All right, this is said by the
Lord Jesus to some Jews. who were contending and murmuring
against Him and the things that He had been teaching and had
been saying. And they murmured against what
our Lord said. And the Lord's answer in verse
44 and verse 45, No man can come to Me except the Father which
hath sent Me draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets,
and they shall all be taught of God, every man therefore that
hath heard and hath learned of the Father come unto me. Now over in verse 65 of the same
chapter, and he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man
can come unto me. except it were given unto him
of my Father. And then one more, John chapter
12 and verse 32, And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will
draw all unto me. Now today again our subject is
the irresistible call, divine calling of those that God has
pitched upon. Now the time has come for us,
as I say, to add another stone to the building of this wonderful
pyramid of the doctrines of the sovereignty of God's grace. Each one must be laid in their
proper and in their due order. And it seems wise, maybe even
necessary, to again emphasize the unity and the agreement between
them that we might know to and where to bring forth the next
truth in this building of this great house. So far, we have
considered three things. Or, if you will or prefer, we
have considered three points of the doctrines of God's sovereign
grace. Number one, we began with total
depravity. The Bible teaches that all are
by birth and by nature and by practice sinners and under the
dominion of sin. Secondly, we looked at the truth
of unconditional election. that according to Paul in Ephesians
1, 3 through verse 5, that some were chosen in Christ before
the foundation of the world, before time began, before God
had created the world, or created man, or man had inhabited the
earth and fallen. And then thirdly, last Sunday
morning, we looked at particular redemption, that Christ has come,
put on flesh, and has made a sacrifice and an atonement for the sins
of His people. And in that He bore the curse
of the law he paid the last sparkling of the debt that was owed by
the children of God. And as Frank Beck said in his
little book on the five doctrines of grace, everything up to this
point is ordained in an orderly fashion by an all-wise and an
all-powerful God, unquote. So far we have, God has chosen
a people, Christ has died for them in his death upon the cross,
giving unto God a sacrifice for their sin, a propitiation, making
satisfaction and atonement for them. Now, the question now comes
before us, what shall it be? Has God, as some people said,
quote, done His part, unquote, in the saving of men? Sometimes
you'll hear that question. There is even a book that I have
called God's Part and ours written a long time ago. God has chosen
a people, has given a redemption and an atonement for them. Now
how shall this proceed to the will and the pleasure of God? In other words, shall free will
take over the work from this point on and the rest of the
way? Shall free will of man now be
added to what God has done and what God has started and what
He has done so far? I want to point out that we have
arrived, I believe, at another critical point in our study. And it is now at this place that
our study bleeds over into the area of the saving work of Christ
and of God and the Holy Spirit that is called in theology, soteriology. This is that branch of the study
of the Word of God called soteriology. Simply means that it deals with
the application of the work of God unto the people of God. It deals with the application
of the election of grace before the world and the redemption
made by the God-man and, therefore, the proceeding of those things. Now, consider something. Let's
stop. Let's think. Let's focus. and
give our undivided attention, mull it over in our mind again. God has chosen a people in Christ,
Ephesians 1 and 3 through 5, and it says there that He has
foreordained them to the adoption of sons, and this was before
they were born, and it was before the foundation of the world. And Romans 9, 11, it was without
respect of any good or evil as we declared in study number two. And not only so, but the Son
of God became incarnate. That is, He partook of flesh
and blood, as it is described in the second chapter of the
book of Hebrews. And in that body that God had
prepared for Him, He died for their sin on the cross of Calvary. And He died for them before they
were ever born, and He died for their sins, keep this in mind,
before they were ever committed. Our Lord died for the sins of
so many of His people before they were ever committed. Christ died for sin before they
were actually committed by different individuals. So you have people
that are chosen in Christ, and they are redeemed in and by Christ,
and His blood, but they in themselves are dead in trespasses and in
sin. The Bible teaches us their minds
are darkened, they are by nature corrupt, They are, in their minds,
enemies unto God. They are no different from the
reprobate by nature. And especially was that true
of the Gentile portion of the church as Paul lays it out in
Ephesians chapter 2 and verses 1 through three. It says something
like this, and you who were dead in trespasses and in sin, wherein
in time past, that is, he means prior to their regeneration and
their conversion. You walked according to the course
of this world, according to the course of this world, according
to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now
works in the children of disobedience, among whom we all had our conversation,
that is, our manner of life and conduct, in the lust of the flesh,
fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were
by nature the children of wrath, even as others." Paul writes
that in Ephesians chapter 2, verses 1 through 3. That was
