Well, we've read from the Word of God. Two of our faithful brethren
have read to us from this book and led us in prayer. And we've worshipped God in our
songs. And in that beautiful hymn they
just sang. Now turn with me to Matthew chapter
22, and I'll tell you why. Because many are called, but few are chosen. There are four parables It's
found beginning in Matthew chapter 20, and in chapter 21, and in chapter
22. And these were parables, I believe,
given, exposing his enemies and the religious leaders of his
day who came out to tempt him over and over and over in these
chapters. And the Pharisees went out to tempt him, to trick him,
to tie him up in his words, to try to expose him as an imposter. And the first of these parables
back in chapter 20, I'm not going to read the whole thing. You
can read these at home. It will take a couple of minutes.
You can read through all three chapters. Back in chapter 20, it was about
a certain householder who hired different service at different
times of the day. Went out early in the morning,
hired a man, came to an agreement of a wage. He agreed. A little bit later, he hired
some more. A little bit later, he hired some more, and so on
until the last part of the day. And at the end of the day, when
payday came, he came out and he paid them all the same. And
the ones who spent the whole day, worked out in the heat of
the day, they were upset. They were upset. And they had some words with
him. And he answered them and he said this, I do you no wrong. I paid you exactly what we agreed
on. Is it not lawful for me to do
what I will with my own? Is thine eye evil because I am
good? And then in Matthew chapter 20
and verse 16, he says this about that parable. So the last shall
be first and the first last for many are called, but few are
chosen. Then in chapter 21, he gives
another parable. This time about another man,
and this time speaking as a father to his two sons. And they came
in the house, and they were both just sitting there, and he said
to the one, I need you to go work in my vineyard. And he said,
no, I ain't going. And he sat there for a little
bit, and he thought about whose vineyard it was, and he thought
about whose son he was. And he repented, and he went
to work. A little while later, the father
came in and said to the other son, I need you to go work in
my vineyard. And he said, I'll go. But he
never went. He never went. One doing the will
of God, the other only giving a cent. Then in verses 33 through
40 of the same chapter, there's a parable of another householder
who built. He had a piece of land, and he
planted a vineyard, and he built a tower, and he let it out to
some fellows. And then he took a journey into
a far country. And when it came time for that
piece of ground to yield its fruit, he sent some servants
back. And when they got there, they wouldn't give it up. I said,
no. No, we're not going to give you
anything. And they killed one of them. And they stoned another
one. And he sent some more servants.
And they treated them the same way. And finally, he sent his
son saying, they'll reverence my son. And he sent his son. And when they saw the son, they
said, this is the heir. Let's kill him and be done with
it. And we'll take it out. We'll take it out. Now, he said, what's going to
happen when the Lord of the Vineyard comes? He sent his servants. You wouldn't yield a fruit to
them. He sent his son, and you murdered him. What's going to happen when the
Lord of the Vineyard comes? What's going to happen when all
the representatives stand aside and God unveiled, God in His
majesty, God in His perfections comes? Then what's going to happen? He'll miserably destroy those
wicked men, and He'll let out His vineyard to another. And
then in Matthew chapter 22, there's a parable of a king who made
a marriage for his son. And I don't think I'm reading
a lot into this, because I've been involved in some weddings,
and they're pretty complex. There was a lot of things to
see to. There was a lot of arrangements to be made and a lot of things
to be supplied. This was the king who made this
marriage. He chose the bride. He arranged
for their future. He prepared every detail. But
when the guests got their invitation, they laughed at him. They laughed. They made fun of the wedding.
of the Prince of Glory, and they refused to attend. I can't go.
I've got a farm to tend to. And so some of them went back
to their farms, and some of them went to their merchandise, and
those that were left took the king's servants and treated them
spitefully and slew some of them. And when the king heard about
it, he was angry. And he sent forth his armies,
and he destroyed those murderers, and burned up their cities. And
he said to his servant, the wedding is ready, but those which were
bidden are not worthy. Go ye, therefore, into the highways,
and as many as you shall find bid to the marriage. And so they
did, and the wedding was furnished, and all was in place, and the
king came in. And there sat a man in his street
clothes. And he said, how'd you get here? Where's the wedding garment? And said he was speechless. And the king said to his servants,
bind him head and foot, take him away, cast him into outer
darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing
of teeth. For many are called, but few
are chosen. That's what I believe the Lord's
given me to talk to you about tonight. Many are called, but
few are chosen. And I know that these parables,
their first application is toward Israel. I know that. Anybody
who's ever read this book knows that. It's toward Israel who
would not receive Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah of God, the Christ
of God. But there was no one else on
God's earth at that time professing the religion of God. There is. Now listen to me. There
is in natural religion, I mean in Israel, a picture and a pattern
of natural religion in all ages. If you just look at the history
of Israel and their reaction to the revelation of God, of
His sacrifice, of all these things that God has revealed in them
and through those ceremonies and types and symbols and all
God's dealings with them throughout the thousands of years, there
is a picture of natural religion. I mean, it's just like looking
in a mirror. It's a religion so full of its tradition and
pageantry and ceremonies, a religion so full of self-righteousness
and self-promotion and self-will, a religion so full of its past
achievements and heritage that if the Lord of Glory stepped
into their church today and announced that he was going to preach and
stood up and preached, they wouldn't recognize him. They wouldn't recognize him.
