Speaking to you from personal
experience, I have found that there are times in my life that
I wonder whether I'm really saved or not. I don't know if that's
ever happened to you or not. But sometimes in the morning
I wake up and I think, Lord how in the world can you save somebody
like me? How awful I am. Sometimes when
I fiddle my head at night I think the same thing. Lord, how in
the world can you love a sinner like me? And I wonder about it
and then all of a sudden every time the Lord brings me to this.
He's sitting on the throne. My salvation is outside myself. And when I look to myself, that's
when I lose assurance. That's when I lose confidence.
That's when I lose boldness. But when I look to Him, that's
when I have everything because He has everything and I have
all things because of Him. You see, when I look at me, I
see a failure. I see a sinner. When I look outside,
I see Jesus Christ my Lord who never fails. Has never and never
will fail. When I look to myself, I get
discouraged. But when I look to my Lord Jesus
Christ, I find someone who never has been discouraged nor will
be discouraged until he brings all of his sons to glory. The only sure thing that, as
I think about myself, the only sure thing that I accomplish
is separation from God. your sins are separated between
you and your God that he'll not hear you but outside myself my Lord Jesus
Christ has accomplished my salvation and I think of that verse that
he will not hear me but God the Father our Lord Jesus Christ sits at
his right hand side And he makes intercession for
us and God hears him. Don't you think God hears you
son? In every prayer he makes for you and me, God hears his
son. And that blesses my heart as
I think about it. I hope it is somewhat of a blessing
to you, but that's from personal experience. And it happens not
only morning and night, but sometimes during the day as well. And you
know what I'm talking about. But what we're going to talk
about tonight is God's call. Make your calling and election
sure. Peter said, make your calling
and election sure there in 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 10. And as I
was thinking about that, I was thinking there's only one sure
thing. And it's not a thing. It's the
God man. He's the only one that we can
be sure of. You know, He did everything that
was necessary for our salvation. And as we look outside of ourselves,
we find that He's the only Savior no other one can save. He is
the only Savior. He's the one who brought in everlasting
righteousness. He's the only sacrifice. There's no other sacrifice that
could put away sins. He put away sins in eternal redemption
for us. He's the only substitute. He's the only one that could
take our place as God and as man. As God, He could bear those
sins. As man, He bore the punishment
for those sins. There for us on the cross. And by the way, at the cross is where it happened. In eternity past, if you could
say such a thing, before the foundation of the world, He was
already the Lamb slain. The sacrifice was already made.
The work was already done. There's not one thing we can
do. It's all done. What else could we do? He's the
only one who could substitute. He secured and guaranteed eternal
salvation for all His people. Oh, I'm so glad of that. And
he's the only one who could satisfy God's law. He satisfied the justice
of God as our substitute. That's what our Lord Jesus Christ
did for us. No wonder the angel said to Joseph
and Mary, thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save
his people from their sins. Paul said it this way, there
is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man, Christ
Jesus. God the Father accepts, he accepts
all his elect in Christ. In Christ. And the call that we're talking
about comes outside of ourselves. It's the call of God that comes
to a man or a woman. And the Spirit applies the blood
of Christ to the heart of God's elect in effectual calling. How do we know? How do we make
our calling and election sure? How do we know? Very simply, our Lord said, I've
not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Do you know you're a sinner? Is that part of your life, knowing
that you are fallen in Father Adam? and you sin naturally on
your own in practice? Well, He didn't come to call
the righteous. If you have one little bit of righteousness,
He's not calling anybody like you. But if you are a sinner
before a holy God and you see yourself as helpless, hopeless,
without any ability to do anything for yourself because you are
a sinner It's sinners that he calls. He called you. He called me. And by the way, what else does
he have to choose from in this world but sinners? Well, we've
been sinners from the beginning. But there are some that God reveals
His holiness and nature too and they realize that they are sinners
before God and those are the people that he calls. Our pastor
has mentioned many times if God has shown you that you're a sinner
you're already saved. Gone you ain't. It's a done deal
because only God can show you that you're a sinner and God calls and that call is
a is described so many different ways throughout the scripture
turn with me to John chapter 10 John chapter 10 John chapter 10 look at verse
3 Speaking of the shepherd, to
him the porter openeth, and the sheep hear his voice, and he
calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. Look at
verse 27. Start with verse 26. But ye believe
not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My
sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And
I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which
gave them me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck
them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one. This calling, this making sure
you're calling an election, this calling is a glorious calling. We read it there in 2 Peter chapter 1. It was for the
glory of Jesus Christ. Let's look at it again. 2 Peter
chapter 1. Well, I'm in 1 Peter, that's
why I couldn't find it. 2 Peter chapter 1, in verse 3. According as his divine power
hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness
through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory
and virtue. It's a glorious calling. Not
because we get any glory out of it. It's because He gets all
the glory out of it. You see, it's all the work of
God. And if it's anything of our works, the first thing we
would begin to do if we ever got to heaven was to brag about,
well, I did this and I did that. And as a matter of fact, there
are some who stand before the judgment, the Lord Jesus tells
us, who will say, did not we? prophesying thy name. Did not
we cast out devils in thy name? And you remember what the Lord
said? I never knew you. You're not my sheep. I never
knew you. It's not what you do. It's what
he did. And that's why And I've been there, so I'm going
to just say it against myself from years ago. Preachers all
over this nation and the world are telling everybody, you've
got to do this, you've got to do this, don't do this, don't
do that. And if you're faithful enough,
and you pray enough, and you go to church enough, and you
give enough, God will bless you for it, and you'll be able to
enter into the kingdom. Hogwash. There's no truth to that at all.
