Good evening again. It's so good
to be here with you tonight. We're going to look at our fourth
letter in the acronym TULIP tonight. We often think of it as irresistible
grace, but I like to think of it as He is the Lord God Almighty
in salvation. It's effectual grace. It's victorious
grace. It's efficient grace. This effectual
calling is brought out a number of times in scripture And I'd
like to turn with you tonight in the book of Romans chapter
8 Romans chapter 8 and verse 30 Romans chapter 8 verse 30 moreover
whom he did predestinate them he also called and whom he called
and them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also
glorified, whom he called, them he also called, and whom he called. So we're looking at the subject
of this effectual call, this irresistible grace of God, as
we read here in Romans chapter 8 and verse 30. This subject,
as we look into it, as we study it, as we find out what the Bible
has to say about it, as we find out what God has to say about
it, this is the belief that God is able to raise the spiritually
dead sinner to life. God is able to do that. The dead sinner is incapable
of resisting the power of God that raises them to spiritual
life and, in fact, They, after they've been raised and given
life, they realize how valuable that was. There's no comment
about, it went against my will. We realize that our will is dead. It will not choose God. So we
need outside influence. We need God Almighty to deal
with that. There are two things to be considered
when we look at this subject of irresistible grace or effectual
call, this effectual grace of God. Number one, the caller,
and number two, the called. How powerful is the caller? Well, as we look into the scriptures,
we find a number of places that he is called God Almighty. He's not called God Almost. He
is called God Almighty, Lord God Almighty. And this is stressed
throughout the Old Testament as well as stressed throughout
the New Testament, that when we use the term God, we're talking
about the Almighty God. We're not talking about a lesser
God, We don't have to qualify it, but we're thankful that God
often does that. He shares with us those terms,
the Almighty God. Well, the word God by itself
should share with us that He's Almighty, but God does us a great
favor in repeating that. And we get to the New Testament,
we often find Lord, God, Almighty. They all mean the same thing,
but the redundancy is for us. It is on our behalf. to deny
that God is not able to call affectionately and then turn
around and say, I jumped every time my mother called me is absurd. We have parents call their children
and we know exactly to go home, to come to the meal or whatever.
So let us look at this subject from a biblical standpoint and
turn with me Back in the Old Testament, first book of the
Bible, the book of Genesis, Genesis chapter 17, and in Genesis chapter
17 and verse 1, and when Abram was 90 years old and nine, the
Lord appeared to Abram and said unto him, I am the Almighty God. Walk before me and be thou perfect. I am the Almighty God. This is
the God that is dealing with salvation. This is the God that
provided salvation. This is the God that brings salvation. This is the God that saves sinners
from their sin. This is the God that raises the
spiritual dead. His voice is all-powerful, by
it He created the heavens and the earth. And so we find that
this subject of looking into the caller, when we talk about
the effectual call, the caller has all power and all authority
in heaven and in earth. He is not going to be thwarted.
He is not going to be changed. He is not going to be altered.
He is going to be Almighty God always. In old eternity, today
and tomorrow, He is Almighty God. In the book of Exodus chapter
6, Exodus chapter 6 and there in verse 3, I appeared
unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob by the name of God
Almighty. He appeared unto Abraham, unto
Isaac, and unto Jacob by the name of God Almighty. But by my name Jehovah was I
not known to them. But this passage of scripture
shares with us that the old patriarchs, it was the God Almighty that
had appeared unto them, that had blessed them, that had moved
upon them. As Stephen brings out in the
book of Acts, it was the God of glory that appeared unto Abram
down in Ur of the Chaldees and called him out and he came. We
find the power of God to still the waters, to control the skies,
to control the seas, to control the earth, and then to have the
king's heart in his hand, and he turns it whithersoever he
will, like rivers of water, to turn it whithersoever he will.
