Thank you, Brother Mark. It is
a joy once again to be in Danville. It hadn't been all that long,
but it seems like forever. And for myself and many others,
I know precious memories are in this place. And I'm so thankful
that the Lord is pleased to include me. Do you ever think of it that
way? It's the way we should think of it all the time. Worthy, none
of us are, but how gracious he is. How gracious he is. I have so enjoyed being here
already. Thank you for the good hospitality,
the accommodations, and all the friendliness and kindness here
this morning. Such a blessing to my heart, and Pat and I are
certainly delighted to be here. I really enjoyed the music. Thank you, sister, for that good
song, wherever you are. Yeah, okay, yeah, okay. And the other selections, Billy,
thank you, thank you. I like a guy that sings from
his heart and sings out loud. I love that. And blessed time
together, blessed time together. I want to turn this morning.
There's so much I could say and never get around to what I ought
to be doing. But anyway, oh, I really appreciate
this. When you get my age, That is
very nice. Very nice. I want us to turn
to Ephesians chapter 3. And our subject today is God's
effectual calling. I know that's nothing new to
you, but it ought to always be precious to us. God's effectual
calling. And I said it a moment ago, in
other words, that he included us. He included us. What made you any better than
your neighbor down the street to be in on this? Nothing, nothing. It's our gracious God, and we
bless his name today. An old term for effectual calling,
as many of you know, is the term that offends many people, irresistible
grace. But I say anything from God that
can be resisted by such as you and I will be resisted. If there was no such thing as
irresistible grace, none of us would be here. Affectual calling, meaning to
have an effect. It's a doctrine that magnifies
our God as being able to accomplish and the certainty that he will
accomplish all he's purposed to accomplish from eternity.
I don't see anything wrong with that. I see everything right
about that. God is never the loser. And I'll
be honest with you, I grow weary, I grow weary of popular religious
thinking and talk that God wants to do a great deal more than
he's doing, more than he's able to get done. I believe he's running right
on schedule. But the popular message that appeals to flesh
is that God needs our help to help him along, to not make him
an embarrassment to the world he's trying to save. No, he's
saving the world he came to save. No question about it. And how
belittling that is to him who worketh all things after the
counsel of his own will. And when Paul said that in Ephesians
1.11, he did not add, as most folks do, if you let him. No, it's just a simple statement. He worketh all things after the
counsel of his own will. Philippians 2.13, for it is God
which worketh in you both the will and to do of His good pleasure. But for God working in you, not
only would you not do anything right, you wouldn't will to do
anything right. It is Him that worketh in you
to will and to do of His good pleasure. So here in Ephesians
chapter three, let me pick up with verse seven, read a few
verses, but unto No, I'm on the wrong chapter. I'm too excited. Chapter three, verse seven, whereof
I was made a minister according to the gift of the grace of God
given unto me by the effectual working of his power. And that verse, Paul never says
I did anything. But he emphasizes it was God's
doing, whereof I was made. I was made. It's not I made myself,
but I was made. And here's how. It was a gift
according to the gift of the grace of God. And then again
is the word given, not earned. Not purchased by me, but given
unto me. How? By the extreme working of
my power? No. By the effectual, there's
our word, by the effectual working of his power. Unto me, verse
eight. Knowing this man's history, old
Saul of Tarsus, We could say unto me of all people. And I think that's probably the
emphasis in his heart. Unto me. Not that I was the best candidate
God could find, no. Unto me who am less than the
least of all saints. I would have a difficult time,
I hope, trying to convince any one of you that you're the best
person here today. I hope I would have trouble convincing
you of that. But knowing one another, I wonder
if it would be more difficult to try and convince you that
you're the worst person here today. Well, the Apostle Paul, Apostle
of Jesus Christ, he makes no bones about it. Find me the sorriest child of
God you can find, and he or she is above me. I'm
the least. I'm the very least. Unto me is this grace given.
