The Highway to Heaven

Q: What does the Bible say about God's sovereignty in salvation?

The Bible teaches that God sovereignly chooses and saves His people, as seen in scriptures like Ephesians 1:4-5 and Romans 8:29-30. The Bible emphasizes God's sovereignty in salvation, demonstrating that He deliberately chooses individuals for salvation before the foundation of the world. This is illustrated in Ephesians 1:4-5, where Paul writes about God choosing us in Christ and predestining us for adoption as His children. Additionally, Romans 8:29-30 reveals a golden chain of salvation, showing that those whom God foreknew, He predestined, called, justified, and glorified. This highlights that salvation is entirely of God’s grace and purpose.

Q: How do we know that all who are saved will come to Christ?

Jesus assures us in John 6:37 that all whom the Father has given to Him will come to Him and that He will not cast them out. In John 6:37, Jesus states, 'All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.' This illustrates the certainty of God's sovereign plan in salvation—those whom He has chosen will be drawn to Christ by the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, in John 10:14-16, Jesus depicts Himself as the Good Shepherd who knows His sheep and calls them by name. He has other sheep who will hear His voice, affirming the reality that all whom God wills to save will encounter Christ and accept the gospel.

Q: Why is understanding the sin question essential for Christians?

Confronting the sin question is vital because it reveals our need for Christ’s atoning sacrifice for forgiveness and salvation. Understanding the sin question is crucial for all believers, as it exposes humanity's desperate condition apart from Christ. When individuals meet the living Christ, they are confronted with their sinfulness, which allows them to truly recognize their inability to save themselves through their actions or moral efforts. As seen in Isaiah 6, encountering God’s holiness reveals the reality of sin, leading to acknowledgment of their unclean state. This leads believers to depend solely on Christ’s sacrifice and the cleansing power of His blood, emphasizing that no other means can eradicate sin. Recognizing this truth forms the foundation for genuine faith and repentance.

Q: How does God ensure that His called ones will continue in faith?

God ensures that His called ones will continue in faith by grounding them in the truth of the gospel and sustaining them through His grace. Those whom God calls and justifies are not left to fend for themselves but are grounded and settled in their faith. Colossians 1:22-23 makes it clear that reconciliation comes through Christ's death, and that continuing in the faith is a reflection of being grounded in Him. This ongoing relationship is upheld by the Holy Spirit, who works within believers to both will and to act according to God's purpose. Thus, the perseverance of the saints is assured not through their own strength, but through God’s sovereignty and sustaining grace, ensuring that true believers will endure to the end.

