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Jim Byrd

Salvation to Our God

Revelation 7:10
Jim Byrd July, 2 2017 Video & Audio
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Jim Byrd
Jim Byrd July, 2 2017
What does the Bible say about salvation?

The Bible teaches that salvation is a work of God, accomplished by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

Salvation is a central theme in the Scriptures, underscored by the truth that it is from sin and unto God. Matthew 1:21 states that Jesus shall save His people from their sins, highlighting that salvation is rooted in grace, not works (Ephesians 2:8-9). Through Christ's sacrifice, believers are freed from the power of sin and are reconciled with God. Ultimately, salvation is more than a change in behavior; it is a profound transformation of the heart, enabling a relationship with God Himself.

Matthew 1:21, Ephesians 2:8-9

How do we know salvation is by grace alone?

The Bible explicitly states that salvation is entirely by grace, not by works, which is affirmed in Ephesians 2:8-9.

Salvation being by grace alone is a foundational tenet of Reformed theology. Ephesians 2:8-9 articulates this clearly, asserting that it is by grace we are saved through faith, and that this not of ourselves; it is the gift of God. The doctrine of grace emphasizes that human efforts or merits cannot contribute to salvation, as we are inherently sinful and incapable of achieving righteousness on our own. The assurance of salvation rests solely on God's unmerited favor, establishing grace as the sole basis for the believer's standing before Him.

Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 11:6

Why is knowing God important for Christians?

Knowing God is essential for Christians as it establishes the foundation of true faith and authentic salvation.

In the Christian faith, knowing God is imperative as it distinguishes between mere head knowledge of biblical facts and a true, relational knowledge of God. John 17:3 states that eternal life is to know the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom He has sent. This knowledge transforms one’s heart and informs their beliefs and actions. True salvation is characterized by an intimate relationship with God, rather than superficial religious practices. As believers grow in their understanding of who God is and His redemptive work through Christ, they cultivate a deeper faith and experience the fullness of life in Him.

John 17:3, Romans 8:1

What is the relationship between faith and salvation?

Faith is the means by which we receive salvation, acknowledging that it is a gift from God.

Faith plays a crucial role in salvation, acting as the conduit through which we accept God's grace. Ephesians 2:8 reinforces that we are saved through faith, which indicates that it is both necessary and divinely bestowed. While faith itself does not save—being a gift from God—it enables the believer to receive Christ's righteousness and to hold onto the promises of God. It connects us to the Savior, affirming that salvation is entirely a work of God that comes to fruition through our faith in Him, as seen in Acts 13:48.

