and that they were looking at the doctrine of irresistible grace. I was recently reading a publication on the American Revolution, the war of the American colonies against Great Britain. It had an interesting article in it on the religious faith of three of the Founding Fathers. One was George Washington, another was Thomas Jefferson, and the third was Benjamin Franklin. My first response to that was that it was sad that they left out some of the other founding fathers who I think had a great impact on the founding of our country. John Adams, for example. Benjamin Rush, Dr. Benjamin Rush, you don't hear much of him, but he was certainly a great source of information and character for the founding of our nation. And John Witherspoon, who was professor, teacher, president of Princeton College, which became Princeton Theological Seminary years ago. After I had read the article, I thought it very interesting what he had to say about Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson evidently had contacts with what was called Calvinistic preachers in his day. And if he had contact with John Witherspoon, he would have had contact with the doctrine of Calvinism. With Dr. Benjamin Rush, he would have had contact with Calvinism. And probably John Adams came from a background of Congregationalism, which was rooted in Calvinism too. Samuel Davies was the first Presbyterian minister in the state of Virginia called the Apostle to Virginia. And no doubt Thomas Jefferson had gained some knowledge of what John Calvin had espoused years ago. And he didn't like it at all. Thomas Jefferson did not like it at all. As a matter of fact, he disliked it so much that he called John Calvin an atheist. And he actually used the word atheist. I'll quote to you what Thomas Jefferson said about Calvin. He said, I can never join Calvin in addressing his God. He was indeed an atheist, which I can never be, for rather his religion was demonism. If ever a man worshiped a false god, he did, it would be more pardonable to believe in no god at all than to blaspheme him by the attributes of Calvin. Obviously, Thomas Jefferson was no friend of the doctrines of John Calvin or the preachers who preached Calvinism in his day, and in his day there were many. The church was thoroughly Calvinistic, especially the Reformed Presbyterian church in those days, and they did not hesitate to preach these doctrines. Nothing raises animosity and rage in men than the doctrines of Calvinism. Even among the nicest Christian people you can meet and the most loving preachers in the church, nothing will put them into a frantic frenzy more than to mention the word Calvinism. Just the mention of it can make the most calm and delightful people into instruments of indignation. Now, Arminianism does not do this. The world likes Arminianism. Remember that. The world really likes Arminianism because it feeds the pride of man. It allows man to share the throne with God. It tells them that ultimately they are the gods. They make the decisions and God depends on them. And the world likes to hear that. The only theology that can undermine and remove the pride of man and cast him on his knees is Calvinism. Modern evangelicalism is pitiful. It poses no threat to the egotism and the vanity of man. It has taken away the offense of the kingship of Christ and the sovereignty of God. And this has implications on how we view everything, how we view man, anthropology, how we view the church, ecclesiology, and how we view the civil government and politics. I believe that America thrived under Calvinism and the influence of Calvinism even after Calvinism began to dwindle. Since the Civil War, we begin reaping the fruits in theology and ecclesiology and in politics of an anti-Calvinistic culture. When the kingship of a sovereign God is compromised, the law becomes irrelevant because God is no longer king. The church becomes relational. It becomes based upon feelings. And politics becomes the creation of the mind of men to create laws apart from God. And let us pray for a revival of the doctrines of grace and Calvinism, that we might have a revival in the and calls men to fall on their faces before a sovereign God, restore his kingship in the church and his law over all men, even in civil government. As I was talking this morning to a few men, I believe that Calvinism is not simply an option in terms of religious ideas, but Calvinism is the root of stability It permeates a nation, a church, and then a nation and brings men to an awesome view of God and enables them to make laws and govern according to the rules of God Himself. And I believe it begins with the doctrines of grace. We cannot compromise on the authority and the power and the sovereignty of our God. Point four of the doctrines of grace, the five points, is irresistible grace. Now, if you take the five points, there is a progression in those five points, and we call them tulip, T-U-L-I-P. The T is total depravity. That speaks to us, first of all, of the condition of man. The condition of man. Number two, unconditional election speaks to us of the work of God the Father. Number three, limited