Turn with me back to Mark chapter
3. Sometimes as we study, it takes
some time. It takes some time of digging
and searching and reading to find the message. We're looking
for a message. And I guess you could say the
outline for the message. All of this has to go together
and make sense and it takes some time. But sometimes we opened
up God's word and boom, there it is. There it is. I opened up to Mark chapter three
because that's where we left off. We're going through Mark
on Sunday. And I knew that this was on the subject of the Lord
calling his apostles. I had brother Luke read up to
verse 13. After that, he's calling his
apostles. And I knew getting through this
whole account was quite a few verses. So I was expecting that.
But, um, as soon as I read verse 13, there was. See if you can see this four
point outline. Alright, see if you see our message.
Verse 13 says. And he goeth up into a mountain. And calleth unto him. Whom he would. And they came unto him. He goeth up into a mountain,
thank God. We're going to start with that,
thank God. And calleth unto him, thank God, whom he would, thank God. And they came to him. That's
great, isn't it? Do we need to comment on that?
That's great, isn't it? We see a work. We see a work of grace. We see a sovereign work of grace. And we see an effectual work
of sovereign grace, don't we? That's what we see. He goeth
up into a mountain. Now there are many mountains
recorded in the word of God, many of them. But I believe we
can all agree that three stand out in our mind. There's one
at the beginning of the Bible that stands out in our mind.
There's one in the middle of the Bible that stands out in
our mind. And there's one at the end of the Bible that stands
out in our mind. Turn with me over to Exodus chapter
three. Exodus chapter 3 verse 1 says, Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro
his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock
to the backside of the desert and came to the mountain of God. That's Mount Sinai. And it's in Horeb. It's in the
desert of Horeb. He came to the mountain of God
even to Horeb. Mount Sinai is where God gave
his law. The world needs to realize that
every ounce of this starts with his law. Every ounce of it. Men and women want to go to heaven.
What does it take to get into heaven? That's what it takes. He said, you do this, you'll
live. Didn't he? You obey that right
there, you will live. You disobey this and you'll die. It all starts right there with
that law. People say, if you want to go
to heaven, just live right. Just do right. That's all he
requires. Man, if it was just that simple.
If it was only that simple. God came down on Sinai in fire. He came down in fire. Our children down there in that
Sunday school class are learning about the tabernacle. They look
today at the glory of the Lord. It's shown from the tabernacle.
Well, his glory showed all over Mount Sinai. The whole mountain
was blazing on fire. The wrath and the judgment of
God and every law that he gave, all these laws that Moses started
writing and these different ones started writing. They are as deep as the ocean.
They're so deep. But what do you have to do to
get into heaven? Well, God gave us ten things. Try thousands
upon thousands upon thousands upon thousands upon thousands. And all we have to do is break them in the heart. We don't
have to break them in deed. Well, don't murder anybody. That's
a big one. It doesn't matter if you murder
somebody or not. God said, he's not looking at the hands. You
know where he's looking? The heart. He said, you get angry,
you're done. The thought, the motive. And we don't have to break all
of them. He gave thousands upon thousands upon thousands, and
we don't have to break all of them. Well, I kept 9,999. All
we have to do is break one. All we have to do is break one
and we are going to be eternally sentenced to the fire and judgment
of Sinai. That's a hard truth, but it's
the truth. It's the truth. There is not
a soul on this earth that is not destined for hell. That's a hard truth, but it's
the truth. It's the truth. Had it not been
for Jesus Christ, every soul made, souls are made, life is
given, God gives it. And had it not been for Jesus
Christ, every soul made would go to hell. Every soul made. Sinners cannot keep the law of
