I'm going to be reading for a
text this morning from the book of 1 Peter. We're going to look
at chapter 1, verse 8 and 9 of 1 Peter. I'd like very much if
you would open your Bibles to this particular passage of Scripture. I'm not only going to read the
text and speak from it, but I'm going to quote from different
verses around the text. In 1 Peter 1, verse 8, 9, 10,
11, and verse 12, we'll be using all these verses, and I'll be
speaking on this subject, the salvation of your soul. Now, that's important, isn't
it? I don't know anything that's
more important than the salvation of your soul, the salvation of
your soul. And that's just exactly the way
the Apostle Peter writes it. He says, the salvation of your
soul. Now listen to verse 8 and 9.
He's talking here about our Lord Jesus Christ. And he says, Whom,
having not seen that he is in the flesh with the natural eye,
we've seen him with the eye of faith. We've seen him in the
word of God. We've seen him in the gospel.
We've seen him as the Holy Spirit reveals his sufficiency and his
beauty and his glory and his grace. But whom, having not seen,
you love. In whom, though now you see him
not, Yet believing, you rejoiced with joy unspeakable and full
of glory, receiving the end or the outcome or result of your
faith, even the salvation of your soul." Receiving the end
of your faith, even the salvation of your soul. A fellow asked
me one time, are you still saving souls? Now, he wasn't trying
to be smart. I think it was a question that
was born of ignorance more than anything else, you know, not
knowing what to say or not knowing anything about the gospel or
the word of God. But that's the way he asked it.
He said, are you still saving souls? And I replied, no, I can't
save a soul. I can't save my soul or your
soul or anybody else's soul. But I know this, I'm totally
committed to a person who can save your soul. I'm totally committed
to the Lord Jesus Christ and to the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ that is able to save your soul effectually and eternally. For the scripture says, I am
not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of
God. It is the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believes it, to the Jew first and also to
the Greek. I know that Jesus Christ our
Lord is able, not only able, but willing to save all who come
to the Father by him. He has both the merit and the
power. He has both the will and the
ability to save every soul. So I can't save a soul. Our church
can't save a soul. Our preaching can't save a soul,
but Christ can. Look unto me, he said, and be
ye saved. Come unto me, and I'll give you
rest. You see that? Now, I'm fully
persuaded by the word of God that there is but one way of
salvation. There is but one gospel. I hear
people talking frequently about there are many roads to heaven.
Well, my friend, there's only one road to heaven. There's only
one way of salvation. You can take the word of Christ
for it. He said, I am the way, the truth,
and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. There's but one gospel. There's
but one way of salvation. If you are ever saved, it'll
be by this gospel and by this redeemer. Listen to 1 Timothy
2, verse 5. There is one God. You say, well,
I believe that preacher. There's one mediator between
God and men, and that's the man, Christ Jesus. Do you believe
that? There's one God. And there's one mediator between
God and man, and that's the man Christ Jesus. Paul severely rebuked
the Galatians for departing from the gospel. He says they're preaching
another gospel, which is not another gospel at all, but it's
a perversion the gospel of Christ and he says though we are an
angel from heaven preach any other gospel let him be a curse
let him be under the judgment and wrath of God any man or creature
or even angel from heaven who preaches any other gospel any
other way of salvation let him be a curse now there are many
there are many areas where we can be lenient and in many areas
where we can be tolerant But this is one area where the Apostle
Paul will not allow us to be either lenient or tolerant, and
that is on the gospel. Our Lord said, I am the door.
By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved. I am the water
of life. If any man drink, he'll never
thirst again. I'm the bread of life. Eat, and
your soul shall be saved. There's only one way. And the
Apostle said, other foundations can no man lay than that which
is laid Christ the Lord. There's none other name under
heaven. given among men whereby we must be saved. There's but
one gospel. Now do you see those two things?
I can't save sinners and no other preacher can. No priest can save
sinners. No religious representative can
save sinners. No religious ceremony or law
or duty and no religious zeal. Only Christ can save. Only Christ
can put away sinners. Only Christ can redeem. And there's
but one gospel of Christ, and that's the gospel of faith, the
gospel of grace, the gospel of looking to him. Not doing, but
is done. You know, religion is to always
giving people something to do, something to do, something to
do. God gives us something that's done. Jesus paid it all. All the debt I owe. Sin left
the crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. Nothing
else to do. It's done. It's finished. It's complete. Now, there are
two things Paul emphasizes in 1 Timothy 1, verse 15, about
this gospel. There's two things that are very
important, the truth of it and the worth of it. Watch this now. He said, this is a faithful Savior. It's true. It's a true Savior.
