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019 - Ch 11 Difficulties and Objections part 2 · Sovereignty of God

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  Speaker 1: Chapter eleven, Part two of Sovereignty of God. This is
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  Speaker 1: a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
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  Speaker 1: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
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  Speaker 1: Recording by Genrai Mundo. Sovereignty of God by Arthur Pink,
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  Speaker 1: Chapter eleven, Part two. Turning now to John three sixteen,
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  Speaker 1: it should be evident from the passages just quoted that
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  Speaker 1: this verse will not bear the construction usually put upon it.
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  Speaker 1: God so loved the world. Many suppose that this means
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  Speaker 1: the entire human race. But the entire human race includes
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  Speaker 1: all mankind from Adam till the close of Earth's history.
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  Speaker 1: It reaches backward as well as forward. Consider then, the
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  Speaker 1: history of mankind before Christ was born Unnumbered. Millions lived
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  Speaker 1: and died before the Savior came to the Earth, lived
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  Speaker 1: here having no hope and without God in the world,
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  Speaker 1: and therefore passed out into an eternity of woe. If
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  Speaker 1: God loved them, where's the slightest proof thereof? Scripture declares
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  Speaker 1: who God in times passed from the Tower of Babble
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  Speaker 1: till after Pentecost suffered all nations to walk in their
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  Speaker 1: own ways. Acts Chapter fourteen, verse sixteen. Scripture declares that
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  Speaker 1: and even as they did not like to retain God
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  Speaker 1: in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate
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  Speaker 1: mind to do those things which are not convenient. Romans
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  Speaker 1: Chapter one, verse twenty eight. To Israel, God said, you
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  Speaker 1: only have I known of all the families of the earth.
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  Speaker 1: Aimos chapter three, verse two. In view of these plain passages,
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  Speaker 1: who will be so foolish as to insist that God
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  Speaker 1: in the past loved all mankind? The same applies with
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  Speaker 1: equal force to the future. Read through the Book of Revelation,
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  Speaker 1: noting especially chapters eight to nineteen, where we have described
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  Speaker 1: the judgments which will be poured out from Heaven on
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  Speaker 1: this earth. Read of the fearful woes, the frightful plagues,
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  Speaker 1: the vials of God's wrath which shall be emptied on
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  Speaker 1: the wicked. Finally, read the twentieth chapter of the Revelation,
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  Speaker 1: the Great White Throne of Judgment, and see if you
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  Speaker 1: can discover there the slightest trace of love. But the
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  Speaker 1: objective comes back to John three sixteen and says, world
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  Speaker 1: means world true. But we have shown that the world
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  Speaker 1: does not mean the whole human family. The fact is
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  Speaker 1: that the world is used in a general way. When
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  Speaker 1: the brethren of Christ said, show thyself to the world.
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  Speaker 1: John chapter seven, verse four, did they mean show thyself
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  Speaker 1: to all mankind? When the Pharisees said, behold, the world
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  Speaker 1: is gone after him? John chapter twelve, verse nineteen, did
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  Speaker 1: they mean that all the human family were flocking after him?
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  Speaker 1: When the apostle wrote, your faith is spoken of throughout
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  Speaker 1: the whole world Romans chapter one, first eight, did he
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  Speaker 1: mean that the faith of the saints at Rome was
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  Speaker 1: the subject of conversation by every man, woman, and child
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  Speaker 1: on earth. When Revelation chapter thirteen, verse three informs us
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  Speaker 1: that all the world wondered after the beast, are we
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  Speaker 1: to understand that there will be no exceptions? These and
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  Speaker 1: other passages which might be quoted, show that the term
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  Speaker 1: the world often has a relative rather than an absolute force. Now,
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  Speaker 1: the first thing to note in connection with John three
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  Speaker 1: sixteen is that our Lord was there speaking to Nicodemus,
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  Speaker 1: a man who believed that God's mercies were confined to
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  Speaker 1: his own nation. Christ there announced that God's love in
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  Speaker 1: giving his son had a larger object in view, that
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  Speaker 1: it flowed beyond the boundary of Palestine, reaching out to
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  Speaker 1: regions beyond. In other words, this was Christ's announcement that
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  Speaker 1: God had a purpose of grace toward gentiles as well
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  Speaker 1: as Jews. God so loved the world, then signifies God's
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  Speaker 1: love is international in its scope. But does this mean
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  Speaker 1: that God loves every individual among the gentiles? Not necessarily,
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  Speaker 1: For as we have seen, the term world is general
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  Speaker 1: rather than specific, relative rather than absolute. The term world
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  Speaker 1: in itself is not conclusive to a certain Who are
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  Speaker 1: the objects of God's love? Other passages where his love
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  Speaker 1: is mentioned must be consulted. In tewod Peter chapter two,
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  Speaker 1: verse five, we read of the world of the ungodly.
