General, Exceptional Usages - The Universal Call

Introduction: Biblical Words as Uncut Diamonds

0:02 In 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verses 12 and 13, the apostle writing to the Corinthians says, But we received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might know the things that were freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in words which man's wisdom teacheth,

0:32 but which the Spirit teacheth. Now the obvious teaching of those verses is that the things that are freely given to us of God in grace are expressed in words which the Spirit himself directed the biblical writers to use, so that the words

0:59 become the vehicle by which the mind and heart of God are disclosed to His people. Now if that's true, then biblical words ought to be precious words to all the people of God. But they cannot be precious words unless they are understood words.

1:24 Someone may walk up to you and hand you a little cloth bag full of something that at first glance seems to be just a rather homely collection of pieces of glass of various shapes and sizes. And you might treat the little bag as nothing but a bunch of glass fragments until you are informed that they are uncut and unpolished diamonds.

1:52 Once you are apprised of what they really are, you will begin to esteem them for their true worth. Well, we can treat many portions of the Word of God and many Bible words like a bag of glass fragments because we have not come to grips with the richness and the worth of what they reveal of the mind and will of God towards His people. Some such words are

2:23 calling, justification, adoption, sanctification, glorification. These words in which the richness of grace is set forth for the people of God in the Scriptures. And in this present series of studies entitled Here We Stand, a series in which it is our intention to come to grips with the broad doctrinal outlines of the Word of God, we are presently concerned with studying the salvation we receive from God and seek to proclaim to others in the name of God. Having examined the testimony of Scripture with respect to the objects of this salvation, the central figure in this salvation, even our Lord Jesus,

3:17 we are now concerned with the cardinal blessings of this salvation. And you see, those blessings are conveyed to us in terms such as calling, justification, adoption, sanctification, etc. And what we are doing then in this present segment of our study is examining those biblical words in an effort to grasp

3:46 something of the richness of our heritage in Christ. We have seen that the orbit within which all of these blessings come to us is the orbit of union with Christ. Ephesians 1.3 is the pivotal text pointing in this direction. God does not parcel out calling and sanctification and justification and adoption

4:14 He gives those blessings only in His Son. And it is only as men and women and boys and girls are brought into vital union with Christ that these blessings become theirs. But in union with Him, all of them become the possession of the people of God. And then we've suggested that the Bible not only points to the orbit of these blessings, but it does give us, at least in a loose sense, an order in which these blessings actually become ours. And I've suggested that the order is a time order. There are certain of these blessings by which we are actually brought into vital union with Christ. Then there are some that are given to us the moment that union is established,

5:07 And then there are some that await the consummation when our Lord returns and takes us to Himself. Well, right now we've begun to study the first of the two by which needy sinners are actually brought into vital union with Christ, the blessing that the Bible sets forth under the name of callings.

Review: The Importance of the Doctrine of Calling

5:33 Last Lord's Day, all we did was to examine several pivotal passages which underscored the importance of the biblical doctrine of calling. And we saw the importance, first of all, because of the strategic place of calling in the plan of redemption. It is, as it were, the central link in the chain of God's redemptive designs. Some of those links go back into eternity and are shrouded in the mystery of God's electing love and His predestinating purpose. Others of them are, as it were, stretched out into eternity in the glory that awaits us. And all of those links which span eternity find, as it were, their nexus, their connecting point in calling.

6:27 And then we saw the dominant place given to calling in the pursuit of Christian growth or maturation. How our calling is a constant element in motivation in the Christian life. And finally, we saw its central place as a distinct designation of the people of God. The people of God are called the beloved of God. They are called saints. They are called brethren. They are called brethren.

Plan: General Usage, Exceptional Usage, Normal Usage

6:55 They are also called the called ones. Well, now this morning, having underscored the importance of the doctrine of calling, we want to address ourselves to the essence of the biblical doctrine of calling. Having seen its importance, we now ask the question, what precisely is God's calling? And this is a case where a major doctrine is bound up almost exclusively in the occurrence of a single family of words in the Bible. You have the verb to call, such as it is set before us in 1 Corinthians 1, 9. God is faithful through whom ye were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Then you have the noun...

