about the character of the call. What I want to do is sort of
give a general overview or a summary of what the Scriptures teach
concerning the call of God, by which we have been brought to
life and faith in Christ, and by which you who are yet without
Christ must be brought to life and faith in him. Let's begin
in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, this blessed passage of Scripture
which I has been etched in our hearts by the finger of God.
Second Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 13. But we are bound to give thanks
all way to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because
God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the whereunto he called you by our
gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Now pay close attention to the words of Holy Scripture. I'm
afraid that many times we are all guilty of reading the Scriptures
like we do the newspaper, just kind of scanning them rapidly
to pick up the highlights. But when it comes to the Word
of God, the highlights are in the details. These things described
in these two verses are given by the Spirit of God to give
assurance to every sinner who trusts the Lord Jesus Christ
that these things are true of him. If you and I trust Jesus
Christ the Lord as he's revealed in Scripture, look to his blood
and his righteousness alone for our acceptance with God, these
things are true of us. These are not suppositions, these
are things that are true facts of the gospel revealed concerning
every true believer. Number one, God has from the
beginning chosen you. Distinctly you, particularly
you, you as opposed to all others. What a blessed word of good news
this is. The Holy Lord God chose you as
the special object of his love and his distinguishing grace
in Christ before the world began. In fact, the reason why he made
the world is because he chose you, he chose you. That which
separates you and me, from the rest of mankind is the distinguishing
grace of God in election. The reason we're here tonight
attempting, by God's grace, to worship him, to worship at the
throne of his darling son, rather than kneeling before a stump,
rather than being engulfed in the deceit of Antichrist freewill
works religion, is because God chose you. That's the doctrine
taught in this opening line. The second thing is this, God
chose you to salvation. Now that's very important, very
important for many reasons, but particularly in our day, because
folks say, well election is so that you'll be a missionary,
or elections under service, or election is for the apostles
to be apostles, and such as that. God didn't choose you under service,
he chose you under salvation. Some say, well this means that
the Lord chose you to give you an opportunity to be saved. That's
not what it says. It doesn't say that God chose
you to give you a chance. It doesn't say God chose you
to give you an offer. But God chose you to salvation. So election in its ultimate end
is salvation. Those who are chosen of God must
and shall be saved by God. Thirdly, God chose you to salvation
through sanctification of the Spirit That is to say, through
the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit by which he cuts
us out from the rest of mankind, by which he calls us in his grace,
the work of the Holy Spirit is as essential to salvation as
is the work of election and the work of redemption by the Father
and the Son. Those who are chosen of God unto
salvation obtain that salvation by the sanctifying, regenerating
work of the Holy Spirit in which he gives us a new holy nature. Not only are we saved by the
imputing of Christ's righteousness to us in justification, but also
by the imparting of a righteous nature to us in regeneration. Now then, look at this. God has
chosen you. to salvation through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the truth. Faith in Christ, who is
the truth, is as essential to salvation as is sanctification
by the Spirit, redemption by the Son, and election by the
Father. This faith in Christ, who is
the truth, is inseparably connected with believing the truth of God
as it is revealed in Holy Scripture. In the first chapter of Ephesians,
in verse 13, the Apostle Paul tells us that we believed after
that we heard the word of truth, the gospel of our salvation accomplished
in Jesus Christ the Lord. Now look at this last thing.
God chose you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit
and belief of the truth. That is, he called you to this
salvation, he called you to this sanctification, he called you
to this belief of the truth by our gospel. I come back to this
point this evening because it is absolutely essential that
we understand the teaching of Holy Scripture in this regard.
