Well, why don't you grab your
Songs of Grace hymn books, your blue softback books, and turn with me, if you would,
over to hymn number 32. We'll sing just a couple of hymns
here, and then we'll dip back into our study. Hymn number 32, Sovereign Grace
Acknowledged. And then when we're done with
that, we're gonna sing hymn number 37, Sovereign Grace, I Will Proclaim
It. So we not only acknowledge Sovereign
Grace, but we proclaim it here. Sovereign Grace acknowledged,
we'll sing this to the tune of It Came Upon a Midnight Clear. The Lord of God is sovereign,
and He rules with perfect ease. In heaven above and earth below,
He works His wise decrees. The angels swiftly do His will,
and they with willing minds. But Satan, men, and demons, too,
accomplish God's designs. All things that ever come to
pass, God foreordained to be. And all He rules are over rules
to give Himself glory. God's even chosen to redeem and
save some of our race. Though we are sinful, wretched
worms to magnify His grace. God's grace comes not by man's
free will, nor by his legal words. God gives his grace to whom he
will, and his salvation works. We all deserve eternal wrath,
and some God does pass by. But some He has decreed to save,
and they shall never die. Great God, we praise You for
Your grace and for Your sovereignty. You chose us and redeemed us
too, and You have set us free. Great Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
the Triune God we praise. We for the glory of Your grace
give You alone all praise. Just want to make a note. And
the way that was written there, there's a couple of phrases in
there that might seem like God passively passes by some, but
God's passing by is an active thing. He chose for the foundation
to elect some and to reprobate others, but that's not something
that he did. In time, as people, you know,
as Adam messed up, then, oh, I've got to save some people.
So he elected some and then just left others to go their own way.
That was an active thing. It wasn't just a passive thing.
And so, and also I wanted to make a point here. and all he rules or overrules. We don't believe that there's
something that happens outside of God's predestination and then
he overrules it and makes it work to his advantage. What that's
talking about there is he rules everything and overrules everything. Everything is by his rule and
there isn't anything that happens apart from his purpose. Turn
with me, if you would, over now to page 37. Sovereign Grace,
I will proclaim it. This is to the tune of What a
Friend We Have in Jesus. Wretched, lost, condemned, and
dying. Guilty, I deserve God's wrath. Long I fought against my Master. Hell-bent, I was courting death. But the blood of Christ had bought
me. He refused to let me die. This poor sinner, loved by Jesus,
must be conquered by and by. At the time which was predestined
In the covenant of God's grace God in mercy sent His Spirit
Blessed time of love and grace To reveal His Son's great merit
as the sinner's substitute. I saw Jesus bleeding, dying,
suffering as my substitute. Precious blood for sin's atonement. Justice could not ask for more. I heard Christ cry, it is finished. And I could resist no more. Thanks to God, Grace that broke my stubborn
will. Grace that would not let me perish. Grace that rescued me from hell. Sovereign grace, I will proclaim
it. Irresistible and free. Grace that chose me and redeemed
me. God, by grace alone, saved me. Sinner, now you've heard my story. Now I bid you trust my God, Christ
my all-sufficient Savior, saves poor sinners by His blood. Alright. Let's go ahead and get back into our study here.
Now, before the break, we and we've seen that there was three
verses of Scripture that very pointedly show us that God's
grace is more than just an offer. As a matter of fact, it's not
an offer at all, but is more than just something that He provides,
but it is something that He affects. Something that takes place within
the heart, within the soul, within the person. And that grace from
then on out continues to actively influence the Christian in all
that he does. Now, turn with me, if you would,
over to John 6. And I just want to look at a
few verses this afternoon. I want to look at a few verses,
especially here in John 6, that exemplify this exerting grace
or this effecting grace. John 6, and if we look down at
verse 37, This is Jesus teaching here.
A lot of people don't think Jesus taught the doctrines of grace.
Well, they haven't read the New Testament. They haven't read
the Gospels, especially John. The book of John is replete with
Jesus being very clear on the doctrines of grace. But in verse
37, Jesus said, All that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. Now, let's just stop there. Let's
think back. What was our opening verse to this study back in Psalm
65? Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest and causeth to approach unto thee. That sounds a lot
like what Jesus just said right here, right? All that the Father
hath given me, blessed is the man whom thou choosest, shall
come to Me and cause us to approach unto Thee." So Jesus isn't saying
anything new. He's saying exactly what the
Holy Spirit brought the psalmist to write back in Psalm 65. Thy
people shall be willing in the day of Thy power. Saying the same thing, right?
