Clean Transcript

Lost Loved Ones

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• All right. I want you to open your Bibles, if you would please, to Matthew chapter 9. Matthew chapter 9. And we're going to read verses 12 and 13. I'm not necessarily going to be preaching from these verses today, but I'm just simply going to use them to point out a fact of Scripture and then go from there. Notice in Matthew chapter 9, verses 12 and 13, our Lord says, "But when Jesus heard that, He said unto them," that is to the Pharisees, "They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick."

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• "But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, not sacrifice. For I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." So when our Lord says in verse 12, "They that be whole need not a physician." In other words, those who are self-righteous do not think they need Jesus Christ and His so great salvation, only those that are sick, those that realize their sickness. And then He says in the latter part of verse 13, "For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

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• So, as I said, it's not my intent to deal with this text today. I simply want to point out the fact that our Lord is indicating that there are a multitude of individuals that are lost. That is, they are sinners and they are unsaved. And our Lord said, He only came to seek and to save that which was lost. And I suppose that every family has lost loved ones. If they are not in the immediate family, they are in the extended family. Unhappily, many families have lost loved ones. Sometimes it's a spouse, sometimes it's children. When you stop and think about the results of dying unconverted, especially for a spouse, I just find it almost unthinkable and unbearable. Think of the fact that here I have lived with and loved someone for 50 or 60 years and then they die and then there is an eternal separation. Luke chapter 16 talks about the fact that there is a great gulf between the saved and the lost and the lost cannot go to the saved and the saved cannot go to the lost.

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• In other words, the separation will be eternal. I know that there are many unconverted spouses. And yet, on the other hand, there are many unconverted children and grandchildren as well. And usually, usually, when you talk about unsaved people in the house, oftentimes most parents are more concerned about their children or their grandchildren, even though they may have some lost adults in the house. I know the answer to that other than the fact that, you know, most people assume that somebody our age or at least an adult, they have lived most of their lives and yet the children have not lived any of their lives.

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• We certainly want to see them converted by the grace of God. We want to pray for them. We want to witness to them. Our children we want to teach them. And certainly we want to discipline them based upon the Word of God. In fact, there are many promises given in the Word of God concerning our children. For instance, in the book of Proverbs 19 and verse 18, the Bible says, "Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying." And I can attest to the fact that my father believed that verse literally because my crying never dissuaded him from the job at hand.

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• He took care of it and took care of it properly. But the Bible says also in Proverbs 22 and verse 6, "Train up a child in the way that he should go and when he's old he will not depart from it." And then of course in Proverbs chapter 23 in verses 13 and 14, the Word of God simply says this, "Withhold not correction from the child for if thou beatest him with the rod he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod and thou shalt deliver his soul from hell."

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• Now when we think about promises like this, we have to understand that these are general promises and they are subject to the specific will and purpose of God. I know that God's Word is absolutely true. However, what we must understand is the use of means is absolutely worthless apart from God's blessing upon the use of those means. What I mean by general promise is this, there is another scripture that says, "He that getteth a wife getteth a good thing and obtaineth favor of the Lord." I know some men that got a wife that didn't get a good thing. And I know some women that got a husband that didn't get a good thing as well. But these are general promises. So you have to understand, oftentimes what we do is this: we think the means alone are sufficient when in reality they are not. So when we say, "All right, here's what we're going to do. We're going to use the means and we're just going to expect God to bless those means whether He

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• does or not, we're just going to use the means." When you try to use the means alone and trust in using the means alone, that's idolatry. On the other hand, if you fail to use the means that God has ordained, and just think that God is going to save your children, that's presuming upon the grace and the mercy of God. So, we have to understand that God has certainly ordained the means, but the fact of the matter is, God must bless those means to make them effectual.

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• Let me give you an illustration. Well, the Bible says in Proverbs 23 and verse 14, "Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and thou shalt deliver his soul from hell."

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• Now if you just take that as using the means, one of the greatest avenues of evangelism would be to gather up a few rods and go down the street and just beat the devil out of every kid that you could find. But obviously that's not it. I mean, God's blessing has to be upon that discipline and that certainly is true in your own children as well.

