Now this morning I want to speak
to you just briefly on the subject of salvation from sins. Salvation from sins. And I've
taken that from verse 21 of Matthew 1. Brother Joe read. Which tells us why the Lord Jesus
Christ came into this world. He mentioned there that His name
shall be Immanuel, God with us. We'll look at that in just a
moment. Why did He have to be God with us? Well, here it is. Verse 21, She, Mary, shall bring
forth a son. Now that's in fulfillment of
the prophecy of Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15, which states
that the Messiah, the Anointed One, would be the seed of woman,
not the seed of man. He was born of the seed of woman
conceived in her womb by the Holy Spirit. Now, Joseph and
Mary both were descendants of David in the tribe of Judah.
Joseph was a descendant of David through Solomon. But of course,
that line ended with a king named Jehoiachin that we'll read about
tonight in Jeremiah chapter 52 a little bit. Mary was a descendant
of David through David's son, Nathan. If you read the genealogies
in Matthew chapter one, that speaks of Joseph's descendant,
his ancestry. And it picks up beginning with
Abraham. Matthew's a Jewish gospel. The
Messiah was to be the seed of Abraham. And so this genealogy
is proof positive that Jesus Christ is who he said he is. And he is the son of God, the
promised Messiah, the seed of woman, who would come through
Abraham. In Luke's gospel, that line is
traced through Mary. Even though Joseph's name is
mentioned and not Mary's, because it wasn't common back then, they
wouldn't put a woman's name in the genealogy. I know there are
certain ones that are mentioned in Matthew 1 because they were
Gentiles. You had Bathsheba, though not
mentioned by name, but talking about Uriah's wife. You have
Ruth mentioned. In Luke's genealogy, it traces
Mary's line from David through Nathan. And so we see that Christ,
Jesus Christ, is both God and man in one person. God and man
in one person. Through Mary's genealogy, that's
a testimony of his deity, the seed of woman. Through Joseph's
genealogy, that's a testimony of his humanity without sin.
And that's who He was. So all of this comes together.
You know, if you look at it, it does make sense. You know,
there is a reason for it. It's not just there, you know,
to confuse you with a bunch of big Hebrew or Greek names. It's
there for a purpose. And so it says in verse 21, She
shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus.
You may have this in your concordance. The name Jesus is a word for
Savior. Savior. There are many derivatives
of that name. In the Old Testament, it was
the name Joshua. Or you may hear preachers today
say the name Yeshua. I've heard several say that.
And that's what that was. That's what it means. Salvation. That's what his name means. Savior.
Salvation. The first time the word is used
is when Jacob was on his deathbed blessing his sons. He interjects
there, I think it's in Genesis 49, he talks about the blessing
of the Lord, the blessing of salvation, and that's the word
Yeshua, which becomes Joshua, which in the New Testament we
have Jesus, Savior, Salvation. And why would He be called Salvation?
Remember, Simeon lifted Him up, the Christ child, and he said,
mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Well, here's why. Look at it.
For he shall, now it doesn't say he might or he will if you'll
let him. It says he shall save his people
from their sins. The word sins there is the most
common word in the New Testament used for sin. It means missing
the mark, falling short, which we all do. We've all sinned.
We've come short of the glory of God. We've missed it. And
the best of us can't make it. The best we have to do or best
we try to do will not hit that mark. I'll tell you what, if
there's one human being who's ever been born or ever will be
born who could hit that mark, that mark of righteousness, and
that's what the mark is, that mark of holiness, then Jesus
Christ would not have had to have come into this world. If
there's one human being who could hit that mark, Jesus Christ would
not have had to have come. Because the human race would
have been saved through that one person who hit that mark. Actually not saved, because we
don't need any salvation if you hit the mark. We need salvation
because we're sinners. But that's the most common word.
And it's plural there. Because Christ was made sin,
same word except singular, showing that all the sins, all the demerit,
all the penalty and punishment due unto our sins, the sins of
his people, was laid upon him, imputed, charged to him. One
of the old preachers, I can't remember who it was, said there
are three things that we need to be saved from. We need to
be saved from sin, S-I-N, and that's talking about what we
are by nature, born in sin, dead in trespasses and sin, and that's
what we are by nature. And then we need to be saved
from sins, That's what comes out of that nature, that sin
nature, and that's what we do, what we think. And then, we need
to be saved from our own righteousness. And that's just imagined righteousness,
because we don't have any righteousness. The Bible says in Romans 3, there's
none righteous, no not one. But man by nature thinks he's
righteous, or he thinks he's good enough. It's like a fella
told me one time, he said, I know I'm not perfect, but he said,
I've never done anything to deserve hell. Well, he needs to be saved
from that. That's right. That's a supposed
righteousness. In other words, it's good enough.
