Common Questions (part 2)

If you turn your Bibles, please, to 1 Peter chapter 2, I just want to encourage you and set your minds along scriptures like 1 Peter chapter 2. Tonight is common questions that I've received as a pastor over the last 20 years, the questions that inevitably come up.

If someone comes to me and says, Pastor Mike, I have a Bible question, the ones that I put together from last week and this week and then in a few weeks are those very questions. The same questions come up over and over and over again.

If you think about it, pray for me as well, because sometimes I get tired of answering the questions. I don't want to be like Pink or Tozer, who when they got really old, got kind of crotchety. How many times can you answer God's sovereign, yet men and women are responsible?

How many times can you answer, Well, if election is true, should we evangelize? And so, those guys got kind of grumpy. So, I don't want to get grumpy when people ask me those questions. And so, 1 Peter chapter 2, as I listened to some of you give the answers to the questions last week, as I heard Ferdie pray, I just am so thankful that this is a congregation that loves God's Word.

And you can see Peter's emphasis of this very thing. And I want to encourage you, congregation, to keep excelling in the Word. I couldn't be more thankful that you love the Word of God. I don't know what I would do if you didn't.

The Word of God and Spiritual Growth

1 Peter chapter 2, of course, he's writing to the folks that are dispersed and suffering. And he says, So put away all malice. How do you come to the Word of God? You put away all malice and all deceit and all hypocrisy and envy and all slander.

I mean, you can imagine, can't you, if you're getting persecuted, if you're running and hiding from people that are trying to kill you and take all your stuff, couldn't some of these things come up? Malice, you might get kind of mad for being persecuted and people trying to run you out.

And all deceit, wouldn't you maybe be tempted if you're getting persecuted up to martyrdom to try to deceive the authorities in a sinful way? Hypocrisy, acting in front of people one way and in front of the magistrates another.

And envy, oh yeah, these other Christians over there, they're not getting persecuted as much. And all slander. Maybe if I say bad things about these people, the authorities won't go after me. So Peter says, when it comes to suffering Christians who are dispersed, just get rid of all this kind of sin.

And he tells us how we long for the word, like newborn infants. Long for the pure spiritual milk that by it you may grow up to salvation. Friends, it's good for you to know, and you're here on Sunday night, and I know most of you, and so it's easy for me to say, you need to be reminded that there is no spiritual growth for the Christian apart from the word of God, because that's what the Holy Spirit uses, right?

You grow through the word. Show me a mature and a maturing Christian, I'll show you someone who's in the word. What do we want to do often? We want to get zapped, we want to get slain, we want to have an instant fix.

But the baby grows, not when you give the baby water, when you give the baby a protein bar, when you give the baby your little pinky. Right, sometimes when the babies cry, you're like, I don't have any kind of pacifier, or I'll just put my finger in, and that lasts for about eight seconds, and they're like, yeah.

Babies long for the pure milk of the word, and that's how they grow. Isn't it amazing when you think about breast milk? Every nutrient that the baby needs, every possible thing in milk. And here the word of God, Peter says, before you come to the word, just get rid of your sins, and even Ferdie tonight praying, Lord, just forgive us, and cleanse us, and we want to just come to the word as holy people, and we want to grow.

If I was going to talk to a bunch of junior high kids, I'd say, here'd be my opening message, grow up. How do you grow up? How do you grow in Christ? It's the Spirit's work through the word. And I just want to commend you Bethlehem Bible Church.

You love the word of God. You love the word. That by it you may grow up to salvation. Look at verse three. If indeed, this is just language that you have. Yes, in fact, you have tasted that the Lord is good.

You've tasted that God is good in his Son, Christ Jesus, the risen Savior, and the word of God sanctifies, but not only sanctifies. What's the first word of verse one, chapter two? What's the N-A-S-A?

Therefore, what's the E-S-V-C? So, backing up a little bit, look at verse 22. Having purified your souls, chapter one, verse 22, by obedience to the truth from a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart.

Since you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable through the living and abiding word of God. All flesh is like grass, and its glory like the flower of grass. Grass withers, flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.

And this word is the good news that was preached to you. The word of God makes new, it saves, and the word of God sanctifies. I don't know what else to give you except the word, and I am very thankful that I preach to a congregation who listens.

