Turn to Luke chapter 6. You've often heard it said from
this pulpit, and I did not coin this phrase,
I did not come up with this, but I say it quite often. that
this book is a hymn book. We use this book here that has
on it great hymns of the faith, right? This is called a hymn
book, H-Y-M-N, hymn book. This is an H-I-M book. This book is all about him, Jesus
Christ. Over in Luke chapter 1, where
we started this study, Luke says, I thought it good to set in order
the things which are most surely believed among us. Things most
surely believed, and things which most certainly will come to pass. And then Luke, who wrote that,
wrote the book of Acts, and he said in Acts chapter 1, he said,
These are the things, or all that Jesus Christ began to both
do and say. He said, That's what this book
of Acts is all about. He said, I'm writing to you all
that Jesus Christ did and said. It's a hymn book, he said. And
you know all the Bible. The whole Bible is a hymn book.
It's all about hymns. One time our Lord, in Luke's
Gospel, chapter 24, says that he met two of his disciples walking
along, and it says he began in the books of Moses. Now, that's
the first five books of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
Deuteronomy. He began in the books of Moses,
and then it says, and in the Prophets? Well, just keep naming
them. Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel,
Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Haggai, Zechariah,
Malachi, Zephaniah, on and on. The prophets and the Psalms. Well, wait a minute now, that's
a whole Old Testament, isn't it? Yeah. It says Christ began
preaching The whole Old Testament says, the things concerning himself. The whole Bible is a hymn book.
The whole Bible. And I hope you'll notice as we
read this, I want you to notice how often it uses that very pronoun,
or one like it. All right, as we read this, I
want you to notice, if you haven't already noticed, how often it
says, now he, he did this, he came there, he went there, he
did this, him, his, him, his, he, he, he. All right, now remember,
this is the whole point of this message. All right, now let me
just say one more thing before we read these first two verses. And the reason I said all that
is because the Bible is a book for God's glory. It's written
for God's glory and the salvation of sinners. That's why this book
was written, to give God all the glory and to show sinners
who salvation is in, to point sinners to Christ who is the
way. I didn't say to show us the way. But it is, isn't it? It does show us Christ who is
the way, the truth, and eternal life, to know him. Salvation
is of the Lord. It's what he does. It's what
Jesus Christ does for us. Salvation is of the Lord. If
you don't hear anything else that's said, hear this. Salvation
is of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's who he is. The fact that he came, what he
did, and whether or not he did it or not. And then where he is now. Whether
we are saved or not depends on him. Let's look at these verses. Luke
chapter 6, verses 11 and 12. We read this last week. It says,
They were filled with madness. and communed one with another
what they might do to Jesus." I read this just to show the
contrast between the world and him who is not of this world. The world is filled with madness. The Son of God is filled with God's Spirit. Look at verse 12.
It says, It came to pass in those days that he went out into a
mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. They stayed up all night planning
and plotting what they could do to him. He stayed up praying. It says he went out, far from
the maddening crowd, and continued all night in prayer. Now, we've just studied the book
of Hebrews, which talks about the great high priest. And one
of the duties of the high priest was to offer up prayers for his
people. That's one of the duties that
he would have to faithfully do, is offer up prayers. Well,
our high priest, our great high priest, did just that constantly. Scripture tells us to pray without
ceasing. I can't. I mean, I'm told to
do so, and I'm exhorted to do so, and I'll try to do so, but
I can't. He could, and he did. He did. He, did you notice that? He went out into the mountain
to pray, and he continued all night in prayer to God. Who's
he praying for, himself? Why? He didn't need anything. He didn't need anything. He's
all in all. He didn't eat anything. Is he to pray for his daily bread?
Well, he is to pray. Huh? One time they said, eat,
Lord. He said, I'm eating. I've got
meat to eat, you know not of. You pray. The Lord will give
you this meat. Who's he praying for? He's praying
for his people. He stayed up all night. If we're
saved, it's not going to be because Mama stays up all night praying
for us. It's not going to be because
she prays us through, or we pray ourselves through. It's going
to be because our great high priest prayed us through, stayed
up all night praying for us. Prayer doesn't change anything.
