I'd like to direct your attention
first this morning to Romans 6, verse 23, please. Romans 6, verse 23. Very, very familiar passage of
Scripture. Probably not many messages that
I've preached over the years that this verse was not at least
quoted or mentioned. Romans 6, verse 23. For the wages of sin is death."
I'm so glad Paul didn't stop there. He said, but the gift
of God is eternal life. What a gift that is. And it's
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Now I want you to turn over a
few pages to Romans chapter 10, please. Verse nine. Here Paul says, if thou shalt
confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus Christ, and shalt believe
in thine heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt
be saved. The purpose and means of preaching
is that sinners might be saved. Saved is a term that most of
us have heard most of our lives. People ask, are you saved? People say, God saved me by his
grace. Many say I was saved when I was
so and so age. Concerned believers will often
pray that their family be saved. I do. Lord, save my family. But what does the word saved
really mean? And what are we saved from? Let's call on the scriptures
to answer that for us. First, we're saved from sin. Thou shalt call His name Jesus,
which means Savior, for He shall save His people from what? Their
sin. So first we see that we're saved
from sin. For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. So this involves and includes
every one of us to some degree. We're all guilty of sin and salvation
rescues us from both the guilt and the power of sin. How? Only in Christ. Only in Christ. Secondly, we're
saved from God's wrath. I'm so glad we're saved from
God's wrath. I would not want to experience God's wrath. Now
a lot of folks aren't concerned about the wrath of God because
the God that they proclaim, the God that they believe in, is
just a little helpless God that can only do to them what they
allow Him to do. They believe that when it comes
to salvation. So it must be the same when it
comes to His wrath, right? No. That's where you're wrong. That's where they're wrong. Our
God is the God of heaven and earth who spoke the worlds into
existence. He's the one that works all things
after his counsel. He's the one that holds the earth
on its axis and the galaxies in the sky he controls, he lords
over. He is God and there's none else. being now justified by His blood,
we will be saved from wrath through Him. That's His wrath. He that
believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not
the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him,
John 3.3. The Bible teaches us that God's
wrath is the rightful judgment against our sin. And Christ's
sacrifice and His substitution turns that judgment away from
us. That's something to be saved
from. God's wrath. And it's only by the shedding
of His blood, Christ's blood, and believing on Him that we
escape. How shall we escape if we neglect
so great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken
by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard Him,
Hebrews 2.13. And then thirdly, we're saved
from death and hell. Aren't you glad? That's talking about eternal
death, eternal separation from God. That's not talking about
what happens at the end of this life. It's appointed unto men
once to die. All of us are gonna die. But
after this, the judgment, that's what that's talking about, the
judgment, that eternal wrath and judgment that comes upon
those who do not trust and believe in Christ. We just read, for the wages of
sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus
Christ our Lord. And death and hell were cast
into the lake of fire. This is the second death, Revelation
20, 14. Friends, without salvation, the
end result, without Christ, without salvation, the end result is
eternal separation from God. what the Bible calls the second
death or hell. But this glorious salvation is
the gift of God. It's eternal life that's found
only in Christ Jesus. Now, fourthly, we're saved from
separation from God. We've already alluded that. But your iniquities, Isaiah wrote,
have separated between you and your God and your sins. have hid His face from you that
He will not hear." What did? What separated us? What hid His
face from us? Our sin and our iniquity. 1 Peter
3.18, for Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for
the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death
in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. You see, sin cuts
us off. It cuts us off from any relationship
that we might have with God, but salvation restores that connection. I'm reconciled to God. I'm brought
back into fellowship with the one whom I was alienated and
separated from. That is good news. That's the
gospel that we preach. And fifthly, we're saved from
the power of sin over our daily lives. For sin shall not have
dominion over you, for you're not under the law, but under
grace. Being saved by God's grace is not just about eternity either. Salvation also frees believers,
those who believe in Christ, from being enslaved to destructive
behaviors and thought patterns right now in this life. In short, the Bible teaches us
we're saved from sin, we're saved from death, we're saved from
wrath, we're saved from hell, we're saved from separation from
God, and we are saved too. See, we're not only saved from
something, but we're saved to something. What is that? Life,
peace, eternal fellowship with God. It's rescuing every sense
of the Word. And it's only in, by, and through
the Lord Jesus Christ. You say that a lot, preacher.
