for your good participation this morning, or song service, you can set your hymnals aside, and we'll let the kids, six, five, four, three, two, and one, go with Mrs. Shore to the creche, and the rest of us, please open up our Bibles again to Titus chapter three. Titus chapter three, and verses four through eight. All right, Titus chapter three, verses four through eight. Have you ever, you know, heard or seen something that your response to that after you heard or saw it was, that was incredible. That was incredible. This past week, my oldest two and myself on Monday night, we were watching a documentary on the Six Day War. And the Six Day War was between Israel and all its Muslim neighbors that surrounded it. Under President Nasser of Egypt, he had rallied the Muslim world to fight against Israel. So they had brought all their equipment, all their stuff, surrounded this little new state back then. 1960s, we're talking Israel is what, 25 years old, very much in its infancy, the modern Israel. And it just looked like an overwhelming force, that there was no way Israel could survive that. But part of their planning in defending their nation is a preemptive strike. That's the only way they have a chance to win a battle like that, and they did that. And so on June 5, 1967, the Israeli Air Force under Major General Mordecai Had launched a massive airstrike that destroyed the majority of the Egyptian Air Force on the ground. I mean, they timed the thing so that they were just not expecting it. It was a transition between even like the guards and stuff or the people that were supposed to be observing what was taking place on the radar in the morning as they struck and destroyed, I think, 75%. of Nasser's force in six days. What an incredible work. I mean, you just look at it and go, that's incredible. That's incredible. Or you might think about a child prodigy. I don't know if you've ever seen, you know, a child that can do amazing things. But Wolfgang Mozart, okay, at the age of four, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart apparently absorbed everything to do with music with a tremendous appetite and seemingly without effort, not only did he already know how to play his first instruments, the piano and the violin, but he now composed his first piano concerto. Leopold Mozart, the father, regarded the blots of ink put down on the paper by the unskilled hand of a child with disbelief, realizing that all notes were correctly arranged following contemporary musical rules. From this time on, he also taught his son the art of composing. Wolfgang played the melodies on the piano, and his father put the notes down on paper. Thus, dances for keyboard came into being. At the age of six, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed a minuet in a trio for keyboard, the feature number one of the Kuschel catalog. Just look at that and go, that's incredible. I mean, can you imagine Mac, you know, this morning, you know, we got a special. Mac's going to come up and he's going to play something at the piano. I mean, it'd just be amazing, but at four years old, and Mac's going to be turning four, here's this kid that's playing instruments, composing music. And again, we look at that and go, that is incredible. One more, all right? Golf. 2016, Masters. Two men, Ricky Fowler and Justin Thomas, hit back-to-back hole-in-ones. Everyone's standing there. One guy hits in. Next guy hits in. And again, you go, that's incredible. I want to define incredible in this way this morning, because incredible actually has the idea incredulous, or it can't possibly be true. It almost has the idea. But in modern usage, the way that we use it and the way we just use it in those illustrations, It's that it is so amazing, I can hardly believe it, even though I know it to be absolutely true. And that's what we're talking about this morning. We talk about the incredible gospel, the incredible salvation that God has given to us. We ought to look at it and say, I can hardly believe it, even though I absolutely know this to be true. And not just salvation, but every aspect of it, and really that's what we're gonna look at this morning. It's difficult to believe because it's so incredible and so amazing, yet absolutely true. And our title this morning, taken from our text, is He Saved Us. And if we stopped right there, we could preach a message this morning on he, who he is, saved, what that means, us. And we could stop right there and go, wow, that's incredible. But we're gonna look at the aspects of his salvation that he's given to us. Again, Titus chapter three, four through eight. And we ought to be amazed by it this morning. As we look at it, we ought to be amazed that God saved us. More importantly, if you're here this morning, you're not saved. you gotta think, I want to experience that salvation that the Bible speaks about, because that is incredible. And you notice what the word of God says, and I often say this to unbelievers in my witnessing, especially recently, you know, taste and you'll see that the Lord is good. I could give you all these reasons. I can say my apple tastes really good, and you'd stand there saying, your apple tastes bad, and I say, but no, it tastes good. And I would say to you, look, just bite the apple, just taste. For yourself, it's what the word of God says. Taste and you'll see that the Lord