A man stood in my study recently,
a little older man than I am. I'd say he's in his early 60s.
He came by the office to purchase some tapes of our television
messages, and he said to me, he said, I just want to thank
you. He said, you have helped me more than you can possibly
imagine. He said, I have a foundation
now. He said, I was floundered around for years. I've gone to
this church and that church and the other church. I've listened
to this preacher, that preacher, and the other preacher. But he
said, I've started listening to your television broadcast.
And he said, my feet are on the rock. I've been established in
my heart and in my soul. I've got someone in whom to believe
and someone in whom to trust and to rest. And I want to thank
you. Now that makes everything worthwhile.
That's what I'm trying to do on this television, but we're
not entertainers. We're not promoters. We're not
politicians. God called us to preach the gospel. He said to his disciples, you
go into all the world and preach the gospel. He didn't send us
to reform this world or to straighten everybody out politically or
even to feed the world. He sent us to preach to men the
gospel of his incarnate crucified, resurrected, ascended, reigning
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'm determined to do that.
And if you'll stay with me this morning, if God will give you
the grace and the understanding and the wisdom to look into His
Word and examine yourself, examine your profession, examine your
foundation, give diligence to make your calling and election
sure, I may say some things today that upset you. I may say some
things that trouble you. I may say some things you've
never heard before. But will you weigh it by the
Scriptures? Will you search the Scriptures
to see if these things be so? The Bereans were more noble than
those in Thessalonica because they searched the Scriptures
daily to see if these things be so. I'm preaching this morning
on this subject, a divine call, a divine call and a willing response. And my text is John 6, 37, 38,
and 39, a very controversial passage of Scripture. But I'm not afraid of controversy.
I'm not trying to be consistent with a denomination or even with
myself. I'm trying to be consistent with
the book, the Word of God. Now listen to John 6, 37. All,
Christ said, all. Each word is weighty and heavy.
All that my Father giveth me shall, not might, shall come
to me. And him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out, for I came down from heaven." I came
down from heaven. He was already in heaven. He
was reigning in heaven. He came down from heaven, not
to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me from
heaven. God sent His Son into the world.
I came to do the will of Him that sent me, and this is my
Father's will which sent me, that of all which He hath given
me. I'll lose nothing, but raise
it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him who
sent me, that everyone, everyone that seeth the Son, not with
his natural eyes, but with eyes of faith, seeth the Son, and
believes, seeth the Son in his true character, in his grace
and glory, seeth the Son, and believes on him, may have everlasting
life, and I'll raise him up at the last day." And my friends,
humanly speaking, three things ought to characterize our preaching.
I think three things make good preaching. Three things, humanly
speaking. Now, I say humanly speaking.
Number one, experience and knowledge. Paul warns us against ordaining
a novice to teach and preach. That's one of the things wrong
with our churches right now. Too many uninformed, inexperienced,
People are trying to teach the Word of God who know nothing
about the Word of God. You can't teach what you don't
know. You can't tell what you haven't experienced. A man can't
preach repentance who's never repented or faith who's never
believed. A man can't tell you about Christ
if he's never met Christ. We need not to lay hands suddenly
on any man. We're turning people loose in
the pulpit in the classroom who've got no business being there.
They've never been students. They've become teachers before
they ever have become students. The Bible tells us not to covet
to be a teacher, because a teacher has the greatest responsibility.
He said if any man offends, it is one thing, but if he offends
and teaches men so, it'd be better for him that a millstone was
hanged about his neck and he was thrown into the sea. So we've
got to have some experience. We've got to preach from the
Word, but you don't believe what you haven't experienced. You
don't believe what you haven't learned. We've got to be taught
of God before we can teach others. And then the second thing that
must characterize our preaching is simplicity. Simplicity. The apostle did not preach the
gospel with wisdom of words, or with enticing words of man's
wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be made of non-effect. Now, if
men do not believe what we preach, that's one thing. We can't force
them to believe it. But we can at least preach the
Word so that men can understand what they don't believe. Now,
that's what we can do. We can preach the Word so clearly.
Our Lord did. Our Lord never spoke in words
more than one, two, or three syllables. He never used these
great high-sounding phrases that preachers are using today. He
just used simple language. I am the way, the truth, and
the light. No man cometh to the Father but by me. I am the door.
