The Word of God has some things
to say about a book of life. The book of life. The disciples
returned one day to the Lord Jesus Christ, and they said,
Master, even the devils are subject unto us. And our Lord said, Rejoice
not that the demons are subject unto you, but rather rejoice
that your names are written in the book of life. Then over here
in Revelation 13, 8, talking about the beast and the dragon
and some of the things that will happen in the last days, and
it says in verse 8 of Revelation 13, And all that dwell upon the earth
shall worship him," that's speaking of the beast, the dragon, the
false prophet. They shall all worship him, whose
names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. It's called the Lamb's book of
life. It's the book of life of the Lamb who was slain from the
foundation of the world. Then over here in Exodus 32,
the people of Israel had sinned a great sin, and the judgment
of God had fallen upon them, and Moses interceded, stood between
the Lord's wrath and the people. And he said in Exodus 32, verse
31, Moses returned to the Lord and said, O all this people have
sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold, and yet
now, if thou wilt forgive their sin, and he paused, and yet now,
if thou wilt forgive their sin. And he continued, and he said,
and if not, Blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast
written.' And the Lord said, Moses, whosoever hath sinned
against me, him will I blot out of my book." Now, my friends,
the great book of God's decrees, the Lamb's Book of Life, and
the book of the will of God is closed to the curiosity of men. It's not open. There's no man
and no angel who has access to the book of life. How would you
like to look within it? Be honest now. Be totally honest. How would you like tonight to
have a glimpse into the book of life? I shudder, and I know
I ought not say this, but I would. I really would. I really would. I know it wouldn't do me any
good, and I know that would be the end of the life of faith.
It would be a confidence then, a presumption probably, maybe
a little carelessness, indifference, and not waiting upon the Master.
But I honestly would like very much to look into the Book of
Life. Whose name would I look for first?
Come on now. You know and I do too. I was
sitting there thinking while I was preparing this message.
I'd look for my name. I really would. I love you, honey,
but you'd be second. That's just so. I'd look under
the elms. A friend of mine, Bob Ross, out
in Houston, Texas, sent me a picture of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington. He and his wife went over there.
some time ago, and they looked up Robby's name on the Vietnam
Memorial. It's a huge memorial out of some
kind of material, but everybody who was killed in Vietnam, their
names are written on that memorial. And Bob took the time to go and
find Robby's name in alphabetical order by date and so forth, and
sent me a photograph of his name, and all the thousands of names,
you know. Think how many thousands of names
are in God's lamp book of life. I actually told Abraham they're
the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore. But if
I could look in that book tonight, and I shudder even to think about
such a thing, and I know it's not pleasing to the Lord for
us to have this type of curiosity, but I'd look up my name. And
I'd love to stay there all day just looking. Now, child, I'd
look for you, you know. I sure would. I surely would. I'd look for you, Jim. I'd look
up all my friends, you know. I'd want to know. And yet, it's
closed to all but Christ. Turn to Revelation 5. I do know
this. The Master knows his sheep. The
Master knows his sheep. He said, I know my sheep, and
am known of mine. And that book is closed to all
but Christ. That's what it says in Revelation
5, verse 5. Listen to it. Revelation 5, verse
5 says, And one of the elders said unto me, Weep not. The reason
they were weeping, verse 4, said, I wept much, because no man was
found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. And one of the elders said to
me, Weep not, behold the line of the tribe of Judah, the root
of David. He hath prevailed to open the
book and to loose the seven seals thereof. The time has not yet
come for the opening of that book. It will be open. Turn to
Revelation 20. It will be open. It will be open. Revelation 20, verse 11, says
this, listen to it. And I saw a great white throne,
and him that sat on it from whose face the earth and the heaven
fled away, and there was found no place for them. And I saw
the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were
opened." Now, here's what I'm interested in, and another book
was opened, and another book was opened, which is the book
of life. And verse 15 says, "...whosoever was not found written in the
book of life," the Lamb's book of life, "...was cast into the
lake of fire. And whosoever was not found written,
and who writes the name? God writes the name. And if we're
not found there, we're cast into the lake of fire. Somebody wrote
a hymn about this. One verse says, Eternal Father,
who shall look into thy secret will? None but the Lamb shall
take the book and open every seal. Spurgeon preached a sermon
on it. I want to read you what he said. He said, How am I to know whether
I am predestinated by God unto eternal life or not? It is a
