THE HOLY SPIRIT CALLS TO CONVERSION-PART 1

Calling is the gracious work of The Holy Spirit, whereby He causes The Regenerated Man to embrace The Lord Jesus Christ, as He is offered, in The Gospel--

2 Thessalonians 2;14-''For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus; for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews;''
The Gracious Work of the Spirit, in Regeneration, causes the individual, to respond to The Call.

The Holy Spirit operates on man's will, not forcibly bending it, but making it pliant and tender, from within.

Calling addresses itself, to Man's consciousness.
Regeneration works from within; Calling works from without.
Calling is The Divine Summons; which appeals to the Principle of life; that causes the will, and the understanding, to begin, to act.

Now get this; Regeneration and Calling differ in this respect;
Regeneration occurs independently of understanding, while in Calling, understanding and will begin to act.

Regeneration enables one, to hear and understand;
thus, with the inclined will, he is willing to go out, to the light.

Regeneration is the begetting of new life.
Calling is the bringing forth, of that life, by Divine summons, into the light of The Gospel.

Now, observe the order in; 2 Timothy 1;9-10; 2 Thessalonians 2;13-14-[Turn].

Effectual Calling presupposes life;
thus, regeneration precedes calling.

NOW LISTEN, The Call of the Regenerate is something more than The General Call, going forth by the preaching of the Gospel.
While the preaching of The Gospel is General, to all nations, the content of the preaching is
Particular.

The Bible teaches that men are brought to believe on Jesus Christ, but, it is God, not man, Who sends the messengers, and determines the recipients.
Now, when The Gospel is proclaimed to any audience, that audience, from one point of view, is undifferentiated in this respect-all the members are alike, in their depravity.
There is no spiritual receptivity.

But, from another viewpoint, those, who hear The Word, are indeed, differentiated, for, it is God, Who gives the hearing ear--Proverbs 20;12-''The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made even both of them.''

There are many called, that is, by the external preaching of The Gospel, but, few chosen.
And, the few chosen, are effectually called.
Matthew 22;14-''For many are called, but few are chosen.''
Now, in this verse, we have 2 views;
The Undifferentiated in the first part of the text, and The Differentiated, in the latter part.

In Regeneration, the sinner is dead to spiritual life.
He is like a corpse, but his first passivity, and his subsequent co-operation, in the effectual call, must not be confounded.

The Elect, but unregenerate sinner, can do nothing;
And that which is wrought in him, must be by God.
Now this is, the 1st work of grace;
but after that is accomplished, the sinner is no longer passive.

But, then, he is made active, in spiritual things, by the power of The New Life.

Now, THIS DOES NOT MEAN, However, that The Elect, and The Regenerated Sinner is able to do anything without God.

Now, get this truth; ALL SPIRITUAL GOOD FROM REGENERATION TO GLORIFICATION, IS OF GRACE.
You see, he that is called, must be able to come;
and he is made able, by Regeneration.

Again, Get this truth; The Divine Summons is not merely calling a person, telling him, or her, something, but it implies the command to come.
There's something determinate, about the effectual call-Romans 8;28-[Quote].

A Summons, issued by The Court, does not of itself, empower us, to appear in Court.
But our appearance depends upon our strength and will.

It might become necessary, for an officer of the court to apprehend and compel us to appear, because we lack the will to appear.

But the elect sinner, has already been apprehended by Regeneration, BEFORE THE CALL COMES TO HIM-Matthew 22;1-14 -Turn].
Luke 14;15-24-[Turn].
Philippians 3;12-13-Turn].

God's peopled are made willing, in the day of His Power-Psalm 110;3.

The Effectual Call is from darkness to light-I Peter 2;9-[turn].

[We will continue this in our next post