Our brother writes us an article
titled Good News for Pilgrims. He says, here is good news for
weary, heavy-hearted pilgrims from our homeland in heaven.
Do you have heartaches and troubles that are too numerous to count?
It will do you good to receive some good news from home. The
Lord our God is still on his throne. Our Savior is still in
heaven preparing a place for us, representing us, interceding
for us. There are many in heaven just
like us. And Don says, me already. He is. There is a fallen David there. There's a doubting Thomas there.
There's an angry Moses there. There's a feeble Philip there,
an impetuous Peter there, and a righteous lot there. All are
there by grace alone, through the merits of Christ's blood
and righteousness, and soon, And soon, here's that message
from home, and soon the Lord Jesus Christ will come again
to take you there. In John chapter 14, verses one
through three, we read these words, let not your heart be
troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's
house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare
a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself,
that where I am, there ye may be also." Would you turn in your
Bibles to the 43rd chapter of Isaiah this morning? Isaiah chapter
43. Some time ago I heard a minister given a message on death. And he finished his message in
the form of an offer. The Lord has provided himself for your sins. If you'll just come down to the
front of the church and pray this prayer with us. That salvation
is yours. If you'll just do this, it's
an offer. The Lord is offering you salvation. Won't you take it? You know, there's a lot of guys who say
things like that. There's a lot of men who stand
before people and talk about a God who's done all that He
can. There was even people who did
that back in the days of Israel, when the apostles walked this
earth, when the Lord Jesus Christ walked this earth. They tried
to say, well, yeah, Jesus, He paid for your sins on the cross.
He died for your sins. But you've got to get circumcised.
They started bringing in the law, legalism. Others say you've
got to get baptized. Some say you've got to worship
on Saturdays or you're not saved, you know, in order to receive
God's offer. And I emphasize that word that
salvation is offered because I want to bring you to a point
here in a moment. I've got to tell you, I was quite
offended. I was quite offended about the way He presented salvation. Because it took all the glory
of our Savior out of our Savior's hand and put it in the hands
of the individual. It's up to you. Well, if it's
up to me, then wouldn't the glory be mine? Wouldn't it be, I found
the Lord? Haven't you heard that? I came to Jesus. Wouldn't it
be things like, I worship on Saturdays, I'm saved. I got baptized,
I'm saved. You see, when you come before
people and you offer salvation, when you tell them that it's
an offering, that here it is, this is what salvation is, now
it's up to you, You're not declaring salvation. You're declaring a possibility,
are you not? Isn't that what that is? It's
like, here it is, if you will do this. You know why there's
the word if there? It's because with you and I,
nothing is for sure, is there? I can trust some people with
quite a bit. But I can't trust everybody or
anybody with everything. I love my wife, I trust her with
everything I have that I could come up with on this earth. But
I can only trust her so far. Why? Because she's a sinner as
I am. As we all are. She can't trust me any more than
that either. Why? Because I'm a sinner just as
we all are. To declare salvation as something
offered is to declare it as a possibility if you do this or if you do that.
Or like, maybe accept it. Or like, maybe reject it. I don't know about you folks,
but I don't see any assurance in that at all. Especially knowing
this guy that stands before you personally. I have no assurance
that what I'm going to do is right at all. If I had some assurance
that I was going to do things right, then I could go about
doing whatever I wanted in life and not have to worry about nothing.
But I have to worry about a lot because I know I do a lot of
things wrong. I know that I can mess things up really quick,
really easy. I see everybody smiling. You
know I think you all feel the same way, don't you? Can there be any assurance in
an offer? Can anyone have hope in something
of a possibility or a maybe? Some of us looked into scriptures
before the Lord called us out of darkness and they thought
they saw a Jesus of their own imagination maybe, one who fit
their needs. And they may have thought they
saw some kind of assurance, but folks, it wasn't until the Lord
called me out of darkness that I could grab a hold of something
and say, I am sure about that. I know that if God had called
me like these other people say he did, I'd have no assurance
in that because it relies on me. But the God of scriptures
calls with an effectual call. He grabs a hold of his people. just like he did with Paul on
the road to... Yeah, that one. He blinded him. He grabbed ahold
of him, shook him. The glory of God blinded that
man to everything else. That's the way the God of Scripture
works. If I listened to what these other
men who stood in pulpits said, I would have absolutely no assurance
at all. I'd be one. It doesn't surprise
me. I know somebody who's been baptized five times. Why? I asked him, why? Why would you
get, because I needed to be baptized. I keep falling down. Folks, they
know that. I know that. But my Lord, he's
never fallen down for me. I don't need to be baptized more
than once. Baptism is nothing more than a declaration of who
my Savior is. I am baptized in Him through
the Holy Spirit. When I look into scriptures,
I see assurance. I see facts, not maybes, not
possibilities. I see shalls, I see musts, I
see assurances. Look with me, if you would, here
at Isaiah 43, beginning at verse one. But now thus saith the Lord
that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel,
fear not, fear not, for I have redeemed
thee. I have called thee by thy name,
thou art mine. We're talking about maybes. I
don't hear any maybes yet, let's keep going. When thou passest
through the waters, I will be with thee and through the rivers they shall
not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the
fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel,
thy Savior. And just to prove what he's saying,
he says, I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Sheba for
thee. Since thou wast precious in my
sight, he says, thou hast been honorable and I have loved thee. Therefore will I give men for
thee and people for thy life. Fear not, for I am with thee.
