Turn in your Bibles to 2 Thessalonians, the second chapter, 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. How many of you thank the Lord for the rain that's in your hands? If no other blessing comes today, this has been wonderful, and I'm sure that every one of us who is a Christian thanks the Lord for the refreshing of our earth. There are two phrases that are extremely difficult to be heard in the modern pulpit. One of them is the general call of the gospel, and the other one is the effectual call of the gospel. In fact, if you were to go to the average Baptist church and ask the constituency to define the difference between the general call of the gospel and the effectual call, I'm afraid the percentage would be very low. In the book of Mark, the sixteenth chapter and verse fifteen, Jesus said unto them, Go you into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. And that's the general call of the gospel. In John, chapter one, verse nine, Jesus said that was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. That's the general call of the gospel. In Matthew, the twenty-fourth chapter, and verse fourteen, he said, And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached unto all the world, for a witness unto all nations and then shall the end come." That's the general call of the gospel. In the first chapter of the book of Acts, just prior to his departure back to heaven, he said to that group who walked with him out to the Mount of Olives, and ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in Judea and in Samaria. and unto the uttermost parts of the earth." That's the general call of the gospel. And many people sit under the gospel message and hear about the death, burial, and the resurrection of the Son of God from an intellectual standpoint and never hear it from the heart. Having ears to hear, they hear not. Having eyes to see, they see not. For the seeing eye and the hearing ear, the Lord hath made even both of them." But I'm not going to speak on the general call of the gospel. I'm going to speak on the effectual call of the gospel, and this is probably one of the most important messages that you'll ever listen to if you attune your ears spiritually to what is read from the Word and what is said from the pulpit this day. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, beginning with verse 13. But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth. For unto he called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you have been taught whether by word or our epistle. Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God, even our Father, which hath loved us and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work. May the Lord add his blessings to the reading of his precious Word. Verse fourteen, Whereunto he called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. I want to leave you in thinking three things today. The gospel calls what it is. And as we answer this question, I can say it is an invitation of divine mercy to accept the blessings of salvation. I repeat what is the gospel call. It is an invitation of divine mercy to accept the blessing of eternal salvation. The way in which this call is made sure When I speak of the effectual call, how is this effectual call made sure? How does it become efficacious? And number three, the provision made to render this call a sure call. What provision is made to make it effectual, to make it sure, to make it efficacious, to What the Bible says it is, the effectual call of the gospel. In order it's mentioned, what is the gospel call? I repeat, it is an invitation of divine mercy to receive the blessing of eternal salvation. Now let me point out four things about this call. Number one, it is a call of sovereign mercy. God is a sovereign God. He does what He pleases, the way He pleases, when He pleases, and it's nobody's business but His. And this call is a call of sovereign mercy. In the ninth chapter of Romans, verses fifteen and sixteen, For he said to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth what? Mercy. And let me tell every one of you this morning what I need, and you need more than anything else in the world. is the mercy of God. So the gospel call is one of sovereign mercy, and then it is a call that is most free and open. In the twenty-first chapter of Revelation, in verse six, and he said unto me, It is done, Jesus speaking, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, and I will give unto him that is a thirst of the water of life free. And I praise God that there is no price attached to salvation. You don't have to keep a ritual, you don't have to join a church, you don't have to be baptized, you don't have to observe the Lord's Supper, you don't have to do anything but recognize that the gospel call is not only of softened mercy, but thank God it is open and free today. It is a call that is most earnest and pressing. In the nineteenth chapter of the book of Luke, in verse ten, the Bible says, For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. In the forty-first verse of the same chapter, And when he, or Jesus, came near to the city, he wept as he looked over the city. As he came near, he beheld and wept over the city. In the seventh chapter of John, verses thirty-seven and thirty-eight, in that last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried and said, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. As the Scripture saith, Out of his belly, or out of his innermost being, shall flow rivers of living water." And I can stand in this pulpit and tell you the gospel called is sovereign, it is open and free, and there is nothing insincere about it. The Lord Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem and even cried when He invited men to take of the water of life free. Now, the second question is the way in which this call is made sure. I want everybody to turn to the tenth chapter of the book of Romans, the tenth chapter of the book of Romans. It is not made sure by any other method than that which I shall now read to you from the Word of God. In the fourteenth verse of Romans, the tenth chapter, it says, How shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? Now, Gorbachev is not one to call upon God because Gorbachev does not believe there is a God. And every communist in the world that denies the reality of God, the existence of a supreme being, the reality of deity, is not going to call upon someone in whom they do not believe. And yet, whether you believe it or not, there are literally thousands of people in this world who are unsaved that really and truly believe there is a God who exists somewhere. How are they going to call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?" One reason the Lord commissioned the church to preach the gospel to every creature is because no man can believe in the Lord Jesus Christ unless he has heard the wonderful gospel message. That's not all. and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard, and how shall they hear without a preacher? I believe just as strong as I believe my name that God has ordained that men be called to preach the gospel in order that men might hear the plan of salvation and hear how to be saved by the grace of God." How shall they hear without a preacher, and how shall they preach except they be sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things." So the first thing we must recognize in how the call is made sure is that the gospel must be heard, and it cannot be heard unless somebody preaches it. Let me drive down another point. For the call to be made sure, the call must be understood. And here's why I have never had any sympathy with any preacher who stands in the pulpit and tries to drown the congregation with high-sounding phrases that nobody understands. Paul said in I Corinthians 1 and 17, for Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel. Notice what else he said, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. And some time ago I listened to a man who was preaching, and he used so many long words until I did not understand one thing he was talking about, and you're not going to get anybody to believe the gospel that doesn't understand what's being said in the pulpit. The call must be heard. The call must be understood. The call must be believed, as much as I emphasize the sovereignty of God. As much as I emphasize God's foreknowledge and God's predestination, I also emphasize the human responsibility, and no man is going to stand before God and excuse himself because every man is held accountable as to how he hears the gospel message. John 1 and 12, but as many as received him. To them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. John 6, 37, All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. Matthew 11 and 28, Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. And you hear me this morning, congregation, when the gospel of Jesus Christ is preached, not only must it be preached and understood, but it must be believed. If you expect to have a ticket to heaven, I'm going to get on something else. I'm going to get on perseverance. The message must not only be heard and understood and believed, it must be retained. I Corinthians 15, verses 1 through 4, "'Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also you have received, and wherein you stand, by which also you are saved, if You keep in memory what I preached unto you, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. And this little phrase, it says, it's Yechithin's memory. What I preached unto you carries with it the idea that when the effectual call of the gospel has come to a sinner's heart, he's not just going to remember today and tomorrow, he's going to retain it the longest day that he lives. And those who don't retain it, and those who cast it aside, or no more than wayside hearers, or no more than thorny ground hearers, and those who literally retain the gospel that saved their soul can be counted among those of the seed that fell upon good ground. So the gospel call is made sure by hearing, understanding, believing, and retaining. Notice something else. The provision to make this call more sure. I believe Philippians 1 and 6, it says, being confident of this very thing, that he which has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. I don't think that God starts something and goes halfway with it and then doesn't finish it. There's a house not too far from here that was started. It had a beautiful design. It has some excellent brickwork. The exterior is attractive, but it will never be finished, because the man that started it committed suicide. And not one thing has been done to it since the last brick he laid before he committed suicide. Now, God Almighty does not start out to save somebody and fail. Do you believe that? And that's why I get sick when I hear a preacher stand in the pulpit and say, God wants to save you, but you just won't let Him. God has never started to do anything that He didn't finish. So how is this call made sure? I believe, number one, that the Holy Spirit attends the preaching of the divine truth of the gospel. When I stand in this pulpit, It is not Harold Brunson and his personality that will make this message effective. It is not the personality of the people who sit in the congregation. In fact, the only thing that can attend any message that's preached and make it powerful is the presence of the Spirit of