Salvation Begun

Q: What does the Bible say about salvation?

The Bible teaches that salvation is entirely the work of God, initiated before the foundation of the world and concluded in Christ through faith. The concept of salvation is rooted in the sovereignty of God, as emphasized in Philippians 1:6, which states that He who began a good work in you will complete it. Salvation is not determined by human decision but is initiated by God's sovereign choice, reflecting a divine purpose established in eternity (Ephesians 1:4-5). The process involves being in a state of spiritual death, as illustrated by Lazarus' resurrection, demonstrating that life is given solely through God's voice. Thus, salvation, according to Scripture, is realized when God decides to save His chosen ones, fulfilling His promises through Christ's redemptive work expressed in the gospel.

Q: How do we know predestination is true?

Predestination is affirmed in Scripture, demonstrating God's sovereign choice to save individuals before the world's foundation. The doctrine of predestination is captured beautifully in passages such as Ephesians 1:4-5, which reveals that God chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. This underscores the notion that salvation originates not from human will but from divine sovereignty and foreknowledge. Additionally, Romans 8:29-30 elaborates on the golden chain of redemption, where those whom God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. Such truths assure believers that their hope rests on God's eternal plan rather than fluctuating human decisions, thus highlighting the security of their salvation.

Q: Why is grace important for Christians?

Grace is essential for Christians because it is the unmerited favor of God that enables salvation and ongoing spiritual growth. The importance of grace in the Christian faith cannot be overstated, as it is foundational to both salvation and sanctification. Ephesians 2:8-9 emphasizes that we are saved by grace through faith, indicating that our salvation is a gift from God and not a result of our works. Grace enables us to comprehend our spiritual poverty and our need for Christ, allowing for a transformative relationship with Him. Furthermore, grace continues to sustain and empower believers throughout their lives, encouraging growth in faith and holiness as outlined in 2 Peter 3:18, where we are urged to grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord. Therefore, grace is not only the beginning of our faith but also the sustaining force throughout our walk with Christ.

Q: What does the Bible teach about faith?

Faith is the means by which we receive God's grace, believing in Jesus Christ for our salvation. Faith holds a crucial place in the salvific process as articulated in Romans 10:17, which asserts that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. It is through the gospel that we come to belief in Christ, acknowledging our need for salvation. The Reformed perspective stresses that this faith is not a product of human effort but is itself a gift from God, a part of the regeneration that takes place in the heart of the believer. Active faith is essential as it connects us to the righteousness of Christ, as showcased in Galatians 2:16, ensuring that we can be justified before God. Hence, biblical faith is both a response to God’s revelation and foundational for sustaining a relationship with Him.

