So where Jack read to you there
in 1 Peter 1, 1-9, we want to look at that a little bit by
the grace of God. We want to look at the salvation
of our souls. The salvation of your souls.
And that's in chapter 1, verse 9, it says, receiving the end
of your faith. Even the salvation of your soul. What is the end of our faith?
The end of our faith is when faith shall be replaced by sight,
when we shall be with Him in glory, even the salvation of
your soul. The end of our faith is the salvation
of our soul. But that's the end of faith,
but the beginning of it It's when God works grace in our hearts
to reveal Christ to us in His light, you see, show us who He
is and who we are and who Christ is. That's the beginning of our
faith. But God, God who is merciful
to His people, whoever they are, God in His purpose and in His
And His grace had purposed in Christ to have those people.
And Christ stood as the Lamb slain from before the foundation
of the world readying God's time to come and to live their life
and die their death and satisfy God on their behalf, didn't He?
And in time, God will call His people by His grace and reveal
His Son in them. He'll give you a new life. He'll give you a new spirit and
work grace in you. through the preaching of the
gospel. You'll hear the Word of God and you'll come to actually
believe it in your heart by the grace of God. And the Word of
God involves God in you and the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the
Word of God. It's Christ, ain't it? So we
have a lot of interpretations of what salvation is. Salvation is God's gift. Salvation
is God's work. You see what I'm saying? Salvation
is not what men do and what men want to do. Salvation is what
God does with men. Not what men does with God, is
it? It's what God does with them
and in them and through them and by them in bringing them
to Christ and keeping them in Christ. finally and ultimately
making them like Christ. That's salvation. That's salvation. It's not what human nature says
it to be, is it? That's what man says it is. How do men get saved? I can't get saved. If God doesn't
save me, I am not saved. And if God does save me in the
mind and purpose of God, I always was saved. See, salvations of
the Lord, that's all I've been preaching about lately. Salvations
of God. It's what God does with me. It's not what I do with God.
If God works grace in me, yeah, I will bow to God and rest in
Christ, yes. But salvation is not what I do
for God to gain favor. You see what I'm saying? What does it take to save a sinner?
Well, it takes the grace of God. I know that. It took the blood
of Christ. It took the ultimate counsel in the work of God. That's
what it takes to save a sinner. But how do men and women get
saved? You don't get saved. God saves
you. You see that? God saves you.
Yes, you must believe, but you can't believe what you didn't
hear anymore and you can come back from where you haven't been.
You see what I'm saying? You must believe, but He must
work that faith within you through His Word in revelation of you
in His light and show you Christ and bring you to rest in Him. That's believing. So men talk
about the plan of salvation. You know, they say God devised
the plan and it's up to you whether you accept His plan or not. That's
not what salvation is. It's not just God planning to
do something if you will do something. You see what I'm saying? Salvation
is the work of God. The dictionary says salvation
is deliverance from sin and from the penalties of sin. See? Salvation is redemption. But salvation is really more
than just redemption. Redemption had to be planned.
Do you see what I'm saying? Redemption had to be set forth. It goes all the way back to God,
don't it, Roland? And it's God's work all the way
by sending redemption, you see that? And working redemption
in you. And keeping and causing you to
trust, to rest, to look to only the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
salvation. So they talk about the plan.
It's God's plan. It's God's purpose. It's what
God does with you. It's not what I plan for God.
They're talking about easy decisions. I can't say it even. Not a very
good word anyway. But if you make a decision for
God, then God will receive you. Then if you keep on keeping on,
you see, God will help you. God will be with you. But if
you quit, God will let you go. What kind of God are they talking
about? That is not God. We are kept by the power of God
through faith, which is the gift of God, unto eternal glory. It's not a decision that man
makes for God. Do you see that? And you hear
about the prayer of salvation, you know. If you'll come up here
and if you'll bow down and pray, ask God to help you and ask Christ
to receive you, you know, that God might receive you in Christ.
If you pray that prayer, then God will save you. Is He going
to save you because of something you've done? No. You're not saved because you
pray. If you pray truthfully and rightfully,
it's because you're saved. You see that? Prayer don't come without knowledge.
