Let's take our Bibles once again.
Turn with me to the book of 1 Peter 3. 1 Peter chapter 3. I mentioned this verse, the scripture,
a week or so ago and made just maybe a sentence comment on it.
I thought about it and I'd like to just look at it again for
a moment this morning. First Peter 3.15. But sanctify the Lord God in
your hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every man
that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness
and fear. Young's literal translation quotes that scripture like this,
and the Lord God sanctifying your hearts and be ready always
for defense to everyone who is asking of you an account concerning
the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. If you tell a man that you're
convinced that when you die, you will immediately be with
the Lord, and that man asks you, what do
you base that on? What's the reason concerning
your belief? This is what Peter is saying
under the inspiration of the Spirit of God. You ought to be
able to give Him a reason. And if you have a reason for
your assurance that when you die, you're going to be with
the Lord, I would tell all of us this. We better be able to
back it up with the Word of God. Because let me tell you, whose
word is going to stand? The Lord's. Now you think about
that. If somebody says, you believe
you're going to be in heaven when you die? Yes I do. Why? Give me a scriptural reason
for it. Now you know, that's a good thought
right there. That's a good, you know, Now
I know this, I'm just talking now about what I've seen and
you've seen this too. Based on the world and religion
in general, I know that there's many beliefs concerning salvation. I know that. I've listened, you
know, and here's what I know. I've said this before. Not everybody
can be right. Now, somebody's wrong. When the Lord Jesus Christ said,
I am the way and the life, the truth and the
life, No man cometh unto the Father but by Me." Now I'm going
to tell you something. There's a whole lot more being
said there than most people believe. Because if everybody says, I
believe that. But then on the other hand, they
say, well, to be saved, You've got to be baptized. And if somebody says, to be saved,
you've got to speak in tongues. You've got to evidence the baptism
of the Holy Spirit by speaking in tongues. Or somebody's got
to say, you've got to exercise your free will in order to be
saved. The only thing that I can say
is this, somebody's wrong. Now, something's wrong here. If somebody
says, I believe That the Lord is the way, the truth, and the
life, and that no man comes to the Father but by Him. I believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and then they explain that to me.
Now you tell me exactly what you believe when you say that.
Everybody says, I'll ask them, do you believe in salvation by
grace? Yes I do. Yes I do. I believe in salvation
by grace. But if you explain it this way, I believe that the
Lord Jesus Christ came into this world to make salvation possible
for everyone that would decide to give the Lord God their heart.
And by me exercising my free will to accept God's offer of
salvation, I believe that Christ, who is the way and the truth
and the life, saves me. That is not a scriptural answer. Let me tell you what's wrong
with it. Everything that you just said was your work, accepting
what the Lord offered. And that is not what the Word
of God says. Not by works of righteousness
which we have done. But according to His mercy, He
saved us by the washing of regeneration
and renewing of the Holy Ghost. And let me tell you what part
a believer has in salvation, in regeneration. Nothing. Nothing. He has absolutely nothing to
do with his regeneration. We are saved by the grace of
God apart from anything that we do. Because if there's any
part, if you add one iota to your salvation, it was salvation
by your works. And it is not by the grace of
God. Now I'm going to tell you, This
is the difference in hearing the gospel preached and hearing
a false religious message preached. If somebody tells you, you've
got to do something in order to be saved, then either they're
lying or God's lying. Now, one of the two. And let
me tell you who it's not. It's not the Lord. Believers
have a good hope. But it is not a hope, it's not
an expectation, it's not a confidence of their own making. Listen to this. Now our Lord
Jesus Christ Himself and God, even our Father, which hath loved
us and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through
grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good work,
word and work. Let me tell you what the scripture
sets forth. God purposed to save a people. Now that's, read Ephesians 1. I mean, you ask somebody, do
you believe in election? It's a scriptural word. It's
all through the Bible. God chose from before the foundation
of the world, a people. And He did it according to His
good pleasure. Did God have a right to choose
to save one and bypass another? Yes, He did. Why? Because He did it. That's what
the scriptures say. You can't get around it. You
cannot get around this, that God elected to show mercy. And then you cannot get around
this fact, that the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom the Father gave
all the elect and entrusted them to Him, agreed to come into this
world and redeem those that had fallen in Adam, and to go to
Calvary paying their debt, living for them a righteousness that
they couldn't earn, and then would give it to them. because God was pleased to do
so. And God was pleased to keep them until the day of salvation. And they did not keep themselves.
