Now, I want you to believe me
when I say that I'm not trying to be an alarmist, and I trust
that I'm not a pessimist, and I don't want to be a fanatic,
and I don't want to be a smart-aleck preacher. But I think my subject tonight
is most vital to every one of us from the pulpit to the last
pew. And that is, when is a man saved? And what are the evidences of
conversion? I want faithfully, if I can,
to be honest with you and true to your souls, true to my own
soul. I've got to meet God someday, maybe sooner than most of you.
And I want to know. I want to know Christ. I want
to win Christ and be found in Him. I don't want to miss salvation
defending a doctrine. or religious theology, or position,
or denomination, or some rules and regulations, or an old experience,
or religious feeling, or position of preaching, teaching, and so
forth, member of the church. I quite well know what religionists,
past and present, have had to say about salvation. You know
well as I know. Let me take you over a few of
them. Now you listen to this. I jotted these down. The Jews
of old said this. This was their hope. This was
their claim. We have Abraham to our father. We be Abraham's seed and were
never in bondage to any man. That was their hope, Charlie.
I know that so because that's what they said over and over
and over again. Heritage. Ancestry. They were Jews. They were God's
people. All right? The Pharisees. Our
Lord gave us a vivid description of one of them when he said he
stood in the temple and he said, Lord, praying thus with himself,
I thank you I'm not like other men. Now today's experience translated
is I'm good as the folks down at your church. Now that's how
that's translated today. That's saying the same thing.
I'm good as any of you who claim to be Christian. I thank you
I'm not like other men. I tithe, I fast, I give alms. Now that's a refuge. That's a
hope. I'm not like other men. I'm as
good as you are, or better than you are, or better than most
people down at your church. I haven't done this, that, and
the other, and so forth. I had a preacher say to me recently,
it really shocked Darcy and I both, I care not to describe it too
much because he may hear the tape. I just don't want to come
at him this way. I'd rather do it another way.
But I give these examples because they're living examples. But
I was in this preacher's home. And I wish people wouldn't say
things like this. It frightens me. And he said,
I'm 40, 50 years of age. My children and wife have never
heard an oath of profanity fall from my lips, and they have never
seen me take a drink of liquor." And I don't know. I'm glad he
doesn't curse, and I'm glad he doesn't drink, you know, but
so what? What, do you want a monument
or something? Is that your refuge? Is that your hope, what you haven't
done? There's got to be some bragging in there somewhere.
It's got to have some, to him, it's got to have some spiritual
significance. That's what he was letting me
know, that he was better than most men. Of course, he didn't
bother to tell me things they hadn't seen him do, you know,
and heard him say, but at least they hadn't. And this is troublesome
to me. It's troublesome. It's as if
a man is saying, I'm not quite as bad as my neighbor. It doesn't
take quite as much grace to save me or quite as much blood to
wash me as it does him. Such a person has never met Christ. I don't care if he's in a pulpit
or a pew or where he is. That's just so. The covenant
theologians, I preached for them a lot up in Michigan. You know
what their hope is? They were sprinkled as infants,
they were confirmed. I had one man say this to me
in Michigan. He said, I can still feel, he
wasn't but a few days old, a few weeks old, I can still feel those
drops of water on my forehead. Well, you may put no significance
in that at all, but I put a great deal of significance in that,
Cecil. Any man who can say he can feel drops of water on his
head right now that occurred fifty-six years ago has got to
have some refuge in that. He's taking some joy and he's
taking some comfort in that ceremony that took place when he was unconscious
of what was going on. They rested in the fact that
they were sprinkled, they were confirmed, and they were catechized.
None of them, in my experience over the years, I quit going
there, partly because of this, none of them ever came to a conscious,
knowledgeable experience of grace with Jesus Christ. They were
just confirmed and catechized and sprinkled and brought up
in the church and brought up in a special parochial school. under special instructions. And
when did you meet the Lord? Well, I've kind of always known
him, you know. That's too long. Now, this is a dangerous refuge.
If you're here tonight and you have that kind of experience,
it's no good. There was a time when you didn't
believe, there was a time when you did believe. There was a
time when you were lost and there was a time when you were found.
And I'm not putting significance on any definite period of time
or date. That's another thing. I'm a little
fearful of the man who can take you back to June the 9th, 1932,
at 8.30 p.m. That's dangerous, too. 1914.
