For those of you that don't know
me, my name is Onesimus Edmondson. This morning we've heard four
simple, encouraging, comforting gospel messages from four of
God's faithful servants. And as I listened to these wonderful
messages, I was once again reminded that men and women by nature
do not reject the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace because
they don't understand it. Men and women reject the gospel
of Christ because they flat out hate it. Men and women hate and reject
the gospel by nature because they refuse to believe that sinners
can only be saved by the work and righteousness of Christ for
them. The scriptures are clear, very
clear, that God requires perfection. It must be perfect to be accepted. God requires perfect holiness. God requires perfect righteousness. God requires complete and total
perfection in all things. Now listen, you and I cannot
provide what God requires. So I must ask you who are yet
without Christ, I don't assume that all of you here this morning
know Christ in a saving way. So I must ask you this question. Is there anything about that
statement that you and I cannot provide what God requires that
you don't understand? By nature, men and women hate
the gospel of substitution, the message of Jesus Christ and Him
crucified, because they refuse to believe that they cannot save
themselves. The message of the gospel is
a simple message. Simple. It's easy to understand,
but impossible to believe bow and submit to apart from the
sovereign grace and divine intervention and inspiration of God. So what
does that do, friends? That shuts us up to His mercy
and His grace. And I'm so glad that God has
mercy. I'm so glad, Gabe, He's made
me thirsty. Thirsty. And I love the simplicity
of the gospel message. For by grace are you saved. By grace you're saved. Through
faith and that's not of yourselves. Isn't that plain and simple?
It's not of yourselves. It's the gift of God. Isn't that
simple? It's God's gift to us. Not of
works. Isn't that simple? Not a works. Lest any man should boast. And
yet multitudes of men and women boast differently. Haven't we? Haven't we? Haven't we? Done many wonderful
works is their cry. And the simple message of the
gospel is just this. In, by, and through the one offering
of Jesus Christ, he has perfected forever them that are sanctified. Oh, my friends, yet multitudes
of men and women offer up their filthy works of righteousness
to try to satisfy the justice of God. The only hope of redemption
that any of us have is that Christ has put away sin by the sacrifice
of Himself. This morning, for just a few
minutes, I want us to consider the blessed profession that the
Apostle Paul made in 2 Timothy 1, verse 12. Would you turn there with me? This is the profession that every
child of God will make. The Apostle Paul was in prison
when he wrote this second letter to Timothy. And in verse 12,
he writes, For the witch calls, I suffer these things. Now what
things did Paul suffer? Well, first of all, his imprisonment. That would have had to have been
something of great suffering. Well, what else did he suffer?
Well, he suffered the reproach and the persecution and suffering
that went with being a minister, a preacher to the Gentiles. The Jews despised the Gentiles
and they constantly looked for a way to persecute and destroy
the Apostle Paul. And then to take the suffering
further, the Gentiles, Paul also suffered at their hands for many
of them despised his preaching because it tore down all the
idols, the man-made idols that they had. Suffering. Persecution. Yet notice what
Paul writes. He says, nevertheless I'm not
ashamed. Paul wasn't ashamed of his chains,
his imprisonment. He was free from the bondage
of sin even though he was in prison, truly a free man in prison. But specifically, Paul was not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ. And that's what he wrote in the
book of Romans, chapter 1, verse 16. You know the verse well.
He said, For I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for
it's the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to
the Jew first and also to the Greek. And in Romans chapter
10, verse 11, he wrote, For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth
on him shall not be ashamed. And in verse 8 here, he told
Timothy, he said, be not ashamed of the testimony, the gospel
of our Lord. And in chapter 2, verse 15, he
tells Timothy to study, to show himself approved, a workman unto
God that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of
truth. Paul gladly suffered all these things and was not ashamed
of them, but it was for one reason and for one reason alone, and
it's found right here in this blessed verse. He said, for I
know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able
to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. Friends, I want to make this
as simple as I know how. Gabe and Frank sure did. Salvation
is knowing Christ. Paul says in this passage, for
I know whom I have believed. Paul doesn't say I know what
I believe. He doesn't say I know when I
believe. Well, a lot of people know that, don't they? I'll show
you the date and hour. Paul doesn't say, I know how
I believe. Paul says, I know whom I believe. Salvation is knowing Christ personally. Salvation is not knowing about
Christ. Salvation is knowing Christ.
