The Apostles' Creed. And it says there in verse 4,
you know, they were arguing about how men were going to be saved.
And when they come to Jerusalem, they received of the church and
of the apostles and elders. And said, we go up to Jerusalem
and see what the apostles have to say about this. And you know
when the apostles, the apostles wrote this book in New Testament.
And so when they spoke, people listened. They took what they
had to say very, very seriously. And Simon Peter was one who was
very, very close to the Lord Jesus Christ. And I guess you'd
call this the first Bible conference or the first council. And there
were some men there who did not understand what Christ accomplished
by His death and His resurrection. They didn't understand that He
came to save all men from their sin, to fulfill the law, honor
it, magnify it, satisfy God's justice, put away His people's
sin, and ascend to the right hand of God and sit there for
eternity until He comes back and gets us, sitting on the right
hand of God. But there were God's apostles,
Peter, Paul, Barnabas, and James. And this gathering of the apostles,
and the elders, and the others, was what men have been doing
since the Garden of Eden. Trying to determine how a sinner
is going to be saved. Ain't that what they said in
verse 1? And certain men, which came down
from Judea, taught the brethren. and said now this is what they
said except you be circumcised after the manner of Moses you
cannot be saved they made that emphatic statement except you
be circumcised after the manner of Moses go under the law go
under works you can't be saved so they were debating like How
in the world is a man going to be saved? How is God going to
save him? How does God save a rebel? How
does God save a sinner? These fellows said all they had
to do was be circumcised and everything would be okay. They'd
be accepted of God. But ever since Cain and Abel,
Abel went before God with a blood sacrifice with a lamb. He was
accepted of God. God bare witness. God testified
of Abel's sacrifice. And Cain, he approached God on
the basis of what he had accomplished. What he had done. With the works
that he had. He came with the works of his
hands. The fruit of his labor. And God cursed him. And said
no man is going to lay hands on him. He is going to go all
the days of his life under a curse. Then they said down here in verse
6, excuse me, verse 5, But there rose up certain of the sect of
the Pharisees which believed, saying that it was needful, needful, to circumcise them and
to command them to keep the law of Moses. Well, Peter, Paul,
Barnabas, true soldiers of the cross, through soldiers of the
Lord Jesus Christ, refuse to believe that, refuse to bow down
the need to that teaching, to that yoke of salvation by laws
and circumcisions and works. And they refuse to believe it.
They refuse to bow down to it. And they argued about it and
disputed about it. But look what Simon Peter says
down here now in verse 11. Now they went up to the apostles
to settle this question. They went up to Jerusalem to
the apostles and said we're going to settle this question once
and for all. We're going to answer this question. How in the world
is God going to save a sinner? Is it going to be by circumcision,
by Moses and keeping of the law or is it going to be something
else? Well look what Simon Peter said. But we believe that through
the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we should be saved even as they. That should have ended the subject,
but men are still fighting over the same things. And what they're
saying is, and Peter declared this, we believe, this is the
apostles doctrine. We believe it's the Apostles'
Creed. We believe that through the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ we should be saved. And what he's saying
is salvation is by grace, not Moses. Salvation is by grace,
not works. Salvation is by grace, not circumcision. Salvation is by grace, not by
the fruit of your own labors. And grace alone through Christ
alone. That's what he's saying. And
we dare not tell men in any other way. Look what he said here in
verse 10. He said, now therefore why tempt
ye God? That's what Simon Peter says,
to bring people under the law. in any shape, form, or fashion. Bring them to where they're trusting
in anything that they do, any work they accomplished, anything
they've ever done. What he says is, now therefore
why tempt you God to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples
which neither we, our fathers, were able to bear? all right now look what they
look at their confession of faith the Apostles confession of faith
there in verse 11 this is why this is this the Apostle this
is the long and short of the Apostles Creed this is the Apostles
confession but we believe first thing they said this is we believe
me Paul James John all the Apostles we believe we believe it's not
our opinion This is not our feelings about it. It's not our thoughts
about it. You know, he didn't say, now
you fellows under Moses, you want to be saved your way? You
do it that way and we'll be saved this way, but we're all going
to end up in the same place. That's not what he said. No,
no. We will be saved. We believe. We believe. We all believe, we apostles believe,
that what do you say? That through grace, through the
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now I want you to see something,
look over in 1 Peter chapter 3 with me in verse 15. I want
you to look at something there with me. If I had a creed or a confession
of faith from the Bible, I would go to Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53. When you read Isaiah 53, it's
impossible to read that and not see how God saves the sinner
through the Lord Jesus Christ. Through who He was and what He
did and what He accomplished. Who hath believed our preaching?
