learned something with the passing
of years. Gray Harris supposed to indicate
some wisdom. And there are many things that
I'm able to see more clearly with the passing years. And one of them is this. I'm seeing more and more, more
and more, the importance of preaching. The importance of preaching.
I mean solid, scriptural, spirit anointed preaching. I'm seeing
that more and more and more. Now, I want primarily to be obsessed
with Christ. I want primarily to be obsessed
with the desire to win Christ and be found in Him. I want to
be taken up with Christ. Paul said, Oh, that I may know
Him and the power of His resurrection. John Newton put it this way.
His name yields the richest perfume and sweeter than music, His voice. His presence disperses my gloom
and causes all within me to rejoice. I could, were He always thus
nigh, Have nothing to wish or to fear. No mortal so happy as
I. My summer would last all the
year. I want to be taken up with Christ.
Mainly, I want to be taken up with Christ primarily. I want
to present Christ to people. I want people to see that Christ
has transformed me and taken me out of darkness into a kingdom
of light. I want my conversation to be
about Christ. I want my thoughts to be on Christ.
And somebody said, a true believer, if you cut into his mind, you'll
find thoughts of Christ. If you cut into his heart, you'll
find love for Christ. If you cut into his soul, you'll
find a submission to Christ. So I want to be obsessed with
him primarily and chiefly. But my friends, inseparably connected
with a love for Christ is a love for the preaching of his word.
I believe inseparably connected with a love for Christ is a love
for everything about Christ. If we love Christ, we'll love
the things of Christ. If we love Christ, we'll love...
He said, if you love me, you'll keep my commandments. You love
my commandments. We love his commandments. David
said, I love thy law. I love thy word. I believe we'll
love the preaching of the word. You know, the forerunner of Christ
was a preacher. Turn to Matthew chapter 3. The
third chapter of Matthew, the man whom the Father sent, whom
the Heavenly Father sent to be the forerunner of Christ. What
did he come doing? He didn't come singing. He didn't
come entertaining. Now don't misunderstand me. I
love singing. I think it's inspirational. I
think it can be edifying. I love to hear people sing. I
love to sing myself. You know that as well as I can
express it. But preaching, primarily preaching
is the business of God's church. Preaching the gospel. Listen,
Matthew 3 verse 1. In those days came John the Baptist
doing what? Preaching. In those days came
John the Baptist preaching. Our Lord was a preacher. It says
Jesus began to preach and to say. The disciples, when our
Lord gathered his disciples around him before he ascended back to
the Father, these were his last instructions. He said, you go
into all the world and preach the gospel. That's your assignment,
that's your commission. Go into all the world and preach
the gospel. Preach the gospel. And our Lord
hath chosen, ordained by the foolishness of preaching to save
them that believe. I wish I could stress the importance
of preaching. I'm seeing it more and more and
more and more. That the pulpit ought to have
the place of prominence in the meetings of the church, preaching
the gospel. Let this be a preaching center.
When men and women get together, preach the gospel. Turn to the
book of Acts, chapter 8. It says here, when the believers
of old were persecuted and scattered abroad, they went everywhere
doing something. What does it say they went everywhere
doing? It says in Acts, chapter 8, verse 4, therefore, they that
were scattered abroad because of persecution, they went everywhere
preaching the Word. Preaching the Word. I was in
a meeting over in North Carolina several years ago in a little
Southern Baptist church. This was back, oh, 8, 9, 10 years
ago. And the pastor told me one day,
he said, we're going to have supper tonight with three very
old ladies. They're up in years. They're
all three in their 80s. And he said, none of them have
ever been married. And they grew up in their father's
house, and their mother and father died, and they're still living
right there where their mother and father lived. They've been
in this church, every one of them, all their lives. They were
brought here when they were babies. And they've been in this church,
if they're 80 years old, they've been here 80 years, 82, 84, 86,
or however old they are. He said, you'll find them very
interesting. I said, well, I'm looking forward to it. So we
went over to their house that night. Didn't live just a little
ways from the church. And we had our supper, and after
supper was over, we sat around and talked. They were all intelligent
and sharp and interesting. And one of them asked me if I'd
like to look into the history of their church. Well, I said
I would enjoy that. She went over and got a book
that had been printed several years back, and it was all about
how the church was organized, how it was dedicated and founded,
how many years the church had been there and so forth. And
it had a page there. listing all their pastors. You
know, some churches change pastors about every two or three years.
