Do You Want to Be Saved?

Q: What does the Bible say about being saved?

The Bible teaches that salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ and is grounded in God's sovereign grace. The Bible clearly states that salvation is a work of God's sovereign grace, provided through faith in Jesus Christ. In John 7:14-18, our Lord emphasizes that His teaching is not of human origin but is the doctrine of the Father who sent Him. This exemplifies that salvation is not based on human effort or merit but is a gift of God's grace to those He has chosen. The Gospel calls everyone to come to Christ, who is our reconciled God, promising salvation and eternal life to all who believe in Him.

Q: How do we know God's promises are true?

We know God's promises are true because He has spoken them, written them, sworn to them, and sealed them with the blood of Christ. God's promises are sure and steadfast, as demonstrated in several key ways. Firstly, He spoke them verbally, revealing His will to us throughout Scripture. Secondly, He wrote His promises down, providing a record that we can refer to in times of doubt. Additionally, God swore by Himself when making promises, affirming their certainty, as found in Genesis 22 and Hebrews 6. Finally, He sealed these promises with the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ, ensuring their fulfillment for those who believe. This ultimately gives believers assurance of their salvation and God's faithfulness.

Q: Why is repentance important for salvation?

Repentance is crucial for salvation as it reflects a genuine desire to turn away from sin and towards God. Repentance is more than just feeling sorry for sins; it involves a heartfelt turning away from them and a commitment to walk in obedience to God. This change of heart is essential for anyone who desires to know God's will and to be saved. In Psalm 51, King David expresses deep remorse for his sins, acknowledging his need for God's mercy and forgiveness. The recognition of one's sinful condition and the sincere longing for redemption are marks of a truly repentant heart. Thus, true repentance is intertwined with faith in Jesus Christ, as it leads to a transformative relationship with God.

