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man the title my sermon this morning is accept the father draw him accept the father draw him look down at John chapter 6 verse 43 there the Bible reads Jesus therefore answered and said to them murmur not among yourselves no man can come to me except the father which has sent me draw him and I will raise him up at the last day notice that phrase there no man can come to me accept the father which has sent me draw him and I will raise him up at the last day verse 45 it is written in the prophets and they shall be all taught of God every man therefore that has heard and had learned of the father cometh unto me and this is what I want to preach about this morning the subject that in order for a person to be saved the father has to draw them that's the only way anyone can come to Christ they have to be taught of God now why is that because of the fact that the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for their foolishness unto him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned so a man who's just a natural man he's not saved he's just in the flesh he's not going to be able to comprehend the gospel or put his faith in Jesus Christ without the power of the Holy Spirit without the father through the power of the Holy Spirit drawing him to Christ now look at chapter 6 verse 60 same chapter down to verse 60 many therefore of his disciples when they heard this said this is a hard saying who can hear it now what is it that they heard that was a hard saying the hard saying was about eating his flesh and drinking his blood now they didn't understand this because they were taking it overly literally sort of like when Nicodemus said well you know born again should I enter the second time and my mother's womb would be born I mean obviously he didn't get it did he and he's looking at it overly literal if he thinks he has to be physically literally born again enter into his mother's womb the second time to be born or the woman at the well when Jesus said whoever drinks of the water that I gave him shall never thirst and then she said oh well great give me that living water so I don't have to come here and draw water anymore she's looking at it as a physical water when in reality these are spiritual things born again is a spiritual thing the living water is a spiritual thing eating the flesh of the Son of Man they're not literally gonna eat his flesh and by the way the Roman Catholics they take this Nicodemus style woman at the well style interpretation why because they're not saved you know so they basically they can't comprehend this so they think like yeah we got to literally eat the body and they do this hocus-pocus where they supposedly turn that bread into the literal body of Christ they call it transubstantiation so the hard saying was about Jesus saying I'm the bread that came down from heaven he that eateth me shall live by me obviously not literal he's speaking spiritual truths that are going over their head this is a hard saying who can hear it look at verse 61 when Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it he said unto them does this offend you what an if ye shall see the Son of Man ascend up where he was before you know what you don't believe that I came down from heaven well guess what eventually you're gonna see me ascend up back where I was before it is the spirit that quickeneth verse 63 the flesh profiteth nothing the words that I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life so he's explaining them look it's not about literally eating bread or eating literal flesh it's about the spirit quickening and he said the spirits what gives you life the spirit is what's going to regenerate you or bring you to life spiritually and he said the words that I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life verse 64 but there are some of you that believe not for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not and who should betray him then look at verse 65 this reiterates what we saw earlier and he said therefore said I unto you that no man can come unto me except it were given unto him of my father now go to John chapter 12 John chapter number 12 we'll find the same concept once again so in John chapter 6 we see this concept that says look in order to be saved in order to come to Christ in order to believe on Christ the father has to draw you you have to be taught of God otherwise you're gonna find yourself like these people where everything Jesus preaching is going over their head they're taking it too literally they don't know what he means they don't get it the spirit has to quicken okay is what the Bible saying it has to be given you of the father look at John chapter 12 verse 32 it says and I if I be lifted up from the earth will draw all men unto me this he said signifying what death he should die the fact that he's gonna be lifted up from the earth on a cross the people answered him we've heard out of the law that Christ abideth forever and how sayest thou the Son of Man must be lifted up who is this Son of Man then Jesus said unto them yet a little while though is the light with you walk while you have the light lest darkness come upon you for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth while you have light believe in the light that ye may be the children of light these things spake Jesus and departed and did hide himself from them now obviously when it says he hid himself from them it's talking about literally he actually left and hid and they couldn't find him but what's the spiritual meaning here he hid himself from them let's come back to that okay but let me back up here now a lot of times people will take the teaching in John chapter 6 and they'll try to teach a doctrine called Calvinism which basically says well only certain people have the opportunity to get saved you know only the ones who God draws only the ones who it is given them of the Father they're the only ones who can get saved here's the problem with that look at John chapter 12 verse 32 if I be lifted up from the earth will draw all men unto me so John chapter 6 is not teaching a Calvinist doctrine that says that God doesn't care about certain people other people he loves them and draws them and and bestows grace upon them in reality every single person has the opportunity to get saved and this is clearly explained here in John chapter 12 when he says while you have the light with you look at verse 35 yet a little while is the light with you walk while you have the light lest darkness come upon you look at verse 36 while you have light believe in the light that you may be the children of light he's saying look there's a time when you've got the light and look he's not talking to people that are already saved because he's warning them that if they don't believe on the light while they have it you know what's gonna happen they're gonna end up in darkness and Jesus will hide himself from them everybody see this so this is not a teaching as the Calvinist would twist this up oh well God is only revealing himself to certain people that he chose based on some unknown criteria