So where Jack read to you there in 1 Peter 1, 1-9, we want to look at that a little bit by the grace of God. We want to look at the salvation of our souls. The salvation of your souls. And that's in chapter 1, verse 9, it says, receiving the end of your faith. Even the salvation of your soul. What is the end of our faith? The end of our faith is when faith shall be replaced by sight, when we shall be with Him in glory, even the salvation of your soul. The end of our faith is the salvation of our soul. But that's the end of faith, but the beginning of it It's when God works grace in our hearts to reveal Christ to us in His light, you see, show us who He is and who we are and who Christ is. That's the beginning of our faith. But God, God who is merciful to His people, whoever they are, God in His purpose and in His And His grace had purposed in Christ to have those people. And Christ stood as the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world readying God's time to come and to live their life and die their death and satisfy God on their behalf, didn't He? And in time, God will call His people by His grace and reveal His Son in them. He'll give you a new life. He'll give you a new spirit and work grace in you. through the preaching of the gospel. You'll hear the Word of God and you'll come to actually believe it in your heart by the grace of God. And the Word of God involves God in you and the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the Word of God. It's Christ, ain't it? So we have a lot of interpretations of what salvation is. Salvation is God's gift. Salvation is God's work. You see what I'm saying? Salvation is not what men do and what men want to do. Salvation is what God does with men. Not what men does with God, is it? It's what God does with them and in them and through them and by them in bringing them to Christ and keeping them in Christ. finally and ultimately making them like Christ. That's salvation. That's salvation. It's not what human nature says it to be, is it? That's what man says it is. How do men get saved? I can't get saved. If God doesn't save me, I am not saved. And if God does save me in the mind and purpose of God, I always was saved. See, salvations of the Lord, that's all I've been preaching about lately. Salvations of God. It's what God does with me. It's not what I do with God. If God works grace in me, yeah, I will bow to God and rest in Christ, yes. But salvation is not what I do for God to gain favor. You see what I'm saying? What does it take to save a sinner? Well, it takes the grace of God. I know that. It took the blood of Christ. It took the ultimate counsel in the work of God. That's what it takes to save a sinner. But how do men and women get saved? You don't get saved. God saves you. You see that? God saves you. Yes, you must believe, but you can't believe what you didn't hear anymore and you can come back from where you haven't been. You see what I'm saying? You must believe, but He must work that faith within you through His Word in revelation of you in His light and show you Christ and bring you to rest in Him. That's believing. So men talk about the plan of salvation. You know, they say God devised the plan and it's up to you whether you accept His plan or not. That's not what salvation is. It's not just God planning to do something if you will do something. You see what I'm saying? Salvation is the work of God. The dictionary says salvation is deliverance from sin and from the penalties of sin. See? Salvation is redemption. But salvation is really more than just redemption. Redemption had to be planned. Do you see what I'm saying? Redemption had to be set forth. It goes all the way back to God, don't it, Roland? And it's God's work all the way by sending redemption, you see that? And working redemption in you. And keeping and causing you to trust, to rest, to look to only the Lord Jesus Christ. That's salvation. So they talk about the plan. It's God's plan. It's God's purpose. It's what God does with you. It's not what I plan for God. They're talking about easy decisions. I can't say it even. Not a very good word anyway. But if you make a decision for God, then God will receive you. Then if you keep on keeping on, you see, God will help you. God will be with you. But if you quit, God will let you go. What kind of God are they talking about? That is not God. We are kept by the power of God through faith, which is the gift of God, unto eternal glory. It's not a decision that man makes for God. Do you see that? And you hear about the prayer of salvation, you know. If you'll come up here and if you'll bow down and pray, ask God to help you and ask Christ to receive you, you know, that God might receive you in Christ. If you pray that prayer, then God will save you. Is He going to save you because of something you've done? No. You're not saved because you pray. If you pray truthfully and rightfully, it's because you're saved. You see that? Prayer don't come without knowledge. And knowledge in the heart don't come without faith. You see what I'm saying? When we come to God, in the light of God, we