My message this morning is on
the effectual calling or what the old timers called irresistible
grace. Irresistible grace. These are
terms this world are not familiar with in our day because they
don't believe in irresistible grace. And you never will believe
in irresistible grace until that grace comes into your heart and
you find it irresistible. Irresistible grace. Now the Word
of God is the written testimony of God concerning His Son. That's what this book is all
about. Any other fashion that you read this book, you won't
profit by it in a spiritual way. The Word of God is the written
testimony of God concerning His Son and the purpose for which
His Son was sent into this world. In 1 John 5, if you want to turn
over there, I've got several things I'll be talking to you
about in this book of 1 John. But it says this in verse 9,
This is the witness of God which he hath testified of his son. That's what this book is. That's
what each individual letter that the apostles wrote and sent to
these churches, that's what they were. They were the testimony. This is the witness of God which
he hath testified of his son. Look at verse 11. This is the
record. that God hath given to us eternal
life, and this life is in His Son. This is the record of God,
the testimony of God. Verse 13, These things have I
written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God,
that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may
believe on the name of the Son of God. This testimony is set
forth in the Scriptures. which are the testimony of God,
they're set forth in the scriptures in what the scriptures themselves
identify as doctrine. Doctrine, that's a term we bandy
about in our day, and I don't think any of us have a clue what
it means. It simply means teaching, is what it means. Teaching, a
particular teaching. He calls it doctrine. In the
book of Isaiah, chapter 28, verse 9, He asked this question, whom
shall he teach knowledge and whom shall he make to understand
doctrine? Them that are weaned from the
milk, drawn from the breast, for precept must be upon precept,
precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a
little and there a little. For with stammering lips and
another tongue will he speak to this people, to whom he said,
This is the rest." Here's the message of that line upon line.
precept upon precept, here a little and there a little. He's going
to go over here to the book of Genesis, and he's going to make
a statement. And then that teacher is going to go over here to the
book of Deuteronomy, and he's going to show it to you in picture.
And then he's going to go over here in the book of Samuel and
show you that thing illustrated. And then he's going to come over
here to the book of Ezekiel, and he's going to show you how
that thing was prophesied in Christ, the coming Redeemer.
And then he's going to come over here in Matthew and he's going
to show you the fulfillment of all those things. Here a little,
there a little. Precept upon precept, line upon
line. Here a little and there a little.
What's the purpose to all this doctrine? For with stammering
lips and another tongue will he speak to this people, to whom
he said, this is the rest wherewith you may cause the weary to rest,
and this is the refreshing. Yet they would not hear. They
would not hear. The Lord Himself, while on this
earth, was questioned about what He taught. What He taught was
contrary to established religion. It went against the grain. It
went against the grain. It went sideways. What in the world is this man
talking about? Contrary, totally contrary to everything they believed.
It went against the grain of traditional ideas, contrary to
everything they professed to believe. And they poked fun at
it. These religious leaders and these
religious men established in their... As soon as they made
broad their phylacteries, they had robes and garments on, and
they had scriptures laced in those garments, those phylacteries,
and made them broad around so that everybody that saw them
knew that this was Dr. So-and-so. This was Reverend
so-and-so. And boy, when he come down the
aisle, everybody just kind of got sad because he's somebody.
He had all this stuff around on him and he paraded around.
And here comes the Lord Jesus Christ and at 12 years old, he
was putting these men to silence. They couldn't stop his wisdom.
