Last week we talked about the
spirit quickening, the new birth. Tonight I want to talk to you
about his work in effectual calling. I read to you there where the
Lord Jesus says, You know, there are other sheep which are not
of this foal, them also I must bring. And my sheep hear my voice. Hear my voice. And also there I read to you
in John 6, where it says, You know, they shall all be taught
of God, and everyone that hath heard and learned of the Father,
he comes to me. And so when we talk about this
effectual call, and when the Holy Spirit quickens a soul,
gives life to a dead soul, gives them a due disposition before
their disposition was against God, it lived in darkness, it
loved darkness, had no desire for God, no desire for the lovers
of self, the lovers of pleasure. God didn't enter into thoughts.
If it did, it was a false god, it was an idol. And so he gives
them a new disposition that didn't exist before, a disposition to
know God, to enjoy God, to learn of God, to learn the Lord Jesus. And it gives them a heart to
search after Him and seek after Him and desire Him. And before
that, that didn't exist, because the carnal mind is enmity against
God. It's not subject to the law of God. And it can't be.
It can't be. So what happens when this disposition
that can be subject to God is made subject to God? A disposition
that don't know God, how's it made to know God? That didn't
desire God, how's it made to desire God? That's what happens.
The natural man, he don't receive the things of the Spirit of God.
He can't even know them. They're spiritually discerned.
And so for someone so adverse to God, someone so in love with
self, how can they be changed? Well, our Lord Jesus told Nicodemus,
the wind blows where it likes, where it will. Blows where it
will. You see the effects of it. You
hear the sound of it. You don't know when it comes
and where it goes and where it comes from and where it goes.
And it's a power. This power is put forth just
like it was in creation when God said, let there be light.
That's the first thing that happened. Let there be light. And that's
what God does for that quickened soul and gives them life. He
turns on the light. He turns on the light. They're
sitting in darkness, and those who sit in darkness saw a great
light. That's what Saul of Tarsus seen on the Damascus road. He
saw a great light above the brightness of the sun, and God commanded
that light to shine in our eyes. It wouldn't shine if he didn't
command it. And he said over in Ephesians 4.18 that our understanding,
being alienated from the life of God through the darkness of
our understanding. And so after the Holy Spirit
gives the life and imparts life to us, gives us the nature of
God, makes us partakers of the nature of God, puts Christ into
the hope of glory, Gives him a new heart, a heart to know
God. How then does he come to Christ? Now here's the thing. The new birth and the calling, in my opinion, comes at the same
time. When the new birth happens, which
is instantaneous, instantaneous, the calling comes with that.
Now the calling, once it starts, it always goes. And the work
that God begins in you at the new birth, He can turn His own
that work. But let's talk about being called. Let's talk about this effectual
call. There's two callings in the Scriptures. There's a general
call. There's a general call. Multitudes
and multitudes and multitudes and multitudes untold multitudes
have heard the general call. Every time the Bible's opened,
it's a general call. How many preachers have preached
over the centuries, over the millennia, that's expressed and
conveyed the call, the general call, come to Christ, hear Christ,
believe on Christ, believe the Word of God, believe on Christ,
trust the Lord Jesus Christ. But then there's the effectual
call. There's the irresistible call. There's the invincible
call. And what it does is it enlightens
the understanding. Look over in Ephesians chapter
1 with me just a moment. Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians
1. Let me show you something here.
Let's look at this together. Ephesians chapter 1. This effectual
call, what it does when it comes, it enlightens. Before the understanding
of Godness, this effectual call is the irresistible call, this
invincible call. And what God says in the day
of His power, His people are made women. His sheep hear His
voice, and they come to Him. They're taught of God, and they
learn of Christ, and they come to Christ. And here in Ephesians
1 and verse 18, look what it says, "...the eyes of your understanding
being enlightened, that you may know..." What? What do you know?