With that said, and with that bracketing our minds, let's continue our questions that I regularly receive over the years, especially at the fire at our old rental home on the beach. Pastor Steve can't believe we lived there for so long.

I mean, it was fine, wasn't it? I know the electrical things were basically electrical cords, right? We didn't have any electrical wiring, you just pulled the drywall off, and you just see one extension cord hooked to the next to the next.

What was wrong with that? That black stuff there on the side of the window and growing on the carpet and stuff, that black mold, I mean, it just made things nice. Couldn't see the shag carpet through it, it was fine.

But people would ask questions, we'd sit around the fire, what does the Bible say about this, that, or the other? Our next question that I have in order, probably going to be tonight, and in a few weeks as well, we'll have to finish this up.

Whether Cremation Is a Sin

Is it a sin to be cremated? I regularly and often get asked this question, all the time I get asked this question. Is it a sin to be cremated? So now let me ask you first, after I've already told you you're a Bible-believing church, you love the word, you usually have good answers, and I'm going to ask you again, somebody asks you the question, should you get cremated?

Is it fine to be cremated? What if we've already had a loved one who's going to get cremated? What would you say? What would the answer be? Is it a sin to be cremated? Could you be church-disciplined for having someone cremated?

How do we think through it? Why do you think people ask the question? Well, we regularly lose our loved ones, right? And we want to know what to do, and cremation is very inexpensive, and burial is very expensive.

What does the Bible say about something like this? The first cremation in America took place in 1876. That's the first recorded time we had a cremation. And it, in fact, was accompanied by readings from Charles Darwin and Hindu writings, 1876.

Only 5 of Americans were cremated in 1962. In 1975, 7 of people died or cremated. In 1985, 15%. In 1992, 18%. By 2000, it was up to 25%. And right now, it's probably around 33%. About a third of the people who die are cremated.

In Japan, cremation is about 98%. I don't really mind crying kids, do you? You can stay. Kind of scary, somebody up there, looking down. For a long, long time, the Roman Catholic Church banned cremation, and they said it means you don't believe in the resurrection of the body.

But in 1963, the Pope lifted the ban, and then in 1966, the Catholic Church allowed her priests to officiate at cremation ceremonies. They now will do cremations, just like burials, as long as you're not saying to them, I deny the resurrection of the body.

And if you say that, then they wouldn't officiate. The Eastern Orthodox, to this day, forbids cremation, unless the civil authorities say you should, or if there's been an epidemic and the body needs to be cremated.

I found some really wild arguments for cremation. Let's turn to 1 Corinthians 13. This was an argument for cremation. And we're just going to work through. It's not necessarily exposition here. If you need exposition, that was this morning with Ruth.

By the way, aren't you loving the book of Ruth? I don't want four chapters only. I want it to just keep going. I'm actually advocating adding to Scripture. I'd like eight chapters. I think Revelation 22 says something about that, though.

So we want to be careful. 1 Corinthians 13, verse 3, is used by some to advocate for cremation. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but not have love, I've gained nothing, or I gain nothing.

Would that be a good verse to say cremation is for today? Cremation is biblical? That's kind of a wild view. That has nothing to do with cremation. It has to do with martyrdom. William Phipps said, In biblical times, fire was often regarded as symbolic of the divine presence, so it was appropriate to feature fire in sacred ceremonies.

God was represented by a flaming torch in an encounter with Abraham. Remember, God had Abraham cut up the animals and split them into two, and then Genesis chapter 15, as Abraham's over here sleeping, God, with an unconditional covenant, goes down through the center of the animals with some kind of burning torch, oven, pot thing, right?

So Phipps says, Because of that, and because of Mount Sinai, with the glory of the Lord appearing as a devouring fire, it would be okay to have cremation. Would that seem to make sense? You're all looking at me like, Okay, get a move on, Pastor Mike.

This is not any good. I think that would be strange fire, but that's another story. Some have said, Well, cremation only speeds up what's going to happen. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, and so we're only going to hasten what the Bible says is going to happen.

Others will say, Well, Jesus never said, Thou shalt not cremate, so we're able to do it. Jesus didn't forbid it. I'd like you to take your Bibles and turn to Amos chapter 2. And I'm just trying to paint a picture now, a couple places in the Bible where there was some burning.

And I will say right from the get-go that Jews didn't cremate because they thought the body, even dead, showed God's likeness and image. They thought that there's still going to be the resurrection of the body, so we don't want to do anything wrong to the body.