And it's worthy of all acceptation. He presents the truth of it,
the truth of this gospel, and the worth of it. It's a true
saying, and it's worthy of acceptation by all men, and true peace of
mind is to discover the truth of it, and true peace of heart
is to discover the worth of it. What am I saying? I'm saying
this, that true peace of mind is to discover the truth of the
gospel. that there is a ransom. I think when the prophet wrote,
I found a ransom. Think of the peace of mind in
searching and inquiring. I have found a ransom, a full
ransom, a full redemption. I have found him in whom my soul
delights. That's what the lover said in
the song of Solomon. I found him. There's nowhere
else to look there's no one else to whom I can look he said to
his disciples one day He said would you go away? They said
to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of life and
when you discover the truth of Christ The truth of his sufficient
sacrifice when you discover the truth of his gospel When you
discover the truth of it My friend you'll have total peace of mind
You won't have to look back and wonder, well, should I do this,
or should I do that, or should I do something else? Have I done
enough? Have I given enough? Have I prayed enough? Have I
gone to church enough? Have I done this enough? Maybe
I shouldn't have done that. Maybe I won't make it after all.
But when you see the truth of the good news of the glory of
God in the face of Christ Jesus, that it's true faith, this is
a true faith. This is the record. God has given
us eternal life. This life is in His Son. This
is the complete record, the finished record. It's the true record.
You'll have peace of mind. You're not going to have any
peace at all as long as you keep running here and there and trying
to do this and that and trying to follow this preacher and that
preacher and trying to pay your way to heaven and trying to make
yourself acceptable before God and trying to improve on your
righteousness. You'll never have any peace of
mind till you find the truth of the gospel. or the truth of
it and the worth of it. When you get peace of heart is
when you're going to see the worth of Jesus Christ and the
worth of the gospel, when you find that he satisfies. It won't satisfy. Somebody says,
I found it. It won't do it. It won't do it. It can be most anything, but
he is one thing. His name shall be called Wonderful
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace, I found him in whom my soul delights. I found him
of whom Moses and the prophet wrote. I found him of whom the
father said, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased.
I found him of whom the angels declared, he's not here, he's
risen. I found him who is enthroned
on the right hand of God and my heart is at perfect peace.
Thou will keep him in perfect peace. whose mind is stayed on
thee." That's it, buddy. And I'll tell you, when you discover
the truth of this gospel, and you quit running around, we used
to say in the country, like a chicken with its head cut off, looking
for all the answers somewhere in somebody and from some pulpit,
and you look to God's Word and see that Christ is the answer,
and see the truth of it. You'll have peace of mind. And
when you see the worth of Christ, the value of Christ, the sufficiency
of Christ, the all-encompassing fullness of Christ, you'll just
rejoice and you'll cease from your labor and enter into his
rest. That's what the Apostle is talking about, that ceasing
from my labor and entering into his rest. And this gospel is
the subject. that Peter's dealing with here
in 1 Peter 1, it's the subject of wonder and glory. He says
the prophets of old all looked with amazement and wonder and
searched diligently and inquired into this gospel that we're talking
about of Christ, the sufferings of Christ. And listen to this,
and he says the angels of God, look at verse 12, which things
the angels desire to look into, the redemption of Christ, the
glory of Christ, The satisfaction and righteousness of Christ.
He said these are the things that Moses and Isaiah and Jeremiah
and Ezekiel and all these old prophets, these prophets of old.
These were the things they searched into and diligently inquired
into. This occupied their thinking
and meditation all the day long. These things that I preach to
you every Sunday. These men, they didn't know a
whole lot about it. They believed it. They received
it by faith. But there are things that I talk about every Sunday
that they inquired into. And these things that we take
for granted. You know, it's amazing to me
that the angels of heaven, the angels, it says, desire to look
into these things, and we're so flippant and indifferent and
so callous. And we don't have that desire
to look into the things that are recorded in the Word of God
right here for the promises, the provisions, the gracious
mercies of God. I can see those men of old, those
old prophets, as they looked at this promise and that promise
and said, what's he like? What will the Redeemer be like?
What will the Messiah be like? What will the Christ be like?
And they searched into it. And Isaiah wrote, he was wounded
by our transgressions. You reckon he saw a cross? I
don't know. He was bruised by our iniquity. When the prophet of old talked
about God's elect, God's the messenger of the covenant and
and and and the these these things these prophecies the virgin son
What do you reckon they knew about those things? They diligently
inquired into it And the angels of God stand in amazement around
that bloody tree to see the Lord of glory expire in human flesh
And I'll tell you, some preacher gets up and says, we won't have
time to preach the gospel today. We've had all this music, and
we don't have time to talk about the greatest glory that ever
took place from time to eternity. Somebody hadn't seen that glory.
