I'd like to read verse 15. 1
Timothy 1 verse 15. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners, of whom I am Chief. I have entitled this message
a Salvation Sermon. A Salvation Sermon. And I expect the Lord to save
somebody through this message. I may not ever find out whether
or not he did, but I expect it. This is his gospel. Wouldn't it be a blessing if
a lost sinner leaves this place a saved sinner? This is a faithful saying. and
worthy of all acceptation. This ought to be the best news
you and I have ever heard. It is the best news I've ever
heard. That Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners of whom I am chief. Now, if you're not
a sinner, Whatever the Bible means by that
word. And I hope we're going to understand by the end of this
message. But if you're not a sinner, I've got no gospel for you. The
gospel is for sinners. But isn't everybody a sinner?
No. No. Ask them. Not everybody is a
sinner in the sense that the Bible means. And I believe we'll
see that. Now let's back back up to verse
5 of this same chapter. I want to read the verses preceding
this glorious faithful saying. Paul says in verse 5, now the
end or the goal or the purpose of the commandment and the gospel
is a commandment. Thou hast given commandment.
to save me. God who commanded the light to
shine out of the darkness has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. God only speaks by commandment.
When he says believe, it's a commandment. When he says repent, it's a commandment. God commandeth all men everywhere
to repent. God never advises, He commands. Everything God says is a commandment,
isn't it? Who's speaking? Divine authority. Now the end or the goal or the
purpose of the commandment is threefold. Charity out of a pure
heart and a good conscience and faith unfeigned. Charity out
of a pure heart. Blessed are the pure in heart.
Is that not the heart God gives in the new birth? And that's
the only thing that produces truth, charity. The only people
who love like this are believers. God's given them a pure heart,
a new heart. A new heart also will I give
you. That's the goal of the commandment. It makes people love, real love. And he says, a good conscience. That's the goal of the gospel.
That's the goal of the commandment of God. A good conscience. What's
a good conscience? Is it one that doesn't feel guilty?
Not necessarily. You cannot feel guilty. It might
be because you've got a seared conscience and aren't able to
feel guilty. A good conscience is a conscience
that has nothing to feel guilty about. Now, in Christ Jesus, being justified
I have nothing to feel guilty about. Now, I walk around all
the time with a cloud of guilt over my head. I always do. But
that being said, I got no reason for it. That's called the flesh.
In Christ Jesus, I'm justified. I have nothing to feel guilty
about. What sin? Is there any sin to
feel guilty about? No, there isn't. I stand before
God without sin. The end of the commandment, It's
charity out of a pure heart, a good conscience, and faith
unfeigned. I like that word, faith unfeigned.
It's not fake faith. I really believe. This is no
fake. This is not me just saying it.
I really believe that Jesus Christ is my righteousness before God.
I really believe that. No fake about that. His righteousness
is the only righteousness I know anything about. I really believe
that. Faith unfeigned. from which this goal, the end
of the commandment, from which some, having swerved, have turned
aside unto vain jangling, useless, vain speech, that would summarize
most preaching. Vain jangling. Worthless and
empty words that don't mean a thing. Verse 7, they desire to be teachers
of the law, understanding neither what they say nor whereof they
affirm. They don't understand what it
is they're teaching nor the implications of their teaching. But, he says
in verse 8, we know that the law is good if a man use it lawfully. I love God's holy law. I love
the Ten Commandments. I love everything God says. And
the law is good if a man uses it lawfully, if he uses it in
the right way. And what is the right use of
the law? Look at verse 9. Knowing this, that the law is
not made for a righteous man. Now, if you've got a righteous
man out there, do you have to lock your door to keep him from
stealing from you? No. A righteous man does not need
law. If somebody needs law, all they
expose about themselves are they're criminals. That's what that means. Now let's go and read in verse
9. Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man,
but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners.
