First of all, the Bible says here in verse number 14,
Whereunto he called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
That reminds me of literally just about an hour and a half ago,
when I was out knocking doors, soul winning, we talked to this guy and he was saved.
He gave us the right testimony of salvation through faith.
He said he believed on Christ and that, you know, he didn't believe he could lose your salvation.
He didn't believe it was by works.
He thought it was all finished by the blood of Jesus on the cross.
But he had this attitude of, well, you know, whoever's going to get saved is going to get saved.
No matter what we do.
And he kept focusing on, well, you know, God calls people.
God's doing the drawing and God draws people onto him.
And so you can go out and knock all these doors, he said.
But at the end of the day, the same amount of people are going to get saved whether you go out and do it or not.
And I told him, I said, well, I wouldn't even be here then.
Why would I? He said, well, you do it out of obedience.
And I'm thinking to myself, yeah, when was the last time you knocked the door, buddy?
He's going to some big mega church liberal fund center.
This guy isn't out knocking doors.
He's talking to me about obedience to the great commission of go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
But I said, look, if I didn't think I was making a difference, I'd go out and do the minimum.
I just go out, do a little soul winning, knock some doors, chalk it up that I preach the gospel and then enjoy life.
You know, I do the minimum.
But when we think about the fact that souls are in the balance and that people are dying and going to hell,
the Bible says and others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garments spotted by the flesh.
You know, when I go out soul winning, I believe I'm pulling people out of the fire.
Paul said I've become all things to all men that I might by all means save some.
He's not just going through the motions.
He's trying to pull these people out of fires, trying to get people saved.
This guy, oh, you know, God does the calling, God does the drawing.
And they'll point out this verse where Jesus said in John, you know, no man can come unto me except the Father draw him.
But you know what's funny is they never like to talk about the verses a few chapters later where Jesus said,
and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
So they say, well, nobody can come unless the Father draw him.
And he said this spake he, signifying what manner of death he should die.
So when he said if I be lifted up from the earth, he's talking about being lifted up on the cross.
He said I'll draw all men unto me.
And the Bible says here that God called, doesn't it?
In 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, but it says in verse 14, whereunto he called you by our gospel.
You see that?
Yeah, God's calling through our gospel.
How's God calling?
When we go out with the Word of God as ambassadors for Christ where God has committed unto us
the ministry of reconciliation and God is sending us forth as ambassadors for Christ,
he says you are the light of the world.
You are the salt of the earth.
And when we show up with the Word of life and the Word of God and we preach the gospel, God calls through that.
The Bible says that when the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
And when a preacher, which isn't just a pastor, but just any man, woman, boy or girl who talks to someone about Jesus
and opens their mouth to preach the gospel, when they preach that word, God's calling.
That's God calling.
That's God on the phone calling you saying be ye reconciled to God.
It says we beseech you in Christ's stead.
Be reconciled to God.
We're there as messengers from God.
God's calling and he's using us to make the call.
I mean, this is clear.
He called you by our gospel, he says, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And you say, well, but verse 13 says God chooses.
It's not saying that God chooses which people will be saved.
It says God from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and believe the truth.
He chose all that would believe.
OK, he chose us to be found in him if we believe in Jesus Christ.
Look up all the verses about God choosing and and about predestination.
Look up Romans eight.
Yeah, we're predestined according to the foreknowledge of God.
God knows who will believe on him.
And Ephesians one.
Yeah, he chose us to be glorified with him.
He chose us in Romans eight to be conformed to the image of his son.
It's not saying he chooses which ones will be saved.
It's that he chooses that those who believe will be saved.
And he chooses that those who believe will not only be saved, but that they'll be sanctified
and that they will be conformed to the image of Christ and they'll be predestined to that glory with him.
But to sit there and say, well, it's already predetermined who's going to go to heaven,
who's going to go to hell, and there's nothing we can do about it.