You know, that's just too long. That's a refuge. These refuges
slip out of our mouths. Out of the abundance of the heart,
the mouth speaketh. Paul says, I am what I am by
the grace of God. Peter said, we're redeemed with
his blood. Paul in Ephesians says, in whom
we have redemption, the forgiveness of sin through his blood. He
never talked about these things. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed. He didn't say, I know what I believe, I know when I
believe. He said, I know whom I have believed. And then the
moralists. All these have I kept from my
youth up. The fundamentalists today, this is the religion of
our day. It's an emotional thing. People
are brought together in special revival meetings or special campaigns
or special preaching missions and some special preacher is
brought from way off somewhere who has a singer with him and
a piano player maybe and a chalk artist and a trumpet player and
they put on a program. It's a special revival, a special
spiritual emphasis and all the churches come together and they've
got soul winning teams and they've got personal counselors and they've
got folks to deal with people. It's a special constant concentrated
effort for a two-week period to get people saved. And the
preacher gets up and preaches his message, and then the choir
sings, and then they have the hand raised and all of this,
and people witness, and they get folks to come down there
and make their decision for Jesus. And they make their decision,
and they go to the personal workers' inquiry room, they talk it over.
And they're saved, and they get their name on the roll, somebody
scouts them out and baptizes them, and they're members of
the church, and it's all over, and they say, well, I heard the
plan of salvation, I made my decision for Jesus, I'm eternally
secure. That's a terrible refuge. And
we'll tell you why in a moment. And then another terrible refuge
is the denominationalist. He takes great pride in the fact
that he's a Catholic. I'm a good Catholic, or I'm a
Baptist. He thinks the Baptists are the
only church, and he can place them back to Jesus Christ, and
they've got an unbroken heritage, and they're going to be the bride
of Christ, and the Holy Spirit was given to the Baptist church,
and the Baptist church was promised perpetuity, and everybody else
in heaven is going to be a guest. That's a frightful, fearful position.
It's as bad as Catholicism. It's making the church the priest
and not Christ. It leads you, if you go to the
logical end of this church perpetuity under a name, under a given organization,
if you're not careful, you'll go into what we call the priesthood
of the church. It's a dangerous position. You'll
make the church, you'll make the church an opponent of Jesus
Christ. I think this is the reason why
the Lord won't let us trace our heritage, because it postures
just exactly what I'm talking about, P-R-I-D-E, and a bad spirit
towards those who don't fit in that line. We be Abraham's savior. Now, here's the thing about all
of these refuges. The thing that troubles me about
all of these refuges is they all have one thing in common.
One thing in common. And the first is this, the first
part of that one thing is this. Every one of these, did you hear
them? We be Abraham's seed. I thank you, Lord, I'm not like
other men. All these have I kept from my
youth up. Chosen in Christ from eternity, our fathers were God's
people and so are we. We're sprinkled, confirmed, catechized,
educated. We've heard the plan of salvation
and made our decision. We're Baptists or Catholics.
What does all that say? It all has this in common. All
of it are the works and efforts and deeds of men. It is not salvation's
a gift of God. It's what I've done. I don't
care which group you fall in. Your testimony is not the grace
of God and salvation the gift of God. It's what we did. And
after all, is that not what the people said in Matthew 7 at the
judgment? Lord, we preached. We prophesied,
we cast out devils, we did many wonderful works. Turn to Romans
chapter 6. Romans chapter 6 verse 23. Does
this scripture mean anything here? Romans 6 verse 23. It says here in Romans 6 verse
23, the wages of sin is death. But what is this word, this little
four letter word? The G-I-F-T. The gift of God. What is a gift? It's a present
with no strings attached. It's something that comes freely,
graciously, mercifully from the giver to the receiver. And it
says the gift of God is eternal life. Now sin, death is what
I've earned. Death is what I merit. Death
is what I deserve. My sin deserves to be paid its
fair wages, and that's death. But I haven't earned or merited
or deserved this thing of eternal life. It's the gift of God. Jonah
said, Salvation's of the Lord. David said, The salvation of
the righteous is of the Lord. Paul says here, the gift of God
is eternal life. One other scripture. Let's try
Matthew chapter 19. I'm just dealing with us tonight
personally, every one of us. And we need to be dealt with
candidly and truthfully and sincerely and simply. Does the Bible tell
us over and over, examine yourselves whether you be in the faith?
