Ezekiel 33 v 1 - 20 v 11 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
1. THE AVAILABILITY OF SALVATION v 10 "how should we then live?" v11 " As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; " WHO CARES IF MY SOUL IS LOST?
In Psalm 142:4 David said, "I look on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul."
1. God cares if my soul is lost. I Tim. 2:3,4; "3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth."
2 Peter 3:9. "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."
2. Christ cares for our souls and does not them to be lost.
Romans 5:8,9 "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him."
3. The Holy Spirit also cares if we are lost.
1 Cor. 2:12, 13."Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual."
Rev. 22:17. "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely"
4. The Angels care about your soul. In Luke 15:10 "Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth."
5. All good people care about our souls. Paul could wish himself accursed for Israel's sake (Rom. 9:3). Also he said his heart desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved (Rom. 10:1-3).
6. Departed loved ones care about whether or not we are lost. Hebrews 12:1,2 "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."
Rich Man In Luke 16: 27 "Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house: 28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment."
7. Most of all I will care if my soul is lost. In Luke 13:24-28 we read, "strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once the master of the house in risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity."
8. Who does not care? If God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, angels, good people, departed loved ones, and I care then who does not care if I am lost? The Devil does not.
2. THE RESPONSIBILITY OF SALVATION v 11 "but that the wicked turn from his way and live:" Why I Disagree With All 5 Points of Calvinism
Dr. Loraine Boettner in his book, "The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination" says,
"The Calvinistic system especially emphasises five distinct doctrines. These are technically known as "The Five Points of Calvinism". And they are the main pillars upon which the superstructure rests."
"The five points may be more easily remembered if they are associated with the word
T-U-L-I-P , T, Total Inability; U, Unconditional Election; L, Limited Atonement; I, Irresistible (efficacious) Grace; and P, Perseverance of the Saints."
I. Total Inability
By total inability Calvin meant that a lost sinner cannot come to Jesus Christ and trust Him as Saviour, unless he is foreordained to come to Christ. By total inability he meant that no man has the ability to come to Christ. And unless God overpowers him and gives him that ability, he will never come to Christ
The Bible says in Jeremiah 17:9, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked."
A preacher brought a wonderful sermon on the depravity of the human heart. And when he finished his message, someone came to him and said," I want you to know I can't swallow that depraved heart that you preached about."
The preacher smiled and said, "You don't have to swallow it. It's already in you!"
While the Bible teaches the depravity of the human race, it nowhere teaches total inability. The Bible never hints that people are lost because they have no ability to come to Christ. The language of Jesus was , "Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life" (John 5:40).
Notice, it is not a matter of whether or not you can come to Christ; it is a matter of whether or not you will come to Christ.
Jesus looked over Jerusalem and wept and said, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem . . .how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" (Matt. 23:37).
Revelation 22:17, the last invitation in the Bible, says, "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely ."
The only thing that stands between the sinner and salvation is the sinner's will. God made every man a free moral agent.
D. L. Moody addressed a large group of sceptics. He said ,"I want to talk about the word believe, the word receive, and the word take." When Mr. Moody had finished his sermon, he asked, "Now who will come and take Christ as Saviour?"
One man stood and said, "I can't." Mr. Moody wept and said, "Don't say, 'I can't.' Say, 'I won't!'" And the man said, "Then, I won't!" But another man said, "I will!"
John 6:44 "No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him...."
John 12:32 "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me."
All men are drawn to Christ, but not all men will trust Christ as Saviour. Every man will make his own decision to trust Christ or to reject Him. The Bible makes it clear that all men have light. John 1:9 says, "That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." Romans 1:19,20 indicates that every sinner has been called through the creation about him. And Romans 2:11-16 indicates that sinners are called through their conscience, even when they have not heard the Word of God.
So in the final analysis, men go to Hell, not because of their inability to come to Christ, but because they will not come to Christ-"Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life."
The teaching that men, women and children are totally unable to come to Christ and trust Him as Saviour is not a scriptural doctrine. The language itself is not scriptural.
II. Unconditional Election
By unconditional election Calvin meant that some are elected to Heaven, while others are elected to Hell, and that this election is unconditional. It is wholly on God's part and without condition. By unconditional election Calvin meant that God has already decided who will be saved and who will be lost, and the individual has absolutely nothing to do with it. He can only hope that God has elected him for Heaven and not for Hell.
This teaching so obviously disagrees with the oft-repeated invitations in the Bible to sinners to come to Christ and be saved that some readers will think that I have overstated the doctrine. So I will quote John Calvin in his "Institutes," Book III, chapter 23,
"....Not all men are created with similar destiny but eternal life is foreordained for some , and eternal damnation for others. Every man, therefore, being created for one or the other of these ends, we say, he is predestined either to life or to death."
There is the Bible doctrine of God's foreknowledge, predestination and election. Most knowledgeable Christians agree that God has His controlling hand on the affairs of men. They agree that according to the Bible, He selects individuals like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David as instruments to do certain things He has planned. Most Christians agree that God may choose a nation-particularly that He did choose Israel, through which He gave the law, the prophets, and eventually through whom the Saviour Himself would come- and that there is a Bible doctrine that God foreknows all things.