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• Now, you have to understand this, not every child that has ever been chastened or taught or trained is going to be saved. Let me give you an illustration or two. I personally know of children that were raised in a Christian home, went to a Christian school, were raised in church, and were disciplined biblically, and they are lost today and have no desire to be saved. In fact, some of them live a perverted and wicked and rebellious life. On the other hand, I also know of children that were raised in a lost household, attended a government school, never went to church a day in their life as a child, and yet they have been saved and converted and are living a happy, godly, productive Christian life. So the question is, what makes

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• the difference? And the answer is given to us by 1 Corinthians 4 and verse 7, for Paul asked those Christians, "For who maketh thee to differ from another? And what hast thou that thou didst not receive?" Who makes you to differ? Why is it that you're saved and many in your family are not saved? Who made you to differ and what have you received? And then he goes on to say, "If you have received it, why are you boasting as if you did not receive it?"

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• In other words, everything you are and everything you have is yours only by the grace of God. So it has to be God then that puts His blessing upon those means. We cannot use the means and expect them to work apart from the blessings of God.

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• Now, let me say something very clearly. It is not my intent today to upset, disturb, or disquiet any parent or spouse. I can assure you that as a husband and a father, I pray for my wife and I pray for my children and I want to see each one of them saved by the grace of God. And I am sure that that is the desire of every godly husband and every godly parent.

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• And there is nothing wrong with desiring that your family be converted. However, I also know this, that salvation is of the Lord. It is based upon His will and based upon His pleasure. I also know from reading the Bible that there is an elect and there is a non-elect. I also know from reading the Bible that not everyone is going to be saved. In fact, the truth of the matter is this.

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• Multitudes have already died lost. And each one of them was someone's child. And probably someone's husband and someone's wife as well. Our Lord said in Matthew 25 and verse 41, "Then shall I say unto these on the left hand, Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels."

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• Now, let's talk about this. Whenever we are talking about our children, there are two questions that should automatically arise in our minds which are ultimately going to lead to a third question. So my first question is this: Why should God save my children?

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• Now stop and think about that. Why should God save my children? You have to admit and confess that not anyone deserves salvation. Not even my children. Not even myself. No one deserves salvation. And yes, do I think my children are special? Yep. But my thinking that they are special does not mean that they are special. You say, well, you've got to understand that multitudes need saving, and your children need saving as well. Well, you can't argue and say, well, I expect God to save my children just because they need saving. A lot of other people need saving as well, and they're not saved. Look at the multitudes that have died that needed to be saved, and yet they were not saved. So let me show you. Look in your Bibles to John chapter 5. We're talking about why should God save my children. Look in John chapter 5. Most of you know this story and I want to just point out again the ramifications of this. And in John chapter 5 we read about the pool of

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• Bethesda and something that our Lord did. So look in John 5 verses 1 through 3. The Bible says, "After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk," note, "in these lay a great multitude of impotent folk of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water."

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• Now skip down to verse 5, "And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. And Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case. And he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man when the water is troubled to put me in the pool. But while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made whole and took up his bed and walked, and on the same day was the Sabbath."

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• Now, let me ask you, how many people in these porches needed healing? A great multitude. How many did our Lord heal? One. And I want you to notice something. This man never asked for healing. He didn't even know who Jesus Christ was. Christ just walked up to him basically and said, "Rise, take up thy bed and walk." Now, here's my question. Why did our Lord just heal one man? He could have healed all of them just as easily as He healed the one, but He did not. He only healed one. Well, look, if you would please, beginning in verse 21. John 5 verse 21, our Lord says, "For as the Father raiseth up the dead and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom He will." What is the one attribute that singles God out as God?

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• And the answer is He is sovereign. He does as He pleases, only as He pleases, always as He pleases. So He says, "As the Father raiseth up the dead and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom He will." Watch verse 22, "For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son. Why? Here is why, that all men should honor the Son even as or equally as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father which hath sent him." So Jesus Christ goes into this great multitude and He heals one man demonstrating that He is indeed the Sovereign God of heaven and earth. Now listen carefully. Even godly Isaac, godly Isaac had twins. And yet what did God say? "Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated." Did Jacob deserve to be loved by God? No. Did Esau deserve to be hated by God? And the answer is yes. Everybody deserves to be hated by God because we are all sinners. But listen carefully, God is under no obligation to me. And God is under no obligation to anyone.