atonement speaks to us of the work of God the Son. Number four and five speak to us, irresistible grace and perseverance of the saints speaks to us of the work of the Holy Spirit. So we have, first of all, not simply five unrelated points, but we have the condition of man, We have the work of God the Father in election before the foundation of the world. Number three, we have the work of God the Son, Jesus Christ, who comes and dies for those elect. And number four and five, irresistible grace, that man cannot resist the grace of God and the call of the Holy Spirit. And number five, the perseverance of the saints, that as God calls men His elect unto salvation, He will make sure that they persevere through the rest of their lives and they will inherit the kingdom of God. He will make sure, God will make sure, not man. The power is not in man, but the power is in God. And so we have therefore the order First of all, the condition of man, the work of God the Father in election, the work of Jesus the Son in the atonement, and then the completing work of the Holy Spirit as He calls men whom the Father has elected and for whom Jesus has died, and then as He keeps them in the faith, as they are able to persevere through all the trials and troubles and the tribulations of life by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is taught clearly in the Confession, and I'll read a couple of sections there. First of all, in the Confession of Faith in chapter 3, in section 6, it says that God hath appointed the elect unto glory, so hath he by the eternal and most free purpose of his will foreordained all the means thereunto. Wherefore, they who are elected, being fallen in Adam, are redeemed by Christ, are effectually called into faith in Christ by His Spirit, working in due season, are justified, adopted, sanctified, and kept by His power through faith unto salvation. Neither are any other redeemed by Christ, if actually called, justified, adopted, sanctified, and saved but the elect only." And right there you have the five points. You have the work of God the Father, you have the work of God the Son, and you have the work of the Holy Spirit who works in due season to do the work that God has called him to do. Also, as we read here just recently, a few minutes ago in chapter, or on page 854, in Section 8 of chapter 8, To all those for whom Christ hath purchased redemption, he doth certainly and effectually apply and communicate the same, making intercession for them, and revealing unto them, in and by his word, the mysteries of salvation. And here's the irresistible grace, "...effectually persuading them by the Spirit to believe and obey, and governing their hearts by his word and spirit." And here's perseverance of the saints, "...overcoming all their enemies by his almighty power and wisdom in such manner and ways as are most consonant to his wonderful and unsearchable dispensation." So we see that clearly taught, I think, in the confession Now what the doctrine asserts, to put it very clearly, is that the Holy Spirit never fails to bring to salvation those sinners whom God the Father has elected and Jesus has died for on the cross. He inevitably applies salvation to every sinner whom he intends to save. And it is his intention to save only the elect and to save all the elect. Men cannot resist the grace of God. Those who are elect in Christ cannot and will not resist the grace of God. Now, they will resist it, but God will overcome that resistance. They cannot ultimately resist the calling and the work of the Holy Spirit. They may resist it for a while. Oppose it for a while, but ultimately the Holy Spirit always gets the victory. He always gets the victory. He has to. These are the people for whom God the Father chose and also for whom the Son elected, died for. Now Calvinists do differentiate between two calls. The general external call of all men to believe the gospel. and the special, internal, efficacious call of the elect by the Holy Spirit. So when we talk about God's calling, we may speak of it in one of two ways. Either the general call or the effectual call. The general call is the free offer of the gospel to everyone who hears it. John 3.16. We Calvinists love to quote John 3.16. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." It's one of my favorite passages because it is the free, unfettered offer of the gospel to everyone. God sincerely offers the gospel to anyone who hears it. It is sincere on God's part. It is rooted in the passion that God does not delight in the death of the wicked. Salvation is to be freely given to every man who believes. If you believe, your sins are forgiven and you have become a child of God. It is the duty of the church to take the gospel to all men everywhere on earth, to call them to repentance and faith. and assure them of what Jesus said in John, he who comes to Me, I will in no wise cast out. Whoever comes to Me, whoever he is from whatever background, whatever he's done, if he comes to Me, I will not reject him. There's not one person who ever came to Christ who was effectually called that Jesus ever rejected. And that's part of the