give up in ourselves. and we fall helpless. And when you fall helpless of yourself, God has already worked in you, or you will be in that state. And when you fall helpless on yourself, you depend upon God, you depend upon the Lord Jesus Christ as your substitute. See that? Yes, you pray, Lord, deliver me. But in the mind and purpose of God, and by the grace and power of God, He's brought you to that knowledge, and He's really already delivered you to bring you to that, to see yourself for who you are, and cause you to bow to Christ. See what I'm saying? The man says, I'm saved because I prayed the sinner's prayer. Did you pray the sinner's prayer? by knowledge or did you pray in heart? If you prayed in heart, it comes from a sinner, but it comes from the grace and power of God who has brought you to Christ Himself. And you're not saved by prayer. Prayer is a result of saving. You see what I'm saying? And they talk about the experience of salvation. You know, why don't you straighten your life out and you just try it for a while. You experience it. If you don't like it, you can go back. That's stupid, ain't it? The experience of salvation. God. Those whom God works grace in the heart by His power. It's more than just an experience. It's a new life. It's the light of God in Christ. It's the heart bowed and resting. You see what I'm saying? And looking, trusting, believing, rejoicing in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not something that you can experience and if you don't like it, quit it. You know, that's not what it is. And you talk about the water of salvation. You know, they talk about water of salvation. Christ through the Holy Spirit. He's the water of God when He's applied to the heart. The God-given heart. You see what I'm saying? The water of salvation. Salvation is of the Lord. That's the water of salvation, ain't it? It's of God. And it's in Christ. And it's working in His people. And it's kept in His people. You see that? You talk about the water of salvation. If you obey the Spirit, you know, just obey the Spirit, the Spirit tells you. How can you obey the Spirit? Without the grace of God and the power of God in you to despair of yourself. You can't. If you don't despair of yourself by the grace of God, you cannot. You're not in the Spirit and you can't yield to the Spirit, can you? but by the grace of God, you see. Salvation is deliverance, yes. It's deliverance in the mind and purpose of God, through Christ, to the people of God, and kept in Christ, and preserved in Christ, and called in Christ, and made new creatures in Christ, and shall be made like Christ. Now that's salvation, ain't it? Salvation belongs to God. That's what the Bible says. In Psalm 3.8, David said, Salvation belongeth unto the Lord. Thy blessing is upon everybody. No, it's upon thy people. And this is the seal, Selah. It's sealed. It belongs to God. And Jack read it to you in 1 Peter. 1, verse 2 it says, they are the elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience in the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace be unto you and peace be multiplied. Do you see that? Elect of God. Who are the elect of God? They are those people that I have just been talking about that God chose in Christ before the foundation of the world. They are the elect. Well, you say, well, how do I know that I'm one of God's elect? Therefore, if I don't, it's not up to me then. So I'm just not going to do anything. Well, I'm telling you, if you're God's elect, you will do something. God will work His grace in your heart. He'll bring you to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ in despair of your own selves. You see that? the elect of God. They are the elect. They shall all be taught of God. And everyone that hath heard and hath learned of the Father comes to the Lord Jesus Christ and bows to God in Christ. Do you see that? They are the elect. All those who come to Christ by the grace and power of God, they are God's elect. If I have need of a Savior, If I know who I am, I am nothing and nobody, and I need to be justified before God. If I am not justified before God, I will enter my eternal life in hell, in eternal condemnation, and it will never end. But by the grace of God, I am justified by the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, by the grace of God, I seek Jesus. You see that? Who was made a little Lord and angel for the suffering of death to be my substitute, to take my place, to represent me, to die for me, to justify me before God. I'm justified. I see that. If you can see that, you are one of God's elect. If you see it in your heart and believe it in your heart, you are the elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. That is how it comes, through sanctification of the Spirit. All those who are elected in Christ, God will in time call them by His grace and by His power to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And they will come to Christ and rest in Christ by the grace of God. Unto obedience, you see that? When they come to Christ, they will bow to Christ, won't they? Unto obedience. I know