Irresistible Grace - Part 2 of 2

The Baptist Bible Hour now comes to you under the direction of Elder LeSaire Bradley, Jr. O for a thousand tongues to sing, my great Redeemer's praise! Thou the resolve by God and King, thou triumphs of his grace! This is LeSaire Bradley, Jr. inviting you to stay tuned for another message of God's sovereign grace. Wonderful grace of Jesus, greater than all my sin!

How shall my tongue describe it? Where shall my praise begin? Taking away my burden, setting my spirit free, for the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me! Wonderful the master's grace of Jesus, deeper than the mighty rolling sea! Wonderful the grace of Jesus, greater than the scope of my transgressions singing!

Greater far than all my sin and shame was itching! O magnify the precious name of Jesus, praise his name! Wonderful grace of Jesus, reaching the most defile!

By his hands warming power, making him God's dear child! Purchasing peace and heaven for all eternity, and the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me! Wonderful the master's grace of Jesus, deeper than the mighty rolling sea! Wonderful the master's grace of Jesus, greater than the scope of my transgressions singing!

Greater far than all my sin and shame was itching! O magnify the precious name of Jesus, praise his name! Well, last week we brought a special program which we entitled, Giving Thanks to the Lord.

And I was giving thanks to the Lord for blessing me through the years, and now as I turned 90 years old. Today we return to our series on the Tulip Doctrine. We will be bringing you part two of the message on Irresistible Grace. For any listener who has not heard the program the past few weeks, we will review what is meant by the Tulip Doctrine.

The T is for Total Depravity, U Unconditional Election, L Limited Atonement, I Irresistible Grace, and P Perseverance. I hope you will write and let us know that you have listened, and if you will request it, we will send you our booklet entitled, Grace Really Is Amazing. And it deals with these fundamental doctrines that we have been preaching these last few weeks.

Our address is Baptist Bible Hour, Box 17037, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. Long may the sun meet at his base, O moonshot for her silver rays! salvation's theme was, this was done, incognate by the three in one. The Father's faith, the Son replied, the Spirit with him both combined. Grace proved the cost for saving man, and wisdom through the noble plan. The Father chose his only Son to die for sins that man had done. Emmanuel to the choice of green, and the secure, the numerous sea. He sent his Spirit from above to call the objects of his love.

Not one shall bear rich or be lost, his blood has bought them, dear they cost. What highest place of sovereign grace, what love to say, love, ruin, grace! My soul adored his lovely name, by whom my free salvation came. This is an inward call made to those who are predestinated, and it brings then justification.

Look back at the passage we use as our text. For moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called. All of the predestinated are called. Now what follows? Them whom he called, he also justified. How many are justified?

Everyone that is called. See, this is sometimes referred to as the chain of grace. And what a beautiful lesson it is, starting before the foundation of the world with God's sovereign purpose in predestinating a people. Oh, some people have an aversion for the doctrine.

I don't like to hear the doctrine of predestination. It's a Bible doctrine. It's the purpose of God to make a people like his Son, Jesus Christ.

It's something in which we should rejoice and delight. And all of those that he predestinated, he called, he brought them, he drew them. And all of those who are called are justified, standing before God as though they had never sinned.

Because the imputed righteousness of Christ is credited to them, and ultimately all of the justified will be glorified. When Jesus Christ comes back and the dead in Christ arise first, and their bodies are conformed to the image of the Son of God, all of those, not one is missing, not one is lost, the chain is tightly connected. And so we see the inward call being an effectual call. Now let's think further about how this work is described in the Scriptures. It is described in such a way that we know that all of this is of God. Go back to the Gospel of John, chapter 5, verse 21. For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. Verse 25, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. Obviously that's going to happen at the time of the resurrection, but he's talking about something else here. The hour is coming, now is, it's now at hand, those that hear the voice of the Son of God shall live. Chapter 6, verse 44. No man can come to me except the Father which has sent me, draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day.

And so, it is his work to draw them, to bring them, to call them, and this is an effective, irresistible work. Furthermore, this experience is described as a creation. Now if you believe that God is the creator of heaven and earth, you reject the humanistic philosophy of evolution. You believe that this is all of God, how then could you fail to embrace the fact that when it applies to salvation, and that is referred to as a creation, that it is all of God.

2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 17. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Now you can't have a creature without a creator.