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  Speaker 1: If then there is a world of the ungodly, there
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  Speaker 1: must also be a world of the godly. It is
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  Speaker 1: the latter who are in view in the passages we
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  Speaker 1: shall now briefly consider. For the bread of God is
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  Speaker 1: he which cometh down from Heaven and giveth life unto
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  Speaker 1: the world. John chapter six, verse thirty three. Now mark
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  Speaker 1: it well. Christ did not say offereth life into the world,
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  Speaker 1: but giveth. What is the difference between the two terms.
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  Speaker 1: This a thing which is offered may be refused, but
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  Speaker 1: a thing given necessarily implies its acceptance. If it is
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  Speaker 1: not accepted, it is not given. It is simply proffered.
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  Speaker 1: Here then is a scripture that positively states Christ giveth
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  Speaker 1: life spiritual eternal life unto the world. Now he does
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  Speaker 1: not give the eternal life to the world of the ungodly,
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  Speaker 1: for they will not have it they do not want it. Hence,
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  Speaker 1: we are obliged to understand the reference in John chapter six,
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  Speaker 1: verse thirty three as being to the world of the
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  Speaker 1: godly as in God's own people. One more, in Second
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  Speaker 1: Corinthians chapter five, verse nineteen, we read to wit that
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  Speaker 1: God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. What
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  Speaker 1: is meant by this is clearly defined in the words
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  Speaker 1: immediately following, not imputing their trespasses unto them. Here again,
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  Speaker 1: the world cannot mean the world of being godly, for
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  Speaker 1: their trespasses are imputed to them, as the judgment of
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  Speaker 1: the Great White Throne will yet show that. Second Corinthians,
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  Speaker 1: chapter five, verse nineteen plainly teaches there is a world
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  Speaker 1: which are reconciled, reconciled into God because their trespasses are
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  Speaker 1: not reckoned to their account, having been borne by their
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  Speaker 1: substitute who then are they? Only one answer is fairly possible,
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  Speaker 1: the world of God's people in like manner the world
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  Speaker 1: in John three sixteen must, in the final analysis, refer
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  Speaker 1: to the world of God's people. Must we say, for
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  Speaker 1: there is no other alternative solution. It cannot mean the
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  Speaker 1: whole human race, for one half of the race was
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  Speaker 1: already in hell when Christ came to Earth. It is
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  Speaker 1: unfair to insist that it means every human being now living,
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  Speaker 1: for every other passage in the New Testament where God's
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  Speaker 1: love is mentioned limits it to his own people. Search
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  Speaker 1: and see. The objects of God's love in John three
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  Speaker 1: sixteen are precisely the same as the objects of Christ's
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  Speaker 1: love in John chapter thirteen, verse one. Now before the
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  Speaker 1: feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour
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  Speaker 1: was come, that he should depart out of this world,
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  Speaker 1: and too the Father, having loved his own which were
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  Speaker 1: in the world, he loved them unto the end. We
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  Speaker 1: may admit that our interpretation of John three sixteen is
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  Speaker 1: no novel, one invented by us, but one almost uniformly
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  Speaker 1: given by the Reformers and the Puritans and many others
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  Speaker 1: since then. Footnote for a further discussion of John three
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  Speaker 1: sixteen see Appendix three and a footnote. Coming now to
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  Speaker 1: Chapter three, the sovereignty of God and salvation. Innumerable are
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  Speaker 1: the questions which might be raised here. It is strange,
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  Speaker 1: yet it is true that many who acknowledge the sovereign
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  Speaker 1: rule of God over material things will cavil and quibble
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  Speaker 1: when we insist that God is also sovereign in the
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  Speaker 1: spiritual realm. But their quarrel is with God and not
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  Speaker 1: with us. We have given scripture in support of everything
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  Speaker 1: advanced in these pages, and if that will not satisfy
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  Speaker 1: our readers, it is idle for us to seek to
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  Speaker 1: convince them. What we write now is designed for those
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  Speaker 1: who do bow to the authority of Holy Writ, and
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  Speaker 1: for their benefit we propose to examine several other scriptures
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  Speaker 1: which have purposely been held for this chapter. Perhaps the
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  Speaker 1: one passage which has presented the greatest difficulty to those
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  Speaker 1: who have seen that passage after passage in Holy Writ
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  Speaker 1: plainly teaches the election of a limited number unto salvation
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  Speaker 1: is Second Peter, Chapter three, verse nine, not willing that
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  Speaker 1: any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
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  Speaker 1: The first thing to be said upon the above passage
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  Speaker 1: is that, like all other scripture, it must be understood
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  Speaker 1: and interpreted in the light of its context. What we
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  Speaker 1: have quoted in the preceding paragraph is only part of
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  Speaker 1: the verse, and the last part of it. That surely
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  Speaker 1: it must be allowed by all that the first half
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  Speaker 1: of the verse needs to be taken into consideration in
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  Speaker 1: order to establish what these words are supposed by many
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  Speaker 1: to mean. In effect, that the words any and all
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  Speaker 1: are to be received without any qualification. It must be
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  Speaker 1: shown that the contexts referring to the whole human race.