question in which my eternal interests are involved. Am I among that unhappy number
who shall be left in their natural darkness and sin to reap the
wages of their iniquity? Or do I belong to that blessed
company who, though they have sinned, shall nevertheless be
washed in the blood of the Lamb, and shall walk the streets of
glory? Is my name written in the Lamb's Book of Life? Until
this question is answered, My heart can know no rest, for I
am most anxious about it. My relationship with Christ concerns
me much more than all the affairs of this life. Tell me, oh tell
me if you know, is my name written there? Is my name written there
in that book of the Lamb slain before the foundation of the
world? I'm sorry, but there's no answer. There's no answer. I inquire again, is my name written
in that book of life of the Lamb slain before the foundation of
the world? I listen. There's no answer. That book shall not be opened
until that day. That book shall not be opened
until that day. There is some evidence to be
found in the book that he has opened, his precious work. That's some evidence. You see
what he's saying? I can't pry into the secret will of God Almighty. I do not know. I cannot know
until that day. But I can look into this book
which has been opened and which is the foundation of faith. And
he continues and he says, God has not published the names of
the redeemed in this Bible, but he has published their character
and their calling. It's clearly written. For if
you are among the called of Christ Jesus, you are among the elected. And if you are among the elected,
you are among the predestinated. And if you are among the predestinated,
you are among those whose names are in the book of life. So for
us, the thing to do is not to pry, in our curiosity, into the
secret will of God, but to give ourselves, as our text says,
turn to 2 Peter. Listen to this. But to give ourselves,
2 Peter 1, verse 10. diligently to make our calling
sure. See what I'm saying? I hope that's
clear. I hope that's clear. I want it
to be. There is a book of life. It's
a book written by the hand of God. It's the book of the Lamb
slain before the foundation of the world. Those names recorded
there are the sheep of Christ, the elect, given to Christ by
the Father before the world began. Those for whom he suffered and
those for whom he died and those, as Ron prayed, for whom he perfectly
obeyed the law. It's an unchangeable book. The
recordings are unchangeable. He said, the gifts and calling
of God are without change. And my heart beats most rapidly
when I read about it, and I wonder, is my name written there? But
there's no answer. I say, oh, tell me, is my name
written there? But there's no answer to my inquiry.
But the answer comes, would you know, look in the book that God
has opened, look in his word, and if you can make your calling
sure, then you can be sure of your election. If you can make
your calling sure, you can be sure of your predestination.
If you can make your calling sure, you can be sure that your
name is in the book of life. Now, there are two callings mentioned
in the Bible. Look at the text again. Let's
get clear in our mind what we're talking about here now, what
we're inquiring into. He says in verse 10 of 2 Peter
1, "...wherefore the rather brethren give diligence." Now, that's
not a passing fancy. That's a deep, diligent concern. Like Spurgeon said here, my relationship
with Christ concerns me more than the affairs of this life.
And what troubles me most about us is that we are so careful
and diligent in the making of a living, in the building of
a house, in the getting of an education, in the establishment
of our influence. We're so diligent about the affairs
of this life that will soon pass away. And we're so careless and
so indifferent about these eternal matters that the only thing that
really matters, and what he says here is so important, my relationship
with Christ, if it doesn't, it ought to concern me more than
all the affairs of this life. It really ought. And that's what
he's saying, give diligence, diligence to make your calling
and election sure, for if you do these things, you shall not,
you shall never fall. For so an interest shall be ministered
unto you abundantly." Abundantly. God doesn't, somebody says, I
just want to get to heaven by the skin of my teeth. Nobody
gets there that way. There's an abundant interest.
There's an abundant interest. I just want to slip in the door.
That's not the way they enter. They enter in the name of their
Lord with a great welcome, abundantly, abundantly into the everlasting
kingdom of our Lord. Now, there are two callings mentioned
in the Scripture. First of all, there's a general
call. Turn to Proverbs 1. Now, just know this is so. I don't have time tonight to
cover all of them. People who love God don't need
arguments. They don't need arguments and
logic. They just know that these things are true. There are two
calls mentioned in the scriptures. There's a general call. I believe,
to some extent, heard by all men. I really do. And that involves
conscience. The scripture says that every
man has a conscience. And the law of God is written
on the heart of, on the conscience of every man, on the heart of
every man. I don't care where you go in
the world or whomever you encounter, they know certain things are
wrong. Well, who taught them that these things were wrong?