There's the word again, given. Given, give, given is a big word
in the New Testament for God's people. That takes the place of all the
modern idea of earned. That I should preach among the
Gentiles, the unsearchable riches of Christ. All our religious showmanship
is not worth the effort we put into it. Genuineness is beautiful
in God's service. But the question here about the
effectual part Paul's talking about, is God working in my life? That's the question. It's in verse seven, do I know
anything of the effectual working of his power? Paul says, here
I am, nothing and would still be nothing. It
would never be anything worth anything. But unto me of all
people is this given. this grace given that I should
preach the unsearchable riches of Christ. I'll never get done. I'll never
exhaust the subject. It is unsearchable. And to make
all men see, not all men without exception, of course not, but
all men without distinction, not Jews only, but Gentiles as
well, to hear the gospel and to have the Spirit of God revealed
in the heart and to see them embrace Christ. Now, let me refer
to a verse in 1 Thessalonians 2 and verse 13. For this cause also think we
God without ceasing, because, here's why, Because when you
receive the word of God, now it didn't say accepted. All you
hear nowadays, accept, accept, accept. No, no, receive. That's different altogether. You accept the good gift in the
mail. You accept that. You're glad
to get it. You want it. But you receive
your electric bill. You didn't ask for it. You don't
want it. You wish it didn't come, but
it does. There's a big difference. Received. Received. He says, for this cause also think we
got without ceasing because when you receive the word of God,
which he heard of us, You received it not as the word of men, but
as it is in truth, the word of God, which affectually worketh
in you that believe. There's that word affectually
again, meaning to have an effect. A lot of people sitting in church
this morning have a question. How can I know for sure that
I'm God's child? I've had people ask me that who
have been in church all their life. How can I know for sure? Well, it's not some emotional
experience. And it's not that God's going
to send an angel with you a message on a silver platter. No, no. Not some getting all worked up.
No. You can get that at a ball game
or the circus or a lot of other places. You can get that kind
of high. You can watch some tearjerker
movie and get that. But here it is. Is God's power. God's word. God's spirit. affectionately working in you. That's it. That's it. Not interested in anybody's profession
or resume or pedigree or anything else. Is God working in your
life? That's the question that we all
ought to ask ourselves every day we live. Multitudes go to
church every Sunday and hear the blessed story the gospel
of Christ, His love, His crucifixion, shed blood. And they never hear
a word of it in their heart. They hear it with their ears.
And of course, if the preacher says anything wrong, they don't
miss that. But to hear in the heart, you
see, The saving work of God makes the Word of God effectual. I do appreciate the reading,
Brother Rex. I love wherever you are. I love Colossians 1. The saving work of God makes
the Word of God effectual. It makes the Son of God precious
to you. So this doctrine of effectual
calling is that the Holy Spirit makes effectual in my heart God's
word that I was chosen in Christ before the foundation of the
world. I don't have to ask anybody else about it. The Lord has done it in me. This effectual work in my heart
is persuading me, just like Paul, that Christ loved me and died
for me. This convincing in my heart is
the assurance that salvation is of the Lord because I had
nothing to do with it. What comfort there is in that.
Today's so-called gospel is do, do, do. But the gospel of Jesus
Christ is done, done, done. It's a matter of choosing to
live in the Old Testament. On the old economy. Live up to
this. The Lord gave Moses instructions
for the Israelites in the mount, he came down and told them, if
you will do thus and thus, obey my voice, keep my commandments
indeed, that is entirely, then you will be a peculiar people
unto me. A holy nation, a royal priesthood,
a peculiar people. But there was that if, there
was that if. And they had been brought by
grace all this far out of Egypt, across the Red Sea, through the
wilderness. Grace. And yet at this point, they have
the audacity, the fleshly pride to say to Moses, go back and
tell the Lord we'll do it. All he asked for is perfection.
And they said, go back and tell him we'll do it. That's sad. And men today choose
still to live there, back there, under that. That's what God's
expecting of all of us that come here this morning. And as we
come this morning, our profession is just that. Boy, I've done
everything right this week. I haven't got upset at anyone.