Thy people, all that the Father giveth Me, shall be willing in
the day of Thy power. Now, he says, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. He didn't say might come to me.
He didn't say have been offered to come to me, have been invited
to come to me. As a matter of fact, nowhere
do you find that the Gospel is an invitation. He said, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. Now, I know that there are many
people out there among the primitive Baptists that believe that there
are some who are eternally elect who never come to Christ. But this right here says that
all that the Father giveth me, and I would say that's the whole
number of the elect, all that the Father giveth me shall come
to me. How they do that, that's how
God works that out. When they do that, that's how
God works that out. You know? It's not for me to
determine. It's not for me to try to figure
out that. It's not for me to say that there's a contrary discussion
about it. This is all that the Father giveth
me shall come to me. And He says, and all that come
to me and Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out."
Now, for years, I used to preach that second part of the verse,
but never preached the first part. I used to always say, all
that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out, given an invitation. But who is it that cometh to
me? All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And he that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out." Now we found out that in the marriage
supper there are going to be some that are going to come that
are not going to have a garment, and they're going to be cast
out. There's going to be a day when
we all come before the Lord, and there are going to be many
who are going to say, Lord, Lord, on that day. And He's going to
say, Depart from Me, ye doers of iniquity, for I never knew
you, and they will be cast out. Here He said, though, that all
that the Father hath given Me shall come to Me, and him that
cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from
heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent
Me. And this is the Father's will
which hath sent Me." You want to know the will of the Father?
Everybody wants to know God's will. If I just knew the will of God.
Well, here's one of the wills of God right here. That all which He hath given
me, I should lose nothing. Okay? We talked about that in
our atonement. But what are we saying here? All that the Father gives me
shall come to me. The power of God in His grace is going to
cause them to approach unto God, unto Christ. It's going to make
them come. And whenever they come, He's
not going to cast them out. Why? Because He died for them.
Because He sent His grace to set upon them, to rest upon them,
and to effectually work in them by the Spirit And so He's not
going to cast them out. Why? Because they were the objects
of His love, the objects of His mercy, the objects of His grace,
the objects of His substitution. He's not going to go back. He's not going to give up. He's
not going to reject those that He loves. His love is an everlasting
love, and that love has drawn us to Him. is something that has given us
all things that pertain to life and godliness. That love that
He has for us has caused us to approach unto Him. And when we
approach unto Him, He surely will not cast us out. If you're
here today and you've been loved of God, if you've been bought
by Christ and His blood, if you've been given life by the Spirit
of God, you are loved of God. And that love will not ever cease,
and that love will go on and on. And His grace, it will be
poured out upon you time and time again. As a matter of fact,
the Bible says that His mercies are new each day. We don't have
to look at yesterday's mercies. We've got new ones coming each
day. He gives us grace for everything that we need. I didn't say He
gets us out of everything. He doesn't get us out of everything,
right? He takes us through a lot of things. But He always says,
My grace shall be sufficient. My grace will be sufficient for
you in everything. So that grace is again, not just
something that's an offering of a gift or a giving of a gift,
but that grace is something that stays with us. that overcomes. What does that mean when He says,
My grace is sufficient for you? That means that whenever the
power of grace is in your heart, that whenever the trials come
and I exert that grace within your heart, you can overcome
those trials. You can overcome the heartache.
You can overcome the rejection. You can overcome the persecution.
Now, let me just say this. Don't we always say, it's kind
of the religious, sanctimonious thing to say when somebody says
something. Now, I'm not saying that we sometimes don't mean
that. I say it a lot, and I truly do mean it. But a lot of times
you hear this said, you know, somebody will say something,
and they'll say, by the grace of God. Well, by the grace of
God. You did such a good... Well,
only by the grace of God. Well, let me ask you then. Are
you saying that you couldn't have done that unless God's grace
gave you the power to do that? That's overcoming grace, right?
