Our aim here is to glorify the
God of the Bible. That's our aim. We come into
this place. If you come here and you sit
under the sound of our ministry, it'll be our business to exalt
the Lord God of the Bible before you. We will honor the Son of
God the best we know how. We'll set forth the Lord Jesus
Christ as God's only beloved Son, the representative of his
people, the chief among the elect, the one who is the firstborn
among God's people. Now also we would attempt to
preach the gospel in a way that we want to have a New Testament
service. Maybe we could sum it all up by saying we'd like to
have a New Testament service. We want to preach the gospel
that those who are strangers to God's grace may hear the truth
and be brought under the sound and under the power of the message. May the Lord be pleased to give
an answer this prayer. We pray. and prayed and prayed
before we came to this service today that the Lord would own
the message and use it for his glory. I want to read out of
the 26th chapter of the book of Acts. Our brother was gracious
and read this chapter to us this morning. I want to read verse
15 through 18 for the text this morning of our message. Verse
15 through 18. And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom
thou persecutest. But rise and stand upon thy feet,
for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee
a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast
seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto
thee, delivering thee from the people and from the Gentiles
unto whom now I send thee, to open their eyes and to turn them
from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God,
that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among
them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. Now, if you were listening carefully
when our brother read this chapter this morning, you know that the
Apostle Paul has been granted permission to speak for himself
before King Agrippa. He is preaching, as it were,
the gospel unto King Agrippa. And I do not know whether King
Agrippa understood or realized the great act of mercy toward
him in God allowing Paul to preach to him the grace of God. I do
not know whether he understood that this was an act of mercy
on God's part. Anytime you're privileged to
sit under the sound of the gospel of God's grace, this is an act
of mercy on God's part. Paul was the king of preachers,
and here he is preaching to a king. I just wonder if Agrippa ever
realized what a momentous hour That was when he was privileged
to hear Paul the Apostle. What a tremendous hour that was
when we first heard the grace of God. What a momentous hour
it was when the Lord opened our sin-blinded eyes And God sent
a preacher to preach the gospel that we might hear and see the
truth in and through the declaration of the gospel of God's Son. It
is a momentous hour when God in grace crosses the path of
any sinner. of any sinner. Has your path
been crossed by the message of the gospel? Have you heard the
plain truth about how God saves sinners? I thank God daily that
he did not leave me alone, that he did not pass me by, he did
not leave me in my sin and unbelief. because there was a time when
I was in a state of nature and did not believe the gospel. I
was lost. I was 16 years old and lost and
had no hope in my heart, no hope in my soul. But the Lord did
not pass me by. The Lord came to me and crossed
my path. There was an hour in which God
dealt with my own soul and brought me to love Him and to love His
Son, the Lord Jesus. Now many are left in their blindness
and unbelief. Their hearts are hardened more
and more till they die in their sins to perish forever. God forbid
that that should describe any of you, that you should be hardened
more and more until the time of your death catches up with
you, and then you pass from this life to perish forever under
the sentence of sin and death. One day, glorious day, we feel
it to be, He crossed our path and brought us out of nature's
night into the light of the gospel of His precious Son. And I can't
say enough this morning about the praise and thanksgiving that
wells up in my soul about God's grace and mercy toward me. He showed me that I had been
a failure. He showed me that I had been
a failure even in those 16 years that I had lived, but he revealed
to me that Christ wasn't a failure, that the Lord Jesus was a success. He showed me that Christ came
