Alright, I want to invite your
attention back to the Gospel according to Matthew chapter
9 again. The Gospel according to Matthew
chapter 9. And I will read just one verse of
the passage I have been reading for the past two Sundays. Matthew
chapter 9 and verse 9. And as Jesus passed forth from
thence, He saw a man named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom. And he saith unto him, follow
me. And he arose and followed him. Now again, I point out to everyone
here this morning that in this very brief account, and the next
few verses, 10 and 11, 12 and 13 as well, This passage is just chock full
of divine truth. I will not be able to exhaust
it by any means in this series that I'm preaching from Matthew
9, but thus far we've seen this, called to repentance. I will rehash that whole message
in this statement. Jesus Christ It is not said here
in this passage that Jesus Christ came to call upon men to repent. Though he certainly called upon
men to repent. But here it says he came to call
to repentance. There's a big difference in that.
And if you want to know a little bit about that difference, go
back two Sundays ago and you can listen to that message again.
Then last Sunday, we looked at Christ Jesus came to save sinners. I will sum that up in this way.
That's not a sideline. It's not even a really great
sideline of the gospel. It is the whole crux of the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. As one has ably said before,
Christ Jesus came to save sinners and that's the only kind of people
Christ saves is sinners. Today what I want to look at
is this. This is the title of my message. When Christ calls
men will follow. And as Jesus passed forth from
thence, he left that one place with particular design to go
to another. Mason, he left that other place
at the exact same time God had ordained for him to leave that
one place. And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man. One of the first things in the
call of Jesus Christ is that He sees us first before we ever
see Him. As a matter of fact, the Apostle
Paul quoted it. It came from the Old Testament.
But he said, I have found of them that sought me not. I was made manifest unto them
that asked not after me. This is also a touchstone of
the Gospel. Jesus Christ did not come to
save whoever he foreknew would seek him. Exactly. Because he
would have never saved anyone. That's right. Because Paul in
that great litany against humankind in Romans chapter 3 says, there
is none that seeketh after God. Amen. By nature, none seeketh
after God. Matthew did not follow Christ
by nature. He followed Christ because Christ
said, Follow me And I can imagine that I don't say that here But
I imagine that was said Mason with the same force that when
Jesus Christ was in that garden and that great trove of men came
with staves and sticks and He said they said we look for this
man Jesus of Nazareth. He said I am He and it says they
fell backwards. I Now before I go any further on
this, when Christ calls, men will follow. You can put an explanation
point or five or six of them at the end of that if you wish.
But before I go into that, I want to take first of all the blade
to the very throat of the spirit of Antichrist that exists all
around us today. There are two common errors promoted
about Christ's calling. And let me just put the blade
right to the throat of them right away. First of all, this is what
some people promote concerning Christ's calling. That calling
is to some particular part of the ministry. You ever heard
people speak like, well, I was called to the ministry. I was
called to pastor. Or I was called to be a missionary. or I was
called to be an evangelist, or I was called to teach a Sunday
school class. This is the common language of so-called Christians
in our day, is it not? When they speak of calling, they're
talking about some calling into some particular part of the ministry.
Men speak of getting saved and then being called to the ministry. But nowhere does the scripture
say anyone has ever gotten saved. You don't get saved, you have
to be saved. While men speak of getting saved
and then being called to the ministry, this is not the New
Testament teaching concerning Christ's call. Turn to Romans
chapter 8. Calling is directly related to
the sovereign predestinating purpose of God in Christ Jesus
to salvation. Romans chapter 8 verse 28, a
very familiar verse to most people that profess to be Christians,
and we know that all things work together for good to them that
love God. But then to who? They are defined here then. To
them who are the called according to His purpose. And we know that
all things work together for good to them that love God. Who
are they? They are those who are called
according to His purpose. For whom He did foreknow, He
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that
He might be the firstborn among many brethren. And someone says,
what does that really mean? Well, let me put it this way. Oh, that's right, I don't have
to look at my notes. It means exactly what it says. For whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
he did predestinate, them he also, what? Called. Everyone predestinated will be
called. That's just the way it is. Everyone.
