Why No Invitation?

Introduction:

1. One (of many) of the distinguishing differences of our church from other Baptist or evangelical (professing to believe the gospel) churches is our lack of a formal invitation at the end of services.
2. Our children (and probably some adults) need to be established and reminded of our reasons against it: for we need to teach them about it, prepare them to defend it, and lift up the true doctrine of salvation.
3. We are a church of Jesus Christ: we believe salvation is by the grace of God in Jesus Christ alone; we preach the gospel; we believe the necessity of repentance, faith, and good works as the evidences of it.
4. Most (98%) Baptist and evangelical churches have a formal time at the end of preaching services where the lost are invited to raise their hand and/or come to the altar to be saved and obtain eternal life.
   1. Sermons are geared to the invitation, as saving souls from hell is assumed to be the top priority.
   2. The pastor instructs everyone to bow their heads and close their eyes as he pleads with sinners.
   3. The organist begins quietly playing some funeral dirge to create an emotional atmosphere.
   4. Stories are told; threats are made; confrontational questions are asked; extortion is used; plants come forward to get things moving; numbers and percentages are mentioned; tears are shed.
   5. The invitation may be 1-2 minutes (rare) or may approach the length of the sermon (less rare), and this often involves heavy lying i.e. singing “Just As I Am” ten times after promising once.
   6. Sinners are promised they can be right with God in a moment of time never to doubt it again.
   7. Tears are shed and hearts rejoice as sinners come forward to make their public display for Jesus.
   8. Counselors are ready to help those who come forward to pray the sinner’s prayer and get saved.
   9. Spies watch the proceedings to spot raised hands for personal assaults when the service ends.
   10. Others come forward to seek baptism, church membership, rededication, baby dedications, etc.
5. The invitational method of salvation was taken to its logical absurdity on May 3, 1998 in Hammond, IN.
   1. Dr. Jack Hyles, deceased, the “World’s Greatest Soul winner,” was pastor at the First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana, which had claimed a record of 100,000+ in Sunday School.
   2. He claimed that on May 3, 1998 there were 15,000 souls saved and 5,112 baptisms in 217 preaching places connected in some way with his church. He claimed that more souls had been saved at their church than at Pentecost or at any church in the history of Christianity.
   3. In fact, only 2,000 people sat in his 7,000-seat auditorium that day. Hammond was worn out.
   4. He preached a message named, “A Place Called Heaven.” His four “proofs” of heaven were (1) three near-death experiences of people going there, (2) his mother’s vision of it before dying, (3) universal belief in such a place must mean there is one, and (4) the Bible says there is one.
   5. His told his audience, “If you have the least desire to go to heaven, if there’s just a little bit of a desire to go to heaven, then this morning, you trust Jesus as your Saviour.”
   6. As far as their commitment, he said, “Don’t join this church if you don’t want to. Don’t ever come back if you don’t want to . . .. I’m closing the doors of our membership today. You cannot join First Baptist Church of Hammond today.”
6. The world’s most popular tract, “The Four Spiritual Laws,” declares first that God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. This doctrine is heresy. Did Noah hang such a banner from the ark? Will this be the backdrop to the judgment seat of the Lord Jesus Christ?
7. The invitation has become a Baptist sacrament – a formal rite by which grace is given to sinners, just like the seven Roman Catholic sacraments to transfer inward grace by an outward ritual. Disturbing!
8. I was raised in an invitational and decisional family, church, and university. I know what I am saying.
9. This is no matter of church or ministerial comparison, for no man has ever added to the Book of Life.
10. Due to the nature of this study, the bulk of the proof for each point will be found in other sermons and outlines, all of which are readily available for those desiring to see extensive Bible detail for each point.
    1. The “Seven Proofs of Unconditional Salvation” lay the foundation for any study of salvation.
    2. The “Five Phases of Salvation” explain the various stages and components of our salvation.
    3. “Why Preach the Gospel?” is a thorough study of preaching the gospel in light of election.
    4. “John 3:16 Revisited” reclaims this much abused verse from the irreverent hands of Arminians.
    5. “How to Be Born Again” reviews in detail the false theories and Bible truth on this subject.