into the world to not merely make an effort to save men, but
actually accomplished the whole of the work. That the Lord Jesus
came into the world and that he actually accomplished the
whole of the work of salvation. He didn't come down here to make
an installment payment on my salvation and then leave the
rest up to me. No, he did not do that. The Lord
Jesus came down And the Old Song says he paid it all, and the
Bible is clear. He finished the work which the
Father gave him to do. He paid it all, all the debt
I owe, the Lord Jesus paid it. His atonement was effectual,
it was sufficient, and he did not fail. Glory, what an hour! What a moment when the Lord revealed
that to our hearts. Well, here Agrippa is listening
to the man, I think, the man of the hour. He's listening to
God's preacher. He's one sent by God himself
to deliver this message here of grace and salvation before
Agrippa and Festus. And, beloved, if you think with
me just a moment. What an hour it was when the
Lord Jesus met the woman at the well. What a difference that
made in her life. And then the thief on the cross
could have been crucified a day earlier or a month later, but
he was crucified in the predestinated time of God to accomplish the
purpose of God and bring him next to the Savior, put him next
to the Savior, that he might have salvation, eternal life. What an hour in the life of the
thief on the cross. And then Zacchaeus. Think about
this. He could have been collecting
taxes somewhere else that day when our Lord came and Told him
to come down out of the tree and said, this day salvation
must abide at thy house? Why, Zacchaeus could have been
off somewhere else. But in the purpose of God. Notice,
if you will, I'm talking about the hour, I'm talking about the
time, and how important it is. And oh, blind Bartimaeus. You
remember when the Lord Jesus passed by and he cried out and
said, Son of God, have mercy on me, have mercy on me. Well,
he could have been home with a cold and could have stayed
home that day and not been there when the Lord Jesus passed by.
But no, thank God, He had an hour when He touched their hearts
and saved them and did not leave them in their sin. Well, what's
going to happen with old Agrippa? Will he be like Bartimaeus? Will he be like the woman at
the well? Will he be like a thief on the
cross? Will he come to experience In the mercy of God, will he
have his sins blotted out and forgiven? Will he be a believer? Will he be persuaded under the
power of the gospel? What will be his fate? Well,
beloved, we do not have any indication that he ever believed the gospel. He said, you almost persuade
me, Paul. But you see, the persuading is
not in the hands of the preacher. The persuading, even though a
preacher can be persuasive and ought to be and ought to speak
with authority, God's authority that is, we know that the persuasion
unto eternal life comes by God's Holy Spirit. It comes through
the power of God. making application of the Word
of God in the heart of the sinner. And so his fate, as far as we
know, he died lost, died without any hope, died without any faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. How are you going to die? What's
going to be your state? Here you have this momentous
hour. Here you're listening to the gospel. Here you're hearing.
that Jesus has come. And do you realize the blessedness
of this hour, the potential of this hour, the possibility and
the importance of this hour? This congregation as it stands
or as it sits here this morning will never meet again exactly
the same. And next Sunday morning when
we meet, as it was last Sunday morning, the congregation was
different, it will be different next Sunday morning. It'll never
be the same. Oh, that we might redeem the
time, that I might redeem the time with my tongue, you might
redeem the time with your ears, for we will not pass. This way
again. This is a momentous hour. What
will be the outcome of this hour as far as your soul is concerned? Well, Paul preached in the presence
of the king. He had one shot at the king,
and I think that he aimed well. Now, there's some things in this
chapter that stands out to me, and I'd like to point out a couple
of them to you. Paul's preaching, I believe,
was forceful. But Paul was a very courteous
man. The Apostle Paul did not feel
that God sent him to skin people with a dull knife and then pour
in salt. He was not a ripper of hides.
