One of the great preachers of
the past was George Whitefield. And George Whitefield was preaching
on this subject one day, on this scripture. heaven and earth shall
pass away but my word shall not pass away and this is what he
went on to say the Lord does not care what becomes of this
world for the heavens and earth he said shall pass away earth
and all the works of earth shall be burned But His Word endures
forever. God Almighty can make a new earth. He can make new heavens. And
He will. Because He said, I make all things
new. Peter said this in 1 Peter chapter
3. Nevertheless, we look for a new
heaven and a new earth. That's what we're looking for,
a new heaven and a new earth wherein abideth and dwelleth
righteousness. Now God Almighty cannot, and
I don't like to use the word what God can't do, but God can't
lie. But God Almighty cannot and will
not make a new truth. He can make a new earth. He can
make new heavens, but He cannot make a new truth. God Almighty
can make a new heaven and a new earth, but He cannot and He will
not make a new gospel. God Almighty can make a new heaven
and a new earth, but He cannot and He will not make a new Savior
and a new Redeemer, because He said this, There's one body. There's one spirit. There's one
hope of your calling. There's one Lord. There's one
faith. There's one baptism. There's
one God and Father above all, in all, and through you all. You know, the pastor read a few
moments ago from Psalm 138. Turn over there just a moment.
Psalm 138. There's a verse of Scripture
that he read that is so important. In Psalm chapter 138, verse 2. Listen to this. God will make a new heaven and
a new earth, but He can't make a new gospel. He can't make a
new Savior. He can't make a new truth. He
says in Psalm 138, verse 2. David wrote this, I will worship
towards thy holy temple. I will praise thy name for thy
loving kindness and for thy truth. For thou hast magnified thy word
above thy name. His word is most important of
all. God's word, God's gospel, God's
truth. And so if this should be And
it could be the last service that we'll conduct here. If this
could be, and it may be, the last sermon that I'll be permitted
to preach. For Baxter said this, the great
Richard Baxter said, I preach as a dying man to dying men.
I preach as one who may never preach again. So if this is our
last service, And this is my last message. I couldn't have
a better subject. I'm preaching this morning on
the miracle of grace. The miracle of grace. The miracle of salvation. Did you remember that old hymn
that somebody wrote years ago? My father is omnipotent. That you can't deny. He's a God
of might and miracle. It's written in the sky. It took
a miracle to put this world in space. It took a miracle to hang
the stars in place. But when He saved our souls,
when He cleansed and made us whole, it took a miracle of His
love and His grace. That's my subject. I want you
to remember the subject, and I want you to remember the points.
It may be my last one, and I want you to remember it real well. The miracle of grace. What is
the miracle of grace? Well, I'll tell you this. Here's
my point. The miracle of grace involves a change which only
God can make. The miracle of salvation. involves
a change which only God can make. It involves a change of mind
and thoughts, totally. New mind, new thoughts. It involves
a change of masters. One master, one Lord, one faith,
one baptism. A change of masters. You call
me master and Lord, you say, well, so I am. It involves, this
miracle of grace involves a change of manners. Now remember that. The miracle of salvation is a
miracle of God. Just like the creation of the
earth and the creation of the heaven. The miracle of salvation
is a miracle of God. And it involves a change of thoughts. That's where it starts. It starts
here. And here, thoughts, mind, and
heart. God makes a change, a change
of thoughts. Secondly, the miracle of salvation
crowns upon us and in us a new master. A new master. No man can call Jesus Lord, but
by the Holy Spirit. A new master and a new Lord.
The miracle of salvation not only starts with a change of
mind, and it crowns a new master, but it produces a new heart,
and a new nature, and new manners, and a new walk, and a new conduct. Behold, I make all things new.
