In one. Let's reverse ten together, this
will be. Our text. Second Corinthians one verse
ten. Speaking of God. Who delivered
us. The word delivered means saved,
who delivered us from so great a death and doth deliver us in
whom we trust that he will yet deliver us. Threefold deliverance
or threefold salvation is the title of this message. Who delivered us, who doth deliver
us, who we trust will yet deliver us or save us. Are you saved? That's a striking question, isn't
it? I know that everybody in here
immediately kind of froze and thought for a minute. Are you saved? Ask these young people that.
Are you? Are delivered? What that means
is it means to be delivered from sin, delivered from condemnation,
saved from certain death, saved from yourself Are you a Christian? There's nothing wrong with that
title. That is glorious. I'll take it. Will you? I know the world abuses
that, but will you take that? Are you a Christian? A Christian? Maybe we ought to
pronounce it like that. Sounds a little better. A Christian? A believer? And the Lord Jesus
Christ, one who loves him and trust him, trust him with their
very soul, a follower, follower of the Lamb, one who longs to
be like him, if yes, if you can say yes or want to say yes, Then
what do you base that upon? What do you base your answer
upon? When I say, are you saved? What
do you base it upon? What makes you think you are? People need to be asked that,
don't they? They're bold to ask that out in the world. Are you
saved? What makes you think you are?
And let me ask you this. Here's a tough one. John, here's
a tough one. When were you say. Are you sure. Are you unsure. Can you be sure. Or are you unsure can you be saved
and be unsure. Do you know. And you know. Look how many times John says
in his first look it up sometime here by we may know. No can you
know. Would you like to know. I hope that's why you're here this
morning. You'd like to know him. I'd like to know that you know
him or someday know him. You may be in one of these four
categories. I guarantee you there are all
four of these types of people in here this morning. Number
one, save those who are saved and they know it. Those who have
some assurance of it. That's what assurance says. Some who are saved and have some
assurance of it. I believe there's some people
in here. I've said it before. I believe that I know Christ. He saved me and there are times
when I have full assurance of that. Full assurance part of
the time. Full assurance. Then there are
those who are saved. This ought to be a comfort. There
are those who are saved who truly Christ died for them. They are
his little ones, but they're so fearful and they don't know
it. Or at least they're not sure of it. And they'd like to know
it. But they're just not sure. Or very little assurance. Does
that describe anybody? I ought to prick up some ears.
And then thirdly, there are those who are unsaved who are interested,
who are interested. They're unsaved. It's obvious
they don't know Christ, and He's not yet revealed the gospel to
them because the light of the gospel is not in their eyes yet.
But they'd like to. They're interested. And then
lastly, and this is the saddest group, there's those who are
unsaved and don't care. don't care. I guarantee you there's
some in here this morning for whatever reason, whether it be
our little, our young ones who are brought here by force, who
are forced to come here, or maybe an adult who's here for whatever
reason. But it's to the first three groups
that I want to speak to this morning. OK? Those who are saved
and have some assurance of it. Those who are saved but don't
have any assurance of it. And then those who are not. Who
would like to know. What it means. How one is saying
to the last group. I have nothing to say to you. Nothing to say to you. Except
this. If you're not interested in God.
He's not interested in you either. Not interested in his son. He
don't care about his son. He doesn't care about you either.
I'm not telling you God loves you. I'm telling you God may
hate you. Well, our text here says, though,
concerning this salvation, that it's threefold, and this is the
mystery of it. It's a great mystery, a great
mystery. Paul wrote this, as you recall,
we just studied, through trial and affliction, and he was talking
in the context here about how God delivered him from death,
from actually dying on the earth, and he does deliver. At the time
of this writing, Paul was in danger, too, and he says, God,
He's still delivering me. And then he says, I trust He
will yet deliver me. He will yet, He will continue
to deliver me until it's my time to die. I'm immortal. Believers
are immortal until God calls them home. But I have to believe
there's a deeper meaning to this passage. A deeper meaning, a
spiritual meaning. All of God's words are spirit.
