But the way of the ungodly shall
perish. Turn with me, if you would, to
the book of Romans 10. As you're turning there, I was
thinking of the seriousness of the message that we just considered. I have folks, I've told you this
before in my family, that make no claim whatsoever
to believe the gospel. I pray that the Lord be pleased
to call them out of darkness. I pray so. I pray so. Every time
I hear, I heard someone this week, maybe a couple of them,
I don't know, that died at a funeral. And the first thing that goes
through my mind is this. Based on what they confessed
or didn't confess, As far as I know, based on what they did
not confess, that is, faith in Christ, based on Scriptures, they're
in hell right now. And I'm telling you, that's serious.
That's a serious thought. Like I said, I pray the Lord
be pleased to call out those that I know, those you know,
I mean that. But I cannot shirk the truthfulness
of God's Word. It's so. Whether I'd want to
be up and be truthful about it or not, it didn't change a thing.
God's Word stands. I pray if there's some today,
and I mean this, And I think most of you know me well enough
to know my stand on God's sovereign, saving, electing grace. But I pray today, if there's
somebody here that doesn't know Him, I pray God calls His own
out of darkness today. Yesterday's gone. You say, you
don't know what I've done. You don't know what I've done.
Today is the day of salvation. What's yesterday? You may think,
well, I don't, I'm not sure about when I believe. What difference
does it make? Would it make any difference whatsoever? I wonder
how serious I was whenever, you know, I wonder if I've truly
called. How about today? Yesterday's gone. Romans 10. I want to preach this
morning on calling on the name of the Lord. What does it mean
to call upon the name of the Lord? Paul the Apostle in the 11th
verse of this 10th chapter had made this glorious statement. The Scripture saith, Whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed." Boy, I think about this every
time I stand and preach out of this. Do you know who I think
about? Have I ever believed? You say,
well, you're the preacher. Paul was a preacher. I mean, men can stand in pulpits
and can get in their mind five points of Calvinism and have
them down right, have his doctrine down right. But believing takes
a new heart. Believing takes a heart, a new
heart. Fred, would you take it and just
hang it up? Whosoever is persuaded of their
need of Christ and places their confidence in the Lord Jesus
Christ is not going to be ashamed. Whosoever. Verse 12 says concerning these
Whosoever shall call on God. And let me tell you this, this
whosoever, Jew or Gentile, there's no difference in Jew or Gentile. They're both sinners. The Jews
have no special reliance upon Almighty God because they're
a Jew. Both guilty. Both come short
of the glory of God. And if any believes, it's going
to be by the grace of God. If you believe this morning,
it is by God's grace that you believe. And if you believe,
God has shown you mercy. That statement right there is
more than I can comprehend. I think to myself, I am standing
here this morning in a place where God has raised up the gospel
and maintained it for over 50 years. That I would be standing
here in the midst of some that God had everlastingly loved is
an amazing thought. There is no difference, for the
same Lord over all is rich. unto all that call upon Him."
He is the Lord over all. He is God Almighty. And He is
wealthy in His ability to all that appeal to His authority.
But let me tell you this, He is not waiting for you to appeal
to Him for Him to be rich to you. If you call, He has already
been rich to you. Nobody calls unless God Almighty
gives them a heart to call. The Scripture sets forth, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved. You think, What would be the possibility
that God would be merciful to me? Is it possible that God... I know that there's a remnant
according to grace. I know that. I know that it's
just a small... compared to the masses, it's
just... But could it be that I could
be found in that number? Could it be that God would show
me mercy out of all of this? If we only could just behold
something to compare what I believe these Scriptures sets forth,
such a small number. Could it be out of all the world
that God showed mercy and grace to one man and his family? all
of them that came out of Egypt over the age of 20. How many
that came out of Egypt over the age of 20 did God show mercy
to? Two. Two. How many came out? Some say millions. You mean to
tell me that God showed mercy to two men over the age of 20
that came out of Egypt? That's exactly right. Whosoever,
that's a word that could include me. I can tell you that. I know
that. Whosoever, whosoever, Jew, Gentile,
man, woman, bond-free, black, white, yellow, tall, short, whosoever,
whosoever from a new heart appeals to Him, His character, His authority
shall be delivered, rescued. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be rescued, saved. That's what it means.
