And tonight we're going to observe
the Lord's table together. And I'm preaching on this subject
from first Corinthians chapter 16. A good addiction. A good. Addiction. John chapter 11 verse 28. The secret call of irresistible
grace. John 11, verse 28, and when she
had so said, she went her way and called Mary, her sister,
secretly. Say, the master is come. and calleth for thee." As soon
as she heard that, she arose quickly and came unto Him. Now Jesus was not yet coming
to the town, but was in that place where Martha met Him. The
Jews then, which were with her in the house and comforted her
when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out,
followed her saying, she goeth unto the grave to weep there.
Then, When Mary was come where Jesus was and saw him, she fell
down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been
here, my brother had not died. The secret call. of irresistible,
invincible grace. The grace of God, what is it? How can the grace of God be defined? Now I want you to listen to me
very carefully. Most people, most religious people,
would define God's grace as God's willingness to save anybody,
no matter how bad they are. If they will just accept his
grace, God is willing to give his grace to anybody and everybody. If they will just accept it,
but as to whether or not you have grace, it's up to you. God wants you to have it, but
it's up to you. You will, as an act of your will,
choose to accept it or reject it. Salvation hinges. You having grace hinges on your
acceptance or your rejection of that grace. Salvation is in
your hands. It's up to your acceptance or
rejection. Now, did I give a fair representation
of what most people would call grace? God's willingness to save
anybody, no matter how bad they are, if they will just accept
His grace. Now there's only one problem
with that. It's not true. It flat out is not true. If that's what the Bible teaches
regarding God's grace, grace like that is not grace at all,
nor will it save anybody at all. The secret color of irresistible
grace. Now this irresistible grace is
seen in John chapter 11, verse 43. And when he thus had spoken,
this is talking about the Lord, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus,
come forth. Now I've got a question for you.
Could Lazarus resist that call? Could he say, no, I'm going to
reject that. No, you know better than that.
Lazarus couldn't resist that call. What happened when he said,
Lazarus come forth. He that was dead came forth. Now we thoroughly believe what
is called the doctrine of grace. Men, as a result of Adam's fall
are dead in sins. They can't save themselves. What
can a dead man do? He can do nothing. As far as
saving himself, he can stink. Lazarus did that, but he can't
do much else, can he? But thank God, God in his mercy,
before time began, according to the Bible, elected a people
to be saved. I love election. Unconditionally,
He didn't foresee faith or good works or anything like that.
He did it simply because he would. He chose a people to be saved.
According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
him. I'll tell you who loves election.
The elect love election. Might be that other folks don't
love it, but the elect do. I love election. It opens the
door of grace. Christ's intention when He died
on the cross was limited to the elect. That's who He intended
to save. He never intended to save everybody. He died for His
sheep, the elect of God, and that is who He died for. Limited
atonement, particular redemption, definite atonement, call it whatever
you want to, it's just substitution. Christ died for His people, and
He accomplished their salvation. Thank God for that. God's grace
The grace given to the elect that Christ died for is irresistible
and invincible. That means they can't say no.
Could Lazarus say no? Absolutely not. I love irresistible
grace. And the reason I love irresistible
grace is I know I'd resist it if it wasn't irresistible. But
thank God, He makes His people willing in the day of His power. Irresistible grace. And those
people that God elected, that Christ died for, that God the
Holy Spirit irresistibly calls, they shall persevere all the
way to the end. irresistible grace. We have such
a picture of that in Lazarus, but we have another picture in
our text of irresistible grace. Look once again in verse 28.
I've wanted to preach from this passage of scripture for years
as a picture of irresistible grace, and I've got my opportunity
now that we're here. Verse 28 of John chapter 11.
And when she, Martha, had so said, she went her way and called
Mary her sister secretly, saying, The master has come and calleth
for thee. And as soon as she heard that,
she arose quickly and came unto him. Now, Martha and Mary had
sent the Lord a message concerning their brother Lazarus. They said
in verse three of John chapter 11, therefore, his sisters, Martha
and Mary sent unto him saying, Lord, behold, He whom thou lovest
is sick. Verse 6. When he had heard, therefore,
that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place
where he was. Now the Lord delayed his response.
I'm sure they wanted an immediate response. Lord, he whom you love
is sick. Get down here quick. And the
Lord just delayed that response. That happens a lot, doesn't it?
He doesn't act when we think he ought to act. He delayed his
response. By the time the Lord got there,
Lazarus had been dead for four days. And you can be sure that
Martha and Mary did not understand why the Lord delayed his response.
