Will Your Children Be Saved?

Posted on by kevinjandt

child-baby-hand-in-father-dad

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward. – Psalm 127:3

Indeed children are a reward, and how can we look upon our precious little ones and not consider them a gift of God. Children are also a heritage says the word of God, they are like a treasured possession that God has given to us for many purposes, one is in the hopes we pass down a godly line and continue to perpetuate the gospel. That is my hope, and that should also be your hope for your children. My hope is in the Lord, that He will save them, and that He will do all His good pleasure.

But what if that doesn’t happen?

I believe completely and trust fully in the Sovereignty of God. In some circles, I suppose I’m called a “Calvinist”, in that I affirm the doctrines of the Bible that John Calvin taught. This is a four-letter word to many in the professing Christian world, but can I trust in a God that sits back and does not have His hand upon everything; even the salvation of destruction of my children? Oh what a difficult topic this is to write about…

The LORD has made all for Himself, yes, even the wicked for the day of doom. – Proverbs 16:4

Have we not read the Scriptures? Do we avoid the hard topic of the reality of salvation? Do we assume because we are faithfully following the Lord that our children will automatically do that? This is a reality, which a Christian must embrace; because there is no guarantee of salvation for our children. We won’t explore the covenantal aspect in this post, but if we only take a cursory glance at Scripture to see how many disobedient children followed their obedient parents, it becomes obvious there is no guarantee.

“But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.” – Jonah 2:9

Do we really trust that salvation is of the Lord? This is a very good question to ask, but it’s a hard question to ask. You can do all the right things. You can take your children to church, you can catechize them, you can teach them the Holy Scriptures, but you can’t guarantee their salvation.

So what do you do now? Do you “let go and let God”? I sure hope not. I sure hope you and I will be diligent, because we also have God’s commands, and the thing I believe is more important than anything else in this conversation is our obedience; if you are a believer, than you MUST be obedient to the Scriptures.

“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” – Deuteronomy 6:6-7 see also Ephesians 6:4

Believing parents, and especially fathers are commanded, you’ve been given an order that you must obey, to train your children, all the time. Not part of the time, not some of the time, but at every opportunity you have. You have a responsibility to carry out the commands of the King.

Our children have a responsibility in this equation. They are commanded to repent and turn from their sin. They are without excuse, as all of mankind is without excuse, if they don’t repent and turn from their sin. There will be no “out clauses” on judgment day.

Listen to the testimony of Charles Spurgeon, in how his mother would conduct family worship and plead with them. Would you do this with your children? Would they understand the gravity of their situation, should they go unconverted? Would you not do anything and everything for your children that they might come to know the glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ?

“It was the custom, on Sunday evenings, while we were yet little children, for her to stay at home with us, and then we sat round the table, and read verse by verse, and she explained the Scripture to us. After that was done, then came the time of pleading; there was a little piece of Alleine’s Alarm, or of Baxter’s Call to the Unconverted, and this was read with pointed observations made to each of us as we sat round the table; and the question was asked, how long it would be before we would think about our state, how long before we would seek the Lord. Then came a mother’s prayer, and some of the words of that prayer we shall never forget, even when our hair is grey. I remember, on one occasion, her praying thus: “Now, Lord, if my children go on in their sins, it will not be from ignorance that they perish, and my soul must bear a swift witness against them at the day of judgment if they lay not hold of Christ.” – C.H. Spurgeon

Could you say this to your children? Would you love them this much, to have them consider that you would testify against them?

Kevin

“Is it I?”

Posted on by kevinjandt

98l/49/huty/13014/19

When evening had come, He sat down with the twelve. Now as they were eating, He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me.” – Matthew 26:20-21

The mere thought or reading of this verse is devastating to me. I can barely take in the magnitude of what was happening at this moment in time. The closeness of the relationships that had been formed for three years between Jesus and the twelve is probably hard for us to grasp at this point in history. We have very little to compare that level of relationship, these men traveled and ministered together, and were with each other for nearly every moment.

Judas was a good liar, and he was adept at concealment. He knew how to blend into each and every situation. He might have started out with wonderful expectations of the Messiah. Perhaps, he thought the Messiah would deliver them from the hands of Rome…finally, and then he would achieve the goals he had, the fulfillment he desired, or whatever it was that he really thought he wanted. He clearly, in his inner most being, had no desire for Christ for spiritual reasons.

But don’t we all have those tendencies and desires sometimes?

When I put the work into examining my motives for what I do, and why I do them, I really must stop sometimes and say, “What are you doing?” “Why did you do that?” “Was that for God’s glory or for your own pleasure, your own personal fulfillment?”

Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, “Rabbi, is it I?” – Matthew 26:25

Did he know?

Isn’t this a profound question, something for us to really think about?

Did Judas realize what he was doing, or did his sin blind him so much that he didn’t think that far down the road. In fact the Lord said, “It would have been good for that man, if he had not been born.” (Matthew 26:24) Can you imagine that it would have been better for Judas to have never been born, to never have walked the earth, to never have breathed a breath, or have his heart beat, to never have seen the sun, taste good food, or to have walked with God Himself on this earth?

He spent time with his Creator, he knew Him on a very intimate level, but yet he really never knew Him at all. Just think, Judas associated with Christ, but he never “knew” Christ, there are many people out there just like Judas. Many of them have a deep intellectual understanding of Christ, yet they don’t know Him.

Why?

They are holding onto something… To truly know Christ, means denying yourself, it means that you will abandon everything you have ever, or will ever place your trust in, outside of Him. Charles Spurgeon once said that “If you really long to save men’s souls, you must tell them a great deal of disagreeable truth.” Those that evangelize to the dead, or preach the gospel of peace, know this reality. You know people don’t like what you are telling them. They don’t want to face their sin. It means they have to let go of something. It means they have to admit “it would have been better that they never had been born”, and this is so very true isn’t it? Because what’s the alternative? The alternative is a short life, here on earth, grasping for 30 pieces of silver. When we get that silver, we realize it never held any real satisfaction…a temporary fix at best. Its blood money, but most don’t see it that way.

This past week I had a conversation with a guy that I’ve known for a long time and as I listened to him tell me things I could see that what he thought about himself was really important. However, my heart was crying for him, because he is so lost, and he doesn’t even know it. He’s a nice guy, in some respects, but he doesn’t know the wrath of God abides upon him. He doesn’t know that it would be better that he had never been born, unless he repents and believes the gospel.

From his book “Twelve Ordinary Men” John MacArthur wrote this:

“He was a coward. He knew the popularity of Jesus.   He was afraid of the crowd. Like every hypocrite, he was obsessed with concerns about what people thought of him, so he was hoping to betray Jesus as quietly as possible. He was looking for the doorway to hell that was most convenient. And when he found it, he plunged right in.” [1]

What happens when we fall into sin? Are we a Judas or are we Peter? Do we have sorrow that leads to death or sorrow that leads to repentance? This is the difference and if you’ve never understood that you are a Judas outside of godly sorrow leading to repentance, then you are still a Judas. Judas deceived himself, and he never knew his eternal fate had been sealed when he committed himself fully to Satan’s plan.

You will either be broken on the Rock, or smashed to pieces by it. Today is the day to get right with God. Today is the acceptable day of salvation for those that truly understand they are hanging by a thread over the eternal flames of hell. Those in eternal torment right now, with no way out, know it. Don’t find it out too late. Repent, and turn from your sin and be saved.

Kevin

“So expert was he in his hypocrisy that he fooled everyone but Jesus, right up to the very end.” – John MacArthur [2]

 

 

[1] John MacArthur, Twelve Ordinary Men (Thomas Nelson, 2002) 193

[2] Ibid – 192

What are you talkin’ about?

Posted on by kevinjandt

fear

Evangelism should be an important part of the life of a Believer.  There is plenty of scripture that leaves no doubt about the truth of this.  The Lord Jesus Christ commanded us to “Go” did He not? (Matthew 28:19)

The gospel is “good news”, the word means news, Euaggelion – glad tidings of salvation through Christ the proclamation of the grace of God manifest and pledged in Christ, the gospel, as the messianic rank of Jesus was proved by his words, his deeds, and his death, the narrative of the sayings, deeds, and death of Jesus Christ came to be called the gospel or glad tidings.

What’s the last thing you were excited about?  Something you discovered that you really wanted to tell people, and let them know this is something that should interest them?  I’ve told lots of people how great Dropbox is.  I’ve told plenty of people how cool my new Thinkpad is with a solid state hard drive.  This really excites me and causes me to want to share the news with others.

Yet I forgot to tell them that Jesus offers sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf and eternal life to the dead, all spiritually speaking of course.  Ooops, how did I leave that one out?

But I must tell them…

I can’t let myself off the hook by saying “use words when necessary”.  Words ARE necessary.  Romans 10:14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed?  And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?  And how shall they hear without a preacher?

The preacher is a proclaimer.  Not just your pastor or the professional evangelist.  You and me, Believer are preachers.  We can’t proclaim unless we open our mouths.