"...what the hope of His calling is." And so you see, He enlightens
our understanding, turns on the light, takes away the darkness
from it. And oh, beloved, when it talks
about the hope of His calling here, that doesn't mean that
you hope that you're called. I hope I'm called. That's not
what it means here. But it means the hope that the
calling brings to us. It means the hope that God gives
to us. It's the hope that comes with
His calling. This calling brings with it a hope, a good hope,
a blessed hope, a purifying hope. That's what it does, it brings
a hope that you never had before. I remember vividly, vividly being
without hope in my life. I remember as vividly as I remember
anything in my life, being without hope. Hopeless, I mean hopeless. Till the nights, I dread to see
the nights come. And then at night I dread to
see the morning come, just day after day and week after week,
hopeless, until I heard the gospel, and with that gospel come a hope,
and a hope that I never knew existed before. And that's what
is called a good hope. And that's what it does, it brings
it to us. And I look over here in Romans
chapter 8, talking about this calling, effectual calling. You know, there was a debate
the other day about being lost and saved. One of them said,
oh boy, you believe in that old one, saved always saved. He said,
you know, but them hogs always turn back to the wall in the
mires, what the Camelot said. All I said was, it's according
to who saves you. If he starts the work, if it's
who it is that starts the work. If you start the work, they're
going to mess with nothing. But if God starts the work, and
calls you and quickens you and calls you, He'll carry that on
until you wind up in glory. And there ain't nothing you'll
say, nothing you'll do, no place you'll go that will cause God
to ever, ever turn you loose. He said, I'll in no way ever
cast them out. You look at all the men in the Scriptures, but
He never cast them out. And look what he says here now
in Romans 8 and verse 28, talking about this calling. And we know
that all things work together for good to them that love God.
Now watch this. The reason we love Him is because,
of course, He loves us. To them who are the called according
to His purpose. First of all, our calling was
on purpose. We weren't sitting around listening
for the call. We didn't even know we was going to be called.
but was called on purpose. Not only that, but watch this,
for whom he did foreknow, he did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among
many brethren. Watch this, moreover, whom he
did predestinate, he called, predestinate, purpose to be called,
predestinate to be called, personally called. So you see, beloved, all this
called on purpose, Predestinated. Now I want you to, I'm going
to give you an illustration. Let me illustrate a couple of
things to you. Look in Luke chapter 14, talking about this effectual
calling. I know we're all over the place,
but you'll see what I'm trying to do. Talking about effectual
calling. There's so many places you could
go and so many things you could do and you could take one person
and deal with the effectual calling from the scriptures. But here's
a perfect, glorious illustration of the general and effectual
call. Luke chapter 14 and verse 16. Every one of y'all know this
story very well. Then said he unto him, talking
to one of them that sat at meat with him. Then said he unto him,
a certain man made a great supper and bade many. And sent his servant
at supper time to say to them that were bidden come, for all
things are now ready." Remember that old song, people saying,
supper time, supper time, come on, come on, supper time, supper
time, come on. And sent his servant at supper
time to say to them that were bidden come, for all things are
now ready. I mean, they're ready. Nothing
else needs to be done. And they all with one consent
began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I've
bought a piece of ground. And I must these go and sin.
I pray they have me excused. And another said, I have bought
five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them. I pray have me excused. And another said, I have married
a wife, and therefore I cannot come. So that servant came, showed
his lord these things. Then the master of the house,
being angry, said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets
and lanes of the city. Bring in hither the poor, and
the maimed, and the haught, and the blind. And the servant said,
Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the Lord said unto the servant,
Go out on the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that
my house may be fulfilled. Now look here. Here is the general
call, back up in verse 16 and 17. A certain man made a supper,
and invited a multitude, a great bunch, And sent his servant at
supper time to bid them that were come, and come for all things
are now ready. And they all with one consent."
Now that's the general call. If everybody went out, beg many,
come to the supper. That's the general call. Come
to the supper. Supper's ready. Well, look what
the effects of the general call has on them. They all began to
make excuse. With one consent, they all began
to make excuse. That's the effect of the general
call. Everybody hears, it goes out to all, but then there are
some that they begin to make excuses. That's the effect that
the general call has on them. It don't affect them. That's
what people preach, that God loves everybody, has an effect
upon people. I've got nothing to worry about.