Thank you. Thank you. I intend to. I mean
to be redundant. We must be. We're not only saved
from sin, death, wrath, hell, and separation from God. We're
saved to some glorious things that I just mentioned. Eternal
life. Salvation is not just the escape from hell. Many people
trust in Jesus Christ as a far escape from hell. Oh, if I confess
Christ, if I walk it out, if I raise my hand, if I say a prayer,
if I join the church, then I'm gonna go to hell. No, you'll
probably be the first one there, if that's all you do. Remember,
the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Salvation is much more than just
a fire escape from hell. Secondly, we're saved to a relationship
with God. I want to have a relationship
with God. Don't you? Sure you do. to wit that God
was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing
their trespasses against them. It's our trespasses that separate
us, and when Christ takes those sins and puts them away, there's
no reason that we can't be brought back into fellowship with God.
That's glorious news, good news. And this is life eternal, that
they might know Thee, the only true God, in Jesus Christ, whom
Thou hast sent." That's been on our bulletin for 40 plus years
now. The heart of salvation is a restored
fellowship, a real personal connection with God as our Father, and we
as His children. Have I told you about my father
lately? He's God. And I'm His child. Thirdly, we're saved to a new
creation and purpose. Therefore, if any man be in Christ,
he's a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things become new.
All my sin's gone. I'm a new creation. All things
are of God, who hath again reconciled us to Himself. How? By Jesus
Christ. For we are His workmanship, created,
we're His handiwork, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. It's not our good works that
save us. We're created in Christ unto good works, which God hath
before ordained, that we should welcome Him, Ephesians 2.10.
And again, we see that this is accomplished only in Christ. And we are reconciled to God
by Christ's handiwork as our Savior and substitute. All the benefits of salvation
are found in Jesus Christ. I never grow tired of saying
it. I rest my soul upon that fact. That's why I must have
Him and you must have Him. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. We're not just forgiven, we are
transformed. You ever thought about that word?
Salvation in Christ provides us with a new identity and a
God-given reason to live. I've got reason to live. And we're saved to the kingdom of
God. Transferred into God's kingdom
and made meek, the scripture says. That word means fit. I've
been made fit? One who's unfit? One who's unworthy? I've been made worthy. I've been
made fit worthy to be a partaker of Christ's inheritance. He has
delivered us from the power of darkness and have translated
us into the kingdom of His dear Son, in whom we have redemption
through His blood, even the forgiveness of sin. Is salvation about what
you do? No sirree, it's about what He
did as we just read. And that's what that means, beloved.
We're transferred from a kingdom ruled by sin and death into another
kingdom ruled by Christ with all the rights and the responsibilities
of a citizen of heaven. Isn't that something? How does this redemption come?
We just read it. Through Christ, in whom we have
redemption. Through His blood, we receive
the forgiveness of sins. I alluded to this in the Bible
study this morning. How can any man, woman, in any
denomination of any kind of religion, deny that salvation is of the
Lord? Now, they'll say that, I said,
salvation's of the Lord. And then they go on to tell you
all the things that you yourself must do in order to be saved.
And we read these verses. It's everywhere. It's all through
this book from beginning to end. In whom? In, by, and through
Jesus Christ. In whom? In whom? In whom? Salvation's
in a person. And friends, fifthly, we now
belong to a body and a family. Now are ye the body of Christ
and members in particular, 1 Corinthians 12, 27. And sin is the culprit
of souls being lost. So we must assume that the gospel
is for the lost. Now that's for the saved too,
don't get me wrong, but the message, the message of the gospel for
the lost. Look at verse eight here in Romans chapter 10. But what sayeth it? That's speaking
of the scriptures. What did the scriptures say?
The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart, that
is the word of faith, which we preach. Listen, the word of faith
is the gospel. That's what that's talking about.
The Word of God is God's gift to sinners. I've said this often,
I mean it, I see it more true every day. This is the most valuable
possession that any of us own. Now it may not have cost the
most, but it's the most valuable possession that we have. What sayeth he? The Word is not
even in thy mouth and in thy heart, that is the word of faith
which we preach, The Word of God is God's gift to sinners
and prisoners. We are saved to a hope and an
inheritance. I know people that have waited
all their life and didn't make much of it, didn't do much, because
they sat around waiting because their parents were wealthy or
their father was wealthy. And they're like, well, these
days I'm going to get a big inheritance. Well, so are you. if you trust and believe in Christ.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which
according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again into a
lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
to an inheritance incorruptible. What about your inheritance?
