In 1983, I received a phone call
from a very old friend from Fairfield, Alabama. That's
where I was born and raised, grew up, went to school, graduated
from high school and joined the Navy and hadn't heard from this
man in many years. Back in 1983, he called me and he said, this is Greg Parsons.
I remember, I remember you. He said, we're having a big shindig
down in Fairfield, Alabama, your hometown. We're going to have
a fortieth anniversary of our high school graduation. He said,
it'll be on Saturday and Sunday. I said, well, Greg, I appreciate
your inviting me to come, and I'd love to see all of our old
friends again, but I just can't do that. I preach every Sunday,
and I just can't give my weekend to this sort of thing. He said,
well, that's the reason I called you. I knew you probably couldn't
come because you're a pastor. We're going to have you reunion
on Saturday night, and then we're all going to the First Methodist
Church in Fairfield, Alabama, and you're going to preach to
us." I said, that's a white horse
for another color. I'd be glad to do that. That'd
be wonderful. So I was there, and the Lord
gave me a message to preach. And it was quite an interesting
meeting. But I preached the message that
I'm going to preach tonight. That's the reason I brought this
up. I reached down in the archives of my messages and I took out
that message. It is finished. That's the title
of the message. And I plan to bring that tonight.
if you would be interested in coming back and hearing a message
that the Lord gave me to preach to all of my friends. After I graduated from high school
and was discharged from the Navy, I worked at a steel mill for
about six months. But that's my family and friends,
and the Lord let me preach to them. It was quite a And I told
him, what quite an honor, quite an honor. I bring that message
tonight, the Lord willing, on It Is Finished. But this morning,
I want you to open your Bibles to Acts chapter 16. Now, this
is a very simple message. But you know, we are exhorted
to remember in our preaching the simplicity of Christ. But when God gives a person ears
to hear and eyes to see, it's simple. It's the message of grace. Let's read beginning with Acts
16, verse 25. Acts 16, 25. And at midnight,
Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God, and the prisoners
heard them. And suddenly there was a great
earthquake so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And
immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's bands were
loosed. And the keeper of the prison,
awaking out of his sleep and seeing the prison doors open,
he drew out his sword and would have killed himself, supposing
that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice,
saying, Do thyself no harm, for we are all here. Then he called for a light and
sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and
Silas, and brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do
to be saved?" What must I do to be saved? That question has been asked
many times. A rich young ruler came to our
Lord one day and said, good master, what good things shall I do that
I may inherit eternal life? The crowded Pentecost when Peter
had preached to them and said that God had made this same Jesus
whom you crucified to be Lord in Christ. And they all cried
out, men and brethren, what shall we do? What shall we do? Saul of Tarsus, on the road to
Damascus to persecute more of the people of that way, fell
down before a great light. and a voice from heaven said,
Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou,
Lord? Our Lord said, I'm Jesus of Nazareth,
whom thou persecutest. And Saul said, Lord, what would
you have me do? This Philippian jailer, he wasn't
under conviction. He wasn't troubled about his
soul. He was asleep. These men had been beaten, Paul
and Silas, and put in prison, and this man went to sleep. And when God sent the earthquake
and shook the prison, the doors came out. He thought the prisoners were
gone, and he was responsible for them, and he just knew that
they'd kill him, So he got his sword and started to kill himself.
And Paul cried with a loud voice and said, Sir, do thyself no
harm. We're all here. And he sprang
in and he said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? Now let me
answer this question. What must I do to be saved? Let
me answer this question with Scripture. The answer is not,
is not, is not. There's nothing you can do. If
someone asks you, what must I do to be saved, and you answer in
such a fashion, you're in error. Because our Lord gave an answer
to everybody who asked Him that question, and everybody who asked
that question. That rich young ruler who came
to our Lord, and he said, good master, what good thing shall
I do? to inherit eternal life. And
our Lord answered him. He didn't say you can't do anything.
He said, go sell what you have, give it to the poor, take up
your cross and follow me, and you'll have treasure in heaven.
And this man walked away very sorry for him, because he had
great riches. But the Lord answered him. And
then at Pentecost, When these people heard Peter preach, saw
the rushing mighty wind and the speaking in other languages,
everybody heard the gospel in his own language. And then Peter
said, This same Jesus, whom you crucified, God hath raised from
the dead and made him Lord and Christ. And they cried out, What
shall we do? And Peter told them, and be baptized, every one of
you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sin. You'll
receive the Holy Spirit." He answered them. He didn't say,
there's nothing you can do. Saul of Tarsus, when he was smitten
before God, blinded, and the Lord said, Saul, why do you persecute
me? He said, who are you? I'm Jesus
of Nazareth. Well, what, Lord, what should
I do? What would you have me do? And
the Lord answered him. He didn't say there's nothing
you can do. He said, arise and go to the city. And he only told
you what to do. And then this jailer that we're
talking about here, this man said to Saul, Paul and Silas, What must I do to be saved? And
Paul answered him. He said, Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. And he took them that
night, washed their stripes, and Paul taught him the Word
of God, preached to him, and this man was saved, baptized,
and his family also. So when we consider, I know this,
what must I do to be saved? I'm going to answer that question.
