You counted strange, so once
did I, Before I knew my Savior. And, O, that He fulfilled, may
see, The travail of His soul in me, And with His work contented
be, as I with my dear Savior. Yea, living, dying, let me bring
my strength, my solace from this spring, that he who lives to
be my King once died to be my Savior. Please be seated. We're going
to sing one more congregational hymn, and then we'll have special
music. In the same hardbacked hymnal, let's turn to hymn number
158. ? Come Holy Spirit heavenly dove
? ? With all thy quickening powers ? ? Kindle a flame of sacred
love ? ? In these cold hearts of ours ? ? Look how we grovel
here below ? ? Fond of these earthly toys ? ? Our souls how
heavily they go ? ? To reach eternal joys ? In vain we tune
our formal songs. In vain we strive to rise. Hosannas languish on our tongues
and our devotion. live at this poor dying rate. Our love so faint, so cold to
thee, and thine to us so great. Come Holy Spirit, heavenly dove,
With all thy quickening power, come shed abroad the Savior's
love, and that shall kindle ours. Caleb Hickman is going to come
now and bring special music. Caleb. Dark the stain that soothed man's
nature. Long the distance that he fell. Far removed from hope and heaven. Into deep despair and hell. But there was a fountain open. And the blood of God's own Son. Purifies the soul and reaches
deeper than the stain has gone. Praise the Lord for His salvation. God still reigns upon His throne. And I know the blood still reaches
deeper than the stain Conscious of the deep pollution,
sinners wander in the night. Though they hear the shepherd
calling, they still fear to face the light. This the blessed consolation
that can melt the heart of stone. That sweet balm of Gilead reaches
Deeper than the stain has gone Praise the Lord for His salvation
God still reigns upon His throne And I know the blood still reaches
Deeper than the stain has gone All unworthy we who've wandered
And our eyes are wet with tears As we think of love that sought
us Through the weary, wasted years Yet we walk the holy highway
Walking by God's grace alone Knowing Calvary's fountain reaches
Deeper than the stain has gone. Praise the Lord for His salvation. God still reigns upon His throne. And I know the blood still reaches
deeper than the stain has gone. When with holy choirs we're standing
In the presence of the King And our souls are lost in wonder
While the white-robed choirs sing Then we'll bless the name
of Jesus With the millions round the throne Praise Him for the
power that reaches Deeper than the stain has gone Praise the Lord for His salvation
God still reigns upon His throne And I know the blood still reaches
Deeper than the stain has gone Brother Todd said that the blood
is always new, not that we would crucify him afresh, but because
it's eternal blood. And he just sang, the blood still
reaches. And I'm thankful for that. I'm thankful for that message,
brother. I appreciate it very much. Y'all may not think about
this, but pastors need pastors. And Todd is my pastor. Has been
for years. I don't think he knows that.
He probably doesn't want to be my pastor. But he is anyway. I thank the
Lord for him and all of his faithful preachers. Last night in 1 Samuel
chapter 30 we saw David as David. In other words, as us. We saw
him as the reason we need salvation because all of our will, all
of our ways, all of our works only take us deeper and deeper
into failure and helplessness and despair. The more we do,
the more we sin. The more our righteousnesses
are filthy rags. The more we do what we call righteousness,
the more evil we are. And bless God, we saw David as
Christ, willing and anxious to pursue and save those that were
lost, and that the outcome was never in question. That's a blessing,
isn't it? Never in question. God said,
pursue, and without fail, you will recover all. The clear decree of God before
David even went, before Christ even came, was that he would
be victorious and without fail, save everyone that he was sent
to save. And what a blessing, how comforting
is that to know that salvation is certain and complete. And I don't ever worry about
anything anymore. I never worry about y'all. You know better than that, don't
you? I tell the folks at home, if I didn't have anything to
worry about, I'd make something up. That's the truth. I've done it. But do we have
anything to worry about as believers? Not a thing. Not a thing. Why? Well, because of our Savior.