Alright, three things now. of thoughts. Turn with me to
the book of Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 55. A change of thoughts. This miracle
of salvation involves a change of thoughts and mind about three
things. It involves a change of thoughts
about God. Thoughts about Christ. And thoughts
about yourself. Let's look at Isaiah chapter
55 verse 6. Seek ye the Lord, while he may
be found. Call upon him while he's near,
and let the wicked forsake his way. The unrighteous man, his
thoughts. Got to be a change. And let him
return to the Lord. And God will have mercy on him,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon, because my thoughts are
not your thoughts, and my ways are not your ways. For as the
heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher, more noble,
more glorious than your ways and my thoughts." Oh, my thoughts. Our thoughts are so low and mundane
and evil. Someone said one time, well preacher,
you can't condemn a man for his thoughts. No, you're absolutely
right. But God can. God can. You can't condemn a man for his
thoughts. But God can, and God will, for
as a man thinketh in his heart, that's what he is. And God's
got to change that. Turn with me to Psalm 50. Psalm
chapter 50. Psalm 50 verse 19. Psalm 50 verse
19. Listen to this. Psalm 50 verse
19. thou givest thy mouth to evil,
thy tongue frameth deceit, thou sittest and speakest against
thy brother, thou slanderest thine own mother's son, and these
things hath you done, and I kept silent. Why? You thought I was
altogether such a one as yourself. That's where you messed up. Your thoughts are not my thoughts,
God said. Your ways are not my ways. And
I kept silence because you thought I was altogether such a one as
yourself, but I will reprove you and I will set things in
order before your eyes. Turn to Matthew chapter 5. This
is what our Lord Jesus said about thoughts, about our minds and
our thoughts. Chapter 5. Listen here to Matthew
5, verse 21. The Lord said this, listen. Matthew
5, verse 21. You've heard it said by them
of old times, Thou shalt not kill, and whosoever shall kill
shall be in danger of the judgment. But I say unto you, Whosoever
is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of
judgment. Whosoever shall say to his brother,
Rake up, shall be in danger of the council. But whosoever shall
say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. That's thoughts,
ways. Look down at verse 27, Matthew
5 verse 27. You've heard it said by them
of old times, thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say unto
you, that whosoever looketh on a woman, and lusteth after her,
hath committed adultery with her already. Where? In his thoughts,
in his heart. Well, you can't condemn a fellow
for his thoughts. No, but God can, and God will. So we've got to have our thoughts
changed about God. And then secondly, there must
be a change of thoughts about Christ. You don't need to turn
to this passage of Scripture because I've read it so many
times and so have you. But our Lord said one day, talking
to His disciples, He said to them, whom do men say that I,
the Son of Man, am? And they said, well, Lord, some
of them say you're John the Baptist. Some of them say you're Jeremiah.
Some of them say you're one of the prophets. But he said, whom
do you say that I am? He didn't say. He asked those
people, he said, what did they say that I the son of man am? Now whom do you say that I am? That's what you preached on a
lot longer ago. I am. What do you say about me, me,
about Christ? And Peter said, We believe and
assure that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Blessed
are you, Simon Barjona, flesh and blood didn't teach you that
or tell you that, my Father did. My Father's got to change your
thoughts and your mind in regard to me, to me. We know that the
Son of God has come and given us an understanding that we may
know Him that is true, and that we are in Him that is true, even
in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is the true God. This is the true Master. This
is the true Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is eternal life. So this miracle of salvation
got to involve a change, a change in our thoughts about God. in
our thoughts about Christ, who He is, why He came, what He did,
where He is now, Christ Jesus. And then there's got to be a
change in regard to our thoughts about ourselves. What am I and
who am I? Well, let me read the confession
of about five men here, five great men of God. First of all,
Peter said, Lord, depart from me. I am a sinful man. That's what I am. I am a sinful
man. The Apostle Paul said, Christ
died for sinners, of whom I'm the chief. That's who I am. David said, I acknowledge my
transgressions. My sin is ever before me. I was
conceived in sin, shaped in iniquity, brought forth from the womb a
liar." And Isaiah said, Lord, when he
saw the glory of Christ, he said, Lord, I am a man of unclean lips,
and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. And then Job,
we've been studying Job now for sometime, and Job said this,
if I justify myself, my own mouth will condemn me. So this thing,
this miracle of salvation, it's a work of God, and it involves
a change in the heart and in the mind about God, about Christ,
and about ourselves. I want you to remember three
facts. I want you to just, if you don't
write them down now, write them in your mind. Write them down
in your mind. Number one, the three facts about
ourselves. The people in Matthew 7. The
people in Matthew 7 who heard Christ say, depart from me. Depart from me. I never knew
you. Get out of here. These men did
not hear Him say that because they were sinners. They heard him say that because
they claimed to be righteous. Isn't that powerful? He didn't run any sinners away.
