Would you turn back to Romans
chapter 10? While you're turning there, Lord
willing, next Sunday morning, we're going to be having a baptism
service. Michael Moore is going to confess
Christ and believe it's baptism. And if you have not been baptized,
I ask, what are you waiting on? What are you waiting on? Romans chapter 10. I've entitled this message, What
is Necessary for Salvation? Paul said in verse 1, Brethren,
my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they
might be saved. Paul was praying for the salvation
of these people. Now, what does it take for a
sinner to be saved? What a subject. Now, evidently,
Paul was unaware that a belief in election and predestination
produced fatalism. and destroyed missions and evangelical
seal and a passion for the salvation of the lost. He must have not
understood that. Now, why am I saying that? Paul had just finished Romans
chapter nine. that great statement regarding
God's absolute sovereignty in salvation. I was almost sad when
we left that. I love preaching from Romans
chapter 9. Look in verse 11 of Romans chapter
9. Paul said for the children, talking
about Jacob and Esau, being not yet born, 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. It was said
unto her, the elder shall serve the younger, as it's written.
God says this, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What should
we say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? Is God unfair and loving Jacob and hating Esau? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I'll have
mercy on whom I will have mercy. And I'll have compassion on whom
I will have compassion. So then it's not of him that
willeth. Next time you hear somebody say
something about free will, remember this verse of scripture. It's
not of him that willeth. nor of him that runneth. It's
not because of man's efforts, but of God that showeth mercy. You and I are in the hand of
a sovereign God who can save us or pass us by as he is pleased
to do. Now that's just so. Verse 17,
for the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose
have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that
my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath
he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardens. Now, people have said that kind
of belief will destroy any zeal for missions and evangelism.
I mean, if God has already predetermined who's going to be saved and only
they will be saved, why bother to witness? Why bother to pray?
Why bother to seek the salvation of the lost? Well, didn't have
that effect on Paul, did it? He said, brethren, my heart's
desire And prayer to God for Israel is that they might be
saved. Now the truth never has a negative
effect. Somebody hears the truth. It
never has a negative effect. It doesn't cause people to be
indifferent toward the salvation of the lost. It doesn't cause
people to stop praying. It doesn't cause people to not
seek the Lord. The truth never does that. Men
may abuse the truth and twist it to vindicate their sinful
behavior, but it's not the truth that does that. But man's willful
twisting of the truth. Those who receive not the love
of the truth will have no problem with twisting it to justify themselves
and their sin. But not somebody who loves the
truth. They won't. Now, Paul understood
that these people he was speaking of were not saved. He said, brethren, my heart's
desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be
saved. I desire their salvation. Look at the way he began chapter
nine. I say the truth in Christ, I
lie not. My conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost
that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself
were cursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according
to the flesh." Paul says, I desire these men's salvation so much
that I would be willing to be cut off and cursed if they would
just be saved. Now that's love, isn't it? What do you and I know about
that? Paul believed in election and predestination and only the
elect would be saved. Yet he demonstrates this kind
of love for men. He said, I would be willing to
be cut off if they would be saved. Paul understood that they were
not saved. Look what he says in verse 2.
It's not that they weren't religious. He says, I bear them record that
they have a zeal of God. They're very zealous. Boy, religious
zeal is powerful, isn't it? It's a powerful effect. I mean,
look in the Middle East what religious zeal does. And these
people were zealous of the God of the Bible, not just false
religion. These fellows were zealous of
the God of the Bible. They have a zeal for God. They're very zealous, but not
according to knowledge. For they, being ignorant of God's
righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness,
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God."
They were zealous, they were very religious, but it was all
ignorant. It was all make-believe. It was not real, because it was
not based upon the truth of the character of God. Now, Paul understood
that these people were not saved. You see, If God saves me, I will
come, according to the scriptures, to the knowledge of the truth.
The truth of the true character of God, the truth of the true
character of myself, my need of Christ. There's no salvation
apart from knowledge. Now my knowledge doesn't save
me, Christ does. I know that. I know that. I'm not trusting my knowledge.
