I'm page 48. This is my only point, is I did a side-by-side comparison of two systems of Ordo Salutis, and one is an Arminian or If you come from a Roman Catholic background, you'll see the Roman Catholic influence on it. But basically, it's an Arminian setup. And on the right side is the Reformed view of the Ordo Salutis, or the order of salvation, which is what we're talking about, which is what we're dealing with. And you'll find some things that are exactly the same. For example, they both start with foreknowledge at the top of the chain. However, they define foreknowledge differently than we define foreknowledge. But then you get down to where the important parts come into play as far as our observation is concerned, as far as our reason with the scripture is concerned, and things get flipped. And it has to do with what we're talking about this week in terms of regeneration. So if you had your distinctives of grace and you were looking at this form, you would see that on the Arminian side, they put repentance and faith ahead of regeneration. So the Arminian side very clearly thinks they cause their own new birth. And Jerry, give us an example of denominations that would do that. Well, I said Roman Catholics, basically anyone that swings in the Armenian side, anyone that semi-Pelagian, and we have a whole bunch of semi-Pelagians. So community churches are typical. Baptists, obviously free will Baptists, are solidly in this camp that you cause your own regeneration. By your action in repentance and faith, you cause your own regeneration. And in causing your own regeneration, you cause your own justification before God. They do not see those items as being divine acts of God. And I'm just doing this for the sake of comparison, so that you can kind of see clearly that there is a, I mean, we want to, We want to get together with some of these cats. But when you get down to justification, it's impossible to reconcile the two positions. See what I'm saying? Where we are talking, and if you had your Distinctives of Grace manual, and I know you'll go home and find it, wherever it is, and look at it. It's page 48. you will see that we are clearly on the side of all of God's actions, all of God's decisive actions in election and predestination, effectual calling, regeneration. We consider all of these to be The term is monergistic actions by God. Monergistic, single source, decisive action by God where man is totally passive right on down to the new birth. Man is totally passive right on down to this new birth. Then things shift a little bit because there is actually a reaction. to the new birth. Now, that's what you would expect, even from a logical standpoint, that if there is life, there would be signs of life in accordance with the life that now exists. The life that we see, spiritually speaking, is the gift of faith. Again, decisive action of God, where the gift of faith comes with regeneration, that man responds and says, I believe I repent." Now, there's the crux of your salvation right there. But I'll tell you, it is God that turns that crank. And you know, if you look on the Arminian side, they think they're doing it of their own volition, and in most cases, some cases, without even the help of God, without even the help of the Holy Spirit. And on the Reform side, of course, we are saying it is totally of God, until man starts to recognize what's true about him and what his responsibilities are. Now, Scott and I were talking about this a little bit. You realize you've got major responsibilities in your quest for holiness. You are to commit yourself Not holy, H-O-L-Y, but holy, W-H-O-L-Y. You are to commit yourself completely, love the Lord thy God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. You are responsible to give it absolute, complete, full, devoted effort. Now this is what Dr. Jacobs was talking about last week. You've got a responsibility to drive forward for the sake of your holiness, understanding that you're not going to affect your standing before God one inch. So that's synergism, right? Where we work parallel with the Holy Spirit. We don't work monergistic in our salvation, but sanctification is where we work side will be to act upon that. Okay, so I'm going to joust with you about parallel. I don't think we are ever parallel in any aspect with God. No. Okay, so even in our sanctification where we are responsible to put forth full effort That is still God taking a superior position with us. I'm making a minor point. He's never a copilot. He's never a copilot. I agree with you there. I guess what I'm suggesting there is, as you so adequately put, we had nothing to do with our salvation. Paul makes it clear that we're dead in our sin. The dead man could never do nothing for himself. But as we have been saved, and we have been awakened to new life, then I'm not walking passively in my spiritual life. Now, as you just put it, I have a responsibility now, which means now I'm being led by the Holy Spirit to lead, to live a sanctified life. And as he reveals things to me, then I'm to continue that path until consummation. And that should be obvious to other people. You know, I mean, let's be clear about this. If you are driving on God, single-focused and committed, It really ought to be obvious. They shouldn't have to ask, are you a Christian? I mean, oh yeah, that guy's totally, he's whacked out. Really, it should be obvious to you. It should be obvious to the people that you are with. You ought to be looking for acts of charity. All right, I'll give you an easy one here. Looking for places to give. Who