the condition, that was the character, that was the behavior of them
before they were quickened and called by Christ. So we have
now a point of emphasis to make as we go on our way. Election
and redemption are not conditional on God's part or God's will for
God's purpose. That is, they're not parts of
His will that may or may not be realized in their object. They are instead immutably fixed
and immutable parts of the eternal purpose of God, and their end
will be realized or will be obtained by and through the power of God. So God chose or elected a people
to the adoption of Son to be brought unto glory, Hebrews 2,
9 and 10, that they might have the faith of God's elect, Titus
1 and verse 1, Christ redeemed them out from under the curse
and the dominion of sin and the law, that they might be brought
to God and that they might walk in newness of life, that they
might have a new heart and a new life and live a sanctified life
in this world, that they turn from their sin, being called
away, and live unto God and walk in Christ as He is our example. Now, don't please misunderstand
this, I want to emphasize. But their being elect and even
redeemed does not make them personally sanctified and holy. True, it
is the mean, and it is the foundation of making themselves, but a further
work is needed. in them, to bring them to the
knowledge and the understanding of their standing and status
in the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Paul writes in Ephesians
chapter 1, Verse 19, you ought to study and read that if you
have not, that they may know what is the exceeding greatness
of His power to us who believe. And listen, according to the
working of His mighty power. Who believe according to the
working of His mighty power. So how do they come to the faith
of God's elect? How do they come to have the
faith of God's elect? so that they can, as John Owen
put it, and I quote, embrace God's way of saving sinners by
the mediation of Jesus Christ, unquote. Now again, Owen wrote
this, quote, the only way of getting an interest in this blessed
contrivance of saving sinners by the substitution of Christ
as the surety of the covenant is by faith." By grace are you
saved, through faith, that not of yourself. It is the gift of
God, Ephesians chapter 2 verse 8 and verse 9. But Scripture,
they are dead in trespassing and in sin, and Scripture furthermore
teaches the inability of the natural man to receive the things
of God. 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 14. The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God, neither indeed can he, for they
are spiritually discerned. Faith is not native to the natural
man, to the man as he is born in and out of Adam. Paul told those at Thessalonica
for their comfort. All men do not have faith." 2
Thessalonians 3, verse 2. All have not faith. You do not expect all men to
have faith or be believers. Today, faith is seen as an easy
thing. Today it is preached that believing
on Christ is as easy as falling off a log backward. That nothing
to it. Just simply believe on Christ. And it is taught everywhere today
that man has the ability, anytime he will, any place and such like,
to believe on Christ or to exercise faith. Today, faith is seen as
within the ability of free will, but this is because it is the
illegitimate offspring of free will, this kind of belief. Now, the truth of the Scripture
is this. To bring one to faith, to bring
one to believe to the saving of the soul, and to see and espouse
Christ in the gospel, It requires an internal work of the Spirit
of God in that person. Goodwin wrote something I thought
was well. He said that there is no principle
in the natural man that has any power to give any assistance
unto it. There is nothing that dwells
in a lost unregenerate sinner that can assist in his believing
or in having faith. To go further, faith does not
spring out of anything in the natural man, nor does it rest
upon any ability in the natural man. Everything in the natural
or the unregenerate or the lost person withstands his believing. In fact, such, according to the
scripture, are shut up in unbelief, if you'll read Galatians chapter
3. So he cannot believe, he cannot
believe out of his free will, he cannot believe out or through
the wisdom of the world, he cannot believe out or through the direction
of his conscience, and not even in hearing the Word or in hearing
the Gospel if his ears are uncircumcised. As it is said in Acts 7, 51,
Jeremiah 6, And verse 10, If the ear is uncircumcised,
then he cannot hear. The prophet said unto them, Their
ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken. Behold, the word
of the Lord is unto them a reproach, and they have no delight in it. Jeremiah chapter 6 and verse
10. So dire is the condition of the
sinner, of the natural man, of the unregenerate man, that not
only is there nothing in him to begat faith or aid his believing,
but everything in him, while he is unregenerate, opposes his
faith and believing. Well, then the question is, how
shall the chosen and the redeemed be brought from a state of nature
into a state of grace? How shall one be brought up out
of spiritual death into spiritual life? What is there? Who is there
that can bridge this great chasm? To paraphrase Job 14, verse 1,
if a man be dead, shall he live again? Job concludes, no, never
again. Not in this world and not in
that same body. Even so, if one be dead in trespasses
and in sin, is that the sealing of their faith? Can they be quickened? Can they live again? Can they
be raised up? Can they be given new and spiritual
and eternal life? The prophet was asked, Son of
man, see these bones. Can these bones live again? Ezekiel chapter 37 and verse
3. Even so, can these dead in sin
be made alive in the Lord Jesus Christ? In other words, can lost
ones be saved? Can unregenerates be quickened?