7:54 such as we saw in Romans 8, 28, where the people of God are described as the called ones. And then the verbal noun, calling. 1 Corinthians 1, 26. Behold your calling, brethren. Not many mighty, not many noble are called. And so if we would have a grasp upon the biblical doctrine of calling, it is relatively easy because...

8:22 the doctrine itself is bound up almost exclusively in that family of words. Now, you see, that's not true with the doctrine of the Trinity. You will not find the word Trinity in all of the Bible. Now, the doctrine of the Trinity is bound up in many lines of biblical truth, but it is not easy to grasp those lines because they are diverse. But with the subject of calling, the average believer who applies himself with a modicum of diligence should be able to come away from a study such as this with some clearly chiseled concepts of what the call of God is for the simple reason, as I've suggested, the doctrine is bound up primarily in that family of words. Now to break down the biblical materials, we shall first of all consider very briefly the

9:16 the general or non-theological use of the word call. And then we shall consider this morning the exceptional use of the word call, and then, God willing, next Lord's Day morning, the normal or the fixed usage of the word call. First of all, then, we must understand that the word call or calling...

General Non-Theological Uses of 'Call'

9:44 has a general usage in the New Testament not directly related to the doctrine of calling unto grace and salvation. It is the common word used for designating someone. Matthew 1.21, Thou shalt call his name Jesus. Thou shalt designate him Jesus.

10:10 Or Matthew 22, 43, David in the Spirit called him Lord. Now that's the same word. It's in that same family of words. But it's not only frequently used in that sense, but it's used in the sense of summoning with authority. When someone who has a position of authority with relationship to another calls him, this is the word that is employed.

10:38 Matthew 2, 7 is an example. Herod called unto him the wise men. Exercising his place of political authority, he summoned them to come before him. Or in Matthew 20 and verse 8, the Lord of the vineyard calls his servants. But then it is used in the third place as a synonym for invite. Invite.

11:06 In Matthew 22 and verse 3, certain ones are to go out and to invite people, to call them to a wedding feast made in honor of a king's son. And then a fourth usage, and this is a rare usage, but it is found in the New Testament, it is a synonym for one's occupation. 1 Corinthians 7, 20, let a man abide in the calling wherewith he was appointed. There's a play on words. In the same verse, the word call in one sense means that call unto grace and salvation, but in the same verse it is a synonym for occupation. Well, as you read through the New Testament then, you should ask yourself when you come across the word call or calling, is this a theological usage with reference to that call to grace and salvation in union with Christ?

12:04 Or is it simply a common non-theological usage? And you will find then that it is used as a synonym for designating, for summoning with authority, for inviting, or as a synonym for occupation. But now we move to this second usage in the New Testament, and it's what I'm calling the exceptional use with reference to to what is often called the general call of the gospel, or the free offers of the gospel, or the universal call. Now when you come across in your reading the terms universal offer, universal call, general call, all of those terms are pointing to this exceptional use of the word call and the family of words that grows around it.

The Exceptional Usage: Matthew 22 and Luke 14

13:01 Now the key passages with respect to this exceptional use of the word and the concept of call are Matthew 22 and Luke 14. And I would ask you now to turn to Matthew chapter 22. Now remember what we're attempting to do. We're simply attempting to get a grasp upon the biblical concept of calling.

13:29 Having disposed of the general non-theological use of the term, we are now examining the exceptional use of the term with reference to the call to grace and to salvation. Here in Matthew 22, our Lord gives a parable that has some very distinct historical overtones. It has to do with the immediate situation of

13:59 having predicted that the kingdom would be taken from the Jews and given to another nation in the preceding context, our Lord now buttresses that prediction with a parable. And Jesus answered and spake again in parables unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king who made a marriage feast for his son, and sent forth his servants, now here's the verb, to call them that

14:33 You have the same root word. You have a different tense. They were to call those that had previously been invited or called to the marriage feast. And they would not come. Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them that have been called. Behold, I have made ready my dinner.

