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| The Doctrines Of Grace |
| Exposition of Irresistible Grace |
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| Pages Home Depravity Of Man Unconditional Election Limited Atonement Irresistible Grace Perserverance Of The Saints Links Historic Baptist Doctrine God's Truth Is Absolute |
| IRRESISTIBLE GRACE Originally Published by THE NEW TESTAMENT BAPTIST CHURCH 4828 Vine Street Cincinnati 17, Ohio |
| Today, I am bringing you the fourth in the series of messages on the doctrines of grace; and our subject is "Irresistible Grace." Psalms 110:3 is the text, "Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power." This verse amply expresses the truth that I shall try to present in this message. "Thy people shall be willing" --that certainly is irresistible grace. On this subject the Philadelphia Confession says: "Those whom God had predestinated unto life, he is pleased in his appointed and accepted time, effectually to call, by his word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death in which they are by nature, to grace of salvation by Jesus Christ; enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God; taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto them a heart of flesh; renewing their wills, and by His almighty power determining them to that which is good, and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ; yet so as they come most freely, being made willing by his grace.
"This effectual call is of God's free and special grace alone, not from anything at all foreseen in man, nor from any power of agency in the creature, co-working with his special grace; the creature being wholly passive therein, being dead in sins and trespasses, until being quickened and renewed by the Holy Spirit; he is thereby enabled to answer this call, and to embrace the grace offered and conveyed in it, and that by no less power than that which raised up Christ from the dead." We have already studied in this series that man is totally depraved, that God has elected a people according to His own sovereign pleasure, and that Christ died for the elect of God; now we shall see that salvation is then applied effectually to the heart of these chosen ones by the power of the Holy Spirit. First we shall consider, WHAT IS MEANT BY IRRESISTIBLE GRACE What do we mean when we use the term? First, we mean that the work of the Spirit in bringing men to Christ is always effectual. That is simple, but that is exactly what we mean. We turn to the Gospel of John and read to you from chapter 6 and verse 37, "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." You see, every one of those given to the Son by the Father SHALL come to him. This is not a conditional salvation, but it is certain according to the purpose of God. In the 45th verse of the same chapter, "It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me." The only one who can teach a man is the Lord Himself. Evangelists may persuade them, songs may stir them, but only the Spirit can teach them. Surely this brings us once more to the blessed truth, that salvation is of the Lord. The call of God is not frustrated by the will of man; for if this were true, none would ever be saved. Since man's will is bound, he would never choose Christ. Since he loves sin by nature, he would never desire to be delivered from it. Thus if any are ever turned unto the path of righteousness, it must be by the irresistible call of the Spirit. Notice the language of I Peter 5:10, "But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory." He "hath called us," this would tell us that the Lord accomplished exactly what He determined to do. Now you notice all the Scriptures which I read to you, and you will see that it is stated as though there was never anything in the minds of the writers but that God's call is effectual. Secondly, in answering this question of what is meant by irresistible grace, we mean that the Spirit is active and man is passive in the initial work of grace upon the soul. The sinner could not possibly raise himself from the dead. In Ephesians 2:1 the sinner is described as being "dead in trespasses and sins"; certainly then he has no power to raise himself. But it says, "you hath He quickened," --He made us alive. The dead man could neither resist this work nor have any part in it. In the 5th verse of the same chapter we read, "Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)." He did the quickening, He brought us to life, it was all by His might and power. You cannot imagine that a man who is dead physically could raise himself to life, and neither can a man who is dead spiritually bring himself to life in Jesus Christ. So when we speak of irresistible grace we simply say, that the work of the Spirit in bringing men to Christ is always effectual, and that the Spirit is active and man is passive in the initial work of grace upon the soul. We come in the second division of this message to note, HOW THIS TRUTH IS TAUGHT IN THE SCRIPTURES By turning to Ezekiel 11:19, we see that God has determined to give a new heart to His people--His elect. "And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh." The Lord will take away that heart of stone, that rebellious heart, that wicked heart, and will give unto His elect a new heart, a heart that shall be willing in the day of His power. Jeremiah 31:33 says, "But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people." That is quoted by the writer of the book of Hebrews as having reference to those who are the elect of God. Ah my friends, this is not the language of the Arminians of our day, for they would make it appear that God shall only try to have a people, but should they refuse to become the people of God then He would be defeated; but the word here declares that He SHALL have a people. There is not one condition given. He will have them. How? Why He shall