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• So I can't say, "Lord, I want you to save my children because, Lord, I've served you faithfully for 50 years." No. I can't say, "Lord, save my children because, Lord, I think they need saving." No. God is not obligated to me. I want you to look in your Bibles to Romans chapter 11. Romans chapter 11. And let's begin reading there verse 33. Watch what he says. Romans 11 verse 33, "O the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been

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• His counselor? Or who hath first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?" Now stop and look at this. "For who hath known the mind of the Lord?" What's the answer? No one. "Who hath been His counselor?" No one. "Who hath first given to Him?" The answer is no one. God said, if you can find out anyone that first gave to Me, I will recompense it to him. But everything that we have God gave us. And what Paul is trying to show us is you cannot bring God into obligation. The only reason that God would save my wife or my children or anyone else in my family is because of His own mercy and grace in Jesus Christ. God does not owe me or anyone else anything but justice.

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• And I can assure you I don't want that and neither do you. So, the first question I should ask is this: Why should God save my children? Here's the second question: Why do I desire for God to save my children? Why do I desire for God to save my children? Am I interested in their salvation just for their benefit? Do I want them to be saved so that they can live a good, decent, moral, upright life and not have very many problems? Do I desire to see them saved for my benefit? Do I want them saved because I do not want to be shamed and embarrassed by their rebellion and their wickedness? If I say, well, I desire to see my children saved because I want to see them in heaven, then I've got to start the process all over. Why should God save my children? Why do I desire to see them? Everybody wants to see their children in heaven. And here's the question, the third question all of this leads to.

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• And God's honor and God's glory fit in with my desires. Think about that. Where does God's honor and God's glory and God's will fit in with my desires? So I have to ask myself this question: What if my children are not God's elect? What if my children are never converted? What if they're doomed and they are condemned? Now, wait a minute. I want you to think about something.

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• I'm going to tie this together at the end, but here it is. If the condemnation of my children honors and glorifies God's justice and wrath, and God does not save them, should I be upset with God? The answer is no. If I am a child of God, should I not desire that my heavenly Father be glorified in all things, which would include my children?

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• Now I understand, and you should as well, that usually God places His elect in households. Usually. That's a general rule. Psalm 68 verse 6 says, "God setteth the solitary in families." Usually that's what God does. Not always. There are certainly exceptions. And God has placed the responsibility of nurturing and admonishing the children upon the parents, in general the father in specific. Because the Bible says in Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 4, "And you fathers, provoke not your children to wrath but bring them up in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord." So I have to understand salvation is of the Lord but I do have a responsibility not only toward my children but toward my family as well.

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• Now, someone's going to object and say, and I've heard this for many years, "But it's God's will to save everybody." Really? Now, if it is God's will to save everybody, here's my question. How can anybody die lost? It would be impossible for anyone to die lost. Is God not sovereign? Is God not omnipotent? Is He not all-powerful? Is it not impossible to resist His will? Let me show you. Look in Romans 9. You're right there. Look in Romans 9 and verse 19. Look at what the Apostle argues here. Romans 9 verse 19, "Thou wilt say then unto me,

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• Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?" Indicating no one has ever really and truly resisted the will of God. You have to understand there is an open revealed will in the Bible, but there is also the secretive will of God, which this is what is being spoken of here. No one has ever resisted that. Man is not greater than God. Man is not sovereign, God is sovereign. And if God's will cannot be defeated, thwarted, or overthrown and annulled, obviously God's will is not going to be resisted. And if God's will can be overthrown, thwarted, and annulled, then God is not God. You know what He said in Daniel 4 in verse 35? Listen to this one. He, God,

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• "doeth according to His will in the armies of heaven and in the inhabitants of the earth and none can stay His hand or say unto Him, What doest thou?" So nobody can thwart God. No one can stop God. But people say it's not God's will that any should perish. And then they immediately run to 2 Peter chapter 3. And I want you to turn there. If you'll look in 2 Peter chapter 3 and look if you would please at verse 9. And I want you to be able to handle this passage so I'm going to explain it to you. In 2 Peter 3 in verse 9 the Bible says, "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise.