And this one had changed every two or three or four years. And
I looked down the list. There were 30 or 40 preachers
listed there. Reverend so-and-so pastored from
1895 to 1897, and Reverend so-and-so pastored from 1897 to 1899. And
there was just a whole long list of preachers. And I read it over, and I looked
at one of them, and I said, say, I said, take this list of preachers
here and tell me which one was the best preacher that you all
ever had. Now, you've been here all these
years. Tell me which of these men was the best preacher of
the gospel you ever had. Well, they got interested in
that, you know. And so they kind of got their heads together,
and they looked at that list. They talked to one another, you
know, and finally one of them said, uh, I believe Brother Edwards
was the best preacher we had. I said, why? Well, she said,
uh, she said, well, he was just like one of us, said he was just
common as an old shoe. She said, uh, we'd be sitting
in the kitchen eating beans and cornbread. He'd just come in
the back door and pull up his chair and just be one of the
family. And I said, well, I said, that's not exactly what I had
in mind. I said, I'm not talking about which one of these men
was common as an old shoe or friendly. Which one was the best
preacher of the gospel, taught the word of God? Well, they got
their heads together again. This is a true story. And they
mumbled a little bit, and finally one of them said, well, I think
Brother Johnson, maybe. And I said, why? Well, she said,
I tell you, he had a voice. He could be heard. six blocks
away. She said when he preached, the
doors trembled. She said he could make the windows
shake. You could hear him all over the neighborhood. He was
one fine preacher. I said, well, you know, I didn't
have that in mind either, who could preach the loudest and
the strongest voice. I want to know which one of those
men is the best preacher. This happened. They got their
heads together again. They came up with another name.
And she said, well, he visited. Said he'd visit all over the
neighborhood and invite people to church. He just got out and
just walked the streets and visited. I said, now, ladies, I'm not
talking about who was the, and I said it very kindly because
I understood where they were. I said, I'm not talking about
who was the friendliest or who was the most common preacher
or who was the loudest preacher. Which one of these men in this
list preached and taught and instructed you in the things
of Christ and the gospel. And they looked over that list.
Now this is sad, but my friends, this is true today. We got promoters. We got cheerleaders. We've got
program people, organized programs. We've got executives. They looked
down that list and they said, Brother Mahan, I don't think
we've ever had a real preacher in this church to teach us the
Word of God, to take the Word and unfold it to us, and we're
ignorant people. We don't know much about the
Bible. Turn over to Romans chapter 10. Now this is sad, but I'm
asking you today, now listen to me, you listen to preachers,
you listen to me, you listen to me stand up here every Sunday,
and you listen to some of these other, isn't it Jay, and you
listen to Joe Terrell, and Joe Wilson, and you listen to Bill
Parker, and Charlie Payne, and all these, you listen back there
in the Bible class. Are we preaching? Are we communicating? Are people hearing? Are we glorifying
God with the Word? Now, I'm serious about this.
I'm concerned about this. You're here tonight, you've come
to hear. You haven't come... Now, we've been singing, and
that's good. We've been rejoicing, and it's good. We've been reading
the Scripture, that's good. We've been praying, that's good. Comes
time for preaching. And I'm telling you this, God's
ordained by the foolishness of preaching to save people. If
anybody here is saved tonight, it's going to be through the...
not through the singing. It's going to be through the preaching of
the Word. It's going to be because God took that word and communicated
it to that man's heart. I feel this burden extremely.
I sit there, honestly, before I get up here and if you could
experience this. I don't know why I don't have
ulcers. Really, I'm serious about this. This is a terrible place
to be. This is an awesome place to be.
This is an awful responsibility to take the word of God and to
teach men the word of God. Because he says in verse 13 of
Romans 10, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall
be saved. Now I've got to identify that
name. I've got to tell him who that is. The name of the Lord.
Not just Jesus. But who is Jesus? That's what
Cecil said in his prayer. Who is he? What did he do? Why did he do it? Where is he
now? I've got to identify Christ. His attributes, His glory, His
work, His merit, His person. Because if a man will call on
the name of the Lord, he'll be saved. If he can be brought by
the Spirit of God in genuine sincerity to call out of a broken
heart, out of a desperate need on the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ, on that name as he understands it from the Word, he'll be saved.
