So Great Salvation

… Thank you very much, Brother John. I hope you had a good singing. When you sing it out, don't let me hear you sing it. That's all personal favor. I'd like you to turn to Hebrews, chapter 2. Hebrews, chapter 2, please. Hebrews, chapter 2. Notice verse 3, if you will. Hebrews, chapter 2, and verse 3. How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? Now, if you're here tonight, dear friend, if you're not saved, how shall you escape if you neglect so great salvation, the salvation of your precious soul? But what this says, it says how shall we escape? How shall we believers escape so great salvation? Now, if you're saved, you're eternally saved. You can never, never be lost. But how shall we escape the fact that salvation is a many splendid thing? Many splendid thing. And how wonderful to know of God's salvation, which is found in the Lord Jesus Christ. How wonderful. And so tonight, we want to look. We want to look at so great salvation that's found in the Lord Jesus Christ. Would you just look up at verse 14 of chapter 1 of Hebrews, speaking about, are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them, who shall be heirs of salvation? If you're saved tonight, you're an heir of God and a joint heir with Christ. How wonderful. How wonderful to have an inheritance in Christ. Now, this is looking towards the millennium, the world to come. We are going to co-administer the millennium with the Lord Jesus Christ. We're heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. How wonderful to be in such a position of blessing. Is everyone here tonight an heir of God? Or you're an heir of wrath? If you're not saved tonight, you're an heir of wrath and hellish affliction. And if you would die tonight, you would perish in your sin. But how good tonight that Christ hasn't come back yet. And if you trust him as your personal savior, you can become an heir of God. And a joint heir with that all together. A lovely one, the Lord Jesus. He is the heir and we're joint heirs with Christ. When he came on earth, they said, come, this is the heir. Let us get rid of him and inherit him to the hours. And they wouldn't have this man laying over us. And they nailed him to the cross of Calvary. There he died on that cross for your sins and my sins. And even though they crucified him, it was by the predetermined counsel of God. No man naked in my life, I laid down myself. And he took it up again, dear friends, because we not only have a crucified Savior. We have a risen Savior, Jesus. He's a man in the glory. We have a glorified man in the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, once you take Christ as your personal Savior. And I trust everyone here is in the value of so great salvation. The first thing that you realize, the first thing that you realize is the forgiveness of your sins. And how important to have your sins forgiven through trusting the Lord Jesus Christ as your own personal Savior. The forgiveness of your sins. All of your sins. So great. So many. And his blood was washed away. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, forgives us of all sin. Past sin. Present sin. And future sin. The value of his precious blood on Calvary. Precious, precious blood of Jesus. Shed on Calvary. Shed for rebels. Shed for sinners. Can you say it was shed for me? And if you can, you can go on your way rejoicing tonight knowing that your sins are forgiven. On the cross, the Lord Jesus, the first thing he said, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. How wonderful to be forgiven. And be cleansed everywhere through the precious blood of the Lord Jesus. Now, there's an opposite for everything that I'm going to talk about on this board tonight. The opposite of forgiveness of sins is guilt. And if you're here tonight and you're sinning, you're guilty. You're lost and you need to be found. But how wonderful. We can sing sometimes, we sing, lost, but Jesus found me. Blind, but now I see. Bound, but hallelujah, Christ has set me free. And if you want to be set free from your sins tonight, come to the Lord Jesus. He has already forgiven you of your sins. Wouldn't it be a sad thing to have your sins forgiven and yet you die in your sins? Because he has already paid for your sins on the cross of Calvary. He says, Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. And listen, you may be ignorant of the fact that you were guilty, but sins of ignorance must be atoned for. And the Lord Jesus has atoned for sins of ignorance when he died on the cross of Calvary. And you may be ignorant about it, but I'm here to tell you tonight that you're a guilty lost sinner if you're not saved. And you need the forgiveness of your sins. Because through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. Is everyone here tonight in the value of forgiveness of sins? If not, why not come to Christ tonight and have every sin taken care of? Because he has already washed your sins away when he died on Calvary's cross. Now he told some Pharisees one day, he says, if you die in your sins, river, I go, ye cannot come. And I'm here to tell you tonight, if you die in your sins, you'll be buried in your sins. And if you're buried in your sins, you'll be raised in your sins and stand before God naked, exposed in all of your sins. And then you'll have to say, if part of me did work of iniquity, I never knew you. And you'll have to be cast into the lake of fire in your sins. When Christ has already forgiven you of your sins, all you have to do is take the pardon that's off of you tonight through taking the Lord Jesus as your personal Savior. In the Old Testament, the psalmist, Psalm 32, could say, blessed is the man whose sins are forgiven, whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sin is covered. But that was only for once a year. That had to be done over and over and over every year on the day of atonement. But this man, when he offered one sacrifice for sin, he forever sat down and let the right hand of God. And you don't have to be saved at one time. You only have to trust Christ once. Come in all your sins and take the Lord Jesus Christ as personal Savior. And you'll receive the forgiveness of your sins. There's something else linked up with the forgiveness of sins, which is a very vital thing. It's not the same thing, but it's very vitally linked up with the forgiveness of sins. And that's what we call redemption. To be redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. We turn to Romans 3.24. The book of Romans, chapter 3. And we trust this might be instructive for the saints. It might be a word of the gospel to anyone here tonight that is still in his sins. Romans 3, and notice verse 24. Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood. To declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that have passed. That's the Old Testament saint's sins that have passed. Through the forbearance of God. God held him back all the way to Adam. He held him back, he forbore. And so anyone who was saved in the Old Testament had to be saved through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. And those of us who are saved today, we are saved by the redemption. We are redeemed by the work of Christ. Anyone to be saved during the tribulation period, it will have to be through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Anyone saved during the millennium period, it will be through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. So how wonderful, how vast, this redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Verse 26. To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness, that he might be just and a justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. You want to be made just tonight? Well, God is a justifier. He can justify you. He can redeem you if you'll just come to Christ as a fool or a sinner. Now, redemption. The opposite from redemption is bondage. Out of my bondage, sorrow and shame, Jesus I come. Does everyone come to Christ today? Is everyone in the chapel saved? Do you know your sins have been given? Have you been redeemed? Or are you still in bondage? There was a woman whose gospel, she was diagnosed for 18 years. And the Lord Jesus loosed her. He made her straight, the Bible says. Do you want to be made straight tonight? Do you want to be loosed from your sins? Or what else is the fault of you? Then come to Christ. The apostle Paul was sent to a street named straight. And so if you come to Christ, you can be made straight. By nature, we're just a bunch of crooked sticks. And we need to be made straight. And there's one that can straighten you out tonight. And if you're a saved person here tonight, and you're not living for the Lord, He can straighten your life out if you'll just let Him. Redemption. The redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Now, redemption has more than one aspect. Redemption, in the book of Ephesians, you don't have to turn to it, the book of Ephesians, allows us to enjoy sonship. Having been accepted in the beloved, I can function as a son of God. My heart can rise and bless the Father. I can say, I'm a father. What a nearness, what a closeness that we have with God the Father through Christ in being redeemed. Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it every single time. So in the book of Ephesians, redemption has to do with sonship. Now, if you were going to turn your minds out, you don't have to turn your power, you turn your minds out. Colossians chapter 1, redemption has to do with inheritance, with the saints and life. What inheritance that we have in Christ Jesus. So not only do we function as sons, we can enjoy the inheritance with other fellow believers. Wonderful to have an inheritance reserved in heaven for us. And not only that, you don't have to wait until you get to heaven to enjoy the inheritance. You can enjoy it while you're here in this present scene. You can enjoy it with the saints. Incidentally, our fellowship should be with the saints, the Lord's people. How good to enjoy inheritance that we have in Christ with the saints. And with the Lord Jesus, of course. Now, redemption has another aspect. In Peter, redeemed not by servile gold, but by the precious blood of Christ without spot and without blemish. And in Peter's ministry, we can function as priests. That's what Peter tells us, that we're a holy priesthood. You say, what is a holy priesthood? To offer up spiritual sacrifices to God, accepted by Christ Jesus. Let's don't be dumb priests. If we're saved, if we've been redeemed, let's function as priests. The sisters, they can function as priestesses, if you please, in an audible manner. Hannah, praise be to her lips, her voice was not heard. Of course, in singing, we can all sing audibly and lustfully unto the Lord who has brought so great salvation for us when he died on the cross of Calvary. And if we function as holy priests, we can move on to the royal priesthood. The royal priesthood comes out of the presence of God, and we show forth the divinity, the ecstasies of him who has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. Has everyone here tonight been called out of darkness into his marvelous light? Has everyone been translated from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of the son of his father? Well, I trust that you have. If not, why not come to Christ tonight, and you will be taken out of bondage, and you will be redeemed. Want to be redeemed? Then come to Christ. Now, there's one more aspect about redemption. And that has to do with the redemption of our bodies. To live the redemption of our bodies. And that might happen tonight. The Lord Jesus might come back tonight. He might say, come up hither, and we will be redeemed. Our bodies would be changed and fashioned like unto his body of