for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers,
for manslayers, for whoremongers, for them that defile themselves
with mankind, for men-stealers, for liars, for perjured persons,
and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine. You see, all sin is contrary
to sound doctrine. What is sound doctrine? Read
verse 11. Sound doctrine according to the
glorious gospel of the blessed God, or the gospel of the glory
of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust. And what
a sacred trust that is. Verse 12. Paul says, And I thank
Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me For he counted me faithful, putting
me into the ministry. He enabled me, he counted me
faithful, and he put me into the ministry. I want to hear
somebody that God put in the ministry, don't you? That's what
I want to hear. Verse 13, he talks about what
he was before. Who was before? Before God saved
me, before God made himself known to me. who was before a blasphemer. Now, he was a very religious
man. And as far as he could tell, he was a very moral man. But
look what he says concerning his before, which was before. That's very significant, which
was before. You know, some folks don't ever have a before. I've
always been saved. That's way too long. Way too
long. I've always known God. Well,
that's way too long. Do you have a before? who was
before a blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious, insolent, but
I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. That verse used to trouble me.
It almost sounds the way it's worded that Paul's saying, I
obtained mercy because what I did, I just didn't know any better.
I was ignorant and so on. And if I would have Known better,
it would have been worse. It's almost like, it sounds like
he's saying my sin's not quite so bad because what I did, I
did in ignorance. Is that what he's saying? No. Paul is saying I was so ignorant,
I was so evil, I was so blasphemous and injurious and persecuting
that the only way I could be saved is by the sheer mercy of
God. He didn't save me because my
sin wasn't all that bad because it was committed in ignorance.
No, I was so desperately wicked, I was so given over that the
only way I could be saved is by obtaining the free, sheer
mercy of God. Verse 14, And the grace of our
Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love. which is in Christ
Jesus. It overflowed so much to such
an unworthy sinner. Now verse 15, this is a faithful
saying and worthy of all acceptation. Now this is one of four faithful
sayings of these pastoral epistles by the Apostle Paul. Look over
in 1 Timothy chapter 4, verse 8. For bodily exercise profiteth
little, or as my margin reads, for a little while. There's temporary
benefit in bodily exercise. But godliness is profitable unto
all things, having a promise of the life that now is and of
that which is to come. This is so infinitely more important. Now, this is a faithful saying
and worthy of all acceptation. Look in 2 Timothy chapter 2.
This is the early hymn of the church, verse 11. 2 Timothy chapter
2. It's a faithful saying. 2 Timothy
2, 11. It's a faithful saying. This
is one of Paul's four faithful sayings. It's a hymn. It says,
For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him. If
Christ represented me in His death, if I died with Him, you
know what? I'm going to live with Him, too. If He died for
me, I must be saved. If we suffer, we shall also reign
with Him. If we suffered with Him, we'll
reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will
deny us. Now there, you read it. If we
deny Him, He'll deny us. Verse 13, if we believe not,
Yet he abideth faithful. He cannot deny himself. I'm so
thankful for that verse of scripture. If we believe not, and everybody
that has any faith knows what unbelief is. As a matter of fact,
if you don't have faith, you don't really understand unbelief.
But if you have faith, you know what it is to cry out with that
man of old, I believe, help thou my unbelief. Now, if we believe
not, He remains faithful. He cannot deny Himself. You see,
if I'm united to Christ, I'm Himself. If He'd deny me, He'd
be denying Himself. And that can't happen. Aren't
you thankful for that faithful saying, that beautiful hymn?
I turn to Titus chapter 3. Here's the third. Verse 5. Not by works of righteousness,
which we have done, but according to His mercy. He saved us by
the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost
which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior
that being justified by His grace we should be made heirs according
to the hope of eternal life. Now this is a faithful saying.
And these things that I will that you affirm constantly, preach
these over and over and over again. Here's a place where repetitive
preaching is good. Why? So that they that believe
God might be careful to maintain good works. The only way they
will be careful to maintain good works is by the preaching of
this message. Now back to our text in 1 Timothy
1.15. Here's the first faithful saying of the Apostle Paul. He says, this is a faithful saying. You know what faithful means?
