God's Fingerprint On A True Gospel Conversion

Q: What does the Bible say about true gospel conversion?

The Bible indicates that a true gospel conversion is marked by God's sovereign work, resulting in a transformed life and new loyalties. The Scriptures, particularly in Micah 7:5-9, illustrate that true gospel conversion involves recognizing a common enemy, disconnecting from that enemy, and placing hope in God alone. When a soul is touched by the gospel, they often experience conflict within their closest relationships, indicating a spiritual transformation where God’s fingerprint is evident. Ultimately, true conversion is about acknowledging our helplessness and dependence on God's grace through Jesus Christ, which allows believers to rise from darkness into His light, demonstrating a radical shift in loyalty and affection towards Christ.

Q: How do we know that God's fingerprint is on our conversion?

We recognize God's fingerprint on our conversion by the evidence of a transformed life, a new alignment with Christ, and the experience of spiritual struggle. The evidence of God's fingerprint on an individual's conversion can be observed through a marked change in loyalties and affections, aligning oneself more with Jesus Christ than with blood relatives or worldly relations. As Micah 7 highlights, believers may find their closest connections turning against them due to their faith. The struggle against one's own sinful nature and the experience of God’s grace in one's life provides a profound indication that true conversion has occurred. Additionally, the hope and assurance in God’s faithfulness, even amidst personal failures, bolster the believer’s understanding that God’s work in their hearts is real and transformative.

Q: Why is understanding the common enemy important for Christians?

Understanding the common enemy helps Christians realize the spiritual battle inherent in true faith and the need for reliance on God. Micah 7:5-9 emphasizes that when a person is converted by the gospel, they often find themselves at odds not just with the world, but with their closest family members and friends. This recognition of a ‘common enemy’—which includes both external adversaries and our own sinful nature—underscores the reality of spiritual warfare that Christians face as they follow Christ. It is vital for believers to grasp this concept to prepare mentally and spiritually for the challenges that arise in their walk with God. Moreover, it encourages them to seek their strength and hope solely in God, fostering a deeper reliance on His grace to navigate these conflicts.

Q: How does God's grace play a role in our ongoing struggles after conversion?

God's grace sustains believers through their ongoing struggles, offering hope and light even when they stumble. Following conversion, believers continue to grapple with their sinful nature, as outlined in Micah 7:8-9 where the prophet reflects on falling into darkness yet trusting in God for restoration. The recognition of personal failures alongside the assurance of God’s mercy and grace is foundational for Christian living. Believers are invited to bring their struggles before God, understanding that His grace is sufficient to guide them through dark times. This ongoing dependence on grace reminds them that true righteousness comes not from themselves but from Christ alone. Therefore, the journey of faith is characterized by humbly acknowledging their need for God throughout life’s trials.

Good morning Pardon me just a moment It's good to be back I Always enjoy coming here to be with you folks If you would be turning to Micah if you're like me it may take you a moment to find that so Micah chapter 7 And then before I start I want to read A quote here from Charles Spurgeon.

It's quite brief, but I think it's quite appropriate for me. Probably for you too. This is what Spurgeon wrote. If any man thinks ill of you, do not be angry with him, for you are much worse than he thinks you to be. When I first read that, I thought, how did he know me so well? Because he knew human flesh. He knew what we're like.

All right, Micah chapter 7. I want to read verses 5 through 9. Micah 7, 5 through 9. where Micah, of course, is continuing. And in verse five, we read these words. Trust ye not in a friend. Put ye not confidence in a guide. Keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lath in thy bosom. For the son dishonoreth father. The daughter rises up against her mother. The daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man's enemies are the men of his own house.

Therefore, I will look unto the Lord. I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. Rejoice not against me, O my God. enemy. When I fall, I shall arise. When I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him until he plead my cause and execute judgment for me and he will bring me forth to the light and I shall behold his Righteousness.

