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Voddie Baucham - Why Preach The Gospel If God Has Already Determined Who Will Be Saved · Voddie Baucham Sermons

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  Speaker 1: Look, if you will, at the book of Romans. A
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  Speaker 1: couple of places in Romans. First look at Romans chapter 8,
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  Speaker 1: the beginning of verse 26. And we'll see these things
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  Speaker 1: working together. We'll see God's decree and his sovereignty and
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  Speaker 1: his providence all working here together.
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  Speaker 2: Verse 26.
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  Speaker 1: Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we
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  Speaker 1: do not know what to pray for as we ought.
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  Speaker 1: but the spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too
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  Speaker 1: deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what
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  Speaker 1: is the mind of the spirit because the spirit intercedes
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  Speaker 1: for the saints according to the.
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  Speaker 2: Will of God.
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  Speaker 1: So you see this, the will of God, here's this
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  Speaker 1: idea of God's will, God's decree, right? But in time,
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  Speaker 1: we see the spirit interceding in accordance with that will.
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  Speaker 1: Verse 28 says, And we know that for those who
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  Speaker 1: love God, all things work together for good. For those
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  Speaker 1: who are called according to his purpose. For those whom
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  Speaker 1: he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the
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  Speaker 1: image of his son in order that he might be
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  Speaker 1: the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined,
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  Speaker 1: he also called. And those whom he called, he also justified.
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  Speaker 1: And those whom he justified, he also glorified. Do you
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  Speaker 1: see the process there? God providentially superintending the whole process.
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  Speaker 2: Go to chapter 10. Eight.
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  Speaker 1: But what does it say? The word is near you
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  Speaker 1: in your mouth and in your heart. That is the
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  Speaker 1: word of faith that we proclaim. Because if you confess
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  Speaker 1: with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in
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  Speaker 1: your heart that God raised him from the dead, you
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  Speaker 1: will be saved.
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  Speaker 2: There's the means. There's the means.
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  Speaker 1: For with the heart, one believes and is justified. And
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  Speaker 1: with the mouth, one confesses and is saved. Now, it
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  Speaker 1: sounds like that depends completely on me, right? Chapter 8, however,
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  Speaker 1: makes it very clear that this whole process from beginning
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  Speaker 1: to end is dependent on God. Verse 10. For the
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  Speaker 1: heart one believes in justified, with the mouth one confesses
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  Speaker 1: in his say. Verse 11. For the scripture says, everyone
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  Speaker 1: who believes in him will not be put to shame.
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  Speaker 1: For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek. For
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  Speaker 1: the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches
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  Speaker 1: on all who call on him. For everyone who calls
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  Speaker 1: on the name of the Lord will be saved.
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  Speaker 2: Is that true? Yes, it is true.
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  Speaker 1: All who call on the name of the Lord will
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  Speaker 1: be saved. Well, it seems like that puts it in
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  Speaker 1: man's court.
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  Speaker 2: No, it doesn't.
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  Speaker 1: Because chapter 8 makes it clear who's going to call.
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  Speaker 1: Verse 14, how then will they call on him in
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  Speaker 1: whom they have not believed? And how are they to
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  Speaker 1: believe in him of whom they have not heard? And
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  Speaker 1: how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how
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  Speaker 1: are they to preach unless they are sent? As it
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  Speaker 1: is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who
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  Speaker 1: preach the good news.
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  Speaker 2: Imagine that.
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  Speaker 1: In the same letter, Paul is upholding the absolute sovereignty
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  Speaker 1: of God in salvation. God saves sinners from beginning to end.
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  Speaker 2: Amen. Hallelujah.
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  Speaker 1: Praise the Lord. Monergistic work. God saves sinners. Sinners don't
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  Speaker 1: help God save them. Sinners don't save themselves. God saves sinners.
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  Speaker 3: Period.
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  Speaker 2: Our God is enthroned in the heavens. He does whatever
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  Speaker 2: pleases him. He's God. He's not running for God. He's God.
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  Speaker 2: And then two chapters later. Believe. Confess. And be saved.
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  Speaker 1: Just two chapters later. And not only two chapters later
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  Speaker 1: is he saying believe, confess, and be saved. But he's
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  Speaker 1: also saying that those who preach the gospel have beautiful feet. Why?
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  Speaker 1: Because it is the means that God has foreordained in
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  Speaker 1: order to achieve his ends. It's the secondary cause. And
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  Speaker 1: it is established by God's decree.
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  Speaker 2: Let me.