It's incorruptible and it's undefiled. And it fades not away. And it's reserved. Get a hold
of this. It's reserved for you. Where
is it? Is it down at the bank? Do I have to go down to the bank
and sign some papers? No! It's reserved in heaven! For you. 1 Peter 1, 3, and 4. Yes, yes, yes. We're saved from
sin, wrath, separation, eternal death. And we are saved to eternal
life. Oh, I'll take it. I'll take it. We're saved to an intimate relationship
with God. We're saved to a new identity
and calling. We're saved to a possession of
Christ's kingdom. We belong to God's family. We've got a guaranteed hope of
an inheritance that's incorruptible, that never fades away. It's reserved
in heaven for us. The word of faith is nigh, friends,
it's near. The promise of grace and pardon
of sin. It's in the mouth of God's preachers.
It's what I'm declaring to you again today. And I endeavor to
declare to you every time we meet together. And it's also
near to those who hear the Gospel. You ought to thank God every
day that you're hearing the Gospel, the truth. A lot of folks aren't.
Most of my life, I didn't. And I'll never forget when I
heard it. I'm not talking about the date, the time. I'm talking
about when I truly heard it. And I told Teresa, I said, somebody
finally told me the truth, the truth about who God is, the truth
about who I am, the truth about how I, the sinner that I am,
can be reconciled to such a wonderful God. That's the gospel, the word
of truth. To those of you who are yet without
Christ with a hearty and sincere confession in the hearts, I pray
that you attend the hearing of the gospel and truly believe
that it's yours for the taking if you so desire it. Well, I
thought it was only for the elect. Oh, you've misread, you've misheard. It's for whosoever. And it's
to those who bow to Christ and receive Him as their Lord and
Savior that they find out later, well, I was one of the elect
of God. I didn't know that. Yes, because before you did any
good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand. It's of God. Salvation's of the
Lord. And we find that out. And we
rejoice in it. before I'd done any good or evil,
before I did anything that I could call my own and take credit for,
God saved me by His grace. So what does it mean to confess
the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, I know this much. You can't
confess something that you don't believe, not truly. If you confess
something with your mouth, you must believe it in your heart.
or it's nothing but a profession. You've heard folks talk about
profession of faith. To profess Christ is something
that anybody can do. Now hear me out on this. There's
an obvious difference in a profession and a confession. To profess
Christ is a very easy thing. Anybody can do it. To profess
something is to declare, to claim. I can profess that I'm President
of the United States, but you know I'm not. I can declare that I am, I can
claim that I am, and many people profess things that are not so. Paul wrote in Titus 1.16, they
profess that they know God, but in works they deny Him, being
abominable and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate. I could have murdered somebody
this morning and walked in here today and said, oh my, I'm Jesus. to profess it may be genuine
or superficial. You can profess something without
truly believing it. Professing Christ can be in word
only. That's why there are going to
be a lot of church members in hell. That's right. There are going to be a lot of
professing Calvinists in hell. But to confess Christ, Oh, that's
connected with repentance. That's connected with the acknowledgement
of truth. It's connected with allegiance
to the one who provides it. The word confess means to speak
the same thing. I love that. I remember seeing
that a few years back, and you know how we are, we forget things,
and then I went out Looked at this, prepared for this message,
looked up that word confess in the concordance, it said, to
speak the same thing. What does that mean? It's to
speak the same thing as God does. That's right, Paul writes here
in our text again, verse nine, if thou shalt confess, speak
the same thing as God does concerning Christ, the Lord Jesus, and believe
in your heart, not just in your head, not just professing, Thou shalt
be saved. I remember what was said. I don't
remember who said it. I don't remember if it was Brother
Henry or Brother Maurice. But they said, boy, that's a
long ways from right here to right here. You can believe something
right here, and it's got to travel a long way to get right here.
It does, doesn't it? Only God can move it from here
to there. A lot of people professing from here but not from here in
the heart. To confess means to agree with
God as to who Christ is. To confess means to agree with
God as to what Christ did. To agree with God as to who He
did it for. It's taking sides with God. We
say that all the time. It's taking sides with God against
the devil. Taking sides with God against
yourself. It's speaking the same thing
as God does. It's to agree with God as to
who and what you are. God says you're a wretch. You're
a sinner. You're wicked. And we say, yeah,
Lord. I'm a dog just like you said.