Who hath believed our report? Well, I believed it when I heard
it. When God blessed me to hear it, I believed the preaching.
What was that preaching? That I rooed out of dry ground,
that this comes this man, and this man that came forth God
said, there's no beauty about him that we should desire, no
comeliness about him that we should see. And I tell you, then
he says, but this man was wounded for our transgressions. He led
as a lamb to the slaughter and was wounded for our transgressions,
bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was laid upon him. And it pleased the Lord to bruise
him. He made his soul an offering for sin. And God saw the travail of his
soul and was satisfied. And that's beloved. And so we're
talking about a confession of faith. These fellows had a confession,
so we believe. Look what the apostle said here
in 1 Peter 3.15. But sanctify the Lord God in
your hearts. Now what in the world does it
mean to sanctify God in your hearts? What does that mean?
We're going to make God holy? We're going to make Him holier
than He is, purer than He is? No, it means set the Lord apart
in your hearts, in your minds. There ain't but one God and one
Father, the Lord Jesus Christ. There ain't but one God by whom
men are saved. One God that this Bible represents
and teaches us about. So you set this God apart and
you're not another God. Don't set your works apart. Don't
set your laws apart. Don't set your baptism apart.
You set God apart in your thinking, in your heart. That this is my
hope. This is what I believe. And look what he goes on to say.
And when you do that, be ready always to give an answer. To
every man that asks you a reason of the hope. And that's what
we're dealing with over here. What's your hope? What are you
talking about? What are you looking at? And look what he says here. And if ever man ask you a reason
of the hope that you have that's in you, you answer with meekness
and fear. Meekness and fear. And this,
you know, so the apostle says, we believe that through the grace,
through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when they say
they believe in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, they didn't
believe in ritualism. You know, in Under the law they
had all kinds of rituals, washings and things. And me and St. Peter was the first Pope. What would you think his reaction
would be today if they said, well he's the first Pope. What
would you think about that? I know the Pope don't believe
in salvation by grace. Catholic Church don't believe
in salvation by grace. They believe in rituals and hocus
and pocus. That's what they believe in.
They got a lollipop. Tim James said they got a lollipop
of stickers that they hold out. But they didn't believe in ritualism.
No, no. They didn't believe that if you
just ate a wafer, or a piece of bread and took a cup of wine
that that would save you. They didn't believe that. They
didn't believe that when a man got baptized in water that that
saved him. They didn't believe that a fellow
didn't eat certain things and did eat certain things that that
wouldn't save him. They didn't believe if he drank
certain things and didn't drink certain things that that wouldn't
save him. They didn't believe that circumcision had anything
to do with salvation. They didn't believe that in divers
washings and all the cardinal ordinances and fleshly ordinances,
they said we believe that through grace. I tell you when they done that,
they rejected self-righteousness. Oh my! You hear what these fellas
said? They shipped you to be circumcised?
And after the manner of Moses, you can't be saved. You can't be saved. That's a
strong statement. That's a tough statement. You
cannot be saved. Now who in the world has got
the right to tell a man who can be saved and who cannot be saved?
