I've entitled this morning's
message, Would You Be Saved? Would You Be Saved? Now every now and then it's important
to bring a message with the assumption that no one listening is saved. And everyone wants to know the
way of salvation. And that's the way I want to
preach this morning. I'm making the assumption that
nobody in here is saved, and everyone in here wants to know
how God saves. In verse 1 of chapter 10, Paul
said, brethren, my heart's desire And prayer to God for Israel
is that they might be saved. Now, two things are true. The
people he's praying for were not saved, and Paul wanted them
to be saved. Look in verse nine of this same
chapter. That if thou shalt confess with
thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart
that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For
with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with
the mouth confession is made to salvation. Now that's interesting,
isn't it? I want to be saved. I want the
Lord to save me. I want to experience what he's
saying. Look in verse 14 of our text. Now he said, whosoever, in verse
13, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they've not believed?
You cannot call upon the Lord unless you first believe on Him. That's the divine order. And
how shall they believe in Him in whom they've not heard? You
can't believe something you've never heard. It's impossible.
And how shall they hear without a preacher? You're not gonna
hear anything without a preacher. And how shall they preach except
they be sent? Now, if I am sent, you listen
real carefully, if I am sent, that means there is a message
given to me by God himself to give to you. Now, if God sent
a man, I want to hear what he has to say, don't you? I want
to listen very carefully. If I told you how that you could
make one million dollars by three o'clock this afternoon, how carefully
would you listen? You'd listen to every word and
you wouldn't want to miss anything, would you? Well, what we're considering
this morning is much more important, infinitely more important than
me or you making a million dollars. How can I be saved? Now, Cal speaks of being saved,
and this speaks of a need to be saved. Would you be saved? Well, first
of all, do you need to be saved? Look in verse 11 of Romans chapter
10. For the scripture saith, whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed. Saved in such a way
that you have positively absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. Now,
in the Garden of Eden, our first parents were naked, the scripture
says, and they were not ashamed. They didn't have sinful, evil
natures like you and I do. They could walk around naked
and there was nothing unclean, nothing sinful. They were not
ashamed because they had not yet eaten of the forbidden fruit. But when they ate of the forbidden
fruit, their eyes were opened. and they ran and hid themselves
in the woods. Now they had shame. Now they
had sinful, evil natures. Now, do you know what really
happened in the Garden of Eden? Please listen carefully. This
is so important. Somebody once said, if you're wrong on the
fall, you're wrong on it all. And that's true. What we believe
here will determine what we believe in every other respect. Now,
when God said, In the day you eat thereof, that very day, you
shall surely die. We know that they did not die
physically, but they did die spiritually. Dead in sins, they lost all spiritual
ability. They would one day die physically. And if God didn't save them,
they would die eternally in hell. But they did die that day spiritually. Dead in sins means all you do
is sin. All your works are dead works.
There's no life in them. If you're without God, if you're
without Christ, if you've not been born again, all you have
is sin. All you do is sin. All you know is sin. Now that's the truth. dead in
trespasses and sins. In Romans chapter 5, remember
we're asking what happened in the garden? Look in Romans chapter
5, verse 12. Wherefore, as by one man, sin
entered into the world, that's talking about Adam's transgression,
and death by sin. The only reason Adam would die
is because of his sin. So the death passed upon all
men, for that all have sinned. When Adam sinned, he did this
as a representative man. You were in him when he sinned.
I was in him when he sinned. When he sinned, I sinned. That's
what it says, isn't it? As by one man's sin entered the
world, and death by sin, so that death passed upon all men. It passed through every generation.
You and I were born into this world sinful. We were born into
this world evil, having Adam's nature. Hence the need to be
saved. Do you need to be saved? Saved
in such a way that you will have absolutely nothing to be ashamed
of. That's the kind of salvation
I want. Where I have nothing to be ashamed of. Look back in
our text in Romans chapter 10 verse 12. For there is no difference between
the Jew and the Greek. Now, who's he speaking of when
he's speaking of the Jews and the Greeks? Well, I'm either
a Jew or I'm a Greek, a Gentile. Who are these Jews and Greeks
he's speaking of? There's no difference between
the two. And who are the Jews? Well, I mean, the Greeks or Gentiles,
first of all, they are people without a Bible. They are a people
without a revelation from God. That's who the Gentiles were.
