Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord Jesus,
If we had the privilege to study Acts 9 together, we would be reminded of Paul’s personal testimony of conversion from his
perspective. But in Galatians 1:15-16a, the Holy Spirit gives a picture of Paul’s testimony of conversion from God’s eternal perspective!
He declares, “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and CALLED ME THROUGH
HIS GRACE, to reveal His Son in me…” Paul tells us that it was a mighty “CALL OF GRACE” that had awakened his wicked heart;
illuminated his blinded mind; and that revealed the Lord Jesus to him and in him! It was the awesome power of God’s “call of
grace” that transformed this blaspheming persecutor into a powerful proclaimer of Jesus Christ; and caused him to be a compassionate
and courageous missionary. It has well been said that “If a person rejects Jesus and is condemned, it is entirely their
fault. But if a person embraces Jesus and is gloriously saved, it is ALL OF GRACE”!
Brothers and sisters, the scriptures instruct us that every physical miracle which was performed by Jesus was given to illustrate
spiritual truth. For instance, we remember that mighty miracle of resurrection which was worked by the King of Grace in the
town of Bethany. The Word of God tells us that Lazarus had died 4 days previous to Jesus’ arrival. He was already buried; and as
you well remember, Martha said to the Lord, “By this time there is a stench!” Yet, the One who said “I am the Resurrection
and the Life” stood outside of the tomb of this one particular man and cried, “Lazarus, come Forth!” Friends, there was a supernatural
power within that call, which contained the energy and the ability to raise a dead man to life! The King of Grace issued
a “call of grace” resulting in the miracle of a physical resurrection. But we cannot miss the spiritual truth from this miracle. Just
like Lazarus came forth from his tomb of physical death, every sinner, who is truly converted, comes forth from the tomb of
spiritual death. There must be this “call of grace” to transfer them out of the Kingdom of Sin and Death and into the Kingdom
of Grace and Life.
It has been my privilege and joy to proclaim the ‘gospel call’ all over this world, in the last 28 years! I have been commanded,
by my Master, to “freely preach the Lord Jesus” to all sinners everywhere; and to “freely offer forgiveness” in His
Name. But the stark reality is, that if sinners are left to themselves, they will always stick their fingers in their
ears. They will (100 % of the time) close their ears to the ‘gospel call’. They will either make light of the gospel, in
neglectful and apathetic rejection; or they will respond in antagonistic refusal & rebellious resistance! But thank
GOD, that there is another call which is infinitely more powerful than the call of this pitiful preacher. This is a call that comes to
sinners with a miraculous and marvelous power which brings forth glorious consequences. This call is accompanied by the “lifegiving”
power of God’s Grace, which grants the sinner the desire and the ability, to do what they would have never done, if
they had been left to themselves! (Which is to repent and believe the gospel)! This ‘call of grace’ contains the miraculous
power to accomplish the purpose for which the ‘gospel call’ was given. It is that same awesome ‘call of grace’ which was issued
by God to Abraham, calling him out of paganism in the Ur of the Chaldees. It is that supernatural call of grace which was heard
by Simon Peter, when Jesus simply said, “Follow Me”. There was a miraculous power within that call, which gave Simon Peter
the desire and the ability to “leave his fishing nets behind and follow Jesus”. It is that mighty call of grace that 3,000 Jews heard
on the day of Pentecost, that pierced them to the inner core of their being, so that they cried out to Peter and the others, “Men
and brethren, what shall we do?” It is that same supernatural ‘call of grace’ that Saul of Tarsus heard from the Lord Jesus saying,
“Saul, Saul”.
There was such an amazing and liberating force within that call, that this persecutor of the church responded,
“Lord, what do You want me to do?” Oh dear friend, this is a call that comes to more than just the ears of sinners
from preachers and witnesses; but it comes mightily to the heart of a sinner, from the God of Grace! This awesome
“call” comes to the sinner, not in word only; but in a demonstration of the very power that raised Jesus
from the dead! Each one of us, who are partakers of this “heavenly calling”, ought to glory in the “grace of God”
that has called us out of death and into life! We are part of a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
His own special people; that we may proclaim the praises of Him Who CALLED us out of darkness and into
His marvelous light!