I've just really been perfect. I've obeyed God indeed. Not really. I am so glad we have a New Testament,
meaning a new covenant that was not between God and men. You do, perfect, and I'll receive
you. But it's between God and His
Son, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, His divine covenant. And when
you get over in the book of 1 Peter, you'll read some of the same
words that the Lord said to Moses back yonder. But there's no if. You are a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood, a peculiar people. No if. And why is there
no if? It's because Christ has done
it for us. Christ has done it. Okay, I about
got off the thought line there. A factual call. What a comfort. The repentant thief on the cross.
See, we're guilty of thinking that what we do, God responds
to us. No, if you do anything right,
it's you responding to God. See, that repentant thief, he
thought that when he said, Lord, remember me, he thought he was
doing that to obtain mercy. Truth is, he couldn't have said
it if he hadn't already obtained the mercy. We get everything,
we get the cart before the horse. A lot of folks think prayer is
a human action to get God's attention. No. If you can pray and if you
ever do really pray, it's a divine work. God getting your attention. That's the order. So now the
scripture distinguishes, let me move along, between the terms general or universal
call of the gospel and the effectual call that we're talking about. The general call of the gospel
can be and is rejected by all people because we're all sinners. We're all like Adam. We're good at making ourselves
fig leaf aprons and running and trying to hide from God. We reject. We reject the general call, the
universal call. And that call is seen in verses
such as Isaiah 45, 22. Look unto me and be you saved,
all ye ends of the earth. It is a valid invitation, but a depraved heart will never
choose to accept the invitation. Also, Matthew 28, come unto me,
all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
It's a valid invitation from the lips of Christ himself. But fallen man cannot, and Christ
said, cannot and will not come to him. Also,
Isaiah 55, one, ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the
waters. buy without money and without
price. It's the truth. It's a valid
invitation. But spiritually dead men and
women don't thirst for the living water. And when he said, Matthew, come
unto me. That's not unconditional. He said, come unto me, all you
that labor. and they're heavy laden. And
he wasn't talking about laboring over at the factory for 40 hours
a week. He was talking about coming to me, all you that labor
under the guilt and the weight of your sin. That makes the call
effectual, is his bringing that up to us personally. So the general
call is genuine. It is issued by God's servants. It is issued to all mankind. We are to preach the gospel to
every creature. So said Mark 16, 15. That general call is what people
hear from God called preachers every Sunday. And it goes in one ear and out
the other. It's the general call. And no
one responds. That's well illustrated in the
parable of the wedding feast in Matthew 22, where the Bible
said that none, not a single one of those invited came. They all made excuse. Boy, how blessed that is, Matthew
22. And then he said, you go out and get some, it's not even
able to come and bring them. That's effectual. That's effectual. The effectual call, thank God,
this is a call that not only invites sinners to Christ, but
actually brings sinners to Christ. You already believed on him,
you believe the gospel story, and people will tell you, oh,
I believe, I believe. But apart from this effectual
call, you can't and you won't Just trust Him. It's the Holy Spirit that makes
the general call effectual. This is the saving call. It's the call of Romans 8.28.
To them who are the called according to His purpose. In Acts chapter 2, concluding
the Apostle Peter's message at Pentecost. He said, repent and be baptized,
every one of you. How many? Every one of you. That's
the general call. He urged all who heard him to
repent and be baptized as a token profession of their faith in
Christ. And it says about 3,000 souls
did so. Verse 41 says, and were added,
added to the company of the believers. But at the same time, Peter did
not contradict the necessity of divine initiative. He stated
also, even as many, as the Lord our God shall call. That's the
effectual call. Peter invited everybody to repent
and believe, but he knew that only those would whom the Lord made that call
effectual. He preaches the gospel to every
creature, but he does not downplay let alone deny the necessity
of the effectual call of God. Contrary to many preachers today,
it is not you that makes the general call effectual. It is
God who makes it effectual. The other way would be you saving
yourself. That's God's salvation. That's
to God's glory. Therefore, we're here to worship
him, not ourselves. A few things about this call.