Look back in chapter one. He says there's no difference
between the Jews and the Greeks. Look in verse 18. For the wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who
hold the truth in unrighteousness, because that which may be known
of God is manifest in them, for God hath showed it to them. These
are people without a Bible. For the invisible things of him
from the creation of the world are clearly seen. being understood
by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead,
so that they are without excuse. Even if they don't have a written
revelation the way the Jews have, they are without excuse. Creation. Now, creation says God is. No excuse for anybody to not
believe that. Somebody says, well, I don't believe that. No
excuse. No excuse. Because when they
knew God, these Gentiles, they glorified Him not as God, neither
were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their
foolish heart was darkened, professing themselves to be wise, they became
fools. Now, look in verse 29, here's
a description, Romans chapter 1, of these Gentiles being filled,
being filled with all unrighteousness. fornication, wickedness, covetous,
maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity,
whispers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters,
inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding,
covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful,
who, knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such
things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure
in them that do them." Now that's a wicked bunch of people, isn't
it? That's a wicked bunch of people, these Gentiles. Now look
what he says in verse 1 of chapter 2. Did you judge and say that's
a wicked bunch of people that's just described? Is that the way
you responded? Every one of those things that
were just described. Romans chapter 1, Paul tells
us you do. Now that's the Gentiles, that's
people without a revelation from God. And who are the Jews? Well, the Jews are people with
a Bible. Now the Gentiles, look what they end up doing in verse
11 of chapter 2, For there is no respect of persons with God,
for as many as have sinned without the law, this is talking about
the Gentiles, also perish without the law, and as many as have
sinned in the law shall be judged by the law. For not the hearers
of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall
be justified. For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by
nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the
law, are along to themselves. which show the work of the law
written in their hearts, even though they never had the Ten
Commandments, their conscience also bearing witness, and their
thoughts that meanwhile doing one of two things, either accusing
one another and feeling guilty for what they're doing, or excusing
one another and vindicating themselves in what they're doing. Now that's
the Gentiles. That's the Gentiles. What about the Jews? Remember
he's saying Jews and Gentiles. There's no difference, no distinction.
Who are the Jews? Well, they're the ones with a
Bible. Look in verse 17 of chapter 2. Behold, thou art called a
Jew, and restest in the law, and makest your boast of God.
You know His will. You approve the things that are
more excellent, being instructed out of the law. And you are confident
that you yourself are a guide of the blind, a light of them
which are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of
babes, which has the form of knowledge in the truth of the
law. Thou therefore teachest another. Teachest thou not thyself?
Thou that preachest another should not steal, dost thou steal? Thou
that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit
adultery? Thou that abhors idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? Thou that makest thy boast of
the law through breaking the law, dishonest thou God? Now
look in verse 9 of chapter 3. What then? He's drawing his conclusion
between Jews and Gentiles. What then, are we better than
they? No, we're no wise, for we have before proved, both Jews
and Gentiles, that they're all under sin. As it's written, there's
none righteous, no, not one. There's none that understands.
There's none that seeks after God. They're all gone out of
the way. They're together become unprofitable. There's none that
is good, no, not one. You see, there's no difference
between a Jew and a Gentile, is there? Not at all. Look back in Romans
chapter 10. Verse 12, for there's no difference
between the Jew and the Greek, no distinctions, no advantages
one man has over another. There's no racial distinctions. There's no ethnic distinctions.
We've all been made of one blood. We all have the same father,
Adam. Black, white, rich or poor, we all come from the same man.
No educational distinctions, no economic distinctions, no
societal distinctions, no intellectual distinctions, and no moral distinctions.
There's no difference. You take the most moral man to
ever live, and you take the most immoral man to ever live, and
you know what? There's no difference between the two of them. That's
what scripture says. There's no difference between
the two of them. What if we really believe that?