David was just a shadow of our Lord Jesus Christ, but in the
text I want us to look at in John 19 and verse 30 this morning. Here is the one who cast the
shadow. And here he is not picturing
salvation, but actually saving us. In John 19 and chapter 30. When Jesus therefore had received
the vinegar, he said one word. It's translated into three words
in the King James Version, but it's one. He said one word. It
is finished to Leo. And he bowed his head. And gave
up the ghost. I preached for. 30 some odd years
before I ever, just a few weeks ago, preached on this verse of
scripture. And the simple reason is that
I'm scared to death to preach from it. How does a worm of the dust speak
of perfect salvation? Because to speak of perfect salvation,
you must identify and exalt, set forth the perfect Savior. And I already know from experience
that when I step down from this pulpit this morning, I'm going
to feel like I failed to do that. What our Savior said really is
that one word is perfect. The word is translated perfect
several times in the scriptures, and Lord willing we'll look at
those, but there's nothing wrong with it is finished. But when I finish something,
is it perfect? When the Son of God completes
something, finishes something, says it's done, It's over. It's accomplished. What is it?
It's perfect. So you could say it's implied
in the language, it is finished, that it's perfect. But why imply
it when you can just say it? Perfect. That's what he said.
Perfect. And we can't preach this truth
enough. We can't overemphasize. the vital
importance of that word. I can destroy all false religion
with one simple statement. It's real deep though. You've
got to listen real hard. It's real deep. Are you ready
for it? If Christ died for you, you are
saved. Isn't that deep? Not really,
but it's wonderful. Christ crucified is salvation. Christ crucified is perfect salvation. That's the title of the message
this morning, perfect salvation. Our Lord Jesus Christ from the
cross, where he had already said, Father forgive them. For they
know not what they do. They are so wretched and vile
and evil. To kill the Son of God, they
don't even have any idea how evil they are. Our only hope is. For him to
say. Forgive them. Not for some man
just as evil as I am to absolve me of my sin. He can't do that.
But he can. And he did. Forgive them. And then he says this word, perfect.
He didn't say available. He said it's finished. And he could have said that,
couldn't he? He could have said it's available. It's possible now. religious false preachers like
to say, God has done all he can do and now salvation is up to
you. And of course that's anti-Christ heresy. But if that was true,
could not Christ have said that? He is truth. Could not he have
said from the cross, now it's up to you? That would have set
us on a much different path this morning, wouldn't it? If he had
said that, then I could understand that there's something left for
me to do. But since he said what he did,
I'm forced to understand that salvation is of the Lord. Now, I may or may not like that,
but what else can you derive from that? Perfect. It's finished. The word that there, as I said,
is translated into three words, the King James Version, it's
taleo. It's the same word used in Hebrews
chapter 10, Verse 11, let me read it to you. Hebrews 10, 11,
and every priest standeth daily, ministering and offering oftentimes
the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. It was
never intended for the blood of bulls and of goats to take
away sins. Again, those are pictures, a
shadow. Paul said in the book of Hebrews, those are shadows,
the substance that cast the shadow is Christ. But this man, after
he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on
the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting till his enemies be
made his footstool, when after he said it's finished, he sat
down. You know why? For by that one offering, he
hath, to Leo, he hath finished or, perfected forever everyone he
sanctified with that precious blood. Them that he sanctified. The same word is used here because
that's what the Lord was referring to when he hung on that cross. The perfecting forever of all
whom he sanctified with his precious sin-cleansing blood. Perfect. Sanctification was accomplished. I'm not a theologian and I read
a lot about sanctification and I know that a lot of people believe
that sanctification has something to do with what we do, with living
the Christian life or something like that. The scriptures don't
say that. He sanctified us with his precious
blood. Do we need to add anything to
that? Could we if we wanted to? If we needed to, we'd be in big
trouble, wouldn't we? Sanctification was accomplished.
