He Is Precious - Part 1

Q: What does the Bible say about the importance of believing in Jesus?

The Bible teaches that believing in Jesus is essential to being a true believer and knowing salvation. 1 Peter 2:7 states that 'unto you therefore which believe, he is precious.' This indicates that true faith is centered on recognizing the preciousness of Christ to the believer. According to John 17:3, eternal life is to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. This relationship is personal and transcends mere religion—it requires a genuine encounter with Jesus as a living person. Believing in Christ as precious is foundational for salvation, as true faith acknowledges Him as more than just a historical figure but as the Savior and focal point of one's life.

Q: How do we know God is holy?

The Bible reveals God's holiness through His Word, speaking of His pure and just nature. The assertion that God is holy is grounded in Scripture, particularly in passages like Isaiah 6, where the seraphim proclaim, 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.' God's holiness indicates that He is of such purity that He cannot condone sin. In Habakkuk 1:13, it mentions that God is of 'pure eyes than to behold evil,' emphasizing His just nature. Holiness is not just a characteristic of God; it defines His relationship with creation. Recognizing God as holy creates a response within the believer—a proper fear of the Lord that leads to wisdom and understanding, crucial for recognizing the need for a Savior.

Q: Why is Jesus considered precious in the Reformed faith?

Jesus is considered precious in the Reformed faith because He is the embodiment of salvation and the ultimate revelation of God’s grace. In the Reformed tradition, Jesus Christ is seen as precious because salvation is fully found in Him, reflecting God’s grace and mercy. As articulated in 1 Peter 2:7, Christ is precious to those who believe. This preciousness arises from His role as the Savior who lived a perfect life, died for the sins of His people, and provided a way for them to be reconciled to a holy God. The concept of Christ's preciousness encapsulates His character, sacrifice, and the love He shows to those chosen by God. It emphasizes that true believers do not worship out of duty, but out of a heartfelt response to the immense value of knowing Christ.

Q: How does the sovereignty of God relate to salvation?

God's sovereignty is crucial in salvation as it ensures that all who are called will come to faith. In the Reformed view, God's sovereignty is central to understanding salvation. Scriptures such as 2 Peter 3:9 affirm that God is not willing that any of His elect should perish, highlighting His control over who comes to faith. This emphasizes that salvation is not a result of human will or effort, but of God's divine choice and action. Romans 8:28-30 further illustrates this point through the golden chain of redemption, showing that those whom God foreknew, He also predestined, called, justified, and glorified. Thus, understanding God's absolute sovereignty provides assurance to believers that their salvation is secure and ultimately rests on His grace and purpose, rather than their work.

Q: What is the role of faith in the Reformed understanding of salvation?

Faith in the Reformed tradition is a gift from God that leads to true knowledge of Him and salvation. Faith, according to Ephesians 2:8-9, is a gift from God, emphasizing that it is not by works that anyone can boast, but solely by grace. In the Reformed tradition, true faith involves both knowledge of and trust in Jesus Christ as one's Savior. It is through the Holy Spirit that individuals are enabled to believe and recognize their need for Christ. This faith is transformative and results in a desire to worship and honor the preciousness of Christ (1 Peter 2:7). Ultimately, faith is essential for salvation as it unites the believer to Christ, securing their justification before a holy God and ensuring their eternal life.