Jesus, lover of my soul, let
me to thy bosom try, Hide me, O my Saviour, hide,
Till the storm of life is past, Send me to the haven guide. O receive my soul, God a refuge
have I none, and my helpless soul on thee. Sleep now, leave me not. will support and comfort me. All I trust in Thee is made. All my help from Thee I bring,
to whom my defense lends its aid. With the shadow of my dream,
out from my door. I want, more than all in me I
find, face the fallen, cheer the faint, heal the sick, stand,
lead the blind. Holy is thy name. I am all righteousness. Truth and fullness live I am. Thou art full of truth and grace. And just grace with me is found,
Grace will cover all my sin, Let the healing stream flow round,
they can keep me pure within. All of life a fountain heart,
freely Being confident of this very
thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform
it until the day of Jesus Christ. When is a man saved? When he
or she makes their decision? makes his decision, not when
a man or a woman or a young person makes their decision. When God
Almighty decides to save somebody, they're going to be saved. Count
on it. He said, I've purposed it. I'll do it. I've spoken it. I'll bring it to pass. A sinner
whom the scriptures describe as being dead in trespasses and
sin, dead, is given eternal life when God God Almighty decides
to raise that person from the dead, just like Lazarus. When was Lazarus raised from
the grave? When? When was he given life?
When he decided, when he made a decision? No, when Christ came
by and said, I'm going to raise him. But it went further back
than that, Terry. You remember when Christ said,
he's not dead, he's sleeping. And I, Terry, did think you might
see the works of God. And it went back even further
than that. The Father told the Son in the Council Halls of Eternity,
you wait a while, wait four days, and go down there and reveal
your power. And like Lazarus, when Christ is sent by the Father,
that's when a dead sinner is quickened, when Christ is sent
to you. And a spiritually blind man,
and all people are blind spiritually. by nature. A spiritually blind
man does not know, see, nor care about God until Christ gives
him eyes to see, until the Holy Spirit of God opens his eyes. So when is a man safe? When is
a young person, when is a woman safe? Number one, the answer
has to be when God pleases to save. It doesn't start with man.
It starts with God, and we're going to see in a minute it finishes
with God. So a man is saved when God decides,
and He decided the salvation of all of His people before the
foundation of the world. Point number two, when is a man
saved? A man is saved. A woman is saved. When Christ comes in time and
lives that life, that righteous life as a man, and sheds his
blood for the remission of that person's sin, in time Christ
had to come and pay that price, redemption's price, for the removal
of our sins. The soul that sinneth must surely
die without the shedding of blood. There's no remission. That payment
had to be made. And it's not possible that the
blood of bulls and goats and so forth should take away sin.
Christ, the Lamb of God, had to come and make that price,
make that payment, pay the price. So a man is saved when God decides,
when Christ came and lived and died to redeem him. Thirdly, a man or woman is saved
when God reveals Christ through the preaching of the gospel of
that person. When God reveals Christ to a
man or a woman and they see their need of Christ and they believe
on Him to the saving of their soul, not before, not after,
not until. Without faith it's impossible.
We're saved by grace through faith. When God reveals Christ
to a man or a woman and they see their need of Him and they
believe in Him, when is that? When did that happen? Can anybody
say, give a moment of time? Maybe you can, I don't, I can't.
But I tell you what, I'm still doing that. It's all our lives. All our, to whom coming, Peter
said, didn't he? It wasn't a one-time thing, it's
to whom, it's a continual thing. A revelation of Jesus Christ
to a man's heart and reforming and shaping his mind, his heart,
and his life to Christ is a lifelong process. A lifelong process. There was
a time when it started, but that didn't finish. We're constantly
growing in grace and in the knowledge of Christ, if indeed we have
tasted his grace and know the Lord. And we're going to talk
about that more in a minute. There is a point in time, though,
let me say this. I wouldn't dismiss this point
in time of people that say, I can remember the day, the hour, and
so forth. I wouldn't dismiss that. I wouldn't dare do that. You can't regiment or say that
God saves only in these different ways. God saves through Christ
the only way, belief in him, preaching of the gospel. But
as far as the incidents that take place and the different
progressive thing. But there is a point in time
where every person, man, woman, or young person, draws a line
in the sand. There is a time when there's
a line drawn in the sand. Like Moses said, it's on the
Lord's side. There is a point in time where God brings a man
or a young person or a woman to an impasse, an impassable
place, and says, I hear the two of you have come. Choose you this day whom you
will serve. There is a choice to be made,
Stan. God made the first one, and whoever he chooses, they'll
make the second one. Yes, they will. But he does choose. Choose you this day whom you
will serve. And there comes a point in time where a man, a woman,
a young person says, I need Christ. I take him. Take the world, but
give me the Lord Jesus Christ." There comes a point in time now,