Are you afraid to examine yourself by the scriptures? Doesn't it
tell us every time we come to the Lord's table to examine ourselves
and then let us see? Didn't Peter say, give diligence
to make your calling and election sure? There's a noted pastor
of a Baptist church on television that always ends every message
he preaches and begins his altar call with these words. If you're
here tonight, or this morning, and you can raise your hand and
say, I'm as sure for heaven as if I was already there. Would you raise your hand on
that? Now listen to me, my brother. That's presumption. I'm as sure
for heaven as if I was already there. I'm not that sure. Are
you that sure? Now, you may be. I don't know.
But that's infallible assurance, which I don't believe is possible
in this life. I believe it borders on presumption.
And the only way you could possibly raise your hand on such a proposition
is to be resting in a refuge that I've just named, one of
these refuges. In Matthew, now listen to me, Matthew 19. Honestly, I say this, I'm more
afraid of that person than I am the man that's always struggling
with his doubts and fears. I have hope for the man who has
doubts and fears and struggles and conflict and all of these
things, because I believe he's a sinner looking to Christ. But
I get worried about the fellow that's cocksure and confident
and absolutely positive he's saved because he doesn't realize
he's a sinner. David said, Lord, in so many
words, if you damn me, you'd be just. That's what he said. He said, you're justified when
you condemn. Isn't that what he said? And
you're right when you judge. Actually, David stood and said,
who am I and what is my people that we should be recipients
of such mercy? The Apostle Paul said, I keep my body and bring
it into subjection, lest when I preach to another, I become
a reprobate. I don't know how we should be
so confident when old John Newton said, Lord, if indeed I am thine,
if thou art my sun and my song, then why do I struggle and pine,
and why am I winter so long? Oh, drive these dark clouds from
my sky, thy soul-cheering presence restore. Lord, just take me to
the on high where winters and storms are no more. I love to
hear language like that. Listen to Matthew 19, 25. Our Lord said in verse 24, it's
easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for
a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. When his disciples heard
it, they were exceedingly amazed, and they said, Who then can be
saved? And our Lord beheld them and
said to them, With men salvation is impossible. With men this
is impossible. With God all things are possible. I'm saying that salvation 100%
from beginning to end is of the Lord. It's the gift of God. It's
not earned, it's not merited, it's not deserved. It's the gift
of God. And unless my testimony has in it somewhere my indebtedness
to his grace, then I need to examine my testimony, Bob. Unless
somewhere, when I talk about are you saved, are you a child
of God, if it doesn't have in it somewhere a ring of gratitude
for the grace of God, of dependence on the grace of God, as being
a recipient of the mercy of God. Like Paul, by the grace of God,
I am what I am. He said, I obtained mercy. I
didn't earn it, deserve it. I obtained mercy. I was a persecutor,
injurious. I was a rebel. I obtained mercy. Here's the second thing about
these testimonies. Notice this about them. And you
listen to the average person talk about his experience. None
of these claims that I've mentioned here have anything to say about
what? The attributes of God. The attributes
of God. And these attributes of God are
paramount in the redemption of a sinner. And here's what I mean,
just simply state, what are attributes? Character of God. Now if I call
a name tonight, I'll pick on Mike over here a few minutes,
Mike Bartram. What does that mean? When that name is used,
Mike Bartlett, everybody here knows Mike, everybody here, you've
seen him up here singing, playing the piano, Mike Bartlett. When
I use that name, all of the characteristics flash before your eyes and your
mind, right then. He's so tall, blonde hair, certain
color eyes, certain size, certain type of person. You who know
him, he's a generous young man, an honest young man, an energetic
young man, and a young man. His name, you see, I don't have
to have a piece of paper. They say, who are you talking
about? I'm talking about a man that's so tall, I'm talking about a man with
blonde hair. No, just call the name, everybody knows him. The
name of God, G-O-D, God, the name Jesus Christ, declares when
the name is understood, he has attributes. Our God, whoso shall
call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved." God's name declares
God is holy, God is just, God is righteous, God is merciful,
God is love, God is just. All of these things declare it. And this is what made Job sit
down and write these words. I want you to turn to Job 25,
and I want you to look at these words. Job knew the name of God, Elohim,
Jehovah, God Almighty. He knew the character of God,
the attributes of God. He knew something about the sinfulness
of men. This is Bildad talking here,
but it's written in the book of Job. Bildad said, verse 4,
Job 25, How then can man be justified with God? How can he be clean
that's born of a woman? Behold, even to the moon it shineth
not, the stars are not pure in his sight, how much less man