We'll enter the kingdom when God calls us. As a matter of
fact, He did that calling before the world ever began. I'll show
you that here in a little bit. But it was a glorious calling.
Listen to what Paul said. But we are bound to give thanks
always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because
God from the beginning hath chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief in the truth, whereunto he called you
by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Now that's what I'd like to attain,
wouldn't you? The glory of my Lord. He's entering
back into his glory, he said in John 17. Going back to his
glory and he prays for us that we will see him in his glory. It's a glorious calling that
he has for his sheep. Number two, it's a purposeful
calling. He does it on purpose. Look with
me in 2 Timothy chapter 1. We've read these verses many
times and I'm not telling you anything you've never heard before.
2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 9. speaking of our Lord Jesus Christ
who has saved us and called us with an holy calling not according
to our works but according to his own purpose and grace which
was given us in Christ Jesus. When? Before the world began. That's when it happened. That's
when it was all done. And in time it was experienced
by our Lord Jesus Christ. But it's now made manifest by
the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ who has abolished death
and has brought life and immortality of light through the gospel. It's a purposeful calling on
purpose. Romans chapter 8 verse 28 we
most everybody knows this verse by heart Romans 8 28 Which says and we know that all things
work together for good to them that love God to them who are
the called according to his purpose His purpose was from eternity
was to save his elect. Jesus Christ became surety for
those elect. He gave himself for those elect. He was a lamb slain from the
foundation of the world for these elect. And from the beginning
of time on as they were born the Spirit of God effectually
goes after them with the Word of God. And by the Word of God
giving the gift of faith that they may believe the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's a purposeful calling. That's what Paul was talking
about when he was talking about Esau and Jacob. That the purpose
of election might stand. It's not of him that works, but
of him, the Lord Jesus, who calls. It's a glorious calling. It's
a purposeful calling. It's a gracious calling. He calls
sinners. He calls sinners. I need the
mercy of God, don't you? I'm guilty. I'm guilty. When you say, who's the sinner
here? I'm the first one to raise my hand. I am. I'm like Paul. I say the same thing. I'm the
chief of sinners. There's no one here worse than
I. As a matter of fact, I'm worse than them. But by His grace and
according to His mercy and His love, He came to save sinners. He came to save sinners. That's
the only one he calls. Matter of fact the phrase he
came to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance is
repeated in all four gospels and Jesus Christ said it. Now he didn't have to call anybody
except that in eternity past Before the world was made, God
the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit made a covenant.
They struck hands, as it were. And God the Father said, we're
going to create this world, there's going to be sin in the world,
I'm going to elect some out of there, but they can't come to
me as sinners. God the Son said, well I'll be
surety for them. I'll take care of that sin problem.
and I'll be the one who will bring them to you many sons to
glory. I won't fail and I won't be discouraged. I won't stop until it's all done.
Until the last sheep is called. And the Holy Spirit is the one
who does the effectual calling of those sheep. He didn't have
to call anyone and as a matter of fact some people go to the
extreme on this. If I use the term free willer,
you know what I mean. The free willer says we complete
him. He did everything that was necessary.
Now, we have to make a choice. When God the Father, God the
Son, God the Holy Spirit, when Sovereign God calls, something
is going to happen. And if he doesn't call, nothing
is going to happen. Am I right? They say, well, he has no hands
but our hands. He has no feet but our feet.