They couldn't answer his questions. They couldn't deal with it. This
man knew the Word of God because he was the Word of God. He was
what this book was all about and he stood there at 12 years
old and confounded these masters of theology. And they poked fun at him and
they mocked him because he didn't wear their dress. He didn't go
to their school. He didn't run around looking
like somebody in the dress of the learned. And they said in
John chapter 7, they said this, they said, How knoweth this man
letters? Can you imagine saying that to
a son? How knoweth this man letters? He's not learned. Where did he
get these things? What school did he go to? What
degree does he have? Why do you listen to him? We've got our things up on the
wall. See here, graduated 1966. We've
got our credentials, where's his? How do I know what this
man's letters? He's not learned. And the Lord
was teaching in the temple, and they said this to mock his person,
and to downgrade his message and confuse the people. And in
John chapter 7 verse 16, Jesus answered them and said, now listen,
my doctrine is not mine. You have a doctrine and it's
yours, but my doctrine is not mine, but His that sent me. If any man will do his will,
the will of God, the will of the Father, if any man will do
his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God or whether
I speak of myself. And when the high council of
Israel and the high priest made accusation against Peter over
in the book of Acts in chapter 5, they said, you fill Jerusalem
with your doctrine. With your doctrine. Over in Romans
chapter 6, Paul says this to the church, God be thanked. He said that you were the servants
of sin. That's where God found you. That's
where He came to you. That is where He revealed Christ
to you. You were the servants of sin, but you have obeyed from
the heart, and that is what this message is about this morning.
You have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was
delivered unto you. Being then made free from sin,
you become the servants of righteousness. Turn with me over here and let's
look at this one over here in Ephesians chapter 4. The Bible is not a book to be
taken any way you please. Lots of folks, they view this
Bible... I'm reminded up in Portsmouth,
Ohio, we used to come down to Kentucky from northern Ohio and
we'd drive through there and there was an old spring right
down in the heart of the city. And you go down there and people
be lined up with pitchers and jugs and all kinds of things
to get water. It was good water out of that spring. And, of course,
it had its superstitions about this and that and the next thing,
minerals and whatever in this old spring. But everybody went
down there to get that water. And as many people as you ask
about that spring, you get different ideas. And that's how people
view this book. They think this is just a collection
of sayings and teachings and parables and things, and you're
supposed to read them and just apply it to your personal life
any way you want to. Just any way you want to. It
doesn't matter how you apply them. Just take these things
of God and use them best you can. That's not what this book
is about. It's not a book to be taken any
way you please. It's not a gathering of sayings
left to be interpreted. by individuals. This book sets
forth the doctrine of Christ. That's what it does. The doctrine
of Christ. Now listen to this. Ephesians
4.11. Talking about Christ. Send it
up into glory. Now he's going to give gifts
to men. He's going to give gifts to his church. And he gave some
apostles and some prophets. and some evangelists, and some
pastors and teachers." Now, pastors and teachers is one office. You
can read that, pastor-teacher. That's what the literal translation
is. Apostles and prophets who were
inspired of God to write the Holy Scriptures. That's what
we have before us. These were written by apostles
and prophets. Evangelists and missionaries
to take the gospel into all the world. giving the gifts of tongues. They stood there in the book
of Acts, and the Lord poured out His Holy Spirit upon them,
and there was people from all kinds of different places and
nations of the world standing around, and they all heard Him
speak in their own tongues. Evangelists and missionaries
given that gift of tongues. Walker Grover down in Mexico,
the Lord has given him the true gift of tongues. He left this
place with hardly any formal training in Spanish whatsoever.
He can speak the language better than they can. He's a missionary. He's an evangelist.
He goes out into those jungles and into those pueblos and he
takes the gospel to them. And God's established, I don't
know, I think about 40 churches down there in that area during
his lifetime. He'd been down there nearly 50
years or over 50 years. And then he has pastor teachers
to teach the gospel in local assemblies. And he gives them
verse 12 for the perfecting, that word is maturing, of the
saints. and for the work of the ministry,
and for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come into
the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God
unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the
fullness of Christ, that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to
and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the
slight of men and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive. And then in Titus, concerning
what the apostle calls unruly and vain talkers, what in the
world is that? That's a man who will not submit
himself under the rule of God. That's what that is. He's an
unruly man. He cannot be ruled, will not
be ruled. He's not going to submit himself
under the pastor's authority. He's not going to submit himself
to the missionary evangelist or to the writings of the apostles.
He's going to take what he wants. He ain't going to take it how
he wants it. He won't submit himself under
God's rule, not the rule of his word, the rule of his pastor,
or under the rule of sound doctrine. He's unruly. He likes to argue. He likes to be the center of
attention. He likes to shock people. And Paul said these people
profess to know God. They profess to know God. They
profess to be men of God. But now listen to what he says.