Hebrews 3.1 tells us it's a heavenly calling. Wow. This is not something that originated
in Earth. It's not some man-made something. It's a heavenly calling. My old pastor used to say, only
that which originates in heaven can survive in heaven. 2 Timothy 2.9 tells us it's a holy
calling. Paul wrote to Timothy and he
said, son, this is a holy transaction. I believe the apostle Paul would
be nothing short of furious if he heard men today trying to
peddle Jesus like a pair of worn-out shoes at the flea market. There's nothing holy about such
shameful thinking, religious concoctions concerning our Savior. It's the beauty of this heavenly
and holy calling. And if God's let you in on it,
how very blessed you are, above anything this world can give.
Philippians 3.14 tells us this calling is the high calling of
God. And I'll not go into that word
high, but it's blessed, very blessed. It's so high, so honorable
that this world don't have a clue what we're doing here this morning.
Danville, Kentucky don't have a clue what we're doing here
this morning. The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God. They're foolishness unto him,
neither can he know them. They are spiritually discerned.
That you have any heart to be here this morning is God's doing. Wow, you better rejoice in that.
Romans 8, 28, you're familiar with, tells us this calling is
according to His purpose. God's doing what He wants to
do. Wow! God's people are the only
ones that like that. But we love it. God's purpose,
like Himself, is eternal, unchanging, unfailing. Romans 1-6 tells us it's the
calling of Jesus Christ And I'd put this in, God has done no
good for anyone apart from his son. Everything eternal, everything
spiritual, everything is conceived, communicated, consummated by
the perfect union of the father and the son and the Holy Ghost
before we got here. This is just too good to be true.
God's children are the only ones that believe it is. And if you
believe it is, that's a good sign. Galatians 1, 6 tells us
this calling is into grace. That is out of law. They don't
mix. All and water don't mix. Grace
and law don't mix. And as God's children this morning,
redeemed in Christ, secure in Christ, made accepted with God
in Christ, we don't fight for victory. We fight from victory. Fighting for victory is not what
our religion is about. A lot of these souped up church
outfits. We're fighting for the victory.
Boy, we're gonna get the victory. We don't fight for victory, but
from victory. We don't fight for acceptance, but in acceptance. Ephesians 1, 6, we're made accepted
in the beloved. Not made acceptable, that's what
they say. Not made acceptable, and then
you add your two cents worth. You don't have two cents worth,
Mark. We're made accepted in the blood. We don't fight for
position. We rest in the highest position
anyone could ever have. A great preacher once said, a
great servant of God once said, I wouldn't want to be the President
of the United States simply because I'd hate to step down. My calling, where I am, and that's
so of every individual believer, regardless of how worthless and
how little you think you are, here's how big you are. God included
you. God included you. Mm-mm. Second, excuse me, 1 Peter 2,
9 tells us this calling is out of darkness into light. We're not called to work our
way out. We are out. Called out. We're stuck in a world that we're
not of. We're citizens of another country.