in this flesh we have our problems, and we are not obedient at all times because of the flesh, but those who look to and rest in Christ, all their hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ. They look at themselves. They see failure. But they look at Christ. They see peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Don't they? Yes, we do see peace with God. We gladly submit and rest in Christ. And by the grace of God, our desire is to honor Him. See that? That's what we want to do. By the grace and Spirit of God. Honor Christ. Exalt Christ. Glorify Christ. He's our shed blood in righteousness. It's in Him. So we look and rest and bow to Him. How does this come? By the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. By Christ giving Himself as our substitute, as I said. And suffering our just condemnation. And when this blood is sprinkled, it's sprinkled by the power of the Holy Spirit that God gives, that God places in you. and you believe it with all your heart. It is the strengthening of the blood of Jesus Christ. It comes by grace. We know that. Grace unto you. But those who grace has been given unto by the power of God have peace in their hearts in the Lord Jesus Christ. Peace be multiplied. We have problems, yes. But the more we know, the more we learn about who we are in the light of God and who Christ is, the more we rejoice and rejoice and rejoice. And the more we rest, the more we trust, it gets, someone said, sweeter and sweeter. He does. Not this old flash, but He does. He turns us from this to Him. You see that? Turns us from this to Him. So salvation, it begins with God. It ends with God too. Everything begins with God. In the beginning, God. God didn't take counsel with nobody. That's what they're saying. In the beginning, God. There was no earth. The earth was not here. There was nothing. We can't imagine that. But God. God the Father. Son, God, the Holy Spirit. One. Nothing but God. In the beginning, God. And He's the One who created the heavens and the earth. He's the One who said, Let there be light and there was light. He's the One. You see that? The earth was without form and void. Not only was it without form, but it was void. Can you understand that? There wasn't nothing there. There was nothing but God. See what I'm saying? It was void. And when it appeared, it's without form. But all God does is speak, and it's done. God said, let there be, and there was. God said, let there be light, and there was light. The same way, the same God who done this for His own glory and for the benefit of His people that He was going to have upon His earth is the same God that speaks to the hearts of His people and gives them a heart. You see that? When God speaks to you and says, Let there be, there is. See, people belittle God. God who created all things, without Him is nothing, said, Let there be in thee wise, and when He speaks to a heart of man, it is up to men. That's stupid, ain't it? Let there be light, and there was light. He separated the night and day, didn't He? And the day was light, and the darkness was night. Salvations of the Lord. It begins with God. It doesn't begin with man. It's what God does. What God does is forever. See that? Nothing can be put to that. What man does is sin. See? He said, let us create man, a man, in our own likeness, in our own image. In the image of God created he, him, Adam. Male and female, created He them. He created Adam in His own image, but He gave him a potential. He had a potential to sin. But they was a substitute before there was ever a sinner. Christ stood as Adam's substitute before the foundation of the world. He hadn't become a man, but He was sure to. You see what I'm saying? So when Adam sinned, you see, he didn't fool God. This was already purpose. It's already been planned. When a guy come walking in the cool of the day, you think he fooled God? He was talking to Adam for Adam's good, wasn't he? Where are you, Adam? What have you done? Have you partook of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? And Adam made himself some fig leaves and sold them about him so God couldn't see his nakedness. Now Adam's eyes were open. He seen who he was, didn't he? He moved on that potential and he became a sinner. He seen who he was. He said, I was naked and I hid myself from you. He was cast out of the garden, the knowledge of the tree of good and evil. Adam was sinful now. He couldn't get back. But there was a lamb slain before the foundation of the world. God brought him back. You see what I'm saying? Man can't get to God. You can't be before God and do before God anything to get God to receive you. You must know who you are in the light of God. And if you know who you are, God shows you who you are. God shows you. He bows you. He works in you. See? He causes you to look to Christ, to rest in Christ. Salvation is of God. Nothing is with man. Nothing but sin. The cause of God's election was His own foreknowledge. Whom He did foreknow, He did also predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son. Whom He predestinated, them He also called. Whom He called, them