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  Speaker 1: If this cannot be shown, if there is no premise
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  Speaker 1: to justify this, then the conclusion also must be unwarranted.
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  Speaker 1: Let us then ponder the first part of the verse.
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  Speaker 1: The Lord is not slack concerning his promise note promise
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  Speaker 1: in the singular number, not promises. What promises in view
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  Speaker 1: the promise of salvation? Where in all scripture has God
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  Speaker 1: ever promise to save the whole human race? Where indeed no,
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  Speaker 1: the promise here referred to is not about salvation, What
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  Speaker 1: then is it The context tells us, knowing this first,
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  Speaker 1: that there shall come in the last day's scoffers walking
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  Speaker 1: after their own lusts, and saying where is the promise
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  Speaker 1: of his coming Verses three and four. The context then
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  Speaker 1: refers to God's promises to send back his beloved son.
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  Speaker 1: But many long sentries have passed, and this promise has
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  Speaker 1: not yet been fulfilled. True, but long as the delay
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  Speaker 1: may seem to us, the interval is short. In the
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  Speaker 1: Reckoning of God. As the proof of this, we are reminded,
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  Speaker 1: but beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that
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  Speaker 1: one day is with the Lord as a thousand years,
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  Speaker 1: and a thousand years as one day Verse eight. In
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  Speaker 1: God's Reckoning of Time, less than two days have yet
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  Speaker 1: passed since he promised to send back Christ. But more,
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  Speaker 1: the delay in the Father sending back his beloved son
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  Speaker 1: is not only due to no slackness on his part,
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  Speaker 1: but it is also occasioned by his long suffering. His
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  Speaker 1: long suffering to whom the verse we are now considering
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  Speaker 1: tells us, but his long suffering to us word? And
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  Speaker 1: whom are the Us word, the human race, or God's
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  Speaker 1: own people. In the light of the context, this is
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  Speaker 1: not an open question upon which each of us is
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  Speaker 1: free to form an opinion. The Holy Spirit has defined it.
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  Speaker 1: The opening verse of the chapter says this second epistle, beloved,
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  Speaker 1: I now write unto you, and again the verse immediately
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  Speaker 1: preceding declares, but beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing,
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  Speaker 1: et cetera, Verse eight. The US word, then are the
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  Speaker 1: beloved of God. They to whom this epistle is addressed
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  Speaker 1: are them that have obtained, not exercised, but obtained as
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  Speaker 1: God's sovereign gift, like precious faith with us through the
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  Speaker 1: righteousness of God and our savior, Jesus Christ. Second Peter,
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  Speaker 1: Chapter one, Verse one. Therefore, we say there is no
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  Speaker 1: room for a doubt, a quibble, or an argument. The
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  Speaker 1: usword are the elect of God. Let us now quote
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  Speaker 1: the verse as a whole. The Lord is not slack
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  Speaker 1: concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is
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  Speaker 1: long suffering to us word, not willing that any should perish,
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  Speaker 1: but that all should come to repentance. Could anything be
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  Speaker 1: clearer the inny that God is not willing should perish.
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  Speaker 1: Are the usward to whom God is long suffering. The
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  Speaker 1: beloved of the previous verses. Second Peter Chapter three, Verses
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  Speaker 1: nine means then that God will not send back his
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  Speaker 1: son until the fullness of the gentiles be come. In
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  Speaker 1: Romans chapter eleven, verse twenty five. God will not send
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  Speaker 1: back Christ till that people whom he is now taking
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  Speaker 1: out of the gentiles Et chapter fifteen, verse fourteen are
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  Speaker 1: gathered in. God will not send back his son till
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  Speaker 1: the body of Christ is complete, and that will not
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  Speaker 1: be till the ones whom He has elected to be
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  Speaker 1: saved in this dispensation shall have been brought to him.