No one calls unless God gives them a new heart. No one calls
from an old heart. No man seeks after God. The old
man will never appeal to Christ, so when a sinner calls on the
name of the Lord, you realize this, the Lord has regenerated
that man. Men preach that men must call
on the name of the Lord to be saved. That's salvation by works. That's works. That means you
do something first, then God will do something. That's works.
That's works. If you have to do something in
order to be saved, then salvation is of you. What does it mean to call upon
the name of the Lord? Well, first of all, let me ask
you this. What does it mean to call? We'll look at the name
of the Lord and just say, what does it mean to call? Calling
upon the Lord denotes, first of all, communion. Communion,
personal interaction with somebody, calling. If I see Scott and he's
out there out in the parking lot and I'm seeing him as a group
of people out there and as everybody, you know, there's a bunch of
y'all out there and everybody's getting in the car and I want
to talk to Scott, you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to
call on Scott. That will be a distinctive call. Well, Scott, yeah, I'll talk
to you just a second. That's calling. It's a communion,
a personal. This calling upon the Lord is
a word that has a humble attitude. To invoke for aid is what it
means. Calling. It means, I need some
help. It's not just a word that has
no meaning. It means to need. It's an action of the soul. acknowledges and recognizes God's
sovereignty, calling on the Lord. And I'll tell you this, it's
a continual, this calling right here. We often speak of salvation
as being a one-time event. You know, when were you converted?
Well, that thought right there causes us to go back. in our
thinking in time to a point at which, and we begin then to think
in how we came under the gospel and we heard. Calling, this word
is a begun word that continues. You that believe, are you not
calling right now? Do you not call right now? This
calling is a heart. call. Men can say, you know, the Lord
said, He said, with their mouth they do honor me, but their heart
is far from me. This calling is not a hit and
miss, once in a while calling. It's a walking, calling, invoking,
appealing to the Lord. You know, when the scripture
says, Enoch, walk with God. Do you know what it is to walk
with the Lord. Enoch walked with God. To believe Him. To believe Him. Enoch got up and I don't know
what Enoch did. I don't know. I don't know. I
don't know what he did. But I tell you what he did. It
was a continual every day. Enoch was a man just like anybody
else. He was just like Every man born
in Adam regenerated by God's grace. It wasn't, he didn't walk
six inches off the ground. He didn't have that super spiritual,
you know, he wasn't above anybody else. All have come short of
the glory of God. Enoch too. Paul too. And you too. You too. But he believed God. Enoch walked
with God and every believer does too. They walk. Calling on the Lord, walking
with God. It's not just at a time of prayer
or certain seasons. It's a walk. It's a manner of
life, a contingent life. The believer's consciousness
of the Lord is there. It's always there. Now, this
is the way that a believer calls on the Lord. Everything throughout
that day. I'm telling you, everything throughout
the day. And I do understand. There's
times when we're doing something, we're working on something. I
understand that there's moments we're doing something. But for
a believer, everything they do or think is governed by their
calling on the Lord. Everything they do. They're tempted
just like anybody else. And when that temptation arises,
when the frailty of that flesh is realized, which it always
is, as I said last week or week before sometime, I don't know,
everything they do, everything they think is tempered by and
governed by their relationship to Christ. That's the way they
think. You know that's so. You that
believe, you know it's so. The temptation to be disobedient. You hate it. And then if you
find yourself succumbing to it, you can't live with it. You don't
just blow it off. You just don't. You don't. You
don't. You can't. You cannot. You cannot. Why? Because they
call on the name of the Lord. Calling. What do you mean, the name of
the Lord? The name of the Lord. I've seen people, they disrespectfully
think that they can just quote the name of Jesus, and that's
the way they speak. You know, I've heard this before,
and it's so. You can't either. You don't just
speak of Him as Jesus. I might call you Glenn. Gary,
you know, I can do that and look and not mean any disrespect,
but I can't speak to him as Jesus. His apostles didn't. It's the
Lord. It's the master. Him. I mean, there's even that way. He, you know, he, him, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Those that hated him and despised
him would speak to him. I've read where the Spirit of
God spoke as Jesus. But God's people, they're respectful. It's not that the Spirit of God
is being disrespectful. I'm not saying that. But God's
people call upon the character, the authority. You might like
this. You've heard this before. I just
looked. I'll just give them to you and
then I won't go any farther. The authority. You've heard these
6 or 7 Jehovah-Jireh. That was in Genesis 22. That's
when Abraham was going to sacrifice Isaac. He raised that knife up. And the Lord stopped him and
said, there's a ram caught in a thicket. And Abraham called
that place Jehovah-Jireh. The Lord will provide. That's
what the call in the name of the Lord Genesis 22, 13, 14.