He'd never run a sinner away. He came to save sinners. He came
to seek and to save the lost. But righteous people, he has
nothing to do with them. I come not to call the righteous,
but sinners to repent. Remember that. The second thing
is this, your greatest enemy, your greatest enemy is not your
sinful self. Oh, I'm such a sinful person.
That's not your greatest enemy. Your greatest enemy is not your
sinful self, it's your righteous self. When we justify ourselves,
that's our greatest enemy. When we justify ourselves. Job said, If I do that, if I
justify myself, there's no truth in me, nothing but lies. I condemn
myself. Alright, here's the third thing.
This is where the miracle of grace begins. It has to begin
here. I was studying one day and the
phone rang in the study down in Ashland, and this had been
a long time ago. And this lady on the other end
of the line said to this brother, may I? I said, yes, ma'am. She
said, this is so-and-so. It was a lady that attended our
church part of the time. This goes back to the Pollard
Church, goes way back. I learned this lesson a long
time ago. She was talking about Pollard Church, where I pastored
first. She said, my husband rarely ever goes, practically never,
but I want you to do me a favor. I said, if I can, I will. She
said, he got hurt down in Ashland. He was working in a sewer line
or something and the gas blew up and hurt him pretty bad. And he wants you to come talk
to him about the Lord. Oh, I said, I'd be glad to. Said,
Dr. King's daughter. I got in the car and went down
to King's Daughters. I walked in to the room and his
eyes were that big. That thing had blown up his face. She said, I don't think he's
failed. I think he's just scared. And
I could tell he was scared. So I walked up and shook his
hand. I said, your wife tells me that you want me to come talk
to you about the Lord, about being saved. Yes, sir, he said,
I sure do. I got my Bible, I held it there,
and I started opening it, and I said, well, I forget his name. I said to him, I said, son, I
said, are you a sinner? Everything got real quiet. And
he said, I wouldn't say that. I said, are you a sinner? He said, no, I wouldn't say that.
I said, what would you say? He said, well, I haven't always
done what I ought to do. And he said, I haven't always
acted like I ought to act. And I haven't always been what
I ought to be. But he said, I ain't no sinner.
Am I, honey? I remember that like yesterday. He said, that's a long time ago,
preacher. Well, that's what I remember
most is a long time ago, not now. Am I, honey? No. What are you
going to do, preacher? Close my Bible. And I shook his
hand. And I said, I've got nothing
for you. I can't help you. Lord didn't
send me to help righteous people, but sinners. And if you ever
find out you're a sinner, you call me. And I'll do my best
to help you. Goodbye. But man, that's not
like you. It is true. You have to be that. If a man's not a sinner, he's
not going to be saved. All right, here's my... A man's
got to forsake, he said, his way, his thoughts, and return
to God, and God will have mercy. All right. Here's my second point. The miracle of salvation involves
a change, a change of heart and mind and thoughts. And secondly,
It involves a change of masters. Who's your master? Who's your
master? You know, Brother Barnard, I
learned so much from him back years ago. When he first came
to Ashland in 1950 and I learned the gospel. I heard him preach
one day and he said this, you sing this song, Jesus saves,
Jesus saves. No, no he doesn't. The Lord Jesus
saves. That makes a difference. The
Lord Jesus saves. The Lord who is Christ. The Lord who is Jesus. The Lord
who became a man. The Lord Jesus Christ is who
saves. Another thing I heard Barnard
say in that same message. He said, he quoted someone, he
said, if a man believes the Bible, and accepts Jesus as his personal
Savior. Brother Barnard, would you say
that that man is saved?" And Barnard replied, I don't know. I do not know. A lot of people
have a Savior who never crowned him and owned him as Lord. So
I would say to that man, who is his Lord? It's the Lord Jesus
Christ that saves. Let's turn to Romans 10. Let's
