I'm going to be preaching this
morning, Lord willing, from Acts chapter 4, but I'd like for you
to turn with me to Acts chapter 3. This is the account of the
matter that the Pharisees and Sadducees and the priests were
opposed to what the apostles did. that account and then I'll
be preaching from chapter 4. Acts chapter 3. Now Peter and
John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer,
being the ninth hour. And a certain man lame from his
mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of
the temple, which is called beautiful. to ask alms of them that entered
into the temple. That is for gifts. Who seeing
Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms. And Peter fastening his eyes
upon him with John said, look on us. And he gave heed unto
them expecting to receive something of them. Then Peter said, Silver
and gold have I none, but such as I have, give I thee. In the
name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. And he took
him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet
and ankle bones received strength. And he, leaping up, stood and
walked and entered with them into the temple, walking and
leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking
and praising God, and they knew that it was he which sat at alms at the beautiful
gate of the temple. And they were filled with wonder
and amazement at that which had happened unto him. And as the
lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people
ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon's Greatly Wondering. And when Peter
saw it, he answered unto the people, You men of Israel, why
marvel ye at this? Why look ye so earnestly upon
us, as though by our power and holiness we had made this man
to walk? The God of Abraham and of Isaac,
and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, have glorified his Son,
Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied him in the presence
of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. But you denied
the Holy One, and the just, and desired a murderer to be granted
unto you, and killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised
from the dead, whereof we are all witnesses. through faith
in his name, hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know. Yea, the faith which is by him
hath given this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. And
now, brethren, I want not that through ignorance ye did it,
as did your rulers, but those things which God before had showed
by the mouth of his prophets that Christ should suffer, he
hath so fulfilled. Repent ye therefore, and be converted,
that your sins be blotted out, when the time of refreshing shall
come from the presence of the Lord. And he shall send Jesus
Christ, which before was preached unto you, whom heaven must receive
until the times of restitution of all things which God hath
spoken by the mouth of his prophets since the world began. For Moses
truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your
God raise unto you of your brethren like unto me. Him shall you hear
in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come
to pass that every soul which will not hear that prophet should
be destroyed from among the people. Yea, and all the prophets from
Samuel, and those that follow after as many as have spoken,
have likewise foretold of these days. Ye are the children of
the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers,
saying unto Abraham, and in thy seed shall all the kindreds of
the earth be blessed. Unto you first, God, having raised
up your Son, Jesus, send Him to bless you in turning every
one of you from his iniquities. I'll stop there. If you will, turn back with me
now to Acts chapter 4. Primarily, we're going to be
looking at verses 10 through 12. on this subject, salvation in
his name. That's what Peter and John had
to say to this poor lame man for him to rise up and walk in
the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Now this is the account that
I read earlier to you of the lame man brought to the temple
to ask alms of those who were gathered there to pray. Why would
they take him to the temple? Well, God's providence, first
of all, that's the reason for everything that happens. God's
providence, he was brought to the temple. But those people
were known for their generosity, and especially as they gathered
together and contemplated, or at least his elect contemplated
the grace of God that had been given to them. and made them
ready to give unto others. And by way of God's providence,
power, and presence, he made that chosen sinner whole that
day. I don't think it ever entered
his mind when they carried him up to the temple that that was
the day of his salvation. And I can say the same thing
for myself, and I'm sure some of you can. All these miracles of healing
picture the salvation by the grace of God in Christ Jesus.
Every one of them. You remember on one occasion
our Lord said this to the poor sinner that was there. He said,
Thy sins be forgiven thee. He didn't say, Behold. He said, Thy sins be forgiven
thee. Disease is a picture of sin.
All these healing miracles was how God saves sinners and all
their diseases. One disease can't picture sin,
but a multitude of diseases was used to give us a picture of
what sin really is. Leprosy probably being the worst
of the bunch. So my subject this morning is
concerning the name by which chosen sinners are saved. And
I want to begin the message this morning with some interesting
facts and similarities between the lame man and ourselves. First
of all, this man was lame from his mother's womb, and so are
we. Ruined by the Pope. Spiritually, you and I are lame.
We're children of wrath, even as others. We're lame. That's what our Lord said, without
me you can do nothing. What can you do? Huh? To save
your soul spiritually, what can you do? You don't know God. He
has to be revealed to you. Even the things of God. He said,
I have not seen or heard, neither have entered into the heart of
man the things which God has prepared for them that love him.