If it's okay for God to overcome that in you and cause you to
do something else, then why can't God's power overcome
all of your inability and cause you to come to Him? See, there
again, brethren, that's where people bow at the altar of freewillism. The thing that they want most
is to be God. They want to have the say-so.
They want to be the determiner of destinies. They want to be
the determiner of everything. And so whenever it suits them,
oh, only by the grace of God. But whenever it comes down to
saying, you're accepted or you're rejected, they say, oh no, God
can't have that right. That's not by His grace. That's
by my choice. See the fallacy of that? You
see the hypocrisy of that? They want God's grace to overcome
all those hardships in their life, but they don't want God's
grace to overcome everything. Oh no, we don't want it to transgress
anybody's free will. God can't do that. Listen, brethren. He says here, this is the will
of God, that all that have been given Me, I shall lose nothing,
but should raise it up the last day. And this is the will of
Him that sent Me, that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth
on Him may have an everlasting life. Now this isn't an option
right here, okay? Everyone says, ah, he said may
have. Everyone who does this may have. So there's a condition.
No. This is the result of the first
three verses we just read. The Father giving. Me coming down not doing My will.
And losing nothing. The result of that is also the
will of God. The action that Christ took.
The work of God in giving people to Christ. work of Christ, and then the
application of Christ, is all the will of God. And so the will
of God, of Him that sent Me, is that everyone would see at
the Son. Well, who are the ones that would see at the Son? Those
who have been given eyes to see, right? Those who have been born
from above. Those who have been given spiritual
discernment. Those who have been given to
the Son and cause to approach. Everyone that seeth the Son and
believeth on Him, who are the ones who believe on Him? Well,
Jesus just said, before we even read, He said, I am the bread
of life. He that cometh to Me shall never
hunger, and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst. But
I said unto you that ye also have seen Me and believed not.
We see all through the book of John that many believe not. And
He said, the reason you believe not is because you haven't been
given to Me. You weren't given by My Father.
You weren't drawn. We're going to read that here
in just a minute. So in context, we're not talking about an invitation
to everyone who will just look upon the Son and believe, okay?
He says, everyone that which seeth the Son and believeth on
Him may have eternal life. That's the will of God, that
every one of this group of people may have eternal life. They're
going to get it. Every one of them. John 3.16,
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting
life. That was the will of the Father.
That all of that group will receive everlasting life. So what is the effect of God's
grace? Well, they're going to get everlasting life. They're
going to come to Him. They're going to believe on Him. They're going to have everlasting
life. Look with me, if you would, down
to verse 44. We spent a lot of time on these verses, brethren,
when we went through this portion of John. And it is clear as can
be here. Jesus said, and this is part
of inability, No man can come to Me. Again, let me reiterate
this. That's not Jesus saying, there's
all these people out there that want to come to Me, but I'm only
blocking out the ones except the elect. The elect, I'm letting
them come through, but I'm putting up a shield and I'm only letting
in the ones that I've chosen. No, there's nobody coming to
Him. And He's making that clear. No
man can come to Me because they are spiritually dead. They can't
come to Me because they don't have the willer to will. They
don't have the chooser to choose. No man can come to Me, and here
it is, except, except, there's only one way that anybody can
come, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him. That's overcoming grace. No man
can unless God overcomes them by His grace and causes them
to approach. Then they can come. Then they
will be able to come. Then they will come because the
day of His power, they're made willing and they come. 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 be all taught of God. Every man therefore that
hath heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto Me." That
grace must be exerted first before any action of man will take place. Aren't you thankful for grace? Aren't you thankful that that
grace is overcoming grace, irresistible grace? Aren't you glad that God
changed your heart without asking you? Otherwise, no man can come. No man can come. Look down, if
you would, at v. 63. As a matter of fact, let me start
in v. 62. I want to kind of give a little
jab to the side here. What and if ye shall see the
Son of Man, that speaks of Christ and His humanity, what and if
ye shall see the Son of Man ascend up where He was before? The Son of Man was in heaven
before He came to earth. It is the Spirit that quickeneth,
the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you,