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• Some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." You say there it is in black and white. God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

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• Now, it's just like when you're selling real estate. The three main concerns are location, location, location. When you're coming to the Scripture, the three main concerns are context, context, context. So if you will go back to 2 Peter 1, let's see the remote context and see who Peter is writing to. Watch this, 2 Peter 1, verse 1.

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• "Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord." Well, to whom is Peter writing? He's writing to believers. He's writing to those who are already saved. Now, if you look in 2 Peter chapter 3 and verses 1 and 2, let's see who's in the immediate context. 2 Peter 3 verse 1, "This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance, that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of our Lord and Saviour." So, in verse 1 he's writing to those who are beloved, which would be believers, pure minds, believers, reminding them to be mindful of the words, that is of the Scripture. He's writing to believers. So, when you look at verses 1 and 2, believers are in the context.

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• Now, the contrast begins in verses 3 and 4. Now he's going to be talking about the unsaved. Watch verse 3, "Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. For this they are willingly ignorant of."

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• Now let me just stop there. So he is talking about individuals who are beloved, individuals who have a pure mind, individuals who know the Word of God. And now here come some scoffers. And they are saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? Nothing has changed. Everything is the same." And he says, "For this they are willingly ignorant." That is, they do not want the truth and they are not willing to listen to the truth.

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• Now, just so happens in verses 5 through 7, he gives an illustration, which I'm not going to get into right now. But if you'll skip down to verse 8, we're going to pick it up in verse 8. He says, "But, beloved." So once again, who is he talking to? He's talking to Christians. "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." Now let's read verse 9. "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing

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• that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." Now, go back to verse 8. What were the scoffers saying? "Where is the promise of His coming? Because all things are continuing just the way they were." Peter said, "I don't want you to be swallowed up with that scoffing and mocking and ridicule. I want you to understand something: one day with the Lord is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day." Let me spell it out like this: man cannot tell time, especially God's time, because God's time is totally different from our time, okay? So he says, don't be like those scoffers.

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• I'm gonna work it out. Watch verse 9. "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise." Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute. Did you just see what I read? "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise." That is singular, not plural. God has given us many promises in the Bible. So why is the word "promise" here singular? Because it is referring to a specific promise. And if you will look back in verse 4 you will find out what promise it is. "And saying, Where is the promise of His coming?" So, when you go back to verse 9, he says, "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise." What promise? The promise of sending back His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Wow. Now, I want you to watch this. He says, you've got to understand, time is different with God than it is with man. So, therefore, the Lord is not slack. He's not hesitant. He's not backward. He's not late. "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness." That is those scoffers back in verse 4. "But is longsuffering to"—what's that next word?

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• "us-ward." Who has he been writing to? Beloved, believers, pure minds. Now watch this. But the Lord, He says, "But the Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." Now if you understand that in the remote context and in the immediate context, He's talking about believers. He's talking about His sheep. He is talking about His elect. There is such a thing as an ellipsis, and that's when you put something in parentheses to clarify everything that is being said. So watch this. Watch. Look in verse 9. "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any"—ellipsis—"of us should perish, but that all should come to repentance."

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• Now let me ask you a question. When is God the Father going to send back Jesus Christ His Son? And the answer is, when the last of His sheep is brought into the fold. When all of God's elect are converted. When every believer believes and is saved by the grace of God. He's not going to send Him back before. All this passage is saying, the scoffers are saying, "Where is the promise of His coming?"

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• Because all things continue as they were. He said, let me tell you something, God is not slack concerning His promise, but is longsuffering to us-ward. He is not willing that any of us should perish. What would happen if Jesus Christ came back today, if there are some of His elect who are unconverted? What would happen? The Bible says in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 when He comes back He's going to come back in flaming fire taking vengeance on those that obey not the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Wow. Wow.