I'm trusting him. That's what I know. His righteousness
is the only righteousness there is. But these people were ignorant
of that. They were not saved and Paul
wanted them to be. You see, Paul understood that
the state of all men by nature, choice, and practice. I say that
all the time. Don't let it just run off your
ears. All men by nature, by choice, and by practice. are dead in
sins, without the ability to save themselves, and need God
to save them. The only way I'll be saved, the
only way you'll be saved, is for God to reach down and save
you. Do you cry from your heart when
you hear that? Oh Lord, save me. Save me. Now, why did Paul tell
us the desire of his heart? Why did he tell me and you, brethren,
my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they
might be saved? You know, there's a tendency
in every one of us. If I have a good thought, I want you to
know about it. If I do something good, I'd like for you to find
out. If I give something for somebody, I'd like for you to
know about it. You know what that's called? Vanity. Vanity. But yet Paul lets us know this
desire of his heart that is a good desire. Now, why does he let
us know about this, that the desire of his heart in prayer
to God for Israel is that they might be saved? Because he wants
us to be that way. He wants this to be the desire
of our heart, that Israel, that I want to see men saved, don't
you? I want to see men come to Know the Lord, to be saved by
His grace, to come to see the beauty of Jesus Christ and the
glory of His salvation. Paul wants me and you to be just
like that, to where that's our heart's desire and prayer to
God, that men might be saved. I think of the disciples watching the rich young
ruler come up to Christ and say, good master, what can I do to
be saved? What can I do to inherit eternal
life? And the Lord said, because the man came to him on the ground
of law, he said, you know the commandments, keep them. Keep
them, don't just talk about them, keep them. And the rich young
ruler ignorantly said, all these have I kept from my youth up.
In this man's own conscience, conscious he was not guilty. He had kept God's law. He wasn't
aware of lying or stealing. I mean, what a man, can you imagine
being like that? Can you imagine making this claim?
All these commandments that I kept from my youth up, I've not broken
the law. I mean, even if the man was deceived
still, that's pretty impressive, isn't it? That a man could even
think that of himself. And the Lord said, you're lacking one
thing. In all your goodness, supposedly,
you're lacking one thing. Now you go and sell all you have
and give it to the poor and you'll have treasure in heaven and you
come and follow me. And this man was very rich and
he was very sad that the Lord gave this commandment and he
went away grieved in his heart. He couldn't do it. He wouldn't
do it. He was eaten up with covetousness
is what it is. He was a greedy, grasping man. He thought he was a good man,
but he wasn't. And when the disciples watched this man walk away from
the Lord in sadness and grief, they looked at him and they said,
who then can be saved? If this man, in his morality,
in his efforts, can't be saved, who then can be saved? Ain't
no hope for any of us, is what they were saying. And the Lord
said, with men. This is impossible. Salvation,
hearing the gospel, coming to love Christ, coming to trust
Him, with men, salvation. is impossible. But not with God. Oh, that's
so encouraging. For with God, all things are
possible. You see, my friend, God can save
you. Even you who don't feel like
you even need him. He can overcome that. And he
can save You. Now, remember, though, with men,
when we're talking about salvation, I'm asking, what does it take
for a sinner to be saved? Paul desired for the salvation of
these people. For a man, salvation is impossible. Someone said, why are you saying
that? I mean, what's the point? There's a point. There surely
is. You know the Lord said in John
chapter 6 verse 44, no man can come to me. No man has the ability
to come to me except the Father which has sent me to draw him.
You and I can't even come to Christ unless the Father draws
us. And you'll never come to Christ
until you find out you can't. It's only when you find out it's
beyond your reach that you'll cry out, Lord, save me. Oh, that the Lord would save
somebody, a lot of somebodies, even this morning. Brethren,
my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they
be saved, that God would save them. You see, salvation is of
the Lord. It's not what you do for God.
