Thanks kids, that's good. Always
is. I tell ya, I'm so thankful to
be here. It's a miracle of God's grace
that I'm standing here. Lord has truly blessed me. I love this assembly. I thank God that he was pleased
raise up a candlestick of light in this place and send you a
pastor. I'm going to ask you to take your Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Romans chapter 10. Romans chapter 10. I I love taking a passage of scripture and it's just so plain and so
simple set forth simply. Let me say it like that. And,
uh, a passage of scripture where our Lord is magnified and honored. I asked Gabe to read that passage
out of Joel a few minutes ago, and that last passage said this,
Whosoever, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Now you know there's something
I know. I know that Almighty God has a remnant. I know that He has a people.
Let me just read this, Isaiah 1-9. And before I read this,
let me tell you how marvelous of the grace of God that God
would elect a people. Had the Lord not elected a people,
mankind would have no hope. None. This is what God has to
say, Isaiah 1-9, except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very
small remnant. We should have been as Sodom
and we should have been like unto Gomorrah. If God wouldn't
have elected a people, and I know what this world has got to say
about election, well, If God Almighty ever gives a
man a heart and teaches him of God's mercy, mercy to mankind,
mercy to mankind. Men say that that's not fair,
God elects a people. I've said this, you want to talk
about fair? In Adam all die. But except the
Lord had left us a remnant, a small remnant, very small remnant,
Scripture said. We'd have been just like Sodom
and Gomorrah under the judgment of God Almighty. But our blessed
Lord came into this world to save His people. He lived for
them and died for His elect. Now, knowing that, I know that
so, and I rejoice in God's electing grace. Now, in light of that
truth that Almighty God has a people, a remnant, an elect, a bride
chosen unto salvation, Romans 10 verse 13 says this, for whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Whosoever, verse 11 says, whosoever
believeth on him, whosoever, the scripture says that, That
scripture that endures forever, whosoever believeth on him, Jew,
Gentile, man, woman, bond-free, rich, poor, whosoever, by the Spirit of God has been
persuaded of their need, of their helplessness, convicted of their
guilt. You know, that's how a believer
talks. You listen to a believer. And this is the tenor of a believer's
conversation. Oh, wretched man that I am. This
is how a believer talks. Oh, but for the grace of God,
where would I be? You find a man or woman convicted
of their inability and their guilt, assured of his ability
Save a sinner and trust him by the grace of God, having been
given a new heart. You find a whosoever like that,
one that has no confidence in his flesh, you found a recipient of the
mercy of God. You found an object of God's
mercy. They shall not be ashamed, that's
what verse 11 says. They're not gonna be disappointed
in this life, they're not gonna be disappointed in life to come.
Those whosoevers, those elect, the bride, they're scattered
all over the place. They're all over this world,
out of every kindred and tribe and tongue and nation, and the
scripture says there's no difference Between the Jews and the Greeks,
the same Lord is rich. Over all is rich unto all that
call upon Him. Wealthy, wealthy in mercy, wealthy
in grace, wealthy in knowledge and power. So men are without
excuse. I would say to Anybody. Whosoever. Now this is how broad. Broad is the sovereign knowledge
and grace of Almighty God. Whosoever. People will say, they'll
tell you Gabe, you don't believe in whosoever. Oh yes I do. Oh
yes I do. Whosoever. Now here's where it
gets narrow. Shall call upon the name of the
Lord. whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord." Now that's qualifying right there. The Lord
said, Matthew 7, 21, "...not everyone that saith unto me,
Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he
that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." What is
that? That call upon the name of the Lord. I'm going to say
something about that. Whosoever shall call... Hold your finger right there.