14:56 My oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the marriage feast. But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his merchandise. And the rest laid hold on his servants and treated them shamefully and killed them. But the king was wrought, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then said he to his servants, The wedding is ready.

15:23 But they that were bidden, they that were called, were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the parting of the highways, and as many as ye shall find bid, call to the marriage feast. And those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good. And the wedding was filled with guests. And then we have the incident of the one who did not have a wedding garment. And then the conclusion...

15:53 For many are called, same word, but few chosen. Now you have a parallel situation in Luke chapter 14. We'll not take the time to turn and read it. It's not precisely the same parable, but it is basically the same analogy of a feast that has been spread and an invitation that goes out in the form of a call to come and partake of the benefits of of that feast. Now apart from the possibility of Matthew 9 and verse 13 in which Jesus said, I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance, the use of the word call in this exceptional sense is exhausted in these passages in the New Testament. In all the other instances in the New Testament,

16:50 where the word call is used with reference to the blessings of grace and of the gospel, the call is that call which actually brings the sinner into union with Christ and into possession of the very blessings to which it summons him. But it is obvious in these passages, the Matthew 22 and the Luke 14 passage,

17:19 particularly the summary statement of our Lord, that there is a calling which does not issue in the actual partaking of the blessings of grace and of salvation, and therefore can rightly be conceived of as an invitation. But I would remind you that this is the exceptional use, but it is a use.

17:46 And because it is, it contains a very vital truth which we must not lose sight of as we stand, as it were, on the threshold of moving into the richness of the normal fixed usage of the term call in the New Testament. Though this exceptional use is not the dominant concept, it is a vital and essential concept namely the concept of the universal call to the blessings of salvation, or what has often been termed the free offer of the gospel. Now then, what is involved in this exceptional concept of the call? Well, you will notice from the parables of our Lord and from parallel passages in the New Testament, which I shall cite, that this

Element 1: Presentation of the Facts of Gospel Provision

18:43 Paul, this summons, this universal entreaty involves at least four things. Number one, it involves a presentation of the facts of gospel provision. It involves a presentation of the facts of gospel provision. In the language of the parable, it is the statement, all

19:12 Things are ready. Here the servants were commanded to go forth, not to ask people to come for a potluck supper and bring their own things. Rather, they were to go out with the announcement, All things are ready. The feast is spread. You don't even need to bring your salt and pepper shaker. Everything is there.

19:42 And the first element of this exceptional use of the word call is that presentation of the facts of gospel provision which our Lord says is to be made to all men without discrimination and without exception. Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation.

20:10 Or in the language of Luke 24, having opened their minds to understand the Scriptures that Christ must suffer, that Christ must be raised from the dead, He then says that repentance and remission of sin should be preached among all the nations in His name. And there is then, in this general call, this universal call, the privilege of hearing the presentation of the glorious provisions of the gospel of the grace of God, a setting forth before men that though they have sinned, though they have violated the law of God, though they have brought upon themselves just condemnation, God so loved the world of rebel sinners that He sent His only begotten Son,

21:05 that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. And Christ, in the language of Galatians 3.1, is to be placarded. He is to be openly displayed among men. And we are to tell men that God has sent His Son to die for sinners, that Christ has satisfied all the demands of a holy God in terms of a broken law, that that Lord Jesus has been raised from the dead, and that in His name forgiveness is announced. But then in the second place, this exceptional use, this general universal call, not only involves a presentation of the facts of gospel provision,

Element 2: Command and Plea to Partake

21:57 It involves a command and a plea to partake of those provisions. Notice the language of the parable. They were not simply to go forth and say, A feast is prepared, all things are ready. But notice there was to be this command, a command which drew to itself all of the authority of the kings.