But they deny Him in works. They deny Him in their attitude. They deny Him in their love. They deny Him in their kindness
to others. They deny Him in their graciousness. They deny Him in their works,
being abominable and disobedient and to every good work. Now listen,
reprobate. Reprobate. Unable to perform
it in the Spirit of grace. Titus 2 verse 1, But speak thou,
the things which become sound doctrine. And speak them in that
fashion. Speak them in that fashion. And
then over here in 2 Timothy 4, verse 2, he gives this instruction
to the young pastor. 2 Timothy 4, verse 2. Preach the word. Be instant in
season, out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with
all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they
will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lust shall
they heap up to themselves teachers having itching ears." They don't
want to hear the truth. The truth. The Word of God is
God's testimony of His Son and His purpose of grace in sending
His Son into this world. And this redemptive purpose of
God in Christ is set forth in plain teaching that He calls
in the Word of God doctrine. And this is one of the reasons
why I chose to bring this series of messages on these basic fundamental
doctrines that together make up what the scripture call the
doctrine of Christ. Now I've talked to you already
about total depravity and unconditional election and limited atonement.
This morning I want to talk to you about irresistible grace.
What is irresistible grace? That is that effectual calling.
whereby God calls you out of your fallen state, gives you
a new nature, a new birth, and establishes faith and repentance
in your heart. It's an effectual calling. Most of you in here are familiar
with Acts chapter 17 where Paul stood up on Mars Hill and he
preached. And they listened to what he
said. Then he got down and started talking about the resurrection.
I'll show you here in a minute where that resurrection has everything
in the world to do with this effect you'll call it. But when
he got to the resurrection, they said, now wait a minute, wait
a minute. And they stopped him right there. And some said, we'll
consider this again some other time. They didn't want to hurt
his feelings. And they said, well, you know,
you're That's different. I'll give you that. That's different.
But we'll hear you again sometime. Some of them just walked away,
upset and angry. But it said, howbeit some of
them clave unto him. You remember reading that? Some
of them just hung on to him. Some of them heard. Heard. What did they hear? They heard
that effectual calling of God that speaks not to the head,
but to the heart. And it changed them. And they
come out of that mess they were in. They come out of that superstitious
idolatry that they were in. They come out of it. And they
recognize this man as a man of God. And later on, Paul said,
I know your election of God. Because when the gospel came
to you, it didn't come in word only. It came in power and demonstration
of the Spirit. And you become followers of us
and the Lord. You recognize and heard the Lord's
voice in the gospel I preach. That's what he told. On another
occasion, Paul said, I have begotten you. He didn't have the power
to begat people, did he? He said he did. I have begotten
you through the gospel. That's a powerful statement.
That's a powerful statement. Irresistible grace is the doctrine
of God's effectual calling. There's a general call when the
gospel is preached. Everybody in this building is
going to hear me this morning. Some of you are going to hear
me. And some of you are just going to hear me. There's a difference. There's a difference. The Lord said, He that hath ears
to hear, Those gathered around Him in the multitude. He said,
He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. He recognized that.
Not everybody in that place was going to hear Him. Not with that
effectual hearing. God has a people He chose in
Christ before the world began according to the good pleasure
of the will of God. And He arranged creation and
providence and ordered all the events, all the advents of time. All the things of eternity for
their good and His glory. And he said, and you know that
if you're a believer. Ain't that what he said over
there in Romans chapter 8 verse 28? 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. That's who I'm talking about.
I'm talking about the believer, the true believer. Not him who
makes prayers for a pretense. Not he that gathers in a building
to be seen of men so they'll honor him. He goes to church.
I've seen him down there. He's a good fellow. He's a good
fellow. Not he that goes to get some honor and recognition so
he can run for office. Gets close to election time.
All the politicians go out to the biggest churches around.