Let us get right to the point. My subject today is this. God's fingerprint on a true gospel conversion. God's fingerprint. Like that. You know what we use fingerprints today to sometimes solve crimes. put that fingerprint down, that thief or whatever, murderer, whatever it may be, they put a fingerprint down, whether they mean to or not, and then someone comes along and does this thing for the fingerprint, has it, and they say, well, that's you, that's you. That's what I'm talking about, God's fingerprint on a true gospel conversion.

I say that because after 42, 43 years of trying to preach the gospel, I have seen a lot of false gospel conversions. I have seen some false gospel conversions. But what I want to do this morning is not deal with the false gospel conversions. This passage here, though it has some very profound things concerning this God's fingerprint, we might say on a true gospel conversion, It's there for our comfort. And it has some very profound things to say about us. And some profound things to say about our God. So what I'm wanting to emphasize this morning is I'm not trying to make you doubt. I'm trying to encourage you to just believe God. Just believe God.

Now I want us to take note this morning of three places where God's fingerprint is evident in a true, bona fide, God-wrought gospel conversion. Three places. Now, we could look at this passage and we could divide this up far more than three points. But here are the three things.

In verse five and six, and in verse eight and nine, we find there is a common enemy, that when God Almighty converts somebody by the gospel, They all begin to find a common enemy. The second thought is this. There is a common disconnect from the enemy. That's in verse seven and eight. And the last thing, number three, is this. There is a common hope in God alone. Verses seven, verses, verse eight and verse nine. Number one. Think about this. There is a common enemy, see it?

Trust ye not in a friend. Who's that? That's someone that's very close to you. Someone that you would very likely share confidential information with about yourself that you dare not share with somebody else, right? That's a friend, right? Micah says, trust not in a friend. Put ye not confidence in a guide. That's what a teacher, somebody that you respect, that would lead and direct you in the right direction, right? Trust ye not in a friend. Put ye not confidence in a guide.

Keep the doors of thy mouth. Be quiet. Be quiet. But be quiet to who? Look at it. Keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom. I'll try not to be too blunt this morning. I have a bad habit of sometimes doing that. The woman or the man you lay down with at night, every night, that you pillow your head beside, Micah says, be careful to keep your mouth.

Now, why? Look, for the son dishonoreth the father, and the daughter riseth up against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man's enemies are the men of his own house. That's what happens when God Almighty converts somebody by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

That's the first thought. But look at the last part of verse eight, look. Now we know about the part, we've already kind of read five and six, whereas in verse eight would start, rejoice not against me, O mine enemy. We'll look at that in a moment. But then look, here's this enemy, here's this enemy, when I thought. Do you see this common enemy? Do you see it? Yeah, the enemy will be out there. Maybe even right here. You see? But the enemy's going to be closer than that. The enemy's going to be right in here. Do you see that? I fall, I shall arise. When I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be enlightened. I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him. You see the common enemy? Two of them, aren't there? Even those that are the closest to us. When God Almighty converts us by the gospel, Again, pardon the language, but I must make it as plain, all hell will break loose. And it may do so right in the midst of your own blood kin. Blood kin.

You see, three thoughts here in this verse that there is a common enemy. When a soul is summoned by God through the preaching of Christ, and in particular, the preaching of Christ and Him crucified. It may well be that their closest earthly relations become the adversaries, the very adversaries. I know this world presents God as trying to save whole families at one time. We find a few instances where that is true, but usually it is not. When a soul is summoned by God through the preaching of Christ and Him crucified, it is often seen that the closest earthly relationships become adversaries if they are not under God's sovereign, providential gospel influence.

You understand what I'm saying? Now, if God's already called them by the gospel, then you can unite to them as a friend. But I don't care if it's your wife or your husband, your brother, your sister, your mother, your father, what, go on down the line. If God calls you by his gospel and leaves them where they are, unless he and his providence restrains them, they will become your enemy. You know one reason why? Of course, their pride would say this. They may not say it with their mouth, but they know it in their heart. They're angry with God. Why would he do that for them? And he has not done that for me. That's why. That's why.

You see, our master himself said that this prophecy, because he quotes from this, he quoted from this prophecy. And you can read it in Matthew 10. As a matter of fact, if you wish, you could turn there, Matthew chapter 10, because I want to highlight a couple of things there. In Matthew chapter 10, our master himself said, this prophecy of Micah means this exact thing. And he put it this way in Matthew 10.