The Lord answered it. Peter answered it. Ananias answered
it. Paul answered it to this day.
But when we consider what salvation is, there are plenty of things
you can't do. I know that. I've been preaching
long enough to know that. There are plenty of things you
can't do. In other words, salvation is a new birth. A man can't Scripture
says, as many as received him, to them gave he power to become
sons of God, even to them which believe on his name, which were
born, not of the will of men, not of blood, not of the will
of the flesh, but born of God. I can't do that. What must I
do to be saved? I can't born myself. You can't
Secondly, salvation is a resurrection from spiritual death. Scripture
said, you have be quickened, awakened, made alive, who were
dead in trespasses and sin. And you being dead in your sin,
hath God quickened, hath God quickened together with Christ
and forgave you of your sin. I can't do that. Only God can
do that. Raise a man from the dead, give
him life eternal. Thirdly, salvation is to know
God. To know God. This is salvation.
This is eternal life, that they might know Thee. The only true
God. To know God. And be known of
God. But can you, by searching, find
out God? No. Can you find out the Almighty
unto perfection? No. Is higher than heaven? Is deeper than hell? What can
you know? Not a thing. No man can come to me except
my Father which sent me, Joseph. And I'll raise him up at the
last day. That's the power of God. Man can't do that. Importantly, salvation is to
be washed, such were some of you. But you're washed, you're
sanctified, you're justified in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ and by the Spirit of God. It's the Spirit that quickeneth
the flesh. profited nothing. So salvation is to be born again.
Can't do that. Salvation is to be raised from
a spiritual grave and made a new creature in Christ. Can't do
that. Salvation is to know God. No man knoweth the Father but
the Son, he to whom the Son will reveal it. Can't handle that. Salvation is to be justified
by God, before God, And that's the work of the Holy Spirit.
And what can a sinner do? What must I do to be saved? I'll give you five things. Number
one, a man can admit that he's a sinner and take his place before
God as a guilty son of Adam. You can do that. you could admit
your sin. The Pharisee came to the temple
to pray. He said, Lord, I thank you, I'm
not like other men. I fast, I tithe, I give alms,
I'm not like this publican. But the publican took a whole
different perspective of this thing. He came before the Lord
in the temple to pray, and he would not lift his eyes to heaven,
smote upon his breast, and cried, God, be merciful to me. You can do that, can't you? God
be merciful. But our Lord said the Pharisee
went home condemned. The publican went home justified. He took his place as a sinner
before God. The Canaanite woman who came
to our Lord, she said, Lord, have mercy on me. He didn't even
answer her. She said, Lord, have mercy upon
me. He said, it's not right. to give
the children bread to dogs. She said, that's true. I'm a dog, but I'm your dog.
I'm your dog. And dogs eat the crumbs that
fall from the master's table. And the Lord Jesus said, haven't
run into faith like this yet. Good. She took her places and
said, true Lord. Is it true? You know it is. Thief
on the cross. He said, I'm getting what I deserve.
But this man done nothing amiss. Lord, would you remember me when
you come into your kingdom? Our Lord said, this day you'll
be with me in paradise. A man said to John Newton one
day, I suppose, Pastor Newton, that the greatest obstacle to
our being saved is our sinful self. And Newton replied, no,
no, no. The greatest obstacle to your
being saved is your righteous self. The Lord delights to save
sinners. Your sins will keep you from
Christ. Your sins will not keep you from
Christ, but your righteousness will. Your sins will not keep
you from Christ, but your righteousness will, because the Lord said,
I've come not to call the righteous, A sinner, one old Puritan wrote,
a sinner is a cherished thing. They're hard to find. The Holy
Ghost has made him so. He's set apart. He's guilty,
guilty, guilty. God saves guilty people, not
righteous people. So I can do that. Take my place
before God, the sinner. Secondly, if a person desires
to be saved, he can seek the Lord. He can seek the Lord. Now turn to Acts 17, just one
page over in Acts 17, and listen to the Apostle Paul here in Acts
chapter 17. Verse 24. Acts 17, 24. God that made the world and all things therein, seeing
he is the Lord of heaven and earth, he dwelleth not in temples
made with hands. He is not worshipped with men's
hands, as though he needed anything. Seeing he giveth to all life
and breath and all things, and hath made of one blood all nations
of men, for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined
the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation,
that they should seek the Lord, that they should seek the Lord.