All of them attend services. That's not why they come. God
will gather them there for all sorts of reasons, but when they
hear, when that message grabs onto that heart, enters into
the heart, and wrestles that man down, he's a changed man. He's a changed man. There's nothing
left to chance and circumstance. God's covenant is ordered, David
said, in all things and sure. No ifs in it. No whatabouts. It takes into consideration our
ignorance. It took into consideration our
rebellion. It takes into consideration our
fallen ways. It takes into consideration the
deceit of Satan and the influence of this world and the lust of
this heart. The end has been determined from
the beginning. and decreed by God Himself and
everyone that the Father chose in Christ will stand in that
great white throne and they're going to surround that throne,
every last one of them, not going to be an empty spot there. Brother
Barnard said he dreamed one time that he died and he went to heaven
and he said the first memory he had of heaven was a huge multitude
And he said, they were all singing in rows around. And he said,
I looked up there and he said, the most beautiful music that
ever fell on human ears, he said, I could hear it. Oh, he said,
I wanted to sing with that. He said, I've never heard such
singing. And those of you who have been around to some of these
small little grace churches like ours, you know how it is. These
people sang like nothing he'd ever heard. That music fell on
his ears and he just, oh, it was the most beautiful thing
he'd ever heard. And he said he looked way up there in the
top, way up in the second row from the top, and there was a
spot up there. Oh, he said, I want to sing with that crowd. And
he said, I took the climbing up the steps and I got up there
and I worked my way down. And he said, when I got to the
seat, there was a name on it. He said, Ralph Barnard. Ralph
Barnard. Everybody that the Father chose
in eternity is going to show up in that great white robe throne
and sing His praises. The seat is reserved. His name
is written on it. Everybody else is going to worship
the beast whose names are not written in the Lamb's Book of
Life. slain before the foundation of
the world. This is the Father's will, Christ said, which hath
sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing. He's not going to lose one thing.
Not one thing. Let alone one individual. He's
not going to lose one thing. Everything purposed of God is
going to be done. No question about it. And to
accomplish this end, the Word, the eternal Word become flesh. And as our representative placed
himself under the law of God and become obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. And as such, our representative,
having fulfilled those things, having accomplished those things,
he becomes by faith the end of the law for righteousness to
everyone that believes. He sees what he accomplished.
He sees his righteousness. He sees the honor of God in his
obedience. He sees the condescension of
God to become a servant, to become a man. I can't even fathom back
God becoming a man. And as a man, it said, he humbled
himself. What humility just to become
a man, let alone, but he humbled himself and as a servant become
obedient to that law and stayed obedient to that law even unto
death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God hath highly
exalted him, giving him a name above every name. Is that not
righteousness enough for you? It is for me. That's all my righteousness. Now, you want to go down to the
hospital and visit somebody and call that righteousness, you
go do it. But I'm telling you, my righteousness is in Him. Right
there. In Him. And I can go to the hospital
and do that because I love Christ. But I don't see that going as
a righteousness. My righteousness is in Him. All together in Him. And by His suffering and death,
He put away our sins, paid the sin debt. paid what justice and
holiness required. He satisfied God. That's the
problem today. We won't satisfy one another.
Preacher gets up and preaches and everybody in the congregation
tries to please him. After you've pleased him, what
do you have? You've got nothing. Salvation
is about pleasing God. Judgment is about satisfying
God. Christ satisfied God. I think I can fall in there somewhere
down below if He satisfied God. Huh? I think I can find a place
for you in my heart if Christ satisfied God on your account.
Huh? He's all my righteousness and
He's all my redemption. And every man and woman for whom
Christ accomplished this righteousness and this redemption will be with
Him where He is. Mark it down. Mark it down. His death was not for nothing. His death accomplished what He
set out to do. His righteousness accomplished
what He set out to do. They'll be with Him. And God
will bring about in this life an experience of grace called
faith. And I know some folks don't like
that term, experience of grace, but that's what it is. That's
what it was for me. It was an experience. It was
a change. It brought me down. I sat here
and watched Brother Jesse. He sat here and he'd count the
ceiling tile. And every now and then, when his mom would poke
the book over at him, he'd look at it. And then he'd go back
and count the ceiling tile. And then after a while, he began
to sit up and listen. And he sat up in that bench over
there and he'd listen. And then he started thumbing
through and listening, and he'd read those Scriptures. And he'd
look, and he'd read those Scriptures. And after a while, there's little
hands up on the back of that pew like this, hanging on every
word. That's effectual calling. That's
what that is. Effectual calling. Oh, it's an
experience. It's an experience of grace.