We don't know those things. We're ignorant of those things.
The only thing we know about God is what religion has sold
us from the time we're born. And the witnesses of ignorant
men. That's what we know about God. And then secondly, this
man, because of his malady, had to be carried to the temple.
Is that not true of us all? God in his providence has to
bring us here. We can't get here on our own.
I'll tell you where you'll go. You'll go down here to the first
church of a false prophet, and that's where you'll sit and you'll
rejoice in it. He'd probably wake up in hell
having the same mind and heart. But this man, because of his
malady, had to be carried to the temple. In Romans 3, defining
the sinnerhood of men, Paul tells us that there is none that seeketh
after God. He didn't know necessarily why
he was at the temple. He knew his natural needs. And
they had to be supplied. But that's all he knew. In John
6, verse 44, our Lord said to the Jews who were murmuring at
him, he said, murmur not. No man can come to me except
the Father which sent me draws him. He has to be drawn of God. You know, folks sit back and
they look at the environment, you know, Here's a little church
that's down in Florida. It's right on the beach. And
boy, does it look appealing or maybe one out in Denver somewhere
in the mountains or up in Montana, you know, and people say, boy,
that's where I need to go. Why? Because it appeals to them. The environment appeals to them
there. And so they're going to go there. To do what? To satisfy their flesh. That's
the only reason they're going. If they didn't have a beach,
they wouldn't go. If they didn't have mountains, they wouldn't
go. And spiritually speaking, God in His providence and power
carries him up to the place of his salvation. Pastor, do you
really believe that there's a certain place that men are saved? Absolutely. Absolutely. You reckon God's ignorant of
this thing of salvation? It's of Him. This lame man was put where he
needed to be. And that's where we need to be
put. We have to be put by the providence
of God where we need to be. Otherwise, we're just going to
go with the world. Go with the flow, so to speak. And then thirdly, he was brought
there not to be rewarded, but to receive the gift of God by
the grace of God. By grace are you saved through
faith. Now listen, and that not of yourselves. What is it? It's the gift of
God. It's not of works lest any man should boast, and that's
exactly what we do. I've heard men testify saying
those very words. I haven't always done the right
thing, but I remember that day, and that hour, and that decision,
and that experience, and on and on it goes. If somehow they were enabled
to go to heaven, that's what they'd sing about. That experience,
that decision, that aisle walking, that card signing, or whatever
it is they put their faith in. By grace, or you say, through
faith. And then fourthly, he was in God's providence brought
there, now listen to me, as a beggar. He wasn't brought there to be
rewarded, he was brought there as a beggar. Weren't we? What have you gotten that you
haven't received? And if you received it, why do you glory
as if you didn't? We're beggars. That's what we
are. We come here because we're in need of everything. We didn't come here, well, I'm
in pretty good shape, but I need this. No, you're not in good
shape. You're in horrible shape. You're a beggar. When God convinces a man of sin,
he sees himself as he is, a sinner by nature, by choice, and by
practice. Take your pick. We're guilty
of all three. We're sinners. Physically, he had need of the
basic things of life, didn't he? Spiritually, the same thing
applies. This is the record that God has
given to us eternal life and this life is in His Son. He that
hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God
hath not life. Whatever else He has. We had needed the basic spiritual
things. We don't even know who Christ
is. I went a whole lifetime talking about Jesus and had no clue who
He was or where He was or what He'd done, why He came, Totally
ignorant of the Son of God. He needed the basic things of
life. He needed food and drink and clothes and somebody to look
after him. Think about it, a man lame, he
can't do anything. He just lays there in the bed
until somebody comes and gets him. Been there and done that. And spiritually, our needs are
the same. We need heavenly food, heavenly
bread. Huh? If you have spiritual life,
you need the things of the Spirit. What am I talking about? I'm
talking about food. Peter, do you love me? Huh? Then talk to my sheep. That ain't
what he said. He said, feed my sheep. Where
else are they going to get food? You get food by God's provision. And spiritually, all of our needs
are the same. We need heavenly bread. We need
spiritual wine. I brought a message one time.
There's a spirit in the wine. Our Lord changed that water into
wine. The man who was holding that
wedding, he said, boy, you saved the best wine for last. And we need washed in the blood. We need clothed in his righteousness. We need all the basic spiritual
things the same as we need the basic physical things. We were carried there. Ezekiel
said he was carried to the Valley of Dry Bones by the Spirit of
the Living God. He was carried there. He didn't
look out there and say, boy, let's go see what's in that valley.