It's the law of God written on the heart. So when men violate
their consciences and violate that which is written on their
heart by the hand of God, they sin against God. There's also
the call of law, the law that God has given. There's also the
call of nature. The heavens declare the glory
of God. The book of Romans tells us that
the power of God is seen in the things that are created. You
mentioned that in your prayer. The things that are created reveals
the power and presence of God. And men refused that light. When they knew him as God, they
worshiped him not as God, but turned their worship to the creature
instead of the Creator. And here he says in Proverbs
124, I have called. God calls by conscience, calls
by the light of the law, God calls by providence and by judgment
and by nature, I've called and you refused. I've stretched out
my hand and no man regarded. You have set it naught, all my
counsel, and would none of my reproof. I also will laugh at
your calamity, I'll mock when your fear cometh. When your fear
cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind,
when distress and anguish cometh upon you, then shall they call
upon me, but I will not answer." Why? I called you, and you didn't
answer. It's going to be a strange prayer
meeting someday. Men praying, not to God, but
to the rocks and mountains. Not to give them life, but to
fall on them. Not to reveal God to them, but
to hide them from his face. What an awful day. And yet he
said, I call, but you refuse. So there's a general call. Our
Master told us to go into all the world and preach the gospel
to every creature. Every creature. And that's that
general call. But my friends, there's an effectual
call. Turn to Romans chapter 8. And
you say, well, preacher, what do you mean by an effectual call? I mean, effectual, it gets the
job done. That's what the word effectual
means. It accomplishes what it sets out to do. It's an effective,
an effective call, an effectual call. When God calls a man with
this effectual call, that man hears and responds. That man
is made willing in the day of God's power. He says in Romans
8, verse 29, for whom, let's read verse 28, and we know that
all things work together for good to them that love God, to
them who are what? The called. The called according
to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate. to be conformed to the image
of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren,
moreover whom he did predestinate them he also called." He called. And this call is by his Spirit
and by his Word. He called. Now, I'm saying this,
but keep that scripture there a minute. There is a general
call. There are people sitting right here. And people who hear
me where I preach, and people here who hear other preachers.
And I often have people say to me, I don't understand how a
person can sit and listen to a clear-cut, biblical, scriptural,
spirit-given interpretation of the salvation of man's creation
and fall and death and sin and God's mercy and love and grace
in Christ. And how that he can sit and listen
to Christ's death, burial, and resurrection, God's mercy extended
to sinners, and how he can sit and listen to that and not be
moved by it and not be brought to love it and to appreciate
it? Wait a minute now. You did for 17 years, didn't
you, back there? Yes, sir, and some of the rest
of you did, too. And some of you had been sitting here a long
time listening to it and you hadn't been moved yet. No, I
do understand. I do understand. I understand
that a blind man can't see if you shine a thousand watt light
bulb in his eye. I don't care whether you shine
a candle or a thousand watt light bulb, he's blind. That's exactly
right. And a deaf man, I don't care
if it's just the tinkling of a cymbal or the roar of a jet,
he don't hear. That's just all there is to it.
He does not hear. And he does not understand. They
have eyes, Christ said, but they can't see. They have ears, but
they can't hear. And I'm telling you, it's further
proof that salvation comes by revelation. By revelation. And I'm telling you, we need
to do some praying for ourselves. Lord, don't pass me by, don't
leave me in my blindness. That's what bind Bartimaeus.
He said, Lord, have mercy on me. Don't pass me by. Don't leave me here. If you leave
me here, I'll rot here. If you leave me here, this is
where I'll stay. If you pass me by, I'll never see. That's
my only opportunity. That's my only way to see my
son of David. Wait a minute. Have mercy on
me. Don't leave me. I don't see it, preacher. Well,
pray for eyes. Pray to him who made the eye
that he'll make you see. Pray to him who made the ear
that he'll give you hearing. Cry. Don't go through the night. Be like Jacob. I'm not going
to let you go. You bless me. Why not? Why not? You know where our Lord
said, Ask and you shall receive. You know what that word is? It's
keep on asking. That's exactly what that word
means. Ask and you shall receive. Knock and it shall be opened.
seek and ye shall find, those words are keep on asking. I'll tell you, I'll tell you,
if you were blind, you'd keep on asking if there's somebody
around that could make you sick. Now you would. If you thought
there was somebody here that could make you walk, John, you'd
worry him to death, wouldn't you? That's right, I know you
accept your condition, you accept God's providence, you accept
God's will in your life, but still, if you thought there's
somebody in that next room that could make you walk so you could
go to all my conferences, that's right, you'd worry him to death.
Huh? Isn't that right? We don't believe. We don't believe. Take heed,
brethren, lest there be found in you an evil heart of unbelief.