Look at Psalm 145, verse 18. Psalm 145, verse 18. The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon
Him, to all that call upon Him in truth, in Christ, according
to God's Word, that call upon Him according to God's standard,
God's Word, God's Christ, all that call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved. Now, I've got four questions
and all I'm going to do is I'm going to take what God has to
say. This is preaching. Saying what
the Lord has said. That's true preaching. What does
God have to say? I want to say what He has to
say. His word is not going to return void. His word is going
to accomplish the purpose for which it was sent. Now I know
this. This is God's Word. I know that
this Scripture, all Scripture, given by inspiration of God,
and I know it's profitable for correction, for instruction in
righteousness, for reproof, for rebuke. I want to know what does
the Lord has to say. Now here's the thing. Now we're
talking about whosoever shall call. Whosoever shall invoke
For aid, that's what it means, call. Whoever cries forth from
the heart, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall
be saved. Now, here's what the scripture says. Romans 10, verse
14. Four questions found in 14, 15.
And they all began with the word how. How. Here's the first question. Verse
14, Romans 10, 14. How, then, shall they call on Him in whom
they've not believed? How? By what means shall they
worship and appeal? How shall they call on Him in
whom they've not believed? How are they going to invoke
for aid from the heart, that new heart is the only heart
that's gonna call, Dickie. That no other heart's gonna call.
That dead heart's not gonna call. If a man calls, it's because
God's given him a new heart. No one calls until there's life.
Now, how? How is that? How is a new heart? The Lord said, I'll give you
a new heart, a new spirit. I'm gonna be your God, you'll
be my people. Now how can that heart, how shall they call, how
shall they cry unto Him in whom they've not believed? How will
someone cry after God's already given them life? How can they
do that? How shall they call in whom they're
not assured of? They don't believe. How shall
they call on Him in whom they've not believed? If they're not
assured, if I'm not assured of Him, I'm not going to call. How shall they call? Whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Now how
are they going to call? Unless they're truly convinced No one calls until the Lord calls
them in mercy. No one cries. And this calling,
it is a crying of the heart. It's a need that cries forth. And no one tells a believer,
has to tell a believer, that they need to call. They're going
to call. They will call. How are they going to call upon
Him in whom they've not believed? And it's not just a one-time
call. Listen to this, John 6.37, All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. That first word come right there
means to arrive. It means to arrive. It means
to be present. The second word there, cometh,
means continually accompanying. Continually accompanying. Here's
what the Lord says. All that the Father giveth me
shall arrive the first time. There's going to be a time that
a sinner arrives the first time. They're going to come the first
time. When the Lord calls them out
of darkness, they come, they hear, they cry, they call. You
know why? Because they believe Him. They
believe Him. He's given them a new heart and
they call from the heart. And they, man, not a verbal,
right here, because they believe Him. They know what they are. They know He's their only hope.
So they call from a new heart. They come the first time in Him
that cometh and cometh and cometh. A believer is continually coming. You that know Him, you're coming
right now. You hear him. You know, he's
talking about my Lord. He's talking about my God. He's
talking about my king, my master, my husband. And I come to him
right now. I've said this, there'll be times,
not very many times, but there's times that I'll be somewhere. And I'll be somewhere else than
Glenda. Maybe at the house. And do you
know I can come to her that quickly in my mind? I'm just right there.
I'm just right there. He that cometh and cometh. A believer never stops coming.
As you receive Christ Jesus, so walk ye in Him. Just like
that. How did you receive Him the first time? I received Him
as a needy, helpless sinner with no confidence in my flesh. When
He called me out of darkness and I knew that that false profession
that I'd rested in for so long, I knew that He's my life. So how are they going to call? All that call in the name of
the Lord are going to be saved. How are they going to call in
whom they've not believed? So here's the second question,
verse 14. And how shall they believe in
Him of whom they've not heard. How are they going to be persuaded
in whom they've not heard? For a sinner to believe on the
name, on the character, on the authority of the Lord. Believing. Believing means to trust from
the heart, convinced in the heart. How are they going to call in
whom they have not believed? How are they going to believe
in whom they've not heard? Unless Almighty God convinces
me that He truly is the Jehovah Jireh, the One who provides all
of my need I must be convinced, I must believe, I must be assured
in heart that He is all of my need. And when I'm assured that
He's all of my need, I know this, I don't have any need out of
Him. I have nothing out of Him, unless the Spirit of God convinces
me, causes me, gives me a heart, gives me faith to believe that
He is my Jehovah Rapha, the Lord that healeth all our diseases. You see, before He gave me a
heart to believe, I didn't think I was sick. I'm good. I'm fine. When the Spirit of God teaches
me that He is my Jehovah Nesai, The Lord our banner, our ensign,
our flag. He's my prophet from God. He
is my priest before God. He's my king. Here I raise my
Ebenezer. This is where I make my stand,
right here. I believe him. Abraham believed God. Devils
believe in God. Lot of people believe in God.