So God is God Almighty. The one that calls is the Almighty
God. In the book of Revelation chapter
4, as we move through many centuries and through most of the books
of the Old as well as the New Testament, we read here in the
book of Revelation chapter 4, Revelation chapter 4, who does
the calling? Now if it's the preacher, it's
not going to be effectual. If it's mom and dad, it's not
going to be effectual. If it's a Sunday school teacher,
it's not going to be effectual. If it's some evangelist, some
radio preacher, some track, it's not going to be effectual. Only
God can make His grace effectual. He's the only one that can do
what He says He will do. We cannot do that. We can't raise
the dead. We can't even raise a hand of
the dead, but God is able. Here in the book of Revelation
chapter 4 and verse 8, And the four beasts had each of them
six wings about him, and they were full of eyes within, and
they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord
God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. holy holy
holy lord god almighty the word lord means almighty the word
god means almighty the word almighty means almighty the lord god almighty
or the almighty almighty almighty god so we have this one raising
us from spiritual death to spiritual life. He's the one that calls. He's the one that calls us from
the tomb of sin. He's the one that calls us from
the grave of our imputed sin from Adam. So we're just thankful
that we're dealing with a God Almighty, a God that is everlasting,
eternal, almighty, and He does whatsoever He pleases, and none
can stay His hand. Again, in the book of Revelation
chapter 11, Revelation chapter 11, we have here in verse 17
this is who is dealing with fallen man this is who is dealing with
the lost sheep this is the one that is dealing with his elect
this is the one that has all grace all power he's almighty
and here in Revelation 11, verse 17, saying, We give thee thanks,
O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come, because
thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. This is the king of kings. This is the one who reigns in
heaven and earth beneath. This is the one that moves. And
it is in Him we live and move and have our being. He is the
Almighty Creator. So many will avow to the fact
that He created the heavens and the earth, but then stop dead
in their tracks when He is the God of spiritual creation, that
He is the one that moves upon us to have eternal life. He's
the one that calls us out of darkness. He's the one that lifts
us out of a horrible pit. He's the one that gives us Sight
he's the one that gives us hearing to hear spiritual things and
to see spiritual things and to be blessed He's the one that
has created life in all of his people by giving them the Holy
Spirit So he's the Lord God Almighty again in the book of Revelation
chapter 15 and verse 3 Revelation chapter 15 and verse 3 and We have these words, and they
sing the song of Moses, the servant of God. and the Song of the Lamb,
saying, Great and marvelous are thy works. Now Moses was able
to sing this song, and the Song of the Lamb is this, Great and
marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty, just and true are
thy ways, thou King of saints. So it is this King, it is this
Lord God Almighty that is dealing with people dead in trespasses
and sin. He came down to a sin-cursed
earth, and we've said this in the past, but He came to a graveyard. Those around him were dead in
trespasses and sin. They were animated by humanity,
but they were spiritually dead. And he had the ability of looking
upon them and seeing them for what they are in Adam, their
father, fallen without help and without hope and without God
in this world. And he's the one that comes and
calls with an effectual call. He called Lazarus from the tomb. He called him by name and brought
him up from the dead. And so it is with us. We are
brought from the spiritual dead. We're dead before God spiritually. We have no spiritual life. We
have no love for God. And He creates in us that wonderful
love for Him. and he gives us the Holy Spirit
the new birth and we have that as our spiritual life and we're
so thankful again in the book of Revelation chapter 16 Revelation
chapter 16 and there in verse 7 Revelation chapter 16 and verse
7 and I heard another out of the altar say even so Lord God
Almighty true and righteous are thy judgments and verse 14 of
that same chapter, for they are the spirits of devil's working
miracles which go unto the kings of the earth and the whole world.
to gather them to battle in that day, great day of God Almighty. There is no resisting this one. The only time it looks like that
is happening is God in His covenant of grace has purposed that that
take place, but we never are able to resist God Almighty. He has an ability to look upon
His people and call them from their place of death in sin and
bring them life and bring them up and bring them into his presence
and causes us to look upon God as our spiritual life. We've
looked just a little bit at the caller. We have someone that
has all power, we have someone that is all powerful, we have
someone that is God, we have someone that is the Lord God,
we have someone that is the Lord God Almighty, and he's the one
that is doing the calling. This is the one that created
all things from nothing. There wasn't anything to create
anything from, but God made all things from nothing. He starts
with not our righteousness, our self-righteousness, or our works.