John 7, it says here in verse
14, that about the midst of the feast,
probably the second day or so, our Lord went up to the temple
and taught. That is, He went there and preached.
Scripture plainly declares that our Lord Jesus Christ preached
the Gospel. He stood before the people and
preached. And as he preached, verse 15 says, the religious
leaders, the accepted leaders, the Pharisees, the scribes, the
Sadducees, the rulers of the temple, the recognized spokesmen
for the Jews, they marveled. Never a man spake like this man.
They marveled and they said, how does this man know letters? How does he know the law? How
does he know learning? never learned. That is, he is
not one of us. He did not go to our schools.
He has no formal denominational background. He's not on the list
of approved pharisees or teachers or rulers of the temple. How'd
he learn these things? And the Lord Jesus answered them,
verse 16. Now listen. And the Lord Jesus
answered them and he said, My doctrine, my message, my gospel,
what I preach is not mine, but he is that sent me. Now that
may seem strange to you. Here's the Lord Jesus Christ
standing before these people. Now we know he's God. The Word
of God says that he is the Prince of Peace. His name is Wonderful,
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father. He said,
I and my Father want. But here he says, my doctrine
is not mine. It's not mine. It's the Father's doctrine. Was
it not his doctrine? Well, our Lord was speaking here.
as the prophet sent of God. He is speaking here as the man
Christ Jesus. Yes, he's perfect God, but he
took upon himself human flesh. He was clothed in the likeness
of our flesh and he came here on a mission. He came here sent
of God, anointed of God, ordained of God, as our prophet, priest,
and king. And what he has to say, he said,
is not of man, even the best man. What I am telling you, he
said, as the prophet of God, didn't originate with me. It's
not of man, it's not of the earth, it's not that which seems right
to me or to you. My doctrine is the doctrine of
Him that sent me. It's the doctrine of the truth
of Him that I preach. the very truth of Almighty God. Now, what's the next part? Now,
if any man, Jew or Gentile, male or female, any man, wills, if
any person really desires to do his will, to know his word,
to know his truth, if any person desires to walk in that truth,
to know that truth, then he'll know of the doctrine, whether
it be of God or whether it's of the earth, or of man, or I
speak of myself. For he says here in the next
verse, he that speaks of himself, he that says what he thinks,
he that declares what he believes, or what men want to hear, he's
seeking his own glory. A man that stands up and prepares
a message or preaches a message and preaches what he thinks or
what he believes or what he knows people want to hear, he seeks
his own glory. But he says, but he that seeketh
the glory of him that sent him. And oh, our Lord Jesus Christ
said, Father, glorify thy Son that thy Son may glorify thee.
He that seeks the glory of Him that sent Him, the same is true,
and there's no hypocrisy in Him. Now do you see where we're headed?
See our foundation? Our gospel, if we're seeking
His glory and not our own, our gospel is not of us. It didn't
originate with us. It's not of man. It's not of
the earth. It's God's gospel. Paul called
it the gospel of God. And he said in another place
in Galatians, he said, if anybody preaches any other gospel, let
him be accursed. He said, I don't care if it's
an angel from heaven, it's not our gospel, it's God's gospel. And it's true, because we're
seeking His glory. Now then, here's my text, verse
17. If any man will, if any man really
will, if any person really wants, To do God's will. Not my will,
or your will, or my gospel, or your gospel, or my message, or
your message. I really want to do God's will. I want to know God's will. God's
will of redemption. God's will of salvation. God's
will of grace. I really want to know. Believe
me preacher, I want to know God's will. I want to do God's will.
And I guarantee you. You'll know, that's what Christ
said, if you really want to. Now that's my question, is do
we really want to be saved? Do we really want to know God?
Do we really? Do we really want to know God?
I was talking to some men this past week, and one of them gave
an illustration. He said, a fellow that I talked
to not long ago didn't believe in election. And he said, he
gave me this illustration. He said, now that doctrine of
election you talk about is like this. And he used the road on
which he was living. He said, here we live on this
road and there house after house after house after house after
house, people live on both sides of the road, families all up
and down the road. Now here's a man with a lot of money. He
has thousands of dollars in his hands. And he goes down the road,
he stops in this house, and he gives them $1,000. They're so
happy. And then he skips two houses.
And then he goes in the next one, gives him $1,000. And they're
just so happy. And then he skips four houses
and goes across the street, gives them $1,000. They're so happy.
He said that's not fair. That's not right. He said what
he ought to do is hold up all that money and say everybody
that wants it, come get it. But I replied, now the problem