It's not God saved all of us, then he called me and Joe into
the ministry. No, God saved all of us that are saved because
he called us according to his purpose. Or over whom he did predestinate,
them he also called. Whom he called, them he also
justified. And whom he justified, them he also glorified. And this
is an unbroken chain. Anyone who is ever in the end,
ultimately glorified, was predestinated to that from the beginning. but
in the middle there shall be a calling and a justifying. And it's all put in past tense
because of this, when God purposes something, it's done. As far
as God is concerned. God does according to his will
in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. There are those who even suggest
that yes, even God has authority over demons, but not over mankind. Isn't that an asinine idea? Even further, it's a blasphemous
idea. Calling here by Paul is directly
connected to salvation, to be one of the lat. to being predestinated,
to being justified, to being glorified. Calling is just as
much, Mac, as a part of that as any of the rest of it. As to the ministry, according
to Paul, go back and read it in Romans 10, specifically verses
13 through 15, when it comes to the ministry, men are sent.
Isn't that what it says? They're sent. That's the terminology
used when it's called about being called into the ministry, it's
to be sent. Now granted, many may be sent
the very day they're called. Saul of Tarsus was. As soon as
his blindness was gone, where did they find him at? Preaching
Christ. Preaching Christ. So first of
all, let me say that this error, well, men today who call themselves
Christians do not use the word calling as associated with salvation. Why? Because it lays all the
glory at God's feet. That's why they don't use the
word calling. Secondly, here's the second error
that is promoted, that Christ's call to salvation, that is the
call mentioned in Romans chapter eight. Okay, there's a lot of
callings in the scripture. A lot of different ways that
the word call or calling is used in the scripture. But in the
sense of Romans chapter eight, there is this thing promoted
today that Christ's call to salvation can be thwarted by men. And they teach this unabashedly.
with no sense of shame on their face, as though God is some weak,
pitiful, even a creature. But he is the sovereign king
of heaven and earth. He's the one who brought down
a heathen king. Whether he saved him or not,
Mack, I don't know for sure. That's God's business. But one
called Nebuchadnezzar, this proud man who ruled a country with
an iron fist, and he brought that proud rebel down to where
he finally, ultimately said this, I know this, God is in the heavens. Those that walk in pride, he
is able to abase. And no man can say unto him,
what do you do? You see, if God has purpose to
bring you down, bring you down He will. In whatever way. If God has purpose to call you,
call you He will. In whatever way He's pleased
to do so. First of all, concerning this
thing of this common error promoted that Christ called salvation
can be thwarted by men. First of all, let us understand
that the unregenerate always resist. The unregenerate cannot
but resist. And this is something you also
don't hear many so-called professed Christian, especially preachers,
talking about unregenerate men and regenerate men. They always
just talk about saved and unsaved. They never talk about regenerate
and unregenerate. The unregenerate always resist. I say they cannot but resist. I think it was Stephen said in
Acts chapter 7 verse 51, Luke records it as Stephen spoke to
some people and he said, you stiff-necked and uncircumcised
in heart and ears had nothing to do with the circumcision that's
in the flesh of the body. You uncircumcised in heart and
ears, you do always resist the Holy Ghost just like your fathers
did, that's what you do. He said, you always do. The unregenerate
mind always resists. It cannot but resist even God. But this is why God calls men
to life in Christ Jesus, through that circumcision that's made
without hands, through a circumcising of the heart and the mind, the
ears, the eyes, spiritually speaking. God Almighty must work a sovereign
act and give eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart to perceive. Amen. Our Lord put it this way
in John chapter 5. Let me read exactly what He said. John chapter 5, He stated these