22:27 It was the king's servants sent forth in the name of the king, verse 3, and he sent forth his servants to call them that had been previously invited, which in the parable, of course, refers to the Jewish nation, which had had the constant entreaties and overtures of God's mercy in the prophets. He says the servants are to call them that were bidden. And they wouldn't come. So what did he do? He sent forth other servants and he said, You are to tell them, I have made my dinner ready. My oxen and my fatlings are killed. Everything is ready. Come to the marriage feast. And here you see is the element of command and of plea and entreaty that men would avail themselves of the great privileges of this feast so freely spread.

23:27 What a wonderful thing it is to know that God has given a warrant to His servants, not merely, shall I use the word merely? Not merely to tell men without discrimination what God has done in sending His Son to die for sinners, and all the provisions of forgiveness and pardon and acceptance that are available in Christ, but then to move on and say that same God,

23:56 commands you to come to that gospel feast. This is His commandment that we believe on the name of His Son, Jesus Christ. Acts 17, 30, God commandeth all men everywhere to repent. But there's something even more than a commandment.

24:18 The Apostle Paul could say in 2 Corinthians 5, We beseech you in the stead of Christ, be ye reconciled to God. He says in that same chapter, knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. There is the element of commandment, yes, and it is regal commandment. It is the God of heaven who spread the feast that commands sinners to come.

24:48 But God stoops to plead through His servants, We beseech you in the stead of Christ, be ye reconciled to God. God could say that all the day long have I stretched forth my hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people. And how did He do it? He did it through the prophets, who became, as it were, the embodiment of Jehovah's heart.

25:26 Psalm 119, verse 1. And he that hath no money, come buy wine and milk without money and without price. And you see all the way through the prophets, there is this element not only of command, but of plea and of entreaty. But there is something more in this exceptional use of the word called. There is presentation. There is command and plea. Then there is in the third place the promise of forgiveness and salvation.

Element 3: Promise of Forgiveness to All Who Will Come

26:15 To all who will come. There is the divine promise of forgiveness and salvation to all who will come. In the parable, there was implicit in the command and the statement of the provision, a promise that if you'd come to where the feast was spread, everything that was in the feast would be yours.

26:45 The king was not out to mock people. Implicit in the very statement, all things are ready, come, is that if you come, the all things are yours in the coming. But what is implicit in the parable is explicit in other portions of the Word of God. And I want to buttress this assertion that the third element in this general call is promise,

27:13 Direct your attention to two examples of this in the book of Acts, in the apostolic preaching of the gospel. First of all, in Acts chapter 10 and verse 43, Peter is preaching in the household of Cornelius. He's preaching to a Gentile, his family, no doubt many of his friends, servants, whatever comprised his household.

27:43 As he's drawing his sermon at least, if not to a conclusion, it's as though God concluded it by sending down the Holy Ghost in such power. He's at least drawing it to one of its points of strong and climactic emphasis. Verse 42, And he charged us to preach unto the people and to testify that this is he, that is Jesus, who is ordained of God to be the judge of the living and the dead. To him bear all the prophets witness that through his name, everyone that believeth on him shall receive remission of sins. While Peter yet spake those words, the Holy Spirit fell. And when you tie this in with Acts 15, we are warranted to believe it was precisely at that point

28:42 when the preaching culminated in the unqualified promise that they believed. For he says, their hearts were cleansed by faith. He gave unto them the Holy Ghost when they believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, even as He did unto us. And so though the text in Acts 10 does not state at this point they believed, the subsequent record indicates that it was precisely at this point that faith was born in their hearts when the offers of God's mercy in Christ were buttressed, as it were, with divine promise. And look at the breadth of it. To Him bear all the prophets witness that through His name everyone that believed,

29:42 for the first time or for the one thousandth time, whether or not like a Cornelius he has been one acquainted with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as a proselyte or a loose proselyte, or whether for the first he makes no qualification, everyone that believeth, and then notice the certainty, shall receive remission of sin.