and he's not giving everybody a chance no because if we were actually reading the book of John in context right at the beginning of John chapter 1 we would see where the Bible says this is the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world you know a lot of times Calvinists will look at verses that say all men or everything well it's not really all men all doesn't really mean all here it's just all the elect or whatever but how do you get around it lighteth every man and then even qualifies what he means by every man every man that cometh into the world now what you know that's everybody so you can't sit there and say well every man there isn't really every man because he breaks it down and says every man that cometh into the world so in John chapter 1 the true light lights every man that cometh into the world and Jesus says look you have the light with you while you have the light you better walk in the light and he said believe in the light look at verse 36 while you have light believe in the light that you may be the children of light because guess what if they don't believe in the light while they have it with them eventually the night's gonna come darkness will come upon you look at verse 35 walk while you have the light lest darkness come upon you so here's what's going on you got an unsaved person God reveals himself to them the light of the gospel shines in their heart maybe they hear a Bible verse or they hear the preaching of the gospel or some soul winner knocks on their door some kind of light maybe they even just look at the natural world and they see the creation of God and there's like a little light there from God you know what they need to do they need to respond to that light so that God can give them more light because if they don't walk in the light if they don't believe in the light darkness will come upon them and when darkness comes upon them Jesus hides himself from them only can salvation occur if God is drawing them here's what happens if a person does not respond to the light that God gives them and if a person keeps rejecting Christ and God often gives many chances he could give people many chances but if a person just again and again and again just rejects the light that God gives them rejects the Word of God rejects the preaching of God's Word eventually God turns off the light and at that point the Father is not drawing them anymore the Father is not teaching them you they can't be saved because no one can come to Christ unless the Father is drawing them right no one can come to Christ unless it's given them of the Father so it says in verse number 36 he did hide himself before them then we get into a little commentary on this from John it says in verse 37 but though he had done so many miracles before them yet they believed not on him that the saying of his eyes the Prophet might be fulfilled which he spake Lord who has believed our report and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed therefore they could not believe because that is I said again he God has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart that they should not see with their eyes nor understand with their heart and be converted and I should heal them see the arm of the Lord must be revealed unto you in order for you to believe the report who have believed our report and to whom at the arm of the Lord been revealed the arm of the Lord represents salvation salvation is revealed through the power of the Holy Spirit it's not understood by the carnal mind it must be spiritually discerned and so that's why it means what it says has to be given you of the Father you have to be taught of God the Father has to draw you it's not that this is only for a select few it's that people are not in this category of being drawn by God because they have already rejected it okay everybody gets a chance the light lights every man that comes into the world but if we reject the light that we're given eventually we could get to a place and I'm talking about the unsaved of course where you don't get the light anymore now once we're saved we're always saying I'm gonna get to how this affects us as believers a little bit later in the sermon but this is the foundation here to understand now a lot of people just completely ignore this doctrine that's a very clear doctrine in the Bible you know we typically refer to it as the reprobate doctrine is what we call it colloquially around here but a lot of people just reject this document they say you know anyone can be saved until the last breath until someone breathes their last breath there's hope is that what the Bible says does the Bible just say hey you can just choose to get saved whenever you want just whenever you want you just be like you know what I think I'm gonna get safe it's like a few weeks ago I knocked on the guy's door out soul-winning and he said you know what I'm thinking about becoming a Christian later this year he said I can I show you right now how to be say you know if you got 10 minutes I can show you right now no no no not now but later this year I'm actually planning on converting to Christianity I'm planning on becoming a Christian but yeah I have no time right so I basically told him I said well you know just stick this in a drawer or something and when you decide to convert to Christianity come see me and I'll tell you how to be safe but you know the sad thing is that day will probably never come you can't just sit there and say well you know what I think I'm gonna get saved later or well you know I'll get saved now no God has to draw you God has to speak to you the Holy Ghost has to move upon you and quicken you now is the accepted time now is the day of salvation and you don't know when God is gonna get tired of you rejecting the light where he'll just turn the lights out and then he'll hide himself from you this is very clear what is the but how else can you interpret this when you look at verse 39 of John chapter 12 therefore they could not believe now look will Jesus save anyone who believes on him of course so it's not like oh you believe in Christ oh but you didn't get drawn sorry no no you can't believe in Christ without the Holy Spirit's working so it's not that if you believed you wouldn't be saved folks whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life anyone who believes in Christ is saved period okay the Bible says that whosoever believeth in me hath everlasting life I mean it can't be any simpler than verily verily I say to you he that believeth on me hath everlasting life lots of verses like that but here's the point though here's the key they could not believe people ask these silly questions well what if a reprobate believes on Jesus they can't believe they're in darkness the light isn't there they're not able to believe so this is clear now there's really only two ways to interpret this you could take the wrong interpretation that the Calvinist would take and say well they couldn't believe because you know God just didn't pick them they just weren't the elect or you take the correct interpretation that because he had done so many miracles before them