He has no ears but our ears. Again, I say hogwash. He can do without my hands. He
can do without my feet. He can do without my ears. He
can do without me. but according to his mercy, his
grace and his love God chose me. That is humbling. That drops us down to the nothing
we are. God does the choosing. Why? Even the Lord Jesus, as
he triumphantly entered into Jerusalem, they called to him
and they said, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the
Lord. And they praised him as he was coming in. And the disciples
that stood around said, Make them be quiet. Make them be quiet. Don't let them talk about you
like that. Do you remember what the Lord
said? He said, if I tell them to be quiet, the stones will
dry out. Well, he could make the stones
dry out if he wanted to. As a matter of fact, we heard
the other night from our pastor, and let me just say it this way,
if he can make a jackass talk, he can make you and me talk. You know what the truth is? We are chosen in Christ Jesus
and we are complete in Him. Complete in Him. We're predestinated
to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. We're providentially
led by the Holy Spirit to the Lord. It's a gracious calling. It's all of grace. All of grace. It's a distinguishing calling.
Again, you look in John chapter 10 and you note
there that he calls his sheep. Some are not called, but he calleth
his own sheep by name. As a matter of fact, the Lord said,
many are called, few are chosen. But he does call. He does call, and who does he
call? He calls sinners. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians
chapter 1. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Let me just say it this way,
how do I know that I'm one of God's elect? I know I'm a sinner. And he came to save sinners. Let's begin with verse 26. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1
verse 26, For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise
men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God had chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise, and God had chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things that are
mighty, and base things of the world, and things which are despised
hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to not
things that are, and why did he do this? that no flesh should
glory in his presence it's a distinguishing call, he
came for his sheep The Lord said, all that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I'll know I's cast
out. You won't come to me unless my
Father draw you. Let not your heart be troubled.
You believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are
many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. And I go to prepare a place for
you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I'll come again
and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there ye may
be also. That particular calling, he said
in John chapter 10, I lay down my life for the sheep. No man taketh it from me. I lay
down my life and I take it up again. I lay down my life for
the sheep. You know there are many Christs
vying for our attention in the world. Many false Christs out
there. And the Lord Jesus even warned
us of that. Some will say that He is either
there or He is there or He is somewhere else. And don't believe
it. Don't believe it. There's only
one. There's only one. And the Good Shepherd calls His
sheep. Isn't it interesting? When He
called, they followed. That's a powerful call. When he calls, they follow. The Lord said, turn to me, and
what did I do? David said, I turned to the Lord. A powerful calling. A particular
calling. And he died for his sheep. He
purchased them with his own blood. He finished the work of salvation
for us. It's an effectual calling. My sheep hear my voice and they
follow me. They'll hear his voice and they'll
follow. No wonder Paul said in Romans
chapter 11 the gifts and callings of God are without repentance.
Once he calls it's done. It's done. It's over. Paul said also in 1 Thessalonians
chapter 5, Faithful is he that calleth you who will also do
it. He's the doer of it. It's a personal
calling as we read there in John chapter 10 verse 3. I know my
sheep, he knows his sheep by name. Now when he called me, I did
not hear my name. That's not what he's talking
about. I didn't hear my name called. Samuel did. Samuel? Samuel. He went to Eli. You called me? I didn't call
you. Go lay the bag down. Go sleep. I called again. Samuel? Samuel. He ran to Eli. Surely you called me this time.
No, I didn't call you. Go lay down." The Lord called
him again, Samuel, Samuel. And he ran to Eli and said, Surely
you called me this time. Finally, Eli, it was revealed
to him, God was calling this young man, this young boy. Go
lay down. And when he speaks to you again,
say, Yes, Lord, thy servant heareth. God the Father called, God the
Son called, God the Holy Spirit called, Eli preached the word,
go lay down and listen to him. And when he went and lay down
and listened to him, God talked to a young man, made him a prophet,
and his words didn't even fall to the ground. It's a personal calling, but
it came to me personally. I remember the night. Don't remember
when it was. Don't remember all the details
about it. I just remember one night as I was laying down in
bed that I was thinking about what the preacher had talked
about so many times that gripped my heart and that was about the
sovereignty of God. He is the one who purposed all
things. He's the one who decreed all
things. He's the one who runs it all.
He's the one who saves. He's the one who provided salvation. And that night I looked up to the Lord and I
said, I'm a sinner and it must be me. Lord have
mercy on me. Have mercy on me. Do you remember
Jesus going to Jericho? When he went into Jericho, there
were some blind men and he healed them as he was going out of Jericho.