THE BIBLE DOES NOT TELL US TO HAVE ONE

1. We are Bible Christians, so we only do what the Bible expressly tells us to do.
2. We believe the Bible is the final revelation of God’s will (Ps 119:128: Matt 28:20).
3. We believe the Bible is sufficient to prepare every minister perfectly (II Tim 3:16-17).
4. We have been commanded to earnestly contend for the faith once delivered (Jude 1:3).
5. Since we cannot find one in the Bible, then to be Bible Christians, we cannot have one.

JESUS NEVER GAVE ONE

1. But Jesus said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden” (Mat 11:25-30).
   1. He did, right after explaining no one can know Him without divine revelation and that God has hid spiritual things from the wise and prudent among men!
   2. He did, calling on those already born again and alive spiritually, who were laboring with guilt for sin, to come to Him for rest, not for eternal life.
2. But Jesus said, “And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life” (John 5:40).
   1. He did, but this is not an invitation: this is a condemnation of their unbelief.
   2. He did, but He also explained their hearts were so bad as to reject Scripture.
   3. He previously explained that anyone believing on Him is already saved (5:24).
   4. He already explained that regeneration to spiritual life is by His voice (5:25-29).
3. But Jesus said, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:15-16).
   1. He did, but do you require baptism for salvation as well as faith? Jesus did here.
   2. He did, but the salvation can only be conversion or laying hold on eternal life.
   3. For faith and baptism are the evidences of regeneration, not conditions for it.
4. Why did He preach in parables so that people would not be converted (Matt 13:10-15)?
5. Why did He not care of the Pharisees and their followers fell in a ditch (Matt 15:12-14)?
6. Why did He tell the Pharisees, “How can ye escape the damnation of hell? (Matt 23:33).
7. Why did He say, “No man can come unto me, except the Father draw him” (John 6:44)?
8. Why did He tell the crowds discouraging things like costly sacrifice (Luke 14:25-35)?
9. Why did He suggest to the twelve they might want to leave Him as well (John 6:67)?

THE APOSTLES NEVER GAVE ONE

1. On the day of Pentecost, it was the 3000 who were asking Peter what to do (Acts 2:37).
   1. The answer was repentance and baptism, too much for faith-only regeneration.
   2. And these men were pricked in their hearts, which proves a regenerated heart.
   3. Peter’s message was very practical, as he told them how to escape 70AD (2:40).
2. But Paul and Silas gave the jailor an invitation before he was saved (Acts 16:23-34).
   1. They did? He asked Paul and Silas privately; they did not invite him publicly.
   2. They did? He didn’t know anything but a hopeless life and a worse future.
   3. He wasn’t born again by his faith; he was given hope and joy and assurance; for only God’s grace in regeneration could have caused him to beg them for help.
3. The verb “love” is conjugated 13 different ways in the Bible, and yet there is not a single use of any of these forms in the entire book of Acts, where the apostles preached.
   1. Why didn’t Paul and the others quote John 3:16 everywhere they went, as today.
   2. If the love of God for all sinners is the greatest theme of the Bible, why is it never mentioned in the book of Acts, not even once? No, not even once!
   3. What will the poor men who carry “John 3:16” placards into stadiums do now?
4. Read Paul’s sermon to Greek philosophers and look for an invitation (Acts 17:22-34).

ETERNAL LIFE IS NOT AT RISK

1. God promised eternal life to His elect, and not a single one shall perish (John 10:26-29).
2. Jesus came to do God’s will and not lose a single one of the elect (John 6:39; 17:2).
3. All that is at risk is our knowledge and assurance of salvation (I Cor 15:2; Gal 5:1-4).
4. Everyone foreknown shall be glorified, without any loss whatsoever (Romans 8:29-39)!
5. No one has been added to the Book of Life by an invitation, and no one has been lost from the Book of Life by rejecting an invitation. Much ado about nothing!

