I invite you at this time to take your Bible and turn to Matthew chapter 13. Matthew 13, our scripture reading for this evening, is verses 1 through 23. Matthew 13, verses 1 through 23. Hear the words of the living God. That same day, Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea, and great crowds gathered about Him, so that He got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach, and He told them many things in parables, saying, A sower went out to sow, and as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up. since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear. Then the disciples came and said to him, Why do you speak to them in parables? And he answered them, To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says, You will indeed hear, but never understand. You will indeed see, but never perceive. For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed. Lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. Truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people long to see what you see and did not see it, and to hear what you hear and did not hear it. Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. Yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the Word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the Word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the Word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the Word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields. In one case, a hundredfold, in another 60 and in another 30. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Beloved congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, as we continue our study of the Westminster Shorter Catechism, we come this evening to the doctrine of effectual calling. Last week, we looked at question number 29, how are we made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ? And we learned last week that we are made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ by the effectual application of it to us by His Holy Spirit. This brings to our minds front and center the work of the Holy Spirit in the gift of salvation. So, I've titled this evening's sermon, The Spirit's Work. What is it that the Holy Spirit does? in our redemption. We know that the Father elects. He is the one who calls from all eternity. We know that the Son redeems. He is the one who came and lived the life of righteousness and died the death on the cross that was for us. But why do some hear that and believe and others hear it and reject it? As we move forward, we're getting into the nuts and bolts of salvation. We're going to be talking about a lot of theological terminology in the coming weeks—justification, glorification, adoption, and so on. We begin tonight by looking at the topic of effectual calling effectual calling, and I begin with the call of the gospel because that's where the catechism question ends. We are enabled, we are enabled to embrace Jesus Christ freely offered to us in the gospel. So I want to begin with, at first, with the call of the gospel, or what we could say is the free offer of the gospel. This is a topic that had our denomination's attention for a number of years in the 1940s. There was a segment of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church that did not believe in the free offer of the gospel. They rejected this. After all, if God is sovereign, then really the offer of the gospel is it can't be free. It can't be the language that they use. It could not be well meant by God. But this has throughout church history has been rejected. Of course, God offers the gospel. And we have a number of illustrations of this throughout scripture. We think of Acts, chapter 17, verses 30 and 31, the times of ignorance. This is the apostle Paul speaking at Athens, the times of ignorance, God overlooked. But now he commands all people everywhere to repent. because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed. And of this, he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead. God commands all people everywhere to repent. And we can think even of our scripture reading this evening, of the parable of the sower. A sower went out to sow some seed, and he did not just look for the right soil and make sure that it only went there, but the seed went all over. The seed was scattered here and there. Indeed, we can say when we looked at this parable some time ago, we talked about the foolishness of it. A farmer doesn't work this way. A careful farmer doesn't just let seed fall out all over the place because that's his life. That's his sustenance. But Jesus telling this parable to drive home the free offer of the gospel, if you will, shows us that the word goes out all over. The word goes all over. And that is the way that God has intended it. In this way, the parable of the sower is not a parable that tells us to make sure we are the right kind of soil. No, not at all. The point of the parable is the free offer of the gospel and the promise, the promise that God is going to the God that God is going to save. God is going to that some of the seed is, in fact, going to fall where it will take root and not just light root, but deep root. And so we see that the offer of the gospel, at least this gospel that is freely offered, as our catechism question calls it, is sincere. It's also effectual. It is also effectual. That is, that it works. This offer of the gospel, this call that goes out, does in fact succeed in the thing that God wants. This is what he says in Isaiah 55, verses 10 and 11. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there, but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater. So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth. It shall not return to me empty, but shall accomplish that which I purpose and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. It's no coincidence that Isaiah and Jesus are likening the word of God to this seed, to this natural course of things that happens. Indeed, God's word will go out and it will accomplish what he intends it to do. What we have to remember is that sometimes that means that Pharaoh's heart is hardened. It also means that those who are called by God are indeed drawn to Himself. And that's what we want to consider this night. We want to consider this effectual calling. This effectual calling. We're going to work our way through these questions a little more in depth. Our second point, then, is the application of redemption. And this is question number 30. How doth the Spirit apply to us the redemption purchased by Christ? And the answer is by working faith in us and thereby uniting us to Christ in our effectual calling. He first works faith in us. This is something that has been debated at least off and on throughout church history. Where does faith come from? Is it a seed that every single one of us has deep within ourselves and we just need to access it? We just need to respond to God because every single person has the potential or has faith to respond. Or is it something else? Is it, as the catechism question says, something the Spirit works within us? Indeed, we've talked about this in weeks past, and I believe that this is beginning to get at it when we learn that faith is a gift from God. The work of the Spirit in Ephesians 1, verses 13 and 14, Paul writes this, in him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory. The work of the Holy Spirit is seen in feeling those whom God calls to himself. But what about faith? Ephesians 2 8. By grace, you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God. Now, we want to ask the question, because this is this is something that we have to think about with this passage. Is the gift of God grace? Or is it faith? For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God. Indeed, we see there that the this and the it is referring to a singular. So is it referring to grace or is it referring to faith? And, you know, after having looked at it and read the commentaries on that particular passage, I think the answer is yes. It's both. Grace and faith are necessary for salvation. and salvation is the gift of God, grace and faith. God gives both. I said the alternative is that faith becomes something of an evangelical work. You've read your confession of faith and catechisms. You'll come across this phrase, the evangelical work that is done by us. And it rejects this idea that faith is somehow something that we must bring to the table. God provides everything else we can say. We can say on this view, God provides ninety nine point nine percent. And all we need is just a spark of faith. And that is what we do. Scripture is clear that it is the work that the work of salvation is the work of the triune God Father Son and Holy Spirit and so anything that becomes our Contribution goes against this view of God as sovereign in salvation Jesus says in John chapter 6 verses 37 to 39 all that the father gives me will come to me And whoever comes to me, I will never cast out for I have come down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me. But I will raise it up on the last day. This passage focuses on those who who have been given to Christ, the father has given him these people. And he will not lose all any of all. He will lose nothing of all that the father has given him. Again, speaking of the work of God in salvation, particularly the work of God drawing us and and here in the work of the Holy Spirit, working faith within us. The catechism which question also says that the spirit not only works faith in us, but also unites us to Christ. The spirit unites us to Christ. Paul writes this in Ephesians 3. He says, for this reason, I bow my knees before the father from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory, he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his spirit in your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you being rooted and grounded in love may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth and the know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. This passage here is speaking of Paul's prayer for these Ephesian Christians that Christ would dwell in their hearts through faith. And this indeed is the work of the Spirit. And we get we get here in Ephesians three, the connection between faith and being united to Christ, Christ dwelling in our hearts. And it's all through the work of faith and the dwelling in our hearts is all through the work of the spirit. Jesus says elsewhere that I am the vine and you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit. For apart from me, you can do nothing. Apart from me, you can do nothing. I know this isn't a sermon on union with Christ, but a couple of things need to be said about our union with Christ, because that's where the catechism question goes, and we see this in Scripture over and over again, particularly there in John 15, 5, where Jesus says, apart from me, you can do nothing. We see that our union with Christ is essential to our faith. Maybe we even should say essential to our salvation. That is our union with Christ is not simply part of our salvation, but it is essential. It is, in fact, central to it for Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. And just like we could draw that illustration out, that if you were to go to a vine that had healthy branches growing and you began to rip those branches off and walk them away from the vine, they would not last. They would not last. There is when they when they lose that union with the vine, they begin to die. They begin to wither. So it is with us that if we were to lose our union with Christ, then we, our faith, would wither. Our union with Christ is essential to our faith. But our union with Christ also gives us fellowship with Christ. It gives us fellowship with Christ. Paul says this in 1 Corinthians 1-9. He says, God is faithful by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. That word fellowship there is that word we use for communion, koinonia. It's a unitedness that we are called to have with Jesus Christ. And God is faithful. He is the one who has called us into this fellowship. And so, beloved, our salvation is not is not merely some kind of transaction, some kind of legal transaction that, of course, is part of it. God, the father, declares us as righteous. We talked about that this morning. The father declares us as righteous in Christ. But but it's not it's not only a transactional in that way, but it's also relational. For apart from Christ, we are at enmity with God. But in Christ, we are not just friends. We are not we are not just acquaintances, if you will. But indeed, we are drawn into into essential fellowship with the son. Indeed, we can say that our union with Christ gives us fellowship, not