is good. So this amazing, incredible salvation can be tasted by anybody. And if it's you this morning that needs it, I hope this morning God will whet your appetite, give you desire to take of his truth and have it yourselves. Let's pray and ask God to bless his word to our hearts this morning. Father, I thank you. for the opportunity that we have to come to the word of God this morning and look at the incredible salvation that you've given. And Father, I pray that our hearts would be so tender to you this morning. Father, this is a very familiar topic today. We can't choose anything out of the scriptures that would be more abundantly obvious or something that we'd even become callous to because we're so used to it than the gospel. But I pray that the Spirit of God would give us grace to see it anew this morning, just in the way that Titus intended by the Holy Ghost as the Holy Ghost spake through Titus. I pray give us a sense of that reality. this morning, and I pray that you guide me as I speak. Lord, I can't preach, I can't teach, but I praise you that, Lord, you're able to speak through me. I praise you, you're able to use weak things. And so, Father, I put myself in your good hands and just ask, please, that you'd use me to speak forth the word of truth. Give us ears to hear. Father, help us not to deceive ourselves this morning. Lord, if somebody's here that's not saved, they stand in jeopardy of hell. And Lord, I just pray there'd be an urgency in their heart to do business with God and accept and obey the Gospel. And it's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. Okay. So, the incredible aspects of the Gospel taken from this passage, Titus 3, verses 4-8. First of all, salvation is an incredible act of love. It's an incredible act of love. I can hardly believe it. You know, when I really stop and think about the love of God that allowed Him to save me, it's an incredible act of love. And so verse 4 says, I just want to stop and point out the deity of Christ real quick. Something that our world is very confused by, and Satan would have them be confused by. Jesus Christ is God. We've often spoke about that. We studied the book of John. We studied the book of Revelation, both written by the close companion of the Lord Jesus Christ, and each one emphasizing again and again the deity of Christ. And so we see it here. The love of God, our Savior, toward man appeared. You know, God could have destroyed mankind just like he did in Noah's generation. We've been studying, on Thursday nights, the book of Genesis, and we see man's rebellion against God, man's hard-heartedness against God, so that God looked at it and said, every imagination of the thoughts of man's heart is only evil continually. And it grieved God that he had made man And God decided to destroy the world with a flood, so much so that the Bible says in Genesis 7, 23, See, God could have done that. God could have said, that's it. That's it. I have tried. I have sought to do everything for you. You have rejected me. You hated me. You despised me. That's it. God wouldn't have done it with a flood, because he promised not to. But God could have done it in so many other ways that would have just annihilated mankind. God could have destroyed mankind. God could have let all mankind go to hell as they deserve. Romans 6.23 says, for the wages of sin is death. Ezekiel 18.20, the soul that sinneth, it shall die. See, that's justice. God is a just God. And God could say, well, you know what? You deserve hell. Guess what? You're going to get hell. See, can I point out, just with regard to that, and I don't understand all the dynamics of what's taking place in heaven in the unseen realm, but Satan gets no mercy. The fallen angels get no mercy. See, even as we spoke about false teachers, it's one of the examples that the Word of God used in Jude is that they are reserved in chains under judgment until that great day. And so God would be absolutely just today in just taking out this world and casting everybody in it into the lake of fire. That would be just. But God is love. He's so loving, and we're gonna look first at the incredible love of the Father. Because you could say, well, He could have destroyed mankind. He could have cast us into hell. Or God could do the unthinkable and punish His Son for our sin. Romans 5 verse 7 and 8, for scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God demonstrated, commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. I mean, we can read those words and we don't really stop and think about the dynamics of the Godhead and the fact that God the Father, when Jesus Christ came, was separated from God the Son physically so that Christ is here on earth, God's in glory. Jesus set aside his deity to become a man. We don't think about the fact that God the Father heard his Son in the Garden of Gethsemane on that night before his betrayal took place, weeping. praying earnestly, sweating, as it were, great drops of blood, and on his knees before God and the Father say, oh, Father, if it be possible, if there be any other way, Father, let's do that. Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. Going back to his disciples, coming again, Father, if it be possible. Going to his disciples, coming back again, Father, if it be possible. Can you imagine as a dad having a child, you take a child to a doctor's appointment or something, they don't want to go, you kind of feel bad making them go. And if they keep on it, and really kids don't do this, don't nag your parents, but they keep saying, that's heaviness on the heart of a parent. parent to have that child pleading with them please don't make me do this but you know it's in the best interest of the child that they do that but that's hard and you got God the father and God the son and the son saying please father if there's any other way but God still loved the world then you have him watching his son isolated. There in the Garden of Gethsemane, again, as the guards come to take away the Lord Jesus Christ, all the disciples forsook Him and fled. He sees the Son isolated. He's got nobody. See, that's hard for a parent, too, to see their son or daughter treated meanly or by their peers or isolated. I mean, that's tough on the heart of a dad to see that. And so the heart of the father sees his son without anybody. He's got nobody at the point of the crucifixion. He watched as his son was whipped, spat upon, cursed, condemned, and then crucified. I mean, can you imagine? I can't begin to think what that was like for God the Father to stand there unrestrained. No restraint, self-restraint. Unrestrained, watching as His Son was absolutely abused for us. Then He turned His back on His Son, as His Son cried out, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? as God took the sin of the world and put it onto his son. See, it is Abraham's arm coming down, plunging the knife into the heart of his son, taking the very life of his son. That is the love wherewith God has loved us. That's amazing. It's John 3.16, for God so loved. God didn't just love, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. That's a great love. And so we marvel at that, say that's incredible to think that today God did that. But it's also the incredible love of the son who gave himself. Galatians 1.4. says, who gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us from this present evil world according to the will of God and our Father. Galatians 2.20, I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. In the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Ephesians 5 25 husbands love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it 1 Timothy 2 6 who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time Titus 2 14 who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works Sometimes we ask people, do you understand, I asked somebody this past week, do you understand why Jesus died? Well, they took him, didn't they? The Romans did, and they crucified him. Yes, but do you understand that he gave himself for me? The picture that we've recently talked about is an illustration. It's that gendarme over there, was it France, that was in a hostage situation. He gave himself for the life of that hostage, and then he died. But he didn't, and it's a great sacrifice he made. He put himself at risk, but certainly not knowing for sure that he would perish. Jesus Christ put himself in our place to die for us. How great a love our God has for us. And so we have to stop right here and say, if that's the only thing that we talked about this morning, we ought to walk away saying salvation's incredible. It's incredible. It's beyond belief to think that God would so love us that he gave his son for us. Salvation's an incredible act of love. And then salvation is an incredible act of mercy. It's an incredible act of mercy. Not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us. Not by works of righteousness, which we have done. There's a lot of people living right there. They're seeking to get to heaven. They're seeking to say, I can earn my salvation. I can purchase it. And you think how cheap salvation must be if the poor trinket goodness of human beings could possibly purchase it. But it's impossible, isn't it? It's beyond price. It's something priceless that took the Son of God to purchase. And so it's not today that God has accepted me for salvation because of anything to do with anything I could offer to Him and say, but God, I've at least got this that I can give to you today. The reality is, in coming to God for salvation, we come poor and penniless and without anything to offer to Him. We have no righteousness, no righteous way of purchasing salvation. Isaiah 64, 6 says, but we are all as an unclaimed thing, and our righteousness are as filthy rags. And we all do fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. Romans 3.10 says, as it is written, there is none righteous, no not one. Romans 3.23, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Romans 5.12, wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. I briefly witnessed to a man that was working on his car. I didn't want to bother him because he was obviously busy, but I thought I might as well. I mean, what's a, you know, you think about sometimes we don't take opportunities to share the gospel because we think, well, I don't want to inconvenience that person. But listen, that person's on their way to hell. And I'm thinking about, you know, I don't want to inconvenience him. But the fact is, if anything I say sticks with him, it's worth taking an opportunity to try to speak to him. So I did. And he said, I'm really busy. And I said, can I leave you with one thing? Because he's Catholic. And