Turn with me to John chapter
6. John 6. We are going to continue our
study of what is commonly referred to as the doctrines of grace,
or the five points of Calvinism, that's what people call it. And there's one word that is
used to describe these five points, and that word is tulip, T-U-L-I-P. You may hear of people talk about
tulip. T stands for total depravity,
total, total, man's total depravity. U stands for unconditional election,
God the Father choosing who he would to save. L stands for limited
atonement, the blood of Jesus Christ that covered and atoned
The sin of God's people, it was shed for God's people. It was
a particular redemption for God's people alone. It wasn't just
a general shedding of blood. It was a particular shedding
of blood. I stands for irresistible grace. I love irresistible grace. And P stands for perseverance
of the saints, making it all the way to the end. Now, we've
already looked at total depravity, unconditional election, and limited
atonement. For this Bible study, we're going
to look at irresistible grace, and then if the Lord is willing,
in our message in just a moment, we're going to look at perseverance
of the saints. Our text for this will be John
6, verse 37. John 6 verse 37, our Lord said,
all that the father giveth me shall come to me. And him that
cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. All that the father
giveth me shall come to me. shall come to me. Shall come to me. He did not
say might come to me. He did not say hopefully they
will come to me. He did not say should come to
me. All that the Father giveth me
should come to me. He didn't say that. I tell you
what else he didn't say. He did not say, can come to me. All that the Father giveth me
can come to me. He didn't say that. He said, shall. I love that so
much. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. And he did not say, some that
the Father has given to me. He did not say most of the ones
that the Father has given to me. He said all. All that the Father giveth me. The definition of the word all
is very similar to the definition of the word total. When we looked
at total depravity, we looked at the definition. That's a good
way to start that. Just look at the definition of
the word total. And it's practically the same
thing as all. It means all. It means the whole. It means complete. with nothing
left out, I mean nothing left out, all. Our Lord said, every single soul
that the Father has given to me shall come to me. Shall come to me, shall come
to me. What is coming to Christ? What is coming to Christ? You
hear men stand in pulpits saying to people, come to Christ. All
right, come to Christ. We need to come to Christ. What
does that mean? All that the father giveth me
shall come to me. What does that mean? What is
coming to Christ? Maybe we can best understand
what it is by understanding what it's not. I believe we will.
I believe this is the best way to get ahold of this. It's by
understanding what it's not. Coming to Christ is not coming
to religion. Coming to Christ is not coming
to church. There are a lot of people who
come to church, but they don't come to Christ. Coming to Christ is not coming
to baptism. I love baptism, but that's not
what coming to Christ is. Coming to Christ is not coming
to the law, obedience to the law, the 10 commandments. Coming to Christ is not coming
to the 10 commandments or any of the other thousands of commandments
that are in here. Everybody gets hung up on 10
and they pay no attention to the other thousands of commandments
that are in here. Coming to Christ is not coming
down front. Everybody thinks, well, okay,
I'm gonna come to Christ. How you do that? You get up from your pew,
your seat, and you walk down here and you come to right here. That's not what coming to Christ
is. Nobody needs to do that. That
publican in the temple who God said was justified, he stood
afar off, didn't he? Coming to Christ is not coming
to a preacher. You know, you're gonna come shake
a preacher's hand. That's not what coming to Christ
is. Coming to Christ is not coming to a prayer. All right, we're
gonna say a prayer. You wanna be saved? Here's what
we're gonna do. We're gonna say a prayer. I'm gonna say it, and
you repeat it after me, okay? That's not what coming to Christ
is. Coming to Christ is not a dedication It is not a statement of faith.
Okay, I want you to stand right there and you give everybody
now your statement of faith. That's not what coming to Christ
is. Coming to Christ is not coming
to any of those things. Coming to Christ is coming to Christ. Coming to Christ is coming to
the person. Rake all that junk away. Rake
all that stuff away. Just get rid of all that stuff. And focus on a person. The God-man
mediator himself. This man. Come see a man. That's what coming to Christ
is, is coming to Christ. And that is what happens to a
sinner when God's irresistible grace comes to a sinner. That sinner comes to Christ.