30:11 And so Peter was giving that universal, that general, that free offer of mercy. You find a similar statement from the Apostle Paul in the 13th chapter of Acts. He is preaching at Antioch of Pisidia. And again he is setting forth Christ as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.

30:37 proving, opening, and alleging that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the Christ of God. And now as he brings the sermon to a conclusion, he says, verse 38, Be it known unto you therefore, brethren, in the light of all I have told you concerning Jesus of Nazareth as the Christ of God, be it known unto you therefore, brethren, brethren, that through this man is proclaimed unto you remission of sins. And by him every one that believeth is justified from all things from which he could not be justified by the law of Moses. Oh, do you see the unfettered freeness? The untrammeled freeness of the promise of mercy. In the name of this one, every one

Element 4: Sober Warning of the Results of Refusal

31:34 believing is justified from all things. Then there is a fourth element in this exceptional use of the call, this general, this universal call and offer of the gospel, and it is the sober warning of the results of refusal. The sober warning of the results of refusal. Stay with the Acts 13 passage while we're there.

32:03 immediately following the promise, notice what he says. Verse 40, Beware therefore. He moves from a free and a gracious promise to a sober warning. Beware therefore, lest that come upon you which is spoken in the prophets. Behold ye despisers, and wander, and perish. For I will work a work in your days, a which ye shall in no wise believe, if one declare it unto you. You see, with all the freeness and the richness of the overtures of mercy comes this solemn note. We must not treat lightly this gracious offer of mercy. Beware! Lest, having heard, you despise it. Going back to the parable, you remember what our Lord said happened to those who treated lightly?

32:59 the invitation to the marriage feast. Those who regarded it lightly, along with those who viciously treated His servants, destruction came upon their city. And as one reads this passage, the indication seems to point in the direction, verse 5, that those who made light of it, along with those who openly

33:29 were hostile to the servants shared in the destruction that came from the hand of the King. This call then that comes to all men, this universal offer, this presentation of the facts of divine provision for sinners, the command and plea to partake of those provisions, the unfettered promise of mercy to all who will have those provisions,

33:59 It has as its capstone the sober warning of the results of refusal. John chapter 3 that is so filled with this biblical element of the universal, the extensive offer of mercy closes on this very note. He that believeth not, the wrath of God abideth upon.

34:27 This, then, I suggest, is what the Scripture sets before us as the exceptional use of the word call. It is a call which should be conceived of in terms of an invitation. An invitation that is sincere. An invitation that comes from the God of heaven.

Why Give Such a Call? Context for the Special Call

34:48 an invitation that comes buttressed with promises that are as broad as the need of the men to whom it comes, but an offer of mercy that has this overtone of judgment and of warning. Now, but someone asks, but Pastor Martin, if it is not a call which actually secures the things that it offers,

35:18 if it is an overture of mercy that is not attended of necessity with the power imparted enabling the sinner to embrace it, why is such a call given at all? Well, may I suggest that the Word of God gives us at least three answers to that question, and that comprises the bulk of our remaining time this morning. First of all,

35:46 It is only in the context of this universal call that the special and effectual call comes to men. How does the Lord give His effectual call, that normal standard use of the word call, which is more than invitation? It is the divine activity actually bringing the sinner in to fellowship with Christ and all the blessings of His grace. Well, you see, God has ordained that it's in the context of this general, this universal call that the special call is given. Romans chapter 10, verses 12 to 15. The promise is made that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

36:40 But then the question is asked, How shall they call on Him whom they have not heard? Verse 14, How shall they then call on Him in whom they have not believed? How shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? How shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent, even as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them!

37:08 that bring glad tidings of good things. The Apostle underscores the same thought in 2 Thessalonians where he speaks of the Thessalonians in verse 13 in this language. But God be thanked. 2 Thessalonians 2.13 We are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, for that God chose you from the beginning unto salvation in sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth, Whereunto He called you through our gospel. How were they effectually and powerfully called? Through the preaching of the gospel. And what is the gospel? The gospel is not God has sent His Son to die for His elect. And if His elect will recognize who they are and believe, they shall be saved. That is not the gospel.