And knowledge in the heart don't come without faith. You see what
I'm saying? When we come to God, in the light
of God, we give up in ourselves. and we fall helpless. And when
you fall helpless of yourself, God has already worked in you,
or you will be in that state. And when you fall helpless on
yourself, you depend upon God, you depend upon the Lord Jesus
Christ as your substitute. See that? Yes, you pray, Lord,
deliver me. But in the mind and purpose of
God, and by the grace and power of God, He's brought you to that
knowledge, and He's really already delivered you to bring you to
that, to see yourself for who you are, and cause you to bow
to Christ. See what I'm saying? The man
says, I'm saved because I prayed the sinner's prayer. Did you pray the sinner's prayer? by knowledge or did you pray
in heart? If you prayed in heart, it comes
from a sinner, but it comes from the grace and power of God who
has brought you to Christ Himself. And you're not saved by prayer.
Prayer is a result of saving. You see what I'm saying? And they talk about the experience
of salvation. You know, why don't you straighten
your life out and you just try it for a while. You experience
it. If you don't like it, you can go back. That's stupid, ain't
it? The experience of salvation.
God. Those whom God works grace in
the heart by His power. It's more than just an experience.
It's a new life. It's the light of God in Christ.
It's the heart bowed and resting. You see what I'm saying? And
looking, trusting, believing, rejoicing in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not something that you can
experience and if you don't like it, quit it. You know, that's
not what it is. And you talk about the water
of salvation. You know, they talk about water
of salvation. Christ through the Holy Spirit. He's the water of God when He's
applied to the heart. The God-given heart. You see
what I'm saying? The water of salvation. Salvation is of the
Lord. That's the water of salvation,
ain't it? It's of God. And it's in Christ. And it's
working in His people. And it's kept in His people.
You see that? You talk about the water of salvation. If you obey the Spirit, you know,
just obey the Spirit, the Spirit tells you. How can you obey the
Spirit? Without the grace of God and
the power of God in you to despair of yourself. You can't. If you
don't despair of yourself by the grace of God, you cannot. You're not in the Spirit and
you can't yield to the Spirit, can you? but by the grace of
God, you see. Salvation is deliverance, yes.
It's deliverance in the mind and purpose of God, through Christ,
to the people of God, and kept in Christ, and preserved in Christ,
and called in Christ, and made new creatures in Christ, and
shall be made like Christ. Now that's salvation, ain't it?
Salvation belongs to God. That's what the Bible says. In
Psalm 3.8, David said, Salvation belongeth unto the Lord. Thy
blessing is upon everybody. No, it's upon thy people. And
this is the seal, Selah. It's sealed. It belongs to God. And Jack read it to you in 1
Peter. 1, verse 2 it says, they are
the elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification
of the Spirit unto obedience in the sprinkling of the blood
of Jesus Christ. Grace be unto you and peace be
multiplied. Do you see that? Elect of God. Who are the elect of God? They
are those people that I have just been talking about that
God chose in Christ before the foundation of the world. They
are the elect. Well, you say, well, how do I
know that I'm one of God's elect? Therefore, if I don't, it's not
up to me then. So I'm just not going to do anything.
Well, I'm telling you, if you're God's elect, you will do something. God will work His grace in your
heart. He'll bring you to faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ in despair of your own selves. You see that?
the elect of God. They are the elect. They shall
all be taught of God. And everyone that hath heard
and hath learned of the Father comes to the Lord Jesus Christ
and bows to God in Christ. Do you see that? They are the
elect. All those who come to Christ
by the grace and power of God, they are God's elect. If I have
need of a Savior, If I know who I am, I am nothing
and nobody, and I need to be justified before God. If I am
not justified before God, I will enter my eternal life in hell, in eternal condemnation, and
it will never end. But by the grace of God, I am
justified by the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore,
by the grace of God, I seek Jesus. You see that? Who was made a
little Lord and angel for the suffering of death to be my substitute,
to take my place, to represent me, to die for me, to justify
me before God. I'm justified. I see that. If you can see that, you are
one of God's elect. If you see it in your heart and
believe it in your heart, you are the elect according to the
foreknowledge of God the Father. That is how it comes, through
sanctification of the Spirit. All those who are elected in
Christ, God will in time call them by His grace and by His
power to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And they will come
to Christ and rest in Christ by the grace of God. Unto obedience,
you see that? When they come to Christ, they
will bow to Christ, won't they? Unto obedience. I know in this
flesh we have our problems, and we are not obedient at all times
because of the flesh, but those who look to and rest in Christ,
all their hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ. They look at themselves. They see failure. But they look
at Christ. They see peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ. Don't they? Yes, we do see peace
with God. We gladly submit and rest in
Christ. And by the grace of God, our
desire is to honor Him. See that? That's what we want
to do. By the grace and Spirit of God. Honor Christ. Exalt Christ. Glorify Christ. He's our shed
blood in righteousness. It's in Him. So we look and rest
and bow to Him. How does this come? By the sprinkling
of the blood of Jesus Christ. By Christ giving Himself as our
substitute, as I said. And suffering our just condemnation. And when this blood is sprinkled,
it's sprinkled by the power of the Holy Spirit that God gives,
that God places in you. and you believe it with all your
heart. It is the strengthening of the
blood of Jesus Christ. It comes by grace. We know that.
