Hello and welcome to our program. It's a brand new year and we're going to begin a brand new series of programs concerning looking ahead into the new year. Deuteronomy 11, number 2 talks about the beginning of the year. Exodus 12 and 2 talks about the beginning of months. We're beginning 2017 and we're going to have a look at some things that are important. Stay tuned for our program. As we look into the new year, we need to be concerned about what the Lord would have us to do, not only as individuals, but as churches. And there's a very popular verse this time of the year, verse number 13 of Philippians chapter 3, where Paul said, forgetting those things which are behind, he said he was reaching forth unto those things which are before. But in the next verse he referred to his focus which was the high calling of God. That's what he's reaching forward to. Now in Ephesians 4 and 1 he said we need to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called. Now that word vocation has been translated calling ten times. And so in 2017 we need to be reaching forth to those things which are before And particularly, we need to focus on the calling wherewith we have been called. Now, as we look into the world, there's three basic areas that we need to be concerned about. Where is the world heading in 2017? I'll tell you this, it's changing and it's changing fast, but it's right on track according to Bible prophecy. The second area we need to be concerned about is the home, and the third area is the church. And what are we going to do in these areas in 2017? We do not have a lot of control over what's going to happen in the world, and Bible prophecy tells us we're going to end up at the end of the age. with this apostasy that we're stuck with today, and so let's not be surprised about that. But when it comes to the home and it comes to the church in 2017, we have some control. And we also have some God-given responsibilities. With position comes responsibilities. And as parents and as pastors, we have the ability to influence the behavior of those that we are responsible for. Now, as we look into the new year, we need to ask the question, what should be our most important focus? A focus is something that we're going to pay particular attention to, something that we are particularly interested in, and we need to be concerned about some areas and what areas are most important. to be concerned is to have a regard as being important enough to do something about it. Now this series of broadcasts, we're going to look at that, and I need to say that I will be directing my thoughts to the sincere Christians, those who really want to know and really want to do God's will. To be sincere is to have a genuine desire to do God's will and to do God's will God's way. We need to understand that Jesus said in Matthew 7 and 14 concerning Christians who really want to do God's will, few there be that find it. He said in Matthew 9, 37, the laborers are few. First Peter 3.20, we read, few, that is eight souls, got on Noah's ark. In Nehemiah 1 and 3, Nehemiah was dealing with the remnant that was left. Isaiah 1 and 9 says, except for a very small remnant, we should have been a Sodom and we should have been as Gomorrah. You have the word remnant 19 times in the book of Jeremiah. When Christ was born, there was a small remnant of people who really cared. There was the shepherds that showed up, obviously Mary and Joseph. There was some wise men who came from afar when he was a little bit older. But there wasn't very many people when Jesus was born that really knew what was going on there in Jerusalem. or in Bethlehem. In the early church we read that, seven times we read about the church that was in their house, and they were organized, they had pastors and they had deacons, but they were small in number. And Romans chapter 11 verse number 5 says, even so then at this present time there is also a remnant. Now I'll be directing my thoughts in this series of programs to what I believe to be of particular concern to us today, and when I say us, those who are sincere about serving Jesus, and not many are, but there is a remnant. We're going to look in three areas. One has to do with salvation, one has to do with separation, and one has to do with studying the Word of God, because the Bible says that God's people are destroyed for the lack of knowledge. So when it comes to the subject of salvation, years ago in 1990, one poll said that 74% of the people in North America have made a commitment to Jesus Christ, and they call themselves Christians. Of that group, 84% denied that there is a devil or there is a hell. It doesn't make any sense at all. You can make a commitment. You can make a commitment to a car payment. You can make a commitment to a mortgage payment. You can make a commitment to a marriage ceremony, and they all seem to be falling apart. than what are not falling apart, a commitment. It's not talking about making a commitment when we get saved. D.L. Moody said one out of ten of the people who profess to be Christians testify. Criswell, who was a pastor of a very large church in Texas, he said that 75% of his church members were probably unsaved. That's pretty sick. A.W. Tozer said 95% of the people who claim to be Christians aren't. J. Vernon McGee, he said, if 1 out of 10 responding to my invitation to receive Christ is genuine, I feel my batting average is good. Now that's a pretty sick picture of what we call salvation and what the Bible calls salvation. First of all, we need to understand that the Bible is very plain. It says if there's no repentance, there's no salvation. In Luke chapter 13 and 3, and again in verse number 5, Jesus said, I tell you, nay, but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. That's pretty simple to understand. Peter said in 2 Peter 3, 9, the Lord is not willing that any should perish. but that all should come to repentance. Paul said in Acts 17 30, God commanded all men everywhere to repent. Paul also said in Ephesians 2 verses 8 through 10, that godly sorrow worketh repentance unto salvation. In Acts 26 and 20, we read repent and do the works meet for repentance. Now, how does one get saved according to the scriptures? Number one, it begins with hearing the word of God. Romans 10 14 says, how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard. Luke 8 and 13 says they heard and they received the Word of God with joy. Mark 4 and verse 16 says they heard the Word and immediately received it. In Luke 2 and 15 they heard the Word, they keep it, and they bring forth fruit. In Acts chapter 13 verse 48 talks about the Gentiles heard and where they were glad and glorified the word. In Ephesians 1 and 3, it says they trusted after they heard the word of truth. So, first of all, it begins by hearing the word of God. Second, conviction. It says in John chapter 16, verses 8 and 9, referring to the Holy Spirit, says he will come, he will reprove of sin. Romans 2 and 4 says he leadeth thee to repentance. Acts 11, 18, God granted repentance unto life. 2 Timothy 2, 25, God gave them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. And so repentance is not a work, it's not some kind of thing we work to get our salvation, it's a gift. God giveth them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. Acts 11, 18, God granted repentance unto life. And so, salvation begins with hearing the Word of God, and then the Holy Spirit convicts us, and at that point we make a choice. We either repent or we reject. Acts 3.19 says, Repent ye therefore and be converted. If someone repents genuinely, then the Bible says there's going to be a change. It says in 2 Corinthians 5.17, If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. All things are passed away, and behold, all things are become new. On October the 7th, 1955, I received Jesus Christ as my Savior. I was 12 years old. The first thing I did before that night was over was I memorized about six verses of the Bible. Why did I do that? Because old things pass away and all things become new. I went to my dad, who was unsaved. He came home drunk most nights of the week. And I went to him the next day. I said, I quit smoking. I got saved and I want a Bible. I was 12 years old. He didn't know I'd started smoking. I went to school on the Monday. I was saved on a Friday. On Saturday, I told my dad, I quit smoking. I'm a Christian now. I want a Bible. And then on Monday, I went out and got on my bicycle. The first thing I did was took the handlebar grips off my bicycle and took the cigarettes out that I had hidden in there and threw them away. Why did I do that? Because old things pass away and all things become new. Nobody preached a sermon at me about memorizing Scripture. Nobody preached a sermon at me about throwing my cigarettes away. And so I put my New Testament in my pocket and I went to school. Well, the kids laughed at me at school. They said, why do you have your testament in your pocket? I said, well, to testify, I am a Christian now. Old things pass away and all things become new. I began to devour the Word of God. I couldn't get enough of it. I just read the Bible every day. I studied the Bible every day. Why does a 12-year-old kid do that? Because the Bible is very plain that when someone gets saved, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. All things are passed away. Behold, all things are become. Well, my dad was under great conviction about my testimony and the testimony of my brother and my mother, who had both, they also were saved on October the 7th, and he was driving his car on the way to the hotel to get drunk again, he was under such conviction, he prayed and asked God to save him. He said he pulled up in front of that hotel, he actually had a distaste in his mouth for beer. How does that happen? Well, because the Bible says, all things pass away and all things become new. That's how that happens. He drove home. Instead of going into the hotel, he went to the closet where he kept his beer. He dragged out three or four cases, they were in bottles at that time, he dragged them into the bathroom, he came out into the kitchen, got a bottle opener out of the kitchen drawer, went back in, opened every bottle and dumped it all down the toilet. Why did he do that? Nobody preached a sermon at him about drinking. He did that because all things pass away and all things become new. On the way home, he threw his cigarettes out the window. He smoked two packages of cigarettes a day. He didn't smoke any more cigarettes. He didn't drink any more booze from the day he got saved until the day he died. Why? Because all things pass away and all things become new. My dad went home to be with the Lord in heaven when he was 94 years old, and just before he died, He said to his doctor, well, I'm leaving this world pretty soon. I'm going to heaven when I die. Where are you going when you die? I don't think there was a day in his life after he received the Lord as his Savior that he didn't testify to somebody about Jesus Christ. Why did he do that? I'll tell you why he did that. There's a verse in the Bible that says, if any man be in Christ, He is a new creature, old things pass away and all things become new. When a person gets saved, he has a new love for the word of God. John 8 and 47 says, he that is of God, heareth God's word. A person gets genuinely saved, he has a new love for the people of God. First John 3, 14 says, we know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brother. When someone receives Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, they have a new desire for God's will. It says in Romans 6 verse number 4, Hereby do we know that we know him because we keep his commandments, and they also have a new peace with God. Romans 5 and 7 says, therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God. Way back in 1937, Harry Ironside was preaching his message entitled, Accept Ye, Repent. In that message he said, and I quote, shallow preaching that does not grapple with the terrible fact of man's sinfulness and guilt, calling on men everywhere to repent, results in shallow conversions, and so we have a myriad of glib-tongued professors today who give no evidence of regeneration whatsoever." Let me quote it again. He said, shallow preaching. that does not grapple with the terrible fact of man's sinfulness and guilt, calling on all men everywhere to repent, results in shallow conversions, and so we have a myriad of glib-tongued professors today who give no evidence of regeneration whatsoever. Gypsy Smith, in his message entitled, Repent Ye Said, and I quote, the great doctrine of repentance occupies a very prominent place in the teaching of Jesus Christ and his apostles. All the epistles were written to show men how to do it, because there's no such thing as a vital communion or fellowship with God without it. I am afraid, that in our zeal to get people into what we call the church, we have been more anxious about heads than hearts in order to capture we have compromised and lost. We have been more concerned about filling our church registers than we have about the kingdom." Gypsy Smith said that many, many years ago. Well, today, a large percentage of those who call themselves fundamental independent Baptist preachers are preaching the damnable heresy that you do not need to repent. Well, that is a damnable heresy, because if you believe it, you're going to hell. We don't go to heaven because we simply rhyme off a prayer. There's all kinds of religious organizations who do that all the time. And we say, well, Catholics can go and pray their prayer, but they're not going to heaven, but us Baptists do. No, God is no respecter of persons. You can call yourself a Catholic. You can call yourself a Baptist. You can call yourself whatever you want to call yourself. Jesus said, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Oh soul, are you weary and troubled? Though light in this darkness you see, There's light for a look at the Savior, And life more abundant and free. In the light of His glory and grace. through death into life everlasting he passed and we follow him there over us sin has no more dominion ♪ Christ the Lord Jesus ♪ ♪ All in His wonderful grace ♪ ♪ And the things of earth ♪ ♪ With the most strange meaning ♪ His word shall not fail you, he promised. Believe him and all will be well. Then go to the world that is done. This perfect salvation to tell. Turn your eyes upon Jesus. StSq2 2.60 (-0.00!)