We don't believe there's someone near who can make us see. We
don't believe there's someone here who can make us here, or
we'd wear him to death, Charlie. That's what that Syro-Phoenician
woman did. The disciple said, send her away,
she'd wear us to death! Lord, she'd wear us to death!
Send her away. Wear us to death. That was the
man who wanted his daughter healed, wasn't it? It was a man that
the son was possessed with a demon. He said, he'd wear us to death.
And he said, bring him to me. And he came to him and he said,
if you can believe, all things are possible. And he said, Lord,
I believe. Help my unbelief. Send to it. But I tell you, if
we believe, that there's an effectual call. Turn to John chapter 10. It comes by revelation. John
chapter 10. There's an effectual call. I
love the shalls and the wills of God's Word. You shall believe. They shall come. Yes, sir. I
don't believe that fellow will ever be saved. If he wants God's
elect, he will. Boy, I tell you, I just don't
believe that fellow will ever bow to Christ. If he wants God's
elect, he'll bow. He'll bow. God will bring him. Listen here, I'll show you that
in John 10, verse 24. Then the Jews came round about
him, and they said, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If
thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. He said, I told you. I told you,
and you didn't believe me. I told you, the works that I
do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. My works
told you. I not only told you in word,
but my works told you. Even old Dick of Demas said you
couldn't do these things except God be with him. They knew that.
They knew that. My works. But you don't believe
because you're not of my sheep. I told you, I said unto you,
my sheep hear. They hear. They hear my voice.
They hear my voice. And I know them, and they'll
follow me, and I'll give them eternal life, and they'll never
perish. Well, let me see if I can just three things without keeping
you here a long time. Let's see if I can first of all
illustrate this divine call, and secondly, by way of examination,
let's see if we've heard that divine call, and then thirdly,
by way of comfort or consolation, Let's find some reason to rest. First of all, the call illustrated.
I'll give you five or six illustrations. First of all, our Lord came to
a grave. A man called Lazarus had been
dead for three or four days, and he was laid in the tomb.
And according to his own sister's testimony, he'd been there so
long not being embalmed, he already was stinking. And they rolled
a stone in front of the grave. Now, that's a picture of us.
That's right. Turn to Ephesians chapter 2,
and I'll show you. It says here in Ephesians 2,
And you hath he quickened, or made alive, who were what? Dead.
I know it's not a pretty picture, but we're dead in trespasses
and sins. When Adam sinned, death, spiritual
death, came upon all men. We've been in the grave a long
time. It says in Ephesians 2, and you hath he quickened, or
made alive, who were dead, dead in trespasses and sin, dead. Look at verse 5. Even when we
were dead in sin, he hath quickened us to gather with Christ. And
Lazarus was laying in that tomb dead, powerless, powerless to
free himself, powerless to give himself life. Nobody out here
could give him life. He was corrupted, behold, he
stinketh, and that's what we are, the condition, we're dead,
we're corrupted in our sin, oh, this evil nature from the sole
of our feet to the top of our head, we're powerless to save
ourselves, and others are powerless to save us, and the Lord Jesus
Christ, our Master, stands in front of that tomb. He said,
roll away the stone. And when the voice of authority
and the voice of life and the voice of power and the voice
of God, he said, Lazarus, come forth. Lazarus, come forth. And Lazarus arose and walked
out of that tomb, still in grave clothes. He said, loose him and
let him go. That is a picture of the effectual
cause. Now, I know a lot of preachers
have the idea that Is everybody out there capable of understanding
what we're preaching and capable of weighing the evidences and
capable of debating between accepting Jesus and not accepting Jesus
or following God or following the devil? Or God has a wonderful
plan for your life, will you accept him and let him make it
work and all these things? But I'm telling you, according
to the Word of God, in the effectual call of the Spirit of God, whereby
life is given, the sinner is dead. That's so. And I'm telling you right here
tonight, if anybody lives, Christ will have to do the same thing
tonight that he did at Lazarus' tomb. He'll have to say, Paul,
come forth. That's right, Charlie, come forth.
Don, come forth. He'll have to do it. My voice
won't accomplish that. I have no power to give life.
I have no power to convince men of sin. I have no power to reveal
Christ. God speaks through his servant. But you must hear him
who speaks from heaven. Now, here's the second illustration.
While the sinner is dead, he's dead in sin, he's dead spiritually,
he is alive physically and mentally, he's alive and he is strong in
his opposition to God. Now, when we get a picture of
Lazarus in the tomb, we get a picture of God by his effectual power
raising the dead. But if you want another picture
of the effectual call, you take Saul of Tarsus. Saul of Tarsus
was dead in sin, but he was very much alive in opposition to Christ,
very much alive. Suppose Peter walking down the
street, this is right after Christ died, this was before really
the persecution of the church at Jerusalem, and he met Saul
of Tarsus, the Pharisee. Here comes proud Saul. dressed
in his pharisaical garment, you know, and with all of his recognizable
accomplishments all over him, you know, the pharisaical garb
with the broad phylacteries and all these things, and his self-righteousness
and pride and legalism and law-keeping, and he met the fishermen. Here's
Peter in his plain old fisherman robe, you know, calloused hands,
and out preaching the gospel. Paul, solitarcists, educated
from the highest University of Gamaliel of his day, sat at the
feet of the greatest teachers, and exceeded many of his equals,
whether Hebrew or Hebrews, concerning the law blameless." And he meets
Peter. And Peter looks at him and says,
one of these days, Mr. Saul, you're going to worship
the Lord Jesus Christ. One of these days, you're going
to be his greatest preacher. One of these days, the faith
you hate, you will proclaim. One of these days, Mr. Saul,
you're going to write some books in the New Testament glorifying
the Jesus whom you hate. Whew-wee! Fire would have flashed.
Old Saul's eyes would have cracked. He could have clenched his fists
and he said, Never! You ugly fisherman, be gone! I'll wipe that name from the
face of the earth along with yours. Huh, wouldn't he? Yeah,
he would have. But I'll tell you this, my Lord
met that proud peacock one day on the road to Damascus and brought
him down into the dust, and only God could do it. Peter couldn't
do it. John and James couldn't do it. And I'm telling you, there
may be some proud Pharisee here tonight, some proud religionist,
some self-righteous legalist. I tell you, what if I were to
tell you tonight, one day, from the dust of repentance, You'll
proclaim the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and the full glories
of his grace. You'll say, never, never, never. I believe in free will. I believe
in Arminianism. I believe that baptism saves
you. I believe that Mary is our media. You won't believe it someday
if you're one of his own. No, you won't. He'll crack you,
won't he, David? He did you. He'll crack you.
And some of you have got relatives and friends and you say, they'll
never come down. They will if he sets his eyes
on them. And that's what we need to pray. Lord, you break them.
You won't do it. I can't do it. You sit and argue,
you might as well quit arguing. You may as well quit debating
doctrine with lost sinners. You may as well quit trying to
drag people to the house of God. You might as well start interceding
before the throne of grace. And say, Lord, you can conquer
the heart, conquer his. I'll turn him over to you. Best
thing you can do is turn a sinner over to Christ. If he's pleased
to save him, he will. If he's not, he'll damn him.
Yes, he will. All right, here's the third illustration.
That call is a call from the dead. It's a call that breaks
resistance. God will break our will. He will
break our stubborn will. He will subdue us. He will bring
us into submission. Barnard said that's what receiving
Christ is, it's submitting to Christ. And then thirdly, it's
a sovereign call. In Jericho, when our Lord went
down to Jericho, if you had picked the person whom the Lord would
be pleased to save in Jericho, probably who would have been
the last one you'd have picked? That's exactly right. Zacchaeus,
the publican. Zacchaeus, the traitor. Zacchaeus,
the compromiser. Zacchaeus, what did they call
him in World War II, you know, those people that compromised
and traitors in these countries? That's what he was. But when
our Lord Jesus Christ went through Jericho, he looked up in a tree
and there was Zacchaeus. And he said, Zacchaeus, come
down. I'm going to your house today.
Salvation has come to this house. Our Lord calls whom he will.
It may be a madman in the land of the Gadarenes. It may be a
woman at the well in Samaria. Who would have thought that the
Lord Jesus Christ, who would have? The disciples came back
to the well and they were amazed he was talking to them. They
were amazed. They wouldn't have been amazed
he'd been talking to the high priest. They wouldn't have been
amazed he'd been talking to a Pharisee like Nicodemus. They wouldn't
have been amazed if he'd been talking to the mayor of the town
or one of the city councilmen, but he was standing there by
the well or sitting on the well talking to a woman, a great sinner. And they were amazed. What's
he talking about? I'll tell you what, our Lord
saves whom he will. He sure will. And this has happened
to me so many times. I've gone into meetings and preached.