they are Spirit and they are life. But there are some of you
that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning
who they were that believed not, and who should betray Him. And
He said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto
Me, except it were given unto him of My Father." Again, Jesus
is saying the reason that you're not believing is because it hasn't
been given to you of My Father. My Father has to give that to
you. That's what the drawing is. The drawing isn't the Gospel
call. Everybody wants to think that
this outward call is the drawing of God to every man. That's not
because the effect of God's drawing is they come. Nobody resists
that. The drawing of God is that He
quickens them He exerts that power in the day of His power
and they are made willing and they come. All that the Father
gives me shall come to me. And He says here, the reason
you don't believe is because you have not been given it of
My Father. But granted, when it's given
to you, you'll believe. You'll come. Now of those people
that He spoke to, I don't know. Those ones who didn't believe,
were they brought to believe later on? I don't know. They
might have later on. We don't know. But at least at
that time, Jesus is clearly telling them that the reason for your
unbelief of what I've just said about my humanity, about my Messiahship,
about my Christhood, if you'll allow me that word, what I've
talked about, about me being God come down from heaven in
flesh, being God in the flesh, me being God in flesh before
I came down. See, these things you don't want
to believe. You don't want to believe these things. And the
reason is because you've not been given it of my father. He
said, that's the reason why I said that. The reason why I said no
man can come is because there is an inability in you. There
is an inability in you to believe spiritual things. And it isn't
until God draws you by the Spirit and quickens you in that drawing
that you can believe these things. But when He does, you will come
to Me. You'll quit coming to your own righteousness. You'll
quit going to the law. You'll quit going to religion.
You'll quit going to works. You'll quit going to that and
you'll come to Me for righteousness. You'll come to Me because you
love Me, because you want Me, because you worship Me, because
you desire Me. That's why He said, listen, you
guys talk about Moses and you guys talk about Abraham, listen,
If you were of their children, if you were of them, if you knew
anything about them, you would come to Me. Because that's who
they came to. That's who they looked to. That's
who they were yearning for. Abraham was longing for that
day. He didn't ever see it. Abraham knew what was to come.
Abraham was preached the Gospel. And he rejoiced and was glad.
And he said, You who say you're of the fathers, you look to the
fathers, but you don't look to Me. Those fathers were looking
to Me. And you prove that you're not
of them because you're not coming to Me. If you would come to Me,
or if you were of them, you would come to Me. If you were of that
Father that you keep proclaiming, you keep saying that this is
your Father, that Jehovah is your Father, Yahweh God is the
One God, Hero Israel, the Lord our God is One, and that One
God is our God. If that God was your God, you'd
be coming to Me, because I'm Him in the flesh. You'd be coming
to Me. I'm the One He sent to you. But know what He says? He says,
no man can come except it be given to him of the Father. And you know what happened? Look
at verse 66. From that time, many of His disciples went back
and walked no more with Him. They're going to be folks that
are going to listen to this audio on the internet. They're going
to watch that video somewhere along the line. And at some point,
they're going to say, not for me. And they're going to turn
around and walk the opposite direction and say, that's not
my God. That's not my gospel. And the reason why is because
no man can come except to be given to him. Brethren, we are
beholden to God for everything that has to do with spiritualness.
Everything. Any comments on that before I
go on? John 6.29? I didn't read that one, did I?
Oh, absolutely. Starting in verse 28, Then they
said unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works
of God? Jesus answered and said unto
them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he
hath sent. There are a lot of people who
say faith isn't a work. They say, you keep saying that when
we say we're saved by faith, that you're saying that we're
believing on a work salvation. Faith isn't a work. Faith is
a gift of God. Oh, faith is a gift of God, but
faith is also a work, and it's a work of God, not you. It's
a work of God. And here he even makes that very
clear. This is the work of God that you believe on Him whom
you sin. He's not telling them that go
believe on God and that's your works that you need to do. That's
not what he's saying. He's saying this is the work
of God, not the work for God. Do you notice that? What shall
we do to do the works of God? Well, you can't do the works
of God. Only God can do His works. It is He who works in you both
are willing to do of His good pleasure. So, even belief is
the work of God. Turn with me, if you would, over
to Romans 8. Again, familiar verses for us.
