"GOD HAS DONE MARVELOUS THINGS"
Psalm 98:1

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My wife Sandy and I have been blessed with two adorable children. From their infancy we have endeavored to obey the exhortation and to embrace the promise of Proverb 22:6: "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." We prayed with and for them daily, and ascertained that they were dutifully raised under the gospel. They regularly heard it preached and taught. They memorized Scriptures and songs and catechisms. They learned of the necessity to believe in Jesus Christ and to confess Him in baptism.

Our son Dee was quite impressed by a baptism he witnessed in 1984, when he was six years old. He became concerned because he had not been baptized. I easily could have convinced him to be baptized at that moment. But I would not because I saw no evidence of the prerequisite faith in the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Instead, I exhorted him to pray God would reveal Christ to him.

Dee's interest in the things of Christ waned as he grew older. I was delighted that he never became an outright profligate, but concerned that he evidenced very little desire to be a Christian. By the time he left home to attend school in Orlando, Florida, about 850 miles away from our home in Indiana, he had virtually no interest in Christ and the gospel.

Dee telephoned me at 11 p.m. Friday, July 23, 1999. He asked, "Pa, do you have a minute?" I replied, "When my son calls me, I most certainly have a minute - and whatever other time you need! What's on your mind?" He replied, "I'm lost!" I could tell by the tone in his voice that he was confessing to be lost in the spiritual sense of the term, not the physical. I asked, "How long have you been lost?" "All my life," he replied, "but I did not know it until now." I said to him, "Son, I have been waiting years for this telephone call! And my counsel to you now is the same as it was when, at the tender age of six years, you first expressed a concern regarding spiritual things. Do you remember what I then told you to do?" "Yes," he answered, "you told me to pray that God would reveal Christ to me." "Son," I replied, "my counsel to you now is the same as it was then: Pray that God will reveal Christ to you." I then related to my son what Christ is revealed to be when God removes the veil that hides Him from us.

Our long-distance telephone conversation continued for quite some time. I told Dee I would converse with him as long as he desired, but that it would better if he spoke face-to-face with a gospel minister close to him. I gave to him the telephone number of Greg Elmquist, and requested he call Greg in the morning. I instructed Dee in the meantime to "Get alone with the Lord," and to "Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon" (Isaiah 55:6f).

Dee began trying to telephone Greg early Saturday morning. Greg finally answered late in the evening, after returning home from an all-day engagement. Greg knew whom Dee was, and was glad to hear from him. But Greg told Dee that he could not speak at length with him at that time because he had to prepare the message he was to preach to his church the next morning. He invited Dee to attend the worship service, and promised to afterward speak with him at length regarding his soul.

Dee was livid! He thought surely a gospel preacher should drop everything else in order to address his need. What could be more important to a gospel preacher than a lost man needing to be found? What if some catastrophe should fall upon the lost man before he could be found?

Nevertheless, Dee complied with Greg's request to attend the Lord's Day worship service and to hear the preaching of the Word. And Greg honored his word to afterward speak with Dee at length regarding his soul.

Dee telephoned my wife Sandy and me that night to tell us he was trusting Christ for the salvation of his soul. We rejoiced in learning that our son was now our brother! Our many years' of prayer for his salvation had been answered in a glorious manner.

I would now share with you some of the truths I have seen demonstrated in the account I have shared with you.

I. Salvation is of Jehovah!" (Jonah 2:9). God saves no one apart from hearing the gospel of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (Romans 10:9-15). Dee heard that gospel regularly when he lived at home. Although he evidenced no interest in it, I still had hope that God would bless it to my son's conversion. But I had considerable concern for his soul when he moved away from home to go to school, and completely absented himself from hearing the gospel. However, God does not need the assistance of anyone to find His lost ones and save them. He who found the Prodigal Son who had departed his father's house and absented himself from hearing the truth found my son also (Luke 15:11ff). He is the God who says, "I was found by those who did not seek Me; I was made manifest to those who did not ask for Me" (Romans 10:20 / Isaiah 65:1). Truly "Salvation is of Jehovah!"

II. God answers the prayers of believers for the salvation of their children. Jesus was approached by various parents concerned for the welfare of their children. He said to them, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes" (Mark 9:23). This promise was true to the believing father who prayed his son be delivered from the evil spirit that tried to destroy him by casting him into the fire and water (Mark 9:17-27); this is likewise true to me, for my son was delivered from the evil "spirit of Antichrist" and "spirit of error" (1 John 4:3, 6) that endeavored to have him destroyed in the Lake of Fire (see Revelation 20:14f). Jesus' promise was also true to the believing father who prayed that his dead daughter be restored to life (Matthew 9:18f, 23-25); this is likewise true to me, for my son was "dead in trespasses and sins", but is now quickened from spiritual death (Ephesians 2:1). (And I now believe Christ will do the same for my daughter.)

III. God reveals Christ to all who pray for that revelation. I counseled my son to pray that God would reveal Christ to him. I prayed also, remembering what is recorded in 2 Kings 6:17 regarding a prophet and the young man with him who could not see the blessings of God around him: "Elisha prayed, and said, 'LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.' Then the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw." The present prayers were answered (2 Corinthians 4:6): "For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." God revealed Christ to Dee, and he saw in Christ's face all he needed for salvation, including redemption, forgiveness, justification, sanctification, and glorification. He formerly had said of Christ, "He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him" (Isaiah 53:2). Now he said of Christ, "Yes, He is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend" (Solomon 5:16).

IV. God finishes every work He begins. When my son had first realized his need of Christ, he became quite upset when a gospel preacher would not meet with him immediately. He feared some catastrophe might befall him before he received the assurance of his salvation. But this could not be! For God finishes every work He begins (Philippians 1:6): "He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." The divine Fisher of men brings to shore every soul He catches in His gospel net. The divine Husbandman causes every tree He plants to bear fruit (Psalm 1:3), and reaps a harvest of every seed He sows and waters (see 1 Corinthians 3:6). The divine Shepherd brings home every lost sheep He goes out to seek (Luke 15:4-6). God will justify and glorify all whom He calls, and teach them that they were called because they were from eternity, and in His eternal purpose, foreknown in His sovereign election and predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son Jesus Christ (Romans 8:28-30). "Jesus [is both] the author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2), and finishes every work He authors.

V. God hears a new song proclaiming His victory when He does such marvelous things. I have obeyed the present text: "Oh, sing to the LORD a new song! For He has done marvelous things; His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory." How do we know? Read the next two verses: "The LORD has made known His salvation; His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the nations. He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God."

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