I mean those whom God calls and
justifies, redeems by his grace, all whom he saves, he deliberately,
on purpose, determined to save them before the world began. Now, I know that. We read back
in the study tonight from 1 Thessalonians in which Paul said, I'm bound
to give thanks for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation, through sanctification
of the Spirit, that's true, through belief of the truth, and we'll
get to that in a moment, through a faith in Christ. But all of
this began with God, and it began in the beginning. Our Lord said,
All that my Father giveth me, They'll come to me. And him that
cometh, I'll in no wise cast out. I came down from heaven,
not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
This is the will of him that sent me, that of all which he
hath given me, I'll lose nothing. And then, of course, Romans 8
declares whom he foreknew. He did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of his Son. And whom he predestinated, he
called. and whom He calls, He justifies.
Now know that. Secondly, I'm certain of this,
that those whom the Lord calls and justifies, I'm not talking
about those we call and those we win and those we deal with
and those we give assurance to and those we get into the church.
I'm talking about people like Abraham of old and David and
Isaiah Matthew, Mark, John, Paul, Lydia, all the others, those
whom God calls, those whom God justifies, they will at some
time in their lives, at some time, when I do not know, but
at some time in their lives, they will be confronted with
the living Lord Jesus Christ. They are going to meet Him. They're
not going to meet a preacher or a soul winner. They're going
to meet him. He's going to visit them through
a preacher or through the gospel or through the word. But all
whom he has purposed to save and for whom he died, he will
cross their paths. Now, he'll do it. I would like
you to turn over just a page or two to John chapter 6. verse
44, and our Lord said this, this is what he's saying here, that
no man, in John 6, 44, no man can. He can't. He doesn't want to. He's not
able. He not only doesn't have the
ability, he doesn't have the desire. His desire's in another
direction. His thought's in another direction.
Oh, he'll take heaven. He'll take a doctrine. He'll
take some kind of hope, but not Christ. Because no man can come
to me except the Father which sent me draw him. And I'll raise
him up at the last day. It's written in the prophets,
they shall all be taught of God. Now, my disciples generally fall
by the way. But not his. They are taught
of God. They shall all be taught of God. They are going to confront Christ.
Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. But
how shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed or
whom they have not met? And how shall they believe in
Him of whom they have not heard? They have heard. He says they
will be taught. Listen, read on. They will be
taught of God. They will be taught of God. And
every man therefore that hath heard and learned of the Father,
where did he learn his gospel? Where did he learn his truth?
Where did he learn this message? The Father taught him. That's
right. Taught of God. Taught of God.
Cometh unto me. Now I know that. I'm certain
of that. They'll meet Christ. They'll be confronted with the
living Christ at some time or other. They'll meet Him. And
like I say, I reemphasize, it won't be a position, it won't
be a doctrine, it won't be a theology, it won't even be a moral state
or a legal state. It will be a confrontation with
a person who is Lord of all whom He saves. He is absolute, unchangeably
Lord and Sovereign, and whatever that person decides, whatever
decision he faces or direction he goes is determined by his
relationship with that Lord. That's who he meets, that Lord.
That's who he meets. Thirdly, and those whom the Lord
calls and justifies. I know this is so. Those whom
the Lord calls and justifies will face the sin question. They're
going to meet it head on. You see, when they meet Him,
that's when they see their sins. I know people say, well, preach
the law until men see their sins. Most of the time, if you preach
the law enough, you'll make Pharisees. People who really see their sins,
see their sins in the light of His holiness. I know that's when
Isaiah saw his sin. He said, when King Uzziah died,
I saw the Lord. High and lifted up, his train
filled the temple. The seraphims cried, holy, holy,
holy is the Lord of Hosts. And then I cried, I am a man of unclean lips. I'm
cut off. That's when he saw his sin. That's
when men see their sin, when they meet Christ. When they're
confronted with Christ and His holiness. And everyone whom he
encounters and whose path he crosses, will face the sin question,
and facing the sin question, they'll realize their inability,
the inability of their deeds, the inability of their religion,
the inability of their decisions, the inability of their traditions,
the inability of anything to put away that sin. Like they
sang a minute ago, deeper than the stain has gone, there's just
one thing it can reach deeper than the stain, that's the blood
of Christ, nothing else. Nothing can put away sin. That's