and had my eye on someone in the service that I felt like
God might save. I've been praying for that person
and thinking about that person. I really preached to him. In
one meeting down in North Carolina, I preached a whole sermon to
a young man, a young man whom I've known since he was a little
boy. He's 30-some-odd, and I preached a whole sermon to him. God moved
somebody else. It'll happen. He'll save whom
he will. The wind bloweth where it listeth. What does that mean? And you hear the sound thereof,
you cannot tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth, even so
are those that are born of the Spirit. And I might be sitting
here tonight and some of you thinking about a certain person
in this congregation you'd like to see God save them, he may
pass them by. And the very person you haven't
thought of, you haven't even considered, you haven't even
prayed for them, God will save them. That's right. I just don't
imagine too many of them thought Zacchaeus would be saved that
day, but he was. And some of those that we focused
our attention on, God passed them by. Because listen to me,
be careful that you don't have too much attention for too long
without bowing. I mean that. Be careful. Be careful. How many times are you supposed
to hear the gospel? Something else about this call
is this, it was obedient. I just want to read one thing
in Genesis 12. Turn over there a minute. Genesis
chapter 12, we know that God called Abraham. A lot of folks
don't know this, but Abraham was an idolater. Abraham lived
in the home, in the land of his father, and it tells us in another
scripture that they were worshipers of idols. Isn't that right, Charlie?
They were idol worshipers. Abraham was not a man who knew
God. He was 75 years old, or right
around there, and worshiped idols, and God called him. And the Lord
said, Genesis 12, listen, and the Lord said unto Abram, notice
his name was Abram and he changed it to Abraham. He said to Abram,
Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from
thy father's house, and to the land thou shalt thee, verse 4.
So Abram departed. This call, I'm telling you this,
I'm telling you this as plain as I can, if men hear my voice,
They reject it, they argue, they debate, they get mad, they say,
I don't want to hear him anymore, all that foolishness. If they
ever hear him who speaks from heaven, they'll respond. Just
like that. I guarantee you. Well, I believe
my friend's under conviction. I don't believe it. I don't believe
it. If he was, he'd respond. You
just don't argue with God. Zacchaeus, come down. He skedaddled
down. Abram, get out of your father's
house. He departed. That's right. When God speaks,
men obey. When God speaks. I hear people
say this, that Sunday morning they'll come by and they'll even
bear a tear in their eye, and they'll say, that's a good message.
Because you reached my heart, and I'm troubled. Pray for me.
I'm under conviction. I'd like to be saved. I'd like
to believe that. And you know, I would believe
that if, if what? If Sunday night when I drove
up to church, he's out there on the steps waiting to get in.
I'd believe him. But I get up here and sit down
and I look around and try to find him, and he's not there.
I say, he's a liar. Well, he had to go over to his grandmother's
house. He's a liar, a greater liar. If his grandmother is more
important than God, he's not under conviction. And I'll tell
you this, Wednesday night when I drive up here, he'll be out
there waiting to get in. And he's going to keep seeking until
he finds. If his heart says, that's right.
Don't tell me any man is under conviction unless he makes God
his aim and the objective of his soul. He's not under Holy
Spirit conviction. He may be under law conviction.
He may be under reputation conviction or something, but he's not under
conviction. Because when God calls a man, you read through
this book, they answer. And that's exactly right. Abraham
answered. And then watch this now. I've
got to say this, 1 Samuel 3. This is important here, 1 Samuel
3. Men do not always know it's God calling. That's right. They do not always know that
it's God who calls. They may not know that. that
something's wrong and something's troubling them and they're hearing
something and something being done. But they're so blind and
deaf and dumb and ignorant, they don't always associate it with
God. That's right. In 1 Samuel 3, verse 3, I want
you to look at this now. And ere the lamp of God went
out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, Samuel
was laid down to sleep. He was a young boy, a young man.
The Lord called Samuel and he said, Here am I." And he ran
unto Eli, the old man, and he said, Here am I, you call me.
Now it was God who called him, but he thought it was Eli. Huh?
That's right. He said, Here I am. Eli said,
I didn't call you, go lie down. And he went and lay down. And
verse 6, And the Lord called again, Samuel. And Samuel arose
and went to Eli, and he said, Here I am, you call me. And he
answered, I didn't call you, my son, go lie down. Samuel did
not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord revealed
to him. And the Lord called him the third
time. Samuel, and he arose and went to Eli, and he said, Here
I am. You call me. And Eli perceived the Lord was
calling the child. And Eli said, Samuel, you go
lie down, and it shall be if he call thee that I shall say,
Speak, Lord, thy servant here. You see where I'm getting there?