this is not some vague notion where he's just kind of interested
and just kind of drifts on in. No, there comes a point in time,
and it's seen, it's clearly seen. But you may not be able to pinpoint
it down to the exact day and hour, but it happens. All right,
when is a man saved? When Christ came to make that
payment for his sins, when the gospel comes in power and that
person believes on Christ, sees their need of him, and fourthly,
when is a man saved? When he's standing on heaven's
shore looking in the face of Jesus Christ. Like a man asked Barnard, do
you think I'm saved? Barnard said, I don't know, see
me in thirty years. I better get, Terry, if I see
you on heaven's shore. I say, Old Terry's saved, isn't
he? When he stands on heaven's shore.
Paul said, listen to this, in 2 Corinthians 1, verse 10, he
said, Our trust is in God who raises from the dead, God who
delivered us. God Almighty delivered me from
my sins when Christ paid that price. He had my name, Rick Williams,
on his breastplate, my high priest, and he delivered me from all
condemnation. I was in Christ. I was crucified
with Christ 2,000 years ago. Delivered. Delivered. He hath delivered us from so
great a death, and doth deliver us. I'm being saved right now. Being saved. right now. If I
were not, if the work was not progressing, yeah, I said that
terrible word. If it was not a continual work
going on, growing, then God would take me home, right? Finished. In whom we trust that he will
yet deliver us. I'm not there yet. I'm not there
yet. And that's the reason David said,
I'm not going to be satisfied. until I awake with his perfect
likeness. I'm here. Like Newton said, the
greatest surprise of all will be, I've made it. I'm here. All right, John chapter 9. Our
Lord recounts, or the Holy Spirit recounts the story of our Lord
healing the eyesight of a blind man, and this man meeting Christ
and believing him. Look at verse 1. And as Jesus
passed by, He saw a man which was blind from his birth." What
do you see in that verse? I see a lot. I see the sovereignty
of God, the effectual work of God. I see the depravity
of man. I see a lot there. It's a lot
there. I see this principally, salvations
of the Lord. I mean, here's a man who's blind
from his birth. If he's going to have eyesight,
there's no known cure, even to this day, for blindness. To be born blind, nobody, as
far as I know, has ever been cured of blindness from birth. This man was. How? The Lord passed
by. The Lord passed by. Salvation
is of the Lord, and salvation starts when the Lord God Almighty
passes by an old, dead, blind sinner. That's when it starts. And looks upon him and decides
to save him. Joe, we don't decide that, do
we? Saul of Tarsus didn't decide
for Jesus. The Lord Jesus Christ decided
for Saul of Tarsus, didn't he? Why, he wasn't looking for Christ,
but the Lord Jesus Christ was looking for him, and met him,
and brought him down, and gave him blindness first, didn't he?
And you read where our Lord said, if you were blind, your sins
would be gone. Old Paul had to be made blind,
didn't he? This was no accident that the
Lord's path crossed this blind man. It wasn't. No accident at
all. Back in chapter 8, the last verse
in chapter 8 says, They took up stones to cast at Christ,
but he hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through
the midst of them, and so passed by. Where was he going? He was
going to heal a blind man. Oh, he was just passing by. He
was just passing by old Zacchaeus' tree, too, wasn't he? No, he
said, This is the son of Abraham. I must, I must abide at your
house today. He must need to go through Samaria.
He must go by this blind man. That's one of his sheep. He must
heal him. This is no accident, no happenstance,
no chance or luck. God does all things on purpose. On purpose. Known unto God are
all his works from the beginning. And I'll add this word in there.
Known unto God are all his people from the beginning. And he goes
looking for his sheep, calling them by name. calling them by
name. And he purposed their salvation. He purposed the salvation of
his people in the council halls of eternity, before time began,
and set his love upon them, and made a covenant concerning them,
and in time he came to save them. And this blind man's salvation
had come. When was this man about to be
saved? Right now. He said, but oh, he didn't know
Christ. No, his salvation had come. Simeon said it in the temple,
didn't he? When he saw a person, mine eyes have seen thy salvation.
When that man's eyes were opened, he saw God's salvation. It wasn't
his creed. It wasn't his faith. It was a
person. It was a person. And Christ came to where he was.
The Word of God. He's called it John 1. In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. Christ and the Word was made
flesh. Christ is the Word of God, and a man, a woman, is saved
when the Word of God comes to that person. When the Word of
God opens their eyes, the work of salvation has begun. God,
who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in
our hearts. Open our eyes to God, the things of God. Let's
read the first seven verses. And as Jesus passed by, he saw
a man which was blind from his birth. That's all of us by nature,
blind spiritually to things of God. And the disciples asked
him, Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was
born blind? Why did Adam fall? Because God
allowed it. Verse 3, Neither this man sin
or his parents, but that the works of God should be made manifest
in him. God was going to get the glory,
the chief glory, out of the fall of man, out of the fall of man. I say this very carefully, but