glory. One moment we'd be here, and the next moment we would be with him in the glory. Even so, come, Lord Jesus, and take us to the glory. So that's what we're waiting for, that our bodies might be redeemed. All of our loved ones that have passed away, those in the cemetery, they're waiting for the same thing we're waiting for. The only difference with them, if they were saved, they're in the Lord's presence. They're enjoying the Lord's presence right now in a condition of bliss, a condition of enjoyment with Christ, which is far better. And they too are waiting for the same thing we're waiting for, the redemption of their bodies. Now, this is more. We just don't have our sins forgiven. That's wonderful. But that's elementary. Now, some people, that's all they have. They know their sins have been forgiven. They know they've been redeemed. They know they'll wait forever. And that's precious. If that's all you have, thank God for that. That's enough to take you to glory. But there's more to this so great salvation. Turn to Romans 5. Romans 5. There's something called justification. Romans 5. And verse 1. Now, to be justified. The opposite of justification is condemnation. We said the opposite from redemption is bondage. The opposite from justification is condemnation. But you know, dear friends, there's no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. Not in Jesus. We're not in Jesus. We're in Christ Jesus. That means we're in that man in the glory. No condemnation. And if you would follow that through in Romans chapter 8, there's no limitation to the blessing that we can have in Christ Jesus. And he that spake not his own son, but offered him up freely, how shall ye not with him also freely give us all things? So there's no limitation to the blessing. And then, of course, there is no separation from those who are in Christ Jesus. And you want to know something more? There's no accusation. Who shall bring any thing to the charge of God's elect? Not even the devil himself can bring an accusation against a believer that's been watching the precious blood of Christ. Oh, he may bring an accusation, being the accuser of the brethren. He's primarily the accuser of the Jewish brethren during the tribulation period, but generally he's the accuser of the brethren. And God won't accept it because we've been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. Justification has to do with our standing. Look at verse 2. Not only are we justified and have peace with God, but also we have access by grace, by faith into this grace, wherein we what? Wherein we stand. What a standing that we have before God through our Lord Jesus Christ. If you're unsaved, dear friends, you don't have any standing. You're on sinking sand. But how good, on Christ's solid, rock-high sand, all over the ground is sinking sand. Oh, dear friends, if you're not saved tonight, why not come to Christ and have a standing before God and have access, have free access to God through the Lord Jesus Christ. What a standing. Now that our condemnation is gone, we have a standing before God. And look at verse 3. Verse 2. By whom we also have access by faith into this grace, wherein we stand. What else? And rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And not only so, that's not the whole story. That's just part of it. And not only so. That's not the whole salvation. What does it say? But we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulations work with patience, and patience, hope, patience, experience, experience, hope, and hope making not a shame. And here's something else that happens to us when we're justified. The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given to us. How good to be justified, no longer condemned to die, by having peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. But salvation is even vast, more vast, if you please. Not only are we justified, but we're sanctified. Go to the book of Hebrews, if you will. Book of Hebrews. How good to be set apart for God. Hebrews chapter 10. Notice verse 10. By the witch will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all. And the reason we need to be sanctified is because we're an unholy thing. We are biased. We are sinners. And we're set apart. This is where we get our word, saint. This is where we get our word, holy. Now, sanctification has two aspects. One, positional sanctification. And every believer is sanctified once and for all by Christ when he died on the cross. By the witch will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all. We are set apart for God. Set apart. And may I say by way of princes, unsaved people are sanctified too. The unbelieving husband is sanctified by the believing wife. Helps your children be unholy. Now, not in the sense that believer is, but that person is set apart to be saved. And if that believing wife will let Christ be seen in her life, the hidden man of the heart, not the hour of adorning, the costly array, the fanning of air, and all of that sort of thing, but the hidden man of the heart is seen in her life, then that man, that husband may be one without the word through the manner, the manner of life, through the behavior, the conversation of that godly woman, that godly sister. So how good, and vice versa, the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the believing husband. So how good to know that we have been set apart for God. Now, that has been done initially. That is called positional sanctification. But there's another type of sanctification. Would you turn to John 17? John 17. And notice verse 17. 