These fellows said unless you do what we do and act the way
we do and do the things that we do, that's impossible for
you to be saved. I know one thing, one thing that
a man has to do, well I shouldn't say do, believe. in order to
be saved, and that's to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and
Him alone. You reject Christ, you reject
God's way. And they rejected self-righteousness. They said, oh no, no, that's
self-righteous. You're telling me these people
can't be saved? You're telling me these men who
believed on the Lord Jesus Christ can't be saved? Unless they go
back under them rituals? Unless they go back under them
laws? Unless they go back to works? Paul said, Oh, who has
mesmerized you? For whom Christ has been evidently
sent forth from you? Who bewitched you? Did you receive
the Spirit by the works of the law? Or did you receive the Spirit
by the hearing of faith? Did you do something for the
Holy Spirit to come on you? Or did He come and bring you
faith and cause you to believe? They didn't believe that this
business here, worship your God according to your conscience.
And as long as you're sincere, you'll be alright. Walk according
to your light. That's what they meant when they
said they need full circumcision and command them to keep the
Law of Moses. But duh, the Apostle says this, you're saved. You're
saved. But you know how we're saved?
By a gift. By something God does something
for you. By a gift. By grace. Not of wages. If you work, then you receive
wages. If you give a gift, that's of
grace. Life is a gift. Christ is a gift. Love is a gift. Salvation is
a gift. Everything God does for us, He
has to give it to us. You ever earned anything from
God? I've never ever earned a blessing. You know why I know I haven't
earned a blessing? Because it says that all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places are in Christ Jesus. And I tell you something else
about us. We're so sorry. We're so sorry that if God doesn't
bless us, beloved, we wouldn't be blessed. He blesses us in
spite of ourselves. Ain't that right? Oh my. And I tell you it's not of wages.
Look what Paul said over here in Romans 4.4. Look what the
Apostle said over here. Oh, I say, And that's why these fundamentalists
and these religionists, they preach so much on rewards. They
preach so much on rewards. They're trying to tell people
if you'll do this and you'll do that. The more you do, the
more rewards you get. Well, I tell you what, I've done
been rewarded. God gave me His blessed Son.
That's enough for me. Just to get to go to glory and
see Him and be with Him, that's enough for me. I don't need no
crowns. Just as long as I can go be with
Him. Worship Him. Delight in Him. Bow to Him. Spend eternity with
Him. Oh my, what would anybody want
any more than that? But that's what they try to do.
They try to get you to do something so you can get more awards than
somebody else. Get more crowns than somebody
else. That's self-righteousness. That's
works religion. I'm going to get more crowns
than you do. I worked harder than you. I'm going to have a
mansion next door to Jesus is how much I've done. But oh my, look what he said
here in verse 3, Romans 4, 3. For what saith the Scriptures,
Abraham believed God. and it was counted unto him for
righteousness now listen to this now to him that worketh is the
reward is not of grace not counted as grace but is counted as a
debt oh my you want you want God to pay you wages when you
get to the end of the way look what he says now but to
him that worketh not but believes believeth on him that justifies
the ungodly his faith is counted for righteousness perish ye thought
of human pride let God alone be magnified and I'll tell you
something else they didn't believe when we go back over here in
our text for by grace but we believe that through the grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ we should be saved even as they This tells us that they didn't
believe in salvation by man's free will. Ain't that right? If he says we believe that we're
saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, well then
that means that you're not saved by your own will. Ain't that
right? Look what he said here in verse
7. And when there had been much
disputing, men rose up and said unto them, Men and brethren,
you know how that, listen to this, a good while ago, God made
choice among us. He didn't say, now I'm gonna
go down there and see if they're willing. I'm gonna go over here
and see who's gonna be willing. I'm gonna go over here and see
if anybody will let me save them. No, no, they preach grace, free
grace, sovereign grace. God made the choice. And look
what he says that they should do, that the Gentiles should
by my mouth, listen to this, hear the word of the gospel.
hear the word of the gospel hear that good news the gospel and
listen to this and then when they hear it they believed oh
as many as were ordained to eternal life what did they say they did
they believed they believed let me show you an Ephesians I want
you to see Ephesians 1 with me Ephesians 1 you know this You know the idea, the very thought,
the very thought that a man could keep God from doing anything
by his choice or by his will or by his power. What kind of God could be controlled
by a man? He certainly wouldn't be fit
to worship with him. He wouldn't be fit to be believed.