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  Speaker 1: Thank God for his long suffering to Usward had Christ
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  Speaker 1: come back twenty years ago, the writer had been left
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  Speaker 1: to perish in his sins. But that could not be so.
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  Speaker 1: God graciously delayed the second Coming for the same reason
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  Speaker 1: he is still delaying his advent. His decreed purpose is
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  Speaker 1: that all his elect will come to repentance, and repent
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  Speaker 1: they shall. The present interval of grace will not end
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  Speaker 1: until the last of the other sheep of John chapter ten,
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  Speaker 1: verse sixteen are safely folded. Then will Christ return. In
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  Speaker 1: expounding the sovereignty of God the Spirit and Salvation, we
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  Speaker 1: have shown that his power is irresistible, that by his
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  Speaker 1: gracious operations upon and within them, he compels God's elect
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  Speaker 1: to come to Christ. The sovereignty of the Holy Spirit
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  Speaker 1: is set forth, not only in John chapter three, verse eight,
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  Speaker 1: where we are told the wind bloweth where it pleaseth,
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  Speaker 1: so is everyone that is born of the Spirit, but
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  Speaker 1: is afformed in other passages as well. In verse Corinthians
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  Speaker 1: chapter twelve, verse eleven, we read, but all these worketh
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  Speaker 1: that one and the self same Spirit, dividing to every
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  Speaker 1: man severally as he will. And again we read in
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  Speaker 1: Acts chapter sixteen, verses six through seven. Now, when they
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  Speaker 1: had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and
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  Speaker 1: were forbidden of the Holy Spirit to preach the Word
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  Speaker 1: in Asia. After they were come to Misia, they essayed
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  Speaker 1: to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit suffered them not.
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  Speaker 1: Thus we see how the Holy Spirit interposed his imperial
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  Speaker 1: will in opposition to the determination of the apostles. But
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  Speaker 1: it is objected against the assertion that the will and
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  Speaker 1: power of the Holy Spirit are irresistible. That here are
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  Speaker 1: two passages, one in the Old Testament and the other
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  Speaker 1: in the New, which appeared to militate against such a conclusion.
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  Speaker 1: God said of old, my Spirit shall not always strive
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  Speaker 1: with man Genesis chapter six, verse three. And to the Jews,
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  Speaker 1: Stephen declared, ye, stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears,
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  Speaker 1: Ye do always resist the Holy Spirit, as your fathers did.
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  Speaker 1: So do ye, which are the prophets? Have not your
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  Speaker 1: fathers persecuted? X Chapter seven, Verses fifty one and fifty two.
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  Speaker 1: If then the Jews resisted the Holy Spirit, how can
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  Speaker 1: we say his powers irresistible? The answer is found in
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  Speaker 1: Neemiah chapter nine, verse thirty Many years didst thou forbear
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  Speaker 1: them and testified as against them by thy Spirit in
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  Speaker 1: thy prophets? Yet would they not give ear? It was
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  Speaker 1: the external operations of the Spirit which Israel resisted. It
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  Speaker 1: was the Spirit speaking by and through the prophets to
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  Speaker 1: which they would not give ear. It was not anything
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  Speaker 1: which the Holy Spirit wrought in them that they resisted,
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  Speaker 1: but the motives presented to them by the inspired messages
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  Speaker 1: of the prophets. Perhaps it will help the reader to
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  Speaker 1: capture thought better if we compare Matthew chapter eleven, verses
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  Speaker 1: twenty through twenty four. Then began he to upbraid the
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  Speaker 1: cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because
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  Speaker 1: they repented, not woe unto thee Chorisen et cetera. Our
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  Speaker 1: Lord here pronounces woe upon these cities for their failure
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  Speaker 1: to repent because of the mighty works miracles which He
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  Speaker 1: had done in their sight, and not because of any
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  Speaker 1: internal operations of His grace. The same is true of
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  Speaker 1: Genesis chapter six, verse three. By comparing First Peter chapter three,
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  Speaker 1: verses eighteen through twenty, it will be seen that it
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  Speaker 1: was by and through Noah that God's spirit strove with
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  Speaker 1: the Antediluvians. The distinction noted above was ably summarized by
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  Speaker 1: Andrew Fuller, another writer long deceased, from whom our moderns
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  Speaker 1: might learn much. Thus, there are two kinds of influences
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  Speaker 1: by which God works on the minds of men, That
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  Speaker 1: which is common and which is affected by the ordinary
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  Speaker 1: use of motives presented to the mind for consideration. Secondly,
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  Speaker 1: that which is special and supernatural. The one contains nothing mysterious,
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  Speaker 1: any more than the influence of our words and actions
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  Speaker 1: on each other. The other is such a mystery that
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  Speaker 1: we know nothing of it, but by its effects the
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  Speaker 1: former ought to be effectual. The latter is so. The
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  Speaker 1: worker the Holy Spirit upon or towards men is always
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  Speaker 1: resisted by them. His work within is always successful. What
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  Speaker 1: saith the scriptures. This he which hath begun a good
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  Speaker 1: work in you will finish it. Philippians, chapter one, verse six.