Who is this? Who is? We know who he is. This
is the son of the carpenter. Why? Because many are called
and few are chosen. You see, there is a general call
and there is an effectual call. There's a general call and it's
an external call. It has to do with conscience.
It has to do with fear of hell and fear of dying and fear of
the unknown and fear of the future. It's an external call. It's a
call to the ears. It's a call to the eyes. It's a call that finds itself
being interpreted by the traditions of the multitude. You tell somebody
something today, and they belong to a pretty good-sized denomination,
and the first thing they'll tell you is, that's not what we believe. Well, you can take this home
with you for free. What we believe don't count. What you believe. It finds itself being interpreted
by the traditions of the multitude. It's a call that finds its words
being understood by human logic and wisdom. It's a call to do
with this and do this and do that and do something else. It's
a call that's answered and agreed to but then ignored. It's a call
with no regard to the caller. It is a call that will not respond,
giving the fruits of the calling to the householder. It's a general
call, and it falls on deaf ears, because the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God. A general call finds its consideration
in a hostile mind. and a deceitful heart. And that's
where it stays. There's a general call, and it's
an external call. But oh, thank God, there is an
effectual call. It's an inward call. It's a divine
call. And it's always received. I listen to these preachers talking
about men not receiving the call of God. Brother, if God calls,
you'll respond. You'll respond. And this is where I want to spend
the remainder of time that we have here this evening. What
is this effectual call? I'm going to give you several
things. First of all, I know this. I know this by what he
said. And this is so foreign to today's
religion. The effectual calling of God
is born out of election. He didn't say many are called
and then a few are called. He said many are called, but
few are what? Chosen. Chosen. In John chapter 10, our
Lord spoke to those same religious leaders, these men who came out
who despised him. And he likened himself to the
great shepherd of the sheep. And sheep's something they knew
something about. And he said, the shepherd don't
climb over the wall. The shepherd don't tunnel underneath.
And the shepherd don't try to sneak in. The shepherd comes
to the door of the sheepfold, and the porter opens the door
and recognizes the shepherd. And the shepherd comes in and
calls his own sheep by name. Bobby Estes, Don Porter, come
with me. Come with me. And he takes them
outside and he puts them out. He just, there you go. He don't
chain them. He doesn't put a rope around
their neck. He doesn't have a dog to guard them. He just turns
them out. And they follow him because they
know his voice. Turn with me to John chapter
10. Let me show you something else. Jesus of Nazareth was not
what the Jews expected at all. That Sabbath day when he stood
up and read that and he said, today, this day is the scripture
fulfilled in your ears. I can almost picture those mouths
wide open sitting there looking at him. Because he was not what
they expected, wasn't he? They were expecting another Solomon.
They were expecting David. His message was the opposite
of what they believed. His methods were strange and
mysterious to them. And they just could not get past
his claims to be the Son of God. And then finally, in John chapter
10, verse 24, the Jews came round about him, kind of like the vultures
Don was talking about this morning. They gathered all around him.
And they said to him, how long dost thou make us to doubt? If
thou be the Christ, tell us plainly." And Jesus answered them, I told
you. I told you. And you believe not. The works that I do in my Father's
name, they bear witness of me. But you believe not because you're
not my sheep. As I said unto you, My sheep
hear my voice. Now, I'm telling you, the effectual
calling of God is born in election. He said, I know them, and they
follow me, and I give unto them eternal life, and they'll never
perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hands, my
Father which gave them to me. is greater than all, and no man
is able to pluck them out of my father's hand, I and my father
are one. And if you're here tonight and
you're asking yourself, why me? Who am I? Like my pivot chef,
what is my house that you should have such mercy on such a dead
dog as I am? How come I can hear and others
can't? Because his sheep hear his voice. That's why. Because it's given
unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but
to them it's not given. So the first thing I know about
this effectual calling is that it's born of election. In Ephesians
111 it said, we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated
according to the purpose of him who worketh all things, after
the counsel of his own will that we should be to the praise of
his glory who first trusted in Christ and whom we also trusted
after that we heard the word of truth, the gospel of your
salvation. The effectual calling is born
of election. And then secondly, the effectual
call always yields the glory to the one who calls every time. Never an exception. And I'm telling
you this, there's no reason in the center for the election and
calling of God. I'm so tired. I've been hearing
that for 30 years. The only reason I've ever been
able to find in the word of God is that it pleased God to make
you his people. Now, you hunt. I'm hunting. It's
according to the good pleasure of his will. And I used to hear
preachers talk about God looking down through the telescope of
time and seeing what men would and wouldn't do and which ones
would choose him and which ones wouldn't. I get the idea sometimes listening
to preachers on TV and men talking at work that salvation's some
kind of just like a fire escape, that hell's over here and man's
over here. God's over here, and the devil's
over here, and they're having a tug-of-war, and they're pulling,
and you decide which one's gonna come out on top. Let me tell
you something. The reason the gospel of this
generation is not effectual, because there is no God in their
gospel. I'm telling you the truth. There's
no God in their gospel. Paul said, I've separated under
the gospel of God. It's not dependent on my wisdom.