It means you can utterly rely upon this. This is not like the
promise of a politician trying to get elected. It makes all
kinds of promises. Oh, if you elect me, this will
take place and that will take place. And it never does. This
is not like the promise of a politician. This is utterly faithful. You can rely on this saying and
it's worthy of everybody's welcome reception. This ought to be,
now listen to me, this ought to be the best news you've ever
heard. Everybody in this room ought
to feel this. the best news you ever heard. And here it is, that Christ Jesus,
Christ God's anointed, God's anointed prophet, God's anointed
priest, God's anointed king, God's anointed, Christ I've heard
people talk about preachers. They say, well, he's got the
anointing. Well, I don't know whether he does or not. As a matter of fact,
I doubt it. But I know who does have God's anointing. Christ
Jesus. He is God's anointing. Jesus. Savior. Thou shalt call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins. His name means
Savior. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save blank. Now just pretend for a moment
that you've never heard this verse of scripture. Christ Jesus came
into the world to save. Who? Who did he come to save?
What if it said he came to save good and righteous people? Where
would that leave you? What if it said he came to save
believing sinners? What if it said he came to save
Repentant sinners. What if it said he came to save,
I think this is an interesting one, sensible sinners. Sensible
sinners. Puritans use that term. He came
to save sensible sinners. No, sinners are stupid. They're
not sensible. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save who? I'm so thankful for this. There's
no adjective in front of this word sinners. It just says He
came into the world to save sinners. Now, I can fit myself into that
group. If it says believing sinners, sometimes I'm not sure if they're
talking about me. Or if it says repentant sinners and all the
different adjectives we could put in front of it, I'm not so
sure it's talking about me. But I can fit myself into this
group just as a sinner. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. Now, here's my question. What
is a sinner? What is a sinner? What's the
Bible mean by this word? It's a biblical word. God be
merciful to me, the sinner. What is a sinner? What's the Bible mean by that
word? Well, the sinner is the one who
commits the sin. God does not put sins into hell. He puts the ones who committed
the sin into hell. You've heard that saying, God
loves the sinner, but he hates his sin. Tell that to the person
in hell. He knows that's foolishness.
You won't find anything like that in the Bible. Now, what
is a sinner? I want to give you Four things
that I think will help us to understand what the Bible means
by the word sinner. And I'm going to give you a scripture
that backs up what I'm saying. This isn't my opinion. This is
what the Bible actually teaches. What is a sinner? Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners. And listen to me, He came to
save all of them. Everybody who fits this description of a sinner,
Christ came to save. And if He came to save you, save
you'll be. Now, what does the Bible mean
by this word, sinner? Let me give you four things.
First, according to the Scriptures, a sinner is somebody who all
they do is sin. That's it. regarding every one
of their activities, regarding every one of their thoughts,
regarding every one of their deeds, all they do is sin. Genesis chapter 6 verse 5, And
God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and
that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only
evil continually. Every thought that goes through
his brain, that's me, that's you, what we are by nature. It's
only evil continually. A sinner is somebody who all
they do is sin. Secondly, a sinner is somebody
who cannot not sin. Try it. A sinner is someone who cannot
not sin. He lacks the ability to not sin. The carnal mind is enmity against
God. It's not subject to the law of
God. Neither, indeed, can be. Talking
about ability. So then they that are in the
flesh cannot please God, Romans 8, 7 and 8. Can't do it. They
lack the ability. Jeremiah said, can the Ethiopian
change the color of his skin, the leopard his spots? The answer
is no. How then can you do good who
are accustomed to doing evil? A sinner is somebody who cannot
not sin. I can't sin. I'm not going to
sin. Yeah, you are. every thought. Can't keep from
it. Thirdly, a sinner is somebody
who has no claims on God. Now what do I mean by that? No
claims on God. You know the Bible teaches, you
listen real carefully, The Bible teaches that the only people
who will be saved are the people that God chose to be saved before
the foundation of the world. Now, the Bible teaches that.
Romans 9, 11, for the children being not yet born, talking about
Jacob and Esau, neither having done any good or evil, that the
purpose of God, according to election, might stand, not of
works, but of him that calleth. That's what the Bible teaches.
