Ministry's Only Hope: Election (part 5) - [Ephesians 1:4ff]

I had a defining moment this week. I don't know if you've ever filled out a job application form, but I got to fill out one this week for Southern Seminary as they've asked me to be an adjunct faculty member in Northboro.

And sometimes they ask you about your educational background and job description. I remember they did that when I worked for the phone company. Well, this was one of the questions on the application for employment from Southern Seminary.

And it just made my day that they would ask. Article 5 sets forth a very clear statement of unconditional election. Do you affirm this statement of God's electing purpose? Have you ever had to try to get employment for a company where they would ask you, do you believe in unconditional election?

I responded, quote, I affirm unconditional election and this statement. Ephesians 1, 4 to 6 is clear that God chooses for himself, by himself, before eternity past, not based on any foreseen merit or faith, for his own pleasure, with a view toward the elect's future holiness and blamelessness.

In other words, Southern Seminary says do you believe it and will you teach it? Because if you don't believe it and you won't teach it, you cannot be hired at this Christian institution. Now, there's lots of things they could have asked and they asked about 25 questions.

But they picked that doctrine because it shows and displays, it manifests how great God is. It is a non-negotiable of the Christian faith. If you're a Christian at any amount of time, you begin to realize that God is sitting on a throne and he is majestic and he is sovereign and he does whatever he pleases.

I just love to preach that about God. I hope you like to listen to it. You might say, well, this is week five on election. How many preaching sermons will you preach? Well, George Whitefield in this area, matter of fact, preached, you must be born again, how many times?

10, 20, 100, 500, 1 ,000. George Whitefield preached 2 ,000 times on John 3, you must be born again. 2 ,000 sermons on that passage. And ask why he preached so many. His response was very good. Why do you preach so many sermons on you must be born again?

Because you must be born again, he said. Why so many sermons on election? Well, I want to exhaust the topic. I want to have you have all your objections may be answered. And I want you to see in just systematic formulation that God is a wonderful choosing God even though he never had to.

And it displays his grace like no other doctrine except the crucifixion of Christ Jesus. So if you have your Bibles and if you turn to Ephesians 1 this morning, I don't know when we'll be back into Matthew 5, but we are just stopping, pausing, thinking about the doctrine of election that God chooses for himself people out of the fallen human race.

He had the ability to choose everyone. He had the justice to not choose anyone. Yet he just chose some and the Bible teaches that and we really want to understand this this morning in part 5 of election, Ephesians 1, verses 4, 5, and 6.

God has a plan. He does everything with a reason and that includes salvation. Not just when we're saved, not just at Calvary, not just in glory, but also in eternity past, God chooses individuals for salvation.

Now the way we'll go about this is, as you know, 20 questions about election. And I think we're up to about 9 or 10. We'll probably only hit a few more today. Some are slower or faster, but I want to give you some review.

20 questions on election. The first 8 or 9 are review, but the way I like to do it is give you new information as we go. So don't tune out for the next 10 or 15 minutes because we'll give you new information on these questions that I've already asked and then answered.

And just to tip my hat a little bit, I'm having these questions set up in a way so they'll answer the objections that commonly come when people hear about election. In other words, when people hear about election, they say, well, what about this?

What about that? What about that? So I'm having those what-about questions as my outline. Question number one, in review, about sovereign election, a doctrine that affects almost everything we do, question number one, do you believe election is something for mature Christians only?

Is it for just the mature? Is it kind of a family secret? Sometimes we run in these parachurch organizations or campus ministries or kind of an ecumenical thing, and you would never hear or rarely hear the doctrine of election there because it's so divisive, supposedly.

But if you look at Ephesians 1, verse 1, Paul writes this book to the saints who were at Ephesus and other places who had received the letter, and he says in verses 4 and 5, choosing and predestining, saints need to know this.

All Christians need to know about election. God wants you to know about this doctrine. He wants you to know how you think, how you perceive Him being a God who sits on His throne. It's not just for the mature.

It's for everyone. Question number two, do you think election stifles praise? I mean, after all, it's kind of dull and it squashes and curbs and smothers and suppresses praise, doesn't it? If God's choosing, then we're just kind of fatalistic robots, and on the contrary, Paul, inspired by the Spirit of God, says in verse 4 of Ephesians 1, He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world.