words. Verse 39, Search the Scriptures,
for in them ye think ye have eternal life. But here's the
point, they are they which testify of me. If you read the Bible
and you don't see Jesus Christ, you're seeing it wrong. I don't
care who you are. Men have said, well, which one
of the Psalms are Messianic Psalms? And as Joe used to, Joe's fun,
all of them. Yes, all of them. I may not see
it in all of them, but he's certainly the subject of all of them. They
are they which testify of me, and ye will not come to me that
you might have life. Now false Christianity says,
ah, see there, you got to come to get life. That's not what
he said. Now certainly you ought to come to get life, but men
will not come to him that they might have life. That's exactly
what he said. What he's teaching here is the
will is indeed the problem. Is it not? And yet religion,
false Christianity, says that the will's the one thing we do
have that's of value to us. Right? But what did Christ teach? Your will's your problem. You
will not come to me that you might have life. I receive not
honor from men, but I know you, that you have not the love of
God in you. And that's our problem by nature. Look, I am come in
my father's name and ye receive me not. If another shall come
in his own name, him ye will receive. Here's what unregeneracy
does. It'll receive a lie and reject
the truth. All the time. It cannot but do
that. Because look, how can ye believe? The only answer, through the
preponderant testimony of Scripture, the only way anyone can ever
believe is by a sovereign, mighty act of God in resurrection power. The same kind of resurrection
power that took place when Jesus Christ was raised from the dead.
Ephesians chapter one, the last few verses. And in John chapter
six, verse 44, our Lord Jesus Christ said it himself, no man
can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him.
And he made it clear that those that the father had given him,
they would come to him. And he had raised them up the
last day. And when he began, when he emphasized this the second
time, it said many of his, from that. Now it says that time. It's not talking about a time
frame, it's talking about that phrase. From that, many of his
disciples went back and walked no more with him. Emphasize these
two things. One, man is totally unable. in
any spiritual good and only God can cause it to happen and they
will turn away their ears from that truth. Even people who profess
to believe God and know God and love God, they hear the truth
of who man really is and who God really is and then they'll
turn their back on God. The second thing, And then we'll
look at the proofs. But the call, I'm saying the
call of Christ connected to God's predestinating purpose. I'm qualifying
it there. Do you see what I'm saying? The
call of Christ connected to God's predestinating purpose is unstoppable. It's unthwartable. No man, no
woman, demon in hell or angel in heaven can stop God Almighty's
call as it is connected to his predestinating purpose. Somebody says you're getting
worked up, but it's a worked up of happiness. But it's also
a worked up of vexing because I hear so many lies about God. promoted in this world. Let me
give you the proof. First of all, this call is said
to be a call that takes place at the set time. Yes, sir. Turn back to Genesis chapter
17. This call is a call that is said
to take place at the set time. Genesis 17 and verse 21. Go back
and look at the context. God tells Abraham, you're going
to have a son. Yes, sir. But it's going to be
through Sarah. That's right. And Abraham knows he's old. Yep. And he knows that Sarah's
old and past the age of bearing children. As a matter of fact,
she never had the ability to bear children. That's right.
Mason, she wasn't just past the age, though she was, she had
never been able. She was barren. That's right.
But God said, you're going to have a son through her. And what
did Abraham say? Oh, that Ishmael. God, you know,
what is it? A bird in the hands worked two
in the bush. That's what Abraham was saying. I got one son already.
Lord, deal with him. God said, I'll deal with him.
I will, and I'll even bless him, but not according to my covenant.
Look, verse 21, but my covenant will I establish with Isaac.
which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next
year. There was a specific day that
God Almighty had purposed to bring that boy into this world.