So now what?  How do we do this?  The fact we should proclaim is clear.  The most notable verse about this comes from 1 Peter and one most Christians are quite familiar with.

This all begins with the concept that those that proclaim the good news are going to be persecuted for it.  In case I forgot to mention it, you will be despised when you bring God’s word to bear.

It’s not optional.

Isn’t this why the modern church has changed the message to be palatable?  It’s easier to talk about the love of God because that is just easier to swallow for most people, those fire and brimstone sermons are just not much fun.  Everyone likes the god that forgives sin, loves everyone and never expects anything in return, certainly doesn’t require us to pursue righteousness and turn from sin.

1 Peter 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meeknesss and fear.

I remember before salvation I really didn’t understand this verse.  I get the always be ready part, but I wasn’t sure about the sanctify business and what does it mean with meekness and fear.  What am I supposed to fear?  It just didn’t come together in my mind.  Of course I couldn’t grasp it because my mind was at enmity with God.

Sanctify – means to make holy, that is (ceremonially) purify or consecrate; (mentally) to venerate: – hallow, be holy, sanctify.

The word heart does not mean the muscle beating in your chest; it’s the thoughts and the control center of your being, so when we sanctify the Lord God in our hearts, we are to set Him up in a special place in our minds that He is pure and holy.

Have you sanctified the Lord God in your heart?  This is not something to gloss over; it’s the starting point of this verse.  It’s a directive, not simply a question or a suggestion.  If we desire Him above all things, this should come easy, but it won’t.  It’s not easy; the Christian life is never easy.  This is why the Lord said to strive to enter by the narrow gate.

Charles Spurgeon: Have your doctrinal views, and all your knowledge of Christ, packed away in a handy form, so that, when people want to know what you believe, you can tell them. If they wish to know why you believe that you are saved, have your answer all ready in a few plain, simple sentences; and in the gentlest and most modest spirit make your confession of faith to the praise and glory of God. Who knows but what such good seed will bring forth an abundant harvest? (1 Peter 3 Commentary)

In considering Spurgeon’s exhortation, we must know Scripture.  This doesn’t mean you will be able to give a snappy answer to every non believer that comes along.  This is not the point of this verse it’s a Believer’s responsibility to share their story and offer scriptural truth in a world gone wrong.  The opportunity to point someone to Jesus as the One true hope.

What about the meekness and fear.

The word meek denotes a gentle spirit, or mildness of disposition.  Simply put we don’t need to be aggressive in our approach of presenting the hope we have and as many people will take this as an aggressive stance, we must not offer that in response.

As we take this whole chapter in context Peter is setting us up for the reviling and the suffering that will undoubtedly come our way when we present God to them.  So as a gentle answer turns away wrath, so can we offer our hope with meekness.

What does it mean to fear?

Are we to fear the people we are presenting our hope?  Have you seen the shirt “Fear This”?  Does the wearer of that shirt expect you to be afraid of him or should he be afraid of you?  What he’s trying to let you know is you need to be afraid of him because he’s a tough guy.

Who should we fear?

Proverbs 1:7 Fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Matthew 10:28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.  But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

The word fear means to fear and it also means awe and reverence.  We cannot revere God if we first don’t fear Him as one that has complete power and authority over our lives.  So when we present our hope never forget who we are to fear.  Let’s present a gospel message that will give the listener a healthy dose of fear.

The message Jesus loves you generally won’t cut it.  Unbelievers must know they are headed to hell without the saving work of Jesus Christ, which is something to seriously fear.

There is a delicate balance here to offer the message with a gentle but firm dose of reality.  This is something to enter into with fear and trembling knowing that we represent the God of the universe.  He is worthy to be feared.

Kevin

 

Lions, Twitter and bears… “oh my”

Posted on by kevinjandt

twitterI recently had an interesting Twitter interaction.  When I made a comment on someone’s Twitter feed I knew I was setting myself up for this sort of reply.  I’ve decided that when I interact with someone in a format as this I will speak to them as if they were sitting in front of me.  I’ve not always interacting with people this way, and I say that to my shame.  It seems civil discourse has mostly become uncivil discourse.

The one thing that struck me about the interaction was this man seemed to operate under some sort of rules of engagement.  He didn’t like what I was saying, but he was never nasty about it.  He was critical of my worldview, he blasphemed God, but he wasn’t as ugly as some people I’ve encountered in the social network world.  Now let me first say I’m not pinning a merit badge on this man, because as I just said he’s a blasphemer of God, and will be held accountable for every idle word he speaks, even though he doesn’t believe that (Matthew 12:36).

Let’s start where it all began.

