Who Hath Saved Us

Alright, I'm going to read from 2nd Timothy chapter 1 2nd Timothy chapter 1 beginning in verse 8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord nor of me his prisoner, but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God, who has 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, whereunto I am appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher of the Gentiles.

That's one sentence, folks. And I'm going to tell you something, that's incredible. It's marvelous. It's gracious. And I really like it. But I'm going to read something since Walter's going up there. Clay Curtis wrote this. And I probably have read this to you before, but I'll do it again. It don't matter.

What do I believe concerning the gospel? Three words Christ is all What do I believe the scriptures teach? Christ is all What do I believe concerning prophecy? Christ is all oh I like that I do What do I believe concerning particular redemption and righteousness?

Christ is all. What do I believe concerning the new birth, the new man, and sanctification? Christ is all. What do I believe concerning the believer's motive, constraint, and walk? Christ is all. What do I believe concerning the believer's preservation and perseverance in faith? Christ is all. What do I believe concerning heavenly glory? Christ is all.

I like that, I do. What do I believe concerning, oh, wait a minute, I'm sorry, that was it. From this point forward, let me save valuable time for all who have questions for me. The answer is Christ is all. You know, I read a lot of things sometimes and sometimes they're good and sometimes they're not so good. But every now and then I read something like this and I wish I wrote it.

Because I agree with everything he said there. Christ is all. When it comes down to it, and I was listening to Henry Mann on the way up here, he says, You don't get to Christ through doctrine. You get to doctrine through Christ. Christ is all. Christ is all.

And even if I didn't write it, I can share it anyway. But what we got here, I want to start in 2 Timothy 1 and verse 9. And this is my title, Paul. hath saved us. Now, let's be clear. That's not a question here. That's a statement because it leads in from verse eight. Be thou partakers of the affliction of the gospel according to the power of God. Then it's a statement.

Who has saved us? He's not asking who has saved us. He's saying who has 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. And by gollies, that's a mouthful. I mean, that is a beautiful statement, given to the apostle Paul, written down for us, but it's coming from the Holy Spirit of God. This is the truth of God in Jesus Christ. And I want to point out just very quickly, Paul did not write this out of order. There are some people who say, well he called us and then he saved us. No, Paul says he saved us. And called us. That's what he said and that's the order it goes in. Now if you don't understand it, okay. But I can tell you this, please believe it. Please believe it.

I'm gonna tell you something, the Lord Jesus Christ saved us before he called us. You understand, we have a tendency to look at it from our point of view. That's not what Paul's talking about here, folks. He's talking about this from God's point of view. from Christ's point of view.

Oh, he saved us and he called us in that order. Now, what's the big deal? Well, the big deal for most folks is it takes away all of their glory. It takes away all of man's parts. He's supposed to call us and then we get to respond and according to our response, he may save us and he may not.

Uh-uh, that's not what this is. And it's not what this means. Because I know people who will read that and say, now what this really means is that he called us and we accepted Jesus as our personal savior and he saved us. That's not even close to what Paul said here.

Let's be very, very clear. We were redeemed when Jesus Christ died on the cross. My when he rose again from the dead Ascended unto heaven and offered himself the perfect sacrifice to God and Folks not a one of us was alive when that happened But he saved us Understand we have redemption through his blood even What the forgiveness of sins? But that was 2,000 years ago. Yeah, ain't it great? Charles Spurgeon said something to the effect that I'm glad God saved me and forgave me before the foundation of the world, or before I was born, because he wouldn't have seen anything worthwhile after I was born. And that's the truth of the matter.

We have nothing, nothing, to recommend ourselves to God. I've been watching way too much news on television. I mean, my wife Deborah has been watching YouTube news because she's really sick of the, well CNN and ABC and CBS and all of them and Fox and you know, the whole mess. So she's been getting a lot of stuff and a lot of information out there on the internet and on YouTube, there really is. But I'm gonna tell you something, that information comes down to me, comes down to one little thing. Man is totally depraved. Now you can go with religious depravity, you can just go with plain old fleshly depravity. It's all out there. And it's leaking out all over. And I get tired of it.

I'm glad to be here today with you people, and we're here for the express purpose of worshiping and trying to preach and hear the word of our Lord Jesus Christ, the one who hath saved us and called us with an holy calling. Mmm, he purchased us redeemed us to God personally before we were ever born and Then Paul makes this glorious statement here He tells us the salvation this salvation of God and this holy calling Was what? not according to our works I guess he wanted to rub it in. No, he wanted to glorify God. I, this is a hard thing to say sometimes, but I had nothing to do with my salvation in the receiving of it. I have plenty to do with my salvation after he has given it. That's part of that holy calling. understand now When he has saved us and called us with a holy calling We have something to say We have someone to talk about our Lord Jesus Christ the one who has saved us and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, and did all this according to his grace and his purpose before the foundation of the world. Oh my. It was according to his own purpose and his own grace which was given us in Christ Jesus. And he tells us when. before the foundation of the world. Before the foundation of the world. Before the world began. You know, some people think we make stuff up. But it's written right here. It's written right here. Because here's the thing.