Now look in verse 17 of John chapter 11. Now, when Jesus came,
He found that he'd lain in the grave four days already. Now, Bethany was nigh into Jerusalem,
about 15 furlongs off, and many of the Jews came to Martha and
Mary to comfort them concerning their brother, then Martha. As
soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met
him. But Mary sat still, in the house. Now, this keeps in character
with these two women. Martha was the doer. Remember, she was
cumbered about with much serving, but Mary sat at Jesus' feet and
heard His Word. Martha was the doer. Mary was
not quite the doer in some measure that Martha was, and she doesn't
come when she hears that the Lord is coming. She sat still
in the house while Martha ran out to meet Him. Now, why didn't
she come with Martha? Well, there's several reasons
that could be given. I think all of them probably have an
element of truth to them. Perhaps he was mad at the Lord
for delaying. You ever been mad at the Lord?
He didn't do what you wanted him to do. You said, I've prayed,
I've sought you, I've asked you to do this, and it didn't happen
the way you wanted it to happen. And you get mad at the Lord.
That's not right, but who hadn't done that? I've gotten mad at
the Lord before. Why haven't you answered my prayers?
Why haven't you given me what I've asked? Why? She was mad
at the Lord. Perhaps that was her case. Or
perhaps she just felt unworthy to come. I understand that. Remember the Roman centurion,
he said, I'm not worthy that thou shouldst enter under my
roof, neither thought I myself worthy to come to thee. Perhaps Mary just felt unworthy
to come to the Lord and the Lord hadn't called her yet. She didn't
see a reason why she could come. You see, when you have some understanding
of who Christ is and who God is and who you are, you'll have
some fears regarding coming to him. I thought of that passage
of scripture I just read from Esther. Esther tells Mordecai when he
asked her to go to the king on behalf of the Jews, whosoever,
listen to the scripture, I've already quoted it, whosoever,
whether man or woman, shall come unto the king and to the inner
courts, who is not called, who is not called, there's one law
for him, to put him to death. You see, the fact of the matter
is you can't come to God unless He calls you. Now, when He calls
you, you'll come, but you're not allowed to come unless He
calls you. And if you try to come without
Him calling you, what you're going to do, you're going to
try to come bypassing the Lord Jesus Christ. And there's only
one law for that one who tries to come into God's presence,
bypassing the Lord Jesus Christ, death. death. That's the one law. You see, when somebody truly comes to
Him, they do not look at it as an entitlement. They come in
fear. The issue is not, will I accept
Him? The issue is, will He accept
me? You know, I don't know of anything
that I find more personally offensive than people talking about accepting
Jesus as your personal Savior. Where's that in the Bible? The
issue is not, will you accept him? He's not up for vote. He's
not up for your acceptance or rejection. He is who he is. The
question is, the issue is, will he accept me? That's the way
I come into his presence. Will he accept me? Now, this call of invincible,
irresistible grace is a personal call. whom he did predestinate,
then he also called." Look in our text in John 11, 28. And
when she had so said, she went her way and called Mary her sister
secretly saying, the master has come and calleth for thee. Lazarus, come forth. Did anybody come forth but Lazarus?
No. If he would have called that
whole graveyard, every one of them would have come out of the
grave, wouldn't they? He called Lazarus. Zacchaeus, make haste
and come down. Today I must abide at thy house. Matthew, rise up and follow me. And he arose, left all, and followed
him. It is a personal call and it
is a secret call. She came to marry secretly. This is that still small voice
heard only in the soul that is called. Nobody else can hear
it when he's calling you, but you do. You do. And we're going to see how you
hear in just a moment, but here are the content of this call.
Look in verse 28, once again, And when she had so said, she
went her way and called Mary her sister secretly, saying,
The Master is come and calleth for thee. Now, here's the content
of the call. The Master is come and calleth
for thee. Now, I love his name here. The
Master. The Master. When he calls you,
you find out that he is the Master. You know, the Lord said, You
call me Master. And Lord, and you say, well,
for so I am. He's the master. You know what
that word master means? The teacher, the teacher. The teacher is come and calls
for thee. There's something very special
about this teacher. This teacher is omnipotent. He has all power. He's omniscient. He is all wise. And because of who he is, he's
able to teach the stupidest of students. Aren't you thankful
for that? You know, if the Lord teaches
you, you're taught. You know, folks say, well, God's
trying to teach me something. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. God
doesn't try to do anything. If he teaches you, you are taught. The teacher is come. There's
only one teacher. Turn to Matthew chapter 23. Matthew chapter 23, verse 8. The Lord says to His disciples,
But be not ye called Rabbi, for one is your master, even Christ,
and all you are brethren. Call no man your father upon
the earth. Now that's not talking about dad, that's talking about
spiritual father. It's okay to call your dad, dad.
