit, not only does it make God the
author of salvation and destroys the notion of free will, but
irresistible grace humbles the believer. It humbles the believer. I got
a text yesterday man that's watching, he's probably watching tonight,
and my family members say that I'm arrogant and proud and that
I'm listening to a cult leader and it's causing a problem. Well,
that's... and he doesn't feel that in his
heart. No, he feels just the opposite. How can they conclude
that I'm being arrogant and proud when I'm just so broken and humbled
over this grace of God? We can't get mad at unbelievers. We're forced to say, but for
the grace of God there go I. And we say with John, in 1 John
chapter 3 verse 1, behold what manner of love the Father hath
bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of God.
It does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when
He appears, we're going to be made like Him. But what a beholding! Behold, I am vile! Behold, I
am a child of God! Only by irresistible grace. If
the Lord had given me any opportunity to resist the gospel, I would
have. He had to make it irresistible. And when He did, when He made
it irresistible, Nebuchadnezzar knew something
about the irresistible grace of God, didn't he? He concluded
that declaration of God's sovereign grace by saying, those who walk
in pride He knows how to abase. And that's what irresistible
grace does. It takes those who walked in the pride of their
own will And it abases them so that they say the nations are
as nothing. He hath done whatsoever he hath
willed with the armies of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth.
And no man can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou?
He's God. Irresistible grace. It's taught
in the word of God. It is the work of the Holy Spirit. It does. It's the only message
that makes God the author of salvation. It destroys the notion
of free will. And it humbles God's people.
It humbles them. Worship God. We are the true
circumcision which worship God in the spirit and have no confidence
in the flesh. This glorious truth of God's
irresistible grace brings us to the throne of grace to seek
help in our time of need. Lord, I can't do this. I can't
believe. I can't come. I can't change
my life. I can't decide. Lord, you're
going to have to do it. And you're going to have to make
it irresistible. Can you ask Him with me to make
His grace irresistible to you? Lord, would you do for me what
you did for Lydia? Would you open my heart and give
me the grace to attend to the things of God? If it's going
to happen, Lord, you're going to have to do it. You're going
to have to do it. Let's pray. Except the Lord build
the house, they labor in vain that build it. Except the Lord
keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. Lord, the house of our salvation
is one that that you must build. We ask, Lord, that you would
be merciful to us, and that you would make yourself irresistible
to our hearts. For we pray it in Christ's name.
Amen. 131 in the Sophactena. Let's
stand together.