John chapter six, verse, or Genesis chapter six, verse five, and
God saw the wickedness of man. This is the good man and the
bad man, the moral man and the immoral man. God saw the wickedness
of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of
the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. That's the way God sees every
man. There's no difference. Men try to make differences.
I'm better than that person. I might not be perfect, but I'm
better than that person. Not before God, you're not. There
is no difference. No man can merit God's favor. So when we talk about this thing
of being saved, you can just go ahead and X out being saved
by your works, by anything you do. It's not going to happen.
It's not going to happen because this is what we all are before
God. There's no difference. All have
sinned and come short of the glory of God. And that's how
bad sin is. It's a coming short of the glory
of God. But look what it says next. Verse
12, for there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek.
For the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon
him. What a blessed statement. The
same Lord over all. The Lord Jesus Christ is Lord
of Jews and Gentiles. He's Lord over all. I heard a
preacher say just this week, won't you make Jesus the Lord
of your life? Newsflash, He is the Lord of your life. Whether
you want it, whether you believe it, whether you accept it, whether
you receive it. It doesn't matter. He is the
Lord of your life. You are, I am in His hands. And what happens to me and what
happens to you is up to Him. He's Lord over all. He's Lord
of creation. He spaked this world into existence.
He's Lord of Providence. Everything that happens, He's
in absolute control of. Can't take that too far. He controls
everything. He controls the very thoughts
that are going through your mind right now. He's in absolute control. He's the Lord. Most especially,
He's the Lord of salvation. That means if you're saved, your
salvation's up to Him. Salvation's of the Lord. He's
the Lord. And this same Lord, the Scripture
says, is rich. Oh, he's so rich. He's rich unto
all who call upon him. What a blessed promise. This
same Lord, the one who's Lord over all, who really is the Lord,
he's rich unto all that call upon him. This one who is the
sovereign of the universe, Omnipotent. Omniscient. He's never learned
anything. Omnipresent. You can't go anywhere where he's
not. He's everywhere. The same Lord over all. He's
rich to all that call upon Him. Now this thing of calling on
the name of the Lord was introduced very early in Scripture. Turn
back to Genesis chapter 4. Seth is the grandson of Adam.
And to Seth, to him also there was born a son. Verse 26, Genesis
chapter 4 verse 26. And he called his name Enos.
Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord. So we see this
started at the very beginning. Then began men to call upon the
name of the Lord. What's it mean? You know, Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob all had this in common. They called upon the
name of the Lord. When Peter was preaching on that
great day of Pentecost, he introduces it with a quotation from Joel
chapter 2 verse 21. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. And he goes on to tell exactly
who this Lord is that men call upon. And then in Romans chapter
10 verse 13, here's our text. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. Now, if you're saved,
if I'm saved, this is something we will do. We will call upon
the name of the Lord. Now, what does that mean? How
does one call upon the name of the Lord? Well, look in verse
14. How then shall they call on him
in whom they've not believed? You will not call on one that
you've not believed. You're gonna believe him before
you call on him. If you don't believe him, you won't call.
But if you believe, you'll call. And then it says in verse 14,
these are rhetorical questions, he's asking,
how so they believe in him in whom they've not heard? It's
impossible for you to believe something you've never heard.
It's not going to happen. And then he asked this rhetorical
question, how so they hear without a preacher? If you're going to
hear, God's going to cross your path with a preacher. Does God
need a preacher to save somebody? No, he could save without a preacher.
Does he? No, he always uses a preacher. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them to believe. What's going on right
now? This is how God makes himself known, through the preaching
of the gospel. And how shall they preach except
they be sent? If God didn't send me to preach,
I'm not a preacher. Not truly, not in the biblical
sense. How should they preach except they be sinned? So we
see from this that there is no calling on the Lord without believing,
without hearing. Now, turn with me to Matthew
chapter one. This is the name of the Lord
we're calling on. This is when the angel spake
to Joseph. Verse 20, But while he thought
on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto
him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to
take unto thee Mary thy wife. For that which is conceived in
her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son,
and thou shalt call his name Jesus. For he shall save his
people from their sins. Now there we have the gospel
message. This is the Lord we call upon, the one who shall
save his people from their sins. Now, my dear friends, that is
the gospel. That's the good news. He shall
save his people from their sins. He, this glorious Lord Jesus
Christ, the one who's Lord of all, the one whose name is Jesus,
he shall, not he's going to make attempt, not he's going to make
it available, not he's going to make it possible, he shall
save His people. Who are His people? The elect.
