"Speak softly and carry a big stick." -- words of a former President of the United States
". . .but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind, an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake, a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice." -- an experience of one of God's prophets in 1 Kings 19
If the outward call of the gospel is all we need for people to come to faith in Christ, then we need to think of the most clever, ingenuous, innovative, convincing, dramatic, energetic and successful ways to get the Word out and be done with it.
But since there is something else and more besides the outward call of the gospel, then we should not rely upon the most clever, ingenuous, innovative, convincing, dramatic, energetic and successful ways to get the Word out and be done with it.
Why do we pray for lost folks as well as witness to lost folks? Is it not because--even though we may not have thought of it along these lines before--that we know there are two calls and not just one? We "share the gospel", because that is what God has told us to do. We pray, because that is what God has told us to do.
By praying are we not saying something like this--"Lord, convict my friend _________ of his sin, open his eyes to see the truth, open his heart to receive You into his life, humble him and help him to see his need of You, etc."? Notice how we frame all our prayers for the lost to be saved. How can we pray otherwise? With all our prayers for those lost friends, acquaintances, or family members, we are asking for God to regenerate their hearts, for God to call them irresistibly to Himself. Why else do we pray, if it is not because we know that all our outward calls will amount to nothing unless God provides the inner call of His Spirit?
So I guess those who want to fight against this precious biblical truth of irresistible grace need to quit praying at all for the lost to be saved, in order for their actions to match their words.
We read in Acts 16:14 about a woman named Lydia, "whose heart the Lord opened (that is the inner, irresistible call of God), that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul (that is the outward call of the gospel)." We never once read in the Bible of anyone "opening up their own hearts to receive Christ", nor do we read of any preacher of the gospel asking people "to open up their hearts." I guess we would expect to find those things in Scripture if there were only the outward call of the gospel and if people were really not dead in their sin.
Since we do not know whom our Lord is calling, we extend the call of the gospel to everyone. (Mark 16:15) It is not for us to pry into God's business; we are simply to do the Father's business.
Jesus is no wild, raving publcity seeker who must shout at the top of His lungs to get any attention. "He shall not strive, nor cry out, neither shall any man hear His voice in the streets. A bruised reed He shall not break, and smoking flax He shall not quench, till He sends forth judgment unto victory." (Matthew 12:19-20) Since He is gentle and lowly in heart (Matthew 11:29), this irresistible grace or effectual, inner call is not the call of the wild; it is the call of the mild.
God's call to those whom He has fore loved, predestined, justified and glorified (Romans 8:28-30) is not some detectable, dramatic, boisterous call that thunders from the heavens for all to hear. The call is not like an earthquake, a wind storm, or a fire. It is the precious, indescribable, unfathomable, discreet still small voice of a loving God in hot pursuit of a hell bound sinner.
How does God draw His own to Himself (John 6:44)? The Jews who heard Jesus' words in John 6 should have known the answer to that question. How did Yahweh God draw the Israelites to Himself in the Old Testament? "I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love." (Hosea 11:4) God's call to any of us is irresistible because His love sweeps us off our feet. This is the call of the mild.
Concerning Teddy Roosevelt's advice, we don't have it said that Jesus carried a big stick around when He walked the earth. Maybe His big stick was the Resurrection. If He can raise Himself from the dead by His own power, then He does not need to raise His voice. He has spoken softly to millions upon millions of lost sinners, and that call of the mild works every time.
Called by God's grace,
Chris