And God, we're digging around, found some bones. No, he was
carried out there by the Spirit. The same as we are. And we're
carried in God's Spirit, and we're carried in God's providence. Without that working, inward
working of the Spirit, this is just another guy standing up
talking. But in the Spirit, if He allows you to, you understand. Things are revealed to you, and
you understand them. And you take that which you understand,
you take hope in. It becomes a reality to you.
It's not just a get-out-of-jail-free card. We need clothed and we need carried. He was carried to the Valley
of Dry Bones and there he was taught something of God's salvation
of the dead. you hath he quickened who were
dead. And then fifthly, the lame man
was there by the strength and goodwill of another. He didn't
lay around the house and say, I tell you what I think I ought
to do, I ought to go up to the temple. No, he was there by the
will and strength of another. Salvation is an intervention
of God, that's what it is. He comes into your life, and
when He does, He turns you from what you are. He changes the
whole direction of your life. He changes the way you think.
He changes the way you will. It's God that worketh in you,
both the will and to do of His good pleasure. And what a man won't do, let
me tell you something, God's not in him. Because he works
in his people, both to will and to do. And God doesn't fail in
what he begins to do. And I'll tell you something else
we have in common with this lame man. He had to be carried there
every day. How come? Because his needs were
never ending. Huh? He had to have food every
day, Russell. He had to be clothed every day.
He had to have somebody watching over him continually. And my
hope and prayer this morning is that God has carried us here
today with His sovereign purpose of grace to make us beggars,
kings and priests before our God. Because we sure ain't going
to do it. But He can. To bring us to the
place of grace and mercy. It's also my hope that each of
us has been carried by a spirit here today to make us whole by
the power and glory of His name, which is manifested in His Son. The account of this lame man's
being made whole begins in Chapter 3 of the Book of Acts. He was
positioned next to the gate called Beautiful. God's elect, His chosen,
are called His temple, and the way into the temple is the preaching
of Christ crucified. Peter said this, he said, Ye
also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy
priesthood, to offer up sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. God's elect is His temple. In
Ephesians chapter 2 it says, In whom, that is in Christ, when
the building is fitly framed together, it groweth into a holy
temple in the Lord. And Christ is the door. They
brought Him up and set Him right at the door. When the Spirit
of God carries you into the presence of His church gathered together,
you're sitting at the door. Christ is the door. There's nothing
else to preach. Well, can't you preach on signs
of the times? No, I already know the signs
of the times. They're going to be marrying
and giving in marriage and feeling all comfortable and plugged in
and satisfied and resting in everybody that they know and
the place where they were raised and so on. They're going to be
doing that right up to the end of time. And then suddenly, as
in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, the Lord shall appear.
And this life is over. He's the door. And his gospel
makes that door beautiful. It's beautiful. How beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring
glad tidings of good things. Oh, how I remember sitting where
God's providence put me and watching others partaking of worship and
entering into that door. And I was sitting there like
a beggar. Couldn't go in. Couldn't go out. Couldn't go
home. I had to be wherever I was put. And I realized it. I was confined to the beggar's
blanket waiting for mercy. So here's the sinner, ruined
by the thought, yet God has purposed to intervene on his account,
brought him to where he needed to be, brought him by his providence,
set him for intervention, prepared his preacher to preach God's
name, salvation in his name. Now, beloved, salvation is of
the Lord. Get that fixed at least in your
head. Salvation is of the Lord. There is a time and place for
hearing. Here's what the Scripture said. He said, We are as water poured
out on the ground, and there's no gathering it back. It's been
poured out. Yet He divides us means to recover
His banished. We've been poured out like water
on the ground, no retrieving it. But God has devised means
to recover His banished, and He will. And those means are
the means of grace, and I don't know of anything in our day more
denied than the means of grace. Preaching of the gospel, the
gathering together for worship. It's totally denied, it's set
aside. How important do you think Peter
and John was to that lame man? Huh? He'd been left a beggar. Please God, through the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. And hearing this poor sinner's
request, Peter said, Silver and gold have I none, but such as
I have, give I unto thee. You can't give what you don't
have, can you? Can't do it. But God had given these men the
message of grace and accompanied that preaching in power. And
they said, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and
walk. Now, do we expect these kind
of miracles today? No. Why? Because He was confirming
the ministry of these men. All before, everything that God
had to say, He said to His prophets. Now his son who died and accomplished
our redemption, and he was raised from the dead and ascended up
into glory and sat at the right hand of God. He had power over
all flesh to give eternal life to as many as the Lord had given
him. Now he's determined means. What are those means? The preaching
of the gospel. You deny that, you deny the whole
work of Christ. Before he left, that's what he
said, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel. Why? Because
he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth
not shall be damned. Now you can write it down, that's
exactly what's going to happen. You're not going to be saved
apart from hearing the gospel. You reason all you want to with
natural reasoning, but if you shut yourself up to the Word
of God, here's where you're going to come to this place. I can't
be saved apart from hearing it. That's what the Holy Spirit said.
