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Thank you for joining us on the Final Word.
For those of you who have been following along,
you know that we are in a series of shows on Calvinism,
where we have been holding up the doctrine of Calvinism
against the word of God to see if what they teach is the truth.
So if you have your Bibles,
please open them today to Jonah 1.
God told Jonah to go to Nineveh.
Notice vs 2.
"Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it;
for their wickedness is come up before me."
Now turn if you will over to the third Chapter.
And let us read together starting in verse 1,
"And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time,
"saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city,
"and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.
"So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh,
"according to the word of the LORD.
"Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city
"of three days' journey.
"And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey,
"and he cried, and said, Yet forty days,
and Nineveh shall be overthrown."
Now, what do we see?
First, we see that here was an entire city,
who were completely wicked.
And so God determines that this city would be overthrown.
This was God's decree.
This was surely to come to pass.
Now, we will stop here for just a moment
as we talk for a moment about Calvinism.
But before we begin to look for the conditions
upon which we may secure the favor of our Heavenly Father,
we must first ask,
whether or not there is anything we can do at all to please God.
Let us notice that the Presbyterian Confession of Faith
from the third chapter says: "God, from all eternity, did,
by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will,
freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass."
In the Westminster Larger Catechism, question 12
we have this: "What are the decrees of God?
"Answer: God's decrees are the wise, free,
"and holy acts of the counsel of his will,
"whereby, from all eternity, he has, for his own glory,
"unchangeably foreordained: Whatsoever comes to pass
in time, especially concerning angels and men."
And so it is, that whatever a person does,
it is in keeping with and brought about
by God's fore-ordination or decree,
and therefore it cannot be wrong.
If he does anything -- it doesn't matter what it is --
whether good or bad -- if God has ordained everything,
He has ordained that thing.
So, now we have the very first of the ideas of Calvinism.
That whatever in life happens, whether it be good,
or whether it be evil, God has already ordained it.
According to Websters dictionary the term Ordain means
"to establish or order by appointment, decree, or law."
And so we see it.
That anything that happens, is God by his decree,
making it happen.
So let us go back to Nineveh, the city that God has
now decreed would be overthrown.
"And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time,
"saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city,
"and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.
"So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh,
"according to the word of the LORD.
"Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city
"of three days' journey.
"And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey,
"and he cried, and said, Yet forty days,
and Nineveh shall be overthrown."
There is no doubt, but that God has told Jonah,
that He has decreed that Nineveh will be destroyed.
Anything that God decrees, he makes happen.
But, why preach to them, Jonah?
He said, to go and preach what God said to preach.
But why?
What good will it do?
God has already declared the end of Nineveh.
There is nothing that these poor sinful souls in Nineveh
can do to stop God's judgment coming upon them, right?
Let us continue reading.
"and he cried, and said, Yet forty days,
"and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
"So the people of Nineveh believed God,
"and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth,
"from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
"For word came unto the king of Nineveh,
"and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him,
"and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
"And he caused it to be proclaimed and published
"through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles,
"saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock,
"taste any thing: let them not feed,
"nor drink water: But let man and beast be covered
"with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God:
"yea, let them turn every one from his evil way,
"and from the violence that is in their hands.
"Who can tell if God will turn and repent,
"and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?
"And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way;
"and God repented of the evil, that he had said
that he would do unto them; and he did it not."
Folks, God made a decree alright.
But, God who is rich in mercy, sent a preacher to warn them.
They heeded the warning, they repented,
and the thing that God originally had in mind,
God did not accomplish.
Why?
Because God gave man a choice, and this time man did right.
Does that show that man is more powerful than God?
Absolutely not, at any time God could have thrown that city
down to nothing.
But, because that place repented at the preaching of Jonah,
God showed mercy on them.
It reminds me of what God spoke through Jeremiah
in Jeremiah 18:6-8, "O house of Israel,
"cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD.
"Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand,
"so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.
"At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation,
"and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down,
"and to destroy it; If that nation,
"against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil,
I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them."
Does that mean that nation is stronger than God?
Absolutely not.
God still has complete power to do what he wants.
He is showing his mercy, not his power.
But, wait, what did the Calvinists' book say?
"God, from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel
"of his own will, freely and unchangeably ordain
whatsoever comes to pass."
Friend, we do not wish to be mean nor cruel
about this group of people
who have misrepresented God.