And somebody says, well, that's just about Isaac's birth. Oh,
go back and read what Paul said in Galatians chapter four and
verse 28. Like Isaac was, so are we. We're
the children of promise. My spiritual existence, Joe,
took place just like Isaac's physical existence took place
by a sovereign act of God at the very set day that God ordained
me to be called into Christ in an experience, in conversion. So much so that Paul put it this
way in Romans chapter nine. And you remember, I've been accused
that I always have to go to Romans chapter nine, so I might as well
fulfill that word against me. Romans chapter nine, look at
what he says in verse six. Not as though the word of God
hath taken none effect. Why did he say that? Because
he's talking about Jews here. And that he loves these Jews. They're
his people. Mason, he cared about them. But
here's the fact. Not as though the word of God
hath taken none effect, for they are not all Israel, which are
of Israel. Neither because they are the
seed of Abraham are they all children, but in Isaac shall
thy seed be called. That is, they which are the children
of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children
of the promise are counted for the seed. In other words, God
promised that some people would be called. Go back to Romans
eight. Everyone he predestinated, he
also says he's what? And actually he puts it called.
Called. So this again is the time, it
is a set time. Every person in this world who
God ordained to believe in Jesus Christ will believe in Jesus
Christ at the exact moment God ordained for them to believe
in Jesus Christ. You see, I'm not confident in
me. I am confident in my God. My assurance is not in me, my
assurance is in my God. He promised Abraham, you're gonna
have a boy this exact time next year. That's still happening
today. Sons and daughters are being
born unto God as his exact time. Not only is that called the set
time, it's also called the time of love. Turn to Song of Solomon. And forgive me for a minute,
I have to actually find that one. It's not one that most people
go to a lot, is it? Where is Song of Solomon? After
Ecclesiastes? I guess I should have listened
in Sunday school a little more or something, huh? Song of Solomon,
chapter two. Now before I even read the verse,
let me say this. This Song of Solomon is not about
Solomon and some woman. This song is about Jesus Christ
and his church. Jesus Christ and his people.
And look at Song of Solomon chapter two, and look at verse 10. My beloved spake and said unto
me, rise up my love, my fair one, and come away. That's it, that's the call. That's
it right there. When the beloved says, rise up
my love, my fair, me, loved and a fair one, as he sees it. And that's what matters is as
he sees it, not as I see it, not as you see it, but as he
sees it. Remember this Shulamite was dark. My beloved spake and said unto
me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. We even sing
a song with that in it, don't we? For lo, the winter is past. The rain is over and gone. What's
it going for here? The time of springing forth is
coming. You see it? The time of budding
and life is coming forth. The winter's past. The rain is
over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth. The time of the singing of birds
is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in the land.
The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vine with
the tender grapes give a good smell. And then again you hear
it, arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. You see, when
Christ called Matthew, that was the time of love, folks. And
when Jesus Christ calls you, that's the time of His love for
you. It's a specific set time that
God ushers forth his love in sovereign saving grace and calls
his own to follow him. He said to that man sitting there,
make an extra bucks by overcharging people on their taxes. That's
what these men did. That's how they made their living,
Mason. Their actual living came by what they could charge over
and above what they would give to Rome. And some of them made
very well, look at Zacchaeus. The wee little man, remember?
He may have been small, but he had some big pockets. Had him
stuffed full of cash. But here, Christ walks upon and
sees Christ. Christ saw a man named Matthew,
and he's sitting right there doing his dirty business. Is
he not? Doing his dirty business. Lying
in his pockets with filthy lucre. And Christ said to him, follow
me. And I've tried, I mean, it may
not have sounded physically, Mason, any more powerful of a
follow me, but inwardly, it was the most powerful follow me that's
ever been uttered on the face of the earth. And he arose. You see, you're
not gonna get up till he calls you to get up. He was sitting, but Christ called
him to stand. Just like Zacchaeus, it said,
and he's standing. What do you mean standing? What's that got
to do with anything? In the Greek, it indicates that he wasn't stood.