Ephesians 2:8, Acts 13:48

Sermon Transcript

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Well, that was wonderful. Thank you for that. That's Psalm
121. And I'm sure you recognize those
words, Psalm 121. I do bring you greetings from
the congregation, the Saints of God in Almont. We went up
there for a few days this past week to encourage I kind of kept
it on the low down that we were going because I wanted to listen. But the Lord ordained otherwise
and I was asked to preach Wednesday night. And so that is always
a great honor to set forth the Savior. And so I enjoyed preaching
to the saints of God and to their dear pastor. It's past Wednesday
and it was a very good trip, a few days to just get away and
then spend some time with the folks up there. It was a needed
trip for them and so they indicated to us and so I'm glad that the
Lord laid it on my heart for us to go up for a few days. Would
you open your Bibles with me this morning to the book of Revelation
chapter 7? Once again, Revelation chapter
7. Let me read once again verses
9 and 10 and even verses 11 and 12 in your hearing these few
verses. John said, and after this I beheld
in low a great multitude which no man could number of all nations
and kindreds and people and tongues stood before the throne And before
the lamb clothed with white robes, and they had palms in their hands,
they cried with a loud voice saying, Salvation to our God. That's the title of the message,
by the way. Salvation to our God, which sitteth
upon the throne and unto the lamb. And all the angels stood
round about the throne and about the elders and the four beasts
and fell before the throne on their faces and worshipped God
saying, Amen. That is, Amen to what the saints
of God had already said in verse number 10. Salvation to our God
which saitheth upon the throne. and unto the Lamb, and all of
the angels said, Amen, so be it. And then here comes a seven-fold
doxology, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and
honor and power and might be unto our God forever and ever. And then once again, Amen, so
be it. salvation to our God. What is salvation? Lots of vital words in the Word
of God, words that we need to become acquainted with, words
that we need to learn the definition of. This is certainly one of
those vital vital words. Salvation, it's such a great
issue. Lots of people have asked and
perhaps you have been asked by others, are you saved? I know that the religious world,
they throw that word saved around pretty loosely. But it is a valid question if
you understand what salvation is. I'm not asking you this morning,
are you religious? Obviously you are. You wouldn't
be here. I'm not asking you, are you a
person who is moral and decent? I believe that Each of you would
certainly fall into the category of being a good, decent person,
as we define goodness. But that's not the issue. The
issue is, are you saved? Are you saved? I'm not asking you, are you a
good neighbor? You ought to be. I'm not asking you, do you do
good deeds for those who are in need? You should do those
things. But there's a greater issue,
a greater question that needs to be answered honestly from
the heart and based upon the Word of God. Are you saved? I'm not asking you, have you
given your heart to Jesus? I'm asking you, are you saved?
I'm not asking you if you walked an aisle and made a religious
decision. I'm asking you, are you saved? The question is not have you
gone forward and met with a preacher or a personal worker and said
yes to a few questions. I'm asking you, are you saved? Are you saved? What is salvation? Well, I know this, it is more
than an outward change of life. It's more than that. Although
salvation will bring about an outward change of life, if your
outward life is one of immorality, if your outward life is one of
filthy language, where you go to places that are improper,
if you have habits that are detrimental to you and others around you,
oh, this salvation, it will bring about an outward change in your
life. As far as this matter of salvation, it is not about an
outward change of life. No. I know that if God saves us,
He gives us instructions like, let him that stole steal no more. That will be an outward change
of life. Think about Zacchaeus in Luke chapter 19. That publican who was short of stature
climbed up into a sycamore tree to see the Savior. And the Savior
met him that day. The Savior effectually brought
him to his feet and down the tree he came. The Savior said, today salvation
has come to this house. And it has an outward effect
upon him. Because He said, if I've taken
anything from any man by false accusation, I'll pay it back
fourfold. He said, I give half my goods
to the poor. His salvation did indeed have
an outward effect. This salvation wasn't something
outward, it was inward. And it had an outward effect,
but it happened in the heart. Okay? So, it's much more than
an outward change of life. I had an individual I was asked
to speak to many years ago, and he, well, frankly, drank too