He believed he had God's message, and he believed that that message
ought to be presented in such a way that would be honoring
and glorifying to his master, but yet would be effectual in
the hands of the Spirit of God to the accomplishment of whatever
it is that God intended to accomplish. And Paul believed that he ought
to be courteous. And in verse 2, I think myself
happy, King Agrippa. Paul was happy on this occasion. He felt blessed of God to be
able to stand and to give his personal testimony here of God's
truth. Paul was preaching very bold,
but he was never rude. Paul was persuasive, but he was
never apologetic. He never apologized for his message. He said, I'm out to present every
man perfect in the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm out to persuade men
and women. I'm ambassador for Jesus Christ. I pray you in Christ's stead,
be you reconciled to God. I beseech you by the mercy of
God. That's Paul's language. He was
very persuasive, but never apologetic. Now, beloved, we recognize that
it's God that makes men differ. And when we witness and when
we preach, when we testify of God's mercy and God's grace,
we know that we do not have the power to put men down and to
put a funnel in their ear and to pour the truth into their
head, or to in any way, shape, or form press it into their inner
parts, wherein it'll have to be, if it ever is effectual and
useful to the salvation of their soul. We know we have no such
power as that. And we need to understand that
we are to humbly present the Word of God and to recognize
that when men and women listen to what we have to say and do
so with patience, that that's all we can expect. We're not
to do it in a rude fashion. Now, and Paul spoke of himself
and of his experience on the road to Damascus, and there's
nothing wrong with that. He spoke of his religious background. He spoke of himself, but he never
spoke for himself. He was there speaking in order,
in such a manner that the Lord might be able to use it. to the
glory of his name. We're not here to preach ourselves. Paul said we preach not ourselves
but Christ Jesus the Lord. Now there's a difference between
a man speaking of himself but not for himself. There's a difference,
a great deal of difference. Now the Lord in verse 16 gave
Paul a commission. And we don't make ministers.
Churches don't make ministers. God makes ministers. And in verse 16 it says, But
rise, the Lord Jesus speaking to Paul, and stand upon thy feet. I have appeared unto thee for
this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness. Now, beloved,
this is important to see, that if any man ministers, He's to
administer with the ability that God gives, that God in all things
may be glorified. I believe the reason why that
you're not hearing the truth of God expounded and preached
from pulpits in our day and time, and it's been true clear back,
is because there are many standing who have not the message, that
God has not revealed His truth to, and they have not the message. Now there are many, many people
preaching that's got the education. They've got the education. Not
only have they got the education, they've got the money. And not
only have they got the money, they've got the edifices, they've
got the buildings, and they've got everything you could want.
in regard to the religious paraphernalia and so on and so forth, but to
have the message, to have the message. This is the important
thing, and beloved churches, denominational schools cannot
make ministers. Paul was told by the Lord Jesus
for this purpose I've appeared unto you for this purpose to
make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou
hast seen and of those things in the which I will appear unto
thee you say preach I don't believe God appears anymore to men I
just think that they grow up and some of them have a you know
a strong desire to become a preacher and so therefore they just go
off to a school someplace and get their Bible education and
come out and and get a few skills in regards to how to stand up
and deliver a few thoughts and they become preachers. Well,
I don't believe that. I believe that the Lord Jesus
Christ still appears unto men. I believe that he appears unto
men. I don't mean to say that they hear a voice. that, you
know, is a voice that, you know, gives them a special edge or
anything of the kind, but I do believe they hear from God in
their souls, and they know that God has called them. God makes
that clear to them. And they have not only this call
of God, but they have also a message given to them, revealed to them,
wherein they're able to minister for God and to those that the
Lord sends them. I believe they have God appearing. Now Abraham, God appeared to
him four different times. And I believe that God has appeared
to me. And I'm not here to try to prove that he has, but I know
that he has. And I believe that any man that's
sent of God will know that God has appeared and said, for this
cause I've raised you up. This is the purpose, my purpose
for your life. You cannot tell, listen to what
he said here. He said, I raised you up, the
commission was twofold, to be a witness of the things that
you've seen. Now, first of all, I want to
say a few things about this, about this part of the commission,
of these things which thou hast seen. You cannot tell what you
do not know any more than you can come back from someplace
you haven't been. This is so important to see.