How shall you hear without a preacher? Huh? You want to argue with Him,
you go ahead. Alright, now here's the second
thing. The indictment. I guess I can use that word.
In chapter 4, verse 7, He said,
By what power or by what name have you done this? Who gave
you the authority to heal this man? What are you doing? By whose name? They thought they
operated under the name of God because they were priests. But
here's the high priest and here's all of his relatives. Huh? Not a bunch of believers, this
is his relatives. This is his friends. Religions
full of friends, they got a clique. And boy, if you ain't in the
clique, you're not in. By what power or by what name
have you done this? I might say the same thing to
them. We built this huge cathedral. We did this, we did that. knock
on doors and invite people out. Maybe that's what we ought to
do, I don't know. But I don't think so. I think God has an
elect out there and I think in his providence they'll be brought.
All we need to do is what we've been commanded to do, preach.
Preach. And our confidence, Paul said
it, is that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform
it unto the day of Jesus Christ. That's my confidence. I don't
have any confidence in my study. I have confidence in God. Man's cursed by the fall. He
cannot just have forgiveness. He has to be redeemed. His sins
have to be paid for. You say, well, if I do this and
I do that, well, I'm forgiven. No, that's not how it works.
How it works is Jesus Christ came and lived and died for his
elect. He accomplished their salvation.
And now, that name, what's that name got to do with anything?
That name is who God is. He's a just God. My sister, before
she died, I was burying one of my brothers. And she came to
me and she listened to what I had to say, and then she said, I
don't believe a good God would do all that stuff that's recorded
in the Old Testament. And I said, you're right, a good
God wouldn't, but a just God would. God's just. And you're
going to know, if you're saved, you're going to know that He
is just and justifier. Not just justifier. He's just
in His justification. Our God will accept nothing except
absolute perfection, and we can't produce it. What's that mean? That means there's none righteous,
no not one. That's what that means. Our righteousness
is in Christ. It's without the law, it's without
doing. It's in receiving. Our righteousness is in Him. Everything I do is sin. I know
you may not understand what I'm saying, What comes out of the
heart is what? Evil thoughts, adultery, idolatry. All these things come forth from
the heart. Murder, theft, all these things. Comes forth from
the heart. What does it mean it comes forth from the heart?
It comes forth from the heart when I'm laying my money in the
offering plate. It comes forth from the heart when I bow my
head to pray. We're nothing but sinners. Sinners before God. apart from that righteousness
of Christ. But those for whom He died and
for whom He lived, they're righteous. How? In Him. Christ in you. That's the hope of glory. That's
how we walk. That's how our emotions are formed.
That's how our messages are formed. Christ in you. Go and look what
He's done. My soul. He washed us in His
blood. clothed us in His righteousness.
You know, if you're clothed, I don't just run over there and
look through the things and say, oh, here's something that looks
like righteousness, and I get it out and put the robe on. No,
we're clothed. He clothes us. He comes and puts
that robe of righteousness on you. When we do it, we're like
the man at the wedding. We don't have on the wedding
garment. We got on what appealed to us. I'm going to wear a pair
of pink sneakers That's just about how ridiculous
it is. And we put that on, boy, and we got them thumbs in them
suspenders, and we walk around all proud. Oh, my soul. All our righteousnesses are as
filthy rags. We're talking about His name.
His name is God our righteousness. Huh? In the mount of the Lord
it shall be seen. We're going to see it in Zion.