It comes in and enlightens the heart. Turns the light on in
the darkness and you see what you are. And you see who He is. And you don't play games anymore.
The truth comes before your eyes. The power of God comes in you.
And that Word becomes living Word. Not just words. Not just a sign. Not just a warning. Becomes life. And you called
out of the tomb. Old Lazarus, he laid down that
tomb. He didn't need reform. I know
without knowing Lazarus personally that he had faults. He had faults. He didn't need somebody to come
up there and read a big long list of his faults and say, now
you need to change, Brother Lazarus. He did. He didn't need advice. He didn't need direction. What
he needed was for the Son of God alone with the authority
to stand before that cavern and say, ìCome out of there!î And
he came out. He came out. Thatís a factual
calling. Oh, itís a divine calling. Itís
a work of God in the heart. Itís a deliverance from the power
of darkness and a translation into the kingdom of Godís dear
Son. Itís a divine calling. In Ephesians
1, verse 19, causing us to experience the
exceeding greatness of His power. Now listen to this. Paul said,
you're going to experience this. He said, I'm praying for you
that God will allow you to experience this, that God will speak. And
when He does, here's what's going to happen. You're going to experience
the exceeding greatness of His power to us who believe according
to His mighty power, the same effectual power He wrought in
Christ when He raised Him from the dead and set Him at His own
right hand in the heavens. That's what this effectual calling
is. God looked at his son wrapped up in those grave clothes, lifeless
on that bed of stone, and said to him, the one who loved with
a perfect love, he looked down there and he saw this man who
honored his law, who honored his person, who obeyed his will,
who did his will, who was the embodiment of love and truth
and grace. And he looked down there on him
and he satisfied God. And he saw the travail of his
heart. He saw the church on his heart. And he said, come out
of there. And God raised him from the dead.
And it's that same sight, that same sight that calls you out
of your death, out of that spiritual death. What he did for Lazarus
physically, what he did for Christ physically, he does for us in
the Gospel spiritually. He calls us out of our deadness,
calls us out of this death of this fallen nature. Turn with me to Ephesians chapter
2. God called him out of the shame
and humility and darkness and death of the sinner condemned
to the most blessed and favored place in glory at his own right
hand. Now watch this, Ephesians chapter
2 verse 4. Now this is right after he said
that up there in Ephesians 1 where I quoted to you a while ago.
And then when he starts this chapter 2, he says, and you,
and you, talking about me and you again, and you who were dead in trespasses,
that's where he found us. And he describes it, he tells
us what it is, walking according to the course of this world,
walking after the prince of the power of the air, spirit that
now worketh in the children of disobedience, all those things.
Verse 4, "...but God, who is rich in mercy for His great love
wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened
us together with Christ. By grace ye are saved, and hath
raised us up together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Can
you imagine? Can you imagine? When He raised
him from the dead, John, He raised you from the dead if you believe
God. and seated you with him at his
own right hand." Sit right here. From an enemy to a son in one
motion, in one man. You reckon he's changed? You
reckon his heart's been changed? My soul. raised us up together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. Now listen, verse 7, that, that
is, in order that, in the ages to come He might show the exceeding
riches of His grace, that grace that He did when He quickened
you with Christ and raised you justified, seated you at His
own right hand. In order that, in the ages to
come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness
toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast." Works can't accomplish that.
Works can't accomplish that. It's a divine calling. And then
secondly, it's a call that God is pleased to give through a
man. I don't know how to explain that. I'll tell you how you'll
know that when you experience it. When that man speaks and
God speaks through him and calls you out of your death, you'll
understand exactly what I'm talking about. Until then, it's just
a man, just a theory, just a declaration. It says here in 1 Corinthians
1.18, for the preaching of the cross is to them who are perishing
foolishness. Never heard of such foolishness.