But can a dog get a crumb from your table? No true Believing child of God
would be ashamed to declare such glorious truth from the rooftop. We've heard the joyful sound,
Jesus saves. Spread the tidings all around,
Jesus saves. Sing above the battle strife,
by his death and endless life, give the winds a mighty voice,
let the nations now rejoice, Jesus saves. Shout salvation full and free. This is our song of jubilee.
Jesus Christ came into the world to save who? Sinners, sinners. You can profess Christ and be
lost, but you cannot confess Christ in a biblical sense without
having true faith in Him. And again, verse nine, if thou
shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in
thine heart, believe what? That God raised him from the
dead. Is that important? If you wanna be saved it is.
Why is that so important? Now hear me, it's the validation
of the Lord's identity and claims. It proves that sin and death
were conquered. It proves that God accepted Christ's
finished work. It proves that God accepted His
finished work for His people. It's proof that Christ's death
actually accomplished the sinner's redemption and salvation. It's
how God performed what He promised. It's how God could remain just
and justify the ungodly. It's how God is both a just God
and a Savior. And it guarantees our own resurrection. How do I know that I'm going
to one day resurrect? Because my Lord did. Because
if God accepted Him and His work, then He's going to accept me,
who is in Him, and His work for me. It separates the truth from the
false. Because if Christ had stayed dead, he would have been
a liar or a lunatic or maybe both. But he rose. He is who he claimed to be. Now I can confess who I am truthfully. Christ was declared the Son of
God with power according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection
from the dead, Romans 1.4. If we believe on Him, God, that
raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered for
our offenses, our sins, and was raised again for our justification,
we shall be saved. Know ifs, ands, and buts. If
Christ didn't rise from the dead, then He's a fraud. And you and
I are lost and we're without God and without hope in this
world. The resurrection of the Lord
Jesus is the victory of God. God stamped. He stamped the cross
with His approval. Not with red ink, but with red
blood. He stamped it finished. He stamped it paid in full. And
it shows us that death is not the end. Though our body is dead,
the Spirit is life because of righteousness. And that's talking
about His righteousness. It proves that the same Spirit
that raised Christ from the dead lives in His people. Christ died
for His people's sin. Christ came into the world to
save who? Sinners. God accepted Christ's sacrifice
and His substitution for sin. Death has been defeated. Swallowed
up in victory, the Scripture says. Where, O death, is your
stain? That's something every believer
can ask. When death comes for me, I can look at death and say,
where's your stain? All you're doing is giving me
a ticket to a better place. All you're doing is assuring
my departure unto a heavenly kingdom. That's all death does. It just takes us to where we're
going. Christ has preeminence and authority
over all things. He didn't just rise, He ascended
and He reigns. If we suffer, we shall also reign
with Him. If we deny Him, He also will
deny us. If we believe not, yet He abideth
faithful. He cannot deny Himself. The resurrection
of our Lord proves many things. First, He's divine. He's God. His sacrifice was successful.
Death is defeated. Christ reigns as King. Eternal
life is certain for those that trust in Him. You want to hear
something for sure? That's it. That's it right there.
So we see from our text, Romans 10 verse 9, that if we confess
with our mouth, say that we agree and take sides with God, and
shall believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead,
we shall be saved. You want to be saved? Well, you'd
be crazy not to want to be. Who wants to spend eternity separated
from God in a place called hell, where the worm and the fire dies
not? Now look at verse 10. And I'll
hurry. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation. Now listen, there must be no
confession with the mouth where there's not a believing with
the heart. It's nothing short of deception
to profess to have faith that you don't have. To make a profession
without a possession is to be like a cloud without rain, to
be like a river without water. It's with the heart that we believe. It's what's in our hearts that
we confess. A true confession from the heart
is about Jesus Christ and faith in Him alone. He's the object
of our faith. Faith is not blind. Faith must
have an object, and the object of our faith, our believing,
is Jesus Christ. True faith, faith in Christ,
rests upon His character, His works, His office. In other words,
Jesus Christ is God. My, my. I have so much to cover and
I'm losing some of you. You're falling asleep on me.
When the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son,
made of a woman, made under the law to redeem them that were
under the law, that we might receive what? The adoption of
sons. God was made flesh and dwelt
among us. God came to do for us what we
could not do for ourselves. Oh, that ought to perk our attention
beyond anything in this life. Faith says God became a man that
he might come near unto us and do for us what God required. This deed of love attracts us.