Those the Father gave Him before time again. Isn't it everybody?
No. It's just those the Father gave Him. He shall save His people
from their sins. Now here is what I need. I need
to be saved from my sins. When I think of salvation, I
think of being saved from my sins. Yes, I could think of other
things. Lord, save me out of this mess
I've got myself into. Have you ever done that? You get yourself
into a mess. It's all your fault. You say, Lord, save me out of
this. Well, there's nothing wrong with that. You ought to be praying for that.
But his salvation is chiefly a salvation from sins. He should
save his people from their sins. Now, he came to save his people
from their sins. And when he said it is finished,
the people he came to save were saved. Now, how can I be saved? Listen, if you're going to be
saved, you already are saved. You already are. Because He came
to save His people from their sins. And that's exactly what
He did when He said, it is finished. All of His people were saved
from their sins. I've been saved from the penalty
of my sin. I'm not going to have to stand
accountable for my sins. You know why? Because I don't
have any sins. I'm justified. There's no condemnation to them
that are in Christ Jesus. I'm not going to have to give
an account for any sin I've ever committed because I don't have
any sin. He put it away. I'm justified. I stand without guilt before
God. He shall save His people from the power of their sins.
I'm not under sin's power. Sin shall not have dominion over
you, for you're not under law but under grace." I'm not under
the power of sin. Now somebody says, I feel like
sin's awful powerful in me. That's part of being saved from
its power. Somebody says, I don't see where
sin has power over me. It's got complete dominion over
you. You're under its complete control. It's when you're saved
from the power of sin, only when you see sin's power over you,
and that's the only time you're going to call out to the Lord
to do something for you. I'm saved from the very presence
of sin. Whom He justified, then He also glorified. I'm glorified.
Now that's salvation, isn't it? Thou shalt call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins. Do you believe
that? Do you believe that when He said it is finished, every
one of His people were actually saved from their sins? I do. I do. I believe that. Now,
whosoever. We have so many examples in the
Scripture of people who called upon Him. That leper came crying,
Lord, if You will, You can make me clean. And He said, I will.
Be thou clean. That sorry old Phoenician woman,
Jesus, our son of David, have mercy on me. My daughter is grievously
vexed with the devil. He had mercy on her. Everybody
who came to him for mercy, he received. Now, don't get confused
of Christ only died for the elect. Yes, that's true, but that never
kept anybody from coming to him. It really doesn't. If you come
for mercy, you'll be received. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord, shall be saved." Now, let's think of this word,
whosoever. Whosoever. Now, what if I gave you a complete
description of who Christ saved? Now, in order to be saved, first
you have to make over $100,000 a year. That'd knock some people
out, wouldn't it? Or in order to be saved, you
have to be 6'6", or over. Well, that would knock a lot
of people out. Who did he come to save? What if I said the elect? Well, you might think, well,
I might not be one of them. Who did he come to save? How I love
this precious word, whosoever. There's nobody in this room can
say, well, he couldn't mean me, because it's whosoever. Are you
a whosoever? That's all I'm asking you. Are
you a whosoever? If you're a whosoever, if you
call upon the name of the Lord, He'll save you. That's His promise. And I'm talking about a real
salvation. I'm not talking about just you'll
go to heaven when you die. I mean you're saved from your
sins. You're saved from the penalty of your sin. You're saved. You're
justified. You're made not guilty before
God. You're made to be without sin. You're made to be just like
Christ. Oh, His salvation is a glorious
salvation. Now, if you're a whosoever, this
is for you. Are you a whosoever? Here's the important word, whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord. That's the person behind
the name. It's not just crying out some
name, not knowing what it means. It's calling on the name of the
Lord. And the name of the Lord is the person behind the name. My name's Todd Nybert, and when
you think of Todd Nybert, there's a particular person you think
of. When I think of any of you, when I think of your name, I'm
not just thinking of the name written out, I'm thinking the
person that stands behind the name, who it is. Turn with me
to Exodus chapter 34 for a moment. In chapter 33, Moses had made
this request in verse 18. He said, I beseech you, show
me your glory. Verse 19, and he said, I'll make all my goodness
pass before thee and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee.
