Sermon #5 Jude Sermons
Title: “Called”
Text: Jude 1:1
Subject: Effectual Calling
Date: Sunday Morning — November 7, 2004
Tape # Jude #5
Reading: 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
Introduction:
The title of my
message today is “Called.”
Jude addressed his letter to people he describes as “called.” Are you
one of those called ones? Am I. May God the Holy Spirit answer the question for
us from his Word. Let’s read our text together.
(Jude 1:1) “Jude, the
servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by
God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called.”
Now, I pray that
the Lord God will graciously enable me to show you something about the
blessedness of this third great blessing of grace spoken of in our text. Peter
tells us to make our “calling and election sure.” But the only way we
can make our election sure is by making our calling sure. We can know nothing
about our sanctification by God the Father and our preservation in Jesus
Christ, until we have been called to life and faith in Christ by the effectual,
irresistible grace and omnipotent mercy of God the Holy Spirit.
There are some people in this world
described by the Holy Spirit as “the called” (Rom. 1:6; 8:28).
Those who are the called of Jesus Christ are God’s elect, “them that are
sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ,” those sinners
redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, who have been saved by his almighty,
irresistible grace. All the rest of the elect shall be called, but those who
are saved are “the called,” called from death to life, from unbelief to faith in Christ.
There is a general call that goes forth
to all who hear the gospel. All who are privileged to hear the gospel preached
are called externally, by the preaching of the gospel. But it takes more than
the bare hearing of the gospel for a sinner to be saved. If the only voice you
hear today is my voice, you will go home just like you came in, nothing
bettered. But if God the Holy Spirit will speak to you by his Word through the
stammering lips of this worthless messenger of God to your soul, you will go
home singing like the psalmist of old, — “Blessed is the man whom thou choosest and causest to approach
unto thee.”
All who are saved, all “the called” have been called
internally, effectually, and irresistibly by God the Holy Spirit. “The called” are like the Thessalonian
saints. Their election, redemption, and calling is made manifest by the fact
that the Word of God has come to them, not in word only, but in the power of
the Holy Ghost.
Oh, Spirit of God, cause all here this
hour to hear your mighty voice. Call dead sinners to life. Call us all by your
Word and by your power to the throne of grace. Teach us, comfort us, draw us to
Christ, and cause us to worship God our Savior.
I remind you once more, there is no effectual call of grace
apart from the preaching of the gospel. Yet, the preaching of the gospel will
never produce life and faith in christ without the effectual call of God the
Holy Spirit.
Proposition: Salvation comes to
chosen, redeemed sinners in the experience of grace by the almighty,
irresistible, effectual call of God the Holy Spirit.
It is this call of which David sang,
when he said, “Blessed is the man whom
thou choosest, and causest
to approach unto thee.” This is the call the Apostle Paul was talking about
when he said, “God separated me from my
mother’s womb, called me by his grace, and revealed his Son in me.” Paul
was talking about this internal, effectual call when he wrote to Timothy, in 2 Timothy 1:9-11.
(2 Timothy 1:9-11) “Who
hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our
works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ
Jesus before the world began, (10) But is now made manifest by the
appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath
brought life and immortality to light through the gospel: (11) Whereunto
I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.”
Notice how the Apostle Paul
describes this call of God. When he speaks of it, he seems to be so overwhelmed
by it, in such awe of it that he cannot find words sufficient to describe it.
He calls it…
· “An Holy
Calling” (2 Tim. 1:9).
· “The High
Calling of God” (Phil. 3:14).
· “The Calling
of God” (Rom. 11:29).
· “Your Calling”
(1 Cor. 1:26; Eph. 4:4).
· “The Heavenly
Calling” (Heb. 3:1).
What
is this call of God by which we are saved? What is this heavenly calling of
which we have been made partakers by the grace of God? It is described
in many ways in doctrinal and theological works: The Internal Call — The
Effectual Call — The Irresistible Call — The Call of Grace. All those terms are
good and accurate.
I really like the way John
Gill describes this effectual, irresistible call of grace, which
comes to chosen, redeemed sinners by the sovereign power of God the Holy Spirit
through the preaching of the gospel.
“Christ stands in the
gospel-ministry, at the door of men’s hearts, and knocks and calls. Having the
key of the house of David, he opens the heart by the power of his grace and
lets himself in. In this way, and by this means, the Spirit and his graces are
received. Men are called both to grace and glory by the gospel.”