It is perfect. And the reason it's perfect is
because you didn't have anything to do with it. Because He did it. There's perfect
salvation because there's a perfect Savior. Christ accomplished it
and He doeth all things well. Salvation is finished and because
of who finished it, it's perfect. You can't mess it up, aren't
you glad? I'm here to tell you this morning, you can't mess
it up. If Christ saved you, you can't mess it up. If he shed
his precious blood for you, you shall never perish. John chapter
10. I lay down my life for the sheep
and they shall never perish. Paul didn't say in Romans 8.34,
you're familiar with that, that, who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth, who
is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died. He didn't
say there that he was guiltless before God and could not be charged
by anyone with any sin because he had given his life to Jesus
and was living the Christian life. He said that he was perfectly
justified and sinless before God because of who it is that
died for Him. And if that's true of you, you're
not gonna mess that up. Not today, not ever. It's finished. Christ finished
the work that the Father gave Him to do. He's referring to
that. Our Lord began His life on this
earth as our substitute With these words, I must be about
my father's business. And he gave up the ghost, ended
his life on this earth with these words. It's finished. It's perfect. He said in John 4, 34, Jesus
saith unto them, my meat is to do the will of him that sent
me and to finish his work. What is that work? He said in
the same context, John 6, 37, all that the father giveth me
shall come to me. And him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out, for I came down from heaven, not
to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And
this is the father's will, which has sent me. That of all which he has given
me, I should lose nothing. David recovered all, didn't he?
but should raise it up again at the last day. All here who believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ this morning can go forth today in the comfort
of this truth. Nothing is up to you. The religion of this world loves
to say that. God's done all he can do and
now it's up to you. What the Lord said he did was
finish it. He didn't do all he could do.
He finished it. And nothing is up to me. Aren't you glad about that? Your
salvation was not up to you. It never has been up to you.
Today it does not rest with you. It does not depend on you. Nor
will your salvation ever depend on you. It's up to Him. And He
finished salvation for somebody. Nothing that we do, nothing that
we say or think can add to a finished work. And bless God, nothing
that we are, do, say, think, anything about us can take anything
away from it. It's already finished. David did not forfeit salvation
when he murdered Uriah the Hittite and stole his wife. God forgave him, didn't he? Paul
did not contribute to his salvation, Saul of Tarsus, when he fell
into the dust on the road to Damascus and bowed before the
Son of God and said, Lord, what would you have me do? He didn't
contribute to his salvation there at all. Christ did not save Saul
of Tarsus because he bowed before him. Saul of Tarsus bowed before
the Lord Jesus Christ because Christ saved him. If you love the sovereign, successful
champion of sinners, the Lord Jesus Christ, it is because He
first loved you. His love is the cause of our
love for Him and faith in Him and every fruit of the Spirit,
1 John 4, 19. And nothing or nobody can separate
us from that eternal, distinguishing, freely bestowed love of Christ. Romans 8, 39. Now those who know
by His grace, the Lord Jesus Christ, we want to honor Him,
don't we? We want to worship Him. We want
to serve Him in this world, and we do in some sense. We do love
Him because He first loved us. But aren't you glad that your
salvation is not dependent on the quality of your love for
Him? He that accomplished salvation
for us on Calvary is accomplishing salvation in us right now. And just like there on Calvary,
he finished the work of salvation for us, he's gonna finish the
work of salvation in us. In fact, he already has. He already
has, he's finished. Philippians 1.6, we're confident,
being confident of this very thing that he, which hath begun
a good work in you, will finish it. We'll perform it until the day
of Jesus Christ. That word perform there in Philippians
1.6 is not exactly the same word teleo, but it's a form of it.
It's epiteleo. It means to accomplish to perfect
to execute to complete. He's still saving us He saved
us And he is saving us he's finished
salvation for us and he's finishing salvation in us And don't ever
think about that that he's accomplishing the work in us and he will perform
it Don't ever think in terms of well, he's not he hadn't really
saved me yet. Oh, yeah, if he ever saved you You're saved. You're fully, completely saved. His perfecting salvation in us
now is as sure and certain and infallible as the salvation accomplished
for us on Calvary. Knowing that is simply a matter
of knowing who it is we're dealing with here. Who it is that finished it. Who
it is that saved us. In Matthew chapter 19, let's
look at it together. Matthew chapter 19, verse 16,
you're familiar with this story of the rich young ruler. Verse 16, behold, one came and
said unto him, good master, what good thing shall I do that I
may have eternal life? And he said unto him, why callest
thou me good? There's none good but one, that
is God. Now, why would the Lord say that? Why are you calling me good?