OK. Back to 1 Peter now. Would anyone like to venture
and guess what verse is my text tonight? Anybody? What? I already told you. 1 Peter 2, verse 7 is my text. I began to think about that a
little bit after—I don't know when we We thought about this
last. It was sometime Sunday, one of
the services, maybe Sunday morning, I believe. This was quoted, and
I began to think about it and went back and read it. 1 Peter 2, 7 is my text, and
I, unto you, therefore, which believe, he is precious. I'm thoroughly convinced by Scripture and by observing human nature and knowing myself and from dealing with people,
I'm thoroughly convinced that most religious people are not
true believers at all, but are merely religious. I'm convinced
of that. That is, they are not true believers
in the sense of this text here. Unto you, therefore, which believe,
he is precious. and those who really believe
Jesus Christ is precious. But I believe that most people
are religious, and when I say religious, I mean good, moral,
upright, church-going, Bible-reading, professing believers, people,
church-going, moral, Bible-reading, people. I believe most are just
religious for various reasons. Here are a few of them. And as
I said, scriptures tell me this. The scriptures, our Lord quoted
Isaiah, and it's reported a few times, where our Lord said this
people, he said, well, did Isaiah prophesy of this people now he
was talking to a religious crowd I believe it was one Saturday
a large crowd. And he said well did Isaiah the prophesy
of this people when he said this people draws near unto me with
their lips. But their hearts are far from
In other words, they're here in body, and I'm not necessarily
applying it to anyone here. This is leading up to what I'm
saying about true belief, true believers. Most people, I believe, are religious
for various reasons. Number one, I believe most people
are religious for personal gain, what they can get out of God
or religion. personal gain, what they can
get out of it or get out of. You know the old saying, how
to win friends and influence people? How? The best way is to get real good
and religious. Clean up your act. Like I said,
when I was a young man, I used to wear my hair long. Well, I
guess when it grew, you don't believe that. It did. It grew. But I used to wear it real long
and a long beard and all that. And I just got smart one day. I realized, hey, if I'm going
to get a good job, I'm going to find me a decent little gal
to marry. And I thought I looked good looking
back at my pictures. I thought I looked really sharp,
you know. I may think the same thing ten
years from now. But at any rate. I finally dawned on me you look
like Charles Manson. And if you're going to get a
good job nobody's going to hire you. If you're going to get a
good job you have to clean up your act. If you're going to
get a good girl where are the good girls at? Either at the
library or church. So I went to start going to church
again. How to win friends and influence
people. And many people do that in various ways. They go to church
primarily for that reason. You know, civic leaders, politicians. And gain heaven or miss hell. People go to church, get religion
to gain heaven. Nobody wants to go to hell. If
anybody believes there is a hell and there's a heaven to gain,
and some and they believe you get to heaven and miss hale by
going to church then man you will feel a few and they are
filled Sunday morning anyway gain heaven many people go to
gain the approval of the favor to please someone like I said
I found a little girl and And she's still with me. I found
her in the church and after a while I started going for her sake,
to keep her, to please her. And many people do that, to gain
the approval or to please a spouse because a husband wants his wife
to go or vice versa. To please a parent, like many
children, most children. go because they're forced to
do so and to get in the good graces of their parents and suitors,
you know, to please. Like I said, if you're after
a gal and she's religious, then you'll get religion. You'll do
what's necessary to get her. And then many people are religious
out of habit. Out of habit. The people who
have gone to church all their lives, and it just wouldn't feel
right if you didn't go to church on Sunday. Right? Out of habit. Wouldn't think of not going.
Out of habit. And then there's people who go
out of duty. People that are religious because they feel like
it's their duty, they ought to do something for God. You know,
it's their little service toward God. Then religion today is getting
quite popular. Isn't it? It's quite popular
to be religious today. And it's becoming not just a
poor man's country club, it's becoming quite a popular thing. The rich and the famous are all
religious, you know. Entertainers, sports figures,
everybody is religious. It's getting popular. But now,
to true believers, Now those are some of the reasons why people
go to church, so to speak. Some people go out of curiosity.
But to true believers, to true believers, this whole thing,
what we're doing tonight here, and I believe there are many
true believers, if not most here, true believers, what we're doing
tonight, why we're here, what we're doing here is all about