We want to be kind to the body and put aloe on the body. And we'll talk a little bit more about Jesus in a moment. The pagans always cremated, but the Jews never did. And some say, Moab's unpardonable sin had to do with burning bodies.

So Christians will say, No cremation because of these verses. And I want to make sure you see it in context, because while I might have my preferences, I'll just tell you ahead of time, there's no prohibition that says, Thou shall not cremate.

And if you cremate, it's sinful. I prefer to be buried, but there are other factors. Let me just take you to this passage. Amos chapter 2 verse 1, Thus says the Lord, For three transgressions of Moab, and for four I will not revoke its punishment, because he burned the bones of the king of Edom to lime.

So I will send fire upon Moab, and it will consume the citadels of Kerioth, and Moab will die amid tumult. With war cries and with the sound of a trumpet, I will also cut off the judge from her midst, and slay all her princes with him, says the Lord.

The issue there has nothing to do, friends, with cremation. It has to do with vengeance that doesn't stop with death. That's the issue here. Some people will say, You know, we shouldn't cremate, because the Bible speaks often, and kindly, and sweetly of people being buried.

True or false? The Bible talks a lot about people being buried. The answer is true. Genesis chapter 3, a whole chapter about Sarah and her burial. Abraham was buried in the cave of Machphala, Genesis 25.

Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath, Genesis 35. Isaac was buried. Interesting, the King James, of course, says Isaac gave up the ghost and died, and was buried, Genesis 35. Jacob was buried, Genesis 49.

Joseph was buried, Genesis 50. Joshua buried, Joshua 24. Eliezer, buried. Samuel, buried. David, buried. John the Baptist, buried. Stephen, buried. Ananias and Sapphira? They're not going to bury anybody.

Maybe it should be them, buried. And why don't you turn to Deuteronomy chapter 34. Some say, what we should do is we should bury people, because when God takes care of a saint, He buries them. He doesn't cremate.

And so remember, as we're looking at this topic, remember one of the major hermeneutical, interpretive issues. What does the Bible say as a prescription, as an imperative for the church, and what does the Bible describe about a nation, or anything else?

Prescription versus description. And so, there's no prescription in the Bible, there's just a lot of description when it comes to burial, and cremation. And so we want to make sure we don't force people.

I mean, if the Bible does say cremation is horrible and sinful, well then, we want to say the same thing. But I do find this fascinating here. God buries Moses. Deuteronomy 34 verse 5. So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab.

Boy, everywhere we go with our Bible study now, Moab is there. Isn't that amazing? Everywhere you hear a Moabite, they're a Moabite. He died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord.

And he, God, buried him in the valley in the land of Moab. And why does it say, in the land of Moab, verse 5, and now in the land of Moab, verse 6? Do you think the Lord threw Moses, the writer? I still think Moses wrote this.

Okay, if you want it to be Joshua, I'll let you. I know it wasn't J-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V, or any of those other letters, some kind of fake writers. Moses sinned and God said, you're not going to make it to the what?

To the promised land. And now here in verse 5, in the land of Moab. Verse 6, in the land of Moab. Moses was a great man, but he didn't make it to the promised land. It's interesting. Verse 6 says, opposite Beth Peor, but no man knows his burial place to this day.

Do you think anybody's tried to find Moses' body? I'm telling you, when I went to this place and stood on top of this mountain, where Moses died, and you can just look down, not too far, and you can see the promised land.

I mean, it's so close, you can touch it, you can taste it. There it is, and God kills Moses there, takes him home there. It wasn't like he was old and frail. We're going to see that. As a matter of fact, I'll just read verse 7.

Although Moses was 120 years old when he died, his eye was not dim, he didn't die of old age, nor his vigor abated. So the sons of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab 30 days, and the days of weeping and mourning for Moses came to an end.

When I stood on top of that mountain, not that long ago, and if you'd like to go with us to this very place, it's February 2015. Save your shekels. Wouldn't you like to stand there? I thought to myself, I want to know where Moses' bones are.

Now, I wouldn't be so crass to go dig them up, but I bet you other people would. Why do you think we've never been able to find the bones of Moses, or Moab? What do you think we'd do with them if we could find those bones?

Maybe we would do with Moses' bones what some people did with George Whitefield's cuff links. You dig up the body, take the cuff links, and then when you go out to war against the Indians, you put them up on a banner, because then God is surely going to be with you.