I know what to say, but it's not in the Bible. Prayer changes
things. It doesn't say that anywhere. And I use bad English so that
people would know exactly what, that it don't mean that. It ain't
there nowhere. We understand that. It ain't
there nowhere that prayer changes things. All things are ordered and sure
from the beginning, and only Christ's prayers avail anything. That's the reason we pray through
him. We don't know what to pray for. Well, he prayed for us,
and you remember what he said to Peter? He said, Peter, Satan
hath desired thee, sift you like wheat. What was Peter's help
and hope and salvation. He couldn't stand up to Satan.
Adam didn't. Adam and Eve failed. Peter, Satan
has desired you. He wants you to sift you like
wheat. He's a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. He wants
you, Peter. You're the one I said is going
to be the rock. He desires you. What was Peter's
help? What was Peter's hope? What was Peter's salvation? Here's
what the Lord said. He said, I've prayed for you. I'm praying for you. And the
Father always hears my prayer. I'm going to let him sit with
you a little bit, but he'll not have you, because I have you.
And I'm praying for you, and even now, he ever lives to make
intercession for the saints. Isn't that a blessed thought?
I haven't gotten very far, have I? What a blessed thought that
he stayed up all night. Well, he prayed, and verse 13
says this, when it was day, he called unto him his disciples And of them he chose twelve,
whom also he named." Now, right here is a clear declaration
of the gospel. If you don't know the gospel,
the gospel is found in Luke 6, verse 13. A clear declaration of the gospel,
how God saves sinners. Stop right there. Today is today. You say, that's absurd. Sure it is. Well, I'm not sure
you know what I'm saying. Paul wrote in Hebrews, while
it is called today. Today, he said, if you will hear
his voice. Don't boast of tomorrow. You don't know if there's going
to be one today, while it is called today. Harden not your heart. Hear his
voice. Harden not your heart today. Today is the day of salvation. I'm talking about November the
22nd, 1998, at There is no promise of 1133.
There is no promise of November 23.
None whatsoever today. Today is the day of salvation. There is no promise you will
hear another gospel message. None. I say we are going to meet
Wednesday night. He calls us to great lengths
to say that today, while it's called today. He said that about
four times, line upon line upon line, today. When it was day, if you'll hear his voice, harden
not your heart. Well, it says here in verse 13,
when it was day, he called unto him his disciple. Andrew, he called them by name,
each one of them, he called them. Thomas, Matthew, follow me, he
called them. They heard his voice, he called
them. Now, but wait a minute. Scripture
says many are called. Can you quote the rest of them?
But few are chosen. What does that mean? Thought
you'd believe an effectual call, Preacher. Oh, I do. We read it in Joel 2.32, didn't
we? Well, many are called. When the gospel goes forth, many
hear. Everyone here who's not asleep and whose mind is not wandering
somewhere, you're hearing his voice. But few are chosen to hear it. I've sat here, not here,
but in a place just like this for years, and heard exactly what I'm saying
right now, but I didn't hear it. I did not hear it. I just was
not interested. I had other things on my mind,
other people in my heart, other interests. I was just going to
church. But I heard, you know, I even
had ears to hear, but God. But one day, God didn't have to do this. God
didn't need me. I mean, I heard him call me. He didn't say, call. He used
to do that. When he was on the earth, he'd
say, Thomas, Peter, Matthew. But he does call by name now. It's not Joe, it's not It's not
that. Few are chosen to hear. Apparently,
God, in his mercy and grace, chose me. I had a brother who sat right
there and listened to the same thing. He had never been called, and
apparently he's not going to be called. Apparently he's got
a reprobate heart. There's no possibility. And I wasn't calling him. Well, then, preacher, then if
I'm going to be saved, I'm going to be saved. Is that what you're
saying? If I'm one of the elect, I'm
one of the elect, God's going to call me. If I'm one of the
elect and God's choosing me, then I'll be saved. Well, you
know, that's true. It is true. To the glory of God
the Father, if he chooses, you're chosen. If you're going to be saved,
he elected you. But God commands men everywhere to
repent. God commands, seek me and you'll
find me. Anybody who doesn't seek is not
going to find. Now, I'm going to sound like
I'm talking out of two sides of my mouth here, but this is
not what I think. This is what God's word says.