Somebody hadn't realized it. Somebody hadn't seen the one
on that tree. Somebody hadn't understood at
all what these angels desired to look into, or you'd put aside
everything and preach it. Everything. preaching of the
gospel would be the utmost, uppermost, and topmost thing that you'd
be interested in. Hurry up and get through with
that so we can preach the gospel. That's what he'd come down to.
And then I want you to look into this glorious promise. He says,
the salvation of your soul. He's talking about the cross
of Christ, the sufferings of Christ, and he talks about the
salvation of your soul. Let's look at it. You know, we
ought to give diligence to make our calling and election sure.
One of these days, we'll look into it. It'll be too late then.
We'll cry for the rocks and mountains to fall on us and hide us from
the face of him that sitteth on the throne. But I want to
give you four things about this gospel, the end of which is the
salvation of your soul. Faith in Christ, the end of which
is the salvation of your soul. First of all, this salvation
is a salvation altogether of grace, grace, grace. Now in verse 10, you see verse
10 there, 1 Peter 1, it says these Old Testament prophets
prophesied of the grace of God that should come to you. The
grace of God. My friend, the gospel is called
the gospel of grace. You know what grace is? Well,
it's an old definition, but it's a good one. It's unmerited favor. It's God giving us what we don't
deserve. That's what grace is. And this
whole gospel is the gospel of grace. And our calling, the Apostle
said, is a calling of grace. He called me by his grace. And then our growth is a growth
in grace. And salvation is said by Paul
in Ephesians 2 to be by grace through faith. And that not of
yourself, it's the gift of God. So this salvation we're talking
about is not a salvation by work. By the deeds of the law shall
no flesh be justified. A man is not justified by work
in the sight of God. It is evident that just shall
live by faith. Now a lot of people are justified
in the sight of men by work. You can justify your faith by
work in the sight of men. You can justify your honesty
by works in the sight of men. You can justify your claim to
love people by works in the sight of men. But in the sight of God,
no man is justified by works. It's by grace alone. Even Abraham
believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. Now
this grace, it comes from God in his mercy to man in his misery. It says they prophesied of the
grace that should come to you, not come from you. Come to you. It's from God in his mercy to
man in his misery. And this grace is not a reward.
It's a free gift. The gift of God is eternal life.
The unspeakable gift of God is Christ the Lord. It doesn't come
as a plan. It comes as a proclamation. My
friend, the gospel is not a plan. It's a proclamation. You can
call it a purpose if you'd like to, but it's not a plan. It's
not something God grew up and handed down to man and said,
now work that out. It's a proclamation. Well, Mr.
Lincoln freed the slaves. He didn't issue a plan for the
United States. He issued an emancipation proclamation. He didn't care what they thought
about it in Alabama. The slave was free. It wasn't
up to the judgment of men. It wasn't up to the opinion of
men. They were free. They are free. It was a proclamation. It was an emancipation proclamation. And men may violate it, but they're
free. And that's what the gospel is.
It's a proclamation of a work completed and of a job done and
of a people set free. Grace planned it, grace executed
it, grace applied it, grace sustains it, and grace perfects it. As
I said to you earlier, the religion, it gives man something to do.
God gives us the gift of his grace, which is a work already
done. Listen to this song by the hymn
writer. Naked, I come to Christ for dress. Helpless, I look to Christ for
grace. Vile, I to the fountain fly. Watch me, Savior, or I die. That's the sum and substance
of all of it. Now, secondly, this salvation is a salvation
by grace. Secondly, this salvation is a
salvation, the salvation of your soul, by grace. And secondly,
it's a salvation revealed by the Spirit of God. Now, these
Old Testament prophets, it says in verse 10, prophesied of the
grace that should come to you. Now, watch the next verse, verse
11, which the Spirit of Christ in them testified of the sufferings
of Christ. My friend, I wouldn't offend
you if I could help it, but salvation in the gospel is not understood
by natural men. There's just no way. The natural
man does not understand the things of God. There's foolishness to
it. The natural mind is enmity against God. The natural man
does not receive the things of the Spirit of God. There's sheer
nonsense. Now, that's as clear as a bell
throughout the Word of God. Listen, in 1 Corinthians 2, in
verse 8, it plainly says, verse 9, I have not seen, ear hath
not heard, neither hath it entered the heart of man the things God
prepared for them that love him. But he hath revealed them unto
us by his Spirit. For the Spirit searches the things
of God, yea, the deep things of God. Now, the Spirit No man
knoweth the things of a man save the spirit of man that's in him.
You don't know what's going on in here. I do. You'll know as
I tell you. Even so the things of God knoweth
no man but the spirit of God and he to whom the spirit will
reveal it. If our gospel be hid, Paul said,
it's hid to them that are lost. in whom the God of this world
hath blinded their minds, lest the light of the glorious gospel
of Christ should shine in unto them, and they should be saved.