Now listen to the next verse. But how are they going to call
on Him in whom they've not believed? And how are they going to believe
in Him of whom they've not heard? And how are they going to hear
without a preaching? How are they going to hear without
a preaching? Turn to 1 Corinthians 15, listen to Paul here. I know
1 Corinthians 15. Preaching has been replaced by
music, memes, movies, puppets, Sunday schools. We're robbing
our generation of the very means that God has chosen to use to
call out a people, and that's preaching, John. Preaching, preaching,
preaching, preaching. That's the means that Almighty
God has chosen to call out a people for his name, preaching of the
God. I know, I know it's Christ who calls. I don't have any doubt
about that. It's Christ who calls. But he calls through preaching.
It's Christ who calls. He said, you come unto me, all
you that labor in the heavy laden, I'll give you rest. It's Christ
who calls. I know that. It's the Holy Spirit who regenerates
us, not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit. We're born
of the Spirit. Our Lord Jesus Christ said, no
man can come to me except my Father which sent me. Draw him.
And I'll raise him up at the last day. It's written in the
prophets, they shall all be taught of God and every man that has
heard and learned of the Father cometh unto me. It is Christ
who calls, it's the Holy Spirit who regenerates, but the means
that the Spirit of God uses and the means that Christ uses to
call sinners to himself is preaching. Look at 1 Corinthians 15. And brethren, I know there's
a proper time for one-on-one conversation. I know there's
a proper time for one-on-one witnessing. I know that. I believe
God uses it, but the primary means that God uses to reveal
sin to a sinner's heart, to reveal Christ to a sinner's heart, to
bring a man to faith in Christ and repentance toward God is
preaching the gospel. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15,
listen, moreover brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached
unto you, which also you have received, and wherein you stand,
and by which you are saved, if you keep in memory what I preached
unto you." Now we're preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And what is this we preach? I
delivered unto you, first of all, that which I also received.
This is what we preach. How that Christ died for our
sins according to the Scriptures. I wound up my message this morning
with a four-point outline that I think I'll use for an entire
sermon sometime. This gospel that we're preaching,
the gospel of Jesus Christ the Lord, is the gospel for four
reasons. Number one, it's true to the
word of God. It's true to the scriptures. It's true to the
Old Testament Scriptures. Christ is the fulfillment of
the Old Testament Scriptures. He died according to the Scriptures. He was buried and rose again
according to the Scriptures. It's true to the Word of God.
I'm convinced that this is the Gospel because it's true to the
Word of God. And secondly, it's true to the
character of God. Almighty God will be just and
justified. Almighty God will be righteous
in redemption. Almighty God cannot show his
love at the expense of his justice. He cannot show mercy at the expense
of his holiness. He can't do it. This gospel is
true to his character. And then thirdly, this gospel
is true to his glory. It gives him all the glory. It
lays all the crowns at his feet. It gives him all the praise,
eternal praise. God who chose me. It's God who
called me. It's God who justified me. It's
God who keeps me. It's God who perfects me. It's
God. It gives him all the glory. It
gives man no glory. And fourthly, it's the gospel
that meets the need of the empty center. That's the reason, Joe,
I believe this gospel right here. Because it's true to the word
of God, it's true to the character of God, it's true to the glory
of God, and it meets the need of every sinner. Now, here's
what I'm saying. I'm saying that this call of
God, through the preaching, I'm preaching, I'm preaching to everybody
here tonight. Turn to Isaiah 45. I am preaching
this to every person here. Every person here, whether you're
a believer or an unbeliever. Whether you're church-affiliated
or not church-affiliated. Whether you're old or young,
rich or poor, white or black, whoever, we're preaching this
to every... Our Lord said, go into all the world and preach
this gospel to every creature. Preach it to everyone you encounter. Preach the gospel, the same gospel.
The same gospel. It doesn't matter whether we're
preaching to the church, whether we're preaching to people on
the streets. It's the same gospel. It's the
same, you preach this gospel to every Christian. Isaiah 45,
22, listen. Look unto me and be you saved,
all the ends of the earth. Jew, Gentile, whoever you are,
look unto me and be you saved, all the ends of the earth. For
I am God and there's none else. This call is addressed to all
men everywhere. All men everywhere. But this
call, this call through the preaching of the gospel is universally
rejected by all men. Turn to Matthew, or rather John,
chapter 5. John the 5th, it's universally
rejected by all men. The natural man receiveth not
the things of God, their foolishness to them, neither can he know
them, they're spiritually understood. Isaiah said, Lord, who hath believed
thy report? To whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed? Here in John chapter 5 verse 40 listen to this our
Lord said you will not come to me that you might have life He
said in verse 42. I know you have not the love
of God in you Verse 43 he said I've come in my father's name,
and you receive me not Let another come in his own name him you
will receive Verse 44 how can you believe you receive honor
one of another you do not seek the honor that comes from God
only This call is universal. Turn to Proverbs chapter one.