This has been the trouble for years in the professing church,
men in teaching, preaching positions who've never seen anything. They
have never seen anything. You say, Well, let me say it again. You
cannot tell what you do not know. You must see something. And that's
what Paul is being told here by the Lord Jesus. He said, I've
sent you to be a minister and a witness, both of these things
which you've seen. and of those things into which
I will appear unto you." The first part of the commission
is the things that you have seen. Paul knew what he was talking
about when he stood before Grippa. I've not had all the experiences
that Paul had. But I've seen Christ by faith. I've seen the Lord Jesus revealed
in the Word. He knew what Christ had done
for him. He had seen enough to know some things. And this morning
I would ask you, have you seen enough to know some things for
sure? Now, beloved, God is sovereign. He's on a throne, or somebody
else is. How is it, or who is on the throne
running this world? God is sovereign. We believe
in the sovereignty of God. I like to hear people say that.
I like to hear people testify, I believe in a sovereign God.
I believe in a God who is absolute. I believe in the Godhood of God.
I believe that there is one free will in all the universe and
that is the will of God. I believe in a sovereign God.
Now beloved, do you believe that? Have you seen enough? to come
to believe that in your soul. I mean, with conviction and persuasion,
do you believe in a sovereign God? And then the sinner's either
dead or he's not. Which is it? You say, well, preacher,
I don't know which it is. Well, you haven't seen yet enough. to make a determination. If you
know anything about the Word of God, if God has been pleased
to tutor and teach your heart and your soul, you know that
the sinner died in the fall and that he's dead, that he's dead
to God, that he's alienated from God. He's cut off from the life
that is in God and he doesn't have any spiritual life in him. He has arms and legs, he's got
a head, he's got a mind to think with, he's got ears to hear with,
eyes to see with, but spiritually he has no ability to understand
the things of God or to come to God on his own. You cannot
be slightly dead, you know. You cannot just be a little bit
alive and a little bit dead. You're either alive or you're
dead. And if you've seen anything,
and if you're going to preach, you ought to know that the sinner
is dead. That's what Paul said about the
Ephesians, and I don't believe they had a plague over there
that they didn't have at Corinth, that they didn't have in other
places where the people of God were meeting together. All sinners
are dead in sin. Now, beloved, you're either in
Christ or out of Christ. Which is it? Now, you say, well,
I don't know what you're talking about. I'm telling you this morning
that if you've seen what you ought to see, Paul knew that
a man, he was either in Christ or out of Christ. He preached
to men and women and spoke to some as those who were in Christ,
and then he spoke to others who were without Christ, who were
outside of Christ. You say, well, what's the difference?
Well, the difference is life, and the difference is death.
If Christ be in you and you be in Christ, then you're alive
spiritually. You're saved. You're a child
of God. You're bound for heaven and glory.
But if Christ be not in you, he is not yours, and you're lost,
and you're in sin, and you're headed for a devil's hell. Now,
if men come to Christ, they either bring themselves or God brings
them. Which is it? Preacher, I have
not seen enough to know which way it is. Well, you need yet
to learn. You need yet to see. Beloved,
if a man comes to Christ, they do not bring themselves. The
Lord Jesus said, you cannot come to me, except the Father which
sent me draw you. Except the Father which sent
me draw him, no man will come to me. Jesus said, you will not
come to me, but you might have life. And so the reason that
men and women come to Christ is because they're drawn, they're
brought to the Lord Jesus. No man can bring himself savingly
unto Christ. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, Jesus said, John 6 and 37. They shall come
to me. They'll get to me, but it'll
be because my Father draws them by his Spirit. I'm talking about
things that we have seen. things that we have been taught.
All God's people will persevere or none of them will. Which is
it? Which is it? Have you seen anything? Have
you seen this truth? Well, I believe that it's like
a ship. And there are strong men on the
ship. There are babies, there are infants
on the ship. But if the ship goes down, it
won't make any difference whether a man is strong or whether he's
an infant. He's a goner. If the ship goes down, he goes
down with it. And the same is true in the family
of God. You say, Preacher, I'm not a
very strong believer. Are you a believer? Yes, you
say, I'm a believer. Then, my friend, you'll stand
because you're on the ship of God's free grace, and you're
on the ship with some who are like Paul, who were strong in
the faith, like Abraham, who was persuaded that what God promised,
he was able to perform, and we're all on that ship, whether we're
weak or whether we're strong, and if that ship holds up, and
bless God it will, then we are secure. in our God. We are secure
in our salvation. Have you seen it? Have you been
brought to see it? Now these things have to be known.
