Now, if you want to take notes
on the message this morning, I encourage you to do so. You may hear a better message
in the future. I don't think you'll ever hear
a more important message. When is a man saved? When is
a man saved according to the Scripture? Now, it's premature
to talk about when a man is saved unless you and I understand what
it is to be saved. That's of primary importance.
If we're going to discuss when a man is saved, we're going to
have to have some kind of understanding of what it means to be saved.
This is a matter that needs to be cleared up, cleared up until
we clear it up. What does it mean to be saved?
There's no need to talk about when a man is saved. By being
saved, what do we mean by being saved? Well, first of all, our
Lord said this, being saved or having eternal life is to know
God. He said in John 17 3, this is
eternal life that they might know thee, the only true God
in Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. Not to know a God, but
to know the true and living God. To know Him, to be savingly acquainted
with Him, to be vitally united with Him, to have fellowship
with Him and communion with Him is to know God. Enoch walked
with God. David said, the Lord is my shepherd. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed. I'm persuaded that He's able
to keep that which I've committed to Him. I know Him. I know Him. Now, whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved, but how shall they call
on him in whom they've not believed? And how shall they believe in
him of whom they've not heard? It's to know God. All right,
secondly, now this is by way of introduction. We don't, we
can't answer when a man is saved if we don't know what it means
to be saved. So to be saved is to know, it's
not a religious profession, it's to know God. Secondly, to be saved is to be
delivered from the guilt of sin. If you take a look at Romans
3.19 with me, you'll see something that you ought to be concerned
about, that I ought to be concerned about, and that is guilt, guilt,
guilt. And I'm not talking about just
a depressed guilt feeling over something you thought, said,
or did. But I'm talking about guilt before God. It says in
Romans 3, 19, ìNow we know that what things soever the law saith,
it saith to them who are under the law, that every mouth may
be stopped, and all the world may become guilty, guilty, guilty
before God.î I know a lot of us have a sense
of of unhappiness and depression and guilt about something we
did five, ten, fifteen, twenty years ago or yesterday or last
week. We have a sense of guilt about something we said or we
have a sense of guilt about this, that and the other, but this
guilt I'm talking about here is an awesome guilt. It's a fearful guilt. It's a
universal guilt. It's a terrible guilt. It's guilt
before God. having broken His law, having
sinned against Him, having rebelled against Him, having crucified
His Son, having rejected His law and His government and His
statutes and His commandments and His laws. That's what I'm
talking about. We're guilty before God. And
to be saved is to be delivered from this guilt. It's not to
be delivered from a knowledge that we're sinners. It's not
to be delivered from a mourning over our sins. It's not to be
delivered from grief because of the things we say and do and
feel and imagine. It's to be delivered from actual
guilt before God. To have the guilt removed. Now,
turn with me to Romans 5. Romans chapter 5, verse 19. To
be saved. is to have the guilt removed.
The scripture says the law pronounces all men guilty before God, in
the presence of God, in the sight of God, before the law of God.
Our records are in bad shape before God. In Romans 5, 19,
by one man's disobedience the many were made sinners. So by
the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. That's what
we need, a righteousness, a deliverance and freedom from guilt. Look
at Romans 8, verse 1. Romans 8, 1. There is therefore
now no condemnation, no judgment, no charge to them who are in
Christ Jesus. That's what it means to be saved.
It means to know God, and it means to be delivered from the
guilt of sin, from the penalty of sin, from the curse of sin,
from the condemnation of sin. Look across the page at Romans
8, 33. Who can lay anything to the charge of God's elect? But
you say, Pritchard, we just read a moment ago that the whole world's
guilty before God. Christ has removed the guilt
by paying the penalty. Christ has removed the condemnation
by satisfying the law and the justice of God. So Paul says
in verse 34, who is he that condemned? It's Christ that died, yea rather,
that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
makes intercession for us. What is it to be saved? It's
to know God, savingly, lovingly, intimately, It's to be introduced
to, and to be acquainted with, and to have fellowship with the
living God, to know Him in His attributes, and in His character,
and in His power, and in His person, and in His Son. It's
to know the living God. And it's to be delivered from
the guilt of sin. Now you can feel ashamed of something
you said. You may say something this morning
and go home and be, why did I say that to that person? I know he
took that wrong and I wish I hadn't have said it and you'd be depressed
all day about it. Guilt feeling about it or some
thoughts you had or something you said. But that's not what
I'm talking about here. You'll experience that all your
life because you're going to keep on, this tongue of ours
is always tripping us up. It's always getting us in trouble.