Chosen redeemed sinners are brought into the blessed experience of
God's grace in salvation only by the effectual call of the
Holy Spirit through the preaching of the gospel, through the hearing
of the word of truth. Now tonight I want to show you
four things clearly and distinctly revealed in scripture concerning
the call of God. I want to show you these four
things which clearly are characteristics of the call. First, it is a call
from God. Now you can look at numerous
scriptures. The Apostle Paul describes himself
as that one whom God called when it pleased him and revealed his
son in him. This call of the Spirit is that
which comes to us through the three persons, or by the three
persons, of the Sacred Trinity. So that the call of the Spirit,
like every other aspect of salvation, is set forth as being the work
of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Because the
triune God ever is one, and the triune God always works as one. So often people get the idea
that somehow God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit
have different notions and different ideas and different wills. That's
never the case. That which is the will of the
Father is the will of the Son and the Spirit. And the same
is true throughout all aspects of our salvation. Sometimes salvation
is ascribed to the work of God the Father who called us. He
called us by his grace, Paul said, and revealed his Son in
us. He called us into the fellowship
of his Son. He called us by his Son, Christ
Jesus. Sometimes we are said to be called
by God the Son. We are the called of Jesus Christ,
Paul said in Romans chapter 1 and in verse 6. He's represented
to us in the book of Proverbs as wisdom, and as the eternal
word, the logos, the living word of God, by whom we are called
unto life and faith in him. And then sometimes, and principally,
this call is ascribed to God the Spirit, because the work
of the Holy Spirit in his office capacity primarily is that of
our Comforter who reveals to us the things of Christ. He comes
to God's elect and he grants to those who are redeemed by
God's Son a knowledge of Jesus Christ the Lord, granting us
life and faith in him which brings comfort and consolation. Would
to God I could make everyone who attempts to preach, who pretends
to preach the gospel of God's grace, understand that faith
in Christ, when properly understood, faith in Christ, when properly
expounded in the Scriptures, is that which does not set men
upon introspection of how good they are and how well they measure
up. Oh no! Faith in Christ directs
us always to Christ, and that faith which looks to Christ alone
always fetches from him comfort for our souls. Do you understand
that? The Holy Spirit is sent to show God's people the things
of Christ, and as that one who calls us, he's described in his
ultimate capacity as the Comforter. the blessed, blessed comforter
who comes and applies to us the comfort of the gospel. It is
God the Spirit who brings chosen sinners then to life and faith
in Jesus Christ. It is the Spirit that quickeneth
the flesh, profiteth nothing. There is one body, one Spirit,
even as you're called in one hope of your calling, the Scripture
says. Now this effectual call is by a divine work alone, arising
from and accomplished by the will of God alone. This can't
be said often enough, it can't be said forcefully enough, it
can't be said dogmatically enough. It is not in any way or to any
degree dependent upon or determined by the work of a sinner. The
Apostle Paul tells us that God called us with a holy calling,
not according to our work, 2nd Timothy 1.9. He tells us that
God called us by his will and by his power, and he says it's
not by our will. In other words, our works of
righteousness, our good deeds, our repentance, our reading the
Bible, our prayers, our church attendance, our baptism, our
observing the Lord's Supper, all our works of righteousness,
our moral deeds of charity and philanthropy, our great sacrifices,
all those things have absolutely nothing to do beforehand or afterwards
with the call of God. In other words, our works don't
contribute anything to it. And then Paul says, it's not
of him that willeth. Now wait a minute, Pastor. We
understand when I say by our works, but surely our will has
something to do with it. No, not a thing. Not a thing. We are made willing by his call. But our will does not determine
the call. The scripture says it's not of
him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that
showeth mercy. If you make the will of God and
the call of God in any way to be dependent upon you or dependent
upon any man, then you declare that man is his own savior and
not God Almighty. Such doctrine is intolerable.
It cannot be excused. Because this effectual call is
God's work and God's work alone, it is always irresistible. Now I want you to turn to Ephesians
chapter one and look at what the scripture said. Oh I hope
you've learned to love that term irresistible grace. I like it. Irresistible grace. How sweet
the sound of irresistible grace. Because grace that can be resisted
is not grace. A God who can be resisted is
not God. Successfully resisted, of course,
is what I mean. All men by nature resist God's
call. All men by nature resist God's
grace. All men by nature resist God.
But nobody resists God's will and God's work successfully.
A call that can be resisted never saved anyone. It is only irresistible
grace that makes doomed, damned, dead sinners willing in the day
of God's power. The call of the Spirit is an
irresistible call because when God works, none can hinder. When God calls sinners who are
dead in trespasses and sins, they rise out of their graves
like Lazarus and come forth to the Lord Jesus Christ. The omnipotent
call of God is a life-giving, resurrecting call. Look at the
Scriptures here. It takes the very same power
to raise a sinner from spiritual death to spiritual life in Christ
that it took to raise the dead body of Christ from the grave
out of the tomb back up into heaven's glory. Here in Ephesians
1 verse 18. Paul is praying that the eyes
of your understanding may be enlightened, that you may know
what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory
of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness,
you see that? the exceeding greatness of his
power. Not physical power, but spiritual
power. Not physical omnipotence, but
spiritual omnipotence. Can you understand what I'm talking
about? It's a power that doesn't force you, it's a power that
A power that changes your heart and your will and your nature,
that you may know the exceeding greatness of his power, power
directed to us. Power aimed like a laser beam
right at your heart to us who believe. And how is it that we
come to believe? According to the working of his
mighty power. We preach, reason with men, plead
with men, pray for men, weep over men. We preach and plead
with and pray for our sons and daughters and weep over their
souls. We preach and plead with God that he may have mercy upon
sinners. And when all is said and done,
the only way on this earth any sinner ever is brought to belief
is by the power directed specifically to that sinner. Now listen to
what that power is, which he wrought in Christ when he raised
him from the dead. You see sinners are dead and
the new birth is a resurrection. That necessitates that the work
be God's work alone, which raises the sinner from the dead. Man's
will has nothing to do with it, he's dead. His works have nothing
to do with it, he's dead. A dead man lives only if somebody
else who has the ability to do so comes to him and gives him
life. Not only is this a call from
God, but secondly it is a call by the gospel. This text we read
a moment ago in 2 Thessalonians 2. The apostle Paul tells these
Thessalonian believers and us that we are called to salvation
by the gospel, whereunto he called you by our gospel. He told the Ephesian believers
that they believed after that they heard the word of truth,
the gospel of their salvation. I've dealt with this a good bit
in the recent weeks. And I will probably stress it
continually in weeks to come, because I constantly find conflict
and misunderstanding. I'm not going to spend a great
deal of time on this aspect of the message this evening, but
I want you to understand that this is a matter of immense importance.