There was a blind man and he healed him. Didn't do a thing
in Jericho. Passed right on through. But
before, he had a blind man there, two of them. After, he had a
blind man there. Remember what the blind man would
say? Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me as they walk
by. Being blind, not seeing, but
maybe hearing, like footsteps were leaving him, he calls out
even louder. Jesus, thou son of David, have
mercy on me. And he kept calling and the disciples
said, shh, shh, be quiet. Do you know what Jesus did? He
stood still. Somebody was calling for mercy.
And he stood still. And told them to bring him, that
blind man to him. They went to the blind man and
here's what they said. Be of good cheer. He calleth
thee. When you beg for mercy, That's
one thing he delights in. That's one thing he'll hear when
you beg for mercy. It's a merciful calling. He calls
the guilty sinners. He committed his love toward
us and while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. It's a beneficial
calling. A beneficial calling. Look with
me in Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2. Some of these things are just
so simple probably don't even need to be said but the Lord
gave me these thoughts and I'm sharing them with you. Acts chapter
2. Peter is preaching on the day
of Pentecost. Verse 38, Acts chapter 2 verse
38, Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized, every
one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of
sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Notice
these words, For the promise is unto you, and to your children,
and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our
God shall call. It's a beneficial calling. They
shall come to me, our Lord said, and I'll never cast them out. Never leave you nor forsake you.
I give you the promise of eternal life. The Father gave him the
privilege to give eternal life to as many as he would. And he would for those that were
of the elect. You see, Peter said it this way,
we're called out of darkness into his marvelous light. What a privilege. What a privilege. And in him, all the promises
are yay and amen. I might make a promise to you. And in all of my thinking and
my heart, I want to keep that promise. But there may be circumstances
around that it caused me to have a problem about keeping that
promise. Or in this old sinful flesh, I may just not want to.
But our Lord keeps His promise. And there's nothing that will
discourage Him. He will do as He said He would
do. I want you to know with me also
that it is an audible calling. My sheep hear my voice. It's an audible calling. It's
the preaching of the gospel. Our Lord said go into all the
world and preach the gospel to every creature. Turn with me
to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. These words you've heard many,
many times, but we're going to repeat them again tonight. 2
Thessalonians chapter 2, look at verse 13. Paul says, But we
are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved
of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you
to salvation through the sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth, whereunto he called you by our gospel to the obtaining
of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. He has called us by the
gospel. Then I want to say one last thing
about it. It's an urgent call. Luke chapter 19, Zacchaeus heard
that Jesus Christ was coming by. Zacchaeus was a publican,
tax collector, hated by his own people. He was a thief. He exacted more taxes than he
was supposed to and kept what he exacted more. And that was
part of the Roman program. But he heard Jesus was coming
by. So what does he do? He climbs up in the tree so he
could see this wonder. See this person he's heard about.
And as Jesus walks by, what does he do? He stops right under that
tree. And he says, Zacchaeus, make
haste. Come down. For salvation has
come to your house today. Make haste. It's an urgent call. It's an urgent call. Today if
you will hear his voice. Today is the day of salvation. We don't know what tomorrow will
bring forth. If you remember some time ago,
on a Sunday morning, Brad was preaching that Sunday night.
On a Sunday morning, I preached from Ecclesiastes chapter 12. Remember now thy creator, the
days of thy youth. I talked about how short life
was. On the way home, I had a heart attack. I was in the hospital a few days.
The Lord was merciful to me but I lay there that night thinking
that any moment I'll see my Lord. You don't know what a day is
going to bring forth. I drive traffic 40 miles every day on
the way and on the way back when I come to church. I never know
what's going to happen out on that highway. I don't know if
I walk out my front door, if I don't trip, fall down on my
concrete and bust my head wide open. I don't know. But I do
know this. I do know that God called me
in his love, mercy, and grace. And that I am one of his. He
is mine and I'm his. That's what Paul found out on
the road to Damascus. He had warrants in his pocket. We're going to throw these Christians
in jail. We're going to execute some of
them. And on his way to execute, he got executed. God dropped
him to his knees. Dropped him on his face. Lord,
who are you? I'm Jesus, whom thou persecust.
Lord, what will you have me to do? When God calls, you'll follow. Has God called you? Heavenly Father, we thank you
for your word, for showing us about your call. A sovereign,
blessed, irresistible call of God. Thank you Lord that you
did that because if it had not been irresistible, had not been
effectual, I'd have never been called. I'd have never come. I'd never follow. Because of
this old body of flesh. Thank you Lord for dying for
my sin. and the sins of all your elect
and providing a perfect salvation for us. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Let's stand together and we'll
sing oh how merciful.