2 Kings 2:23-25 Then he went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up from the road, some youths came from the city and mocked him, and said to him, “Go up, you baldhead!  Go up, you baldhead!”  So he turned around and looked at them, and pronounced a curse on them in the name of the LORD, and two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths.  Then he went from there to Mount Caramel, and from there he returned to Samaria.

This is an interesting passage, and one that my friend used to show me that God is unrighteous.  It’s a desire that most people have to justify themselves, and say “I won’t worship that God”.  What happens is that mankind sets himself up as his own god so he can make his own rules.  This man has a sense of right and wrong, there’s no doubt about that, but he decides what’s right and what’s wrong.

If we don’t have an ultimate source of truth, we have complete chaos.  Like we see in government, the rules are always changing; the bar is ever shifting to the left or to the right.  We all do this don’t we?  We all have our view of what is right and wrong and when it doesn’t match up with God’s view we will justify our position, adjust it a little bit to suit our own needs.

So what about these bears mauling these “innocent” youths?  What about God destroying all of mankind in a worldwide flood, or God allowing Satan to kill all 10 of Job’s children, what about Ananias and Saphira struck down dead because they lied to God?  Is there unrighteousness with God?  Some certainly believe that is the case.

Humans are so morally corrupt and our thinking is insidious (Jeremiah 17:9) because we have no concept of the righteousness of God.  He is the creator, and He is the maker, and without Him you don’t even have life, but yet in our arrogant pride we shake our fist at Him and curse Him to His name.  I was once told by a man that he would fight with God if he stood before Him in judgment.  How many people think they will fight with God or explain how “good” they’ve been?  I wonder if for a trial run this man would jump into a lion’s cage at the zoo, and fight against the lion first.  That might give him some indication how he will stand against God.

Man suppresses the truth in unrighteousness, (Romans 1:18) and because he does this it opens him up even more to all kinds of justifiable depravity.  He will do anything and everything he can to say why the Bible is flawed and then they want you to chase them down a rat hole trying to explain why it’s not.

They put God on the judgment seat and say “prove to me why I should worship this God!”  God has spoken to Believers through His word, and He sent His Son to live the perfect life we couldn’t live so some would be saved.  He died a brutal death, bore the wrath of God so God’s wrath would be satisfied, this wrath that He is perfectly just in pouring out on anyone at anytime of His choosing.  This is a hard truth to swallow.

Psalm 4:4-6 For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, nor shall evil dwell with You.  The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity.  You shall destroy those who speak falsehood; The LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

So what do we do with verses like 2 Kings 2:23-25?

We should fall to our faces and fear the One True Living and Holy God.  We should desire to seek out and understand at a much deeper level why God does what He does.  If we don’t understand things do we somehow think that makes God unjust?  Maybe we are the ones to blame, not God?  Maybe it’s our lack of knowledge that causes us to perish (Hosea 4:6).

Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. 

The fool here is not someone that wears a goofy hat and dances around, he’s a fool in his heart because he denies God (Psalm 14:1) and makes himself his own god, and the most loving thing I can tell him is that he needs to repent and turn from his sin and live.

When our fear of a God that can take our life and send our soul to hell (Matthew 10:28) turns to a fear of awe and wonder of who He is, then we can be saved.  If you don’t understand what it means to fear God then I encourage you to examine your life.   See if you are indeed in the faith.

God’s word will slice you open to see the nastiness of yourself before Him.  Like a leper dressed in a beautiful outfit, it doesn’t take long for the puss to ooze through the fine silk, and become stained and vile.  Without Christ this is how you appear to the perfect God who made you.

My friend seems to have some understanding or at least some reading of God’s word, and I hope he’ll begin reading it with a desire to know the truth, not just his truth, but God’s truth.  The gospel is the power to salvation (Romans 1:16) and there is salvation in no other name but Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12).  We have an empty tomb and a risen Lord that proves it (1 Corinthians 15:1-19).

Ezekiel 33:11 Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the LORD God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his evil way and live.  Turn, turn from your evil ways!  For why should you die, O house of Israel?’

Trying to defend the bible is as useless as trying to defend a lion – you turn him loose and let him defend himself – Charles Spurgeon

Kevin

A Sure Guide to Heaven – Part 1 – Introduction

Posted on by kevinjandt

Friends as I begin this endeavor today I have a sweet joy of anticipation and excitement.   The more I’ve studied the words of this incredible man the more I see the beauty of God that gifts those whom He chooses to perform His good pleasures.  Joseph Alleine is a man that had a passion for winning souls.  I hope his words will profoundly affect you as they have me.  I will once again encourage you to join with me if you have not.  Here is the link  A Sure Guide to Heaven

Alleine

Biographical Introduction

As I began reading about Joseph Alleine, I’m immediately struck by God’s promises to parents that raise their children in fear and admonition of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4), that it produces fruit and righteousness (Deuteronomy 6:24-25).  Alleine had a passion for God’s Word from a very young age.  Being born and raised in a Puritan family he desired to pursue a life of ministry.