I asked him, I got to think of my question because I didn't plan on saying this, but I asked him, I said, if good people go to heaven, why did Jesus die? It doesn't make sense. That'd be very cruel and unusual punishment for God the Father to put on God the Son if good people to go to heaven to have His Son die on the cross. We all know there's no such thing as a good person. But you know, as a Catholic man standing there, I have to believe that that man believed that he would go to heaven because he's a good person. That he would enter into heaven's gates, as it were, not saying this to God, but in reality, this in his heart, saying, you know, I'm going to stand before God, God's going to see all my goodness, and he's going to say, come into heaven. And you know what it is? It's counterfeit righteousness. It's not real. It's not going to do it. It's not going to make it possible for that person to go into heaven. It's counterfeit. I read a story. It's kind of a sad story, kind of funny in a way, but if you're not in the story. Paul Adams, Andy Sampson. were metal detectoring, the metal detectorists. I didn't even know that was a word until I read it in the article. Metal detectorists found Roman gold coins down in a field down in England. It happens from time to time. Obviously, you've got the ancient history here, and those Romans apparently liked their gold coins. You find them out in farm fields and things. And so they had this hobby, and it was Apparently a little bit more than a hobby, just kind of thinking someday perhaps they'd strike it rich. And lo and behold, it's their big day. I mean, they're just in shock, pulling out these coins. And they looked at them and thought, you know, there's at least 250,000 pounds value in this. And so they're thinking in their minds, they're so excited and thinking about the sports car they're going to buy, thinking they're going to pay off their mortgage. And then they found out that the BBC had done a documentary and had taken fake gold coins, buried them in a field, okay? True story. And they forgot them. They're movie props. And they found these things. You know what they were? Counterfeit. Do you know how disappointed that would be? I mean, can you imagine? Again, that's why I say it's almost humorous if it wasn't so sad that these guys, I mean, they thought they had it all. The big find had happened. I don't think I could ever pick up a metal detector equipment again and go out in faith hoping to find something. I mean, it just blows you away. I mean, the guy said, he said, when I saw them, I was ecstatic. Now I look at them, and I just want to cry. That's what he said. Sad. Can you imagine? This is what people think. They think I've got real gold. They think I've got real value. Someday I'm going to stand before God, and I'm going to enter into glory. And they're dreaming about heaven, thinking about how wonderful it's going to be, and everything that they're going to have. And they're going to stand there before God, and God's going to say, that's fake righteousness. Why? Because the only way you could get saved is by God's mercy. See, it's not anything that any one of us could purchase. It's something that God and God alone had to purchase. We have no righteous way of purchasing salvation. And so what? We must fully rely on God's generosity. But according to his mercy, he saved us. It's like a song says, nothing good have I to bring but simply to that cross I cling. It's the man crying out, God, be merciful to me, a sinner that went to his house justified. We'll talk about justification as part of the message this morning, but justified rather than the other who thought he had so much but was counterfeit. It's all mercy. You know, if the BBC would be as generous as God, they would take those fake gold coins and get real gold coins and say, guys, we feel bad that you're so disappointed and we just want to give you this. That's what God did. God gave it to us not because we deserved it, not because of anything we've done, but just because he's a merciful God. It's not just that God is that merciful. Think about it today. Anybody, anywhere outside this area, anybody could have that mercy. They could come to God and say, God, I hear that you're giving away everlasting life. I hear that your son, Jesus, died for me, that he paid the price, that you wanna gift me salvation. God, I don't understand why you love me so much. I don't understand why you're so merciful, but God, I'll take that. And see, not only is that possible, but it's this way as well. God, on the other hand, is pleading. God is saying, come, there's an abundance, come. And he says it so specifically, Isaiah 118, come now and let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, that counterfeit righteousness, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. God says, I want to take that counterfeit righteousness away. It's really sin. It's wickedness. It's defiling. I want to give you real righteousness. Revelation 22, 17 says, and the spirit and the bride say, come. Let him that heareth say, come. Let him that is a thirst come. And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely. Why am I not? under the understanding today that only those that God somehow sovereignly makes get saved, get saved. Because the Word of God is full of verses like that, where God in heaven