It says, If you seek me with all your heart, seek me and search
for me with all your heart, I'll be found of you. He said, Remember, Deborah, he
gave that illustration of the widowed woman who just kept coming,
kept coming. That's what it means to not.
Not to go away, let me in. Ask, Lord. That's what the command
is. Young and old alike. Don't wait
on the Lord to elect you. He already did that. And the
way you know it, you start asking. So when it was day, all right,
listen to this, so when it was day, now, every line, when it
was day, all the sun had risen. When it's day, you know, when
it's day, you know how you know when it's day the sun comes up?
Well, today is the day of salvation, when the sun's up. Oh yes he
is, he's at high noon. I'm not talking about the S-U-N,
I'm talking about the S-O-N, who's seated at the right hand
of the majesty on high. The day star, that's the sun. The day spring from on high.
Christ the son of righteousness who has arisen with healing in
his wing. You know that when Noah's ark
was built After Noah's ark was finished,
now this is a picture of salvation. God ordained it. God designed
it. God called Noah. That's a picture
of Christ. God put Noah in the ark and all
that was in it. You know, it says that after
it was finished, after it was completed, it says he waited
seven days. The ark was complete. He waited seven days. The door
was open. Anybody could go in that... Could
anybody go into that ark that wanted to? Huh? Come on, don't sit down here.
You think about it a minute. Could anybody go into that door
that wanted to? Yes, sir. Why'd you leave the door open? Huh? Would you leave your door
open if you didn't want anybody in? Just humanly speaking, left
the door open, all right? Did anybody go in that wanted
in? Yes, sir. Today. So every day that door
of that ark was open, Noah would get up and say, Noah was in the
ark. He'd stand at the door, perhaps,
and say, hey, you better get in the ark. The door was open. After a while, what happened?
God shut the door. Then could anybody get in? Thank
God nobody could get out of there. Well, today, when it was day,
when it was day, he called unto him his disciples. I want to
be a disciple. Well, he calls his disciples
unto him. Notice these. Did you notice
as I read? Didn't detect a smile on anybody's
face when I read this. Let's read it again, all right?
Maybe I'll detect one this time. Verse 13, When it was day, he
called unto him his disciples, of them he chose twelve, whom
also he named apostles. He, him, his, he, he. Those are just the hymn books
and five personal pronouns in one verse. He, him, his, he,
he. Now English professors would
say, now that's just not necessary, they've got too many personal
pronouns. Christ professors say, oh no, you can't get enough.
You can't get enough he and him and his in what you say and write. There's just not enough space. You see, this is how you'll know,
this is how you know a true believer. One time, the disciples, some
fellows, the Pharisees and all, took note, it says, that they
had been with the Lord Jesus Christ. They noted. I can tell. Do you remember the little maiden
in the garden or outside the court where the Lord was being
tried? Do you remember the little maiden
that ran across Peter and said, Yeah, you're one of his. Your
speech betrays you. You talk like him. And this is one of the things,
this is something that distinguishes God's people from the rest of
the world. It's the vernacular they use. Are you with me? You don't know what a vernacular
means? It's when they say, he, him,
he is, and he, he. It's everything they say, well,
he, he, him. What do you say out of him? How do you say, he, him? Well, didn't you do any of that?
No, no, him, him. Listen to the people in heaven.
