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God would have spared Sodom for the sake of 10 godly men (Genesis 18:32). A group of elders came to the prophet Ezekiel. They asked if God would spare their land for the same reason. The answer was “no.” No, God would not save the nation. This startling truth is given four times in that passage – in verse 14, and in verse 16, and in verse 18, and in verse 20. Each time it is repeated, again, and again, and again, and again, it seems to me, it is given with greater and greater force.

“Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness” (Ezekiel 14:20).

William MacDonald said that the nation’s “guilt was too great to be pardoned, even through the [prayers] of Noah, Daniel and Job.” Then MacDonald gave this comment on our text,

What about our society with its crime, violence, abortion, immorality, idolatry, drugs, and secular humanism? (William MacDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989, p. 1049; comment on Ezekiel, Chapter 14:1-11).

And what about our Laodicean churches – where complete Gospel sermons are no longer preached, even in the most conservative ones?

“Judah’s guilt was too great to be pardoned.” Even if Noah, Daniel and Job were praying, it was too late for the nation to be saved. I am convinced that is also true of America and the Western world this morning. I believe that our culture has gone too far in sin to be saved. No amount of prayer can save us now. No amount of preaching for revival can help us now. It is too late to save America and the Western world!

“Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness” (Ezekiel 14:20).

I am convinced that America and the Western nations as we know them will be gone in your lifetime. They will be wiped clean, like a plate in a dishwasher. The churches will be gone, or in hiding. The few pastors left alive will be hiding, afraid for their lives in that time of judgment.

Every sign indicates that it won’t be long. Israel is surrounded by enemies, ready to pounce on them with weapons of mass destruction. Russia has awakened, and is seeking greater power and military might. Demonic forces continue to empower Muslim extremists. In our own country there is a war raging against God. But the pastors of our most conservative churches have gone to sleep. They don’t preach Gospel sermons. They shut down their evening services. They throw out the hymns and let their people mumble shallow choruses. News commentator Bill O’Reilly has called it a “war on Christianity.” I for one think he is right. You see it on every hand. That man in the White House is promoting the use of marijuana and sexual immorality. Today we have only two political parties – the sinful party and the stupid party. Our young people are so addicted to video games that many of them give signs of demon possession. America and the West have been weighed in the balances. Our way of life is ending. Judgment is coming. We are about to be swept away – onto the ash heap of history. And the prophet Ezekiel said,

“Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness” (Ezekiel 14:20).

My purpose this morning is to show that each individual – each person – must repent for himself, trust Christ for himself, and be born again himself, by the power of the Spirit of God. The righteousness and faith of someone else cannot help you.

Our text shows that the godliness, and the prayers, of good Christians cannot help those who reject Christ, and go on living in rebellion. 

“Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness” (Ezekiel 14:20).

I. First, this text shows that the righteousness of the most godly people cannot help those who go on rejecting Christ.

If you go on rejecting Christ, the godliness of your friends and relatives will do you no good at all! If you do not turn from sin to Christ, you will go to Hell. If you have grown up in the church, but go on rejecting Jesus, you will go to Hell.

There is an elderly man at my gym whose father was a Baptist pastor. He brags about it to me. Sometimes he sings one of the hymns he learned in his father’s church when he was a boy. But he was drafted into the Army and was sent to Vietnam. He started drinking and using marijuana there in the jungle. He stopped going to church and forgot all about God. When he got back to the United States, he married and then divorced. He is now a godless man who never attends church and never prays. But he likes to brag to me that he was raised in a Christian home! There are some of you here this morning in the same condition. You were raised by Christian parents, but you have never turned to Christ yourself. I wish I did not have to warn you, but I would be unfaithful as a pastor if I did not! The godliness of your family will do you no good at all on the day of judgment! None at all! None at all! None at all!

“Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness” (Ezekiel 14:20).

You may believe that those who were raised by divorced parents in godless homes will perish. But many who were raised in Christian homes will also go with them into the flames of perdition. Wasn’t Ishmael the son of Abraham? Yet he was never saved! Wasn’t Esau the child of Isaac? Yet he never obtained the inheritance! Even though Isaac was his father, and even though he later wept and sought it, “he was rejected” (Hebrews 12:17).