could use what I've got in my storehouse? So just a side light, just a side note, but we've got clear separation between the Arminian and the Reform side. And what we're talking about here in regeneration is the center of that. Do you think you have any aspect in your head that you regenerate yourself, that you create new life in yourself. I wish Rick Carter was here, because I love beating Rick on this. Because he argued with me one time. I never forget when somebody argues with me. It's a terrible fault. He wanted to argue with me about how a man gets from unbelief to belief. So this is the question that Murray asked, and I'm going to read the quote from him. But tell me, how do you go from being dead to making yourself alive? You see how ridiculous that is? To even put that in logical terms, oh, I've created my own life. Wait a minute. Dead? How does somebody go from being dead to somebody being alive? put a little bit more theologically, how does one go from unbelief to belief? How does someone in unbelief create belief in himself? It's ridiculous when we put it in its simplest terms. So far we have seen the necessity of the Atonement. This is going all the way back to week one, flip back, okay? What was the one crucial item you picked out of week one? The necessity of the atonement. Tell me one thing you're carrying forward from that. One thing. It was God's love. Yeah, the motivating factor was God's love and God's love alone. He was not forced. Very important to understand. He was not lonely. He did not need a kingdom to rule. There was no pressure on him to do what he freely and lovingly did, okay? We clear about that? Necessity. He, it, all, was, is totally free in all of his behavior. Okay, now, what spun as far as necessity is concerned? Just finish your thought. what caused it in that regard. So he loves us, okay, and then... Okay, very good. Very good. Once he decrees what is to happen, then it is certain to happen. Okay, now if you can get decree straight in your head, which, and those are just I just put seven characteristics on. It could have gone on. These are ones that are fairly obvious in the Scripture. But once you see God's decree, then you start to understand the aspects of decree that affect you. Now, for example, this is an easy one, but the fact that your call, if there is a call on you made in eternity, is certain to happen. You praying for unbelievers? You praying, anybody got any prayer for an unbeliever? And you think, my God, this has been 40 years I've been praying for this guy. He's called, he's coming. Do not doubt it. It's unchangeable. You cannot send your way out of God's call. You can't do it. You can't run far enough. You can't hide. And then according to sin, He understands exactly who you are. And He allows your sin to a certain point. There is also a point, theologically speaking, that God shuts off the back door. There is a judicial hardening that takes place that God no longer forgives. that there isn't anything at that point, any action, Pharaoh is a good example, that there's a judicial hardening that goes on when people adamantly, defiantly stand in the face of God, willful disobedience, You need to face that. There are those times and occasions. It is a slippery slope to find God. Keep that in mind for yourself, for you may not be lost eternally, but your life may well get forfeited. Saul is a good example. The scripture is very clear. God killed Saul. He didn't mince any words. You know, Saul was just running in the wrong direction. Okay, so the necessity of the atonement, the nature of the atonement, give me one thing on the nature of the atonement. When you think about it, what do you think it was? I think of it as expiation, propitiation, and reconciliation. Okay, expiation is a good word. If you can remember one word, remember expiation, and that is removal. So this was not God just passing it over, even forgiving it. looking the other way, as he says he did, about Old Testament sin. Right? This is, as far as you're concerned, the removal of sin. Removal. How do you know you are holy in God's sight? Sin has been removed from you. Penalty of sin, that's the presence of sin, that's the power of sin. It's an awesome thought. Okay, the perfection of the atonement. Give me one thing you think about that. This is your walking around knowledge. When somebody says, hey, you're taking that class, did you learn anything? I'm just trying to help you what you're gonna say to somebody else. The perfection of the Atonement is? Give me one thing. Nothing needs to be added. There you go. Perfection of the Atonement, because it was Jesus, it is perfect, it is whole, it is complete. Now, the point there is that there are religions, Christian religions, that want to add to the sacrifice of Jesus to make it complete. Anybody have an example of that? Roman Catholicism definitely does. They add to the sacrifice of Christ to make it complete. Now, Maria's taking totally the other aspect. When he talks about the perfection of the Atonement, he means perfect, complete, nothing is added, nothing can be added, okay? The extent of the atonement. This is an important part. What's your walk-around head knowledge on the extent of the atonement? It is not universal. What's that mean? It is limited to the elect. It is limited to those God is creating it to be his church. Now, does this mean in any regard that there are people banging down the doors of heaven, pleading with God to enter his holy kingdom? No man searches for God. No man searches after God. That's got to be clear in your head that there are