You mean to tell me that no matter what I do, I can't be saved until
I hear the gospel? That's exactly what I'm telling
you. You don't believe it, you can go off and pout in a corner
somewhere. It's the truth. I'm so tired of folks, you read
them stuff from the Word of God and they look at it and say,
yeah, but... and then start off on something else. Let God be
true and every man a liar. You're not going to believe anything
until you hear it. And you're not going to hear
it until God sends you a preacher. And he's not going to be sent
unless God sends him. And when he does, you'll hear
it. Not until. You just flounder around in religion
until you find something you are satisfied with and God will
leave you there until you rot in hell. In Romans chapter 10,
after you ask these questions, now listen, he said, ìHow shall
you call on Him in whom you have not believed? How shall you believe
in Him of whom you have not heard? How shall you hear without a
preacher? How shall he preach except he be sent?î After these
questions, he says this, verse 16, But they have not all obeyed
the gospel. Everybody that heard it didn't
obey it. Isn't that what Paul says over in Hebrews chapter
4? For they heard the gospel the same as we did. But the gospel
not being mixed with faith in them that heard it, they all
died. They all perished. They have
not all obeyed the gospel, for Isaiah said, ìLord, who hath
believed our report?î Now watch this. ìSo then, faith cometh
by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.î Now he is not talking
here especially about the written word of God. When I stand up
here and preach, how many scriptures have I quoted and read to you
already this morning? These are the foundations for
what I say. It's not apart from the written
Word of God, but the written Word of God is not what Paul's
talking about here when he quotes the Scripture. He's talking about
that Word of authority of God that accompanies His Word when
it's preached. That's what he's talking about.
Faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the Word of God. You have
to hear something more than me. You have to hear something more
than just words in a book. You have to hear from God, and
only God can speak, only God can give life, only God can create
that new man in you. In John chapter 1 verse 12, He
goes down a long list talking about from the garden all the
way to the cross. He said He was in the world,
this eternal Word was in the world, but the world knew Him
not. He came unto His own. He called
out a man by the name of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and Joseph,
and all the way down the line, Moses, and the Law, and all Israel. He came unto His own, but His
own received Him not. His own received Him not. But
to as many as received Him, to them gave He the power, now listen,
to become the sons of God. What in the world is he talking
about? The power to become the sons of God. We're talking about three things.
He's talking about ability. Ability. You don't have the ability
to be born. Huh? Somebody else has to do
that. You can't do that. He's talking
about ability. He's talking about authority.
You can't just because you will to do something, you might find
this shocking. Just because you will to do something
don't mean it's going to happen. It is not of Him that willeth,
it is not of Him that runneth, it is of God that showeth mercy. Gave He the power, the power,
that commandment of God, that Word that only God can speak,
to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on His name, which were born, not of the will of
the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God. Effectual calling
comes from irresistible grace because it is a divine call,
and it falls on hearing ears because the voice of God speaks
through a man, creates life in him, and he hears by man. But what he hears is of God,
and it cannot be resisted. And then thirdly, this effectual,
irresistible calling is a call to the understanding. Now turn
back with me to 1 John chapter 5. So much. I'm guilty of this. I stand and talk about other
men. I'm as guilty of it as anybody. In my past experience in religion,
I walked down an aisle because
somebody told me to. Kneel down at an old mourner's
bench, pray and cry. All these people gather, all
these elders and women gathered around you and they're crying
and praying. Of course you're going to cry. Especially when your
dad's there with his arm around your back. You're going to cry.
Sure you are. And you get up from there And
you lay hope in that. You lay hope in that experience.
And you go back to that pew and go on for a little while and
then you go right back to where you were. And so you do it again. Or do something similar. Or go
to another church and do something else. They tell you, I have to
speak in tongues. Or this one over here tells me
I've got to shake somebody's hand. Or this one over here tells
me I have to accept Jesus as my personal Savior. And on and
on and on it goes. But here's what happens when
God calls. over here in 1 John 5, verse 19. He said, and we
know. How do we know? How do we know? Well, if you
back up and read this chapter, you'll find out it's because
we receive, verse 9, the witness of a man and the witness of God.
Because they believed the record that God gave of His Son. And
because they were shown in these things that they had eternal
life. And they were truly believers. That's verses 11 through 13.
