Having foreknowledge of who will be saved (assuming that he does not determine who will be saved), does God waste time trying to convert the lost?

This text is from a transcript of talk given by David Gooding entitled ‘The Glorious Gospel of the Blessed God’ (1995).

No, of course not! God never wastes time, but I know what you mean. When God tries to convert the lost, as you put it, is it a waste of time because it doesn't succeed? No, it isn't a waste of time, for God is determined that when the final judgment comes he shall be seen to be just.

Paul describes his own ministry under God: 'For we are a sweet savour of Christ unto God, in those that are being saved, and in those that are being lost' (2 Corinthians 2:15). God has preached the gospel to men and women, and it is not a waste of time. If they reject it and he must consign them at last to eternal perdition, it will be seen that it is not God's fault that they perished. God sincerely preached the gospel to them. There were no hidden agendas in the heart of God; he meant what he said. As he stretched out his arms to them he was being sincere. He was not outwardly acting a show as if he wanted them to be saved, but in his heart he didn't. So, when they stand before God's judgment throne and are condemned, God will be in the clear. It will not be God's fault that they perish. If God had not bidden them to come and given them light whereby they might be saved, you could have said it was God's fault that they weren't saved.