38:07 is that God has sent His Son to die for an innumerable company of sinners, a company no man can number out of every kindred, tribe, and tongue, and nation. And the gospel is that the God who sent His Son to die for sinners promises that any sinner in any circumstance who will have His Son can have Him, and all the blessings of forgiveness and pardon

38:36 In the Son of God. So when Paul says he called you, the elect ones at Thessalonica, how did he do it? He says, through our gospel. And that gospel came as a universal and unfettered call to the blessings of grace and salvation. Let me use a simple illustration to try to make this more vivid in your understanding, more clear to your understanding.

The Magnet-and-Metal Ball Illustration

39:03 Suppose someone handed me a handful of little metal balls about a half inch in diameter. They were all gray, obviously metal, but some were steel, some were lead, and some were other kinds of alloys. Now the person said, I want you to separate all the steel ones from all the lead ones. Well, there are several ways I could do that. I might spread them all out on a table,

39:32 then just sort of cut into them with a knife and the steel ones would dull my knife and the lead ones I'd be able to cut a little bit. I could do it that way or I might find the different weights between them and weigh them, but there's a simpler way. Just take a powerful magnet and pass it over the whole bunch of them. And as that magnet passes over the whole mass, the steel ones will jump out out of the mass and attach themselves to the magnet. Now God's elects are scattered amongst

40:03 The masses of the earth. He's put no mark upon their forehead. And listen to me. Listen carefully. He has put no intimation of His election in their own consciousness. And that's the problem with some of you. You're waiting for God to push a buzzer in your own breast. To tell you you're elect. Then you'll believe. My friend, you'll wait for the buzzer until you sink into hell. God is not going to push a buzzer.

40:35 appear on your foreheads with a big E. Who can say, I am elect, therefore I can believe? He has one way to call his elect and to let his elect know who they are. The magnet of the gospel passes over men saying, Christ has died for sinners. Christ is risen. Christ lives. And in his name forgiveness is announced to all without exception.

41:12 You will have Him. And you say, I want Him. I see my need. I know my undoneness. There's no hope for salvation in what I am or what I can do. I must go out of myself to another. Well, who is that other? It is Christ set forth in the Gospel. And He doesn't have ten or twelve or fourteen different walls around Him through which you must pass

41:42 Presenting your credentials until you can get to Him. An awakened sinner. A seeking sinner. An elect. No, no, my friend. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. He says, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden. And He doesn't say, produce a card showing you're the elect.

42:10 Produce a record that you've mourned for three months. Produce some kind of credentials that you really have been piled up by the law. He says no such thing. He says, come. Come! And there's no barrier between you and Christ but your own unwillingness to come. There's no barrier but your own unwillingness to come. Not a wonder.

Why Give Such a Call? God's Mercy Is Manifested

42:40 will not come to me that you might have life. Jesus said the only barrier is the barrier you've raised in your own heart. He said, I've raised none around myself. I've come to seek and to save that which is lost. So that's the first reason why this exceptional use of call is set forth in the Scriptures. It is by means of that general That unfettered, universal call that the special, inward, efficacious call comes to men. But there's a second reason for this call, and it is this. The grace and mercy of God are manifested in it. You remember the incident in the Old Testament when Moses said, O God, show me thy glory. And God says, I can't answer your request in full, but only in part.

43:38 And he hides Moses in the cleft of the rock. Then he passes by and he proclaims his name to Moses. And he says, I am who? Jehovah merciful. Merciful. Delighting in forgiveness. You see, it is God's glory to be merciful. And his mercy is the crowning manifestation of his glory to sinners.

44:10 And in the gospel offer that grace and mercy are wonderfully manifested. When God stretches forth his hands through Ezekiel and says, in the language of Ezekiel chapter 18, Why will ye die? I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that ye turn and live. Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die?

