Turn, if you will, back to Ephesians
chapter 1. Beginning at verse 16, we read
it just a moment ago, Paul told the saints what his desire was
for them. Those believers at Ephesus and
for you and I as well. He told them that he prayed for
them. He prayed for them. And Paul says he didn't pray
on their behalf that they might be free from persecution. That's
not what he asked. Or that they might possess the
riches and honors, pleasures of this world. He didn't ask
that either. He asked for something greater than that. Some of more
value than that. He prayed that God might be pleased
to enlighten them, enlighten their understanding. and that
their knowledge might increase, their knowledge of Christ, their
acceptance in Christ, their assurance of Christ. They might increase
in that in a practical way, in an experimental way within. Three things Paul asked on their
behalf that God would do for them. Verse 18 again, look at
it. Three things in verse 18, verse
19. He says, he prayed that the eyes
of your understanding being enlightened, Now you might know, that you
might know, what is the hope of his calling? That was the
first thing. Three what's here. The first is what is the hope
of his calling? The second one, what is the riches
of the glory of his inheritance in the saints? And the third,
what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us who believe
according to the working of his mighty power? Three things. Now we're just going to deal
with the first one. Perhaps the Lord willing, we'll come back
to the other two at another time. But the first one Paul mentions
in verse 18, he prayed that God would enlighten them, increase
their knowledge, their awareness of the hope of His calling. The hope of His calling. If you
would see, if we would see what hope there is in the calling
of God, we first of all must be called. Brother Henry used
to say, you can't come back from somewhere you've never been.
Such is the experience of God's grace. You must be called effectually,
irresistibly. And that's what God does when
he calls a sinner to faith in his son. They must be called
to life and faith in Christ by God, the Holy Spirit. Until we
have experienced that, there's no seeing or calling without
it. I read of one man when I was
studying and preparing this message. I read one man who said, a theologian,
this was from his book of theology, and he said that the hope of
God's calling was this, and this is verbatim, he said, the act
of grace, that act of grace by which he, that is God, invites
men to accept by faith the salvation provided by Christ. And I read
that and I scratched my head and I thought, really? Is that
all? Is that it? Is the calling of
God of sinners to life and faith in Christ no more than that?
Is it simply an offer for them to accept or refuse? Oh, thank
God Paul had more in mind than that, didn't he? It's not an
offer by God, it's an operation by God. A Christian is the result
of this calling. Christians are not made by mom
and dad. A Christian is not the product
of his own endeavor. The church can't make a Christian.
And I know in our day, everybody claims to be Christian. No matter
what they believe, no matter how bizarre, no matter how contrary
to scripture, everybody's a Christian. Catholics are Christian, all
Baptists are Christian, Muslims are Christian, everybody's a
Christian. But only God Almighty, by the call that Paul speaks
of here in our text in verse 18, only God can make a Christian. God has called us to be believers. On that account, he says it's
his calling. It's his calling. There's hope
in that. A living hope. A blessed hope. A good hope. What is true of
the natural creation? In the beginning, God is also
true of the spiritual creation. It's God's work. It's God's work,
isn't it, Billy? It's God's doing. Listen to this. David in Psalm 100 verse 3, he
wrote this, Know you that the Lord, He is God. He is God. It is He that hath made us and
not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep
of His pasture. Now Paul in Ephesians chapter
2, this same book, he said this in verse 10, We are His workmanship. We can't be responsible for the
work because we are the work. We are His workmanship, that
is God's, created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God had
before ordained that we should walk in them. Concerning this
calling, Paul says it's a holy calling, writing to Timothy,
God who has saved us and called us with a holy calling. It's
a high calling. Oh, what a high calling. What
a privilege. What a position! Children of
God. John wrote, Behold! Behold what
manner of love! Behold! Consider this! Think about this! Behold what
manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should
be called sons of God. It's a high and heavenly calling.
Paul said, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high
calling of God in Christ Jesus. Paul, I'm sure is referring,
making a metaphor from the Olympic Games, like a runner in a race. Oh, he looks to the finish line.