Alleine’s years at Oxford were characterized by piety and diligent study.  His warm disposition found him many friends, but if their visits interrupted his studying time ‘he had no leasure to let them in, saying, “It is better that they should wonder at my rudeness than that I should lose my time; for only a few will take notice of the rudeness, but many may feel my loss of time.”’  As a chaplain he labored to evangelize country villages around Oxford and also preached ot the prisoners in the gaol every fortnight.  Such was his training for this future ministry.  Not yet twenty-one, he had already learned to be ‘infinitely and insatiably greedy for the conversion of souls and to this end he poured out his very heart in prayer and in preaching’. Page 8

In a day when most Christians spend little time in prayer and little time in study of the word, Alleine was ravenous for the study of God’s Word and the conversion of souls.

When the week began he would say, ‘Another week is now before us, let us spend this week for God’, and each morning, ‘Now let us live this one day well!’  ‘All the time of his health’, writes his wife, ‘he did rise constantly at or before four o’clock, and on the Sabbath sooner, if he did wake; he would be much troubled if he heard any smiths, or shoemakers, or such tradesmen, at work at their trades before he was in his duties with God; saying to me after, “O how this noise shames me! doth not my master deserve more than theirs?”  From four till eight he spent in prayer, holy contemplation, and signing of psalms, which he much delighted in, and did daily practice alone, as well as in his family.’  (Page 8 and 9)

A Sure Guide to Heaven has influenced many of the greatest evangelists of all of time including George Whitefield and Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Speaking of Spurgeon; when he was a child, his mother would often read a piece of Allein’s Alarm to them as they sat round the fire on a Sunday evening, and when brought under conviction of sin it was to this old book he turned.  ‘I remember’, he writes, ‘when I used to awake in the morning, the first thing I took up was Alleine’s Alarm or Baxter’s Call to the Unconverted.  (Page 11)

Introduction – An earnest invitation to sinners to turn to God

We can grasp Alleine’s passion for winning souls in his opening call to his readers.

But from where shall I fetch my argument?  With what shall I win them?  O that I could tell!  I would write to them in tears, I would weep out every argument, I would empty my veins for ink, I would petition them on my knees.  O how thankful should I be if they would be prevailed with to repent and turn. (Page 15)

He quickly turns to the gospel for the answer to his question.

There is no entering into heaven but by the strait passage of the second birth; without holiness you shall never see God (Heb xii 14).  Therefore give yourselves unto the Lord now.  Set yourselves to seek Him now.  Set up the Lord Jesus in your hearts, and set Him up in your houses….

I am not playing the orator to make a learned speech to you, nor dressing the dish with eloquence in order to please you.  These lines are upon a weighty errand indeed – to convince, and convert, and save you.  I am not baiting my hook with rhetoric, nor fishing for your applause, but for your souls.  My work is not to please you, but to save you; nor is my business with your fancies, but with your hearts….

…if we cannot get your consent to arise and come away, you will perish for ever.  No conversion – no salvation!  I must get your good-will, or leave you miserable.  (Page 16 & 17)

In this day of ear tickling, man centered, feel good gospel Alleine quickly gets to the point.  He had no interest in whether they liked the message or not, only to plead with them and to diligently show them the truth.  Without conversion there is no salvation, a message which desperately needs to be heard today just as it needed to be heard in his day.

What is biblical conversion?

Some of you do not know what I mean by conversion, and in vain shall I attempt to persuade you to that which you do not understand.   Therefore for your sakes I will show what conversion is.

Others cherish secret hopes of mercy, though they continue as they are.  For them I must show the necessity of conversion. 

Others are likely to harden themselves with a vain conceit that they are converted already.  To them I must show the marks of the unconverted. 

Others, because they feel no harm, fear none, and so sleep as upon the mast.  To them I shall show the misery of the unconverted. 

Others still sit still, because they do not see the way of escape.  To them I shall show the means of conversion. 

And finally, for the quickening of all, I shall close with the motives to conversion.

If this is a new concept for you, I plead with you to continue in this exploration with me and let’s understand this thing called the second birth and biblical conversion, if you are saved or if you think you are saved I urge you to look critically at your own life and examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5).  Is there anything that could possibly matter more?

Kevin