He leaves that out, those are nothing, and he starts from absolute
scratch when he creates life. The called, there are many descriptions
of the called in the scriptures. Those that are effectually called
are called sinners, wicked, unrighteous, dead. Those in slavery, rebellious,
leprous, scoffers, full of iniquities, stony-hearted, evildoers, without
faith, hopeless, without God, without Christ, aliens, strangers,
lost, alienated from God, and enemies of God. This is the description
of those that are called. Now to say that those have the
power to override the call of God Almighty would be absurd. And anybody that has ever been
saved by the grace of God would look back and say, thank you
for overpowering my will. Will to come is not able we are
unwilling and we're unable and God Almighty is able and willing
to save all those that were chosen in him Before the foundation
of the world written in the Lamb's Book of Life born out into time
from all sorts of folks in all sorts of places in all sorts
of nationalities in all sorts of religions and But every religion
that is not of God, that is not Christian religion in Christ
Jesus, is a religion of works, self-works, self-righteousness,
Phariseeism, and it takes God to put us into a belief of God
that He is the actual and true Savior of His people. What is
the effectual calling? It is a gracious work of the
spirit, whereby he causes us to embrace Christ freely as he
is declared in the gospel. The preaching of the word, which
is sounding of God's silver trumpet in men's ears. God speaks or
calls through his ministers as they preach the gospel. This
great trumpet of God, the gospel is blown as the preachers preach
the gospel, as they preach the unsearchable riches of Christ,
as they preach that He is the only one that came to die for
sinners and that everyone He died for, He will bring with
Him. and He will speak to their being,
their person. He will quicken them and cause
them to hear Him, and they will be satisfied with Him and not
go away disappointed or anything else, but will look to Him as
the all-powerful God, the sovereign God, the King of kings and Lord
of lords, So this trumpet sound that goes out, in the book of
Numbers chapter 10, would you look there with me? Numbers chapter
10. Book of Numbers chapter 10, and
there in verses 1 and 2. Numbers chapter 10, verses 1
and 2. And the Lord spake unto Moses,
saying, Make two trumpets of silver, of a whole piece shalt
thou make them, that thou mayest use them for the calling of the
assembly, and for the journeying of the camps, one piece of silver. what a craftsman it was to make
these silver trumpets one piece. They were beaten out out of metal
that we don't create. They were beaten out in a miraculous
way and became a trumpet and this trumpet was of such value
that it called the assembly. Now keep that in mind as we travel
over to the book of Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 27, Isaiah chapter
27, and there in verse 13, Isaiah 27 and verse 13. And it shall
come to pass in that day that the great trumpet shall be blown,
and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of
Assyria and the outcasts of the land of Egypt and shall worship
God in the holy mount at Jerusalem. It shall come to pass in that
day, in the gospel day, when God purposes to bring His word
to one of His lost sheep, wherever they are in the world, somebody
has come and preached the gospel, has used the great trumpet of
the gospel. It shall be blown and it will
have results. It will accomplish everything
God intended for it to accomplish. Now to some it is nothing more
than the sound of thunder, but to some it is the word of life
unto life, and it shall be blown, and when it is blown they shall
come which are ready to perish all over the world. They're ready
to perish in some of the worst places of the world, Assyria
and the outcasts in the land of Egypt. And what will they
do? They shall worship the Lord at
the Holy Mount at Jerusalem. They shall be brought into the
presence of God. They shall be part of his assembly. They shall be part of his family. They shall be part of his saints.
They shall be quickened and made alive. The gospel trumpet goes
out and by it they are called those who are ready to perish.
There's nothing that they can do on their own. They're floundering. They're drowning. They're dying. They're dead and they can't do
anything. And yet the gospel trumpet is
blown And those that are ready, they shall come. They're drawn. They're brought to His presence.