Oh, and look at the prize. It's Jesus Christ himself. Paul says, I press toward that
mark. Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers
of the heavenly calling. This is a call from heaven to
heaven. Remember in Revelation chapter
4, John is on the Isle of Patmos, and he said a voice spoke to
him from heaven and said, come up hither. It's a call from God
that by God's grace brings us to him. It's an irrevocable call. I like that. I like that. We read in God's word that the
gifts, the calling of God, are without repentance. He'll never
take them back. He'll never take them back. God
has never, God has never for a moment repented, regretted
that He chose us to salvation. Never has. Been sorry for it. Nor that Jesus Christ, the Savior,
He's never regretted. Never repented that He redeemed
us with His own precious blood. Or the Holy Spirit. Never has
regretted, not for a moment, that He called us by His grace. In spite of all of our wonderings,
in spite of our ungratefulness, in spite of our failures, our
unfruitfulness, God has never, never had one
regret in his heart that he called us to be saints. There's three
things I'd like to consider from this verse. We might know what
is the hope of his calling. And the first is this, foremost,
it's a personal call. It's a person. And I know there's
a general call. There's a call when the gospel
is preached to all those that hear it, to come to the Lord
Jesus Christ. But if that's all you ever hear,
if the only voice you ever hear is the voice of a preacher, you'll
never come to Christ. Oh, but if God is pleased to
make that word effectual, that gospel preached effectual, then
you'll hear more than the voice of a man. You'll hear the voice
of God himself, a personal call. This is the first of the three
things that Paul speaks of, because our calling must be first. It
must be first, because until we're called out of darkness
into God's marvelous light, until we're called by God's grace,
We know nothing about grace. Not really. Not experimentally. Not for ourself. God chose his
people to salvation. We read that in verse 4, didn't
we? From the beginning, God chose his people to salvation. Ephesians,
again, verse 3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ, according as he has chosen us. chosen us in
Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be
holy and without blame before Him in love. Salvation, yes,
it begins with a choice. Yes, salvation begins with a
choice, but it's not man's choice. Sinners are exhorted, oh, make
your decision, make your choice. Won't you choose God? Oh, no,
salvation doesn't begin with man's choice. It begins with
God's choice. God's choice makes the difference.
Yes, we're chosen. We're redeemed, we're preserved
until we're called, but we know nothing about those things. They
mean nothing at all to us until God calls us by His grace. This is what Paul said in 1 Thessalonians
chapter 1, verse 4. Knowing, brethren, beloved, your
election of God. Election wasn't a word that they...
that the early church was afraid to use, weren't they? Today it's
almost a curse word in most churches. They'd rather hear anything but
that. But it's a word they used over and over again. They rejoiced
in it. Just about every time, or every
time, that it is spoken of, it's always spoken of in the context
of joy. Chosen, elected to eternal life. Knowing, brethren, beloved, your
election of God. How about that? How about that? For our gospel, This is how we
know Paul knew they were elect, because our gospel came not into
you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost,
and in much assurance. And ye know what manner of men
we were among you for your sake. And ye became followers of us,
and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction,
with joy of the Holy Ghost." And then in 2 Thessalonians chapter
2, Paul wrote this, We are bound to give thanks always to God
for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God had from
the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the
spirit and belief of the truth. Whereunto he called you, those
he foreknew, for love he also called. Whereunto he called you
by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of the Lord Jesus
Christ. There's a hymn in our hymn book,
I think it's page 56, 58. I am His and He is mine. Loved with an everlasting love.
God didn't begin to love His people when He saved them. He
loved them everlastingly. Loved with an everlasting love.
Led by grace that loved to know. In time. He reveals His Son to
us and in us. And then we know, we know, we
come to realize, love with an everlasting love, led by grace
that loved to know, Spirit breathing from above. You've taught me.
You've taught me that this is so. Oh, this full and perfect
peace. Oh, this transport all divine.
In a love which cannot cease, I am His and He is mine. And nothing can change. Nothing
can change that. Nothing that happens good or
bad can change that. Nothing can snatch us out of
His hand. Listen to what the Lord said
by the prophet Jeremiah. The Lord hath appeared of old
unto me, saying, Yea, yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting
love. Imagine that. I have loved thee
with an everlasting love. Therefore, therefore, oh, there
is fruit from this love of God. There is action on God's part.