And we know, verse 19, that we are of God. Do we know that? I wrote that down this morning
and I thought about that. Do I know that? And we know we are of God. And
if you do, This will also be your testimony. The whole world,
life and wickedness. Now, brother, you disagree with
that, you don't know God. Ain't that what that verse says?
I've looked at that verse forever and never seen that. We know
we are of God and the whole world, life and wickedness. That's one
statement. That's one statement. You know how you know that? When
the grace of God comes into your heart and exposes you for what
you are. and brings you up out of that
mess. And you look down there and you
say, the whole world, and me with it, lieth in wickedness.
That's where God found me. All of them the same. All of
them sinners. Some religious and some not.
But no difference between the Jew and the Gentile. No difference
between the Jew and the Greek. Whole world lieth in wickedness.
Verse 20, And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath
given to us an understanding. and understanding that we may
know Him that is true. We might know the true and living
God and that we are in Him that is true. This is the true God
and eternal life. That's what this life is. After the death of Christ, His
apostles, They didn't know what to do.
Everything that they believed, everything that they... They
gave up their living. They gave up their relatives.
They gave up their friends. They gave up their reputations
in the community. There was no going back. There
was no saying, I'm sorry, you know. I'm sorry we stood out
there with him while he made fun of you and now we'd like
to come back. There was no going back. All
this stuff, it was just done. It was done. And here they were
and he died. He didn't live. He went to a
cross and he was hung down there between two thieves. Raised up
before God in a shameful death and there he breathed out his
last breath until he died. And they took him down and they
laid him in a tomb and they sealed it up with a stone. And these
men were devastated. They were devastated. They didn't
know what to do. And they was walking along this
road from Emmaus The women had told him about the stone being
rolled back and all these things. And they were walking along that
road and the Lord appeared to them, but he held back their
eyes. He didn't let them know who he was. And he walked along
there and he started talking with them. And he said, what
are you so upset about? And they said, well, where are
you being? Are you new here? Are you just
now arriving? Don't you know what's going on?" And they started
telling him about this man and they said, and we thought he
was going to be the Messiah. We hoped that he was going to
be the Christ. But our rulers and the chief priests have taken
him down and they've crucified him. And to top it all off, today
some women come and told us about the stone and his body's gone
and we don't know what to think. They were just walking along.
And the Lord began to talk to him and he said, and slow of
heart to believe all that the prophets had written. Ought not
Christ to have suffered these things and risen? Isn't that
what the prophets said about him? Ain't that how they described
the Messiah? Didn't they talk about his suffering
and death? Didn't they talk about his substitution? Didn't they
talk about his representation? Didn't they talk about imputed
righteousness? Didn't they talk about all these things? Abraham
believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness. Didn't
these prophets talk about these things? And they didn't know
what to say. They didn't know what to say.
And they walked along and finally they got to their house and they
went in and they ate and the Lord revealed Himself to them. And then He vanished out of their
sight. And they said, Didn't our hearts burn within us when
we walked along the way and he opened to us the Scripture? Now
listen to what he says. He appears to them again. This
time he takes fish and eats it. And he says, here's the hole.
Stick your fingers in the holes if you don't believe I'm here.
And they believed him. Now listen to what he says. Luke
24, 44. And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake
unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be
fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the
prophets, and in the Psalms concerning me. Then, then opened he their
understanding that they might understand the scriptures." That's
what effects of calling does. It opens the treasure house of
Christ in the Word of God, and you see Christ. I don't care
what you want to study. You want to study the temple?
Christ. You want to study the Lamb? Behold
the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world. Whatever
it is you want to look at in this book, you're going to find
Him. Creation. All things were made by Him.
Without Him was not anything made that was made. It's all
Christ. Christ is all. It's all. That's what faith discovers. It discovers. And it understands.
Don't you understand why Christ had to die? I never understood
that religion. The fact is, that was the biggest
question I ever had. Well, if He saved us, then how
can we be lost? Well, it's all up to you. Then
why did He die? In this effectual calling, He
opens your understanding to understand these things. He opens your understanding
to understand the curse, understand where you are, where He is. All these things.