And these eyes of ours are always getting us in trouble, and these
bodies of ours get us in trouble with ourselves and everybody
else, and we're just bumblers and fumblers and failures and
everything else. But I'm talking about, I don't
have any guilt before God. Because Christ has paid my debt
and satisfied the law of God. There is no condemnation. There is no guilt. There are
no charges. There are no offenses. With His
spotless righteousness on, I'm as righteous and holy as God's
Son. And before God, my guilt is gone. Oh, we still grieve over our
sins, we still repent of our sins, we still confess our sins,
we still mourn over our sins, we still recognize our inabilities
and our failures, and we pant after holiness and strive to
be like Christ and long to grow in grace and knowledge of Christ,
but when we've done everything we know to do, we're still unprofitable,
sir. And man at his best state is
altogether vanity. And I shall carry this body of
death and this body of sin to the grave, but thank God I already
have the victory. The guilt is gone. My sins are
covered. The blood of Christ cleanses
us. There's no feeling, no need for
me to have any feelings of guilt as far as God's concerned, because
there are no sins. That's what it means to be saved. To be saved is to be delivered
from the power of sin, from the conquering power and reigning
power of sin. Our Lord said, sin shall not
have dominion over you. You ever driven down the street
and saw a sign in front of a restaurant or a place of business? Under
new management, things will run differently. That doesn't mean
that the floors will always be spotless. That doesn't mean the
food will always be perfect. That doesn't mean that the service
will always be the best, but it's better than it used to be.
And that's what they mean by that sign, under new management.
Things are different around here now. Things are different around
here. There's a new boss. There's a new manager. There's
a new executive. There's a new president. Things
are better. And that's what this means right
here. You are not under the dominion of sin. You're not under the
reigning power of sin. You're not under the lordship
of sin. You're not under the control
of sin. You're under new management. If any man be in Christ, he's
under new management. He's a new creature. The floors
may not always be spotless, but they're sure cleaner than they
used to be. That's what John Newton said, I'm not what I want
to be, I'm not what I ought to be, I'm not what I expect to
be, but thank God I'm not what I used to be. And that's so. To be saved is to be delivered
from the reigning power, from the control of sin. It means
to be under the Lordship of Christ. It's to be under the presidency
and reign of the Son of God. And then to be saved, fourthly,
is someday to be delivered from the very presence of sin. Turn
to 1 Corinthians 15. From the very presence of sin.
In 1 Corinthians 15, verse 51. 1 Corinthians 15, 51. Now this is what it is to be
saved. It's to know God. It's to know
the living God. Not a God, some God, any God.
Living God In the person of Christ no man knoweth the father saved
the son he to whom the son will reveal you've seen me you've
seen the father So no God in Christ Is to be delivered from
the guilt of sin the guilt is gone. My sins are gone. You said
you still sin, but they're gone God said I'll remember them no
more. They're blotted out. They're covered. They're torn
father the debts paid. I It's to be under new management. It's to be out from under the
dominion of sin, the reigning power of sin. And then someday
from the very presence of sin. 1 Corinthians 15, 51. Behold,
I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep. We shall
all be changed. Everybody's not going to die.
Somebody's going to be living when Christ comes. But there's
one thing for sure. When Christ comes, we're going
to be changed. If we hadn't died, We're gonna
be changed in a moment in a twinkling of an eye at the last trump for
the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible
and we shall be changed For this corruptible. What's that talking
about your body your flesh your old nature? It's corruptible
it's gonna put on incorruption this mortals gonna put on immortality
and and Shame is gonna put on glory and weakness put on strength.