Jesus Christ, listen real carefully, Jesus Christ died for the elect
and only the elect. When somebody says Jesus Christ
died for the sins of all men without exception, they tell
a lie. He did not. He died for his people. He died
for the elect, those the Father chose before time began. Now,
what's the sinner's attitude about this? You listen to me
real carefully. If Jesus Christ died for everybody but me. If God elected everybody but
me, if God the Holy Spirit called everybody but me, I could not
charge him with injustice. Why would he elect me? Why would
Christ die for me? I deserve to be sent to hell. Now that's the teaching. I've
got no claims on God. If God left you to yourself and
let you go to hell, would he be unjust? Answer that question
honestly. A sinner is somebody who has
no claims on God. And fourthly, a sinner, a real
sinner, is somebody who cannot look down their nose in judgment
on anybody. I mean anybody. He can't look
in moral superiority towards anybody. They know they're sinful. For me to look down my nose at
you for any reason would be the basis of hypocrisy because whatever
you do, I do too. At least in my heart. Cut out of the same cloth, piece of cloth, Adam. Let me show you a scripture that
confirms all of this. Turn with me to 1 John chapter
1. Now remember, a sinner. This is what the Bible means
by sinner. All he does is sin. He cannot not sin. He has no
claims on God. And he can't sit in judgment
over anybody. Now look in 1 John chapter 1
verse 8. If we say that we have no sin,
and there the word sin is a noun. It's not a verb. It's not something
we do. It's talking about something
we are. It's talking about the sinful nature. If we say we have
no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. We've
lost all credibility. At all times I have this sinful
nature. You see, if a sinful man does something, I don't care
what it is, that makes it sin, doesn't it? What if he does something
good? It's still sin, if the sinful
man does it. Look in verse 10. If we say we've
not sinned, there the word is a verb. If we say we've not sinned
regarding anything I do, regarding preaching this message, regarding
the prayers I pray, regarding my motives, my desire, on and
on. If we say we've not sinned, we make him a liar. Everything
I do is sin because of this sinful nature. Now, somebody's thinking,
how can that be understood in light of 1 John chapter 3, where
it says, He that's born of God doth not commit sin. Why can
that be understood in light of a holy nature? You say you have
a holy nature? You say you've been born of the
Spirit? You say God's done something for you? And yet you say all
you do is sin. What's he done for you if that's
the case? I mean that seems inconsistent. How can you say I have a holy
nature and say at the same time that everything I do is sin?
How can that be? Let me try to illustrate this. In paint or colors, if you have
a quart of or a pint of red paint and you have a pint of yellow
paint, and you take those two paints and you pour them into
a gallon, what comes out? Orange paint. That's the color
wheel. Maybe y'all learned something. You have yellow paint, you got
red paint, you pour it in, you have orange paint. And all you
see is orange. You no longer see red. You no
longer see yellow. But did the properties of that
yellow paint change at all? No. Still there. Did the properties
of that red paint change at all? No, they're still there. You
see, the new nature and the old nature are funneled into one
man. One man, me. And so all I can
see, I can't see the yellow. All I see is me. And all I see
in me is that orange, The holy nature's there, but I can't see
it. If you could see a holy nature,
you've missed it. I'm sure of that. You don't even
know what holiness is. Yes, everything I do is sin because I've always
got my old nature. It's always there. And all I see in myself is sin. Now, notice Paul's next comment
on our text. Turn back to 1 Timothy 1.15.
He says, this is a faithful saying and it's worthy of all acceptation
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. What's
he say next? Of whom I am chief. I'm the foremost. I'm the worst
man to ever live. That's what Paul said. Now, I
question how much we believe that. And here's why I question. If I say I am the chief of sinners,
I'm the worst man to ever live. And if you agree with me and
say, yes, I believe you are, I'm going to be offended. I just
know I will. What? You think you're better
than me? I know the way we respond to
things like that. So I think we don't much believe what we
say we do. But are you a sinner? Somebody who all they do is sin,
who cannot not sin, who has no claims on God, and who cannot
stand in judgment on anybody, are you a sinner? Would this
describe you? Now, if not, I've got no gospel
for you, and I've got no hope for you. But if you are a sinner, Christ came into the world to
save sinners, of whom Paul says, I am the chief. Now, how? How
is it that Christ saves people like this? Because that's a pretty
bleak description of Him. How is it that He saves these
kind of people? And I know this, He saves all
these kind of people. If you're a sinner, He came to
save you. I'm sure of it. I know that if you're a sinner,
Christ died for you, and you must be saved. Now, how is it
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Well,
His purpose for coming into the world was to save sinners. He said, I came not to call the
righteous, but who? Sinners, to repentance. This purpose answers God's eternal
purpose. He said in 2 Timothy 1.9, He
saved us and He called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works. But according to his own purpose
and grace, which were given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began, he came to save sinners. How? Now, if I was asked to select
one passage of Scripture to tell how God saves sinners, I would
go to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. I was talking to Brother Paul
Mahan out on his porch last week when I was there, He actually
said, if I was going to pick one passage of scripture to preach
the gospel from, if I was only given one, to tell a sinner how
God saves them, it would be in 2 Corinthians chapter 5. And
I agreed, because I thought that before he ever said that. Turn
with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 5 for a moment. How is it that
God saves sinners like this? Let's begin reading in verse
17. Therefore, oh I pray that God will enable
somebody to hear this in the power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore,
if any man be in Christ. Now here's where salvation begins.