just with the son, but with the father and the spirit as well. After all, we're told in Hebrews that we come boldly into God's presence to pray, that when we pray, we come into the most holy place, the place where the Old Testament priest could only go once a year. Our union with Christ effects for us this fellowship with our triune God. Well, then that brings us to our last question and our last point. What is the work of the Spirit? in drawing us to Christ? Is it something along the lines of knocking us out and dragging us against our wills when we are kicking and screaming and we have no desire to go? Is heaven going to be populated with people who are grumbling and desiring not to be there? Well, if you listen to the critics of what is often referred to as Calvinism, you would think that that's the case, but it's not. And that's because of what we learn in this catechism question. These are three things that the Spirit does in order for us to embrace Jesus Christ. That language, embrace Jesus Christ, is beautiful language. It's, again, not just giving a scent of our minds and so on, but it's something that we are wholeheartedly embracing. Three things. First, convincing us of our sin and misery. Second, enlightening our minds to the knowledge of Christ. renewing our wills. I want to take those three, those three points. as part of our final point this evening as we consider the effectual calling of the Spirit. All of this, as I said, ends with us enabled to embrace Jesus Christ freely offered to us in the Gospel. So, what must happen? What must happen? I brought this up this morning as we were talking about the power of God in salvation. If it's true that all of mankind is dead in trespasses and sins, then what must God do in order to save us. What must change? We can say even within us, we see the first thing is that we are convinced of sin and misery. The first step of the spirit that the spirit takes in our effectual calling is to convince us of our sin to convict. This is a commentator here to convict is to prove an accused person guilty of the charge that has been laid against him. To convict, that is to convince in this sense, convince and convict are being used interchangeably in this way, is to prove an accused person guilty of the charge that has been laid against him. Indeed, we can say that the greatest problem in bringing somebody from death to life, other than the fact that they're just absolutely dead, is that they refuse to see that they're dead. one who is dead in sin and misery, who's in the estate of sin and misery, it is not possible for us to convince them in any way, humanly speaking, that they are dead. In this way, we see the inability of fallen man to see his situation correctly. the inability of fallen man to see his situation correctly. Paul writes this in Romans 8, verses 7 and 8. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law. Indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. The flesh, that is the sinful nature, is is is. is hostile to God. It is hostile to God. It despises God's law. It has no desire to submit to what God's law declares. And indeed, we can say in the very beginning that the thing that it convinces us that it speaks to us from God's law is that we are in fact sinners. that we are those who have broken God's law and that we need to be redeemed. We don't just need to be varnished up a bit and made to look a bit nicer, but instead we need to be completely redeemed. And this is why the Spirit must convince us of our sin and misery first and foremost. The Spirit must convince us of our sin and misery first and foremost. Because man, fallen man, cannot see his situation correctly. As Hebrews 11, 6 reminds us, without faith it is impossible to please God. Without faith it is impossible to please God. And so we say then, how can an unbelieving sinner get the faith to please God? The spirit must first convict him of sin and misery. Jesus says it this way in John 16. John 16 is one of those one of those chapters where Jesus is speaking to his disciples about the coming of the Holy Spirit. And he says this. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes. He will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment concerning sin, because they do not believe in me concerning righteousness, because I go to the father and you will see me no longer concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. Seeing the law of God and one's own sin correctly, then is the work of God's spirit. in the life of those who are being drawn to him, or we can say those who are already united to Christ. This is an important point for us to understand. For beloved, when we sit and we try to convince our loved ones or our friends or our neighbors of their need for Christ, oftentimes they won't see it. They won't see that they need Christ. And so we must pray. We must pray that the Holy Spirit would convince them of their sin and misery. Not only does the Holy Spirit convince of sin and misery, but also enlightens our minds in the knowledge of Christ. In this part of his work, the Holy Spirit turns the sinner's attention for at least a time off of himself and toward Christ and his salvation. He enlightens our minds in the knowledge of Christ. That is that not only do we ascent to the reality of our situation, but we also see the only one who can save us. Again, this is the work of God's Spirit. Children never believe when someone tells you that you may only believe that Jesus Christ can save you because you've been raised in a home where you've been taught that, or you've attended a church your whole life. No, it is the work of God's Spirit, and God's Spirit works sometimes gradually and slowly in the life of children in the church, and sometimes He works radically in the life of those outside of the church. Indeed, He works radically in the life of those inside of the church. But it's always the work of the Spirit. It's never a chance. It's never coincidence. It's the work of God's spirit. Paul explains his calling and what God has sent him to do in Acts chapter 26 verses 16 to 18. He says this, this is God speaking to him, but rise and stand on your feet for I've appeared to you for this purpose to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you. delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles to whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me. Interestingly, we