There is nothing wrong with asking godly people to pray for you. In fact, you are right to do so. Even the Apostle Paul said, “Brethren, pray for us” (I Thessalonians 5:25; II Thessalonians 3:1; Hebrews 13:18). But if you rest in their prayers without trusting Christ, those prayers will not do you any good at all! None at all!

“Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness” (Ezekiel 14:20).

II. Second, this text shows that the prayers of the greatest prayer warriors cannot help you if you go on rejecting the Saviour.

Many think that they will be saved because their parents pray for them. They think they will surely be saved some day because their mother prays for them. They have a false hope that salvation will come to them sooner or later because they have been prayed for so often. They think something mysterious will happen to them one of these days because good people prayed for them. My text rebukes those who believe that Satanic lie!

“Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness” (Ezekiel 14:20).

You must not rest in the thought that you will be saved some day because your mother, your wife, or other godly people are praying for you. Even if Noah, Daniel or Job were praying for you, it would do you no good at all if you keep on rejecting Christ. Noah was undoubtedly a man of prayer. Yet not a single person was saved by Noah’s prayers except those who went into the Ark with him. Daniel was a man of mighty prayer. But his great prayers could not save Israel from their sins. Jerusalem was destroyed in spite of his prayers. Daniel prayed for the prosperity of the Jews, yet they were scattered. Job prayed for his friends, and his friends were finally forgiven. But they were not forgiven without a sacrifice. They had to bring a costly sacrifice, and offer it up, before the prayer of Job for them was answered. If you trust Jesus, and He is the sacrifice for your sins, then our prayers for you will be answered – but not before you trust Christ. If Job’s friends had offered no sacrifice, Job’s prayers for them could not have been answered. You yourself must trust Jesus. If every Christian on earth were praying for you, and kept on praying for a lifetime, it would not save even one of you who keeps on rejecting Jesus. As long as you refuse to trust the Saviour the wrath of God remains on you. Jesus said,

“He that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36).

Moses was a great man of prayer. Yet his prayers did not save an unbelieving generation. Because they did not believe every one of them died in the wilderness, except for Joshua and Caleb.

Samuel mourned for King Saul after God had rejected him. God finally asked Samuel, “How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him?” (I Samuel 16:1). Samuel had to give up his mourning and go and anoint David to take Saul’s place. The prayers of the holy prophet Samuel could not save the disobedient and unbelieving Saul!

These examples should take away any false hope you may have that the prayers of others can save you. If you keep on rejecting Jesus, you have no hope. None at all.

“Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness” (Ezekiel 14:20).

I must say that this sermon was adapted and shortened from one by Spurgeon, the “Prince of Preachers,” which he gave on our text. Now I will end this sermon by quoting Spurgeon directly, word for word. The great preacher said,

      You will not be saved like horses and mules, and cats, but like men and women who can think. You will have to think, and you will have to hate your sin, and you will have to cry for mercy, and you will have to believe in Christ, and if you do not, you will perish. All the prayers that have been poured out can [not] save you except through your being brought to trust the Saviour, and hate your sin...Though Noah and Daniel and Job cannot deliver you [and save you], Jesus can. (C. H. Spurgeon, “A Delusion Dispelled,” The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Volume XXVIII, Pilgrim Publications, 1973, p. 180).

Jesus died on the Cross as a substitute for sinners like you. When you trust Jesus, His precious Blood cleanses you from all sin. And by His resurrection from the dead you will be justified and saved forever and for ever! And you “shall be saved from wrath through him” (Romans 5:9).

If you would like to speak with us about being saved from your sin by Jesus, I want you to leave your chair and walk to the back of the auditorium. If you are at all interested in becoming a real Christian, please get up and walk to the back of the room now. Dr. Cagan will lead you to another room where we can pray and talk. Go right now to the back of the auditorium. Dr. Chan, please pray that someone will trust Jesus this morning. Amen.

(END OF SERMON)
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Scripture Read Before the Sermon by Mr. Abel Prudhomme: Ezekiel 14:12-20.
Solo Sung Before the Sermon by Mr. Benjamin Kincaid Griffith:
“Jesus, Only Jesus” (by Dr. John R. Rice, 1895-1980).