Verse 5, He predestined us. Why? With this view, verse 6, to the what? To the praise of the glory of His grace. God is to be praised for election. God is to be praised because He's sovereign. Not God, how could you?

But God, why would you? Why would you choose me? J .I. Packer once said, amazing grace has become boring grace for many people. But when you get a hold of election, oh, it just does something to your soul because you think, God could have chosen anyone, why would He choose me?

People say, well, you know, I'm having a hard week, I need kind of a peppy, uppy kind of sermon that kind of gets me by and I just want to feel good and I need to be stroked a little bit. The best way that we can address those kind of ideas is to show you who God is and the focus becomes not on you anymore, or me, but on God.

Martin Lloyd-Jones wisely said, are you a miserable Christian feeling that the fight is too much for you? Are you at the point of giving up and giving in? You need to know the power that is working mightily in you.

The same power that brought Christ from the dead. What we need is not an experience, but to realize what we are and who we are. And then he says with just great succinctness, what God has done in Christ and the way He blessed us.

We need to realize our privileges. That's right, that will elicit praise. That will make you think, you know, I know I've had a rough go at it this week or this month or this year, but I need to be focused on God.

That's what election will do. Number three, do you think that all Christians believe in election? After all, it's for every Christian, election is. It elicits praise. Number three, do you believe that all Christians believe it?

What's the answer? Well, they have to. It's just how do you define election? Because it's right there in the text and many other places. All Christians believe in election. We either believe in election conditioned on what man would do in the future or conditioned on what God did in the past.

People say, what's God's plan of salvation? His plan of salvation starts with a plan and that plan is election. Number four, still in review. When do you believe election took place? This has just warmed me in this cold, snowy week.

Just pondering this. When did election take place? November 4th? No. When I got saved? No. Ephesians 1 .4 is simply and directly stating this very fact. That He chose us. Do you see it? It's right there in your Bible.

How can you get rid of it? Before the foundation of the world. Can you imagine? No light. No sun. No moon. No stars. No angels. No nothing. And God, the triune God, has a plan of salvation that starts by the Father saying, even though I know they are not worthy of me choosing them, I select them for me.

I love them ahead of time. That is mind-boggling to me. God ordains this. The individual doesn't ordain himself before the foundation of the world. No opportunity to be good or bad even. Number five.

Do you believe election is based on a person's faith? Do you believe election is based on a person's faith? And even if you see the text there in verse 4, again in review, it says that we were chosen before the foundation of the world not because we were holy and blameless, not because we believed, not because we repented, but that we would be, with an eye towards this, that we would be holy, implying we weren't, that we would be blameless, implying that we weren't, before Him.

God just compels us with this, as Kittel said, irresistible superiority. He chooses us not because of what we did, what we thought, what we believed. Faith is a gift, Philippians 1 .29. Repentance is a gift, Acts 11.

Then to the Gentiles God hath granted repentance. You're not saved because of repentance. You're not saved because of faith. Let me just kind of ruffle it up a little bit here. If you believe you're saved because of your faith, you believe in a different gospel.

You don't believe... You're not saved because of anything in you, on account... The text in Ephesians 2 is clear as well. You are saved by grace, true or false? Because of faith. You are saved by grace on account of faith, true or false?

You are saved by grace, what? Through faith. And even that faith and all of salvation, it's not of yourself. We are not saved by our own faith. We are saved by the grace of God, and as a fruit of that salvation, we believe.

You say, well, what about foreknowledge? And we talked in depth about God foreknows people. He doesn't foreknow what they do or think or act. God, ahead of time, sets His love on those people. Amazingly.

You say, well, why do people go around saying that salvation is all about man choosing Christ? It's just easier that way. And in that particular case, faith is not God's gift to man, it's man's gift to God.

Whose faith is sovereign? Well, let's keep going. I just have to stop because I feel like I want to just preach this sermon again, and you're saying, yes, you already preached this sermon. I know. Just trying to review.

Number six, do you view election as unloving? I mean, how unloving is that if God picks some? Some kind of indiscriminate picking? No, what's the motive of election? Verse four, last two words. In love.

Verse five, same sentence. He what? Predestined us. It's undeniable. It's crystal clear. This is the cause. Faith is not the cause of salvation. What is the cause of salvation? God's love. Number seven, is your view of election impersonal and sterile?

I mean, come on. God is just choosing and picking. It's some kind of wrapped up in some kind of medically sealed deal. No way. Look at what it says. Verse five, He predestined us to what? Adoption as sons.