much. He was a drunkard. And I went
and talked to him and I said, that's bad. It's wrong. It's
wrong. It'll kill you. It's contrary
to the Word of God. But I said, let me tell you something.
That's not your biggest problem. Your biggest problem is you don't
know God. You don't know Christ Jesus. I said, I gave him the
gospel of God's grace, salvation in Christ Jesus. I said, you
need to come and hear the gospel of Christ preached. Well, he
didn't do that, but you know what he did do? He quit drinking.
He quit drinking. He sobered up. Well, that's a
good thing. That's a really good thing. But
it's not salvation. Not salvation. I'll tell you
something else. Number two, it's more than having
a head knowledge of Bible facts. I know that all who are born
of God are instructed of God. John chapter 6 tells us that. They shall all be taught of God.
That's a quotation from Isaiah. God teaches us. God teaches us
about Himself. See, those who know something
about God's salvation, who are the objects of God's salvation,
they're not totally ignorant people. They say, preacher, I
don't know anything. Well, I tell you, if God said
you, there are some things that you know. You know who God is, don't you? Yeah. I stand in fear of Him. And I
have great respect for Him. You know what you are, don't
you? Yeah. And I mourn, I grieve over my
sinfulness. I'm such a sinner. I'm so lost
and defiled. You know who Jesus Christ is,
don't you? He's the Son of God. You know
why He came into this world? He came to save sinners by His
bloody death on the cross. See, you know more than you thought
you did. Oh yeah, all of God's people
are taught of God. We're taught of who the Lord
is, taught of ourselves. I'll tell you this, knowing some
things about God, and knowing some things about yourself, and
even knowing some things about the Lord Jesus, That isn't salvation. It's knowing God. It's not knowing
about Him. I know we all know about Him. Everybody, those of you who have
been coming here for any number of years, and many of you have
been here for many, many years, you know about God. You couldn't
have sat here for all of these years and not picked up some
facts about who God is. and picked up some facts about
what we are. If there's no way you could sit
here and listen to gospel preaching for many, many years and not
come away with this conclusion, there is no other Savior but
the Lord Jesus. And it's His own blood that washes
the sinful, the sinner's sins away. And it's His righteousness
that robes us. You've got to know these things
up here. If you've listened at all, if
you've listened to the last few minutes of this message, you
know some things. But this matter of salvation,
it goes on beyond knowing some things about the Bible. It's
knowing the God of the Bible. Our Lord Jesus said, this is
like eternal. Here it is. And we go, What is
it? What is life eternal? He said,
to know thee, not to know about you, not to believe that there
is a God. There are people who dare to
call themselves Christian who say, well, I believe there is
a God. Well, so does the devil. And he goes beyond that, he even
trembles. But he sure doesn't know anything
about salvation. This matter of salvation is more
than having a head knowledge of Bible facts. This is eternal
life. To know Thee, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. That's eternal life. That's salvation. To know God. I know a man that knew a lot
about Jesus. I read about Him, that is. His
name was Judas. And he knew a lot about Him.
He virtually lived with Him for a long time. Many, many months. But he didn't know Him. He didn't
know Him. He observed His life. He listened
to His words. He watched His interaction with
others. He saw how Jesus of Nazareth
treated people. He saw how He dealt with the
Pharisees, the self-righteous. He saw how He welcomed the sinful. He saw how He took the children
in His tenderness and embraced them to Himself. He knew a lot
about Jesus of Nazareth, but He really didn't know Him. He
didn't know Him. He didn't love Him. He didn't
rest in Him for His soul's salvation. There was no confidence in Jesus
of Nazareth as being the only Son of God and the only Redeemer,
the only Savior, whose blood that He needed and whose righteousness
that Judas needed. Judas saw no need for the blood
and the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, but he knew
Him physically. But he didn't have salvation. Just because you have Jesus in
your vocabulary, don't mean that you have God's salvation. There
are people all over this great country of ours who are singing,
oh, how I love Jesus. But they don't even know Jesus.
They're singing about another Jesus. What is salvation? Well, it's
more than an outward change of life. It's more than a head knowledge
of Bible facts. What did Brother Barnard used
to say? He said, most religious people are going to miss heaven
by 18 inches. That's the distance between the
head and the heart. I tell you, I want a heart knowledge
of God. I want a heart knowledge of Christ