By the way, those men got slaughtered. Sorry, George. We'd worship those bones. That's what we'd do. Be perfect Protestant evangelical icons. So, here's what people will say. God, when He takes care of a dead body, He buries, therefore, you should, and cremation wouldn't be right.

Last passage for this topic. John 19, please. If you have a wrist bracelet on and it says WWJD, how would that inform your burial cremation ideas? Jesus was buried, therefore, should you be buried? John chapter 19.

I said this was going to be the last set of verses, but maybe not. I do have two other questions we need to get to tonight. I have about eight, but we're only going to get to two more. John 19, verse 38.

The New American Standard, I think, says, after these things, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate granted permission.

He came, therefore, and took away his body. And Nicodemus, verse 39, came also, who had first come to him by night. There's your first Nick at night right there. Bringing a... I stole that from someone else.

And bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight. Aren't you glad you come on Sunday night? Because you never get that kind of tidbit on Sunday morning. It's too formal. We don't joke on Sunday mornings.

And so they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices. And notice there at the end of verse 40, as is the burial custom of the Jews, the Jews never cremated. Pagans cremated, because they didn't believe in a resurrection.

They didn't believe that the body was made in the likeness and image of God. Fallen, but still not eradicating the image and likeness of God. And so people will say, Jesus was buried, therefore we ought to be buried.

Therefore, you ought not to be cremated. Didn't Jesus, after all, say in Luke 9, let the dead cremate their own dead? No, He said let the dead bury their own dead. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 42, the Bible says that the body is sown, is imperishable, it is raised imperishable.

And then in chapter 15, He goes on to say, the analogy is like planting a seed. When the body goes into the earth, a seed goes into the earth. Remember, Paul is talking about the resurrection, and one day we will rise.

And it's like, yes, the body goes into the ground dead, but it will rise again, just like you put a dead seed in the ground, and all of a sudden, up comes life. So people will say, see, Paul is using the burying analogy to talk about the future resurrection.

The bottom line, whether you're cremated or whether you're buried, if you're a Christian, one day will you get a new body? Do you think God can resurrect from the dust, from the stomach of a shark, from the ground, from the body sprinkled out over the ocean, the ashes?

I said I wasn't going to show you another verse, but I'll just read it if you don't want to go there. Philippians 3, verse 21, Who will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body by the power that enables Him even to subject all things to Himself.

You await the Savior, Philippians says, the Lord Jesus, and He can transform our lowly body. A little girl asked me a question right out here. She's a girl in our neighborhood, and when she was really little, this is maybe the nicest thing that somebody's ever said of me, more of Kim because she and the girls would serve this family more.

This family's parents said to this little girl, you know, the Ebendroths are going to come pick you up for a wanna. Ebendroths? Who are the Ebendroths? Well, you know, he's the pastor and Mrs. Ebendroth and the kids and all that.

Oh yeah, the Jesus people. They're coming to pick us up, the Jesus people. The Jesus people. Could be a lot worse, the Jesus people. Well, that girl's grown up a little bit, and today she said two things at the door, just to show me that people are listening.

Your kids listen, don't they? She said, here's exactly what she said. Pastor, I have a question. Sure, honey, what would you like to ask me? She said, I'm worried that my BFF isn't going to go to heaven.

I'm glad I knew what a BFF was. I said, honey, and she wants your friend to go to heaven. What a great thing. She said, I tried to tell her to go to church, and she said she's too busy. I said, well, I think you should pray for your best friend.

That's what I would do. When you can talk to her about who Jesus is, talk to her, and you pray for her. I want your BFF to go to heaven, too. She said, well, I'd like to go to heaven, too, if I make it.

But if I go to heaven and I make it, I want her to be there, too. Then she said, I have another question. I said, sure. She said, how old will our bodies be in heaven? I said, well, I don't know. Ask your dad.

No, I said, I don't know, but here's what I do know. When God made Adam, Adam was an adult, whether he's 18, 25, or 30. He was one second old, but he was an adult, and he could think and talk. I said, you know, Jesus died on the cross, and he was given a new body, a transformed body, a glorified body, still a body.

I said, my guess is, I don't know, about 30 years old. I think she wanted me to say, how old are you? Nine. About a nine-year-old body. And so if God in His wisdom has to take the dead bones and body of a buried person or a cremated person, do either of those stop the resurrection where God, it says in Philippians, transforms our lowly body to be like His glorious body by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself.