Those he loved, there's a therefore that follows that. Therefore
I do nothing. I've loved you, therefore I won't
interfere with your will. I love you, therefore I'll do
nothing to snatch you from hell. Oh no, I love you with an everlasting
love. Therefore, because of my love,
With loving kindness have I drawn you. I've drawn you. And this personal call from God
to each of His people gives them hope, does it not? It gives us
hope because this call, this effectual, irresistible call
of God's mighty grace gives the sinner hope. You know why? Because
it brings them to the fountain of hope. Jesus Christ Himself. This is what our Lord taught
in John 6. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and
him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. No man can
come to me except the Father which hath sent me drawing, and
I will raise him up at the last day. It's written in the prophets.
And they shall all be taught of God, every man, every man
therefore that hath heard Not just heard with the outer ear,
but heard in the heart. And have learned of the Father
comes to me. Oh, and in coming to Christ,
we find everything we need in Him. Everything we can need in
time, everything we can need for eternity. Everything in Him,
we lack nothing. In John chapter 5, our Lord said,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Thou is coming, and now is, when
the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that
hear shall live." Oh, doesn't that give you hope? They shall
live. Oh, God is able to raise them
up. Those dead sons and daughters,
spiritually dead, grandchildren, oh, if God is pleased, if God
is pleased to speak to their heart, if the Lord Jesus Christ
who said, I'm the resurrection and the life, speaks to them
and says, live, they'll live. Oh, they'll have a new heart.
He'll give them a hunger and a thirst after God. He'll give
them the knowledge of His Son. He'll bring them to His Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ. They shall live. They shall live
by faith in the Son of God. They'll live now, being made
alive by His mighty, conquering, reigning grace. Can anything
less than that help you? Anything less than sovereign
grace, reigning grace, abounding grace. Can anything less than
that do you any good? Oh, thank God, this grace is
in His Son. And the call of God, by which
He brings sinners to life in faith, He brings to His Son,
Christ in them, the hope of glory. There's hope in this calling
because it comes from God Himself. And all the sheep here, They
all hear it, and they all each follow the shepherd. They follow the shepherd. If
God speaks, sinners hear. There's no if about this. No maybe about it. And when they
hear, they live. Now here's the second thing.
Not only is this call, the hope of God's calling, not only is
it a personal call, it's an effectual call. You hear that a lot from
the old preachers. They refer to the effectual call
of God's grace. You read that in the old writings,
the effectual call. What does that mean? It simply
means it works. God's effectual call works. It
gets the job done. Why wouldn't it? Why wouldn't
it? It's God's call. It's God's call. Why wouldn't it work? When God
speaks to sinners, live, they live. When God gives sinners
faith in His Son, they believe on the Son of God. They come
to Him. God, by His mighty grace, draws
them to Him. This call works. This is not
an offer to save, like the quote that I read to you a moment ago.
It's not an attempt to save. What good is that? Lazarus, will
an offer help you? Will an attempt help you? It's
not a proposition to say, if you'll do your part, God will
do His. No, no, no, no. What hope is
in that? Oh, but listen, listen to this.
There is no doubt in these words. There is no elbow room for failure
in these words. This is God Himself speaking
and He says emphatically, without reservation, without contradiction,
look unto Me, look unto Me, and what? You might be saved. That's not what it says. Look
unto Me and be ye saved. I like that. Look unto me and
be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. That's the verse that
God used to open old Spurgeon's eyes. Look unto me and be ye
saved, Isaiah 45 and 22, all the ends of the earth, because
I am God and there is none else. Look unto me. Aren't you thankful? Child of God, that He opened
your eyes like old Newton said, I once was blind, oh, but now
I see. I once was lost, oh, but now
I'm found. His mighty grace. This is the
sure word of that God who is mighty to save. Our God doesn't
try to do anything. I mean, I heard that all my life. God is trying. God is trying. That He's no better than me.