Jesus. I'll tell you, preacher, I'm
a Calvinist. That's not salvation. I know doctrine. That's not salvation. And listen, nobody here believes
doctrine any stronger than I do. But you can believe five points
of grace, at least have a head knowledge of them. have an intellectual
understanding of them, a grasp of real, true theology. You can
be a theologian up here and not know God in your heart. I've met a few of those. Oh, to know Christ Jesus and
the power of His resurrection. I want that knowledge of Christ
Jesus that melts the heart. I want that knowledge of Christ
Jesus that as I look in the mirror of God's Word and see the reflection
of myself, I run to Him and I see in Him all that I need for time
and eternity. That's the salvation I want.
The salvation that's wrapped up in Christ Jesus. In who He
is and what He did, and the reason He had to do it, and where He
is now. That's the gospel I love. That's
the gospel I want to know more about. This is salvation to know
God. I want to know God, not an intellectual
grasp of Him, but a heart, heart belief in Him. Well, don't you hold to the five
points of grace? Oh, I do, but I hope the whole
five points of grace hold me. I want them to put their fingers
around my heart. I want God to squeeze my heart. I want Him to speak to my innermost
man. Oh, God, deal with me in mercy. I know I'm saying the right things
and I'm hearing the right things, but I want to know you. Don't
you? I want to know God. I want the
Word of God to speak to me. To move me. To feed me. To nourish me. I want to see
His glory. The glory of the Son of God. To see His beauties. I expect there is some of you
here this morning, you hear preachers talk about seeing the glories
of Christ Jesus. And secretly, deep down in your
heart, you say, I really don't know what he's talking about. Well, I tell you, if the Lord
ever takes the blinders off, if He ever gives you sight, and
you see who Christ Jesus is, that one who is in whom all the
preeminence of the Godhead dwells bodily, that one who is forever
and ever the great I am. That One who is the Second Person
of the Trinity. That One who humbled Himself
and came into this world for the vilest of sinners like you
and like me. Who loved us to such a degree
that He would satisfy divine justice on our behalf and endure
the wrath of God in our stead when He said to the justice of
God, take me, let these go. Oh, if I could just see Him in
that in that wonderful position as my substitute. The Lord let me fall in love
with Him. Don't I know anything about loving
the Savior? Loving the Savior. The Lord said to Simon Peter
after our Lord's resurrection, Simon, of course, had denied
the Lord three times, you know. The Lord met his disciples and
he said to Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Do you love me? Do you love me? Lord, thou knowest all things. Thou knowest that I love thee. I tell you, salvation's got something
to do with loving the Lord as He's revealed in His Word. I love Him as the Sovereign Lord,
don't you? I'm glad He rose. I'm glad He
reigns. I'm glad He has absolute authority
and power and control. I love Him in the way that He
saves, by grace, by grace alone. It's more than a head knowledge
of Bible facts. There's some things God does
teach us. There's no question about that.
That old adage, ignorance is bliss, doesn't apply to this. But having some things up here doesn't mean you got anything
down here. They don't necessarily mean the same thing. I know things
come in through the ear gate and through the eye gate, but
it's got to be in the heart. I know that. I know that's the
truth. With the heart man believeth unto righteousness. With what? With the heart. With your heart. I want him to be my treasure.
Where your treasure is, there your heart be also." That's what
we studied in song school this morning. Is He the treasure of your soul? You know what? You know whether
He is or not. Is He the treasure of your soul?
What is salvation? Well, I tell you, it's more than
an outward change of life. It's more than a head knowledge
of Bible facts. Man, when I was a kid, I mean,
a little kid, six, seven years old, I started learning Bible
facts. I started memorizing verses of
Scripture. A number of books in the Bible,
saying them frontwards, saying them backwards. I just found
it to be a challenge. Everything about the Bible I
found interesting to me. But I didn't know the God of
the Bible. But I had the facts. I can tell you the middle Psalm,
Psalm 117, the middle book of the Bible. Shortest verse, longest
verse, longest book, shortest book, all of those things. Bible
facts. And hey, it's wonderful to learn
Bible facts, but that's not salvation. And I thought because I knew
a few things about the Bible that I knew God. No, it's not
the same thing. I'll tell you something else,
number three, it's more than religious excitement. It's more than religious
excitement. It's more than emotional. More
than an emotional feeling. Now, I know that our emotions are
involved. Hey, the gospel touches me and