and they didn't believe on him they got to a place where they couldn't believe anymore because they didn't walk in the light while the light was with them they didn't believe in the light while the light was with them and darkness came upon them that's what the Bible clearly teaches in John 6 and John 12 and this is reiterated in many other places go to Matthew 13 we can see this all over Scripture Matthew 13 and one thing that you'll notice as we look up these scriptures in the New Testament about this doctrine are the constant references to Isaiah because this is a major theme in the book of Isaiah as well but look at Matthew 13 and verse number 14 and them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah or Isaiah which said by hearing you shall hear and shall not understand and seeing you shall see and shall not perceive for this people's heart is waxed gross and their ears are dull of hearing and their eyes they have closed lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and should understand with their heart and should be converted and I should heal them but blessed are your eyes for they see and for your ears for they hear for verily I say unto you that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which you see and have not seen them and to hear those things which you hear and have not heard them go to Acts chapter 28 acts 28 while you're turning there let me give you some quotes from Isaiah Isaiah 55 6 says seek ye the Lord while he may be found call you upon him while he is near do you see that criteria you better believe on him you better believe on the light while the lights there you'd better seek the Lord while he may be found you'd better call upon him while he's near obviously there's a time when he's not here obviously there's time when he may not be found there's a time when darkness comes upon you and Jesus hides himself that's a scary thought for the unsaved another script you're in Isaiah or you're in acts 28 it says in verse 25 and when they agreed not among themselves verse 25 they departed after that Paul had spoken one word well spake the Holy Ghost by his eyes the Prophet unto our fathers saying go unto this people and say hearing you shall hear and shall not understand and seeing ye shall see and not perceive let me stop and ask you something when we go out door to door and preach the gospel does it ever happen that we preach to someone and hearing they hear but they don't understand we pull out the Bible and show them and they see it but they don't perceive and have you ever just wondered like is this person handicapped and you'll be talking to people that seem like intelligent people and it's just everything's whoop right over their head and you're wondering like is that you and I mean you're like you know is there something are you okay you know like the you know what I'm saying you're wondering like what's wrong with this but I don't get but here's what it is it's that they're blinded darkness you're showing them all these really clear scriptures it's just they just don't get it and you're right like why is it that they don't get it it's because of the fact that the Father is not drawing them it's because of the fact that they're not being taught of God it's because now look it doesn't that doesn't necessarily mean that they're a reprobate so I don't want you to get that wrong because it could be it could be that that basically today's just not their day you know that God's gonna have to do more work in their heart the Holy Spirit's gonna have to work in their heart it could be that they're going to get saved in the future or it could be that in the past they had lots of chances and they kept rejecting it rejecting it and now they are reprobate now they are walking in darkness now they're so I don't want you to misunderstand the sermon and think hey if I explain the gospel to me and they don't get it because they're a reprobate okay you don't want to just you know just be on a hair trigger to start labeling everyone a reprobate because a lot of the people who don't understand it today will understand it later so this is a key point to understand you know a lot of people have to hear the gospel many times and sometimes if somebody's hearing the gospel for the first time they're not going to get saved because that they're just getting a little bit of light and the Holy Spirit's just kind of starting to work in their heart the Bible says somebody has to plant the seed and then somebody has to water it so you might just be planting a seed so a lot of it's going over their head because they're just getting a little sliver of light right now so maybe you knock on that door out so winning somebody's getting a little sliver of light God's gonna see how they respond to that little sliver of light and then he's gonna open the door a little wider give them more light more light more light so don't mistake this it could be that their day of salvation in the future not necessarily that they missed it in the past so don't just label everyone a reprobate but we all know that we've had many experiences if we ever witness to people where they hear but they they understand not they see it but they don't perceive it it's like they're blind it's like their death to what is being said it says in verse 27 for the heart of this people is waxed gross and their ears are dull of hearing and their eyes they've closed lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand what their art and should be converted and I should heal them be it known therefore unto you that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles and that they will hear it go if you would to let's see I'm just gonna read you some of these jump if you would to Hebrews chapter 5 Hebrews chapter 5 while you're turning there Isaiah 6 9 says this go and tell this people hear ye indeed but understand not and see indeed but perceive not make the heart of this people fat and make their ears heavy and shut their eyes lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and convert and be healed that's kind of interesting that wording when it says make the heart of this people fat what does that mean you know make their heart fat and then I found another verse that tied in with this Psalm 119 70 said their heart is as fat as grease but I delight in thy law now some of that's just your diet that's doing that to your heart all right if your heart's as fat as grease you know fat your organs are getting fatty but anyway I'm joking but the thing is he said you know their heart is as fat as grease but but I delight in thy law so what's the contra what's the opposite of the guy whose heart is as fat as grease is the one who delights in their law now have you ever heard of someone who doesn't understand things very well being called thick like well he's a little thick okay so that I think that's what he's getting at here when he says this people's heart is fat all right and then David says it's as fat as grease all right but I delight in the law see people who don't love the Word of God people who don't delight in the truth people who don't respond to the Word of God