17, 17. Sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent him into the world. For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. This is called progressive sanctification. As we're occupied more and more with the word of God, which speaks of Christ, we will be more sanctified, more set apart for the Lord and for his interest. The Lord Jesus has sanctified himself. You say, what does that mean? He has set himself apart back in the glory. If I do not depart, the comforter will not come. It is profitable for you that I go away. And so by the Lord Jesus going away, he sets himself apart back at the Father's right hand. He sanctifies himself in order that we might be sanctified by the truth. And if we're occupied with Christ, we'll be more Christ-like. We'll be more sanctified. We mentioned this the other night here at this chapel. Or maybe it was out at the camp, I don't know. But there was a brother, I think it was right here in the chapel. There was a brother in another country who ordered a certain item. And when the delivery man brought the item from the department store, on the side of the box it said, the world comes into your home. And he says, oh please take it back, I changed my mind. So we have to be careful what we let come into our homes. I'm not preaching get certain items, and you can just take that for what it's worth. But if we're more occupied with Christ, we can be less occupied with the things of time and sense. Things that are not wrong, but they really don't help us towards the Lord's sense at all, you see. So let's be occupied with the Lord Jesus Christ and his word. And we will grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Set apart. Did you know God is jealous of Christ? He does not want us to be flirting around with every Tom, Dick, and Harry that comes along. He doesn't want us to be flirting with the world. Like demons have to love this present world. Not just like it, or was nice and had affection for it, but demons love the present world. He doesn't want us, he's jealous over us with godly jealousy. And so let us be here for our husband. Our husband is Christ. Paul has espoused us and engaged us to one man. And let's be true to him. You can't love two and be true, someone has said before. You just can't love the world and love Christ two. You can either show affection to one or have allegiance to the other. Now, let's believe this. Who are we here for? Are we here for Christ? If we are and we're occupied with his word and his things and for his people, then we will progressively grow in grace and in knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. May God help us to be here for him and for his interest. Back to Romans chapter 5. There's something else that takes place in this so great salvation. Romans 5. And this is a wonderful chapter, Romans 5. In fact, the whole book is a wonderful book. But look back at verse 9. Verse 9. He says, much more then. That's not the whole story. There's much more involved in so great salvation. It's not just to have your sins forgiven, which is precious. To be redeemed, wonderful. To be justified and have a standing before God, precious thought. To be sanctified, set apart for the Lord. That's wonderful. But there's much more involved in this so great salvation. And that's called reconciliation. Now, the opposite of reconciliation is alienation. To be an enemy of God. Now, God is not an enemy of anyone. He's your friend. But if you're not saved here tonight, you're an enemy of God. And you need to be reconciled to God. And you can be reconciled to God tonight because Christ is already God on the cross. Verse 9. Much more then. Being there justified, which is precious, by his blood. We shall be saved from wrath through him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son. Much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, that's not all. But we also join in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. By whom we have now received the reconciliation. Second word, atonement, should be reconciliation. Atonement is not a New Testament word. That's an Old Testament word. Reconciliation. To be reconciled. To be brought back to God. And those of us who are saved, we have a ministry of reconciliation. And we stand in Christ's stead and we can tell others, be reconciled to God. So wonderful to be reconciled. Now, reconciliation does more for us than just what we might say justification. And all of these things are vital and all of these things are part of so great salvation. But reconciliation places us in new creation. Go to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. And verse 17. 2 Corinthians 5.17. 2 Corinthians 5.17. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, there is new creation. Now, your Bible says a new creature, but that's not what it means. We are new creatures. We do have a divine nature where we trust Christ. But that's not what this passage says. If you have your marginal reading. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, there is new creation. Old things have passed away. You say, what old things? Old things of the Judaistic order. Forms. Ceremonies. Burning of candles. Altar rails. All of that has been swept away at the cross of Christ and has no bearing in Christianity whatsoever. Not one iota bearing in Christianity. It's foreign from Christianity. It has to do with Judaism. And if we go back to that. We do an injustice to our Lord Jesus Christ and we grieve the Holy Spirit. Abraham told his servant, bring not my son hither again. And on another occasion, he said, beware. Don't you bring my son back here again. Let's go bring Christ back down out of the flesh. Through a bunch of religious forms and ceremonies and that type of thing. Because there's new creation. That was done away with at the cross. All things become new. In a new creation, all things are of God. And Christ is the head of that new creation. We're in the old order of things. Now we're in the face of a new creation. And now we see Christ our Lord. Now we see our Savior. Blessed be God. How wonderful and true that is. But he's the head. He is the head of this new creation. Would you go to Colossians chapter 1? Colossians 1. And verse 