It's universally rejected and refused by all natural means. This general call, this preaching
of the gospel. In Proverbs chapter one, listen
to this. Beginning with verse 24. Because
I have called and you refused. I have stretched out my hand
and no man regarded. But you have set it not, all
my counsel, With none of my reproof, I also will laugh at your calamity.
I will mock when your fear cometh. When your fear cometh as desolation,
your destruction cometh as a whirlwind. When distress and anguish cometh
upon you, then shall you call upon me. I will not answer. You'll seek me. You shall not
find me. For that they hated knowledge
and did not choose the fear of the Lord, they would none of
my counsel, they despised my reproof, therefore shall they
eat of the fruit of their own way and be filled with their
own devices. God has chosen by preaching to save men who believe.
But as we go forth and preach the gospel to every creature,
he says they will not respond, they will not come. There's none
that seeketh after God, there's none that understandeth, they're
all gone out of the way. The men love darkness rather
than light, so what are we going to do? We're dependent upon what
I'm talking about tonight. We're dependent upon a supernatural,
divine, effectual, invincible call of the Holy Spirit that
makes a man willing to receive this gospel. Let me show you
a few verses concerning that Psalm 110. Will you turn over
there to Psalm 110? This, in other words, when I'm
preaching, Preaching here tonight to this congregation, I'm preaching
the gospel of Christ, the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. The glorious
gospel of God's grace to sinners. The glorious gospel of God's
love to the undeserving. And natural men will not hear
it, they will not receive it, they do not believe it, they
cannot understand it, they will not lay hold on it. And none
will come unless God, by his power, by his spirit, gets a
hold of a man's heart and reveals that gospel to him and makes
him willing. And that's that divine effectual call. In Psalm
110, look at verse 3. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. Thy people shall be willing,
your sheep, shall be willing in the day of your power." Turn
to Acts 13.48. You say, Brother Man, you're
teaching there is a general call that's extended to the whole
world, but there is an effectual, invincible call that's extended
to God's sheep. That's exactly what I'm saying.
I'm saying that many are called. How does God call? Well, a lot
of ways God calls men except, I mean, besides preaching. He
calls men the things that are made declare the glory of God.
The heavens declare the glory of God. There's conscience. There's the law written on every
man's heart. There's the preaching of the gospel. There's many ways
that God reveals himself and God speaks to men and men do
not acknowledge his existence, his power, or his right to reign
over them. But the elect do when God calls
them by his spirit. Look at Acts 13, 40, beginning
with verse 40, 46. Paul's talking to the Jews here.
Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold and said it was necessary
that the word of God should first have been spoken to you, that
is to the Jew. But seeing you put it from you
and judge yourself unworthy of everlasting life, we turn to
the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded
us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that
thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. And
when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and they glorified
the word of the Lord, and as many as were ordained to eternal
life believed. Those whom God chose, those whom
God gave to Christ, He effectually operated on their hearts, and
they heard, and they believed. Now that's what I'm talking about,
the effectual, supernatural, divine, invincible call of the
Spirit of God. Let me show you another scripture.
Turn to John 10. I gave you this this morning. I don't mean to
be harsh. I don't mean to be doctrinal.
I don't mean to try to put this thing in cubby holes in a desk. But I'm simply setting forth
what I know to be true. God has ordained us to preach,
to go forth preaching this gospel. And to preach it indiscriminately,
to preach it to every human being, to preach it to every creature,
to preach it with compassion, to preach it with affection,
to preach it convincingly, to preach it sincerely, to preach
it with simplicity, to preach it. At the same time, men aren't
going to hear it. I don't understand that. He told
the prophet of old, he said, go to the people, but they're
stiff-necked people and they won't hear you, but go to them
and preach to them. They're not gonna hear you, but
preach to them. But I thank God somebody's gonna
hear. And I know who that is. His elect are gonna hear. His
sheep are gonna hear his voice. Now look at John 10. Verse 24,
then came the Jews round about him and said to him, how long
do you make us doubt? If you be the Christ, tell us
plainly. If you be the Messiah, if you be the Redeemer, if you
be the consolation of Israel, if you be the one for whom we
look, tell us in plain terms. Jesus answered them and said,
I told you, I told you, you heard the same things that these other
people heard. When that, hold that scripture, when Christ was
hanging on the cross, there was a thief on that side and a thief
on that side. And there were all these people
out before him watching him die on the cross. Everybody saw the
same thing. Everybody heard the same thing.