Abraham believed God. He believed God. I believe, I
believe that the Lord is here. I believe. He said, we're two
or three gathered together in my name. I'm in the midst of
you. I believe he's here. I believe He hears what I'm saying.
He knows my heart. He knows the frailty of my heart. He knows the wanderings that
I've already had and that I continually have. And I owe to the Lord God
of heaven that I would walk with absolute consistency, but I cannot
not sin. And He knows that. I believe that He is my Lord
that has promised I'm not going to leave you. I believe that
right now He's not going to leave me. I'm a frail creature and
I'm speaking to, I'm convinced of this, I'm speaking to some
of God's elect I'm speaking to some that he lived and died for,
shed his blood for, and the grave responsibility of standing before
God's people and preaching God's word. Who's sufficient for these
things? I believe until God convinces me, gives me a heart to believe
that he is my Jehovah Shalom, my peace before God. peace established
by His blood, my Jehovah Re'ah, the Lord our Shepherd. I believe
that He orders the steps of His people. I believe that. The steps,
the scripture says, of a good man ordered by the Lord. They
that are led by the Spirit of God. Why do we do what we do
as we're directed and guided? The Lord is our Shepherd. My
Jehovah said, Canoe, the Lord our righteousness. I know, I
know, I know that I've never lived before God is our heart.
I know that there is in me, that is in my flesh there dwelleth
no good thing. I know that. Oh, to know that
he stands as my righteousness robes in me and Himself, that
God accepts me into Him. I believe that. My Jehovah Shemok,
the Lord is present. For a sinner to believe on Him,
he's got to hear. He's going to have to hear. All
that call in the name of the Lord are going to be saved. How
are they going to call in whom they've not believed? How are
they going to believe in whom they've not heard? Faith cometh
by hearing. Faith cometh. Faith cometh. Last Sunday's faith is gone. Monday's is gone. Tuesday's is
gone. This morning's is gone. You know what you need right
now? You need faith right now. Brand new faith. I need faith
to believe God right now. Faith from above. Faith cometh,
and it cometh by hearing. Faith believes, true faith from
above believes Christ. And faith concerning anything
else. You know, I have faith that this
world is going to be here tomorrow, and I have faith that we're going
to be able to have a good time. is concerning Christ. Faith from
above. Faith to believe God cometh by
hearing. That hearing ear and seeing eye
that is from the Lord. Blessed are your ears. Lord,
why do you preach in parables? Because it's given unto you to
know the mysteries of the kingdom of God. And to them it's not
given. I don't understand, but you hear. Blessed are your ears, for they
hear. So a sinner, he must call. Does a man, does a woman have
to call from the heart? Now listen, I'll answer you. Does a sinner have to call to
be saved? Yes. Yes. Yes. Almighty God has ordained
it. Almighty God, whosoever shall
call from the heart, invoke for aid. Where do you think that
call came from? He gave it to you, willing in
the day of His power. You didn't originate that. Whatever
God demands, God supplies. No flesh is going to glory in
His sight. Without me, the Lord said, you
do nothing. Do you think you've got the ability
to call without Him? No. But I tell you this, if He
gives you a heart to call, you'll call. When he walked up to Matthew,
who was sitting at the seat of customs, what did he say? Follow me. And you read the account
of that, and you know what he did? He left that table and that
money, he left everything right there, and he got up, willing
in the day of God's power. So a sinner must call. He must call. He must call. It shall come to pass, Acts 221,
that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be
saved. And to call by faith, They must believe. Does a sinner have to believe? Yes. But do you know where that belief
came from? He that believeth is baptized
shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. To believe
a sinner must hear the gospel. He must hear that message that
declares God's Christ, God's will, God's honor, that man's
depravity, redemption by the blood of Christ, regeneration
by the Spirit of God. Paul said in Romans 1, 16, 17,
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it, for it. Does a sinner have to hear the
gospel of God's free and sovereign grace? Does God Almighty bless any other
message except the message of God's sovereign grace? No. No. You say, how do you know