Remember from this story that clearly this man thought that
he was good. Because when the Lord said, keep
the commandments, he said, I've done that from my youth up. So
our Lord said, there's none good but one, and that is God, to
teach this man, if you're not God, then you're not good. like
you think you are. And also, clearly this man didn't
believe that Christ was God. If he had, he would have left
everything he had and followed him, don't you reckon? And so
when the Lord says, there's none good but one, why are you calling
me good? There's none good but one, that's God. What he's teaching
him there also is this. If I'm good, then I'm God. And clearly he needed to know
both of those things, didn't he? And so the Lord said, keep
the commandments if thou will enter in. And he said, which,
and he named them. And he said, I've kept these
from my youth up. And look at what the Lord said
to him in verse 21. Jesus said unto him, if thou
wilt be, there's our word again, same word. If thou wilt be perfect,
go and sell that thou hast and give to the poor and thou shalt
have treasure in heaven and come and follow me. And when the young
man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful. And then the
Lord, the disciples asked him, you know the rest of the story.
Let me try to not be too long this morning, but he went away sorrowful. And the
disciples said, well, who then can be saved? This man came asking
about salvation and how he could get to heaven when he died. And
who then can be saved? And the Lord said, With men it's
impossible. Now think about what he's referring
to when he says with men it's impossible. The Lord commanded
this fellow to do two things that were impossible for him
to do. Keep the law. It's impossible. It's impossible. This man needed to learn that. We need to learn that. It's impossible. So how then can we be saved?
With God. The Son of God's gonna have to
keep the commandments for you. And this includes now His sacrifice
on Calvary because our Lord was obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross. Only our Savior can do everything
the Father commands, can satisfy the law of God, up to and including
obedience unto death, even the death of the cross. So that's
something Christ was going to have to do for that man. With
men it's impossible, but Christ can. And he did. What was the other thing he commanded
him to do? Sell everything that you have. Which, by the way, what's the
first commandment? Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
This man just got through saying, I've kept the commandments. So
the Lord started with number one. Didn't he? Sell everything,
get rid of your gods, and come and follow me, the true God. Kept them from your youth up,
have you? Hadn't even begun to commence to get started. But
then the Lord said this, sell everything, get rid of your God,
and come and follow me. That's impossible too, isn't
it? God, the Lord Jesus Christ would have had to obey and satisfy
and perfectly fulfill the will of the Father for this man. But also for that man to sell
everything he had and come follow the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son
of God would have had to do something in the man too, wouldn't he?
You're not gonna follow the Lord Jesus Christ to the exclusion
of all else and all others. unless he does a work right in
here. That's what we're talking about. And he finishes that one
too. He'll perform it. If he's begun
it, he'll perform it. And you're not going to, it's
impossible with me. But bless God, what is impossible
for us, our Lord Jesus Christ has finished, perfected. Perfect salvation is rest, rest unto the soul. Listen to what our Lord said
in Matthew 11, 29. He said, take my yoke upon you and learn of
me for I am meek and lowly in heart and you shall find rest
unto your souls. I've heard that expounded in
religion and said, well, you see, we need to be yoked to the
Lord. Me and the Lord, we've got work to do, you know, Everybody knows what a yoke is.