Can those that are dead be made alive and bear the fruit of their
election and their redemption unto eternal life in and through
the Lord Jesus Christ, His death, and the gospel? Now, the I, T-U-L-I-P,
The I in the acronym TULIP refers to irresistible grace, which
is the doctrine that God effectually works in the elect so that they
are called They are quickened. They are converted. They are
brought to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus. They have
a revelation made of God's grace unto them. Now, He does more. God does more than simply invite
them. We hear that all the time. God
does more than offer you something. We hear that all the time. There
used to be a saying back in the old days that the Holy Spirit
would woo people. W-O-O. That the Holy Spirit would
woo them very gently, but that He would go no further. And more
than give them a chance to accept Jesus and salvation. The Lord does more than stand
outside of the door of the sinner's heart and knock for entrance. He does more or else none would
ever be saved or would come to faith. So let's recall with many,
after particular redemption, irresistible grace is next, I
believe, in giving offense to people that hear it and is high
on the list of being rejected. And the reason is clear, to protect
that darling idol of free will, for it is here against irresistible
grace that free will the more exhort itself, and claim that
right to choose to be saved or not to be saved, to choose life
or to choose death, that in spite of all that the Lord has willed,
and in spite of all that Christ has done, in all that the Spirit
has worked, We're told everywhere that free will must have the
last say, that spawn that gave birth to the invitation system. It was this that gave birth to
the invitation system and the altar call, which is unknown
in the scripture, not practiced by Paul or Christ or any of them. For then and there the sinner
is exhorted to make that big decision that will change his
life forever. However, the state and the condition
of the race is such that a stronger remedy is needed for man's condition
in Adam. For man's not just bruised, he's
not just weak, and he's not just sickened. He is dead in trespass
and in sin. He is alienated from God. And
though he lost none of his faculties in the fall, yet were they all
corrupted and fell under the power of sin and death. Sin and death corruption passed
through all the faculties that reside in man. On the other hand,
in the spiritual renewal, no new faculties are added or created,
only they are renewed, enlightened, made alive, and such like. A. W. Pink put it like this,
quote, the power of the soul are spiritualized and made alive
unto God." The Puritan preacher Thomas Goodwin wrote way back
in the 1600s, quote, there are no more faculties in the soul
when it is regenerate than when it was in unbelief. Only they are endowed with new
powers and abilities, unquote. So now let us consider in earnest
the work of God called irresistible grace and how it makes effectual
the election and redemption of those who are in Jesus Christ. Again, the question What is the
true state of the sinner by nature? Now, I'm not talking according
to societal morals, and I'm not talking about present culture,
and I'm not talking about psychiatry and psychology, what they might
think about it. What does the Bible say about
the need of the sinner that he might be saved? And that is that
he is dead in trespasses and sin, Colossians 2 and 13, being
dead in your sins when God quickened. So what then is the greatest
need of such a sinner that he might be saved? And the answer
is he must be raised up out of that spiritual dead. This answers
to the name regeneration, the new birth, or quickening, or
born of God as it is put in the Scripture. Even newness of life
in Romans chapter 6 and verse 4. And that one be then effectually
called and converted under the leadership of the Spirit. Now,
regeneration. is the only way, only bridge
from nature unto grace. It is the first internal saving
work in that saving process, or what is called in theology
the ordo salutis, or the order of salvation, the application
of redemption. So hear this and hear it clearly. Regeneration, the new birth,
is the real beginning of the effect of irresistible grace. It is the foundation laid for
the irresistible call and for the conversion of those that
are regenerate. And the question becomes, what
is regeneration and how is it affected? Again, it was the Puritan
John Owen who wrote, regeneration consists in a new spiritual,
vital principle or habit of grace, infused into the soul, the mind,
the will and the affection by the power of the Holy Spirit."