And yet one man turned and said, Lord, you're not going to stay
dead. You're coming into a kingdom. Remember me when you come into
your kingdom. One man. Now how did he, what
did he see that they didn't see? What did he hear that they didn't
hear? What did he understand that they didn't understand?
What God revealed to them. What God revealed to them. And
you can go all the way through the scripture finding that. Look
back at John 10. Jesus answered in verse 25, I
told you, you heard what they heard. You heard what everybody
else heard, but you didn't believe. The works that I do bear witness,
they bear witness of me. But you believe not, because
you're not of my sheep. Now my sheep, what do they do?
They hear my voice, they hear my word, they hear my gospel,
I know them, and they follow me. They follow me. All right, let me point out,
I told you I was going to do this tonight, and I'll try to
be brief. Let me point out some things
that I know about this call, this divine effectual call. Now,
I've set it forth, I know it so, and from the word of God,
you know it so. preaching, we must preach. I
want to preach. I want to preach when God opens
a door for me to preach. But now Paul prayed about a certain
kind of door, an effectual door. That's what he, an effectual
door. And that's what I'm talking about. I want some effectual
doors. I want to preach I want to preach to those whom God effectually
calls and operates upon with his word. It's the word. It's
the preaching that does. The Holy Spirit is the agent.
The seed is the word of God. The preaching of the gospels
is the means. And a sinner comes to believe
that gospel of Jesus Christ, and that's what saves him by
believing and receiving that gospel. But I know without the
Holy Spirit to convince of sin and reveal Christ and convert
the heart, nobody's going to be saved. And he comes through
this call. Now let me give you, I hate to
use this number, Nine marks of this divine call. But believe
me, I'm going to take a minute on each one of them, or a minute
and a half. Believe me, I'm going to do that. First of all, turn
to Romans 8. We're going to look at this divine
effectual call. Romans chapter 8. What do I know
about this call? What do I know? I told you this
morning about the pastor's wife up in Bud, West Virginia. There
were 150 people heard me preach Sunday night, Monday night, Tuesday
night. They heard with these ears. They heard with some natural
understanding. She heard with the heart. She
heard. Noah saw things nobody else saw. Noah entered into and understood
things nobody else understood. And you go on through the scripture
and maybe somebody here tonight will hear what others don't hear. And it'll be through this effectual
call. Now, let me see if I can do it in 15 minutes or so. Romans 8, verse 28. I know first of all that it's
a call according to His purpose. Look at Romans 8, 28. And we
know that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are the call according to His purpose. And here's His
purpose, whom He foreknew. He predestinated to be conformed
to the image of His Son. That Christ might be the firstborn
among many brethren, whom He predestinated. What did He do? He called them. Whom He, my friends, don't be
afraid of the word election, choosing, calling. These are
Bible terms. Whom God elected, whom God chose
to salvation, gave to His Son. In time, by his spirit, through
his gospel, he called them. He called, that's what it says
right there. And whom He called, He justified, and whom He justified,
He glorified. Now look at Romans 9, one page
over, Romans chapter 9, verse 11, talking about Jacob and Esau,
Rebekah's sons. It says, verse 11, and they were
conceived by the same father, verse 10. They were born of the
same mother, they were raised in the same home, but it says
the children being not yet born, Neither having done any good
or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might
stand not of works, but of him that calleth. It was said to
her, the elder shall serve the young. I hope that's not distasteful
to you. I hope that you don't feel in
your heart rebellion against it. Because I must preach what
the word of God teaches. And this divine call, this gospel,
and some men are not influenced, and not affected, and not persuaded,
and don't lay hold on the truth, don't believe our report, and
go on in their religious ways. I'm saying that God's elect will
hear His voice. God's elect will hear His gospel.
God's elect will be called. It's according to purpose. All
right. Turn to Galatians chapter 1. What do you know about this
call? I know first, it's according
to his purpose. I know secondly, it's all by
his grace. God doesn't call anybody because
of who he is, or because he deserves it, or because he's a Jew or
a Gentile, or because he's a Baptist or a Catholic, or because he's
a good boy or a bad boy. It's all by his free grace. Galatians
chapter 1 verse 15. Listen to it. When it pleased
God who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by
His grace. He called me by His grace. One
other scripture. Turn to 2 Timothy 1.9. 2 Timothy
chapter 1 verse 9. He called me by His grace. Now listen to this. This is the
verse that Donnie Beryl was sitting out in the backyard reading,
reading the Bible one day, and he had never seen God's sovereign
purpose in redemption. He had never seen that. And he
was sitting out in the backyard and he said this was like lightning
from the sky. He had never seen it before.