He has continued in verse 34. He says this, now this, Results this fingerprint of God on a true gospel conversion results in common enemies. Okay? This is not an unfortunate coincidence or problem of the gospel. It's the way God intended it from the beginning.

I know that is not the God that is presented in most places today, but this is the truth because look at what he, the master said, verse 34 of Matthew 10, think not that I am come to send peace on earth. Look at this is purpose statement. This is declarative statement. I came not to send peace, but a sword for I am come. This is why he came.

Do you see it? Now this is not, oh, God help us. I wish God would help all them, but it's the whole matter. It's up to God, isn't it? It's not up to me. Doesn't matter if I care for my wife or my son or my daughter or my grandparents, it's up to God.

And if he brings the sword of the gospel to divide a family, that's his business. That's tough. I'm not saying it's easy. That's tough. But that's what causes enemies. Look, for I am come to set a man at variance against his father and the daughter against her mother. Starting to sound familiar, isn't it? And the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.

Astounding. But true. But here's what it's all about. This thing is about devotion. This thing is about loyalty. This thing is about affections. This thing is about identification with one person, Jesus Christ. And either, no, let me redo that. When God calls you or me by the gospel, we will identify with, we will be devoted to, we will have affection for, we will have loyalty toward Jesus Christ supremely, or we have none at all toward him. That's the reason this fingerprint of God in a true gospel conversion, when he puts his fingerprint on it, it may well divide family.

Because he said, and I'll just read the two more verses. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me. God's fingerprint on a true gospel conversion causes division. But I've already mentioned that that's not the only enemy, is it? My worst enemy is not them. It's me. It's me. That's my worst enemy. They are an enemy. Do not get me wrong about that. They're an enemy, but my worst enemy is me.

Verse eight, when I fall. Verse eight, when I sit in darkness. There's no ifs here, is there? It's when. It's going to happen. You see, you really don't sit in darkness. You really don't fall. Now listen to me until God opens your eyes. Then you begin to realize you have been all along. Until God opened your eyes by the gospel, you think everything is fine. It may be a little bad, but not too bad. No, it's worse than we thought. That quote from Spurgeon? Somebody says, well, this, this about that person? Don't get too angry at them. They don't know all the skeletons in your closet. Aren't you glad?

No, it's when I fall, when I sit in darkness, I will bear the indignation because I have sinned against him. Do you see yourself that way? Do you see yourself that way? Because you have heard the glory of Jesus Christ proclaimed and it's touched you a fingerprint. It has touched you in such a way that you can't get away from it. To where you cry this, even as a believer.

Now, remember I said this is for encouragement, but the only way we're really going to be encouraged if we face the facts, right? If I gloss this over for you and then you go home and you're reminded of what you really are, we all look pretty good this morning. You know, we got our nice clothes on and we're here and we got her shaved and combed and brushed. Pretty presentable this morning.

What about when you go home this evening and you get angry at that person that's right there beside you? Just get angry at him for no reason whatsoever. And remember, our Lord says, you get angry at your brother without a cause, you're worthy of what? Hellfire. When you cry out, even as a believer, O wretched man that I am. You see, the problem is this. All those other enemies, God does give me respite from them on occasion.

But I can never get away from me. Never. When I fall asleep, I'm still me. In my dreams, I'm still me. You ever notice that? Now, you may dream that you're Superman for a day or something, I don't know, but you're still, when you dream in your dreams, you're still who? You. You can't get away from me. Me.

But you remember what I told you, here's that second thought. There is a common disconnect from the enemy. Look at it, let me turn back to it. Micah there's a common disconnect from the enemy and I'll try to Build on this in a moment lay a little foundation here and and get to where I'm going with it There is a common disconnect from the enemy Look at it verse 7 and 8 therefore Remember, you got to don't trust, what does it say? Trust not a friend. Don't put confidence in a guide. Keep the doors of your mouth from her that is in your bosom.