Being enamored with and worshipping a person. Being enamored with and worshipping
a person. And I'm talking about the Lord
Jesus Christ. Being enamored with and worshipping
a person, the Lord Jesus Christ, and for no other reason. That's
why we're here. Because we've heard that some
man's going to get up and he's going to talk about this person
that we are enamored with and we want to worship and want to
get to know better and someday hope to be with. This person. Salvation. Salvation is to be
confronted by. Listen to me. is to be confronted by this person,
this living person. Salvation is not to quit your
drinking, not to quit your smoking, not to start going to church.
That's not salvation. Those things may result and may
not result from it. But salvation is to be confronted
by or meet, actually be acquainted with, come to know a person. be confronted by the character
and the claims and the power, to feel the power and the presence
of a person, to be personally confronted by him. Look at chapter
one. It's to see this person, it's
to hear this person, it's to fall in love with this person.
And this is not so much religious rhetoric or
it's just not. Something that sounds too you
know. Too good to be true I'm not just
saying religious thing this is this is really this is the the
experience of most everybody in here. Is to is to see a person
a real living person and to hear this person and to be acquainted
with this person and to fall in love with this person. Look
at verse eight, it says here in 1 Peter 1 verse eight, whom
having not seen, talking about the Lord Jesus Christ, though
you haven't seen him, whom having not seen, now I haven't seen
the actual man, Jesus Christ. Have you, Emma? You've lived
a lot longer, have you? You haven't seen him either.
No, no, he lived nearly 2,000 years ago and died, rose again. He's still living. But he's no
longer on this planet. But he's alive. He's living. And in him we live and move and
have our being. But he is a real live or living
person. More so than we are. But he's
alive. He's living. He's real. And just
though I because I can't see him or haven't seen him with
these eyes or heard him with these ears that mean he didn't
live. Right. And but some people have
seen him not with these eyes but with spiritual eye. Eye of faith. And this is something
the person just has to experience. Or else it just sounds like,
oh, that sounds too deep and mystical for me. It may, but
it's true, isn't it? Seeing him just as real as you
as you're looking at me and then hear him, if you've actually
heard him speak to you, how? Not audibly, not like I'm doing
now, but through this word, either through sitting down and reading
it yourself or having It preached to you and it's just as really
as if he said daughter it's me. It's I. Right. Barbara you're sitting there
shaking your head. Barbara is not one to mince words
or you know Barbara is a woman who's known for her frankness
Right? Isn't everybody here agree? Barbara
is one who's known to tell it like she feels it. Right? And she's sitting there nodding
her head. This is real. This is real. She ain't lying.
She ain't lying. And others, too, are doing the
same thing. They're not a bunch of liars
in here. These are honest people. And it's to see him, to hear
him, and it says, whom have you not seen, you love. you love, and I've used that
illustration so many times, and I'll use it again. It's a good
one. I told you the story of a man and a woman who fell in
love by corresponding through letters. This man owned a bookstore
in England, and this woman was an avid reader of old books,
antique books, and she lived in America. And she heard this
bookshop, and she wrote for books, and they kept paying. He would
send a little note, and she'd send a little note, and send
a little note, and note, and note. Back and forth they wrote for years,
and they fell in love. I mean, they fell in love. And it was a long time ago, and
she was too poor to take the trip over, and he was too busy,
and they fell in love, but he died. The man died, and she never
saw him. Never saw him, never heard his
voice before the telephone, never heard his voice. But she fell
in love with him. How? His words, his letter. And it's happened again and again
and again, right? I've received a letter, many
of them, and I've fallen in love with this one who's done the
writing, right? He's written to me. And I've
spoken back to him. Whom have he not seen, ye love,
ye love spiritually, really though, very really, very really. And
like I said, what we're doing here tonight, this, what we're
doing here is we've come here, I hope, that's why I was praying
a while ago. I was praying, you had to be
praying for yourself. But I pray, Lord, give us a spirit
of worship. Why am I here? Why are you here? What's the
purpose? Well, unless the Lord gives us a true desire to worship,
to study, to hear from him, unless he opens his ears, we won't hear
a thing. We're not going to hear a thing.
We're not going to hear his voice. We're not going to see him unless
he opens our eyes to see him. It's a revelation because God's
spirit, we're flesh. We're flesh, that which is flesh
is flesh and it takes spirit. It takes the power of the spirit.
And the study of what we're doing tonight, we're studying about