Grace unto you. But those who grace has been
given unto by the power of God have peace in their hearts in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Peace be multiplied. We have
problems, yes. But the more we know, the more
we learn about who we are in the light of God and who Christ
is, the more we rejoice and rejoice and rejoice. And the more we
rest, the more we trust, it gets, someone said, sweeter
and sweeter. He does. Not this old flash,
but He does. He turns us from this to Him. You see that? Turns us from this
to Him. So salvation, it begins with
God. It ends with God too. Everything
begins with God. In the beginning, God. God didn't
take counsel with nobody. That's what they're saying. In
the beginning, God. There was no earth. The earth
was not here. There was nothing. We can't imagine
that. But God. God the Father. Son, God, the Holy Spirit. One.
Nothing but God. In the beginning, God. And He's
the One who created the heavens and the earth. He's the One who
said, Let there be light and there was light. He's the One.
You see that? The earth was without form and
void. Not only was it without form,
but it was void. Can you understand that? There
wasn't nothing there. There was nothing but God. See
what I'm saying? It was void. And when it appeared,
it's without form. But all God does is speak, and
it's done. God said, let there be, and there
was. God said, let there be light,
and there was light. The same way, the same God who
done this for His own glory and for the benefit of His people
that He was going to have upon His earth is the same God that
speaks to the hearts of His people and gives them a heart. You see
that? When God speaks to you and says, Let there be, there
is. See, people belittle God. God who created all things, without
Him is nothing, said, Let there be in thee wise, and when He
speaks to a heart of man, it is up to men. That's stupid,
ain't it? Let there be light, and there
was light. He separated the night and day,
didn't He? And the day was light, and the
darkness was night. Salvations of the Lord. It begins
with God. It doesn't begin with man. It's
what God does. What God does is forever. See
that? Nothing can be put to that. What
man does is sin. See? He said, let us create man,
a man, in our own likeness, in our own image. In the image of
God created he, him, Adam. Male and female, created He them. He created Adam in His own image,
but He gave him a potential. He had a potential to sin. But
they was a substitute before there was ever a sinner. Christ
stood as Adam's substitute before the foundation of the world.
He hadn't become a man, but He was sure to. You see what I'm
saying? So when Adam sinned, you see, he didn't fool God. This was
already purpose. It's already been planned. When
a guy come walking in the cool of the day, you think he fooled
God? He was talking to Adam for Adam's good, wasn't he? Where
are you, Adam? What have you done? Have you
partook of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? And Adam made
himself some fig leaves and sold them about him so God couldn't
see his nakedness. Now Adam's eyes were open. He
seen who he was, didn't he? He moved on that potential and
he became a sinner. He seen who he was. He said, I was naked and I hid
myself from you. He was cast out of the garden,
the knowledge of the tree of good and evil. Adam was sinful
now. He couldn't get back. But there was a lamb slain before
the foundation of the world. God brought him back. You see
what I'm saying? Man can't get to God. You can't be before God
and do before God anything to get God to receive you. You must
know who you are in the light of God. And if you know who you
are, God shows you who you are. God shows you. He bows you. He works in you. See? He causes you to look to Christ,
to rest in Christ. Salvation is of God. Nothing is with man. Nothing
but sin. The cause of God's election was
His own foreknowledge. Whom He did foreknow, He did
also predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son. Whom
He predestinated, them He also called. Whom He called, them
He also justified. Whom He justified, them He also glorified. Where
is our faith at? You see what I'm saying? Is it
in man or is it in God? If it's true faith, it'll be
in God and it'll despair of man. You'll despair of yourselves
and look to Christ and to Him alone. the foreknowledge of God,
the immutable security of the election of God, the seal of
God, the Holy Spirit. You're sealed by the Holy Spirit.