says, if anybody will, whosoever will, whosoever will, if you desire today Christ, you can have Christ. All right, humble your heart. Get on your face like they used to preach in the old days. Get on your face and seek God for salvation. Make sure you've got it. As Paul says, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. It's not easy believism where you can hold on to your sin and just pray a prayer and you've got it. But if you're truly repentant and really desire the mercy of God, listen, God is a merciful God. He's willing to save you. That is the glory of salvation. And so anybody this morning, Revelation 3 verse 20, behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him and will sup with him and he with me. It's God today being so merciful that not only does he say, I'll do that, but he's there knocking at the hard door saying, listen, I desire to come in. I desire to save you. That's incredible. That's incredible. It's like the President of the United States or Prime Minister Theresa May or the Queen knocking on my door saying, you know, I just want a chance to get to know you. That's incredible. But that's the mercy of God. So it's an incredible act of mercy. Salvation is an incredible act of cleansing, of cleansing. It says, by the washing of regeneration. I worked, when I was at Bob Jones, I worked at co-generation power plant and co-gen, as it was called, had three train engines. And if we lost Duke Power, Duke Power went down, co-generation plant would come on and start generating electricity for the campus. And so generate means to make. Ko means at the same time. So it works, coincides with Duke power. We've got kojen, all right, making power at the same time. So it's to make. So we read here in our text by the washing of regeneration. And so generation is to make. Regeneration is to make again. God is making again. Go back to Adam and Eve. How much sin did Adam and Eve have in the Garden of Eden? I mean, they are absolutely right with God. And so regeneration is to make again, to make new with the cleansing of salvation. And so Hebrews says in Hebrews 10 verse 19, having therefore brethren boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus by new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the veil that is to say his flesh and having a high priest over the house of God let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. What it is today, I don't know how, but I can go right into the holiest of all, the Holy of Holies, and stand before God, because by the grace of God, my heart has been absolutely cleansed, completely cleansed, by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, this past week, Prince Louis was born. If you saw the video of Princess Charlotte and Prince George going to see their new brother, it's kind of a cute little video. They're walking with Prince William. And they're going in, and little Princess Charlotte is just, I mean, she's just waving, you know, this hand, you know, and just the queen's wave, you know, at the wrist. And then she's going up the steps, you know, and she turns and gives a little wave. And she just looks so proper and so excited to be going in and seeing her new brother, Louis. Can you imagine that little girl if when she got to that hospital room, she's so excited, she's cute as can be, just wants to see her baby brother, and the nurse looks at her and says, oh, honey, you're just too filthy. Your hands are so dirty. I'm sorry, you just can't go in. Can you imagine what that'd be like, that little girl? And I know that we're just kind of making it up. She's obviously very clean, going in, gonna get to see her little brother. All right, but think about this. What keeps men today from seeing God is the fact that their heart is so dirty they can't enter into the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. They can't enter into the presence of God the Father. And see, that's the way it is for you and me this morning. If we're honest, we understand that there is a lot of sin that has crept into our life and creeps into our life even after we're saved. But what, the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin. The Bible says, Hebrews 8, 12, for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. Hebrews 10, 17 repeats it, and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. The Bible speaks about as far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. He's taken our sins, he's put them, the Bible says, into the deepest sea. That's incredible. It's powerful and it's incredible. It's powerful because that sin stain was so grimy, so filthy, so completely saturated my life that it is a miracle of the power of God that God could separate sin from me, but God did that through the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise God. Have you been washed? Have you been made anew? Is it regeneration? Remade by God? Salvation is an incredible act of cleansing. And then salvation is an incredible act of change. It says, washing of regeneration and renewing. Again, that's made new of the Holy Ghost, which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our Savior. Have you read much about the Holy Spirit? See, the Holy Spirit is God. And when we got saved, we got the Holy Ghost of God living inside of us. I am not the same as before I got saved because God now indwells me by His