But we simply want to put their own beliefs up against
the word of God and find out if what they teach is the truth.
And so I ask this question:
Does God out of his own wise and holy counsel,
freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass or not?
Obviously, we just saw one place where he did not.
Now someone might say, well, it came to pass,
just like he wanted.
He actually wanted it to happen just like it did.
They repented just like he ordained all along they would.
Well, I'd be very careful about saying that,
because if that is the case,
then God told a flat-out lie to Jonah.
Because he told Jonah, they would be destroyed.
Well, let us continue on our journey together.
In the days of Isaiah, King Hezekiah was sick
near unto death.
And Isaiah came to tell him the decree of the Lord.
Notice II Kings 20:1
"In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death.
"And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him,
"and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD,
Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live."
Poor, Poor King Hezekiah. Here he is next to death.
And Isaiah, speaking for GOD says,
You'd better set your things in order,
because you are going to die.
The decree of God goes out, and Hezekiah, you are going to die.
Remember now, according to the Calvinistic theory,
God ordains everything, and not just does he ordain it.
It is an unchangeable ordination.
That means, that even if God wanted to change it,
he couldn't, that is what the word unchangeable means.
Well, let's hear of the death of poor Hezekiah.
"Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the LORD,
"saying, I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now how
"I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart,
"and have done that which is good in thy sight.
"And Hezekiah wept sore.
"And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out
"into the middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him,
"saying, Turn again, and tell Hezekiah
"the captain of my people,
"Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father,
"I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears:
"behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up
"unto the house of the LORD.
"And I will add unto thy days fifteen years;
"and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand
"of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city
for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake."
Folks, I want you to know,
I haven't of my own word spoken one thing
against the Calvinistic decree, all I have done is said what
their own doctrine teaches, and then read what the Bible says.
And you can make up your mind who you will believe,
God or man. The Bible or the Calvinist.
But it's up to you.
Again let us read the Calvinist quote:
"Question 12: What are the decrees of God?
"Answer: God's decrees are the wise, free,
"and holy acts of the counsel of his will,
"whereby, from all eternity, he has, for his own glory,
"unchangeably foreordained: Whatsoever comes to pass
in time, especially concerning angels and men."
Or "God, from all eternity, did,
"by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will,
freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass."
Well, I've only been here for these few minutes,
and already we have shown two places in scripture
where this was not the case.
You remember the battle between David and Saul?
Really it was Saul trying to kill David.
He would chase him all over the place trying to capture
and kill David.
Well, in 1 Samuel 23:7 Saul found out that David
was in a town called Keilah .
A town that had gates and bars .
Not a very good place for David to be,
if he didn't want to be captured.
David finds out about Saul's plan
to have the men of Keilah arrest or bring David to Saul.
So in vs. 10, David goes to God in prayer.
"Then said David, O LORD God of Israel,
"thy servant hath certainly heard that Saul seeketh
"to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake.
"Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand?
"Will Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard?
"O LORD God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy servant.
And the LORD said, He will come down."
There is the decree, yes, he will come down.
Well, what else David?
"Then said David, Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men
"into the hand of Saul?
And the LORD said, They will deliver thee up."
Well, that is that.
God has decreed it, and since God has decreed it,
David is just plum stuck, can't do anything
in the world about it.
Or can he?
"Then David and his men, which were about six hundred,
"arose and departed out of Keilah,
"and went whithersoever they could go.
"And it was told Saul that David was escaped from Keilah;
and he forbear to go forth."
The word of the Lord came as a warning to David.
David then changed his mind about his situation.
And his change of mind, led about in a change
of circumstances for him.
The men of Nineveh were awful sinners.
They were, by the decree of God, going to be destroyed.
But the word of the Lord came to the people of Nineveh,
and their change of heart, brought about a different set
of circumstances, for them.
Why?
Because folks, the truth is, God gives man choice.
Man can change if he so chooses.
And as God says in Ezekiel 18:21 "But if the wicked will turn
"from all his sins that he hath committed,
"and keep all my statutes and do that which is lawful and right,
he shall surely live, he shall not die."
Let's go quickly through some passages
showing that God does really give us choice.
In the book of Hebrews 11:24-26,
as is recorded also in the book of Exodus,
the Bible tells us that Moses had a choice to make,
to serve God, or to stay in Egypt
and enjoy the pleasures of the palace.
And, the text says that Moses chose God over the pleasure
of life in Egypt.