I can get emotional, can't you? Somebody said, well, we're like
dead logs floating downstream. No, we're not. Not even as ungodly
sinners are we dead logs floating downstream. We're dead spiritually,
men and women. When God saves us by His grace
and wakes us up, the emotions are real. There are some times
I'm just, aren't you overwhelmed? Just absolutely overwhelmed by
the goodness of God and the grace of God to you. In your private
devotions at night, don't oftentimes the tears of joy run down your
cheeks on your pillow as you think of how God through Christ
Jesus has blessed you so immensely? That's emotional. That's real.
That's real. But salvation is not about getting
emotional. It's not about religious excitement.
Israel had that. After they come out of Egyptian
bondage and Moses went up the mountain, Joshua went with him. And Aaron said, y'all take off
all your gold earrings and bracelets, etc. And he fashioned a golden calf. And you know what Israel said?
These be thy gods, O Israel, that brought thee out of Egypt.
Whoopee! And everybody was happy. And Aaron said, tomorrow is a
feast day to the Lord. We'll offer to the Lord burnt
offerings and peace offerings. Man alive, well that's got to
be good. Because the burnt offering was the very central matter of
the worship of God, the burnt offering. That's the only way
you could approach God, by burnt offering. The peace offering
was offered because peace has been made through God, with God. Then the people rose up to eat
and drink and celebrate and play. Boy, they had religious excitement.
You're talking about happiness through the camera. Everybody's
clicking their heels. This is one of the best services
we've ever had. Oh, I tell you brothers, Moses
and Joshua, they sure are missing out on this. Up on the mountain, God said to Moses, you better
get down from here. For thy people, which thou hast
brought up out of Egypt, have corrupted themselves, turned
themselves out of the way that I commanded them, and now they're
down there saying, these be thine gods, O Israel. They had religious
zeal, they had religious excitement, they had religious happiness,
You watch some of these religious programs on television. People
are waving their hands. Tears running down their faces.
You see women crying blood. Their mascara just running down.
They got black streaks running down. Oh, Jesus, Jesus. I don't doubt their sincerity. And they're all caught up in
emotion. But it's not salvation. It's
not salvation. It's more than religious zeal
and happiness and emotionalism. Tell you what, religious zeal?
Saul of Tarsus had that. Those guys who stoned Stephen,
the Sanhedrin, they saw to it that the Lord Jesus died. They
had zeal. They had commitment. Oh yeah. Say, how zealous are you for
your religion? We'll kill people over it. That's
how zealous we are. That's how much we mean business. We'll eat this Jesus of Nazareth.
We'll see to it He hangs on a cross. That's how religious we are.
And we'll insist He must come down from the cross and those
two other thieves as well before The Sabbath begins because we're
religious people. We mean business. And they didn't
know God, but they thought they did. I tell you, something else is more
than living a life of strict discipline and self-denial. Saul of Tarsus had that. Touch
not, taste not, handle not. Tithed, prayed, fasted. More than that. In the Bible, when it talks about
salvation, there are four things that are always true. Always true about salvation.
Number one, it's always by grace alone. There are no exceptions. Ephesians
2.8.4, by grace are you saved through faith. Earlier, back
up in verse 5, by grace you're saved. Romans chapter 11, if by works,
no more of grace. If by grace, it's no more works.
Can't be both ways, either works or grace. If it's works, then
what's the use for grace? If it's grace, then works has
no place. Salvation is by grace. Grace
established this. Grace purposed this salvation.
Grace paid the price. The price is paid at the cross. Grace sought to it. We were sought
at and found. The power of God was effectual
in our souls to give us life. Grace preserves us. Grace is
going to glorify us. Salvation is by grace. You read
through the Bible, salvation is always by grace. And I'll
tell you something else, number two. It's always through faith. By grace are you saved through
faith. Don't leave that out. I know God the Spirit gives us
faith. Faith is a gift of God. I recognize that. He's the one that gives us, and
we're the ones who believe. I was asked this question recently.
Since God has his elect, and the Lord Jesus has died for
the elect, is faith necessary to go to heaven? Yes, it's necessary. Now, faith doesn't put away our
sin. Faith doesn't make us righteous.
You know what faith does? Faith receives righteousness. Faith receives the Lord Jesus.
Faith is the empty hand that reaches out. Faith is both hands reaching
out for the Savior. It's a gift of God. It's through
faith. It's not of works. Stop laboring, stop striving,
