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Opening Prayer

Setting the Stage

Point 1

Point 2

Living for God’s Glory: An Introduction to Calvinism Made Willing

No one in history has ever done anything more willingly and more lovingly than those who receive Jesus as Lord and Savior. Think of Lydia (Acts 16:14–15) and the Philippian jailor (Acts 16:30–34); they were not saved against their wills.

On the other hand, God must work within the sinner to make him willing to come to Christ. John 6:44 says that unless the Father “draws” him, a sinner will not believe the gospel. The original word for draw implies a certain compelling force.

Why

v.40 The Gospel Call Is A Real Offer

The Hardness of the Human Heart Does Not Negate the Responsibility of All Men/Women to Repent & Believe Upon Jesus

I want to pause and readily confess that it took me some time to finally surrender to what is being taught.

I came to an acknowledgement of the sovereignty of God in salvation over two decades ago.

But, it was not an immediate acceptance by me.

My mind and heart just kept kicking against them.

And, I just kept saying to myself…

But what about this and that?

Yeah, that seems to be what the Bible is teaching but what about this?

Well, that can’t be right because that doesn’t seem fair to my way of thinking…or the way my flesh has taught me to think.

But, finally, after I just kept going back to the Word of God repeatedly…

God’s Word just kept confronting me with this…

Am I the God who I’ve revealed myself to be?

—OR—

Am I the God you imagine me to be?

Who you think I should be…does not change me into being that?

And, it squared me up to realizing that God is who He is and who He has revealed Himself to be…

And, our preferences do not and cannot change Him.

And, it is our preferences/way of thinking that need changing, not Him.

Yet, at the same time…

As we walk through these teachings we should be prayerful for all of us.

And, patient with one another.

Not everyone is at the same place.

And, it is God’s timing that is perfect, not ours.

So, let love cover all.

Now, with that being said I want to read…

Deuteronomy 29:29 (ESV)

29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

There are certain things that God has sovereignly chose to not reveal to us.

Some things God may withhold for a season and reveal later.

Some things God has chosen to not reveal at all in this life.

We don’t know what and we do not know why.

But, we are invoked to trust Him with what we cannot understand and do not know…

As, He has proven Himself worthy.

And, the reason I bring this up is because we like to have things all figured out.

We like things to be in able to fit in the system of our mind.

We like to feel that we have God figured out.

The danger with that is then we try to put God in a box.

And, even if something is scriptural, if it doesn’t fit in the box we’ve created for God…

We dismiss it. Rather than redesign the box.

Let’s think about this…

Closing Prayer