Ascent, go on down the line. Therefore, I will look to the Lord. Because if you keep your eyes on the enemy, all you're going to be is disgusted, downtrodden, sad. Now the enemy's always going to be there. Though you get respite from him or her for a season, they're always going to come back somewhere in your life. Something's going to happen. But where do you look? That's the whole thing.

Don't look at them. I'm not talking about ignore them in the sense of acting as if they're not there. They may be there to hurt you. I mean, I know of people, and I'm not even using myself as an example, I know other believers that they have family members that are just waiting for them to foul up one time so they can say, aha, I told you they wasn't really a believer. Right? I mean, religion does that to one another all the time. I told you they were, look at it.

Therefore, I will look unto the Lord. I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. Rejoice not against me, O my enemy. Now notice that phrase. Oh, it doesn't say. Micah was not moved by the Spirit of God to merely say, rejoice not against me, my enemy. Just that one little word, that one little, one little, one letter word in English. Oh, or we would say, oh, oh, my enemy. Here's the odd thing about this.

This is a phrase of filial, family. But after all, who's he just said your enemy will be when God puts his finger on you in the preaching of the gospel. It will be maybe even your blood relatives. Do you see that? Don't disconnect the context, but we do have a disconnect from them. Do you see how this is flowing?

A man's foes will be those of his own household. Rejoice not against me, O my enemy. This is not a cry from you or I begging for their understanding. They cannot understand it. You understand that? They cannot get it. This is not begging them to understand. What am I talking about here? As I said, this is the second point. There is a common disconnect from the enemy. We warn them for mocking our strengthlessness. Do you see the context of it? We warned them for mocking our strengthlessness because we know that apart from God, they will be left right where they are.

It's not up to them. There's not something we could talk them into doing that will make it better for them. God left them where they are. And unless God does for them exactly what he did for us, they will remain there forever. But we still love them. We still care about them, don't we?

Rejoice not against me, O my enemy. And who's your enemy? Those of your own household. You see the context? Listen, when I fall, don't do it. Because God may well leave you where you're at. Right? He can leave you where you're at. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy. When I fall, I shall arise. When I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be alighted to me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord. Don't downcast toward them.

They're just telling the truth about you. You are a miserable wretch. You are a pain in the neck. Yeah, you are. So am I. We'll see a lot of smiles right now. A few. We're bad. We're worse than we even know we are. I mean, we say words like, because they are from scripture, we are from the top of our heads to the soles of our feet. Nothing but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. But we've just begun to scratch the surface when we see that. Because remember, there are many wounds, many bruises, many putrefying sores. And when we zero in on one and try to work on one, what happens? We avoid all the others. They just keep festering and festering. And you just don't have the ability to work on them all at one time. We're in a helpless state, aren't we?

Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy, because if God leaves them where they are, they will perish. There's the disconnect. Now, yes, they are responsible for where they are. But God has the right to leave them where they are because of what they are.

And he could have left me there. He could have left you there. But he didn't. He didn't. And I will not deny his glory and his right because they think I'm bragging on myself when I talk about his choosing me before the world began. Or his predestination. Well, you must think you're somebody. Don't even argue with him. I'm nobody. But he's everything. He's everything.

You remember, remember, They're not the only enemy though, right? They're not the only enemy. Here's the second thought here. Now think about this. Pardon me just a moment. God help us on this one. Because remember the worst enemy is who? It's that person you see first in the mirror every morning when you get up. If I truly even had a smidgen, as we say down in the hollow, if I had a smidgen of righteousness, I could deal with everybody else. But I can't deal with myself.

I understand what that one fellow meant when the Lord said, all things are possible to him that believeth. And he said, Lord, I believe. What did he say next? He did not say, Lord, I'll work on my unbelief. Is that what he said? Now that's what religion teaches us to do, right? Muster up belief, muster up faith. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and then you work on your unbelief. No, he said, Lord, I believe. You've got to deal with my unbelief. Isn't that what he said? Lord, help thou my unbelief.

I can't deal with it. I can't handle it. I can't overcome it. It's always there. Me is always there. There's a fingerprint of God on a true gospel conversion. Have you been able to get away from yourself yet? If you have, you've went too far. The fingerprint's not there. Fingerprint's not there.