He was reading 2 Timothy 1.8. Be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner. But be
thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God, watch it now, who had saved us and called us with
a holy calling, not according to our works, our merit, but
according to his own purpose and what? And grace, and grace
which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. This call is a call according
to purpose, and it's a call of pure grace. Not works, but pure
grace. Grace is undeserved, unmerited
favor of God. Grace is God giving me what I
don't deserve. The grace of God chose me. All right, now listen to this.
Turn to Romans 11. Romans chapter 11. This call is according to purpose. It's
by the grace of God. And my friends, and I know we
do a lot of arguing about once saved, always saved. I know we
do a lot of arguing about once in grace, always in grace. And
we do a lot of arguing about eternal security. But I'm going
to tell you this. This call is without change.
That's without change. In Romans 11, 29, listen. For
the gifts The gift of God's eternal life,
isn't it? And calling, He called us to Christ Jesus. The gifts
and calling of God are without repentance. Are without repentance. Turn to Philippians 1, 6. Philippians
chapter 1, verse 6. And here it says this, it says,
in Philippians chapter 1, verse 6, Being confident, Paul said,
of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you
will, and that word perform is finish, will finish it until
the day of Jesus Christ. Whom he foreknew, he predestinated. Whom he predestinated, he called.
Whom he called, he justified. Everybody justifies he glorified.
Not one sheep of Christ will perish. Not one child of God
will be lost. Now, I know there are two words
that always have to be considered in this thing of security of
the saved or continuing in the gospel. I know that there is
preservation and I know there's perseverance. I know God keeps
us. Turn to 1 Peter. Here's another
scripture that gives them both. 1 Peter, I believe it's 1 Peter
1 or 2 Peter 1, it's 1 Peter 1. Here's a verse that gives
us both sides. It says in 1 Peter 1, Verse 3, let's read verse 3 and
4 and then 5. Now watch this. Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His
abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a living hope of
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance
incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved in
heaven for you, for you, comma, who are kept, who are kept, who
are sustained, who are preserved, by the power of God. But watch
this next two words. Through faith. Not apart from
faith. Through faith. We do continue
in the faith. He holds us and we hold Him. And we hold Him. Alright? Notice
the fourth thing about this call. Turn to Philippians 3. This call
is according to His purpose. This call is by His grace. This
call is without change, without change, and this call in the
next place is a high, holy, and heavenly call. And we're not
talking about a call to religion. We're not talking about a call
to a doctrinal position. We're not talking about a call
to a church membership or church role. We're talking about a divine
call to sonship. A high, holy, and heavenly call. Listen to Philippians chapter
3 verse 14. 3.14. Let's read verse 13 first. Brethren, I count not myself
to have apprehended, but this one thing I do. forgetting those
things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things
which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of what?
Of the high calling of God. The high calling of God in Christ
Jesus. This is an honorable call. This
is a high and holy call. Hebrews chapter 3 has another
verse referring to this call as being a high, holy, and heavenly
call. Hebrews chapter 3 verse 1, listen.
Hebrews 3.1, wherefore holy brethren, holy brethren, partakers of the
what? The heavenly call. The heavenly
call. This is not arguing a man into
a profession of faith. This is not talking a man into
a religious decision. This is God dealing with the
heart of a sinner. and bringing that sinner to lay
hold of and embrace Christ. This is a high, holy, and heavenly
call. This is a transaction that takes
place between God and the sinner. I believe we need to move all
of these earthly soul winners and all of these religionists
out of the way and the sinner get alone in the closet and ask
God to save them and seek God's mercy and cry out to Christ Jesus. Like the publican in the temple
who cried, Lord be merciful to me a sinner. Like the thief on
the cross who said, Lord remember me when you come into your kingdom.