with that is this, you can't even use that in reference to
God's elective grace. Because everybody up and down
that holly wants that thousand dollar. Isn't that right? Everybody here, if I was giving
out thousand dollar bills, there wouldn't be anybody leave this
morning. Everybody would come right down here in the front
and take one. But here's the problem, everybody doesn't want
to be saved. We have Christ We have the gospel. We have the glorious gospel of
God's redeeming grace and mercy. It's free. It's free. And it's free to everybody that
wants it. You understand what I'm saying?
It's free. That's what our Lord Jesus is saying here. They come
to Him. He's preaching. They say, how did you learn what
you've got there? You didn't go to school. He said, my doctrine
is not mine. This is not of the earth. This
didn't originate with me. This is not what men think or
what men suppose or the way that men think it ought to be. This
is God's doctrine. This is God's truth. God's truth
of substitution. God's truth of grace. God's truth
of redemption by the Lamb. God's truth that enables Him
to be just and justified. This is God's gospel. And if
any of you really want to know it, you'll know it. Any of you
really want it, you can have it. Any of you really desire
to be saved, you will be. You see what's wrong with that
illustration? Everybody wants a thousand dollars.
That's flesh. That takes care of the desires
of this flesh. And everybody wants it, we'll
give it to them, the thousand dollars. But if you stand in
front of this world today and say, how many of you want Christ?
How many of you want God, one eternal life on God's terms?
How many of you want to walk with the King? How many of you
want the Spirit of God to dwell in you and to be bought with
a price and bow and worship a holy God, give Him all the glory?
We don't want that. Well, don't get mad at God if
He doesn't give it to you. The fellow has given out the
thousand dollar bills, everybody can get mad at him because he
didn't give them one. But you can't get mad at God
if He doesn't give you what you don't want. And our Lord said,
you will not come to Me that you might have life. What are
the marks of a person who really wants to be saved? What are the
characteristics? I want to give you five. If you
want to jot them down, you're welcome to do so. Do you, do
I really want to know God? Not a God, some God, but the
living God. Do I really want this fellowship
with God? Do I really want to be saved? Do I really want to know the
sovereign will of God? Well, here are five characteristics
of those who really want to be saved. Here's the first one.
A man or a woman or a young person who really wants to know the
will of God, who wants to be saved. First of all, he's serious
about it. He's sincere about it. He's in
earnest about this matter. Turn with me to Isaiah 66. Listen
to the Lord here. He's really in earnest. It's
no game. It's no game. It's like Jacob holding on to
the angel of the Lord. I won't let you go, you bless
me. I won't let you go, you bless me. Isaiah 66-1, Thus saith the
Lord. Isaiah 66-1, The heaven is my
throne, the earth is my footstool, where is the house that you build
unto me? Where is the place of my rest?
For all those things hath my hand made, and all those things
have been, saith the Lord, but to this man. Will I look even to Him that's poor and of
a contrite spirit and trembles at my word? Like the woman with
the issue of blood, I must get to Christ. Twelve long years
she had suffered. And now she came to this place.
She'd wasted everything on false positions. She came to this place
where it's Christ or death, I must get to Christ, if I can just
touch His garment. Blind Bartimaeus, sitting by
the wayside, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. And they tried,
urged him to be still, to be quiet. He cried out the Lord.
He's sincere, he's in earnest. I tell you, it's like the eunuch
who traveled all the way to Jerusalem to sit at the feet of those Pharisees
and learn nothing, and here he is on his way back home reading
the Word of God. A person who wants to know the
will of God is earnest about it and sincere about it and serious
about it. Is that not right? And will avail himself of every
opportunity to hear that Word. Now our Lord always had words
of encouragement for those who came that way, who came trembling
and contrite and weary and wanting to know. But his strongest words
of condemnation were for those who made a pretense of faith.
He had no time for them. He called them a generation of
vipers. Secondly, here's the characteristic
or mark of a person who really wants to know God. First, he's
serious about it. He always has before him, not
the value of his possessions, not the value of his riches,
not the value of his world holdings, not the value of his stock, not
the value of his influence, not the value of his accomplishments.
He always has before him, never leaves him, the value of his Oh, our Master said, don't fear
them that kill the body, and after that have no more that
they can do. I tell you whom you shall fear. Fear Him. Fear
Him who is able to cast you body and soul into hell. What shall
it profit a man if he gained the whole world? What's the approval
of men? What's the popularity of this
world? What's the favor of this world? What is it worth? When we gain all these things,