basis of our assurance, isn't it? Assurance is a separate doctrine. It can be a difficult doctrine. But I think part of our assurance is simply the free offer of the gospel. God never rejects anybody who comes to Him. Anybody here tonight, whatever you've done, wherever you've been, whatever your past, God says, Come. Come and buy. Come and eat. And I'll not reject you. And I will accept you. And you will be My child. And we're to tell everybody that. that God desires that all men come to Him, He gives sincerely a free offer of the gospel. Yet knowing this, we also know that not all who are offered the gospel will believe. We generally offer the gospel to all men. Sincerely offer the gospel to all men. And we are to take the call of the gospel to all men. But we also know that only the elect will be effectually called. Many will resist. Many will scoff at us. They will ridicule us. They will deride us. They will ignore us. They will avoid us. They may even mock us. But the doctrine of irresistible grace teaches us that the Holy Spirit will break down any resistance of the elect. And with all certainty, they will come to accept the gospel. We know that. The elect cannot resist the power of the Holy Spirit to change their hearts of stone into a heart of flesh. God will melt the hearts of His elect and they will not be able to resist the power of the Holy Spirit. And the question really comes down to this. Who is more powerful? Is the will of man more powerful than the will of God or the will and the power of the Holy Spirit? I would submit that God is more powerful than man. It's really as simple as that. When God calls in His general call, all men sincerely to come unto Him, and if they come unto Him, they will be forgiven. Not all men will come, but there will be some who will come. And they cannot but come because God internally, by the power of His Holy Spirit, calls them and draws them unto Christ. And every last one of them will come to Christ. And so as we go preach the gospel, we realize that not all men will come, not all men will respond, not all men will believe. But wherever we go, we know that God has His elect. And at first they may resist, they may grumble, they may mock, but we know if they are God's elect, God will break down the power of resistance and He will melt their hearts and He will cause them to come to Christ and love Christ. It's not ultimately a matter of the will of man, but it's ultimately a matter of the will of God and the power of God. And so that gives us hope as we go and preach the gospel, as we go to all men everywhere, knowing that no matter how hardened men may be, even as hard as the Apostle Paul was, guilty of persecution of the church, that God can break down their hearts and change them and melt their hearts and make them come unto Christ. Because they had been elected before the foundation of the world and Jesus Christ had come to die for them and the Holy Spirit will, by His power, change their hearts and draw them unto Christ. And that's what the Spirit does. He draws them not so much to Himself, but He draws them unto Christ. So what's the evidence of being elect? being drawn to Christ. Loving Christ is the evidence of election. You don't have to go to some secret book somewhere that's located in some holy place. You don't have to know the secret wills of God. All you have to do is look at yourself and say, have I come to Christ? Do I love Christ? Is Christ important to me? Is He the Savior of sinners? And my only hope for salvation is in Him. And if you can say that with a sincere heart, then that means the Holy Spirit has worked in you and drawn you to Christ. And God has elected you from the foundation of the world, and Jesus Christ came to die for you personally. And one of the passages that is very strong, I think, is in the book of John. We hear a lot about the new birth today. And when people talk about the new birth, you know, and even the evangelical circles, we hear that, you know, there are those in the church and there are born-again Christians. But most evangelicals define born-again Christians as those who, by their own power and by their own will, made the decision for Christ. There was nothing God could do except offer them the gospel, but ultimately it was their power and their will that made the decision for Christ, and they caused themselves to be born again when they made a decision for Christ. Now, all gods elect do, in a sense, make a decision for Christ, but that decision is only because of the power of the Holy Spirit who, first of all, changes the person's heart to come to Christ. And John writes in John 1, verses 12 and 13, "...but as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God, even those who believe in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." John 1, verse 13. Men are not born by their own wills. No more than a baby in a womb is born by its own will. Babies don't determine their conception. Babies don't determine their birth. Babies are born by a system that works outside of themselves. And likewise, we are born like children by a power, by the power of God. We're not born of