That's what happens. When irresistible grace comes,
boom, that sinner comes to Christ. When a sinner comes to Christ,
it's not about church anymore. It's not about church anymore.
It's about Christ. Before God's irresistible, irresistible
grace comes, OK, this is when it's not there. When God's irresistible
grace is not there before it comes. It's all about being in
church. It's all about being in church.
I need to be in church. We have to get in church. I'm gonna tell you, man, we have
got to get in church. Okay, yes, we did it. We're in
church. Now it's all about the church.
It's about what the church is doing. That's the focus when God's irresistible
grace is not there. After irresistible grace comes
to a sinner, it's all about being in Christ. I must be in Christ. I have to be found in Christ. It's not about what we're doing
or what we're gonna do. Well, here's our agenda and here's
our plans and this is our, who cares about that? It's not about
that. It's about what he's already done. That is the difference. That
is the knowledge and the understanding and the awakening and the quickening
that all of God's people are brought to. They are quickened
to life in Christ. They go from the darkness of
religion, and that's what religion is. It's darkness. They go from the darkness of
religion to the light of Jesus Christ. They are called out of their
own dead works. Everybody is born into this world
thinking they got to work for God and work on a building and
work their way to heaven. I'm working my way to heaven. And when grace comes, God's irresistible
grace comes, they go from their own dead works to the living
grace of God Almighty, the work of Jesus Christ alone. They leave
their works and they go to his work. They go from law to liberty. A man quoted this poem one time,
run, run the law demands, but gives me neither feet nor hands.
How can I do this? You who desire to be under the
law, do you not hear the law? That's what Galatians 4 says.
Run, run, the law demands, but gives me neither feet nor hands.
The gospel bids me sweeter things, bids me fly and gives me wing. You go from law to liberty. You go from bondage to freedom. You go from lies to truth. You go from do to done. You go from now salvation's not
finished yet, okay, you wanna be saved, don't you? Well, it's
not finished yet. You go from that to salvation is finished. You are complete in him. You go from work to rest. Glorious
rest, everybody rest, rest in the finished work of the Lord
Jesus Christ. When irresistible grace comes,
all of God's people leave everything and they come to the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's what happens. When that happens, there are
some things regarding that change, that quickening and that calling. that I want us to see and acknowledge
from God's word, starting with this, okay? Here are some facts
regarding this happening. Number one, regarding this change
that takes place, this quickening and calling, number one, it's
of God and it is not of man. When that happens to a man or
a woman, It is of God, and it is not of man. And I mean, it's
of God, it's His decision, it's His will, it's His doing, and
it's not of man. It's not man's decision, it's
not man's will, and it's not man's doing. It's of God. This is of God. Look with me
at John chapter one. Turn back just a few pages to
John one. This is speaking of the Lord
Jesus Christ. John 1 verse 10. He was in the world and the world
was made by Him. Who made the world? God the Father
did. No, God the Son did. Genesis 1 is speaking of God,
Jesus Christ. It's talking about Jesus Christ.
He was in the world and the world was made by Him and the world
knew Him not. He came unto His own, the men
and women of this world, all of them, and His own received
Him not. But as many as received Him,
and I like to always point out that that word is not accepted,
it's received. You can receive something whether
you want it or not. Sometimes you can be at the wrong
place at the wrong time and receive quite a beating whether you want
it or not. As many as received him, to them
gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe
on his name, which were born. People talk about being born
again, which were born, not of blood, like bloodline, family
line. Not of the will of the flesh. Well, I've decided I'm going
to be born again. I've decided I'm going to be
born. Nor of the will of man. You know, my grandmother can't
will it for me or whatever. The last three words are but
of God. which were born of God, this
spiritual birth. Again, everybody talks about
being born again as though it's something that they did. It's
like a decision they made. Yeah, I'm a born-again Christian.