When God purposed to have a people, purposed you, and He purchased
you by the blood of Christ, and He applied the Holy Spirit, you
are sealed. What God has purposed, He'll
perform. You're sealed. You say, well,
if I don't do this and I do do this and I don't do this, I'm
a goner. No. You are sealed if you have
the grace and power of God the Holy Spirit in you. You are sealed. It's already been purposed. It's
done been purchased. It's done been applied and it
will be kept. And it will be made like Christ.
Salvations of the Lord, ain't it? The seal of the Holy Spirit,
that's the seal. That seals it. That shows you're
a child of God, don't it? If you believe on Christ in your
heart, you're a child of God. God has sealed that. And if you
believe on Him in your heart, you'll never quit believing on
Him. You see what I'm saying? It's sealed. Christ is all. The condition of election was
the obedience of Christ. That was the condition placed
upon election, wasn't it? The obedience of Christ. He became obedient as a man,
didn't He? Unto death. Even the death of
the cross. Wherefore God has highly exalted
Him and given Him a name which is above every name that at the
name of Jesus. What's the name of Jesus? You
know that name, don't you? That's Savior. Jesus, that's
His earthly name. That's the name He was given.
God the Son took upon Him our nature, and that name was given
to Him as our representative. And that name is above every
name. That name was given to God the Son as the Savior of
His people. And if it's given to Him who
is the Savior, do you think He's not going to accomplish what
He's given to do? He is the Savior. Where is my faith? Where is my
confidence? Where is my rest? Is it in myself or is it in Christ? Is He my Savior? Or is there
something I have to do? Jesus paid it all. All to Him
I owe. Sin had left the crimson stain.
He washed it white as snow. No wonder He said, Blessed be
the God. Blessed be God who has saved
His people so securely that nothing is going
to hinder it. See what I'm saying? Nothing
is going to hinder what God has purposed and what God does. God
will do what He is going to do. He does according to His own
will in the armies of heaven and among the heavens and the
earth. Oh, if I see that in my heart, blessed be God! I am not exalting people and
boosting them and saying, boy, you are a good person. I say,
blessed God who has showed grace to sinners. You are a sinner
if you do this. No! You are a sinner You do what
you do because of who you are. That's who you are. That's what
we can't see. That's what the religious world
can't see. Who they are in the light of God. Do you see that?
If they see who they are, they'll gladly bow to God in Christ,
won't they? They gladly. He's the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is above all and over all,
who has all power. He's the one sent His Son to
die. Do you think He didn't accomplish what God sent Him to do? God
the Son accomplished what God the Father sent Him to do as
the substitute of His people? It's done. It's done. It's done. Oh, He's the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, our Savior, Jesus, the Anointed, the Appointed of
God, the Sent One, our Savior, Christ. He's the Father of Him. Can't God do with His own what
He will? Can't He do what He has purpose
to do? If He can't, then He's not God.
That's God. Which according to His abundant
mercy, when we talk about abundant mercy, we're talking about mercy
that is so great that we can't touch it. We can't fathom it. It reaches to our depths. which
we can't see even, by the grace and power of God through the
Lord Jesus Christ, the One He sent to die for us. We're accepted,
you see, made holy in the Lord Jesus Christ, by the mercy of
God, not because we deserve it. If you deserve anything, you're
not given mercy. You see that? If you've been
given mercy, you know you don't deserve it. You get what you
deserve, it's the wrath of God. But Christ, you see that? That's
why Christ died. He took our just dessert. He suffered enough in those six
hours on the cross than us in our eternity could suffer. More,
you see that? We all suffer forever if Christ
didn't pay our sin debt. You see what I'm saying? But
if Christ paid our sin debt, He suffered the equivalent of
our eternal condemnation. That's why God can say there's
no more condemnation. If it's left up to you, it's
eternal. But Christ suffered the eternity
of your condemnation in those six hours at Calvary. Can you
understand? I can't. But it's so. I know
it. That is mercy. Mercy. He begotten
us again unto a lively hope. And those, you see, who got purpose. Christ begot him, didn't He?