I'm going to be alright. And this effectual call, they
just all begin to make an excuse. But now look at the effectual
call. Down in verse 21. The master of the house in the
middle of the verse said, being angry, should go out quickly
into the streets and lanes of the city and bring him in. Bring
him in. And bring him in here. Before
they was invited. Everybody's invited. Now he says,
you bring him. I want him brought. I want him
in here. And I don't care what they look
like, what they smell like, or how they're dressed. I don't
care anything about it. I want them in here. Everything's
now ready. And oh beloved, the poor, the
lame, the horned, the blind. Come back and say, Lord, I've
done just like you commanded. Look what he said in verse 23.
So there's bring them in here. And then go out in the highways
and hedges and compel them to come in. My house be filled. So bring them and compel them.
That's a special call. And what does compelled mean?
It means to constrain. In fact, it means to force. It
means to persuade. Now, what do you think constrained
them and persuaded them to come? Well, first of all, it was poor.
When you're poor, somebody's going to take you in their house
and give you a good meal. Oh, I'm coming in. And I mean
a great house. And not only that, but they were
maimed. Had all kinds of problems with them. Paul, they couldn't
even walk. Somebody had to carry them. Brian,
somebody had to lead them in. All of these had a need. And
those were the ones that were brought in and persuaded to be
brought in and constrained to be brought in. And that's the
people that God brings to Himself. Now those other folks, they said,
I ain't got time to go into that fellow's house. I've got other
fish to fry. And that's the general call,
and that's the effect it always has. But when God said, bring
them, you reckon they're coming? Compel them, you guess they're
going to come? And then look quickly with me
at John 6, 44, where we started out a few minutes ago. And all
this calling, this calling, not only is it effectual, The eyes
of understanding being enlightened. And that's there you have that
understanding being enlightened. He brings them in. And then here
in John 6, verse 44, all these Jews were murmuring about Christ,
arguing about Christ. They didn't like Christ because
he said he was the bread from heaven. We know who he is, his
father and his mother. What in the world is he talking
about coming down from heaven? Always finding fault with Christ.
Now watch what he says. Well, there ain't no sense for
y'all to murmur among yourselves. You can't come to me anyway.
You can't even come to me. Only way in the world you can
come to me is if my father draw him. The one that sent me, draw
him. And I'll raise him up at the
last day. And then he quoted the scriptures.
He says, they shall all be taught of God. And that's the thing
that happens, all thy children, over in Isaiah 54, 13 it says
this, all thy children, not everybody, all thy children shall be taught
of God. And they shall all be taught
of God. What does God teach a man? He teaches a man first and foremost
that he's the only one that can do anything for you. And you
won't know that until you're given life. And you won't know
that until you start coming to Christ, and the more you keep
coming to Christ, the more you understand that you don't know
nothing if God don't teach it to you. That you don't have a
clue what's going on if God don't teach it to you. I mean, you're
talking about hatred. You're talking about death come
and burn. And when we're first called to
Christ, He starts teaching us, and He continues to teach us.
And here's one way we know He's taught us. Everybody that's heard,
Heard what? The voice of God. Where at? In
the Gospel. In the New Birth. And has learned
of the Father. Learned. I tell you, that's why
our Lord Jesus says, take my yoke upon you and learn of me.
People want things to happen real quick. Real quick. And if something happens to Mary,
I'm going to live on a microwave. Mark that down. Because I don't
know how to do anything else, but I'm telling you. That's why
they want quick conversions. They want to build churches quick.
They want the people to come to the front quick. You've got
to make a decision tonight. You might not never get another
chance if you don't do it now. And on and on and on. And the
Scripture says you've got to learn some things. And to learn
it takes time. And God's not in the same hurry
that you and I are. He that hath heard and learned.
Set still and learn. And you can't learn until God
gives your mind to learn. And in that birth, He gives you
that call. He gives you that learning. And
He starts calling you. Then you begin to learn. And
watch what happens. What do they do? They come to
me. You know how God taught you something?
If you come to Christ, if you come to Christ, do you say, Christ
is my only hope and my only plea? Huh? Do you say, on Christ the
solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand? Where else are we going to go?
Huh? And all this call was predestinated. I read it to you there a minute
ago, for whom he did predestinate, them he also called. Called them. And I'm going to just show you,
I know I'm having you everywhere, but look at Matthew 20 with me.
I want you and I to look at this together. Matthew 20, verse 60.
Talking about this call being predestinated. Being predestinated. Here's your good illustration.
You know, there are so many people that come first. The Jews came
first, and they said, boy, you owe us. They were the first. They were the first nation. They
had the prophets, the priesthood, the sacrifices. They had Moses.
God gave them a nation, gave them a king, gave them the Messiah.
And so they said, boy, we're first. To the Jew first. And they said they're first.
And you know the story when the fellow goes out of 6, 9, 12,
3, 5, and then they all come and get in line to get their
pay. Well, look what it says there in verse 16. Or verse 15. Is it not lawful for me to do
what I will with my own? It's his to start with. The vineyard's his. The reward
is His. And what's what they said? Is
your eye evil because I'm good? And that's what they said. You're
not giving us what's due us. So the lie shall be first. And
the first laugh. That person that puts themselves
first. I'm first. I'm first in lie. I put my words first, I put my
worth first, I put my labors first, my reward first, my worth
first, and it was what I done, I done, I done, and you owe it
to me. Well, the first, just get in
the back of the line. You ain't got nothing coming.
That last one, what did he do to deserve what the rest of them
got? Nothing. And the last one, God. And that's
what this business is called. Everybody wants to be first,
get up there and get all. Our Lord said, forget it. Just
forget it. You want to be first? You can't
be first. The last, you and you are nothing or nobody. When you're
last, and you put yourself last, and you understand you're last,
you understand you don't have nothing. Understand that I don't
owe you nothing. That I'm just giving you what's
mine to start with. And they're calling me evil because
I want to do good by you. I want to do good by the last.
I want to do good by those who didn't do nothing for anything.
But you want me to do something for you because you think you
deserve it? He said, I ain't going to do that. I'm going to
call them fellows that didn't do nothing. They're going to
be last. They're going to be first. And boy, I tell you what, I'm glad. I love God's way. I
just love it. I love it. And let me give you
a few illustrations in winding this up. There you go through
the Scriptures. You've got so many illustrations.
So many illustrations. Lazarus. John chapter 11. Our Lord stood outside His tomb
and wept. Oh, tears streamed down His face.
And there lays Lazarus. He's corrupt. He's been dead
four days. Corruption's setting in. Swelling's
setting in. He's black and he's, oh, he's
an awful stinking. In fact, Martha said, Lord, don't
take that stone away. Oh, the smell would be awful.
So here's a dead sinner. Corrupt, corrupt, corrupt. And he is passive. So not only
does the Lord call him by, said Lazarus, come forth, and gives
him life, raises him from the dead, an effectual call, but
he reverses the corruption. Does away with the corruption.
Does away with the effects of being dead for days. Reverses
all of that. Those eyes that were just sightless
can now see. Those ears that were deaf can
now hear. Those hands that was lifeless
and couldn't move in as cold as this, as clay, began to move. His cheeks began to have life
and color come back into him. That's the fact you're called. And Paul, that's over there,
you've got the dead sinner that's passive, and all of us are passive.
Then there's the Paul, soul of Parsis. He was rebellious against
God. He hated Christ. He was going
as far away from God as he could get. He was going in the opposite
direction. And yet God smote him down on
the Damascus Road, and the Scripture says, beloved, that he was put
down down there. And how powerful! How powerful
must be the grace that conquers a man who is so directly and
so adamantly opposed to God that he was going after God's people
and putting them in jail. Oh, the greatness of the power
of God and the grace of God that The death enters passively, but
when you're such a rebel for God to conquer you, conquer you. Oh, my. He don't do it for many. And then there's Zacchaeus. Here's
a publican. You know, there wasn't hardly,
as far as the Jews was concerned, there wasn't anybody lower than
the publican. They like, they fought more heartless than they
did publicans. In fact, that was one of the things they accused
the Lord Jesus Christ of. The enemies of the gospel said,
this man eateth with publicans and sinners. Ain't that awful? Publicans, worse lord than a
harlot. But there's Zacchaeus. He's up a tree. And there you
see the sovereignty of God in salvation. You see the power. You see the Centering his passiveness,
and here you see sovereignty, multitude around him, and he
only saves one. It says, Today I must abide at
your house. Today salvation is coming to
your house. And I'll tell you the difference
in them. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them. Every one of
them was called by their name. Every single one of them. Lazarus couldn't hear, but he
did. Paul wasn't going to bow, but he did. Zacchaeus wasn't
going to come out of that tree, but he did. Mark 3.13 says this, Our Lord
said, He went up into a mountain. You all look at it when you get
on. He went up into a mountain and called unto Him who He would. And you know what it says next?