He's not talking about calling your dad, dad. He's talking about,
call no man your spiritual father, the one who birthed you. There's
only one father. That's God the Father. Call no
man your father upon earth, for one is your father which is in
heaven. Neither be ye called masters or teachers, for one
is your master, even Christ. Now the teacher is come, and
here we have a summary of divine truth, the teacher, the master.
The Lord is God. Turn to 1 John chapter 4. 1 John chapter 4. Beginning in verse 1. Beloved, believe not every spirit, but
try the spirits, put them to the test, whether they are of
God. Because many false prophets are
gone out into the world, Hereby, now listen to this, hereby know
ye the Spirit of God. Every spirit without exception,
every spirit that confesseth, that's a public declaration,
that confesseth that Jesus Christ, Jesus the anointed Savior, Christ
God's anointed, prophet, priest and king, every spirit that confesseth
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. Now, do
you hear what he's saying? Everybody, no exceptions to this
rule, everybody that confesses, that publicly declares that Jesus
Christ is coming to flesh. Now, there's three things you
confess when you confess that Jesus Christ is coming to flesh.
First, you confess that He was before He came. He's the eternal
Son of God. You confess His deity. He was
before He ever came. Now that babe that was born in
Bethlehem's Mater is He who is eternal. You confess that He
was before He came. And you confess that He came
in the flesh. God was made flesh and dwelt
among us. And we beheld His glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. You confess that He came in the
flesh. And you confess, you publicly
declare that He did whatever it was He came to do when He
came in the flesh. What did He come to do? Matthew 121 says,
Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people
from their sins. You confess that. I mean, this
is our confession of faith, isn't it? He was before He came. He's God. He came in the flesh. He's man. And He did what He
came to do. He saved His people from their
sins. That's our hope of salvation. The Master is come and calleth
for thee. How can I know if he's called
me? I know that he's called his elect. I'm sure of that. For whom he
did predestinate, them he also called. Now how can I know if
he calls me? I want to know because I don't
want to come into his presence if I wasn't called. The only
way I can come into His presence if He's called me, how can I
personally know if He has called me? I'm not arguing over the
fact that He doesn't call everybody. Whatever He does is right. Someone
says, why doesn't He call everybody? Well, ask Him. It's best if He
doesn't. He's in control. Whatever He
does is right. I'm not going to argue that point. Whatever
God does is right. We bow before whatever He does.
We submit. How can I know if He's called
me? We'll look back on our text in
John chapter 11. Verse 28, the master is come
and calleth for thee as soon as she heard that. She arose
quickly and came unto him. How can I know if he's called
for me? by my response. If you come to Him, it's because
He called you. If you don't come to Him, He never called you.
But if you come to Him for mercy, if you call upon His name, He
called you. The reason you call upon His
name is because He called You. You come because He commanded
you to come. She rose up quickly. Now, if
you can delay in this thing and wait till tomorrow, He never
called you. If He calls you, you must come
right now. No delays. You have to get to
Him. You must have Him. You must be
saved by Him. If you can wait, He never called
you. You see, His call is an irresistible call. It's an invincible
call. When He calls you, you rise up
and come quickly. Those He calls come unto Him. She came to Him. You see, coming
to Christ is the action of spiritual life. John chapter 5 verse 39,
the Lord said, You search the Scriptures, for in them you think
you have eternal life? You think if I can just obey this rule
and keep this commandment, I'll have eternal life? He says, You've
missed it. They are they which testify of
Me. and you will not come to me that
you might have life." You see, life is coming to the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's the action of spiritual
life. Listen to this, coming to Christ
is the evidence of divine election. John chapter 6 verse 37, all
that the Father giveth me shall what? Come to me, and him that
cometh to me I'll in no wise cast out. It's what all who are
taught by God do. Turn back to John chapter 6.
Remember, he's the great teacher. John chapter 6. Verse 44. No man can come to me. Except
the Father which hath sent me, draw him, and I'll raise him
up at the last day. It's written in the prophets,
and they shall be all taught of God. Every man, therefore,
that hath heard and hath learned of the Father, what do they do?
