God Saves Big Sinners — E.A. Johnston

Years ago, I met a man at a pastor's conference who said he was a chaplain in the prison ministry, and he shared with me that he lived in the same town where the prison was that held the son of Sam's serial killer, David Berkowitz.

And this prison chaplain told me that in his personal opinion, he believed that David Berkowitz had become a born-again Christian while in prison. He said he'd had Bible studies with Berkowitz and that the serial killer was now a changed man.

God's Mercy for the Worst Sinners

Well, I don't know if Son of Sam got saved or not. I'll find out at the judgment. But I do know, friends, that God is in the business of saving big sinners. There's an example of this in my Bible in 2 Chronicles chapter 33.

You can turn in your Bibles there now, friends. This chapter is about King Manasseh's reign over Israel. If Hezekiah was one of Israel's best kings, then his son Manasseh was one of Israel's worst kings.

Manasseh's Reign of Idolatry

He did more evil than most of them put together, and he had one of the longest reigns in which to do evil in. We read, beginning in verse 1, Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem.

But he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, like unto the abominations of the heathen whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Balaam, and made groves, and worshipped all the hosts of heaven, and served them.

Let me pause here to say, friends, this wicked king, Manasseh, undid all the good that his good father, King Hezekiah, had done. He brought the people of Israel back into idolatry, and we see what a wicked and evil king he was in verse 6, which describes all the terrible things he did.

And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom. Also, he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with the familiar spirit, and with wizards.

He wrought much evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger. I will stop there, friends. This evil king, Manasseh, was a bad egg, and he was making the whole city stink with sin. He was leading the people to practice human sacrifices to false gods, which was an abomination before God, as well as witchcraft.

Judgment and Captivity

Things got so bad in Jerusalem with all this idol and devil worship that God had seen enough, and he had Israel's enemies come and take them away into captivity. We read in verse 11,. Wherefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.

Here we see the biggest sinner in town, now in a heap of trouble, bound and in a foreign prison. Sometimes the biggest sinner in town is the one with the most influence for bad. There used to be a strip club owner in the city of Memphis where I lived, and this man who owned the strip club poured so much money into it, he made it the most lavish and popular strip club in all the Mid-South.

In fact, this strip club was so popular in my city that at the time I was a Sunday school teacher at a big Baptist church, and I would have members of my class, men from my class, pull me aside and tell me they saw so-and-so from Sunday school at this strip club on Saturday night.

And then I'd ask the person telling me, Well, how did you see him there if you weren't there yourself? That's like one sinner telling on another sinner. But it came to be that this strip club owner had a powerful influence upon the whole community.

Nothing could stop him. So it seemed the police wouldn't bust him because they were his best customers. The politicians wouldn't shut him down because he had ties to organized crime, and they were afraid of him.

Prayer Against Community Evil

Well, I'll tell you what happened. A friend of mine was a pastor at the time, and he was a godly man, and he was so overwrought over this wicked strip club and its evil influence over the city that he made a vow to God that he would fast and pray every day until God burned that strip club down.

Well, guess what happened, friends. One night, that fancy strip club burned to the ground. I'm telling you, friends, prayer works. There's power in prayer. When we get serious with God, all of heaven is unleashed on our behalf.

Manasseh's Repentance and Restoration

Well, let's get back to our text in 2 Chronicles and look at an amazing thing that happened. Old Wicked King Manasseh, the biggest sinner in town, gets saved. Look at verses 12 and 13. And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers and prayed unto him, and he was entreated of him and heard his supplication and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom.

Then Manasseh knew that the Lord, he was God. You know, friends, no one is so bad that they can't be saved. No matter how many sins you have committed, friend, no matter how big and terrible they are, there's enough mercy and grace at Calvary, enough spent blood of Christ Jesus to wash away the blackest sin.

God is in the business of saving big sinners. Jesus said, They that behold need not a physician, but they that are sick, but go ye and learn what that meaneth. I will have mercy and not sacrifice, for I am not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.

The Evidence of a Changed Life

You know, friends, one of the best indications of a person being saved is a changed life, that in their behavior, there's clear evidence of regeneration. Look at all the reformations Manasseh carried out when he got back to town.

And he took away the strange gods and the idol out of the house of the Lord and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the Lord and in Jerusalem and cast them out of the city. Well, that's what you do when you get saved, friend.

You get rid of your idols because self is dethroned and another is enthroned there, the Lord Jesus Christ. I know for a fact that God saves big sinners because he saved me. I know also, friends, that the gospel is not for the self-satisfied, but for the hungry of heart.

The Gospel Invitation to the Thirsty

The gospel is for the hungry, the weary, and the thirsty. Let me ask you, friend, are you hungry for God? Are you sick and tired of your sins? Are you thirsty for Christ, the only remedy for sin? The duty required is to come to Christ and believe on him.

Listen, friend, listen to this gospel invitation. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is the thirst come, and whosoever will. And that means you, friend, and whosoever will.

Let him take the water of life freely.