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  Speaker 1: Put this in words superior to my own. And then
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  Speaker 1: we'll apply this. This is Lorraine Bettner and his classical
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  Speaker 1: work on predestination.
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  Speaker 2: Here he's.
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  Speaker 1: In chapter 18 answering objections. And one objection to the
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  Speaker 1: doctrine of predestination is that it discourages all motives to exertion.
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  Speaker 1: In other words, why evangelize? It's a common objection to
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  Speaker 1: the doctrine of predestination. You start talking about God's decrees.
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  Speaker 1: and about God's sovereignty and God's providence, all these things,
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  Speaker 1: you start talking about election, predestination, and the question inevitably comes,
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  Speaker 1: then why bother?
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  Speaker 2: Parents come.
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  Speaker 1: Parents come and parents are like, you know, I got
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  Speaker 1: all these kids.
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  Speaker 2: I got all these kids. We got nine kids. I
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  Speaker 2: got all these kids. This doctrine of election thing worries me. Why?
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  Speaker 2: What if one of my kids is not elected? I
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  Speaker 2: can't tell you how many times I've been asked that question.
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  Speaker 2: What if one.
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  Speaker 3: Of my kids is not elected?
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  Speaker 1: First of all, not your department. but you do have
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  Speaker 1: a department. And that is the proclamation of the gospel.
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  Speaker 1: Listen to Bettner, and this is a rather lengthy quote,
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  Speaker 1: but I think it's worth our time. The objection that
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  Speaker 1: the doctrine of predestination discourages all motives to exertion is
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  Speaker 1: based on the fallacy that the ends are determined without
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  Speaker 1: reference to the means. Yes. It is not merely a
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  Speaker 1: few isolated events here and there that have been foreordained,
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  Speaker 1: but the whole chain of events with all their interrelations
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  Speaker 1: and connections. The whole chain of events. You come to
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  Speaker 1: faith in Christ. That did not happen just in a
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  Speaker 1: moment in time. It's kind of like an M. Night
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  Speaker 1: Shyamalan movie, right? or you reveal something at the end,
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  Speaker 1: and you.
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  Speaker 2: Go, wow, did I miss that?
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  Speaker 1: And you look back at your life, and it's like
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  Speaker 1: this moment, oh, by the way, which wouldn't have happened
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  Speaker 1: if it wasn't for this moment.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, by the way, which wouldn't have happened if it
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  Speaker 2: wasn't for.
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  Speaker 1: This moment, and this moment, and this moment, and this moment,
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  Speaker 1: and all these things that brought you to that place.
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  Speaker 2: And inevitably, you will find pain and heartache and suffering, and.
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  Speaker 1: Great loss in your story that God used to bring
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  Speaker 1: you to that place. All of the parts form a
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  Speaker 1: unity in divine plans. If the means should fail, so
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  Speaker 1: would the ends. If God has purposed that a man
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  Speaker 1: shall reap, he has also purposed that he shall sow.
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  Speaker 1: If God has ordained a man to be saved, he
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  Speaker 1: has also ordained that he shall hear the gospel and
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  Speaker 1: that he shall.
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  Speaker 2: Believe and repent.
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  Speaker 1: As well might the farmer refuse to till the soil
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  Speaker 1: according to the laws disclosed by the light of nature
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  Speaker 1: and experience, until he had first learned what was the
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  Speaker 1: secret purpose of God to be executed in his providence
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  Speaker 1: in regard to the fruitfulness of the coming season. As
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  Speaker 1: for anyone to refuse to work in the moral and
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  Speaker 1: spiritual realms because he does not know what fruitage God
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  Speaker 1: may bring from his labors. In other words, he said,
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  Speaker 1: it's crazy. It's crazy for you to say, well, no, no, no.
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  Speaker 1: I want to know whether or not my kids are
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  Speaker 1: elect before I will commit to preaching the gospel. That's
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  Speaker 1: like the farmer saying, no, no, no, no, no. I
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  Speaker 1: need to know if the rain's going to be good
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  Speaker 1: next season before I decide whether or not I'm going
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  Speaker 1: to plant.
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  Speaker 2: And till.
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  Speaker 3: And fertilize.
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  Speaker 2: And water. I want to know ahead of time. It's ridiculous.
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  Speaker 2: Nobody does that. What do you do? What does the
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  Speaker 2: farmer do?