I'm saying that Samuel did not know the Lord, did not know the
Word of God, and he wasn't perceptive. He didn't discern that what he
was hearing was really of God. And it may be somebody here tonight,
it may be in this congregation, that you know there's a man up
here preaching. But you know this is God's Word,
and you may not know too much about it, and you're experiencing
some work of the Spirit, and you do not know. And you say,
Brother, could I come by and talk to you? Or could, Bob, could
I come talk to you? It's not a man calling you, it's
God. And what I would do is like Eli
told Samuel, you go lie down. And if he calls you again, you
say, Lord, I'm here, speak to me. Speak through the Word. Does
that make sense? I know what I'm saying. I'm simply
saying that many times God calls men, it's God who's calling,
it's God who's moving, and they are not perceptive enough or
discerning enough to know that it's God. They're not spirit,
they're not awakened to the fact that it is God, and they keep
running here and there and yonder. And that's not the thing to do.
The thing to do is wait before the Lord, keep your ears open
to his call. All right, let's turn to 2 Timothy 1. Now, here's
the second main heading, Examination. I'll try to be brief because
I've gone too long. What about this calling? Well,
it's a holy calling. In 2 Timothy 1.9, listen to this,
"...he hath saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began." This
call is of God. It's all of God. It's not because
of our works. It's not as a result of our works.
It's not because we've made ourselves worthy. It's all of God. It's a holy calling which was
given us in Christ before the world began. It has nothing to
do... I hear people say, well, I'm
going to get myself straightened out. I'm going to get my life
straightened out and then I'm coming to God. That's not the kind of
calling it is. It's a holy calling. It's his
holiness, and he calls us to holiness. He hath called himself
a peculiar people, a holy people, zealous of good works. But that
follows his calling. He has called us that we should
be holy. Turn to Ephesians. Let me show
you that. Ephesians chapter 1. It says here in verse 4, He hath chosen us in him before
the foundation of the world, that we should be holy, holy
in Christ, and also live a life in pursuit of holiness. But that
pursuit of holiness follows this calling. It's a holy calling.
And then not only that, it's a heavenly calling. I've said
this all the way through this message. We're not called by
men. God may use the voice of a man to preach the gospel to
you, but this divine effectual call is a heavenly calling. Turn to Hebrews. I want you to
see that, chapter 3. You have taken notes. It's Hebrews
3, verse 1. It's a heavenly calling. A heavenly
calling. It says in Hebrews 3, verse 1,
Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, the
heavenly calling. He hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in the heavenlies. My friends, this calling is not
to the front of a church. It's not to an altar. It's not
even to a way of life. It's not to a religion. It's
not to a denomination. It's not to reformation. This
is a heavenly call. It's to fellowship. Fellowship. Let me show you that in 1 Corinthians
1.9. 1 Corinthians 1.9. It's to fellowship with Christ.
Now, I know we have fellowship with believers and we need that
fellowship, but this call is a holy calling and a heavenly
calling to fellowship with him. Listen to 1 Corinthians 1.9.
God is faithful by whom you were called into the fellowship of
his Son, Jesus Christ. I wish I could make this plain
right here. I protect this fellowship. I
want to protect it in every way that I can, that our hearts might
blend. And I love to come here on Sunday
morning and Sunday night and Wednesday night and meet with
you. I love to go to Bible conference and meet with other believers.
I love the friendship and fellowship and unity of believers. But this thing of salvation,
this divine call is not a call to togetherness between me and
you. It's a fellowship with Him. I'll
show you that we're called into the fellowship of Christ. I'll
show you 1 John. This is so important. These are
evidences of that call. 1 John, if all that you have,
1 John chapter 1, if all that you have, and protect this, this
is important. There's some men and women I've
been associated with here in this church for a long, long
time and our friendship has deepened. I wouldn't take anything for
it, not anything. But our salvation does not consist
in that union of bodies and even union of purpose or even union
of accord in doctrine. Our salvation is because we're
one with Christ. We're in a living union with
Christ. We have fellowship with Him and
consequently we have fellowship one with another. That's the
reason we have this strong bond is because of that bond. Does
that make sense? Now look at I John 1, I John
1, verse 3. That which we have seen and heard
declare we unto you, that you also may have fellowship with
us. And truly, our fellowship is with the Father and with His
Son, Jesus Christ. That's where it is, Cecil. That's
where it is. So whether you're in the company
of unbelievers or the company of atheists or the company of
believers or the company of whomever, that union is with Christ. That's what we mean by living
union. It's a union with Christ. And that's what this calling
is too. He has called us, we're the call of Christ Jesus. We're
called into the fellowship of Christ. So it's a holy calling,
it's a heavenly calling, it's a calling to fellowship, and
it's a high calling. I press toward the mark of the
prize of the high calling. That's in Philippians 3, 13 and
14. It's hard to comprehend this. But I have been called of God
to be a son of God. I know that's hard to realize. I'm a son of a man on this earth,
my father's name's John, and he had no real distinction on
this earth. He never held a public office.