what we realize. In other words, you don't have
to take a man's false religion away from him. If he meets Christ,
he'll lose his false religion. He'll see there's nothing to
it. It's a shame. It's hypocrisy. When he meets
the living Christ and realizes what a sinner he is, he's not
going to try to present his filthy rags before that Lord. Now he'll
bring his filthy rags of tradition and religion before me, and before
you, and before church. He'll play the game, put on a
charade before you. But God sees the heart. And God
knows. And we can't fool Him. And we're
fools to try to fool Him. Because He knows us. You see
that? And that's why a man who really
meets Christ does not practice hypocrisy. He knows what He is
and He admits what He is. And He knows His religion is
not going to solve His problem or put away His sins or all of
His deeds or any of these things. He knows that only the blood
of Christ can reach deeper than this thing. And then fourthly,
those whom the Lord calls, those whom the Lord justifies, I'm
not talking about religion. I'm talking about this thing
of salvation, highway to heaven. Highway to heaven, road of grace,
I'm talking about that which really saves. That which saves
forever, that which makes a man a new creature in Christ Jesus. Those whom the Lord calls and
saves are going to hear that gospel and believe it. That's
right, they'll hear that gospel and believe it. They'll believe
it in heart, they'll believe it in soul, they'll believe it.
Turn to John 6 and listen to the apostles here. John chapter
6, verse 66. They're going to hear it now.
They're going to believe it. They're going to receive that
one gospel. They're not going to sit around
and debate it. They're not going to sit around and debate it.
You know, when we stand up here and preach
the gospel of God, the gospel of His sovereign grace, and here
sits Here's such people out in this congregation, and here's
the people preaching it. And we know that God's on the
throne, God's Almighty, no question about that. He'll do what He
will, with whom He will, when He will. We know that. God is
God. I heard a story this morning.
One of the ladies told me about Abraham Lincoln. I hadn't heard
before. It may be true, it may not be wrong. You'll have to
check up on it. You're our official Abraham Lincoln checker-up-on.
But I know what I put in the bulletin, I got that, that's
his inaugural address, but someone said this. They said to him,
they said something about his background and atheism, the word
came in, and they wanted to know if he didn't believe in God.
He said, oh yes, yes I do. No question about him reading
that bulletin he believed in God. I mean he believed in the
living God. And they said, well, you're not
identified with and you don't go to any church here. He said,
if any church here would preach what the Bible said, I'd go to
it. And I'm on his side if they preach
what the Bible says. And I'm preaching what the Bible
says about salvation. Men are sinners, helpless, hopeless,
depraved sinners. Almighty God is able to save
whom He wills. And the only way he's pleased
to save a sinner is for his justice to be satisfied and his law to
be magnified. His law's got to be magnified.
It's got to be honored. It's got to be obeyed. It's got
to be obeyed. His justice has got... And the
only way that his law can be honored and his justice satisfied
and every demand met is for Christ, our substitute, to die for us.
And when God Almighty presents that gospel and a man or woman
sitting out there and knows what we are by birth and what we are
by nature and what we are by practice and what we are by choice
and who He is and who Christ is, I tell you, when he hears
that good news, he's going to believe it. He's going to receive
it. He's going to say, this religion
that says do the best you can, there's no hope in that. This
religion that says you've got to be baptized and join our particular
church, there's bound to be nothing to that because their particular
church wasn't here 200 years ago. If someone says you've got to
do this, you've got to be a Catholic, you've got to have the last rites,
you've got to have supreme auction, you've got to confess your sins
and count your beads and pray to Mary. Abraham never prayed
to Mary. You see, you immediately see
this as a pack of foolishness. But when people whom God saved
and the world will believe those things, they'll follow that sort
of thing. You see, let me show you a scripture. Hold that John
6 and turn to 1 Thessalonians. Just a moment. 2 Thessalonians,
I beg your pardon. I believe it's 2 Thessalonians,
yeah. Turn to 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2, just a minute. The world and its natural men,
they're going to receive all the foolishness that preachers
can put out. They're hoodwinked and they're
deceived, like Barnum says, there's a sucker or a fool born every
minute and another one born to take his money. And they're going
to believe it. And here's the reason. In 2 Thessalonians
2, Verse 8 talks about the Antichrist, talks about Satan. Verse 9, 2
Thessalonians 2, even him who is coming is after the working
of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. Signs and