Is there anything more personal than adoption? People who slander election forget about these verses. Number eight, is your view of election grace-based? Do you see Ephesians 1 .6? To the praise of the glory of what?

His grace, which He freely bestowed, are graced. Say, God's not fair. Election's not fair. True or false? Is God just? God is just in all He does. True. Genesis 18, shall not the judge of the earth deal what?

Justly? Deuteronomy 32, the rock, His work is perfect, for all His ways are just. He's a God of faithfulness and without injustice. Righteous and upright is He. We are saved by God's predetermined counsel that's all motivated out of love and grace.

Remember John Newton? John Newton had an epitaph. And this was what was on his grave, written by his own hand. Can you tell me if this is grace-based or not? John Newton, the writer of Amazing Grace, slave trader and owner who then became a slave himself.

John Newton, clerk, once an infidel and libertine, was by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the faith He had long labored to destroy.

What a good testimony of grace! God did it all. Did you see those words? He didn't say, I accepted, I believed, I repented, I'm the one who had enough wit and wisdom to choose you, God. By the way, on a side note, when you give a personal testimony, would you say the great things about God and use God as the active person in your sentence and you as the passive one?

And be like A. Paul and B. John Newton? Here's what God did for me. That's what I call a testimony. Versus, you know, here's how me and God, you know, God's my co-pilot, He's my co-buddy, and God did this, and then I did this, and back and forth.

Here is God, and He saved, He redeemed, He propitiated, He was raised from the dead, He ascended, He did it all, and my response to His great salvation was what? My contribution was sin, my response was, I believed.

We forget that everyone deserves hell, and the question of somehow God being unfair should be redirected and rerouted and asked instead, why does not God destroy all? Number nine, do you believe an unbeliever's will is totally free?

I mean, here we go. So far, this week and the last few weeks, I've gotten mainly positive responses to the sermon series. A few I've got a question, a few maybe upset, but mostly positively. And I think if you understand this section, it will help, because if God chooses, what does that do to my will?

How can I have a will if God chooses? That's a big question and a fair question. How should we think about the will of man, the will of a woman who would not be believers? If you mean free will, says that a person who has a nature of an unbeliever can freely choose anything that that nature will allow.

In other words, they can choose any kind of sin they'd like. I believe in that kind of free will, do you? Freely choosing according to your nature. But if you mean freely choosing without any external influence, Satan, without any internal influence, sin, and without any external influence, God, then I don't believe in that kind of free will.

It just depends on how you define it. Man, unbelieving man, enslaved to sin, is not free to choose good or evil. He will always choose evil. When you're free, you have the ability to do something, and there's no obstacle or barrier to prevent you from doing it.

And you are free from something and free to do something. But unbelieving man is enslaved by sin. His sin has made him a bond-servant to sin. And he needs to have somebody come and take the shackles off.

And if you believe freedom is from all causation, then you are a theological libertarian. And you basically think you can choose anything you want, freely, without any cause. We have names for those kind of people, and their names are people like Pelagius, Socinius, Arminius, open theists.

Jesus even said, didn't he, that people choose good out of the desires of their good heart, or they choose wickedly out of the desires of their what? Wicked heart. And you say, how can that be? How can that happen?

Let me ask you this question. Let's just cut to the chase. This is so good. Does God need someone's permission before He can change that person's heart? Does God need to have the unbeliever's permission?

May I please change your heart before you, you know, allow me the privilege of changing your heart? You know, Simon says, mother may I, whatever it might be. He needs no permission. The king's heart, true or false, is in the hand of the Lord.

He is sovereign over the human heart. God is sovereign over the will. So much so that I could prove it this way. And I will harden Pharaoh's heart and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.

And Pharaoh's heart grew hard and he did not heed them as the Lord had said. Totally accountable, yet God hardened his heart. And if you think men have free will in salvation, then please be logically consistent because men and women will have free will when it comes to losing that salvation that they supposedly freely came up with.

And by the way, sometimes people are forced against their will. Yes? No? Well, I know on Judgment Day there will be people who will not want to stand before the bar of God's judgment because they have no Christ's righteousness cloaking them.

And they will be forced against their will to stand before God and they will be forced against their will to bow on their knees and confess Jesus as Lord. But the good thing for Christians is when God saves us, He doesn't grab us by the hair like some caveman would a proverbial cavewoman and drag us along.