Our spirit. And this, I believe, is the spiritual
meaning, what I'm about to show us this morning. It says, He
delivered us. Verse 10. God delivered us from
so great a death. Past tense. Right? God delivered, saved us from
so great a death. Saved us. Now, the Arminians
today, I think it was Jerry Falwell. who quote who coined this phrase. They like to say this. They're
very fond of saying this. I'm a slave. I'm a slave and
sure for heaven as if I'm already there. Does that sound like Jarrett?
Sure for heaven as if I was already there. They like to say that,
don't they? I'm a slave and as sure for heaven
as if I was already there. Now what they're saying when
they say that, and I've heard the man with his very own mouth
brag on himself I've heard him say the very words of the Pharisee
in the temple in praying, even in prayer to God Almighty. I've
heard him thank God that he tithed ten percent of everything he
owned. I've heard him. And I thought, man, don't you
hear your own self by your own words? Your very mouth will condemn
you. But he said that, and he's the
one, I believe, that coined this. And what they're doing is they're
bragging on themselves when they say that. I'm saved. You're a Christian, you better
believe it. I'm a good one, too. I'm saved and I'm sure for heaven
as if I was already there. Why? Why? I've got it written
down right here. When I was 14 years old, I went
down front and gave my life to Jesus. Right? That's what they'll
say. I made my decision for Jesus. Made my decision. I led him into
my life. He was knocking, and I was resisting,
but I finally gave in. And now I'm safe. And I'm as
sure for heaven as if I'm already there. Sure for heaven as if
I'm already there. I prayed through. I prayed through. All because of some silly decision.
That's what they're bragging on. But let me, let me, let me
re-coin the phrase, all right? See, if you can't say this, I
am saved, and I'm sure for heaven, because I'm already there. I am already there. Now, that's more biblical, because
the Scripture said we are made to sit together with Christ in
heavenly places. You ask a man, a real saved man,
are you saved? He says, yes, I believe I am.
Why? Well, this ought to be his answer.
Is there a man at the right hand of God? whom God approves of,
whom God accepted, the substitute for sinners, who lived a righteous
life for sinners, the Son of God, the substitute, the sin-atoning
sacrifice who ever lives to make intercession for us, who daily
pours out his blood or pleads his blood upon the mercy seat
before the holy, thrice holy God. Is there a man such as one
that God sent down here to save sinners Is there a man saved? Yeah, yeah. Well, then I'm safe.
I'm safe. I'm in Christ, you say. I'm safe. I'm sure for heaven because I'm
already there. I'm not trying to be cute. This
is so. This is all my salvation, you say. It's up to me to make
it. I won't make it. But because
he made it, I'm already there. It's a sure thing. Why? Because
I've got a surety. A surety. And it's not because
of any decision I made. Ultimately, this thing is based
upon an eternal decision made by God Almighty a long time ago.
My decision was a result of His decision. I did make a decision. Don't get me wrong. There is a decision a human being
comes to. And mostly, though, that decision
is, when's God going to damn me? When's he going to damn me? When's he going to be done with
me? Look at Ephesians 1. Turn over
to Ephesians chapter 1, okay? Ephesians chapter 1. You see,
the scriptures teach that God Almighty elected a people, or
chose a people. Before the foundation of the
world, before the world ever began, God chose a certain number
of individuals before the foundation of the world to save them, to
deliver them from eternal death, condemnation, from snuffing them
out entirely. God chose a certain number of
individuals to save them from this. You say, where does it
say that? Ephesians 1 verse 4. According as God, or he, that's
God, hath chosen us in ourselves, no, in Christ, or that is gave
us to Christ, put us in Christ, before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy and without blame before him
in love. God elected a people. Now, anybody who knows anything
about yourself, your sinful, rotten self, you shouldn't have
any problem with that, should you? As a matter of fact, that
ought to be the greatest thing you ever heard of, that God chose
a people. You shouldn't have any problem
if you understand your own sinlessness and worthlessness and your hatred
and rebellion against God. You shouldn't have any problem
with that. You think you're something? The fact that God saves anybody
is pure mercy. Anybody. If he just saved one,
if God just elected one, that's mercy. As I said the other night,
God doesn't do what's fair. People argue that. That's what
everybody argues when they come to election. They ask this. Well, they say this. That's not
fair. No, God doesn't do what's fair. If he gave you what was
fair, he'd send you to hell, right? That's fair, is it not? I'm going to give you what you
deserve. Men say that. I want what's coming to me. Do
you? I don't. The wages of sin is what? Death.