It's not dependent on my knowledge. It's not dependent on my strength. It's not dependent on my character.
I preach the gospel of God. And when God's pleased, he can
speak and things happen. When I speak, they just fall
to the ground. There's no God in the gospel.
In him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Over and
over and over you hear these apostles preaching the God-man. There's no mystery in today's
gospel because they have no God in their gospel. Great is the
mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh,
received up into glory, believed on in the world. Men respond differently according
to who's doing the speaking. My, they said, who is this man?
Even the winds and the waves obey him. Who is this man to whom even
the devils are subject to his voice? Who is this man that he's
able to forgive sin? He's the God-man. That's who
He is, the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm saying that this whole thing
is not about a fire escape. It's about the God of glory.
It's not about me and you, Bobby. It's about Him. He don't choose men because of
something He sees in them or something they do. In fact, it's
the very opposite, Rex. Was it last week you spoke on
1 Corinthians? Chapter 1? He said to do what? He said,
look at your calling, brethren. What kind of calling? Spectral
calling. Not many mighty. Not many nothing. We got any kings in here? Not many mighty, not many noble,
not many wise men after the pledge. 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, that no flesh should glory
in his presence. And I know this, if God ever
affectionately calls you, you'll yield all the glory to him. No
questions asked. It always yields the glory to
God. And I know this, the effectual
call is always effectual. That's why they call it an effectual
call. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians
and he said, I know your election of God. How come? How on earth could
Paul peek into eternity past and know that these folks' names
were written in the Lamb's Book of Life. How could he know that? Well, he tells you why. He said,
because our gospel came not unto you in word only, but in power and demonstration
of the Spirit. Election can only be known this
way. I'm not aware of any other. I've
never read anything about any other. And Peter said this, he
said, give diligence to make your calling and election sure. And that's the order it comes
in from the believer, his calling and then his election. What's that mean? What is Paul
talking? When he wrote to the Thessalonians,
and he said, I know your election of God because our gospel came
not in word only, but in power and demonstration of spirit.
What's he talking about? Well, I'm going to give you three
examples. The sovereign Lord of glory stood beside a tomb,
a three-day-old tomb. And inside that tomb was a man
who he was past helping. His corruption had already set
in. He was stiff as a board. His
flesh had begun to rot. The smell of the corpse could
be smelled all around. And our Lord stood there before
that tomb and called that man out of the corruption of death,
commanded that his grave clothes be loosed from him, and they
fell down at his feet. Can you, in your wildest imagination,
conjure up a picture of Lazarus standing before the Lord of Glory,
his clothes on the ground, asking, I wonder if I'm elect? You can't do it. You can't do
it. There was a smelly, rotten leper
who fell down at the Master's feet, and he said, Lord, if you
will, You can make me clean." And the Lord Jesus Christ looked
at him in tender mercy, and he said, I will. And sitting there
on the ground, trembling before the master, his skin as pink
as a fresh spring flower, can you imagine him questioning his
election? He can't do it. And there was a wild, demon-possessed
man whom they tried to chain, and he'd tear the chains, and
he lived among the dead, and he couldn't be tamed. And the
master commanded those demons to come out of it. And sitting
at his feet in his right mind and clothed, talking with the
master, can you imagine that man questioning his election? I'm telling you, the reason men
doubt and fear and run around in a constant turmoil over election
is because that voice that gives life has never spoke to their
soul. Is that too hard? Paul said,
know you not your own selves, how that Christ dwelleth in you,
except you be reprobate. The voice of God is not in word. The psalmist said, He commanded,
and it stood fast. He spoke, and it was done. Evolution? I don't think so. You seen any centers evolving?
I haven't. I can't see any evolution in
my past, but I do know this. One day he spoke, and I was a
different man. Isaac Watts wrote this old hymn.
This is just the last two verses of it. It says, he calls the
fool and makes him know the mysteries of his grace to bring aspiring
wisdom low and all its pride abates. Nature has all its glories
lost when brought before his throne. No flesh shall in his
presence boast but in the Lord alone. Why? Because many are called but few
are chosen. Lord bless you.