none that search after God. That's the extent. The order of the application, which Chuck did for us a couple weeks ago, the order is simply looking at Romans 8, looking at foreknowledge, predestination, calling, justification, glorification. That's the bones of the ordo salutis, the order of salvation. And then we have added in your Distinctions of Grace. I added other aspects in there. Those are generally accepted. Murray does the same thing. Burcroft does the same thing. Of the more obvious parts of your salvation, I should say, the parts that you start to become aware of. You start to think in terms of, I'm looking at this whole Bible thing a lot different. My goodness. Why do I want to stop drinking? I used to really like that bunch of people. Why do I not want to spend any time with them? Church picnic, you've got to be kidding. Work in a nursery? So you start to see some of this stuff. You start to see your behavior. You start to change. So we started all that with effectual calling. The one thing you remember about a factual call. There's an external and an internal. Okay. There's an external, and there's an internal. What's the difference between the two? You get bonus points. Everybody, you know, if you're hearing the sound of preaching, then that's an external call. But the internal call is when you you know that you admit that you're a sinner, and you realize you're standing before God. There you go. Okay, so the only difference between the external call and the internal call is the Holy Spirit. Okay? I mean, there isn't anything different in the words, there isn't anything different in the time, you and I could be sitting next to each other, and it's words going over the top of my head, and God gives you of His Holy Spirit, and you are born again as we sit there through the preaching of the Word, which is the normative way people get, are regenerated. That's the typical way. It is not typical in catastrophe. It's typical is sitting under the preaching of the Word, which is why we make that the focus of the ministry. The whole thing, even if you look at it symbolically, you look at the stage, it's the pulpit. Bounded by the sacraments on either side. That's it. Look at our stage with some understanding of how that was created. Why we did what we did. Do you see in Romans 10 that response to both, confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in your heart, in response to the external call of someone sharing the gospel, you say, yeah, I believe that. You can't help it. I mean, your heart turns. You are given a new nature. I said this to you, I think I said it to you last week. Do you think somebody can be effectively regenerated and not act like it? That's one of your questions from this week. Do you think that's possible? Yes, tell me. There are no carnal Christians. Oh, I'm so glad you said that. This whole idea about carnal Christianity. Or casual. Oh, that's right. You ever heard the term carnal Christians? Yes. You ever heard the term carnal Christians? Okay. Who wants to say that that is heresy? That is heresy. That is heresy. It is heresy. Okay, now. Do I know people that claim to be Christians and don't act like it? Yes. What's the issue there? Sin. The Adamic nature is still in there. The Adamic nature is alive and well. It is either or. First Peter was called out of darkness into your marvelous light, dead to alive, slave to free. Yes, ma'am? On Wednesdays we're studying Leviticus again, and in reading the book that Christian suggested from pages 192 to 222, I got the key to everything. Life, death, world, everything. Everything. The first commandment. You look at everything in the light of the first commandment. God told us it was the first commandment. Jesus said it was the greatest commandment. We just ignored it. But if you pay attention to everything in the Bible and everything in life, that first commandment. it's the most important for life honoring God above all, all things of all else honoring God. I Jerry, you know, also, in fact, the Apostle Paul knew what it was to struggle with the dynamic nature. He said, Oh, wretched man that I am. That was his from this body of death. Exactly right. And, you know, anytime you talk to a Christian who says, Oh, no, I don't sin anymore. Jerry, the other thing too, though, when you have a new convert, they're not going to get everything right. Oh, no. And they are, even though their heart has been changed, God brings them along in the most for eternity. So, I mean, we can't be judges of, oh, he wouldn't do that. Totally agree. We were with a young couple for a few days, you know, had to cringe a little bit to listen to them talk, and yet could hear the growth, you know, of perspectives and changes and people that they're listening to and taking counsel from, and yeah, totally agree. You know, it is not a straight line. The sinful nature of man is the mind's strong disposition toward evil. That's Colossians 121. You can go there, see it for yourself, that's Romans 8, 5 through 7. The sinful nature of man is the mind's strong disposition toward evil. He's not neutral, he's oriented toward evil and think back to your own life. Regeneration is a work of God in which he changes this evil disposition into one that delights in the laws and the precepts of God. Simple definition of regeneration. And this results in what amounts to a spiritual resurrection. Regeneration is a drastic and permanent, permanent, unchangeable, See here, under decree, drastic, permanent transformation at the deepest level of one's personality and intellect. We call this a radical