Through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, we pray, amen. We miss Krista today. I guess she's still in the hospital, is that correct? I think pneumonia. Dizziness that sort of thing and I'm sorry she is sick. We certainly do Miss her Also, I want to tell you that brother can pack Who broke his hip? back during the ice age He Had to go back in the hospital this past week. And now he's down here at Woodland Oaks, back in the rehab section. So if any of y'all want to stop by and see him, I'm sure he would welcome your visit. He's back there in room eight. So he would appreciate a visit.

And then also Mary Nelson is having a procedure Is that Wednesday? I think that's a heart procedure that she's having, and be prayerful for her. Danita, what day are you? Tuesday. Tuesday. Where are you going to have that? Cabel. Cabel. All right. Hope that goes well for you. And then I think Ann Thompson had a bad fall. cut her head. So be remembering Anne in prayer. Go back to Psalm 21. I read to you just a little bit ago out of Luke 15.

And the Lord Jesus, in giving this illustration, this story, of seeking and finding grace, because this is one big parable with three parts, where the lost is found, the lost sheep, lost coin, lost son. And the Savior said that the owner of the sheep, The shepherd, he said, rejoice with me. For I have found my sheep, which was lost. It's a time of joy. I got to thinking about that. What's the most joyful word in the Bible? What's the happiest word in the Bible? I believe it's the word saved. That's a happy word, isn't it? Saved.

It's used in the scriptures to set forth the state and condition of those people who have been brought into a living union of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We read in 2 Timothy 1, God hath saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. And we rejoice in that passage in Ephesians 2 that about all of us can quote, for by grace are you saved through faith. And that's not of yourselves. It's a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. To be saved is a wonderful thing. It's a joyful thing. Because if you have experienced God's salvation in your soul by the power of His grace, you're made to rejoice in Christ Jesus. Who of God has been made unto you wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption? that according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. What is it to be saved? Well, it's to be loved with an everlasting love, and it's to be chosen by God unto salvation. What is it to be saved?

It's to be redeemed. It's to be reconciled to God. It's to be justified by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. What is it to be saved? It's to be born again and called by the Holy Spirit to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. What is it to be saved? It's to be forgiven of all of your sins, past, present, future. What is it to be saved? It's to be absolutely freed from the curse of God's love. What is it to be saved? It's to be delivered from any possibility and all possibilities of condemnation. What is it to be saved? It's to be at peace with a holy God. What is it to be saved? It's to have right now everlasting life. What is it to be saved?

It's to have eternal life, which means to know God and Jesus Christ, whom He hath sent. To be saved means you have the Spirit of Christ Jesus. To be saved is to acknowledge that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God and you love him as such. To be saved is to be an heir of God and a joint heir of Jesus Christ. Now this book, the Word of God, tells us that salvation is of God, and this salvation is also tied to hearing the gospel of the grace of God. We read in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, for after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

You cannot divorce hearing the gospel of the grace of God, of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. You cannot divorce that from salvation. You must hear it. Faith cometh by hearing. That's what Paul said in Romans 10, and hearing by the Word of God. That's why you should always give full attention to the preaching of the gospel of Christ Jesus. You see, the gospel of the grace of God descenders through Christ Jesus. First of all, it honors God. And then it's the message that God uses to save sinners. And it's sheep food.

So pay attention anytime you're listening to somebody preaching the free grace of God to sinners through the doing and the dying of salvation. Salvation, saved, it's a happy word, it's a joyful word. But there's a lot of confusion about God's salvation, about how people are saved. How does the God of the Bible save sinners? Well, the moralist says God saves sinners because they do good, they do right, they live right.

The Church of Rome says people are saved through the church. The Campbellites. They say that God saves people using baptism. They're called Campbellites because the founders of the Church of Christ, Thomas and Alexander Campbell, taught salvation by baptism. That's how you wash your sins away.

And then there are the religious legalists. God saves sinners through obedience to the laws of the Lord. The fundamentalists, they say God saves sinners when they decide for Jesus, when they make a decision for Jesus. And other religions have different beliefs, but essentially, essentially all false gospels are alike. That which they have in common is this. Though they say salvation is by grace through the Lord Jesus Christ, in reality they believe salvation is ultimately dependent upon the sinner. Upon the sinner doing something for the Lord. And thereby they take the glory of salvation away from the Lord, or they endeavor to take the glory of salvation away from the Lord and give it to the sinner.

