Jude… to those who
are called
Jude v 1 (NASB)
In my last post I discussed what
a blessing it is to consider who we were before salvation, and who the God is
that called us. What I would like to discuss now is what we are to understand
by this term “called”. Scripture describes being called in two different
senses. There is what is known as the general call or the outward call. This is
when a believer is teaching someone the Gospel, they are calling them to
salvation. “Many are called, but few are chosen” Matthew 22:14. Every time a
minister stands in a pulpit and proclaims the salvation message to a lost
sinner he is calling them to come. But this is not to be misunderstood with
what is commonly known as the effectual call. The effectual or inward call is
not performed by us, but it is when the Spirit of God works upon the heart. The
Spirit quickens or makes alive our dead hearts and shows us who Christ is and
we choose Him for salvation. I believe this effectual call of the spirit cannot
be resisted.
When God calls a man by His grace, he cannot
but come. You may resist the minister’s call, but you cannot the Spirit’s call.
The finger of the blessed Spirit can write upon a heart of stone, as once He
wrote His laws upon table of stone. God’s words are creating words; when he
says “let there be light”, there was light; and when He says “let there be
faith”, it shall be so. – Thomas Watson
If a man knock at a gate of brass, it will not open; but if he come
with a key in his hand it will open: so when God, who has the key of David in
His hand (Revelation 3:7) comes, He opens the heart, though it be ever so fast
locked – Thomas Watson
In
Romans 8:28-30 we are told that there are some that God love beforehand or “foreknew”.
Those He loved or knew in this special sense He ordained or chose or “predestined”.
We are also told that those He predestined He also “called”. The passage goes on
to say that those He called were “justified” and “glorified”. These are all
links of the same chain and are not separated in Paul’s thought process. The
flow of the text teaches that all those who are called are those God foreknew
and predestined. And all those are called are justified then glorified. That is
the purpose of the text and why the text is comforting to us.
It
is expressed even more clearly in the passage of John 10, where Christ is
teaching that He is the great shepherd. Interestingly He tells his listeners
that the reason they do not believing His teaching is because they are not His.
“Ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep” John 10:26. But of those who
do believe He says they were already His sheep, but they were lost. When Christ
calls to His sheep they recognize Him as their shepherd. “My sheep hear my
voice, and I know them, and they follow me” John 10:26. It does not say that
they hear and then make a choice to come or not to come. We who have believed
were lost sheep, and when the Spirit awakened our dead hearts we saw our Savior
for the first time. At that moment you heard not the minister call you, but
Christ call you, and you followed as a sheep that had finally seen his
shepherd. For the first time, you saw Christ for who He is, and it is
impossible to see and know Him without loving Him.
It is a sweet call. God so calls as He
allures; He does not force, but draw. The freedom of the will is not taken away,
but the stubbornness of it is conquered – Thomas Watson
In
Matthew 16 Christ asks His disciples “Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?”
Matthew 16:13. And the respond “Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some,
Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets”. Others thought that
Christ was just a prophet, but Christ wanted to know what they thought. “But
whom say ye that I am?” Matthew 16:15. And then Peter, likely speaking for the
group, makes his great confession “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living
God” Matthew 16:16. Wow! What a bold statement of faith that is! What is even
more incredible is how Christ responds. He doesn’t say “good job Peter you
finally figured it out”. No, but instead He says “blessed art thou, Simon
Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto you, but my Father which
is heaven” Matthew 16:17. What is incredible is that God revealing knowledge is
equated with believing knowledge. When Christ is revealed to us, we choose Him
of our own free will because He is lovely and worthy of acceptance. And this
grace is presented to us in an irresistible manner.
The
Spirit of God awakens our dead souls to not only see the glory of Christ but to
taste it. We not only see His majesty and grace but we experience it. We are
not better than anyone else because we believe the Gospel, we only believe it
because the Spirit has let us taste it. The knowledge of salvation is much more
than simply knowing, it is in so many tasting of the glories of Christ. This is
why scripture tells us to “taste and see that the LORD is good” Psalm 34:8. When
we taste of His goodness we believe His truths because they are true. When we
come to scripture now with the Spirit of God it rings true to us.
How shall we learn to distinguish light from
darkness, white from black, sweet from bitter? Scripture bears upon the face of
it as clear evidence of its truth, as white and black do of their color, sweet
and bitter of their taste – John Calvin
The following quotations are
both taken from the sermon “Divine and Supernatural Light” by Jonathan Edwards.
It can be read online in more than a few places I’m sure. But I know if better
sermon to teach on this subject than his.
He that is spiritually enlightened truly
apprehends and sees it, or has a sense of it. He does not merely rationally
believe that God is glorious, but he has a sense of the gloriousness of God in
his heart. There is not only a rational belief that God is holy, and that
holiness is a good thing, but there is a sense of the loveliness of God’s
holiness. There is not only a speculative judging that God is gracious, but a
sense how amiable God is upon that account, or a sense of the beauty of this
divine attribute – Jonathan Edwards
There is a difference between having an opinion, that God is holy and
gracious, and having a judgment that honey is sweet, and having a sense of sense
of the loveliness and beauty of that holiness and grace. There is a difference
between having a rational its sweetness. – Jonathan Edwards
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