Think about this. Now I've got to move along here. I am given, and you as a gospel called believer, we are given by Christ because of his penal sufferings. Now let me stop for a moment when I, having used that phrase. Now maybe that phrase is not a big, two big words to you, but to me it's like big language. It's kind of above my pay grade, as we say.

Jesus Christ had both preceptive obedience and he had penal obedience. And twice it is recorded in scripture that he used, he himself used the word finished. Okay? The first one is in connection to his preceptive obedience, where he said, Father, he's praying to the Father. John 17, I believe it is. Lord, I have finished the work you gave me to do. That was his preceptive obedience. He had done everything God Almighty told him to do. Everything. I cannot say that. But he had.

And that's essential to my salvation and your salvation. But if that's all he did, we just still died in our sins. He had his penal obedience. And it's called obedience, though it's called suffering at the same time. Now, what I'm saying is, Jesus Christ, by his preceptive obedience, wrought for me and you a righteousness that will stand before God in spite of ourselves, in light of ourselves. But if that's all he ever did for us, we'd still have to answer for ourself. Right?

We still have to answer for I. But he also had a penal obedience. And actually, Paul put it that way. And if you want to turn and read it with me, you can. But when I get there, I'm going to read it. Philippians 2, verse 8, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient. Do you see it?

But what kind of obedience? Obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. So in his preceptive obedience, he wrought for me and you a righteousness that God doesn't just say, well, okay, it's enough. God says, I delight in that righteousness. Huh? But I still have my sin. But in his penal obedience, in his penal sufferings, he suffered the judgment for sin, for he was made to be sin for us.

In other words, he put a fingerprint here, put a fingerprint there. Put a fingerprint there. As a matter of fact, I'll just metaphorically say it this way. He laid hold of us with both hands. And there are 10 fingerprints of his all over every one of us. He did it all. He did it all. Somebody says, I just don't see that fingerprint much.

I understand that. I can relate to Micah, can't you? Rejoice not against me, O mind enemy, when I fall, when I sit in darkness. I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I sinned against him. I understand that, but now let me get back to this.

Number second thought under this thing of this being able to have this disconnect. Remember, we have a disconnect from the first enemy, even family, because God disconnected us from them. That was his business. But we also have a disconnect from this second enemy. And who's the second enemy? Right?

I. And you are your own second enemy. So again, back to the original thought.

I am given by Christ in his penal suffering on the cursed tree, the right, and we'll see that in two ways, just a moment, the right, the actual right, to consider myself disconnected from I." He said, preacher, you're making that up. No, I'm not making that up. Now we read, and we who have been called by the gospel can relate to Micah. Rejoice not against me, even, oh, not my closest relatives that are my, oh, my enemy, when I fall, When I sit in darkness, I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against Him. We can relate to that, but I'm saying we have the right because of Christ's penal suffering to disconnect ourselves from I. Turn to Romans chapter seven. This is the first one. Now, my brothers and sisters, I've listened to a lot of messages by men who preach here in this place, and you've heard this over and over and over again.

And I think you'll recognize it once we sit and talk about it, but think about it. You have the right because of Jesus Christ and his crosswork to actually disconnect yourself from I. Let's read the passage because listen, God gives us the right to consider our disconnect from I, and in the Greek, you know what the word I is? E-G-O, that's the way we'd spell it in English. Ego, right? Ego, okay? First of all, we have the right to acknowledge the disconnect from I that is called the flesh.

Romans 7, verse 14. For we know That the law is spiritual, this is present tense. I'm not going to sit here and argue why this is present tense. You read it, you know that's the way Paul's putting it, right? For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am. This is as he was writing inspired scripture. After God had done put his fingerprint upon him through the preaching of the gospel, right? For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.

For that which I do, I allow not. For what I would, that do I not. But what I hate, that do I." And you say, that just sounds confusing. It does sound confusing, but it's not when you live with yourself and God's opened your eyes to who you really are. You can say, I may not understand the words, but I know what Paul's talking about. Look, if then I do that which I would not, I consent under the law that it is good. And how is the law good?