The power that makes God have everything bow to Him, He uses to resurrect bodies, to make the dead alive. If you died 1 ,000 years ago or 10 ,000 years ago, the world's that old, 6 ,000 years ago, through burial you're dust, through cremation you're ashes.

I think here's what people are asking. I think people are asking, you know, we've already cremated a loved one. Is God going to be able to resurrect their body? Answer, yes. I think people are asking, there's a family dynamic to this loved one that's just passed away, and I kind of want burial, but everybody else wants cremation.

Would that be okay? I looked up, there's a website on financial implications per state between burial and cremation. Besides the burial plot, which Forbes magazine says is approximately $4 ,000, depending on which state.

Besides that, burials cost in Massachusetts today between $5 ,500 and $9 ,500, depending on what you want done. Cremation in Massachusetts today, based on this website, costs between $1 ,000 and $6 ,000.

The most deluxe cremation costs about the same thing as the cheapest burial. My pastoral advice would be, if you meet somebody that cremated a loved one versus buried, would you just not even deal with it?

Would you not bring it up? Would you just say not things like, how dare you? I just was reading a King James only website with a bunch of fighting fundamentalists, and they said that's sinful, how could you sin?

When people used to bury other folks, they would say something like this, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, but don't forget the last part, in sure and certain hope of the resurrection unto eternal life through Jesus our Lord.

If you have a preference, fine. I prefer a pine box, but if Kim wants to go a little cheaper, doesn't matter to me, I'm already in glory. And easy for me to say I prefer a pine box when someone else has to say, well, we don't really have that much money.

True or false, this is a liberty issue. If you really say, yes, we're going to burn the body because I deny the resurrection, I deny we're made in God's likeness and image, then shame on you. But if you have these other issues, then I say, you cannot prove from the Bible, thou shalt with prescriptions.

You can say, yeah, up until these days, we just don't. We didn't do anything else but bury. All right, well, that was a short question, but a very long answer. I'm going to get to one more. All right, this is going to be a fun one.

I had two really fun ones, but this is probably only have time for one. How's the snow out there, okay? Can I get anybody to go like this? There we go, I got a few. Keep preaching. Question, why should we ever evangelize if God has already chosen who's going to go to heaven?

I get that question all the time. I tell Pastor Steve to quit bugging me every day, knocking on my door. There's another question from Pastor Steve. Haven't I already taught you this? Why evangelize if God's already chosen people?

Now, if you want to really know the answer, it's a great question. You first get saved. You first begin to read the Bible. You first say, yes, God is sovereign. I didn't think he was that sovereign, but now I get it.

Why do I pray? Why do I evangelize? Why don't you turn your Bible to Ephesians chapter 1, and when you think about election, I hope a smile comes to your face, not a shiver or a seethe or a look of disgust.

Ephesians chapter 1. It's a great passage about this topic, and let's just first establish the truth and then discuss it. Ephesians chapter 1. Did you know Herman Melville wrote Moby Dick as a reaction against Calvinism or the sovereignty of God election?

Did you know the fall of the house of Usher? Who wrote that? A metaphor about the fall of the doctrine of Calvinism. On the positive side, Defoe writes Robinson Crusoe as a promotion. Have you ever read Robinson Crusoe?

I don't mean the shortened version. I don't mean have you seen the movie Cast Away, Wilson. I'm talking about you, you, you. There's some pagans here watching certain movies. Defoe writes as a track for the doctrine of Calvinism.

But Ephesians chapter 1, just quickly. Paul writes to these churches around Ephesus. We think it's a circular letter if you look at verse 1, to the saints who are in, and there's a blank in the best manuscripts.

So you could send it to Colossae and Laodicea. You could send it to West Boylston. Just put a new location there and send it. The circular letter, that's what it was called. And Paul just starts at the beginning.

Meaning he cannot contain himself. And he doesn't say, praise God this way. That's exactly what he's doing. Here's how I praise God. Watch me. And he just wants to stand up and kind of shout. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Don't forget, this is 25 years after the Damascus Road. Who's blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Paul says, God the Father is to be praised for the Son's redemption, verses 7 through 12.