That's the church. He's just. His justice has to
be satisfied. Now, hell is forever, and it's
forever for one reason. Those suffering in hell can never
satisfy the justice of God. That's why it's eternal. You
can't do it. The only one who can satisfy
God is Christ, and He satisfied Him. He put Him to grief. God did. And God justified His
elect when He raised Him from the dead. The very name of God is manifested
in Christ as the whole character of God is manifested in the accomplished
redemption of Christ. Everything, His holiness, His
mercy, His grace, His love, everything is manifested in His Son in perfect
union. He can love us and not send us
to hell if He accomplishes the work. But His name's not going
to be compromised in our salvation, not in any part of it. And Christ
thought of that. You don't much think about Christ
as an angel. But He's the angel of the covenant.
He's the minister of the covenant. And everything that covenant
demands, He fulfills. Our hope is in Him. And you can
take hope in trying to be religious and trying to do this and trying
to do that, Or you can just love him as he loved you. Love one
another as Christ loved us. Love your wives as Christ loved
the church. When you men can do that, then
you can start putting your finger in your wife's face, but not
until. Love your wives. You can't do
it, can you? Love your wives as Christ loved
the church. Never ending love. Never ending. your whole self to her. If any poor sinner receives anything
from God, it's through His name. And here's the testimony, Acts
4 and 9. If we this day be examined of
the good deed done to the impotent man by what means he's made whole,
Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel,
that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified,
whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand
before you whole. This is the stone which you builders
set it not." What's that mean? Well, I used to work for a man,
and we did subdivision. And some of them were gated,
had a little guard shack and they were gated. The wall that
held the big wrought iron gates was made out of stone. It was
my job to go oversee all these men. I watched that stonemason
go over to a big pile of stone and he'll pick one up and he'll
take it over there and kind of hold it up and he'll pick it
aside and he'll go back over and get another stone. That's
what these builders, that's what these high priests, that's what
these false prophets did. They picked up the stone, Christ
Jesus, and they looked at what they were building and they said,
this ain't gonna fit. And they pulled him out and threw
him aside, tossed him aside. And that's exactly what happens
when a sinner hears the gospel and lays it aside. He's setting
aside the Son of God. Not only did they set him aside,
but they were his murderers. That's what he said. You desired
a murderer to be let go when Pilate was set on turning him
free. And you wouldn't have him. You preferred a murderer. Give
us Barabbas. And then listen to this. This
was the stone Which was said it not of you builders, which
is become the head of the corner. What you talking about there?
In this man Christ Jesus, when you look at the temple, you're
a part of it now. And he's the head cornerstone.
And you stand there and you can see the whole temple. You can
see the temple as far back into eternity past. as it is and as
far forward into eternity of the future you can see that temple.
You can see what it is, you can see all things in him, he's the
cornerstone. And this salvation is made certain
in Christ by that name that he honored. That's what holiness
is, honoring the whole name of God, that's holiness. And it is the only name given
among men whereby we must be saved. Well, some of God's elect
may not be saved. That's not true. They must be
saved. He's not going to expend that blood, offer that blood
for nothing. Just get it in your head. Every
man given to him in eternity past is going to be saved. He
must be saved because of that name manifested in him. Peter said, Blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his
abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance
incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved
in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith
unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last day. And this for
sure is the last day. And that revelation is not talking
about that day of His appearance. That revelation is talking about
right now. You hear the gospel and His Son is revealed. All
that He did, the importance of it, the glory of it is revealed.
And you see that apart from Him, you don't have a chance. Not
a chance. This is the stone that was tossed
aside. set aside of you builders, and
God made them the head and the corner. And salvation, listen
to me now, is made certain in Christ. It's not just a possibility. That's what religion says. His
death grants the possibility of salvation. No it don't. It
declares the absolute certainty of it. It is the name whereby we must
be saved. And all those for whom he came
and lived and died shall all reap the benefits of his accomplished
redemption. Paul talks about receiving an
inheritance. How did we come to this inheritance?
Ephesians 1.5, having predestinated us to the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will.