When two are yoked together, it is that they might share the
burden of the work, the labor that's to be done in the accomplishing
of a task. There's a sharing. When we take
our Lord's yoke upon us, what's our part in this cooperative
effort? Nothing. Rest. Rest. I want to be yoked to Him,
don't you? If you can't do anything, if
you're lame on both your feet, if you're utterly hopeless and
helpless, you need to be yoked to Him. And I do too. He accomplishes everything. He finishes it. He perfects it. And we rest. Again, he began life saying,
I must do all of the business of God my father. And he ended
his life on this earth, giving up the ghost willingly, saying,
I have done it. And we're yoked together with
him who did it. Take my yoke upon you. Again, it's not a choice, is
it? It's a command. Take my yoke. He's going to have
to give it. Our part in salvation is we need
it. That's it. His part is it's finished. And now we rest. He accomplished
salvation for us. That's perfect salvation. Perfect
salvation is something you don't have anything to do with. That's
Taleo salvation. Does this mean that when the
Lord saves us that we just don't do anything? We don't care to
serve him or honor him or worship him or witness for him or any
of that. Of course not. It just simply means that in
the matter of our salvation we are totally resting in him. Paul
said labor to enter into that rest. Labor to quit trusting
your own works and rest in Christ. Labor to forget about yourself
and everything like Paul said forgetting. all those things
which were behind. What were those things that he
was putting behind him? Himself and everything that he was and
everything that he thought about himself. All of his works, all
of his heritage, all of his religion. It's done that I may win Christ
and be found in him. Not having my own righteousness,
but the righteousness of our Savior. Totally resting in him. Nothing that we do or fail to
do has anything to do with how saved we are. or while we're
saved. We serve, love, worship, and
obey Him such as it is because He saved us perfectly, fully,
and freely. We're able to do those things that we mentioned. We're able to worship by His
grace. He said to Simon, do you love me? Asked him three times,
the same number of times that Simon had denied him. Do you love me? But we're able to worship and
we do love him because he first loved us as such as our love
is and such as our. Faith is and service and honoring
of him in this life because he saved us and because he is saving
us. Perfect salvation. Thank God
is salvation that we cannot mess up. Look at Philippians chapter
2. I have to. I was going to just
refer to it, but let's let's look at it together. Philippians
2 one. If there be there for any consolation
in Christ, if any comfort of love, If any fellowship of the
Spirit, and if any bowels and mercies, fulfill you my joy that
you be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord
and of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife
or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other
better than themselves. And look not every man on his
own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let
this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. who being
in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with
God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of
a servant, and was made in the likeness
of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself,
and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a
name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every
knee should bow, and of things in heaven, of things in earth,
and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Wherefore, my beloved, as you
have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much
more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fearing
trembling. For it is God which worketh in
you. both to want to. It's His salvation in us. It's
the work that He's perfecting in us that makes us even want
to worship Him this morning. Where would you be this morning
if not for that? If not for perfect salvation? For you and in you. It is God which worketh in you
both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Even what we do is His work. You worship in the Lord this
morning, if indeed you are. Is that you doing something for
God, or is that Him doing something for you? If you ever do any service to
the Lord at all, is that you doing something for Him? Or is
that Him doing something for you? Perfect salvation is salvation
that we can't mess up. If you do love the Lord, we know
why. Because He first loved, but if
you do, you can't ever cease to love Him. because that love
is the fruit of his spirit and not your flesh. You can never
unbelieve the gospel because faith is his gift. It's the fruit
of his spirit and not your flesh. You cannot fail to endure unto
the end. He said, you shall be hated of
all men for my name's sake, but he that endureth unto the end
shall be saved. If you're his, you shall, because
it's Christ that worketh in you. both to will and to do of his
good pleasure. He will not let you go. He's
not going to let you unbelieve. He said to Simon, I've prayed
for you that your faith fail not. What does that tell you would
happen if he didn't intercede for us? How long would we stand? How long would our faith endure? I've prayed for you. He's going to save us in spite
of us, isn't he? He's not going to stop saving
us. If he has ever begun to save
us, he'll save us forever. When Christ spoke that word from
the cross and then gave up the ghost, he was talking about perfect
righteousness accomplished for sinners, for us. who are his. He was talking about perfect
satisfaction rendered unto his father regarding the laws and
flexible demands. God requires perfection, hence
the word perfect. He was talking about perfect
redemption paid for all of our sin debt. He was talking about
a perfect result, a perfect church, bought with the very blood of
God and washed from every spot and stain or wrinkle or any such
thing. If Christ died for you on Calvary,
he saved you. The eternal work of salvation
was accomplished for you without you. And when he gave you life
and faith in his son in time, He began a work in you that He
will perfect just as surely as He did the work for you. He's
doing this for you, too. It's for us. It's in us, but
it's still for us by Him. So if you know Him, rest. Do your part, which is nothing. You know, our part is nothing,
and we'll even mess that up, won't we? If not for his grace. I mess it up, I'll mess it up. If you do not know him. This
morning, are you weary? Are you weary of trying to please
God? With what you do with trying
to measure up? Before God to his perfect, righteous,
holy and flexible standard of righteousness. Do you need righteousness before
God? However you answer that, you
do. You do. You must be perfect.