By me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and go in and
out and find pasture. I'm the water of life. Oh, everyone
that thirsteth, come to the water. Out of his belly shall flow rivers
of living water. This he spake of the Spirit."
They're clear words. But a man can't call on Him in
whom he hasn't believed, and he can't believe in Him of whom
he hasn't heard, and he can't hear unless somebody who's already
heard preaches it to him. That's what Paul said in Romans.
The third thing that shall characterize our preaching is sincerity. We've
got to have that. Preaching the gospel of Christ
is no game. We're not in the entertainment
business. Most preachers seem to think
we are. They're trying to hold men's attention with music and
glamour and glitter and all of these other things. We're not
in the entertainment business. We're not in the reforming business.
We're not trying to straighten out the government. We're not
in politics. We're sent to preach the Word
of God. That's our commission. We're not the servants of men.
We're the servants of God Almighty. Paul said, "...if a pleased man
am not the servant of Jesus Christ." Our message is not, "...thus
saith our denomination," it's, "...thus saith the Lord." God's
servant is a bond-slave of Jesus Christ who is separated to one
thing, one goal, one objective, and that is the gospel of Jesus
Christ. He's sold out to the gospel,
he's dedicated to the gospel, he's separated to the gospel,
he opens his mouth, he's going to preach the gospel. Not about
it, he's going to preach it. You know, one old preacher said
this years ago. He said, it's not amazing to
me, it is not amazing to me that the church of the Lord Jesus
Christ has continued all these centuries in spite of hatred,
persecution, and trial. For he said, the blood of martyrs
is the seed of the church. But what is amazing to me, what
is amazing to me, he continued, is the fact the church has survived
such bad preaching So many religious con artists and those who claim
to be the friends of Christ, but in truth, they're the greatest
enemies that the Church of Jesus Christ has ever had. They're
like the Pharisees of old. But the Church has survived.
Why has it survived? How has it survived? I'll tell
you how, and I'll tell you why. It's survived because it's His
Church. He said, on this rock I'll build my church. And the
gates of hell and all the subtlety and craftiness of Satan cannot
destroy it, cannot prevail against it. It's his church. That's why
it survived. And secondly, the church has survived by his grace
and by his power, Jude said, now unto him who is able to keep
us from falling. And the church has survived because
he purchased it with his blood. It belongs to him. It's God's
gift to him, the Father's gift, and he purchased it. Paul said
to the elders at Ephesus, feed the church of God which he purchased
with his own blood. And I'll tell you another reason
why it survived. In the midst of all the con artists,
in the midst of all the religious entertainers, in the midst of
all the covetous, proud priests and preachers of all the generations,
God Almighty has always had, He's always raised up from among
men, Preachers who have the grace and the courage and the dedication
to preach his word and his sheep will hear their voice They'll
seek they'll seek out the sheep and the sheep will seek out them
somebody said a sheep will go a hundred miles for a field of
clover and God's sheep will drive a long ways to hear the truth
and they won't listen To one who doesn't preach the truth,
and they won't follow a false shepherd. They'll get out of
compromising position and be not unequally yoked together
with them, nor support them." Because I tell you this, evil
companions corrupt good manners. And then those men whom God raises
up, they speak where God speaks, and they're silent where God's
silent. And they're more concerned about being consistent with the
Word, with the Scriptures, than they are being consistent with
human logic. This is one of the problems of
the liberal preacher today. He's more concerned with being
consistent with what his congregation thinks and more concerned about
being consistent with philosophy and human logic than he is the
Word of God. That's the reason men deny the
creation. That's the reason they deny the
miracles of the Old Testament. That's the reason they deny the
virgin birth. It's not consistent with human logic, with human
philosophy. Where have you ever seen a virgin-born
person? Well, we've never seen one. Well,
how then can Christ be virgin-born? God said He was. You see, we're
consistent with the Word of God, not with human logic and human
philosophy. And these men whom God raises
up, their message is Christ. Christ crucified. They don't
talk about the gospel. I hear so many of these television
preachers who are always raising money to preach the gospel. I
never hear them preach the gospel. I hear them raise money to preach,
and I hear them raise money to send somebody somewhere to preach
it, but I never hear anybody preaching the gospel. They're
talking about it, but they never really preach Christ. Paul said,
we preach Christ and him crucified. And these men, their business
is to proclaim the gospel, not to explain away the gospel. Now, there's some of the things
that I want to set forth for you this morning that are consistent
with the Word of God. And I want you to think about
them. I want you to consider them. I want you to regard them prayerfully
and carefully. I want you to measure them by
what God says, not by what you think, not by what you've always
heard, but by what the Word of God says. Will you do that? Search
the Scriptures. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing
by the Word of God. God says there's a way that seems
right to you, but the end is destruction and death. He says,
my ways are not your ways, and my thoughts are not your thoughts.