All men of all blood and all nations seek the Lord, if haply
they might feel after Him and find Him, though He be not far
from every one of us. For in Him we live and move and
have The Bible does not say a man
can't seek God. It says he won't. It says he
won't, but it doesn't say he can, can't. Men will not seek
God, but they ought to. Isaiah said, Seek ye the Lord
while he may be found. Call upon him while he's near.
And Jeremiah said, You'll seek me and find me when you search
for me with all your heart. Lord, lead me to seek Thee, and
seeking Thee to find Thee, and finding Thee to love Thee, and
love Thee to serve Thee with all my heart, but lead me to
seek Thee." There are many examples of people who sought the Lord. The wise men from the East said,
where is he that's born King of the Jews? Because they're
doing it, seeking the Lord. The Greeks who came to the disciples,
they said, sirs, we would see Jesus. We didn't come to see
you fellas. We came to see Jesus. The woman
with the issue of blood, 12 years. She wasted everything on all
kind of positions. But they couldn't help her. And
she sought the Lord. She said, if I can but touch
the hem of his garment, I'll be made whole." The eunuch, he journeyed all
the way to Jerusalem, got him a copy of the book of Isaiah. He'd gone to the feast and spent
three days listening to those Pharisees and heard nothing.
Didn't know a thing. Started home reading Isaiah 53. And God sent Philip alongside
that chariot. heard him reading. And Philip
said, do you understand what you're reading? He said, I can. I said, some man show me. So
he stepped up in the chair and preached to him Christ, seeking
the Lord. He went all the way to Jerusalem
in a covered wagon to seek the Lord. And he found him. The Lord found him. True men, true, truly wise men. The wise men said, where is he? Truly wise men will seek the
Lord. Truly wise men will seek the
Lord. They'll seek Him, how? How would
I seek the Lord? In His Word. Become acquainted
with the Scriptures. Faith comes by hearing, hearing
by the Word of God. him in the preaching of the gospel.
It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them to
believe. Not singing, not cook-to-do,
not social gatherings, the preaching of the gospel. That's how God... Seek the Lord in the preaching
of the gospel. Seek God among his people. You know, Ruth, Ruth
came to Naomi. She said, I'm going with you.
Naomi told her, no, you go back to your people, back to Moab,
back to the heathen you were raised with. She said, your people
are going to be my people. Your God's my God. Where you
live, I'll live. And where you die, that's where
I'll be buried. I'm going to find Him. And they truly wise men seek
the Lord in His Word. in the preaching of the gospel
among his people, and they seek him sincerely. Sincerely. Now, here's the third answer
to this, what must I do to be saved? If a man desires to be
saved, he can ask God to save him. Of course, simple, isn't
it? Our Lord said, Ask, and it shall
be given you. You have not, because you ask
not. Seek, and you'll find. Knock, and it shall be opened.
Old blind Barnabas was sitting by the wayside begging. Big crowd
of people. Christ walking by. And Barnabas
said, What's going on? And a man said, Jesus of Nazareth,
Jesus of Nazareth is passing by. Jesus, he cried, lifting
up his sightless eyes, Jesus, have mercy upon me, son of David,
help me. And the Lord stopped. And the
Lord sent for him, and he came. And the Lord said to him, what
do you want? Why are you asking me for me?"
He said, Lord, that I might see. What a good question, isn't it?
Oh, Lord, that I might see. He said, I will. Made it whole. Ask Him. Ask Him. The leper, when our Lord came
down from the mountain. A leper came running. He wasn't
supposed to approach the Lord. He wasn't supposed to even move
in the shadow of the Lord. He wasn't supposed to. That was
against the rules, the old laws and rules. A leper could not
have anything to do with anybody. He'd try to unclean and run. But he came and held at his feet. You know what he did? There's
nothing you can do. Oh, yes, there is, too. Lord,
if you will, you make me whole. He said, I will. Exactly. Hannah's testimony went like
this. The Lord make it poor and he
make it rich. The Lord brings us low, but he
lifts us up. He does it. The Lord raises the
poor and needy out of the dust, and exalts the beggar from the
dunghill, and sets him among princes, and makes them to inherit
a throne of glory. Ask Him, and He'll grant it. Paul wrote in Ephesians 3, Now
unto him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we
ask or think according to the power that works in us, to Him
be the glory, both now and forever." Now unto Him who's able to do
exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask, all that we
think, all that we suppose, He's able. Lord, if you will, you can make
me clean. I will be thou clean." A sinner can walk in the light
he has. That's the fourth thing. A man
can walk in the light that God gives him. There's a light that lighteth
every man that cometh into the world. God said that. There's
a light of nature. Let me show you some things here.
