The Message of Salvation to All
Notes
Transcript
Opening Illustration
Opening Illustration
At the close of a Gospel service an intelligent-looking man came to the minister and said,
“I do not see any necessity for the Blood of Christ in my salvation.
I can be saved without believing in His shed Blood.”
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“Very well,” said the minister, “how then do you propose to be saved?”
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“By following His example,” was the answer.
“That is enough for any man.”
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“I suppose it is,” said the minister.
“And you propose to do just that in your life?”
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“I do, and I am sure that that is enough.”
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“Very well.
I am sure that you want to begin right.
The Word of God tells us how to do that.
I read here concerning Christ, “Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth.”
I suppose that you can say that of yourself too?”
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The man became visibly embarrassed.
“Well,” he said, “I cannot say that exactly.
I have sometimes sinned.”
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“In that case you do not need an Example, but a Saviour; and the only way of salvation is by His shed Blood.”
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Three days ago on Good Friday...
Believers around the world remembered the sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus Christ, on the cross at Calvary nearly 2,000 years ago...
We remembered the blood that was shed for us...
For that sacrifice was and is our only hope for salvation.
And today...
We remember that God the Father accepted the sacrifice of God the Son by raising Him up by the power of God the Holy Spirit!
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This is truly Good News and the message that needs to be shared with all!
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So, please turn your Bibles to the epistle to the Romans.
We will conduct our study in Chapter 10 and focus on verses 5 through 13.
Our message this morning is titled, “The Message of Salvation to All”
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This message today will focus on the Apostle Paul’s Holy Spirit inspired teaching...
That Righteousness by the Law and Righteousness by Faith are different...
One is impossible to achieve...
The other is our only hope.
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So, this morning we will cover three main points:
1) The Law & the Gospel...
2) The Message...
And...
3) The Saved.
Opening Prayer
Opening Prayer
Before we consider our text, please join me in prayer...
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Heavenly Father...
Open our hearts and eyes to understand Your truth...
Remove and obstacles and distractions in our life...
We desire to serve You with a humble and honest heart.
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Thank You sending Your Son into a world that You loved...
And into a world You knew would be hostile towards Your Son...
We don’t deserve Your mercy...
For we were Your enemies.
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We don’t deserve Your grace...
For we were rebels...
But You loved us anyways!
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And it is in Jesus’s name we pray all these things...
Amen.
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Let’s turn to our text for today:
Reading of the Text
Reading of the Text
5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them.
6 But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down)
7 “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).
8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim);
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”
12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.
13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
So, let’s look at our first point...
1) The Law & the Gospel
1) The Law & the Gospel
Verses 5-8: For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down) “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim);
Do you see the word “for” right before Moses at the beginning of verse 5?
Most English translations include the “for” but if you are using the NIV it is missing...
However, in the original language, the Kione Greek, it is present and is the word “gar” (pronounced “yar”)...
And this “for” provides us with a clue in our interpretation process.
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Every time you encounter the word “for” or “since” or “because” then you need to ask yourself:
“What just preceded that word?”
“What was the author just talking about beforehand?”
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So, let’s start our study by looking at what was recorded previously in Romans 10:1-4 as this will give us some much needed context:
1 Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.
2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.
3 For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.
4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
Beloved, Paul is talking about the Jews...
How they are seeking to establish their own righteousness instead of submitting to God’s righteousness...
And Paul says that Christ is the end of the Law of Righteousness for all who believe...
And it is that truth that Paul will continue to build upon here.
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In fact, Paul will be using plenty of Scripture to make His point...
Starting in verse 5 he will quote Leviticus 18:5 which says:
5 You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.
So here, Paul is saying that if one pursues “righteousness that is based on the law” then the only option for that person is to obey the commandments of the law so that they may live...
However, that is not very good news...
There is a big problem that has to be addressed for those who believe they can obey all the commands of the Law...
That problem is that to achieve righteousness through the Law one must not just obey the law but they must obey the Law perfectly!
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So, Paul is saying that to hope for a righteousness based on obedience to the law requires perfect conformity in every little detail...
In other words only perfect law-keeping can merit eternal life if people choose to try and merit eternal life by keeping the law...
However, this is an impossible condition for sinners to meet as Galatians 3:10 says:
10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.”
Likewise, James 2:10 clearly says:
10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.
Failing at just one point of the Law makes one guilty of the whole Law!
In other words, if such were possible, a person who failed in only one point of the law would remain just as lost as a person who failed in every point of the Law.
