Derek Prince - Are We Predestined or Do We Choose to be Saved?
Let's come now to predestination. And it's not surprising because this is probably one of the most difficult areas of Christian truth, fully to understand and rightly to divide. Let me say at the beginning that I don't believe in the method of interpreting the Bible that takes one thing that God has said to prove that He didn't mean something else He said. I think we have to have a method of interpretation that makes room for everything that God has said and not use one statement of Scripture to contradict another. And sometimes we simply have to come to a place of humility and say, God, I believe all that you've said but I'm not sure exactly how it all fits together. I don't think that that should be a problem to any of us. In fact, if we imagine that we could understand the whole council of the eternal, omnipotent God, that would be ridiculous.
So let us be grateful for whatever measure of understanding He gives us. So here's the question, the first one. How does God's foreordained choosing of us bear on the way we are to pray for the unsaved? Of what use is praying for salvation for those who cannot or will not come? And then: Is it a correct biblical conclusion, then, to say we are predestined to choose that predestination is God's gift if free will does coexist? And then: Does God arrange circumstances so that we are pressured into accepting His will? Considering God's sovereignty, of what use is free will to us? And then you can see they're all essentially revolving around the same issue. And then: Scripture tells us that God wants all to be saved.
Ephesians 4 talks about us being chosen in Him before the creation of the world. When you talked about God choosing, do you believe that He chooses who will follow Him? So really, in essence, they all revolve around the tension between free will and predestination. And both are very clearly stated in the New Testament. If we believe the whole New Testament, we have to believe both even if we don't see how they fit together. Historically, the church has tended to take a pathway which I've sometimes compared to that of a drunkard walking down a road. And he staggers, first of all, into one ditch, falls into that ditch, picks himself out of that ditch, staggers a little further and falls into the ditch on the opposite side of the road and then gets out of that. But he does not walk steadily down the center of the road.
So there are those who emphasize free will to the exclusion of predestination. And there are those who emphasize predestination to the exclusion of free will. You've probably heard about the Calvinist who fell down stairs and broke his leg and said, Well, thank God that's over! Now I'm not making fun of John Calvin, he was a man of God and a very godly perhaps one of the most godly of the Reformants.
And I was preaching in a Presbyterian church earlier, last year, and I was preaching about God's dealings with Israel. Much the same that I tried to give an outline here. And the pastor, who was obviously a committed Calvinist, said afterwards about my message, John Calvin has been dancing in heaven tonight! Which was one of the nicest things that anybody has ever said about my preaching. So I believe in predestination. But I also know that I have a free will. And the Bible confirms that. I'm responsible for the choices that I make. Now, I think the resolution comes through trying to comprehend the extent of God's knowledge.
Recently I've been overwhelmed by the revelation of the knowledge of God. It is measureless. It's unlimited. There's nothing that God does not know. He knows the number of hairs on each head here in this auditorium right now. None of us know the number of hairs on our own head, but God knows them. And then you multiply that by five billion people in the world today, and God knows the number of hairs on every head. Chinese heads, Russian heads, American heads, He knows the number. God is also so attentive to detail. Jesus said not a single sparrow falls to the ground without your Father.
I heard a preacher say God takes time out to attend the sparrow's funeral. His attention is to detail. And I also believe, this is something that you can consider that if you fully know something now, if you completely know it totally, you know its whole past and you know its whole future. Total knowledge of anything or any person at any time lets you into the total past and the total future. So I believe God knows everything that will happen. I'm glad He does because He's in total control. If there were things that were going to happen that God didn't know about, He might not be in control.
God never has an emergency. He's aware of what's taking place, He knows the course that our lives will take, that human history will take. But, He doesn't make us do things. Can you accept that? Because He knows us intimately. He knows how we'll react in every situation. He knows the choices that we'll make. But He doesn't compel us to make those choices. I thought of a little example which I'm rather hesitant to give but I'll try to do it. This is just in human terms.
There was this wealthy, committed Christian who was getting near the end of his life and he had two sons, Jim and Jack with all due respect to present persons. And he wanted the great bulk of his estate to go to the use of God's kingdom. But neither of his two sons were saved. But in his will he ordained that a certain evangelist would preach his funeral sermon and he knew that both his sons would be there. And he made out his will in the light of this knowledge of his two sons.
So, when the evangelist preached, Jim, the elder, didn't respond. What did I say the name of the other ones Jack? Jack responded, gave his heart to the Lord and was wonderfully converted. Then when they opened the will they discovered that the great bulk of the estate had been willed to Jack. Although at the time the will was written, Jack was not converted. See?
So, the Father knew exactly how his two sons would respond in a given situation. And he made his plan according to that. But he didn't compel his son to be saved. In fact, he wasn't even present on earth when his son got saved. Does that help you, does it show you? If it doesn't help you, don't let it confuse you. But I believe that this is the key. I have been so overwhelmed by contemplating the total knowledge of God of every person, every situation. I mean, the tiniest little microbe, the smallest bacteria He knows how they're behaving. That's one of the secrets of healing. He knows exactly the total condition of our body and He knows how to deal with that condition. Well. I think that's the best I can do for those.