Hell. Judgment. That's what's coming
to us. The soul that sins must surely die forever. The soul
that sins must be eternally condemned to die. I don't want what's fair.
I want pure mercy. Pure mercy. Martin Luther said
it. I don't want anything to do with
a holy and a just God. No, I want mercy. I want mercy. I don't want justice. I want
mercy. So God doesn't do what's fair. Men say that's not right. He's not giving you your rights.
He's giving you somebody else's. Yeah. Yeah, that's what I want. I want what's right. I want what's
fair. What's just to me. I want mercy.
I want mercy. They say, God, they said everybody
ought to deserve a chance. That's how we pronounce it here,
isn't it? Chance. Everybody deserves a chance. Salvation is not by chance. We
just read that salvation is on purpose. Salvation is on purpose. God Almighty purposed to save
the people. It's not by chance. God doesn't
have his fingers crossed. He doesn't have his fingers crossed. It's not by chance. The fact
that God saves anyone is pure mercy. And if you think you deserve
to be saved, you're not. Anybody thinks they deserve to
be saved, they're not. Count on it. God chose a people. I love it. It's his right. And if he didn't, hadn't, if
he didn't choose me, this is sounds impossible, but if he
didn't choose me, he'd still be right. He'd still be right.
And he's still worthy. That's what they said to John
Calvin. Remember that? They asked John Calvin, said, What if you
didn't find your name in the Lamb's Book of Life? Would you
go on worshiping God? He said, Yeah, you better believe
it. If that's possible. He said, Why? Your name's not
written there. He said, Because God's worthy. He's worthy to
be prayed. If he didn't save anybody, he's
worthy to be prayed. Right? If he didn't save me, he's worthy
to be prayed. If he doesn't save my daughter, he's worthy to be
prayed. Or my wife, he's worthy to be prayed. He's worthy, he's
God, and he can, he does do what he will with whom he will. There
he is. He said, can I not do with my
own what I will? Yes, and he does. You like that? Is that all right by you? Doesn't
make any difference as it is. Does it? The only difference
it makes is in the state of your heart. Your answer to that reveals
the state of your heart. Do you like that? God chooses
some and leaves the rest. Do you like that? Yes. I love
it. I love it. He said, he said in
1 Thessalonians chapter 1, is it? Chapter 2, that those who
did not receive the love of this truth, he said, they're going
to be damned. You'll send them strong delusions.
You'll make them believe something else. That's the truth. God chooses people. That's the
truth. It's written throughout the scriptures. From Genesis
1 all the way to Revelation 22, election is stamped big time.
Sovereign election. It's got to be sovereign, doesn't
it? He chooses whom he will. He chooses
whom he will. I love that. I love that. I do. And he put their names, when
he chose a people, he put their names in the Lamb's Book of Life.
He put all the names of all the people that are going to be saved,
that were saved, going to be saved, are saved, and going to
be saved. They're in that book and put seals on it. Nobody,
I don't care what Jimmy says, Jimmy Swagger, when somebody
comes down, he says, a new name written on Jimmy. No new names
written in that book. There's no erasures. There's
no scribble marks. Perfect handwriting, in blood,
every name. that was put there before the
world began is going to be there when the world ends. No more,
no less. The Lamb's Book of Life, it's
called. God's purpose to save these people. And right then
and there, right then and there, when God said, I'm going to save
them, they're saved. You believe that? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, God said, I've purposed
it, I'll do it. I've spoken it, it'll come to
pass. It'll come to pass. I like that. I like that. He says, I declare
the end from the beginning, Isaiah 46, 10. Declaring the end from
the beginning. How many people have read that
passage? declaring the end from the beginning, from ancient times
things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand,
I will do all, all my pleasure." Whatever God wants to do, if
you want to call His pleasure what He wants to do, God does
it. I know this world says God wants
this, God wants that. Whatever God wants, God gets.