If he's just trying to accomplish something, then he's just like
me. Oh no, he doesn't try, he does. This is the sure promise
of God. There's never been, there never
will be, a sinner who has looked to God for salvation that was
not saved. It's never gonna happen. People
hear that word election and they say, oh, what are you saying?
God, if a person's not elected, he won't accept them, he pushes
them back, oh no. Election doesn't keep them out,
election brings them in. Election gives them hope. God
Almighty has determined, God has purposed, he's gonna save
a people. His Son, our Redeemer, the Lord
Jesus Christ, didn't die in vain. He shall see it through the veil
of His soul, and He'll be satisfied. The emphasis in the verse there
in Isaiah 45 is not on the sinner who looks, but on the God who
saves. The God who saves. There's never
a question about God's ability to save, but rather, have we
looked to God to save us? Look unto me, what sweet, sweet
word. I did everything but that. When
God began to get me lost, I did everything but that. I looked
to preachers. I looked to self. I was directed
to look to so-called altars. Look here, look there. Oh, but
God said, look unto me. Look unto me. Oh, how merciful
it is that God tells people they've prayed unto a God who cannot
save to look unto Him, the only God who can. Is not this indicative
proof of His willingness to save sinners? God's not reluctant
to show mercy. He says, I delight to show mercy.
On the contrary, He says, concerning those who perish, He says, I
have no delight. I take no delight in the death
of the wicked. Oh, but he delights to show mercy. Every sinner who
has experienced the grace of God that has brought them to
salvation gladly bows in humble adoration, as the old hymn writer
said, and exclaim, my God, how great thou art. Look and live is still the blessed
promise in the gospel. In Numbers chapter 28, Numbers
21, verse 8, The Lord said unto Moses, when
the children of Israel are all, so many of them, dying because
of the bite of the serpents, God said, make thee a fiery serpent,
and set it upon a pole, and it shall come to pass that everyone,
that everyone that's bitten, when he looks, that's it, look
unto me, when he looks, shall live. Look and live. Can't you just picture Moses
going through the camp There's some gasping for their last breath.
Oh, but when they looked at that brazen serpent, a type of Christ,
the remedy for sin, they lived instantly. And that's what exactly
our Lord told Nicodemus, didn't he? As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life. is the call of God an effectual
call. It's God's grace, reigning grace. Does it work, Lazarus? Well,
look at him there with his feet under the table. In John 12,
from the tomb to sitting at the table with Jesus. And he would
answer, oh, I was dead. I was dead and I'm alive again. Yes, glory to His name. He called
me. He called me to life. Saul of
Tarsus, does the calling of Jesus Christ really give a sinner like
you any real hope? Listen to his answer. Paul was
happy to give it. He did it often. This is his
testimony. You've heard of my conversation.
You know how I live. in times past, in the Jews' religion. How that beyond measure I persecuted
the church of God and I wasted it. And I profited in the Jews'
religion above many my equals in my own nation, being more
exceedingly zealous for the tradition of my fathers." Paul, why didn't
you die in that condition? Why did you not live and die
a Pharisee? Every child of God can ask themselves
that question. Who's made me to differ from
another? Why is it that I sit here in
the gospel? Why is it that I believe on Christ? How did I come to have faith?
And here's the answer. When it pleased God. But, oh
blessed 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's the reason. Yes, glory
to God, this call gives sinners hope. Hope of grace now and hope
of glory hereafter. That's a good hope. A good hope
through grace. That's the only hope a sinner
can have, the hope of being with Christ forever. Forever. Soon, soon. He'll come. He'll come to take us home to
be with Himself. This is what Paul wrote in 1
Thessalonians. Let us who are of the day be
sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, for a helmet,
the hope, the hope of salvation. For God has not appointed us
to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who
died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, whether we live
or die, we should live together with Him. A mighty effectual
call. The last thing, what a gracious
call this is. Pure grace. Pure grace. What was there in us that could
merit a sting? What was in us that would attract
God's mercy? God's grace? It was everything
that would repel it. Oh, what was there in us that
could merit a sting? or give the Creator delight,
was even so, Father, we ever must sin, because it seemed good
in Thy sight." Imagine, imagine, God called you. God called you. God saved you. God revealed His Son to you.