44:38 When we see the heart of God through the language of Isaiah the prophet saying, Come now, let us reason together. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. And my friend, the God whom we worship is the God revealed in Jesus Christ. And if you and I were to have been there that day, when our Lord approached the brow of Jerusalem, Looking down upon that city, upon which he knew the judgments of his father must fall, the Scripture says when he beheld the city, he wept. That's a weak translation, as B.B. Warfield has very conclusively demonstrated in his masterful article, The Emotional Life of Our Lord. That passage should be translated, he wailed over it. He wailed over that city.

45:38 In the language of Matthew 23, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how oft would I have gathered, but ye would not. O my friend, how much mercy and compassion and grace are displayed in this universal call of the gospel. Every time a servant of Christ stands and says to a gathering of people, God in Jesus Christ is merciful to sinners. He is yours if you will have Him. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. God is magnified in the display of His own mercy and grace in the proclamation of that free offer. And then thirdly, and now I trust you listen carefully,

Why Give Such a Call? Sinner's Responsibility Intensified

46:34 The responsibility of the sinner is intensified and underscored by this free offer. You see, if the offer of mercy did not come to all men indiscriminately, some might say, well, there was no provision made. God has shut the mouth of every man to whom the gospel comes in that regard. For the terms of the provision are broad. Amen.

47:06 is justified from all things. What a frightening thing to be one who has despised such overtures of mercy. This is why Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 1.8, When Christ returns, it will be in flaming fire to take vengeance on those that obey not the gospel.

47:31 You see, if the gospel had no command and plea, there would be no way we could disobey it. If the gospel was simply an announcement made only to the elect, then how could the non-elect and the unbeliever be charged with disobey? Impossible. But you see, it comes to all men. It comes to you. And it not only comes presenting some facts for your considerations, Have you considered that you're a sinner and Christ died for sinners and you need His forgiveness and grace? It comes with command. Not from a preacher. Not from an ecclesiastical court. But it comes from the God who has made and given the gospel. It's the King who spread the feast who said, Come! My friend, your accountability and responsibility is underscored and intensified by that free offer of mercy.

48:28 Some of you who've sat in this place and had that offer come again and again and again. How frightening will be your judgment if you go to that awesome day despising such offers. Well, as we bring our study to its conclusion this morning, may I just say in this final word of application,

Application: The Spirit and the Bride Say Come

48:52 Next week, God willing, we'll contemplate the special call that comes to those who are chosen in Christ. It's more than an invitation. It's more than a summons. More than an entreaty. But my unconverted friend, what a mercy that Almighty God has given this exceptional use of the word call. It's there in the Bible. It's taught in the Scriptures. And what a wonderful thing that God comes to you again this morning and in His Word says, Come, all things are ready. Now don't go reaching around in your pocket for some card that has been deposited from heaven saying you're one of God's elect. My friends, I repeat, some of you are paralyzed by that wicked teaching.

49:52 God sincerely, God without qualification invites you to His Son. And I trust that you will not despise that offer, but you will read the sincerity of that offer in the blood-stained ground of Gethsemane, in the awesome scene of Golgotha, in the tears and the groans and the agonies of the Son of God

50:23 And then hearing from his own lips those words, preach the gospel to the whole creation. Oh, my unconverted friend, boy, girl, man or woman, if you're waiting for anything more than this call to come, before you will believe, you will wait in vain. For it's God's appointed means to bring sinners to himself.

50:51 But this has a very powerful application to us as God's people. In Revelation 22 and verse 17. It is evident that it is the church's great privilege as well as its solemn responsibility. To join with one voice. With one heart in the giving forth of this call. We read in Revelation 22, 17. And the Spirit...

51:21 And the bride, that is the church, say, Come. And he that heareth, let him say, Come. And he that is athirst, let him come. He that will, let him take of the water of life freely. Who issues the invitation? The Spirit says, Come. But, my friend, where does the Spirit speak? He speaks in the Word, yes. Yes.