Count on it. If God wants you to believe,
you'll believe. You would. I like that. I love
that. I love that. Known unto God,
Acts 15, 18, known unto God are all his works from the beginning. Know what it says, Brother Henry? Acts 15, 18. Known unto God are
all his works from the beginning. In other words, God sees everything,
it's already done. There's no time. This world doesn't
exist to God. You know that it's already been. It's already been destroyed.
God doesn't. God that time isn't there's nothing
to God. It's already been done. We're
living out this thing that but in the mind of God, it was done.
It was settled. Salvation of his people. But
we're creatures of time, are we not? We're flesh. God's Spirit,
we're flesh. We had to be born, Christ said
in John 3, except a man be born of water. We've got to be born
the first time, you know, when your mother gives birth and the
water comes forth and the blood. We've got to be born of water
and of the Spirit, of the blood, of the Spirit. It had to be accomplished
in time. So Christ came. When the fullness of time was
come, Galatians 4 says, when the fullness of time was come,
God sent his son. In God's good time, at just the
right time, God sent his son into the world made of a woman,
flesh, bone of our bones, flesh of our flesh, made under the
law to redeem them, to do the job, Terry, to save them, deliver
them, redeem them, pay the price. It's demanded for your head.
You know, there's a price on your head. Your head had the price. There's
a price that God demanded for your soul. You're going to deliver
Terry Kinsley? God says, Terry's saved. He's good as saved, but he says
to his son, you've got to go do it. It's done. He didn't try it. It is done.
When God said it, it was done. But when Christ came, it was
done. Well, it really was done. What? Tis done, tis done. The great transaction is done.
And Christ came to redeem them that were under the law, came
to live a perfect life. God demands that Terry live a
perfect life. He's not going to take him like he is. We have
a hard time with him like he is. He's going to have to be
like Christ, right? Rebecca sure has a hard time
with him. You have to be holy, righteous, unblameable, unreprovable. If God sees one sin on you, Terry,
where are you going to go? Come cast you out. Right? It
shall be perfect to be accepted. You're going to have to be perfect
to be accepted. How are you going to be accepted, Terry? In the
Beloved. You've already been accepted.
Doesn't Ephesians 1, 6 say that? He hath made us accepted in the
Beloved, in Christ. It wasn't that Terry came along
later on and lived a good life, quit his this, quit his that.
It doesn't have anything to do with what Terry did. Not a thing!
We say, well, Terry believed on Jesus. That's after the fact.
That's a result of what Christ did. It's not Terry's faith that
saved him, it's Christ's faithfulness. It's not what Terry does that
saved him, it's what Christ did that saved him. Right? When you were saved, Terry Kinsley,
you weren't even born yet. When Jesus Christ hung on that
cross and his blood was shed, Terry Kinsley was saved. Yes,
sir. I wasn't born then. People say,
you know, when we talk about depravity, when we talk about
being born in sin and all that, people don't like to take part
in that, do they? Talk about the headship of Adam.
Say, how could God hold me responsible for what Adam did? You've heard
that, haven't you? That's what they argue. How could
God hold me responsible for what Adam did? I wasn't around. Well,
he doesn't. You sin just like Adam. He holds
you accountable for your sin. But you did come into this world
a sinner. A sinner. The reason death passes
upon children, even. Read it in Romans 5 sometime.
But if we want to carry that to its logical conclusion, if
we want to say God shouldn't hold me responsible for what
Adam did, then you can't take part in Christ's death either,
can you? You can't have what Christ did then. You're going
to have to go to the cross, but it wouldn't do any good. You
don't have sinless blood. God wouldn't accept that anyway.
If you don't take your place with Adam, you can't take your
place with Christ either. But I will say when Christ was
crucified, I was crucified with Christ. You say, how do you know?
How do you know? You want to know? How do you
know? How do you know you were crucified
with God? How do you know that you were
saved? If I was to ask you that question,
what would you say? Huh? Huh? What would you say if I had it?