that is a worm, and the son of man which is a worm." This man
who wrote this knew one thing. He knew who God is, his character
and attributes. He knew who man is, and he wants
to know how this can have anything to do with that, in keeping with
that person's attributes. That's what he said. He knows
that God can't be affiliated with, associated with, or have
communion with, anything that's not perfect. That's just so. God cannot, as Scott Richardson
said, he can't speak to, even, nor be spoken to, by a sinner,
because God is holy. And if he did associate with
unholiness, that makes him unholy. That makes him compromising. God cannot look upon, fellowship
with, commune with, be associated with. Two can't walk together
except they be a group. Turn to Job 9, and this is a
question we need to deal with. Job asked this. He said in Job
9, verses 1 and 2, then Job answered and said, I know it's the soul
of the truth, but how should man be just with God? And David asked this question,
who can stand in his presence? And the answer came back, he
that hath clean hands and a pure heart. And then the scripture asks this,
how can God be just and justify the other? And what I'm saying
is this, when you talk about your decision or your experience
or any of these things, or your catechism or baptism or any of
these things, There's got to be something in here about God's
justice and God's righteousness and God's holiness. Now, in the
gospel of pre-grace, there is. It says in Galatians 4, when
the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made
of a woman, made under the law to redeem them born under the
law. Now, you say, so we're dealing with the law there, the law of
God. And God's law is honored in the obedience of Christ. Listen
to this verse. He who knew no sin was made sin
for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
We're dealing with the attributes of God, the attribute of righteousness,
the character of God. Listen to this verse. By one
man's disobedience, many became sinners. Even so, by the obedience
of one, shall many be made what? Righteous. So the law of God. All right, take the justice of
God. Turn to Romans 3. I want you to look at this in
Romans 3. Romans 3, verse 25. Now let's talk about his son. He said he had set forth whom
God had set forth or ordained to be a propitiation through
faith in his blood to declare his righteousness. Whose righteousness?
God's righteousness. for the forgiveness, the passing
over of sins of the past, Old Testament believers, through
the forbearance of patience of God, to declare, I say at this
time, God's righteousness, that he might be just and justifier
of him which believeth in you." Now, brethren, I made a profession
of faith just like most of you back when I was nine years old.
When you hit the junior department, you're expected to join the church. is expected to get saved, and
if you got past 12 and you wasn't saved, you're just out of business.
That's about all there was to it. It's just too late, Johnny.
But all we baptized was 9, 10, 11, 12, and joined the church,
and we learned a few things. But I was never taught. I was
never taught these things. Turn to Colossians chapter 1.
Let me show you something. I was never taught this. How
good does a man have to be to stand before God, to go to heaven?
I'm talking about God as God is, not the God of our imagination,
but I didn't know that a man had to be perfect. You say, you're
not perfect. In Christ I am, and this is my
hope. Look here in Colossians 1 verse
21. Well, verse 20, and having made
peace through the blood of his cross by him, by Christ, to reconcile
all things to God. By Christ, I say, whether in
things in earth or things in heaven, and you that were at
one time alienated, strangers, foreigners, enemies, in your
minds, that's where it was, by wicked work. Yet now hath he
reconciled you in the body of his flesh through death to present
you Holy, unblameable, unreprovable in God's sight. Christ presents
us in God's sight, holy, unblameable, unreprovable. How can he do that?
Because as a man, as our representative, as our substitute, he met God's
law and obeyed it. And he met God's justice and
died under the wrath of God. And he was buried and rose again.
Everything God required of me, Christ fulfilled it. Everything
that the name of God, the character of God, the person of God, the
law of God, the holiness of God, the justice of God, everything
that a holy, heavenly Father could require of a depraved,
degenerated, reprobate sinner, Christ met and paid it. And now
God can be just. He can be God and have something
to do with me. Because in Christ I'm perfect.
You see that? But Cecil, that's not being preached. We're told if you believe Jesus
died on the cross and then rose again, confess it and you'll
be saved. The devils in hell believe that. The people who
nailed him to the cross believe that. Everybody believes that.
But a gospel that doesn't honor the law and a gospel that doesn't
satisfy justice and a gospel that doesn't sanctify the believer
in his spirit by the blood and righteousness of Christ is no
gospel. It's a false gospel. And these
things that I read to you a moment ago, they don't mention any of
that. I did this, and I did that, and
I heard the plan, and I accepted the plan, and I received Jesus,
and I've been holding on, and I'm a Baptist, I'll tell you another thing.