It may not be the best, it may not be perfect, but it's good
enough. Now, if you think it's good enough, that's your righteousness.
You need to be saved from that. That's the problem. You see,
we're sinners. And we deserve nothing but damnation. Well, this matter of being saved
is the main subject of the whole Bible, isn't it? I mean, if you
didn't need salvation, if I didn't need salvation, why read this
book except for maybe a good piece of literature, some good
moral stories? This salvation that is set forth
in this book includes everything that God does for His people. Understand that. Everything God
does for His people and everything God does in His people by the
Lord Jesus Christ. And you could even say it this
way, it also includes everything God does to His people in and
by the Lord Jesus Christ. It also includes everything God
freely gives. And that's the words to underscore
in our minds. Everything that God freely gives
His people in the way of eternal life, in the way of spiritual
life, in the way of blessings and in the way of final glory.
Freely gives. Freely gives. Freely gives. And as I told my Sunday school
class, that means you don't earn it and you don't deserve it.
Not one part of it. Not one iota of it. Not one particle
of it. In its simplest meaning, the
word salvation means rescued from a dangerous or threatening
situation. You know what that is. And the
Bible refers to a sinner's ultimate redemption from sin and from
all the consequences of sin. It refers to reconciliation to
God. That's what salvation is. It
has a negative side in the sense that we're saved from sin. But
it's not just leaving you out there in limbo somewhere. You're
saved to God. Unto God. So when we're saved
from sins, we're saved from that. Where are we saved to? Where
are we brought to? We're brought to God. Reconciliation to God. What does that mean? It means
peace made between God and sinners. Everybody talks about peace on
earth and good will towards men, and they really don't know what
that means. I mean, listen, if Jesus Christ came into this world
to establish peace between people and nations of this earth, I'll
say it right now, he's a failure. You agree with that? Well, read
your newspaper. Because he didn't establish peace
between nations or peace between men even, as far as this world
is concerned. He's talking about peace on earth
between God and sinners to whom God is reconciled. Peace is made. Now, upon what ground is peace
made? It's not upon the ground of our
works. People say, well, you need to make your peace with
God. Well, how are you going to do that? There's got to be a ground
upon which peace is made. There's got to be a common ground
upon which enemies can come together. The Bible says by nature that
we in our minds alienated and enemies from God. How are we
going to come together? There's got to be a common ground.
And I'll tell you what, now God is the offended party in this
thing. And whatever ground it is that brings you together with
God, it must honor Him. Most religions today, they really
don't relate it that way. It's got to really fit you and
honor you and make you feel good. No, no, no. It's got to honor
God. It's got to glorify God. And that's why salvation has
to come from God. Look over in verse 23. Quoting
from the book of Isaiah, chapter 7 here. Isaiah 7, 14. This is a prophecy. The fulfillment
of a prophecy. And he says, Behold a virgin.
shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son. That's a miracle. That's a miracle. Liberal so-called
scholars argue about that and deny it. But that's OK. Let them
go their way. Let the pot shards of the earth
dwell with the pot shards of the earth. A virgin, they say,
that's not a woman who's not been with a man. That's just
a young woman of marriageable age. That's a bunch of bull.
It says what it says. Behold, a virgin shall be with
child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his
name Immanuel. And that being interpreted is
God with us. God, the Word made flesh, dwelt
among us. That's the kind of Savior that
sinners like us have to have. God in human flesh. You see,
his name shall be called Jesus. There are also derivatives of
that name in the Old Testament with the name Jehovah. Jehovah. Jehovah God. Jehovah. Jehovah our peace. Jehovah our
righteousness. Jehovah our healing. The Bible
teaches that because of sin, now it says here, he shall save
his people from their sins. The Bible teaches that because
of our sins, the world deserves and will experience the just
and ultimate wrath of God. That's the wages of sin. The
wages of sin is death. Now let me tell you something
about the wrath of God. The wrath of God is not something
you feel. All right? And it's not something
you really experience in this life, even disasters. I mean,
people say when a disaster comes along, that's the wrath of God.