If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature, old things are passed away, behold all things are become new. So this calling, this experience of grace is described as a creation. Only God can create. Man did not evolve, this earth didn't come into being by some catastrophic explosion in times past. You just look at the evidence of the handiwork of God, you see the beauty of creation, you know that there has to be a God. Just think about how intricate our human body, how marvelously it is made, how it functions, how could anybody imagine that this all was just some kind of a strange accident. It is obviously because God planned it, God accomplished it over and over again in Genesis chapter 1 it says, and it was so, those four words repeated about seven or eight times.

God commanded it, God said let there be light, and there was, and it was so. And thus it is in this matter of effectual calling. We looked at Ephesians chapter 2 earlier, we go this time to the tenth verse. For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus.

What does the text say? We didn't make ourselves, we didn't save ourselves. We are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God had before our name that we should walk in them. The same God who has created us in Christ Jesus has done so that we might bring forth good works.

As somebody responds and says, well that says we should do it, it doesn't mean we will. Obviously there are going to be differing degrees as far as the fruit that is born in the lives of Christians. We see that in the parable of the sower, that some bring forth thirty, some sixty, some a hundred fold. I can tell you this, every child of grace, every person that's been born again, everyone that has received this effectual call will bring forth some fruit. There will be good works. He ordained it to be so.

That's what this calling involves. So it is referred to as a creation in the same passage. Ephesians 2 verse 4, But God, who is rich in mercy for His great love, wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sin, hath quickened us together with Christ, by grace ye are saved, and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. It's then referred to as a resurrection, a resurrection. When Jesus went to the grave where Lazarus had been laid, He said, roll the stone away. And the sisters objected, oh master, he's been dead four days.

To remove the stone now, that will be a terrible stench. But Jesus said, roll it aside. And then He said, Lazarus, come forth. This wasn't a matter then for Lazarus to contemplate.

Decide whether or not he wanted to be raised. I used to hear preachers a lot of times say this. They say, sinner, you take the first step and then the Lord will be there to help you. Now if Jesus said, Lazarus, you take the first step and then I'll help you. You know Lazarus would never have gotten out of the grave.

A dead man can't take the first step. So this being a resurrection, it is one by which those who are dead are brought to life by the life giving word of Jesus Christ. Furthermore, it is described as being a call out of darkness. First Peter chapter 2 verse 9, But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood and holy nation, a peculiar people that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

What an amazing language this is. Think of it by nature, alienated from God, dead in sin, not fearing God, loving God, seeking God, lost, ruined forever, but as a chosen generation you're now made a part of a royal priesthood. You can have access to God by the new living way through Jesus Christ, the one mediator between God and man, a holy nation. This is what you're called to be, not live after the flesh, but to live in a godly holy manner, a peculiar people, a people for a possession, and the purpose being that you may show forth the praises of Him who hath called you.

And how did He call you? He called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. This effectual call of the Spirit does not leave one in a total state of darkness and confusion where they have previously existed. He called you out of darkness into light. 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 3, According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue. He's called us. He's called us unto glory. He's called us unto something that's glorious and wonderful and in which we should constantly rejoice and give Him thanks for it. One more in this connection, Hebrews chapter 3 verse 1, Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of our profession, Christ Jesus, called, these to whom he is writing, holy brethren. Now if I came to the pulpit this morning and say, I'm so thankful to see you holy brethren here. How would you feel about that? I'm sure some of you would think, well, you're not talking about me.

I haven't matched up to that very well. Obviously he was talking about their position in Christ, that Jesus Christ has made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption that according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. But just as you are made holy by the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ, it is also to be worked out in your life because it says, be ye holy even as I am holy. Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling. Commenting on this verse, John MacArthur writes, The preacher can call people to repentance. The preacher can plead with people to come to salvation in Christ. Prophets have, apostles have, and preachers still do. That is the general outward plea, very different from the inward call that saves.

Here's the difference. Holy brethren, partakers of what? A heavenly calling.

We're not talking about the preachers here, we're talking about God. This is a divine calling, a heavenly calling. And then we want to consider the evidences. What are the evidences of this call?