He also justified. Whom He justified, them He also glorified. Where is our faith at? You see what I'm saying? Is it in man or is it in God? If it's true faith, it'll be in God and it'll despair of man. You'll despair of yourselves and look to Christ and to Him alone. the foreknowledge of God, the immutable security of the election of God, the seal of God, the Holy Spirit. You're sealed by the Holy Spirit. When God purposed to have a people, purposed you, and He purchased you by the blood of Christ, and He applied the Holy Spirit, you are sealed. What God has purposed, He'll perform. You're sealed. You say, well, if I don't do this and I do do this and I don't do this, I'm a goner. No. You are sealed if you have the grace and power of God the Holy Spirit in you. You are sealed. It's already been purposed. It's done been purchased. It's done been applied and it will be kept. And it will be made like Christ. Salvations of the Lord, ain't it? The seal of the Holy Spirit, that's the seal. That seals it. That shows you're a child of God, don't it? If you believe on Christ in your heart, you're a child of God. God has sealed that. And if you believe on Him in your heart, you'll never quit believing on Him. You see what I'm saying? It's sealed. Christ is all. The condition of election was the obedience of Christ. That was the condition placed upon election, wasn't it? The obedience of Christ. He became obedient as a man, didn't He? Unto death. Even the death of the cross. Wherefore God has highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every name that at the name of Jesus. What's the name of Jesus? You know that name, don't you? That's Savior. Jesus, that's His earthly name. That's the name He was given. God the Son took upon Him our nature, and that name was given to Him as our representative. And that name is above every name. That name was given to God the Son as the Savior of His people. And if it's given to Him who is the Savior, do you think He's not going to accomplish what He's given to do? He is the Savior. Where is my faith? Where is my confidence? Where is my rest? Is it in myself or is it in Christ? Is He my Savior? Or is there something I have to do? Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe. Sin had left the crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. No wonder He said, Blessed be the God. Blessed be God who has saved His people so securely that nothing is going to hinder it. See what I'm saying? Nothing is going to hinder what God has purposed and what God does. God will do what He is going to do. He does according to His own will in the armies of heaven and among the heavens and the earth. Oh, if I see that in my heart, blessed be God! I am not exalting people and boosting them and saying, boy, you are a good person. I say, blessed God who has showed grace to sinners. You are a sinner if you do this. No! You are a sinner You do what you do because of who you are. That's who you are. That's what we can't see. That's what the religious world can't see. Who they are in the light of God. Do you see that? If they see who they are, they'll gladly bow to God in Christ, won't they? They gladly. He's the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is above all and over all, who has all power. He's the one sent His Son to die. Do you think He didn't accomplish what God sent Him to do? God the Son accomplished what God the Father sent Him to do as the substitute of His people? It's done. It's done. It's done. Oh, He's the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, Jesus, the Anointed, the Appointed of God, the Sent One, our Savior, Christ. He's the Father of Him. Can't God do with His own what He will? Can't He do what He has purpose to do? If He can't, then He's not God. That's God. Which according to His abundant mercy, when we talk about abundant mercy, we're talking about mercy that is so great that we can't touch it. We can't fathom it. It reaches to our depths. which we can't see even, by the grace and power of God through the Lord Jesus Christ, the One He sent to die for us. We're accepted, you see, made holy in the Lord Jesus Christ, by the mercy of God, not because we deserve it. If you deserve anything, you're not given mercy. You see that? If you've been given mercy, you know you don't deserve it. You get what you deserve, it's the wrath of God. But Christ, you see that? That's why Christ died. He took our just dessert. He suffered enough in those six hours on the cross than us in our eternity could suffer. More, you see that? We all suffer forever if Christ didn't pay our sin debt. You see what I'm saying? But if Christ paid our sin debt, He suffered the equivalent of our eternal condemnation. That's why God can say there's no more condemnation. If it's left up to you, it's eternal. But Christ suffered the eternity of your condemnation in those six hours at Calvary. Can you understand? I can't. But it's so. I know it. That is mercy. Mercy. He begotten us again unto a lively hope. And those, you see, who got purpose. Christ begot him, didn't He? What He done was sufficient. You see what I am