power and lying wonders in religion. You say, do you believe they
heal people? Maybe so, I don't know. Old Moses cast his rod
down and it became a serpent and these Egyptian magicians
did the same thing. I don't know. What if they do
heal somebody? If their gospel's not true, it
doesn't make any difference. And verse 10 says, And with all
deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, because
they receive not the love of the truth. Who is the truth?
Christ is the truth. There's no truth. It's like what our preacher said
the other night. You can preach truths and not
preach the truth. The truth is Christ. Everything
is in him, revealed in him, accomplished by him. He's the truth. No man
cometh to the Father but by me. He said, I'm the way, I'm the
truth, I'm the life. So these people won't receive
a love for the truth that they might be saved. And listen to
verse 11. And because of this, God shall
send them strong delusions. And they'll believe a lie. That's
right. In other words, like in Romans,
God gave them up. God turned them over to a reprobate
man. They wouldn't receive the love
of the truth, and God sent them strong delusions. And in their
deluded condition, in their deceived condition, they thought they
were right. And that's what that says, that they might, verse
12 said, be damned. that they all might be damned
who believe not the truth. Christ is the truth. They have
pleasure in their unrighteousness. And now back to John 6. I'm saying
that those whom the Lord determines to save. That's the reason I used to,
years ago, get so uptight and people wanted to argue. I wanted
to argue too. It's a waste of time. It's a
thorough waste of time. There's no use putting the thumbscrews
on people. There's no use browbeating them.
There's no use pulling them and begging them. God's sheep will
hear God's voice. And the natural man, his mind
is enmity against God. He's not going to receive it.
You're not going to show it to him. You can proclaim it and
preach it, and only the Holy Ghost can make him receive it.
He's going his way in spite of hell if God doesn't stop him.
And you can't stop him. Only God can. That's so, but
oh, I tell you, those whom he calls, they'll hear it. Yes, sir, they'll hear it. And
they'll believe it. Listen to John 6, verse 66. From
that time, many of his disciples went back. Don't be surprised
when they go back. Don't be surprised when they
turn back. Don't be shocked. We're troubled, but not shocked. We're disappointed, but not shocked. We regret it for their sake.
We pity them. when they turn their back on
truth and on God. I feel sorry for them. I feel
sorry for any man that bucks God, because he's losing. He
may not know it. It may take God ten years to
kill him, but he will. It may take God twenty years
to put him in the pit, but He'll put him there. It may take God
fifty years. He may prosper for fifty years,
and then God will damn him, but He will. You surrender or you're
destroyed. I mean unconditionally. And from
that time they went back. And I watched people walk away
and walk no more with them. Turned for something. Something
attracted them. Something took them away. Something turned their
heads. But listen. And then he said
to the twelve, will you go away? Will you go away? You can, you
know. God doesn't need us. That's right. You can turn. God doesn't need
us. Me or you, anybody? We need Him. Oh, we need Him. Will you go away? And then Simon
Peter answered and said, Lord, I just want you to tell me to
whom shall I go? Now you just tell me. Where did I turn? Did I turn
to these religious Pharisees? They don't have anything. Did
I turn to religious organizations? They don't have anything. Do
I turn to the traditions? Do I turn to the world? Where
do I go? To whom do I go? But to whom
shall I go? You have the words of eternal
life. He is the word of life. You can't
separate this word from the incarnate word. He is the incarnate word
of God. He has the word of life. And
listen, and we believe and we're sure They didn't know everything.
They had a lot to learn. Our Lord said to them, I've got
many things to say to you. These men were saved men. The Holy Spirit is coming one
of these days and bring some things to your remembrance that
I said to you. And I've got many things to say
down the road that you can't bear now, but you will later.
But these men were saved. These men knew God. And we believe
and we're sure that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living
God. Thou art the Christ. You see,
my friends, this issue has got to be settled about the Christ.
The preachers all talk about Jesus this and Jesus that and
Jesus the other. And I'll tell you this, every
religion knows that Jesus lived and Jesus died. But if you read carefully the
Word of God, when the Word of God talks about his death, it
is Christ that died. Now Jesus, and you watch this,
I don't call him Jesus. I call him the Lord Jesus. I'm
very particular about that and very careful about that. Jesus
is his name of humiliation. Jesus is his earthly name. Thou shalt call his name Jesus.
Joshua, Old Testament name Joshua. His name is Jesus. And that's