Could Moses have rejected God?
Absolutely, he could have.
The reason he is seen as faithful,
is because he didn't choose to serve Pharoah,
not because he couldn't choose to serve him.
In Exodus 12, God was going to kill the firstborn
of every house.
He gave the people an option, he gave them commands,
he said to put the blood on the doorposts.
But, he says, if they would obey him, then they would be spared.
In Ex. 32, remember when Moses was upon the Mount,
and the people caused Aaron to make that golden calf.
And God was so angry at his people,
he wanted to destroy them?
He had made a decree that he would destroy them.
He said, these people are stiffnecked,
now leave me alone that I may destroy them.
But, Moses, by his words changed the mind of God.
Was Moses more powerful than God?
Of course not. God in his mercy was moved
by the actions of Moses, and God changed his mind.
But, man had a choice.
Moses had told them to consecrate themselves
before the Lord.
He called and said, "Who is on the Lord's side,
let him come and be with me."
Some of the people chose to come and be on Moses' side.
Moses then told the ones who chose to be on his side,
to go and slay the others, and it says roughly 3000
of the people died that day.
Man chose to obey God or not to, those who obeyed were rewarded,
those who refused to obey were destroyed.
Not because God made them disobey -
but because they chose disobedience.
We've seen examples from Genesis, and Exodus,
go now to Leviticus 26.
Let us find out if man has a choice in his life.
Leviticus 26- God again, speaking to Israel, says:
"Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image,
"neither rear you up a standing image,
"neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land,
"to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God.
"Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary:
"I am the LORD.
"If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments,
"and do them; Then I will give you rain in due season,
"and the land shall yield her increase,
and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit."
If you will obey, If you will walk in my statutes,
Then I will give you rain...
I will bless you.
But Lord, God, what happens if we choose not to obey?
"But if ye will not hearken unto me,
"and will not do all these commandments;
"And if ye shall despise my statutes,
"or if your soul abhor my judgments,
"so that ye will not do all my commandments,
"but that ye break my covenant: I also will do this unto you;
"I will even appoint over you terror, consumption,
"and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes,
"and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain,
for your enemies shall eat it."
Did man have a choice?
Absolutely he did.
That is exactly what the If - Then statement means.
You can read the same over in Deuteronomy 28, as well.
Now, some might say, well, these people are merely
saving their lives.
God does not give them a choice to save their souls,
but only their lives.
Well, let's talk about the argument from lesser
to the greater for a minute.
What does that mean, to argue from lesser to greater?
Simply this: Objects have properties of lesser
and greater extents.
If the lesser can be proven, the greater should be able
likewise to be proven.
For example, in Matthew 6:30 Our Lord argues from lesser
to greater when he makes this statement.
"Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field,
"which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven,
shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?"
Grass is lesser than man, and God cares for it,
man is greater than grass he says, how much more then,
does God care for man, than grass?
And so it is, if God has given man the choice to save
his own life , how much more, the choice to save his soul
by obedience to the Word.
The soul is worth much more than his life.
Over in Joshua chapter 24: as Joshua is preparing to die,
remember he stands and by inspiration says,
"And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD,
"choose you this day whom ye will serve;
"whether the gods which your fathers served that were
"on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites,
"in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house,
we will serve the LORD."
So, Joshua believed that God gave mankind choice .
Is serving God, or serving idols, a matter of the body?
Or the soul ?
Joshua believed God gave man a choice - Do you believe that?
On and on this could go, throughout all the whole Bible.
In Judges 5:7 - we are told that the people "chose new gods."
Judges 10:14 - he said, "Go and cry out to the gods
which you have chosen."
They had a choice to make, who to serve,
they chose incorrectly.
In I Samuel ch 8 - Israel chooses to have a king -
God did not want them to have a king.
He had no plan on giving them an earthly king,
but because they chose to have one,
he said they were speaking against him.
I Kings 8 - Solomon is in the middle of prayer,
and what is said?
"When the people sin and you punish them, if they
turn back to you, accept their prayers towards this place."
If they do?
If they turn back --- ?
That tells me these people have a choice to make.
I Kings 18:21 - In that great battle between
the prophets of Baal, and Elijah, the prophet of God,
Elijah says, "How long will you falter between two opinions?"
- You have a choice to make
and here they are - "If the Lord is God, follow him;
but if Baal, follow him."