I remember back in the days in Los Angeles, Daryl Gates was the police commissioner and he had this kind of this crack mobile. It wasn't his personal crack mobile, but it was this like tank and it would go into these crack houses in South Central LA, bust down the door and then the policeman would jump out and take care of everyone.

Is that how God saves people? Well, that's not how God saves people. Here's what He does. He grabs them as it were and gives them a new nature. And that new nature says, you know what? I didn't like God before, but I love Him now.

I thought Christ was kind of a good person, but now He's my Savior. As Edward says, He's sweet, He's kind, He's lovely. God doesn't force people against their will. He gives them a new nature and that nature tied to the will goes, I freely believe, I freely love.

Number 10, as all introduction. Do you believe election inhibits evangelism or is it an incentive to evangelize? We started talking last week that election is not exclusive of means. In other words, God ordains the ends who get saved and how they get saved, by praying and by preaching.

We may never think that because preaching and prayer are commanded that somehow God isn't ultimately sovereign. It's a both and, not an either or. That's why when William Carey, as I said last week, was told, I found the exact quote, he was told when he wanted to go be an evangelist, a missionary, sit down, young man.

When God is pleased to convert the heathen, He'll do it without your aid or mine. Is that true? That guy believed election so much, he forgot about the rest of the part of the Bible. Where the rest of the part of the Bible is, faith comes by hearing a message about Christ.

You have to believe in both. I believe in election and responsibility to evangelize. And this encourages me, by the way, because my inadequacies as an evangelist are overridden. Who's the perfect evangelist around here?

May I dare to say that even Thomas wasn't a perfect evangelist? Peter was not a perfect evangelist? D. James Kennedy's not a perfect evangelist? Roy Comfort's not a perfect evangelist? How do we evangelize people when we are imperfect?

I love it because this overwhelming task, the salvation of people, does not depend on us. God has His chosen ones and He uses fragile clay pots, like you and like me, to allow the Spirit of God to work through that preaching.

Does it depend on how clear and cogent we present the Gospel? How persuasive we are? No, because we can't give dead people life. We can't convince sinners of the truth. The sovereignty of God, His grace, is our only hope of salvation.

What if you didn't believe in election? Here's what I would do. I would not know where to start when it comes to evangelism, but now I believe in election. It keeps my job simple. What's my job if I believe in election?

God ordains those to salvation. He ordains the means by the preaching of the Gospel. Therefore, I must what? Preach the Gospel. It's simple. My job is to be an errand boy for God. Here's what the Bible says.

Sow the Word. I can't lead someone to Christ. I can't talk them into it. I can't convert them. I can't do anything except say, Here, I have no formula. I have no technique. I have nothing except here's the Gospel of God's grace and here's the wonder of Christ.

You must believe. What if you had to preach this message? Turn to Mark 8 for a minute. I want to let you know that if you don't believe in election, you are not going to be able to preach this sermon about salvation.

Now, if salvation is accept Jesus in your heart and live the way you want, then you could preach that. But, if this is the Gospel demands that Jesus Himself gives, here's how Jesus preaches the Gospel.

I wonder how it matches up with what we preach. And I'm going to tip my hat ahead of time. If you believe in election, you can preach this to your friends and family. If you don't, you're going to cut corners and you're going to contour this because it is too harsh, too demanding, too exclusive, too narrow.

But it's the only message we preach. Here's how Jesus preaches the Gospel. And I call them three impossible demands for salvation. They're like spiritual gut checks. Here's how Jesus preaches. Mark 8, 34.

There's nothing like it. We talk a lot about friendship evangelism. Here's Jesus' friendship evangelism because Jesus is a friend of sinners and He tells them the truth. How to lose friends evangelism.

I'm not saying we have to beat people up, but I'm saying you've got to tell them the truth. And the elect will do what? Respond! I just keep preaching, figuring one of these days I'm going to run into an elect person who hasn't believed yet, and God's going to use me to save that person.

Not me that saves, but He's going to use me, shorthand, to have the Gospel go through me, to hymn God, save the person. And by the way, I don't know about you, I probably should have more tick marks in the front of my Bible than all of you because I'm the pastor, obviously, and I get paid to be good and you're good for nothing, but on this, I have no tick marks in the front of my Bible.

I have not saved one person. I've not led one person to the Lord by the common designation. I've preached a lot and people have responded through my frail person. I don't have a one. If I don't have a one, how are you going to get any?