These things don't deal with salvation as a gift. They don't
mention the grace of God. They don't ascribe everything
to the Father's mercy and gift and grace. They don't at any
time deal with his attributes and his holiness and his righteousness.
And somebody is going to now. Now, we're going to encounter
God's holiness either here or in the judgment. We're going
to meet head-on, every human being, every son of Adam, it
is appointed unto me and wants to die after that judgment. And the scripture says, And every
man shall give an account of himself to G-O-D, capital G,
capital O, capital E, that's God. And that name indicates
holiness, perfection, majesty, purity, infinite holiness. And we're going to come up short.
But what I want to do is meet that holiness right in now, in
the person of Christ, encounter that holiness now, and fulfill
it, and satisfy it, and honor it in Christ. And in Christ there
is no judgment. You see what I'm saying? Therefore,
being justified by Christ, we have peace. Romans 8 says, what does it say,
Romans 8? There is therefore now no judgment
to them who are in Christ. And Paul went back and challenged
heaven, earth, and hell. He said, who can lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? Who is he that can do it? You
see, I've already met God's name and God's holiness. My Savior
did it for me. That's what I'm saying. Let's
hear it. If anybody knows anything about
it in this generation, let's hear it! Let's hear it! And somebody
says, you saved? Let's hear it! Yes, sir. Yes, sir. I met God in the person
of his Son, and the Father said after that meeting, I'm pleased. This is my Son whom I'm pleased.
And justice says I'm satisfied. And the law says I'm fully honored.
And my Father said, That's the sum and substance of it. Third
thing about it, none of these claims speak of salvation as
it is in three tenses. Everything these people say,
listen to them, everything they say is, I did this and I did
that and I did that and it's fixed up and signed, sealed and
already delivered. I'm as good as in heaven as if
I was already there. The Bible speaks of salvation
in three tenses, past, present and future. Yes, it does. Let
me show you that. Now, you'll have to do a little
studying on this later, because I don't have time to prove it
to you. But the scripture says this. It says in Ephesians 2,
8 and 9, "'For by grace have you been saved.'" Now, you check
on that. See if that's not the correct translation. "'For by
grace have you been saved.'" We were chosen in Christ. Christ
died for us. Everything he did. 1 Corinthians 1.18 says, "...to
them who are perishing the gospel is foolishness, to them who are
being saved the gospel is the power of God." Isn't that a correct
translation? You've read it, some of the rest of you have.
"...to them who are being saved." And Romans 13.11, just flat footage,
says this, "...now is our salvation nearer than when we first believed."
Now it's nearer. There is a sense in which I am
sanctified and justified from eternity in the mind and purpose
of God. There is a sense in which I am
justified totally, completely, forgiven, redeemed in the death
of the Son of God when he paid my debt. It was finished. There
is a sense in which I am called by the Spirit of God. We are
the called of Christ Jesus. The word called is used over
and over again. But brethren, where would we
be if we're not kept? Huh? Where would we be if we
don't persevere? There is a two-fold future for
us, and that is preservation by the power of God and perseverance
from the heart of the sinner. Our Lord deals with us now. He
turned to his disciples when a whole bunch of people had left
him and asked them, Will you go away? Our Lord doesn't have
any unwilling servants. He doesn't have an unwilling
bride. That's right. John said they went out from
us because they never were of us. If they'd been of us, they'd
have stayed with us. And Paul said this, "...take
heed, brethren, lest they be found in you somewhere down the
road, an evil heart of unbelief." We're not of them who draw back.
We're the house of Christ if we hold fast our profession of
faith. I must die in faith. Paul closed his life with this
testimony. I have finished my course. I
have kept the faith. The time of my departure is at
hand. Therefore there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness."
Well, you say, when is a man saved? Some say when he's born. Some say when he's christened.
Some say when he makes a profession. Some say when he's baptized.