It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe. God does not call sinners to
life and faith in Christ. Sinners are not born again. Sinners do not come to believe
without the preaching of the gospel. I know people say, well,
surely you don't mean that a man can't just read the Bible and
come to understand the things of God from just reading the
Bible. No, I don't mean that. That's what God means. That's
exactly what He means. That's the reason He gave you
a pastor and a preacher. That's the reason He gave somebody to
tell you the truth. So that men might hear the Word. It pleased God to grant men knowledge
and understanding and life itself through the preaching of the
Word. Oh, that lifts the preacher up off the high. No, the preacher's
nothing. He's just an empty pipe. He's
nothing. The reason God uses nothing is
to do it. It's so he gets the glory. But God speaking through
a man grants life to sinners. Now listen and see if this is
not the teaching of Scripture. Of his own will begat he us with
the word of truth. James 1.18 What does that mean? It means he begat us with the
word of truth. We are born again, not of corruptible seed, but
of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which lives and abides
forever. And then, you know, you run across
others, well that's talking about Christ, the Living Word. You
showed me somewhere in this book where the Living Word separated
from the written Word. me somewhere where it is. The living word
is made known only by the written word. The living word speaks
only by the written word. The living word reveals himself
only by the written word. And just to make certain that
you understand what he's talking about, the Holy Spirit inspired
Peter to go on to say, and this is the word which by the gospel
is preached unto you. To suggest that God may call
sinners and grant them life and faith in Christ, bypassing the
means which he has ordained for salvation, is utterly ludicrous. You see, if God's pleasure is
to save his people through the preaching of the word, as Paul
says in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, it please God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. If that's his pleasure,
I wonder when he doesn't do his Wonder when he doesn't do his
pleasure? I'll tell you the only time I don't do my pleasure is
when I get in a bind and can't do it. And to suggest that God Almighty
has gotten into a bind and can't do his pleasure is blasphemy.
God doesn't ever get into a bind. If it pleased the Lord to save
his people by the foolishness of gospel preaching, he says,
I will do all my pleasure. And he does. God saves his elect. He gives them life and faith
in Christ by the sovereign power of his Holy Spirit only through
the preaching of the gospel of his son. Now I stress this fact
because it places upon our shoulders an immense, immense burden of
responsibility. Turn to Ezekiel chapter 33. I
want you to look at two texts of scripture with me. Ezekiel
chapter 33. Verse 7, So thou, O son of man, I have
sent thee a watchman unto the house of Israel. Therefore thou
shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me, when I
say to the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die, if thou
dost not speak to warn You don't tell him the words you heard
from my mouth. You don't declare to him the word that I sent you
to declare. That wicked man shall die in
his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thine hand. My soul, I never leave those
words without crying them out. Nevertheless, if thou warn the
wicked of his way to turn something, If he do not turn from his way,
he shall die in his iniquity. But thou hast delivered thy soul.
Now let's look at the New Testament explanation of that in 1 Corinthians
chapter 9. 1 Corinthians 9 verse 16. This is how Paul, writing by
inspiration, tells us what the Lord meant by Ezekiel's word. For though I preach the gospel,
I have nothing to glory of." Man, this is nothing to make
you stick out your chest and pop your suspenders and strut
before men. For necessity is laid upon me. Yea, woe is unto
me. That's the same word our Lord
used when he spoke to the Pharisees. Woe is unto me. That doesn't
Necessities laid upon me, yea, if I don't obey then I'm going
to lose the crown when I get to heaven. Oh no. Woe is unto
me if I preach not the gospel. I take this matter of preaching
the gospel to be a deadly serious responsibility for me and for
you. for me as your pastor and for
us as believers and a body of believers in this congregation.