But the Bible is a very dogmatic book, isn't it? It's very dogmatic, very narrow-minded. It says salvation is of the Lord. Therefore, since the book of God is dogmatic and narrow-minded, then we must be dogmatic and narrow-minded as well. There's no wiggle room here. You know, there are several things concerning religious things, and I use that word, religious things, I use that kind of loosely. There's room for some difference of opinions regarding church government, for instance, plurality of elders, end time events, even differences of opinion on the mode of baptism. But there is no wiggle room when it comes to the way God saves sinners. Now, that's not up for debate.

It is not, as we well know, and I know I'm We say, I know I'm preaching to the choir now. The choir receives what you say. I'm preaching to people who believe the truth. But it isn't the sinner's will that makes the difference in salvation. We know that. Brother Mahan taught this congregation well, as did Brother Parker. It's not the sinner's will.

It's the will of God that makes the difference. Wouldn't it be refreshing if you turned on some kind of preaching service on the television and a man started making his boast in the Lord, in the sovereign will of God, in the choice of God, in the power of God, in the grace of God, instead of putting it all on the sinner? That'd be refreshing. It's not your work, and to those of you who are watching, it's not your work, it's not your will that makes the difference in salvation. It's high time that preachers stood boldly and tell people, it's the will of God.

It's the grace of God. This is God's salvation, and He gives it to whoever He wants to. He's the sovereign ruler of all things. Issues of life and death belong to Him, not only physically, but spiritually. We all died in Adam, and the Lord is pleased to give to many people life in Christ, but doesn't give it to all. He gives it to whoever He wants to. You see, God has so arranged this salvation that no flesh gets any glory in His presence. And if God doesn't give any glory to anybody for their salvation, we're not going to give any either.

If the Lord's pleased to do a work of grace in your heart, we're not gonna hug you and say, well, it's about time you believed. I'll tell you that. We're not gonna hug you and tell you congratulations. It's high time. We're not gonna tell young people, why don't you believe on Christ while your heart is young and tender? No, your heart may be young, but it's not tender.

And nobody is more apt to believe the gospel than somebody else. There are children who grow up in a home where the gospel is set forth, where mom and dad believe the truth of Christ and Him crucified, buried, risen again, salvation by grace, and yet the children don't believe. Salvation is not by man's will, not your so-called free will, and it's not by the will of the parents either.

I've got kinfolk that I love, and I'm thankful for them, and on many things, we get along just fine. But they don't understand the gospel. I can't talk them into anything. Any knot your fingers or their fingers can tie, somebody else's fingers can untie it. We're not trying to argue people into the kingdom of God. I'm not a debater. I'm a preacher. I just tell people the truth and leave it to the Lord as to what he will do. Salvation is the work of God. God has arranged it this way.

And we know that there isn't any sinner that can or will experience salvation until God Almighty saves him or her by His almighty grace through Christ Jesus. And we know that God will never fail to save a person in time whom he has eternally appointed unto salvation. God won't fail to save them. He will bring them all to Christ. We know salvation, the salvation of God, we're saved by God the Father.

I don't have to preach to you and convince you of the truthfulness of God's election unto salvation, God's covenant mercy. These things are blessed truths of the word of God. Every sinner who experiences grace in time was saved in eternity by God's election of grace before the world ever began. It's one of the most comforting, delightful, blessed truths in all the Word of God.

I've always belonged to the Lord. Not in my experience, but in the purpose of God I have. It's God's unconditional, unchangeable purpose of grace. That's why I'm saved, because God determined to. You see, election unto salvation is the infallible security of my salvation. Because God, who purposed grace for me in the covenant of old, will never forsake that covenant.

David in 2 Samuel, he found joy in the covenant of God. He said, this is all my salvation, this is all my desire. And if you believe the gospel of Christ, you may not be able to go through and cross every T and dot every I. Theologically, that's okay. But if God has dealt with you in sovereign saving mercy, here is your testimony.