And this is a truth we have had since the Old Testament as stated by Deuteronomy 27:26:
26 “ ‘Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
So, to hope for a righteousness based on one keeping a perfect obedience to the law is an utter impossibility for us since we are sinners...
Although law points us in the right direction, it provides no power to achieve its demands...
All who put their trust in their own ability to save themselves will fail!
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But there was Someone who was able to uphold all the law perfectly...
Their is Someone who was flawless...
Someone who is sinless and completely perfect in every way...
And that Man...
The God-Man, is Jesus Christ!
And faith in Him is truly our only hope for salvation.
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So, now let us look at verses 6 through 8 and see that Paul now quotes form a few more Old Testament passages...
Look with me at Deuteronomy 9:4 which says:
4 “Do not say in your heart, after the Lord your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out before you.
Beloved, notice the same phrase, “Do not say in your heart” as verse 6 of our passage...
Notice too the same subject matter is being discussed of relying on ones own righteousness.
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Likewise when Paul records verses 6 to 8 he is heavily referencing Deuteronomy 30:12–14 which says:
12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’
13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’
14 But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.
What Paul does is incorporate the revelation of Christ’s incarnation and resurrection to the Old Testament passage
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So here, Paul speaks of the righteousness based on faith...
His point is that the righteousness of faith does not require some impossible odyssey through the universe to find Christ...
We do not have to “ascend into heaven” for Christ has already come down when He entered our world...
And we do not have to “descend into the abyss” for Christ has already risen up from the dead...
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So, when Paul says, “The word is near you” he is saying that the journey of verses 6 and 7 is unnecessary because God has clearly revealed the way of salvation...
It is by faith and not of works!
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As the New American Commentary on Romans says:
“The righteousness that is based on faith is quite different.
It does not require valiant exploits such as bringing Christ down from heaven or up from the grave.
Paul quoted freely from Deuteronomy 30:12–13, substituting a phrase from Psalm 107:26 (“down to the depths”) for “beyond the sea.”
In pesher style he interpreted the verses in reference to the incarnation and resurrection of Christ.
In Deuteronomy, Moses was telling the people that they did not have to climb up to heaven or cross the sea to discover the will of God.
Paul applied the passage to the availability of the message of salvation.
Hunter writes: ‘No heroic attempts to storm the citadel of heaven or the kingdom of the dead are needed.
Christ the Saviour is here, incarnate and risen.’
Faith is readily available for those who will simply believe and confess that Jesus is Lord.
The message concerning faith is “already within easy reach of each of us”
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This is why the Word of God constantly proclaims that what Jesus offers through belief in Him is superior to the law of Moses that has no ability to save...
Just look at what is recorded in Acts 13:38–39 which says:
38 Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,
39 and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.
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Beloved, do not be confused about the Law...
It is good!
The Law reveals God’s standards...
And the Law reveals our need for a Savior...
But the Law can’t save!
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As Paul earlier wrote in this epistle in Romans 3:21–26:
21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—
22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
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As we conclude our first point I would like you to consider this note from the MacArthur New Testament Commentary on Romans which says:
“The truths that Paul emphasizes here may be summarized as follows:
First, the man who pursues salvation by trying to keep the law will be judged on the basis of that effort.
Second, it is impossible to keep all the law.
Third, the inevitable failure of works righteousness results in eternal damnation.
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The law both demonstrates and incites man’s natural lawlessness and releases God’s wrath against him.
The law justifies no one, redeems no one, provides mercy for no one.
By the law, man is left to his own resources, all of which are imperfect, sinful, and powerless to save, which necessitates salvation by faith”
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Now that we have a clear understating about why a pursuit of Righteousness by the Law won’t help us...
Let’s examine Righteousness by Faith and clearly define the Good News...
And this takes us to our second point of our message today.
2) The Message
2) The Message
Verses 9-10: because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
Notice the “because” that starts off verse 9...
Paul is saying that because of all that we just discusses about the Law and the Gospel...
Because of everything we talked about regarding the Law and faith...
The following is true...
If you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart...
That Jesus is Lord and that Jesus was raised from the dead by His Father...
Then you will be saved!
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As Matthew 10:32–33 says:
32 So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven,
33 but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.
We can’t claim to follow Jesus and refuse to confess Him...
We can’t claim to be Christians and be ashamed of Him...
As 2 Timothy 2:12 says:
12 if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us;
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Furthermore, it must be understood that believing in Jesus as Lord is not just an intellectual exercise...