And if a man repents and returns to God, he's going to turn from
his ways to God's ways. He's going to be under new management.
Now, I want you to listen to some of these things. I'm going
to give them to you with sincerity and simplicity, and I trust from
experience. Number one, God is absolutely,
unchangeably, infinitely sovereign, sovereign in salvation, salvations
of the Lord. That's what I'm saying. From
beginning to end, it's of the Lord. Our Master said, you remember
the text I read when I started this program? All that my Father
giveth me shall come to me. That's what I'm saying. God is
absolutely sovereign in creation. We know that. With whom did he
take counsel when he made the rivers and the deserts and the
mountains and the trees and when he made man and the animals and
the birds and the fish? With whom did he take counsel?
Who was in the counsels of eternity? With whom did he take counsel
and from whom did he seek advice? Well, you see, he made it like
he wanted to. He breathed the breath of life into man, man
became a living soul. God did it all. God said, let
us make man. He's sovereign in creation. The
desert's hot because he made it that way. The Arctic's cold,
he made it that way. The mountain's high, he made
it that way. The valley's deep, he made it that way. The ocean's
deep, he made it that way. Believe that? I sure do. God
is sovereign in providence. He worketh all things after the
counsel of his own will. Do you believe that? Who has
control of the sun, the stars, the moon, the oxygen, the carbon
dioxide, the plants? Who makes the flowers to grow
and the trees to grow and shed their leaves? Have you entered
into the treasure of the snow? They tell me not any two snowflakes
are alike. Who designs them? God asked Job
that. He spoke to Job by the whirlwind.
He said, Who taught the birds to fly south in the winter? Who
taught the birds to give birth to their young? and to build
their nest and to feed their young." Who teaches animals these
things? He says, instinct. It's God's
power and God's mighty sovereign and providence. He worketh all
things in heaven and earth according to his will. Well, he's sovereign
in salvation, too. Jonah said, salvations of the
Lord. It's of the Lord 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. Paul said in Romans 9, So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Psalm 115 says, Our God's in
the heavens, he hath done whatsoever he pleased. Whatsoever the Lord
pleased, that did he in heaven, earth, and the seas, and in all
deep places. Ephesians 111, Paul said, He
worketh all things, all things, in creation, providence, and
salvation, in death, and resurrection, in eternity, according to the
counsel of his own will. Daniel wrote this in Daniel 4,
when Nebuchadnezzar came to his senses, he said, My mind returned
to me, my understanding returned to me, and I praise the Most
High God, who ruleth in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants
of this earth, and giveth it whomsoever he pleases. God's
sovereign salvation. At the same time, now you listen
to me, at the same time, our Lord Jesus said, All that my
Father giveth me shall come to me. That's a fact. That's a truth.
That's an undeniable fact. Our Lord stated it. And he said,
him that cometh out in no wise cast out. What are you saying,
preacher? I'm saying at the same time,
every son of Adam listening to me is a responsible, accountable
creature who is accountable to God for his sins. Every man shall
give an account of himself to God. He's accountable for his
sins. He's responsible for his rebellion.
He's responsible for his condition. He's responsible to walk in the
light that God gives him. That's so. There's no reason
to deny either one. There's no reason to overemphasize
one at the expense of the other or against the other. If a man
is convicted, if he's converted, if he's changed by the grace
of God, into the image of Christ, he'll forever praise God for
giving him the gift of life. He'll forever praise God for
redeeming his soul. He'll forever give God all the
glory for the redemption of his soul. If a man refuses to hear
the gospel and perishes in his sin and unbelief, he'll forever
curse himself and blame himself for not listening and believing
and responding to the gospel. of Jesus Christ. Our Lord said,
Father, I will that those whom thou hast given me be with me
where I am, that they may behold my glory. And he turned right
around and said to the people, You will not come to me that
you may have life. You will not. O Jerusalem, how
oft would I have gathered you unto myself as a hen doth gather
her brood, but you would not. If you are saved, it will be
God's fault. If you are damned, it will be
your fault. That's just so. I'm not trying to be consistent
with the Baptist, Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian, Jews, or anybody
else. I'm trying to be consistent with the Word. And my Lord said,
as plain as a man can make it in words that are understandable,
all that my Father giveth me will come to me. And him that
comes to me, I'll in no wise cast out. Will you come? Will
you receive Christ? Will you lay hold upon Christ?