I will bring thy seed from the east and gather thee from the
west. I will say to the north, give up, and to the south, keep
not back. Bring my sons from afar and my
daughters from the ends of the earth. Every one, even every
one that is called by my name, for I have created him, for my
glory I have formed him. Yea, I have made him. Now I'd
like you to turn over to the first chapter of Mark, if you
will. Mark chapter 1. My title this morning, Salvation Offered, Salvation
Declared. I just have to stop for a moment
and bask in the sweetness to see you this morning, young lady. My title this morning is Salvation
Offered, Salvation Declared. God is not offering salvation
to anyone. To say that salvation is offered
is to give authority to the receiver. It is to give the power to the
one that it is being offered to, relinquishing the power from
the one who saves. If a man can make him king, then
who has the power? Have you ever heard that? Won't
you make Jesus your king? Scripture says he's king already. Scripture says he don't need
you to call him king. He is king. I like that statement that I
just read. That's actually, I took that from Kevin Thacker down
in San Diego. I think he got it from somebody else, but if
a man can make him king, then who has the power? Yet all power in heaven and earth,
and even under the earth, belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. He
shall be called Jesus, for he shall, not might, not maybe,
but shall save his people. The Lord Jesus Christ has all
power, for he is the creator of all it is. He is the Alpha
and the Omega of everything. All things are of him, through
Him and for Him. When we speak of our Savior,
we speak of Him who has all authority. His Word is true. You want something
true in this world? You want something with real
authority? This, God's Word. Our Lord speaks, and it is so. Look at verses 14 through 20
of Mark chapter 1. Now after that, John was put
in prison. Jesus came into Galilee and preached
the gospel of the kingdom of God. And saying, the time is
fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand, repent ye and
believe the gospel. Now as he was walking by the
Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, his brother, casting
a net into the sea, for they were fishers. And Jesus said
unto them, come ye after me, and I will make you to become
fishers of men. Did he ask these men? Was that
a question? Did I misread that? Let me read
that again. And Jesus said unto them, come ye after me, and I
will make you to become fishers of men. Our Lord wasn't offering. He
said come. You know, when the Lord said
come to Lazarus, Do you think Lazarus sat there in that grave
for a few minutes and thought about it? No, I'm not sure. Can
I come next week, Lord? I got football going on right
now. Can I come next week? There's a motorcycle group riding
100 of these this weekend. Can I go with that instead and
just come next week? No. Our God comes with power. All
power. And he said, come. He said, come
to, I will make you to become fishers of men. And straight
away, notice that, notice verse 18, and straight away, there
wasn't any hesitation. They forsook their nets and followed
him. Some guy walking by the seashore. Now we know he wasn't a good
looking man. He was kind of comely looking.
The Lord was not something to be looked on and desired is what
the scripture says. Yet these men left all that they
knew and followed him, because the power of God spoke to their
heart, and that's exactly what happens to all of God's people.
It didn't come in an offer. God wasn't offering himself to
me as I sat there in that pew. He grabbed ahold of me and he
said, you're mine. He said, you're mine, Pauli Mary. You will be with him in heaven. all of his children. What we just read, does it sound
like an offer? Does it sound like a possibility?