blood. nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." We Calvinists like to talk about new birth and we're born again. That's biblical language. But we don't speak of it as something that men can cause to happen by their own wills. It happens, first of all, by the power of God who regenerates, who causes new life in the heart. And the natural response of that is to move to Christ, is to come to Christ, hope and trust in Christ. We read about the new birth. I don't have to read to you about all those passages. John chapter 3, verse 16 and so forth. Chapter 3, the early verses at Nicodemus, you must be born again. You must be born again. There has to be a work of God in your heart, first of all, before you can come to understand and see the things of God. You can't do that by yourself. There has to be the Holy Spirit calling you internally, changing you, and calling you unto Christ. I'll just read a few more passages here, and then we'll close Titus chapter 3. He saved us not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit. How will we save? By the renewing, the changing of the Holy Spirit. And God regenerated us. He changed our hearts. He changed us so that we would come to Christ. And God has to make the first move. God has to make the first change. Man will respond to that, but God is the first mover. Not man. God's not sitting in heaven waiting on man by the power of His own will to make a decision for Him. That puts salvation in the power of man. And God forbid that we worship a God like that. God Himself makes the move. And God Himself elects a certain number for Himself. Jesus comes and dies for them. And the Holy Spirit comes and draws them unto Christ. And not one of them will be lost. The book of Ezekiel in the Old Testament, Ezekiel 36, 26, one of the standard passages, 36, 26. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and I will put a new spirit within you. I, that is God, will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will be careful to observe my ordinances. I will put my Spirit within you and I will cause you to walk in my ways." And so we see that the original power is always with God. 11, verse 25, Matthew chapter 11, verse 25, You have hidden these things from those with worldly wisdom and worldly intelligence. And you have taken the babes of the world, those who don't have the worldly intelligence and all this wisdom that men consider wonderful on earth, and you've revealed to them about Jesus Christ and the wisdom of God. And so Jesus praises God the Father that He hides some things from some people and reveals some things to other people. At that very time, He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit and said, I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth. that you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent, and have revealed them unto babes. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in your sight. All things have been handed over to me by the Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and to anyone whom the Son wills to reveal Him." Nobody knows who I am. No one knows me or the Father in a saving way except those to whom you have chosen to reveal the Father and the Son. Acts chapter 16, verse 14. Many years ago I preached a sermon on this. I'll never forget that. I don't remember exactly what I said, but oh, it was good. It had to be good. In Acts 16, verse 14, Lydia, the lady Lydia, the maker of purple fabric and so forth, a woman named Lydia, the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening. And the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. Who opened her heart? She didn't open her own heart. You know, it's not like we go to people and say, open your heart to Jesus. You can't open your heart to Jesus. The Lord opened her heart. And what did she do when her heart was opened? She responded to the things spoken by Paul. The gospel of Jesus Christ. She came to Christ because the Lord opened her heart. The Lord opened her heart. And there again, we see by the work of the Holy Spirit, God causes people's hearts to be changed and the Holy Spirit therefore draws them unto Christ. 2 Timothy 2, verse 24. A few more passages here. There are many passages and I'm only choosing a few of those, which I think are maybe the more important ones. 2 Timothy 2, verse 24. The Lord's bondservant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, and patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance, leading to the knowledge of the truth. If you want to be a preacher, you have to be able to be a person who does not quarrel. We have to be kind to everybody. And this would include, I think, all Christians. And here again, especially those who are preachers and teachers, able to teach, patient when wrong. When people do you wrong, you've got to pretty much take it. You can't respond with hostility and you can't raise a fuss in the church. You can't do that. That's part of the calling. With gentleness, easiness, correcting those, and some do need correction, those who are in opposition to the truth. Knowing that God perhaps, just maybe, God will grant them