stop working. God help you to believe. Just
believe the word of God. Believe what God says. He that
believeth on the Son of God hath life. That's what God said. Do you believe? I do believe
on the Son of God as He's revealed in the Scriptures. I believe
He's the only Savior, the only Redeemer, the only Righteousness,
the only Surety, the only Mediator between me and a Holy God. I
believe Him with all of my heart as much as I can understand to
believe Him. The Bible says you're saved.
You're saved through faith. This idea that, well, if you're
one of the elect, you don't have to believe. That's wrong. That's
wrong. Because you see, the same God
who ordained our salvation also ordained that we'd have faith.
Acts chapter 13 verse 48. As many as were ordained to eternal
life believed. Have you believed? You believe
the gospel, I tell you, you were ordained to believe. You were
ordained before the world began. You're already God's people.
You just find out about in regeneration. God's own dearly beloved Son
has already made things right between you and God. He made
peace between you and God. And every generation you find
out about it. Faith doesn't put your sin away.
Faith doesn't make you righteous. Faith is the connection to Christ
Jesus. And God's got to give us faith.
I know that. And we believe. That Philippian
jailer said, what must I do to be saved? Paul didn't say, well,
there's nothing you can do. You might as well go home, pack
your bag, get ready to go to hell. He said, believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's what I say to you. Believe
on the Lord. He's the Lord. He's not a doormat
to heaven. He's the Lord. Worship Him! He's the Savior! The Lord Jesus! He's the Savior! He's the Christ! The Lord Jesus Christ! He's the
Messiah! He's the one promised in the
Old Testament. All the Old Testament sacrifices
pictured Him. He's the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe
Him as He's revealed in the Word of God. I know salvation by grace
alone, it's through faith alone, it's in Christ Jesus alone. I
know that. Not in the church. No. It's not in keeping God's
Ten Commandments. It's not in the baptistry. It's
not in taking the Lord's Supper. Salvation is in Christ. I know
that. The Bible teaches that. Neither is there salvation, listen,
Acts chapter 4 verse 12, neither is there salvation in any other. in any other, for there is none
under name, under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be
saved." There is no salvation anywhere else except in God's
dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. If you can get to Him, you'll have salvation. And the only way you're going
to get to Him is for the Spirit of God to draw you. effectually
draw you to Christ. And He does that. And I'll tell you something about
this. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ
Jesus alone. It's by God's created power alone. God's created power. Oh, it takes
power to save a sinner. Not your power, God's power. Look at this statement one more
time. Look at verse number 10. I cried with a loud voice saying,
salvation to our God. In the next few minutes, let
me just give you these things. Salvation is from some things
and salvation is to God. Two. Pretty simple, isn't it?
From and to. What is salvation from? You don't
have to look these up. You can jot them down. Matthew
1, verse 21, Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall
save His people from their sins. What is salvation from? From
sin. Every effect of sin. I'm going
into more detail on that this evening. Salvation from sin. In other words, as I look at
it, think about it, here's a negative kind of aspect. Here's a very
positive aspect. We're saved from something. We're
saved to God. That's a positive. We're saved
to God. And the first thing we're saved from is sin. We've got
to be saved from sin. That's our problem. God be safe
from sin. The Lord Jesus came down here
to save people from their sin. Whose people? His people. His
people. He shall save His people from
their sins. From the defilement of sin. How does He do that? He washes
us. From the self-righteousness of
sin. How does He do that? He robes
us. He saves us from the power of
indwelling sin. How does He do that? By the Spirit
of God indwelling us. Sin shall not have dominion over
you anymore. Why not? He saved you from that.
He gave you His Spirit. And someday we're going to be
saved fully from sin, the very presence of sin. We're saved
from our sins. rescued from sin. That's why
He came down here. And then secondly, we're saved
from our enemies. Luke chapter 1 verses 69 through
71. The Lord has sent this one to
save us from our enemies. Boy, we've got some enemies.
Christ came to save us from our enemies. Oh, what are our enemies?
Self. I need to be saved from me. Listen, if I have my way, if
I have my will, I'll just die in my sin. I'm quite comfortable
by nature. And so are you. I'm not looking
for God's salvation. I'm not looking for a Savior.
Well, I've lived a pretty good life, thank you very much. I'm