The Lord has saved me. The Lord has done a work for me. I'm not trying to make theologians of you. I don't think I know any theologians. But I know some people to whom God has revealed his gospel. And we just simply and clearly say, the Lord saved me by his grace.

He saved me by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. He dealt with me when I had no interest, and all of a sudden, I found that I had an interest. And then I found myself believing. And then I found out the reason that I believed was because of the Lord who worked in me to will and to do of His good pleasure. I'm saved by God the Father.

Over there in Acts 13, Paul, he preached to the Jews and the Gentiles, and the Jews said, we're not gonna hear you anymore. We don't like your preaching. He said, well, I'll preach to the Gentiles then. And the Gentiles got word of it. Somebody said to him, did you hear what Paul said? What'd he say? He said to the Jews, I'm going to turn away from you. You don't want to hear my preaching. I'm going to turn to the Gentiles. And the Gentiles rejoiced. They were happy. They were glad. And they glorified the word of the Lord, and as many as were ordained to eternal life, that's who believed.

And I can tell you this, if you believe, that Ethiopian eunuch, he told Philip, he said, I wanna be baptized, here's water. What hinders me from being baptized? And Philip said, if you believe, If you believe in your heart, you may be baptized. He said, I believe Jesus is the Son of God. Ooh, that's a mouthful right there. I believe he's the Son of God. And Philip said, well, let's get down out of this chariot, I'll baptize you. He was ordained eternal life before the world began. The Father did that. Before you ever knew who God was, God knew who you are. And he never hated you. He never was angry with you.

But Jim, I was lost and I blasphemed his name. I said words that I'm embarrassed to even think about them now. And I was wrapped up in false religion or wherever it was that God found you. Well, I'll tell you this. The important thing is he found you. He found me in false religion. I don't know where he found you. May have found you in the bar. May have found you down in the so-called altar. But if he's found you, he saved you.

That's the experience of grace. So we're saved by God the Father. Secondly, we're saved by the sacrifice of the Son of God. The Spirit of God teaches us of the sin-atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ. I can't tell you all the ins and outs about redemption. There are things about the sufferings and the death of our Lord Jesus Christ that we can never comprehend.

But I know this. I'm convinced of this, all the sins of all of God's people were made to meet upon the head of God's sacrifice, and he died under the wrath of God, and so he put our sins away. I know that. I know that we are never going to be, we will never be required to answer for our sins. Am I actually guilty of them? Yes, I am. But Christ Jesus took my sins. He bore them, the scripture says, in his own body on the tree. He did.

And he died under the wrath of a holy God. and all for whom he died will never die in their sins. That's an impossibility. Twice payment God will not demand. First in my bleeding surety's hand, and then again at mine. When Christ died on the cross, you know as well as I know, he satisfied God. The reason I will never perish, the reason I will never be condemned is because Christ Jesus condemned sin in the flesh.

Romans chapter eight tells us that. He paid the debt. That's sweet news to me. He can preach that to me all day long and I'll listen to you. Tell me who died and what he accomplished when he died. Don't tell me what he tried to do. Don't tell me what he endeavored to do. Tell me what he did. Jesus paid it all, all the debt I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. Tell me what he did.

And what he did is dependent upon who he is. If he's really the God man, then as God, he had to be successful. And as man, he really suffered. And I'll tell you, we get in trouble if we try to divide Our Lord Jesus Christ, and say, well, that's his divine side. This is his human side. Ain't right either. He's the God-man.

And there are mysteries that you will never comprehend, not in this life, maybe in eternity, I don't know. But not in this life. How God joined himself to manhood, to humanity, And then as the God-man, how could he suffer and bleed? How could he die? How could he, who is life, forsake that life? How could he, who is life, die, lay down that life? How can he do that? I can't comprehend that. See, the nice thing about it, the wonderful thing about it, you don't have to understand these things.

God gives us faith to believe. to receive things that are way over our heads. We're saved by the sacrifice of Christ. And then thirdly, we experience salvation by the almighty gracious operation of the Holy Spirit. The new birth, that's another mysterious thing. You see, election and redemption, those are works that God did for us, right? He did those for us. He chose us unto salvation before the world began. And Christ died on the cross, experienced the wrath of God. He bore the vengeance of God against our sins. He died under the curse of the law, the law that he kept, but we had broken. He did that for us. But something's got to be done in us. I'm no good the way I am naturally. So there's got to be a secret operation within me.