18. Verse 18. He is the head of the body. This church or the ascendant. Who is the beginning? The beginning of what? The beginning of the new creation. The beginning of everything that pleases the heart of God. The beginning of a new order that was established once Christ died on the cross. He's the beginning. The firstborn from the dead. That in all things he might have preeminence. Verse 20. And having made peace through the blood of his cross. By him to reconcile all things unto himself. By him I say, while there may be things on earth. Things in heaven. And notice the next expression. And you. That's not an individual of you. That's a plural of you. And you Colossians. You Gentiles. Christ in you. Christ in you. The hope of glory. Not only have we been reconciled individually. We have been reconciled collectively. And you. That were sometime alienated. Enemies in your mind by wicked works. Yet now hath he reconciled. So those of us who make up the body of Christ. The church. The ascendant. We have been reconciled to God individually. And not only so. We have been reconciled to God collectively. By the death of his son. When he died on the cross of Calvary. And placed in this new creation. And given a head. How wonderful. Every blessing comes down from the head. Christ in the head. But there's more. There's something called quickening. Turn to Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2. Let's go back to Ephesians. Chapter 2. Notice verse 1. Ephesians 2 and verse 1. And you. Hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. Down in verse 5. Even when we were dead in sins. Hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace are ye saved. And hath raised us up together. And made us sit together. In heavenly places. In Christ Jesus. So we are quickening. The opposite from quickening. Is death. We were spiritually dead. And now we've been given life. The Father quickens. The Son quickens. The Spirit of God quickens. All three members of the Godhead are active. In giving life. And if you come to Christ tonight. You will be given life. Eternal life. Through trusting him as your own personal Savior. Wonderful to be quickened. Dead in sins. And now be made alive. But that's more. He's quickened us together with the Christ. The Christ. Not just Christ. The Christ. Which takes in Christ in the church. And not only have we been quickened together with the Christ. He's raised us up together. So our position. Our position in Christ. After having been quickened. We're seated together in the heaven. What a rich people we are. I wonder just how much. We've entered into it. I wonder how much we value this so great salvation. That's found in the Lord Jesus. Are we willing just to say. Well I'm saved. I'm going to heaven. Well that's true. And that's wonderful. But let's approve those things that differ. Reconciliation is different from justification. They're linked up together like a bicycle. A bicycle wheel. And there's a hub. But there's folks going out from the hub. It's not all the same. It's a difference between you. Now they may happen to you all at the same time. Possibly. Simultaneously. But here's the problem. So great salvation that we have in this one. Who has what salvation? From the cross of Calvary. There's something else we need to look at quickly. And that's called new birth. Born again. Born from above. The Lord Jesus is in a view of Nicodemus. Nicodemus, you must be born again. If God doesn't work a work in your soul. You never will be saved. You never will have this experience. New birth is God's healing in a soul. There is a responsible aspect. It's true. And yet this is accomplished. Accomplished by God. God uses the word of God. And the spirit of God. The Holy Spirit uses the incorruptible seed. By the word of God. Of his own will. He begot us. By the word of truth. It's planted into a soul. And the spirit of God works this in a soul's life. In a soul's heart, if you please. But it is necessary. And it's reached to a length. The opposite from new birth is a bad birth. Like a fellow said one time. He was born bad and had a relapse. He couldn't get any lower down. And if we take the center platform, we can come into blessing. Now, the wind bloweth where it listeth. Now here's the sound thereof, but thou canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth. So is everyone born of the Spirit. Now when that happens, we don't know sometimes. Sometimes we know. I know the night it happened to me. But there are some people that don't know. But if you know you love the Lord Jesus as your Savior, that's happened to you. Give me an example. Here's a three-year-old child sitting on the step at his home on the fireplace. Mother comes in from hanging up the clothes. And the little three-year-old says to the mommy, Mommy, you know what I did? What, sweetheart? I let Jesus come into my heart. And mother says, Are you sure you let him come in? He says, I know. I wouldn't say it like you wanted me to. And he jumps off the fireplace, or jumps off the steps, and gets on his bicycle, and he goes riding. Couldn't he contend that he knows Jesus? He contends all along that he loves the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, of course, Mommy. Daddy, I let Jesus come into my heart. I'm saved. A little child just came up to me recently in another place and says, Brother Bob, you know what happened to me? I said, What, dear? I let Jesus come into my heart. I got saved. Well, I'm not to say they're not saved. Okay. That's a little child. They become a teenager. They go to a camp. Maybe they go to a matrimonial camp, or they come to a Bible conference. They come out to the meeting hall. The brother preaches the gospel. And they shake in their shoes, and they're under the condition, and they get saved that night. When did the work begin in that soul? Well, the wind blew it where it lives. Now, here's the Santeros. