I can assure you that it is not my purpose to
offend anyone. It is not my purpose to drive
people away from this church and away from worshiping here,
but sincerely I say unto you, it is my purpose to be honest
with you in the things of the Scriptures, in the things of
the Lord, and to be true to your souls. And that's what I'm attempting
to do in the message this morning. I'm trying to be honest. I'm
trying to preach God's Word as it is written. I'm trying to
define spiritual things as they ought to be defined. Now there
are those who are content to preach and believe that salvation
and eternal life is to walk down an aisle and make a public profession
of faith or a public declaration of faith in a proposition presented
by a minister. Millions of people do this every
year. Millions of people join churches
that they rarely attend. and that they seldom support
in any way. They have walked down the aisle,
the preacher preached that Jesus Christ died on the cross, that
he was buried and rose again. If you believe that, you'll go
to heaven. And they walk down the aisle, and they take that
preacher by the hand, and they say they believe that, and the
name is put on the church roll. And they rarely attend and seldom
support it. They go on about their business
and they trace their salvation back to that day when they walked
down that aisle and shook that preacher's hand and accepted
his proposition. Now to all who are content to
preach this and believe this, they're quite welcome. But that
is not salvation. That is not eternal life. And
the person who is depending upon it and resting in it is deceived
and blinded and does not know God nor his word. Now that's
so. And then there are those who
are content to preach and believe that salvation is to get religion,
to get religion. They acknowledge that they have
some bad habits and they go to church and the preacher preaches
against what they call bad habits and sins and mistakes. So they
vow to quit these bad habits, and they vow to quit these things
that the preacher says is wrong, and they're going to get right
with God. So they go down the aisle, and they bow before what
they call a mourner's bench or an altar. I'm not making fun,
I'm just stating facts. And they pray, and some folks
join them, and they pray to get the victory over these so-called
bad habits. So they get the victory, they
feel real good, and they're going to quit these things, and they're
going to start attending church. And they do, they attend church
regularly for a while. And then they backslide, and
they get out of the habit of going. So after a while, somebody
tells them how wrong they are, so they stay out of church for
a while, and then they come back, and they rededicate their lives.
They're saved again now. And they continue for a little
while longer in the church, and then they backslide. And then
they come back. And this goes on and on, in the
church, out of the church. With the victory, without the
victory. In the faith, backslidden. In
again, out again. Out again, back again. Until
finally they grow old and they die. Now if you want to call
that salvation, you're welcome to it. But that's not what the
Bible calls salvation. And that's not what the Bible
calls eternal life. That's religion, and there's
plenty of it. And then others are content to
preach and believe that salvation is to be a strong denominationalist. They're good Baptists. Their
father was a Baptist, their mother was a Baptist, their uncle was
a Baptist preacher, and grandpa was a Baptist, and he was a charter
member of the church, and they're good Baptists. Or they're good
Methodists. They've been to Methodist church
all their lives, or they're a good Catholic, or they're a good Presbyterian,
or they're a good Pentecostal, or a good Nazarene. They support
the program. They read the denominational
literature. They go to all the Missionary
Society meetings, and go to all of the Sunday school meetings,
and they get little awards for not missing Sunday school for
several years, and they help build up the kingdom. And they
know all the points where they differ from other denominations.
And they enjoy arguing religion. But they enjoy no inward peace,
and they enjoy no inward victory. And let me tell you, 95% of the
time, these hyper-super-religionists are the hardest people this side
of hell to live with there is on the face of the earth. Now
that's so. They're good and sweet and lovable
in church, and they're mean as the devil at home. That's so. But they're good Baptists, and
they're good Methodists, and they're good Presbyterians, and
their religion is a cloak that covers a multitude of sins and
a multitude of infirmities and a multitude of And if you want
to call this salvation, that's perfectly all right. But it's
not what the Bible calls salvation. It's not what the Bible calls
eternal life. It's not what the Bible calls
a relationship with God Almighty. Now if you are willing this morning
to part with your tradition, and you're willing this morning
to give up your false profession, and if you're willing this morning
to be told the truth, If you're willing this morning to part
with this refuge of lies in which you've hid and this false foundation
on which you've built, if you're willing to part with this little
denominational treasure, I'll tell you what the Bible says
salvation is. And then from this moment on,
you can seek it. You can ask God to give it to
you. You can make it your aim and goal to attain thereunto. And if you're satisfied to hide
in a refuge of lies, then you go back to sleep, because that's
where you've been all these years, is asleep. If you're content
to build wood, hay, and stubble on a false foundation and call
it salvation, you're welcome to it. But if you want God to
build a house of living stones on the foundation Jesus Christ,
the Lord of glory, and you want to know Him and know that you
know Him, then you listen to me for about twenty-five minutes,
and I'll tell you what the Bible says salvation is. First of all,
in John chapter three, will you turn to John the third chapter?
John chapter three, verse three. Jesus answered and said unto
him, and He's talking here to a religious man. He's talking
here to a church member, just like you and me. He's talking
here to a man who's a denominationalist, died in the war, just like you
and me. He's talking here to a man who's
given up his bad habits and he's keeping the law. He's outwardly
moral and beautiful, appears beautiful to men, but he's talking
here to a lost man. And he says, Nicodemus, I say
unto you, except the man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom
of God. What's Christ saying to Nicodemus,
the religious man? He's saying, Nicodemus, salvation
is a new birth. It's not walking an aisle, it's
a new birth. It's not joining the church,
it's a new birth. It's not becoming a Baptist,
it's a new birth. It's not giving up a few bad
habits, it's a new birth. Salvation is a new birth, and
without it a man's not going to see the kingdom of God. This
new birth is the very divine life of God put within a man. Not his name put on a roll in
alphabetical order with a bunch of other people, but this thing
of salvation, this new birth, is the very life of God being
put within an individual. And that individual becomes a
new person with new desires and new thoughts and new aims and
new goals and new principles and new convictions. He is not the same person he
was. He is a new man. He is a new
man created by the power of God in Christ Jesus. He's not the
same man belonging to another religious organization. He's
not the same man belonging to another club or sect or cult. He's not the same man who's adopted
some doctrine and memorized some scripture. He's a new person. and God lives in him, and God
takes up his abode in him, never more to depart. That's the new
birth, and that's salvation. Then if you look at John 4, verse
14, what is salvation? Christ said it's a new birth.
And then in John 4, verse 14, Christ speaks to the woman at
the well, and he says, whosoever drinketh of the water that I
shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give
him shall be in him." Now, the Scripture, when it talks about
salvation, always talks about it being in us, not about us,
not around us, but in us. When Paul talked about God revealing
Christ to him, he said, God revealed his Son in me. So Christ said,
if you drink of this water I give you, it shall be in you a well
of water springing up into everlasting life. The assignment that the average
church gives to their pastor is to keep them saved. Now, pastor,
we're going to hire you to preach for us. You're supposed to keep
us coming to church, keep us interested, keep us coming. You're
supposed to keep us informed. You're supposed to keep us in
harmony. You're supposed to keep us in
a good mood, and you're supposed to keep us saved. That's your
job now. You take care of that. But salvation,
my friend, in this water of life, is not something you come to
church to drink on Sunday morning. It's something you bring in you,
with you. I'm telling you the truth. I
wouldn't lie to you. I wouldn't lie to you. This water
of life is not something that you go to church to get filled
up with like you go to a filling station every time you think
your car is running short on gas. I'd better go to church.
I don't feel very religious. I'd better go get pumped up. This water of life is not something
that you get filled up with through the ceremonies and service of
religion, that we go to church and it makes us feel good again. But this well of living water
is within us, springing up within us wherever we are, if we're
saved. The Apostle Paul could praise
God from a prison. The Apostle Paul could praise
God from the hole of a sinking ship. The Apostle Paul could
praise God lying bleeding, stoned on a desert. The Apostle Paul
could praise God while he built tents to make a living for himself
and his friends. Turn to John 14. Let me show
you something here. This salvation is not something
on the outside, it's something on the inside. It's a well of
water. that springs up within a man,
and it's in there all the time. In John 14, verse 23, the Master
says, If a man love me, he'll keep my words, and my Father
love him, and we will come unto him, and make our bode with him. With him. God lives in the believer. God lives in there. He doesn't
go to church to meet God. God's with him all the time.
That's right. God lives in him. That's salvation. All right, turn to John chapter
5. What is salvation? It's a whole lot more than walking
down a church aisle. It's a whole lot more than deciding
you're going to be a better boy from now on. It's a whole lot
more than praying through. It's a whole lot more than being
in the church and backslidden tomorrow and back the next day.
That's a pack of foolishness is what that is. That's people
running around playing church is what that is. It's not salvation. Salvation is a new birth. It's
an inward well of living water. I'm reading from the Word of
God now, John chapter 5, verse 24. Verily I say unto you, he
that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting
life." What is everlasting life? It lasts for six months? Is that everlasting life? No, that's six months' life.
It lasts for a year? No, that's a year of life. Everlasting life is eternal life,
that never ends. And he has it, and he shall not
come into condemnation, but here it is. He has passed from death
to life. Brethren, salvation is a resurrection
from the dead. This man that believes on me,
this man that has eternal life, this man that will never come
into condemnation, is a person by the power of God who has passed
from death, death, spiritual death, and he now lives. He was dead and now he lives.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is
when the dead," and that's talking about the spiritually dead, "...shall
hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall
live. For as the Father hath life in
himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself."
You see, that's talking about the resurrection of the body
from the grave. You know it isn't. The next verse is, marvel not
at this, for the hour is coming in the which all that are in
the graves shall hear his voice, and they shall come forward unto
resurrection. This is talking about a spiritual
resurrection. Brethren, we were dead in trespasses and sin from
the day that Adam fell in the Garden of Eden, from the day
that man died. in his trespasses and sin, in
his rebellion, in his darkness. We've been dead in trespasses
and sin. We walked in rebellion. Turn
to Ephesians, chapter 2. Here's a description of what
we were in Ephesians, the second chapter, beginning with verse
1. Listen to it. Ephesians 2, verse
1. And you hath he quickened, or
made alive, who were dead, dead. in trespasses and sins. In times
past you walked according to the course of this world, according
to the prince of the pie of the air, the spirit that now worketh
in the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our
conversation in times past in the lust of the flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
the children of wrath even as others. But God, who is rich
in mercy for His great love, wherewith He loved us even when
we were dead." dead in sins hath quickened us together with Christ. Salvation is a resurrection from
the dead. I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless
I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me. Salvation is a resurrection
from the dead to die no more. That's what it is. It's a dead
man by the power of God made alive. Turn to John 6. Look at
this, the 6th chapter of John. What is salvation? It's a resurrection,
a resurrection from the dead. In John 6, verse 44, salvation
is a divine revelation. Now listen to this. In John 6, 43, Jesus answered
and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. Murmur not among yourselves.
Now, he's been talking about the very thing I'm talking about
this morning. He's been talking to those religious
Pharisees, those religious hypocrites, those people resting in false
foundations who really didn't know they were in a false foundation.
He exposed it, and they grew angry. And they began to murmur,
and he said, I don't murmur. murmur not among yourselves.
No man can come to me, believe on me, rest in me, except the
Father which sent me draw him. And I'll raise him up at the
last day. It is written in the prophets,
and they shall all be taught of God." This is a divine revelation. You have to be taught of God,
the mystery of the gospel. It's not something that you can
explain like a mathematical formula. It's not something that you can
explain like an event in history. It's not something you can, through
high-pressure salesmanship, get a man to accept. It's something
that has to be taught of God. Only God can open the blind eyes. Only God can unstop the deaf
ears. Only God can illuminate the darkened
heart. Only God can raise the dead.
Only God can give a man spiritual life. Only God Almighty can give
a man the new birth. He says, And they shall be taught
of God, and every man therefore that hath heard and learned of
the Father, not of the preacher, not of the evangelist, of the
Father, cometh unto me. Peter, what are they saying about
me out there? Some say you're John the Baptist,
some say you're Elijah, some say you're Jesus Christ Superstar.
Whom do you say that I am, Peter? Thou art the Christ, the Son
of the living God. And our Lord said, Blessed art
thou, Simon. Flesh and blood didn't reveal
that to you. You didn't learn that in school.
My Father taught that to you. So my friend, salvation is a
divine revelation. It's God opening blind eyes.
It's God unstopping deaf ears. It's God illuminating darkened
hearts. It's God Almighty revealing the
mystery of the gospel. And I'll tell you, when a man
sits in the school of the Holy Spirit and learns of God, that
man knows something. And he cannot be shaken from
that position. By every wind of doctrine that
comes his way, he's been taught of God. He's had the supreme
teacher. Turn to John 17. What is salvation? What is salvation? It's a new
birth. It's a new birth. What is salvation?
It's life within, bubbling up, springing up. What is salvation? It's a resurrection, raised from
the dead to die no more. What is salvation? It's a revelation
of God, by God. What is salvation? John 17, 3. It's to know God. Not about Him,
to know Him. Jesus, our Lord, said, this is
life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God. and Jesus Christ whom thou hast
sent." Salvation, eternal life. It's not just to have a God.
The heathen have hundreds and thousands of gods. It's to know
the true God, the living God. It's not just to know about Him,
it's to know Him. Now Christ said in John chapter
8 to those religious people, He said, you don't know God.
Now brethren, they had the temple They had the tabernacle, they
had the ceremonies, they had the blood sacrifices, they had
the uniforms, they had the priests, they had the law, they had the
written Word, but they didn't know God. They were meeting on
the Sabbath day just like America meets today in their chapels
and cathedrals and churches and tabernacles all over this land,
and they've got the Word, these people had the Word, They have
their ceremonies, their rituals, they had their forms, they had
their traditions, they had their teachers, they had all of these
things. But Christ said to them in John
chapter 8, verse 19, You neither know me nor my Father. If you had known me, you would
have known my Father. And these words spake Jesus in
the treasury as he taught in the temple. He's not talking
to a bunch of harlots and drunks down on the street corner. He's
talking to the preachers and the professors and the teachers
and the rabbis and the priests. He's saying, you don't know God.
But we have here the most beautiful building in the world, but you
still don't know God. But we have a heritage that goes
all the way back to Moses. They said, Moses is our father,
Moses is our founder, Luther, Calvin, they're our founders,
but you still don't know God, he said. You don't know God. But we have the ceremonies, we
have the priesthood, and we have the blood sacrifices, and we
have everything just like Moses wrote it, but you still don't
know God. That's what he told them. You
don't know God. But look, we've given our gold and silver this
morning. Look at the offering. Christ
was standing in the treasury. He said, you still don't know
God. You don't know God. And verse, down here in verse
42, look at this. Jesus said, if God were your
Father, if God were your Father, if you knew God, you'd love me.
For I proceeded forth, and came from God, and I didn't come of
myself, he sent me. Why do you not understand my
speech? Because you can't hear my word. You are of your father, the devil,
and you're going right on doing his will and doing his works. You're not going to hear me,
Christ said, because you are of your father, the devil. That's
hard words, but our Lord said them, I didn't. And he said them
in the temple, and he said them to the moral religious people,
and he said them to those who just knew beyond a shadow of
a doubt there's going to heaven when they die. But he said, you
won't listen to me. Verse 47, he that is of God will
hear God's words. You won't hear them because you're
not of God. And the Jews answered and said,
Say we not well that you are a Samaritan, you have a devil?
Jesus answered, I don't have a devil. I honor my Father, and
you dishonor me. I don't seek my glory. Verse
55, You have not known him, but I know him. And if I should say,
I don't know him, I'd be a liar like you are, but I know him,
and keep his sayings. I know him. Eternal life is not
just to believe there's a God, James says, you believe there's
one God, you do well. The devil believes and trembles.
Eternal life is to know the living God. It is to know the living God. Now brethren, back a long, long
time ago, when the old Far Eastern kings would send a priceless
gift to a friend in a far country, that treasure would be brought
in this manner. Here's a king who lives, this
is back before the airplanes and the armored cars and things
like that, this is back in the days of highwaymen and robbers,
and this was back in the days of the open plains and open deserts. And when a rich king would send
a treasure to another king in a far country, a friend of his,
it would be sent in this manner. First of all, before the gift
ever left the country, they would go out from that kingdom what
they called the scouts or advanced guard. They'd go first. They'd go in front. They'd chart
the way. They'd plot the journey. They'd
plan the trip. They'd survey the road. The advanced
scouts would go first. The advanced guards would go
first. That was their job, to plot the way, to plan the way,
to plot the journey, to survey the road. Coming up behind them
would be an army of trusted men. This army of trusted men would
immediately precede the gift. They would go before the gift.
It's a priceless gift. It's a priceless treasure. It's
a gift, a treasure that cannot be replaced. And they would go
before and they'd destroy anything that opposed, anything that hindered,
anything that endangered the treasure. They'd clean it out.
And then would come those trusted servants who in their hands bore
the treasure. And then following up, the fourth
group would be those who protected the rear and insured the treasure. Now, salvation is God's free
gift. It's God's priceless gift. God, the King of all kings, and
the Lord of all lords, and the King of all the universe, and
the King of glory, is going to send to somebody that priceless,
matchless, valuable, eternal gift. Salvation. Eternal life. Now there's some
things that accompany salvation. God's priceless gift. God doesn't
just reach down and pour it out like a glass of water. God doesn't
just throw it up in there and say, who wants it, grab it. This
is a priceless gift. This is a priceless treasure.
This is the very life of his Son. This is the very glory of
heaven. This is the very jewel of the
universe that he's going to give somebody. Eternal life. All right, the advanced guard.
Salvation's outriders, the scouts, who are they? Long before the
gift was ever put on the road. Long before the gift was ever
exposed to public view. There were some scouts rode ahead,
and they planned the trip, and they plotted the way, and they
surveyed the road, and they predestinated the path over which he'd come.
You know who they were? Well, one was election. Long
before the foundations of this world, God elected a people to
receive this gift. That's what the Bible says. Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath chosen
us to salvation in Christ before the foundation of the world. Election went before, election
went before, and election determined who was going to get it. And
then predestination rode before, and predestination determined
the route, and predestination determined the means, and predestination
determined the ultimate end of the whole purpose. Whom he did
foreknow, he predestinated to be conformed to the image of
his Son, plotted the way. And then redemption rode before,
and redemption determined how the gift would be given. It would
be given through the blood of the Lamb slain before the foundation
of the world. God doesn't do anything today
He didn't plan yesterday. If your God does, your God, not
the God of heaven. For the God of heaven said, Known
unto him are all his works from the beginning. He declared the
end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that aren't
even yet done. God said, I will do all my pleasures. So everything God determined
to do today, He determined to do before the foundations of
the world. Those were the scouts. Those
were salvation's outriders. Election went before. Predestination
went before. Redemption went before. He was
the Lamb's slave before the foundation of the world. The gift has got
to be bought before it can be given. The gift has got to be
made before it can be presented. The gift has got to be established
before it can be sent. And way back yonder, before Adam
was ever made and before he ever fell, the everlasting covenant
of grace was ordered in all things and sure, all fixed up. Now then, there's an army that
immediately precedes the gift. That army's got to prepare the
way. That army's got to move anything that endangers, anything
that would hinder, anything that would keep this gift from coming where
God sends it. You know, in World War II, I
was in the Navy, and we were going to invade a little island
called Iwo Jima. That was the last stopping point
before Japan. This little island was only two
miles wide and five miles long. It went in, it had a mountain
and an airstrip at the foot of the mountain, and then it went
out like a fan to about three miles wide. Only two miles wide
and five miles long, but the Japanese had built that into
an arsenal. They had built it into a fortress. They had built it into a place
where 40,000 men stood guard. Now, the American Navy and Army
and Air Force and Marines knew that if they landed on that island,
they would be absolutely obliterated by these fortresses, by these
defenders. So before we ever got there with
the troops, the Navy went in, and for days and days and days
and days and days they hammered that little island. These great
big battleships and cruisers and destroyers and airplanes
hammered that little old island until they had dropped a bomb
on every square inch of it nearly. And then we came in with our
tanks and our ships and our marines, and we landed them one morning
at eight o'clock in the morning. Wave after wave after wave went
in. Still, there was a great loss,
but the loss wasn't as severe as it would have been. had not
the island first of all been softened up and prepared for
the reception of the American troops. And when God Almighty
sends salvation, the gift of life, He sends first the Holy
Spirit. And the Holy Spirit reveals the
enemy's sin, and the Holy Spirit convicts of sin, and the Holy
Spirit breaks the heart, and the Holy Spirit conquers the
rebellion, and the Holy Spirit reveals Christ, and the Holy
Spirit makes that gift to be welcomed. The Holy Spirit breaks
down the rebellion. Turn to Psalm 110, verse 3. The Holy Spirit of God makes
us willing, desirous, hungry to receive his gift, eternal
life. Jesus Christ doesn't walk up
to a bunch of unwelcome doors and start knocking. Jesus Christ
the Lord doesn't come to a person's heart until that heart's been
broken by the Holy Spirit, and that heart's been made willing
and ready and receptive. Come in, Lord. I'm glad you've
come. I'm tired, I'm weary, I'm heavy
laden, I'm burdened, I'm sick of sin. Thy people, Psalm 110,
verse 3, thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power."
They're willing. I'll tell you, when the American
Marines landed on Iwo Jima, a lot of those fellows were willing
to receive them. A lot of them weren't. They fought, but a lot
of them weren't. We're tired. We can't take any
more. Come on in. Run the flag up.
Conquer us. We surrender! We surrender. God's going to send this priceless
gift He sends his army, led by the Holy Spirit, in front of
that gift, that Holy Spirit with the army using the Word of God
and the sword of the Word. He softens up that fortress of
the human heart, and he breaks it, and he crushes it, and he
makes it willing to surrender. That's what happens to most folks. The evangelist comes in, talks
them into a profession of faith, and they haven't been broken.
He talks them into believing on Jesus, and they don't need
Jesus. They don't need Jesus. They get
along fine, but if it'll please their wives, they'll join the
church. And if it'll make, get that preacher off his back, he'll
join the church. And if he'll make everybody leave
him alone, he'll join the church. And if he'll get him a promotion
on his job to please the boss, he'll join the church. But when
the Holy Spirit comes to that old island of sin, and he bombards
it with the Word of God, and he gets that sinner to the place
where he's sick of sin and tired of sin and weary of sin and done
with sin, and he surrenders to the Lord Jesus Christ, and Christ
runs that banner of the kingdom of God upon the flagpole of his
soul, and he says, I'm willing. I want Christ more than I want
anything else. Come in, Lord Jesus, and save
my soul. And they're those who bear the
gift. Here comes the gift. Election, gone before, predestination,
redemption. The Holy Spirit's prepared the
heart to receive it. Here it comes. Those who bear
the treasure are faith, hope, and love. Faith is not the gift. Christ is the gift. Faith doesn't
even give the gift. God's gift is eternal life. Christ
gives the gift. Faith is not a payment for the
gift. Christ paid for the gift. It's free, but it's through faith
that we receive the gift. Faith is the hand that receives
the gift. Faith is the eye that beholds
the gift. The gift is Christ. But we receive
it through faith. Hope or trust. Hope recognizes
the value of the gift. Hope rejoices over the possession
of the gift. And love. Love motivated the
whole thing. Love paid for it. Love removed
the obstacles. And we love Him because He first
loved us. And the beautiful, trusted servants
of faith, hope, and love come in and say, here's salvation.
Here's salvation. Well, I said there's a rear guard
that follows close behind, and that rear guard protects the
gift, and that rear guard comes to see that all is well and all
remains well. What is that rear guard? Well,
there's several of them. Gratitude, thanks be unto God
for His unspeakable gift. When a man receives the gift
of life, the gift of God, the gift of Christ Jesus, the gift
of salvation, it's followed by gratitude, thanks be unto God. It's followed by confession,
if any man confess me before me and I'll confess him. It's
followed by praise, now unto him that loved us and washed
us from our sins in his own blood. It's followed by the fruits of
the Spirit, for the fruits of the Spirit are love, and joy,
and peace, and humility, and kindness, and faith, and longsuffering. It's followed by obedience and
good works, for by grace are you saved through faith, and
that not of yourselves. It's a gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast. But we are His workmanship created
in Christ Jesus unto good works. which God hath ordained that
you should walk therein." Brethren, this gift is the gift of the
King of Kings, and this gift of eternal life is an eternal
treasure. It's something God's been planning
and purposing and preparing and purchasing from all eternity,
and it's something that is going to culminate and eventually result
in eternal glory for his son, he's going to show off his gift
throughout eternity. I have been saved, I am being
saved, I shall be saved. I have been saved, I am being
saved, now is my salvation nearer than what I believe. Now I'm
serious, I'm dead serious. If you're content walk down an
aisle, shake a preacher's hand, and go through the motions of
professing faith and call that salvation, you're welcome to
it. It's a free country. We've got freedom of religion
here. If you're content to call that little old silly so-called
holiness experience you have salvation, you're welcome to
it. You can slide in and slide out all you want to. You can
come in and backslide, go in and out, just keep on playing
your little silly games all you want to. It's your business.
If you want to call quitting a few bad habits and joining
the church salvation, you go ahead. But I'm here to tell you
that God Almighty in eternity, the King of kings, determined
to give a priceless gift an indescribable treasure, a treasure valuable
above the whole ten thousand worlds. For what shall it profit
a man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul? And that priceless
treasure is the very life of, and the very blood of, and the
very merits of, and the very sacrifice of his only beloved,
only begotten Son. And that life is a supernatural
experience and a supernatural work and a supernatural act of
God Almighty himself in bringing sinners from the dunghill to
the throne. This thing of salvation is God
making and adopting children into his family. Now, how important was it the
day your only son was born? Huh? Pretty important, wasn't
it? Is he still pretty important
to you? Why, you women know good and well that your very life
revolves around the birth of that boy or that girl or that
other boy or that other girl. Every day goes by you forget
them. Every day goes by that you're not serving them. Every
day goes by that you're not providing for them? Well now, don't you
know God Almighty's got much sense as you have? If we know
how to give good gifts to our children, how much more shall
the Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask
Him? These are God's children you're talking about. God's children,
the birth of children into the family of God. The presence of
children in the house of God. The death of his children and
the glory of his children we're talking about. And these sorry
preachers are making merchandise out of folks. That's what they're
doing. They're trying to build up their own name and their own
popularity and their own denomination at the expense of the souls of
men and women. They're religious hucksters is
what they are. And they're not telling the truth. But I'm going to tell you the
truth, what salvation is. If I was you, I'd seek it. I'd
cry, Lord, I don't want the husks that fall into the pigpen. I
want eternal life. This thing of salvation, I want
salvation. I want Christ. I want to be your
child. I want to live in the kingdom
of God. I don't want to play church anymore. I want you. I want you. Our Father in heaven, visit us
Visit us. We'll never be the same if the
presence of the King of Kings is revealed in our hearts and
in our homes and in our lives. The King of Glory. Lift up ye
heads! O'er ye gates! The King of Glory
is coming in. The King of Glory. And he comes
in and possesses everything. He is welcomed to the master
room, to the old house, to the throne. He's the king of glory.
And he comes in never to depart, and we're never the same. Don't
let this congregation be satisfied with husk when they can eat at
the king's table. In the matchless name of Christ
our Lord, the priceless, unspeakable treasure of glory, that unspeakable
gift of thy love, we pray. Amen.