I say it confidently. You better be glad that Adam
fell, or else you'd be liable to. If
Adam had not fallen, you would be liable to. And since Adam
fell, though, and Christ came to put away that sin that's in
me, there's no possibility of me falling now. And I see all
of his glory in that. Verse 4, I must work the works
of him that sent me while it is day. The night cometh when
no man can work as long as I am. Did you catch that? As long as
God's in the world, he's the light of the world. When he had
thus spoken, he spat on the ground, made clay or mud, and he anointed
the eyes of the blind man with the clay, and said unto him,
Go wash in the pool of Siloam, which is by interpretation sent.
And he went his way therefore. What way? The way Christ told
him. And washed and came to see him. Came to see him. There was a time when I was as
blind as this man, spiritually. And so it was with some of you.
As blind as this man. You know, a blind man, a blind
man cannot see anything. A blind man cannot see himself.
He can have on dirty rags. He can be filthy and have mud
all over his face. He can't see himself. He can
look in the mirror. He can't see himself. A blind
man cannot see others, things about him. A blind man cannot
see beauty. Beauty means nothing to him.
A blind man cannot see danger. He can be walking toward the
edge of a precipice, a cliff, about to fall off. He's not afraid.
And that was me. That was you by nature, if the
Lord has given you eyes. Well, I could not see myself.
I thought I looked pretty good. Didn't you? Before the Lord gave
you eyes to see, I thought I looked pretty good. I thought I was
pretty moral, more so than most. I couldn't see myself. I couldn't
see my need. I couldn't see my dirt, my sin,
my filth. I couldn't see others. I couldn't
see God, who I needed to see more than anybody. I couldn't
see God. I couldn't see the beauty of
Christ in the gospel. Did you? Couldn't see my danger. I was headed toward a cliff just
as fast as I could. Headed toward hell just as fast
as I could. Eighteen-year-old boy, I couldn't
see it. And wasn't afraid. Wasn't afraid. But one day, the
Word of God came to me and opened my eyes. Opened my eyes. To see God, to see myself, is
a simultaneous look. You don't really see yourself
until you see God and his Word, how holy he is, how just he is,
how righteous he is. Then you see your own sinfulness
and your needs and so forth. So a blind man—we're spiritually
blind by nature, and we are going to have eyesight when the Son
of God, the Word of God, comes to us and opens our eyes to see
the truth. All right, look over at 1 Peter,
chapter 1, with me. 1 Peter, chapter 1. Look at this. 1 Peter, chapter 1. And a person
must hear that word preached. The word of God has to come,
and that word must be preached to the person. The gospel I'm
talking about. The gospel. Look at 1 Peter,
chapter 1. Spiritual life comes from the
word of God. Look at 1 Peter 1, beginning
with verse 23. We are born again when we make
our decision for Jesus and consecrate, dedicate, recommit, and go to
the mourner's bench and pray through. We're born again when
Mama prays for us. We're born again when we're baptized.
Is that what it says? That's what people are saying. We're born again, not of corruptible
seed. These are corruptible things—altars,
mourners' benches, baptismal pool, so forth, the church house,
all of that, mama. But of incorruptible, born of
incorruptible by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth
forever, that all-powerful Word which he upholds all things with,
all flesh is grass. And all the glory of man is as
the flower of grass. The grass withereth, the flower
thereof falleth away. But the word of the Lord endureth
forever. And this is the word which by
the gospel is preached unto you." The gospel is the word preached
unto us. And a man, a woman, a young person
has to hear the gospel. And the gospel, the Word of God,
the preaching of the Word of God more particularly, the gospel
is a seed like a sperm of a man going into a woman and creating
a new life. The Word of God is like a seed
that goes down into the mind, into the hearts of a human being
and is planted there. It's deadness before. It's blackness. ignorance, superstition, and
so forth. And God plants this seed within
that person. But the Holy Spirit has to come
in time. That's what I'm talking about,
a word in season. The Lord can water that word
on down the line. It's planted. You believe that?
It happened to me. I'll tell you more about it later.
The Holy Spirit comes and feeds, waters, waters it with more of
the Word. more of the Word, preaching of
the gospel, and eventually it springs up. If it's been planted,
it'll spring up. Take hope, parents. Take hope. No one is saved, though, without
the implantation of this Word, more specifically, the gospel.
The gospel. The gospel. God hath chosen. 1 Corinthians 121 says it pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching. Preaching anything? Preaching
foolishness? Will that save anybody? No, the preaching of the gospel.
The gospel. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God. Hearing by the word of God. Well,
how are they going to call on Him in whom they've not believed? And how are they going to hear
without a preacher? Huh? How are they going to believe
in Him in whom they've not heard, and how are they going to hear
without a preacher? Can't be done. Can't be done. Now, I heard
the word as a child. I grew up in church, in the church. I was born the year that 13th