These things have to be believed based on, thus saith the Lord,
based on what the Word of God teaches. I thank God for the
day when I met these things, these issues, and God settled
them in my heart. I thank God for that day. They
were troublous times, They were somewhat difficult and it led
to the splitting of a church right down the middle. These
truths that I'm talking about today. But I'll tell you this,
blessed be the day when these things are settled in our hearts. These truths that we've just
mentioned. We have to speak very rapidly.
to get over the material that we have. Now that's the first
part of the commission that the Lord gave unto Paul. I want you
to go out here and be a witness of those things which you've
seen. Those things which you've seen with your own heart. Those things that you know in
here and those things in which I will appear unto thee. Now
he means the things that he will reveal unto him and the things
that he will continue to teach him. And that's all a preacher
can preach. That's all he has to preach,
what he's seen and what God has taught him, what God continues
to reveal to him. We cannot go beyond that. We
must not go beyond what we personally have seen and what God has revealed
in our hearts. Now in verse 17, God tells Paul
that he's going to deliver him from those Gentiles. And you
don't think Gentiles can get rather difficult to deal with,
but I've seen some Gentiles and I've seen some people that get
pretty upset when they begin to hear God's truth. And there
are people that don't like for you to corner them and tell them
what the truth is. There are religious people that
will just simply get so mad at you that they will run from you
or they'll run at you. I've had them to run from me.
I'd go try to shake their hand after the service and they'll
run and get out of the building. They don't shake no hand. with
a man who believes in sovereign grace, who believes that God
has a will that cannot be thwarted, believes that God has sent Christ
and that there's only one way of salvation, and that's through
the shed blood of the Redeemer. Why, they don't want to hear
any preacher like that, and so they run from you. Or they'll
grab your shirt and they'll tear it off of your body. because
they're mad at something you've said concerning their God, their
little puny God, their little God that people wipe their feet
on every time they come to church. And so, beloved, a man must be
willing to take this kind of treatment. And Paul said, or
the Lord said to Paul, I'm going to deliver you from these kind
of people, from these Gentiles unto whom now I send you. You're
going to have to have deliverance. And you'll still have to have
deliverance today if you speak the truth in the power of the
Spirit. If you witness personally in
the power of the Spirit, God will have to deliver you. You
say, well, I hope people are more civilized now. Well, they'll
have to get that way in the last little while because when I was
a younger fellow, they weren't that way. They were not civilized
when it come to respecting a man who preached the grace of God.
Now in verse 18, He gives us a definition of his task, and
I believe at the same time that he gives here a definition of
a Christian. The definition of a Christian.
I send you, first of all, he says, to open their eyes. This is the task set before Paul. I send you to open the eyes of
these Gentiles. Your eyes are open, Paul. Now I will send you to open the
eyes of others. Notice, if you will, first of
all, a Christian is someone whose eyes have been opened. Somebody
whose eyes have been opened. First of all, their eyes have
been opened to see themselves, who they are, what they are,
to see God, who He is, His holiness, His justice, to see Christ as
Master, to see Him as Lord, to see Him as Savior, to see His
all-sufficiency. I've seen enough to convince
me that I need mercy. Have you seen that? Have you
been brought to see that? Has your eyes been opened? to
see your need of the grace of God? Have your eyes been opened
that you might see your need of God's Son and His salvation? Now, I've been convinced that
the only one who can help me is Christ Jesus. He's the only
one. You say, well, I thought I might
need some religion. Well, you don't need any religion. What you need is Christ. You
need Christ. Have you seen enough about yourself?