When he came down off that tree, guess where he was at? He had
his face in the dirt. That's right. I mentioned that to some
folks here a few years ago when Joe preached on that. And I said,
it said that he stand, he stood rather. Why? Because he was in
the dirt. And you stand only after Christ
calls you. That's right. And when he calls you, you go
get up. You're gonna rise, and what are you gonna do? You're
gonna follow Him. Paul calls it the time of God's
pleasure. But when it pleased God, he said
to the Galatians, right? But when, when, even the when
is ordained of God, is it not? The when of this call, but when
it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb. Paul
said, even when I was in the womb, God Almighty had ordained
this for me. And that time of love, the time
of God's good pleasure, ushered forth in sovereign saving power. And what happened? Saul of Tarsus
began to follow Christ. Amen. Willingly, lovingly, knowingly,
and joyfully. Amen. And that's the way it happened. That's the way it happens. We
don't know that it's the beloved calling until after he calls
us. But once he calls us, we know
him as the beloved. This religious world that calls
itself Christian is so lied to people. Everybody thinks right
off the bat that God loves me. And that ain't so. God said, I love Jacob. I hated
Esau. Now what's that mean? I love
Jacob. I hated Esau. and you could put
a period right there. Right there. That's just the
way it is. This calling is more than a command to do something.
God commands all men everywhere to repent. We looked at that
two Sundays ago, remember? But this calling is more than
a command to do something. It is God's command to be something. And that's a difference. It is
God's creative command, not just a forceful recommendation. You
see the difference? Now there is a lot of forceful
recommendation given in the scripture. Is there not? Proverbs even said,
through Solomon, God said through Solomon to Israel, I called and
you refused. And how did he call them? Through
the prophets. through the scriptures, through all kinds of providential
reckonings and happenings, but they still refused. And what
did God say? Oh, I just feel so bad that you
just wouldn't let me have my way. Is that what he said? Go back and read Proverbs 1.
He said, no, here's what's gonna happen. When your calamity comes,
I'm gonna mock you. Now, you can hear them, they
love to talk about people resisting, but remember, the unregenerate
always resist. But they love to talk about men
resisting, but then they don't want to tell the truth about,
God says, I'll deal with you and I'll laugh at it when it
happens. That's what God says. Of course, that's the God of
the Old Testament, right? No, that is none other than Jesus
Christ manifest in the flesh. That's who that is. So again,
I say this calling is more than a command to do something. It
is a command to be something, to become something. When God
said, let there be light, did light say, well, let me see if
I want to be light or not. No, he created the light. He created
Isaac. He created Paul, the apostle.
He created you. If you're a believer this morning,
he created you as a believer. even as a believer. So again,
I say it is God's creative command, not just a forceful recommendation. We forcefully call upon men all
the time to repent, to believe, do we not? We try to encourage
them to do these things. But that means nothing unless
Christ sees them, like he did Matthew, and Christ says, follow
me, and if he does that, they shall follow. You wanna see some
more proofs? This call in the New Testament's
put this way. In Acts chapter 16 verse 14, it's having the
heart opened. Now one thing, that ain't the
old heart. The old heart is never opened. The old heart remains
just as rebellious and deceitful and unbelieving as it ever was.
This is a new heart. It says, Lydia's heart was opened,
but for a reason. It's not, okay, my heart's open.
Ain't that great? No. It said, whose heart the Lord
opened that she attended unto the things which were spoken
by Paul. God's gonna send you a man with
the truth, and if he opens your heart, you're gonna listen to
what that man says. But this is the new heart, not the
old heart. But why does the new heart have
to be opened? It's not because it's bad, but because it's got
a lid on it. Just having a lid might don't make it bad. That's
what it means to open. Look it up in the Greek. It just
opened. Okay, he opened it up. But see,
that's the whole point. We are so depraved that God must
even work within the new man, the new creation, to give us
anything from Jesus Christ. It said be renewed in the spirit
of your mind. It says the new man is created
in righteousness and true holiness after the image of him that created
him. But yet even that new man is renewed. But let me tell you
something, that's a work of God. It said God opened, the Lord
opened Lydia's heart. That's the only way it ever happens.