this person, we're worshiping this person, that is, we're singing,
we're praising, we're honoring, we're glorifying, we're just
bragging on, that's what worship is, bragging on. Thanking, that's
what worship is, thanking this person for who he is and what
he's done for us. Just what he's done in general.
We're thanking this person. That's why we're here. And this is not something a believer
does out of habit, although it is a habit. It does become a
habit. You know, a habit, the word habit is like, they used
it back when the preacher, clergy so to speak, would put on his
habit, or his habitual garb, what he would wear, his habit.
And it does become a habit to the believer. I'm in the habit
of worshiping, and I'm glad. But I don't want to do it for
that reason. Just out of habit. But I am in
the habit of worshiping, and I want it to be my habit. And
I want it to feel—not to feel right if I'm not worshiping,
right? But the believer's not doing
it out of duty. He's not doing it for gain. He's not doing it
to gain heaven. It's not that we're doing it
to gain heaven. I really don't know anything about heaven. I've heard
a lot of talk about it, but we don't know anything about heaven,
do we? We're not doing it for gain or
for out of duty. But this becomes, to a believer,
what we're doing here tonight becomes a privilege and an honor
and a precious thing to do. It becomes life itself. It becomes a way of life. It
becomes a believer's life. All right? Look at verse 7 again
in our text. 1 Peter 2, verse 7. It says,
"...unto you therefore which believe, he is precious." "...unto
you therefore which believe, he is precious." "...unto you
therefore which believe." Believe what? Do these believers believe? And
why? Why do they believe? What do
they believe? Well, back, I read it to you in verse 8 of chapter
1, "...whom, having not seen, you love, in whom," look at it,
verse 8, chapter 1, "...in whom, though now you see him not yet,
believing." Believing in what? the Baptist creed, Calvinism,
the Presbyterian, the prayer book, the church. No. None of those things. It's a
person. It's believing in a person. Believing
in a person, believing Him, true faith, true saving faith is believing
a person. My pastors always said this,
If you come if you come into contact and see. This person. Doctrine all fall in place. Now
we're not a doctor and listen to the job I quote the probably
the scripture I quote more than any other. You could probably
say. Is John seventeen three. I probably quote that. from here
and there more than anything else. This is life eternal, Christ
said. This is eternal life. This is
salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ said, This
is salvation. This is what it means to be saved.
He said, This is what it means to be saved, John seventeen three.
This is eternal life, that they may know thee the only true God. And Jesus Christ whom thou has
sent. So the faith. He's talking believing. Or the one he's talking about
here that we believe in. Are those two things. The true God and Jesus Christ
who he sent. The true God and Jesus Christ
whom he has sent. The true God, what does that
tell you? When he says, the true God, that tells you that there's other
gods, or at least men think there are. Right? Scripture talks about
idols. The true God, men, churches,
religious people, everybody, everywhere is worshiping a God.
Right now. in various places. They call
it worship, but some are sincerely endeavoring to worship a God,
or who they think is God. Now, Roberta, if we're not worshiping,
if we don't know, this is eternal life, that they might know thee,
the only true God. If we don't know the true God,
then what do we have? We've got another God, no. We've
got an idol. We've got a figment of our imagination.
We've got some conception of God. Right? Where is the only
true God revealed? Right here, through his Word. Well, tell me something about
the only true God. What's he like? You see, and
we address this subject every time. Every time we preach, what
do we talk about? Who God is. That's where everything
starts. That's where salvation starts.
Theology, the word theology means the study of God. All theology,
everything starts with the only true God. What's he like? What's
God like? Who is God? Everybody's got some
kind of idea, some opinion, some thought. But none of it matters
but what God says about himself. Right? I don't care who the creature
is, how learned he is, what his credentials are. He may have
MDivs and BDs and running out his ears. But unless he is declaring
God from pages of this book as it is written, he's telling about
a false one. I don't care. Like William Gadsby
said in that article, I don't care who's preaching it or who's
believing it. It's the wrong one. What's God like? What does he
say? What does he—how does he describe himself more than any
other? Characteristic. What is the principal
chief characteristic or description of God that he gives himself?
What is it? Oh, how'd y'all know that? If I was standing in 99 out of
100 so-called churches in America today, you know what they'd all
say? What? Love. I said this before in the book
of Acts. In the book of Acts is recorded
all of all the recorded sermons preached by the apostles. In the book of Acts or in the