Peter said we're strangers and pilgrims in this world. A stranger is someone away from
home, pretty much what we are in Danville, except for this
assembly. A stranger is someone away from
home. A pilgrim is someone on the way home. And that's what
we are in this world, strangers and pilgrims. were called out. And Rex read a while ago Colossians
1 13 who had delivered us from the power of darkness and have
translated us into the kingdom of his dear son. What a glorious
calling. How effectual. First Thessalonians
4 7. The problem with studying after
Brother Don Portner is you never get done. He never got done. I believe if he thought you had
put up with it, he'd preach two and a half hours every time. But he said so much in so little
time. First Thessalonians 4 tells us
it's a call unto holiness. Holiness, commitment, love to
the Lord first. So much for this little religious,
sissified thing of putting the Lord a few minutes into your
daily schedule. No, He is your schedule if you're
His child. Everything else must revolve
around Him. People say, oh, it's so hard
to live for the Lord. Well, I say if the grace don't
outweigh the grief, Forget it. But it does. It does. First Corinthians 1.9 tells us
it's a call unto the fellowship of Jesus Christ our Lord. Blessed,
sweet fellowship with Him. Galatians 5.13 tells us it's
a call unto liberty. For brethren, you have been called
unto liberty. Only use not liberty for an occasion
to the flesh, but by love serve one another. We're set free. We have liberty. But we're not given the privilege
to do as our flesh pleases. We're given the spirit of God
indwelling us with unction and desire to do as he pleases. That's
the difference. We're not given license to disobey. We're given liberty and unction
and power to obey. First Thessalonians 2.12 tells
us that this calling is unto glory. Not just future, but right
now. God's people has a glory. that
this world knows nothing of. And I sensed it, I felt it, I
saw it, I heard it when I entered this place this morning. You say, I don't know so much
about that glory in us. Well, Jesus told the Father in
John 17, 22, and the glory which thou gavest me, I have given
them. But everybody thinks, oh, we're
going to glory. No, we're already in it. Huh? Christ in you, the hope of glory. Romans 8, 18, for I reckon. That's an old word my dad used
to use a lot. Reckon, it means I count it so. I consider this so. I reckon
that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared
with the glory that shall be revealed, not to us, but in us. In us. Wow. Well, let me conclude
with a passage. First Corinthians chapter one.
I'll read a few verses here. First Corinthians chapter one.
24 through 29. First Corinthians 1 24. But under
them which are called, that's the effectual calling we're talking
about. Both Jews and Greeks. Christ,
the power of God. And the wisdom of God. Because
the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of
God is stronger than men. For you see your calling, brethren,
there it is again, effectual calling. How that not many wise
men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called,
there it is again, effectually called. But God hath chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things which
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 naught things that are. In those first three verses I
read, 24 through 26, he used the word calling or called three
times. In verses 27 and 28, he used
the word chosen three times. It's those chosen by God in eternity
past, chosen in Christ before the world began. It's those who
are affectionately called in time. And I say any person who
can give any reason in themselves why God saved them, they are
very deceived. All God's children are saved
for Christ's sake. And if you're one of his, you
know that. But this morning, if anyone in this congregation
is disturbed about whether you truly be God's child. That's a good sign. The fact
that you're disturbed at all. If there's a real concern in
your heart, it's the Lord that put it there. Otherwise, otherwise, you'll
forget what I or any other preacher ever says from this pulpit before
you get to the highway out, John. But if there is a genuine concern,
a troubling in your heart, that's the Lord's doing. And I simply
recommend you to crawl off somewhere and pour your heart out to him. Because it's Christ who said
in John 6, 37, All that the Father giveth me,
when did he give them? In eternity past. All that the
Father giveth me ought to come to me. No, no, no. Shall come
to me. Boy, that's another big word
in the New Testament. Shall. I mark it every time I see it. Shall come to me. That's who's
coming to Christ. No one else can, no one else
is interested. But Christ said, all that the
Father giveth me shall come, they're coming. And then he said in him that
cometh to me. And the rest of this verse is
a promise. To all who come, I will in no
eyes, not in any case, not under any
circumstances. That's the Lord Jesus Christ
saying, I don't care what you've done. I don't care where you've
been. I don't care how low you've sunk. You come to me. And I will in no eyes ever refuse
you, cast you out. Isn't that blessed? Amen. Thank God how we should rejoice
in this thing of God's effectual calling of his children, which
began in Christ Jesus before the world. And the people and
people who have a problem with terming it irresistible grace. It's their problem. It's their
problem. I'm not preaching to God that's
bigger than we are. That's not bigger than we are. I often say, I don't need a God
that needs me. But I rejoice in one who wanted
me and found me. Bless his holy name. All right. I don't know what to do or not
do. I think I'll stop.