By condemning that thing. By condemning that thing. Now look, now then, listen, there's this disconnect from the enemy. We have the right to do it. Now then, it is no more Do you see that? It is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. Now the religious world can say, that's a cop-out. It is, apart from the penal sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ.

But he's paid for that sin. It has been dealt with by God. Really dealt with. He was made sin. He became the very thing that we were. Just like when Moses was told to lift up a brass pole, it had what on it? A serpent, the very thing that was causing the problem, biting the people, right? Christ was that serpent. Sin has been dealt with. Therefore, I have the right to say, now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. Is that what the book says or not? Shake your heads yes. It's what the book says.

Okay? Don't be afraid to take God at His word. It's okay. It's okay to... Listen to me. Can you? It's okay to just believe God. It's okay. Let me find my spot where I was. I'm just almost happy. I'd just like to quit and just start shouting. Look at it. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. You see it?

For I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. And here's my dilemma, for the will is present with me. I would keep God's law. I would, but I can't find the power to do it. And that's what he says here. So just face the facts. That's what God says about us, but it's not all bad. Because why? Here it is. Verse 24, I've mentioned this.

Oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ, my Lord. So then with the mind, I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin, quit trying to make yourself, your flesh obey. Just disconnect yourself, just in your mind. You're not gonna be able to do it physically. In your mind, say, it's no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. Why? Because Jesus Christ, our Lord, has wrought redemption for us, our brothers and sisters. It's okay just to believe God. Boy. But here's the second one. Think about this. Turn to Galatians chapter two. We're not done yet. Galatians chapter two.

Remember, we have the right to acknowledge the disconnect from I that is the flesh, but we also have the responsibility to see no merit even in my best state. even in that state that has God's fingerprint on it, because it is God's fingerprint, not mine. It's not me having laid hold of God, it is God having laid hold of me. There's where the fingerprints come in. And what am I talking, we have the right to acknowledge the disconnect from I that's called the flesh, but we have the responsibility to see no merit in my best state. Even in the new man, for it is God's fingerprint that leaves the goodness. Exactly what Paul says in Galatians 2 in verse 20. I, do you see the I there again? There's I, right? I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Okay? Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, not my faith in the Son of God, though that's certainly there, it's certainly a part of it, but it's His faith.

His preceptive obedience and His penal obedience was Him manifesting His faith in God. What was the one thing they mocked Him? One of the things they mocked Him for when He hung on that tree. He trusted in God. That's my only hope. That he believed God in his life and he believed God in his death.

And therefore God raised him from the dead. and has now highly exalted Him and given Him a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow and every tongue should swear that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. And it's no longer I. I was crucified, but I still live, right? Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh. I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness come by the law, Christ died for nothing. But we know he did die. So that means the opposite of that is he died for everything, right? Vanity means what? Zero. What's the opposite of that? Everything when it comes to Christ. When it comes to Christ. Somebody says, a preacher sounds like to me, you're kind of saying that we all just rejoice in the Lord. Let's kind of be happy. Let's kind of be carefree.

But don't I need to keep from sinning? You should, but you won't. Neither will I. Now come on now. We have to acknowledge that in I myself, what happens? Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy. Remember that's out there, but it's also where? Right here. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy. When I fall, I shall arrive. See the words? S-H-A-L-L. Somebody says, that's giving people license. Well, I've quit fighting. Go ahead and have a license. I don't care.

Because you're going to sin. I don't care if I've got up here all 45, 50 minutes, whatever it is, and preached to you, don't do this, don't do that. You'll go to hell if you do this or if you don't do that. And you're going to turn right around and go out that door. And you're going to do all of those things I told you not to do. And you're not going to do what I told you you're supposed to do. Yes or no? Yeah, you will. And if you're one of those people that think you would, then you're on the enemy side. You're on the enemy side.