their heart becomes fat as grease and then the one who loves God's Word is the opposite of that you know they're open to hear and they can learn and understand and God can speak to them Luke 10 21 says this you don't have to turn there but Luke 10 21 says in that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit and said I thank thee Oh Father Lord of heaven and earth that thou has hidden these things from the wise and prudent and has revealed them unto babes even so father for so it seemed good in thy sight so we see God hiding it from one person and revealing it to someone else you see that all things are delivered to me of my father and no man knoweth who the son is but the father and who the father is but the son and he to whom the son will reveal him so can you know the father without the son revealing the father to you no can you know the father without the son or the son without the father God has to reveal himself to you okay because it's a spiritual thing and he turned him unto his disciples and said privately blessed are the eyes which see the things that you see for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things and we already saw that in the other passage and then also in mark 423 how about this famous phrase that you've heard so many times in the Bible if any man have ears to hear let him hear you know what that means some people don't have ears to hear do they and he said to them take heed what you hear for with what measure you meet it shall be measured to you again and unto you that here shall more be given unto you that here shall more be given for he that hath to him shall be given and he that hath not from him shall be taken away even that he hath Luke 8 18 take heed therefore how you hear for whosoever hath to him shall be given and whosoever hath not from him shall be taken even that would you see me to have so over and over again we see this concept in the Bible look you cannot be saved unless God reveals to you the gospel reveals to you and he does that through his word of course faith cometh by hearing hearing by the Word of God the entrance of thy word giveth light the Bible says right so when somebody hears the Word of God they're getting the light there okay when somebody hears the preaching of the gospel that's light coming in they better walk in that light they'd better believe in that light they'd better respond to that light because what will happen is eventually God will turn the lights out now you say are you saying that they're never gonna hear a Bible verse again oh they might hear Bible verse but you know what that lights not gonna get through because he'll make their heart gross he'll make their heart fat he'll make their eyes darkness he'll make their ears dull of hearing he will harden their heart and blind their eyes to the point where they can no longer see the truth anymore they cannot be saved so this is a chilling thought for the unsaved man if you're unsaved today and you're thinking to yourself well you know what I'm gonna think about this when I get older or I'm not really interested in this right now you know I you know maybe some other time I'll think about later I want to go to college and kind of figure out what I believe and make my you know let me explain something to you when you're hearing God's Word you better jump on that especially if you feel something you know when you look I don't know about you but I feel something all the time when I'm listening to preaching my heart burns within me when I'm reading the Bible my heart burns within me right I mean I feel a lot but let me tell you some there are some people they could hear the most powerful passage from God's Word they can hear Psalm 23 and 1st Corinthians 13 and John 14 and feel nothing it's true I've given the Word of God to a friend who was unsaved and he read it and he said oh it's just stupid bunch of junk it's like are we reading the same book here but let me tell you some man when God puts those blinders on you're done you're toast I mean that's that's dangerous now I again there are some people who can't understand the gospel not because they're to that point but because maybe they're early on on the path maybe they're just starting to be illuminated you know and and they are still yet to determine what they're gonna do with the life that God has given them but the bottom line is without the Holy Spirit without being taught of God without the Father drawing you without God revealing himself and opening your eyes you cannot be saved that's essential to salvation when we go soul winning that is a spiritual activity this is not like a sales call or something where you're just you know explaining them the benefits and the perks of being saved and you know you just got a sign right here you know it's a spiritual activity that you're doing there and that's why I also don't believe that unsaved people can get people saved because this is all a spiritual process that that now I do believe unsaved people can plant a seed because you know the Word of God can plant a seed no matter who it's coming from you know the Bible somebody could read a Bible verse somebody pick up a Bible and read it and the seeds planted you know and and a little bit of lights coming in but as far as actually discerning and understanding the Word of God it comes through the preaching of God's Word from one saved person to another expounding God's Word of them now let's get to the application to those of us who are saved now of course the vast majority of us here are already saved okay so we're you know we're out of the woods on this you know because we are not in danger of becoming a reprobate because we're saved and nothing can ever separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord and he will never leave us nor forsake us he's not gonna hide himself and be gone and and just ditch us no we're sealed by the Holy Ghost unto the day of redemption we cannot lose our salvation we have eternal life and there's nothing that can change that but those of us who are already saved want to make sure that we don't quench the spirit either because God tells save people quench not the spirit that's instruction to the saved quench not the spirit now if the unsaved quench the spirit well they're really in trouble if the unsaved quench the spirit they could get to a point where they can't even be saved anymore because the Holy Spirit the Bible says will reprove the world of sin of sin because they believe not on me and so the Holy Spirit lights every man that comes into the world the Holy Spirit reproves the entire world of sin even unbelievers especially unbelievers and if the unsaved quench the spirit if they get dull of hearing if they don't respond to light boy they're in big trouble because they could be eternally damned they could get and they could get to a point where it's too late for them to even be saved that's a really scary thought but what about us that are saved you know us that are saved we're constantly being given light by God too we're constantly being given illumination as well we're constantly hearing the Holy Spirit of God speak to us through