very person, the Holy Spirit. See, He didn't just clean me, God put inside me a new nature. Some people don't get saved because they think, how can I get saved? I know what my life is like. And even if I said, God, I'm sorry, I just know that my life is so caught up with sin. How can I change? And they don't understand yet that when somebody gets saved by the power that God possesses, part of salvation is that God the Spirit moves in and begins to get out all the junk. God changes us by his power through the Holy Ghost, which we have. Acts 2.38. Peter said unto them, repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Now Gideon's preaching, and I appreciate this emphasis in the book of Acts, it speaks often about the gifting of the Holy Ghost, the gifting of the Spirit of God. And this goes back to our study of John. When we studied John, John 14 through 17, there is a dynamic of the unity of the Godhead. in the person of the Holy Spirit, which we would receive that Jesus promised. It's this. When I got saved, who did I receive? The Holy Spirit. And yet the word of God says, he that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God hath not life. Is Jesus bodily in me? No. Is the Holy Spirit spiritually in me? Yes. How is Christ in me? He's in me in the person of the Holy Spirit. See, Christ is in me today, but he's in me in the person of the Godhead, the Spirit of God. And so, as he's preaching, Peter just says, hey, get saved, the glory that you see of the power of God on the lives of these men. It's tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until you be endued with power from on high that Jesus spoke about. He said you'll be baptized not many days hence with the Holy Ghost. That outpouring of the Spirit, Peter looks at the crowd and says, this new life that you see in these men, it's a life you can have. But it's not just for them at Pentecost, it's for us as well. In verse 39, he says, for the promise is unto you and to your children and to all that are far off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. So that you and I can take and say, by the grace of God, back there at Pentecost, when Peter was preaching, Peter preached about me, because I was a far off, but I would get saved, but I would receive the same dynamic person, the Holy Ghost, so that my life can change after I get saved. That's it, isn't it? He cleansed me at salvation, but through the personal Holy Spirit, He renewed me. He began that wonderful change that's taking place. Down in Edinburgh, down by Princess Street Gardens, there's a big project taking place, the rejuvenation of the St. James Center. See, when that's finished, I've seen the architects' renderings of that or ideas of that. It's beautiful. It looks really neat. It's got kind of this apple core type or peeled apple type design that you're walking up and with beautiful views. And there's going to be a five star hotel, 1.7 million square feet, and all this stuff in that. But you know, is it going to be as good as new? No. It's going to be better than new. It's going to be way better than new. It's not going back to the old St. James Center at its best. It's going way beyond that. See, when somebody gets saved, God is not bringing you back to something that you were or could have been. God is making you something that you could never have been, something that is wonderfully better than new. That's the power of God. Jesus is the one that does that. Revelation 21.5, he that sat upon the throne said, behold, I make all things new. 2 Corinthians 5.17, therefore, If any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. It's Leighton Kelly, it's Aidan, these drug addicts that we see, former drug addicts that we see that are up preaching and speaking with authority about God. So you might look at your life and say, what did I get when I got saved? You gotta change life. So you don't drag your feet and think, woe is me, because I'm so in bondage to sin. You go, praise God. God set me free through the power of the Holy Spirit. That's God. That's incredible. It's incredible. Some of these young people are going to grow up in our church. Someday they might be a great man or woman of God that God used in a significant way. They might not see it at all right now, but what's that? That's God. That's God. Praise God. So it's an incredible act. of renewing, of change. And then salvation is an incredible act of law, okay? And sometimes we wanna stay away from that, we think about salvation. We know that, we talked about already, salvation's not by works, so I mentioned law and salvation, you might think, well, wait a second, how does salvation and law interact? Well, it's an incredible act of law, nothing to do with obtaining salvation, but everything to do with God imputing salvation legally when God did it. And so when God saved us, he gave us a legal pardon. It says in verse seven, that being justified by his grace. That's legal. That's law. That's God judicially saying, you are declared righteous. That's incredible. And it is legal for God to do that because of His Son and what His Son did when He died on the cross. When I witnessed Muslims at times, I've asked them, I said, you know, how do you get forgiven? Well, we go to God and we say, God, I'm sorry. And God forgives. And then we go to God and say, God, I'm sorry. And God forgives. And I'll