his name of humiliation, and that's his name of identification.
He was a man born of a woman. A woman gave birth to him, and
his daddy called him Jesus, Savior, Joshua. But this one who was
born of the woman whom they called Jesus is none other than the
Lord. God was in Christ. His name is Immanuel, God with
us. But more than that, he's the
Lord Jesus, he's the Christ. You see, this whole Bible, this
whole Bible is about the Christ. That's what this Bible is all
about. It's about the Christ. When this whole thing, this whole
sin business started back yonder in the Garden of Eden, when Adam
and Eve had fallen, Almighty God, the Heavenly Father himself,
announced that someone was coming. a savior, a redeemer, an appointed
messenger, an appointed redeemer. And he would be the seed of woman.
He'd be the seed of Abraham. He'd be the son of David. He'd
be a priest like Melchizedek. Someone's coming, and that whole
Old Testament presented that Christ. And so when he went to
the cross, this Jesus, who is none other than the Lord, went
to the cross, he went there as the Christ. He went there as
the Redeemer. And when Paul preached the gospel
to those Corinthians, he said, I preached unto you the gospel,
how that the Christ died for our sins according to the Scripture.
You see the point I'm making? The Christ. And when Paul was
giving his testimony in Romans 8 and saying, who can If God
be for me, who can be against me and who can lay anything to
my charge and who can condemn me? It's the Christ that died.
It's not only Jesus that died. Everybody knows that. But who
is this Jesus? Do you see what I'm saying? He's
the Christ. And that's what Peter is saying
here. We believe and are sure that you, Jesus, are the Christ,
the Son of the living God. Now that's mighty important.
I believe Jesus died on the cross. Every little kid in town believes
that. But ask him who the Christ is, and he doesn't know anything
about that. See what I'm saying? We believe that Christ died for
our sins according to the Scripture, that Christ was buried according
to the Scriptures, and that Christ, the Christ, rose again according
to the Scriptures. And that's what the scriptures
present, that Christ who fulfills all things on our behalf. So those people, they receive
the Christ. And they believe it. They believe
Him. Now, fifthly, this I'm sure,
that those whom the Lord calls, He always purposed to save. Those whom the Lord calls and
justifies, He'll cross your path. He'll cross your path. And all
whom the Lord calls and justifies, they're going to face the sin
question and settle it. They're going to cast their sins
on Him. Look to Him, Him alone. They're
going to believe this gospel. They're going to believe it.
And thirdly, they're going to, or fifthly, they're going to
continue it. Because there's nowhere else to go. And they
don't want to go anywhere else. Turn to Colossians 1. I know
this is so. Colossians chapter 1. They're
going to continue in the faith of Christ Jesus, whatever it
costs. Whomever it may cost. Whatever
it may cost. That's first. That's the reason
he prayed for that church, that they might have some insight
and understanding so they could put the right value on things.
I am not going to turn away. Not going to do it. It says in
Colossians 1 verse 20, now watch it, verse 19, it pleased the
Father that in Christ should all fullness dwell. And having
made peace through the blood of his cross by him to reconcile
all things to himself, by him I say whether there are things
in heaven or things on earth. And you that were at one time
alienated, enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath
He reconciled. He reconciled you. And you, in
the body of His flesh, through death, to present you holy, unblameable,
unreprovable in His sight. There is no period there. That
is a colon, not the end of the sentence. If you continue in
the faith, grounded Well, it's something that's grounded. It's
on a foundation. It's not moving all the time.
It's not undecided. It's not wavering. Don't let
that man that wavers think he's going to see anything from God.
He's grounded. He's grounded. He's got a foundation. That foundation is Christ. He's
grounded. And watch it. If you continue
in the faith, grounded and settled, You're not saved until you're
settled on Christ. That's right. God's holy temple. He says you are stones in a living
temple. That living temple is not moving
around from place to place. Not knowing undecided, unfaithful,
and not dependable. No, I beg your pardon. When God
sets those stones in the living temple, they're on the rock.
They're on the foundation of Christ Jesus. That's right. I'm not talking about people
who are saved. I'm not talking about people who are Calvinists, believe a
little doctrine, very little. I'm talking about people who
are saved. They're grounded. That's the reason the Lord warns
us, lay hands suddenly on no man. He warns us. Don't do it. He said, don't go putting people
in the ministry. We've made a lot of mistakes
here like that. We'll make more, I'm sure. Lay hands suddenly
on no man. Don't put a fellow up to lead
people. Don't put them out in front of people who are not tried