our Bible reading through preaching and even through the natural world around us and the Bible says quench not the spirit that means it's possible to quench the spirit that means even we as Christians could get dull of hearing we could start to not listen to what God is saying to us look at Hebrews chapter 5 verse 11 it says of whom we have many things to say and hard to be uttered seeing you are dull of hearing notice how dull of hearing we recognize that phrase also from the discussion about the people in Isaiah and in the Gospels as well use that term dull of hearing he's talking to people that are saved and say you're dull of hearing for when for the time you ought to be teachers you have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God and are become such as have need of milk and not of strong meat for everyone that uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness for he's a babe let me ask you this are these people saved or unsaved they're clearly saved because he's saying you're unskilled you're a babe but he's not saying you're not in the family what's a babe is a babe saved runs it no a babe in Christ is a babe in Christ if you're a babe you're still in Christ okay you should be teachers why because you're saved you are saved that's why you should be teachers but because you're unskilled because you're dull of hearing you are like a babe that needs milk instead of strong meat for strong meat belonging to them that are of full age even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil verse 1 of the next chapter therefore because of that leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ let us go on into perfection let's not just stay babes let's go forward into completion perfection means completion right let's get mature let's grow up let's get fully developed in our Christian walk not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and a faith toward God of the doctrine of baptisms and of laying on of hands and a resurrection of the dead and of eternal judgment that's baby stuff that's child's play those doctrines that he just listed there those are just the basics that's just the beginning and you know what some churches you could literally go there for a hundred years and that's all you're gonna hear on Sunday morning the plan of salvation who's ever gone to a church where the plan of salvation was the sermon topic every Sunday morning every single Sunday morning we hear the gospel again it's like excuse me we're all saved you know can we learn something else why what are they doing they're basically just giving you milk for breakfast milk for lunch and milk for dinner and that's not gonna make you a fully developed mature Christian right you've got to get into the strong meat as well this sermon is strong meat this is not a super basic concept that I'm preaching it's a little bit more of a higher-end concept but you know what even the person who just got saved recently is gonna be able to take something away from this sermon there's a little milk mix in where you know we're not seeing that a kid in his mother's milk but we are giving you a cheeseburger with a glass of milk on the side all right and if you come on Wednesday nights you know what that means and if you don't well you're gonna have to tune into YouTube to the Exodus series so he says here let's move on let's leave the principles of you know he gives these basics why because let's get to the strong and he says this will we do if God permit for it is impossible for those who were once enlightened verse 4 and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the world to come if they shall fall away to renew them again into repentance seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh and put them to an open shame for the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh offed upon it and bringeth forth herbs meat for them by whom it is dressed receive his blessing from God but that which beareth thorns and briars is rejected and is nigh unto cursing whose end is to be burned and here's the key verse verse 9 but beloved we're persuaded better things of you and things that accompany salvation so we need to under though we thus speak so we need to understand something there are two groups of people in this passage here okay let me just grab two guys up here can a couple guys jump up and and and and be the examples here of who we're talking to just to help visualize this so you know it's like over here we got this guy right here okay he's a babe in Christ you know it's like he's saved he should be a teacher but he has need that one teach him again you know so this guy's dull of hearing he's basically just kind of caught up and worldly knit I'm not talking about him actually okay you know come on what's your problem anyway what so I'm saying is you know maybe he's caught up in just the things of this he's dull of hearing so he comes to church he's like he's looking at his watch he's thinking about the big game or the big movie or the big season premiere or his next strategy in his video game you know he just gets home so basically like he's dull of hearing he's quenching the spirit he's choked by the cares of this world that's who he's talking to in chapter 5 right somebody get that he's talking to this guy okay then he starts talking to this guy or about this guy not to this guy because he's talking to this guy about this guy a different group this is the guy who was once enlightened everybody understand nobody's the good guy in this illustration by the way so basically so this is the guy who was once enlightened he tasted the the gift he was made partaker of the Holy Ghost and of the Word of God and everything he's not saved the Holy Ghost lights every man that comes into the world okay the the Holy Ghost reproves the world of sin of sin because they believe not on sin righteousness and judgment the Holy Ghost has a ministry to the saved and to the unsaved very clear in John 16 this guy has been once enlightened he had the light but he didn't believe in the light he turned away from the light he rejected the light that was given unto him and he was given over to a reprobate mind okay so now stay here guys think about think about what he's saying here he tells you you know man you know you need to get off of the milk leave just the foundational you know doctrines of Christ baptism eternal judgment resurrection hey we need to go move on into perfection then he says for it's impossible for those who were once enlightened okay and he starts talking about this guy look down at your Bible it's impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the world come notice none of this is saying that they got saved enlightened means it clicked with them they understood it they comprehended the light shined on them they taste did they receive the heavenly gift no they didn't receive the heavenly gift of eternal life they tasted it they tasted it they did not ingest it okay they just tasted it they were made partakers of the Holy Ghost meaning that the Holy Ghost worked in their heart they had the Holy Ghost move upon them as he said he would do on