Is your eyes open enough? to know that religion won't help
you, to know that the Pope won't help you, the priests won't help
you, to know that only Christ can deliver sinners, poor sinners,
like you. I've seen enough to convince
me that only in Christ will I find what God demands of me. My eyes
are open to see that. How about you? Is your eyes open
to see that? That only in Christ will you
find what a holy God demands of you. Now listen to me. Do you know that man has to be
perfect to go to heaven? Is your eyes open to see that? You know you have to be as holy
as God, perfect as God, as righteous as God, as justified as God,
as free from sin as God? You must be all of that to go
to heaven. You say, Preacher, there's no
one like that, and you're right. Not in the flesh, not in religion,
not in the ordinances, not in the law, but I make bold to say
that in Christ all are like that. Amen? In Christ all are like
that. I'm telling you, if your eyes
are open and you say, I know that I'm found in Christ, all
that God demands of me, Then, my friend, the gospel has operated
on your heart. The grace of God has operated
on your heart. You've received that circumcision
of the heart not made with hands. And the Lord has revealed this
to you. In Christ, there is no sin, there is no condemnation,
there is no judgment, there is no charge. Because Christ fulfilled
the law and imputed to me a perfect law righteousness and before
God I'm as holy and as righteous as Christ before God. That is so. We're perfect in
Him. We're holy. We're without blame
before Him. If it were not true, God would
not love you. God would not accept you. He
would not look upon you. He would have nothing whatsoever
to do with any of us in this room if that were not so. God
in mercy deals with us through his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. God loves us in Christ. God has
accepted us in Christ. God deals with us as we stand
in his Son. Salvation is not in a profession. Salvation is in a person. Christ
is my salvation. A person. Can you say that? Say,
Preacher, I've been trying to do better. I'm not interested.
And you're doing better. I'm interested in you being perfect. And that perfection can only
be found in Christ. We're perfect in Him. We're complete
in Him. We are perfect in Christ. Now, I've already died. I've
already went to hell. I've already paid for sin in
Christ. It all happened at Calvary. And
you must die. His death must be your death
to sin. And that's wonderful to be able
to say that. Somebody said, you ought to go to hell, preacher.
And that's true, but I have already went to hell. I've already went
to hell in Christ. He went to hell for me. He's
my substitute. He's already paid. Somebody said,
you ought to pay for that, preacher. Well, I already paid for it. My sin's already been paid for.
Christ paid for my sin. Either He did or He didn't. And
I choose to believe He did, based on what the Bible has said to
my own heart. In Christ, this all happened.
It all happened at Calvary. Everything, hear me now. I know
some of you are getting a little restless, but listen, I'll be
done here in just a few minutes. We don't have no clock down here.
I got a watch on my wrist, but I don't pay no attention to that.
Everything necessary to save my poor soul has already happened
outside myself on a gory tree on Golgotha's Hill. Now, did
you get that? Now I want you to understand,
I don't want nobody going out of here saying that I'm just
a little fuzzy on that issue of what it is that saves. Everything
necessary to save my soul has already happened outside myself
on that gory tree on Golgotha's hill. And let the religionist
say what he will. That's what I believe the Word
of God teaches. It already has took place. Now
then, we see this, not with our eyes, but we see it with our
heart. This is the first definition of a Christian. The eyes of the
soul are open. And if a man's eyes are blind,
listen, if a man's eyes have ever been opened, things happen
and he'll be changed forever. He'd be changed forever. He can't
go back looking out of the same eyes he looked at before, out
of before. He looks out of eyes that are
open. Eyes that are open. If I had time, I'd tell you a
story to illustrate that, but I really don't have it. I don't
have the time, and I'd just be, I guess I better not do it. Okay,
secondly, we see this is the first definition of a Christian.
The eyes of the soul are open. He's to turn them from darkness
to light. From the power of Satan, it says,
to God. They have had a real change.