What a wonderful message it is that we have a God that is absolutely
successful. He is the Lord God Almighty in
salvation. And He has never, ever lost a
battle. He's never lost a battle with
anyone, any army, anything. He's never lost a battle against
Satan or his imps. He's never lost a battle against
a man. He's never lost a battle against
a king. He's never lost a battle, and here we have him never losing
one of his own. What are the identity marks that
are associated with the effectual call? Well, one of the things
that comes to my mind, it is a powerful call. God puts forth
infinite power in calling home a sinner to himself, to God. It is infinite power that God
exercises. It is power beyond our imagination. He uses His arm of salvation. He is so almighty and all-powerful. We use feeble words to try to
describe Him. God leaves us the message in
the scriptures as the Lord God Almighty and His voice is with
clarity and with certainty and it accomplishes His purpose as
the word goes out it will accomplish that where into it was sent and
those in Assyria far off lands in sin and degradation those
who are in Egypt those in every part of the world When God brings
His word, He will call them, and He will always bring them
to the same place. He will always bring them to
Christ. He will bring them to the Savior. In the book of Isaiah, again,
Isaiah chapter 63, in Isaiah chapter 63, and there in verse
5, Isaiah 63 and verse 5, and I looked, and there was none
to help. And I wondered that there was
none to uphold. Therefore, my own arm brought
salvation unto me. In my theory, it upheld me. Now
it tells us in the Psalms twice, the Lord looked down from heaven
to see if there were any that did seek after him. And his commentary
on that very subject was no one was looking out. No one was seeking
after him. So we have the Almighty God revealed
and brings out through the preaching of the gospel, the voice goes
out, the trumpet sound is made, and he will call them he called. That's what we read there in
the book of Romans, chapter 9. Them he called. He will call
them. And what happens? They will come.
And they will come to Christ. And they will come to, as it
tells us there in the book of Isaiah, come to Jerusalem. Well,
that's where the holy temple is. And Christ is our temple.
That's where the light was. He is the light. That's where
the tabernacle is. And he's the tabernacle. He's
the altar. He's the lamb. He is all and
in all. His own arm brings salvation. In the book of Ephesians, way
over in the New Testament, book of Ephesians, and there in chapter
1 and verse 19, Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 19, and what is the
exceeding greatness of His power to usward who believe according
to the working of His mighty power? We have the Almighty God
using the greatness of his power to usward, who believe according
to the working of his mighty power. He has a purpose. He knows
where he will exercise his great power, and that will be in the
lives of every one of his sloth sheep, whose names are written
in the Lamb's Book of Life, whose names are graven on the palms
of his hand, those he went to the cross for, but he will not
leave it up to them. He will call them, and he will
call them effectually, and he will call them graciously, and
the word tells us that when he calls, they will come. He called Matthew at the receipt
of custom, and he followed him. In the book of Ezekiel, chapter
37, let's go back to the Old Testament again. In Ezekiel chapter
37, and there in verse 23, Ezekiel chapter 37, verse 23, neither
shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things,
nor with any of their transgressions. But I will save them out of all
their dwelling places wherein they have sinned, and I will
cleanse them, so shall they be My people, and I will be their
God. He does not leave them on the
dung heap. He calls them. He brings them. He saves them out of all their
dwelling places wherein they've sinned. And I will cleanse them,
so shall they be my people, and I'll be their God. This is a
wonderful thing. It is a powerful call that goes
forth. Now to many, they never hear
it. It's not important. They have
more important things to do, and that's to follow their religious
intuition, whatever. do what their parents did, or
their grandparents did, or their great-grandparents did, or do
nothing, and say, I hope my good works outweigh my bad works,
and then God, I hope He deals with me according to that. Well,
we find that God doesn't work that way. He doesn't look at
our righteousness. He doesn't look at our works.
He doesn't look at our good deeds. He looks at the work of Christ,
the salvation of Christ, the blood of Christ, And there we
find that once that takes place, the call is given in time, wherever,
out of every kindred, people, tongue, and nation. He calls
them out of darkness. Now, number two, what kind of
call is this? It's a high calling. It's to
live by faith. The just shall live by faith.