It's what he does for you. Now that may sound simple enough,
but it's so profound. Salvation is not what you do
for God. Salvation is what God does for
you. For you or me to be saved, God
is going to have to do something for us. He's going to have to
reach down and do something for us. He's going to have to save
us by His grace if we're to be saved. He's going to have to
choose us. He's going to have to redeem us. He's going to have
to justify us. He's going to have to give us
life. He's going to have to preserve
us all the way to the end for us to be saved. Salvation is
not what you do for God. It's what he does for you. I said this a week or two ago.
Somebody says, won't you give Jesus your heart? What would
he want with it? Really? What would he want with that
heart of yours? You ask him to give you a new heart. You can
do that even now. Question. How much of salvation
is by grace. How much? I hope the Lord answers that
question for each person here. What does it take for a sinner
to be saved? Now, Paul prayed for these people.
Paul didn't know that the belief in predestination and election
would cause people to be fatalistic. He missed out on that somehow.
He prayed for these people. He knowing that God had elected
a people, Christ died for the elect and accomplished their
salvation. It didn't prevent Paul from praying for these people.
He prayed that they might be saved, that God would save them. Paul was a man of prayer. And
you pray to God about what you have absolutely no ability to
accomplish, don't you? That's when you pray. It might be praying to get out
of a mess. I don't know how many times that I've just totally
got myself into something that I couldn't get out of. Nothing
I can do to straighten it out. Lord, get me out of this. Have mercy on me. I was talking
to somebody the other day, and he said, I've got myself into
a financial mess. Well, ask the Lord to get you
out of it. He does things like that. He
does. But here's what, Lord, save me. Save me. Whatever that means,
Lord, save me. Would you turn with me for a
moment to First Peter, Chapter four. First Peter, Chapter four. Verse 17. For the time has come that judgment
must begin at the house of God. And if it first begin at us,
what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the
sinner appear? If the righteous scarcely be
saved. Now, what does that mean? Does
that mean they just barely make it in by the skin of their teeth? Doesn't mean that at all. I don't
make it in by the skin of my teeth. I have the righteousness
of Jesus Christ. Ain't no getting in by the skin
of your teeth like that. I've been elected by God. I've
been redeemed by Christ. I've been regenerated by God
the Holy Spirit. I'm not gonna come in the back
door and barely make it in. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? God justified him. Who is he
that condemned? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather
that's risen again, who's even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. That's not being scarcely
saved. The word scarcely means with great difficulty. with great difficulty. Now that
doesn't necessarily refer to the great difficulties you and
I are going to experience as believers, and we will. We will. We'll have our very hearts ripped
out as believers, and there's all kinds of difficulties that
we will experience for our good and His glory. All things are
of the Lord. But that's really not the difficulties
that Peter is speaking of. When the Lord saves somebody,
my first thought is, boy, you've got troubles now. You thought
you had, you'll have more now. You will. You'll have more now.
You have more knowledge. And he that increaseth in knowledge
increases in sorrow, the scripture says. The more you know about
yourself, the more sorrow you'll have. That being said, it's still
all good. With great difficulty are the
righteous saved. Was it difficult for God to kill
his son? Was Christ experiencing difficulty
when he was sweating great drops of blood in Gethsemane's garden,
being made sin. Was it difficult for God to forsake
his son? This is a reference to what God
had to do for our salvation. If the righteous with great difficulty
be saved. Where shall the ungodly and sinner
appear? What will happen to them on judgment
day? Now, what does it take for a
sinner to be saved? You know, most religious people
could answer that real easily. Well, all you got to do is accept
Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and invite him into your
heart. You'll be saved. That's all it takes. That's foolishness. You know the question, how can
God be just and yet justify somebody like me? How can he remain consistent
with his holiness and his righteousness and yet accept somebody like
me? That question never enters most people's minds. It's a dull
and uninteresting subject. But there are some people who
ask that question because God's put it in their hearts. Now,
what does it take for God to save a sinner? What does it take
for God to save me? What does it take for God to
save you? Now, here's the first thing that
is necessary for a sinner to be saved. God has to will your
salvation. And when I'm talking about God
willing your salvation, I'm not just talking about God desiring
your salvation, like God desires for you to be saved, but he can't
save unless you do something. I'm not talking about that at
all. That is a scenario that really is not even real. God
must will your salvation with that will that cannot be thwarted. He must say, I will. that man's
salvation. I will that woman's salvation. It's according to my will. God
must will your salvation. Now, what that is a reference
to is the electing will of God. God has to will a sinner salvation
for that sinner to be saved. And let me repeat, I'm not talking
about him just desiring them to be saved. I'm talking about
his sovereign will saying they're going to be saved and they're
going to be saved. That's absolutely necessary for the salvation of
the sinner. God's got to will your salvation. Don't you know that so? It doesn't
begin with your will. It begins with God's will. We're bound to thank God always
for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from
the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the
spirit and belief of the truth. It takes the electing will of
God. Turn with me to Ephesians chapter
one. Verse four, according as he hath
chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestinated
us under the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according
to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of
his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. Election is not hard to understand.