Turn with me to 2 Corinthians. Turn to Romans 1. Romans 1, there's
the light of nature. Listen to Romans 1, verse 19. Verse 18, Romans 1, 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 when that which may be known of God is manifest
in them, God has shown it to them, for the invisible things
from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even His eternal power in Godhead. So you're without excuse. Ignorance is not an excuse. There
it is. There's the nature. God did all this. God created
the world. And these things of nature are
things for us to build upon. Then there's the light of conscience.
Listen to Romans 2, verse 15. Romans 2, verse 15. Listen. The
light of conscience. In Romans 2, verse 14. Now, when the Gentiles, the papans,
the heathens, which have not the law, do by nature the things
contained in the law. We know the law, thou shalt not
kill, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt
not bear false witness, thou shalt not take the name of the
Lord thy God in vain. They know these things. They
know. You watch your little children.
I watched my little great-granddaughter the other day, and she went going
to the cabinet and getting Somebody, some chocolate. Nobody was in
the room. And Doris came walking in about
that time. And she spun around and saw it.
She went… Conscience. The light of conscience. The law written in the heart.
Listen. Verse fifteen. which show the work of the law
written in their hearts, their conscience, conscience, conscience,
all bearing witness, their thoughts meanwhile accusing or excusing
one another." There's the light of nature, there's the light
of conscience, and there's the light of the
written word. Turn to II Timothy chapter 3. This is the light
God has given us. Let's walk in it. Let's receive
it. Let's submit to it in the light
of the nature, the light of conscience. And then 2 Timothy 3, verse 15. And from a child, Timothy, from
a child, thou hast known the holy scriptures. which are able
to make thee wise unto salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ." The scriptures that God gave our children are memorizing
verses of scripture. And that very thing, that's Timothy's
mother and his grandmother taught him the Word of God. And from
a child, Paul said, you've known the Holy Scriptures. You've known
them, and they're able to make you wise unto salvation. A person does not have to be
a theologian to be saved. Some preachers just cannot get
that through their mind, that you don't have to be a theologian.
And all of the old Puritans and all of this, that, and the other,
the different super-lapsarianism ultra-lapseratives and all the
other lapseratives. You just don't need to know those
things. Lord, that man said, Lord, I do believe all things
are possible to them that be. Lord, I do believe. Help my unbelief. I tell you this, with the command,
he said, help my unbelief, and he helped him. With the command,
with the command comes the power to do it. With the command comes
the power to do it. Our Lord, one day, there was
a man, had a withered hand. His hand had been ruined from birth, disabled,
deformed. And our Lord said to him, stretch
out your hand. He couldn't, but he did. With the command comes the power. Our Lord came upon a man thirty-seven
years, an invalid. Couldn't walk a step. And he
said to him, take up your bed and walk. He couldn't. But he
did. In fact, he leaped and praised
God. He couldn't. No, he couldn't. But with the command comes the
power. With the voice of Christ comes
the power. He can make it live. He can make
them walk. He can save them. Ask Him. One day the disciples had been
fishing. They'd been casting their nets. They never caught anything. Never
caught a thing. They fished all night long. Never caught a thing. And the
Lord walked up, our master did. And he said, children, have you
caught anything? Not a thing. Well, they're washing
the nets. They've already quit trying.
And they washed the nets. The Lord said to them, put the
boat out a little further and throw your nets. And Peter, bless
his heart, he looked at the Lord and said, Lord, we've been doing
this all our lives. We've been fishing out here in
this spot all our lives. We fished all night, caught nothing,
nothing. Nevertheless, oh, there's a nevertheless,
nevertheless, nevertheless, nevertheless, at your word, I let down my net. And when he let down the net,
they brought it in, the net's broke. So many fish. That's the word, nevertheless.
This is that, this is the other, this can't be done, that can't
be done. Nevertheless, at thy word, I believe." It's real. At thy word. All right, here's the fifth thing,
the fifth one. If a person really desires to
be saved, he can look to Christ. You can look to Christ. Our Lord
said in Isaiah 45, look unto me and be ye saved. All the ends of the earth, I'm
God and there's none else. He said, look to me. Somebody
said, but I don't see anything. He didn't say see, he said look.
A whole lot different, he said. He didn't say see, he said look
to me. look unto me, and be ye saved
in all the ends of the earth." Jonah was down in the belly of
the fish. There wasn't too much light to see by. You talk about
darkness, the bars were about me forever, he said. I can't
see anything. But then he said this, I'm cast
out of thy sight, yet I will look again towards the Holy Temple. What is the Holy Temple? It's
where the mercy seat is. It's where Christ's blood is
sacrificed. It's where the high priest went,
where the forerunner is interleaving. God said, I'll meet you there.
Look. Look, not see. I may be blind, but I can look
to Christ. I may be blind, but I can look
to Christ. And looking to Him, He'll enable
me to see. What must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and I shall be saved and die. That's saying that Jesus paid
it off, all the debt I owed. The sea had left a crimson stain,
but he washed it by the snow.