Most people think God is reactive and not proactive. You like those words? I like the word proactive. I used to be told at work to be proactive in my work. To fix problems before they become a problem. Be proactive, to do something. Until, I was told that, until I was proactive, then they said stop. But here's the thing, God is only proactive. He doesn't react to what we do. He does his work. according to his own time, his own place, and according to his own people, that he's chosen, given unto us before the world began.

Oh, I like that. Because here's the thing, God's purpose and God's grace are as perfect as God himself. His salvation and His calling are holy. They are sacred and perfect. And they always have been. We're the problem. And even after He saved us, our perceptions are the problem. His grace, His purpose, His salvation, and His holy calling are all holy.

Perfect, perfect. Oh, I like that. We're not, but His work is. His work is, oh. And our only perfection is in Him. His work in us. His work for us and His work to us is all perfect. We're not. And listen to this, another verse. Same sort of thing. I love this verse. Known unto God are all His works, when? From the beginning. From the beginning. Oh, I like that. All of His works.

Paul tells us here, he saved us and he called us. Not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and his own grace. He saved us and called us, listen folks, according to his own works. It's his work. It's all his work from the beginning. Oh my. And he, God knew his works from the beginning. Oh, I like that. And what do you mean? Given to us. He knew from the beginning. They were given to us, whom he saved and called in Christ Jesus before the world began.

So here's the thing. If you have a problem with the election of grace, it's your problem. The scripture's clear. The scripture is clear. It's men that are cloudy. But the scripture is clear. If you have a problem with the election of grace in Christ from before the world began, I can't help you. I can just read you the scripture. Because this is what it says. He that called us is holy, and it is a holy calling that he called us to.

Oh my. Now verse 10, but is now made manifest by the appearing, by the appearing of our savior, Jesus Christ. who hath abolished death and hath brought life and immortality to light, what? Through the gospel. He did not leave himself without a word, folks. We have it right here.

And I'm gonna tell you something, when you read who hath saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, folks, that's good news. That is good news, that's gospel. Oh my, but what's it say? But is now made manifest. Right, right now. I can say that today. Paul wrote it going on 2,000 years ago. It was true then, it's true now.

And the thing is, be very careful, it's now made manifest. It's not now done because it was done before the foundation of the world. It was done before the world began, according to God's purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before the world began. But now it's made known. It's made known.

It's written down right here in black and white for us, if we can read. Oh, I like that, I do. It's now made manifest by Jesus Christ through his gospel, his good news. Oh, I like that. Oh, my. His having saved us and his having called us is now made known. Oh, by what?

Our Savior. Now we always talk about the Lord Jesus Christ, but this folks, he is our Savior. What in the Old Testament said we needed was what? A just God and a Savior. And you know some folks, we have that in Christ Jesus. He is a just God and a Savior.

He has redeemed us by his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. How? His redemption. He offered himself the perfect sacrifice to God. And he took upon himself all of our sins. All of our sins. Past, present, and future. Oh my. And this was part of the purpose before the world began. It's part of the grace that was given from before the world began.

Jesus Christ was not an afterthought or a stopgap measure to save us on our road to hell. He is our Savior and our God, our Lord Savior Jesus Christ and Now this is made manifest I think was Peter at the Day of Pentecost it said God has took the same Jesus and made him both Lord and Christ And it's told to you this day And they said men and brethren what should we do? And they said repent believe on the Lord Jesus Christ oh my Salvation by Jesus Christ is now made known Matter of fact he is Jesus Christ is the good news the good news Manifested oh, I like that he has saved us, and he has called us, and he is now calling his people to himself Ephesians 1 and 13 says this in whom ye also trusted After that ye heard the word of truth the gospel of your salvation in whom also After that ye believed ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise Who abolished death our Lord Jesus Christ Our Savior Jesus Christ Who brought life and immortality to light? The Lord Jesus Christ. I heard something on the way up here. This is from Isaiah 52. You don't have to turn there. I just didn't have it on my paper here. Isaiah 52.

Verse four says this, for thus saith the Lord God, my people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause. Now therefore what I have here, saith the Lord, that my people is taken away for naught, that they, excuse me, they that rule over them make them to howl, saith the Lord, and my name continually every day is blaspheme.

Now we get to the good part. Therefore, my people shall know my name. I like that, I like that. Therefore, they shall know it. When? In that day that I am he that doth speak. I'm gonna tell you something, folks. When God speaks to you, You'll know. You may not know exactly what's going on, but I'm going to tell you something. You'll know. And unfortunately for us, where we're at, you won't know until he speaks to you.