This is not simply an understanding of the facts...
It is so much more than that!
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Regarding the phrase, “confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord,” Pastor John MacArthur says this:
“[This is] not a simple acknowledgment that [Jesus] is God and the Lord of the universe, since even demons acknowledge that to be true.
This is the deep personal conviction, without reservation, that Jesus is that person’s own master or sovereign.
This phrase includes repenting from sin, trusting in Jesus for salvation, and submitting to Him as Lord.
This is the volitional element of faith.
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Contrary to much teaching today, Scripture never separates Christ’s lordship from His saviorhood.
Lord is from kurios, which signifies sovereign power and authority.
In the book of Acts, Jesus is twice referred to as Savior but ninety-two times as Lord.
In the entire New Testament, He is referred to some ten times as Savior and some seven hundred times as Lord.
When the two titles are mentioned together, Lord always precedes Savior.”
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Submitting to the Lordship of Jesus is essential to saving and genuine faith!
If Jesus is not your Lord then He is not your Savior either!
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Beloved, this quintessential affirmation, “Jesus is Lord” is perhaps the earliest Christian confession of faith.
It proclaims in the simplest possible words that Jesus of Nazareth is in fact God.
As scholar Robert H. Mounce says:
“The Greek word used throughout the [Septuagint] for Yahweh (over six thousand times) is here applied to Jesus.
The implications of this are staggering.
Primarily it means that Jesus’ authority is absolute, unlimited, and universal.
Those who come to Christ by faith are acknowledging that they have placed themselves entirely and without reserve under his authority to carry out without hesitation whatever he may choose for them to do.
There is no such thing as salvation apart from lordship.”
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So, again believing in the “heart” means that saving faith is not mere intellectual agreement but deep inward trust in Christ at the core of one’s being...
As the MacArthur New Testament Commentary on Romans again provides a helpful note:
“Verses 9 and 10 both clearly state that true belief in Christ’s lordship and in His resurrection comes from the heart.
The Hebrews considered the heart to be the core of personhood and the residence of the soul, the deepest, innermost part of man—where thought, will, and motive are generated.
That is why the ancient writer admonished his fellow Israelites [in Proverbs 4:23:]
‘Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.’”
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In fact, Paul does not regard believing in the heart and confessing with the mouth as separate activities, but as parts of a singular expression of faith in Jesus’ lordship...
Likewise, believing with the heart without confession with the mouth is not true faith...
Confession with the mouth without belief in the heart would be hypocrisy...
Those who believe in their hearts and confess with their mouths are saved from the wrath of God.
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Additionally, Christ’s resurrection was the supreme validation of His ministry as John 2:18–21:
18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?”
19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?”
21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body.
So, belief in the physical resurrection of Jesus is necessary for salvation because it proved that Christ is who He claimed to be and that the Father had accepted His sacrifice in the place of sinners.
As Acts 17:31 says:
31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
We are given assurance due to the fact that Jesus was raised from the dead!
That is why Resurrection Sunday is so important to us!
Our whole faith depends on the resurrection!
Simply put, without the resurrection, there is no salvation as 1 Corinthians 15:14–15 says:
14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.
15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.
That means we believe in a physical resurrection as according to Scripture...
Anything else that falls short of that is to fall short of saving faith!
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Going all the way back to our first father and mother...
Adam and Eve truly sinned and all of mankind fell!
The penalty of sin was truly death and the wrath of God!
And our nature was corrupted by sin and we truly could not uphold God’s perfect Law...
So, God truly sent His own Son into the world over 2,000 years ago...
And for over 30 years the Son of God, Jesus Christ truly did what no of us before Him or after Him could do...
He lived a perfectly obedient life without sin...
And nearly 2,000 years ago Jesus truly died on the cross in our place...
Nearly 2,000 years ago Jesus truly was buried...
Nearly 2,000 years ago Jesus truly rose from the dead three days after He died!
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As John 3:36 says:
36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
Likewise, Jesus says in John 5:24:
24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
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Truly God’s grace is a gift!
We are not saved by our own doing!
We are not saved by our own efforts!
The only works that save is the completed work of Jesus Christ on the cross!
Ephesians 2:8 says it nicely:
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
And this formula of salvation is the same for the Jews and the gentiles...
For anyone and everyone who believes in Him will be saved!
And this takes us to our third and final point.
3) The Saved
3) The Saved
Verses 11-13: For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Beloved, “there is no distinction between Jew and Greek!”