Is that not gracious? Is that not gracious? In Luke
chapter 10, Our Lord spoke to the disciples and said, in that
hour, Jesus rejoiced in spirit and said, I thank the old father,
Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from
the wise and prudent and has revealed them unto babes. Even
so, father, for so it seemed good in our sight. All things
are delivered to me of my father. And no man knows who the son
is but the father, and who the father is but the son, and he
to whom the son will reveal it. And he turned unto his disciples
and said privately, and he speaks thus to every believer, blessed
are your eyes which see the things that you see. For I tell you
that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things
which you see and have not seen them, and to hear those things
which you hear and have not heard them. A similar passage is this,
our Lord's words to Peter. Peter answered and said, In answer
to the question from our Lord, who do men say that I am? Who
am I to you? Our Lord said, Peter said, thou
art the Christ. Thou art the Christ, the Son
of the living God. And Jesus answered and said,
blessed art thou, Simon. Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona,
for flesh and blood have not revealed this unto thee, but
my Father, which is in heaven. Remember what David said. when
God's prophet came to David and told him what the Lord would
be pleased to do through him, through his son. Then went King
David in, and sat before the Lord, and said, Who am I, O Lord
God? And what is my house that thou
hast brought me hitherto? For thy word's sake, and according
to thine own heart, hast thou done all these great things,
great things, great grace, great salvation, great mercy, great
hope, great glory, to make thy servant to know them. Wherefore
thou art great, O Lord God, for there is none like thee, neither
is there any god beside thee, according to all that we have
heard with our ears." One of Don's many hymns in the
Songs of Grace book, there is one, but God, but God. My soul in darkness, death and
sin, was lost and all undone. I did not know my lost estate,
I could not see God's Son. My heart defied God's holy law,
refusing to be ruled. I could not hear the gospel call.
This heart would not be wooed. God would not lose his chosen
one. No, that's not possible. God
would not lose his chosen one, the soul redeemed by blood. His
spirit broke into my heart, and then I understood it, but God.
But God, what blessed words of grace. He broke my stubborn will. Throughout the great eternal
age, I'll chant his praises still. The hope of his calling is that
all through life, whether that be long or short, I'm always
underneath his everlasting arm. Always. Always. Our hope is that
the Lord is our shepherd and we shall not lack. Our hope is
that His goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our
life. It has thus far, hasn't it? Hasn't it? And He'll continue
to do so. Oh, child of God, we look for the best things last,
don't we? We believe that when our time
comes for us to depart out of this world, oh, what a thought. Jesus Christ himself will meet
us. Thou art with me, David said. Jesus will come and meet us.
Oh, what a blessed, blessed thought. And that enables our hope to
leap over the grave and lands us in a glorious resurrection.
The hope of a man who sings on forever, living in the circle
of divine love, dying beneath the protection of divine power,
and abiding in the judgment justified by divine justice, accepted in
the beloved and beloved of the Father. What else do we hope
for? We hope for absolute perfection. The God who has changed our hearts
will continue the work of grace till He has taken away every
sin, every desire for sin, every possibility of sinning. This is the promise of Scripture.
This is the promise of our God. I will ransom them from the power
of the grave. I will redeem them from death. When our body awakes, though
it was sown in corruption, it shall be raised in incorruption.
Though it was sown in weakness, it shall be raised in power.
As we've borne the image of the earthly and all how we know it,
we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Our body shall
be fashioned like the body of Jesus Christ himself. He was
made like unto his brethren. and his brethren shall be made
like unto him, our elder brother." We're looking forward to that
time. And we shall have done with the aches and the pains,
with the weariness and the decay, with old age and infirmities,
with all the liability this body of death gives us. We expect
perpetual youth to be our portion and our joy for everlasting.
This is our hope. This is our hope. For Christ
has redeemed the whole man, body, soul, and spirit, and he'll have
the whole that he redeemed. When Christ shall come with shout
of acclamation and take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
And then I shall bow in humble adoration and there proclaim,
my God, how great thou art. May God grant us faith to know
the hope. the hope of his calling. Amen. Amen. God bless you.