Unto him that washed us, who saved us, washed us from our
own sin, in his own blood, he hath made us kings and priests. Him, him, him. Your vernacular
gives you away. I run across a man or a woman,
and they profess to be religious, and they use basically one or
two pronouns, and they are I and me. I must confess, or I have to
conclude they don't know him. Well, they'd be talking about
him. Luke does, doesn't he? Five times. He, him, his, he, he. He did it. That's just one verse
thing. If you go down, I went down through
here and read these, and they just sprang out at you. I mean,
they sprang out at you. I hope it will do that from here
on out. I hope as you read the scriptures, these little two-letter
words. You know, salvation hinges on
a he. Salvation hinges on a but. He came, he called, he chose,
he named. He named them. He, him, his,
he and he. So he came, he called unto him
his disciples, it says, and he chose twelve whom also he named. He chose a name. He named an
apostle. He called them. I want you to look at Mark chapter
3 with me. Mark chapter 3 gives this same
And this is amazing, it's the same verse, Mark chapter 3, verse
13. That's a mere coincidence, isn't
it? What a coincidence. Mark chapter
3. See, salvation is for God to
call you and for you to come to Christ. Well, look at Mark
3. He goeth up into a mountain,
and calleth unto him whom he would that came him." Mark, you've
got this problem too, don't you? You use all these him and he's
too, don't you, Mark? Yeah, well, we've seen him. John, let's hear your story.
He said, we can't help but speak of things we've seen. We've seen
him. He called. You see that? He called.
Salvation is for him to call you. Well, preacher, you said now,
you said that we're supposed to call on him. We're supposed
to seek, ask, and mark. You said that. I didn't say that.
I did not say that. Did I say that? God said that. Don't listen to
anything I say. God said that. If we don't understand,
if we think there's a confusion there, it's a problem with us. All right? But listen to this.
Listen to this. In Psalm 14, it says, "...the
Lord looked down from heaven to see if there were any that
did understand, that if there were any that did seek God."
In other words, God looked upon the whole mass of humanity to
see if anybody was seeking Him. He said, none. None. Listen to this, Isaiah 59 says
this, "...the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot
save, but there is none that calleth
for justice, none that pleadeth for truth." Do you hear anybody today pleading
for the justice of God? Oh, God's just, I demand it.
Truth? None call it. Listen to this,
Isaiah 64, 7. None call it, listen, none call
it upon thy name. There's none that stirreth up
himself to take hold of thee, the person. Oh, they take hold of the preacher's
hand, they take hold of the mourner's bench, they take hold of the
role of the church, they take hold of this, they take hold
of that. And so what has to happen? Nobody's
calling. I've been here ten years and
I haven't yet heard anybody holler out loud, oh God be merciful. So what's going to have to happen?
He's going to have to do the calling. They're not calling. He's going to have to call. That's
what we read in Joel 2, didn't it? Who serves shall call. Who's
going to call? And that remnant, that few who are chosen, whom
the Lord shall call. Who is he going to call? Well, look at Mark 3, verse
13. It says, He goeth up into a mountain,
and he calleth unto them whom he would. You read that? Whom
he would. Say, a while ago you sounded
like an Arminian preacher, now you sound like a hypercapitalist.
Whom he would. Ain't nobody going to be called
except whom he will call. Whom he would. He said, I will
be merciful on whom I will be merciful. Nobody's going to tell
me who to choose. I'll be gracious to whom I will
be gracious. I'll call whom I will. Whom he
would, you see that? Whom he would. That's who he called. Listen,
did you read the quote in the bulletin this morning? If God
hadn't chosen some, do you read it down at the bottom
of the page of the bulletin there? Augustine, where's Augustine?
Oh man, he lived hundreds of years ago. If God hadn't chosen some, none
would choose him. Nobody. If God hadn't called
some, nobody would call on him. I read that in Psalm 14, there's
none that call. If God hadn't chose to love some,
they'd never love him. If God hadn't sought some who
were lost, they'd have never sought him. Is that right? Salvation is of the Lord. It's
him calling, him choosing, him saving. It's him. Look at verse 13 here in Mark
again. It says in verse 13, "...he called unto him who he would,
and they came unto him." And it says in verse 14, "...he
ordained twelve, that they should be with him." This is the same
as in Acts 13, verse 48. It says, "...as many as were
ordained to eternal life believed." I just like this to you. I like this. Whoever God ordains
to eternal life, that's who's going to be saved. I have no
problem with that whatsoever. Problem, matter of fact, I absolutely
love this. I praise God Almighty for his
sovereign electing grace. Not only does it include some
who otherwise would not be included, it makes their salvation You understand that? I would
never have chosen him had he not chosen me, and because he
chose me, I can never reject him. I will always choose him. Will
you also go away, he said, to his disciples whom he called,
whom he chose, whom he named? Will you go away? Don't go away.