book of Acts, all the recorded sermon in the book of Acts by
the apostles. OK, the word love is not mentioned
one time. Not one time. None of the prophets,
none of them, not Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel,
Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai,
Zechariah, Malachi, none of them, David, Moses, none of them ever
approached people and said, God loves you. Not one time will
you find that in all of the scriptures. Blessed are you, Sherry, and
Stan, and you've heard about the true living God, who is not
first love, but holy. What does that create? When people
hear about the holy God, what does it create? When we talk
about God being holy, that means he's of two pure eyes to look
on him. That's what Scripture says. I'm
quoting Scripture now. It says the sun and the moon
don't even shine pure in his eye. It says nothing is pure
and clean in his eye. How much more abominable and
filthy—I'm quoting Scripture on it—how much more abominable
and filthy is man who drinks iniquity like the water. God
can see our thoughts, not just our deeds, but he can see what
we're thinking. What does that create when we
say that God is holy and he requires absolute holiness? What does
that create? Somebody tell me. What? Guilt. Yes, that's what I'm looking
for. Guilt, yes, but fear. And the scripture says in Proverbs
9, verse 10, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. What wisdom? Knowing God. Wisdom unto salvation. Paul said
to young Timothy, when he was writing to young Timothy, he
said, Thou hast from a child known the holy scriptures which
were able to make thee wise. under salvation. How wise to
fear God. That used to be a common byword,
wouldn't it? Wouldn't it? Years ago, when
you talk about a religious fellow back then, Henry, what would
they say about him? Well, he's a what? He's a God-fearing man. Right? Isn't that what they said
about everybody? Well, he's a God-fearing man. Now, like I said, it's the
slogan of all our teenagers. No fear. That's what Romans 3,
18 says. There's no fear of God. before
their eyes. Why? Preachers. These pulpits
right here are full of fellows telling everybody, hey God, God's
not that holy and God's not that just and God will forgive anything
and everything. He loves everybody without exception.
He will not judge you. It's all right. God loves you.
He has a wonderful plan for your life. Jesus died for you. Just
let him do something, please. God's begging you. What's to
fear about that? Ain't nobody fears Him. Consequently,
nobody's worshiping Him either. God like that's not worth worshiping. But I tell you, when you hear
about the thrice-holy God sitting on the throne of His majesty
on high, His train filling the temple, Isaiah 6, His train filling
the angels, even the angels which are nearest to Him, they cover
their eyes. They cover their bodies in humility. They cover their feet in humble,
meek fear. And they cry out, not love, love,
love. They cry holy, holy, holy. Day and night, all the time,
what they're crying about, holy, holy, holy. He's sobbing too. Sorry. He's holy. He's sovereign. He's just. He's
the creator. He's not... Listen. If I'm a
creator, if I create something, my wife's
into making baskets now. That's her next thing. Don't
you tell her that. She's into making baskets now,
OK? She's really enjoying it. It's
fine. Anyway, she makes a basket. She makes it. She creates it. She gets the material, the raw
material, and she makes this basket. Okay, she made it. She
owns it. It's bought and paid for. It's
hers. It's hers to do with it. She makes it, isn't it? It's
hers. It's in her control. It's owned
by her. She can do what she wants with
it, right? She can burn it. Who's to say
she can't burn it? Cannot she do with her own what
she will? Yes. Or she can put flowers in
it and use it and admire it. That's what God says, doesn't
he? He says, I'm the creator. Man
is what? The creature. And he says, cannot
I do with my own what I will? Yeah. And that's exactly what
he does. But men, little puny little ants
say, no, you can't do that. You got no right to do that.
Hmm. I've used the illustration before.
It'll be like me walking through my yard one day, cutting my grass. And here's an ass hill. And I'm,
and the ants stop and they say, well you can't, you can't be
doing that. This is our, you've got no right.
Hmm. I can. And that's exactly what
the God of heaven is going to do someday. God is longsuffering
to usward his sheep, those chosen by him, those given to Christ,
and they're all going to come into the fold. He ain't waiting
on anybody. He ain't hoping about anything. He's in control. And he's long-suffering to us. We're
not willing that any of us should perish, 2 Peter 3, 9, but that
all should come to a knowledge of Christ, and they all will.
They all will be saved, and after it's all over, God's going to...men
are going to say, he can't, he can't,
he can't. Watch him. He's God he's creator he's sovereign
he's ruler he's judge Jesus Christ now that's the God of the Bible
isn't it. One man told Barnard this one
time he said you're Or did you say it to buy you
a Bible and read it? Oh my, just start in Genesis
1 and you'll see His power, His glory, His sovereignty, His holiness. And you will see His love and