make them willing by the inward work of the Spirit, by taking away their heart of stone and giving them a new heart. You hear men say, "Give God your heart," but that's not the gospel. The message of grace goes like this, "I will give you a new heart saith the Lord." And Oh how we ought to praise His Holy name that this is true, for we who know our hearts, know that we would never have been willing if He had not made us willing. The message of grace is the message for sinners. The self-righteous might find consolation somewhere else; but they who truly know themselves to be sinners, can be content with nothing but that message which says "Salvation is of the Lord." We read now John 5:25, "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." Note that all who hear--hear this call, hear the voice of the Spirit, shall live. Many times preachers like to imagine that the conversion of sinners is dependent upon their ability as an orator, or the fervency of their delivery, or upon some power they possess themselves. But my dear friends, we see that the hour is now here that those who are spiritually dead, having heard the voice of the Son of God, shall live. Every one who hears the voice of the Spirit, not hears my voice, I have no power to bring men to life; it is the power of the Holy Spirit by which men are brought to life. Does this not teach irresistible grace? Does this not show us that His people shall be willing in the day of His power? Surely so! Next we learn that those who are called effectually find the gospel to be most precious to their hearts. We look at I Corinthians 1:23, "But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness." I preach to you today Christ crucified. To the Jew, or religious person, He is a stumblingblock; to the Greek or the cultured, He is foolishness. "But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God." Oh how plainly that teaches what I am trying to get across. Though I give a general call urging men to repent and believe, none shall hear for the preaching of this glorious truth is utterly foolish to the natural mind. You hear people speak of wanting the preacher to speak so plain that a little child could understand, but if a man preaches the gospel that simply he is not preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, because the gospel of Jesus Christ cannot be understood by any person whether they be young or old unless it is revealed to their hearts by the Spirit. Let us now note that this truth is verified by the fact the Scriptures teach men are regenerated by the power of the Spirit. Jesus said, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God," and again, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." The passage does not explain how to be born again, but declares that the new birth is essential and that it is wrought by the Spirit. That which is born of flesh is flesh and can never be anything more. However many in this time are trying to prove that there is at least one good thing the flesh can do. They will say that man is a sinner and that he needs Christ; but at the same time they claim the sinner has the power to either accept or reject Christ. If the sinner had the power to accept Christ, or make any move by his own power, then the flesh could do something good. But man has not this ability, he can perform nothing in the spiritual realm until he is regenerated. Now we read in Ephesians 1:19 of this mighty power of God which is manifest in the regeneration of sinners. "And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe." You see this power is not unto all men, but it is to usward who believe according to the working of his mighty power. Notice what it says about this power, "which he wrought in Christ." It is the same power wrought in a sinner which was wrought in Christ when He raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in heavenly places. I want you to look at it. It is almost blasphemy to say that a sinner by his own will and power can raise himself from spiritual death when God says that it requires the same power to raise a sinner that is dead spiritually that it did to lift Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, out of the grave and set him at his own right hand. Oh! What power it is. Ephesians 2:10 says, "For we are his workmanship." We are the clay; He is the potter. He hath made us, "created us in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." Does an object which is created have any will in the matter of its creation? Certainly not, that would be absurd to imagine such a thing. Only God can create life in a dead sinner, and there is no other hope for sinners to be brought to Jesus Christ but by that power. In II Corinthians 4:3 we find this described in another way, stating that men are in darkness and had to be brought to light by this miracle working power of God. Verse 3 says, "But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake." Do you not remember that in Genesis 1:3, "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light." There was no time interval, there was no rebellion on the part of the elements to say that there should not be light, but God said, "Let there be light and there was light;" and that same God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. The same power was required to bring light to the heart of that darkened sinner as there was to bring light upon the face of the earth. When God speaks for light to come into the soul of the sinner that has been in darkness; light immediately comes because all things are subject to the will of our sovereign God. Now I wish for us to notice, that wherever the call of the Spirit is referred to in the scriptures it is always spoken of as being effectual. Romans 1:6, "Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ." You were called. That could not be understood as being anything but an effectual call. In Galatians 