Ephesians chapter 2, and we'll read some verses here from the beginning of the chapter. The Word of God says, And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit not now worketh in the children of disobedience, among whom also We all had our conversation in time past, in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and we're by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love were with, he loved us, even when we were dead in sins. And so I want you to notice that God's love for us predates our love for him. We love him. The Bible says, because he first loved us. And here we have this thought again, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in our sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, by grace ye are saved. And hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us. through christ jesus for by grace are you saved through faith and not not of yourselves it is the gift of god not of works lest any man should boast amen and we'll end our reading there and it is a chapter that speaks and brings to our attention the grace of god and the grace of god in salvation i must begin by issuing an apology with this start-stop approach with regard to the doctrines of grace. Ideally, we should have been considering these doctrines, the doctrines of total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement or particular atonement, irresistible grace, and the perseverance of the saints on five consecutive Wednesday nights. That would have been the ideal. Unfortunately, that has not been possible with the beginning of the gospel mission. But I trust next week, God willing, we'll end our studies on the doctrines of grace. But a gap between each of the messages has been no bad thing because I believe these doctrines require a little bit of meditation on our part and personal Bible study for them to fully lay hold of our hearts and to thrill our souls as we consider what God has done for us in the gospel. Tonight we come to really speak upon the Calvinistic rebuttal of Arminian teaching regarding the grace of God in salvation. You see, Arminianism teaches that the sinner can successfully resist the grace of God. Even whenever God wants to save a sinner, they teach that the Spirit of God cannot regenerate the heart of the sinner until that sinner believes on Jesus Christ. The exercising of faith in the Arminian mind precedes salvation and makes possible the new birth. And thus, in Arminian teaching, man's free will really limits the spirit of God and the application of salvation or Christ atoning or saving work. The Holy Spirit in their mind can only draw the sinner to the Lord Jesus Christ, only those who allow Him to have their way in their lives. In other words, the Spirit of God needs the permission of the sinner to bring them to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. According to Arminian teaching, man is powerful enough to obstruct or to resist the grace of God in salvation. Calvinism, however, takes a completely different view when it comes to the grace of God in salvation. When a sinner chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world hears the call of the gospel, they not only come to hear the outward call, of salvation in the gospel known as the general call all hear that call but they come to hear the internal call what is known as the effectual call that inevitably brings that sinner to salvation while the external call is made to all men without distinction it can be and has often been rejected that external call but the internal call The effectual call that is made only to the elect of God cannot be rejected. When that call is heard, the sinner is brought to Christ. That call results in the conversion of the sinner. By means of the effectual call, the Spirit of God irresistibly draws the sinner to Christ for salvation. In no way at all is the Spirit of God limited by man's will. Neither is the Spirit of God dependent upon man's cooperation for success. The Spirit of God graciously calls or causes the elect sinner to believe, to repent, and to come freely and to come willingly to Christ. And so according to Calvinism, God's grace is irresistible. In other words, His grace never fails, never fails to result in the salvation of those to whom it is extended to. It cannot fail when God works in grace. When Calvinists speak of the grace of God being irresistible, we must not get the idea that God drags the sinner to himself. He doesn't drag the sinner kicking and screaming against his will in salvation. That God in some way forces people to do what they don't want to do. It simply means that God so works in the life of a sinner, who so stubbornly oppose God, that they are made willing to come to Christ in salvation. When God's grace irresistibly works in the life of an unsaved person, they gladly yield to God in the gospel. Maybe a better term would be more the effectual grace of God or the efficacious grace of God. God the Holy Spirit never fails to call to regenerate and save those whom the Father has elected and Christ has died for. Dr. Alan Cairns said, when God moves in regenerating grace, none can hinder him. When God works in regenerating grace, none can hinder him. Now salvation is a Trinitarian work. It is the work of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And yet there are certain aspects of our salvation that is attributed