That's what it means to be saved. I is to be perfectly conformed
someday to his blessed image, to be like Christ. That's what
God's purpose is in redeeming a people, that he might have
sons like his son. All right? Here's the second
thing I want you to consider. When a man is saved by experience,
when a man is saved by experience depends entirely entirely on
what the Lord has decreed and done in the past. We're dealing
with the question, when is a man saved? And no need to proceed
on that until you determine what it means to be saved. And the
second thing is this, no use to proceed in that until you
know who gets the glory for this thing of salvation, and who does
the work. That's so. No need to go any
further until you determine who gets the glory and who does the
salvations of the Lord. And when a man is saved in time,
I don't care if he's 12 years old or 20 years old or 40 years
old or 77 years old. What is done in time depends
on what God decreed in eternity. That's what I'm saying. You turn
back to the text in Luke 19. Our Lord said something here
that 99% Maybe not that many, but a whole host of preachers
don't even understand, and so-called Bible students and teachers.
You would ask them what he meant by this in Luke 19, 9. Jesus
said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forasmuch
as he also is a son of Abraham. He's a son of... But my friend,
the reason Zacchaeus climbed up in that tree, is because there's
so many sons of Abraham around there, Bob. He couldn't see there's
so many people, so many Jews, that he climbed up in a tree.
Well, how come salvation didn't come to all these sons of Abraham?
They were sons of Abraham by nature. This man was one of the
sons of Abraham by faith. That's what Christ talked about.
In other words, if he were to come here this morning, I'm going
to make it plain so you can understand what I'm saying. I heard a preacher
say one time, it's possible to preach the doctrines of grace
in such a way that people won't be disturbed or upset because
they won't know what you're saying. Well, why fool with it? But here's
what I'm saying. Here's a whole crowd. If Christ
comes this morning, and some of his elect are out there. Just
say Cecil's one of God's elect, and Christ has come to this crowd.
Here's a crowd of religious people, or Jewish people, or professing
people. But that's one of his own. And
he comes and he says to this crowd, salvation comes to this
man's house because he is a son of Abraham. We're all sons of
Abraham, the Jews say. No, he is a specific, particular,
chosen, spiritual seed of Abraham. That's what he's saying about
this. That's the reason he saved Zacchaeus. Turn to 2 Timothy
1. 2 Timothy 1. I want you to look at some verses
here, 2 Timothy chapter 1, verse 8 through 10. 2 Timothy 1, 8
through 10. Paul says, Timothy, 2 Timothy
1, 8, Don't be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord. Don't
be ashamed of me, his prisoner. Be thou partaker of the affliction
of the gospel according to the power of God, who saved us who saved us and called us with
a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
His purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before
the world began. That's what I'm saying. I'm saying
if you're going to find out when a man's saved, you're going to
have to first of all determine what it is to be saved. Because
if you don't know what it is to be saved, you'll mistake a
lot of experiences for salvation. And secondly, you're going to
have to determine who it is that saves. And the fact that his
salvation, which he reveals in time, which he administers in
time, is that which he ordained and predestinated from eternity
past. That's what Paul is saying to
Timothy. He called us Not according to our works, our emotions, our
decisions, our profession, but according to His own purpose
in grace, which was given to us in Christ. Turn to Ephesians
1. Ephesians chapter 1. It was given us in Christ. Everything's
in Christ. God has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. That's where the blessings
are. They're in Christ. They're not
in the altar, in the church, in the law, in the catechism,
in the creed, in the ordinances, in the preacher. They're in Christ.
Look at verse 4. According as He chose us in Christ,
before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy
and without blame before Him. Look at verse 7. In whom we have
redemption. We have salvation given to us
in Christ, redemption in Christ, acceptance in the Beloved. We love Him because He first
loved us. That's what I'm saying. But still
there's a time, in time, by experience, when a man can have assurance
that he's saved. that he has come to a knowledge
of God, that he has come to a deliverance from guilt, that he has come
to be under new management, that he has come to a hope of eternal
life, all decreed and ordained and purposed and designed and
executed and applied and given by God, worked out For by grace
are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It's
the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. We
are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus. He said, I'm
the potter, you're the clay. If not the potter, power over
the clay to make of the same lump a vessel under honor and
a vessel under dishonor. What is God willing to show His
mercy and do it with much love, suffering the vessels of wrath,
fitted for destruction? put his love and mercy upon sons
of Abraham. Abraham's the father of every
believer. He's the father of the faithful. This is God's work. God ordains it, and God performs
it, and God applies it, and God executes it, and God sustains
it. Salvation is of the Lord. But there's a time when a man
comes to experience this gift of grace. When is it? When is
it? Well, some people say it's when
he's christened as an infant. You won't believe this, but this
is so. It's so unbelievably so. I wish I'd have saved the book.