the unsaved in John 16 to reprove them of sin they tasted the good Word of God they tasted the powers of the world to come if they shall fall away it's impossible to renew them again and to repentance seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh and put them to an open shape meaning they were there rejecting Christ they're seeing Christ and rejecting him just like the people who crucified him who said crucify him his blood be on us and on our children for the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh off the pond at verse 7 and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed receive his blessing from God but that which beareth thorns and briars because remember I'm talking to this guy about this guy but that which beareth thorns and briars is rejected and is nigh under cursing but beloved we're persuaded better things of you and things that accompany salvation he's saying look you're saved so don't be like this guy this it's impossible to fix this guy everybody get that he's been once enlightened and he can't be restored to repentance but you can everybody see what I'm saying because look what was it that made this guy a reprobate in the first place is that he was dull of hearing it's that he closed his eyes am I right so now he's saying to a Christian you're saved you're a baby Christian but you're saved don't get dull of hearing this guy's dull of hearing hey I expect more from you right I'm persuaded better things of you things that accompany salvation you're not I'm not saying that you're not saved I'm just saying you're dull of hearing and you're starting to remind me of this guy does everybody see what I'm saying and so he's saying you need to start responding when God speaks to you stop quenching the spirit go ahead and sit down guys listen be tender to God's Word being preached to you and spoken to you don't just be this babe in Christ who's saved and on his way to heaven but he's dull of hearing bored of preaching bored and look some people are probably literally in this room bored right now seriously now I'm sure the majority of people right now are tuned in and listening and learning but I guarantee you that there's that punk teenager in here or that child or that adult or whatever who's just like yeah and they just can't wait they just can't wait to get on the video game and get on their movies and get on their TV shows and get on their music and get on another roller coaster and lick another ice cream cone let me tell you something there's more to life than the pleasures of this world and let me tell you something if you're dull of hearing you better slap yourself and you better perk up and you better listen to what God's saying because you don't want look I thank God if you're saved nothing can change that but you don't want to mess up your life and you don't want to get to a point like Paul said I don't want to be a castaway you know you don't want to get to a point where basically yeah you're saved but God's just like well you know what whatever I'll use somebody else and you know what it's possible even as a saved person to miss out on a lot of rewards mess up your life and not walk with God as you should so there's a warning to the saved also now if you're not saved and you are hearing God's Word and it has power when you hear it man you better respond to that because because you better get saved while you can if you're already saved then you want to remain tender to God's Word and how do you do that first of all pray to the Lord see here here's the good news when you're saved it's never too late to come back now for the unsaved it can get too late right like ah it's he's done it's too late but for the saved it's never too late to get right with God there really is hope as long as you're breathing air if you're saved you say oh you understand the sins I committed pastor I was drunk I fornicated I committed those folks if you're saved there's always hope you can always come back you can always come back you can always get right with God you can always return unto the Lord and you know what if you get on your knees and say God I went to church today and I felt nothing I was dull of hearing Lord Lord restore unto me the joy of thy salvation he'll do it he'll if you seek him you will find him because you're his son you're his daughter look there are some people in life that I'm just done with I'll bet you could name some people in your life that you're just done with that person if that person came to you and wanted to be your friend you're just like I don't know I'm done with you but if your son or daughter ever came to you and said you know what I'm sorry for the things that I've done you know let's say you got estranged from your family if your son or daughter came to you and said I'm sorry I'm gonna do it right now you wouldn't turn them away they're your son they're your daughter right God's never gonna turn you away when you come to him and say God restore unto me the joy of thy salvation Lord help me to enjoy your word help me to enjoy reading my Bible help me to enjoy church help me to enjoy singing the hymns help me to enjoy the preaching he'll respond to that because you're his child so there's a message this morning for the saved and the unsaved isn't there the message for the unsaved you bet boy you better respond to the light while you have it it's what Jesus said he was talking to unsaved people and he said hey yet a little while you've got the light with you believe in the light that you may be the children of light otherwise what darkness come upon you I'll hide myself from you but to the saved it's hey don't get dull of hearing just because you're saved doesn't make you immune from quenching the spirit or getting dull of hearing or getting back sledding or getting cold to the things of God and I think that all of us in our life have gone through phases where we were tender to the things of God excited about things of God our heart burned within us as we read our Bible I bet that every single person if they'd be honest and raise their hand and say that there is a time in their Christian life if they've been saved for any length of time where they got cold toward the things of God and where we're reading the Bible was just meh going to church with meh why because they got dull of hearing and that's what God's warning us not to let the cares of this world choke the word and not to quench the spirit and get to that point here a couple of verses I'll give you in closing back to the unsaved act 751 here's what Stephen said you stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears you do always resist the Holy Ghost as your fathers did so do ye so you see how unsafe people can be spoken to by the Holy Ghost and resist so much for irresistible grace you know and look I've been accused of being a Calvinist lately I've never preached anything Calvinist I don't have a Calvinist bone in my body okay I don't believe in unconditional election there's this great big fat condition on being elected it's believing on Christ okay and here's the thing one of the reasons why I'm preaching the sermon this