They've been turned about. The believer has not only been
turned in knowledge, but he's been turned in experience. Is that right? He's been turned
in experience. In 2 Corinthians, chapter 5 and
verse 17, it says, if any man be in Christ, He is a new creation. All things are passed away, and
behold, all things are new. We're not a Christian in creed
only, but indeed, all things have passed away and all things
have become new. We're new creatures in Christ. Not ought to be. Not ought to
be. not maybe, not going to be, we
are new creatures in the Lord Jesus Christ. The believer is
a changed man. Actions, attitudes, change, manners,
and motives changed. A believer is a person who has a consciousness in their
soul which enables them to turn from sin. Enable us to deal with it. We
don't always deal with it successfully, but we deal Now then, a preacher does not
have to browbeat people in a saved congregation, in a saved church,
to get them to love God. to get them to be generous, to
get them to love God and others. A preacher don't have to browbeat
people to do that. They're taught of God to love
one another, and they're taught of God, they're given this new
nature, and they have, they love the brethren, and they desire
to be that which God would have them to be. They're not perfect.
But they aim to be, they would like to be, they don't want to
sin, they do sin, but they're new creatures in Christ. And
nobody has to twist the arm of a saved man to attend the house
of God where he's hearing the gospel and to pray and to witness. No, they're alive in the Lord. They have been turned, the scripture
says, from the power of Satan unto God. and from darkness unto
light. What a marvelous transformation
that took place when the Lord got a hold of us, when we were
converted, when we were regenerated by God's Spirit and change now
uh... this is the second definition
of a christian they're changed the first was their eyes are
open now they've been changed they're changed i'm talking about
a christian now the third definition of a christian is he tells us
here their sins are forgiven last week i told you a man was
not a sinner because he stole A man steals because he is a
sinner. He's born that way. He was born
that way. We were born sinners and we sin
by nature and choice and practice. And the poet said, my sin, oh
the bliss of that glorious thought, my sin not in part but the whole
are nailed to the cross and I bear it no more. That's good news. Praise God, I bear it no more.
This is comforting. This is reassuring. It gives
us confidence that we can know that our sins, past, present,
and future, are forgiven. They're put away. Are you able
to take that? Strong enough to take that? Past,
present, And remember that other word, future? Lots of people
don't. They don't believe that. In Micah
chapter 7, let me read these two verses quickly to you. Verse
18 and 19. Who is a God like unto thee that
pardoneth iniquity, passeth by the transgression of the remnant
of his heritage? He retaineth not his anger forever,
because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again. He will have
compassion upon us. He will subdue our iniquities.
Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea."
Isn't that marvelous? That's a wonderful passage. Well,
beloved, under the blood of the Lord Jesus, I am safe in the
shepherd's fold. under the blood of Jesus, I am
safe while the ages roll, safe though the world may crumble,
safe though the stars grow dim, safe under the blood of Christ
Almighty. God cannot see one of my sins. Isn't that marvelous? That's
marvelous indeed. That's a wonderful place to be.
Now I'm talking about good news for a sinner. If you don't have
any sin, you're not a sinner, you're not interested, and you're
not comforted by the things that are being said here this morning.
God will not remember my sins. They're sins and iniquities.
He said in that New Covenant phrase, well I'll remember no
more. I'll not remember them anymore.
I'm clean in his eyes, holy and without blame, before him in
love, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing. Now the next
thing that we're told here is they have an inheritance. They
have an inheritance among them which are sanctified. In Revelation
21 and verses 1 through 7 you could read it, but the scripture
teaches that we've been called in 1 Peter 3 and 9 to inherit
a blessing. And we're looking forward to
that inheritance which does not fade away, which is reserved
in heaven for us. The Lord's people have an inheritance. And I like that verse over there.
Let me read that to you. Over in 1 Peter chapter 3. I really do like that verse.
That verse one time just blessed me until I just didn't know hardly
what to say. I was so excited about this verse. 1 Peter chapter 3. And verse
9, not rendering evil for evil, railing for railing, but counterwise
blessing, knowing that ye are there unto called, that you should
inherit a blessing. That you should inherit a blessing. Ha! You see, that's the reason
why that we should not render evil for evil, railing for railing,
but counterwise blessing. Give a blessing. Bless somebody.
knowing that you're called. Lord, you called me that I should
inherit a blessing. And I've got an inheritance.