I threw it away. I got upset with it and threw
it in the waste can. But a man invited me to come
preach for him in another state. Somebody got on me last Sunday
about mentioning denominational names. But I ain't going to tell
folks the truth if you don't tell them. But anyway, this man
is a reformed of the reformed persuasion. Reformed churches,
they're Protestant reforms, and Christian reformed, and Dutch
reformed, and so forth. He's reformed. Got a big church,
big church, in a large city. And he invited me to come preach
for him. over the weekend, special services. Said, I'll put you
on the radio and in the pulpit and so forth. But he sent me
a book that he had written. And he wasn't too crazy about
Baptists. And in that book, he said there was a Baptist preacher
in the South who said that his daughter was saved when she was
three years old. And there is a John R. Rice said that. His daughter
was saved when she was three years old. But he said, I'll
go one better than that. My daughter was saved when she
came out of the delivery room. Now, that's what some folks think
a person's saying. They have an idea. This is evil. It's wrong. It's error. It's heresy. But there's some
folks who believe that. What's called household salvation
that a person is saved because mom and daddy Christian boy,
it's good to have a Christian mom and daddy, but Brother, I'll
tell you I hope you're not resting in there Now you're in sad shape
if you're resting in some drops of water sprinkle on your brow
in an unconscious state Baptisms for believers And some say you're
saved when you make a decision. They have revival meetings and
the preacher puts a lot of, how many of you want me to pray for
you? You're lost. Raise your hand. God bless you.
God bless you. God bless you. Now the choir's going to sing.
And while we're singing, you who raised your hand, if you're
really serious about this, come down and let's seek the Lord.
And they come down and you believe you're a sinner. Yes. You believe
Christ died on the cross. Yes. Will you trust him? Yes.
You're saved. All right, some say they're saved
when they're baptized. I listened to a fellow on the
radio the other day, and he said that the Church of Christ started
at Pentecost, and you're not in the Church of Christ, you're
not in the Church of the Lord Jesus, and if you hadn't been
baptized, you're not saved. Well, the thief on the cross
was saved, and a lot of other folks. Moses wasn't baptized. Abraham wasn't. Able, you say,
but they're in the Old Testament. They're in Christ. They're in
Christ. Some say that you really can't
know. I remember, this is so funny
how you remember things that happen when you're a child. They
say that you can't remember what happened yesterday, but you can
remember what happened when you're a child. You know what that means,
don't you, Ted? That means you're getting old.
But anyway, I remember I was standing in a church one Sunday,
and the pastor called on a man to dismiss and pray. I'd never
heard this in my life. I guess it's got an element of
truth in it. But it was a Methodist church, and he stood and he prayed
very eloquently. And then before he quit, he said,
and Lord, save us in heaven at last. And I went home thinking
about that, just a kid, and I thought, save us in heaven. We better
get saved before we get to heaven. But that's when some folks think
you can't really know you're saved till you get to heaven.
Well, let's face this thing head on. If you got the courage, if
you got the courage, when is a man saved? I'm going to give
you four things to think on, to practically consider. I'm not shoving this down your
throat. I'm giving you these four things to consider. Now,
we've gone over some important things, and I don't want to Go
too long on this introduction, but the introduction is important
as the message. What is it to be saved? You heard those things.
Who does the saving? That's awfully important. Salvation
is of the Lord. When is a man saved? Number one,
turn to Galatians 1.15. When is a man, woman, boy or
girl saved? Galatians 1.15, according to
the Bible. Galatians 1.15, But when it pleased
God. That's the first answer. But
when it pleased God. Paul says, Who separated me from
my mother's womb. Huh? Who chose me in Christ. Who set His love upon me. who
called us not according to our own works, but according to his
purpose, which he purposed in Christ before the world began.