God Almighty. Ephesians 6, 17, "...and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit which the Word of God. And, Brother Pierce, the longer I live, the more I know that I can stand up here Sunday after Sunday and quote verse after verse verbatim and never miss even a punctuation mark. But unless the Spirit of God attends a scripture that I quote, it will not amount to the snath of my faith. So the effectual call is made sure by the Holy Spirit attending the message that is preached. Now, I'll tell you something else. The Holy Spirit is especially given when the call is accepted. Now, let me get down right where you live this morning. How many of you genuinely can go back to the time and the place that the Lord saved you by His grace? How many of you remember the day you received the gospel message and the Lord saved your soul? Let's see your hand. Yes, sir. And the Holy Spirit is especially giftful when we receive the message of Christ. Luke 11, 13, "'If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall the Lord give the Holy Spirit to them that ask them?' So when the Spirit of God accompanies the preached gospel, the Spirit is especially given when one receives and believes the message." And that's how the cause made sure. Now, what comes with it? All the attendant blessings and privileges of salvation come with the acceptance of the gospel. Come, for unto he called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. How profound! to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. And there comes, first of all, sonship, which were born, John 1, 13, not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God. Galatians 4, 6, And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, whereby you cry, Have a Father. And I know beyond the shadow of any doubt this morning that as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. And so accompanying the gospel call comes sonship. If Harold were to walk in this building right now, I'd have no trouble recognizing him as my son. He'd have no trouble recognizing me as his father. And I have no trouble whatsoever knowing that God is my father, and I have no trouble believing that God knows me as his son. For you see, John 10, 14 says, I am the good shepherd, and the good shepherd knoweth his sheep, and are known of them. So accompanying the gospel call is sonship, and coming with sonship is justification. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, Romans 5 and 1. Acts 13, 39, and by him all that believe are justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. And I taught the nine in my Sunday school class today that justification is more than forgiveness, it's more than pardon. Justification is more that being set free from sin, justification, is counting one as though he had never sinned in the eyes of God. So along with sonship comes justification, and along with that comes sanctification. You can leave here and tell the whole town that you have a sanctified preacher. I am not afraid of the word sanctification. The word sanctification, as a noun, simply means separation. The verb to sanctify means to set apart. Jesus prayed, Sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth. And every preacher and every Christian is sanctified. You are set apart for the service of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now I'm fixing to get my happy shoes on. Justification, sanctification, there is everlasting life, everlasting life. You can walk through some of the hospitals in the state of Texas and see some of the most deplorable sights that you can imagine, and you wonder how some people can live in the shape that they're in. The last time I was in M.D. Anderson Hospital, I saw people without eyes, without noses. I saw little children, less than six years of age, with marks all over their body, not a hair on their head. I saw some that literally, literally looked like they were wrenching in pain every movement. And I thought, what a blessing if they died. You might not like what I'm going to say, but there are some things that are worse than death. Amen. But along with the effectual call of the gospel is everlasting life. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life, John 3, 14 and 16, and I can shout it from the highest mountain, that every person who has received the effectual call not only has sonship, justification, and sanctification, he has everlasting life. And finally, attended with that is glorification, or heaven. when you'll get your glorified bodies. Now, I'm going to quote three of my favorite verses of Scripture, and we know that all things work together for good to them that what? Love God. Not to reprobate, not to libertine, but to those that love God. To them who are the There's your factual call. According to his purpose, for whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate. He marked off, if you please. He drew a fence around them. They couldn't get out. Moreover, whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate. And whom He did predestinate them, He also called. And whom He called them, He also justified. And whom He justified them, He also glorified." Foreknowledge, that's the first link in the chain. Predestination, that's the second link. Justification, that's the third link. Calling, that's the fourth link. Glorification, that's the fifth link. And in the effectual call of the gospel, these five links in this chain are there, and if you can break one link of that chain, you can break all five of them. But the God who put this chain together, the God who formed it, is the God who one day will deliver on the sunny banks a sweet deliverance, ever blood-washed child of God without the loss of mind. Let's sing, Bob.