I'm not poor. I'm not poor in the Lord. In
the Lord, we're rich. And we have an inheritance awaiting
us. We're joint heirs with the Lord
Jesus Christ. We're looking forward to all
that we have because of Him. What I am right now, God made
me. What I have, God gave me. What
I know God taught me and what I will be is by His grace. You call that what you want.
Some call it hyper-Calvinism. Some call it fatalism. But I
know that and my whole theology is summed up in five words. Salvation is of the Lord. That's what I'm talking about.
Salvation is of the Lord. Now if you go to hell, it's your
own fault. If you go to heaven, it's God's doing. God's people
have an inheritance outside this world. Now, fifthly, it says
here that they are sanctified by faith. These people of God
are sanctified by faith, that is, in me. Now, this is the fifth
definition of a believer. This is what sets them apart.
They're sanctified by faith in Christ Jesus. This is the true
circumcision. They worship God in the Spirit.
They rejoice in Christ Jesus. They have no competence in the
flesh. Their faith is in Christ Jesus. In Nahum 1 and 7 it says,
The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and he
knoweth them that trust in him. Now then, these things that we've
given him, the definition, their eyes are open, they're new creatures
in Christ, their sins are forgiven, we have an inheritance, and we
believe God. That's what a Christian is. Now
in Romans 4, I want you to see this. Faith, Romans chapter 4,
and I want to read verse 20 here and down through verse 23 of
Romans 4. He staggered not, that's talking about Abraham, at the
promise of God through unbelief was strong in faith, giving glory
to God, being fully persuaded that what he had promised he
was able also to perform, and therefore it was imputed to him
for righteousness. Now it was not written for his
sake alone that it was imputed to him, I must add verse 24,
but for us also to whom it shall be imputed if we believe on him
that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. And so Abraham
believed God. Now, there's another verse of
scripture that I must share with you. It's found over in 1 John
chapter 3. And if you would, turn over there
with me, and I'd like to read this verse of scripture to you.
You know, sometimes we wonder if we have a right to believe
on the Lord Jesus. Let me say that if you can believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, believe on Him. Believe on Him. You have
a warrant to believe on the Lord Jesus. Listen to this verse.
We'll read beginning with verse 22 of the third chapter of 1
John. And whatsoever we ask, we receive
of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are
pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment.
This is His commandment. This is our warrant to believe. That we should believe on the
name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as He gave
us commandment. This is the commandment that
we should be honoring this morning. And true believers, those that
are truly God's people, they believe. on the name of God's
Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as he gave them commandment.
And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, he in him, and
hereby we know that he abideth in us by the spirit which he
hath given us. Now, do you believe this is what
sets the family, the living family of God, apart from the world? This is God's mark on his own,
faith, faith. Faith, I believe on the Son of
God. I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe that Jesus came and
died in my room instead of in place. Faith, this is the gift
of God. God gives it, hear me now, to anybody and everybody
that he has anything to do with. Anybody, everybody that God has
anything to do with, He gives them this faith. They are sanctified
by faith that is in me, saith the Lord. That is in me. They
believe me. And so, beloved, anytime, if
you're looking for God's children, look for those that live by faith,
that just shall live by faith. Look for those who believe God,
who trust Christ, who believe on the Lord Jesus. Believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Now, he that believeth is not
condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because
he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Father, in the name of Jesus,
we thank you for the privilege of preaching this morning. I
do pray that in spite of all of the stuttering and stammering
that the message was clear and plain. And I pray that those
that received it today, or heard it today, that they might be
able to receive it through the power of the Holy Spirit. Bless,
may the message bring fruit. Thank you for your enablement.
Thank you for the light that's been shed upon our hearts. The switch was flipped and the
light came on in our darkened souls. We praise you for it. In Jesus' name, Amen.