Will you go away, Peter said, to whom? They don't have... Peter, why? You didn't choose me. Don't you
forget this, Peter. You didn't choose me. I chose
you. You didn't feel you'd go away
and hurt me, buddy, if I hadn't chosen you. And because I've
chosen you before the foundation of the world, you'll never reject
me. Whenever I ask this question,
will you go away, you'll say, to whom shall we go? Do you see that? Oh, my. Look at this, though. Here's
a key word here. You know it's the same word we've been using.
Key word, three letters, keys, three letters, and so is the
key. Look at it. It says, He goeth up into a mountain
and calleth unto him. And they came to him. He ordained
that they should be with him. What salvation? It's to come
to him. It's to be in him, to be found
in him. It's to be with him when he's
before the Father. Salvation will utterly someday
be with him. You see, we might join this like
I am, eh? It's a Sunday, be with Him. He
chose twelve and said, You're going to be with me. He prayed
that prayer, Father, I will that day, and thou hast given me.
Be with me forever, and thou hast vanished. Not then, but
with me! You hear that? With Him! I tell you when we're
really rejoiced like this is when we see Him as He is. And so I say, we're with Him. Look at this. Can you believe
this? Can you? We're with Him! That's what my philbishop said,
I guarantee you. I guarantee you. My philbishop,
he sat down at that table. Sentenced to die, an enemy of
the king, should have been dead a long time ago. Every time he
sat at that table, he looked over and said, I can't believe I'm with him.
David presided. Good to see you, my favorite
chef. He'll have another plate of chicken. He served him. Have you got enough of that? I can't believe I'm with him. He chose me, my brother, Billy
Bob's daddy. But he chose me to be with him,
and named me one of the king's sons. Blessed be the name of David. You see this? Salvation ain't
a doctrine. It's for some person to choose
persons to be with a person forever. But to him. And salvation didn't
come through a knowledge of the doctrines of grace. I'm getting
sick of hearing that. It doesn't say that in the Bible
anywhere, either. Oh, but when I came to a knowledge of the
doctrines of grace. You'll go to hell with a knowledge of the
doctrines of grace. I came to a knowledge of the
doctrines of grace when I was ten years old, if not before. Yes, sir, I did not know Christ. If I had
died when I was eighteen years old, I would have split hell
wide open with a knowledge of the doctrines of grace. It's when he taught me. the prodigal son, and came to
him, saw him, and held his faith. That's when he said, You're not
your own. Well, whose are you? His. Belong to him. They came to him. You see that? Came to him. He
ordained them to be with him. Come to him. What is it to come
to Christ? Well, I don't think it can be described.
I really don't. I don't think that a preacher
on the face of this earth can come up here and tell you what
it is to come to Christ. I really don't. But I will say this much, it's
to fill your need of him. Not religion. I saw, like I said,
as a seventeen, eighteen year old boy, I needed religion. I needed a wife. I thought. I needed religion. I needed to
join the church. I needed to cut my hair. I needed to cut my hair. I needed a job, Jan. I needed
a job. I needed money. Lots of things
I thought I needed, but there was one thing I needed. That old boy didn't know what
he needed. I needed him. He didn't know
it. One day he showed me. You need one thing. You don't
need her. You don't need This and that,
no, you need him. Because when she's gone, when
you hear he's gone, now that's better than it was then. I need him. I'm going to need
him throughout eternity. Well, he calls unto him when
he would, and ordains them to be with him forever. That's salvation. That's the gospel. All right, Brother Joe, you got
a hymn picked out? Number 235, Stand With Me. Let's sing the 1st, 2nd, and
the 3rd stanzas. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Why does it stop calling? Do not pass me by. Let me at the throne of mercy
find a sweet relief. Oh say does that star spangled
banner yet wave He'll have only one dream Thank you. Yes, yes. Thank you.