How many times have you, some of you have been believers for
years and you've heard me preach or others preach for years and
all of a sudden one of you will come up to me or to someone and
you come up to someone and says, man, I just seen this out of
that verse of scripture. And one of us has probably responded
like Henry Mahan did years ago. I've been preaching that for
years now. Why is it you just now got it? Because God just
now opened your heart. So that you could attend to that
saying that you heard. But that's what it takes, you
see. And who opened the heart? The Lord did. That's the whole
point. Men love to quote, Give your
heart to Jesus. And they say, well, that's in
Proverbs. No, that ain't what it says. It says, my son, give me your
heart. My son, give me your heart. If you're not already a child
of God, God don't want your heart. Your heart by nature is nothing
but filthy rags in God's sight and mine too. My son, give me
your heart. Here's another thing about this
call. It is a call for death. to life. The hour is coming,
Christ said, John 5, 25. The hour is coming, and now is,
when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and
they that hear, I hope they live. They might live. Wouldn't it
be nice if they do live? Or ain't it sweet for those who
do live? No, he said, the dead shall hear the voice of the Son
of God, and they that hear shall live. And then he illustrated
that voice and its sovereign power in this way. He said, don't
be alarmed at that. Don't marvel at that. There's
coming a day at the end when all that are in the grave shall
hear the voice of the Son of God. And they'll all come out.
Why? Because he said, come out. If
Jesus Christ ever calls you to spiritual life, live you shall. And go back to the Old Testament,
you see all kinds of examples of that. The Valley of Dry Bones,
Ezekiel was preaching away in what it was. What was it, still
yet? The Valley of Dry Bones. Wasn't it? But what happened? The wind. begin to blow. What's the wind? It's indicative
of the spirit of God Almighty. And when that wind began to blow,
then things really began to happen. And that day stood up a what?
A great army. God said, I passed by you and
I saw you polluted in your own blood. And I said to you, live. That's a live of command, not
a live of request. Live! And what happened? You
lived. That's what Christ was talking
about in John 5, verse 25. Also, thirdly, concerning this
call in the New Testament, it is the time when the gospel comes
in more than word only. Right? In more than word only.
Now, it will come in word, but it's got to come in more than
word only. There are those who say, well, just preach the word,
just preach, just say words. They don't really believe even
that though, do they? Had to stop myself there, but
they believe you also gotta incite people, and just keep encouraging
them, and hammer on them, and hammer on them, and hammer on
them. No, Paul told the Thessalonians, he said, I know you're one of
God's elect. I'm paraphrasing. I know you're one of God's elect.
You know why? Because our gospel came not to you in word only,
but in power, and in much assurance, and in the Holy Ghost, and what?
And you became followers of us and of the Lord. Thousands upon thousands have
heard it, but sadly they've heard it in word only. But when you
hear it in the power of God Almighty, it'll rock your world. Let me use a modern phrase, it'll
change your life. It'll change the way you think.
It'll change what you believe. It'll change specifically who
you believe. It'll affect you and you'll never
get over it. You won't be able to get away from it. You could
sit down and warm your hands by the enemy's fire. That's right. You could sit and warm your hands
by the enemy's fire. But if he's called you, even
in that fall, you will go no further than what God Almighty
has ordained for you to go. And we see that illustrated in
Peter. He said, Peter, you will deny me three times. He could
not have denied him twice, Joe. He could not have. He was going
to deny him how many times? Three. already ordained of God. Somebody said, don't use that
language. That's the language of scripture. Christ was in control of this
thing. He said, you'll deny me three times, but I prayed for
you, Peter, that your faith fell not. Now, where was Peter's hope
in himself? In Christ. But I pray, and you know what?
No, he could not have denied him twice. He was going to deny
him three times, but thank God he could not have denied him
four. That's right. There was no fourth time, was
it? There was no fourth time because that's where God had
shut the door. It is declared in the New Testament
to be this, it is a time when men are ordained to believe.