When? It pleased God! Not when the
best preacher came to town, though usually there's a preacher involved.
How shall they hear without a preacher? Not when the church had a revival
meeting and everybody got right with God. That's not when a man's
saved. He's saved when it pleases God.
To do what? To reveal His Son in me. I wish there was some way that
I could make that clear. Christ is revealed in a sinner's
heart by the Spirit of God. Now, I can introduce you to Christ With your natural ears, I can
tell you who Jesus Christ is. That's what I try to do. Son
of God. Son of man. Incarnate God. God in human flesh. Our righteousness,
substitutes, sanctification, all of these things. But to you,
their theology and doctrine turns until God, by His Spirit, introduces
Him to your heart. And God's only one can do that.
You can play church, you can buy your Bible, carry it around,
let a cross dangle down, get you a little old silly fish and
stick it up here. You know, that meant something
one time, it doesn't anymore. No, it doesn't anymore. It doesn't
mean anything. It's imitating and mocking something somebody
did years ago. Let's find out something that
means something. And you can go around acting
pious and looking religious, but I'll tell you when you'll
be saved. It's when, like Matthew of old, the Lord crosses your
path and tells you who He is, and deals with your soul, like
He crossed the path of Zacchaeus and dealt with his sins, and
dealt with his soul, and dealt with his future, and dealt with
his present, and dealt with his past, and dealt with him, and
broke his heart and made him over again, when it pleased God,
like the woman at the well. Saul of Tarsus. You know how
old Saul was and God saved him? You say, yeah, but he didn't
know the way of salvation. Now, wait a minute. You just
hold on a minute. Saul of Tarsus knew more about
the scripture than any other man living. I boldly declare that without
fear of any contradiction. Wouldn't you say that? I say
that he knew more about the Scripture than any man lived. He was a
Pharisee of Pharisees. What Scripture are you talking
about, Preacher? I'm talking about the Word of God. I'm talking about Genesis
through Malachi, because he wrote the rest of it, just about, by
the Holy Spirit's leadership. I'm talking about the only Scriptures
that were available at that time. I'm talking about the Scriptures
to which Christ appealed. The Scriptures. He knew him inside
and out, up and down, backwards and forwards. He knew him up
here. He was about 40 or 45 years old. He'd gone through the sacrifices,
the ceremonies, and feast days, and fastings, and almsgiving,
and prayer, and all of these things. He was the most religious
man of his day. He said, concerning the law,
I was blameless. I had a dear lady wrote to me
last week, and this folks don't understand what this thing of
sin and Christianity. I get so upset. Bless her heart. I wrote to her. She wrote me
a four-page letter, and she said, Brother man, she said, my husband
is a good man. He doesn't do this, doesn't do
that, and doesn't do the other. He stays at home. He doesn't,
he says, but he's not saved. He's not a Christian. In fact,
she said the only thing unchristian about him is he doesn't go to
church. That's the only thing. Now let me tell you something.
The only one who can strip us and empty us and convict us and
bring us down, the only one who can reveal Christ to us in His
saving power, the only one who can shut our mouths and open
our hearts, the only one who can bring us into confrontation
with the Son of God, is God Himself. And that's when a man will be
saved, when he pleases God to do that work of grace. That's
when a man will be saved. If my voice is the only voice
you hear, you're not going to be saved. If a human voice is
the only, you'll have to hear a human voice, you'll hear the
Word of God preached, but you've got to hear Him who speaks through
His Word and Him who speaks from Heaven. Salvation's a miracle. It's a new birth. It's a new
creation. It's regeneration. It's a quickening. It's an awakening. It's life
from the dead. It's all of these things by the
power of God. Saul of Tarsus on the road to
Damascus met God. That's what it pleased God, to
reveal Christ in his heart. And Christ is revealed. It's
not a ceremony or a church or a law or rules. It's a person. Faith has got
to have an object, and the object of saving faith is Christ. All
right, secondly, when will a man be saved? First, when it pleases
God. And we wait for this, salvation
of the Lord. And I preach and pray and witness
to you and reason and argue and debate with you if you please,
but only God can can tear down those walls of rebellion. Only
God can uproot those old foundations of flesh. Only God can strip
us of our fig leaf aprons. Only God can change the heart. Secondly, a man is saved when
he comes under and bows to the authority and Lordship of Jesus
Christ. That's when a man will be saved.