and proven and grounded and settled, because you'll hurt if you do.
They'll hurt you. You know, I was reading a scripture
the other day that talked about, well, somebody read it here in
the Bible conference. Somebody read the scripture over
in Galatians where it says, let him that is taught in the Word
communicate with him to teach it. And I thought, I've preached
from that a lot of times and I've heard people preach from
it. And it talks about, and we know what is one of the primary
reasons it's written, let him that is taught in the Word take
care of the man who preaches, furnish him a place to live.
Give him a car to drive. Give him a little expense money.
Help him. He's ministered you spiritual
things. Give him the cardinal things. But let me tell you something. And this church, this congregation
has taken well care of me. I drive a nice car, go preach
the gospel, got a nice home to live in. But that let him communicate
to him that teaching means a whole lot more than money. You can furnish a man a nice
home to live in, a nice church to preach in, and by your attitude
and spirit, hinder his ministry. That's exactly right. Cause him grief, and cause him
to get up and try to preach confronted with a bad attitude and bad action,
and that hinders him, and that hinders the gospel. And I've
showed you where even Lincoln knew this. Offenses must come. And they will come. They'll keep
coming. But God have mercy on that man by whom the offense
cometh. God have mercy on that man or
that woman that causes a service or a preacher or a man trying
to preach the gospel to be tied up. and sidetracked from the
gospel by his attitude of spirit. Is that what right? Communicate.
Communicate. Encourage. Help. You see what I'm saying? You
see, these things, we think because outwardly we do this, that, and
the other, or maybe provide a feather bed or something, that if I ought
to be happy. But it goes deeper than that.
a lot deeper than that. You see, spiritual thing has
to do with spiritual thing. And that's what that's talking
about over there. And that man, I'll tell you this, he'll be
grounded. He'll be settled. You see that? If you continue in the faith
grounded and settled and be not moved away from the hope of that
gospel. which you've heard, oh, how many
times you've heard it here, which was preached to every creature
under heaven. How many times do we have to
hear it? Now you say, when are these five
things going to take place? I don't know. I don't know. Sometimes never. Most of the
time never. There's no set pattern. There's
no schedule. God's not on a schedule. You
can't put God in a box. Everybody's ever tried it, it's
messed up. Every preacher's ever tried it. He's going to be saved
my way. No, he's not. He's going to be saved God's
way. He's going to be saved in God's time. And I don't know.
There's no set pattern. There's no schedule. That's the
reason we've got to be tolerant and kind and patient with ourselves
and everybody else. The Lord's not only in sovereign
salvation, but He's sovereign in order of providence. I tell
you this, a man, a person, a woman, man or woman, may know the Scriptures
from their youth, or from their childhood, like Timothy. What
did Paul say to Timothy? From a child I have known the
Scriptures that are able to make thee wise unto salvation. Maybe,
tell me that little fellow sitting by you there, he's been here
for years, and he's heard, and he's sharp. Who knows, he may
come right up in the Gospel. I hope so. That one there, this
one looking at me right there. That's right. From a child, known
the Holy Scripture, able to make thee wise unto salvation. That
may be God's Word. I don't know. Or that person
may have to go out into the world like Mary Magdalene and be a
harlot. Or this woman in John 4. I don't know. Crook like Zacchaeus. I'll tell you this, I'd rather
be a crook like Zacchaeus and meet God than to be a moral Pharisee
and never meet Him. Can you? Yeah, I have. Or that person may be a legalist.
He may be a false preacher, a legalist, a devout religionist, like Saul
of Tarsus. And one day when he's 40 years
old, Ann, God met him, conquered him. That's right. But God had
to do it. Somebody said he was He was convicted
when he saw Stephen stoned. Oh, don't you think for a moment
he's convicted. He's glad to see him dead. In
fact, he's going to kill some more when God met him. That's
right. He stood there and watched them
stone Stephen to death and was on his way to stone a few more.
You know what the Lord said? Commit them to prison, men and
women. But God met him. That's who we need. A person
may be in idolatry like Abraham until he's 75 years old, Herman.
Seventy-five years old, Abraham wasn't, God called him. You were
seventy-five when you learned the gospel of God's grace. Seventy-four,
that's right. A person may be a pagan Gentile
like the Philippian jailer. He may be a mature, middle-aged
widow like Lydia. God opened her heart. But I do
know this. Turn to John 10. I do know this. I'm certain of this. In John
chapter 10. In John chapter 10. Listen to
this. Now bring it down to the end. John chapter 10. I do know
this. John 10 verse 14. I'm the good shepherd. He calls