not like some of those people down in the outers. I'm not like
them. I'm not like the Hitlers of the
world and the Mussolini's of the world and the rapists and
the murderers. And I've never done any of those
things. Then I found out that I'm not as good as I thought
I was. In fact, I'm no good at all. and anything anybody else has
done, the only reason I hadn't done it, the only reason I hadn't
said it, the only reason I had maybe not even thought it, or
maybe the things that I had thought, the only reason I hadn't carried
through with them, is because God restrained me. I could be
safe from myself. I could be safe from Satan. I
could be saved from the world. This world's not a friend to
grace. The world's not a friend to God. I could be saved from
my enemies. And that's what Zacharias said,
the father of John the Baptist. There in Luke chapter 1, he said,
this is the one who's come to save us from our enemies. And then Romans chapter 5 and
verse 9, The blood of the Lord Jesus saves us from the wrath
of God. We're saved from the wrath of
God. That's what we're saved from.
This is how we should be saved. From. From sin. From our enemies. From the wrath
of God. I've got to be saved from the
wrath of God. How does God save me from His own wrath? He sent
somebody to bear the wrath in my stead. That's substitution. And he drank the cup of God's
damnation dry. There's satisfaction. That's why I'm not going to be
damned. That's why I'm not going to bear the wrath of God ever.
I won't taste one bitter drop of the wrath of God. There's
no wrath of me. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them who are in Christ Jesus. Romans chapter 8 verse 1. We're
saved from sin. We're saved from our enemies. We're saved from God's wrath.
But that's just one side of it, I guess you'd say. Just one side
of salvation. We're saved from, but we're saved
to God. Salvation to our God. We're saved to God. We're saved
to God. We're saved to have fellowship
with God. Fellowship has been broken. Now we have fellowship again.
We're saved to have fellowship with God. We're saved to be among
God's people. We're saved to worship Him. We're saved to God's way. We're
delivered. We're saved to God's way of salvation. To God's way of grace. To God's
way of rescuing sinners. I've been delivered from the
wrong way and delivered to the right way. Hey, the message of
grace thrills my soul. Makes me happy. And you say not
of works. Works don't have anything to
do with it. That makes me more happy. Because I know that the
best I can do when it comes out of me is filthy and contaminated
by sin. No child of God has ever done
a perfect deed. I'm saved to God. I'm rescued to God. I've come
to God. It was in the middle. It was
a barrier. Now, I'm saved to God. Salvation to our God. I'm
saved to the Lord. And I'll give you this passage
and I'll quit. Look at Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11.
Hebrews chapter 11. No, 13, sorry. Hebrews chapter
13. Well, I'm wrong again. Hebrews
chapter 12. That comes right between 11 and 13. I'm just trying
to keep you on your toes. Hebrews chapter 12. Look at verse
18. Hebrews 12, 18. For ye are not
come unto the mouth that might be touched, that burned with
fire, and o'er them the blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and
the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words, which voice they
heard, that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken
to them any more. But they couldn't endure that
which was commanded. And if so much as a beast touch
the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart. And so terrible was the sight
that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake. But yarr come,
Unto. Here's what you've come to. This
is in this great salvation. Salvation to our God. Here's
what you've come to. Mount Zion. To the city of the
living God. The heavenly Jerusalem. To an innumerable company of
angels. This is what you're saved to.
To the General Assembly and Church of the Firstborn, which are written
in heaven. Our names were written there
before the world began in the Lamb's Book of Life. And to God,
the just of all, we're saved to God. Salvation to our God.
It's to bring us to God. God purposed to bring us to Himself. And all the spirits of just men
made perfect, having been made perfect through the perfection
of Christ Jesus. And to Jesus. And to Jesus. Who is He? He's the mediator of the new
covenant. to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than
that of Abel. This is salvation to our God.
We're saved to God. Saved from these things. Saved
from sin. Saved from enemies. Saved from
wrath. Oh, we're saved too. We're saved to God. To God. And now we can come to Him through
Christ Jesus freely and openly anytime we want to through our
great Mediator. Well, let's, uh...
Jim Byrd
About Jim Byrd
Jim Byrd serves as a teacher and pastor of 13th Street Baptist Church in Ashland Kentucky, USA.

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