He chose us. When did He choose us? Before
the foundation of the world, before there was any creation.
Why did He choose us? To the praise of the glory of
His grace. How did He choose us? He chose
us in Him. Now, that may be hard to receive. But it's not hard to understand.
Everybody in here knows exactly what that means. If you're saved,
it's not because you chose him. It's because he chose you. And everybody that's saved knows
that so. What does it take for a sinner
to be saved? The will of God. The electing will of God. The point is, if God didn't choose
the people, nobody would be saved. It's impossible, listen to me,
Listen real carefully. It is impossible to preach the
gospel and not preach election, the electing choice of God in
salvation. You cannot preach the gospel. You know, if you don't begin
there, that means you're beginning with man. It's what man does. No, we begin
with what God does, what he did before time began. What does
it take for a sinner to be saved? Nothing less than the blood of
Jesus Christ. I think of our Lord praying in
Gethsemane's garden. And I've always found this prayer
mysterious, thinking about this. He said, Father, if it be possible,
if there's any way If there's any other way that I can surpass
this, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Oh, if there's any way they can
be saved without me going through this, without me being made sin
and forsaken by you and bearing all of hell, if it be possible,
let this cup pass from me. Now, if it were possible, don't
you think the father would have let this cut pass? That's his son. But for me to be saved, that was not possible. Without the shedding of blood,
There is no remission of sins. The only way this sinner could
be saved, the only way any of these sinners I'm looking at
can be saved, is for Jesus Christ to shed his precious blood, taking
my place and yours. You see, for me to be saved,
It took God becoming flesh and keeping the law for me. Somebody
had to keep the law. He did. It took Him dying for
me, paying for the sins that I've committed. God's just sin
must be punished. My sin became His sin. And on
Calvary's tree, God forsook Him. Do you know what He did by His
precious blood? He put away my sin. When he was
raised from the dead, I was justified. So what does it take for this
sinner to be saved? Nothing less than the precious
blood of Jesus Christ. And you think of his prayer.
If it'd be possible. Let this cup that I'm getting
ready to drink pass for me. Thank God it wasn't possible. What does it take for a sinner
to be saved? Well, the work of the Father
in election, the work of the Son in redemption, and it takes
the irresistible, invincible, life-giving work of the Holy
Spirit called the new birth. Being born again. not of corruptible seed, but
of incorruptible by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth
forever. What's it take for a sinner to
be saved? Now, here's the fact of the matter. I'm dead in sins
by nature, choice, and practice. I can't believe any more than
I can create a universe. I can't repent any more than
I can call the stars into existence. I can't love God any more than
I can I can't. I'm dead in sins. I can't be
saved if I don't believe. I can't be saved if I don't repent.
I can't be saved if I don't do these things. How am I going to do them? The
only way I'm going to do them is for God to birth me into his
kingdom, for him to give me spiritual life, life that was not there. To as many as received him, to
them gave he the power to become the sons of God, even to them
which believe on his name, which were born, not of blood, not
of the will of the flesh, not of the will of man, But of God. That's how they were born. But
of God. Birthed by God. What does it take for a sinner
to be saved? The life-giving work of God the
Holy Spirit. What does it take for a sinner
to be saved? Well, it takes the work of the Father, the work
of the Son, the work of the Spirit. The new birth. You know what
else it takes for a sinner to be saved? I love thinking about
this. Everything that was, is, and
shall be all of God's providence. You know the Latin word for providence?