It begins in Christ. This is how a sinner is saved,
by being in Christ. What's that mean? It means the
precise same thing it meant to be in the ark. The wrath of God
fell on the ark. Everybody that was in the ark
was saved. Everybody outside of the ark
perished. Salvation is in the Lord Jesus
Christ, in the house with the blood over the door. If I was
in the house with the blood over the door, you know what God said?
God said, when I see the blood, when I see it, not when you see
it, when I see it, I will pass over you. If you were outside
of a house with the blood on the door, what happened? God
killed you. In Christ. Salvation is in the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's not in what you do. It's
not in what you think. It's in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Go on reading. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creation. Now listen to me. Salvation is
a creative act of God. It's not something you cooperate
in. It's not something you do. It's God's creation. He spaked
the world into existence. How much help did you give Him
in that? Absolutely none. This is the creative act of God. God, who commanded the light
to shine out of the darkness, has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creation. This is God's work. Old things
are passed away. Behold, all things have become
new. In this creative act of God, my old standing before the
law, guilty, is passed away. I'm perfect before the law. My
old inability to believe is taken away. I now believe the gospel. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things are new, and he says in verse 18, and all things are
of God in this new creation. This new standing is His work.
This new nature is His work. Salvation is of the Lord. All
things are of God. who hath reconciled us. Now notice
the language. Who hath reconciled us to himself
by Jesus Christ and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.
Now notice what it says. It says he hath reconciled us.
He doesn't say he will if. It says he hath. Turn to Romans chapter, hold
your finger there and turn to Romans chapter 5. Verse 10, For if, when we were
enemies, we were what? Reconciled to God. When were
you reconciled to God? When I was His enemy. How were
you reconciled? By the death of His Son. You
see that? When was God reconciled to me?
Was it when I believed or when I repented or when I turned things
around? No, it says here, I was reconciled to God when I was
an enemy by the death of His Son. You see, our Lord Jesus
Christ, this is what He did on the cross. He reconciled. He
removed God's reason for anger. By His blood, He put away my
sin where God doesn't have a reason to be mad at me. God's reconciled. Now let's back to our text in
2 Corinthians chapter 5. All things are of God, who hath reconciled
us, who hath, it's already accomplished, he hath reconciled us to himself
by Jesus Christ, given to us the ministry of reconciliation.
And here's what it is, namely, or to wit, that God was in Christ,
reconciling the world unto himself. Now obviously that doesn't mean
every individual to ever live, because not every individual
to ever live is saved and reconciled to God. It's talking about Jews
and Gentiles, black and white, educated. I mean, cultural distinctions
make no difference. He's reconciled the whole world
to himself. He's redeemed a kindred out of every kindred, tribe,
tongue, and nation. Thank God for that. Here's the
gospel. Here's what the gospel preacher's
called to do. He's committed to us the word of reconciliation,
the wit that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself.