You see, I finally, I finally got tired of apologizing for God because I don't need to. Do you hear me? When I was a younger preacher, after God had put his fingerprint on me, people would start, but what about this? And I'd try to explain it all, right? You don't have to explain it, just get up and tell what the book says. Right? Just believe what the book says. Somebody will misunderstand me. They don't even understand when you quote the book. You think they'll understand better when you think you're trying to explain the book? Really? That we can say it better than God?

One day I finally learned, Walter, just say what the book says and God will let them chips fall where he wants them to fall. Our brother read one thing I called and they refused. God said, I'll choose what? I'll choose what? He read that. Thank you, brother. I'll choose their delusion. Somebody says, that's God? That's God. Here's number three, though. Here's that whole thing. Here's that fingerprint. I'll give you two of them. Here's that fingerprint.

There is a common hope, but it is in God alone. Do you see it? Concerning the first enemy, maybe a trusted friend, maybe a guy, it may be your wife or your husband, maybe a brother or a sister, whatever it is, but therefore will I look unto the Lord. Do you see it? When it comes to that enemy, look to the Lord. Well, I'll deal with them. No, you won't, you'll screw it up. Yeah, you're going to screw it up. Well, I will set them straight. No, don't do it. Don't do it.

Therefore, when I look unto the Lord, I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. And did not the writer of Hebrews say that faith is this? Without faith, sorry, let me get to it. But without faith, it is impossible to please God. For he that cometh to God must believe that he one is.

Now that doesn't say exist, it is he is who he says he is. That he is, but that's not all, is it? Faith doesn't just comprise that part. It says, and that he is a rewarder of them that faithfully seek him. So it's okay to just believe God because that's what faith is. You know, preachers like me just complicate the ever living daylights out of this stuff. When it's pretty simple.

Unless God saves you, you're going to hell. Right? Unless God puts his fingerprint on you, you're going to hell. And when he does, hell can't have you. Because he bought you with a price. He bought you with a price. So there's this common hope in God alone. But even this, look at it, remember, Rejoice not against me, O mighty enemy. When I fall, I shall arise. When I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.

None of this depends on us, does it? None of it. Now, we're very active in it, but only because we got the fingerprint on us. You see it? His hand's there, putting the fingerprint there. He's like this. He's not just like this. Listen to, look at me now. He's like this. He got us by the neck because he owns us. If he's called you by his gospel, he owns you. As a matter of fact, the scripture does put it this way. We are on our faces and as the kings of old, it's metaphorically defined, explained this way, he's got his foot on our neck.

We have been conquered by the King. If you haven't, there's no fingerprint there. See, this ain't deciding for Jesus. This ain't walking the aisle and praying the prayer. This is being conquered by the master himself. This is him latching hold of you and saying, you're mine and I will not let you go. And even when we fall, where do we fall? according to the Old Testament, into his hand. Into his hand. Again, I'll say it. Well, preacher, you're giving me a license to sin. You don't need one. You're going to. You got your pockets full of license to sin. Every pocket you got, you got license stuffed in there saying I'm gonna sin.

But when a righteous man falls, where does he fall? into the hands of him who loves him and put his fingerprints off. I like that God. I love that God. That's the only kind of God that'll save a sinner like me. There's a common hope in God alone. You see where the fingerprint of God is in gospel conversion It is always the work of God in Christ that holds our devotion Again, I read I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him and even in this Old Testament era before Messiah even come Okay, listen how Micah puts it. We know Messiah now has come, so we can read it in a different tense, but we'll read it in Micah's tense for his day. Until he plead my cause, he has. He has. Until he plead my cause and execute judgment for me, he has. He has, he will bring me forth to the light. He is doing that. Yeah.

And I shall behold, what? What's the one common thing that everyone God's put his fingerprint on in a true gospel conversion. They behold what? Look at the last two words of verse nine. This is not just very important and informative. This is absolutely vital. It is absolute proof as to whether God's fingerprint is on you in your so-called gospel conversion or not. His righteousness. You see it? Now turn to Psalm 71 and we go look at how pertinent, how vital this is. Psalm 71.

I want you, if you will, if you're turning, That's not a legal command, by the way. I am requesting that you turn, but I would encourage you to. Psalm 71, verse 16. I've been called an antinomian and a legalist, and almost by the same lips, so you never know where to go with these things. Well, I haven't been called that here yet, so I guess that's a good thing. Psalm 71, look at verse 16. Yes, are you there? 71 verse 16.