Street Baptist Church in Ashland was formed, and I heard the Word. I heard the truth as a child, and I heard it again as a young
person, a young person, and again as a young man. I heard it again
and again and again. At first, I came to church for
all the wrong reasons, at first. This blind man was on the corner
of the street somewhere, begging alms. Begging alms. He wasn't there with the purpose
of getting his eyes opened, was he? He was there to get money.
And I was in church to get a girl. Let's just be honest. I was there to get a job. There
were some well-off men, and I did. I got a job and a girl. And a
girl. There for all the wrong reasons.
But I heard the Word preach. I was there. This is the reason
I cannot impress on you parents enough the need to have your
children under the sound of the Word at every single opportunity. You don't know. You don't know. You may bring them for all the
wrong reasons, and they're not coming with a pure motive, but
God may use the Word that's preached that day to implant that seed
in their heart. You believe that? They're not
going to hear it if they're not here. I want to weep over people that
don't see the need to have their children in church. I don't understand
it. I don't understand it. We say that our children are
not going to be saved unless they hear the gospel and believe
Christ, and we don't bring them. I heard the word, thank God,
that my parents made me come to church. I thought they were
being cruel. Luke, I thought they were being
cruel to me. Mama didn't make me go to church.
I'm so thankful, buddy. I'm so thankful now. And I'm
going to make Anna Marie come to church. As long as she's under
my roof, she's going to come here. It may be. It may be God
will someday put in your heart the Word that's able to make
you wise unto salvation. And someday down the road, water
it, and you say, I believe. I see. I see. Peter said it's the word of truth,
or the gospel. The gospel is the power of God
unto salvation. Not just preaching the Bible.
Oh, he preached the Bible. Everybody says that. No. You've got to hear the gospel.
The gospel to be saved. Not silly sermonettes and stories
about Abraham's faith and Noah's faith and this and that and the
other. You've got to hear about the person and the work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Yes, you do. Our children aren't going to
be saved by silly little sermonettes and stories. The reason our teachers
teach them about Christ, go through the Old Testament, New Testament,
and talk about Christ, his person, his work. There is salvation
in no other. Salvation is in knowing a person,
knowing a person. All right? Some people, when they first
hear the gospel—now, this will help you if you listen to it.
Some people, when they first hear the gospel, may not fully
understand, nor be able to completely explain it. But by God's sovereign Spirit,
when they hear the gospel, it pricks their ear, and they hear.
They hear something, and they know when they hear that something's
different here. Was it that way with you? Something's
different here. I'm hearing something I've never
heard before. I'm hearing about God as God. I'm hearing about
a salvation that really saves. It's not up to me. It's the Bible
telling me exactly what I am. It's revealing the very thoughts
and intents of my heart. It's exposing me for what I...
And you see your need of Christ, not fully, not completely, but
you do see your need. You say, this is what I want.
This is what I need. This meets my need. I'm not going
anywhere. I'm going to sit right here until it's explained to
me more fully. Who was that preacher? Apollos. Wasn't Apollos? A man mighty
in the Scriptures, A man and his wife took him aside and explained
the word to him more thoroughly. You say, this, something's different
here. I haven't heard this before.
This is different. And this is the truth. There's no doubt in
my mind it's coming from the word of God. This is what I need.
And this is where I'm going to see it. Salvation has begun. Salvation has begun. It's right
there and there. It's not there, it's not completed,
it's begun. Faithful is he that promiseth.
He'll also do it. I'm confident he that hath begun
a good work will finish it. We'll finish it. But back to
John 9. Then a change took place in this
man. A change begins to take place. It can't be. Is that Joe? Nah, it's not him. Some said,
there he is, now it's not. Yeah, it is, that's Joe. It can't
be, something's different. Now, something happened to this
man, that something, he was different. Drastically so. And like I said,
Bernard said, when God saves a man, even an old hound dog
will know it. You're not brought from death
unto life without a change. You don't have your eyes open
without a change. No way. You're not saved from
walking in sin, to the newness of life, to walking in Christ
without a change. I'm addressed to change. And
people see it. Not fooling. It won't be perfect
at first. Matter of fact, they'll see some
of the old grave clothes. Lazarus came out and still had
grave clothes on, didn't he? And Christ said, take them off
of him. And that's what he's doing all this life. The whole
life we walk around with grave clothes. And what's Christ doing?
Conforming us to him. Take the grave clothes off of
him. First thing he takes off is that eye wrap. Right? The head wrap. And the heart
and the hands and so forth. Now, starvation had begun in
this man, but it wasn't complete. But there was a drastic change
that came about in this man's life. And look at verse seventeen.
And he began to tell people what had happened, and they didn't