First of all, a deep sense of sin. You might ask the question this morning, I'd like to know, am I included in this? Have I been called? Well, if you've been called, you've been convicted that you are a sinner. In the parable that Jesus gave of the Pharisee and the publican, the publican smote upon his breast and said, God be merciful to me, the sinner. The Spirit of God moves to show us our wretchedness, our fallen state, our sinfulness. The apostle Paul said in 1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 15, This is a faithful saying and worthy of all the acceptation that Christ Jesus came to the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. Paul had lived a very strict life as a Pharisee, but when God dealt with him, he saw himself as the very chiefest of sinners. Secondly, an evidence of this calling is true repentance. Look at the book of Acts chapter 11 verse 18. When they heard these things, they held their peace and glorified God saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life. These recognize that when one comes to repentance, it's because they are blessed of God. God has granted them repentance unto life. So there is first a deep sense of sin, but then a longing to be delivered from it and a turning from it. This is illustrated for us as Paul wrote to the church of Thessalonica and said that you turn from idols to serve the living and true God.

This is repentance, turning away from what I have worshiped, turning away from what I have done, going in a different direction. Number three, the evidence of this call is faith in Jesus Christ. John chapter 3 verse 15, That whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Verse 36, He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. Faith in Jesus Christ. Back to Ephesians chapter 2 once again in the eighth verse, he says, For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Faith is God's gift. By grace are ye saved, not by works, and this faith as well as every part of this salvation of the soul is God's work and by his grace.

R.C. Sproul comments, Which comes first, faith or the new birth? The answer of much of Christendom is that faith comes first and then when God sees that we have graciously put faith in him, he gives us a new birth. The Bible actually teaches the reverse. God gives a new birth and then we cry out to him in faith as a result.

End of quote. Finally, the evidence then believing in Jesus Christ and therefore receiving the gospel. Acts chapter 13 verse 48, And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord, and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.

It didn't say they believed and consequently were ordained to eternal life, but as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. Acts chapter 16 verse 14, Paul was preaching to Lydia and the Lord opened her heart so that she attended under the things that were spoken of Paul. 1 Corinthians chapter 1, looking at the 22nd verse, For the Jews require a sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified under the Jews a stumbling block and under the Greeks foolishness. The Jews stumbled at it. They wanted some further sign and the Greeks felt offended by such a message. It wasn't upon the high level of their intellectual thinking and so they did not receive the message. Get this however, but unto them which are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. No matter what a person's background may be, one who because of their religious upbringing stumbles at it. One because of their educational attainments, considered it all to be foolish, there is a change when they are called. When they are called effectually by the Holy Spirit of God, they receive this gospel message. It's good news to them.

It makes sense. You may remember a time in your life when you had no interest in it, no desire for it, but that day came when the Holy Spirit of God moved upon you, convicting you of your sin, making you realize that you were lost and ruined without hope, and by faith you came to Jesus Christ. It's by His grace that it all happened. The evidence of the call in Paul's life was complete surrender. What wilt thou have me to do?

What is your condition today? Have you been convicted of your sin? Have you repented? Have you believed on Jesus Christ as your Savior?

That your experience is an evidence that you have been effectually called. I love the words of an old hymn from the old strict Baptist hymn book from England. Amidst the wealth of Bible stores and gems the eye of faith explores, none with such joy and comfort fill as Jesus' covenant shall and will. Why are not feeble saints destroyed?

Why are not promises made void? And sin my utter ruin proved. His shalls and wills remain unmoved. The weak become both strong and bold while on these words faith keeps her hold. Mountains must melt and waves be still obeying Jesus' shalls and wills. These potent words subdued my heart and made the love of sin depart. Christ said, my purpose I'll fulfill. You shall submit and reign I will. These words a sovereign power conveyed.

Confirmed each promise he had made. My ifs and buts I laid aside and now in shalls and wills confide. Aren't you glad to know that our salvation is in Jesus Christ.

Being brought to us by his sovereign grace according to his power to subdue and break our stubborn wills and make us willing in the day of his power. Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found.

Was blind but now I see. Indeed it is amazing grace that the holy God of heaven and earth would reach down into the pit in which man was plunged by the transgression of Adam. Man who is a sinner having nothing that he can offer to God to recommend himself. But God by his grace calls men draws them to him making them willing in the day of his power. If you today have come to see your need of a savior and come by faith to trust him. Indeed you will have that evidence that you have been drawn by his power. I hope that you will write us and until next week at the same time may the Lord richly bless you all.

Through many dangers, toils and snares. The Baptist Bible Hour has come to you under the direction of Elder LeSaire Bradley Jr. Address all mail to the Baptist Bible Hour Cincinnati Ohio 45217. That's the Baptist Bible Hour Cincinnati Ohio 45217. God be safe thus far and grace will lead me home. When we've been there ten thousand years Bright shining as the sun We've no less days to sing God's praise Than when we first begun.