primarily to one person within the Godhead. And whenever you think about it, the doctrines that we've been thinking about, could we not, as it were, put some of those doctrines or attribute some of those teachings or the doctrines or the work done in those particular doctrines to a specific person within the Godhead? Think about the doctrine of unconditional election. Who is it that chooses us? before the foundation of the world. It is the Father. God the Father in our salvation has chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world. Ephesians chapter 1 tells us that. And so this thought of election is a work of the Father. He has chosen a people and given those people to the Son. And then whenever you think about the next doctrine, that of limited atonement or particular redemption, it really draws our attention to the role of God the Son in our salvation, because it was He who died for our sins according to the Scriptures, It was He who paid the price of sin. It was His blood that we shed on Calvary's cross. And so we have God the Son primarily in view with regard to particular redemption or limited atonement. But in this thought of irresistible grace, the focus is now on God the Holy Spirit and the role that He plays in that He calls us onto Christ effectually in the gospel. It is He who has drawn us to the Christ of God and has enabled us to rest our souls on the mercy and on the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, the doctrine of irresistible grace is really the logical outcome of the other three doctrines that have preceded it. You see, because men, women, boys and girls, teenagers, are unable to save themselves on account of their fallen nature, depravity, and since God has purposed to save them, unconditional election, and Christ has accomplished that salvation in the doctrine of limited or particular atonement, then it logically follows that God must provide the means of calling them into the benefits of this salvation. which he has procured for them. And that is really the doctrine of irresistible grace. Man cannot come. He is incapable of coming. Yet all is provided for mankind in salvation. So how does that incapable individual, how are they ever brought to experience the benefits of salvation? If they themselves will never seek after God, if they themselves will never call upon God in and of themselves, something must happen within the soul. Something outside of fallen man. incapable man, man who is paralyzed because of his sin, dead because of his sin, something happens from without and that is the work of God. God begins to work in the soul, God begins to illuminate the mind, God begins to regenerate the heart, God gives to the sinner the gifts of faith and repentance and having done all that The sinner is then enabled to come to Christ when the call of the gospel goes out, the general call applied or accompanied with the effectual call of the Spirit of God. Let me quote a minister, the Reverend W.J. Seton. He says this, or he begins his quote, sorry, with a question. He says, what is meant by irresistible grace? Satan, he answers it, we know that when the gospel call goes out in a church or in the open air or through the reading of God's word, not everyone heeds that call. Not everyone becomes convicted of sin and is in need of Christ. And that explains the need for two calls. There's not only an outward call, there is an inward call. The outward call may be described as simply the words of the preacher. And this call, when it goes forth, may work a score of different ways and a score of different hearts, producing a score of different results. One thing it will not do, however, it will not work a work of salvation in a sinner's soul. For a work of salvation to be wrought, the outward call must be accompanied by the inward call of God the Holy Spirit, for it is He who convinces of sin and righteousness and judgment. And so when the Spirit of God calls a man, a woman, or a young person by His grace, that call is irresistible. It cannot be frustrated. It is the manifestation of God's irresistible grace. I listened just this afternoon a little video that was up on the internet concerning a young man who came in contact with a preacher, an open air preacher in the city of Swindon. And that young man was the man who continually threw assaults, verbal assaults towards that particular open air preacher. But God started to work in that young man's heart. He ended up, sadly, going to prison, but he came back out of prison again, and he continued to hear that man preaching, and he felt conviction about it. He went into a meeting house, a church, and he just fell at the doors of those church, confessed his sin, and received Jesus Christ as his savior. And now he himself is out preaching in the city of Swindon, the gospel, of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thousands heard that gospel open air preacher. They heard his words preaching. But there was something that happened in that young man's heart that didn't happen in the hearts of others. What was it? He heard the effectual call, the Spirit's call onto salvation. And it was that that drew him to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, this doctrine of irresistible grace can only be understood if we have a right understanding of the doctrines that have preceded it, the doctrine of the total depravity