believe him. Seventeen and eighteen. They said unto the blind man,
What do you say of him that opened your eyes? He said, He's a prophet.
He sure didn't know much about Christ. The Jews did not believe
concerning him that he had been blind and received his sight
until they called the parents of him that received his sight.
They said, Ah, this won't last. I said, yeah, he just got religion,
old Sammy, old Stan's got religion, he won't last though. They said
that about me. Before I married my wife, before
I began, about this time is when I began dating my wife, about,
I didn't say when, about 21 years old, I started coming back to
church for all the wrong reasons. And I found the prettiest one
I could find, got a good job, settled down, cleaned my act
up. And it was about this time I began dating Mindy. But before I began dating her,
I had some close friends, and one of them was her brother.
Her brother. The Lord used that, didn't He?
The Lord used that. It's amazing. And He used various
things. I'm not going into detail, but
to bring us together. But I was close friends with
her brother, and one of the things he said to you, do you remember
what he said when I started getting interested in things of God and
going to church and so forth? Do you remember what he said?
He said, Mindy, it won't last. I've seen it make these changes.
I've seen it. It won't last. Now, I was about 21, and they
say, you know, every seven years you make a change. Well, it was
time. In fact, it's old story. It was
time. You know, that's been almost two more changes. I thought about
that. It's been over fourteen years
now, but I thought, I've changed, I believe, I hope, by the grace
of God, I've changed from glory to glory. Been two changes. For the better, I hope. For the
glory. But he won't last. He saw a change,
but he won't last. Change every seven years, you
know. But there is a change. Even old Hound Dog will know
it. All right? Then this man began to be a witness
for the gospel. A man began to talk to people
about what happened to him. Look at verse twenty-eight. Verses
twenty-eight through thirty-three. And a man, they reviled him and
said, You're one of them, aren't you? You're one of his disciples. I had a man that I worked with
one time said, He's one of them. I overheard him say that. I said,
Oh, one of what? He said, One of them Christians. At first it offended me. Then
I thought, Well, that's what I want to be. Yeah, I guess I
am. I'm glad he thinks so, anyway.
They said, you're one of his disciples. We're Moses' disciples. We know that God spake unto Moses.
As for this fellow, we don't know where he came from, where
he is. The man answered and said, well,
herein is a marvelous thing. Salvation's a marvelous thing.
You don't know where he is, yet he's opened my eye. Now, we know
that God here is not sinners. God is holy. He won't just hear
sinners. He's too holy. If any man be
a worshipper of God, he better worship the real God, the living
God, he would say. He didn't know much, but he was
saying what he knew. And doeth his will, believes on Christ.
Him he hearth. Since the world began, it was
not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born
blind. If this man were not of God, he could do nothing. You
see, man's helpless, hopeless. He can't do anything of himself.
God must do it all. So much is of the Lord, man. And they say, why, you're a sinner.
Well, that's right. But look at verse 25. He didn't know
much, but he said, One thing I know, I was blind, and now
I see. Blind, and now I see. And he
began to experience persecution. Verse 34, they said, You're a
sinner, and they cast him out. Get out of here. Well, when the gospel enters
a man's heart, other people leave. You hear what I said? We're going
to study Wednesday night about a man having two masters. He
can't serve one, love one, love the other. He can't have friends
in this world and the friends of the gospel. Now, you can try,
and I exhort you to try to be a friend, but they won't be your
friends. You won't have to drop them.
They'll drop you. It happened to me. When the gospel enters
a man's heart, everybody else leaves. You can read that sometime
in Luke 11, verse 21 through 23. It says, when a man has his
own goods and he's in peace, but when a strong man, armed,
comes in, it gets rid of that old man. It gets rid of him. And he sets up residence there.
And nobody else is going to have place beside him. It wasn't long
before all my friends started dropping me. Everybody started
dropping me. Everybody but one, that is. And
I'm not talking about Bendy. The only one that counted. The only
one that counted. But look down in verses 25, verses
35 through 36. This man's about to meet Christ. About to meet Christ. And he
experienced persecution and so forth. I remember I began working
a construction job. And I'm telling you all this.
You may have some similar experience. So you can rejoice with me and
what God's done to me. I remember I began to work a
construction job about this time. And as usual, there were religious
fellows there. There always are. You know, as
always, you've got your religious ones and then you've got your
hell raisers. They're all mixed together. And personally, I'd
rather eat lunch with the hell raisers. I mean, really, when
I see these religious fed, their self-righteousness just stinks
the place up. Calling everybody his brother
and his sister, brother this, brother that, hallelujah, praise
the Lord, it's just a stench in my nostrils. It reeks of self-righteousness
and blasphemy. Blasphemy. Well, I began working
a construction job, and there were these religious fellows