Especially with this Gospel. You're going to get them because God is sovereign. Matter of fact, I'm going to talk about this in a couple of Sunday nights. When you think about the plan of God, I think about if, then, flow chart, computer kind of language, all coming to the end result.

God doesn't use the word plural when it comes to His mind, decrees. He uses the word singular. God has one decree, and that one decree contains every bit of information, all human history, everything in a single decree.

Now, does that blow your mind? It does mine. God is not, well, if this happens, then that, and then this, and roadblock, recheck, flat tire, better do this instead. Here's the decree. And the decree is God chooses, and the decree is God commands to preach.

And here's how Jesus preached, and if you don't believe in election, you can't preach like this because people don't respond. Who wants this kind of preaching? I mean, this is awesome. Mark 8, 34, and He summoned the multitude with His disciples and said to them, if anyone, not just you 12, wishes to come after me, here's Jesus' three-point sermon, three demands, three spiritual gut checks.

Let him, A, deny himself, B, take up his cross, C, follow me. Let's just look at those for a minute. What's the first demand? It's right from the text. How does Jesus preach discipleship? How does Jesus preach following Him?

How does Jesus say, here's what you have to do to follow me? He doesn't say God will work it out. He gives them the commands. And the first one is demand number one, the person that wants to believe Christ must deny himself.

Notice the text. No options. No exceptions. No exclusions. These are imperatives. This must be done. And this does not mean lent. I'm going to deny myself something. By the way, that's just the most stupid thing I've ever heard of in my life.

I'm denying myself something for lent? What good does that do to the cross? It's the cross plus nothing. Plus me not eating turkey for six weeks? I mean, please. If you want to give up some food, do it for your health, but don't do it for the sake of the cross.

When Jesus says deny yourself, he doesn't say deny yourself cranberry sauce and dark chocolate. He says deny yourself you. When it comes to you, I want to promote myself. I want to push myself. He's talking to unbelievers.

I want to have the agenda of myself. Jesus says you want to follow me? I'm the eternal God. Here's your agenda. Deny who you are at your very core. Now try telling someone that if you don't believe God's sovereign.

You don't believe God's choosing people in eternity past, because no one buys that. No one. In the day and age of self-esteem, feeling good, self-centeredness, self-fulfillment. And Jesus basically says this, when it comes to you following me, say no to you.

All your hopes, all your dreams, all your aspirations, you as a person, you as your life plans, you as your goals, everything. You want to be my disciple? It costs you you. Who follows that? That is amazing to me.

Denial of self. You have yourself as an object of your own life's goals and dreams and that needs to be ceased. All the idolatry of self-centeredness, done. Not denying things here, but denying self at all costs.

Well, that hurts my self-esteem. It's supposed to. Self-esteem is sinful. In the last days, 2 Timothy chapter 3 says, people will be number one on the resume, lovers of self. Now, what I don't mean, because I might get the letters on this one, I don't mean you should go around and cut yourself.

I don't mean that at all. I don't mean, you know, every time your kid does something good or bad, you know, you just beat him down. But I am saying this, when Jesus says in Mark chapter 8 verse 32, verse 34, if you want to follow Him, He says you have to deny yourself.

That means you say, there's nothing good in me. I might have self-esteem compared to other people, but compared to God, God's holy, I'm sinful, and I, what am I going to do? Contribute my sinful person to Jesus?

When I've got sin, and I've got original sin, and Adam is my father, I need to have myself done with, kaput, over, and that's when He goes into demand number two. Not just denying self, but here's the second demand.

You want to be a gospel preacher? This is your message. We have no other message to give about Jesus. We tell people who He is, and then we tell people what He demands. And these are three of His demands.

Deny self, demand number two, take up His cross. This is not bearing your cross, i .e., your nagging spouse. That's not what this would be. I have a cross to bear. Some kind of trouble, or irritation, or kid, or relationship, or financial thing.

That's my cross. I have to bear my cross. The problem comes is because we're not Jewish in our thinking. We're not 2 ,000 years ago in our thinking. We're not Eastern in our thinking. What would they think about in those days if you had to take up your cross?

Remember, our society today, we can't even give people capital punishment. There will be a day in America where capital punishment will be out. Who cares about Genesis 9 -6, about shedding men's blood?