And here's how he did it. Not imputing their trespasses
unto them. And committed to us this word
of reconciliation. Now, here's my hope. I got plenty of trespasses. You
do too. Here's my hope. God doesn't charge
me with them. That's it. Everything I think about myself,
I don't know the half. It's worse than I imagined. But
here's my hope. God does not charge me with sin. He charged my sin to His Son. Now that's my hope. He charged
my sin to His Son. My sin became His. That's the only hope a sinner
has. is that God doesn't charge you with what you are, that He
placed it upon His Son. Now let's go on reading. Verse
19, To wit that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself,
not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed
unto us the word of reconciliation. That's the Gospel. It's the word
of reconciliation. God's not mad. God's pleased. Now then, verse
20, We are ambassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you
by us. We pray you in Christ did be
you reconciled to God. You know, I don't even know how
to comment on this, that God would beseech me. Isn't that
amazing? That God beseeches the sinner,
yet He does. He says to every sinner, listen
to me. Listen to the gospel. Be ye reconciled. You drop your arms. You be friends
with God. He's removed his reason for anger.
You better remove yours. That's what he's saying. You
be reconciled to God. You rejoice in the gospel. And here, verse 21, 4. Here's
why. You be reconciled to God. And
here's the reason, 4. He hath made him to be sin for us
who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him now would you listen God made the Lord Jesus Christ
that one who knew no sin The one who never sinned. The one
who is holy. He made him to be sin. Now I don't much understand that.
I believe it all together. I believe it all together. Whatever
sin is. That doesn't mean Christ was
up on the cross thinking evil thoughts and lusting and hating.
Doesn't mean that at all. It's worse. It's worse. He was made sin. The sins of God's people became
His so that He actually was guilty. When God killed Him, He didn't
say, I know you're not guilty. These are the sins of Your people,
but I'm going to punish you in your place." No, Christ was guilty. He bore the filth and the hell
and the ungodliness of sin. It became His, so He deserved
to die. He deserved the wrath of God.
Oh, who understands this? We believe it. We believe it
all together, but I don't much understand. But I know this is
my only hope, that my sin became His. And look what happens as
a result of that. For he hath made him to be sin
for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made. I want you to read this out loud
with me. That we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. Now do you hear what that's saying? It's only as Christ was made
sin that I'm made the righteousness of God. You can't have one without
the other. If He wasn't made sin, I'm not made the righteousness
of God. But if He's made sin, listen
to me, I have a righteousness that's not just like His righteousness.
I have a righteousness that's not equal to His righteousness.
His righteousness is my righteousness. And there's my boldness. There's
how I can come into God's presence with the very righteousness of
God. That's my righteousness. I have
such confidence. If my righteousness is just like
His righteousness, I can't get hold of that. It's not enough. If it's got a likeness, it's
still not the same thing. But my righteousness is His righteousness. Their righteousness is of me,
saith the Lord. Now, how can I know if Christ
died for me? How can I know if His righteousness
is mine? Can you give me some help? How can I know for sure
that what He did is for me? Well, let me show you a scripture
in Romans chapter 5. Turn back there. Verse 6. For when we were yet without
strength, you know what that means? Completely unable. Powerless. Powerless to believe. Powerless to repent. Powerless
to love. Powerless to hear the gospel. Hear the gospel and not even
know what it means. Don't even have a clue. when we were yet without strength. Have you ever been without strength?
Powerless. In due time, Christ died for
the ungodly. That's who He died for. He died
for folks who are without strength and ungodly. And if that would
describe you, He died. for you. And you must be saved. Now, I'm not going to end here.
Here's the last thing I want to say to you. Don't leave this place thinking,
well, I'm ungodly. That's evidence that I'm saved.
I don't want to leave you with that. In Acts chapter 16, verse
30, that Philippian jailer Paul and Silas. Sirs, what must
I do to be saved? That's a good question, isn't
it? What must I do to be saved? I know some people have taken
that passage of Scripture and say, well, there's nothing you
can do. That's legalism. No, it's not. What must I do?
What must I personally do to be saved? You know how I answered
him? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Rely as a sinner, as a sinner,
as somebody who all you do is sin. You cannot not sin. You have no claims on God's mercy
and you can't stand in judgment of anybody. That's what a sinner
is. As a sinner, rely on the Lord Jesus Christ to make you
the very righteousness of God. Now, that's what faith in Christ
is. It's relying on Him to make me the very righteousness of
God. Now, that's strong language.
That's salvation, isn't it? If I have the righteousness of
God, that is plum saved, saved to the uttermost. Now this is
what God commands you to do. What must I do to be saved? As
a sinner, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be
saved. Oh, believe. Let's pray.