51:49 The Spirit speaks in the Word, saying, Come! But you see, the bride picks up the voice of the Spirit and becomes, as it were, His mouthpiece. The Spirit and the bride say, Come! And you, as part of the Bride of Christ, if you are a Christian, it is your great privilege and solemn responsibility to be a mouthpiece, to be an instrument, To use every means at your disposal. To do what? To engage in this wonderful work of giving the universal call of the Gospel. Passing out that booklet, that tract. Seeking to bring that loved one under the sound of the Word of God. Seeking to bring that neighbor into contact with the message of salvation. This is the privilege and the task of the bride. To say, come.

52:48 it is an awesome word to those of us who are officially set apart for the work of the ministry. How shall they preach except they be sent? And oh, what a tragedy when men who are sent constrict and alter the message of their Master. When they are sent out to say, the feast is ready through the highways and the hedges and tell men, come, the feast is yours if you will

53:19 Christ. What a terrible thing to hedge up the way to that feast with a thousand qualifications. What a terrible thing to speak of that feast with a dull and an indifferent voice and a duller and indifferent, more indifferent heart to talk about gospel privileges like you talk about cars coming off the

53:48 assembly line in Detroit. What can be more disgusting to God than these issues of eternal moment being handled in a perfunctory, heartless, unimpassioned manner? And oh, may God baptize the hearts of each of us who preach His name with something of that constraint that moves

54:17 That moved his son to wail over a city slated for judgment. That moved the prophets to come day after day and entreat with outstretched hands and with broken heart. Oh yes, you'll be accused of being an enthusiast. People will say that you're prostituting preaching with histrionics. Let them stop!

54:48 The only accusations I have to live with on my deathbed are that I was too enthusiastic. I shall die glorying in the accusation. When God has mercy upon us, we can talk of forgiveness and the blood of Christ and justifying grace and pardoning mercy.

55:10 And the overtures of heaven and hell. As though we're just trafficking in some kind of religious dominoes. Setting up ideas and knocking them down. God have mercy on us. If we know nothing of a passion born of a felt conviction. That these are the issues of life and death. Oh my dear fellow believer. And my dear...

55:39 Preacher, friend, and you men preparing for the ministry, pray that God give you an unshakable conviction of this glorious, this wonderful, exceptional call. Thank God it is a biblical doctrine. May we be so convinced of it that we never get boxed in a corner by the devil's logic. That the truth of election in the effectual call cannot be consistent with who cares about consistency. As long as the Bible marks out our path, let's walk it with resident step. Even until we meet our Master and hear Him say, Well done, thou good and thou faithful servant.

Closing Prayer

56:39 O our gracious, forgiving, merciful God, how can we thank you that a message promising mercy to the vilest of sinners was ever authorized, embodied in a book, proclaimed to us? O we bless you this morning.

57:06 We thank You that there is that universal, that unfettered, that unqualified call that comes to all men in the Gospel. And we pray this morning that there may be some who will not despise that call, but who will come to the feast of good things prepared by the Lord Jesus Christ. And we pray that those of us who have come

57:36 who comprise His bride, O give us a renewed passion to say to all men, Come, for the feast is spread. We pray for those who have been paralyzed by false teaching, who feel that they cannot come until something more is given, either without or within. Lord, break that paralysis. God, have mercy and break that paralysis.

58:06 We pray that the chains of the false teaching that have bound them to their unbelief in their sins will be snapped by truth this morning, and that they may be set free to run to Christ. And oh, how we pray for these who prepare for the work of the ministry implant within their hearts unshakable and biblically founded convictions concerning this free offer of mercy, this universal call, and grant that they may find it their joy to be mouthpieces of the living God to issue that call. We thank You for Your presence with us here this morning. We thank You for Your Holy Word. We thank You for Your beloved Son. We thank You for everything that is ours in Him.

59:04 receive our praise, and grant that as we leave this place, the blessing of your own presence may rest upon us and abide with us. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.