That makes me to be one with all the power. He don't. But
look what he said here in Ephesians 1.12. Talking about they didn't
believe in salvation by man's free will. That we should be
to the praise of his glory. who first trusted in Christ,
in whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation, in whom after that you believed,
you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. So they believed
in the free grace of God, not by the will of man. It's not
of him that willeth, it's not of him that runneth, but it's
of God that showeth mercy. You remember, I don't know if
you all remember this or not, but I'm sure you do. When Absalom
got killed, David wanted to know what happened to his son Absalom.
Absalom tried to take David's throne away from him. Well, there
was one man that they said, you run, and you run over and tell
David what happened to his son. Because you're the fastest, your
brother can run, you run over there, run all the way, and when
you get to David, you tell him what happened. to his son. Well,
this other fellow was standing by. He said, oh, let me run. Let me run. Let me go. He said,
all right, take off. So he took off and he beat that
other fellow over there. And when he got there, he said,
David, even them fellows said, that's so-and-so running. I see
him. I know who that is. He got there and said, what happened
to my son Absalom? He didn't have a clue. He didn't
know. He ran. And he willed to run,
and he ran, but he didn't have a word to say. The other fellow was told to
run, and when he got there, he said, what happened to my son
Absalom? He's the one with the message. And so, I tell you what, the
will of God is the one in this business of salvation. And if
a man's gonna run, he better have something to say. If he's
gonna run and nothing to say, he just will keep his mouth shut.
Ain't that right? That's why our Lord Jesus Christ
said it this way. As many as received Him, to them
He gave the power to become the sons of God. Which were born. Which were born. Born of who? Born of God. Not by blood, not
by the will of man, not by the will of flesh, but of God. And I tell you what, if anybody
by his own will begat he us with the word of truth. And so I'm
telling you, they didn't believe in man's salvation by man's free
will. And that's the God of this age. I believe that is the God of
this age. It's man's rights, man's powers,
man's Let's look closely. Let's break
this down. The Apostles Creed here. Let's
break this down. This is verse 11. When they said,
We believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall
be saved, even as they. This reveals many, many blessed
truths. The first thing it reveals is
how ruined, how lost man really is. He said we should be saved.
We should be saved. That tells us that salvation
is something someone needs. If we shall be saved, that means
that a man, if he's got to be saved by someone outside of himself,
that means that he's in bad, bad, bad, bad shape. Ain't that
right? It means there's three R's. I don't know if you, I know you've
heard of the three R's. Ruined. Ruined. What happened
when Adam fell? He ruined everything. He ruined
everything. He ruined every man that would
ever be born from his loins. They are ruined by sin. They
are ruined by nature. They are ruined by practice. Their will and their nature is
to do one thing, sin. They cannot do anything but that. Ruined. Why do we need to be
saved? Because we are ruined. Ruined. How bad are you ruined? I can't
tell you how bad. I can't tell you how bad. And
then there's the other R. That first one, you know, tells
you that you're dead. You're spiritually dead. Unable to do anything. And then
there's redemption. And redemption, if a man just
must be saved, well then somebody's got to pay his sin debt. Somebody's
got to, somebody's got to pay that sin debt. Either you're
going to pay it throughout eternity, suffering under the wrath of
God, or somebody else is going to pay for it, who God Himself
set the price for. Well, God set the price, the
blood of His blessed Son, the obedience of His blessed Son.
The death of His blessed Son, the blood shedding of His blessed
Son. Will our Lord Jesus Christ come here and by His own precious
blood obtain eternal redemption for us? And then the third R
is this. We're ruined. We can't save ourselves.