Roberta, come on up here right now. It'd scare you to death. But could you tell me? How do
you know you're saved? How do you know Christ died for
you? Turn with me to I Thessalonians. I Thessalonians. How do you know?
I Thessalonians. I'm sorry, II Thessalonians.
II Thessalonians. No, I. I Thessalonians chapter
one. I Thessalonians chapter one.
Verse four, look at it. Knowing, brethren, beloved, your
election of God. I know that I'm elect. Is that
presumption or is that faith? Well, let's read on. Knowing,
brethren, beloved, your election of God. Why? Our gospel came. There was a day, Brother John,
there was a day when I heard the gospel. It came. It came
to me. That's mercy, isn't it? The fact
that you're in here this morning is a mercy beyond our understanding,
our comprehension. Believe me, people. The fact
that you're not in the First Baptist Church, tell them that
you're not in the First Baptist Church of Rocky Mount or whatever,
and on down the road is the mercy of God Almighty. The fact that
you're not being told this morning that you're going to have to
do this, you're going to have to do that, you're going to have
to do that in order for you to be saved is mercy beyond our understanding. The fact that you're hearing
somebody stand up this morning and say, I've got good news,
it's done, it's done. Oh, it's mercy. The gospel came.
It's not everywhere. It's hard to find. It's hard
to find. That's the reason some people
in here drive forty minutes to get to it. There's a church on
every corner. People can't understand that,
can they? There's a church on every corner. No, there's not either. No, there's
not. Our gospel came, read on, verse five, but it wasn't just
in word only. I heard it in word only for years. I could quote
five points Calvinism for years. I made a profession of faith
when I was twelve years old. I didn't know Christ. I went
through some kind of emotional experience, went running down
crying down front. You know, I didn't know Christ.
I knew the doctrine, though. I could argue it. Had nice little
sayings written in my Bible, cute little sayings. Word only, but not in word only,
but in power. Finally, one day the word came,
the gospel came in power. I heard it. See, Amy, I heard
it for years as a boy growing up. I always heard it. My mama
didn't make me go to church. That's the most cruel thing.
No, it's the greatest thing you could ever do. You believe that
Hannah Copp? Mom and Dad make you go to church.
It's the best thing you could ever do for you. The best thing. Andrew, I'd rather be playing
baseball. Wouldn't you? I would. I would
have been when I was your age. Oh, let me out of this place. The best thing your mother could
do for you is have you sitting right there. The best thing. I heard it In word, I kept hearing
these things, grace, mercy, Jesus, sin, gospel, salvation, you know,
Christ, Holy Spirit. I heard them, I heard them, I
heard them. One day I heard them. I heard, oh, you're a sinner,
you're a sinner, you're a sinner. One day I heard, you're a sinner.
I am a sinner. I am. I heard it. You heard that? Had you? Come on. Do you believe
it? Do you feel it? You loathe it,
you hate it. Then I heard, Christ is the Savior
of sinners. Was it good news? It was just
another sermon. Oh, it was the day when you heard
it was good news. You mean he'd save somebody like
me? He did. Yes, that's good news. It came not in just word
only, power. Not the power of the preacher.
Not the power of the preacher, the Holy Ghost says there. And
in much assurance, I've heard the gospel preached to me as
if I was the only one in the entire building. Have you? As
if God Almighty was saying to me, I am thy salvation. Have
you? Oh, I've heard it so many times.
I sure have. You could not have, you couldn't,
I was firmly persuaded over and over again. That's the reason
the gospel keeps We need to keep hearing the gospel in it. We
need to keep hearing it. The gospel came to me. God called
me by His grace. How do I know I'm elected? If people change their lives
and turn over a new leaf, that doesn't mean they're saved. I
didn't change it, but my life was changed. It's your world. I'm not what I want. I'm not
what I want to be, but I'm not what I once was. I love the things I used to hate
and hate the things I used to love. I didn't want that, I wasn't
seeking that. Bless God, that's the good pleasure
of God and that's what he was doing for me. He called me by
his grace. We say, what about repentance
and faith? Isn't that necessary? Repentance and faith? What about
it? Is there any merit in it? I mean,
is God going to pat me on the back because I repent? Isn't
that ridiculous? I'm sorry, I'm a murderer. I'm
no good. Well, good for you. That's the
goodness of God that leads me to repentance, isn't it? I would
never have repented had not God said, repent. What about faith? You man's got to believe, doesn't
he? Yeah, but what about it? And which comes first, salvation
or faith? The world's got it all backwards,
don't it? Which comes first? A man believes and God saves
him? A man believes and God elects him? Is that right? Turn back over to Ephesians 1.
That's not so. Some of y'all had a baby. Some of y'all had children. Which
came first, their cry or life? Huh? When were they alive? When
was that baby, when were those first two alive, Jenny? When
they cried? No, when they were conceived
in the womb. The minute that sperm fertilized that egg, there's
life. There's life. She just realized it later on,
right? She didn't realize it until much
later on. Much later on. When she cried as evidence of
life, she was already alive. Already alive. And look at verse
13. It says, In Christ you also trusted
After that, you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your
salvation. Do you see what that's saying?
You trusted, or you believed, after you heard the word of truth.
You say, OK, there it is, preacher. There it is. Believe and God
save you. No, no, no. What does it say there? It says
the gospel of your salvation. You heard that you'd already
been saved. Huh? What faith is? Let me clear up what faith is.
Faith is us realizing, hey, I've been saved. Right? Faith is after the fact. Faith is after the fact. God
says, I'm going to save you. He saved you. When God said it,
it was done. When Christ came, it was done.
I was saved. You see, my name When Christ
went to the cross, he was a great high priest. the great high priest
for a people. He was making a sacrifice once
and for all, to put away sin forever by the sacrifice of himself.
And do you remember the Old Testament type of this high priest? How
that he had some, do you remember, Becca, he had, what did he have
on his breastplate? Do you remember the breastplate,
Jennifer? Remember on the breastplate?
What was on the breastplate? Twelve or something. Twelve,
come on, names! Well, they're not names, do you
remember that? He got scared. He froze up. Twelve names, right? When Jesus Christ went to the
cross, there were 1,258,560,000, however many names there were
that were on his breastplate. Names! He had the Lamb's Book
of Life submitted to memory. He wrote it. Every name. When he went to the cross, Charles
Ross, when he went to the cross, He had the name of Charles Ross
in his mind, in his heart, on his breastplate, and he said
to the Father, This blood is for Charles Ross. Save him. Done. It's the blood that makes atonement
for your soul. And later on, you heard about
it. You didn't do nothing, did you? Huh? You just heard about
it. You know what faith is? You hear
about it. When you heard of your salvation, Christ saved you. All right! That's all faith is. Is there merit in that? Should
God pat me in the back for that? Is there merit in faith? That's what the world out there
is saying, isn't it? Do you believe God will pat you? No, faith is
just saying, God saved me. Thank you, Lord, just realizing
it. What about knowledge? You've got to have knowledge
on. He gives that to you. The Holy Spirit leads you, guides
you in all truth. The Holy Spirit is responsible
for that. Oh boy, where was I? Where are my
notes here? I've gone on and on. You know,
it's all by His grace. because of God's grace I believe
by the grace of God by grace are you say how through faith
where they come from he's not of yourself. So if it's not yourself
it's not meritorious isn't. And there's nothing about it
that God nothing that he gave it to you he gave it to you.
Not very cool and I you know I can't believe it but I believe
Have you ever thought about that? I remember sitting out in the
yard one day, and I was just thinking on these things, and
I thought, I believe that. I thought, I believe this with
all my heart at the time. All my heart. I believe this.
And I thought, I can't believe it. But I believe this. You know
what I'm talking about, those of you who know what I'm talking
about. First Timothy 3.16 says it's
a mystery, isn't it? Believed on in the world, a Gentile
dog, two thousand years later, sitting in Rocky Mount, Virginia.