That's not how it works. That's not how it works. We did
not make a decision regarding our physical birth. There's not
a soul in this room who decided to be born into this world. And we do not make a decision
regarding our spiritual birth. Verse 13, which we're born not
of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of
man, but of God. Our physical birth is of God. That happens when God says. And
it's the exact same way regarding our spiritual birth. It happens
when God says. It's of God. Look at John 3. John 3 verse 1 says, there was
a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus by night
and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher
come from God for no man can do these miracles that thou doest
except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto
him, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again. And if you have a center margin
in your Bible, you'll see that that translates from above, born
from above. He cannot see the kingdom of
God. Nicodemus saith unto him, how
can a man be born when he's old? Can he enter the second time
into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, verily,
verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of
the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which
is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the
spirit is spirit. What he's saying is you can't
mix the two. Verse seven, marvel not that I said unto thee, you
must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth,
and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it
cometh and whither it goeth. So is every one that is born
of the Spirit. This is a work of God that he
does when he wants on whom he wants. That's what he's saying. It's of God. It's of God. And he said, that which is flesh
is flesh, and that which is spirit is spirit. You can't take the
things of spirit and try to make them fit into the flesh. And
you can't take the things of the flesh and try to make it
fit into the things of the spirit. Turn with me to Galatians 1. Galatians 1, the apostle Paul,
who in religion was known as Saul of Tarsus, he tried as hard
as he could to kick against the pricks of the gospel truth concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 11, he said, but I certify
you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not
after man. For I neither received it of
man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus
Christ. Jesus Christ revealed this to
me. For you have heard of my conversation in time past in
the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the
church of God and wasted it. and profited in the Jews' religion
above many, my equals and mine own nation, being more exceedingly
zealous of the traditions of my fathers." And that's what
religion is. It's just traditions that get passed down. He said, verse 15, but when it
pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called
me by His grace. Two births happened. I was physically
born, I was spiritually born. Called me by His grace, His irresistible
grace. Verse 16, to reveal His Son in
me, that I might preach Him among the heathen. Immediately I conferred
not with flesh and blood, neither went I up to Jerusalem to them
which were apostles before me. But I went into Arabia and returned
again unto Damascus." He went to the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
where he went. So number one, this calling, this quickening,
this grace is of God. That's the first thing. The second
thing is this grace of God, this calling of God is irresistible. to those who he calls. Paul said
right here, when he called me by his grace, immediately, I
went up. That's how it works every single
time. Men who stand in pulpits, begging people to let God be
God, now come on now, won't you let God be God, and begging people
to let God into their hearts, Begging people to let God save
them. Come on now, won't you let God
save you? As though when it happens, men
and women have to be convinced and be coerced into it. Those men obviously know nothing
of God's irresistible grace. from either side of it, from
God's side or from our side. Turn with me to Psalm 110. Psalm 110 verse three. It says, thy people shall be
willing in the day of thy power. That is God's irresistible grace. It has everything to do with
his power and our willingness. The word irresistible has two
main definitions. When you just look up the definition
of the word irresistible. Number one, this is what it means.
Impossible to resist. If it's irresistible, it's impossible to resist. It
means too powerful to be resisted. That's how it is on God's side
of the equation. He said, Isaiah 46, I have purposed
it, I will also do it. He said, Isaiah 43, I will work
and who shall stop it? Who shall let it? He said, I will and you shall. When His grace comes to a sinner,
it comes in power. His power, it comes in absolute
power. And nothing can withstand the
force of His power. This is God. The first definition of irresistible
is impossible to resist, too powerful to resist. But the second
definition of irresistible is And this is how it is on our
side of the equation. I absolutely love this. I was
so happy when I read this. The second definition of irresistible
is too attractive or desirable to be resisted. I just can't
help it. It's just too attractive, too
desirable. From our point of view, he is
just too lovely. His grace is just too beautiful.