Romans chapter 8. I want to start Verse 10. And if Christ be in you, the
body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because
of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him that
raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised
up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies
by His Spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we
are debtors not to the flesh to live after the flesh. For
if we live after the flesh, ye shall die. But if ye through
the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the flesh, ye shall live.
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons
of God. For you have not received the
spirit of bondage again to fear, but have received the spirit
of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." Okay? So when
the Spirit comes into our heart, it causes us to cry, Abba, Father. It lets us know that He's our
Father, we're His son. Not that we hope that He's our
Father and hope that we're His son. It gives us in our heart
that assurance that we are His son and He is our Father. That's why it says, look at verse
16, "...the Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that
we are the children of God." That's not a hope so. That's
a work of the Spirit, not a work of my trusting in my works. That's
a work of the Spirit. And if children, then heirs,
heirs of God and joiners with Christ, if so be that we suffer
with Him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon
that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared
with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest
expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the
sons of God. For the creature was made subject
to vanity." Do you hear that? The creature was made subject
to vanity. Not willingly. Adam didn't sin
willingly. Satan didn't fall willingly. They were made subject to vanity
not willingly. That's a whole other side note,
another day, another sermon. But just pointing that out. But
why? Why were they made subject to
vanity? But by reason of Him who hath
subjected the same in hope. because the creature itself also
shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious
liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation
groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only
they, but ourselves also." So that groups us into the creatures
that's talked about in the verses above. but ourselves also which
have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves grown within
ourselves waiting for the adoption to with the redemption of our
bodies." The adoption, brethren, isn't when we have faith. The adoption is the adoption
of our bodies. For we are saved by hope but
hope that is seen is not hope. For what man seeth, why doth
he yet hope for it?" Again, I agree with a lot of the primitive Baptists
that say these verses. Hope that is seen, why do we
yet hope for it? Okay? But as we just read, that hope
that we have, or that assurance that we have, is not from outward
things, but inward things. The Spirit testifieth inwardly
to us. And that gives us a hope. Not
a hope so, but an earnest expectation. We're expecting something. Why?
Because great and precious promises has been given to us that has
been given this hope. It goes hand in hand. Assurance
of faith comes hand in hand. It says, But if we hope for that
which we see, then we do with patience wait for it. Likewise,
the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we should
pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession
for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searches
the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he
maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
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."
Those are the ones who are caused to approach. Those are the called. The ones who are given life,
they are the called. Why? Because they were called
before the foundation of the world. "...Who has saved us and
called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to His grace and mercy which was given to us in Christ
Jesus before the foundation of the world." See, we're the called.
It's a group of people, the called. Matter of fact, if you want to
just get down right to it, if you go and look at this in the
manuscripts that this was translated from, the article the is there.
The definite article the is there. The called, not just called,
as some of the corrupted translations put out, to those who are called,
meaning that, you know, there's this wide open call to everyone. No, it's the called. A specific
group of people. All things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the 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. Moreover, whom
He did predestinate, them He also called. And whom He called,
them He also justified. And whom He justified, them He
also glorified." What shall we then say to these things if God
be for us? Who can be against us? Now we
can go on, but I just want to point out, notice something here
that the grace of God does. The grace of God did something.
It predestinated, it called, it justified, it glorified. The grace of God had an effect
upon us. Jesus' sacrifice had an effect
That effect was meted out by the Spirit by grace. And that grace effected us. Now, how did that translate?
How did that work out? Well, let's look at one more
verse this morning, and we'll dismiss. Look over, if you would,
at Galatians 1. We've already seen the Scriptures that
said, but God, who is rich in mercy, We've already seen that
God chooseth and causes to approach, that in the day of His power
we are made willing, that there is an effectual working of His
power which is the gift of grace. We see that no man can come except
he be drawn. We've seen that the flesh profits
nothing, but it is the Spirit that quickeneth. We've seen that
we receive all these benefits of predestination, of calling,
of justification, of glorification. Those are positional things outside
of us. But now let's look at Galatians
1 and verse 15. What is the experiential part
of this? Galatians 1, look at verse 15.
But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's
womb and called me by His grace to reveal His Son in me, that
I might preach Him among the heathen, immediately I conferred
not with flesh and blood, neither went I up to Jerusalem, to them which were apostles before
me. But I went into Arabia and returned again unto Damascus.
Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter
and abode with him fifteen days. But other of the apostles saw
I none save James the Lord's brother. Now the things which
I write unto you, behold, before God I lie not." Afterwards, I came into the regions
of Syria and Cilicia, and was unknown by face unto the churches
of Judea which were in Christ. But they had heard only that
He which persecuted us in times past now preaches the faith which
once He destroyed, and they glorified God in Me." What was the experiential outworking
of everything that we just talked about positionally? Well, at
God's appointed time, when at please God, He calls us by His grace. There
is an eternal calling and then there is a timely calling. There is an eternal calling in
election, but there is also a timely calling in quickening. When God
quickens us and brings us to life. And what did it say here? He says, God revealed His Son
in me. Not to me, but in me. There was
an inward compelling of Christ on the inside for Paul. Not an outward amassing of knowledge,
but an inward compelling on the inside. Now, I'm not saying that
we don't get knowledge from the outside and we study, we learn
of God, of the things that these things say. But brethren, he
said he revealed Christ in me. we first are taught inwardly
before we're ever taught outwardly. He revealed Christ in me, meaning
that the Spirit of Christ was born into me. It was revealed
in me. And what happened when it was
revealed in me? I changed my vocation. I quit
being a persecutor and became a proclaimer of Christ. And He said all these things
happen, and He said at the end of the day, They said, that's
the guy that persecuted, but now he's proclaiming, and they
glorified God. They glorified God. That's overcoming grace. Paul,
who was not a proclaimer of Christ, became a proclaimer of Christ.
Why? When God revealed His Son in
him. Well, that is the work of grace
upon the heart. That is that ever-active influence
of grace upon the believer to continue to do that. I'm sure
Paul, whenever he walked into the Jewish realm, back to all
those men that he once admired and once fought for, to go back
and to preach Christ to them, that probably wasn't an easy
thing to do. You know, I was fired from the
job that I once had. And for me to go back and to
do something there It probably ain't going to happen. I would say forget that, man.
I'm not going back to that old... I'm not going back to that. But
here, Paul, who very possibly could have been stoned to death,
coming back, came back. What gave him the power to do
that? Overcoming grace. What made him want to do that?
Overcoming grace. And what sustained him through
hardships of being thrown in the depths, being rejected, being
stoned, being whipped, being all of those things that he tells
us happened to him. Overcoming grace. See, if it
wasn't for overcoming grace, not only initially, but ongoing
throughout his life, Paul would have turned it in and went back
and said, forget that, I'll go back to making tents sitting
at the feet of Gamaliel and having life high on the hog. But he
didn't do that. Why? Because of overcoming grace. Why are there preachers all over
this world in little bitty churches like ours of 8, 9, 10 people standing and proclaiming truth? It definitely wasn't something
that I thought of a long time ago. I said, hey, that's what
I want to do. Not overcoming grace. The grace of God compels
me. The grace of God compels you
if you're His child. See, overcoming grace, irresistible
grace, is more than just the onset of receiving Christ or
being born again. Overcoming grace, irresistible
grace, is something that is a lifelong thing for us. Whenever Paul said, I want to
do the things over here, but I end up doing the things over
here, and he has that constant turmoil, the things that he does
do that are Christ-compelled, it's because of Christ in him.
He says, it is Christ who lives in me. He recognizes that. That's overcoming grace. Because
if grace doesn't overcome that, then he does the things that
he doesn't want to do. But whenever grace overcomes, He does the
things that He should do or would do, wants to do. And that's because
of overcoming grace as well. Sometimes we stop short of God's
grace and say, well, God's grace is just something that's offered.
Then among sovereign graces, we stop short and say, well,
sovereign grace or overcoming grace, irresistible grace, is
just something that's talked about in quickening. But brethren,
His irresistible, overcoming grace It goes all through our
lives. It sustains us. And as we'll see, because our
next topic after this one is preservation, that's what that
irresistible grace continues to do. It preserves us. Well,
we'll stop right there. We're going to dip some more
into Ephesians and a few other verses, Lord willing, next week.
And we'll look at that. Anybody got any comments or anything
you want to add to this? Alright, let's stand and we'll
have a word of prayer.