That's God's word, folks. That's not John Reeves. That's
his word we just read. If you declare a lie that robs
my God of his glory, it offends me. I take offense. I have a loved one. I don't know
where they stand with the Lord. I hope and pray that they stand
in the same place I do in the power and the presence and the
righteousness of our Lord and Savior, but I don't know for
sure. And they've declared they want
their service, their final service to be in a church of goats. I'm gonna be honest with you
folks. I stand before you puzzled, not knowing what I want to do
there. I don't know that I want to go
into that church of goats. I mean, to be quite honest with
you, services are for the living, not the dead. I guess I probably should go
out of respect, but I just don't know that I want to. I know what
I'm going to hear when I'm there, and I'm not going to hear about
the power of God. It offends me. Look at verses
21 and 22 of Mark chapter 1. And they went into Capernaum,
and straight away on the Sabbath day he entered into the synagogue
and taught. Listen to these words, folks.
Listen to the words of Mark describing our Lord and our Savior. And they were astonished. The
people of the synagogue were astonished at His, at our Lord's,
at God in the flesh's doctrine, His teaching. For He taught them
as one that had authority. That's the same word as all power.
Authority. Taught them as one that had all
had authority and not as the scribes. You know what the scribes
are doing? Scribes are standing up there
saying, well, if you do this, you can be saved. The Lord says,
believe in me and you shall be saved. His word is the word of authority. As we read back in Isaiah, in
fact, you know, we'll go back to Isaiah for just a moment if
you would. This time I want to look at a
couple of verses over in chapter 44. Isaiah, chapter 44. We saw over in chapter 43, the
Lord has told his people, you are mine. I have called thee
by thy name, thou art mine. And then he goes on and he says,
when you go through all the stuff that you're going to go through
in this valley of the shadow of death, remember this, for
I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. He
tells us, he reminds us that we're gonna come to the table
of remembrance in a little bit to remember what our Lord has
done for us. As we go through this valley of ups and downs. Look at verses one through eight
of Isaiah 44. Yet now hear, O Jacob. Remember
the word Jacob, God changed his name to Israel. Speaking to the
people of God, my servant and Israel whom I have chosen. Thus
saith the Lord that made thee, and formed thee from the womb,
which will help thee. Fear not, O Jacob, my servant,
and thou Jerusalem, whom I have chosen. For I will pour water
upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground. I
will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessings upon thine
offspring. And they shall spring up as among
the grass, as willows by the water courses. One shall say,
I am the Lord's, and another shall say himself by the name
of Jacob, and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord,
and surname himself by the name of Israel. Thus saith the Lord,
the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts, I am the first,
and I am the last, and besides me there is no God. And who as I shall call, and
shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I have
appointed the ancient people, and the things that are coming,
and shall come let them show unto them, for fear ye not, neither
be afraid, have I not told you from the time that I was, and
have declared it, ye are even my witnesses, is there a God
beside me? Yea, there is no God, I know
not any. Scriptures declare in the book
of Jonah, salvation is of the Lord. The glory is his and his
alone. We, the recipients of his love,
the recipients of his mercy, the recipients of his grace are
called with a holy calling. A call of authority. We are called
to see we are washed in the blood with power. to cleanse a lost
sinner, the blood of God himself. We read in scripture in the book
of John, all that the father giveth me shall come to me. It
doesn't say that they might, it says they shall come to me,
all that the father giveth me. When God reveals His Son in one
of His chosen saints, we don't speak of something offered. There
is no assurance in an offer. We declare salvation done. We
declare it finished. It's complete. It's perfect in
our Lord and Savior. It's in Him, Christ Jesus, our
Lord, that we declare. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste. I read
that wrong. No, I printed it wrong. Scripture tells us that we are
saved by grace through faith. If salvation is an offer, then
it cannot be of grace, could it? Grace is unmerited favor. It's yours without merit. If
you could choose it, it would no longer be grace. This is the
love that God has for his people. Listen to Leviticus 20, verse
24. I, the Lord, your God, which have separated you from the people."
Consider this. Israel's a picture of the church,
is it not? Did not the Lord lead Israel down into Egypt? And then
after the Pharaoh that was kind to Jacob's children died, another
one came along who was mean and of the world, and he turned them
into the slaves. They were in slavery for 400
years. I don't know about you, but if
somebody came in here today and took us as slaves, I'd be trying
to get out of that all along. If it was my decision, I'd be
walking away from it that very day. If it was my decision, I
wouldn't even allow it to happen. But it's not my decision. Do
you think Israel made the decision to stay there for 400 years?