ETERNAL LIFE IS AN UNCONDITIONAL GIFT

1. There are seven Bible proofs that eternal life is unconditional. It is a pure gift of grace.
   1. Man is unable to do anything pleasing to God in his state of death and depravity.
   2. The Bible denies man’s will or works to have anything to do with salvation.
   3. Faith and good works are the result of salvation, not the condition or means of it.
   4. The gospel was never designed to bring eternal life to anyone, but to reveal it.
   5. Jesus Christ saved all the elect by Himself without any human instrumentality.
   6. There are examples throughout the Bible of salvation without human conditions.
   7. This is the only doctrine of salvation that gives God and Christ all the glory.
2. See the sermons and outlines detailing these points with many Bible references.

IT WRONGLY CONFUSES THE PHASES OF SALVATION

1. Paul told Timothy to rightly divide the word of truth, which invitations ignore by grossly confusing the various phases of salvation (II Tim 2:15).
2. There are five clear phases of salvation, which must be known to understand the Bible.
   1. In the eternal phase, God chose His elect to salvation before the world began.
   2. In the legal phase, Jesus Christ paid the full satisfaction for them to be forgiven.
   3. In the vital phase, the Holy Spirit regenerates them and makes them spiritual.
   4. In the practical phase, the elect hear the gospel and come to know the truth.
   5. In the final phase, God resurrects their bodies and gives them their inheritance.
3. See the sermons and outlines detailing these points with many Bible references.
4. Election, justification, and regeneration precede faith, so you cannot be invited to them.
5. Conversion and glorification, the only remaining phases, are not based on an invitation.
6. Conversion is a lifelong process of hearing and applying truth to your whole life.
7. Glorification is something we lay hold of in our hearts by the proof of good works.
8. Don’t assume every use of “save” or “hell” means getting saved from the lake of fire.
   1. Will you beat your children to save them from hell (Pr 23:13-14)? Read it!
   2. What will you think about Timothy, who Paul told to save himself (I Tim 4:16)?
   3. The souls saved in Jams 5:19-20 are brethren, who are converted out of heresy.

ETERNAL LIFE IS A GIFT, NOT AN OFFER

1. It is a gift: the wages of sin are death, but the gift of God is eternal life (Romans 6:23).
   1. God gave the elect to Jesus Christ to save before the world began (John 6:39).
   2. Jesus Christ gave Himself in life and death to accomplish this gift (Eph 5:25).
   3. And then Jesus gave eternal life as a gift to those given to Him (John 17:2).
2. It is not offered to men: for it was offered to God only, as man would not receive it.
   1. Jesus offered His sacrifice to God once by the eternal Spirit (Heb 9:14,28).
   2. Gospel blessings of fellowship are offered, but not eternal life (Revelation 3:20).
   3. And we offer our obedience as thanksgiving for what He has done (Rom 15:16).
3. Man does not accept eternal life: the acceptance that counts is God’s acceptance of us.
   1. God was satisfied and accepted Jesus Christ’s offering of Himself (Is 53:10-12).
   2. God made us accepted in His beloved (Eph 1:6). By invitation? By His choice!
   3. We then accept the most worthy news of these accomplished facts (I Tim 1:15).
   4. And our obedience to God is acceptable through Jesus Christ (I Peter 2:5).

THE GOSPEL IS FOR THE ELECT ONLY

1. Paul said he endured all things for the elect’s sakes (II Tim 2:10). Consider that a while!
2. Those who were ordained to eternal life will believe it, but others will not (Acts 13:48).
3. Every word in the New Testament was written to believers, not to unbelievers! What a pile of mischief the devil has sown to distract saints from their great duty of holy living!
4. Paul’s practice was to visit synagogues, where men already feared God (Acts 17:1-3).
   1. Without a doubt, Paul is shown in the Bible as the greatest preacher/evangelist.
   2. But a study of the book of Acts will find him preaching only to worshippers!
   3. He did not have a jail ministry, home for unwed mothers, soup kitchen, famous athletes online, summer youth camps, hot air balloon rallies, or any other invention to approach those who had no time for God.
   4. If people didn’t believe in God or have time for God, he had no interest in them.
5. Paul wanted to preach the gospel to believers at Rome more than to others (Rom 1:15).
6. Paul explained well that the gospel only benefits those already saved (I Cor 1:18,22-24).
7. Paul prayed for deliverance from unbelievers: he had nothing for them (II Thess 3:1-2).