You know, men and women may know a great deal about the Bible
and the doctrines that it teaches and not know Jesus Christ. I
sure did for years. You know, a prisoner can know
a great deal about freedom and yet die in prison. A businessman
can know a great deal about success and wealth and yet go bankrupt. It's not enough just to memorize
Bible verses. My father had a friend who had
committed the whole New Testament to memorization. It was amazing
and quite impressive. And my father thought this was
such a godly man until he took his own life. Oh, it's not enough just to know
some things about Jesus Christ. Salvation is personally knowing
Him. Knowing He who alone saves the
soul. And you know, you can know a
great deal about faith and not have faith. Faith has an object. And that object of our faith
must be the Lord Jesus Christ. What did Paul say? Simply and
plainly, I know whom I have believed. Paul doesn't say, I know of whom
I've heard of. He doesn't say, I know of whom
I've read about. He doesn't even say, I know of
whom I've preached. He said, I know whom I have believed. So let me ask you, do you know
the Christ that the Apostle Paul knew? Do you believe in and on
him? Salvation is not believing in
ourselves. Salvation is not trusting in
our works, their filthy rags, righteousness. Salvation is not
having our own righteousness, which is of the law. Salvation
is not trusting in our will. It's not trusting in a decision
that we made. Salvation is not trusting in
being dunked in water. True salvation is knowing and
trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's just that simple. Knowing Christ, obtaining salvation
we know is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth, but
of God that showeth mercy. So I ask you, do you know the
Lord Jesus Christ? Do you know Him as He is revealed
in this blessed book called the Holy Bible? I hear a lot of folks
today describe their God, describe Jesus, their Jesus, but their
God and their Jesus do not resemble the God and the Christ of this
Bible. And I'm telling you, friends,
sinners need to know the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, as
this book describes Him. You'll never ever be able to
have faith or you'll never be able to trust in a Christ that
you don't know. You just heard Pastor Frank Tate
preach. Many of you know Frank. I know
Frank Tate personally. I've known of Frank for 30 years,
and he's always had a good reputation among those that have a very
good reputation with me. In the last three years, Frank
and I have become good friends. And he's one of the nicest guys
on the planet. I've stayed in his and Janet's
home, and I know what kind of people they are. I trust Frank
Tate. He's proven himself trustworthy
to me. Last night I got on my computer
and I searched the name Frank Tate on the computer. I googled Frank Tate. Don't be concerned Frank, I didn't
find any mud shots or anything. Surprisingly though, I did find
a bunch of Frank Tates. I found a Frank Tate in Santa
Maria, California, 65 years old. Found a Frank Tate in Beaver
Falls, Pennsylvania, 35 years old. I found a Frank Tate in
Colorado Springs, 60 years old. And another Frank Tate in New
York, New York, 69 years old. I found another one in Lafayette
or Lafayette, however you want to say it, California, 54 years
old. And I even found a mixed martial
artist fighter named Frank Tate. That's not you, is it, Frank? I found out there are a lot of
Frank Tates, but I only know one. I only know one Frank Tate. I only trust one Frank Tate. And I trust Frank because I know
him. That's the point I'm trying to make. Frank's proven himself
to be a true and faithful friend and whom I can trust. Paul said,
I know whom, I know whom I have believed and I'm persuaded. Oh, I'm persuaded. Oh, I don't know. I don't trust
these other Frank Tate's because I don't know him. Paul trusted
the Lord Jesus Christ, not another Jesus. You know, there are many
Jesus's. But there's only one Lord Jesus. And have you ever
noticed or thought about why so often in the scriptures we
find that little three-letter word THE in front of it? THE
Lord Jesus Christ. Because He's the only one. Only
one. Paul trusted in THE Lord Jesus
Christ. He knew THE Christ who is described
in this blessed book. And that word believed, we know
what that means. It means to trust, to be convinced,
to regard as truth. Paul knew the one whom he trusted,
and he trusted the one whom he knew. They go hand in hand. Paul
is saying, I trust Thee, Lord Jesus Christ. I regard Him as
truth, because He's revealed Himself to me in truth. Paul
says, I know whom I have believed and am persuaded. Who persuaded
him? God did. God sovereignly persuades
men and women. And you know, that's what the
word persuade means. You can look it up in Webster's
Dictionary. It means to cause someone to
believe something. God does the causing, doesn't
he? Who maketh thee to differ from another? Only God can. Paul said, I'm persuaded. The
one whom the apostle Paul believed is the same one who persuaded
him to believe. And did you know that the original
Greek word for faith actually means persuade? True faith is
being persuaded that Jesus Christ is able. I'm persuaded that He is able.
Able to do what? Anything? Everything? Isn't that what the Lord said
to Abraham? He said, is anything too hard
for the Lord? Job said, I know that thou canst
do everything. Everything. And no thought can
be withholden from thee. So let me ask you simply and
plainly, friends, has God persuaded you? Has God persuaded you that
nothing is too hard for Him? Has God persuaded you? Do you see that He is able? He's
able to save. And He's able to keep. Oh, isn't
that a blessed word? Boy, I love that word. Kept. Kept by the power of God. What a blessed word that is.