ask them, but how did God pay for your sin? That's not possible. For God today to just say to you or to myself, I forgive you because I love you, I care about you, without Christ, it's not possible. But judicially, it's made possible for God to justify us in His incredible act of the law. that God punished his son in my place so that God could say to me what Pilate said to Jesus Christ when Jesus was justified, not in the sense of being made righteous, but declared righteous by Pilate. Pilate said, I find no fault in him. And today, by the grace of God and the power of the gospel, God can look at me today and say about me, by his grace, I find no fault in him. Why? Because I stand today in the righteousness of Christ, not my righteousness. That's incredible. That's an incredible act of the law that God could justify, declare righteous, that judicially he could say not guilty. Romans 8.1 says, there's therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Condemnation is the sentencing. It is the judge saying, you're guilty and I sentence you to this. But somebody that's saved, there's therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. They've got the Holy Ghost in them. It's all changed. No judgment. Now, I could list today, I could perhaps pull up, and I saw articles online, I could have brought an illustration today of somebody that's recently been sentenced for a crime, but the problem is this, we'd all look at that illustration, which my desire would be to get us to be sympathetic with the prisoner, but we'd look at that and say, but they're guilty. And so I don't really feel bad for them. And see, the thing about our justification, and can I say this about us, we're all guilty? And so we ought not today waste time weeping and saying, oh God, you're so harsh to send my family to hell, my neighbor to hell, this world to hell. God, you're so unjust. And yet God would say, I'm not unjust at all. They're guilty. And so are you and I. But can you imagine being that person standing before the judge of all the earth when he says, depart from me a curse and everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels? See, I can't imagine what it's like to hear an earthly judge say, for the next 10 years, you're in prison. But see, the law condemns me, and the law saves me. Because God, through an incredible act of the law, can judicially give me a legal pardon. But he also, in doing so, he makes me a legal heir. It says we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. So it's not only that God says, I pardon you, but God at the same time says, I pardon you and I adopt you. God legally, at that point, takes us into his family and makes us heirs of him. We're all of a sudden gone from sinner on our way to hell to, by the grace of God, eternity in heaven with an incredible inheritance that's waiting for us. My wife got a small inheritance this past year from her grandparents. They put her in the will. And so she had a legal right to it. And she inherited with the other grandkids a certain amount of money. And that's awesome. When somebody remembers you, loves you, passes something onto you. And I hope today, as you think about it, you think, man, I'd like to be in God's will. I'd like to inherit from God. And listen, it's almost too big to think about that we have an inheritance in Christ. God gave us the adoption of sons, Galatians chapter 4, 4. So we're no more a servant, but a son. And if a son, then an heir of God through Jesus Christ. And I can say today, glory to God, my salvation's real. I am gonna get something from God in eternity that's glorious. I believe it's what the Bible speaks about when it says, I hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." We could try to think about what it is, but God says we'll never conceive it. If there's anything you've enjoyed in life, just think of something hundreds of times better because there's no way it's going to be something just as good as life. It's going to be something far beyond that. It's not going to be something that you look at and say, well, no big deal. I guess I didn't get it. It's going to be something that would be so incredibly precious that you'd give everything that you possess to get it. And that's what God does legally for us. And it is real. Peter speaks about it too. It's an inheritance, incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you. You might look at that today again and say, you know what? I'd like to have that. Not because I deserve it, it's because of mercy of God. Hell's the other option, I definitely don't want that. But I'd sure like to have inheritance, I'd like to legally be justified, declared righteous by the power of God. It's an incredible act of the law. But then last thing this morning, salvation is an incredible answer to prayer. It's an incredible answer to prayer that somebody could just bow their head today and say, God, I'm a sinner. Please forgive me. Please save me. Your son died for me. He rose from the dead. God, I'd just like to ask you to be saved. and to think that that person today could have everything that we just talked about. They could be made clean. They could be changed. They could be given God's incredible love in the Son of God just by humbling their heart and saying to God, I'll take it. I'll take it. And so God's word goes on to say, verse