Acts 13 and verse 48, when the Gentiles heard this, they glorified
the word of the Lord, and it's summed up this way, and as many
as, that means everyone, not one less, not one more, but not
one less either, and as many as were ordained to eternal life,
believed. Aren't you glad? We preach this
gospel and men don't believe, it's just cause God ain't ordained
it to happen. He's leaving them in their unbelief. That's his
business. But if he's ordained for them to believe, believe
they shall. And I don't care what all the
other so-called denominations and preachers say or want to
try to prove me wrong. You're not trying to prove me
wrong. You're trying to prove God wrong. You say, I don't believe
that. What else don't you believe of
what God says? But God is true. Let every man
be a liar, but God's true. It's declared to be an ordination
to believe. This call, according to God's
holy scripture, this call is an act of the supreme sovereign
potter. Uh-oh, I'm going to Romans nine
again. You remember Forrest Gump? He
went to the White House again. Well, I'm going to Romans nine
again. Boy, ain't I a smart aleck. I
don't know, will this go on the TV? I don't know if I've been
preaching too long. This won't go on the TV yet. They'll have
to really like the first part before they get to hear the second
part. Look at what it says, Romans chapter nine, verse 18. Paul
is summing it up. Therefore hath he mercy on whom
will have mercy. People get mad at that. I rejoice
in that. But look, and whom he will, he
hardeneth. And that's just as true, and
we ought to rejoice in that just as much. But I have to confess,
Mason, I found it hard to. But I should. And whom he will
he hardeth, thou wilt save it unto me. What if he had thine
fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay. But, O man, who art thou that
repliest against God? Shall the thing form say the
him that formed it? Why hast thou made me thus? Let
me tell you something. I'm not gonna try to explain
it all. I don't have the time this morning. But no matter what
state a person is in this world, unregenerate or regenerate, believing
or in unbelief, God Almighty is the potter. They are like
they are because he ordained it to be that way. He takes no blame. He cannot
be blamed, but he is the potter. We are the clay. Hath not the potter power over
the clay of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor and
another unto dishonor? Think of it. And I don't mean
to be brash, but a potter has the right to take something and
mold it, Joe, and make it into this beautiful vase, as men say. I don't usually call it a vase,
but they call it a vase. And it's beautiful! And that
same potter can make something that you slide under your bed
that you use at night when you don't have plumbing inside the
house. Can he not? And all of it's ordained
for his sovereign purpose. All of it's necessary. Why? Either
to show His mercy or to show His wrath. Look, what if God,
willing to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured
with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction?
He don't send people to hell just for hell's sake. They're
fitted for that. They deserve that. That's their
place. That's where they ought to go.
and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the
vessels of mercy which he hath afore prepared unto glory. And
look, I'm not out of context with my message. Even us whom
he hath, uh-oh, what's that next word? Called. Mason, that ain't
because I've been called into the ministry to be a pastor over
this small assembly. That has to do with being called
to follow Christ. It has to do with being one of
God's sheep and him Calling me and the sheep when they hear
his voice what he said they'll do they'll follow me Even us
whom he hath called not of the Jews only but also the Gentiles
So in summary, let me put it this way. So be it Do you hear
what I say? So be it this word cries and
argues against that says all kinds of vile being things about
that But so be it Secondly, I'll sum it up this way, thank God
for it. Even though I don't thank Him
for it as I ought to thank Him for it, yet, still yet, God help
me, thank God for it. And I'll sum it up this way,
rest in Him. He's the judge of all the earth,
shall He not do right? Mason, if He sends me to hell,
He'll be right. Even though I will rue the day.
But He'll still be right. But if He takes me to glory,
he'll be right. He does it in righteousness and
absolute holiness to the satisfaction of complete justice. Yes. Rest
in him. He's going to do the right thing. Father, bow us to that truth. Bow us to that son. Bow us to
who you are and help us to acknowledge what we are in Christ name. Amen.