One of my favorite in all Scripture. kept by the power of God through
faith and salvation. No man can pluck me from his
hand. Nothing can separate me from
the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. Nothing, no one can come
between me and God's love for me in Christ. Oh, does that bring
joy to your heart? I know whom I have believed,
and I'm persuaded that he is able to keep. Keep what? Paul
says, that which I've committed unto him against that day. You
see, salvation requires commitment, but it's not my commitment to
Christ that saves me. It's not my commitment to being
faithful to doing something for God. That's what religion teaches.
Oh, you need to be committed. My salvation has everything to
do with my Lord's commitment to the Eternal Father in the
taking of my sin upon Himself and in return giving me His perfect
righteousness. Now, is there anything that you
don't understand about that? I simply commit my soul unto
His safekeeping. Have you committed the care of
your soul into the sovereign hands of Christ? Did you know
that the original Greek word for committed in this verse of
Scripture means deposited? I found that very interesting.
Paul said, I know whom I have believed, trusted, regard as
truth, and I'm persuaded, convinced by God himself that he's able
able to do anything and everything that I've committed unto him.
Paul is saying that Christ is able to keep everything that
he had deposited with him. Most of us, if not all of us,
go to the bank and we deposit our money into it. And in doing
so, we are in some degree believing and trusting in the bank. We're
trusting and believing that the bank will hold and keep what
we've entrusted and committed to their keeping. And sadly,
many professing Christians seem to trust their banks more than
they do their Savior. But the true child of God, by
sovereign persuasion, persuasion, deposits the care of their very
souls to Christ's safekeeping. He provides much more security
than the bank's FDIC insurance, I'm telling you that. Contrary
to the popular belief of modern day religion, Jesus Christ is
not an insurance policy from hell. Jesus Christ is the full
assurance of life everlasting. Are you trusting in Him? You cannot save yourself. You
must trust the safekeeping of your redemption to the One you
know who can provide for you all that God requires. Oh my. Dear friend, if you're here today
without Christ, I pray that God would right now show you your
need of Him. I pray that right this very moment
He may divinely persuade you, convince you that He's able.
He's the Almighty God. He's most certainly able to do
anything and everything that I commit to Him. He's able to
keep everything that you commit, that you deposit with Him, even
your soul unto Him against that day. Now what day is Paul talking
about here? Well, that day that you'll stand
before God in judgment. And all of us are going to stand
before the judgment seat of Christ and give an account of the things
that we've done. And remember, God requires perfection. You cannot provide for yourself
the perfection that God requires. On that day of judgment, our
hearts will be made manifest, for all things are naked and
open unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. So what will
be your plea when you stand before God? Well, if we dare to stand
before Him in and of ourself, each and every one of us would
have to plead guilty, because we've come short of the glory
of God. We've come short of that perfection
that He requires. However, the One in whom I have
been enabled to trust, the Lord Jesus Christ, He who has persuaded
me, convinced me, and enabled me to believe that He's able
to present me thoughtless, He'll stand as my advocate, my wonderful counselor, my mighty
God to represent me. And He who did for me what I
could not do for myself. Let me say that again. He that
did for me what I could not do for myself. He who provided for
me that which I could not provide for myself. He that provides
for me what God requires that I cannot provide for myself. Will stand up in the court of
divine justice and declare me to be not guilty. The verdict's in. Let that sinner
go free. Not guilty. For he who knew no
sin was made to be sin for his people, that they might be made
the righteousness of God and Him. Boy, hasn't that been a
word that we've heard a lot about? Righteousness. It's got to be
perfect. It's got to be perfect. And mine
is filthy rags. Paul said we declare His righteousness. That's our message, isn't it?
That's what you're going to preach on tonight, isn't it? His righteousness. Oh my. And the thought of being
unblameable. Oh, there's another word I love. Unreprovable. Isn't that a wonderful
word? And the greatest thing of all is that I'll be above blame and
above reproof in His sight. That's what matters. He who requires
perfection will receive it. Right? Because it's my Lord's
perfect righteousness in which I stand. Why? For I know whom I have believed.
I know. Whom? I know Him. He's a just
God and Savior. He's the Lord Jesus Christ. He's
my Lord and my God. And friends, I'm persuaded only
because He's persuaded me. And He's made me willing to believe
Him in the day of His power. He's convinced me that He is
able. Able to do exceeding and abundantly
above. All I could think or ask. You know, I thought about this
yesterday. I lost track of time whenever
I drove up here. Like that Syro-Phoenician woman,
I desire just the crumbs from his table, but you know, he's
able to do exceedingly and abundantly above. And he's prepared a table,
a banquet, before me in the midst of my
enemies. And like that prodigal son, I
think, my, the servants in my Father's house are faring much
better than me. I'll just return and I can eat
much better than the husk of the swine. And yet when I come
to Him, He says, kill the fatty calf and put a ring on his finger
and a robe on his back. He does exceedingly abundantly
above all I can think or ask. Will you commit your soul to
Him? May God enable you to do so according to the riches and
the mercy of His grace. Amen. Thank you, Brother Todd.