that? Galatians 1. Turn to Galatians
1. You know what I'm going to read.
We'll just read it again. Galatians 1.8. While you're turning there, I'll
read you Romans 1, 16, 17. Paul said, For I am not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation
to every one that believeth, to the Jew first, also to the
Greek. For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith, from faith given to believe
that I am saved by His faith, by the faith of Christ. His righteousness. I believe that His honor, His
glory, His obedience is imputed to me. His righteousness. From
faith to faith, as it is written, the just shall live by faith.
Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. Galatians 1.8, is
it necessary to hear the gospel of God's free grace? But though
we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel, unto you than
that which we've preached unto you. Let him be accursed. As
we said before, so say I now again. If any man preach any
other gospel unto you than that he have received, let him be
accursed. Almighty God saves men on purpose. He has a people. God Almighty
is going to save them by power, calling them out of darkness,
and the Lord is going to give them a new heart. And when He
does, this is how the Scriptures sets forth He's going to do it.
He's going to give them a willing heart, a new heart, a lively
heart. And they're going to do this.
They're going to call on the name of the Lord. And here's
how Almighty God has ordained that that calling comes to pass. It is the Lord's means. It is
the Lord's work. There is no work of flesh in
that. You actually do it. You do it. There's no doubt about that.
You willingly do it. I'm doing exactly what I want
to do. And I have no confidence in this
flesh. I am doing what I want to do
by a new heart and I have nothing to glory in. It is by the grace of God that
I called. He gave me a new heart. He called
me out of darkness and gave me life and I called. You know why I called? Because
I believed Him. After He gave me life, I didn't
have anything to glory in, Tony. I didn't have anything to glory
in. God Almighty gave me a heart to call because I believed Him. And I believed Him because I
heard of Him. He put me under the sound of
the gospel. Look at Acts 2. Acts 2.21. Acts
2.21. Acts 2.21. The scripture says it shall come
to pass. I want you to notice how many
times this scripture is repeated that Joel originally penned under
the inspiration of God's Spirit. Here's Acts 221. It shall come
to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord
shall be saved. You men of Israel, hear these
words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God among you by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God
did by Him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know Him
being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain."
Look at verse 32. hath God raised up, whereof we
all are witnesses. Therefore, being by the right
hand of God exalted, having received of the Father the promise of
the Holy Ghost, he has shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into
the heavens, but he saith himself the Lord," capital L, capital
O, capital R, Jehovah, capital D, Jehovah, said unto the Lord
Jesus Christ. sit thou on my right hand until
I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore, let all the house
of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus
whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ." Now when they heard this, they were
pricked in their heart and said unto Peter, to the rest of the
apostles, men and brethren, What shall we do? What shall we do? God was pleased
to put these under the sound of the gospel. The Lord's means,
the Lord's will, the Lord's way is for His people to call upon
Him. They call because He gives them a new heart to believe.
He gives them that new heart to believe by causing them to
hear. Now back in Romans chapter 10, last part of verse 14. And how
shall they hear without a preacher? How are they going to hear without
a preacher? Now, I've got another question
for you. Does a person have to hear the
gospel preached and explained for him to hear,
for him to believe? Yes. Yes. Yes. I want to prove this by scripture. Let God be true and let every
man be a liar. Philip asked the Ethiopian eunuch.