THE GREAT COMMISSION WAS FULFILLED

1. The Great Commission was given to the apostles, and they fulfilled it (Mark 16:14-20).
2. The gospel had been preached in all the world to every creature very early (Col 1:6,23).
3. Jesus prophesied that it would be preached in all the world before 70AD (Matt 24:14).
4. We do not have the power to properly fulfill the Commission, due to signs and wonders.
5. There is not a mention in any epistle to any church that saving the lost is even a minor part of their church goals or responsibilities. Why this total silence on a subject that most contemporary Christians think is the most important mandate for the church?
6. Why in the three Pastoral Epistles is there nothing even suggested of fulfilling the Great Commission by New Testament bishops and deacons?
7. The only soul winning advice to bishops is for Timothy to save himself (I Tim 4:16).

THERE ARE NO NEW NAMES WRITTEN DOWN IN GLORY

1. The song by C. Austin Miles, “A New Name in Glory,” is absolutely and totally false.
2. The names in the Book of Life were written there from eternity past (Rev 13:8; 17:8), when the elect were chosen by God for salvation (Matt 25:34; Eph 1:4; II Tim 1:9).
3. Yet pianists and organists all over Christian America pick up the beat and play this ridiculous song, as if the Book of Life should be named after them!
4. We should rejoice that our names are written in heaven, but they were written long ago!

PREACHING THE GOSPEL IS 100% SUCCESSFUL WITHOUT INVITATIONS

1. Paul said God caused him to always triumph in preaching the gospel (II Cor 2:14-17).
2. He was a sweet savour of worship and glory to God in both the elect and the nonelect.
3. He was NOT a sweet savour of worship and glory to God by any souls that he saved, for he didn’t save any. They were saved by God long before he arrived (I Cor 1:18).
4. Men fulfill their destiny when they reject the gospel as much as when they believe it.
5. They prove the deadness of their souls and their just damnation for eternity in hell.
6. The elect prove the life in their souls and their glorious salvation from eternity in hell.
7. And so he never modified his message to make any difference in the results. Glory!

CORNELIUS WAS SAVED BEFORE HE EVEN MET PETER

1. Cornelius had plenty of evidence he was born again before meeting Peter (Acts 10:3-4).
2. The purpose of Peter’s vision was to show God’s cleansing without Peter’s preaching.
3. Peter admitted that Cornelius was accepted with God before preaching (Acts 10:34-35).
4. Peter did not give an invitation, and no one came forward. They all spoke in tongues.

EVEN COMING BACK FROM THE DEAD WOULDN’T HELP

1. The most innovative invitation ever conceived was by a rich man in hell, who wanted to save his brothers; but Abraham said even a resurrection wouldn’t help (Luke 16:27-31).
2. No matter what you might do for a wicked person, you cannot give him life (Is 26:10).
3. Even the Spirit cannot draw the natural man – he must have life (I Cor 2:14; John 3:6).

WE CAN ONLY BRING ETERNAL LIFE TO LIGHT

1. The gospel does not bring eternal life; the gospel brings life to light (II Timothy 1:9-10).
   1. Jesus Christ abolished death and gives eternal life by Himself (John 10:26-30).
   2. The gospel is the good news and glad tidings of what Jesus did for the elect.
2. The gospel itself is not the power of God unto salvation; the gospel is the news of the power and wisdom of God unto salvation through Christ (Rom 1:16; I Cor 1:18,24).
3. Soul winners can only save the elect of God from error they fall into (James 5:19-20).

SINNERS MUST FLEE TO JESUS CHRIST, NOT TO MEN

1. Salvation is in Jesus Christ, and a person need not do anything in public to go to Him.
2. There will only be glory given to Jesus Christ in the coming great day of judgment.
3. God’s grace did not need his help, so Paul “dumbed down” his preaching (I Cor 2:1-5).
4. Only one represented us as sinners and saints (Rom 5:19), and it wasn’t an organist.