This is the name we're calling upon. I will proclaim the name
of the Lord before thee, and I will be gracious to whom I
will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.
Now look down in verse 5 of chapter 34. Here's where the Lord proclaims
His name, and this is the name upon which we call. Verse 5. And the Lord descended in the
cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the
Lord. And the Lord passed by before
him, and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious,
long-suffering and abandoned in goodness and truth, keeping
mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and
sin, and they will by no means clear the guilty. Now that's
the name of the Lord upon whom we're calling. that one who forgives
iniquity and transgression and sin, and at the same time, he
will by no means clear the guilty. If you have any guilt on you
whatsoever, you can forget it. He won't do anything for you
but send you to hell. Now, both of those things are
true. That's the Lord I'm calling on,
the one who forgives and pardons iniquity and transgression and
sin, and does it in such a way that the guilty are not cleared. In other words, He justifies
them. He justifies them. He forgives
me in such a way that I have nothing to be forgiven for. I'm
just before Him, because He's not going to clear the guilty.
Now, that's the Lord upon whose name we call. Lord, save me. Save me in such a way that honors
your character, your justice, your holiness, your righteousness,
your holy law. You know, when we call upon the
name of the Lord to save us, we're calling upon somebody we
believe on. You know, when I call upon the
name of the Lord, and I'm doing it right now, Lord, save me as
a sovereign act of your will. He's absolutely sovereign. If
he wills my salvation, I'm saved. Lord, save me by your sovereignty.
Give commandment regarding my salvation. Lord, save me by Your
justice. Save me in a way that honors
Your holy law and yet puts away all my sin. Lord, save me by
Your grace. You're gracious. That's who You
are. Save me by Your mercy. Save me by Your loving kindness.
Save me by Your wisdom. Save me by all You are. I'm asking
You to save me. That's what it means to call
upon the name of the Lord. You can't call upon one whom you've
never heard of that you don't know anything about. You hear
who He is and you say, that's the only one who can save me.
This is exactly what I need. One who can save me. Because
I can't save myself. Whosoever, is that you? Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord. There's the important word. There's
a whosoever and there's the name of the Lord. Whosoever shall
call. Peter's walking on the water.
I'm impressed. He had the faith to get out of
the boat and walk on the water. None of the other disciples said
anything like that. He said, Lord, if it be thou
bid me come to thee on the water. And I'm impressed with his faith
at that time. But as he's walking on the water, all of a sudden
he looks at the waves and the wind boisterous, and he begins
to sink. And he cries out, Lord, save
me! That's calling on the name of
the Lord. Lord, save me. What's preventing you from doing
that? Right now, I don't care how, what your condition is. You call upon the name of the
Lord. He'll save you. He is rich, oh,
He's rich unto all who call upon Him. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. Why? Because God chose you. The only reason you're calling
is because He chose you. Your salvation was determined before
you were ever born. Why should they be saved? Because
Christ died for you, and He put away your sins, and they're gone. Why should you be saved? Because
you've been born from above. That's why you're calling. That's
why you're calling. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord, here's God's promise, shall be saved. And beloved, if you walk out
of this room unsaved, it's because you refused to call. It'd be all your fault. But if
you call upon the name of the Lord, you shall be saved. And you know what you're going
to confess? It's all his fault that happened. You know that
to be so. Now, may every one of us by grace,
even at this time, call upon the name of the Lord. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. Let's pray.