Can't save ourselves. Christ paid our sin. He paid
a debt that He did not owe. And he bought us, bought us lock,
stock and barrel with his own precious blood. And then because
of that, the Holy Spirit comes and sends the Holy Spirit and
gives us new heart, new life, gives us a new understanding,
gives us the spiritual birth, that new birth that only God
can do. And so they didn't believe in man's free will. And then
they believe the doctrine of grace. What they said, we believe
that through grace. Grace, oh, just a charming sound. I tell you what, it suits me.
That word grace suits me. Oh, how it suits me. This is what the sinner needs.
This is what, whether he knows it or not, this suits what we
need. What do we need? If we can't
save ourselves, then somebody else has got to save us. And
how is God going to save us? For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, not of works, lest any man should
boast. And so, beloved, it suits the
sinner. Grace meets every need you got. Grace comes to where you are.
You know, people say, well, when did you come to grace? We didn't
come to grace. Grace came to us. The grace of
God that brings, brings, brings salvation. And this grace was
given us in Christ before the world began. God who has saved
us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our
words. Not according to our holiness, but according to the grace given
us in Christ Jesus before the world ever began. Grace, grace,
grace, grace, grace and peace to you and to the praise of the
glory of God. Look over in 2 Corinthians 8
and 9. Hey, look here. Look in 2 Corinthians.
I want you to see this. Look over here in chapter 8 and
verse 9. Look what it says right here. Look what it says here. For you know the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ. You know it. You know the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know it? what he says,
that though he was rich, oh how rich, the earth is the Lord and
the fullness thereof. He is rich in glory, rich in
grace, rich in wisdom, rich in power, that though he was rich
he had heaven's glory and yet for your sakes he became poor. He come born of a virgin, laid
in a manger, and was poor all the days of his life. And he
became poor. Listen to this, that ye, through
his poverty, through him becoming nothing, in our room instead,
that he turn around and you might be rich. People count, you know, you can
go to the bank, you can look at your bank statement and say,
boy, this boy, I'm in pretty good shape. Well, I'll tell you
what, I look at this, and I don't have to look at the bank account
to see how wealthy I am. I see how rich I am in Christ. I'd spend what I got just in
a, like that, snap your finger. But oh my, you know how rich
I am? in the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh
my. And then not only that, but we're
going to have eternal riches. We've got a place reserved for
us. You ever went to any place where they had a table reserved
with your name on it? I've got a place to go that's
got my name on it, and God put my name there, and Christ got
the place seated for me, and everything where I'm going to
sit, and everything I'm going to eat, and everything I'm going
to do, already been reserved for me. So they're not going to be surprised
when I get there. I will be, but they won't. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto thy name give glory for thy mercy and thy truth's
sake. There's something else that they
believed. They believed in the substitutionary death of the
Lord Jesus Christ. They said, we believe that we
shall be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Huh? Oh my. Going to be saved by grace. Through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Well, how'd this grace come to us? It came to us in the Lord
Jesus Christ. God gave it to us justly. God
gave it to us righteously. How? Through the death of His
blessed Son. Thank God that our Lord Jesus
Christ came and died to put away the sin of His elect people so
that they could sit here and hear the Gospel today. Look,
Simon Peter, you're talking about somebody who knew something about
grace. Simon Peter knew something about grace. Paul knew something
about grace. Oh, listen. You know, in Matthew
16, Simon Peter, our Lord Jesus said, The Son of Man must go
up to Jerusalem and be delivered into the hands of sinners and
must suffer and must rise again on the third day. Well, Simon
Peter retched and got a hold of him. and said, Lord, be it
far from thee that this should happen. You know what our Lord
said to him? Get thee behind me, Satan. You enjoy the things of men and
not the things of God. Oh my. And then he come along
and our Lord Jesus Christ said, all of you are going to deny
me. Oh no, no, no, not me. Everybody else may. Lord, I won't
deny you. Simon Peter said, in fact, if
you go to prison, I'll go to prison with you. If you die,
I'll die with you. Our Lord looked him square in
the eye and with us. I think with a sadness in his
voice. I think with a sadness in his voice. He looked at Simon
Peter and said, Simon, Simon, Simon. Satan has sought to sift
you as wheat. And I prayed for you. That your
faith fell not. And before the rooster crows
in the morning, you're going to deny me three times. not me. And then Paul the apostle,
one who was on his way with warrants in his pocket. You know, if the
sheriff comes after me with a warrant, I'm going, I got to go with him.