1:15, "But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace." And then to I Peter 1:15, and just notice the language of it in every place reveals that the call of the Spirit is always effectual. "But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;" and in the second chapter and the ninth verse he says, "that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light." One scripture which I wish I had time to read, but I will only make brief reference to it, is Luke 14:21-23. There we have the parable of the man who prepared a feast and invited people to come to it and all refused, and so the Lord sent out his servant to go into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in. The Arminians would interpret that as saying that we are authorized to use pressure methods to get men to come to Christ. That is not so, because the servant there does not represent the Christian worker, but represents the Holy Spirit. It is only by the power of the Spirit that men can be compelled to come to Christ. Then there is a very glorious illustration of the truth that I am trying to preach given in the form of a parable given in Luke 15:3, "And he spake this parable unto them, saying, What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance." That is a very wonderful story, because it illustrates for us exactly what takes place in the salvation of a sinner. But the majority of preachers would picture the parable in this way. The shepherd counted the sheep and only ninety and nine were in the fold, so the shepherd went out and searched and found the little sheep; there it was in the pit where it had gone astray. Its legs were broken, it was unable to walk, but the shepherd would come and say, "Get up little sheep and come to the fold. Come now little sheep, you follow me, I am your shepherd, I want you to come." The shepherd would stand there and beg and plead, but the little sheep couldn't get up because his legs were broken. The shepherd would return back to the fold and sit down with his face in his hands and begin to weep and cry because the little sheep couldn't come home. Now that is the way men preach it today, but my friend that's not so. The story given here is this, the shepherd sees there are but ninety-nine sheep, he goes out until he finds that little sheep and he picks it up and layeth it on his shoulders and comes again rejoicing. And so it is when God saves a sinner. The Lord Jesus Christ is not a defeated shepherd, he does not cry over sheep who shall never be brought to the fold because all of his sheep, all of those who were given to him by the Father shall come to him. And he does not stand before that sinner who is utterly disabled and say come to me and leave him there, but He picks him up and lays him on His shoulder and brings him to the fold. WHAT EXAMPLES DO WE HAVE OF THIS TRUTH? In Nehemiah 9:7, the reference which is made to Abram says that God is not only the God who chose him, but broughtest him forth out of the Ur of Chaldees. In Matthew 9:9, we learn that there was a man sitting at the seat of customs by the name of Matthew. Christ said, "Follow me." And he followed him. In John 4:28-29, we learn that Christ dealt with the Samaritan woman until he drew her effectually unto himself. In Acts 9:6-8, we see that by the power of the Spirit, Saul of Tarsus was converted. It was not by his work nor his will, but by the power of Almighty God. We learn in Acts 16:14 that the Lord opened Lydia's heart so that she attended unto the things which were spoken by the apostle Paul. And let me say that this is true with every saint of God that listens to this broadcast today. Because in I Thessalonians 1:4-5, we find that the word came to us not just by the spoken word, but it came to us in power. And in II Timothy 1:9 we learn that he hath called us by his grace. I wish I had the time to deal with each one of these examples for we could see that the call of the Spirit is always effectual, that grace is always irresistible. WHAT ARE THE EVIDENCES OF THIS GRACE? First it is a deep sense of sin. The apostle said I am the chiefest of sinners. If you have been brought to see that you are guilty, corrupt, and vile in the sight of God, and that He would do justice to cast you into the very pit of hell, this gives some evidence that you have been made a partaker of the grace of which I have spoken today. A second evidence of it is this, a hunger for the bread of life. Matthew 5:6 says, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." And too a willingness to receive Christ is a great evidence of this grace. "Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power," says our text. Are you willing my dear friend? The very willingness in your heart is an evidence of divine grace. It is irresistible grace because the sinner is made willing. It is not that the Spirit overtakes him and the sinner says I don't want to be saved, but the Spirit says you will anyway. No. "Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power" because they are given a new heart, the heart of stone is taken away and they are given a heart of flesh. Another great evidence of this grace is the hearing ear and believing heart. These are definite evidences according to John 5:24, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." And finally, that great evidence of this grace is holiness of life. He says in II Peter 1:10, "Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall." And so may it be with every heart today, let us search ourselves to make sure our calling and election of God. Look a moment at I Peter 1:13-16. "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy." Have you been called by the Spirit? Has irresistible grace been worked in your heart until you have been brought to rest in Christ? If so you have great cause to rejoice. How wonderful to know that the people of God are made willing in the day of His power. |