That is a marvelous thing that God would implant in us. It's
such a high calling that the just shall live by faith, not
by sight. We've never seen a physical form
of the Lord Jesus, but this call has been so great and we've been
brought to Him and brought to His, and there's no doubt in
our minds about the Lord Jesus, even though our eyes of sight
have not seen Him, but our eyes of faith have. He has given us
the faith to trust God. The just shall live by faith.
The justified will live by faith. In I live by the I live by the faith of the Son
of God who loved me and gave himself for me." We hold communion
with God. He is the one. In the book of
Habakkuk, chapter 2 and verse 14, it brings out the just shall
live by faith. That's what happened in the Old Testament. That's
what we read in Romans chapter 1, Galatians chapter 3, and Hebrews
chapter 10. The just shall live by faith.
It is the justified ones, live by faith. They live by the faith
of God. If we live by the law, that's
not having faith. 1 John, would you read with me
1 John? Book of 1 John. Chapter 1 and verse 3. 1 John, chapter 1, verse 3. That which we have seen and heard
declare we unto you that ye also may have fellowship with us and
truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son,
Jesus Christ. This high calling, the call of
God, permits us to hold communion with Almighty God. We can speak to Him freely, to
come boldly before His throne of grace, to pour out our hearts
before Him, knowing that He ever cares for His people. He has
called them out of darkness to His marvelous light. This calling
is a high privilege. It's to justification. He's called
us to justification, to adoption. He's called us to be kings and
priests. He's called us to be joint heirs
with Jesus Christ. This is such a high calling.
It doesn't leave us in a lower state or a low state, but it's
a high calling to be the heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus
Christ, to be with the King of kings and Lord of lords, to be
kings and priests of Him. to be adopted into his family. Isn't it marvelous that he would
take us out of the family that we were born into, the family
of Adam, the family of desperateness, the family of death, and adopt
us into his family? that we would now have our name,
the Lord, our righteousness, that's His name. And the church's
name is the same as it brings out in the book of Jeremiah.
And to have this justification before God, to be before Him
legally clean, free of sin, and to be given the life of Jesus
Christ, And this call, lastly, is an immutable call. Romans. Turn with me to the book of Romans.
Romans chapter 11. Romans chapter 11 in verse 29. It's an immutable call. It's
not going to change. We're thankful that we read in
the Old Testament that God does not change. Therefore ye sons
of Jacob are not consumed. He is the same yesterday, today,
and forever. There is no shadow or variableness
of turning with God. He is the same eternal God. He is the eternal Lord God Almighty. He has never changed His mind. He didn't have some way of saving
people under the Old Testament economy and then a different
way under the New Testament, but He's always had people saved
by the blood of the Lamb. He has redeemed us, purchased
us out of this market of sin by the blood of the Lamb. Now
here in the book of Romans chapter 11 and verse 9 it says the gifts
and calling. The gifts and calling of God
are without repentance. They're immutable. They will
not change. They will not go away. God has
called. It is a silver trumpet that God
uses, that preachers are used to preach the gospel. And then
God's Holy Spirit effectually, graciously, with promise made
in the covenant of grace that I'll go and find and call all
that were died for by the Lord Jesus Christ, all those whose
names were written in the Lamb's Book of Life, all those that
Jesus Christ died for, we find the Spirit will go and effectually
call them, victoriously call them by grace, It's an efficient
grace. It's an effectual calling. It's
an effectual grace. It's an irresistible grace. That
is, it can't be held back. God is going to accomplish His
purpose with it. He created the heavens and the
earth without resistance. He created Adam without resistance. He created Eve without resistance.
We find that our own sinful nature resists against God, but we are
dead in trespasses and sin, and He is the Lord of life. He's the Lord of light. He's
the Lord God Almighty. So He will accomplish His purpose,
as He has promised that. I will lose none of them. So those He predestinated, whom
He predestinated, He will also call, and call them in such a
manner they will say, we will say, as Thomas did, my Lord and
my God. Well, God bless you until we
meet next Wednesday, and may you have a good week.