And they all came unto Him. Call whom he would, and the next
line says that they all can't. And Simon Peter, and I may preach
on this Sunday. I was looking at it today. 1
Peter, 2 Peter, chapter 1, verse 10 says, Make your calling and
election sure. Oh, my. Now, how do you make
your calling and election sure? How do you know that you've been
called of God? How do you know when you talk
about this calling, this new birth? Well, first of all, it's
a call to sinners. Are you a sinner? I mean, really,
a sinner. Do you know you're sinful? Do
you feel you're sinful? Do you acknowledge you're sinful?
The Lord Jesus came not to call the righteous, but sinners. Sinners. And if He ever makes you a sinner,
you'll be a sinner to the last breath you draw. And not only that, but it's a
call. from darkness. Do you remember when you was
in darkness? Eleanor mentioned it earlier. You know how that,
I read some things, she says, you know, just like we were.
We met darkness. The things we said, the things
we believed, the way we acted, the things we practiced, the
things we, the traditions and all the things we did. There
we was in this darkness. And God now had called us out
of that darkness and called us into this light. that we should
show forth the praises of Him who called us out of darkness
into this marvelous light. Do you remember the darkness?
And now you see the light. And now when you're out here
in the light and you're brought to the light, you just see how
dark that darkness was. Oh, and the more the light you
get, the greater the circumference of darkness around you. And then
look over with me in 1 Corinthians 1.9. Let me show you this. 1
Corinthians 1.9. Oh, my. Thank God for the light. Thank God for... We wouldn't
appreciate the light. We wouldn't know we was in the
light if we had never been in darkness. You know, we wouldn't
understand we're in the light now if we had never been in darkness. And then, of course, it says
in 1 Corinthians 1.9, God is faithful, by whom ye were
called under the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."
Oh my, called to fellowship, called to oneness, union, communion
with Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory? To fellowship with Him? Walk with Him? Talk with Him?
Call on Him? Trust Him? Have union with Him. Call to that. Call to that. It's one thing to have fellowship
with somebody just like you. But to have fellowship with the
Son of God. It's one thing to sit and converse
with somebody that's on your level. But to fellowship and
talk and commune with somebody The Son of God, the Lord of glory,
called to do that, and we enjoy doing it, and love doing it.
And then right back over in Romans 11, verse 29, just a couple pages
back, look what it is. This is my last point. What it says there, verse 29.
Romans 11, 29. For the gifts and calling of God are without
repentance. That means God ain't never going
to change. This calling is forever. He ain't going to say, well,
I'm repenting of my calling to Him. I'm not going to have anything
else do it. No, no. This calling is forever. If He's
ever called you, He just keeps on calling, keeps on bringing,
keeps on Listen, I'm going to read something to you and then
I'm done. I'll read it to you myself. I'm talking about this
calling, this effectual calling. Paul told the Thessalonians,
"...were unto he called you by our gospel to the obtaining of
the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brethren, stand fast
the traditions, things passed down by word from the apostles,
which have been taught, whether by word or our epistle. Now our
Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God even our Father, which hath
loved us and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through
grace." Listen, comfort your hearts. Establish in every good
word and work. Oh, thank God for an effectual
cause. Would you have come with Piet
without an effectual cause? And here's one of the mysteries
of it. Scott Richardson, you say this all the time, he brings
you with your full consent against your will, but with your full
consent. That's the strangest thing. I mean, he's bringing
you and you don't know you're being wrong. He's teaching you
and you don't know you're teaching. And then one day you say, I trust
Christ. I trust Christ. It's just God's
ways pass by in and out.