morning is because some of the verses that I'm showing you are verses that Calvinists would use to teach their wrong doctrine I'm showing you actually the right interpretation of these verses so that if a Calvinist hits you with these verses out of context you're not gonna oh man what's that what's going on with that folks you're gonna get it and see once you understand the reprobate doctrine all the all the the air just comes out of the Calvinist balloon because here's the thing if you don't understand the reprobate doctrine and you get hit with all these Calvinist verses a lot of them you're kind of like oh they can't believe they're you know why can't they believe why you don't get it right but once you understand the reprobate doctrine all clinks also when you're wrong on Israel a lot of the Calvinists have verses that they can use against you once you understand Israel and you have a proper understanding of Romans 9 through 11 all of a sudden the cut those Calvinist verses are do you totally see how they're twisting it and take it out of context okay here's another good example act 1614 a certain woman named Lydia a seller of purple of the city of Thyatira which worshipped God heard us and listen this whose heart the Lord opened that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul this woman Lydia the Lord opened her heart but here's what you have to understand that's the only way that anybody can get saved is for the Lord to open their heart they have to be taught of God they have to be drawn of the Father they have to be walking in the light that he shows them and here's the thing he will offer that to everyone the true light lights every man that comes into the world he even said to unsaved people walk in light while you have it there's gonna come a time when it's taken away and then you're doomed it's not that God is only choosing to reveal himself to certain people and he doesn't care about the other people he cares about everyone God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting I have two groups of people in that verse who are the two groups number one the world number two whosoever believeth these are not the same group are they he loved the world so much that he gave the only begotten Son that this group over here whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life so did God love the people even that didn't believe in him yeah did he still die for them yeah he died for them he loved them but only the whosoever believeth gets eternal life so all that to say this number one if you're not saved now is the day of salvation if God's speaking to your heart today get saved today now if you're ice-cold today and you're not saved and everything I'm saying to you isn't clicking with you then you know what you better get on your knees and beg God to show you some more light and and you know where I got the idea from this sermon well I like two or three things happen the same week I felt like God was pointing me to this sermon because of just multiple experiences I had this week but one of them was we knocked on this guy's door gave him the entire gospel gave him all the scripture he hears all the plan of salvation and he's just like meh and he said yeah that the message just doesn't click with me that just doesn't click with me but he said his dad was an evangelical Christian even though he is a non-believer and you know what I was thinking to myself you know what I'll bet you this guy's dad has given him the gospel he's probably heard the gospel a bunch of times and he didn't respond didn't respond didn't respond and that's why he can just be ice-cold as he's presented the gospel folks if you're not saved and God is speaking to you right now you need to get saved today grab grab me grab one of us grab brother say go grab any of us we'll show you how to be saved today but number two if you are saved and this is the majority of course the vast majority remain tender to the Holy Spirit don't get dull of hearing but number three the third thing I want you to get out of the sermon this morning is to realize that when you're soul-winning some people aren't going to get saved today some people aren't going to get saved today because God isn't working in their heart okay God has not revealed himself to them now let me give a disclaimer at this point we're not looking for emotion when we're out soul-winning and preaching the gospel we're not looking for emotion oh they're not emotional today's not their day that's a wrong doctrine try that on the Native Americans try that on the Indian Reservation because you know what some of them are really stoic and they don't show any emotion at all doesn't mean they're not getting it we're not looking for emotion we are looking for comprehension and faith that's what we're looking for what does the Bible say understanding the gospel and believing the gospel that's what we're looking for so and this is where the old IFB is kind of abused this doctrine of like well they got to be under conviction there's no conviction there's no salvation now every lie is based on a little bit of truth the truth is yeah if God's not drawing them they can't be saved that's what I've just been preaching but notice I didn't say no conviction no service convictions a guilty feeling look up the word conviction in the dictionary it's a guilty feeling that's why the Bible the only time the Bible ever uses the word convicted in the King James Bible is when it talks about how when Jesus said he that is without sin among you let him first cast the stone and then it says they were all convicted by their own consciences and dropped the stone and walked away they were convicted by God no they're convicted by their own consciences they had a guilty feeling because they realized the bad things that they had done am i right he that's without sin among you let him cast a stone guilty feeling drop the stone walk away that's that's conviction the old IFB will say there's got to be conviction brother there doesn't have to be conviction there has to be God's spirit drawing them there has to be God revealing himself to them the light of God shining in the Holy Ghost moving upon them yes but the reason I don't like to call that conviction is because that's not always going to be a guilty feeling first of all there could be other emotions associated with salvation you know some people that I gave the gospel to they had a guilty feeling and they're crying and they're not they're saying that they're not worthy and they get saved and that's great but is everybody like that no some people just get happy when they heard the gospel yeah I mean last time I checked the gospel is called the good news so does it only just make people feel bad and guilty and sad no because a lot of you tell people that they're a sinner 99% of the time they're basically like tell me something I don't know everybody knows they're a sinner pretty much it's rare to run into somebody who doesn't get that a lot of people they already have felt unworthy for a long time and when they get the gospel joy floods their soul of wow I can be saved Jesus loves me salvation is