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  Speaker 1: The next question to be considered is why preach the
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  Speaker 1: Gospel to every creature? If God the Father has predestined
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  Speaker 1: only a limited number to be saved, If God the
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  Speaker 1: Son died to effect the salvation of only those given
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  Speaker 1: to him by the Father, and if God the Spirit
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  Speaker 1: is seeking to quicken none save God's elect, then what
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  Speaker 1: is the use of giving the Gospel to the world
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  Speaker 1: at large? And where is the propriety of telling sinners
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  Speaker 1: that whosoever believeth in Christ shall not perish, but have
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  Speaker 1: everlasting life. First, it is of great importance that we
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  Speaker 1: should be clear upon the nature of the Gospel itself.
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  Speaker 1: The Gospel is God's good news concerning Christ and not
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  Speaker 1: concerning sinners. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to
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  Speaker 1: be an apostle separated into the Gospel of God concerning
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  Speaker 1: his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord Romans, chapter one, verse
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  Speaker 1: one and verse three. God would have proclaimed far and
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  Speaker 1: wide the amazing fact that his own blessed son became
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  Speaker 1: obedient unto death, even the death of the cross Philippians,
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  Speaker 1: chapter two, verse eight. A universal testimony must be born
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  Speaker 1: to the matchless worth of the person and work of Christ.
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  Speaker 1: Note the word witness in Matthew chapter twenty four, verse fourteen.
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  Speaker 1: The Gospel is God's witness unto the perfections of his son.
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  Speaker 1: Mark the words of the apostle, for we are unto
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  Speaker 1: God a sweet savor of Christ in them that are
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  Speaker 1: saved and in them that perish. Second Corinthians, chapter two,
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  Speaker 1: verse fifteen. Concerning the character and contents of the Gospel,
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  Speaker 1: the utmost confusion prevails to day. The Gospel is not
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  Speaker 1: an offer to be bandied around by evangelical pedlars. The
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  Speaker 1: Gospel is no mere invitation, but a proclamation, a proclamation
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  Speaker 1: concerning Christ true, whether men believe it or not. No
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  Speaker 1: man is asked to believe that Christ died for him.
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  Speaker 1: In particular, the Gospel in brief is this Christ died
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  Speaker 1: for sinners. You are a sinner, believe in Christ, and
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  Speaker 1: you shall be saved. In the Gospel, God simply announces
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  Speaker 1: the terms upon which men may be saved, namely, repentance
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  Speaker 1: and faith, and indiscriminately. All are commanded to fulfill them.
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  Speaker 1: Second repentance and remission of sins are to be preached
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  Speaker 1: in the name of the Lord Jesus among all the
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  Speaker 1: nations Luke chapter twenty four, verse forty seven. Because God's
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  Speaker 1: elect are scattered abroad John chapter eleven, verse fifty two,
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  Speaker 1: among all nations, and it is by the preaching and
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  Speaker 1: hearing of the Gospel that they are call out of
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  Speaker 1: the world. The Gospel is the means which God uses
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  Speaker 1: in the saving of his own chosen ones. By nature,
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: God's elect are children of wrath even as others. They
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: are lost sinners needing a savior, and apart from Christ,
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: there is no salvation for them. Hence, the Gospel must
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: be believed by them before they can rejoice in the
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: knowledge of sins forgiven. The Gospel is God's winnowing fan.