But I
want us to see how this call is described and explained in Holy Scripture.
So, today, I want us to simply read seven texts of Scripture. These seven texts
will be my outline and my message.
Darkness
to Light
I.
1 Peter 2:9 “But ye are a
chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that
ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.”
This internal, effectual, saving call of
grace is a call out of gross darkness into God’s marvelous light.
As in the creation of the world, God commanded the light to shine
out of darkness, so in the new creation of grace God the Holy Spirit shines in
our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:6).
“When the apostle Paul was called
by grace, a light surrounded him, as an emblem of that internal light which was
sprung in him. After that, there fell from his eyes, as it had been scales, as
a token of the removal of his former darkness and ignorance.”
John Gill
A.
Before God saved
us, we were like all other men, engulfed in the gross darkness of our own
depraved hearts and spiritual ignorance.
God’s elect, in their state of nature,
before they are converted, are just like all other men, totally ignorant of all
things spiritual.
· Ignorant of God.
· Ignorant of
Ourselves.
· Ignorant of
Christ.
· Ignorant of Sin.
· Ignorant of
Righteousness.
· Ignorant of
Providence.
· Ignorant of
Salvation.
· Ignorant of the
Scriptures.
· Ignorant of the
Gospel.
B.
Now, by the
effectual call of the Holy Spirit, the eyes of our understanding have been
opened, we are now made to see light and walk in light, as the children of
light.
God’s people are children of light. We
no longer grope about in darkness. We have the unction of the Spirit, causing
us to know all things. Believers have the mind of Christ, enabling them to
understand all things (Pro. 28:5; 1 Cor. 2:15-16; 1 John 20).
(Proverbs 28:5) “Evil men
understand not judgment: but they that seek the LORD understand all things.”
(1 Corinthians 2:15-16)
“But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged
of no man. (16) For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may
instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.”
(1 John 2:20) “But ye have
an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.”
Believers understand the truth,
believe the truth, and receive the love of the truth.
· About God and
His Ways.
· About Themselves
and Sin.
· About Christ and
His Atonement.
· About Grace and
Salvation.
Being taught of God, regenerate,
enlightened, saved sinners have the ability to distinguish things that differ.
They know the difference between grace and works. They know the difference
between free grace and free will. We have been called out of darkness into
God’s marvelous light.
To
Liberty
II.
Galatians 5:13 “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty;
only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one
another.”
·
We were by nature children of wrath, even as
others; but now, in Christ we are freed from all the curse and
condemnation of God’s holy law.
·
We lived all the days of our lives as home born
slaves, under the dominion of sin; but now, in Christ we
have become the servants of righteousness.
·
We spent all our days under the power and influence
of Satan; but we are now Christ’s free men.
How I thank God for the blessed
liberation of grace! Satan, like a strong man armed, held me in a bondage worse
than that of Egypt. Grace has set me free!
(Deuteronomy 6:20-23) “And
when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the
testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD our God hath
commanded you? (21) Then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh’s
bondmen in Egypt; and the LORD
brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand: (22) And the
LORD showed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and
upon all his household, before our eyes: (23) And he brought us out from thence, that he
might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers.”
(Deuteronomy 4:31-39) “For the LORD thy God is a merciful God; he
will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy
fathers which he sware unto them. 32 For ask now of the days that are past,
which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and
ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any
such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it? 33 Did
ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of
the fire, as thou hast heard, and live? 34 Or hath God assayed to go and
take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs,
and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm,
and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in
Egypt before your eyes? 35 Unto thee it was showed, that thou mightest
know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him. 36 Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice,
that he might instruct thee: and upon earth he showed thee
his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of
the midst of the fire. 37 And because he loved thy fathers,
therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought
thee out in his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt; 38 To
drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou art, to
bring thee in, to give thee their land for
an inheritance, as it is this day. 39 Know therefore this day, and consider it in
thine heart, that the LORD he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth
beneath: there is none else.”
We have been called unto liberty, even “the glorious liberty of the sons of God”!
Unto
Fellowship
III.
1 Corinthians
1:9 “God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of
his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Not only have we been called out of
bondage and into liberty, we have been called into the blessed liberty of
intimate, sweet fellowship with the Triune God in our all glorious Savior, the
Lord Jesus Christ!