The Lord will provide. Jehovah Rapha. Exodus 15, 26. The Lord that healeth. Whenever
a believer calls, he believes that he can heal me. Spiritually,
he can make me well. Does that mean that there's no
sickness, physical sickness? Absolutely not. We're going to
leave this world some way. How? The way that God has purposed
that we're going to leave. What if it's cancer? That's where
you're going to leave. And I'm not trying to make light of it.
I'm telling you, I know something about it. A little bit. And some
of you do too. But I know this spiritually.
Jehovah Nephi, Exodus 17, the Lord our banner, the coverer,
the protector, the hedge. What does He protect us from?
Number one, ourself. Leave me to myself. God has protected
me against myself and against His law, against His judgment. Banner, Jehovah Shalom, the Lord
our peace. Boy, there's only one way I'm going
to be at peace with God is for God to make peace through the
blood of His Son. There's peace. Jehovah Re'ah,
the Lord our Shepherd. Boy, I need some guidance today.
I need, what are you going to do? I need a shepherd. Where
are you going to go? I need a shepherd. I need a shepherd. They that are led by the Spirit
of God, the Spirit of Christ, God Himself, they're the sons
of God. Jehovah Sidkenu, the Lord our
righteousness. Can you imagine trying to stand
before God on the best you could do? That phone rang just a minute
ago. It made me mad. I'd like to pick up that telephone.
If you know what we're doing here, we're worshiping God. Boy,
what a nice attitude that was. The Lord our righteousness. One
slip. One deviation. To offend in one
point is to offend in all of it. Boy, I need Him. who is righteous, don't leave
it to me, because I'm telling you, leave it to me. I'm mad.
I'm mad. I fall. I slip. Jehovah Shema,
the Lord is present. Well, I think about that. I think not only is He present,
He knows what I'm thinking. He knows what those Pharisees
thought. Why think ye in your heart? Man, I'm standing here
today, and I do pray, Lord, help me. Help me. These are Your sheep. They've come to be comforted. Lord, I'm in the midst of them.
You're here. And You know. Two or three are
gathered together. I believe that in His name. The Lord. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord, should be saved. How then, verse 14, shall they
call on Him in whom they have not believed? Knowing that Paul
has set forth the necessity of calling upon the name of the
Lord, he asks that question. How shall they call on Him in
whom they have not believed? How shall they initially call
and continue to call? upon the Lord in whom they have
no faith." How are they going to call on
Him in whom they are not convinced and persuaded, place all their
confidence in? How are they going to call on
Him in whom they don't rely? How? How? How? How are they going
to call upon Him of whom they're not personally convinced that
He is able to keep them? How are they going to call? Now,
I'm not talking about playing like. I'm talking about truly
out of a heart looking for help. Man, I'm telling you, there have
been times that I've asked myself, do I truly need Him? Do I truly
need Him? And you thought that too. And
you hate it when you think that. You think, I know I do. I know
I do. Oh, but I hate it when I find
myself doubting. I hate it. Just the very thought
that I would think that shows I need Him. How are they going
to call on him in whom they've not believed. You're convinced.
How? How? Unless God gives me faith
to believe. How am I going to call? How shall
they believe in Him in whom they've not heard? Now, let me tell you
something. This means more than just the
hearing with the ear. Many heard the Lord preach. Many
heard. Many can sit under a message
and actually hear it with the physical ear and never hear. Never hear truly to call. This word here, heard, it means
to hear the completeness of the object. I mean, it's to hear
with a conviction. To perceive the person of whom
you're speaking. I mean, this is a miracle of
God's grace that a person would hear. How many hear with the
ear and never hear with the heart? Hearing a message that says the
Lord came into this world to make salvation possible is not
what that word means. That's not hearing. The word that the apostle uses,
heard. How shall they believe on Him
whom they have not heard? is to hear of Him who is sovereign
in salvation and choosing and election, Him who has everlastingly
loved His people, chosen them in Christ before the foundation
of the world, those that He is going to save and have a heart
to love it, to love it, to love it, to love it, to love it, to
hear it, and love it and need it and desire it, can't live
without it. That's a man that hears. That's
the message that men must heartfully hear, to hear with the heart. A false message, one that God's
trying to do something, that's never a blessing. And how shall
they hear without a preacher? since the Lord has ordained the
end of His people. What I mean is that they're salvation.