Do you need peace, that peace which passeth all understanding
to keep your heart and mind? If you need Righteousness if
you need a sin offering if you need peace if you need hope if
you need rest You really just need one thing Because Christ
is all of that One thing is needful and I want
to emphasize that in closing The title of the message is perfect
salvation, but Perfect salvation can only be accomplished by the
perfect Savior. And He is who you need. Be wary
of trusting in a vent, no matter how wonderful. The Lord said to Martha, your
brother will rise again. They were grieving over the death
of Lazarus. He said, in comforting Martha,
he said, your brother will rise again. And she said, I know he'll
rise again in the resurrection. He said to Martha, I am the resurrection. We are guiltless, justified without
seeing before God. If we are for one reason, it
is Christ that died. To know and trust him. as perfect
salvation is His gift. And He gives it by the foolishness
of preaching. And that's why we do. And He gives it to whom He will.
By the preaching, not the preaching of foolishness, but the preaching
of the gospel of His only begotten, well-beloved, sovereign, successful
Son. The Savior of sinners. And it
is the desire of your pastor's heart and you all, the third
of you who came with your pastor, it's the desire of his heart
and it's the desire of my heart and my prayer to God that he'd
save you. His salvation is perfect because
he's perfect. And this is why we do what we
do. And so our prayer is may God give you faith in his son. He is salvation. Thank you, Chris. Rest, rest,
rest. David said in Psalm 57 verse
2, I will cry unto God most high, unto God that performeth all
things for me. That's who we come to, isn't
it? Had many experience of folks
saying to me, well, I'm doing my best. Two problems with that. Number one, it's a lie. You've
never done your best. Number two, if you ever did do
your best, it wouldn't be good enough. God requires perfection. That's in Christ. Thank you,
brother. That was a blessing. Tom, you're
going to come and lead us in the closing hymn? Number 15 in
the Spiral Hymnal. And I'll close the service in
prayer after that. Number 15, let's stand together. It is finished, Jesus cried. Then he bowed his head and died. Died for sins but not his own. And redemption's work was done. Justice then was satisfied, God's
elect are justified. Righteousness our Lord brought
in, and removed His people's sin. Sin and death and hell subdued,
By the power of Christ's blood, grace to sinners now is given,
pardon, holiness, and heaven. It is finished, can it be, That
Christ's blood was shed for me? Yes, I know He died for me, For
by grace I now believe. Pleading Christ's atoning blood,
Kneeling at the throne of God. Gone my guilt, my sin is gone,
It is finished, all is done. We have lunch planned, I think,
in the yard, so give the ladies a little bit of time to set that
up and we'll enjoy fellowship together this afternoon. So let's
ask the Lord's blessings on our time. Our merciful Heavenly Father,
how thankful we are for the blessing of the gospel, for having ears
to hear, for the messages that you've given us this morning
to find all our rest, all our hope, all our salvation in the
finished work of thy dear son. We pray that you would cause
us to rest in him. Lord, we ask your blessings on
our fellowship. Pray that you would knit our
hearts together in the love of Christ and that you would strengthen
our faith as we have an opportunity to encourage one another in the
gospel. Thank you for the food and for
all the provisions of life that we receive from thy hand. We
ask it in Christ's name. Amen. Thank you.