Now, in steps the Spirit of God, as it were. And through the preaching of Christ and him crucified, buried and risen again, the preaching of the grace of God, the Holy Spirit, one of the Godhead three, he takes that word of good news and he drills it into the heart and you find yourself believing. Now why is that? How come you believe and maybe somebody who's also listened to the gospel, they don't, they say, well, it's all interesting, but it's not for me.

I know it's not. I just don't see it that way. I know you don't. And you'll never see till God opens your eyes. I don't hear it the way you do. I know Lord's got to give you the hearing ear. Well, you know, I'm interested in religion. Well, I'm not interested in religion. I'm interested in the things of God. I'm interested in Christ Jesus.

You see, until a sinner is quickened by the spirit of grace, made alive spiritually, repentance and faith are as impossible as it is for you to keep God's law. And there's a whole lot in that statement. In fact, when we're quickened by the Spirit and given faith to believe the Lord Jesus Christ, Romans 3 and verse 31 says we establish the law by faith. What in the world does that mean? Because by faith in Christ, we receive a perfect righteousness that He has already established by His obedience in life and in death. And when we're brought to believe Christ Jesus, we receive by faith that perfect righteousness, which is exact conformity to the law of God. And we just receive it by faith. Now, while all three persons of the Trinity are active in salvation, it's pleased the Father that the Son of God had the preeminence in all things.

And I just want to show you all five things. in this message. And I just, I pulled out, I got to thinking about some of the Psalms. Specifically Psalm 20, 21, 22, 23, 24. And here we see Christ Jesus himself, our Savior. Psalm 20. Here's Christ and his sacrifice. Look at the first three verses. And these, all of the Psalms are Messianic Psalms, okay? All of them are. Don't say, well, that one is, but that one isn't. No, they're all pertaining to Christ Jesus, because he's the author and the subject of all the scripture. It's all about him.

But I pulled these Psalms out TO PRESENT THINGS TO YOU, SOME THINGS TO YOU TONIGHT. PSALM 20 IS CHRIST AND HIS SACRIFICE. HERE'S A PRAYER FOR OUR KING AS HE IS DEPICTED AS GOING TO BATTLE FOR US. HE WENT TO WAR FOR HIS CHURCH. HERE'S CHRIST AND HIS SACRIFICE.

LOOK AT VERSE 1. THE LORD HEAR THEE IN THE DAY OF TROUBLE, THE NAME OF GOD OF JACOB DEFEND THEE, AND SEND THEE HELP FROM THE SANCTUARY WHEN YOU'RE SUFFERING THE AGONIES AND CRUELTIES OF THE CROSS, WHEN YOU'RE SUFFERING THE WRATH OF GOD, AND STRENGTHEN THEE, SUSTAIN THEE, AND SUPPORT THEE OUT OF ZION, AND REMEMBER ALL THY OFFERINGS, AND ACCEPT THY BURNT SACRIFICE, SELAH. AND THE WORD SELAH IS AN IMPORTANT WORD WHICH MEANS YOU NEED TO STOP AND THINK ABOUT WHAT'S JUST BEEN SAID. And if there's anywhere we need to stop, it is at Calvary. Because that's what's being said there in the third verse.

Remember all thy offerings and accept thy burnt sacrifice. Selah. Stop. Pause there. You're at the foot of the cross now. You're at a passage of scripture that teaches substitution and satisfaction. Stop. Think about it. Think about Christ nailed to the cross for you, for you.

And then verse four, he says, and grant thee according to thine own heart and fulfill all thy counsel. And the psalmist says, we will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God will we set up our banners. The Lord fulfill all thy petitions. Everything you pray for, may the Lord fulfill them.

That's Christ and his sacrifice. Now look at Psalm 21. In Psalm 21, Here is Christ and His salvation. Psalm 20 is Christ and His sacrifice. Psalm 21 is Christ and His salvation. Psalm 21, one, the king shall joy in thy strength, O Lord, and in thy salvation, how greatly shall he rejoice.