He always worked with his hands and worked for a living. He was
a laboring man and all these things, and we have no My family
tree don't amount to much, to be honest with you. No use me
looking up the old family crest because you'd probably have a
shovel on it instead of a spear or a sword or a hammer or something
like that. But I'll tell you this, I'm a
son of God. I'm called to be a son of God.
That's what this is called. And then it's a call to sinners.
Turn to Matthew 9, Matthew chapter 9. Let me show you this. I'll
quit in a minute. It's getting too long-winded.
Matthew 9, verse 13, our Lord said this, listen, Go ye and
learn what that meaneth. I will have mercy and not sacrifice,
for I am come to call, not the righteous, but sinners. It's
a call to sinners. Yes, sir. Well, I can fit in
there. It's a call to freedom. Call to freedom. Galatians 3.
Let me show you this. You'll be interested in this.
In Galatians chapter 3, listen to what this says here. Galatians
3, 13. Galatians chapter 3. Call to freedom. This is not
the one I want. But Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. Cursed is everyone
that hangeth on a tree. But he said this, we've been
called unto liberty, only use not that liberty as a reason
for sin. That's somewhere, and that's
where I missed it, Cecil. But it's called to liberty. We have
a, I am free from the bondage of the law. I am free from the
curse of the law. I am free from the dominion of
the law. I am free from the regulations
and rules of the law. I am free. Christ has set me
free. I'm at liberty, liberty. All
right, last of all, my comfort. If you are, if you wonder that
you are the call, turn to 1 Corinthians 1. And let's see if we can find
our names here. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Am I
among the called of Christ Jesus? Yes. I know a little bit about
that fellowship, a little bit about that liberty, a little
bit about that high holy calling. God's done a work of grace for
me. I know a little bit. But preacher, I'm just nothing.
I'm nothing. You know, when they call the
nothings, I'm last on the list. When they call and review the
nothings, I'm the last one. Well, let's see. Verse 26 of
I Corinthians 1, You see your calling, brethren, how not many
wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are
called, but God hath chosen the foolish thing. Oh, I can fit
that. Boy, Mike, I can fit that. Can't
you? Foolish? Good. If God wants the foolish,
I'm number one. And God hath chosen the weak.
Well, I can fit in there real good. Weak things as it were. And verse 28, and base things.
Yeah, that's me. That's my middle name, base.
And the things which you despise, yeah, I come in there too. And
the things which you're not, those are the ones God has chosen.
Damn, I can come in there. Yes, sir, I can come in there.
So why not? You know, Spurgeon gave this
illustration. He was sick. He was sick much of his life.
But he was in his bedroom one day and it had snowed. And there
was a little ledge outside the window. And he was lying, sitting
there in his chair reading with a book on his lap. And he'd been
eating some cookies and tea. And he looked up and there was
a little robin that had come and lit right outside the window.
on that ledge. And he just kind of looked hungry.
And Spurgeon said, I went over to the table and got some of
the cookies that were left, and I pushed open the window. Of
course, he flew. And I just scattered those cookie crumbs around on
the ledge, and I closed the window. And I went back, he said, and
got my book. And I sat there and watched that window ledge.
In a minute, here he came back. And he ate those cookie crumbs.
And they said I fed him that day, and I fed him the next day.
I put cookie crumbs out there. And he said, one day he was out
there eating and I looked and here came a big old black bird.
I said, he wasn't invited. And nobody's seen him in invitation.
But I said, he came and made himself at home and just stood
there and ate with that robin. He came because he was hungry.
And I'll tell you this, my Lord spreads the feast and He says
to us blackbirds, if you're hungry, you come on. All the fitness
He requires is to fill your need of Him. Just come on. You don't
have to look and see, is my name written there? If you're hungry,
come on and eat. That's exactly right, come on
and eat. All right, let me show you this for a little comfort,
Romans 11, 29. Romans 11, 29. If you're hungry, Just come on and eat. And here's
the thing that encourages me most of all. It says here in
Romans 11, 29, the gifts and callings of God are without repentance. The word repentance is what?
Change. God will never change.