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  Speaker 1: It separates the chaff from the wheat and gathers the
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: latter into its garner. Third, it is to be noticed
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: that God has other purposes in the preaching of the
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: Gospel than the salvation of his own elect. The world
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: exists for the elect's sake, yet others have the benefit
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: of it. So the Word is preached for the elect's sake,
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: yet others have the benefit of an external call the
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: sun shines, though blind men see it not. The rain
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: falls upon rocky mountains and waste deserts, as well as
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: on the fruitful valleys. So also God suffers the Gospel
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: to fall on the ears of the non elect. The
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: power of the Gospel is one of God's agencies for
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: holding in check the wickedness of the world. Many who
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: are never saved by it are reformed, Their lusts are bridled,
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  Speaker 1: and they are restrained from becoming worse. Moreover, the preaching
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: of the Gospel to the non elect is made an
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: admirable test of their characters. It exhibits the inveteracy of
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: their sin. It demonstrates that their hearts are at enmity
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: against God. It justifies the declaration of Christ that men
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: John chapter three, verse nineteen. Finally, it is sufficient for
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: us to know that we are bidden to preach the
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: Gospel to every creature. It is not for us to
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: reason about the consistency between this and the fact that
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: few are chosen. It is for us to obey. It
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: is a simple matter to ask questions relating to the
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: ways of God, which no finite mind can fully fathom,
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: we too might turn and remind the objector that a
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: Lord declared, verily, I say unto you, all sins shall
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: be forgiven, unto the sins of men and blasphemies wherewithsoever
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: they shall blasphem. But he that shall blaspheme against the
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: Holy Spirit has never forgiveness Mark chapter three, verse twenty
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: eight and twenty nine. And there can be no doubt
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: whatever but that certain of the Jews were guilty of
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: this very sin see Matthew Chapter twelve, verse twenty four,
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: et cetera. And hence their destruction was inevitable. Yet notwithstanding
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: scarcely two months later he commanded his disciples to preach
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: the Gospel to every creature. When the objector can show
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: us the consistency of these two things, the fact that
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: certain of the Jews had committed the sin for which
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: there is never forgiveness, and the fact that to them
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: the Gospel was to be preached, we will undertake to
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: furnish a more satisfactory solution than the one given above
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: to the harmony between an universal proclamation of the Gospel
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: and a limitation of its saving power to those only
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: that God has predestined to be conformed to the image
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: of his son. Once More, we say, it is not
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: for us to reason about the gospel. It is our
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: business to preach it. When God ordered Abraham to offer
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: up his son as a burnt offering, he might have
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: objected that this command was inconsistent with his promise in Isaac,
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: shall thy seed be called, But instead of arguing, he
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: obeyed and left God to harmonize his promise and his precept.
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: Jeremiah might have argued that God had bade him to
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: do that which was altogether unreasonable when he said, therefore,
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: thou shalt speak all these words unto them, but they
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: will not hearken to THEE. Thou shalt also call unto them,
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: but they will not answer THEE Jeremiah, Chapter seven, verse
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: twenty seven. But instead the prophet obeyed. Ezekiel too might
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: have complained that the Lord was asking of him a
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: hard thing when he said, Son of Man, go get
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: THEE into the house of Israel, and speak with my
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: words unto them. For thou art not sent to a
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: people of a strange speech and of an hard language,
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: but to the house of Israel, not to many people
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: of a strange speech in a hard language, whose words
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: thou canst not understand. Surely, had I sent THEE to them,
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: they would have hearkened unto THEE. But the house of
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: Israel will not hearken unto THEE, for they will not
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: hearken unto me. For all the house of Israel are
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: impudent and hard hearted. Ezekiel, Chapter three, verses four through seven.
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: But oh my soul, if truth so bright should dazzle
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: and confound thy sight, yet still his written word obey
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: and wait the great decisive day watts. It has been
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: well said the gospel has lost none of its ancient power.
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: It is as much to day as when it was
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: first preached, the power of God unto salvation. It needs
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: no pity, no help, and no handmaid. It can overcome
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: all obstacles and break down all barriers. No human device
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: need be tried to prepare the sinner to receive it.
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: For if God has sent it, no power can hinder it,
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: and if He has not sent it, no power can
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: make it effectual. Doctor Bullinger, This chapter might be extended indefinitely,
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  Speaker 1: but it is already too long. So a word or
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: two more must suffice. A number of other questions will
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: be dealt within the pages yet to follow, and those
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: that we fail to touch upon. The reader must take
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: to the Lord himself, who has said, if any of
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: to all liberally, and upbraideth not. James, Chapter one, verse five,
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: end of Sovereignty of God, Chapter eleven, Part two. Recording
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: by Jen Raimundo