reconstruction. The person's most basic commitments are turned to God. away from the abominable objects and principles that he once served. This change is the first principle of thought, and conduct generates a rippling effect that transforms the entire spectrum of his worldview and lifestyle. Now, I should be talking about you. Regeneration, or being born again, occurs in conjunction with God's effectual call toward his chosen one. And this enables them to respond in faith and repentance towards Christ. This means that regeneration precedes faith. So again, I come back to this. Regeneration precedes faith. That is, a person is not born again by faith. A person is not born again by faith, but he is enabled to believe because God has first regenerated him, brought him to life. Faith is not the precondition of regeneration. Understand what I'm talking about here. This could be a bombshell to the way a lot of evangelical Christians consider it. They think about faith. being the contribution that they make to their regeneration. We in Reformed theology are saying just the opposite. Faith is not the precondition of regeneration. Rather, regeneration is the precondition of faith. How do you know that you're redeemed? Your answer typically is going to be, I have faith. That's what you were gonna say. You hear that a lot. How do you know you're redeemed? I have faith. See, what you want to say is, I've been regenerated. A dead man simply could not have faith. How could a dead man have faith? You'd have to be regenerated first. It's impossible. I mean it real, when you think about it logically. But I think that you say, I believe in Jesus. I'm not fussing with you, of course. I'm not fussing with you a bit. You're justified. Well, you could get into the whole thing, yeah. Well, I was foreknown, I was predestined, I was called, I was justified, not glorified. Yeah, that's how I know. sprawled this image. Okay, a dead man in a whale is not going to pull himself up. I mean, it's, it's ridiculous. Yes. Wait a minute, I have to take issue with that. Repentance is not part of salvation. I mean, it is, but not part of regeneration, not part of regeneration, part of faith, faith and repentance. Yes, we come after we come after Regeneration. After you are alive, spiritually, you start to breathe. How about that? And I think it just goes through what you said from the outset. I think that's why it's so significant that we understand the order of Seleucus, why it had been put in the order that it's in. It wasn't just randomly selected, but it was put in there in that order for a specific reason. Yeah, absolutely. And we start, see, now we're starting to see some of this. You don't see foreknowledge, you don't see predestination, you don't see called from the eternals, right? And it's only as it starts to come forward where you come to life that you start to understand the graces that are being lavished on you. So this is your first question in your study guide, and he asks this, what's the key question addressed in this discussion of regeneration? What's the key question, this is page 95 if you've got the old book, what's the key question which is addressed in this discussion of regeneration? What is it? How can a person who's dead in their trespasses and sin, whose mind is at enmity with God, and who cannot do that which is well-pleasing to God, answer a call to the fellowship of Christ? There you are. That's the key question regarding regeneration. Is it possible for you to regenerate yourself? And you say no, no, no, no, it is impossible. Yes, ma'am? Ezekiel 37. Okay, Ezekiel 37 is a good place to go. Okay? The dead bones. Okay? Now, I've been defining regeneration. You define regeneration. You define regeneration. Tell me. You're walking around, you walk out of here, somebody's going to say, you know, I was wondering, what does regeneration mean? What are you going to say? I'd say, born of the spirit again. New creation. Bringing life back into a decayed, dead body. Yeah. OK, I'm looking for a couple of factors here. God or man? God. God affects change. So a decisive action of God in which man is totally passive. Nicodemus, being the rabbi of Israel, had to have his eyes opened by the Holy Spirit himself when Jesus had revealed to him what it was. We're gonna get to John 3, 3. Very interesting portion of the scripture, particularly the key actor there being Christ. You know, you always kind of, I don't know, I do, peak up when Jesus says something. What is the implication behind Jesus' teaching regarding the source of regeneration? This is John 3.8. What's the implication behind Jesus' teaching regarding the source of regeneration? That's John 3.8. So give me John 3.8, tell me what the implication is. born of the Spirit. Okay, read the verse, please. John 3. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. Okay, implication is? Do you see the result? Yeah, you see the result of regeneration. As you recognize the movement of the wind with no, okay, now, weather patterns, okay, so we're not, this is not what Jesus was talking about. He's talking about do you see the results of the new life, okay, brought in by the Spirit of God. Now Elizabeth and I were talking about this, how we tend to just put the blanket God on everything. Set the plastic dome of God over everything. Where the scripture labors to define certain activities of the certain members of the Trinity. Now it's called the economy of the Trinity. And there are certain things that are given to the First Person of the Trinity. For example, When you start talking about the plan or the Council of Redemption, which goes way back to the beginning of the beginning, it is God the Father that is giving credit, giving credit for the plan. It is always Jesus that is considered to be the mediator of the covenant, the sacrifice for the covenant. And it is always considered the Holy Spirit, as you see the New Testament in particular play out. It's always the New Testament, the Holy Spirit guiding, interacting, enlightening, and regenerating. in this regard. It is the Holy Spirit that is given the credit and responsibility of regeneration. So, when Jesus says, you must be born of the Spirit, he was giving Nicodemus a theological truth that is ringing down through the centuries. Because without regeneration, you will never see God. Now, could he have said that any simpler? This is question seven. Are we active or passive in regeneration? Don't give me a yes or no. Give me a fuller answer. Are we active or passive in regeneration? Passive. Anybody want to say anything else? Come on, Carol, you want to say something else? You're dying to say something else. I can see it in your eyes. OK, are you active or passive in regeneration? OK, put yourself in a free will Baptist church, and what would your answer be? Active. You would say active, would you not? Yes, you must respond to the call of God. He is not. I wish Bill McLamory was here. I've been dying to use this on him. You're sitting in a Baptist church, Jesus is knocking on the door of your heart, and you must get up off your lazy chair and go and open the door and invite him in. There you go. I just gave you a free will Baptist invitation to come forth. True or false? False. Absolutely false. You are passive. in regeneration. You sure that straightened your minds? And, you know, the good part of that is you will give glory to God. Oh God, thank you. Thank you for myself. Thank you for dragging me out of, you know, what I was considering to be the real life. Okay. Now, this is question 12. Those of you that have your study guide. Do you have your study guide, Mrs. Barron? Yes. You do? No? Yes. Yes. I thought it might have been with the distinctive agreement. This is question 12. This is question 12. Following Murray's presentation, what's the proper order of faith and regeneration? I'm hammering and hammering and hammering. What's the proper order of faith and regeneration? Tell me. Regeneration and then faith. Regeneration then faith. Okay, now what makes you think that faith follows regeneration? Mr. Scambati, Mr. Scambati in your church officer training, come on now, you should know this. Now, faith itself is a gift, but it is only given to the regenerate. Okay, now, let me just follow this question up. Is it possible for someone to be unregenerate and have a legitimate gift of faith, believe that Christ is the Messiah? Legitimate. Impossible. It's impossible because God gives the gift and it is the Holy Spirit that regenerates. Okay? So this section that we create for ourselves in community Christianity called carnal Christians, we've carved out this whole niche of people that claim or people that profess and have no possession. There are a lot of people out there that believe that Jesus was a prophet or a good man. It is right. Don't want to obey, do not have a heart for God, particularly the belief according to the way the scripture outlines what God wants His gift of faith played out. And yet they may say certain things that sound And that's why that passage, that passage that was Jesus' own words of when everybody appears before him is, you know, it's an unsettling passage. They stand there and they say, well, Jesus, we did this and we did it in your name. There you are, unsettling his right. Depart from me, I don't know you. Does that shake anybody else but me and Chris? It shakes me. It makes me examine. Depart from me, I never knew you. Yeah, that. R.C. Sproul used to say that. Scariest person. He used to talk about that. And I'll go beyond him, John Calvin. You know, on his deathbed. You ought to go read his deathbed confession. He lingered for a couple of days, and his assistant wrote down what he was saying. And John Calvin got to a point, and he said, oh God, that you would find just one thing in my life that was of benefit to you and your kingdom. Wow. Calvin. Wow. Find just one thing. that I did right. Okay, so all the books that I say that you ought to buy, all right, this is Systematic Theology by Lewis Burkhardt. You should have this book in your reference library because there are times when you will need it. For example, And I may do it again. So for example, if you were looking and wanted to know what is the connection point between effectual calling and regeneration, theologically speaking, systematic theologically speaking, you would have to go to Louis Burkhoff and find it. And voila, here it is. Points of difference between regeneration and effectual calling. Because that question has been bothering you, hasn't it? See? Effectual calling, regeneration, how are they alike? How are they separate? Do they happen at the same time? Why is it being treated that they are separate events when they are so closely united? See? And unless you have Burkoff, you'll never know. It'll bother you for years. Points of difference. I just read the Bible. I just read the Bible. OK. I have no rhetoric on that. I went to church down in Macon, Portland, up here. And I was having a discussion with one of the brethren there at a picnic that we had. And we had another gentleman that come up. And he said, after listening to us, he said, you know, he said, that's