God has also ordained the means to that end. He sends a preacher. Now this is an amazing thought
right here. 1 Corinthians 121, and after
that, in the wisdom of God. The wisdom of God. Now here's
the wisdom of God. The world, by wisdom, knew not
God. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching." What the world considers foolishness. This is
a game to the world. Religion is a game, Bob. It's
a game. It's a game. It's a filler. It's a filler. That's all it
is. They go to church for every reason under the sun. Good for
business. Mama's going to be proud of me.
I'll feel better. It'll cause me to kind of think
a little bit better about what I did the other day. You know,
I'm going to church. We're going to do church. It's a game. It's a filler. That's all it
is. I can't remember the communist name that said it's the opiate
of the people, religion. It's right. He was right about
that. To the world, that's all it is.
It's just a soothing salve is all it is. They just feel a little
better every once in a while. Just went to church. Not God's
people. The hearing of the gospel is
life. And how are they going to hear?
God sends a preacher. When the world with all of its
wisdom could not recognize God's power, glory, purpose to show
mercy, God used the means of His choosing, preaching. He calls a man out of darkness
and gives this man a heart to preach. Now this is amazing
to me. preaching. I used to think, how
in the world, I've told you this before, how in the world can
you or some, I think about Brother Scott and Brother Henry, those
are the two I thought about, two men in my estimation that
just our age has been blessed to have. How do you sit around
all day and study? How do you do that? I mean, I
like to read the Bible, don't get me wrong. And I think it's
necessary, don't get me wrong. But how do you sit around all
day and how do you do that? Well, verse 15 says, how are
they going to preach except they be sent? Do you know how a man sits around
and studies? He wants to. Yeah, but why does
he want to? It was sin of God. Why do you
do what you want to do? You like going to work? I mean,
I'm not knocking going to work. I mean, Scripture says you don't
work, you don't eat. You like doing what you do? Why? Because you like to. Why do you
go? Because you like to. You like what you do. Why do
you do anything that you do? Because you want to. Why does
a preacher preach? Because God sent him. He has
a heart to do that. I mean, it's just, I'll be honest
with you, there's been times that I'd be sitting down looking
at something, mauling over it, thinking about it, praying about
it, I don't get it. It doesn't seem to make sense
to me. Stop. Just be honest about it. Lord, I don't know what this
means. I know you know. I know you can tell me if it
pleases you. You keep looking. And who knows?
Maybe the Lord gave you some light on it. And as soon as you
see it, just bust out crying. Bust out crying. Have you ever
done that? Have you ever seen something
in Scriptures and it just so broke your heart? Why? Because you loved it. You loved
it. Thank you. How are they going
to preach unless they be sent? That means set apart, equipped,
and prepared. How are they going to preach?
When God is pleased to send a preacher, He gives that preacher a heart
and a desire for the calling. You know why I'm here today?
Number one, by the grace of God. And I want to be here. I want
to be here. I wanted to be here, Brother
Scott. I wanted to be here. And I'm thankful. I'm thankful
to be here. The Lord gifts him, sustains
him for the task. Matthew 10, 16, Behold, I send
you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be ye therefore wise
as serpents, and harmless or simple. as doves. Preach the
Word. For what? To comfort the people.
Comfort you, my people. Only men sent of God preach the
gospel of free grace. God's preachers preach Christ. A man that preaches that other
message I was talking about this morning, a false gospel, God
didn't send him. Preach Christ. How shall they
preach except they be sinned? As it is written, verse 15, how
beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace
and bring glad tidings of good things. How beautiful. I've told you this before, but
we need to be reminded. I do. How seasonably appropriate
and timely. That's what it means when it
says beautiful. When it says how beautiful or their feet,
how beautiful, how timely, how the swiftness of God's preachers
that God's sending. Ezekiel 16, verse 8 says, When
I passed by thee and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the
time of love. Here's the amazing thing. God
sends preachers. God sends preachers because God
was pleased to send preachers. And when it pleased the Lord
to call any that He called out of darkness, it was according
to the Lord's timing. It was according to the Lord's
timing. And that's beautiful because
the Lord is the Lord of salvation. When it pleased God, Paul said,
who called me out of darkness, When did you believe when it
pleased the Lord? Why did you believe it pleased the Lord?