They come to me. This is the continual act of
faith. They come to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, in coming to Christ, here's what I'm doing. When I come to
Christ, I'm coming to the Father by Him. I'm not coming on my
own. I'm not coming beside Him. I'm
not coming behind Him. I'm coming in Him. When He comes, I come. I'm pleading
nothing but union with the Lord Jesus Christ. If He comes, I
come. I come to the Father by Him.
He is the way to the Father. He doesn't just show us the way.
He Himself is the way. If I'm in the way, I'm in the
Father's presence. He is the truth. He doesn't just
tell us the truth. He is the truth. He is the life. His life is my life before God. I come to the Father by Him.
You come to Christ as an empty-handed sinner with no way into God's
presence but Him bringing you there. You really believe that? You believe that? You believe
you can't even come into God's presence without Him bringing
you there? You don't come on your own. You come by Him. That's what it is to come to
Christ. To come to Christ is to believe on Christ. It's to
believe on Christ. It really is that simple. I know
you can't make a physical coming of coming to Christ. You believe
on Him. You trust Him. You call on His
name. Lord, save me. Whosoever, I love that word,
whosoever, I'm one of them, whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved. I come to Him calling on His
name. That's how you can know if you've
been called, you come to Christ. Now, if you refuse to come to
Christ, it's your fault. If you come to Him, He'll save
you. But if you come, you know it's because He caused you to
come. You are aware of that. You've
been irresistibly and invincibly drawn by the Father. She arose
quickly and came to Him. I like that word, arose. She
arose quickly. You see, coming to Christ is
a spiritual resurrection, isn't it? She arose quickly and she
came to Him. Now, look in John 11, verse 32. Then, when Mary was come, where
Jesus was. Now, if you come to Christ, you
certainly come to the place where He is. Not where He's not, but
where He is. Where is He? He's on a throne,
ruling and reigning. You come to Him as the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's in His Word. You can't separate
Jesus Christ and His Word. He's in His truth. He's in the
Gospel. He's in His people. She came
to Him where He was. Then when Mary was come where
Jesus was and saw Him. Now the word saw here isn't just
talking about a physical sight. It's talking about a mental perception.
She saw him. She saw him thoroughly. She understood
who he was. The word means to know, to perceive,
to be sure, to have understanding, to experience. She saw him. She saw him. She saw who he was.
He's God. He's man. He's the God-man. He's holy. He's righteous. He's sovereign. He's merciful. He's gracious. She saw His is-ness. She saw who He is as He's revealed
in the Word. She saw Him. And what did she
do when she saw Him? This is so important. This is
what everybody does who sees Him. Verse 32, Then when Mary
was come where Jesus was and saw Him, what did she do? She
fell down at His feet. In Revelation chapter 1 verse
15, His feet are depicted as fine brass. Brass is an alloy. It's made of copper and tin.
melted together, making brass. This speaks of the deity and
the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ. When you come to Him,
you come to Him as God. You're in his hands. He can do with you whatever he's
pleased to do. And you realize that, you know,
when you fall at somebody's feet, you're saying to that person,
you're in control. Decision's not mine. The decision is yours. I'm in your hands for you to
do. It's up to you as to what happens to me. That's what happens
when you fall at somebody's feet. He, she fell, when she saw who
he was, she fell at his feet, knowing he's God, knowing he's
man, knowing he's the God man. You see, Seeing him does something
to the one who sees him. Job said, I've heard of thee
with the hearing of the ear, but now mine eyes have seen thee. Wherefore, I hate myself and
I repent in dust and ashes. Isaiah said, In the year the
king Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord high and lifted up. And what did Isaiah say about
himself? He said, woe is me. I'm undone. It's over for me. I'm a man of
unclean lips. Everything that comes out of
my mouth is unclean because of the uncleanness of my heart.
For mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Daniel, you
know what Daniel said when he saw Him? He said, when I saw
Him, my comeliness, that which I thought was beautiful about
myself, my comeliness turned to corruption. When Peter saw who he really
was, he said, Lord, depart from me. You don't want to have anything
to do with me. I'm a sinful man. Paul said, I'm the chief of sinners. John fell at his feet as dead. This is what happens when somebody
comes to him and sees him. They fall at his feet, not looking
up, but looking down. You know, Judas, he could come
up to him and kiss him on the cheek. He felt worthy. But if
you ever see who He is, there's only one place to go, and that's
down, down at His feet. But you know something? Good things happen at His feet. Now that's the only place to
be. And good things happen at His feet. You see, that's the
place of submission. That's the place of surrender.