there. And one day, we were down in a basement. We were remodeling
a huge, big Presbyterian building. And we were digging. I was just
a common laborer. We were just digging a ditch,
you know. Me and this religious fellow and I were down in this
ditch digging. And before long, we started talking
about religion, you know. And for a long time the shovels
were down on the ground and we were nose to nose, nose to nose, fighting it out. And the foreman
came down and said, I didn't pay you all to preach, I paid
you to dig a ditch. At any rate, I was telling him,
I didn't know anything. He knew less. I didn't know anything,
but he knew a lot less than I did. And I was telling him about it. Well, I knew God was God. I knew there was only one gospel.
Christ is the only Savior. Man's dead. Christ has to save. I knew that much, and that's
what I was telling that old boy. I had to tell him. And this man, this
blind man, experienced persecution, and they kicked him out. I used
to have a bunch of buddies and cronies, and I tried, I tried
to maintain our relationship. And I said I wasn't going to
say this, but I'll say it anyway. Maybe I ought to pause the tape.
I'm not going to. I remember, and you young people, this is
not, I don't condone drinking, running around, any of this sort
of thing. Party and atmosphere, I don't condone that at all.
Stay away from it. It might lead you into hell itself.
I remember sitting in a bar. Now, the Lord had begun to work
on that. I was still trying to maintain this relationship with
my buddies, you know. I remember sitting in a bar,
bellied up to a bar. with a friend of mine, and we
began talking, and I stood up. I got off my stool and was preaching
to that fellow. I remember the waitresses going
by thinking, what in the world do we have here? I remember one time sitting out
by a pool with some fellas. You know what fellas like to
do when they go by a pool, or sit at a pool. You've got to
carry something with you when you go to a pool. Anyway, I was
sitting there at a pool, kind of a pool party, you know, and
I was reading the Bible. And the man looked at me, the
man sitting beside me said, and this is his words, and this is
how ironic it is, but he looked at me and said, what are you
doing out here drinking this and reading a damn Bible? And you know, that struck me
like a ton of bricks. Why am I? I was doing what I wanted
to do. I was trying to buddy-buddy and
shoulders with them and all. Can't be done. Can't be done.
Finally, those things, habits, dropped. Those habits of mine
dropped, and so did my buddies. Gone. I thought he was my best
friend. I grew up with him. You got a
friend closer than a brother now. You got a new love. A new
love. And old Joe's on down the road.
My buddy, my lifelong buddy, him a buddy, if he drops me over
that." Well, this man finally met Christ, verses 35 and 36,
and this may be a real help to you. Christ heard that they'd
cast him out, and when he had found him, Christ came looking
for this fellow. He said unto him, Do you believe
on the Son of God? And the man answered and said,
Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? And in my experience, a short
time later, I got married, began to attend church faithfully.
I was devout, and you will not be saved unless you are devout. God doesn't save part-time seekers. Seek the Lord, seeking me, you
shall find me when you search for me. How? When you get convenient
time. No, I've never known a person
yet who was halfway interested in the things of God, in and
out. No way. Everybody I've ever known, the
Lord saved. God had them there in church,
and they were there until the Lord just flat changed them,
saved them, brought them from death to newness of life. There
may be a temporal falling away, backslide, whatever you want
to call it, but they do not fall away, and they do not show a
nominal interest or concern. No way. No way. But I was faithful,
devout, read the Bible, read the Bible, prayed, attended conferences. I couldn't get enough. This is
why I'm talking. This is the Holy Spirit. When
it comes to a man, it creates a thirst, and you can't get enough. Henry, I couldn't get enough
of this gospel. I went to every conference I could have heard
about. Wherever my dad or men were going to preach, can I go?
Just carry your Bibles. I'll drive. I couldn't get enough,
couldn't get enough. Very interested in God, His gospel,
my soul, my soul, but I'll just be honest with you, I really
didn't know Christ. I really didn't know Christ.
You say, I don't understand. I don't either. But this is what
happened. I went to visit a preacher one
time, a friend of mine, a preacher. I like to visit preachers. I
like to just sit around and listen to preachers talk about the gospel.
Loved it. Couldn't get enough of it. And he started talking
one time about that me and I went on a trip, and we went to visit
these people, and this preacher started talking about the beauty
and the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, his person. He began
talking about the blessedness of a relationship with Christ,
the intimate relationship that a believer enjoys and his presence
and so forth. It troubled me. In fact, those things weren't
real to me. I was troubled. And I began to
talk to everybody I could talk to—my pastor and different people
and so forth. Nothing, nobody could satisfy
me about this thing. I ask questions like this, Henry.
Does a man have to see Christ dying on the cross and believe
that He died for him personally? Does a man have to believe that
Christ did that for him personally? I had not yet really—I believed
Christ was a Savior, and I believed He saved sinners. But honestly,
I thought I was too bad a sinner to be one of those saved people.
Anybody here have that experience? I did. One person did. But I asked questions like—I
asked questions. I was diligent to make my calling
and election sure. I believed God. I believed God
and could argue nose to nose. A holiness and a justice and
a sovereignty of God believed God's Word, what He said about
me, what He said about him, what He said about the gospel. I believed
it. I believed the gospel. I was a sinner. Christ was the
only Savior. I was a changed man. I was interested
in the things of God. But at some point in time, Christ came to me. and told me personally, I'm your
salvation. Yeah, I did it for you. And I
was not going to be satisfied until I found that out. And you
tell me a man or a woman who is satisfied with anything less,
and I'll show you somebody who is not seeking the blessed Son
of God, who just believes doctrine. Doctrine will not save you. Christ
must save you. Christ must save you. I was never
satisfied until it was worked out in my own mind and my own
heart." That's the reason Paul said that. Give diligence to
make your calling and election sure. Diligence! Would that God He'd bring this
home to somebody's heart. I know there's somebody in here
like that. And Jesus said to him, verse 37, He said to him,
not to everybody in a room, Christ deals with people individually.
He never says crowds. He says individuals. He says
souls, people. And he said to this man, you've
seen him, and you're hearing him talk.
And there was a time when I went to hear that gospel, Nancy, where
he said, you've seen, you've seen these things. You've had
your eyes opened to the truth, and you're hearing him talk to
you right now. You! Me! Yeah, you! Oh, Lord, I believe. And I got
in that pool just as fast as I could get there. And that's what that man did.
Lord, I believe. And he worshipped and confessed
him. And I tell you what, I haven't
quit. I'm still worshipping him. I still believe in him. Now,
when was I saved? That's how I started this thing
out. When was I saved? When God's Word pierced my heart,
showed me what I was doing. That started. It started there.
It won't start. It won't finish until it starts
there. When the gospel began to take root in me and I began
to be interested in the things of God, well, it started there.
When I began to change, when change began to take place, when
I began to believe it, when I was baptized, when Christ became
more real to me, when was it? You see, Christ is becoming more
real to me right now. I hope after the course of this
message, this day, Christ is more real to you today than He
was yesterday. When? When was I saved? When God's Word prick, when the
gospel came, when I believed? No. I'm not satisfied with any
of those things. I'm not satisfied with any of
those things. I'm not going to lean on those things. I'm not
going to do it. I'll tell you what I'm going
to do. I'm going to do with the Apostle Paul. He said, He said, I'm not, I haven't attained. Remember that fourth point? A man's not saved until he reaches
heaven's shore. Paul said, Paul said, the Apostle,
I haven't attained this, neither were I already perfect. But I follow after if that I
may apprehend. I'm laying hold on that for which
also I'm apprehended. It has apprehended me, and I
am trying to lay hold on it, lay hold on salvation. It got
me, Henry. Christ got me, better put. Christ got a hold of me and started
shaking me, bringing me to life, and bless God right now. There
was a time, I don't know when, but right now, I'm laying hold. Brethren, I can't not myself
have apprehended, but this is what I'm doing. One thing I'm
doing. Forget yesterday. Forgetting those things which
are behind. Reaching forth unto those things which are before.
I press for the mark, for the prize of the high calling of
God in Christ Jesus. And if anybody be otherwise minded,
Would to God he'd bring it to prick your heart. Don't rest
on yesterday's salvation. Yesterday's salvation. Are you saved? I can't answer that. You know,
we went through those things, the first Thessalonians did them,
but it can't be known infallibly any other man. I tell you who
can tell you though. And advise you I wouldn't be
satisfied until he told you. Are you? Are you saying any man
love not the Lord Jesus Christ, he's going to hell. Work out your own salvation.
Fear and trembling. But let me say this for your
comfort in closing. If God's Word is spoken to you,
and you feel your need of Christ, you see your need of Him, you
want to believe, what's keeping you? Your unbelief is what's
keeping you. You believe, what are you waiting
on? Why tarry'st thou? Rise, be baptized, confess Him.
If you want more assurance or whatever, seek Christ. He is
your assurance. Go home in your closet, say to
the Lord, like David said, Lord, say unto me, say unto my soul,
I am thy salvation. Tell me, Lord, and I'll confess
you. I'll tell what wonderful things
you've done for me. Let's sing the song that Sherry
was playing. It is well.

Salvation Begun

What does the Bible say about salvation?

How do we know predestination is true?

Why is grace important for Christians?

What does the Bible teach about faith?

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Salvation Begun

What does the Bible say about salvation?

How do we know predestination is true?

Why is grace important for Christians?

What does the Bible teach about faith?

Sermon Transcript

About Paul Mahan

Comments

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