We're saved by the will and power of another. There's only one
who has the authority, if you will, to
save a man. That's God. And he gives that
authority to his son. Every false prophet and priest
have set him at naught. They won't have him. You can
set and stack scripture up around them like cordwood, but you're
not going to convince any of them of anything. God does that
work. And I can stand here and I can
give you some points and some interesting facts and similarities
and go on and on and on, but here's where all this is coming
to, apart from that name. Apart from the Son of God who
manifested that name, nothing is going to be done. You come in a sinner and you
go out as a sinner. Well, what makes a man a candidate
for mercy? Jesus Christ. That's what makes
him a candidate. I mean, there's no reason. My
brother told me one time, he said, if I believed what you
believe, I wouldn't preach. If God's going to have His way
in everything, He said, if you believe that, He said, I wouldn't
preach. And I said, well, if I believe what you believe, I
wouldn't preach because man's born in sin. He's ruined in sin. And apart from Christ, he has
no hope. All right, let me ask you some
questions. Does going to the temple guarantee salvation? No,
sir. But not going, seals the sinner's
doom. Huh? Let that sink in. Does taking
my place as a beggar guarantee salvation? Absolutely not. But
coming any other way takes away all hope. The lame man had no expectation
that God was going to make him whole that day. But God's election
and predestination set him up in the purpose and grace of God.
That's what happened. As Joseph had power over all
things in Egypt, as our Joseph, the Lord of glory, has power
over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many
as the Father has given unto him. And he will give it. That's
my expectation every time I get up here. I know God's going to
give, He's going to save somebody for His glory and for the work
that Jesus Christ did in this world. Somebody's going to be
saved. Who are they? I don't have a clue. That's why
I preach to every man the same. I say some things and somebody
says, Boy, he's talking to me. I hope so. I hate to think I'm
up there talking to the wall. Neither, Peter insisted, is there
salvation in any other. False religion operates on the
denial of the person and work of Jesus Christ, although it
brags on it every time they get up. But they operate on a total
denial of it. They would, if they were able,
forbid the preaching of the gospel all the time. This is a perfect
example right here. They forbid them to preach in
that name Peter turned and looked at him and he said, whether it
be right unto you to do these things or not, you judge. He
said, but we cannot but preach that name that God's given us.
That's what we're going to do. You do what you will. But they
would if they could forbid it. They'd just wipe it out, get
rid of it. And the only reason we're not under severe persecution
in this land of religion is because the work is so small that we're
not threatening them with anything. The work right now that God's
doing is a small work in relation to the thousands being dragged
down aisles and stuff and making professions of faith. This is
not even a threat to them. But back in the day when 5,000
would be saved under one message, it was a threat. And that's why
they received such Cruel persecution. Peter and John both said to them,
whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more
than unto God, you judge. That's what I told somebody one
time. I'm more afraid of God than I
am of them. We better be. False religion sees in Christ
an effort to save, an effort to inspire. They see no real
necessity for His coming and living and dying on the cross.
But Peter, being inspired by the Holy Ghost, said, Neither
is there salvation in any other. For there is none other name
under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. That
name has to be declared, Russell. And I don't care how well you
memorize it, I'm going to keep on declaring that name by the
grace of God. That's the only way you're going
to be saved. And those who realize it, boy, they lay hold of it. You can't take it away from them.
This is their hope. The name of God manifested in
Christ in an accomplished redemption. What's that mean? That means
He's redeemed all His elect. They're redeemed. They may not
have been called yet, but when they are called, they're going
to see it, and believe it, and rejoice in it, and accomplish
redemption, saved by His blood, by His faithfulness, by His work,
by His person. Listen to this in Romans 3. He said, but now the righteousness
of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and
the prophets, Romans 3.22, even the righteousness of God, which
is by faith or faithfulness of Jesus Christ, and it's unto all
and upon all that believe, for all have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. And it makes no difference if
they're Jew or Gentile. Doesn't make any difference.
They're elect of God. They're chosen of God. And the
accomplished redemption in Christ declares the believer holy. Oh, I thought holiness was in
a hairstyle. I thought holiness was in a dress. You have to wear long dresses,
you know, down to the floor if you're going to be holy. Holiness is being sure I pray
all the time. No, that's not holiness. Holiness
is consistency with the name of God. That's what it is. Holiness
has to do with the character of God, the wholeness of God. And He's chosen us in Christ
that we should be holy and without blame. And being before Him,
always before Him in love. There's never a time when God
quit loving His elect because He put them in Christ. And that
love is secured in Christ. Oh, that I could love Him like
He loved me. Huh? Can't do it. But I can in Christ. I can in
Christ. There's that. That love's secured.
Nothing can separate you from the love of God which is in Christ
Jesus, our Lord. May the Lord bless the preaching
of the Gospel and His Word. I've read you enough scripture
to save everybody in here this morning. God be pleased to do it.