WE REJECT THE DAMNABLE HERESY OF DECISIONAL REGENERATION

1. John 1:13 condemns decisional regeneration as much as it does baptismal regeneration.
   1. An unsaved man is in the flesh, so why invite his flesh forward to make impossible decisions about spiritual things (John 3:6; Rom 8:7-8; Gal 5:17). No one has ever been born again by a decision of his flesh! Never!
   2. An unsaved man is only a man, so why invite a man forward to make impossible decisions about spiritual things he cannot see (John 3:3; 8:43,47; I Cor 1:22-23).
   3. Being born again is only by the power of the Holy Spirit (John 3:8; Titus 3:5).
2. They think they regenerate souls at their altars with trite little prayers. What a blasphemous heresy! Just like sprinkling a baby with water to bring about regeneration.
3. We know that the gospel is only for the conversion of God’s elect to faithful obedience.
4. The difference between regeneration and conversion is more than a mere theological distinction; it is the difference between understanding the Bible or living in fantasyland.
   1. God regenerates – quickens dead sinners to life – by His own will and power.
   2. Man converts – turns to God in faith and repentance – by his active obedience.
5. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God (Romans 9:16).

IT WAS INVENTED BY HERETIC CHARLES FINNEY

1. The progression of the invitation is Charles Finney, Dwight Moody, and Billy Graham.
2. Before Charles Finney and his psychological approach to Christianity, there was no such thing as an invitation, where sinners were appealed to based on human wisdom.
3. Charles Finney took the first half of the 19th Century and Moody took the second half.
4. Charles Finney is credited with winning 500,000 souls to Jesus before the Civil War, but he himself said later that most of them were a disgrace to religion.
5. He denied man’s depravity, taught man’s ability to please God, and believed revival to be the application of human means to get men to exercise their will toward God.
6. And for the last fifty years, we have watched Billy Graham ask his plants and the gullible to “get up out of your seats by the hundreds and come down here to get saved.”

BECAUSE IT ASKS THE IMPOSSIBLE

1. If a man cannot see the kingdom of God, how can he accept an invitation (John 3:3)?
2. If a man cannot hear the gospel, how can he respond to an invitation (John 8:43,47)?
3. If a man cannot receive the things of God, how can he receive Jesus Christ (I Cor 2:14)?
4. The theology of the invitational system was first taught in Genesis 3, where Satan lied to Eve that she would not die spiritually, if she ate of the forbidden fruit.
   1. She did die. She died toward God that very day, and we are all born dead.
   2. The invitation presents the same lie: you are not really dead; you have free will to choose God; and you can make a decision to take eternal life for yourself.
   3. God put Cherubims and a sword to keep them from getting to the tree of life.

REVELATION 3:20 IS FOR SAINTS, NOT SINNERS

1. It is common practice to present Jesus as a longhaired, effeminate hippie standing at a sinner’s heart door and begging the sinner to let him come in with the gift of eternal life.
2. But Revelation 3:20 was given by the Holy Spirit to the believing saints at Laodicea for more fellowship with Jesus Christ, not to get obtain eternal life by a decision (3:14).
3. This text has been universally used by “soul winners,” even though it doesn’t have a thing to do with salvation, winning the lost, regeneration, or preaching the gospel.
4. The corruption of God’s Word like this manifests the bankrupt theology of these people.

IT IS POPULAR AMONG CARNAL CHRISTIANS

1. Paul warned us to avoid doctrine-hating Christians of the last days (II Tim 3:1 – 4:4).
2. If carnal, compromising Christians trust something, it must be wrong (II Tim 3:1-13).
3. Things highly esteemed among religious people had better disturb us (Luke 16:15).
4. Saints of God are exhorted to earnestly contend for the faith once delivered (Jude 1:3).
5. We are commanded to judge religionists by their fruits, and they flunk (Matt 7:15-20).
6. Former President Jimmy Carter ran as a born again Christian, but a Gallup poll that year showed that 33% of Americans were born again. Hard to tell by the fruits, isn’t it?