and of regeneration. You see, because man is totally depraved, he is not in a state in which he can cooperate with God. Man is dead. He hates the truth. He dwells in darkness. He's got an uncircumcised heart of stone. He's helpless. He cannot repent. He's a slave to his sin and to Satan. He cannot comprehend. He cannot grasp the divine truth. You see, you can't believe that a man is totally depraved and say that then he can cooperate with God in salvation. His depravity makes such cooperation impossible. In light of man's utter depravity, we need to ask ourselves some questions. Can a spiritual corpse cooperate with grace? Can a person who's blind and deaf to spiritual truth, can they embrace it in and off themselves? Can someone who hates Jesus Christ because they're born at enmity with him change their own nature? You see, because man is spiritually dead, you need to understand that. Man is dead, we read it. were dead before, and you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins." Because man is spiritually dead, only a radical change in man's heart can enable that man, that woman, to embrace Jesus Christ. In order for God's grace to be sufficient for any man, it must therefore be irresistible. When we come to understand the radical transformation that takes place within the sinner's soul, then we come to understand that sinful man cannot cooperate with God. He needs spiritual resurrection. Resurrection from the dead. And that all happens because of the grace of God. You see, the Holy Spirit does the work. He changes the will. And now we who were once unwilling to embrace Jesus Christ, we're now made willing. We're more than willing to do that, to embrace Jesus Christ. Instead of being dragged to Christ, Instead of being dragged, kicking and screaming to Christ, when God works in the soul, what do we find ourselves doing? We find ourselves running to Christ. We're not dragged to Christ against our will, no, we gladly run to Christ. And we embrace Him joyfully and gladly. In Psalm 110, verse three, we read the words, thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. What greater day of power is there but the day of salvation? What a day that is, when God so radically works within our soul, so supernaturally works in these souls of ours, that the once unwilling sinner is now made willing to forsake their sin and cast themselves on the mercy of God. The reason the sinner wants to come to Christ is because God has already done a work of grace within their soul. The coming to Christ is but, as it were, the final piece in the jigsaw. God has already been working, generating the heart, illuminating the mind, giving the gifts of faith and repentance, causing trouble of soul, conviction of soul. All these things are brought together and they all culminate in a person's coming to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I think that would be a good idea to look at a number of passages with regard that really highlights The guaranteed success that follows on when God begins to work in his grace. Remember, it's always in grace. God works towards us always in grace. Remember that. God is a gracious God and he works towards us always in grace. And as he works towards us in grace, we come to understand that success always follows when he begins to work within the soul. John 12 and the verse number 32. John's Gospel, chapter 12. Familiar words here, John 12, verse 32. The Lord Jesus Christ, the speaker, and he says, and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men onto me. The word men is in italics. If I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all onto me. Christ states here, His definite work, the success of his work is to draw all that he died for onto himself. Such will be the draw. Such will be the draw of the Lord Jesus Christ that the sinner will not be able to resist that drawing power. Did you not find that out the night, the day you were converted? Ah yes, you heard the gospel multiple times, of course you did. You heard it maybe hundreds of times, thousands of times, maybe you heard it only a few times, but there were times that you rejected the call of God in the gospel, but then something happened, a particular moment, a particular night, a particular day, somewhere God dealt with you, and you couldn't but come to Him. You couldn't but be drawn to Him. Christ so worked in the soul. Because God had called you effectually. Grace had become now irresistible. And you flew and you ran into the arms of the Lord Jesus Christ. John chapter six and the verse 37, the word of God says, Jesus Christ said, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out all given to him by the father will come to him man will not resist it man will not frustrate that very purpose of god all given by the father to the son and the covenant of grace will come to christ as i've said they'll not frustrate that work that god does in their soul that results in them coming to the lord jesus christ look down to the verse 44 of the same chapter, John 6 verse number 44. Word of God says, no man can come to me except the Father which sent me draw him. And I will raise him up in the last day. That first statement, no man can come to the Father, reminds us of man's inability. But he goes on to say that the Father is able to draw those who are of themselves unwilling to come themselves. They cannot come unless the Father draws them. Something happens here. Something miraculous here. When God draws them, they must come. They must come. They cannot stay away. They must come. Romans chapter 8. A chapter reminds us of the great order of salvation, the ordo salutas, the order of salvation. That golden chain, I'm sure you've heard it presented in that way, Romans chapter eight, in the verse number 29 and 30. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified. Those predestinated are called and being called by God, they obey that call and as a result they are justified and eventually they will be glorified. This call is deemed to be effective for it leads the person to the point where they are now justified, declared right before God. In Ephesians 1 verse 11 we read, Among other things that the verse there teaches, it informs us that the will of God cannot fail. When God's purpose is to do something, it happens. It happens. God's will cannot fail. And so when he issues the call in salvation to that sinner, that sinner will hear it, and that sinner will obey it, and that sinner will respond to it, and that sinner will find themselves resting upon Christ for salvation. There are those who say that man can resist the Spirit of God. I suppose they speak of They maybe say they're just speaking about the general call. Others will go further, and they say that a sinner can resist the effectual call of the Spirit and the gospel. Well, there are verses of Scripture that remind us that whenever it comes between God and man, God is always the victor. God always triumphs. Let me read a few verses. 2 Corinthians Chronicles 20, verse number 6. And said, O Lord God of our fathers, art thou not God in heaven? And rulest not thou over the kingdoms of the heathen? And in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee? None is able to withstand thee. When God goes forth, the sinner must relinquish. The sinner must surrender. The sinner must yield when God begins to work. None is able to withstand thee. Daniel 4.35, all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing, and he doth according to the will of the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand. or say unto him, what doest thou? Romans 9, 19, wilt thou say then to me, why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Who has ever resisted the will of God? If God has purposed to save a people, those people will come, and none will resist that will, the will of God, the will of God with regard to salvation. You think of all that's happened on creation week. You think of all that's happened in the physical creation. God spoke, and it was done. Didn't matter how deep the darkness was that was upon the face of the earth and the firmament. Didn't matter. Didn't matter with regard to the lack of material as it were, to actually build the universe and creation as such, it didn't matter because God just spoke. And when he spoke, it was done. And what happened in the physical creation is also done in the spiritual or in the new creation. It pictures what happens in the new birth when a person is saved. God speaks and it is done. And how we need to pray for God just to speak the word. You'd only but speak the Word, speak to the Word concerning salvation with regard to sons and daughters and brothers and sisters in this province and this generation. And then God in His Word, He provides us with picture illustrations with regard to what happens in salvation. I'm sure you know where I'm going. You think about Lazarus. The raising of Lazarus from the dead in John chapter 11 is really a picture of what happens in salvation. Those who are dead and their trespasses and sins, they are raised and then they are drawn to Christ. You'll recall that Lazarus had been in the grave for four days. He was stinking because of the decomposition of the body. And yet whenever the stone was rolled away from the tomb and the Savior called out to him, Lazarus, come forth. It tells us, John 11, 44, that he that was dead came forth bound hand and foot with grave clothes. The man called by his name, even though he was dead, had to obey that divine call. Lazarus was unable to resist. He was unable to frustrate the purpose of God on that particular occasion. And so it is in salvation when God calls us out of our sin. We immediately obey. We immediately obey. You think of Zacchaeus, another example? Whenever the Savior was there in Jericho passing through the city, Luke chapter 19, sort of God spots Zacchaeus up there in the sycamore tree hiding among the leaves and the branches. And what did the Savior say to Zacchaeus? He said, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down for today. I must abide in thy house. How did Zacchaeus respond? Did he refuse the Savior's invitation? Did he stay up the tree? No, the record of scripture tells us that he made haste and came down and received him joyfully. He couldn't do anything else but that. He had to come down because he heard the call of Christ to him. Zacchaeus, personally, Zacchaeus, come down, make haste, for I must abide at thy house. Christ would go on and say that salvation had come to his house that very day. Zacchaeus heard the call, and he could not but come. You think of Lydia. When Lydia listened to the preaching of the word of God by the apostle Paul, something wonderful happened in her heart. We're told that the