look at this for a moment, Romans chapter 10. This thing of salvation, this
miracle of grace involves a change of masters. Listen to Romans
chapter 10, verse 8. What saith it? The word is nigh
thee, even in your mouth, and in your heart. That is the word
of faith which we preach. that thou shalt confess with
thy mouth, Jesus to be Lord, the Lord Jesus. Not just Jesus,
the Lord Jesus. You confess with your mouth,
Jesus to be Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised
him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. But with a heart man
believeth unto righteousness, and with a mouth confession is
made unto salvation. For the Scripture saith, Whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference
between the Jew and the Greek. For the same Lord over all, the
same who? Lord, Master, Ruler, King, Sovereign,
the same Lord over all is rich to all that call on Him. For
whosoever shall call on the name of Jesus. Well, yes and no. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved." Who's your Lord? Who's your Master? Who's the King of your life?
This was a message I heard in 1950 when that man came to Ashland
and preached the Gospel. He preached the Lordship of Christ. We hadn't heard that. We've been
running around trying to get people to do something for Jesus
and accept Jesus. And he preached Jesus to be Lord. And old A.D. News wrote a book
about that time. The Lordship of Christ. Who's your master? Who's your
Lord? Is God crowned in your heart,
in your soul, in your mind? Jesus Christ the Lord. That's it. I want you to turn
to Exodus chapter 21. This is what I'm talking about.
And you know when the Apostle Paul gave his confession of faith
in the book of Romans, chapter 1, he called himself a bondslave
of Jesus Christ. Paul, a servant, a bondslave
of Jesus Christ. What's a bondslave? Well, here
it is in Exodus 21. Verse 1, now these are the judgments
which thou shalt judge, thou shalt set before them. If you
buy a Hebrew servant, six years shall he serve, and in the seventh,
he shall go out free for nothing. If he came in by himself, he
shall go out by himself. If he's married, then his wife
shall go out with him. But if his master has given him
a wife, and she hath borne him sons and daughters during those
six years, the wife and her children shall be her masters, and he'll
go out by himself. But if the servant shall say,
if he shall confess, he shall say plainly, no hedging about
it, I love my master. You know, take the book, take
your concordance sometime, and look and see how the apostles
addressed Christ, Jesus. They didn't call Him Jesus. They
called Him Master. Master. Master. You've seen that. Charles and I did it again the
other day. And Master, that's all they ever
called Him. Master. Lord. And this is what
he's saying, he shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife
and my children, I shall not go away, I shall not depart,
I shall not go out free. Then his master shall bring him
to the judges, and he shall bring him to the door, or unto the
doorpost, and his master shall bore his ear with an awl, and
he'll serve him forever. That's it. Ain't no other way. Ain't no other way. There is
not. Our Lord is a good and gracious,
wonderful Master. But that's what He is. He's the
Master. And this business of salvation
is not to walk an aisle and shake a man's hand and tell him you
accept Jesus as your personal Savior. It's when God Almighty
Changes your thoughts and your mind about who He is, who Christ
is, what He did. And crowns in your life and your
soul and your very being a Master. A Master. And you become His
bonsai. Everything I have is His. Everything
I do is what He leads me to do, wants me to do, desires me to
do. Master. Master. Alright, the third thing. This
business of salvation, this miracle of grace involves a change, a
change of thoughts. It crowns a lord, a master. And then this miracle of salvation,
this miracle of salvation brings about and accomplishes a change
of manners. M-A-N-N-E-R-S manners, ways,
talk, conversation. That's exactly right. Exactly right. Turn with me to
the book of Colossians. Colossians chapter 3. Colossians
chapter 3. Here's what I'm talking about. Here's what I'm talking about.