His mercy and His grace. And Jesus Christ whom He sent,
this is eternal life, John 17, verse 3, that they may know Thee,
the only true God. And Jesus Christ, whom God sent,
whom God sent. Most people don't have the foggiest
notion why this fellow named Jesus was here. At least they
think he was some kind of religious martyr. They think he's a son
of God. They think he came just to show people how to live. Now
if they'll walk like he did, they'll get to heaven like he
did. He's God in the flesh. That's who Jesus Christ is and
was. He's God Almighty. He put on
a suit of clothes, like work clothes, like you put on your
work clothes, Terry, in the morning. You put on your work clothes,
you go down to do a job, right? Jesus Christ, who dwelt with
the Father in eternity, was spirit. He put on a suit of clothes,
a work clothes. What was that? A body. He said,
A body thou hast given me. Low I come, and the volume of
the book is written of me. I come to do thy will. A body
hast thou prepared me." He put on his work clothes, that is
a body. He came down here to do a job, not try, not to try
to save anybody. It doesn't say that anywhere
in all the Bible. It doesn't say he will make an
attemptment. It says he'll make an atonement.
It doesn't say call his name Jesus because he's going to try
to save you if you'll let him. It says call his name Jesus because
he shall. He, S-H-A double L, shall save
who? All that let him? No, his people
from their sins. His people. Who are the people?
The ones that got elected. Yes, elected 27 times in the
New Testament. chosen innumerable times in all
the Bible. He is elect, given to Christ. Christ took this body. Why? Why
did He come? To do God's will. What does that
mean? To live a holy life as a man. If God's going to save
men, men are going to have to be holy. Wasn't I talking about
God being holy a while ago? And God can't have anything to
do with unholy creatures like us. He can't have us in His presence. Can't do it. That's what the
scripture said. The righteous Lord loveth righteousness. There's
none righteous. No, not one. The scripture says
none righteous. So how are we going to be righteous?
How are we going to be holy? How's God going to have anything
to do with us? Christ said, Lo, I come. In the volume of the
book it's written to me. To do thy will, I come, a man.
Here I am, a man. I'm going to live this life for
thirty-three years. I'm going to live this life and
I'm going to live it to perfection in holiness, without spot, without
blemish, holy, a holy man." And God looked down from heaven after
thirty years and said, this is a man, this is my son in whom
I'm well pleased. God Almighty said, I'm well pleased
for his righteousness sake. There's a righteous and a holy
man, a man who has earned heaven by what he has done in the life
he lived. All right? That's the only man that could
walk into heaven and say, I deserve to be here. All right? He came and he did
that. Why? He didn't have to. He didn't
need to. He was already with God. Why'd he do it? Show us
how to do it. We can't. Can we tear it? With man, it's
impossible. That's what Christ said. It's
impossible. It's impossible. Who can bring a clean thing out
of an unclean, Job said. Oldest book in all the Bible. Who can do it? None can. Christ can. He said, all right,
Father, And this work clothes, this body, this righteousness,
this robe, the Scriptures talks about a robe of righteousness.
You still with me? Everybody with me? Good. Got a robe back here, legs out.
Good. He took off, it's like he was
wearing a robe of righteousness that he wrought out with his
own fingers like he crocheted or knitted this perfect, without
seam, without spot, without blemish, robe of pure holiness, the life
of a man. And Barbara, he said, I can get in dressed like this?"
God said, yes. Christ took it off and wrapped
it around all these people. Wrapped it around all those chosen
people, individually, yet collectively. Wrapped it around them all, and
God sees John Sheasley now as if justified, the word justified
in the Justified, never sinned. Just as if I'd never sinned. God sees me just as if I was
Jesus Christ. Holy. Righteous. And so he said,
come on in. Righteous. And it's going to
be a day when I'm actually, actually free from sin. When I awake with
his likeness, perfectly. Without a mind of sin, without
a heart of sin, without sin. I will be like him when I leave
this body of death with this sinful place and go to be and
we would have seen right. And Christ gave me but there's
something that Christ had to do though like I said God is
just God punishes sin. And. I may have to continue this
message. But. Christ had to pay for our
sin. He took off that robe of righteousness
and put it around us. Now we are holy. But he took
that rag, those sinful rags that we wear, sin, we are sin, took
what we've done, the life we've lived, he took that on himself.
He put those old rags on, that guilt and that sin on. Barbara,
that's the reason he went to the cross, wasn't it? He went
to the cross and God Almighty poured out his wrath and his
justice against us, our sin, on Christ, on Calvary's tree. He said, The soul that sinneth
must surely die. And Christ was hanging there,