That may be a measure of God's judgment. But I want to tell
you something, the wrath of God is something you can't even imagine
or experience until God brings you to it under His justice. The only real The only real 100% measure of
the wrath of God that was ever experienced here on this earth
was on the cross of Christ. When our Lord, this Jesus, this
Jesus suffered under the punishment of God's wrath for the sins of
his people. And came to a point in his life
as God-man to say, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Forsaken of God. That's something. Now, when you
talk about sickness or disease, some people might equate that,
well, I'm under God's wrath. Well, you know, even believers
who are not under God's wrath get sick. I had a dear brother
here who passed away, Brother Jim Greenslate. Passed away the
other day. I saw him Thursday. He was in
hospice. And he couldn't breathe. He had one of those tubes, you
know, to help him breathe. And his body just weakened. His voice was just choppy and
he couldn't hardly talk because he couldn't breathe. And yet
there's a man who was not under the wrath of God. And now he's
with his Savior. And that's something. So these
things that are common to everybody, believer and unbeliever, they're
not measures of the wrath of God. The wrath of God will be
experienced by all who die in their sins without Christ. That's when it'll be experienced.
But what does he say here? He says he shall save his people
from their sins. Yes, we need to be saved from
the wrath of God. This book also teaches that salvation
is accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ who delivers God's people
whom he loves from the wrath to come. For as the wages of
sin is death, the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus
Christ our Lord. So what is salvation? You know,
you hear people talk about it today, don't you? People often
speak of getting saved. Getting saved. You hear that?
When did I get saved? When did you get saved? It's
common. Many speak of salvation in other
terms. Like, they'll say, well, accepting Jesus as your personal
Savior. or inviting Jesus into your heart. Now, I'm not up here just to
make fun of people. That's not what I'm doing. I
know about all that. Listen, I was in all that. I
know a lot about that stuff. Personal experience. But here's
the point that I want you to understand. Those statements,
they're not in the Bible. In fact, you won't find anything
like them in the Bible. And what that's done is led so
many people to think wrongly that salvation is some kind of
a one-time event in their lives, something that happened in childhood
or youth when they, quote, gave their heart to Jesus. You know, in the New Testament,
the verb to save appears in virtually every possible tense of the Greek
language. The Bible speaks of Being saved
in the past tense. We have been saved. Ephesians
2.8 is one of those examples. For by grace you are saved. Literally,
that should be, for by grace have you been saved. Through
faith, and that's not of yourselves, it's the gift of God. Not of
works, lest any man should boast. The Bible speaks of being saved. A continual process of being
saved. 1 Corinthians 1.18, those who
are being saved. The preaching of the cross is
the wisdom of God to those who are being saved. It's foolishness
to those who are perishing and the process of perishing. And
that continual aspect of being saved is what that is. That's
a lifetime of being preserved by the grace of God whereby we
persevere by the power of God unto glory. Perseverance of the
saints, they call it. Preservation by the grace of
God. God saves us, God keeps us. We grow in grace and knowledge. We continue to look to Christ.
We grab hold of Christ and we won't let go for dear life. Then the Bible speaks of salvation
in the future tense. We will be saved. That's our
final glory. Paul said, Romans chapter 13,
he said, our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.
Talking about the time either of our death when we go to be
with the Lord and our spirits or the time of final glory in
which all believers will be united with a resurrected spiritual
body. Salvation involves all these
workings of the Lord in eternity and time. But now listen, as
to our own personal experience of salvation, What does the Bible
say? It says, believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. It says, whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Isn't that right?
But now what is it to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? You know, I hear people say,
believe, believe, believe. What is it? What does that mean? What
is it to call upon the name of the Lord Jesus, whosoever now,
And know what it says? Several times. Whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what does
that mean? Does that mean that there's some kind of a magic
in saying the name Jesus? Well, no. We sing that hymn. Take the name of Jesus with you,
child of sorrow and of woe. It will joy and comfort give
you. Take it with you wherever you go. I love that hymn. What
is it to call upon the name of the Lord? What is His name? Well, it says here, His name
shall be called Jesus. Why is it called Jesus? Because
He shall save His people from their sins. That's Savior. Savior. His name is that which
identifies Him and distinguishes Him from everything else or everyone
else. Do you know there are counterfeit
Christ? So when they say the name Jesus,
they're calling upon a counterfeit. There's several people in this
audience here, including this fella up here whose name is Bill.