They cried out unto the Lord, deliver us from this, which is
what we do to our sin. Lord, deliver us from our sin. You say, John, why is it so important
that you make this point between offer and declaration? Turn over
to John chapter 10 with me, if you would. To say that you have power over
the king is to say that your king does not rule. To say that
you have the authority to choose or not to choose is the same
as a thief. One who steals the glory of God. A robber. Those who hear and
follow that religion are on the road to damnation. It kills. There is no life in it. Are you
with me in John chapter 10? Look at verses 7 through 18.
Then said Jesus unto them, again, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
I am the door of the sheep, All that ever came before me are
thieves and robbers. But the sheep did not hear them.
Woo! That's wonderful, isn't it? Isn't
that wonderful? The sheep did not hear them.
I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. The
thief cometh not. but for to steal, and to kill,
and to destroy. I am come that they might have
life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the
good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. He that is in hireling, and not
the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming,
and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth, and the wolf catcheth them, and
scattereth the sheep. fleeth, because he is in hireling,
and careth not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and know
my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even
so know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. And
other sheep I have, which are not of this fold, them also I
must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be
one fold and one prophet. Therefore doth my Father love
me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No
man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have the
power to lay it down, and I have the power to take it again. This
commandment have I received of my Father. Let's consider one last thing,
if you would. Do scriptures offer? Can you
find an offer in the scriptures? They most certainly do. Absolutely. It says in the Old Testament,
if you follow my statutes, that's a pretty good offer right
there. It says in several places of the Old Testament that, and
it also says things like this, if you follow my commandments.
Scriptures do make an offer, don't they? Absolutely. The scriptures offer much. If
the word of God offers something, and an offer, what did I write
there? The scriptures offer much. If
the word of God offers something, and an offer has no assurance,
then what assurance can be found in them? That's a good question. That's a really good question. To one who was once blind, let
me try to answer that for you. To one who was once blind, thinking
that I could or would accept and fulfill those statutes. Thinking
that I had it within me to fulfill those commandments. Now remember,
I said to one who was once blind, thinking those things. One who has been called by the
authority of the king One who was once dead, but now has been
given life to see how blind I truly was. We see that we could not do even
one speck of any of that stuff, of any of those commandments,
of any of those statutes. I can't do it. What hope have I got? I need
a Savior. I need my Lord. Do you? We see that we could not even
do one speck of what is offered, let alone do it perfectly. Does the Lord make offers? Absolutely. But we can't do it. You see,
those offers require perfection. God requires perfection. He requires
righteousness. He requires holiness. Anything
less is to be destroyed and to be burned up. We must be holy,
for God is holy. Why would God make an offer to
someone who cannot accomplish it? Well, if we could not, cannot, and
will not accept his offer in our natural state, then where
is there any assurance? How is salvation declared? Turn to Romans chapter nine,
if you would. Romans chapter 9. If God has made an offer and
we have been brought to see the truth of our depravity, if we
have been brought to see the truth of our total, complete destitution, what we
are before a thrice holy God, I know I can't accept His offer. I know I can't accomplish what
the Lord has put before me. Where is my hope? Where can I have hope, John?
Look at verse 13. Romans chapter 9 verse 13, And
as it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Wait a minute. Jacob, have I
loved? God loves some people. You know,
I was telling our folks in the Bible study this morning, you
know, Peter addresses in his second letter to them. There's
two classes of people. And our God gives us those two
classes right here, as it is written, Jacob have I loved,
but Esau have I hated. Where's our hope? Could God love
me? Could God love this poor sinner
who stands before you? Can I put some hope that God
might love some? He says right there. He says,
I love somebody. Oh, could the Lord love me? What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? God forbid. There's no unrighteousness
with Him. What God does is perfect in all
things, folks. His wisdom is so far above what
we can think. I don't care how smart you are.
Our Lord's way smarter than you. That puts us all on the same
level playing field, doesn't it? Shall we say it in, is there
unrighteousness with God? God forbid, for he saith to Moses, Here's hope. We all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. We all deserve the wrath
of God, yet God loves someone. I could be one of those someones.
If he loves me, he'll show me. I think I was talking with Brother
Mike Flesher about this earlier, about family. Oh, how we wish
our family knew the Lord as we do. But you know something? If he does, They will not go
through that door marked death until he is called a matter of
darkness. Not one for whom God died for shall see hell. Not
one. There are no empty seats in heaven. For he said to Moses, I will
have mercy on whom I will have mercy. And I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. And just in case you missed that,
that it's all of him. Just in case you missed the words
that we just read, where it's all of him. I will have mercy
on whom I will have mercy. I will have compassion on whom
I will have compassion. He says this, just to assure
you. So then it is not. It is not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth. but of God that shall have mercy.