I believe this with all my heart. I can't believe that, but I do. That's a mystery, isn't it? All
right, our text says, He hath delivered us. He has. He has. But it also says, and
I've got to hurry, he doth deliver us. He hath delivered us from
so great a death by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God Almighty, whom he did predestinate. He called and he called, he justified
and he justified, he glorified. Past tense. Aren't those all
past tense? It's done. When God purposed
it, it was done. He spoke it, done. Christ came,
shed his blood in time, payment made. Sin's gone. Well, it hasn't
sinned yet. But they're gone. They're gone. That's the reason he let us live
for however many years he did before he revealed it to you. That's the reason Adam, that's
the reason the human race goes on, because of the blood of Christ.
That's the reason God didn't snuff Adam out just as soon as
he sinned. Didn't it? He cast the angels out just as
soon as they sinned. He should have done that to Adam.
What kept him from it? It was a lamb slain. Already
slain. Already prepared. Preaching eternal
justification? Yes, I am. Yes, I am. I'm preaching once in grace,
always in grace. Once in God's grace, always in
God's grace. Once in God's love, always in
God's love. Once in God's Son, always in God's Son. Eternity
past to eternity future. And it says he doth deliver us.
He is saving us. He is saving us. I was saved
then. It's an eternal certainty. My
salvation is sure because of my surety. And I am being saved
right now. At times I wonder. At times I
look in the mirror and I don't see a fellow that's much different
than the one a few years back. Do you? I don't see any difference.
As a matter of fact, I look kind of worse to myself after a while. I feel like I've digressed at
times, but I haven't. I haven't. If I were to go, if
I were to bring in one of my old cronies in here this morning,
they wouldn't leave it. They wouldn't leave it. That's
not the Paul Mahan I used to know they'd say. Yeah, they wouldn't. But I'd say, oh, yeah, I'm not
much different. I'm not much different. I'm pretty
much the same, or at least I feel just as sinful. But I'm not.
I'm not. I'm not. But God is saving me.
This is my hope. This is my hope. God is delivering
me. The Holy Spirit is conforming
me to the image of Christ. Now, when did this begin? When did this begin? I don't know. I don't know. I
said before, if you have the date of your salvation written
down in the back of your book, the date of your whatever baptism
or decision, whatever, you better take it out real fast. You don't
know. You don't know. As far, like I said, these little
children, as far as they're concerned, they're alive when they realize
it. Right. The day that a child, they don't
even remember that. I don't even remember most of
what went on, you know, from like eight years old back, do
you? Or even older. When did I start
living? When I realized it? No. My pastor
preached a message one time, when is a man saved? And the
first answer was, when it pleased God. That's what I said a while
ago, when God purposed to do it. But when this began, I don't
know, and we need to stop figuring it out, trying to figure it out.
A fellow and I talked about it in the car the other night, a
good bit, not this fellow, another fellow. And he said, well, was
I saved when I was in Arminianism, or was I saved? He was all struggling
with that, and I said, quit trying to figure it out. Just quit trying
to figure it out. Are you saved now? I said, here's
what. Here's what the believer does,
he does with the Apostle Paul, he renounces yesterday. Paul
said, forgetting those things which are behind us, I renounce
yesterday. As far as I'm concerned, I'm concerned I wasn't saved
yesterday. I want to be saved today. Or
as Brother Tim James would say, he'd get saved every time he
hears the gospel. To coin our Arminian phrase, get saved. I'd say, how you doing Brother
Tim, after I got saved. Thought you already were. Well,
I did, too. But I heard it. The Lord saved me. The Lord saved
me. We're trying to figure it out.
I don't know when it was when the Spirit moved. Like I said,
like an unborn baby. But I'm being saved. The Scripture
says God's mercies are new every morning. Why? I'm a sinner every
morning. Right? I need fresh mercies.
Yesterday won't do. I need fresh manna. The scripture
says, Christ's blood is making propitiation on the mercy sick.
Why? I still need it. I'll need it
until I awake with his likeness. Until, John, I wake without sin,
I'll need blood. Right? Someday, when I'm without
sin, I won't need the blood. Don't let me shock you, but I
won't. I'll be like Christ. He didn't
need to make a sacrifice for himself, did he? He made it for
sinners. And when I'm without sin, I'll
be praising the blood through eternity. But right now, I need
the blood on the mercy seat all the time. The Holy Spirit is
perfecting that which concerns me. He's doing it right now.