Like the woman with the issue of blood who said, I must get
to him. like blind Bartimaeus who cried
out, Jesus, our son of David, have mercy on me. And a lot of
people want him to hush or we'll deal with this later. No, I must
have Christ. This is a high, holy, and heavenly
calling. In the fifth place, this is a
call to fellowship with Christ. Turn to 1 Corinthians 1. This
is a divine call to fellowship with Christ. I know the church
fellowship is sweet and precious. It gets more precious and sweeter
every day. But my friends, our church fellowship
is not worth a plug nickel if we don't personally have intimate
fellowship with Christ. And this is what this call is
unto. In 1 Corinthians 1-9, listen, God is faithful by whom you were
called into the fellowship of his Son. into the fellowship
of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Turn to 1 John 1. Read
this scripture along with that one I just read. You have been
called into the fellowship of His Son. Now listen to 1 John
1. Verse 3. 1 John 1 verse 3. John says,
that which we've 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. Somebody told me recently that a certain church having a lot
of problems and troubles in the deacons' meetings and the men's
meetings had turned into shouting matches and insults and hard
feelings and all these things. That ought not to be. You know,
and here's the reason it ought not to be. It's because that
which ought to characterize God's people is the opposite of that. It's love, not division. He said,
by this shall all men know you are my disciples if you love
one another. But I'll guarantee you this, you can't love one
another unless you love Christ. You can't build a friendship
or a fellowship with a human being except you build it on
the basis of Christ in both of you. Does that make sense? You
walk with Christ, you love Christ, you fellowship with Christ, you're
seeking the honor and glory of Christ. If both of you are seeking
that, if both of you have a common object of affection, you're going
to love each other. You see, Herod and Pontius Pilate
hated each other. They hated each other. But they
were brought together because they had a common enemy, Jesus
Christ. It says the Gentiles and Jews hated each other. Let
me show you a scripture over here. Turn, if you will, to the
book of Acts. I'm going to show you the basis
of church fellowship right here. I'm going to show you the basis
of church fellowship and what brings people together and what
prevents them from coming together. Watch this in Acts 4 verse 26. Now listen to this. The kings of the earth stood
up and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and
against his Christ. For of a truth against thy holy
child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate,
with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together?
They were brought together? These enemies became friends? How and why? They had a common
object of hate. And it brought them together.
Now, this is true. When two men have a common object
of love, it's like two fathers-in-law. They don't know each other, they've
never grown up together, they have very little in common, but
they have the same grandson. They'll have love for each other.
That's exactly right. And I'm saying that if our fellowship
with this call is a call, God calls us, He doesn't call us
to church membership, He doesn't call us to church fellowship,
He doesn't call us to rule or law, He calls us to fellowship
with a person. And if we love that person, are
devoted to that person, we are consecrated to that person, he's
the apple of our eye, he's the joy of our lives, anybody who
loves him, we love them. Anybody who seeks his glory,
we love them, we rejoice in them and they'll rejoice in us. We
may be different, we may be one old and one young, one black
and one white, But if the same Spirit of Christ lives in him,
lives in me, and he loves Christ and I love Christ, we love each
other. And what causes this head knocking and trouble and conflict
and seeking our way is we don't love Christ. That's it. That's it. All right? Turn to
1 Thessalonians 1. This call is according to His
purpose. It's by His grace. It's without
change. It's a holy calling, a heavenly
calling, a high calling. It's a calling to fellowship
with a person. We're not called to an altar.
We're not called to an ordinance. We're not called to a doctrine.
We're called to fellowship with a person. And this, it's a call
to a holiness of life or a life that's an example to others.
Turn to 1 Thessalonians. Whenever you read about election,
it'll be coupled with two things. It'll be coupled with praise
and holiness. Praise and holiness. Here in
1 Thessalonians 1 verse 4, Paul said in verse 4, Brethren, beloved,
I know your election of God. Our gospel is come to you in
word only. That's verse 5. I'll move on.
Verse 6, you became followers of us in the Lord. And verse
7, you were examples to all that believe. Example in conversation. Example in your conduct. Example
in your doctrine. Your life was an example to those
around about you. God hasn't called us to uncleanness. He called us to holiness. He's
called us to honesty. He's called us to truthfulness.
He called us to integrity. It's a holy calling. All right,
7, turn to Galatians 5. Galatians 5, verse 11, it's a
call to liberty. I may have difficulty with this,
so I want you to stay with me here because it's emphasized
here very clearly. In Galatians 5, verse 11. Now,
when I say liberty, I'm saying Christ has freed us from the
Levitical law. The Old Testament is full of
feast days, ordinances, sabbaths, sacrifices, circumcision, all
of these things that were pictures of Christ and types of Christ
and commandments of God which led to an understanding of Christ.