For the Spirit's sealing, verses 13 and 14. But first and foremost, he praises God for what? Election. Verse 4. Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. He didn't choose us because we were holy and blameless, but that we should be holy and blameless before Him.

Well, I think predestination is unloving. In love, He predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ. According to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace. Spurgeon said, whatever may be said about the doctrine of election, it is written in the Word of God as with an iron pen.

And there is not getting rid of it. To me, Spurgeon said, it's one of the sweetest and most blessed truths in the whole of Revelation. And those who are afraid of it are so because they do not understand it.

If they could but know that the Lord had chosen them, it would make their hearts dance with joy. Dancing with joy. The simple answer for why we evangelize, even though God has elected people, is what?

Super simple. What's the simple answer? Steve. All right. Steve said, because God commands it. And we don't know who the elect are and who the non-elect are. They have no symbols on their head. Make our job a lot easier, by the way.

The simplest reason for why you should evangelize, even though God is sovereign, is because God has told you to do it. God tells you to do it. You know the verse. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. God tells you to go evangelize. We say what? Yes. It's Sunday night. I will try it, see how it works. Luther said, whatever God tells us to do, even though you might not think it was going to be good for you, it would be good for you.

You don't think it's going to be good for you, but if God tells you to do something, you ought to do it. And then Luther crassly said, I don't know how much Martin Luther you read, but there's this element of crassness, but it makes the point.

Maybe it would be good for emergent youth ministry. He said, if God told me to go across the street and eat dung, I would, and I know it would be good for me. But I'm glad God didn't say it. It's a liberty issue.

All right. Turn to Romans 10. There's another reason why we're to evangelize, and that is God ordains the ends, who goes to heaven by sovereign choice, and the means. So God ordains the end, but He also ordains the middle are the means.

And so it's very, very simple. The Bible teaches both. Sovereignty of God and the responsibility of men. We're responsible to preach, and that's how people get saved. Short of talking about infants and those that can't understand, maybe they're mentally not capable of, everyone goes to heaven the same way, through the Gospel preached by grace alone, through faith alone.

Romans 10 .13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Everyone. Nothing here about who's chosen, who's not, but if you call on the name of the Lord, you will be saved. Well then there's a lot of implications for that.

A lot of questions that come out of that. Verse 14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

And how are they to preach unless they're sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news. But they have not all obeyed the Gospel, for Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed what He has heard from us?

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ. Why should you evangelize even though God is sovereign? He tells you to, and it's the means to the end. The answer is the same for prayer.

Why do you pray when God is going to do whatever He wants anyway? He's sovereign over everything. Because God tells you to. My answer for this one would be also because you get to. If it wasn't for election, just how successful would your evangelism be?

Who here would be a great evangelist without election and sovereignty? I'm so glad that election overrides my inadequacies. How about this? You take the 11 men who followed Jesus, loosely called the 12, and now they are going to turn the world upside down for Jesus.

They are. Kuyper said, The assignment was nothing short of overwhelming. It was the case of 11 men against the world. Of 11 relatively ignorant men of the most despised nation under the sun against all the power and wisdom of the world.

That feeble by human standards, utterly negligible band was given orders to conquer the glory that was Greece. And the grandeur and the might of the world spanning the Roman Empire together with whatever wild tribes might be dwelling beyond Caesar's domain.

Who would be adequate for these things? There's no hope without it. And the great news is, election keeps your job of evangelism simple. What's your job? To close the deal? To just sow? Our job is to just preach the Word.

That's all we have to do. You don't have to convert anybody. Aren't you glad you don't have to convert anybody? What does that do to someone who has loved ones? And they say, Well, I preach over and over and over and they just never responded.

Is it your fault? Sangster said, Here's what an evangelist does. Goes in the name of the King to the people, either openly or by their indifference, deny their allegiance to the rightful Lord. The evangelist blows the trumpet and demands to be heard.

He tells people in plain words, listen to this, this is classic, of the melting clemency of their offended King and of the things that belong to their peace. Simple. We just tell people what the Word says.

And you know what I also like, friends? When you know evangelism is important, but election and sovereignty of God overrides everything, you don't have to cut any corners. Are there any tough corners of evangelism?

Are there any edges that could kind of poke your eye? Difficult doctrines? Of course. I don't have to say I've got to convert this person. God is going to get His elect. Whether it's Abraham out of the Ur of Chaldees, Lydia, the Asian who's in Europe.