when we build all these things, when we have all these things,
what's it worth if a man's soul is damned? What will a man give
in exchange for his soul? I believe a person who wants
to know God, who wants to know the will of God, not the message
of men, but the message of God, the gospel, I believe they're
earnest, they're sincere, they're dedicated to hearing that gospel,
and here's one reason, they know the value of their soul. Thirdly, and I believe those
people never lose sight of the one with whom they have to do. I don't think they're concerned
a great deal about what I think or what anybody else thinks.
But they never lose sight of the majesty and the holiness
of Almighty God with whom I have to do. Turn to Revelation chapter 20. I was reading this scripture
a few nights ago and working on this message. Revelation chapter
20. And these three words just stood
out. Revelation chapter 20. These
three words just seemed to grab my heart. Revelation 20 verse
11. Listen. And I saw a great white
throne. And him that sat on it, from
whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and it was
found no place farther." When I saw the dead, small and great,
stand before God. Stand before God. Who is this
God? The dead, small and great, are
going to stand before God. Isaiah saw Him, and Isaiah said
the cherubims and seraphims covered their faces. before God. And they flew about the throne
of God and they cried, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy Lord of
hosts. This God is holy. We are going
to stand before. This God is just. This God is
righteous. This God will by no means clear
the guilty. Do you understand what it means
to stand before God? David did. He said, Lord, if
thou shouldest mark iniquity, who would stand? On another occasion,
David wrote this, he said, who shall ascend into the hill of
the Lord? Who shall stand in His holy presence? Any dealings that God has with
us will be on the basis of His perfect holiness. And I know a lot of people think,
well, when that day comes, I'll somehow get by. No, stand before
God. And when we are thinking about
His grace and His mercy and His gospel, we always have before
us, we never lose sight of Him with whom we have to do. And
here's the fourth thing. And knowing something of the
holiness of Him with whom we have to do, we're always aware
that in our sinful condition we can't have anything to do
with Him. In other words, the fourth thing
is that man is always aware of his inability and incapability
and his wickedness and his seeing wicked condition. David said
that. Turn to Psalm 51. Listen to it.
Always aware of it. Always aware. He says here in
Psalm 51, listen, he says it's by birth, it's by nature, it's
by practice. I'm ill-equipped to stand before
God. In Psalm 51, have mercy upon
me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness, according to the multitude of
Thy tender mercies. Blot out my transgressions. Wash
me throughly from my iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin. I acknowledge
my transgressions. My sin is ever before me against
thee, and thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight,
that thou mightest be justified when you speak clear, when you
judge, because why am I like I am? I was born that way. I
was shapen in iniquity. In sin my mother conceived me." What are the marks of a person
who wills to know God's will? Well, he's dead serious. He is
serious. He's not interested in pleasing
men. He's not interested in the message
of men. He's not interested in religion
in general. He wants to know. He's in earnest
because he knows the value of his soul. He knows the value
of his soul. And he never loses sight. We
can't make up our God. All things are naked and open
unto Him with whom we have to do. We've got to stand before
God. And then fourthly, I'm not able
to stand before God. So fifthly, so that man is convinced
of this. These are the marks of a man
who really wants to know God's way. That man is convinced of
this, that he's going to have to look to somebody else. He's
going to have to look to somebody else. His case is going to have
to be taken up by another. He's going to have to have help,
total help. Total help. He knows that. And
man can't help him because man can't help himself. And none
of the means and ways that man has devised can help him. He
knows that. He's got to look to someone else.
He's got to look to someone God appointed. My help cometh from
thee, O Lord. I will lift up mine eyes unto
the hills from which cometh my help." I got to look out of here, away
from here, away from here, away from here, away from anything
involved. And Christ said my doctrine is
not mine. Even the Son of God said that as a man. It's the
doctrine of Him that sent me. And if anybody wants to really
know what he's got to say about this business of redemption,
that he'll know it. Do you really want to know? Well,
turn to Deuteronomy 18. Deuteronomy 18. The Scriptures tell us to whom
we're to look. The Scriptures tell us to whom
we're to look. The one who is our help. The
One in whom we can find all things, the One in whom dwelleth the
fullness of the Godhead bodily, the One whom the Father said.
This is the message of the whole Old Testament. It starts right
here in Genesis 3, where He said, the seed of woman, the seed of
woman. Or in Genesis 22, when Abraham
