At this season of the year we frequently say something about the custom of making resolutions. It is a mighty good custom, provided we make the right sort of resolutions and endeavor to keep them. I would like to encourage you to resolve to do more for the Lord this year than you have ever done before. Such a resolution could be broken down into many elements, but, especially, may I urge that each of you make it your goal to lead at least one person to obey the gospel during the year that has just begun.
We have more than 500 members. If each member would lead some person to Christ during this year, it would mean more than 500 additions. That would be the most glorious year’s work this congregation has ever had. With the co-operation of every member, this goal can be reached. Surely there is someone in Nashville with whom you have enough influence to lead him to Christ, provided you are willing to fully dedicate yourself to the Lord and behave yourself each day in the way that will give you the greatest amount of power and influence for good.
I am not going to speak this morning upon new year’s resolutions. But I shall say something which I believe will help you in carrying out the resolution that has just been mentioned. For our text we go to the fourteenth chapter of Luke, and begin reading with verse 15. “And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: and sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come, for all things are now ready. And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them. I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. So that servant came, and showed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring me hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the Lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in that my house may be filled. For I say unto you,That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.”
According to the social customs which are said to have prevailed at that time and in the light of this text, it appears that the men in this story had already received and accepted the original invitation to attend this great supper. The servant was sent to tell those who were bidden that supper was now served. In spite of their social obligation to attend, they began to make excuse.
1. The nature of their excuses is not very commendable. The first one said he had bought a piece of land and he was going to see it. I don’t believe he bought that land without having already seen it. Such things sometimes happen but not often. He had probably walked over the farm very thoroughly before he agreed to buy it. He was simply making an excuse and he is not the last man who has allowed a piece of land to keep him away from duty.
I was brought up in the country and I have known men to work on their farms six days a week from early in the morning until late in the evening and then on Sunday morning they just had to walk over the fields before they could go to worship. They would get out in the grass and in the dew and get their clothes wet and come in late, too late to go to Bible school, or maybe even too late to get to worshipat all. Of course, such conduct is not acceptable in the sight of God.
2. The next man said he had bought five yoke of oxen and must needs go and try them. I believe again that he had already tried them or by some other means knew whether they would work. He could have attended the feast if he had wanted to do so, but he simply preferred to be out with his oxen rather than to carry out the promise which he had made.
3. The third man merely said, “I have married a wife and therefore I cannot come.” He didn’t even say, “I beg thee have me excused.” He made no apology. He thought the fact that he had a wife was excuse enough for falling down on his duties. He is not the last man who has allowed a wife to keep him from doing his duty. That has happened many times. Sometimes it works the other way. The wife allows her husband to keep her from doing what she ought to do.
You and I regard none of these excuses as being valid. Neither did the master of the house. He was angry. He would allow none of these deserters to taste his supper. He didn’t even propose to make any allowance for repentance. He, no doubt, felt that he had been greatly mistreated or even insulted. But these excuses were no worse than many of those which people now offer for rejecting the Lord’s invitation. Even church members sometimes give silly excuses for not doing their duty.
This morning we want to discuss the excuses outsiders offer for not obeying the gospel.[2]If you start out to do some personal work and to lead people to the Lord individually, and that is the most effective way to lead them, you’ll find them making excuses. There are twelve or fifteen excuses which will probably cover 95 per cent of the cases. If you become familiar with these, and know how to answer them, you’ll be able to handle most of the objections you meet. I have heard all these excuses offered many times. If you set out to do some work tomorrow—work of this nature—you will find people offering one or more of these excuses. Let us state and briefly discuss them.
1. “There are so many doctrines preached I do not know which one to believe. If wise men differ about which church is right, how then can I be sure?” Well, friends, wise men are still differing about what sort of food you ought to eat. The doctors have not yet decided what is the perfect diet; but you haven’t quit eating while the doctors argue. You are more practical in dealing with your stomach than you are in dealing with your soul. You keep on eating the best you can while the scientists search for the perfect diet.
Furthermore, I never heard anyone offer this excusewho was a Bible student. It is always offered by those who do not study the Bible, because anyone who is able to study can find the answer. I could entertain you at length, and maybe profit you as well, by giving you a number of examples of individuals who have studied the Bible independently in search for the truth, with always the same results. Anyone who will take the time to investigate God’s word, doing his best to lay aside his prejudice and his bias, if he is sincere and honest, will be able to understand God’s will well enough to obey the Lord on this earth and be saved everlastingly. The man who offers this excuse is simply not willing to make the investigation necessary to gain the enlightenment or information which he needs.