God. Cannot. But here's the truth
of life. Jesus Christ walked all the way
to the top of that mountain. Every commandment that was given,
he fulfilled it, he obeyed it, and he made it all the way. Now,
God told, you tell Israel, he said, Moses, you tell Israel,
if they step foot on the mountain, I'll kill them. They couldn't
even take one step. Jesus Christ ascended all the
way to the top of that mountain. He fulfilled every demand God
made. He earned life. We didn't do
it, but he did. He did. We were still defiled
and polluted in God's eyes, but he was righteous and pure and
holy. And because of that, Because
God saw him to be that as he ascended Mount Sinai, he went up a mountain. Now turn
with me over to Luke 23. There is a mountain in the middle
of the Word of God that he ascended. Luke 23 verse 33 says, and when they were come to the
place which is called Calvary, there they crucified him and
the male factors with him on the right hand and on the other
on the left. Up Calvary's mountain, Golgotha's
hill, One dreadful morn walked Christ
my Savior, weary and worn, facing for sinners who couldn't keep
anything that Sinai gave. Facing for sinners, death on
the cross, that he might save us from endless loss. Had it not been for Jesus Christ,
every soul on this earth was destined for hell. But Jesus
Christ ascended this mountain all the way up to Calvary's mountain. If a sinner has any hope at all,
it's in the fact that Jesus Christ ascended that mountain. He earned
it all. He paid it all. He paid it all. Now, because of that, he has
ascended a mountain. Turn with me over to Revelation
14. Revelation 14 verse 1 says, And
I looked, and lo, a lamb stood on the mount Zion, and with him
a hundred forty and four thousand, having his father's name written
in their foreheads. Lifted up was he to die. It is
finished was his cry, Now he is in heaven, exalted high. Hallelujah, what a Savior. He
did it all. He did it all. Start to finish,
He did it all. At the top of Mount Zion, there's
a throne up there. There's a throne seated at the
very top of Mount Zion, and Jesus Christ is sitting on it. He's sitting right there. He
has gone up into that mountain. And that's where he reigns King
of Kings, Lord of Lords. All right, now go with me back
to Mark chapter three. Verse 13 says, And he goeth up into a mountain, seated up there in that mountain,
and calleth unto him. Isn't that wonderful to think
about? Here we were vile and wicked
and worthless and wretched. not deserving any of this, and
he ascended that mountain, he ascended that holy law, and he
satisfied it. And then because he was so perfect
and so pure, he ascended the mountain of Calvary and he gave
himself, he gave his life, he shed his blood. And because of
that, his father hath given him a name that's above every name.
made him king of kings, and now that he's seated up there, he
says to us, come to me. Come on. Come. He calleth unto him. There's a song that says, come
ye sinners, poor and needy, weak and wounded, sick and sore. Jesus ready stands to save you,
full of pity, love and power. Come ye thirsty, come and welcome,
God's free bounty glorify. True belief and true repentance,
every grace that brings you night, come. It's all fulfilled, it's
all finished, come. He earned it, not us, He earned
it. He earned what we could not earn.
He paid it, not us. He paid what we could not pay.
And now that he's ascended to his throne at the top of Zion,
he says, come unto me, come unto me. If you need forgiveness,
come unto me. If you need righteousness, come
unto me. If you need mercy, and if you
need grace, you come to me. Whosoever will, let him come. You know that? Whosoever will, let him come. That's what I'm saying this morning.
Whosoever will, let him come. I think Gabe's gotten a little
free will on us. If any man thirst, let him come. Anybody come. Come, come, come. Now go with me to John chapter
5. John chapter 5 verse 40 says, and you will not come to me that
you might have life. Is that not the truth? Is that
not the truth? You will not come to me that
you might have life. Here is the reason. Listen to this. Here
is the reason why we don't need to worry about giving sinners
false hope in the gospel. Whosoever will, let him come.