A.
God calls his
people to abandon the world for Christ.
Listen to me. Those who are called of
God are called to forsake family and friend, like Abram, and follow Christ. We
have been, and are continually called by our God, to “love not the world,
neither the things that are in the world”.
· The Riches of
the World.
· The Recognition
of the World.
· The Religion of
the World.
(Deuteronomy
7:2-6, 25-26) “And when the LORD thy God shall
deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou
shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them: 3 Neither shalt thou
make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor
his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. 4 For they will turn away thy son
from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the
LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly. 5 But thus shall ye
deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and
cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire. 6 For thou art
an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a
special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the
earth……….25 The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt
not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou
be snared therein: for it is an abomination to the LORD thy God. 26 Neither
shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing
like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for
it is a cursed thing.”
(2 Corinthians
6:14-7:1) “Be ye not unequally yoked together with
unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and
what communion hath light with darkness? 15 And what concord hath Christ with
Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 16 And what
agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the
living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I
will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Wherefore come out from
among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean
thing; and I will receive you, 18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall
be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. 7:1 Having therefore these
promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the
flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”
(Revelation
18:4) “And I heard another voice from heaven, saying,
Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye
receive not of her plagues.”
Having said all that, let me hasten to
say, all this is no great sacrifice.
B.
“The heavenly calling” of which we are now partakers brings us
into far better company than we ever knew before.
We now have access to and communion with
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit and blessed fellowship
with his saints on earth, and even with his saints in heaven (Heb. 12:22-23).
1. God’s house is
open to us.
2. The Lord’s Table
is open to us.
3. The very throne
of God is open to us!
(Hebrews 12:22-23) “But ye
are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly
Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, (23) To the general
assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God
the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect.”
What a privilege! We have been
called into fellowship with the eternal God!
To Peace
IV.
1 Corinthians
7:15 “But if the unbelieving
depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such
cases: but God hath called us to
peace.”
The call of God is a call to internal peace, peace of mind
and peace of conscience, to which all men are utter strangers by nature. There
is no peace to the wicked: but God has called us to peace. He has blessed us
it; with a peace which passes all
understanding; with peace in
the midst of the tribulations of the world; with a peace which the world can neither give nor take away. Our
peace is a peace which arises from the blood and righteousness of Christ, and
is part of that kingdom of God which is within us, into which we are brought by
our calling.
We have also been called to peace
among ourselves, and with all men. — “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are
called in one body” (Col. 3:15).
We have been called unto peace.
To
Holiness
V.
1 Thessalonians
4:7 “God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.”
The call of God is a holy calling.
·
It is a call arising from upon A HOLY PURPOSE — The
Purpose Of God!
·
It is a call based upon A HOLY PRINCIPLE — Justice satisfied!
·
It is a call which
has brought us into A HOLY POSITION —
Justified and Sanctified in
Christ!
·
It is a call which makes us A HOLY PEOPLE — “An
Holy Nation!” — “A Peculiar People!” — “A Royal Priesthood!”
John Gill said, with
regard to this call of God’s elect…
“They are called
out of a state of unholiness and sinfulness, into a state of holiness and
righteousness. For being created anew in righteousness and true holiness and
created in Christ Jesus to good works, they are called to the exercise of them;
to live holily, soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present evil world. ‘God hath not called us unto uncleanness,
but unto holiness’, (1 Thess. 4:7) and ‘hath
called us to glory and virtue’ (2 Pet. 1:3), to glorious acts of virtue and
goodness, becoming the nature of their call, and of him that has called them; ‘As he which hath called you is holy’
(1Pe 1:15).”
We have been called unto holiness.
Into
Grace
VI.
Galatians 1:6 “I marvel that
ye are so soon removed from him that
called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel.”
·
We have been call by the grace of Christ.
·
We have been called by the instrumentality of the gospel of
the grace of Christ.
·
We have been called into the blessed experience of the
grace of Christ.
·
We have been called to be partakers of and to enjoy all the
blessings of the grace of Christ.
Unto His
Kingdom
We have been called (1.) out of darkness
into light, (2.) out of bondage into liberty, (3.) out of the world into
fellowship with God, (4.) out of turmoil into peace, (5.) out of uncleanness
into holiness, (6.) out from under the curse of God’s law into the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, and (7.) out of the kingdoms of this world into God’s
kingdom and glory in Christ.