And salvation, they will admit, is all of the grace of God. And
they'll tell you in a heartbeat, if the Lord didn't keep me, I'd
leave today. I'd leave today. Salvation is all of grace. Now let's see what God has to
say concerning this matter. Sanctify the Lord God in your
hearts. Be ready to give an answer to
every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that's in you with
meekness and fear. Sanctify, that is make holy, consecrate,
purify the Lord God in your hearts. Now, I said this the other day,
I know this, and you know this, at least we know it in our heads,
The Lord is holy. I don't even know how to explain
the holiness of God. I can hear the word holy, and
my little old fickle mind is so far below the ability to be
able to set forth the holiness of God. I know it. Listen to this scripture. In
the year the king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. Sitting upon
a throne, high and lifted up, his train filled the temple.
Above it stood the seraphim. Each one had six wings, with
twenty covered his face, twenty covered his feet, twenty did
fly. And one cried unto another and
said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth
is full of his glory. So I know this. I don't make
the Lord holy. The Lord is essentially holy. So what does it mean when it
says, sanctify the Lord in your hearts? Here's what it means.
Regard Him as. Acknowledge Him in your heart
as being holy. Oh, how little do I do that.
I am so thankful that the Lord came and this world saved sinners
of whom I'm chief. I don't even know how to acknowledge
Him as holy, David. I don't know how to do that.
How do I do that? I'm commanded to, and I want
to. Don't you wish, Frank, that you
could sanctify the Lord in your heart? Don't you wish you could
do that? Don't you wish that I could,
in my heart, set the Lord apart? That's what holiness means. sacred
be unto him in my heart. But let me be a little bit plainer
concerning this thing of sanctifying the Lord in our hearts. You remember
when the children of Israel were in the desert and they didn't
have any water. And so they started complaining
to Moses and they said, you know, we're thirsty. And they were
going to have an uprising. So Moses went to the Lord, and
the Lord in Exodus 17.6 said for Moses to strike the rock,
and water would come out. That was Exodus 17.6. And then
in Numbers 20 and verse 8, Moses was rehearsing what had happened
after that. The people, they were thirsty
again. And Moses went to the Lord, and
he said, you know, People are thirsty, and here's what the
Lord said. You know this. Speak ye unto the rock before
their eyes, and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt
bring forth to them water out of the rock. Struck the rock
once. There's a picture. The Lord Jesus
Christ was slain one time by one death, by one sacrifice for
sin. They were thirsty again, and
the Lord told him, he said, Moses, you speak to the rock this time.
And he struck the rock twice. This is what he said, Here now,
you rebels, must we fetch you water? Think about that wording.
Must we fetch you water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up
his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice, and the
water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their
beast also. Well, just maybe an infraction.
Maybe he just didn't hear. Maybe he let his anger get ahead
of him. No. What happened was critical. Let me tell you what the Lord
told him. Numbers 20, verse 12. And the Lord spake unto Moses
and Aaron, Because you believe me not. to sanctify me in the
eyes of the children of Israel. Therefore you shall not bring
this congregation into the land which I have given them." You didn't sanctify me in their
eyes. You didn't set me forth in their
eyes. You know what the bottom line
was to that statement? You didn't believe me. Sanctify the Lord in your heart. Here's what it is. You believe. You believe. Believe what God
has said. As for this point right here,
as for right now, I'm not talking about anything else. Lord, give
me a heart today to believe you. What if I've never believed this
before? I'm going to be like old John Newton. If I've never
believed before, help me to begin right now. Everything else is
water under the bridge. But what about faith 10 years
ago, 15, 20 years ago when I gave my heart to the Lord? It's gone. You ain't going to change nothing.
Today is the day of salvation. Lord, I want to believe you right
now. To sanctify the Lord in our hearts,
now listen, is to believe God. To believe that He is the author
and finisher of our faith. I believe what God has said concerning
salvation. I believe. Lord, help me. Help my unbelief. Lord, according
to Your Word, I believe that You've chosen a people. I believe
that. I don't want to believe what
everybody else has got to say about it. Lord, I want to believe
you. Lord, I believe that... Lord Jesus, you said that you
pray not for the world, but you pray for those that the Father
gave you out of the world. That's who you said you're praying
for. Lord, I don't care what everybody else says. I'm going
to believe you. I'm not going to stand before everybody else.
Lord, you said when you lay down your life for the sheep, that that's who you were dying
for. Lord, the world says that you laid down your life for everybody,
but that's inconsistent with what you said. So Lord, I want
to sanctify you in my heart. I'm going to believe you, but
Lord, help me to believe you. Lord, you're God. You're God
in human flesh. Now listen to this. You remember
when the Ethiopian eunuch was traveling through the desert
and Philip came to him, he was reading in the book of Isaiah,
and Philip came to him and he said, you believe what you're
reading? And the eunuch said, how can I unless a man explain
it to him? And beginning at that passage,
he expounded on him the scriptures concerning the Lord Jesus Christ.