They should have it done to them. Romans 13. They don't care about those things. In these days, though, the Bible days, the criminal, the condemned criminal was led through the streets carrying the cross.

It was public. It was grim. And He knew at the end of that road it was going to be crucifixion. And He was to abandon how many hopes? What will I do next weekend? Everybody's working for the weekend. What about my kids?

What about my grandkids? They were done. It was over. And Jesus is saying here, you want to follow me? Good. Then you have to be willing to go to the point of death if God seems to think that's necessary.

One man said, if anyone wishes to come after me, let him be prepared to be led out to public execution following my example. Best thing that ever happened in the church in America is if there were suffering and persecution because we'd find out really who was real believers.

We wouldn't have a seating problem anymore. Right? Who were the real believers? Even if they did something simple. When you walk in, the IRS agent is standing there and he wants to know your social security number if you come in.

That would take care of a lot of this. Jesus has these demands that are impossible to hurdle except for the grace of God. Did you get that? When you preach this gospel, it's impossible to do, but for God.

Be willing to join Christ's ranks of the despised and the doomed and the executed ones. Take up the cross. By the way, some of His disciples you know, according to legend, Peter was crucified upside down.

Andrew died on a cross in a Grecian colony. James, the younger brother of Christ, was thrown from the pinnacle of the temple. Bartholomew was skinned alive in Armenia. James, the elder son of Zebedee, beheaded in Jerusalem.

Thomas, the doubter, was run through the body with a lance in the East Indies. Philip was hanged against a pillar at Absinia. Thaddeus was shot to death with arrows and Simon died on a cross in Iran. Whatever it takes up to death, do you still want to follow me?

The Nicene Council was a council that talked about Christian doctrine and in the 4th century AD, 318 people showed up for this council. Fewer than 12 had not lost an eye or lost a hand or did not limp on a leg lamed by torture for their Christian faith.

306 had something happen to their physical body for following Christ. Whatever God gives, you take up to and including death. And thirdly, look at this one, found in the same verse. Deny self, take up the cross, and a person who wants to follow Jesus Christ or love Him or be a disciple will, just to let Jesus speak, follow Him.

How do we preach that? Why isn't it just, you know, believe this in your heart and just run around and do whatever you want? Literally, here it means to come after me. In the old days, the rabbi would be sought out by pupils.

Here, Jesus, the rabbi, seeks out His people. I'd be remiss if I didn't give you this quote. It's been said that some people preach the gospel so poorly that the non-elect don't have sense enough to reject it.

Some people preach the gospel so low that the non-elect, people that don't even, couldn't even be a Christian, don't have enough sense to go, you know what, I can't do that. Now, it's a hypothetical question and, of course, I didn't say that.

I said someone else said that. But the idea here is, here's the gospel and it's so high that God only graces the elect to jump over it. And if it's me being the evangelist, I want people saved. And I tend to cut the corners a little bit because this is an offensive gospel.

I love it that election makes me bold. When people say no to me, Paul got saved, didn't he? And who was a more bitter opponent of the gospel? Eventually, Paul said yes because of God. And as J .I. Packer said, you are not on a fool's errand when you preach the gospel because you know no one can be too hard or hopeless because if God in eternity past has chosen them, they will believe.

I like election because when I evangelize, it keeps me biblical. It keeps me biblical. Now, for those of you that don't believe in election or you don't believe in my discussion about the bondage of the will, how do you pray for your unbelieving friends?

Do you pray for your unbelieving friends? Probably yes. Unbelieving family. Now, how do you pray for these people? And I would just like to say that when you get down on your knees and you pray for your unbelieving family, you pray like someone who believes God is in charge of their will.

If I was a betting man, hadn't been to Las Vegas for a long time, I used to have to go there every two weeks for work. All the wagering there. 98 .6 returns or whatever all those things are. I guess that's the human temperature of the body.

But if I win my bet, I'll give at least 10 of those millions to the church. When you pray for your unbelieving friends, you pray like somebody who A, believes in election, B, believes in the sovereignty of God, and C, believes in the unadulterated grace of God.

I know you do. Or do you pray this way? God, you know, you bow your head. I know that the sole determining factor for this person, this mother of mine to be saved, is her own free will. So God, I don't want you to somehow coerce her.

I don't want you to do what 1 Peter 1 says about causing her to be born again. I really want to ask your help, but I know you really can't help because it's up to them to do what they need to do so then you can work.