Conforming me, molding me, quilling off everything that don't look
like a hound dog. You remember that? I'm not going
to tell it again. But he is. Squealing off everything,
doesn't look like Adam. Doesn't look like Christ. He's
taking all the Adam off of him and making me like Christ. Making
me like Christ. Establishing, strengthening,
settling me on Christ the Rock. You say you're getting better?
No. I'm complete in Christ. I'm complete
in Christ. When that baby is born, by the
Williamses there, when that baby is born, God willing, it'll have
all the faculties it needs to be a full-grown human being. It'll be complete. Complete. Right? It doesn't become more
of a human being, does it? And since its father is who it
is, we'll be pleased if it is. But no, it doesn't become more
of a human being, does it? Just kidding you, Rick. I say
that about myself. Huh? It has all the faculties
it needs to be a full-blown man or woman, whatever it will be.
Right? It just matures. It becomes more
like a man or a woman. Right? It becomes more and more
like her. So we're growing in grace in
the knowledge of Christ. We're becoming more like Christ.
We're becoming more holy. Right? We've been sanctified
in Christ. We're not becoming more holy,
but we're growing more like Him. The old man is dying daily, dying
away. The old man is headed toward
the grave. The new man is rising out of
it, until someday the Scripture says, I'm going to lay down this
body of death, done with it. I'm going to spit on my own grave.
If I could, I would. Spit on my own grave. Be done
with you. And that new man rises, creating
the image of Christ without sin. And I'll be saying, now, this
is living. This is living. That's death. That's death. He is delivering
man. Delivering man by his power. And he's keeping me daily. He's keeping me from all the
forces of evil because we're kept by his power. You're being
kept from unbelief by this gospel I'm preaching to you this morning.
I'm being saved. Salvation is an ongoing process.
Now, continue. It says, and we trust, in God
we trust that he will yet deliver us. He'll yet deliver us. I'm
not in heaven yet. I believe that's the reason everybody's
going to be at his feet. They're going to be hanging on.
Like who was it that hung on the horns of the altar? Huh? When I get there, Joe, oh, if
you ever had your little baby, you know, that was fearful or
whatever, grab hold of me just a squeeze of my foot. I'm going
to lay hold on him. I'm going to lay hold. I'm not
in heaven yet. I'm not arrived. Paul said it's
not as though it already attained. Either we're already perfect,
I haven't apprehended, but I lay hold on the throne of God. I'm
following after, forgetting yesterday, I'm reaching forth, pressing.
Here's biblical seeking of God. Pressing, seeking, knocking,
asking, striving, looking, watching, waiting. It's a continual thing. I'm not there yet, and I won't
be there. I won't be completely satisfied
until I awake with His likeness. I won't be satisfied. But I'm
confident of this. I'm confident. This is all my
confidence. This is all my hope. All my hope. That he which began that work,
that God, Joe, that God who said, I'm going to save a people and
wrote their names down, I was saved. And that he who came down
in the person of a man and said, coming to me all you can labor
and everything I'll give you. And hung on that cross and died
for sinners that I was in him I would say and I'm confident
he began that good work. And in time brought the gospel
to me through the Holy Spirit. And convicted me convinced me
of seeing Russian judgment and I believe. I'm confident he'll
finish it. That's all my He'll finish it. He'll finish it. The reason we
love all the songs and hymns and just the thought of the word
finished. It's finished. That's what it
means to rest. That's what rest means. You know,
when you work, when you've still got work to do, you never really
rest, do you? He says we need to labor to enter
into that rest. What's the rest? work of Christ,
the person who sits. He's resting. Why don't I? Why
don't I? Finished. Finished. Seated in
Christ. I am saved and sure for heaven
because I'm already there. I'm already there. I'm confident. He delivered me. He is delivering
me, and he'll yet deliver me. I'm confident of that. Not in
me, but in him. All right, stand with me.