himself the chief shepherd, the good shepherd, and the great
shepherd. I'm the good shepherd. I know
my sheep. I know my sheep, and they know
me. And as the Father knoweth me, even so I know the Father,
and I lay down my life for the sheep." Now watch this, "...and
other sheep I have, which are not of this fold." He's talking
about these disciples right there around him. "...them also I must
bring." I must bring. John stopped a while ago when
he said the Lord must needs go into Samaria. Yeah, he must.
And I've read a lot of writers and they say different reasons
why he went through Samaria. That was a direct route or usually
they go around all that. I'll tell you why he must need
to go through Samaria, one of his sheep's there. And what did
I say? He determined to save her and
he sat down on that well and waited on her. He's going to
cross her path. And can you think of all the
providential dealings with her? What's she doing at that well
at that particular time? Can you think of all the things
that had to work together in God's mysterious secret plan
to get her to that well, Chuck, right then? She came right then,
and nobody else was there. She came by herself. And our
Lord confronted her. He created an interest first.
He said, if you knew who was talking to you, you'd ask me
and I'd give you living water. live in water, you'd never thirst
again. She said, give me that water.
And then he presented the problem. He said, you got a problem. And
he said, you've had five husbands. You live with a man that's not
your husband. Well, you say, what if she'd
had only one husband? He'd have found another area
where she had a problem. That's just one problem. That's
just one outgrowth of one big problem. The big problem wasn't
five husbands. The big problem was what caused
her to have that marriage. And here, that's our problem.
He confronted her with the problem. This living water and that problem
don't go together. Something's got to be done about
the problem. And you know what she did? She
did usually what people do. She started talking about her
religion. She said, oh, she said, I go back a long ways. My father's
worshiping this man. and you Jews." She got to arguing
with him about religion, and he said, you don't know what
you worship. See how the Lord just, he determines to save a
person he must meet to go through Samaria. He's going to meet her.
And then he presents the gospel. And then she starts arguing about
her religion, and he said, you're ignorant, you don't know what
you worship. God is spirit. You can't confine him to a building,
an organization, a pattern, a box. God's spirit. They that really
worship God and know God worship Him in spirit and truth, truth
Christ. And she said, well, now watch
it. What did I say a while ago? I
know that the Christ is coming, the Messiah. And when the Christ
comes, He's going to tell us Everything we need to know. You
know what I said while ago? The Christ. The Christ. That's what this whole Old Testament's
about. The Christ. And he looked at her and he said,
I'm He. I'm the Christ. And that's when
she received Him, that's when she believed on Him, that's when
she ran downtown, she told everybody, is not this the Christ? Is not
this the Christ? He is not just the Christ. Oh, may God in His grace, may
God in His grace, visit us in grace and settle this one issue. And if this issue is ever settled,
it will settle all the other issues. This one issue, who is
my Lord? Who is my Lord? The Christ, but
it's out of all the other issues. Who is my Lord? Barnard said
one time, he said, this generation, they all talk about Jesus being
their personal Savior. He said, I know who their Savior
is, but he said, what I want to know is, who is their Lord?
That's who runs them. That's who controls them. And
usually, it's the old self. But if Christ ever becomes our
Lord, that's when we're saved. We're not saved when He becomes
our Lord. No, no, no, no, no. Man's not saved unless Christ
is the Lord of his life. He might be being saved, and
God may someday save him. I don't know. He might. But he's
not saved. He needn't claim to be saved
unless Christ rules and reigns and is Lord of his life. Is that
not right? Thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus to be Lord,
and believe in thine heart God raised him from the dead, thou
shalt be saved. Christ is Lord. And that issue is settled. And
when it is, all the other issues are settled. Don't have any more
issues to settle. They're all settled.

The Highway to Heaven

What does the Bible say about God's sovereignty in salvation?

How do we know that all who are saved will come to Christ?

Why is understanding the sin question essential for Christians?

How does God ensure that His called ones will continue in faith?

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The Highway to Heaven

What does the Bible say about God's sovereignty in salvation?

How do we know that all who are saved will come to Christ?

Why is understanding the sin question essential for Christians?

How does God ensure that His called ones will continue in faith?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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