said, the Lord will provide Himself a sacrifice. And on down. But here in Deuteronomy 18, you
want to know? Verse 18, I will raise up, I will raise
them up a prophet from among their brethren, Moses like unto
you. I put my words in his mouth,
he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. This
is Christ he is talking about, our prophet. And it shall come
to pass that whosoever will not hearken to my words which he
shall speak in my name, I require it of him. He is our prophet.
And He's our great high priest. And He's that stone. Isaiah 28
said, Behold, I lay in Zion a stone, a foundation, a tried stone,
a sure stone. Isaiah 53 says He'll grow up
as a tender plant, as a root out of dry ground. He hath no
form or comeliness that we should desire Him. No beauty about Him. But He was wounded for our transgressions. I shall call His name Jesus.
He shall save His people from their sins. This is a faithful
saying. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners of whom I am chief. The apostles said there
is none other name, there is no other way, there is no other
foundation. You have to look to Christ. Now then,
I want you to hear something here. This is very important.
When I was in the Navy, there were three little magic words.
that when we heard these three words, everybody listened. Everybody stopped what they were
doing and listened, because it was very important. Over the
ships, intercom, either the captain or the officer of the day or
the quartermaster would say three words, Now hear this. Now hear
this. Now hear this. And that's what
I'm saying right now. Now hear this. We need help. And that help comes from Him.
And that help is Christ, Prophet, Priest, and King. And I'm going
to tell you why. First of all, because our God
in Christ is a reconciled God. He's reconciled. That's right.
God is angry with the wicked. God hated the workers of iniquity. But God in Christ If you can
turn to Christ, if you can look to the Lord Jesus Christ, you'll
find in Him, God is a reconciled God. That's what it says. Turn
to Romans chapter 5. In Romans chapter 5 verse 10,
it says this, listen, Romans 5 verse 10, God is reconciled
in Christ. For if, when we were enemies,
We were reconciled. What's reconciled? When you reconcile
two people, they're an enmity. They have a quarrel. And if they're
reconciled, it means they're friends again. They're united
again. That means the quarrel's gone
and the enmity's gone and they're one. And that's what Christ did
for us. He made peace through the blood
of his cross and reconciled us to God. We're friends now. We're
not enemies. But when we were enemies, we
were reconciled to God by the death of His Son. Much more,
even more, being now reconciled to God. We'll be saved by His
life. In Christ, God is reconciled. That's good news. You don't reconcile
God by coming down an aisle or getting baptized or joining the
church or doing some good works. God was in Christ reconciling
the world to Himself. Our God in Christ is a promising
God. All the promises. Let me show
you that in 2 Corinthians 1. God is a promising God. 2 Corinthians
chapter 1. Now outside of Christ, God's
an angry God. It's a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of an angry God. God outside of Christ is wrath.
He that believeth not on the Son, the wrath of God abideth
on him. God outside of Christ says, vengeance
is mine, vengeance, vengeance is mine, I'll repay, saith the
Lord. So what about the promises? Anytime
you meet a promise of God, it's in Christ. There's no promise
of mercy or grace outside of Christ. Listen to 2 Corinthians
1.20. For all the promises of God, all the promises of God, I'll remember your sins no more.
That's a promise. That's in Christ. All the promises
of God in Him! In Christ are yes! In Him are
so be it! Under the glory of God. That's
where the promise is. You want to know the will of
God? Know your dying man. Know when
you've got to stand before God. You're not equipped to stand
before God. You're in a mess. I'm in a mess. I don't want to
stand before God. David said, Lord, don't bring
me into judgment with it. Well, we've got to have help.
And it's got to come from outside. It's got to come from Him. And
he said, I've seen Him. The Son of God is coming to the
world. We look to Him. Why look to Him? Because God
in Him is reconciled. That's why I look to Him. God
in Christ is reconciled. God in Christ promises. And all
the promises, I'll make you an everlasting covenant, in Christ.
I'll blot out your transgressions, in Christ. ever promises in Christ. There is absolutely not one single
promise to a person here from God Almighty except the promise
of eternal wrath out of Christ Jesus. That's what that says. All the promises of God in Him
are yes. Can I bank on that promise? In
Him, yes. Can I depend on that? In Him,
yes. And amen, so be it. To the glory of God. Our God
in Christ sits on the throne of grace. A throne of grace. God, I know
this buddy system, you know, we got all this buddy-buddy stuff,
you know, big brother stuff, and we speak of God in such familiar
terms and such sentimental, emotional terms, and me and Jesus got a
good thing going, and me and God made headlines in heaven
when I got saved and God this, that and the other. Let me tell
you something. I don't think my generation has