But all these Bills are different now. Isn't that right? When you say the name Bill, you're
gonna be thinking of one of these Bills here, depending upon who
you are. There's certain things that distinguish
each one from the other. There's several named Ron. We
used to talk about how there's a Ron and there's a Ron and there's
a moron. Now which one's the moron, you
can figure out. But there are certain, those
names, you see, we have the same name, but there are things that
distinguish us and identify us from the other, so that you'll
know who you're talking about. Oh, I'm not talking about that
Bill, I'm talking about this Bill. Well, it's the same thing with
Jesus. Now, here comes a fellow to your door, knocks on the door
and says, I'm here from the Watchtower Society and I want to tell you
about Jesus. Well, who is this Jesus? Well,
He's the best among men. In fact, he was so good that
he was elevated, elevated to some kind of a state in between
deity and humanity, and you can make it too if you follow him.
Now that's not the one that's mentioned here. I'm sorry. That's a counterfeit. And somebody
says, but they're so dedicated. They do more than I do. I wouldn't
go around knocking on doors like that, would you? Yes, but they are dedicated to
an idol. Listen, listen. Read the history
of Israel. Under the wicked king Manasseh. He was a wicked king in Judah.
The people of Judah took little babies and put them on an altar
called Molech, it was an altar like this, shaped like this,
after they would get it so burning hot and put those little babies
on that fire and burn them up. Why? To please their God. I remember watching TV during
the Vietnam War and they'd show Buddhist monks who would sit
in a lotus position pour gasoline on themselves and light the fire
in protest of the Vietnam War. Now tell me about dedication.
Tell me about sincerity. Oh, I want to be dedicated and
I want to be sincere. I want you to be dedicated and
sincere, but not to an idol, to Jesus who shall save his people
from their sins. You see the difference? Jesus
means Savior, means salvation. To believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ is to believe God's testimony concerning Him as revealed in
the doctrine of Christ. Who is Jesus Christ? His name
shall be called Emmanuel, which being interpreted, God with us. Why did He have to be Immanuel? Turn over to Hebrews chapter
2 with me. Why did He have to be Immanuel? He had to be both
God and man. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. One person with two natures.
I can't explain that to you. Listen, He didn't change man
into God and He didn't change God into man. He's God-man with
no mixture of the two natures. I can't explain it to you, but
that's what it is. Well, look at verse 14 of Hebrews 2. He
says, for as much then as the children. Now, who are the children
there? Well, that's the children of
God. That's the elect of God. That's the church of the living
God. That's the sheep. Christ said,
I lay down my life for the sheep. So for as much then as the children
are partakers of flesh and blood, now flesh and blood there has
to do with our physical makeup, our human nature in physical
makeup here, okay? Sometimes when you see the word
flesh, it's talking about sinful flesh, sinful human nature. But
here it's just talking about the body. Christ had to have
a human body. That's what it said. His flesh and blood was without
sin. Ours is not. So he says, partakers of flesh
and blood, he also himself likewise, or in the same way, took part
of the same. Had to have a human body. Now
why did he have to have a human body? Well, it's because God
cannot die. God is spirit. God is life. So
it says that through death, He might destroy him that had the
power of death, that is the devil. Now what is the devil's power
of death that he's talking about there? The devil does not have
the power to kill you unless God allows him to. You understand
what I'm saying? I mean, he has the power to do
it as far as pointing a gun or whatever like that. But he doesn't
have the power to take anybody's life unless God gives it to him.
Read the book of Job sometime. You say, well, that applies to
Job, but not everybody else. No, it's pretty much the same
for all of us. What is the power of death that
the devil has? Well, it's his power as the accuser
of people. Now, what is the wages of sin?
Death. So when the devil looks at you
and says, you're a sinner, Is he right? Well, yeah, I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. Well, what does
sin deserve? What's the wages? Death. But now what if the devil
looks at you or me or anybody and accuses us of sin and the
charge does not stick? Then death doesn't come. And
that's what he's talking about. When the devil charges the people
for whom Christ died, the charge doesn't stick. How do you know
that? Romans chapter 8. Who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who can condemn us? It's Christ
that what? Died. Yea rather is risen again. The charges have been removed.
Now, are you getting this? The charges have been removed.
Now, if you're entering into this, you're beginning to really
grasp hold of the glorious doctrine of imputation. That's how important
it is. Some people don't think it is,
but I do. God charged Christ with the penalty of our sins. And he died to drink damnation
dry. Look at verse 50. And deliver
them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject
to bondage. Look at it. For verily he took
not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of
Abraham. Who's the seed of Abraham? That's
God's elect. That's the church of the living
God. That's the sheep. All who come to faith in Christ.
Verse 17, wherefore in all things it behooved him, I've told you
several times, that word behoove there is the Greek word for debt.