The choice is man's to make, who to follow.
The Psalmist believed he had a choice to make.
Look what he says.
Ps. 119:30, "I have chosen the way of truth:
thy judgments have I laid before me.
He says in the same chapter
Ps. 119:173, "I have chosen your precepts."
Folks, we could do this all day long.
Verse after verse after verse in the Old Testament
where God gives man choice .
Jeremiah 6 - Let us look at the words of the weeping prophet,
as we try to determine whether God gave man choice or not.
"Therefore I am full of the fury of the LORD;
"I am weary with holding in: I will pour it out
"upon the children abroad,
"and upon the assembly of young men together:
"for even the husband with the wife shall be taken,
"the aged with him that is full of days.
"And their houses shall be turned unto others,
"with their fields and wives together: for I will stretch out
"my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD.
"For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them
"every one is given to covetousness;
"and from the prophet even unto the priest
"every one dealeth falsely.
"They have healed also the hurt of the daughter
"of my people slightly, saying,
"Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
"Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination?
"Nay, they were not at all ashamed,
"neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall
"among them that fall: at the time that I visit them
"they shall be cast down, saith the LORD.
"Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see,
"and ask for the old paths, where is the good way,
"and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.
"But they said, We will not walk therein.
"Also I set watchmen over you, saying,
"Hearken to the sound of the trumpet.
"But they said, We will not hearken.
"Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation,
"what is among them.
"Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people,
"even the fruit of their thoughts,
"because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law,
but rejected it."
Folks, I want us to see this...
they were destroyed, not because God wanted it that way.
Not because "God, from all eternity, did,
"by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will,
freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass."
Notice why they were destroyed!
"Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people,
"even the fruit of their thoughts,
"because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law,
but rejected it."
The choice was theirs- to follow or not,
and they chose not to follow.
Ezekiel 3 - God tells Ezekiel the prophet, speak to them,
whether they hear or whether they refuse to hear.
The choice was theirs, but make no mistake,
it was a choice that people had to make.
In Amos 4, God is trying to get his people to come back to him.
He says, I have been so good to you,
I've given you bread to eat, I've given you clean teeth,
I gave you rain when you needed it,
I withheld it when you didn't want it.
I even tried to get you to return to me,
by sending plagues, and famines.
I've even sent enemies to you,
all so you would come back to me.
But, you refuse.
Now look at vs 11- he then says, "I will destroy you just like
*** and Gomorrah.
"Now look yet have ye not returned unto me,
"saith the LORD.
"Therefore thus will I do unto thee,
"O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee,
prepare to meet thy God, O Israel."
Why was this going to happen?
Because God gave them choice, and they chose to disobey.
We could do the same in the New Testament.
People making choices to follow or not to follow.
Jesus says in Matthew 13 in speaking of gaining
the Kingdom of Heaven, and he says it is by choice.
Look, "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure
"hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth,
"and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath,
"and buyeth that field.
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man,
"seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl
of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it."
What is the point?
He came upon the treasure, and he had a choice to make.
Keep the treasure he already had, or sell it all,
and buy the treasure of Heaven.
It is a choice, to obey or to disobey.
In Acts 5, Ananias and Sapphira could have made
a different decision - remember they chose to lie to God about
selling their own land and giving money to the Apostles.
Peter said to them, "While it remained, was it not your own?
And after it was sold, was it not in your own control?"
Why did you choose to lie to God?
Well, it was clearly a choice.
Folks, does all this sound any different to you
than what the Calvinist says, "God's decrees
"are the wise, free, and holy acts of the counsel of his will,
"whereby, from all eternity, he has, for his own glory,
"unchangeably foreordained: Whatsoever comes to pass
in time, especially concerning angels and men."
Anything that comes to pass, God has caused it to happen.
But, folks, it is clear, the fact of the matter is,
God gave us choice, we have spent the better part of 2 shows
proving that fact.
Turn to Matthew 7:21, "Not every one that saith unto me,
"Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven;
but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."
Now, there is a selection, isn't there?
Lord, who gets to enter the kingdom of Heaven?
Is it everyone who wants to?
Is it some specific people that you have chosen?
Or is it those who will do the will of God?
Well, it is those who do the will of God.
Specific people chosen?
No, anyone who does what God says can enter
the Kingdom of Heaven.
And, friend, you too can enter the kingdom of heaven
by simply following the Truth in the Bible.