As a preacher it is my responsibility to seize every opportunity God
gives me and puts before me to the best of my ability to preach
the gospel. It is not enough merely to preach
or merely to preach the doctrinal facts and moral lessons revealed
in Holy Scripture. But it is my responsibility as
I open the word of God and stand before me, and whether it is
by writing or standing here preaching or over radio, it is my responsibility
as a man speaking for God to preach the gospel. The Word of
God has not been preached until the gospel of God's free grace
has been expounded. That's my responsibility. It
doesn't matter whether you're teaching five-year-old children
or whether you're teaching 75-year-old men. It doesn't matter whether
you're talking to one person or talking to 20. As God gives
opportunity to speak His Word, it is our responsibility to preach
the gospel, the gospel of His free grace. to declare to men
they're ruined by the fall. The only possibility and certainty
of redemption is by the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, and
that regeneration is the work of his Spirit. And as individual
believers, as a local church, it is our responsibility to use
everything God puts in our hands and seize every opportunity he
gives us for the furtherance of the Why else do you reckon he left
us on this earth? What other function do you think
you've got here? What other purpose do we have here? Now I realize
religious infidels. I realize that folks deluded
with free will works religion. Imagine somehow that God left
us here to finish up what Christ failed to do. He left us here,
you know, so we could make ourselves completely holy because he missed
it somewhere. But we understand the truth of
God. We have been made right now in Jesus Christ meet to be
partakers of the inheritance of the saints in life. That means
there's nothing else to be done. The only thing, the only thing
that keeps us right now from glory is the fact that we still
live in these tabernacles of clay. I mean that's the only
thing. There's absolutely no other function I can find in
the book of God for you and I existing upon this earth except for the
preaching of the gospel. God left us here as his servants
and said you shall be my witness. You shall be my witnesses. The
word in the New Testament comes from the word that we would normally
translate martyr. That's what it means. To be his
witness is to be his martyr. That means that Mark Henson and
Don Fortner, if we are here, if we are here, and Judy Estes
and Cathy Pruitt, if we are here, that means that we are men and
women who have willingly sacrificed our lives for his cause. That's what it is. Oh, pastor, you mean everything? That's what a martyr does. That's what he does. If we faithfully meet the responsibilities
that God puts before us in preaching the gospel and sinners refuse
to believe, then their blood is forever upon their heads.
But we have delivered our souls and are free from their blood.
If, however, we refuse to meet these responsibilities, my God, their blood shall forever
be upon our heads. Because we have not laid down
our lives in the cause. We have not indeed given up our
lives to Jesus Christ the Lord. Now thirdly, this call of God,
it is a call from God, it is a call by the gospel, and it
is a call of grace. The apostle Paul writing in Galatians
1 15 says, God called me by his grace. God, as the God of all
grace, calls sinners to grace in life, grace and glory in Jesus
Christ. The superabundance of God's grace
is displayed in the call. In fact, the first open manifestation
of God's grace toward us is in this call of the gospel. It is
by this call that we were drawn with lovingkindness, and it is
the fruit of God's lovingkindness and the evidence of God's lovingkindness
that he calls us by his grace. when we think of God's call,
we ought to always remember these three things concerning it being
a call of grace. The call of grace is the fruit
of everlasting love. I have loved thee with everlasting
love, therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. It is also
that which is issued to sinners according to the sovereign will
of God our Savior. I read today in Mark chapter
3, once more where our Lord goeth up into a high mountain, and
calleth unto him whom he would. And they come to him. He called
whom he would, he still does. And they came to him, they still
do, as he calls them. And thirdly, oh thank God it
is a call without repentance. It's unchangeable. Irreversible,
irrevocable, for the gifts and callings of God are without repentance. Now here is the happiness and
the joy of this doctrine. Those who are called of God are
by their call assured of everlasting glory. Whom he did predestinate,
then he also called. be called, then be also justified. To be justified, then be also
glorified. Now, if I believe God, I am called
by God the Spirit, and that is an assurance, that is an assurance
that I've been predestined everlasting life, justified by the blood
of God's dear Son, and shall be glorified at last. Now then,
look back at our text in 2 Thessalonians Verse fourteen, Whereunto he called you by our
gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord God, in this call, issues
a call unto glory, and his call will result in our everlasting
even the possession and enjoyment forever of the glory which Jesus
Christ now possesses as the God-man, our mediator. Now then, listen
to this one word and go home rejoicing, you who are called.
Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causes to approach
unto thee, is the reason that he may dwell in thy court. Now
then, being called, we shall be satisfied with the goodness
of thy house. Amen. Father, bless now your
word through the hearts of these who heard it, for the glory of
your Son. Comfort, edify, and strengthen
your saints, and be pleased by your grace. to call dead sinners
to life in Jesus Christ our Lord.