Now listen to the second thing that I want you to hear. God
did elect a people. No argument there. There's no
room for argument. He elected a people to salvation
out of every tribe, kindred, nation, and tongue unto heaven.
That's what the Bible said. God gave them to Christ. He made
Christ their surety. Christ came down here and redeemed
them. There's no room for argument. It's scriptural. He elected men,
not angels. He said He took not on Him the
nature of angels. He took on Him the seed of Abraham.
There's no argument there. That's what God's Word says.
The angels fell first, and then man fell. The angels fell before
man was ever created. And then the leading angel, Lucifer,
who led the rebellion, tempted man, deceived the woman, and
they fell. And God purposed to save not
the angels, but men. That was God's choice. And then
in the Old Testament, God chose Israel. He passed by the Egyptians
and passed by the Babylonians. and passed by the Hittites and
the Amorites and all the rest of the Hittites, and he gave
the tabernacle to Israel, the prophets to Israel, the word
to Israel, and the atonement to Israel." No argument about
that. It's just a fact. It's the Word
of God. Israel was God's chosen people. And even so today, the Scripture
says, there's a rendement according to the election of grace. You
have not chosen me, Christ said. I chose you. Ephesians 1, 3,
and 4 said, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the
heavenly places in Christ, according as he chose us in Christ before
the foundation of the world, that we should be holy without
blame before him. In love he predestinated us to
the adoption of children. 2 Thessalonians 2, 13, Paul says,
We are bound to give thanks to God for you, brethren, beloved
of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you
to salvation, through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth. For Paul said, Whom he foreknew, he predestinated to
be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the
firstborn among many brethren. And whom he predestinated, he
called. And whom he called, he justified. Whom he justified,
he glorified. What shall we say to these things? Well, we say,
If God be for us, who can be against us? Let me ask you three
questions. Will you answer them truthfully,
scripturally, biblically? Number one, did you choose God
or did he choose you? Well, you say, He chose me. That's
what the Bible says. When did God choose you? Before
the foundation of the world. Why did God choose you? Why? Are you better than somebody
else? Are you smarter than other people? Are you less sinful?
Are you not a son of Adam? Are you not identified with the
human race? Who are you? Why did He choose you? According
to the good pleasure of His own will. Even so, Father, it seemed
good in thy sight. My friend, there's no argument
with that. There's an election of grace. It's not based on foreknowledge
of human merit. It's not foreseeing what a man
would do. Left to ourselves, we won't do.
We won't come. Christ said, you will not come.
Left to ourselves, we won't seek God. Here is love. Not that we
love God. He loved us. At the same time,
it is true that all who repent and all who believe and all who
receive Christ will be saved. It is still true that if any
man desires to be saved, God says, Come. Come unto me, all
ye that labor and are heavy laden, I'll give you rest. He says,
Ho, every one that thirsteth, come to the water. Come without
money, without price. Buy wine and milk, without money
or without price. The Spirit and the bride say,
Come. Let him that heareth say, Come. Let him that is athirst
come, and whosoever will, let him take the water of life. How
can you preach both of those, brother May? Because they're
both in the Word of God. As I said to you at the beginning, I'm
not trying to be consistent with myself. I'm trying to tell you
what the book says. And what we're trying to do in
this day is make God's Word fit our understanding. We'd better
bring our understanding into conformity with God's Word. God
elected a people. If He had, nobody'd ever come.
Yes, we do love God, but He loved us first. Yes, we do call on
God, but He called us first. We are the call of Christ Jesus.
Yes, we do seek God, but he sought us first. You don't seek me,
he said, there's none that doeth good, there's none that understandeth,
there's none that seek God. He looked down from heaven to
see if there were any good. He said, they're all gone aside.