THE RESULTS OF INVITATIONS ARE APPALLING

1. The studies and follow up reports of invitational decisions condemn it by themselves.
   1. Most of these so-called revivals have no lasting fruit in changed lives at all!
   2. Finney said of his converts, “The great body of them are a disgrace to religion.”
   3. One of his close friends and co-workers said everyone connected with the revivals were “left like dead coals that could not be reignited.”
   4. All of Hammond, Indiana should be saved; but that church has shrunk greatly!
   5. Any honest person who has been involved in the invitational system knows that the great majority of “decisions” never show any spiritual fruit whatsoever.
   6. Only blind zeal keeps people pushing on a rope called decisional regeneration.
2. The only lasting effect in a life will be by the Holy Spirit of God, not a mere decision.
3. We are told to judge prophets and methods by their fruits (Matt 7:15-20; I Thess 5:21).
4. And we do know what is in a man’s heart, for it is easily visible to all (Luke 6:45).

IT MAKES A MOCKERY OF REPENTANCE

1. The gospel order is repent, turn to God, and do works meet for repentance (Acts 26:20).
2. John required it (Matt 3:8); Jesus required it (Matt 9:13); Peter required it (Acts 2:38); Paul required it (Acts 20:21). The gospel changes lives by its demands (Rom 12:1-2).
3. The kingdom of heaven was entered by violent force – overthrown lives (Matt 11:12).
4. Zacchaeus’s salvation was by financial repentance that cost him much (Luke 19:1-10).
5. Those coming forward are promised eternal life, even though they show no evidence.
   1. The evidence of eternal life is bearing fruit with great diligence (II Peter 1:5-11).
   2. Paul declared the Thessalonians elect of God by their evidence (I Thess 1:3-10).
   3. Those that do the will of the Father will be received by Jesus (Matt 7:21-23).
6. The devils respond to invitations better than any man ever responds (Luke 4:33-34).
   1. How many of today’s “easy believism” converts tremble before God (Jas 2:19)?
   2. How many can correctly identify Him as the Son of God and future judgment?

IT DISCOURAGES THE HEARTS OF SAINTS

1. What kind of salvation is it that can be obtained by an emotional decision without fruit?
2. What kind of grace is it that brings about salvation by ministerial cunning and theatrics?
3. What kind of salvation is it, when most of the “salvations” never show any fruit at all?
4. What kind of praise will be in heaven, since those present will be there by their choice?
5. What kind of grace is it, when God did everything equally for both lost and saved?
6. What kind of motivation do the saved have when most professors are carnally minded?
7. How can Christ’s love be constraining, if He loved all men equally and ineffectively?

IT ENCOURAGES UNGODLY LIVING

1. Most of them believe, “Hey, I went forward and got saved.” So they live as they wish.
2. It leads to a perversion of the preservation of the saints by “once saved, always saved.”
3. If salvation is by a one-time decision, then holy living is totally unnecessary and costly.
4. When carnal men die, a one-time decision is enough to preach them in heaven at burial.
5. God cannot stand lies that cause sinners to stay in sin by promising life (Ezek 13:22).
6. It gives sinners false assurance of acceptance with God, so they have no fear of God.

ITS PROPONENTS ARE NOT SURE IF JESUS IS LORD

1. They disagree as to whether Jesus needs to be accepted as Saviour only or as Lord and Saviour. That such a controversy or discussion even exists condemns the whole mess.
2. Let’s go back to the taproot of this heretical tree and cut it out – invitations are wrong!
3. God made Jesus of Nazareth both Lord and Christ after His resurrection (Acts 2:33-36).
4. No one has ever been regenerated or saved in any meaningful way by merely accepting Jesus in any form or fashion. Regeneration is by the power of God, and conversion is a lifelong process, not a momentary decision resulting from emotional stimuli.