accessible to me how happy day or there could be some people that are just not an emotional person some people especially sometimes on certain Native American reservations and stuff you'll run into these people that are just they're just not emotional people they're just not bouncing off the walls when you talk to them some of them are just very stoic all right but if they believe them in Jesus you know they're saved so what what we're looking for when we're out solving is comprehension of the gospel and faith this is what the Holy Spirit's gonna do for you he's gonna help you understand you can't understand the gospel without the Holy Spirit revealing these things and the faith comes by hearing the Word of God right because the people who don't have the light from the Father the Bible said they could not believe right so here's the thing let's say I'm out soul winning and I'm giving somebody the gospel and I go through the whole plan of salvation with them and then it comes down to the end and I'm asking them the questions to see if they understood it so you know what do we have to do to be saved and then they're just like live a good life be a good person go to church it's like excuse me were you just not here for the last 10 minutes who's had that happen before yeah it's like you just spent 10 minutes 15 minutes expect and then you get the end they're just like live a good life be a good person it's like hello is anybody home look it's not that the person you're talking to is necessarily an idiot although they might be an idiot but they're not necessarily an idiot and they're not necessarily mentally handicapped or mentally disabled okay a lot of times it's just that you know they're blinded they're just not saying or God's God's Spirit has not opened their eyes yet today is not their day they you know today's not the day now I've been sowing with people where people will just keep they won't let it go it's like they'll go for 10 minutes person gets the wrong answer and then they explain it to him again they still don't get it explain to him again still don't get it explain it to him again so again folks you need to understand you can't squeeze blood out of a turnip okay and here's the danger with that kind of soul winning where you just keep going and keep going and keep going is that eventually they're just gonna tell you the answer that you want to hear but it's not gonna be from the heart you know I mean because I mean eventually if you just keep badgering with pretty soon they're just gonna figure out what the answer is on a cerebral basis on a mental basis of just okay this guy keeps getting mad and telling me I'm wrong when I give him this answer so I'm gonna give him the answer he wants that's why this is look when I go so any if I can explain the whole gospel to somebody and they and they're just like live a good life you know at that point I I might give them one more chance but then usually I just try to leave on a positive note consider it a seed planted and I you know just some friendly to them and I try to direct them to listen to more preaching or watch this documentary listen to this sermon you know I give them some homework of what to do give them something and then I'm just hey God bless you have a great day because it and again I'm not saying the person is a reprobate because it might just be that I'm the seed sower today and someone else has to water someone else has to water or it could be that yeah this person is doomed it's too late for them we don't know so we never want to assume people are reprobate we should only call someone reprobate when it's confirmed for sure and and that's a whole nother sermon about confirming that so one we want to always give people the benefit of that if we're 99% sure someone's a reprobate let's consider them a non reprobate for the 1% chance that they're not am I right so basically we want it to be confirmed but the point is you you know you don't want to get frustrated with people out soul-winning you know brother Kevin come up you know it's like it's like I'm out soul-winning I'm giving him the gospel and he doesn't get it it's just like what's wrong with you why you know get it you know why you know I believe the gospel folks getting frustrated getting animated just badgering explaining it to them a bunch of times have a seat is not you can't force someone to get saved and and you know what if God hasn't opened his eyes to these things it's not gonna happen it's a spiritual process getting people saved so may understand what I'm saying and sometimes it takes time and and they people need to hear it a few times now a lot of the people that we walk up to man they're ready to get saved right we give them the gospel you can see that it's clicking with them they get it they understand it they believe it saved so yeah we go out and get a lot of people saved on the spot but you know what I guarantee you that person's probably already had some seeds planted in their past and they've had some seeds wired with us we're entering into other men's labors and we're just finishing so sometimes we so sometimes we water sometimes we reap and sometimes we run into the guy where he's already been sown he's already been watered and he's a Hebrew six guy and he's a Romans one guy and either way we just you got to walk away at some point so you can see how the old IFP they had a little truth in this but by marrying it to quote-unquote conviction now all of a sudden it has this repent of your sins type of a flavor of well we're looking for people who really feel bad about their sins so that they're ready to stop doing them and then it becomes like a workspace salvation of turning from your sins turning over new folks that's not what this is it's about faith and comprehension you've got to understand the gospel and believe the gospel you can't understand it and believe it without the Holy Ghost has to be the fight what's title of the sermon except the father draw him the father must draw him let's borrow a word of prayer father we thank you so much for the fact that that you have illuminated us Lord and that you have shined the light on us and and so many times in our life you've revealed things to us that led us to where we are today led us to being saved led us to being in church and understanding so many wonderful truths Lord help us never to get dole of hearing help us never to get so caught up in the cares of this world where the the still small voice of the Holy Spirit is drowned out and quenched in our lives Lord help us always to be tuned in and listening and Lord help us as we're out soul winning help us to be faithful out soul winning to preach the gospel and and to to preach the Word of God and and Lord help us to compel people to be saved and and and to persuade them to be saved but Lord help us not to drag someone into praying a prayer who doesn't truly understand or who doesn't truly believe Lord help us to realize that some people aren't going to get saved today and help us to just plant that seed water that seed and just walk away so that they could be saved on another day and in Jesus name we pray amen