In all things he was indebted to be made like unto his brethren.
Now why was he indebted to be made like his brethren? His brethren,
God's elect. Because our sins were charged
to him. He owed the debt. You see, if
you don't have Christ as your Savior, You owe a debt to God's
law and justice that you cannot pay. And when the devil charges
you, the charges stick. If you don't have Christ now.
But if you have Christ, God set it up before the foundation of
the world. Made Christ your surety and substitute. Chose you in
Him and charged Him with your debt. Him having been charged
with your debt, it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren. He had to be Emmanuel, God with
Him. The Word had to become flesh.
In order that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest. Merciful
because that's the source of all of God's dealings with His
people. It's mercy. And faithful because
there were conditions to be met. Christ had to be faithful to
meet those conditions. You see, the conditions are not
on you or on me, they're on Christ. And so he had to become a human
being in that sense, God in human flesh, in order to be a merciful
and faithful high priest. You know what the high priest
does, he brings a sacrifice into the holiest of all and presents
it before God for the people. In things pertaining to God to
make reconciliation, propitiation, peace for the sins of his people. You see that? That's why. So He's Emmanuel, God with us. You know what that means? That
means He's able to save to the uttermost them that come unto
the Father by Him. That means we can say with the
Apostle Paul, I know whom I have believed and I'm persuaded that
He is able to keep that which I've committed unto Him against
that day. It's all His ability. Now, Matthew 1.21 says he shall
save his people from their sins. He's going to save us from missing
the mark. How does he do that? Well, three ways. Number one,
he saves us from the penalty of sin. We've already talked
about that. What is sin's penalty? It's death. That's justice from
God. To be saved from the penalty of sin is to be justified before
God. Justified based on The righteousness
of God in Christ imputed, charged to us. In Christ, we are washed
in His blood. What can wash away my sins? Nothing
but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole? You see,
nothing can pay the debt except His blood. That's the price.
That's the redemption price. It's called redemption. That
means he paid the price. He paid it in full. He didn't
pay part and then leave the rest up to you or me. We'd be doomed
if he did. He paid it all. Jesus paid it
all. All the debt I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain.
He washed it white as snow. In Christ, listen to this, in
Christ we have a righteousness that equals all the demands,
all the conditions, all the requirements, all the stipulations, all the
claims of God's justice in full. I mean there's not even a chink
in the armor there. In Christ we have a righteousness
that equals His because it is His. It's the righteousness of
the God-man. It's called the righteousness
of God. I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It's the power
of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first,
the Greek also, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed. It becomes ours first by imputation. That's an act of God. And then
it becomes ours by faith in Christ. Look at Romans chapter 10. Romans chapter 10, verse 4. Romans 10 and verse 4. For Christ
is the end, the fulfillment, the finishing, the perfection
of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. You
see, my believing is not my righteousness. Christ is, and I believe in him. See the difference? Faith has
an object. The object is Christ, the Lord
our righteousness. Jesus, who saved me from my sin. So Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believe it. Look down at
verse nine. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord
Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God raised him from
the dead. Now you know what that means? That God raised him from
the dead? That means righteousness has
been fulfilled. Sin demands death. Sin imputed to him demanded his
death. Righteousness established by
him demanded his life. He came out of the grave. He
rose again. Why? Because righteousness has been
established. The gift of God is righteousness
unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. So believe in thine
heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be
saved. For with the heart man believeth under righteousness,
and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. So as
our sins became his by imputation, a legal accounting to him, his
righteousness becomes ours. He was made sin, Christ who knew
no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him
so that we can say there is therefore now no condemnation to them which
are in Christ. And it was there that he judicially
bore our sins in his own body on the tree. So we're saved from
the penalty of sin. Secondly, we're saved from the
power of sin. Now how are we saved from the
power of sin? Turn over to Romans chapter 6. Now when I say we're saved from
the power of sin, I don't mean by that that we're saved from
any power in ourselves to sin. Or the power of sinning. Remember, there are only two
kinds of people in this world. Sinners lost in their sins and
sinners saved by the grace of God. If you're a child of God,
if you're a believer, saved by the grace of God, washed clean
from all your sins, righteous in Christ, you're still a sinner.
I mean, you still have sinful thoughts. I know you do. I can
tell. It's like looking in a mirror
to me. You do. We do. We have sinful
thoughts. We have sinful ideas. We have
wayfaring thoughts. We have evil thoughts, motives,
desires. You still have sinful desires.