I have often said, "Did it ever occur to you that nothing ever occurred to God?". God in His foreknowledge knows who will trust Jesus Christ as Saviour, and He has predestined to see that they are justified and glorified. He will keep all those who trust Him and see that they are glorified. But the doctrine that God elected some men to Hell, that they were born to be damned by God's own choice, is a radical heresy not taught anywhere in the Bible.
Ephesians 1:4, "He hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world. " "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love."
John 15:16, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you." and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you."
John 3:36 says, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."
Nothing could be plainer. The man who goes to Heaven goes because he comes to Jesus Christ and trusts Him as Saviour. And the man who goes to Hell does so because he refuses to come to Jesus Christ and will not trust Him as Saviour.
III. Limited Atonement
By limited atonement, Calvin meant that Christ died only for the elect, for those He planned and ordained to go to Heaven: He did not die for those He planned and ordained to go to Hell.
I John 2:2, "He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for our's only, but also for the sins of the whole world ." First Timothy 2:5,6 says, " The man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all...."
John 4:42 says, "And said unto the woman, Now we believe , not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world." Again I John 4:14, "And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world." John 3:17 says, " For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."
As a matter of fact, I Timothy 4:10 says, "For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe."
Isaiah 53:6 says, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." Preacher
Some argue that if Jesus died for the whole world, the whole world would be saved. No. the death of Jesus Christ on the cross was sufficient for all, but it is efficient only to those who believe. John 3:36, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. . . ."
IV. Irresistible Grace
The fourth point of Calvinism is irresistible grace. By irresistible grace ( Contradiction), John Calvin meant that God simply forces people to be saved. God elected some to be saved, and he let Jesus Christ die for that elect group. And now by irresistible grace, He forces those He elected, and those Jesus Christ died for to be saved.
Grace means "God's unmerited favour." Somebody said G-R-A-C-E- God's riches at Christ's expense. Grace is an attitude, not a power. Calvinism teaches that man has no part in salvation, and cannot possibly co-operate with God in the matter. In no sense of the word and at no stage of the work does salvation depend upon the will or work of man or wait for the determination of his will.
Proverbs 29:1 states, "He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy."
Proverbs 1:24-26 says, "Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh."
John 5:40 says, "Ye will not come to me, that ye may have life."
In Acts chapter 7, we find Stephen preaching. He says in verse 51, "Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye."
John 1:12 says. "But as many as received him , to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name."
V. Perseverance of the Saints
The Bible teaches, the security of the born-again believer. The man who has trusted Jesus Christ has everlasting life and will never perish. But the eternal security of the believer does not depend on his perseverance but on his preservation.
The Bible states in Jude 1. "Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ..."
First Thessalonians 5:23 says, "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly: and I pray God your whole spirit and soul, and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
First Peter 1:4,5 states: "To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."
The Bible says in John 10:27-29: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life: and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Fathers hand." Preservation not Perseverence
3. THE RELIABILITY OF SALVATION "turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?"
"In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live."—II Kings 20:1.
I. Death Is Inevitable
You shall die! You had better get ready! Death is inevitable in its reach.
"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" (Rom. 5:12).
"it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Heb. 9:27).
"There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death" (Eccles. 8:8).
II. Death Is Unpredictable
"Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth" Proverbs 27:1. Who does know?
"His days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass" (Job 14:5).
"Because there is wrath, beware lest he take thee away with his stroke" (Job 36:18).
Not only is there just a stroke between life and death, there is just a step between life and death.
"…but truly as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death" (I Sam. 20:3). David to Jonathan
III. Death Is Terrible
Luke 12:16–21 "I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink and be merry." But God said to him, "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee."
God charges the so-called atheist with being a fool: "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God" (Ps. 14:1).
God declares you to be fools who mock (or laugh) at sin (Prov. 14:9).
Again we see the folly of fools—individuals who are "slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken" (Luke 24:25).
Saul "I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly" (I Sam. 26:21).
IV. Death is Eternal
F. B. Meyer, who just before his death wrote these words to his wife:
Dear, I have just learned, to my surprise, that I have only a few days to live. It may be that before this reaches you, I will have entered into the Palace. Don’t trouble to write. We shall meet in the morning.
John 8:21,24:
"Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come….I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins."
Matt. 25:41,46.
"Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels….And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal."
In Revelation 20:14,15
"Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."
V. Death is Preventable
"Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?"—Ezek. 33:11.
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life."—John 5:24.
"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."—Rev. 3:20.
In the silent midnight watches, List, thy bosom door!
How it knocketh—knocketh—knocketh— Knocketh evermore!
Say not ’tis thy pulse is beating; ’Tis thy heart of sin;
’Tis thy Saviour knocks and crieth, "Rise and let Me in."
Death comes on with reckless footsteps, To the hall and to the hut,
Think you, Death will tarry knocking, Where the door is shut?
Jesus waiteth—waiteth—waiteth— But the door is going fast;
Grieved, away the Saviour goeth; Death breaks in at last.