2. “For me to be baptized for remission of sins would be to say that my parents are lost.” Of course, that implies that his parents are already dead and that they were never baptized for remission of sins. I answer this objection by giving a concrete example. I visited a lady in West Virginia and anticipated that she would make this excuse. In fact, when I entered the room I could see the tenseness in the muscles of her face. She was expecting me to say that her father had gone to hell, and she was all set to get angry when I did. But I disappointed her. I didn’t say it. I have never said that to anyone. I do not see how it can do any good. There may be times when I am convinced that it is so. But after one is dead there is no need to discuss it.
My approach was this: “I am willing to admit thatyour father was just as good as you think he was. There is no reason why I should deny this. But remember, if your father was as good as you think he was, then he did the best he knew, he lived up to all the enlightenment he had; because if he had not done so, he would not have been a good man. He would have been a hypocrite. So we will just assume that your father did the very best he could. Then you are not as good as he was unless you do the very best that you know, and you know that you ought to be a Christian. You know you ought to be a member of the church we read about in the Bible. You know that you ought to be baptized for remission of sins. If you don’t obey the gospel, then you are not as good as you say your father was.”
The tenseness left her face. She relaxed and talked more reasonably. Before the meeting closed she obeyed the gospel. If your father and mother are dead, if they are on their way to heaven, and if they are conscious, then they certainly want you to obey the gospel so you will go there, too. If they are not on their way to heaven, if they are conscious of being on their way to the other place, then they certainly want you to obey the gospel, for torment in fire is one misery which is so terrible that it does not love company. The rich man did not want his brothers to come to the place where he was in hades.
3. “I am better now than some of those who are in the church.” In a sense that might be so. Morally you might be better than the worst hypocrite in the church, but why do you want to select the loweststandard that you can find? I have often wondered why a decent man will select a hypocrite in the church, or an immoral, disloyal, unfaithful church member as a standard by which to measure himself. To do so is certainly no compliment to yourself. We do not use such standards in other matters. We want the best standards in the affairs of this world and even though your comparison be true, it still remains that the best man in the church is far better than the best man on the outside. And the average man in the church is better than the average man on the outside. Furthermore, when you stand before the Lord Jesus Christ you will not be judged according to any human standard, but according to the word of God Almighty.
4. “There are so many hypocrites in the church that I cannot afford to become a member of it.” When one makes this excuse I don’t say, but I feel like saying, “Well, come on in, brother; there is always room for one more.” The man who offers that excuse is a hypocrite himself. That’s not what keeps him out. It is just an excuse for not coming in. Furthermore, there are hypocrites in every organization in the world. There are hypocrites outside the church. You can’t get away from the hypocrites by staying outside the church, because they are not all inside the church. The church doesn’t have a monopoly on them. Most of them are still on the outside, and you will be with them as long as you remain there. Furthermore you’ll have to spend eternity with all the hypocrites, those that are now in thechurch and those that are now outside the church. So, if you want to get away from hypocrites, there is only one way to do it: become a Christian and tolerate the few hypocrites in the church while on this earth you dwell, then go home to heaven to be free of all of them forever.
5. “I’m not good enough to be a Christian.” If you were, you wouldn’t need to become one. The gospel is for people who need to be better. The gospel is for sinners. Sinners are the raw material out of which Christians are made. The people who were saved on the day of Pentecost were not such good folk to start with. They were murderers. They had murdered the Son of God. Yet they could be saved. If you are not worse than the men who, with wicked and lawless hands, nailed the Son of God to the cross, then you are not too mean to be saved. In fact, Christ is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him. His power is not limited. One of the most wonderful things about the gospel of Jesus Christ is that it makes no difference how dark or black your record may have been in the past, you can have it washed clean and white as snow in the blood of the Lamb. His blood is able to wipe away all your sins; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool; though they be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow (Isa. 1:18). There is no one too wicked to be saved if he is willing to believe in Christ, repent of his sins, obey the commandment to be baptized, and remain faithful thereafter.
6. “Well, I’d like to become a Christian, but I’mafraid I can’t hold out.” People say a lot of things they don’t mean to say. They use a lot of words sometimes when they don’t realize what they are saying. So does the man who makes this excuse. Let’s just look at it a minute and see what a fellow really says when he states that he is afraid he can’t hold out. If you analyze his excuse, it simply means this: “I’m on my way to hell and there is nothing I can do about it.” He didn’t mean to say that. He didn’t intend to assume such a hopeless attitude. “I’m just on my way to hell and there’s nothing I can do about it.” Why nobody, not many people at least, believes that! And yet that’s virtually what you say when you say, “I’d like to be a Christian, but I am afraid I can’t.”
God is not the author of such hopelessness. The Bible says, “Whosoever will let him take the water of life freely” (Rev. 22:17). The Bible teaches that God “will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that ye may be able to bear it” (1 Cor. 10:13). The Bible plainly declares that all of those who will may come. Anybody who is willing to try can be saved. To say it is impossible for you to be saved is to dispute the word of God Almighty. I do not believe you really want to do that.
7. “I don’t know enough yet.” That could be so. I think I have seen some people of whom that was true. But you can learn enough in a very few minutes. Do you know that in every example of conversion we have in the Bible, the people who were savedobeyed the first sermon they heard? In every case! Now, if those people who lived nearly 2000 years ago could learn enough from one sermon to obey the gospel, how long should it take one today? In every instance they obeyed the first sermon they heard. It didn’t take long, did it? I have worked with people whom I had to teach for a full year before they would obey the gospel. Of course, I admit that I am not as good a teacher as Peter or Paul, but when I read to you just what those men said, then, after all, they are doing the teaching. People of that day could learn enough from them in just an hour or so to obey the gospel. Surely it ought not to take one several years now to learn the same. After all, you don’t need to know much to be saved. You don’t need to know everything. If you wait till you know everything before you do anything, then you’ll always do nothing.
In order to be saved, you simply need to know that you are lost, that Jesus is able to save you, and what he wants you to do in order that he may save you. I can tell you that in less than a minute! “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16). “Repent and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:38). Now, that is enough if you are willing to accept it and obey it. Even if you didn’t know it when you came, you now know enough to be saved.
An illustration which I frequently use is this: Suppose I start to drive to Columbia, Tennessee, tonight.I get out here on the street and say, “Well, I can’t see the way to Columbia. There are many crooks and turns and ditches between here and Columbia. I might have a wreck and kill myself, so I just won’t start.” That would be silly, wouldn’t it? Why, I could see a few yards ahead of me and I would drive on in what light I had. As I moved on the light would move on and if I kept on going, I would likely reach Columbia or any other place to which I started.
That’s the way it is in going to heaven; you can’t see your way from here into the Pearly Gates. If you could, you would be walking by sight and not by faith. “But the just shall live by faith” (Hab. 2:4). You can see the first step, and if you will take it, you will be able to see a little bit further. Take the second and then you can see still further, and if you keep on going, you will reach the goal.
“If a man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God or whether I speak of myself” (John 7:17). They that will to do His will shall know. You can see or learn the way as you go along. Remember this, if you know of just one commandment that you have not yet obeyed, you do not deserve to understand another until you are willing to obey the one you do understand. If a man does not love the truth, God will send him strong delusions that he may believe a lie and be damned (2 Thess. 2:8-12). If you know truth and are unwilling to act upon it, you do not deserve to know any further truth. If you keep on despising what truth you do have, then God will take eventhat away from you. He will send you a strong delusion that you may be deceived, may be deluded and may be damned forever. It is a dangerous thing for one to trample under his foot the word of Almighty God. If you know of even one commandment which you have not obeyed, obey it now.
8. “I live a good, clean life, I treat everybody right. I pay all my debts, I tell the truth, I am loyal and faithful to my family, and I am just as good as a lot of those folk in the church. The church can’t save you anyhow, so I think I am all right.” Now, you know the answer to that, don’t you? It’s found in the tenth chapter of Acts. I always like to suggest that the man who makes that sort of a statement compare himself with Cornelius. He was a just man. He treated everybody right. He feared the Lord. He prayed to God always. He was charitable. He gave much alms to the poor. And he was such a good man he had won the favor of the Jews over whom he was serving as the head of an army of occupation! He had a good reputation, even among them. Yet he was not good enough to go to heaven without obeying the gospel. He was told to send for Peter, who would speak unto him words whereby he should be saved. He was not yet saved.
If you have ever committed just one sin, you cannot go to heaven until that sin is washed away by the blood of Jesus, for sin cannot enter there. Surely there is no one who would say that he had never committed one sin. You don’t have to commit a great big catalogue of sins in order to be lost. Justone unforgiven sin will take you into torment. If you’ve ever done wrong on a single point, then you’ll have to repent of that and obey the gospel in order to go to heaven when you die.
9. “I’m waiting for someone else. I’m afraid my parents or husband or wife would object. This religion is unpopular and would cause me to lose my social standing.” This is really three excuses in one, but in each case the person is being influenced by what someone else thinks, instead of being influenced by what God says. A familiar answer to such excuses is that every tub shall set on its own bottom. You’ll find that in Romans, chapter 14 and verse 12, “So then each one of us must give an account of himself unto the Lord.” It doesn’t use the word “tub,” but it says the same thing. “So then each one of us must give an account of himself unto the Lord.” When you get to the judgment day, neither your father nor your mother, brother nor sister, husband nor wife—nobody else can answer for you. Therefore, no one else should be allowed tolivefor you. No one should be allowed to make your choices or decisions because they cannot answer for you.
Someone made a remark that one of the nice things about the Catholic Church was that the members allowed the priests to make all the decisions, that they rather expected him to make their choices for them. My answer was that that would be all right if the priest could also answer for you. But the priest cannot answer for you. Therefore, you’d better not let him make your decisions. He might not makea decision that you would want to stand by on the judgment day. Nobody can answer for you, therefore nobody should be allowed to choose your course. In the light of God’s word you must accept that responsibility yourself.
Furthermore, if you want to get your husband, wife, or somebody else to obey the gospel, the way to get them to do it is not to wait for them but go ahead and lead the way. Step out and do it yourself. In West Virginia a lady told me that she would obey the gospel but that she was waiting for her husband. I knew that was not a good excuse and I tried to get her to see it. One evening while we were singing the invitation song I stopped and made this remark, “If I were you, I’d rather go to heaven alone than to go to hell with my husband.” Evidently she knew that I was talking about her, for when we began to sing again she came down the aisle. The next day her husband also came. If she had waited for him, they might both still be on the outside. Now they are two of the most faithful members in the congregation.
A lady at Madison, Tennessee, made the same excuse. She even went so far as to say, “If you’ll just talk to my husband and get him to obey, then I’ll come along with him.” I told her that wasn’t the right attitude. The next Sunday at church she came down the aisle to make the confession and be baptized. When I met her, she stopped and whispered to me, “Brother Dark, I wish you would go back and talk to my husband.” He was just two steps behindher and she didn’t know it. That’s the way to get your husband to come! That’s the way to get your wife to come! If you wait for somebody else, then you’ll be lost.
There was a lady in Chattanooga who didn’t wait for her husband. She went to church. Her husband tried to keep her from going. That’s unusual. Most husbands like for their wives to be good whether they are or not. But this husband didn’t want his wife to go to church. He told her she couldn’t have any money to give to the church. She began to take in sewing to make money for her contributions. That made him angry. He said, “You can’t use that sewing machine, I paid for it.” So she just kept on going without any money to contribute. He saw that he was defeated on that point so, in desperation, he locked up her wardrobe. He said, “I paid for those Sunday dresses and you can’t wear them to church.” She defied him again and borrowed some dresses from the next door neighbor and other ladies in the church and just kept on going anyway. He felt like he had to do something about it, so he went over to the meetinghouse to see if he could find out what could be done. He stood on the outside and listened. It didn’t sound as bad as he thought it would. Before the meeting closed he was baptized. Suppose his wife had been fainthearted and had refused to go ahead without her husband. He now says that he used to be the meanest man in Chattanooga and I’m inclined to agree with him.
I heard another story of a lady who was influencedby her husband. She was attending a revival meeting and he was going with her every night. One night while they were dressing, she said something about going to church, and he said, “No, we’re not going to church tonight, we’re going to the show.” She replied, “I can’t go to a show. The revival is going on. You know that! I have to be over there!” He said, “No, we’re going to a show.” She kept on insisting that they go to church and he kept on insisting on going to the show. Finally he said, “Now, I’ve been going with you every night, and it’s only fair that you go with me tonight.” She still refused. Then he said, “If you don’t go with me tonight, I’m not going with you any more.” So she gave in.
On the way to town he stopped beside the road. His wife asked him what was wrong. He said, “I’m not going to the show. I just wanted to test you out. I was planning to obey the gospel. If this thing is as important as you and your preacher say it is, then you ought to have gone on tonight regardless of what I did. Before I accepted I thought I would test you out.” I admit that he treated her pretty rough; but after all, you can’t afford to let even the person whom you love best on this earth keep you from doing that which is right. It would be an act of unkindness. If you love someone, you ought not to let him keep you from doing right but you ought to go on anyhow and use your influence to get him to come along with you.
10. “There is plenty of time yet.” This one will probably take more people to hell than all the othersput together. Procrastination is the thief of souls. I’ve never talked to but one person who said he planned to die and go to hell. Others say, “Yes, I’m going to change my ways. I know that I’m lost and I’m going to change.” But when? “Well, sometime.” A man who talks like that never gets it done. When I go into a man’s home, talk to him, and urge him to obey the gospel and he says, “Well, I’m going to think it over; I’m glad you came and I’ll think it over,” I go away without much encouragement. But if a person tells me, “Yes, Brother Dark, I’ll be over there next Sunday night and be baptized,” then I know something is going to happen. That is the only way to overcome the tendency to procrastinate.
I talked to some people at Madison one evening about 5P.M.Immediately upon entering the room I learned that they knew what they ought to do. They had attended our meeting often and they knew that they ought to be baptized. They understood the plan of salvation. I remarked to them that one could get into the habit of procrastinating. I said, “Every time you repeat the act of putting this thing off this habit becomes stronger. If you aren’t careful, it may get you bound so tightly that you will never overcome it.” They came forward that night and obeyed the gospel, less than three hours after I had talked to them, and are now two of the most faithful members in the church. Afterwards the man told me that the remark about procrastination had prompted him to act immediately. He realized that he had got into the habit of putting it off. This habit was gettingstronger and stronger. He had to exert his will power to overcome it.
None of these excuses are any good. They will not stand the test of the judgment. I doubt that you would even have the audacity to mention them before God. There is no excuse for failing, or for delaying, to do what you know God has commanded.
The best resolution that you can make today, if you haven’t already made it, is the resolution to quit doing wrong and to begin doing right. It is preceded by faith; it is followed by baptism. The resolution to do right will naturally lead to baptism, for that is a part of doing right. Won’t you say at the beginning of this new year, “I’m going to resolve now that from this day henceforth I will live for God”? If that be your resolution, come forward and make it known while we stand and sing.
It is my purpose this morning to discuss the case of an erring child of God in contrast to that of an alien sinner. An alien sinner is one who has never been baptized into Jesus Christ, one who has never become a member of the Lord’s church, one who has never become a citizen of the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. The plan of salvation for such an one is clearly revealed in the Bible. It has been proclaimed from this pulpit numbers and numbers of times. It needs to be repeated over and over again, and to be kept constantly before the minds of the people.
Not only should those who are not Christians know the plan of salvation in order to become Christians, but those who have already obeyed the gospel ought to know what an alien must do to be saved well enough to teach others effectively. The alien must know the gospel well enough to obey it. The Christian must have a working knowledge of the gospel in order to help save others.
The Bible clearly teaches that in order to become a child of God one must believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God; that he must then repent of his sins (Acts 2:38 and 3:19); that he must confess with his mouth the faith which he has in hisheart; and finally he must be baptized for remission of sins (Acts 2:38; 22:16, and many other places which might be cited). These are the conditions of salvation for an alien sinner. Obedience to these commandments makes one a child of the Lord.
But suppose one errs from the truth after having obeyed these commandments. That would make him an erring child of God. The case of such an one deserves our consideration. Is there a plan of salvation for one who errs from the truth after having been baptized into Christ—into the family of God? If so, what are the conditions of his salvation? On this topic there seems to be some confusion and misunderstanding. Occasionally we meet someone who thinks that there is no way for him to be saved, if he sins after he has been baptized—that his case is hopeless, if he turns away from the church after having once been a member thereof. I would like to speak a word of encouragement to all such.
There’s only one thing which can keep any person on this earth from being saved, and that is unwillingness to repent and obey God. I believe it is true that no matter how far one may have strayed away, if he wants to come back, if he will repent, and if he will obey the commandments which God has given, God is willing to forgive. This is the divine encouragementand inducement which is held out to all by the word of God (1 John 1:9; 2 Pet. 3:4).
I believe we can say that anyone who has been a Christian very long has at some time or other been an erring child of God, for there are none of us who live perfect lives. I presume there are none here who even claim to live perfectly. In 1 John 1:8 we read: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” Everyone, then, who has been in the church any appreciable length of time has been, at some time, an erring child of God. If it were not possible for an erring child of God to be saved, then none of us would have a chance, and the whole scheme of redemption would be vain. Of course, we know that such is not the case.
That an erring child of God may be saved is clearly taught by James 5:19-20, “Brethren, if any one of you do err from the truth and one convert him, let him know that he which converteth a sinner from the error of his way, shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins.” That’s a clear-cut reference unto an erring child of God, for this statement is addressed unto the brethren. It teaches that if a brother errs from the straight and narrow way, there is a chance for him to be restored by another brother. The one who restores him renders avery valuable service which covers a multitude of sins and saves a soul from death. That is, he saves a soul from the lake of fire and brimstone, which is the second death, for Christians as well as sinners are appointed unto physical death. Of course, if the erring brother refuses to obey, he will be lost. He will be lost because of his unwillingness to obey, and not because of God’s unwillingness to forgive.
We have another reference to erring children of God in the third chapter of Revelation, in the letter addressed unto the church at Laodicea. In this church there were some lukewarm members. Lukewarm church members are erring children of God. Of them, Jesus says, “I know thy works, that thou are neither cold nor hot. I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.” Surely these people were in a bad spiritual condition, even to the extent of making our Savior sick at his stomach; but their case was not a hopeless one. There was still opportunity for them to repent and to be saved.
This letter itself represents an effort on the part of God through his Son, Jesus, to lead these people to repentance, in order that he might forgive them. He pleads with them as follows: “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried by the fire; that thou mayest be rich, and white raiment that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke andchasten: be zealous therefore and repent. Behold I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame and am set down with my father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches” (Rev. 3:14-22). From this, we not only learn that it is possible for the erring children to be saved, but that their salvation is conditioned upon their repentance.
The characters mentioned in the first part of the sixth chapter of Hebrews were lost not because they were incapable of being saved, but because they were unwilling to repent. Of them we read, beginning with verse 4; “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.” Please note that it does not say that these people could not be saved; it does not say that it was impossible for them to repent; but it says it was impossible to get them to repent, that noone could persuade them to repent, that they persistently refused to do so.
These were not characters who were still striving to live the Christian life, but making mistakes along the way. They were men who had completely turned their backs upon that which was right. They were crucifying to themselves the Son of God afresh, and putting him unto an open shame. And one could not persuade them to repent. They were not lost because of God’s unwillingness to forgive, but because of their unwillingness to repent.
It is possible for one to turn so completely away from the Lord that you cannot get that person to repent, but please remember that the trouble still lies with the man himself. Even such an one as that could be saved if he would repent, but he won’t repent. Whosoever will may come, but there are some who won’t. Jesus says, “Ye will not come unto me that ye may have life.”
There is nothing in the Bible, then, which teaches that it is impossible for any individual to be saved, provided he will repent and obey the Lord. There are simply some who refuse to obey. Anyone can repent, but there are some who will not. Of such characters 2 Peter 2:21-22 says: “For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than after they have known it to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, the dog is turned to his own vomit again; andthe sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.”
In the eighth chapter of Acts we have another example of an erring child of God. His name was Simon and he was a sorcerer by profession. Of him verse 13 says, “Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.” Jesus said, Mark 16:16: “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” Simon believed and was baptized, therefore, Simon was saved. Simon was a child of God because he had believed and been baptized. That he was afterwards in error is plainly taught by Peter in the verses which follow. Beginning with verse 18: “And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter; for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.Then answered Simon, and said, Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me.”
Simon was a child of God because he had believed and had been baptized. Afterwards he erred. That made him an erring child of God. His condition was serious. He had so sinned as to be aptly described as being in the bond of iniquity, and in the gall of bitterness. But his case was not hopeless. Peter’s admonition to him shows clearly that there was still a chance for him to be saved.