I know you do. If you're human, and I do too,
you're not safe from that power. Look over here in verse 7 of
Romans 6. He says, for he that is dead is freed from sin. That
means justified. Now that's talking about being
saved from the penalty of sin. I'm saved from the penalty of
sin. That's what being saved means. I'm justified before God.
I'm righteous in Christ. But now look over at Romans 7
and verse 14. Paul says here, Romans 7 and
verse 14, For we know that the law was spiritual, but I'm carnal,
sold under sin. Now a lot of people say, well
that means Paul before he was saved. Oh no. Oh no. In fact, right there, up until
that point, he's been speaking of the past tense, now he speaks
in the present tense, and then he begins to speak of a struggle
within himself. I want to be like Christ. I want
to follow God. I want to be perfect in my thoughts,
sinless in my thoughts, but I cannot. I'm a slave. I'm not saved from
the power of sinning. I'm still a sinner. I want to
be like Christ, but I cannot. The flesh will not let me. I
still have the sinful passions. So what does it mean to be saved
from the power of sin? We'll look back up at Romans
6 there at verse 17. He says, but God be thanked.
Now look at verse 17. Romans 6, 17. But God be thanked
that you were the servants, slaves to sin. Now that is an unbeliever. That's an unregenerate One who
has not been born again by the Holy Spirit. But you have obeyed
from the heart. The heart is the mind, the affections,
the will. That form of doctrine which was
delivered you. That's the gospel of Christ.
The gospel of God's grace. Being then made free from sin,
you became the servants of righteousness. That's a believer. That's a sinner
saved by the grace of God clinging to Christ. That's what that is. A servant of righteousness. We
serve Christ, who is our righteousness. Let me show you one more verse
here. 2 Corinthians chapter 4. How are we delivered from the
power of sin? Well, sin at one time had the
power to deceive you and keep you in the darkness of unbelief. But now that power is removed.
It's not that you don't still have struggles with unbelief,
but now you are enabled by the Lord, by the power of God, to
do what? To look to Christ. To believe
in Him. to rest in Him. Look at verse
3 of 2 Corinthians 4. But if our gospel be hid, it's
hid to them that are lost, in whom the God of this world hath
blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of
the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should
shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves,
but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus'
sake. You see, at one time you were blinded in your mind, to
the glory of God, to the reality of sin in yourself, and to the
way of salvation in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. But what happened?
Look at verse 6. For God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. You've been brought to faith
in Christ. That's the only way that you and I have been saved
from the power of sin. That's right. Somebody says,
well now you can quit this or quit that. You may have quit
this and quit that, but you're still, let me tell you something,
you still cannot be perfect in yourself. Because you haven't
been delivered from that power. You won't be delivered from that
power until you die and go to be with the Lord. But here's
what we can by the power of the Spirit do. We can look to Christ.
We can rest in Him. We can plead His blood and His
righteousness as our only hope of salvation. We sang in that
hymn a while ago, He cleansed my heart from all its sin. You
remember singing that? He cleansed my heart from all
its sin. Does that mean that I no longer in my heart have
any thoughts of sin or any desires for sin? No. How does He cleanse
my heart from all its sin? He washes it clean in the blood
of Christ. That's right. He draws my heart
out to Christ as the Lord my righteousness, my only hope and
plea. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. There was a time that I didn't
know that and didn't believe it, you see. But I've been saved
from the power of sin in that sense. And then lastly, we'll
be saved from the presence of sin. But now that's future. Look
at 1 Corinthians 15 and I'll close with this. Christ saves
us from the penalty of sin, that's our justification before God.
He saves us from the power of sin, that's our new birth, regeneration
and conversion by the Holy Spirit where we are brought to faith
in Christ and repentance. He will save us from the presence
of sin, the influence of sin. That speaks of our glorification
with Him in eternity when He comes the second time. We're
preserved by the power of God in Christ and the final glory.
Look at verse, 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Look over at verse,
let me turn the page here. Yeah, verse 51. Or verse 50,
he says, now this I say, 1 Corinthians 15, 50. This I say, brethren,
that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Neither doth
corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery.
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment. In the twinkling of an eye, the
last trumpet shall sound. That's talking about the second
coming of Christ. The dead shall be raised up incorruptible, and
we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put
on incorruption. And this mortal must put on immortality. What's he talking about? He's
talking about our spiritual glorified body, united with our spirits. And he says in verse 54, so when
this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal
shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass
the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. O
death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin. The strength of sin is the law,
but thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ. All right.