TEXT: II Chronicles 33:1-20

SUBJECT: Rotten People!

I want you to think of the worst person you’ve ever known. You’ve known a lot of bad people, of course, but surely one person stands out?

Maybe it’s a kid who bullies everyone at school. Or an old man nobody can please. Maybe it’s a boss who takes the credit for every good thing, and blames you when things go wrong. Or an employee, lucky to have the job, but griping all the time. Maybe it’s a wife—easy to marry, but impossible to live with! Or a pastor, preaching holiness and living in gross sin.

Surely, you’ve known someone who’s rotten to the core.

What do you owe that person? The Bible says three things: your love, your witness, and your prayers.

That’s your duty. You know it is. But it’s awfully hard to do it. One thing that makes it so hard is that it all seems so pointless. You’ve tried to love the person, but it’s done more harm than good. You’ve tried witnessing to him, also, but he only laughed in your face. Now, you’re struggling to pray for him.

He’s so bad, so stubbornly bad, so bad inside and out that you’ve given up hope that he’ll be saved.

You know salvation is by grace alone. The verses are familiar to you, Romans 5:20, Romans 9:16, Titus 3:5, Matthew 9:13.

Even though you know these things, deep down you wonder if that hateful man or woman or child is not beyond God’s grace. You’d never admit it to others, of course, but that’s how you feel. That salvation is for everyone. Everyone but this no good dirty scoundrel.

You don’t want to believe this, so you try to think of someone in the Bible as bad as he is, whom God saved. If there’s hope for the Bible character, maybe there’s hope for him.

The first person who comes to mind is Saul of Tarsus. He called himself "the chief of sinners". And he was, too. He hated Christ, tortured believers, and ordered the stoning of Stephen. He "Breathed out threatenings and slaughter".

Saul’s a good example of a really bad man whom God saved. Except for one thing: He wasn’t that bad! He was not a hypocrite. He honestly believed that he was doing God a favor. And, as for the outward commands of the Law, he was "blameless". If he was so sincere, how could he have done these things? I Timothy 1:13 tells us why,

Sins of ignorance are not as bad as willful sins. Thus, your guy is worse than Saul.

A second example is Zacchaeus. He was the top Publican in Israel. The publicans were all crooked, of course, and being the Chief Publican suggests that he was the crookedest of them all. Surely, if the Lord could save Zacchaeus, there’s hope for your guy.

But here’s the rub: Publicans did not choose their careers, but were born to them. If your father was a publican, then you were a publican. Zacchaeus couldn’t have had an honest job if he’d wanted one. What’s more, the man’s confession suggests that maybe he wasn’t a crook at all. To the Lord, he said,

It seems that if he had cheated people out of their taxes, it was by mistake and not by malice. Your guy is malicious. Thus, he’s worse than Zacchaeus.

A third example is The Thief on the Cross. Here’s a man—preachers tell us—who lived his whole life in sin and got what he deserved.

Well, maybe. He was a criminal, of course, executed under Roman Law. But think about it: What was his crime? He was a thief—one Gospel tells us—another says he was a murderer. But Mark says he was a political prisoner who had worked with Barabbas. That means he was more misguided than wicked. He was trying to liberate Israel from it’s pagan masters. He was probably sincere, brave, patriotic, and fervently religious.

But your guy’s none of the above. He’s out for himself only. He’s worse than the Thief on the Cross.

One more example you dredge up is King Saul. Well, he was pretty bad, but at least he started off well. At one time, at least, he was "little in his own eyes" and served the Lord from the heart. But your guy has always been selfish and mean and thoroughly bad. He’s much worse than King Saul.

The list is pretty discouraging. God has saved sinners—very bad sinners—but maybe no one quite as bad as the one you’re thinking of.

Is there hope for him? Can God save even her? Yes He can. "Nothing is too hard for the Lord". "With men it is impossible, but with God all things are possible". These are the promises. And they’re true.

Here, in II Chronicles 33, we see the promises being kept. We see God saving Manasseh. And, I don’t care how bad your guy is, he’s not half as bad as the old king was.

The first part of v.2 gives us the summary,

Vv.3-10 fill in the details.

He worshiped idols, v.3.

He provoked the Lord, vv.4,5,7,8.

He killed his sons, v.6a.

He was into the occult, v.6b.

He led the people astray, v.9.

He would not listen to God, v.10.

If you go to the parallel passage in II Kings 21:16 you find him,

Chronicles says he

Kings, though, says he

As though these things weren’t bad enough, two factors make them even worse.

The length at which he did these things. Manasseh spent a lifetime in sin! He became king at the tender age of twelve and did these things till near the end of his life fifty-five years later!

His father’s teaching and example were completely lost on him. Manasseh was the son of Hezekiah, one of the holiest and most effective kings Judah ever had. Hezekiah had seen the Great Works of God up close and personal. The Assyrian Empire was turned back at the Gates of Jersualem. Later, he was miraculously healed by God and saw the sun dial go back ten degrees.

Surely, his son knew these things. The Law of God had been read to him from the cradle. He knew his father’s example. He knew "godliness was gain".

Yet he turned against his father, his example, his teaching, and his prayers. He chose the other path, the way that leads to destruction!

That’s the kind of man Manasseh was! Rotten to the core. Devoted to sin, sold out to Satan.

Yet vv.12-13 tell us that even he was saved. No one was more deserving of hell fire than Manesseh; no one less deserved God’s favor than he. Yet God saved the wicked king.

I Corinthians 10:11 says He did it,

Surely, if God can save Manesseh, he can save anyone. No one is beyond the reach of His grace.

Including the worst person you’ve ever known.

This means, you’ve got to do some things.

The first is: You’ve got to hope. To give up hope is nothing but unbelief. It implies that God lacks either the power or the love or the wisdom to save really ugly sinners.

When it comes to the salvation of "hard cases", be optimistic. Many Calvinists, knowing that God hasn’t chosen everyone for salvation, assume that He hasn’t chosen this one for sure.

But why not? If the goal of God’s saving purpose is to exalt His power and love, then why not save someone who seems impossible to save?

Since we don’t know whom God has chosen for salvation, it’s wise to assume everyone you talk to is one of the Elect. Why not? John saw the Redeemed as a "multitude no man could number". When you think of the math geniuses the world has known, the number must be staggering!

If you want to look for signs of election, read Romans 1-2 and you’ll find they are things like idolatry, pride, immorality, covetousness, envy, homosexuality, bitterness, hatred, and all the other things you see all around you.

If you know someone who’s really awful, hope for his salvation.

The second thing is: Pray.

Some people cannot be talked to. But everyone can be prayed for. In praying for notorious stubborn sinners, all you’re asking God to do is to glorify Himself in a special way. Which is the very thing He most loves to do. No matter how bad or stubborn someone is, don’t give up praying for him.

The third thing is: Witness.

If the person will listen—even for the sake of arguing with you—speak up for Christ. But if he won’t listen, witness to him in a way he cannot argue with. Witness to him with a life of holiness and love. Many women have won their husbands that way. Others will. Why not you?

One more thing about witnessing: Do it optimistically. Without being phony or slick, make sure you make Christ look good! The salesman who says, "You don’t want to buy my widget, do you?" makes very few sales. But the one who knows he has a good product, and makes it look good, will be much more effective.

The Gospel offers the Best Thing There Is. It offers Christ. You don’t need to polish Him up for sale. But also don’t need to muddy him up with your unbelieving pessimism.

God saved Manasseh! May God save our Manassehs too. For Christ sake. Amen.