ever even got an inkling of the glory and holiness of God, the
majesty of God. And God has a threefold throne. The God of this universe, the
God who created all things has a threefold throne. Number one,
He has a throne of glory. matchless, indescribable brightness
and glory before which even the angels hide their face. Is that
right, Tom? Glory. Oh, the glory of God. You know
what anything can do with that throne? He said, Moses, no man
can look on me and live. He dwells in a light to which
no man can approach. That's His glory. And then God's
throne, secondly, is the throne of justice. That's right, a throne
of judgment. Unmixed judgment. He says, I'll judge every man
according to his works. No leniency either way. That's
right. But thank God, in Christ, and
only in Christ, there is a throne of God with which you can have
something to do. And that's the throne of grace.
Seeing then that we have such a high priest, let us come boldly
unto the throne, not of glory, its brightness, unapproachable,
not of justice. Just give me what I deserve.
Oh, good gracious. I want to come before a throne
of grace. That throne of grace is because we have a high priest. It's a throne of grace in Christ.
Do you understand what I'm saying? And only in Christ. Now, fourthly,
the reason you come to Christ is our God in Christ is identified
with us. The angel said, call his name
Jesus. That holy thing which is born
of Mary, call his name Jesus. which is a fulfillment of Isaiah's
prophecy, a virgin shall be with child, and thou shalt call his
name Immanuel, God with us. He is one of us. He was made of a woman, made
under the law. He was identified with the transgressors. Turn to Hebrews chapter 2. This
is very important here. Hebrews chapter 2. Listen. Hebrews chapter 2 verse 16. He
took our nature. It says in Hebrews 2.16, listen,
He took not on Him the nature of angels. The angels fell, but
He didn't take their nature. He took on Him the nature of
the seed of Abraham. He took on Him the seed of Abraham. Therefore, in all things, it
behooved Him to be made like His brethren, just like us. He had to become one of us, identified
with us. flesh, and bone, and blood, and
appetite, and temptations, and trials, and thirst, and hunger,
and born under the law, made of a woman, born under the law,
tempted in all parts as we are. It behooved Him. It was necessary
in order to be this mediator, this redeemer, this high priest.
He had to be made like us, just like us, tempted like us. that he might be a merciful and
faithful high priest in things pertaining to God. And he's the
only one in things pertaining to God. And this is what we're
talking about in things pertaining to God. This is what the Lord
Jesus said, my doctrine's not mine. It's not things pertaining
to this earth and flesh and religion. It's His that sent me. And if
you're interested in things pertaining to God, you're going to have
to have this high priest who ministers in things pertaining
to God. and to make reconciliation, that's
what I said, for the sins of his people. Look to Christ. In Christ, God's
reconciled. In Christ, every promise is yes
and amen, so be it. In Christ, you can come before
a throne of grace. You don't have to stand before
God's justice. He's already stood there. He's
already taken the sentence of death and He's already been executed
and buried for our transgressions. You can come to the throne of
grace because He's identified with us. And our Lord in Christ
is an entreating God. You want to be saved. People that pop off at the mouth
about things they don't know anything about are pitiful. And salvation by the free, sovereign
grace of God is the only hope a sinner has. It's the only hope
a sinner has. If God doesn't love me, I'll
never love Him. If He doesn't choose me, I'll
never choose Him. If He doesn't come to me and
give me the want to be saved, the desire to be saved, make
me willing in the day of His power, I'll stay right where
I am and be content where I am. But if a man wants to know God,
Everything is in Christ. Now, let me sum this up and close.
What is my assurance, preacher, that what you are saying is true?
That everything is in Christ. In Christ, God is reconciled.
In Christ, God's promises are assured. In Christ, there is
a throne of grace. In Christ, we have everything
because He is identified with us. It is all sure and certain. Can I be sure of that? Alright.
I give you four reasons why you can be sure. Number one, God
spoke it. God spoke it. He took Abraham
out one day and He said, Abraham, count the stars. He said, I can't.
He said, that's how many seed you have. And Abraham believed
Him. God spoke it and Abraham believed it. God's not a man
that He should lie. You know something? A man can
lie and still be a man. That's right. Cecil can tell
me a lie and he's still a man. But God can't lie, still be God. So everything God spoke is truth. Secondly, He not only spoke it,
but He wrote it. He wrote it. Somebody said the
word of a man is one thing, but when he writes it in a contract,
when he writes it down and puts his signature to it, it's written. And I'll tell you, my Lord, Not
only spoke every promise, but he wrote it down for all the
world to read. He said, this is the record.
This is the record. God has given us eternal life.
This life's in his Son. That's the record. Not only did