were struck, at least as I was saying this, I was struck by the contrast between Isaiah's call and Paul's call. Isaiah's call was actually to turn people away. Through his proclamation, the people of God were going to turn away the people of God. I mean, Old Testament Israel was going to turn away from God was going to turn away from his prophet. But God tells Paul that he is sending him to the Gentiles to open their eyes, to open their eyes so that they may they may turn from darkness to light and they may they may receive the forgiveness of sins and they may be saved. This is Paul's call to bring the nations in. But in both ministries, whether it's Isaiah or the Apostle Paul, the one who is working behind it all is the God who is sovereign over all. Paul says this in Second Corinthians four and verse six, for God, who said that light shine out of darkness, has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. God has shown in our hearts, beloved. Again, the fact that our minds have been enlightened, the fact that we are convinced of our sin and misery is not because we're cut above the rest, but it's only God's grace. It is only the work of his spirit. And the third thing, the third thing that is done by the spirit and effectual calling is he renews our wills. He renews our wills, the will, and we don't want to spend a lot of time getting into all the theology and philosophy in the discussion of the will. We can just sum it up this way. The will is that aspect of man's nature that makes decisions. The will is that aspect of man's nature that makes decisions. And this is important to understand with the state of sin, for because man is fallen totally depraved in its extent, not necessarily in its intent. That is, he's not as bad as he could be. But the reality is that man is dead in sin. The question then comes, how can an unbeliever choose to repent after all? How can an unbeliever who cannot please God choose to please God? The reality is that God changes their heart. God renews their wills. Ezekiel 36 verses 26 and 27, God speaking of that of that glorious salvation that is to come and is to be worked in Jesus Christ. He says this, and I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. Indeed, the renewing of the wills, the change of the heart, The desire to follow after Christ is a gift of God's Spirit. It is evidence of God's Spirit working within us. And what strikes me, what strikes me about that is that it doesn't lead God's people to simply sit back and say, since there's nothing I can do, then I don't have to do anything. God saved me and I'm okay to live however I want. We're saying Psalm 51. Psalm 51, written by King David, written by King David after he had his sin with Bathsheba. King David, remember, was the one who was anointed by God. He had his spirit and he didn't sit back and just say, well, you know, I'm the king. I can do whatever I want. I'm chosen. No, he said, Lord, cast me not away from your presence. Remove not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of my salvation. Even David. knew that he had to turn to God to even increase his grief for sin, to even cause him to call out to God even more. That's what Psalm 51 teaches us. For the doctrine of the Holy Spirit in salvation, this doctrine of sexual calling, beloved, doesn't lead us to spiritual laziness, but on the contrary, it leads us to be grateful because salvation is a work that we cannot do Salvation is something that must be done by God. It must be wrought, worked by God through His Holy Spirit, or else we would be lost. And I know the question that comes, and it's a hard question, is, well, if God can do this in the life of a sinner, then why doesn't He do it in the life of all sinners? And I don't know the answer to that question, except to say that God will do what He knows is right. And what God does is right. And on the last day, on the last day, we will see God's God's righteousness in its fullness. And we we may not know all the answers to our questions, but we will not call God wrong or call him into account for what he has done. Indeed, we will be praising him for the salvation that is ours. What are the lessons that we learned from this catechism question, these two catechism questions? I just put down three very brief things to think about, and I don't know that I'm going to answer them fully. I'll just say something about each one, but I want you to consider it this week. The first has to do with evangelism. It's often said, well, if the Holy Spirit, if Father, Son, and Spirit are the ones who work in evangelism, then why bother sending anybody out? But indeed, I believe that this grounds the very reason why we send ministers out into other places, why we believe that God is going to save, because it's not our work. We don't look for somebody talented, as many talents as possible, to send them off to another country because we think it's dependent upon us. It's dependent upon God. And beloved, I know that's hard sometimes to realize when we have unbelieving family members. But we must learn that more than trying to convince them ourselves, we must spend more time in prayer for them, for their salvation. So that's the second thing. The first thing is evangelism. I do believe that the doctrine of effectual calling undergirds evangelism. It's not as though we're going out hoping that God is going to call someone, but knowing that He is. Second is for prayer. that it would urge us on to pray for those who are in need for salvation, whether they are relatives, friends, neighbors, classmates, co-workers, whatever they might be, to pray that God would indeed save them, for God is pleased to answer the prayers of His people. And thirdly, this grounds our hope, for the Spirit is the one who draws, the Son is the one who redeems, the Father is the one who calls. And so our hope for our salvation is secure. Beloved, this is important because because if you're anything like me, then you go through a week and things might be pretty good. But then the next week you'll struggle and you'll doubt and you'll question. But this brings us back time and time again to the one who renewed our wills, the one who enlightened our minds, the one who convinces us of our sin and misery. It leads us back for our only hope to be found. in the work of our triune God in saving us. Let's pray.