Turn to Romans 9. That's when a man will be saved.
Now, please understand what I'm saying. I wouldn't offend you.
A man's not saved when he accepts Jesus as his Savior. I know what that got out. But I'm being honest with you,
a lot of preachers are not. And I say this, and these deacons
and elders know this, if they give me my walking papers tomorrow,
that'd be all right. I'm going to tell you what this
book. I watch for your souls, but I'm watching for my soul,
too. And the Bible doesn't know anything about a doormat named
Jesus. The Bible doesn't know anything
about a fire escape named Jesus. The Bible doesn't know anything
about salvation which allows a man to participate in the benefits
of Christ the Savior, who does not bow to Jesus Christ the King.
I'm sorry, that's not in the Word of God. You find me anywhere
in this Bible that says a man will be saved by accepting Jesus
as his personal Savior. I challenge you, I dare you,
you won't find me. But it does say this, Romans
10, 9, and 10. Listen to it. That, if thou shalt
confess with thy mouth. What's those next three words?
The Lord Jesus. And you know what that is? Jesus
to be Lord. Or Jesus as Lord. What is a Lord? King, monarch,
dictator, sovereign, ruler. The one who has the right to
reign. I tell you, Jesus Christ is not
a poor little defeated frustrated sweet little Jesus boy who's
sitting up there in heaven just frustrated and unhappy and disappointed
because folk won't let him have his way. I'm sorry, that's not
the Christ of the Bible. The Christ of the Bible is the
conquering, sovereign King who created everything for Himself,
by Himself, through His Word, for His glory. Even the wicked
for the day of evil. Even the wrath of men will praise
Christ. He's a sovereign, conquering
King. He always has been King, Lord,
monarch, ruler of the universe, who holds the nations as a drop
in the bucket. who doeth his will in the armies
of heaven and among the inhabitants of this earth, and for a season,
because of a love for people, because of his attribute of mercy
and grace, because he would redeem a generation of sons. For a little
while he laid aside his glory in heaven and transferred it
down here. He came down here in human flesh.
God was made flesh. Christ became a man, not a weakling. But a meek man, a man acquainted with sorrows
and grief, a man of sorrows, despised and rejected, a man
of flesh, took on himself the sins of his people, a man of
love and mercy and grace, but he was never a weakling, he was
never a beggar. Even on the way to the cross,
as they wept and sobbed and cried, He turned and said, don't weep
for me, weep for yourselves and for your children. He was always
the King. He always completely reigned
over everything and every person. When they tried to kill Him,
He'd walk right through the middle of them. When they didn't have
anything to eat, He'd turn the fish into enough for everybody,
or bred in enough for everybody. When blind men stood in his way,
he gave them sight. When lame men stood in his way,
he told them to get up and walk. When he wanted to pay his taxes,
he sent them down to get money out of a fish's mouth. When he
wanted to walk on the sea, he calmed it down like the planet
is this floor. He's kidding. I don't know where
we get this idea, Charlie, who originated this mess about the
weakling called Jesus, the defeated, frustrated, pitiful, sad-eyed,
defeated thing called Jesus. There's no such person in here. He's a king. He's a sovereign
king. He came down here and became
a man. Yes, a man of sorrows equated with grief. Yes, a man
of weariness and pain and sorrow and troubles. But all of that
as a substitute there were somebody else's troubles, sorrows and
sins. Mine. He went to that cross and
there in his so-called weakest hour he turned to a thief and
said, I'm going to let you go to heaven with me today. That's
the king talking. He's got the keys of hell and
death. And I'll tell you when a man will be saved. When he
bows to and comes under and submits to the royal right of Christ
to be his Lord. That's when he'll be saved. He won't be saved until. Turn
to Luke 14. Luke chapter 14. Look at this
now. This is important. Luke chapter
14 verse 26. Luke 14, 26. If any man come
to me and hate not his father and mother
and wife and children and brethren and sisters, his own life also,
he can't be my disciple. Whosoever does not bear his cross
and come after me cannot be my disciple. Verse 33, so likewise,
whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath cannot be
my disciple. That's a Lord talking. That's
King talking. Third, when's a man saved when
he pleases God? See, I can't do that by myself.