That's the place of worship. You know, you'll only worship
a sovereign. Now, do you understand that? I say it all the time. I wonder how much we understand
this. You'll only worship a sovereign. If you can manipulate him, if
you can control him, if you can get him to do what you want him
to do, there's no worship there. You only worship one in whose
hands you are, and he can do with you whatever he's pleased
to do. Only then do you worship. She
came at His feet. Good things happen at His feet.
Let me remind you some things from the Scriptures. In Matthew
chapter 15 verse 30, we read, And great multitudes came to
Him, bringing with Him those that were lame, blind, dumb,
and maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus'
feet. And He healed them. Everybody
that was cast down at His feet. He healed them. Do you remember
that lady who had suffered many things of many physicians and
didn't grow better but actually grew worse? And she comes through
the crowd down on her hands and knees. She didn't come standing
up. She came down on her hands and
knees saying, if I can but touch the hem of his garment, She didn't
even feel worthy to touch His feet. If I could just grab hold
of the hem of His garment, I'll be clean. She touched the hem
of that garment and virtue, saving power, came out of Him. You see,
special things happen at His feet. What about that leper?
That leper came and fell on His face at His feet saying, Lord,
if You will, You can make me clean. It's not up to me. I'm
in your sovereign hands. If you will, you can make me
clean. You know what he said to that
fella? That poor old leper? He said, I will. Be thou clean. Jairus fell at his feet in behalf
of his daughter, and the dead lived. The Syrophoenician woman
fell at his feet, saying, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy
on me. My daughter is grievously vexed
with the devil. And her daughter was made whole.
That woman that was a sinner in Luke chapter 7, she was a
sinner. She was a notorious sinner. She
was an immoral woman. She didn't have one thing to
recommend her to God. She was a sinner. She was an
immoral woman. But what did she do? She washed his feet with
tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head. And he said
to her, Woman, thy sins, which are many, are forgiven thee. Good things happened at his feet.
That man who had a legion of devils cast out of him, you know
what the scripture says about him? They found him sitting at
the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ. clothed. He had been naked. Now he was clothed with the very
righteousness of Christ. And the scripture says he was
in his right mind. He was crazy before. You see,
a lost man is crazy. A lost man is insane. Somebody
who doesn't trust the Lord Jesus Christ, somebody who rejects
the gospel of God's grace, that's crazy. You're your own worst
enemy. But when God saves you, you're
brought into your right mind. And you look to the Lord Jesus
only as everything in your salvation. When he appeared to his disciples
after the resurrection, the scripture says, they held him by the feet and worshipped him. I can get
a hold of that. I mean, in spirit, in spirit
right now, I'm down on my face holding on to his feet. Nothing
else. That's the place of submission.
That's the place of surrender. That's the place of salvation.
At His feet. Now Mary, she comes and falls
at His feet. She'd been there before. You
remember there in Luke chapter 10 where Martha was comforted
with much serving? But Mary, the scripture says,
sat at His feet and heard His word. And she'd be there again. I know she's in His feet now,
but she's going to be there again in John chapter 12, breaking
that precious box of ointment on His feet and wiping His feet
with the hairs of her head. You see, this is some place that
a believer's always at, at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's not a one-time thing. You get to His feet and you'll
stay there and you'll never leave. You won't find any safety in
anything else. When she saw Him, She fell down at His feet. And here's the place I do not
want to leave. This is the place of submission. This is the place of surrender.
This is the place of satisfaction. This is the place of salvation.
Those He calls secretly with irresistible grace, here's where
you'll find them. at His feet. Well, am I at His feet? In spirit? Am I truly bowed down
at His feet, worshiping Him? Well, here's the way I can know. Do you believe on Him? If you believe on Him as your
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, if you trust
Him, being in Him brings you to the Father. If you trust Him,
if you call upon His name, and that's what, Lord, save me. Whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. The called
call. That's what they do. The folks that he calls, here's
what they're all the time doing. They're calling, Lord, save me.
Lord, do something for me. Lord, have mercy on me. Lord,
don't pass me by. Lord, save me. That's what everybody
he calls do. They call on his name. Everybody who has been called
by irresistible, invincible grace. And thank God for irresistible
grace. I've heard people say, I don't like that. Well, I do.
I do. Matter of fact, I like it a lot.
Matter of fact, I love it. Irresistible grace, that's saving
grace. Everybody he calls by his irresistible grace, they
will be found sitting at the feet of Jesus Christ, the Lord. May God enable us all to do that
in spirit, even now. Let's pray together.