What He done was sufficient. You see what I am saying? He
begot you. He got purpose to do that. And just
as sure as God purposed it, it must come to pass and it did
come to pass. So you're begotten. He's paid
your sin debt. And not only does He pay your
sin debt, but He works grace in you to see who you are and
to believe on Him, to rest in Him by His power and Spirit.
See that? You have a lively hope. Again,
unto a lively hope. by the resurrection. We've been
resurrected by the Holy Spirit and we shall be resurrected in
this flesh. We'll have a new body. But by
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. So what are we
saying? We're saying that when Christ
came, He represented, He took the place of, He suffered the
penalty of, and He rose. It's paid for. It's done. And
you've been made aware of it. You've had the Holy Spirit planted
within you to see Him. You see that? He begotten you
by the resurrection of the dead. You were dead in trespasses and
sin and still would be, except by the grace and power of God.
He begotten you again unto a lively hope. You're a new creature in
the Lord Jesus Christ. You live by grace and by faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. unto a lively hope by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ. Not only has Christ resurrected
and ascended, but He has resurrected in you the hope of glory. See that? Oh, not by works of righteousness,
but by His mercy He saved us. By regeneration. Renewing of
the Holy Ghost. And right there in Him was where
mercy and truth met, wasn't it? met together in Christ. You see
that? Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. You've
made a new creature in Christ. You know that in Him you're accepted. You're counted before God holy. He quickens you. God quickens
you. He made you alive. He made you.
He brought you to a knowledge of yourself, to a knowledge of
Christ. And now we see Jesus and we bow to Him. You have He
quickened who were dead in trespasses and sin. In being dead in your
sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, that He quickened
together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses. You see,
He quickened you together with Him. Why are you cast down, O
my soul? Why art thou disquieted within
me? Hope thou in God. My hope is in the Lord Jesus
Christ. My hope is in God. It's given of God. It's directed
to God. It's the Spirit of me, but it's
directed to God. I shall praise Him for the help
of His countenance. His countenance. He became me. He represented. He took my place. He died for me. I praise Him. And it's only by God's grace,
you see that? God's power that I know this.
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? Why art thou disquieted
within me? Hope thou in God. We come to despair of self, don't
we? We're disquieted of ourselves.
You don't hear us bragging on ourselves, do you? We're disquieted,
ain't we? Why? Because our hope is not
in ourselves. It's in God. I'll praise Him
for the health of His countenance, for Him making me, by His grace,
to bow to and to rest in Christ. To an inheritance incorruptible,
undefiled, that fate of not a way reserved in heaven. Who is he talking about? He is
talking about those people, whoever they are. The elect of God. To an inheritance incorruptible,
undefiled, The fate of not a way reserved in heaven. We don't
understand that yet, do we? But we will, by the grace of
God, be made like Christ and with Christ and be able to honor
Christ the way we desire to. To serve and to honor Him and
to lift Him up, to exalt Him in all glory in a perfect way. I can't understand that. who
are kept, kept by the power of God, were kept how far? To an inheritance that they did
not await. Reserved! You are kept, if you
are in Christ, by the grace of God. You are kept by His power
unto eternal glory. What does God have to do with
salvation? It's not what He asked of us.
It's what He is. Salvation is of God. It's who He is that causes
Him to do what He does. You see what I'm saying? God
keeps us. God preserves us. God makes us like His Son. God
will receive us into glory. He will bring us to glory, ready
to be revealed in the last time. And those who know Christ by
the grace of God, they're ready to be revealed. When they're
in this life, they have all kinds of problems. They have sicknesses.
They have all kinds of problems on them because of sin. Oh, but
they say, when I go to be with the Lord, it will be perfect. I can't even understand it. Gladly
be ready, you see. Gladly be ready when God's time
comes to go and be with Him. For in you greatly rejoice, no
doubt for a season. Even though we are living in
this flesh and in this world where all this sin is, in the
heart by the grace of God, the true joy in rest and hope Though now for a season, we rejoice
now for a season. And it needs be, we'll be inhabited
through manifold temptation. He will not have us tempted above
that which we are able, but in our temptation, through our temptation,
make a way. It's necessary that these temptations
come upon us. And we will be tempted. And we
will have problems. But our joy is not in this flesh. True joy is in the Lord Jesus
Christ. We have heaviness now, but then,
then,