You think of the word providence. Pro-video. Pro-video. That means everything's already
been determined. Pro-video. All of God's providence. And we know that all things work
together for good. To them that love God, to them
who are called according to His purpose. Now, did God know you'd
be here this morning? Of course He did. Is there any
way you wouldn't have been here? No. Because it's part of God's
providence and everything that the Lord has used in my life
and your life is used for the salvation of his people. All
things. All things work together, not
separately, but they do work together for good. to them that
love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Now, what does it take for a
sinner to be saved? Everything in God's providence. It's all
good. I love thinking about that because
it sure doesn't seem that way. But it's all good. It's all best. What does it take for a sinner
to be saved? Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 1. I want to read
this. I don't want to just quote it. I want to read it. Because
remember, we're trying to answer this question from the scriptures.
What does it take for a sinner to be saved? Verse 21. For after that in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the foolishness
preaching to save them that believe. What does it take for a sinner
to be saved? The preaching of the gospel. Now somebody's thinking that
puts too much emphasis on the preacher. Doesn't put any emphasis
on the preacher. Not at all. It puts emphasis on you have
to hear the message and you can't figure it out. Do you understand what you're
reading? How can I? Except some man should guide
me. God doesn't deal with you directly. That hurts our pride. I think
of Naaman coming to Elisha and Elisha didn't come out to him.
He sent him a servant. He didn't even come out of the
house to see this mighty man, this famous man, this man of
valor. He didn't even come out of the
house to see him. He sent his servant out. And Naaman's response
was, I thought he'd come out to me. He just sends me a servant. He didn't realize who I am. Oh,
it hurt his pride. He went away in a rage. He was
angry. It still please God by the foolishness of sending a
servant. I can't figure this thing out.
I'm going to have to hear from somebody that's dumber than I
am. That's how I'm going to hear. The foolishness. Well, that's
foolishness. I know it is. But that's how God operates.
Turn with me to Romans chapter 10. Verse 13, for 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 can't call
on an unrevealed Christ. And how shall they believe in
him and who they've not heard? You can't believe on somebody
you've never heard of. And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? As it's written, how beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel, peace and bring glad
tidings of good things. Now, if God's going to come your
way, he's going to send you a preacher and you're going to hear that
message and you're going to believe. I love the way the Lord does
things. You see, you and I can't figure this thing out. What's
it take for a sinner to be saved? The preaching of the gospel. There's no salvation apart from
hearing the truth of the gospel. No one's ever going to be born
again by hearing error. Being born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth
and abideth forever. What's it take for a sinner to
be saved? The preaching of the gospel. And here's my last point. What's it take for a sinner to
be saved? The Lord said this. He said, he that endureth. to the end. The same shall be saved. Now how in the world am I going
to endure to the end and not fall away? Turn to the book of
Jude. Right before the book of Revelation,
the book of Jude. Verse 24, now unto him that is able to
keep you from falling and to present you faultless
before the presence of his glory. with exceeding joy. To the only
wise God our Savior be glory and majesty, dominion and power
both now and forever. Amen. Now what does it take for
a sinner to be saved? The keeping, preserving power
of God. The same power that raised up
Christ from the dead is used in saving and keeping and preserving
the believer. Now unto him that's able to keep
you from falling. There's only one reason I won't
fall away. He prevents it. I want you to think about how
easy it would be for you to destroy yourself. destroy your profession,
destroy everything. Be easy, wouldn't it? And you
know the only way you won't is for Him to keep you from falling
and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory.
with exceeding joy. What does it take for a sinner
to be saved? The keeping, preserving power
of God. Now Paul prayed for these people.
Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that
they might be saved. Well, what's it take for their
salvation? Well, God's got to will it. Christ has got to pay
for their sins. God the Holy Spirit has got to
give them life. It takes all of God's providence. Everything that was, is, and
shall be. It takes the preaching of the
gospel. And it takes the preserving power of God to cause me to endure
all the way to the end. Let's pray.