Every imagination of man's heart is evil continually. Jeremiah
said, can the black man change his skin? Can the leopard change
his spots? Neither can you do good that
are accustomed to doing evil. Yes, we do. We do learn from
God, but he teaches. Yes, we do confess his name,
but he confessed ours first. He said, I know my sheep. I know
my sheep, and they know me. Who knew whom first? Well, who
was first? Well, he knew me before I knew
him. My sheep hear my voice. I give them eternal life. He
won't leave us, and we won't leave him. Now, you get this,
election's not salvation, it's unto salvation. God's people
are made willing in the day of God's power. Now, I close with
this. In John 6, 39, he says, This
is my Father's will which is sent me, that of all which he
hath given me, and all who see the Son, and believe on him,
I'll lose nothing, but I'll raise him up at the last day. Now,
the Scriptures teach a twofold security. I've heard so many
arguments on what to call once saved, always saved, the eternal
security of the believer and all that sort of stuff. I've
heard so many arguments I don't even want to stand still and
listen anymore. I'm going to tell you what the Bible teaches.
Number one, it teaches the preservation of believers. You know what it
means to preserve something? Your mama ever put up preserves
in a bottle or a jar? It's to keep them. It's to keep
them. It's to preserve them so they
won't spoil. And the Bible teaches the preservation of the saints.
Now, I know a lot of men abuse this doctrine and misuse it and
confuse it and everything else, but Christ said, My sheep, hear
My voice, they follow Me, I give them eternal life, and they shall
never perish. That's what He said. Neither
shall any man pluck them out of My hand. My Father which gave
them Me is greater than all, and no man can pluck them out
of My Father's hand. That's the Bible. Philippians
1, 6, "...he that hath begun a good work in you will complete
it in the day of Jesus Christ." God never starts anything. He
doesn't finish. When God does a thing, it can't be added to
or taken away from. Jude 24 says, "...unto him who
is able to keep you from falling." So God will preserve us. God
will keep us. We shall never fall. If one sheep
of Christ could fall away, I'd fall a thousand times a day.
But He keeps me. He keeps me. We're kept by the
power of God. What's the next two words? Through
faith. Now, here's the second thing
that's taught in the Bible. At the same time, the Word of
God teaches the perseverance of the saints. They will continue
in Christ. He'll continue his mercies on
them, and they'll continue to repent and continue to believe.
He says, I won't forsake them, but they won't forsake me either. Colossians 1 verse 20 says, "...he
hath made peace, he hath reconciled us, He will present us holy if
we continue in the faith. God has no unwilling children,
no unwilling disciples. The soul that on Jesus has leaned
for repose, I will not, I will not desert to its foes. That
soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake, I'll never,
no never, no never forsake. But He'll never forsake me either.
They're united and joined together. He's the vine, they're the branch.
He's the head, they're the body. He's the shepherd, they're the
foe. The believer's life is a paradox. He's a mystery to others, and
he's a mystery to himself. He makes no boast of his love
for Christ, and yet he says, Lord, you know I love you. He
mourns over his sins and infirmities, yet he knows they're forgiven,
and he's free from sin. He knows that he's not under
law, but under grace, but he still loves God's law and longs
to be holy. He wrestles with sin, and yet
he rejoices in a complete pardon. Can you explain that? You who've
experienced it can explain it. He weeps over his dullness of
spirit, and yet praises God for sweet fellowship. He mourns over
trials. He weeps in trials, but he thanks
God for every one of them, knowing that they're working together
for his good. Yeah, David said, it's good that I've been afflicted.
I was afflicted. I wasn't happy during the affliction,
but it was good for me, and I accepted. He's the most happy, miserable
person, the most empty, full person, the poorest, richest
person. Oh, John Newton said, I'm not
what I ought to be. I'm not what I want to be. I'm
not what I'm going to be, but thank God I'm not what I used
to be. Oh, the depths of the richest, both of the wisdom and
knowledge of God, how unsearchable is judgment, his ways past finding
out. Learn them. Learn them. If you won't learn them from
your literature or from your imagination or from your philosophers,
you'll learn them in the book. Submit your mind to the Word
of God. You want this on tape? I have two messages on this tape,
Christ Our High Priest and this message, A Divine Call. And you'll
get them if you'll write and send a donation of two dollars
and ask for the tape. Until next Sunday morning at
10 a.m., I bid you a pleasant good morning.