Do we REALLY believe God will save the lost?

The team huddled around for a time of prayer before the outreach commenced in Southampton in early 2023. As we prayed, we sought the Lord’s blessing on the day and prayed that Christ would be glorified. With that, the team collectively said, “Amen!” and the outreach commenced. But one brother didn’t move; instead, he looked at me and said, “Why didn’t we pray for God to save the lost today?” I admit, I was taken aback by this question, so I quickly ran through our prayers in my mind…

“Lord, glorify your name.” 

“Lord, please let people hear your Word.”

“Lord, may people take tracts and materials.”

“Lord, please give us favour with the authorities.” 

We had prayed about numerous good things, but the brother was correct: we hadn’t prayed for the conversion of the lost! This started me on a journey of wondering if, despite all our busyness in evangelism, we have lost the expectation and confidence that God indeed saves.

I must ask myself, “Do I really expect people to be saved whenever the good news is proclaimed?” 

As I look around, I see that the ground is hard. People aren’t open to the gospel. We labour constantly, but where is the harvest? Do I really believe the Lord will save people?

Charles Spurgeon, in Volume 2 of his autobiography, recounts an encounter he had with Mr Medhurst at the Pastor’s College,

One day, with a very sad countenance, he said to me, “I have been preaching for three months, and I don’t know of a single soul having been converted.” Meaning to catch him by guile, and at the same time to teach him a lesson he would never forget, I asked, “Do you expect the Lord to save souls every time you open your mouth?” “Oh, no, sir!” he replied. “Then,” I said, “that is just the reason why you have not had conversions: ‘According to your faith be it unto you.’  

Personally, I’m challenged by this quote. I know Spurgeon isn’t Scripture, but I must seriously consider his words. Is it possible that Spurgeon was onto something?

Could it be that we’ve grown so accustomed to the hard ground that we no longer expect people to be saved every time the gospel is proclaimed? Does what we see in society cause us to doubt that the gospel is indeed the power of God to salvation (Romans 1:16)?

I’ve been wrestling with these questions since the brother challenged me in 2023, and as I consider what has been said, I find myself praying, “Lord, help my unbelief!”

As I reflect on this subject, I find myself searching the Scriptures to see if there is any biblical warrant for us to expect the lost to be saved. I believe that there are promises and illustrations in God’s Word which give us confidence that the Lord will save.

Consider Mark 4:26-29:

For whoever has, more will be given to him, and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.” “The kingdom of God is like this,” he said. “A man scatters seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day; the seed sprouts and grows, although he doesn’t know how. The soil produces a crop by itself—first the blade, then the head, and then the full grain on the head. As soon as the crop is ready, he sends for the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

The Lord Jesus uses a parable to explain a gospel truth. He says this is what God’s Kingdom is like: someone sows seed, the seed grows, and a harvest comes. What does that mean for us?

We are to sow the seed of the gospel – we do this every time we hand out a tract, speak to someone about Jesus, preach, etc. We scatter good news seeds. We may not see where that seed lands, but we can have confidence in the Lord that He will fulfill what He says in this parable. The seed will grow, and the harvest will come.

Jesus doesn’t say, “God’s Kingdom is like a man who sows the seed, but it was a hard day, so the seed had no power, and no harvest ever came.” Jesus doesn’t say that, but that is how we can often act. We look at the culture, and we forget that God has ordained to use the seed we sow to bring about a harvest. 

When you share the gospel, you are planting for a harvest. 

Consider also Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23. This is the well-known parable of the soils, but have you ever stopped to think about what Jesus is teaching? I’ve heard sermons that focus all their time on the soil which doesn’t produce a crop – these are depressing sermons as they rob Christians of the confidence in the Lord who saves.

Yet, look at v8:

Still other seed fell on good ground and produced fruit: some a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times what was sown.

Then the interpretation in v23:  

But the one sown on the good ground—this is one who hears and understands the word, who does produce fruit and yields: some a hundred, some sixty, some thirty times what was sown.

Jesus declares there is a type of soil that produces a harvest. This soil receives the seed at the same time as the other soils, but this one is good. Likewise, when we share the gospel, some will mock, others will want to hear more, but some will believe. Scripture gives us an expectation and confidence that the Lord will save! 

But let’s keep building our confidence. Look at Isaiah 55:10-11:

For just as rain and snow fall from heaven and do not return there without saturating the earth and making it germinate and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat, so my word that comes from my mouth will not return to me empty, but it will accomplish what I please and will prosper in what I send it to do.”

Again, notice the illustration being used. The seed comes down, and a harvest follows. This is an analogy of what happens when we share God’s Word. The truth is proclaimed, and it builds towards a harvest. This should give you confidence. When you proclaim the gospel, you can do so with the expectation of people being converted.

God has given power to His Word. He uses it according to 2 Timothy 3:15 to make people ‘wise for salvation.’ Romans 10:17 declares that God has ordained His Word to bring about saving faith.

As we consider these Scriptural promises and illustrations, I must ask, “Do we really expect people to be saved when we proclaim the gospel?”

I know the correct answer is to say, “Of course!” But do we really? When you tell someone of Jesus dying and rising again, as you call on them to repent and believe, do you do so with confidence, knowing that the Lord may bless that seed to the harvest?

I understand the difficulties of evangelism, especially in today’s ‘post-Christian’ culture. But we must have eyes of faith. We must have faith in the promises of Scripture. God promises a harvest!

We can share the good news with confidence, knowing that people will be saved. When we get to Heaven, I think we will be surprised to see the number of crowns we have. Numerous people who were saved through our preaching and witness – people we didn’t know anything about. We will be amazed, but then we will pick up those crowns and take them to Jesus saying, “You did it all!”

Brothers and sisters, have confidence in the God who saves. The Lord promises that some of the seed will fall upon good soil, and a harvest will come. 

I want to give the final word on this topic to D.L. Moody, who said,

I remember a man telling me he preached for a number of years without any result. He used to say to his wife as they went to church that he knew the people would not believe anything he said; and there was no blessing. At last he saw his error; he asked God to help him, and took courage, and then the blessing came. “According to your faith it shall be unto you.” This man had expected nothing and he got just what he expected. Dear friends, let us expect that God is going to use us. Let us have courage and go forward, looking to God to do great things.

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