God speak it, and not only did God write it, but did you know
God swore to it? That's right. He swore to everything
He's given us in Christ. Let me show you that. God swore
to it. Turn to Genesis 22. You'll be
interested in this. This gives me a lot of assurance.
I want to know His will. I want to know God. I'm dead
serious. Genesis 22. Listen to this. Verse
16. Verse 15, And the angel of the
Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, and
said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, because thou
hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thy only
son, in blessings I'll bless thee, I swear by myself." Why
does God swear by Himself? Why does God take an oath upon
His own name? Well, I'll show you if you turn
to Hebrews 6. I'll show you why. Hebrews chapter 6. Oh, these
things are so important to think upon. Verse 13. Hebrews 6 verse
13. For when God made promise to
Abraham because he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself. saying, Surely I will bless thee,
blessing I will bless thee, multiplying I will multiply thee. And so
after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise, for
men swear by the greater. We swear, people swear on the
Bible. The Bible is greater than, you
stand, you go to the judge, to the judge's court, and they give
you a Bible for you to swear on. The greater. Somebody swears
by the name of God. So far they shouldn't, but they
do. They swear by the greater. But listen, men swear by the
greater, but there is none greater than God. So he swore by himself. And an oath for confirmation
is the end of all strife among men. A man takes an oath, I swear
on the Bible this is so. Well, Almighty God, where Christ
is concerned and the promise of life in Him has spoken it,
has written it, And he's sworn by his own name. Can you trust that? Listen to verse 17. God willing,
more abundantly to show you the heirs of promise, the unchangeableness,
the immutability of his counsel, he confirmed it with an oath. that by two unchangeable things
in which it's impossible for God to lie, that we might have
a strong assurance. How do I know what you're saying
is true, preacher? God swore to it. That's how you know it.
Who hath fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before
us. What is that hope? Which hope we have as an anchor
of the soul, sure and steadfast, it endureth, it entereth into
that within the veil. where the forerunner for us has
entered in even Jesus, made a high priest forever after the order
of Melchizedek. For you who are still with me,
I've got one more thing to say. You want to know God's will?
You want to know the gospel? Do you really? If you do your
service, you know the value of your soul, you know the awesome,
awful holiness of God. And you've got to stand there.
And you don't want to because you're not able. So you've got
to look somewhere else. To whom shall I look? The Catholics
say look to the Mary. The priests say look to them.
Somebody else says look to me. The fundamentalist evangelists
say come to the front. Pray the sinner's prayer. I say
look to Christ. And I'll tell you why I say that.
Because God in Christ is a reconciled God. God in Christ is a promising
God. God in Christ sits on a throne
of mercy and grace, and folks like you and me can go there.
And He's made one of us. There's a man in glory, the man
Christ Jesus. And I can deal with Him, and
He deals with God. And I tell you my assurance is
this, God spoke that, God wrote that, and God swore that with
an oath. But I'll tell you the last thing,
and He sealed it with the blood of His Son. Boy, that is confidence. That's my gospel. That's my gospel. That's the gospel I preach. That's
the gospel I believe. That's the gospel I hold out
to you. It's that which God spoke, God wrote, God swore to, and
God Almighty put His stamp of approval on it because He spared
not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all. Alright, turn
to 1 John 5, and we'll go. Verse John 5. You can rest in
it, you can believe it. Verse John 5, verse 5. Now, who
is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God? This is he, Jesus Christ, that
came by water and blood. Even Jesus Christ, not by water
only, but by water and blood. And it's the Spirit that beareth
witness, because the Spirit is truth. And there are three that
bear record in heaven, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
And these three are one. And there are three that beareth
witness on this earth, the Holy Spirit, the Word of God, and
the blood of Christ, with which He has sealed that covenant.
It's the blood of the everlasting covenant. No problem here. If a man wills to know his will,
we're giving away thousand dollar bills worth much more than the
pesos we use. But folks don't want it. If they
really want it, there it is. It's in Christ. All right. Let's
sing 272.

Do You Want to Be Saved?

What does the Bible say about being saved?

How do we know God's promises are true?

Why is repentance important for salvation?

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Do You Want to Be Saved?

What does the Bible say about being saved?

How do we know God's promises are true?

Why is repentance important for salvation?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

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