saying? He begot you. He got purpose to do that. And just as sure as God purposed it, it must come to pass and it did come to pass. So you're begotten. He's paid your sin debt. And not only does He pay your sin debt, but He works grace in you to see who you are and to believe on Him, to rest in Him by His power and Spirit. See that? You have a lively hope. Again, unto a lively hope. by the resurrection. We've been resurrected by the Holy Spirit and we shall be resurrected in this flesh. We'll have a new body. But by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. So what are we saying? We're saying that when Christ came, He represented, He took the place of, He suffered the penalty of, and He rose. It's paid for. It's done. And you've been made aware of it. You've had the Holy Spirit planted within you to see Him. You see that? He begotten you by the resurrection of the dead. You were dead in trespasses and sin and still would be, except by the grace and power of God. He begotten you again unto a lively hope. You're a new creature in the Lord Jesus Christ. You live by grace and by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Not only has Christ resurrected and ascended, but He has resurrected in you the hope of glory. See that? Oh, not by works of righteousness, but by His mercy He saved us. By regeneration. Renewing of the Holy Ghost. And right there in Him was where mercy and truth met, wasn't it? met together in Christ. You see that? Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. You've made a new creature in Christ. You know that in Him you're accepted. You're counted before God holy. He quickens you. God quickens you. He made you alive. He made you. He brought you to a knowledge of yourself, to a knowledge of Christ. And now we see Jesus and we bow to Him. You have He quickened who were dead in trespasses and sin. In being dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, that He quickened together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses. You see, He quickened you together with Him. Why are you cast down, O my soul? Why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God. My hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ. My hope is in God. It's given of God. It's directed to God. It's the Spirit of me, but it's directed to God. I shall praise Him for the help of His countenance. His countenance. He became me. He represented. He took my place. He died for me. I praise Him. And it's only by God's grace, you see that? God's power that I know this. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? Why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God. We come to despair of self, don't we? We're disquieted of ourselves. You don't hear us bragging on ourselves, do you? We're disquieted, ain't we? Why? Because our hope is not in ourselves. It's in God. I'll praise Him for the health of His countenance, for Him making me, by His grace, to bow to and to rest in Christ. To an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, that fate of not a way reserved in heaven. Who is he talking about? He is talking about those people, whoever they are. The elect of God. To an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, The fate of not a way reserved in heaven. We don't understand that yet, do we? But we will, by the grace of God, be made like Christ and with Christ and be able to honor Christ the way we desire to. To serve and to honor Him and to lift Him up, to exalt Him in all glory in a perfect way. I can't understand that. who are kept, kept by the power of God, were kept how far? To an inheritance that they did not await. Reserved! You are kept, if you are in Christ, by the grace of God. You are kept by His power unto eternal glory. What does God have to do with salvation? It's not what He asked of us. It's what He is. Salvation is of God. It's who He is that causes Him to do what He does. You see what I'm saying? God keeps us. God preserves us. God makes us like His Son. God will receive us into glory. He will bring us to glory, ready to be revealed in the last time. And those who know Christ by the grace of God, they're ready to be revealed. When they're in this life, they have all kinds of problems. They have sicknesses. They have all kinds of problems on them because of sin. Oh, but they say, when I go to be with the Lord, it will be perfect. I can't even understand it. Gladly be ready, you see. Gladly be ready when God's time comes to go and be with Him. For in you greatly rejoice, no doubt for a season. Even though we are living in this flesh and in this world where all this sin is, in the heart by the grace of God, the true joy in rest and hope Though now for a season, we rejoice now for a season. And it needs be, we'll be inhabited through manifold temptation. He will not have us tempted above that which we are able, but in our temptation, through our temptation, make a way. It's necessary that these temptations come upon us. And we will be tempted. And we will have problems. But our joy is not in this flesh. True joy is in the Lord Jesus Christ. We have heaviness now, but then, then,