It's his word that matters from on high, but according to his Purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before the world began what? He has saved us and he has called us. Oh And he is calling out Was it bringing in many sons unto glory? I love that phrase too. Oh, I like that. I who abolished death, our Lord Jesus Christ, who brought life and immortality to the light, our Savior Jesus Christ. He has saved us from sin and death.

Colossians 1.13 says this, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son. That's God. Oh my. Folks, it takes the power of God to save a sinner. We think we can just accept Jesus and take him into our heart and everything. No, that's what they teach out there. I know they do. And they're wrong. And I think some of them even know they're wrong, but they still keep saying it.

We need God to translate us. from the power of darkness and translate us into the kingdom of his dear son. Verse 14 of Colossians 1, in whom we have redemption through his blood, I've been saying it, even the forgiveness of sins. Oh, now here's the question. Who has delivered us? Who has translated us? Who has forgiven our sins? In whom did you trust?

Hmm. Our Lord Jesus Christ. God himself manifest in the flesh. Made known in the flesh. I like that. Who has forgiven our sins? That first verse of the Philip Doddridge song. Tis done. The great transaction's done. I am my Lord's and he is mine. Oh, I like that. He drew me and I followed on. Rejoice to own the call divine. Oh, I like that, I do. How is all this possible? Paul's very clear here. The answer is not what, the answer is who. Who? Oh, I like that. Who? Who?

That's the question of all questions. Our salvation is given to us, what? By God, by Christ. Our holy calling is from God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, I like that. Oh, he has abolished death, he saved us, he called us, He hath brought life and immortality to light.

Oh, we can see now. I used to be blind, but now I see. And I'm gonna tell you something, I like seeing better than being blind. I remember them both. You understand? I remember not knowing God, and now I know God. I like that better. And you actually should. Now, granted, your circumstances may not always be pleasant. You may have water in your well you can't get out. You understand? We may have a leaky roof here. Which, you know, hopefully gotten fixed. But here's the thing. Your health may fail you. Your wits may fail you. Hopefully not at the same time. but your wits may fail you, your brain may collapse on you, your heart may stutter and attack you.

But listen folks, God will never forsake his own. Why? Because of what? His own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. I will never leave thee and never forsake thee. That's a promise from God. That's a promise from God. Out of the lips of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who is God? Folks, I'm gonna tell you something, it don't really get much better than that. He, the Lord Jesus Christ, was able, is able, and even better for us, folks, he's willing.

He's willing. Oh, I like that. He's willing. He has saved us. He has called us with a holy calling. He has abolished death. Jesus Christ himself said, he that liveth and believeth in me, what? Shall never die. Oh, I like that. Oh, I like that. He said, I am the resurrection and the life. Believest thou this? Do you believe him? I do. I didn't used to, but I do now.

What's the difference? Well, he saved me and he called me. And then he started educating me. The Lord knows I needed my ignorance to be erased, or at least replaced. Oh my. Help thou my unbelief. And it may not look to you or I at any particular time and some particular times, but sometimes it does, is this. All things do work together for good to them that love God, to who are what? Called according to what? His purpose. His purpose and his grace which were given us in Christ before the world began.

Oh, all things do. We may not see it at the time. I can look back and see some things. And even about some of you. But definitely about me and Deborah, we know. But I don't always see it. But here's the thing. Believe Him. Trust Him. He's brought life and immortality to light. Out in the light where even we can see it. Oh, I like that too. Because this is our message. He is our message. Jesus Christ is the message. Clay Curtis said, Christ is all. He's the gospel, oh my. He's the lamb of God who took away the sins of the world. He has saved, he has called, and he has made known to his people. Saying, blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered. That's Romans four and seven, you understand?

According to Ephesians 1, we believe by the working of His mighty power. His power, not our own. Then Jesus said this to Thomas. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed. And here it is, folks, here's where we are. Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed. We are blessed in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, who has saved us and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, thank God, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.

But now, right now, is made manifest under those people. His people. That's good news, folks. That's good news. He has saved us and he has called us. I'm gonna tell you something. When he saves you and he calls you, you're saved. And bless God, what God does is forever. Forever. Nothing can be put to it, nothing can be taken from it. God does it. Why? That men should fear him. Men should fear him. Oh my. I do. But I love him.

Our Lord Jesus Christ has saved us and called us by his grace. Heavenly Father, we're thankful again for this time and this place. Thank you most of all, Lord, because it is you who have saved us. And your son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who you sent to us. Oh my, he came willingly and lovingly and condescended to come in the form of a servant and to suffer the death and the punishment that we could not bear and to save us from ourselves and from our sin, Lord, Thank you, in Christ's name we pray, amen.

Who Hath Saved Us

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