repentance, leading to the knowledge of the truth. God will grant them repentance. They can't repent unless God grants them repentance. And that's the work of the Holy Spirit. Romans chapter 8, verse 30. Romans chapter 8, verse 30. And those whom he predestined, he also called. And those whom he called, he also justified. And those whom he justified, he also glorified. So those who were predestined, Christ came and died for them. and the Holy Spirit comes and calls them, and every last one of them will come to Christ. In the last part of verse 1, Peter writes to all those who are scattered throughout these areas and he says, who are chosen, verse 1 of chapter 1 of 1 Peter, who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father by the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. to obey Jesus Christ and to be sprinkled with His blood. May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure." We don't hear that often in God's church today, do we? Those kind of words. You have been chosen according to the foreknowledge, the love of God the Father. And God used the sanctifying work of the Spirit. And the result was that you came to Christ You were sprinkled with His blood, and now you have a desire to obey Him. But this comes through the work of the Holy Spirit which sets you aside, sanctified which sets you aside. And in 1 Peter 2, verse 9, you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you. There's the calling. He calls you out of darkness into His marvelous light. For once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God. You have not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. So God calls His chosen race, the people of His own possession, out of darkness into His marvelous light. Why do they come? Because He calls them. He sets His love upon them and calls them unto Himself. We could go on and on here. Maybe just a few more passages. Isaiah 55 in the Old Testament. Isaiah 55, verse 11. So will my word be which goes forth from my mouth. It will not return to me empty. It will accomplish that which I desire. It will accomplish that which I desire. We often quote, it will not return empty, but it all says it will accomplish that which I desire. God's Word never fails. A few more passages, John 3, 27. And as I say, the Bible is full of these kind of texts. We're choosing a few of them here this afternoon. John 3, 27. John answered and said, ìA man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.î A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven. Nothing can we have, even faith, even repentance, even coming to Christ, nothing can we have unless God first of all gives that to us Himself. 1 Corinthians 4, 7, For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? John 5, 21, John 5, 21, For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes. To whom he wishes, he gives life. And then Acts chapter 13, verse 48, that all those whom God had ordained unto eternal life, they believed. All those whom God had ordained unto eternal life, they believed. So those are passages which support the the teaching of irresistible grace, that God's calling goes out to everyone. The general call, it is sincere, it is true, and we need to be busy making sure we take that call out to everyone because among all those people are God's elect, and they have to hear the gospel. They need to hear the gospel. Christ died for them, and we know that as they hear the gospel, God will melt their hearts and He will draw them unto Christ. And they will surely come because the Holy Spirit is more powerful than the will of man. So, the goal of Calvinism is to honor God, protect His reputation, and guard His sovereignty, as well as emphasize His love for His elect. And in no way should Calvinism interfere with the assurance of salvation of any Christian The evidence of election is faith in Christ, hope in the blood of Christ, a desire to follow Him. And Calvinism gives us the comfort that those whom God calls will persevere until the end. And the hope that we will last is in the promises of God. If you believe in Christ, If you believe in Christ tonight, you do so not because you were smart, not because you wised up, not because you had a strong, powerful will, more power than others, and God was kind of waiting on you and hoping you might believe in Him. But you believe in Christ because the Father elected you before the foundation of the world. Jesus came and died for you on the cross, and the Holy Spirit comes and irresistibly You can't resist. You didn't resist the call to believe the gospel. And so if you believe the gospel, you are the elect of God. And it's all to the honor and glory of God himself. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for these mysterious doctrines, and yet they are so clearly taught in Scripture. We pray for revival in our day and time, that the pride of man might be humbled, that men might fall on their knees and worship the true and the living God, and that our hope in Jesus Christ might be given the credit to God himself who has loved us and will enable us to persevere. And we ask all these things in Christ's name. Amen.