He comes and shows me a warrant. Listen, I got to arrest you.
I'm going to take you to jail. Well, that's what Paul had. He
had warrants in all of his pockets. He was going up there to take
men and women and children and arrest them. And he had a bunch
of Pharisees and a bunch of people with him. And they're going to
take these people and put them in jail. And even hell, some
of them, cause them to die. But on his way this time with
his pockets full of warrants, there was a light above the brightness
of the sun. hit him so hard in the eyes that
he went blind. Blinded him. Three days he was
blind. He was down in the dirt. Laying in the dirt. This proud
Pharisee who hated Jesus Christ. Down in the dirt. And a voice
spoke. Saul, Saul, why persecutes thou
me? Who art thou? And then he had
a capital there. Who art thou Lord? I am Jesus
of Nazareth, whom you persecute. He said, Lord, what would you
have me to do? We always say I am what I am
by the grace of God, but the scriptures actually say it this
way. By the grace of God, I am what I am. That's how it says
it. And I'll tell you what, Simon
Peter, when our Lord Jesus Christ, you know what he said over in
Mark? He said now, You go, I'm going to go to Galilee and I'm
going to meet you all over in Galilee after his resurrection.
You tell Simon in Nebraska and I'll meet him
over in Galilee. He made sure that I want Simon Peter to know
I'm going to see him over there. I believe Simon Peter I believe
that he embraced the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Lord Jesus Christ
embraced him. It's like the father and the
prodigal. I believe Simon Peter fell on the Lord Jesus' neck
and wept like a whipped dog, and the Lord Jesus Christ embraced
him. And Simon Peter's heart and conscience
just went quiet and still. and he blessed the Lord. Oh my,
thank God for grace. And then something else they
believe, they believe in the final perseverance of the saints.
It says we shall be saved. Not we think we will be, not
we hope we will be, we might be, but we shall be saved. In Bundy's Pilgrim's Progress,
They had a woman in Bunyan's apartment called Miss Much Afraid.
She was afraid of everything. She was just a very timid person,
Miss Much Afraid. She was a diffident type person.
She was real quiet and everything scared her. And then there's
old Mr. Doubting. He walked with a crutch all the
days of his life. Always walked with a crutch. Well, when they got to the river
to go from this side over to Emmanuel's land, old Mr. Gowdy threw his crutch away and
away he went. You know, Miss Muchafraid, she
stepped out there in the water and she done like this and done
like this and done like this. And she thought, boy, I'm going
to drown, I'm going to drown. And then all of a sudden her feet
landed on a big old rock. We start out on the rock. Let me ask you this, would you
swap your faith for anybody you know? Would you swap your faith for
anybody? No, you wouldn't dare. You know
why? Because this is what God gave
you. That's what God gave you. And we don't have an uncertain
salvation. He which hath begun a good work
in you, he shall perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ. I give
unto them eternal life. And they, those my sheep, shall
never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
We shall be saved. Every child of God is going to
persevere till they get to glory. Every single one of them. You
say, well I know some folks that quit. If you can quit, you will. And if you can't, you won't.