all fine. Well, he said, I just prefer the Bible. But I would I would I might just add this right here. God has given us teachers, he's given us preachers. So thank God for the men that have labored and have put it in writing to help us unravel the things that still permit I learned in here, just listening to everybody in here, I go home and I think, man, how refreshed I am that I had been in there and just heard everybody else's input, and I learned it's just building blocks that I add to what I've already picked up on, what I might have been confused with, and so thank God for the man that helped me. You get to think about it. Okay, so this is what Dr. Burkhoff says. Regeneration in the strictest sense. You've defined this as the decisive act of God of which you use the term that Jesus used, born again, where you are brought from death to life. Regeneration, in the strictest sense of the word, is this beginning again. It takes place in the subconscious life of man. Can you point to your rebirth? Probably not. This happens in your subconscious, life of man, quite independent of any attitude which he may assume with reference to it. Now, what this is saying is, you do not respond in this regard. You don't typically make any response to what has just happened. You don't say, a lightning bolt just hit me. I know you hear those kind of things. Typically not. Now, calling, on the other hand, addresses itself to the consciousness. So you might hear a preacher preaching the word of God that says, if you've had any reaction to this, tell somebody else. Find one of the elders of the church. Tell them that you now understand Jesus to be the Christ. There's a subconscious reaction that actually hit regeneration. And then there is the conscious reaction of calm. This follows from the fact that regeneration works from within. while calling comes from without. Now, we're putting aside the case of children. We speak of regeneration with children rather than calling. Considering their inability to respond to a call, we still say they can be regenerated. So I just put that aside. Furthermore, regeneration is a creative, a hyper-physical operation of the Holy Spirit by which man is brought from one condition into another. From a condition of spiritual death into a condition of spiritual life. Effectual calling, on the other hand, is teleological. It draws out the new life and points it towards God. It secures the exercise of the new disposition, and it brings the new life into actual action. Now, this is the relative order of calling and regeneration. I just want to get to this. And I know we're dicing this very fine, okay? We're dicing this very finely, which you are not going to get from reading the Scripture, and I'm not denigrating the Scripture. The Scripture is not going to give you points 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. This is perhaps best understood, the relative order of calling and regeneration, if we note the following stages. Okay, this is calling regeneration. We're just putting them side by side. Logically, the external call in the preaching of the word generally precedes or coincides with the operation of the Holy Spirit. So we are talking about the, okay, Mrs. Derryberry said the inner call, the effectual call, generally coincides with this regenerative act of God. Those two things collide at the same time. By which the new life is produced in the soul of man. Then, by a creative word, God generates the new life, changing the inner disposition of the soul, illuminating the mind, rousing the feelings, renewing the will. Put this in perspective of your own. what you call your own salvation. In this act of God, the ear is implanted that enables man to hear the call of God and the salvation of the soul. This is regeneration in its most restricted sense of the word. Regeneration is used in other senses. In it, a man is entirely passive. Man does not partake of his own regeneration. He is passive. Having received the spiritual ear, the call of God and the gospel is now heard by the sinner and is brought home effectively to the heart. The desire to resist has been changed to a desire to obey. Say amen to that. Yeah, I know. I mean, I can think of my own life and it, oh yes, yes. And the sinner yields. to the persuasive influence of the Word through the operation of the Holy Spirit. This is the effectual calling through the instrumentality of the Word of preaching. This is when it normally happens. That's why the preaching of the Word is so important to the life of the Church. It must happen honest and boldly and often. This effectual calling finally secures, through the truth as a means, the first holy exercise of the new disposition that is born in the soul. A change has happened in you, and you respond. The new life begins to manifest itself. The implanted life issues in the new birth. This is the completion of the work of regeneration in the broader sense of the word, and the point at which Your calling and regeneration is considered conversion, which is our segue into next week. Wasn't that slick? Conversion, see? This is when you start to recognize something's happening to me. Okay? Lord, thank you for your grace. Thank you for the fact. that you do regenerate man, that you make a change in us that cannot be reversed, cannot be resisted. And oh God, how we desire now to satisfy you, that you'd find us pleasing, that we'd have a part to play in your kingdom. Lord, that your church would benefit us from us being in it. And in all this, to your glory, to your satisfaction, in the name of Christ, amen.