And that when we go out and preach the gospel, we're going through some kind of an exercise
and that we're not really making a difference in anybody's life, but we're just going through the motions.
You know what?
That's why people aren't going today, because that's what they believe.
And as I was talking to this guy, I was very kind to him and polite to him, right?
But you know, in my heart, I was thinking, you jerk,
you're damning this whole world to hell with your stupidity.
This world is not hearing the gospel because of people like you who want to sit around and say,
oh, God's going to get it done on his own.
Now he told you to do it.
If our gospel be hid, it's hid to them that are lost.
And we're sitting there hiding the gospel under a bushel and saying,
oh, well, you know, God's going to get it done.
And then the guy said, well, what are you saying that all these people
who've never heard of Jesus are going to go to hell?
I think they're going to get it passed.
You know what?
Keep telling yourself that.
Maybe that'll let you sleep at night when you don't serve Jesus at all.
But you know what?
I'd rather work and spend my life to getting the gospel to that guy who hasn't heard of Jesus.
Instead of sitting around and coming up with some stupid navel gazing theology of,
you know, well, if God knows everything and God already knows he's going to be saved,
well, maybe it's all just predetermined anyway.
I'm just going to sit around and have Bible study and go way down deep and stay down long
and come up dry.
No, why don't you get out there and do some work for God?
And why don't you do what Christ said and go ye therefore into all the world
and preach the gospel to every creature.
Why?
Because he said you're saving with fear.
You're pulling them out of the fire.
It's not just some game that we play.
And these same fools also believe this thing like you pray for stuff and you're going to
get it anyway, but you just pray for fun or something.
Or, well, you just pray so you can feel like you got your prayer answered.
No, the Bible says you have not because you ask not.
And they perish and go to hell because you go not.
That's right.
It's not all predetermined.
It's going to happen anyway.
Wrong.
We write the book, my friend.
God has given us the keys to the kingdom of heaven.
Did he not say that in Matthew 16?
Did he not say whatsoever you bind on earth, I'll bind in heaven?
And whatsoever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven?
But then they say, oh, it's just God just makes all the decisions.
Then why do you say choose?
Why do you say choose life?
Why do you say choose this day whom you'll serve?
Because we have a choice.
Don't buy into this garbage of, well, God calls and God draws and we just sit back on
our lazy American rear end and let the world go to hell.
No, it's false.
It's a lie of the devil.
He loves that doctrine because it gets all the Christians to sit around and not care.
And I'll tell you, I told this guy, I said, you know what?
I'll be honest with you, my friend.
I said, I'm just being honest.
If I believed like you, I would do very little for the Lord.
I would just do the minimum.
He's like, oh, that's not right.
I'm just being honest, you know?
And look, does obedience to Christ motivate me?
Of course.
Does my love for Christ motivate me?
Of course.
But you know what?
That wouldn't really motivate me to go all out, though.
You know, but when you actually feel like you're making a difference, when you actually
feel like you're accomplishing something, you know, that motivates you.
I mean, who wants to play a game?
Does anybody want to play a board game with me after church where the outcome is predetermined?
We can spend hours playing.
Did you ever play the game War?
Who's played the card game War?
The stupidest card game on the play.
It's a card game for Calvinists.
It's the official card game of Calvinism.
You cut the deck in half, you give half the deck to one guy, half the deck to another
guy, and you put down a card, and whoever has the best card gets to take both cards.
You pull out the next card.
There's no thought.
There's no skill.
The whole thing is predetermined.
The moment you cut the deck in half, the winner is determined.
But you just go through the motions.
Oh, man, you got me.
Oh, I got you.
You know, it's a game you play when you're like four.
You play it when you're like five.
And after that, you say, I need something where I can actually control the outcome.
I'm just going to sit there and just play War.
Stupidest card game ever invented.
And you know what?
Calvinism is the stupidest doctrine that anybody ever came up with.
We need to go out and people need to be called to the Lord by our gospel.
That's what's going to call them unto the Lord.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.