It gives us confidence towards God. It bids us to approach the
Lord with boldness, come boldly into the throne of grace to find
mercy and help in time of need. For we have not a high priest
which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities,
but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin. We confess, believe in our hearts
that Christ is perfect. And being tempted in all points
as we are, yet without sin, we delight, we admire Him, we respect
Him, we adore Him in His complete obedience to the law of God for
us. Having kept the law, having magnified
the law, having fulfilled the law, every jot and tittle. Listen,
His righteousness is now mine. So is, so is. Friends, this is
my confession. This is my, He is my possession. That's what I titled this. The
confession of our possession. That's what, this is what my
heart believes. It's with extreme guilt and emotion
of gratitude that I, by faith, hear those words, it is finished. I know that it's finished, Tom,
because He finished it for me. This is how my soul is given
faith to believe that all my sins have been put away. And
Christ's righteousness now covers me from head to foot. All God sees when He looks at
me is Christ. That's my confession. Christ
is my possession. This is the gospel that my heart
trusts in. My heart and faith perceives
that Christ is risen and my soul is justified. I know it's so.
God has accepted Christ on my behalf and his resurrection proves
that he did. Therefore I stand accepted in
the beloved because Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. And dear
sinner, if you believe in your heart that God raised him from
the dead, thou shalt be saved. Is that your confession? Is Christ
your possession? Will you confess it before man?
If so, Christ will confess you before His Father in heaven.
That's what He promised. He said, but if you deny Me,
then I'll deny you before My Father, which is in heaven. And
it's with the heart that man believes. It's with the mouth
that confession is made. Now, in closing, just give me
a couple minutes. I want to say a few words about
the public declaration of faith in Christ. If you believe, you
are commanded by the scriptures to declare Him as your Lord.
Baptism is commonly understood as a public declaration of faith. It symbolizes a believer's desire
to follow Christ. It symbolizes and identifies
with Christ's death, His burial, and His resurrection. And scriptures
have a great deal to say about baptism. I want to quickly tell
you what it says. First, Christ commanded it. Go
ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. Our confession as
believers and followers of Christ is not to be silent or hidden.
We believe in our hearts and we confess with our mouths that
Christ is Lord. Jesus Christ is Lord. Secondly,
baptism is an identification with Christ. It's saying, I belong
to Him. When you get in this water, Chris,
when you got in that water, what you were saying is, I belong
to Christ. Confess Christ is to align your
identity with His. That's what you did, Amy. Thirdly,
baptism is a loyalty under pressure. Listen, confessing Christ can
bring rejection, and it can bring persecution, and even death,
though it's not prevalent in our day. But true confession
holds in these moments. And Peter denied Christ, and
he failed to confess Him when it counted. But after the Lord
restored him, he boldly confessed Christ the day that they crucified
him. I can just imagine some say that
he was crucified upside down. And I bet he hung there and said,
Jesus Christ is my Lord. Kill me if you will. Jesus Christ
is my salvation. He's my life. And fourthly, baptism
is an eternal matter of the heart. You trust that Christ is the
Son of God. You believe that Christ died
to put your sin away. You believe that He rose again
for your justification. Friends, this is the foundation
of salvation. And fifthly and lastly, confessing
Christ in baptism is an outward expression of inward faith. That's
all it is. There's no salvation in baptism,
but there's salvation in the one that we confess in baptism. And out of our love for Him,
that's why we do so. I love the story of that Ethiopian
eunuch. He's riding along in his chariot. He's reading Isaiah. And the Lord providentially and
miraculously sent Philip to him in his chariot. Philip heard
him read and he said, do you understand what you read? He
said, I don't have any man to show me. Philip said, I'm your
man. I'm going to show you who that's
talking about. And Philip opened his mouth and
began in that same scripture and preached unto him Jesus Christ. And what then was the question
that the eunuch asked? Do you remember? He said, I see some water over
here. What doth hinder me to be baptized?
Philip said, if thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest
be. And he answered and said, I believe.
I believe with all my heart that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
That was his confession. I believe that Christ is the
Son of God. What is yours? Do you confess Jesus Christ is
the Son of God? And I love verse 38 of Acts chapter
8. It says, and he, the eunuch,
he commanded the chariot to be stopped, to stand still, and
they went down, both him and Philip alike, to the water, and
both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. So three quick
questions, and I'm done. Do you believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ? Have you confessed Christ publicly
in baptism? Believer's baptism is what's
called. What hinders you who believe? If you haven't, what
hinders you?