This Person Will Never Be Saved
Have you ever known someone that you felt certain would never be saved? You know that no one is beyond the reach of God, yet you can’t ever imagine that person being saved. They’re too hardened or apathetic or greedy, or just too happy in their sin. Maybe you’ve prayed for this person for years and all you can see is them growing harder toward God. Maybe this person is your son, or daughter, or dad. Let the story of Manasseh encourage you.
Manasseh was perhaps the most wicked king in the history of Israel or Judah. He built altars to the god Baal. He engaged in sorcery, witchcraft, divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He sacrificed his own children, killing them in the name of a foreign God. He even had the blasphemous audacity to go into the temple of the living God and worship the stars. Manasseh was passionately, boldly wicked. 2 Chronicles 33:9 describes Manasseh this way:
Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray, to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the people of Israel.
And so God gives Manasseh what he deserves. The army of Assyria hits Judah with a blitzkrieg. Manasseh is captured, shackled, and has a hook rammed through his nose. The once proud, lofty, wicked king is now destitute. The man who brazenly worshiped the stars in the temple has received justice from God.
Then the unthinkable happens. Listen to the words of 2 Chronicles 33:12-13, 16:
And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God…He also restored the altar of the LORD and offered on it sacrifices of peace offerings and of thanksgiving, and he commanded Judah to serve the LORD, the God of Israel.
Manasseh is a monument to the mercy of God. It would have been just for God to turn a deaf ear to Manasseh’s pleas and to utterly obliterate him. But God’s heart beats with mercy and was ‘moved’ by Manasseh’s prayer. God’s felt pity toward the man who had mocked and blasphemed his holy name.
There is no one beyond the reach of God’s fathomless love. Even the most hardened sinner can be broken by the hammer of God’s mercy. Don’t stop praying for the hardened sinners in your life. God saved Manasseh. God saved you. God can save them.
+photo by dingbat2005
Posted in Salvation
July 7th, 2008 at 9:49 am
Stephen,
Again, God has used this blog to encourage me…what a timely reminder and encouragement for me!I visited my daughter this past weekend and left discouraged by her seemingly unresponsiveness to the Love Christ has for her, which I tried to share with her. I felt a renewed burden to pray, pray, pray for her, and now am more encouraged to call out on God’s mercy for her…thank you and Praise His Holy Name!
bBthAnn
July 7th, 2008 at 10:16 am
BethAnn - I’m so glad you were encouraged! I think interactions with unsaved family members can be particularly discouraging because we desire so much for them to be saved. I need to be constantly reminded that God is able to save even the most hardened of sinners!
July 7th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Very good post. I was praying for a few unsaved people this week, but realized that sometimes the problem is that I do not believe God is as great as He really is. Prayer is really powerful, and He can do HUGE things. The problem is that I often do not have enough faith. So that should change first - and passages like this one about Manasseh made me think again: Yes, God can and does convert sinners, great and small. Thank you for this good teaching.
July 7th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Great post Stephen. I remember feeling this way about my grandmother. She was a mean, bitter old woman.
When she was on her death bed I tried three different times to share the Gospel with her. She was never receptive before. On the third attempt though, the Lord had mercy on her and softened her heart. She asked me all kinds of questions and asked Jesus to save her. Three days later the Lord called her home.
After witnessing this miracle I realized the Lord can save anyone. He can soften any heart. Never, never, never give up on someone. The Lord can do amazing things.
Thanks again for the post.
Vicki G.
July 7th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
Thanks so much for this encouragement. I have two children who are not walking with the Lord and lately I have been feeling down about it. Your post is an excellent reminder to keep praying for them and to never give up hope. Thank you!!!
July 8th, 2008 at 7:57 am
Anja - Great point. I think a lot of time my faith that someone will get saved lacks simply because I forget how great God really is.
Vicki - That is an incredible story about your grandmother. It’s almost like the thief on the cross who Jesus saved in his final hours. So cool.
Elaine - I’m so glad it was encouraging for you.
July 8th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
I so needed to read that today. As I pray for friends and loved ones to come to know Christ, I am sometimes discouraged because they have no interest in the things of God. Thank you for reminding me that God saves even those who do not think they need His salvation.