You want to come to Christ, you come. And here's why we do not
have to worry about giving any sinner false hope in the gospel. Well, you're going to let that
sinner believe all he has to do is come to Christ and that's
it. I know! Here's why we don't have to worry
about giving any sinner false hope in the gospel. It's because
no matter how good it is, no matter how free it is, no matter
how rich it is, if God does not make a sinner willing to come
to Christ, he won't. Life, death. All you have to
do is come to Christ, that's it. It's up to you and your will. Well, my will won't. It just won't. The sinner by nature will not
bow the knee, just won't. He will not believe what God
has written in his word. He just won't. He will not ascribe
all the glory and the work to Christ. No man or woman will
come to Christ that he might have life. Isn't that so sad? John chapter 6 verse 44 says,
No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me
draw him. Why? because he won't. That's why. He can't because
he won't. He won't. But look back in our
text. Go back over to Mark chapter
3. Mark 3 verse 13 says, And he
goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him Whom he would. Whom he would. None would come. He said, I'm going to have a
wedding. You go bid them all come to the wedding. None would
come. He said, then you go out into
the highways and the hedges and you gather them and bring them. None would come. So God in mercy
chose some to come. He chose to make some willing,
whom He would, whom He would. It's called election. Now listen
to this. I adore this, okay? It's called
election. God's election has never, not one time ever, excluded a
sinner from salvation. First time somebody hears about
election, they think, well, what that is, is making a list of
people who you want to keep out. No, if that was the case, then
we all ought to be out. God's election has not one time
ever excluded a sinner from salvation. No one would come. No one would
come. So God in love chose some to
salvation. That's what happened. God in
love elected a people to include some in salvation. Election is
all about including. That's what it is. It's all about
including. not excluding sinners from it. Sinners willingly exclude themselves. I will not have that man reign
over me. A man made this statement one
time. He said, when Noah went into the ark and he sat there
for seven days, the ark was finished. God said, go in and then no rain
came. Noah sat there with his family
for seven days. The door was open. And this man
said, when Noah was sitting in there for those seven days, he
said, based on God's election, a man couldn't have gone into
that arc if he wanted to. That's not true. That's not true. If a man wanted inside of that
arc, he could have walked right in. He could have went right
through the door. Had God not in mercy put Noah
and his family in that ark, they would not have gone in. No man
would. But God chose to make eight souls
willing. Now listen to this. This is an
important announcement. If you want Jesus Christ God
chose you. That's a big statement. If you want Jesus Christ as he
has declared himself to be in his word, not the way I made
him up in my mind, but as he has declared himself in truth
to be. If you want Jesus Christ, God
chose you. One of the biggest hindrances
for children who grow up in the gospel, we have some children
here who are right now growing up in the gospel, and they believe
the gospel. I know they do. I've heard them
talk. They believe that the gospel
is the truth because their parents told them it was, and you believe
what your parents tell you, right? But one day, children who grow
up in the gospel, if God is merciful, they start to believe it. 18 inches. A drop happens. And they start to believe it.
But they hesitate to come. I've seen it so many times. And
they hesitate to confess. And the reason is because they
know God elects people. And I don't want to step out
of turn. I want to come to Christ, but
what if He didn't choose me? That's the biggest hindrance
for children who grow up in the gospel. I want to confess Him,
but what if He didn't choose me? You see, it's whom He will. They know that. It's whom He
will. I knew a young lady who, a short
while back when she was a little bit younger, I know a young lady. She was so torn all to pieces
over the gospel and over this thing of salvation. She was just,
she was really upset about it. She was so worried that Jesus
Christ was going to come back before he saves her. That was
her fear. She was worried that he was going
to come back before he saves her. I want him. I need him. I don't want him
returning before he saves me. I need him. I need him. As you grow up under the gospel,
and I don't care if you're 70, children, as you grow up under
the gospel, I hope some of our kids accidentally click on this
in 20 years from Sermon Audio. In 20 years, children, if you
have a heart for Jesus Christ, if you want Jesus Christ And
if you love Jesus Christ, not the idea of heaven and not the
idea of being saved and all those things, if you want Jesus Christ,
God chose you or else you would never have that heart. You would
not have it. I've never been more confident
about something. You wouldn't have it. You would
not want Him. It would mean nothing to you.
You would not be affected. Take it or leave it. Usually
leave it. If you want Him, and if you love
Him, God chose you. Thank God, in spite of us sinners,
God called whom He would. He called whom He would. What
was the result of His calling? Go back with me to Mark chapter
3. When God calls whom He will,
what He is doing is He's giving that sinner a new mind, the mind
of Christ. He's giving that sinner a new
heart, the heart of Christ. He's giving that sinner a new
will, the will of Christ. And this is how the sinner responds
every single time. Verse 13. He goeth up into a
mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would, and they came
to him. They came. They came to him. I just quoted that song. Come
ye sinners, poor and needy, weak and wounded, sick and sore. Jesus ready stands to save you,
full of pity, love, and power. Here's the chorus to that song.
Here's the chorus to that song. I will arise and go to the Lord
Jesus. He will embrace me in his arms. In the arms of my dear Savior,
oh, there are 10,000 charms. David said, when you said to
my heart, seek my face, my heart said, I wanted to. Thy face will
I seek. I think I'm gonna start seeking
the Lord. You're already found, David.
It's just the response God gets every single time. Let's all, every soul in this
room, I don't care how young you are, Let's all come to the
Lord Jesus Christ. All right. Every one of us. Let's
all come to the Lord Jesus Christ right now. Right now. All right. Let's stand together.