Then that eunuch said this, What doth hinder me to be baptized?
I believe this. I believe what you're saying
right here. Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart,
thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I believe that God has
come into this world, made flesh, saved His people. That's what
I believe. But there's something else concerning
this sanctifying the Lord in your heart. There's an outward
manifestation of it. Somebody said, I believe it.
I believe that. Well, you know, if you believe
it, then it's going to manifest itself in a way. According to
this scripture it is. You know, James 2.17 says, Even
so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Verse 21 of James 2 says this,
was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac
his son upon the altar? Now let me ask you this, was
it Abraham's works that justified him? Or did his works evidence
that God had justified him by grace? Well you know the answer
to that. Works doesn't have anything to
do with our justification, not our works. So if we sanctify
the Lord in our heart, then it's going to manifest itself
this way. Be ready always to give an answer
to every man that asketh you a reason for the hope that is
in you. Now let's just consider here,
I'm wrapping this up, but just consider this for a few minutes,
the answer. If somebody asks you, what are
you going to say? If you've got a good hope, what
are you going to say? What scriptural foundation in
Christ does every believer stand upon and rest his soul upon? Why do you believe that you are
at peace with God? Why do you believe that? Well, I'm going to just tell
you what God has to say. If any man asks for a reason
of your hope, let me tell you a good place to start. If you
want to have a good answer, here it is. It is an admittance that
I am a helpless, wretched, needy sinner. What reason do you have to set forth from God's Word
that you've got a good hope, that you have sanctified the
Lord, that you believe God. What reason do you have? Here's
what it is. I'm a sinner. You don't start with your works
because there's none that'll justify you before God. Here's your start right here.
Start right here. There's none that doeth good. Not one. Here's the reason that I have
a good hope. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. And this is a faithful saying.
I'm going to give you a reason for having a good hope. This
is a faithful saying. And this is worthy of all acceptation. That Christ Jesus came to this
world to save sinners of whom I'm chief. Here's a reason for my good hope. I have nothing to offer. I'm
a hopelessly, if he leaves me to myself, I'm a hopelessly damned
sinner that will find myself unless God Almighty does something
for me that I can't do. I'm going to find myself in hell.
I can tell you this is it right here. And I'm going to take my
place with old blind Bartimaeus. Jesus, thou son of David, have
mercy on me. I don't have a heart to give
you. Water is not going to put away the filth of my flesh. And
speaking in tongues is not going to do anything but to admit that
I have the ability to utter a sound. But it's not going to make my
heart clean before God. I'm a sinner. And I need a Savior. And here's the second reason.
Here's another good confession. Salvation belongs to the Lord.
Psalm 3a, I spoke on that last week. Here's the reason that
I've got a good hope. Because salvation's in His hands. It pertains to God alone to save.
I don't have it. I don't own it. It's not mine.
It's His. That's what Jonah said. Salvation
is of the Lord. The Lord has given me a confidence. I'm a sinner and He's a Savior. Did God say He has a people?
Yes, He did. Did God say that He's made a
covenant with His people? Yes, He did. What about you? Here's my answer. If the Lord's
pleased to show mercy to me, He will. And if He leaves me
to myself, I'm gone. Here's my last answer for a good
hope. If the Lord's revealed to me
that I'm a sinner, and that He alone is the Savior, I can tell
you already, God's done something for you. Because man by nature
doesn't know that. Man by nature finds all of his
hope in himself. Here's the last reason that I
got for having a good hope. I'm a sinner. He's a Savior. Here's my last one. I believe
God. Here's what I believe. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. And him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out. Lord, I come. I come. I come as a helpless sinner.
You're the Savior. Lord, you can save me if you
will. And you said If you give me a
heart, believe you that I'm helpless and you're gone. And Lord, if
you've given me a heart to come to you, I'm coming with nothing. Brother Scott said, the only
thing I've got is an empty hand. And he said an empty hand in the hands of a beggar is all
he got. He that believeth on the Son. He that believeth on the Son
not will have everlasting life. He that believeth hath everlasting
life. That's the only way he came.
God saved him and gave him a heart, willingly come to Christ. I'm telling you that Philippian
jailer came to Paul and Silas He said, Sirs, what must I do
to be saved? What's the evidence of salvation? What's the outward manifestation
of salvation? Not what must I do according
to my works to be saved. What is it that will evidence
a believer's heart? He believes God. Abraham believed
God. If any man asketh you, for a
reason, for the good hope that you have. What is your reason?
Here it is. I have nothing to offer God. I'm a sinner. I believe that
salvation is in the hands of God Almighty to do what He will
with whom He will. And I believe God. I believe,
Lord, you've given me a heart to come to you. And I will, by
your grace, acknowledge salvations of the Lord. He saved me by grace. Amen.