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  Speaker 1: The farmer does everything that he knows how to do,
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  Speaker 1: recognizing that he's dependent upon the providence of God to
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  Speaker 1: bring forth the fruit. What does the parent do? Sit
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  Speaker 1: there and pine over whether or not all of my
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  Speaker 1: children are elect or recognize that God has ordained the
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  Speaker 1: ends as well as the means and that he's put
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  Speaker 1: them in a place where they're going to see the means.
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  Speaker 3: I just don't know.
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  Speaker 2: I just don't know. I just don't know. I just
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  Speaker 2: don't know. I just don't know. What if one of
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  Speaker 2: my kids are not elected?
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  Speaker 3: I just don't know.
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  Speaker 2: I just don't know.
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  Speaker 3: I just don't know.
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  Speaker 2: How are the elect saved? Through hearing the gospel. Okay.
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  Speaker 1: So that means that one of the ways that God
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  Speaker 1: gives us evidence of people's election is by putting the
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  Speaker 1: gospel back.
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  Speaker 2: Before them yes i know i know but what if
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  Speaker 2: my kids are not elected.
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  Speaker 1: Do you know the gospel yes i do i know
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  Speaker 1: the gospel i don't know so so you know the
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  Speaker 1: gospel yes and and god sent them to your home
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  Speaker 1: yes where they would hear the gospel yes that's necessary
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  Speaker 1: for salvation yes but what if they're not stop.
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  Speaker 3: Preach till the soil plant the seed water it expose
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  Speaker 3: it to the light of the sun fertilize it.
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  Speaker 2: Get after the weeds.
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  Speaker 3: Nurture it.
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  Speaker 2: Talk to it if you want to.
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  Speaker 1: Right You do whatever it is that you, you know,
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  Speaker 1: get out there with a little spritzer and you do
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  Speaker 1: whatever it is.
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  Speaker 2: He continues.
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  Speaker 1: We find that the fruitage, however, is commonly bestowed where
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  Speaker 1: the preliminary work has been faithfully performed. If we engage
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  Speaker 1: in the Lord's service and make diligent use of the
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  Speaker 1: means which he has prescribed, we have the great encouragement
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  Speaker 1: of knowing that it is by these means that he
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  Speaker 1: has determined to accomplish his great work. That's why we
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  Speaker 1: do it. You see, there's a problem. With the question.
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  Speaker 1: Why do we exert ourselves. In the proclamation. Of the gospel.
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  Speaker 1: If God is.
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  Speaker 2: Sovereign.
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  Speaker 1: If he operates according to his decree. And the answer is.
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  Speaker 1: You exert yourself in the proclamation of the gospel.
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  Speaker 2: Because God is sovereign. And he operates in accordance with
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  Speaker 2: his decree.
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  Speaker 1: And that includes the ends as well as the means.
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  Speaker 2: And he's given you the means. And so we preach.
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  Speaker 2: so we trust.
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  Speaker 1: And so we preserve and proclaim the gospel and endure
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  Speaker 1: the suffering that will follow inevitably as a result of
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  Speaker 1: doing so because it's worth it amen here's the other
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  Speaker 1: beauty This guarantees our success.
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  Speaker 2: Why?
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  Speaker 1: Because it's not dependent upon me. It's dependent upon the
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  Speaker 1: one who does not fail.
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  Speaker 2: Amen? I'm not ashamed of the gospel. Why? Because it
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  Speaker 2: is the power of God unto salvation.
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  Speaker 1: The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to
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  Speaker 1: all those who believe, the Jew first and also to
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  Speaker 1: the Greek.
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  Speaker 2: It's the gospel. The gospel, the gospel, the gospel. And
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  Speaker 2: so we unleash it.
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  Speaker 1: All the while trusting and recognizing that we are utterly
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  Speaker 1: dependent upon the God who gave us this good news.
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  Speaker 1: And rejoicing always when he gives fruit.
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  Speaker 2: Let's pray.
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  Speaker 1: Gracious God and Heavenly Father, we thank you and praise
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  Speaker 1: you for your goodness and kindness and mercy toward us.
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  Speaker 1: We thank you, the person and work of Christ, and
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  Speaker 1: the good news and power of the gospel We thank
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  Speaker 1: you that you ordain not only the ends but also
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  Speaker 1: the means and rejoice in the fact that you have
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  Speaker 1: made those clear. Grant by your grace that we might
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  Speaker 1: employ those means as though we believe that you will
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  Speaker 1: be faithful.
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  Speaker 2: Because you will. Because you are. And you always have been.
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  Speaker 2: We praise you for this in Christ's name.
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  Speaker 1: Amen.