That's what I know. That's what people have been
trying to do for ages. They've been trying to decide for Jesus. But
when it pleases God to reveal who Christ is, when He reveals
His hand, His unbared arm, His sovereign right to reign, His
position, His person, you'll bow. You'll come unto the Lordship
of Christ. And thirdly, a man's saved when
he sees the glory of God. Turn to Exodus 33. And that sentence
is not complete yet. I want to read something before
I finish it. A man is saved when he sees the glory of God. Everybody hadn't seen that. Some
have. And Moses said in Exodus 33,
18, I beseech you, Lord, show me your glory. And he said, I
will make all my goodness pass before you. I will proclaim the
name of the Lord before thee. I will be gracious to whom I
will be gracious. I will show mercy on whom I'll
show mercy. Now, one other scripture, 2 Corinthians
4. I said, a man will be saved when
he sees the glory of God. 2 Corinthians 4, God said, my
glory is my goodness, my glory is my mercy, my glory is my saving
grace. But where are we going to turn
to find that glory? The law, the church, church history,
the ordinances. 2 Corinthians 4, verse 5, we
preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord. And ourselves,
your servants, for Jesus' sake, for God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. That's where it is. That's where
it is. The glory of God. The heavens
declare the glory of His wisdom, His sovereignty, His power, but
Christ declares the glory of His redemption. I'll be merciful.
How can God be merciful to the unjust? Through Christ, Christ
the just became our substitute. The just died for the unjust
that He might bring us to God. How can God be righteous and
holy? and yet forgive folks like us
because of Christ. The glory of His mercy is in
Christ. The glory of His grace is in
Christ. The glory of His love is in Christ. The glory of His love is in Christ. The glory of His grace and compassion
is in Christ. And a man is saved when he comes
to sin. I understand how God can be just
and justify me. Understand because Christ the
Lord honored the law and satisfied justice and released God's mercy
and love Which was held back by his law and holiness and justice
and righteousness. He released it to be shed upon
me. I See God's glory. I'll be merciful. I'll be gracious. I see it in Christ That's what
a man say not when he walks down an aisle Take the preacher by
the hand and say, I ain't going to show any more on Sunday. I
promise you I'm not going to cuss any more, and I promise
you I'm not going to drink liquor any more, and I promise you I'm
not going to do this, that, and the other any more, more except
Jesus. Rather than when you come to bow to the sovereignty and
lordship and the royal claims of a king, of a lord, of a sovereign,
You see how God can be just and justify the ungodly, how God
can be righteous, merciful, righteous, and holy and still redeem you
consistent with His holiness. Oh, man. And then fourthly, and
I close, a man will be saved when he understands something,
not all, but something, of the awful guilt of his sin. and the righteousness of God
in condemning them. Turn to Psalm 51. This is something
that every man who saw the glory of God saw. Here's the wretchedness,
rottenness of his sins. Not somebody else's, but his.
I don't know anything about yours, but I know about mine. David
said, Oh God, Oh God, Psalm 51, this is David speaking. Have
mercy on me, oh God. Blot out my transgressions. Verse
2, wash me throughly from my iniquity. Verse 3, acknowledge
my transgressions. Verse 4, against thee have I
sinned. And Lord, you're justified when
you speak, and you're clear when you judge. By shaping an iniquity
and sin, my mother conceived me. Isaiah said, I saw the Lord,
and I said, I'm a man of unclean lips. Job said, I saw the Lord,
and I repented in sackcloth and ashes. Job said, I saw the Lord,
and I hated myself. A man will be saved, not until
he justifies God in condemning his sins. And when he sees the
awfulness of his sins, he'll justify God. Let's sing that song in closing,
Lord, Lord, Lord, Jesus paid it all, all the debt I owe.