VII.
1 Thessalonians
2:12 “That ye would walk worthy
of God, who hath called you unto his
kingdom and glory.”
God has called you, my brother, my
sister, to a glory which is a kingdom. He has called you into the possession of
the kingdom of grace here, a kingdom which can never be taken away from you.
And he has called you to inherit a kingdom of glory hereafter. — “The Lord
will give grace and glory!” This kingdom and glory to which he has called
you is an everlasting kingdom.
Can you get hold of this? We have been
called by the grace of God “To the obtaining of the glory of the
Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess. 2:14).
(Colossians
3:4) “When Christ, who is our life,
shall
appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.”
A. All who are called are
“called in one hope of their calling” (Eph. 4:4).
B. All who are called have the same “promise of eternal
inheritance” (Heb. 9:15).
(1 Peter
1:3-4) “Blessed be the God and Father of
our
Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again
unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 To an
inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in
heaven for you.”
C. All who are called are called to this kingdom and glory have
been given the same glory for their eternal inheritance (John 17:5, 22)
(John
17:5) “And now, O Father, glorify thou
me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world
was.”
(John 17:22)
“And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be
one, even as we are one.”
He has called us “To the obtaining of the glory of the
Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess. 2:14; John 17:22; Col. 3:4) and to
eternal glory by Christ Jesus (1 Pet. 5:10). Imagine that! We have been called
by God to “lay hold on eternal life”,
(1 Tim. 6:12) and to an eternal inheritance. And “they which are called, receive the promise of it”.
What does
all that mean? It means that we shall most assuredly enjoy eternal, heavenly glory,
having a meetness for it through the grace of God and
the blood and righteousness of his dear Son. Indeed, by Christ’s blood and
righteousness, we have a right to it (1 Pet. 1:3-4; Heb. 9:15)
We are all “called
in one hope of our calling” (Eph. 4:4) to partake of the same inheritance
with the saints in light; and to enjoy the same blessed hope laid up for them
in heaven; and for which hope of righteousness we wait by faith, through the
Holy Spirit, trusting Christ alone as our all-sufficient Savior. That inheritance
of the saints for which we wait is the very glory of our Savior (John
17:22).The very glory given to him as a man, as our God-man Mediator, shall be
ours! Can you grasp what I am telling you? You and I who are called of God are “heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus
Christ!” — “Blessed is the man whom thou choosest,
and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell
in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of
thy holy temple.”
Application:
Turn to one more text of Scripture
(Matt. 11:28-30). Here is a call which falls from the lips of the Son of God
himself. I pray that God the Holy Spirit will make it irresistibly effectual to
everyone one of you by his almighty grace. This is indeed “the
heavenly calling”. May God make you a partaker of it, for
Christ’s sake.
(Matthew
11:28-30) “Come unto me, all ye that
labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke
upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find
rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
1. Come to Christ,
and he will give you rest.
2. Take the yoke of
Christ upon you, learn of him, and you shall find rest for your soul.
3. His yoke is
easy, and his burden is light.
If you come to Christ in faith, it is because he has
called you by the effectual, irresistible power of his Holy Spirit. Your coming
to him, your believing on him makes your calling and election sure. If right
now you come to him, you are numbered among those blessed ones who are “sanctified
by God the Father, preserved in Jesus Christ, and called.”
“Am
I called? And can it be!
Has
my Savior chosen me?
Guilty
wretched as I am,
Has
He named my worthless name?
Vilest
of the vile am I,
Dare
I raise my hopes so high?
Am
I called? I dare not stay,
May
not, must not disobey;
Here
I lay me at Thy feet,
Clinging
to the mercy-seat:
Thine
I am, and Thine alone;
Lord
with me Thy will be done.
Am
I called? What shall I bring,
As
an offering to my King?
Poor,
and blind, and naked I,
Trembling
at Thy footstool lie;
Nought
but sin I call my own,
Nor
for sin can sin atone.
Am
I called? An heir of God!
Washed,
redeemed by precious blood!
Father,
lead me in Thy hand,
Guide
me to that better land
Where
my soul shall be at rest,
Pillowed
on my Savior’s breast.”
AMEN.