“The same Lord is Lord of all!”
No one can claim special privileges!
All fall short and are in equal need of a Savior!
As Romans 3:23 says:
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
So, as there is “no distinction” between the two groups of people in sin and judgment...
So, there is “no distinction” between them as far as the Lord who rules over them or in the grace that the Lord offers to them.
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There was much on who the Gospel message was for in the early church as recorded in Acts...
But in the pages of the New Testament that debate was settled like it says in Acts 15:7–9:
7 And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.
8 And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us,
9 and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.
Furthermore, Paul, who was the Apostle to the Gentiles made sure to also communicate that message as recorded in Ephesians 2:11–19:
11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—
12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility
15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,
16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.
17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.
18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.
19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
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There is “no distinction” between Jew or Greek in God’s eyes...
There is “no distinction” between slave or free in God’s eyes...
There is “no distinction” between male or female in God’s eyes...
All are considered as one in the Body of Christ!
As Galatians 3:28 puts it:
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
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So, we have no excuse not to follow Him!
And we are promised those who believe in Him will not be put to shame as Paul here quotes Isaiah 28:16 in our passage and that Scripture says:
16 therefore thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’
Additionally, Paul further leans on Scripture for his point here by also quoting Joel 2:32 which says:
32 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.
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I love what the psalmist says in Psalm 112:6–8 regarding the one who puts their trust in the Lord:
6 For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered forever.
7 He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.
8 His heart is steady; he will not be afraid, until he looks in triumph on his adversaries.
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So, when verse 13 is compared with verse 9 of our passage, something significant becomes evident...
The Lord of Joel 2:32, which we just read, is being identified with the Lord Jesus Christ...
This poses a problem for those who refuse to ascribe full deity to the Savior!
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Another essential belief all true believers must uphold is that Jesus is God!
For Jesus being God is the reason we can have assurance in the promises He gives us for God does not fail or fall short!
As New Testament theologian Leon Morris says:
“Paul quotes Joel 2:32 for the thought that Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
This is comprehensive; there is no exception.
We must understand calls on in no mere formal sense; it is a calling on the Lord out of a sense of inadequacy and need and proceeds from a genuine conviction that the Lord can be relied on.
It is significant that once again Paul takes words which in the Old Testament are used of Yahweh and uses them of Christ.
Characteristically we have the future of the verb ‘to save’; it is salvation in the final state of affairs that Paul has in mind.
The salvation Christ brings is adequate through eternity as well as in the here and now.”
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Beloved, to put one’s faith in Christ is to put one’s faith in the one true God!
Closing Illustration
Closing Illustration
So, as this message comes to a close...
I would like to share this that I came across in my study this week:
Evangelist D. L. Moody said that his “greatest mistake” occurred October 8, 1871.
On that night in Chicago, he addressed one of the largest crowds of his career.
His message was about the Lord’s trial and was based on Pilate’s question,
“What shall I do then with Jesus?”
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As Moody concluded, he said,
“I wish you would seriously consider this subject, for next Sunday we will speak about the Cross, and at that time I’ll inquire,
“What will YOU do with Jesus?”
Ira Sankey then sang the closing hymn, which included the lines,
“Today the Savior calls; for refuge fly.
The storm of justice falls, and death is nigh.”
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But the hymn was never finished, for while Sankey was singing, there was the rush and roar of fire engines on the street outside.
That was the night of the great Chicago fire which almost destroyed the whole city.
And before the next day, Chicago lay in ashes.
“I have never since dared,” said Moody, “to give an audience a week to think of their salvation.”
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I too, will not give you all a week to think about your salvation...
Today is the day!
Today is the day to repent!
Today is the day to believe!
Today is the day to surrender!
Today is the day to obey!
Today is the day!
As 2 Corinthians 6:2 says:
2 For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
Beloved, today is the day of salvation!
Closing Prayer
Closing Prayer
Let’s pray...
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Heavenly Father...
If anyone hearing this message right now does not know You in a saving way then I implore You...
I beg You with every fiber of my being...
Open their eyes to see!
Open their ears to hear!
Open their minds to understand!
Open their hearts to trust!
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For those hearing this message who already know You...
Those who are Your elect...
Those who are Your saints...
Strengthen them..
Equip them...
Comfort them...
And lead them to do all Your will and desire!
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And it is in Jesus’s name we pray all these things...
Amen.
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To God be all the glory.
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Please join us for one more song from the Praise Band.