His mercy is just too glorious. To us, to God's people, there
is literally just one thing needful. It's Him. It's Him. We must have Him. Every time
God's irresistible grace comes to a sinner, that sinner is so
willing in the day of His power. That sinner is notified of what
God has done, and that sinner is glad, and that sinner wants
to be a part of it. That sinner hears a God being,
God Almighty. For the first time, it's not
about this little wimpy Jesus who was trying his hardest, and
he came down here and bless his heart, they killed him. You're
going to have to help him. For the first time they hear
about God Almighty being God Almighty, doing whatever he wants
to do. And thank God this is what he wanted to do. He wanted
to give his own life to save his people from their sin. Though
he was rich, he wanted to make himself to be poor, that they
through his poverty might be rich. And when they hear that,
they want to be a part of it so badly. They want to be a part
of it so badly. And God's Holy Spirit comes to
each one of them and first breaks their heart by telling them,
you're a totally depraved sinner against God. And then he binds
the brokenhearted by saying, Christ came into the world to
save sinners. And they cried, that's me. And the Spirit says,
yep, read the word, that's you. The Spirit says, come. And the
bride says, gladly. Spirit says, believe. Believe
what is written concerning God, man, and salvation. And the bride
says, gladly. The Spirit says, live. And the
bride says, thank you. I would love to live with the
Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing would thrill me more. There's no greater desire that
I have than to live forever. I literally want to live forever
with the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't that what you want? I want
to live with Jesus Christ. So, let me see how many more
pages of notes I got. I'll be really fast. This quickening is of God. It's
irresistible. And number three, it comes through
the means of preaching. All right? Preaching the word,
preaching the truth, preaching the gospel. This is why our Lord
commanded you go out into all this world and preach the gospel. to every creature. Turn over
to 2 Thessalonians 2. I will be brief. 2 Thessalonians
2. Verse 13, 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 13, it
says, But we are bound to give thanks
always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the Spirit, setting apart of the Spirit and belief of the
truth. Verse 14 says, Whereunto He called
you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ. This quickening, irresistible
call comes to God's people by hearing the truth of the gospel
preached. It is the means that God has
chosen to use to apply life to his people. 1 Corinthians 1 says,
it pleased the Lord by the foolishness of preaching. to save them that
belief. What we're doing right now is
of critical importance because it is the means that God has
chosen to use to call his people to himself. And if that's the
case, then we need to take advantage of hearing the gospel. We just
do. We need to have our families,
our children under the hearing of the gospel every time it's
preached. Did God elect a people? Yes,
he did, before the foundation of the world. Did God redeem
those people? Yes, he did on the cross of Calvary.
Will God call those people? Yes, he will, through the means
of the gospel truth being preached. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believeth, to everyone that believeth. And
that's the last thing I want to point out about God's grace. It is unto faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ. It's of God. It's in irresistible
power. It's by preaching. It's unto faith in Jesus Christ. Go to Romans 10. We'll close.
Romans 10. Verse 13, Romans 10, verse 13. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call
on him in whom they have not believed? And that means the
true and living God of Scripture, not the one that man has made
up in his mind. but the true and living God.
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?
And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?
And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they
preach except they be sent, sent of God? God said through Jeremiah,
if I didn't send them, they're not gonna profit my people at
all. Verse 15, how shall they preach except they be sent? As
it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach
the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things.
But they have not all obeyed the gospel, for Isaiah said,
Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing
and hearing by the word of God. When the spirit comes, he guides
us into all truth, and we believe it, and we come to Christ. That's what happens. That's God's
irresistible grace. All that the Father has given
to Christ shall come to Christ. In him or her that cometh to
Christ, he will in no wise cast out. He will not cast out. And
we'll look at that here in just a second. All right.