I will go in the strength of the Lord God. Now, we got to go, right? We got to go. There is movement, right? There is action, but where is the power of it? I will go in the strength of the Lord. I will make mention of thy righteousness. But that's not the end of the verse, is it? All these people in all these other buildings called churches, a lot of them are probably saying that very same thing this morning. Right? They're talking about the Lord's righteousness. But then they add in what? Your righteousness. My righteousness. Is that what the psalmist said? Read it again. I will go in the strength of the Lord God. I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only. Now we're right back to square one. How could I sum up such a wonder? I'm not talking about summing up my message. I mean, I talked about that. How can I sum up such a wonder as the truth of God putting his fingerprint on a true gospel conversion?

How could I, how could I sum something like that up? I mean just, you know I had a little training and You know, they teach you to go through all this and that, and in the end, you have your summary, and whether you tell it as a summary or you, you always gotta sum it all up, if you don't, you leave people hanging. How do you sum up something like that? And I wrote down some things, and you say, if you scribble a lot of it all out, I thought, well, that's just spitting in the wind.

Here's an attempt at this. How do you sum up a wonder like this? Let us give praise and gratitude to the God of all grace that would do something like this for wretches like me and like you. Think of the pit that God digged you out of. Some of you may have. I don't know everybody here. Some of you may have sit here right under the gospel for years and just didn't matter. No, I mean, you believe, you know, you like coming here, but this, this went on your, and all of a sudden, boing, God turned the lights on, right? He just turned the lights off. What did he do? He put his fingerprint on it. Huh? He said, you've been mine forever.

Now I'm going to show you your mind. Let us give praise and gratitude to the God of all grace, that our gospel conversion has God's fingerprints on us. Okay? Now listen to me. I hope you don't take this the wrong way. It ain't whether or not he has his fingerprint on this place where people meet. You hear me? Mm-mm. Now, I hope he has his fingerprint, and I believe he has his fingerprint on this place where you all meet, but that's not, you can be in this place and not have a fingerprint of God born on you. May it be that God has laid hold of you personally, put his fingerprint on you. And if, by our marvelous work of God's grace, you say, uh-oh, preacher. I really don't know. I'm not being mean. I'm caring for your soul. Preacher, I really don't know if God's fingerprints on me or not. You know what, the only thing I can tell you is beg God for mercy.

Get along. Don't you walk this aisle. You don't have to say a word to me or anybody else here. God gives you time to go home and you get on your face before God, or maybe right now, walk out that way, go up in that back room and just get on your face before God and say, God, if you don't save me, I'll go to hell. It's just not about understanding all of this. It's about when God puts his fingerprint on you, that's it.

Things start to change. He will dump both you and all of your paraphernalia that you're in your nice little cozy boat. And he just dumps you out in the water and then takes away your life raft and everything. And you'll be like Peter. You will start to go down. And you will cry, Lord, save me. And you know what happens? He will help. Just like he did Peter. Shelby, I don't know how far Peter was. I don't know. But it says, the Lord retched down and got a hold of him. He could not get to the Lord. He was going down. Get it? Get it, Heavenly Father?

These things are so beyond us. And while we declare, or at least By the enablement of your spirit, Lord, seek to preach your word in truth without trying to sugarcoat it or hide it over. Lord, we just know unless you do the work, it will not be done. Lord, be gracious and merciful to us all. In Christ's name, amen.

God's Fingerprint On A True Gospel Conversion

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about true gospel conversion?

How do we know that God's fingerprint is on our conversion?

Why is understanding the common enemy important for Christians?

How does God's grace play a role in our ongoing struggles after conversion?

Sermon Transcript

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God's Fingerprint On A True Gospel Conversion

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about true gospel conversion?

How do we know that God's fingerprint is on our conversion?

Why is understanding the common enemy important for Christians?

How does God's grace play a role in our ongoing struggles after conversion?

Sermon Transcript

Comments

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