This change of manners This change of pastors is right away. This change of thoughts is right
away. Change of manners may take a
little while, but it'll happen. See what I'm trying to say? It's
a change of thoughts and a change of masters, and then this change
of manners is a conversion that takes a while. Now, what's this?
Verse 12, Colossians 3. Put on, therefore, as the elect
of God. That's who we are, the elect
of God. Holy, beloved, bowels of mercy,
kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing
one another and forgiving one another. If any man have a quarrel
against any, even as Christ forgave you, you do the same. And above
all things, put on love, which is the bond of perfectness. Let
the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you are
called in one body, and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell
in you richly, in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one
another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs and singing with
grace in your heart to the Lord. Whatever you do, in word or deed,
do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. Giving thanks to God and
the Father by Him. Wives, submit yourselves to your
husbands as is fit in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives. Be not bitter, hateful, caustic
against them. Children, obey your parents in
all things. This is well pleasing to the
master, to the Lord. Fathers, promote not your children
to anger lest they be discouraged. Servants, obey in all things
your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service,
not as men pleases, apple polishers, but in singleness of heart, fearing
God. And whatever you do, do it heartily. as to the Lord, not to man. One master, one Lord, not to
man. Knowing that of the Lord, you
shall receive the reward of the inheritance, for you serve the
Lord Christ. But he that doeth wrong, he's
gonna receive for the wrong which he hath done. There's no respect
of persons. Now, look at the next verse.
The Bible was written in chapters and verses. It says, servants,
obey your masters in all things. And then it says, masters, give
unto your servants, people that work for you, give them, give
unto them that which is just and equal. Treat them like you
want to be treated, knowing this, you got a master in heaven. You
got a master in heaven. Change your manners. I said this
one time. I said this one time from the
pulpit at home. You'll never need a labor union
as long as men know Christ. You never need. You never need.
The servant will do a good job and the master will give a good
pay. Always. But labor unions are made for
unsaved people. You got to have them. You just
have to have them. Because we're not living in the
same world, we're living in a lost world. So I do know this. I don't know how soon this change
will take place. This miracle of grace involves
a change. In my heart and mine, in crowning
a master and a change in manners and conversation, I don't know
how long it will take, I don't know how long, but it'll take
place. Because our Lord said, except
a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. Except
a man be born of the Word and of the Spirit, he cannot enter
into the Kingdom of God. So I say unto you, you must be
changed. You must be changed. It has to
be changed. A change of thoughts, a change
of masters, and a change of manners. And this takes place by the touch
of the master's hand. Let me give you a little story. "'Twas battered and scarred,
and the auctioneer thought it scarcely worth his while, to
waste much time on an old violin. But he held it up with a smile.
And he said, what have I bid for the old violin? As he held
it up with a bow. A dollar? Two dollars? Somebody make it three. But no. No. From the room way back, a
gray-haired man came forward, and he picked up the bow. And
he tightened the loosened strings. And then he played a melody as
sweet as a caroling angel sings. And then the auctioneer sat in
a voice that was quiet and low. Now, now what am I bid for the
old violin? He held it up with a bow. A thousand? Two thousand? Somebody may get
three. Going for three. Going and gone,
cried he. And the people cheered. But some
of them cried. We don't understand. What changed
the worth of that old violin? And the auctioneer said, the
touch of the master's hand. That's what changed it. And many
a man, a woman, with life plumb out of tune, And when that life's
not changed, not changed in thoughts and before God, when that life's
out of tune, many a man with life out of tune, battered and
scarred by sin, he's auctioned off by the foolish crowds, just
like that old violin. But then the master comes. And
the foolish crowd can never understand the change. That's what I'm talking
about. The change that's wrought in
any man's heart by the touch of the master's hand. But he
has to do it, doesn't he, my child? He has to do it. He has to do it. And I pray God
that for everybody listening to my voice today, he'll do it
in his own time, for his own glory. Thank you for letting
me preach to you, thank you.