Can you not believe? Can you not not believe? Quit believing! Just quit! Oh, look what these religionist
confessions. I'll hurry. I've got to wind
this thing up. Thank God. I know whom I have believed and
I am persuaded that He's able to keep that which I've committed
unto Him against that day. Oh, He'll keep it. He'll keep
it. And you know what I committed to Him? My soul. My soul. My eternal life. Everything that
I am is His. I gave Him my soul. Because He
bought and paid for it. And I willingly, gladly give
myself up to Him. Look what it says now. Watch
how these religionists, their confession of faith. It says
there in verse 1, And certain men which came down from Judea
taught the brethren, and said, Except you be circumcised like
us, you can't be saved. You can't be saved. You know
what our Master said? The publicans and harlots go
in before you do. You've got to see this. Back
here in John chapter 9. I will, I'll get through here
in a minute. Look over here in John chapter
9. I want you to look in verse 24. This is where our Lord healed
that man that was born blind. You know, except you be like
us, you can't be saved. Except you be like us. And look what he said here in
verse 9 and verse 24. Pharisees, now the Pharisees,
they're asking this man what happened to him. Then again,
they called the man that was blind and he said unto him, give
God the praise. We know that this man, they're
talking about the Lord Jesus Christ, is a sinner. And the
answer said, whether he be a sinner or no, I know not. One thing
I know, that were as I was blind, now I see. Then say they to him
again, what did he to thee, how opened he thine eyes? He answered
them, I have told you already, and you did not listen. Wherefore
would you hear it again? Listen to this, will you also
be his disciples? They reviled him, and said, thou
art his disciple, but listen to it now, We are Moses' disciples. We know that God spake unto Moses,
as for this fella, we know not from which he is. Oh my. Actual religion is confession
of faith. They'll believe anybody but the Lord Jesus Christ. Have you ever seen these tracts
that's called insurance policies? Have you ever seen these tracts
called insurance policies? You know, you ask, you believe, and
you confess, sign this insurance policy and you're guaranteed
this insurance policy will get you into eternity. Oh my! They taught something
entirely different than what the apostles taught. Look at
verse 11 again here in action. I'll wind this thing up. They taught something that you
know, except you'd be circumcised and keep the law of Moses, you
can't be saved. Look what he said here. that through the grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved. You know, they're talking
about them. You've got to be saved like us.
Peter says, we shall be saved, even as God saved these Gentiles. As God saved these men we're
talking about. You know, I tell you what, any
man who's ever saved, he's going to be saved God's way. He's going
to be saved God's way. He said, you know, they talk
about them. What about you? What about you? You have to be
saved like we do. Like the worst can be saved.
You know, our Lord Jesus Christ, when he was on the cross, you
know who he saved? He saved a thief. Saved a thief. Today, thou shalt be with me
in paradise. And all men came from one blood
through Adam. And let me tell you this, if
you've been a good son, wonderful. If you've been a good husband,
wonderful. If you've been a good father,
wonderful. If you've been a good worker,
thank God for it. But listen to me, don't trust
it for your salvation or your acceptance with God. Don't think
for a minute that your goodness in any way will serve as your
acceptance in God. Huh? Oh my! What's your confession
of faith? Well, I'll tell you what mine is. See if you're the
same way. We shall be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Even His name! Even His name! What else can a sinner, what
else can a God-made sinner claim but salvation by grace? Our badness don't keep God from
saving us. Our goodness don't cause God
to save us. Our poorness has nothing to do
with it. Our ignorance, none of those
things make any difference. Salvation's by grace. And those
apostles didn't have any halos over their head. Paul said, he said, I'm the chief
of sinners. We'll quit with this. Here's
pardon for transgressions past. It matters not how black they're
cast. And oh my soul, with wonder view
for sins to come. Here's pardon too. You know what? I believe the
apostles. I believe exactly what the apostles believe. I've told
you this before. You can go through history and
find every place where man brought in some kind of a salvation,
some kind of a work, where it started with a man. You can go
find in history where something started with a man. But when
it comes to the gospel, when it comes to the grace of God
and salvation by Christ, This is the only place you'll find
that. Our Father, the precious, precious
name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you, Lord. Blessed be your
name. And Lord Jesus, thank you for
the grace that's given to us through you, because of you,
And Lord Jesus, we thank you that your grace is full, is free,
and is sovereign. It goes where it will, saves
whom it will, keeps whom it will. Father, we bless you and praise
you for it. Cause this gospel to have fruit. Cause it to bring
forth fruit to your glory. We ask in Christ's name. Amen. Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now Sing this last verse for the
last. T'was grace that taught my heart
to fear. Amen. See you tonight, six o'clock. God will.