eight, This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly. They which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men. Okay, it's saying that now that you've accepted Christ, live obediently, don't shame the name of Christ. You've got the Holy Spirit, you've been cleansed, don't go get it dirty, don't go walk through the filth, it's a shameful thing. And so live a life that is right, okay, is what the point of the scripture is. But may I point out that in there, it just says about those that have been saved, they which have believed in God. And so they came to the point where they said what we've often spoke about, God, I was wrong. God, you're right. Please forgive me. It's agreeing with God. I already shared, I had a witnessing opportunity last night, and the crux of it was them wanting to say, well, they wanted to agree with the Bible, but they didn't agree with the Bible. That's the problem. You can't have it both ways. And so I said to them, you know, real Christian, real Christianity, is somebody that takes this book and says, God said it, I was wrong, because I'm opposed to that. I'm wrong, God, you're right. And see, if you'll do that today in your heart, you know, the only thing keeping you from getting saved today, if you're here and you're not saved, is that you think you're right and God's wrong. And all you need to do to have everything that we've spoken about, which is very real, And very awesome, and very incredible, is just humble your heart before God and say, God, that's what I need. God, I just need that gift of salvation. How do I get it? By faith. Acts 16.31, they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. 1 John 5.13, These things have I written unto you, that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. John 1.12, but as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. If, okay, big if right here, if salvation were by works, it would take a lot of time, it would take a lot of failure, it'd take a lot of effort. And we know it's futile, you can't get it. But since it's not, salvation's very quick, it's very immediate, and it is very much available to you right now, no matter what has transpired in your life in the past, no matter what your youth is, you know what I'm saying? It's just, you could right now, very quickly, accept Jesus Christ your Savior. Because the gospel is incredible, because it's just an answer to prayer. What an incredible gospel. I marvel at the Six Day War, golf shots, Child Prodigy, but nothing makes me marvel than when I really stop and begin to think about salvation. See, what we've looked at this morning is the most incredible reality that is in our world. It's that God did something incredibly loving when He crucified His Son for me. It's that it's an incredible act of mercy. It's not that I deserve it today, that I could go to God and say, God, I've got something to offer you. It's that God in His mercy will pardon me. It's an incredible act of cleansing. that God takes that sin away completely by the power of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's an incredible act of change. The great actor, or whatever the word is that means the one that does it, coming into my heart, the Holy Ghost, I have today inside of me a person that can live victoriously over sin. Praise God, it's incredible. Act of change. It's an incredible act of law that, judicially, God can say, I pardon you. Judicially, God can say, I'm going to also adopt you and let you inherit something. It's an incredible answer to prayer. You know, I hope this morning, as we looked at it, I hope in your heart you're just saying, wow. Wow, thank God for what we have in Christ. But if you're here this morning, you think, you know what? I don't have that. The only thing keeping you from salvation is yourself. God's willing. And so God's able to save you right now. And if in your heart, as we bow our heads to pray, if in your heart this morning you think, that's what I need, why don't you in your heart just say to God, God, I've been against you. God, forgive me. You're right. I'm wrong. I'd like to accept Jesus Christ as my Savior. And you could do that right now, even as we bow our heads and pray this morning. Let's do that. Let's pray. Father, I pray that the Spirit of God would take your precious word and put it deep into our hearts. Now Father, I've seen the power of the gospel this week, and I praise you for that. But Father, we long to see it on a much greater scale. Because you've done so much for us, because it's so incredible, God, help us, therefore, not just to get saved, but to be biblically baptized, to join the church, to start making a difference for the Lord Jesus Christ, start identifying with our Savior. God, you have blessed us richly. It's incredible. God, what's sad today, a lot of people live their Christian life as if you never cleansed them. They live as if you haven't given them the Holy Ghost and the power to live a victorious life. They've forgotten that it was mercy. They think they deserve it. There's so many ways that our hearts are corrupted by our pride and our sin. So I pray, Lord, that we just bow before you and just marvel at the incredible work that you did. And Father, by the grace of God, tell others what, God, you could do for them. It's in Christ's name I pray. Amen. Let's stand, please, we'll sing hymn of invitation.