Lord opened her heart, and as a result, she attended to the things that were spoken of her. When God opened her heart to spiritual things, She could do nothing else but attend to those things. It was but the natural outcome. Having had the heart opened, therefore she was ready to receive the word of God. God had so worked in her soul that Lydia wasn't going to be going home that day as an unconverted woman. Because God had worked within her soul. You see these examples from scripture only serve but to highlight the indispensability of God's work in salvation. You know, we are so foolish. We are so foolish at times to think, if only we could get our loved ones under some dynamic preacher, then they'll come to Christ. Or sometimes we think, if only we could be better at Christian apologetics. trying to counteract the argument of the evolutionists or the scientists or those who are against atheists, against the gospel. If only we could be better at, as it were, putting forth the argument for Christianity and for the gospel, or if only we could incorporate maybe a better illustration in our sermons, then sinners will just come to Christ. Brethren and sisters, this doctrine reminds us that there is something that goes on in salvation that only God can do. No preacher can do it. No preacher, no matter how dynamic they are, No matter how watertight they are in their sermons, no matter how well-packed their sermons are with good illustrations, no preacher can send, as it were, out the effectual call. That is the work of God, the Holy Spirit. One preacher said it like this, in salvation, there is simply no substitute for God. There's no substitute for Him. He must work. He must draw. He must change. He must empower. With men, these things are impossible. But with God, all things are possible. God is needed to work irresistibly within the soul. You need to understand that. We do our part. Of course we do. God employs men, but it is the Spirit that takes the word and applies it to the soul and brings it from, as it were, the outer ear into the ear of the soul. And in hearing the call of God in the gospel, then the sinner, the sinner having been worked upon by the Spirit of God, is ready to come to Christ. It's almost as if they can't even wait until they actually get to Christ. Whereas before, if you had to try to force them, they would have resisted. Because God has worked. God has softened the heart, he's taken the stony heart and he's given them now a heart of flesh. And thereby they are enabled to rest on Christ, to come to him, to trust in him. This is why we're here to pray. We need God to work. You could have the most dynamic, the most well-skilled, the most theologically sound preacher in the pulpit, but unless the spirit of God works within the soul, a sinner will remain in their sin. God must work, and he works in answer to prayer. He works in answer to prayer. Reverend John Kennedy, he served a single charge as a minister. in a place called Dingwall in Scotland. He died at the age of just 34. He died in 1847. He said this regarding the sinners drawing on to Christ, and let this quote just, let it thrill your soul. if you're a Christian. And let it encourage you also as you think about maybe some unsaved loved one back at home tonight, someone in your family yet not saved. You let this thought, just let it thrill your heart and encourage your soul. The Reverend Kennedy said this, no power can successfully resist the drawing of God. Three persons of the Godhead act each in his part. bringing a soul to Christ and what possible combination of influences can withstand action of which this is true. The wildest rebel he can subdue. The most ignorant he can enlighten. The most hostile he can make friendly. The most oppressed he can deliver. The man who has been longest dead in trespasses and sins, he can quicken together with Christ. And the most timid, he can persuade and enable to embrace Jesus Christ as he is freely offered to them in the gospel. When God sets out to work, when God exerts his power, No sinner, no sinner can resist His grace, the grace of God. Now, brethren and sisters, whenever you think of it, how indebted we are to God that He ever drew us to Himself, that He ever reached down into the horrible pit of our sin. and extracted us from the pit and set our feet upon the rock Christ Jesus. Wondrous grace, brethren and sisters, wondrous grace when God is pleased to work in a life That work will be foolish to accomplish. Are you trying to tell me that God begins to work in the life of a sinner and the sinner can resist that work and go to hell? Is that you're telling me that something that God does, He begins? Are you telling me that? No, I believe that whenever God begins to work, that work is done entirely, perfectly, completely, and eternally. He does all things well. He doesn't start a job and leaves it half done. But he that hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. The work will be fully accomplished. Nothing, I say nothing, no man, no devil, No power can frustrate the grace of God. Grace always triumphs when God works in grace within a soul. Because here we are, the very evidence of it, the irresistible grace of God. He drew me and I followed on. Charmed to confess the voice divine. Happy day when Jesus washed my sins away. May God help us to appreciate more the grace of God and salvation.