But God hath revealed it to us. He hath revealed his glory in
the face of Christ Jesus. I care not how smart you are.
No man can come to the Father except by Christ and by the Holy
Spirit revealing Christ to his heart, being drawn by the Father. It says they shall be all taught
of God. Every one that learneth of the
Father cometh to me. I care not how religious you
are. The Apostle Paul had to count everything but dung. He
said, while he said, I was born a Pharisee, I was born a Hebrew,
I was made a Pharisee, I was this, that, and the other, but
I didn't know God, I didn't know Christ. I care not how religious
you are, how moral you are. Paul says concerning the law,
I was blamed. A man has to have the gospel
revealed. And my friends, it's the Holy
Spirit, using the Word of God, who convinces men of sin. Men
are convinced of sin, not by preachers, and not by weeping
wives, and not by sobbing children, but by the powerful, supernatural,
sovereign Spirit of God, who reveals to us what sin is. Sin
is not just an act, sin is an attitude. Sin is not just an
action. Sin is a nature, a principle
within. A man steals because he is a
thief by nature. A man lies because he's a liar
by nature. A man kills because he hates
by nature. And the Holy Spirit deals with
the source of sin, the root of sin. The Holy Spirit doesn't
spend his time whipping men over stealing watermelons and over
these outward things. He deals with the heart, and
he shows us that our sins are against God, not just against
people, but true repentance springs from godly sorrow, and godly
sorrow springs from an awareness or a consciousness that our sin
is against God. David said after murdering Uriah
against thee and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in
thy sight He was aware that he'd sinned against God His outward
act of murder was the cause of a wicked blueprint drawn in his
heart trying to escape the consequences of his adultery you see that
and this way the Holy Spirit worked like John the Baptist
said he lays the axe to the root of the tree and the Apostle Paul
said this I didn't even know sin and Till the law came in
the hands of the Holy Spirit. You mean Paul used to dumb? You
didn't know that I shall not steal, I shall not kill, I shall
not commit adultery. He knew those things, but he
didn't know the meaning. He didn't know the source. He
didn't know where the real problem spot was. Christ said it's the
heart. It's the heart. And the Holy
Spirit has to reveal that. He convinces of sin. He reveals
Christ. He guides a man into the truth.
He glorifies Christ. You cannot see. How a holy God
can be just and justify the ungodly sinner, you can't see that, except
the Holy Spirit gives you an understanding of that mystery.
It's called a mystery. It's the mystery of the gospel.
So it's a salvation revealed by the Holy Spirit, and then
it's a salvation accomplished by Christ. Look at verse 11.
He said, He testified of the grace that should come to you.
The Holy Spirit gave them the understanding, and the Holy Spirit
led them to the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should
follow. My friend, Christ appeared to
take away sin, put away sin for the sacrifice of himself. Sin's
hard to put away. Sin's hard to put away. You say,
that's right, preacher, and you're right when you discover that.
Nothing will put away sin but one thing, and that's the blood
of Christ. There are three appearances in Hebrews 9, three appearances
of Christ for every believer. The scripture says he appeared
to put away sin for the sacrifice of himself, Hebrews 9.26. Scripture
says he appears in heaven right now at the right hand of God
for us and The scripture says in verse 28, I believe it is
or 27 He shall appear to them who look for him the second time
without sinning that sins put away He came down here and put
it away by his sacrifice He went to heaven to intercede for us
to apply that which he purchased and then he's coming down here
to resurrect our bodies Give us that which he bought for us
This salvation is a salvation accomplished by Christ now in
closing this Salvation comes to us by faith go back to the
text. It says receiving Receiving the
outcome or result of your faith even the salvation of your soul
and my friend salvation is not by it's not received by pain
and personal promises or penances It's received by faith. Salvation
is not received by works, good deeds, obedience to laws or rituals
or ordinances. It's received by faith. These
things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the
Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life and
that you may believe on the name of the Son of God. When Paul
and Silas were in prison at Philippi, and the jail was shaken by the
earthquake, and their bonds were broken, their fetters fell to
the ground, and the doors were opened, and the Philippian jailer,
waking out of his sleep, disturbed by what he'd heard and seen and
experienced, came and fell on his face at the feet of Paul
and said, he was a wicked man. He was a brute of a man. He was
a bloody man. He was a jailer in a dungeon. He fell on his face before Paul,
and he said, sir, What must I do to be saved? Now, if baptism
saves, or church membership saves, or keeping the law saves, or
obeying the sacrament saves, or going to the front of the
church saves, now's the time for Paul to tell him. But Paul
omitted all of those things, and he said, Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. And I don't say to
every sinner out there, believe on Christ, because some of you
don't feel you need. But I say to every sinner who
feels his sin, and feels his inability, and feels his guilt,
and wants help and mercy, and is guilty with sin, believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ.