God's effectual call is a powerful, internal work of the Holy Spirit that draws individuals to salvation, distinct from the general outward call of the gospel. This divine call, rooted in God's sovereign choice, operates through the Word of God, illuminating the understanding and influencing the will to bring about a genuine transformation. It is a call to fellowship with Christ, to inherit blessing, and to live in liberty and holiness, a calling that is certain and irrevocable because it is God's work, not dependent on human effort or changeable will. The sermon emphasizes that this effectual call is the foundation of eternal security, ensuring that those chosen by God will ultimately be glorified.
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Tonight we're turning to First Corinthians chapter one. We just want to read a few verses. And I trust everyone has the handout page four of our notes. We're dealing with a subject of the relationship of the effectual call and the general call of God to man. First Corinthians chapter one, and we want to begin with verse twenty-six. First Corinthians one and twenty-six were the apostle writing to the young church of Corinth, he says, For you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called.
But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty, and base things of the world, and things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nothing things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption that according as it is written, he that glorieth let him glory in the Lord.
Now may the Lord bless the reading of his word. Let us pray together. Our Father, we thank you that we've been called by your grace. And we thank you for the effects of that call. And we thank you for the workings of that call in us. And we rejoice in the knowledge that it is without repentance. And now we pray that as we study together tonight that you will graciously use this portion of Bible study to enrich our souls in order that we may appreciate more and more what it means to truly be saved by grace.
To this end we give thee thanks in the Savior's worthy name. Amen. This is a fourth lesson that we've had on the subject of the call of the believer. It's really the third because the first lesson, page number one, and all pages are up here in the front. If you don't have all four pages, you're welcome to it. Next week we'll come out. We're going to study the doctrine of faith next week. And then following the doctrine of faith, we're going to study justification. for we're justified by faith. So you'll notice in the introduction on the top of this page, we have seen in our past meetings together how regeneration and the effectual call of God are similar.
But tonight we want to examine how our effectual calling relates to the external call or the general call of God that comes to everyone through the gospel. It comes to all people. There is a close relationship between the external call and the internal call or the effectual call. There is a close relationship for the same word that is preached in the external call is heard in the effectual call and it works effectually unto eternal life.
Now, when it comes to the effectual call of God, the Word of God has much to say about it. In First Corinthians chapter one, he says to these Corinthian believers, you see your calling, brethren. Not many wise men, not many mighty, not many noble are called. And he's speaking here of the effectual call of God that delivers a soul from the bondage of sin and brings him into fellowship with God's dear son. For in verse nine of First Corinthians one, he says, God is faithful by whom ye were called into the fellowship of his son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
And the calling that means and works effectually is not one that is simply heard outwardly with the hearing of the ear, but it is heard inwardly, and the heart of man is renewed, the inner being of man, and man becomes spiritually alive by the call of God. And this call of God is very effectual. But a hundred and tenth psalm in the third verse says, My people shall be willing in the day of my power. And of course Isaiah fifty three verse one is very important where it says, Who hath believed our report?
And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? And the revelation of the arm of the Lord means that God has worked effectually and the report. concerning his son that he's given in Isaiah fifty three the purpose for which he came the purpose for which he died has been revealed to the heart now we want to notice the definite things that are relative to God's effectual call notice first of all it is a calling by the word of God It is through the ministry of the Word of God. This call doesn't come by sitting in a dark room and listening to long-haired music.
It doesn't come that way. I remember when I was a teenager, a lot of people thought that you could get holy and become separated in their life by sitting in a dark room and listening to long-haired music. It doesn't come that way. It comes by the Word of God, and everybody who is saved has been saved by a revelation of God through His Word in one way or another. And of course, First Corinthians chapter one, verses twenty-three and twenty-four are very important, for it says this. Notice what it says in verse twenty-three, and it's based on verse twenty-two. For verse twenty-two says, For the Jews require a sign.
The Jews look like a miracle. And we have miracle mongers today. They want a miracle. The Jews require a miracle. A sign. And the Greeks, they seek after wisdom. They like to think the thing through. And if it pleases them, okay. And if it doesn't please them, well, that's tough. The Greeks seek after wisdom. But then he adds in verse twenty three, but we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness. It was foolish to the educated Greek that a man dying on a cross outside the city wall in Jerusalem could bring salvation to whosoever will.
It was foolishness to them that this is the way salvation would come. But the next verse says, But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, for God is saving Gentiles, God is saving Jews, to them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom of God. And with this effectual call comes the power to live a holy life, and the wisdom of God. To know that it is according to the word of God. And we're not ashamed of what we believe. You see. But now notice also.
First Peter chapter two and verse nine. Concerning this call. First Peter chapter two. And verse nine. It's a very great verse. Concerning our call. It says. Receiving the end of your faith. No, I'm in chapter one. I want chapter two and verse nine. Excuse me. 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 have called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. And after a person has been effectually called by God, the desire is there to walk in the light that's one of the ways we know that we're saved that's one of the ways that we know that we've been effectually called by God that we have that desire that want to walk in the light because God is light we read in first John chapter one in verse six God is light and in him is no darkness at all and if we walk in the light as
he is in the light We have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses from all sin. But notice number two. It is a powerful calling. That is, a calling that is effectual unto salvation. And the verse there is Acts thirteen in verse forty-eight. It's a great text. I can quote it without turning to it. But Paul, it's Paul's great sermon in the synagogue at Antioch in Pesidia. And Acts thirteen forty eight says, As many as were ordained unto eternal life, believe.
As many as were ordained unto eternal life, believe. There are those who did not believe. Now they heard the call, the outward call. That call that came to everyone in the audience, they heard it. But there's some people to whom that call came and worked effectually in their life. And it's called by theologians the effectual call of God. And all my friends, it's one thing to hear the outward call and be unmoved. It's one thing to hear the outward call and make a profession. But have no desire.
for spiritual things. There's another thing to hear the call and to be inwardly moved that the will is moved and the life is changed so that we live a holy life. Now, notice the third, and I love this, it is without repentance. It is without repentance. Romans And that says, it's a great verse. It says, the gifts and callings of God are without repentance. And if you'll notice what I've written on the paper, that is, it is a call that is not subject to change, and it is never withdrawn.
When God effectively calls a man, he never changes that call. It's without repentance. Let me illustrate that. I used to direct the Youth Congress at Greenwood Hill. And I had a lot of fun at Greenwood Hills directing the Congress. I'd sit on the platform at night. We had young people all the way from the New England state to Virginia and west to Michigan. A lot of young people from the Washington, D.C. area, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and you name it. And, of course, I'd sit on the platform and It was a great time when young people would get together from various parts of the country, and that week was a great week for dating.
And I'd sit there, I'd watch Richard come in with Nancy, and they'd sit together a couple nights, you know. And I'd say to myself, well, I wonder if anything's going to work out of that. Oh, lo and behold, Thursday night, Nancy's with Bill, and Richard's with Gloria or somebody. I thought, uh-uh, somebody repented. Somebody changed their mind. But you see, when God saved you, when God determined to save you, it was before the foundation of the world. For we were given to Christ, according to the seventeenth of John, before the foundation of the world.
How much did God know about you? How much did he know about me? He knew everything about me. He knew every time I'd be ashamed. He knew every time that I'd back off in an argument or in declaring the truth of God because I was afraid of what somebody else was going to say. He knew everything about me. He knew how many times I'd fail. In fact, he even numbered the hairs on the head. James, don't do that to me. Even those that used to be there were numbered.
But you see what I'm trying to say? He knew everything about me, and he'll never change his mind about me. The gifts and callings of God are without repentance. And it's on this doctrine, beloved, on these truths that the doctrine of eternal security rests. It rests upon the fact, upon the veracity of God, who God is and what God has done and how He has done it. How effectually He has worked in our lives. Now the second thing that we want to consider tonight, and if I'm going to get over this page and I certainly hope to, we've got to keep moving. Notice the characteristics of the effectual or the internal call.
It works by moral persuasion plus a powerful operation of the Holy Spirit. A. The Spirit of God operates through the preaching of the Word of God in a moral persuasive way. Now I'm going to show you how that works. We've all heard the testimony of Brother Sutton. We all know that he was saved in nineteen forty-two, October seventeenth, about nine fifteen at night. Now the thing is this, I want you to notice what I've written. I want you to notice this.
I'm going to ask him a question. How many nights did you go to hear Lester Wilson before October seventeenth? Okay, now that's what I wanted. That's what I wanted, brother. He listened to the preaching of the gospel night after night. He was being persuaded that the message was true. But it was on October seventeenth that he believed it. That God brought him to the place that he believed the message. And he didn't come to go to an altar.
You see. He didn't go to the front of a meeting. He simply trusted Christ. You see. You see. The Holy Spirit makes his persuasions effective so that a man listens to the voice of God. And that night he listened to the voice of God and he couldn't get away from it. That is the effectual call of God. And, beloved, I say this kindly. This is missing today in evangelism. We want to decision people. Instead of letting the Spirit of God work and move so that the person, when they trust Christ, they know that they're saved by His matchless grace.
Notice it works in the conscience or the conscious life of man. Why? A. It addresses the understanding which the Spirit endows with spiritual insight and truth. When the effectual call of God comes to a believer, the Holy Spirit has endowed it with understanding, for he has worked inwardly in the soul of the person. This morning I told this Sunday school class, I guess it was a Sunday school class, they announced that they were going to have a baptismal service at Faith Bible Fellowship.
This young man went up and told the brethren, I want to be baptized. Well, the brethren said, when were you saved? And he said, two weeks ago. They said, well, we didn't know anything about it. Well, he said, Mr. McNeil said, you don't need to come forward, but you do need to believe. And he said, that morning I believed. And he said, I was saved and I want to identify myself with Christ. It was real. You see, I met a lot of people who've gone forward, who've raised hands, who've done a lot of things, except live a holy life and manifest that there was a genuine change.
So you see what we're getting at here. It operates in the conscious life of man. Notice B, the understanding influences the will effectively so that the sinner turns to God. Nobody gets saved apart from their will. But who works on the will? It is the spirit of God. who opens the understanding and enlightens the understanding and the understanding moves the will to trust Christ. Notice, three, it calls man to a definite end.
What is the objective of God in effectually working his salvation, his call to the believer? What is God's objective? Well, I want you to notice what his objective is. it is a calling to fellowship into the fellowship of our Lord Jesus Christ as we read in first Corinthians one verse nine God is faithful by whom you were called into the fellowship of his son so it is fellowship with him that's why first John one and verse eight says if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship one with another and we're fellowshipping together as we walk in the light The triune God and the child of God.
We fellowship together. But now notice. And we're going to go over these under B, looking up the verses. It is a call to inherit blessing. Notice First Peter, Chapter three in verse nine. First Peter, Chapter three, verse nine. He says, Not rendering evil for evil or railing for railing. but contrary wise, blessing, knowing that ye are their unto call, that ye should inherit a blessing. In other words, the person who is saved by God's grace does not act like the world.
If the world rails on us, we do not rail back. And that's the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount. You see, God has so worked in us that we have been called to blessing, to inherit blessing. Notice Galatians chapter five verse thirteen. Here's a great text. We've been called the liberty. Galatians five verse thirteen says, For brethren, ye have been called into liberty, not bondage. The Christian life isn't a ball and chain. The Christian life is true liberty. And then he adds, only use not this liberty as an occasion to the flesh.
You and I have been set free so that we can say no to certain things. You and I have been called into liberty, and we don't use the liberty in order to sin. But now notice, we've been called to peace. First Corinthians chapter seven and verse fifteen, and here it's dealing with the marriage divorce issue that is so prevalent in the world today. And in verse fifteen he says, but if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God hath called us to peace.
God hath called us to peace, and we can enjoy that peace. Why? Because he called us to holiness. Go over the First Thessalonians, First Thessalonians chapter four and verse seven. This is so important. Here it has reference to our lives as they are lived before the world and especially in relation to our own husband or wife or any of the opposite sex. Notice verse seven of first Corinthians or first Thessalonians four. He says, therefore, brethren, am I right here?
First Thessalonians chapter four, verse seven, excuse me. And he says, for God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. And no Christian who has been effectually called by God. has to be told that something is wrong. Because he has a consciousness that something is wrong. We have been called to something. We have been called to holiness. And verse six is very important. It says that no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter.
Because that the Lord is the avenger of all such. As we also have forewarned you and testified. For God hath not called us unto holiness. Or unto uncleanness. But unto holiness. And then of course in chapter two of this same epistle in verse twelve we read that we have been called unto his kingdom and glory. For it says that ye would walk worthy of God who hath called you unto his kingdom. and glory. Now here's the call of God, which he works effectually in his people.
Now I want you to notice third thing on the page, and that is the order of the effectual call and regeneration. Here we notice how these two things go together. There is a great book written. It is called Redemption Accomplished and applied by the theologian John Murray. It's a sweet book. I know there's some parts that might be a little technical, but it's written that everyone can understand it. And in his section on redemption applied, he deals with the order of salvation, the order.
And he uses Romans eight, Verse twenty nine and verse thirty. Whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate. Whom he predestinated, then he also called. And whom he called, he justified. And whom he justified, he also glorified. Now the reason he uses that text in Romans eight, he shows that while all these five things mentioned are in the past tense, Yet you and I are not glorified, and there is an order given, and certainly justification and glorification don't come at the same time.
You see, so there is an order to the application of redemption. There is an order to it. And when John MacArthur was taken off the air, I called Lowell Davy of Bible Broadcasting Network, and I talked to him about this, and he said, well, all these things happen one at the same time. I thought to myself, how can it be that you say such a thing? For the Word of God says, we're waiting for the adoption to wit, the redemption of the body. Romans eight. How could a man make a statement like that? Of course, I didn't want to argue with him, but I discussed these things with him and I saw that there are some things that you just have to leave alone you can only carry so far.
And I didn't say that now to make you stop listening to Bible Broadcasting Network. I hope you listen to it every day, especially to Dr. Barnhouse and of course to the one who follows Elizabeth Elliott. She's one of the best preachers I've ever listened to. She's a great preacher, I'll tell you. She had more common sense. than most. I tell you, she's a great preacher. Now, I said that in order that you realize there is an order. And what we've done here is, what I've done here is try to logically show you how it works. Because I don't want you to leave the night wondering, have I been heard only the effectual call?
Or have I only heard the general call, the external call? Has God really worked in me effectually? And you see, I want you to examine your own heart in relation to the divine order of God, because it's going to bless your soul. At least it has mine. Notice first, logically, the external call in the preaching of the word precedes, or coincides, with the operation of the Holy Spirit by which the new life is produced in man. For you see, that call, the gospel, this is why we preach a gospel to every creature.
It is through that preaching of the gospel, the external call, that there are those in whom God works. Mr. Sutton, he went a long time. He listened to Alessia Wilson preach through the book of the Revelation until he got to chapter twenty in verse fifteen. A long time. But that night God effectually worked. And he came to grips with what we would call justification by faith. Now notice too. Then, then after the Spirit of God's operation by faith.
A creative word, God generates the new life. And we noticed last week that it is God who saves the sinner. It is God who produces the new birth. The new birth is not something you can work up. You had nothing to do with your first birth. It is God who does it. The new birth is of God. John one, verse thirteen. then by a creative word God generates the new light changing the inner disposition of the soul illuminating the mind rousing the feelings and renewing the will in this act of God the ear is implanted that enables man to hear the call of God to the salvation of his soul Proverbs twenty verse twelve says the hearing ear and the seeing eye.
The Lord is the maker of them both. In the hundred nineteen psalms, the psalmist cried out, Open thou mine eyes, that I might behold wondrous things out of thy law. Throughout the word of God we have the expression, He that hath ears to hear. Let him hear. You see, what do we have ears for? To hear. But unless God works effectually so that I hear the word of God, what God is really saying, I hear only words, but they don't mean anything. He that appears to hear, let him hear.
The hearing ear and the seeing eye, the Lord is the maker of them both. So the third thing is then, having received the spiritual ear. The call of God in the gospel is heard by the sinner, and is brought effectually home to the heart. Oh, we thank God for that day when his word came effectually to us, and we believed it, and we were saved. You see, it is brought effectually home. Notice four. This effectual calling finally secures through the truth as a means. The word of truth is a means, friends.
The first holy exercises of the new birth that he's born in the soul. See, the new life now begins to manifest itself. When a baby is born, they manifest themselves. And I'll never forget when the first night that we had Paul in our home after he was born. We both went to sleep and we didn't hear. We got to wait the next morning. It was seven o'clock. And we didn't hear him all night. And boy, we rushed over to the bassinet. We wondered, is he alive? And there he was. And there he is. You see. But birth manifests itself, you see.
And anyone who is a parent knows that there's a radio that gets turned on in the middle of the night, and you can't turn it off. You see. Yeah. It's there. You see, this is the completion of the work of regeneration in the broader sense of the word, the point at which it turns into converging. The salvation of the soul. Now finally, why did God save us? Here we have, why did God do this? Here we have the efficient cause of regeneration. What caused it all?