He's the king. You remember in John 18, Pilate, Christ stood in front of him, and Pilate said, Art thou a king? And Jesus answered him, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. But let me tell you something, Pilate.

He's not a king. He's the king. He's the king of kings and he's the Lord of lords. He's king over all creation. He's king over all men. He reigneth among the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth and nobody can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? And it says in the second verse, thou hast given him his heart's desire and hast not withholden the request of his lips. What's his heart's desire?

Do you remember our Lord Jesus at that last Passover? And he told his disciples, he said, with desire, I have desired to eat this supper. Will you remember that? The Savior said that. Well, why was that so significant? Why did he desire so greatly to eat that Passover supper with them, which would bleed over into the Lord's Supper?

Because that would mean it's the time for him to offer himself unto God, the perfect sacrifice that'll satisfy God and save our souls. This is his desire, and so the psalmist says, thou hast given him his heart's desire. What did Christ desire? He desired to face the wrath of God for us, to take all of our sins and then put them away. He desired that.

It says in the third verse, For thou preventest him, thou hast met him with the blessings of goodness. Thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head. Why did he do that? Because he finished the work of redemption. Because that's the reward for his sufferings and death. He asked life of thee. and thou gavest it him even length of days for ever and ever. The Lord raised him from the dead. God raised him from the dead and exalted him. And this is the conclusion that David reaches in verse five.

His glory is great in salvation. I know his glory is great in creation. He made all things by the word of his power. I know his glory is great in providence as he directs all things to the end that he himself ordained before the world was made. But the greatest place where the glory of Christ is seen, seen in its greatest is in the salvation of sinners.

His glory is great in thy salvation. Honor and majesty hast thou laid upon him. Verse six, for thou hast made him most blessed forever. Thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance for the king. He perfectly trusted the Lord. And through the mercy of the most high, he shall not be moved.

That's Christ and His salvation. And then, look at Psalm 22. So we've seen Christ and His sacrifice, Christ and His salvation. In Psalm 22, here's Christ and His suffering. Psalm 22 is the Psalm on the cross. Perhaps the Savior repeated this Psalm word for word, when he hung on the cross, though we don't know that for certain.

Some have presumed that he did that. I don't know. Maybe he did. But note the beginning and the end of this psalm. I don't have time to deal with this, of course. But look at Psalm 22 verse one. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And why art thou so far from helping me and from the words of my roaring?

And the answer is this, verse three, because God's holy and Christ bore our sins. He has made sin for us. That's why God forsook him. That's why God punished him. is made sin. But look at the last verse of the psalm. So that's one of the seven cries from the cross, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Now look at verse 31.

This seed that he speaks of, a generation, they shall come, they shall come to him and shall declare his righteousness. unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this," or quite literally, he finished it. That's what the Lord Jesus said on the cross. It is finished. It is finished. This is Christ and his suffering. And then there's Psalm 23. Here's Christ the shepherd. And you all know this Psalm quite well. David said, the Lord Jehovah Jesus, who is he to me? Well, he's my shepherd. He's my shepherd. Therefore, I shall not want, I shall not lack anything. I will never lack anything that God demands or I require. You know why not? because of whom a shepherd is, the Lord, Jehovah Jesus.

And then Psalm 24, here's Christ the Sovereign. And this is the reward for his obedience unto death, even the death of the cross. The Lord has exalted him. And the Savior ascended to heaven, and when he did, the word goes forth to all the angels of God. Verse 7, lift up your heads, O ye gates. Be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in.

The King, not a king, the King. fresh from his victory over Satan, fresh from his victory over sin, fresh from his victory over death and the grave. Who is this King of Glory? Who is this? Well, he's the Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, ye gates. Even lift them up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? Do you know who he is? He's the Lord of hosts. He is the King of glory.

And he finishes this Psalm up with Selah. Now you pause and think about how Christ is King. He's the monarch. He rules all things. He's the one who saved us. This is Christ's glory and salvation. From his sufferings all the way to becoming the sovereign over all as the God-man. He's already sovereign to begin with. But now as the God-man, he's earned the right to sit on the throne of God, all things being committed to His hands. And this is my Savior. This is the one we brag on. This is the one we preach about, Christ the Lord. Well, get those black folders out,