Or to sum it up in a few words, Resurrection, or rather regeneration,
is the resurrection of the soul out of a state of spiritual deadness. And it is a sovereign work of
the Holy Spirit of God in which the soul is in the first motion
passive, neither aiding nor resisting. It is a fallacy of the Arminian
that a sinner can will and agree to be born again, but it flies
in the face of the nature of a birth. Or that a sinner can
will to let God raise him up out of his deadness in sin, for
this too flies in the face of the nature of death. Can the dead will to be made
alive again? Regeneration is that sovereign
work of the Holy Spirit. It is the starting point for
the application of salvation. Now we know that there are some
of our sovereign grace brethren who say that regeneration occurs
as a result of the preaching of the gospel or of the word
of God. Call it gospel regeneration. But truth only works to the degree
to which it is understood. Truth only works as it is understood. And the natural man receive not
the things of the Spirit of God, and truth is only understood
and apprehended after the Lord has opened the heart, given an
understanding, and given an ear to hear. I've long felt that
the parable of the seed of the soil and the sower, you remember
that in the gospel, helps to put this matter also in perspective. For while there was one and the
same sower, and that one and the same sower was sowing the
same seed, yet there were four different types of soil representing
the different kind of hearts of hearers of the Word of God. And only the good soil received
the seed of the Word of God and brought forth fruit, as only
the renewed heart can receive the truth as it is in the Lord
Jesus Christ. But the work does not stop does
not end at regeneration. But they who are regenerate are
effectually called. The new life is created at regeneration
and is called forth in an exercise resulting in conversion. The elect are regenerated, the
regenerated are called, the called come, Psalm 65 and 4, blessed
is the man whom thou choosest and causeth to approach unto
thee. In Mark 3 and 13, Jesus went
up into a mountain, called unto him whom he would, and they came. He called whom he would and they
came. Now, those who come, those who
believe, have the faith of God's elect and are converted and begin
their Christian journey into life under the direction of the
Spirit. Now, a truth very hard to miss
in the New Testament is that there is taught there a special
calling. Romans 8, verse 28, speaks of
them, listen to this, who are called according to His purpose. Did you get that? Who are called
according to His purpose. And in verse 30, Romans 8, the
ones He foreordained, He also called. 2 Timothy 1, verse 9,
has called us with a holy Now, this call is not of a civil kind
or of some religious office only. It is not a calling to some civil
office or some office even in the church. It is not what some
refer to as the general call. This call is in accordance with
the eternal purpose of God. It is a purpose of grace and
was established in Christ before the world ever began. But secondly,
in accord with that, this call is inseparably connected unto
election, redemption, and regeneration. The called according to the purpose
are all three. And thirdly, the call is irresistible. Being quickened, the call respond. They come. They come because
they are called. One writer put it this way, that
to catch a glimpse of the strength of the words call, called, and
calling, one might think of the word summons. That it is a summons,
and it is not a summons to court, to appear before an earthly judge. It is a summons from God. And the called respond unto that
summon. because it is God that called. It is efficacious or irresistible. As to this call, let's consider
those verses we read in John 6, 44 and 45, spoken by the Lord
Jesus when in a controversy with some Jews concerning His claim
of being the bread of life, of having come down from heaven
and such like. whom they knew as the son of
Mary and of Joseph. They said, This is Mary, this
is Joseph's son. How saith he that he is the bread
come down from heaven? He tells them there in verse
44, No man, no one, nobody can come unto me unless except until
the Father which hath sent me draw him." Now, this is all conclusive,
if you look at it. Not one can come apart from being
drawn. And contextually, in verse 45,
None can know the person or the character of the father or of
the son unless they are divinely taught. Even hearing the truth
will not put grace and faith in the heart of an unregenerate
not preaching or teaching, nor hearing the testimony of another
saint, nor arguing with them. You cannot argue a man into the
kingdom of God, not even them reading the Scripture. Remember
the eunuch riding along, reading the Scripture, did not know who
the prophet was talking about. Something more must be done. Consider the word draw in John
6 and verse 44. It is the word helko or maybe
helkuo, which some think has its reference from a choice or
prefer, and then to take for one's own self. And in John 6
and verse 44, the word that is here means to drag or to pull. It is interesting how this same
word is used in at least five other verses in the New Testament. Interesting also, because most
of them are from the pen of this same John. For example, The word
draw in John 6 and 44 is the same word you have in John chapter
18 and verse 10 when Peter drew his sword out of its scabbard
or its sheath and would attack those who came to take away our
Lord." That's the same word. He drew his sword. In John 21,
verse 6, it is the word used of the net full of fishes that
they were not able to draw. Verse 11, Peter drew it under
land. In Acts 16, 19, it is the same
word as when Paul and Silas were taken and drew them unto the
ruler, brought them dragged them, if you will, set them before
the magistrate, having laid hold upon them." Now, the Arminian
hears this and he says something like this, He protests that we
are portraying God as dragging a kicking, screaming, resisting
sinner into the kingdom of God against his will. This is the
caricature that they build. This is how they often portray
it. They take offense at this. That
they think we're saying that God drags one against his will,
hollering, no, no, I don't want to be a Christian, leave me alone,
let me go. This they do for the sake again
of free will. The truth of the matter is this.