ITS PROPONENTS ARE INSINCERE

1. If they believed they could regenerate souls and add to the Book of Life, they would make any sacrifice – like poverty and celibacy – to save as many as possible. The Catholics are much more consistent here than are the Baptists and other evangelicals.
2. It would be far better to go without clothes and suffer the shame of nakedness, then to let a soul be lost for eternity due to the money wasted on clothing.
3. But instead, they enjoy their fine homes, clothes, cars, pools, dining, and costly travel.
4. If souls are sinking into hell due to a lack of invitational preachers, then they should emulate Mother Theresa and give their lives sacrificially.
5. Bob Jones University is one of the foremost “invitational salvation” and “decisional regeneration” institutions in the world. They send their “preacher boys” everywhere.
   1. They will beg for the last dollar from your pocket and the last minute of your time “to save the lost.” The faculty is paid below poverty level to “win the lost.”
   2. But they maintain an art museum of pagan and Catholic art worth many millions of dollars that could be filling out a whole new chapter in the Book of Life.
   3. They believe that the pagan “culture” of artist series and art is more important than really getting serious about saving the lost. Visit, and see for yourself.
   4. Why even teach Accounting or Biology, when all should be soul winning 24/7?

IT DENIES THE TRUE EVIDENCE OF SALVATION

1. Jesus said that the doers, not the professors, would be saved in the end (Matt 7:21-23).
2. Paul told Timothy the rich could lay hold on eternal life by money works (I Tim 6:19).
3. Paul taught that Jesus Christ is the Author of salvation to the obedient (Hebrews 5:9).
4. James argued strongly that justification is by works, not by decisional faith (Jas 2:24).
5. John the Baptist blasted Pharisees at his baptism for insufficient works (Matt 3:7-12).
6. Jesus told those following Him about the high cost of discipleship (Luke 14:25-35).
7. Jesus turned to those who came forward and told them they had to continue (John 8:31).
8. The evidence of salvation is good works maintained by diligence (II Peter 1:5-11).
9. If any be in Christ, He is a new creature and all things are become new (II Cor 5:17).
10. The true grace of God teaches something – holy lives with good works (Titus 2:11-14).

BECAUSE THE METHODS ARE CONTRARY TO SCRIPTURE AND REASON

1. Forcing a child against its will to pray a sinner’s prayer is not an infrequent event.
2. There is no “Romans road” that gets close to truth that doesn’t go through Romans 9.
3. God’s “simple plan of salvation,” as some call it, is actually quite complex: Paul said, “Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness” (I Timothy 3:16).
4. Telling the lost about heaven is an invention that no apostle of Jesus Christ ever used.
5. Neither the apostles nor any following apostolic religion ever used musical instruments.
   1. Musical instruments are purely for carnal entertainment, as they do not address the spirit or soul with any edifying knowledge of God.
   2. Most “special music” today is nothing more than a “Christian night club act.”
   3. The New Testament simply and expressly teaches us to sing, not to play.
6. Repeatedly playing funeral dirges (slow, mournful, emotional melodies) to create an atmosphere for making emotional and spontaneous decisions is sensual and carnal.
7. Many ministers lie repeatedly as they promise over and over, “Just one more verse”!
8. Offering financial and other material rewards for “souls saved” is incredibly carnal.
9. What is a missionary? The term is not in the Bible. Are they bishops or deacons?
10. Our Lord sent teachers without a salary, but missionaries beg money for months before they ever go to a foreign field. They even have a name for it – deputation.
11. Paul preached in Philippi, because a man of Macedonia asked for help; but most missionaries go based on language, climate, and social interest rather than need.
12. Women missionaries are an innovation that is totally unscriptural and unnecessary.