Some say when he learns doctrine. Some say when he finally gets
to heaven. Could I give you four things just to take home with
you and not let you study a little bit and think about it? about
when a man's saved. Converted. I don't mean a religious
experience, a man or woman that's saved. Converted. And this is
some evidence of conversion. Decidedly, without fear of, without
any, not the slightest fear of being contradicted, a man will
be saved when he pleases the Lord. That's the wind bloweth
where it listeth, our Lord said. And you hear the sound thereof,
and cannot tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth. Even so
are they that are born of the Spirit." Didn't Paul say this? He talked about what he was for
40 years. He talked about being religious
but lost. And then he said, But when it
pleased the Lord, who separated me from my mother's womb to reveal
his Son in me, that's when he revealed his Son in me, when
it pleased him. Now, you can't deny that. when
it pleases the Lord. A man will be saved when it pleases
the Lord. Let me show you another verse
about that over here in John 1. I know this is so. God's children are born when
it pleases him. When it pleases him. In John
1, verse 12, as many as received him, to them gave he the privilege
or right power to become sons of God, even to them that believe
on his name, which were born not of heritage," family heritage,
not of the blood, not of, not of blood, it doesn't say thee
blood, it says not of blood, not of the will of the flesh,
not of the will of men, but they're born of God. Now that's what
a man will be saying when he praises the Lord. To open his
ears, I prayed for that tonight, his eyes and his heart to understand
the Word. I'll just give you these briefly.
A man will be saved when he gets lost. That sounds simple, doesn't
it? A man will be saved when he finally
becomes lost. And you may think that's simple,
but there's nothing simple about it. There's nothing simple about
it. In fact, the first steps that
a person takes toward heaven is not when they accept Jesus,
but it's when they finally see their need of Christ. Because
everybody who needs him is going to be saved. God's going to save
every lost person. Turn to Luke 19.10. I heard Roth say this 25 years
ago. It just shook me up the first
time I heard him say it. I had to go home and chew on
this a long time. God's going to save every lost
man. He's going to save every sinner.
You say, but everybody's lost. Now are they? Ask them. You ask
them. I guarantee you, I'd almost buy
you a steak dinner if you find me a lost man tomorrow, anywhere,
a woman especially, but a man. Find a lost person tomorrow.
That's your assignment. And bring him to me. Now come
lost. I'm not talking about a fellow that is a sinner but not a bad
sinner. I'm talking about you find a
lost person. They're hard to find. I tell
you, if you ever find a lost person, he's going to be seeking
the Lord. He's just like a drowning man. You find a drowning man
tomorrow, and I guarantee you he'll be doing one thing, trying
to get saved. I guarantee it. That's right, Bruce. You know
any sick people? Every one of them is seeking
help. Every single one of them. That's
what our Lord said in Matthew 9. He says a whale don't need
a physician, but they that are sick. Listen to Luke 19.10. The
Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which is lost. Every
lost man in Ashland is inquiring after the Lord. I don't even
know whether there is a lost man in action. There are 32,000
people here, and it may be difficult for you to even find one. I mean
one. And that man is going to be saved. Jesus Christ came into
the world to save sinners. Look at Romans. Let me show you
this in Romans. I know this is not what they're
saying today, but I don't care what they're saying, it's just
so. In Romans 5, listen to this. When we were yet without strength
in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. Anybody here ungodly? Is there anybody? Well, I know
there's some. But most of us say, no. Well, Christ didn't
die for you if you're not ungodly. He flat did not die for you. I can say that without fear of
contradiction. It says here in God's Word, he
died for the ungodly. A man will be saved when he gets
lost. You'll never be found to your loss. You'll never be clothed
till you're stripped with every rag, every thread, every fig
leaf, left nothing of your own making. You'll never be seen
grace till you're guilty. You'll never be healed till you're
broken. That's just about it. We're beginning
at the wrong end. We're out here trying to peddle
gloves to people who don't have any hands. We're trying to sell
shoes to people who haven't got any feet. We're trying to give
Jesus to a bunch of folks who don't need him. A man with no
hands doesn't need gloves. A man with no feet doesn't need
shoes. And a man who's not a sinner
sure doesn't need a Savior. Now, that's just so. It's so, and
there's nothing anybody can do to change it. Our Lord's going
to save sinners. If you ever get lost, you'll
be found. I want to give you one more scripture,
one more, on that point, Matthew 9. This is vital, this is important,
and this is a thing that was the whole conflict with the Pharisees. This is a thing they couldn't
understand, they couldn't conceive of it, they couldn't lay hold
on it, couldn't cope with it. Our Lord, here he is, the Son
of God. That prophet Nicodemus said,
you've got to be from God. And when he came down here, instead
of going to the temple, instead of going to the synagogue, Instead
of going to the ecclesiastical hierarchy and the meetings of
the high and mighty in religion, instead of running around with
those folks that were so clean and moral and good and righteous
and godly and all these things, our Lord associated with the
crowd that they didn't associate with. And it says in Matthew
9, verse 10, and it came to pass, as he said it meet, in the house
many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him. And when
the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples, why does he
eat with these people? Why does he have anything to
do with them? Why does he associate with these
folks? And our Lord heard it, and he
said to them, they that behold need not a position, but they
that are sick, go ye and learn what that means. I will have
mercy. Anybody here need mercy? I don't
want sacrifice. That's tithing and giving and
going and working and laboring and rituals and ceremonies and
sacrifice. I didn't come to call the righteous.