had my sins on it, and he killed him. He died to pay for my sins. Not his. He was having mine. Now, that's why everybody Jesus
Christ died for has to be sacrificed, right? If Christ died for my
sins, then my sins are paid for. That's the reason we detest all
this talk about preachers saying Christ died for everybody. That's utterly odious. I utterly
detest and despise that. If some people go to hell that
Christ died for, his blood is worthless. And that knocks all my hope out
from under me. Doesn't it, Terry? Because all
of my hope is that when Christ died, he put away my sins, and
God's not going to hold me accountable. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus or represented by him. That's all my hope, right? So,
and I'm going to quit. And I will continue this Sunday.
I wanted to get to what the word precious means. But, and unto
you therefore which believe. What do you believe? Everything
I just, we just talked about, right? Believe this God. And this Christ who came and
what he's done and all. He's precious. And unto you therefore
which believe. He's precious. Does your margin,
is there a reference to that word precious there in your margin?
I'll quit with it. It says, under you therefore
which believe he is, what does yours say? Does it say anything?
An honor. A high honor to believe this. Not everybody believes it. As
a matter of fact, most people don't believe the things I've
been talking about tonight, right? Is that right? It's true, isn't
it? Well, we can't. Henry, you and
I can't. For the life of us, we can't
understand why people don't. Anyway, it's God's Word. It's what he says about himself. It's what he says about us. It's
what he says about Christ. One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one hope for your But most people don't believe
it. They just don't believe it. Why? It's not given unto them
to believe. See, faith, this faith, this
saving faith, to hear about this real God and bow, to fear and
to bow and believe Him, to hear about this Christ and see one's
need of Him, to hear about yourself and and feel and come to Christ
by faith, that's a gift of God. It's just, that's just it. It's
a gift. It's not, and that's the reason we don't boast. You
know, we're not bragging about what we believe now and saying
we're exclusive and we're the only one and this and that. No,
there's many people, but the fact is most people do not believe
this, that are merely religious. You can find out for yourself.
Go out there. Go out there and tell them. And
you have. Just go out and declare who God
is. God's God, and He can save a man or even damn him. Just
say that. That's all you have to say. God's
God, and He's not the subject of man's will, but He does exactly
what He wills Him to do. Just say that, and you'll have
a fight on your hands. It's sad, though, isn't it? It
really is. Blessed are you, Joe Barr Parks. Flesh and blood didn't reveal
it to you, but my Father which is in heaven. He said, Joe's
one of my elect, one of my chosen, and though he doesn't like this
by nature and doesn't believe this by nature, I'm going to
reveal it to him. He's going to see me as I am,
the only true God. And he's going to see my son
as he is, a sovereign, successful Savior. And he's going to believe,
and he's going to be saved. Salvation is of the Lord. Let's
sing a hymn in closing, Jerry. Number 51. Number 51. You can praise the Savior, ye
who know him. And who can tell how much we
owe him? So gladly let us render to him
all we are and All right, stand with me, sing a couple verses. Praise the Savior, ye who know
Him, who can tell how much we owe Him. Gladly let us render
to Him all we are and have. First, third verse. Trust in
Him, ye saints forever. He is faithful, can he never,
neither force nor God can sever. That's a good verse in the fourth
verse. Keep us, Lord, oh, keep us dwelling
to thyself and still believing till the hour of of our receiving,
promised Lord with me. Then we shall be where we would
be. Then we shall be what we would
be. Things that are not now, but
would be with me. How long? You're listening.

He Is Precious - Part 1

What does the Bible say about the importance of believing in Jesus?

How do we know God is holy?

Why is Jesus considered precious in the Reformed faith?

How does the sovereignty of God relate to salvation?

What is the role of faith in the Reformed understanding of salvation?

Sermon Transcript

About Paul Mahan

Comments

Joshua

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Music

Recent Comments

About

Legal

Subscribe

Account

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Recent Comments

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Collections

Music

About

Legal

Subscribe

He Is Precious - Part 1

What does the Bible say about the importance of believing in Jesus?

How do we know God is holy?

Why is Jesus considered precious in the Reformed faith?

How does the sovereignty of God relate to salvation?

What is the role of faith in the Reformed understanding of salvation?

Sermon Transcript

About Paul Mahan

Comments

More from Paul Mahan

Related Sermons

Same Scripture

Articles by Paul Mahan

Joshua

Where this book stands in the tradition

Plato

Augustine

The Western Christian Tradition

This Book