Peter commanded him to repent and to pray. The commandment to pray for forgiveness implied a commandment to confess his sins. One cannot consistently pray for forgiveness until he admits, at least to himself and to God, that he has sinned. One cannot even repent until he first admits to himself that he has done wrong. The commandment to confess implied by Peter is clearly stated elsewhere in God’s word. For instance, James 5:16: “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another that ye may be healed.” Again we read in I John, chapter 1, verses 9 and 10, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us.”
These Scriptures not only teach the possibility of an erring child of God’s being saved, but also the condition upon which his salvation depends. These conditions are: repentance of his sins, confession of hissins, and prayer unto the Lord for forgiveness. Any erring child of God who conforms to these conditions will be readily and freely forgiven by our Father who is in heaven. One who refuses to conform to these simple conditions assumes full responsibility for his own destruction. Having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, he is not fit for the kingdom of God (Luke 9:62). He must repent or perish (Luke 13:3).
The story of the prodigal son very beautifully and accurately illustrates the plan we are discussing. The prodigal son does not represent an alien sinner. He was a son. He represents an erring child. He went away from home contrary to his father’s will, and he wasted his father’s goods in riotous living. He was a wayward child. He was a disobedient son of his father; and finally, when he had tasted the bitter dregs of sin, he resolved to go back home.
The Bible says that he came to himself. He recognized that he had sinned. That was the first step in his restoration. When he thought about the good things back in his father’s home in contrast with his own suffering, he recognized that he had made a mistake. Then he made a resolution. He said, “I will arise and go unto my father.” And the very minute he made up his mind to go to his father, that was repentance. Repentance is a change of purpose.A determination to quit doing wrong and to begin doing right. And so when the young man said to himself, “I will go, I will return to my father, and to my father’s house,” that resolution constituted repentance. Then the story says that he arose and came to his father. That was the fruit of his repentance.
He had planned his confession. He said, “I will say unto my father, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.” The young man expected to plead his case with his father. He didn’t even hope to be reinstated as a son. But he was going to beg that he might be allowed to come back as a servant. Imagine his surprise when his father ran to meet him and welcomed him back into the family circle. The boy started to make his confession, but before he had had time to finish, the father interrupted him and said: “Bring forth the best robe and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: and bring hither the fatted calf and kill it and let us eat, and be merry. For this my son was dead, and is alive again, he was lost and is found.”
Now this not only illustrates what an erring child of God must do to be saved, but it also represents God’s willingness to forgive him. This young man repented, he reformed, he confessed, and he prayed. He prayed to his father to take him back into his home. (He had planned his confession in his heart even if he were not allowed to express it all.) Thatis just exactly what an erring child of God must do. As we learn from Peter, James and John, he must repent, confess his sins, and pray for forgiveness. Just as the father of that prodigal son was eager to receive him back into his home, so our heavenly Father stands waiting to receive unto the bosom of his love all of his wayward children who will come back to him in humility, penitence, confession and prayer. Just as that father showered his son with blessings, so Jehovah will shower his wayward children who return to him with the blessings of forgiveness, protection, and encouragement.
In conclusion it might be well to mention the duty of the church in reference to an erring child of God. It is the duty of the church and of all its spiritually-minded members to warn those who are living in error, to rebuke them, to reprove them and to exhort them with all long suffering and teaching, to admonish them to do these three things which are required of them in order to be forgiven by the Lord. When we do so, we shall in no wise lose our reward.
I close then by calling attention once more to these verses in James, “Brethren, if anyone of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; let him know that he which converteth a sinner from the error of his way, shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins.” Now, there may be some erringchildren of God in this audience this morning. I want to do just what the Bible teaches me to do. I want to admonish you, urge you, and beseech you to take advantage of God’s goodness and God’s mercy and God’s willingness to forgive.
The alien sinner must believe, repent, and be baptized. The erring child of God must repent, confess his sin, and pray for forgiveness. But I don’t care how black your past may have been, how many ugly things you may have done, if you will confess to men, to yourself, and to God that you have sinned; if you will resolve in your heart that you will turn away from your evil doing, and ask God to forgive you, He will certainly do so. He never goes back on His promise. He’s not only willing, but is eager to have you come. He will welcome you back into the fold of those who are redeemed.
All of those evil things which you have done will not only be forgiven, but they will be forgotten. They will never be remembered any more, and you can start all over again to live the Christian life, with a perfectly clean, white record; all the blots having been wiped away by the all-powerful blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Don’t you want to do that? We urge you to do so, while together we stand and sing.
Three Dispensations
Three Dispensations