I didn't come to be identified with them. I didn't come to bring
anything to them. I came to call sinners to repentance. And he's going to do it. He's
going to save every sinner. A man will be saved when he gets
to be a sinner. I tell you this, that's what
Whitfield, that was his style of ministry. He went down to
preach at that place one time, and there was a young lady there
who was working in the home, and she listened to him, and
she wanted to know what it was all about. He said, well, I'm
coming back this way in a few weeks. He said, while I'm gone,
ask God to show you yourself. Just ask God to show you yourself.
And he was gone some time, and he came back, and he inquired
about the girl and the lady of the house, the mistress of the
house. Said, well, she doesn't amount to anything. About all
she does is weep and cry and read the Bible and pray, and
she doesn't do her work like she should. She's just miserable
all the time. Whitfield looked her up, and
he said, I talked to your mistress, and she said that You're just
having a lot of trouble emotionally, just torn to pieces. She said,
God showed me myself. And she said, it's a terrible
experience. It's a terrible sight. I see things I never saw before.
I'm a wretch. I'm undone. There's no hope for
me, Mr. Whitefield. There's no hope for a person
like me. He said, now, you said, I'm going away again. I'm coming
back. Well, I'm going to ask God to
show you himself in Christ. And that little lady found some
mercy. What we're trying to do, we've reversed this thing, John.
We're trying to get folks to accept Jesus who don't need him.
But I'll tell you, if a man ever gets a woman, ever begins to
sink beneath the cesspool and drown in the mire of their ever-present
corruption, they begin to say like Peter, Lord, save me or
I perish. And boy, I tell you, if God ever
does save them, man, they remember where they were found. They remember. And they are eternally great. Thirdly, a man is saved, I'm
not going to dwell on this, my time is gone, but a man will
be saved when he sees the redemptive glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ. Turn to 2 Corinthians 4, let
me show you this. the redemptive glory of God in
the face of Jesus Christ. That's where all this is revealed
in the person of Christ. Christ eternal, Christ incarnate,
Christ righteous, Christ crucified, Christ seated. It says in 2 Corinthians
4, verse 3, our gospel's hid. That is, it's hid to them that
are lost. Because of God of this world,
Satan has blinded their minds. But verse 6 says, But God, who
commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined
in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the
glory of God. Where is it? It's in the face
of Jesus Christ. That's where it is. That's where
it is. That's where God reveals his
glory, his redemptive glory, in the face of Christ. That's
where it is. And I can see in Christ how God can be just and
justify. I can see in Christ mercy and
truth met together, grace and righteousness kissing each other
in the face of Christ. And last of all, and this is
so important, a man will be saved when he pleases the Lord, when
he becomes lost, when he sees the glory of God in the face
of Christ. It's not in a law. It's not in a church. It's not
in a denomination. It's not in an ordinance, it's in Christ.
And fourthly, a man will be saved when he personally comes under
the authority of that Lord. Now, you study that through the
Scripture and see if that's not so. The Bible doesn't present
a Savior from hell. It presents a living, reigning
Lord. The Bible knows nothing about a doormat named Jesus. It knows something about a reigning
King. The Bible knows nothing about an insurance policy that
you keep in the safe and take it out when you get in trouble.
The Bible knows something about a living Lord. If thou shalt
confess with thy mouth Jesus to be Lord. He's Lord of me and
my family and my possessions and my life and my past, present
and future. He's the Lord of providence.
He's the Lord of provision. He's the Lord of protection.
He's the Lord. It's the Lord. Let him do what he will, Eli
said. They came running, they said, Job, everything you've
got is gone. Well, the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord. When a man comes to that and
bows, we're a generation of folks that have served the Lord and
getting our reward for having done so.