EFFECTUAL CALL ILLUSTRATED

EFFECTUAL CALL ILLUSTRATED The writers of the Gospels include three resurrection accounts in the narrative of Jesus’ personal ministry. These three episodes demonstrate the life-giving power of the Lord Jesus Christ and illustrate the efficacy of His call to spiritual life. In every case (i.e. the son of the widow of Nain, Jairus’ daughter, and Lazarus of Bethany), Jesus spoke directly to the dead without the use of media. His call was personal ("Young man, I say unto thee arise;" "Damsel, arise;" "Lazarus, come forth."). His call was effectual ("He that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes."). His call was direct and immediate. He did not ask the disciples to speak for Him. He did not send a message through some messenger. There was no human agency invoked and there was no voluntary cooperation from the deceased. Jesus spoke, by sovereign fiat, and it was done. Jesus, on the contrary, did not always heal the deaf, or give sight to the blind in the same way. To a blind man on one occasion, Jesus made clay, anointed his eyes, and told him to go wash in the pool of Siloam. On another occasion, He healed the blind man in stages. ({Mr 8:22} & following) Each episode of resurrection, however, occurred in precisely the same way. Jesus spoke. He spoke directly. He spoke personally. He spoke effectually. He spoke sovereignly. In the same way, Christ raises dead sinners to spiritual life. He speaks the life-giving voice, calling His own by name. The dead hear, and the dead live.

Furthermore, Jesus always went to the dead. The dead did not come to Him personally, neither were they brought to Him by some concerned friend or relative. He always went to the dead. The sick, the blind, and the palsied, on the contrary, were brought to Him. In the work of raising dead sinners to life in Christ, the pattern is the same. The sinner does not come to Christ to get salvation. He is not brought to Christ by the prayers of some concerned friend or the efforts of some Christian worker. Christ goes to the sinner and meets him at the point of his need. He walks into the sepulchre of the depraved heart and breathes life into man’s deadness and the sinner comes forth, Lazarus-like, into new life. Once the dead is raised, the gospel serves to release that newborn soul from bondage. The preacher cannot raise Lazarus, but he can, once Christ has given him life, "loose him and let him go." This distinction between the work of the Lord and the work of the gospel minister is crucial. Only when one understands that he did not contribute toward his own salvation can he properly honor God. God does everything necessary for salvation; therefore, He receives all the glory. From first to last, salvation is of the Lord.