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• Let me show you what I'm talking about. I want you to look in your Bibles to Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53. Go there and we are going to begin at verse 10. I think this might help clear it up just a little more. Look in Isaiah 53, and let's begin reading there with verse 10. Isaiah 53, this is the great passage on the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 10, the Bible says this, "Yet it pleased the Lord," that is God the Father, "to bruise Him.

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• He hath put Him to grief when thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin. Now watch carefully. He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied. By His knowledge shall My righteous servant justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors. And He bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."

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• Now what does the Bible say in verse 10? "He shall see the travail of His soul." What's it say in verse 11? "He shall see the travail of His soul." Notice, if you would please, God is not going to send back His Son until every individual for whom He has died is converted. That's all 2 Peter 3 is saying. That's all it is saying. Now, 2 Peter chapter 3 then refers to believers, it refers to God's sheep, it refers to God's elect, however you want to name them. Let me make a statement and I'm going to show you the scriptures that I really wanted to get to. Okay?

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• Now you listen to me carefully. Godly parents do not always produce godly children and grandchildren. Godly parents do not always produce godly children and grandchildren. One of the greatest kings in the Bible was Hezekiah. One of the godliest kings was Hezekiah. Do you happen to know who his son was? Manasseh, one of the most wicked, vile kings in the southern kingdom. Asa was his grandfather. Asa was another godly man. So godly men do not always produce godly children and grandchildren. And listen to me carefully. It is not necessarily the fault of the parents or the grandparents that the children and the grandchildren are lost.

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• Let me show you what I mean. I want you to turn in your Bibles, first of all, to Genesis chapter 15. Genesis 15. In this passage, God is entering into a covenant with Abram. And I want us to begin reading at verse 13. Genesis 15 verse 13, "And He said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them four hundred years. And also that nation whom they shall serve will I judge, and afterwards they shall come out with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace, and thou shalt be buried in a good old age.

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• But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full." Now notice the Amorites, the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. God is going to kill all of those Amorites, give their land to Abram. Watch this, verse 17, "And it came to pass that when the sun went down and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces," that is the sacrifice. "In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates, the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaims, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, the Jebusites." All this, all this land of all these wicked people God is giving to Abram and his seed. Okay.

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• Now, I want you to turn, if you would please, to Deuteronomy chapter 7. Deuteronomy chapter 7. And look, if you would please, at verse 1. Deuteronomy 7, verse 1, "When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land, whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou."

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• Now wait a minute, here these people are named again. God said, I'm going to cast them out. Abram, your seed is going to get all this land. I'm going to destroy these people. Look in Joshua chapter 3, Joshua chapter 3 and notice if you would please verse 10. Joshua 3 verse 10, "And Joshua said, Hereby you shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Hivites and the Perizzites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Jebusites." God's gonna destroy them. God's gonna drive them out. Look in Joshua 24 and verse 11. Of course God did exactly that. Joshua 24 verse 11, "And he tells Israel, You went over Jordan and came into Jericho and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, and here's what God said, and I delivered them into your hand." God did it. God delivered them just like He said He would.

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• Now, don't turn there, but let me just quote Nehemiah 9 and verse 8, talking about Abram, "And found his heart faithful before thee, and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give it, I say, to his seed, and hast performed thy words, for thou art righteous."

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• Now, I want to ask you a question. You have seen where God says, I'm going to destroy all these nations. I'm going to give their land to Abram and his seed. Here's my question. Who were these people? From whom did they descend? Obviously, these were very, very wicked people. Let me answer that for you. All of these nations descended from a godly man. I want you to turn in your Bibles to 1 Chronicles chapter 1. 1st Chronicles chapter 1 and as you turn there, I'm going to quote a scripture for you. I want you to understand that this man from whom these nations descended was so godly that God listed him in the heroes of faith in Hebrews chapter 11. Let me just quote it. You are in 1 Chronicles chapter 1, but Hebrews 11 verse 7 says this, "By faith, Noah being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house, by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith."