How do you believe now it pleases the Lord? Almighty God sends
preachers, and these preachers preach the same message that
the Lord preached. Always preach. Preachers sent
of God are those that comfort the sheep. They preach the gospel
of peace. It's not a gospel of bondage.
This is not a gospel of bondage. Let me tell you, this is the
gospel. Almighty God has a people. Almighty God's demand for righteousness
fulfilled by His Son. He is the obedient servant. He's
the man, Brother Scott, that walks not in the counsel of the
ungodly. and all in Him. Almighty God's demand for righteousness
fulfilled by His Son, His Son, in whom He chose a people before
the foundation of the world, and He looked upon them in His
Son before the foundation of the world, holy. Oh, I like that. I like that. I came forth from my mother's
womb a liar, ungodly, a rebel against God. And he took what
I deserved and his son was made that. And he paid my debt. He laid down his life for the
sheep. And in time, my mom and daddy,
after years and years and years and years, had me. Why did they have me? Why was
I born when I was born? It pleased God. I was born in
a certain year, and I grew up in false religion, and Almighty
God was pleased by late twenties to call me out of darkness and
to reveal Christ in me. And Almighty God purposed before
the foundation of the world that I'd be right here, right now.
This is where I am. Why? Because it pleased God. How beautiful are the feet of
them that preach peace. And in time, God told me about
what He did. There's salvation. There's peace. I made peace. They bring glad
tidings of good things. Let me tell you some good things. Glad tiding of good things. Adopted
in the Beloved. Okay, he was talking about adopting
that little baby. All the benefits of that family
is now that baby's. If God Almighty has adopted me,
all of the inheritance of God Almighty, what is that? Salvation, I can tell you that. I won't be lifting my eyes out
of hell. I can tell you that. Adopt it.
Here's some glad tidings. Chosen to be holy and without
blame before Him in love, justified by being found righteous in Christ,
our federal head. If we ever get a hold of what
the word justified means, Now that's a good tiding, glad tiding. Justify! No guilt. No record of guilt. Never sinned
in Christ. You say, whoa, wait a minute.
That which is born of God sinneth not. There's two natures. There's an old nature and a new
nature. And this old nature being born in Adam, we are nothing
but rebels against God, sinners. Sinners, sinners born in Christ,
no sin. Can you figure that out? No,
I can declare it. I can't figure it out, but I
can tell you this, God has. And his words good enough. Glad tidings of good things called
out of darkness, kept by the power of God. Glad tidings of
good things. And I'm telling you, Almighty
God is to be thanked. How are they going to call on
Him? How is a man going to have a
heart to call on the name of the Lord, the character of Almighty
God, unless God Almighty gives that man a new heart? How is
he going to call? I'm telling you, be thankful that God didn't wait
on you to make a decision for him. How's that? Because no man seeks after God.
You say, well, I'm sure some would. No, they won't. No man
seeks after God. But surely there's a little good
in all men. No, there's not. There's none good. No, not one. Every thought, every imagination
of a man's heart in Adam is evil continually. This is good news. God Almighty
purposed to save His people, an elect people, a blessed people. And He chose to save them before
the foundation of the world and considered them in Christ And
that means that all He sees in His Son, He sees in them. How does He see Christ? That's
His beloved Son whom He is well pleased. How does He see those
in Christ? Well done. Well done. Boy, you know what? That just
makes me just shut up. Shut up. Lord, thank You. Thank You for mercy. Thank You
for Your grace. Thank You that You didn't leave
me to myself. Thank You that You did not allow
me to go through this world thinking that I could do something for
You. What am I going to do? What is a maggot like me going
to do for God Almighty? I'm nobody. We're all as an unclean
thing. I mean, isn't it just refreshing? Just go ahead and just be honest
about it. Just go ahead and just say, Lord, as You say, I am,
I am. But Lord, as You say, I am in
Christ, I am. And for that, I'm thankful. Alright,
Gary, you can go.