I want to say to you, that there is nothing more precious in this world, than to be present when the Lord gives a
person this “holy calling”. I am thinking of a precious man that I met recently, who goes by the nickname, “BUB”.
This man was in attendance throughout the week, in a crusade that I recently preached in Jonesville, La. Bub is a
“mountain” of a man! He looks like he could be an NFL defensive lineman. He had quite a reputation for fighting
and brawling with many men in this area. He was known as one mean dude. But, he had begun attending church
a few weeks prior to the crusade; and was in attendance on this particular Sunday morning that the crusade began.
Amazingly, Bub returned to church for the Sunday evening service. As a matter of fact, he even attended
the noon meetings, which were extremely well attended by “mostly men”! As the week unfolded, Bub, began
telling me his life story. He told me that he knew that he was lost. God gave me, as well as a couple of other
men, a number of opportunities to plant the gospel truths into his heart throughout that week. Bub was very
candid and transparent about his life of sin. As the week progressed, I found myself continually calling out to the
Lord on behalf of Bub’s soul. I also became aware, that many people in this congregation had also been praying
for him. That week, we had the precious delight of seeing a number of men testify of the converting call of grace
in their lives. We celebrated every man which testified of saving faith in the Lord. And yet, when I preached the
last message on Wednesday evening, there were two particular men that were greatly burdening my heart. One
of them was Bub. As pastor Craig James was giving his closing remarks at the conclusion of that last message, he
said to the congregation, “God may call you at midnight; God may call you late in the night or early in the morning;
but friend, when God calls, you must answer”. Suddenly, we heard a scream from the back of the church. It
was ‘BUB’ crying out, “HE IS CALLING ME NOW!” This “mountain of a man” came to Pastor Craig openly weeping;
and publicly and boldly professing to the entire congregation, that the “Lord Jesus Christ had given him a
mighty call of grace”! Oh friends, the entire church was either weeping or shouting joyously! Believe me friends,
there is no greater blessing on this earth, than to be present when it pleases the Lord Jesus to give men and
women the miraculous “call of grace”! No wonder, the Lord likens it to the birth of a child; it is ‘The New Birth’
taking place!
WE ARE SO THANKFUL FOR GOD’S EXPRESSION OF HIS GRACE THROUGH YOU!
God has used many of you to be a channel of blessing to our ministry; so that we might in turn, be a channel of His
blessing in many different parts of our world. I will be headed to Nicaragua shortly; and then to Kenya. We will invest
many of these “temporal dollars”, so that we might invest ‘true riches’ in the eternal souls of men and women.
None of these things would be possible, except that God has raised up a small army of precious brothers and sisters
that pray for us and give generously, so that His Amazing Grace might abound in the lives of more and more people,
in more and more nations on this globe. The Bible tells us that God loves a cheerful giver. The Word of God promises
us that He that sows bountifully shall reap bountifully with “true riches”. In these difficult economic times, may
all of us make a new commitment to make friends for ourselves with unrighteous mammon, that when we leave
this earth, those friends, may receive us into an everlasting home! As I travel to poverty stricken places like Cuba, I
am reminded, that America has been blessed with God’s common grace, far above what we can imagine! May we
all continue to be faithful in our use of this common grace of physical blessings, so that God may send forth “His
mighty call of grace” into the hearts of more and more sinners in spiritual blessings. I pray that as you read of the
tremendous ways the Lord is using your prayers and gifts in the lives of so many, it will cause you to either weep or
shout with joy, first, over your own call of grace which has changed your life, but also, over the souls of others that
have been changed by His marvelous grace. Together, we can look forward to that great day, when we will praise
Him for the glory of His grace FOREVER!
2 Cor. 4:5
Ed Lacy