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• Someone tell me how many sons did Noah have? Three. Who were they? Shem, Ham, and Japheth, right? Watch. 1 Chronicles chapter 1 beginning with verse 8. "The sons of Ham, Cush, Mizraim, Put, Canaan. The sons of Cush, Sheba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah, Sheba, and Dedan. And Cush begat Nimrod. He began to be mighty upon the earth. And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim, and Pathrusim, and Casluhim, of whom came the Philistines, and Caphtorim. And Canaan begat Zidon his firstborn, and Heth, the Jebusite also, and the Amorite, and the Girgashite, and the Hivite, and the Archite, and the Sinite, and the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite."

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• All of these whom God destroyed from the son and the grandchildren of godly Noah. Isn't that amazing? Isn't that amazing? Isn't that amazing? Look if you would please in your Bible, Acts chapter 13. I want you to see a passage and I'm going to give you a quote. Acts chapter 13 in verse 48. There's a very powerful and plain verse. I'm going to give you a quote from Arthur W. Pink and in this quote Pink himself quotes Charles Haddon Spurgeon. So I want you to listen carefully. Acts 13 verse 48. Watch it.

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• "And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. Here it is. And as many as were ordained to eternal life believed." Now look at that. "And as many as were ordained to eternal life believed." Here is what Pink said on this verse. "Every artifice of human ingenuity has been employed to blunt the sharp edge of this scripture and to explain away the obvious meaning of these words. But it has been employed in vain, though nothing will ever be able to reconcile this and similar passages to the mind of natural man. 'As many as were ordained to eternal life believed.'" Then Pink says this, "Here we learn four things.

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• that believing is the consequence and not the cause of God's decree. God did not save us because we first believed. We believed because God decreed that we would be saved. Okay?

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• Second, that a limited number only are ordained to eternal life. For if all men without exception were thus ordained by God, then the words 'as many as' are a meaningless qualification. Third, that this ordination of God is not to mere external privileges, but to eternal life, not to service, but to salvation itself. Fourth, that all, 'as many as,' and not one less, who are thus ordained by God to eternal life will most certainly believe.

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• And then he quotes Spurgeon. Spurgeon says this, "Attempts have been made to prove that these words do not teach predestination but these attempts so clearly do violence to the language that I shall not waste my time in answering them. I read 'as many as were ordained to eternal life believed' and I shall not twist the text but shall glorify the grace of God by ascribing to that grace the faith of every man. Is it not God who gives the disposition to believe? If men are disposed to have eternal life, does not He in every case dispose them? Is it wrong for God to give grace? If it be right for Him to give it, is it wrong for Him to purpose to give it? Would you have Him give it by accident? If it is right for Him to purpose to give grace today, it was right for Him to purpose to give it before today, and since He changes not, from eternity." And that's true. That is very true.

  #58 | 46:16 to 47:27 | cleaned

• Now, let me try to tie it together and ask you a question. Think about this. Do I desire that my loved ones should be saved? And what's the answer? Of course I do. Shall I use the means that God has ordained to reach them? Of course I shall. It is my duty, it is my obligation, it is my responsibility. But as much as it is my duty and my obligation and my responsibility, I still cannot save them.

  #59 | 47:28 to 48:00 | cleaned

• Salvation is of the Lord. He must save them. What should I do? Here's what I should do. I should fulfill my obligation and my duties and my responsibility to the best of my ability, trusting in God, exercising faith in Him, and leaving the consequences in His hands. For He alone can save. He alone can bless the means. He alone can make the means effectual. Now, let me make some applications.

  #60 | 48:01 to 48:38 | cleaned

• The first one is this, and I'm going to answer this for you. The only reason that God should save my wife or my children or anybody is because of His own mercy and grace which He has in the Lord Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son. The Bible says in Ephesians 1 in verse 3 that in Christ Jesus we have all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. So if anybody is saved, it's because of the person and work of Jesus Christ. Okay. Secondly, I want you to turn in your Bibles to 1 Peter chapter 3. I want to show you what I'm going to call one of the greatest evangelical witnesses that you can have. In this passage it happens to be a witness from a godly wife to an ungodly husband, but I'm going to reverse it in just a moment. So here's the situation. You have two people that are married. God saves the wife and the husband is unsaved. So the wife then attempts to witness to the husband and he refuses to hear, he refuses to listen.