Well, Christ has freed us from those things. Freed us. And Paul says in Galatians 5,
11, Brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, If I'm preaching
circumcision, if I'm preaching the Levitical law, if I'm preaching
Sabbath days and holy days, then why do I suffer persecution?
Then is the offense of the cross ceased. You see, the offense
of the cross is that it's all by grace, not of works. That's
what's offensive. That's what's offensive to the
natural man. The offense of the cross, Spurgeon says, lies in
four things. When you preach that men are
sinners, that offends their dignity. When you shut men up to revelation,
that offends their wisdom. When you preach an effectual
substitutionary work of Christ on the cross whereby he saves
a sinner by his grace through his blood apart from anything
the sinner contributes, that offends his pride. And when you
hold forth the lordship of Christ, that offends his love of self.
And Paul said, if I'm still preaching circumcision, which is works,
if I'm still preaching Sabbath days, which is works, if I'm
still preaching ordinances, then why am I suffering persecution?
There's no offense in that at all. Follow me? All right, the
next verse. There's no offense in that at
all. Verse 12, he said, I would, they were even cut off. which
trouble you. That's these fellas, these false
teachers and preachers. For brethren, we've been called
unto liberty. We've been called to freedom.
Christ is my Sabbath. Christ is my... Circumcision
is of the heart, not the flesh. Christ is my high priest. Christ
is my sin offering. Christ is my feast day. Christ
is my holy. You see that? We've been called
to liberty. We're free from those things. We're free from touch
not, taste not, handle not. We're free from the observance
of days. Only, verse 13, now listen, you've
been called to liberty, but don't use your liberty for an occasion
to the flesh. But by love serve one another
by for all the law, all the law. Somebody said one time, Christ
is my religion and love is my law. Christ is my religion and
love is my law. And that's what he's saying here.
All the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, thou shalt
love thy neighbor as thyself. All right, Colossians 3. Let
me move on quickly. This call is a call to peace.
Colossians 3 15. It's a call to peace. It says
in Colossians 3 15, and let the peace of God. And brethren, this
is a threefold peace. Let the peace of God. This is
a threefold peace. I have peace with God because
Jesus Christ is my peace. He has reconciled me to God.
The war is over between God and me. The anger is removed. The judgment and wrath has been
removed. God is at peace with every man
in Christ. God is reconciled. We have peace
with God. Therefore, being justified by
faith, we have peace with God. There's the peace not only with
God, but there's peace within. God speaks peace to my heart.
My peace I give unto you. And then there's peace among
believers. And then there's a sense in which we are to live at peace
with all men. But now watch this, verse 15,
Colossians 3. And let the peace of God rule
in your hearts to which also you are called in one body. Let the peace of God reign in
you. You've been called to peace. All right, in the ninth place,
turn to 1 Peter 5. This was my text I read a while
ago. 1 Peter chapter 5. It's a call to eternal life and
eternal glory. Verse 10 of 1 Peter 5. But the
God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by
Jesus Christ, after you have suffered a little while, This
life is a life of trial and tribulation and suffering. Make you perfect. Establish, strengthen and settle
you. To Him be the glory and dominion
forever and ever. I want to read one other scripture
and I'll close. Turn to 2 Samuel chapter 23. Now there's something special,
as I've told you before, about the last words of any person
who's dying. And this is said to be the last
words of David. These are the last words of David.
Let's read them in 2 Samuel 23. These be the last words of David. 2 Samuel 23 verse 1. David the
son of Jesse said, this is the man who was raised up on high,
the man after God's own heart. This is the anointed of the God
of Jacob. This is the sweet psalmist of
Israel. Those are his credentials. What are his last words? Verse
5. Although my house be not so with
God. And David's house was not so
with God. His son Absalom was killed rebelling
against his father and trying to take his father's throne.
Another son was all messed up in his family relationship and
so forth. Amnon, he had a very, he had
a lot of heartache and heartbreak concerning his sons. and his
family. Yet, God has made with me an
everlasting covenant. Brethren, David is talking here
about God's eternal covenant of purpose and of grace in Christ
Jesus, by which we are called. Read on. And that covenant is
ordered in all things, in its planning, in its purpose, in
its execution, in its application, in its sustaining power, in its
ultimate perfection. He's the author and finisher
of our faith. It's sure. Now watch this. And this is all
my salvation. My salvation does not rest in
my deeds or works or laws or writings or accomplishments. This is all my salvation and
all my design. That's where it is. In God's
eternal covenant of grace in Christ Jesus. Although he make
it not to go. Can you say that tonight? God
has made with me an everlasting covenant.