Notice, as we have two parents in the natural realm, a mother and father, so we have two in the spiritual realm. There are two parents. First, there is a word of truth. That's the gospel. James one, eighteen says, of his own will, begat he us with a word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creation, of his creatures. And Hebrews four, verse twelve, it's written there. It says, For the word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit of the joints and the marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart.
Some of us remember Brother Harold Germain. My, what a preacher he was. And he hasn't been preaching for a number of years because of illness. And I remember hearing him one night in Reading, Pennsylvania. And that night he preached on Zacchaeus, Luke chapter nineteen. Never forget the sermon. Harold German is an Englishman who lives in Scotland. But he was preaching in America. And as he said, there's a woman came up to him after a meeting. I'll never forget. And she said, what are you trying to tell everybody about my past life for?
He said, madam, I do not know you. But that night as he opened the scriptures, the Lord so revealed this woman's life to herself that she saw herself as a sinner. and that God knew all about her. That's what Hebrews four twelve says. The word of God is living. It's powerful. It's sharper than any two-edged sword. And the thirteenth verse says, Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight, for all things are naked and open to the eyes of him with whom you have to do. You see, okay.
And of course, John six sixty two. A great verse. The words that I speak unto you, the Lord Jesus said, they are spirit and they are right. The word of God. We never need to be ashamed of using the word of God. The saddest thing that's so prevalent today, we lean more on our wisdom than we do on the word. That's our problem today. That's our problem. One of them. You see.
And we lean more on the gimmicks of evangelists than we do upon the Spirit of God's ministry to hearts. I saw sinners saved in a Bible class at Western Electric at his now AT&T without ever giving an invitation. Just simply preaching the word. I've seen sinners saved in Bible classes in the mornings, during the week. Just preach the word. Preach the word. The word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. Second, or it's really number three in your paper, second, there is the Holy Spirit.
You see, it is the Holy Spirit. He works directly on the heart of man through the Word, and He produces the change. Now, you don't produce the change. He produces the change. He opens a heart, as you read about Lydia in Acts XVI, whose heart the Lord opens. and she attended unto the things which were spoken by Paul. Lydia's heart was opened by God. Notice A. That man dead in trespasses and sins is made alive, like in Christ, Ephesians two, verse one.
B. There is no cooperation of the sinner in this work whatsoever. It is God who regenerates and effectually called. This we must recognize, God has to do it. See, this does not mean that man does not cooperate in later stages of the work of redemption. He does. It's quite evident from Scripture that he does. And he does it because he has been effectually called of God. One illustration and we're through.
One rainy, cold Friday. I got a telephone call and this woman wanted me to come and open the scriptures. I didn't know where this person lived. They had to give me directions to their home and I followed them and I got there. I went over the gospel with this lady and of course There was a block there that she didn't trust the Lord while I was there. I didn't decision her. I let the Spirit of God work. Do you know why? Do you know why? I can trust the Word of God and I can trust the Spirit of God.
Far better than I can trust myself. I can trust it. Why? He that hath begun a good work. When my phone rang, I knew from her voice that a work has been started in the soul. And I can trust the Spirit of God to use the Word of God. I said, when you trust Christ, give me a telephone call. Just call me. Well, that afternoon, it was all felt that person called me. And I'll tell you something.
That person's here tonight. God works. And God works effectively. You see, we can trust the Word of God. You can't trust preachers. I don't trust the preacher that I'm saved. It's the Word of God that tells me I'm saved. And it's the Word of God that has done the inward work. Oh, my friends. Have you been called to God? This is why we can trust people to the Word and to the Spirit to do the work. Huh?
Never mind. I'm not going to tell you. If that person wants to tell you, that's all right. I'm not going to put anybody on the spot. That person knows who she is, you see. But that's how it works. That's how it works. And I've done that to a number of people that have called under conviction of sin. I don't decision them. I let the Spirit of God do the work and the Word of God. And when they're saved, you can tell it by the light. It works. Now, let's pray together. Our Father, it's a deal right to open your words.
to teach your word, to rest in the word. We sang tonight, Jesus, I am resting, resting, in the joy of what thou art. And we rest not only in the joy of what thou art, we rest in the joy of who thou art, because the gifts and callings of God are without repentance. So now we just commend to thee the ministry of the word tonight. Blessed to every heart, and cause thy name to be honored and magnified for Jesus' sake. Amen.