This eunuch had been in Jerusalem and was traveling back and was
coming back and was reading out of the book of Isaiah. And the
Lord had moved Philip to go out into the desert. That's what
he told him to do. You go out into the desert and go this certain
way. And Philip comes and he comes
to this chariot where an Ethiopian eunuch is sitting up there and
he's reading out of Isaiah. And he was reading that passage
of scripture. He was led as a sheep to the slaughter and he opened
not his mouth. And Philip asked him this question,
understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, how can
I? except some man should guide
me. How do I have the ability to
do this unless someone guides me in it? Now I've got a question
for you. Do you think that that was just
a statement that was just made off the cuff? Or do you believe
that every word in this scripture is ordained of God? that all
scripture is given by inspiration of God. Do you think that that
Ethiopian eunuch just happened to just say, how can I? The Spirit
of God led that man to say those words exactly the way he said
them. How can I? Almighty God has been
pleased. through the scriptural terminology,
the foolishness of preaching, what the world calls foolishness.
Our Lord sent his disciples and said this in Mark 16 15, go ye
into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
Why? Listen to 1 Corinthians 1 21,
for after that in the wisdom of God, after that in the wisdom
of God, The world, by wisdom, knew not God. It pleased God
by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believed."
Look at Titus 1. Titus 1. Titus 1, verses 1 to
3. Titus 1, 1 to 3. Paul, a servant
of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith
of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness
in hope of eternal life which God that cannot lie promised
before the world began but hath in due times manifested his word
through preaching which is committed unto me according to the commandment
of God our Savior." Whenever Saul of Tarsus was on
his high horse going to Damascus, had letters of authority, and
the Lord stopped him. Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou
me? Here's the question. Who art
thou, Lord? And he told him, he said, I'm
Jesus that you're persecuting. Lord, what would you have me
to do? And here's what the Lord told him. Arise and go into the
city and it shall be told thee what thou must do. Then the Lord
said to a preacher, Ananias, arise and go into the street
which is called straight and inquire in the house of Judas
to one called Saul of Tarsus for behold he prayeth. What did
the Lord do? He sent a preacher. It pleased
God through the foolishness of preaching. When that thief on
the cross was getting ready to leave this world. The preacher of all preachers,
the Lord Jesus Christ, God's prophet. Remember Matthew 4.17,
from that time Jesus began to preach and say, repent for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand. He came into this world as God's
prophet, God's preacher. Preaching. And that thief heard
from a preacher. That brings me to my last point.
Back in Romans 10 verse 15, and how shall they preach except
they be sent? Unless God Almighty sets them
apart. Unless the Lord God of heaven
sends them on a mission. Unless they be taught of God
given a heart for the ministry, blessed and equipped. The Lord
said in Jeremiah 3 15, and I will give you pastors according to
my heart, which will feed you with knowledge and understanding.
God's preachers are servants. That's what Paul said. Paul,
a servant of Jesus Christ called to be an apostle, but he was
a servant. This is what God's preachers
are. They're servants of God. Unprofitable servants. You know
what that means? That means that after we've done
all that we can do, after we've done all we've done, we've added
nothing to God's glory. We've done our duty. God Almighty
calls men to be preachers. And God sends them to preach
the Word. You go into all the world and
preach the Gospel. The foolish of this world says,
well, I believe that I can take this Bible and I can just figure
it out. I can be just as close to God
taking my Bible going out in the woods or going out in a boat. I can be just as taught and well,
not according to the Word of God. He pleased God through preaching
to save them that believe. A sinner must call. Whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved. But in the infinite mercy and
grace of God, God Almighty gives them a heart that calls. You
know why? Because they believe. And you
know how they believed? The means of God's grace was
God calls them to hear. He crossed their path with a
preacher. It was the will and means of
Almighty God. Salvation is of the Lord. And
men may think, I can do it this way. No, you can't. The Lord
is going to bless what God ordains. And sinners who truly believe
have no confidence in their flesh. God saved them. I'm telling you,
Kingsport, Tennessee, just like Fairmont, West Virginia, Roanoke,
Virginia, Rocky Mountain, The greatest blessing that God gives
a community is a faithful preacher of the gospel. That's the greatest.
You know why this city was raised up? You don't know why Kingsport,
Tennessee was raised up. Because God had some people here.
And he established this place right here. And he sent you a preacher. And
I'm telling you, there is no greater blessing, there's no
greater blessing this side of heaven than God sending a preacher
and calling out His people. May the Lord bless these words
to our hearts. For Christ's sake, amen.