Where is our hope? It's in the mercy and grace of
our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus. That's his grace. That his grace
would shine gloriously in the hearts of his chosen people.
In John chapter 10, verse 27 through 28, we read these words.
We read, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow
me, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish.
Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. And all for whom
God chose in his Son, before the stars ever twinkled, he gives
life to. He gives sight to. He gives ears
to hear the word of his truth. He heals our sickness and we
are perfected in Him. Isn't that what we read in Hebrews
chapter 10, verses 12 through 14? But this man, speaking of
our Lord and Savior, after He had offered one sacrifice for
sins forever, here's our hope, this man, This man, Jesus Christ
the Lord, after he had offered one sacrifice, all those other
sacrifices that were given in the Old Testament meant nothing
more than pointing the people to the one sacrifice that would. It says very clearly in Hebrews,
the blood of goats and sheep never satisfied the Lord, but
the blood of Christ, the perfect blood of our Savior. Here's your
hope. Here's your hope, here's salvation
declared that by the perfect blood of Jesus Christ, he shall
save a people. Am I one of those? Do you hear
his voice? If you hear audibly, you might
wanna have your ears checked. Do you hear his voice? The truth, all of it. I didn't say I had to understand
it all, but do you hear it? This man, after he had offered
one sacrifice forever, sat for sins forever, sat down on the
right hand of God, from henceforth expecting to his enemies be made
his footstool, for by one offering he hath perfected. There's our
hope. Looking to Him. Paul says, I
wish to know nothing of you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
Why? Because that's the only way salvation
can be for you. That's our hope of salvation. It's in Him, in His crucifixion,
in His resurrection, sitting at the right hand of the Father
right now, making intercession for us. Everything offered of
God is rejected by natural man. And for the love he has for his
people, his elect, every statute, every commandment, everything
needed for salvation has been fulfilled in his son. That's
what the Sabbath is. That's how he declares himself
to be the Sabbath. We rest in him. Everything, it's
in him. Jeremiah 31, three, we read these
words. Here's some hope. The Lord hath appeared of old
unto me, saying, yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting
love. Well, if the Lord has loved me
with an everlasting love, then I'm assured of heaven. That's
right. That's right. Do you have doubts
sometimes? Absolutely. David, after God's
own heart, had doubts. Read the 22nd Psalm when you
have a chance to. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? This is after he conquered Goliath. I don't know about you folks,
but if I beat somebody as bad as he did Goliath, I would have
walked around like this the rest of my life. See, come on, mess
with me. Do you have doubts? Absolutely. Our Lord allows us to have the
doubts that we would take our eyes off of Him so that He would
turn our eyes back to Him. In our weakness, He is made strong. Think about that. Apply that. Apply that to that thought of
doubt that you may have in your own heart. He says, I have loved thee with
an everlasting love, and then he says these words. Here's our
assurance, folks. Here's our assurance. Therefore,
with loving kindness, have I drawn thee. Why are you here this morning?
Because the Lord has drawn you. Why did John come to this church
the first time? Because the Lord drew me. Why
did my wife come here five years later? Because the Lord drew
her. We are drawn by Him, because of His love for us, to see the
depth of that love and grace in giving Himself for us, shining the light and the glory
of our Savior in our hearts. What do we read in Ephesians?
You know these words. I bet you some of you can close
your eyes and read these words with me without ever looking
at the book. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great
love wherewith he has loved us, even when we were dead and sins
hath quickened us together, that means given us life, that means
made alive, together with Christ, by grace ye are saved. But it
doesn't stop there, it says, and hath raised us up together
and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Where's my assurance? It's in
my Savior. That's where I sit, in heavenly
places, in Him. That in the ages to come, it
says, the ages to come, that He might show the exceeding riches
of His grace. Oh, the one amazing grace. Isn't that what we're seeing?
Isn't it amazing to you that God would be gracious to this
poor sinner? But He is! He is! May we just sit together in heaven
and the places of Christ Jesus that in the ages to come He might
show the exceeding riches of His grace and His kindness towards
us through Christ Jesus. For by grace ye are saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift, not of worthless
men shall boast. Folks, I'm not ashamed of that.
I'm not ashamed to stand before you and tell you that I ran from
God, and that if it wasn't for his grace, I'd still be running. But thankfully, the Lord loves
people, some people. He loves Jacob. He loves Jacob's. Therefore,
any sons of Jacob are not consumed. I declare unto you this morning,
salvation is of the Lord and of him alone. Amen.