God makes them willing in the day of His power. Psalm 110 and
verse 3. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. For it is God that worketh in
you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Philippians
2 and verse 13. Let me tell you something. He
that has the heart has the person. He that has control of the heart
has the person. He that can change the heart
can gain the person. And this God does in regeneration. For it results in the changing
of the sinner's whole frame and outlook of life. It is a powerful,
sovereign, effectual, irresistible work. George Hutchins writing
a commentary on the Gospel of John said, quote, infusing the
habits of grace and faith, unquote. It is a quickening of the formerly
dead faculties of the center and calling them forth into exercise,
and as one put it, and I wholeheartedly agree, quote, inclining the heart
and the mind to embrace Christ, unquote. For they then hear the
voice of Christ. in the gospel. They by faith
see Him as they never saw Him before. Lazarus, I believe, is
a good picture. Dead, buried, and corrupting. But at the word of Christ, He
both lived and He came forth. As Christ called Him forth from
the dead and out of the tomb. Now the great impediment in Lazarus
was death. And the great impediment with
sinners is spiritual death and a perverse will that is set upon
evil. But the saving grace of God is
invincible and irresistible. It overcomes the strongest obstacle
and opposition. Paul in Ephesians 1, 19 and 20.
likens the power of God that makes one a believer to the same
power that raised up Christ from the dead, using such words there
in Ephesians 1 as exceeding greatness of His power. Again, according
to the working of His mighty power, or the margin has it,
the might of His power. Paul wanted the Ephesian saints
to comprehend their calling and the power of God that brought
them to be believers in the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And as he writes there in Ephesian
chapter 1, I pray, he said, that your understanding may be enlightened,
that you may know the power, the exceeding power, the greatness
of the power that brought you to faith. It is the power that
raised up our Lord Jesus Christ. It is resurrection power that
brings one out of spiritual deadness and to life in, with, and through
Jesus Christ. Now, let's speak in closing.
of our attitude toward this. This is an offensive doctrine. It is an insulting doctrine to
so many people today, not only unchurched, but to church people,
resented by so many today, this doctrine of the Scripture, who
say, I will be saved when I am good and ready. Do I have time to tell you about
a man I once worked with, MacDonald? I witnessed to him often. He
said, now listen here, leave me alone. When I'm on my deathbed,
I'm going to call upon the Almighty and He'll save me even at the
end. There are people like that. I
will be saved when I am ready. I'll believe and repent later. I'll come to Christ at the time
of my own choosing. and on my own terms and when
the time of life is convenient. Perhaps when I'm near death or
when I have enjoyed the pleasure of sin for a season. My friend,
tell me, do you believe in free will? Do you believe that free
will is that powerful? then I ask you, let me see you
will not to get sick, not to die, not to stand in the great
judgment before the Almighty God. Let me see you use your
free will in that. The saint praises God for his
sovereign and irresistible grace, that He did not leave us under
the delusion of sin that we might turn ourselves, no, but that
we have believed by the grace of God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank God for that work that
was done in us and for us called irresistible grace, or divine
calling. Thank God for the Scripture that
teaches us this great truth. It's not hidden. It jumps out
at us in many places. Thank God for it.