BECAUSE CARNAL MOTIVATION IS UNSCRIPTURAL AND BLASPHEMOUS

1. If I was a starving Sudanese boy, and you gave medicine to my grandmother, helped my mother deliver her tenth child, and gave us food and water for two weeks, I would invite Jesus into my heart twice every day. This isn’t salvation or even close!
2. Jesus and the apostles did not do miracles or feed multitudes for invitational purposes; they did it to confirm the resurrection gospel they were declaring was from God.
3. Jesus rejected believers who followed Him for the bread He gave (John 6:1-15,26-36).
4. Paul avoided any influence that would be less than the power of God (I Cor 2:1-5).
5. Appealing to youth with all sorts of carnal entertainment and recreation is an abomination – even to get them to a meeting. How in the world do these false prophets get their justification for going to the devil to attract people to the kingdom of God?
6. The distance between philanthropy and Christianity is in its God – Jesus or man.
7. If anyone knows about your charity, the Lord doesn’t; if no one knows, the Lord does: but in either case you can be certain there are no new names written down in glory!

IT MAKES A MOCKERY OF CHRISTIANITY AND HARDENS MEN

1. Everyone knows that nothing happens “at the altar.” They even know it isn’t an altar.
2. Those coming forward expect to find some new feeling and strength, and they don’t; so the latter end of them is usually worse than the beginning.
3. If they do feel something, it more than likely mere crowd psychology and an emotional bubble that will leave them gasping for the world in just a few days or weeks.
4. True salvation (regeneration) by the power of the Holy Spirit leaves a changed heart that provides new joy and strength! But an invitation can never give this new creation.
5. If men are even humanly wise and discerning, they witness the music, melodramatic methods, crowd psychology, hypocritical results, and superficial prayers with disgust.
6. Children have been forced to repeat prayers while cursing and/or crying against it.
7. These see the decisions by many, which never give any evidence of salvation at all.

MEN WILL NOT BE INVITED FROM THE DEAD AT THE RESURRECTION

1. Jesus taught that our future bodily resurrection will be accomplished by the very same omnipotent means as our spiritual regeneration (John 5:25-29). Love true doctrine!
2. Neither the preacher’s voice and methods, the organist’s creative repetitions, or the counselor’s false promises will be involved in either of these resurrection events.
3. Rejoice in the fact that you were regenerated by the life-giving voice of Jesus Christ!

IT CAN’T HELP A PERISHING PERSON AT ALL

1. Natural men cannot receive spiritual things, no matter how you present (I Cor 2:14).
2. The gospel is not for dead sinners; it is for those who are already saved (I Cor 1:18).
3. If the gospel is hid, it is hid to the lost; it is not for the lost, but for the saved (II Co 4:3).
4. The gospel of Christ is precious only to those already saved: for Jesus is a Stone of stumbling and Rock of offence to others, who were appointed to wrath (I Peter 2:6-8).
5. That is why Paul wanted to preach the gospel to the believers in Rome (Romans 1:15).
6. Why didn’t he ask the church at Rome to set him up with nightly evangelistic meetings?

Conclusion:

1. Our hope of eternal life is based only on the free and sovereign grace of God in the singular and finished work of Jesus Christ. We reject all human conditions, means, and instrumentality for eternal life.
2. The reasons above could be increased, but these should suffice for honest people who love Scripture.
3. Jesus of Nazareth is Saviour and Lord. Believe and obey Him today, tomorrow, and the rest of your life.
4. If you believe and prove your faith by works, you are showing the evidence of eternal life (John 6:47).
5. Eternal life is certainly an important matter, and we should do all we can to be sure of it (II Peter 1:10).
6. Regardless of any opinions to the contrary, this sermon was preached and this outline written to accomplish the same objective that the apostle John had when writing his first epistle (I John 5:13).
7. Due to the nature of this study, the bulk of the proof for each point will be found in other sermons and outlines, all of which are readily available for those desiring to see extensive Bible detail for each point.
   1. The “Seven Proofs of Unconditional Salvation” lay the foundation for any study of salvation.
   2. The “Five Phases of Salvation” explain the various stages and components of our salvation.
   3. “Why Preach the Gospel?” is a thorough study of preaching the gospel in light of election.
   4. “John 3:16 Revisited” reclaims this much abused verse from the irreverent hands of Arminians.
   5. “How to Be Born Again” reviews in detail the false theories and Bible truth on this subject.
   6. “The Great Commission” studies in detail its fulfillment before 70AD and true evangelism.
   7. “Contemporary Christianity” reviews the many inventions and innovations of carnal Christians.