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• I've known people like that. I've been asked to come and talk to a lost husband by a godly wife and as I am walking in the front door, the husband is running out the back door. So help me, it's the absolute truth. God did save him later. And then he started running to me, but he actually ran away from me. He didn't want to hear it. So I want you to watch what God says.

  #62 | 50:02 to 50:26 | cleaned

• Look in verse 1, "Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands, that if any obey not the word," that is they are not willing to listen, "they also may without the word be won, how, by the conduct of the wives, while they behold your chaste conduct coupled with fear, whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting of the hair, or wearing of gold, or putting on of apparel, but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. For after this manner in old time the holy women also who trusted in God adorned themselves, being in subjection to their own husbands, even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement." Now notice if you would what God said. Here is a woman who is saved. Her husband will not listen to the preaching of the Gospel.

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• He does not want anybody witnessing to him. God said, "Alright, listen, here is the thing you do, wife. You just live a holy, godly, consistent and constant life before him. You let him see the truth of the gospel in your life. You're witnessing to him not with words, but your life is well." Now realize this deals with a lost husband and a saved wife, but you can reverse the situation. It's still the same. God is not going to require the husband to be in submission and subjection to the wife, but God is going to say that the husband is to live that consistent and godly life in order to witness and testify to the wife.

  #64 | 51:32 to 52:21 | cleaned

• I know of individuals, one in particular, who married a woman apart from his father's will. The woman was unsaved. The young man was saved. And he wrote me and he asked, "What can I do? I mean, she's given me a living hell on earth." And I said, "You should have listened to your father. But since you did not, the only thing you can do if she will not listen to your preaching and witnessing is live that godly, holy life before her." Do you realize in less than a year God had saved her and now she is just as zealous in the faith as he is? This is one of the greatest means of witnessing that you can have. When people see that you are consistent, that you're constant in obedience and in holiness, they cannot deny a holy, godly life. They cannot discount it. Obviously it is real, it is true. Here's my third application. This one is difficult, but I want you to listen to me. I believe that when judgment day comes and we stand before God the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ,

  #65 | 52:26 to 53:58 | cleaned

• whatever happens to our spouses, to our children, and grandchildren will be to His honor and His glory. And listen to me carefully. It may be hard, but it's still true. If our children and grandchildren and loved ones are condemned, we will stand with Christ against them. Because we will see as we have never seen in our entire life. And we will know assuredly that the Judge of all the earth does right.

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• He is God, He is Sovereign, and we will bow to Him and we will exalt His righteousness and His justice. Now listen carefully. If it pleases God to save an entire family, which He often does, then that is going to redound to His honor and His glory. If God is pleased to save only one member of an entire family, then that is still going to redound to His honor and His glory.

  #67 | 54:42 to 55:13 | cleaned

• Now, I've not tried to be hard in this message, but I've tried to be honest with Scripture. I'm a husband, and I'm a father, and I seek for my family to worship only the Lord Jesus Christ. But I have contemplated, I have thought of the reality. What if some of my children are never saved? I desire them to be. I want them to be. I teach them. I preach to them. I pray for them. But there's that possibility that they may never be. In that instance, what I want is this. I want to have the attitude of godly Job when he lost all ten of his children at one time and he bowed and worshiped and said, "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord."

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• It's our responsibility to do whatever we can to reach our unsaved loved ones. But only God can save them. Only God can make it real. So we must fulfill that to the best of our abilities and trust God to work it out. And bow to Him in whatever He does. Let's pray. Father, we do ask that You would help us, that You would teach us, that You would build us up in the most holy faith. And Lord, that You would indeed enable us to contemplate this issue and be faithful to our loved ones in witnessing and in living a holy, godly life before them. In the name of Jesus Christ we ask and pray, amen.

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• ♪

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T15:49:03Z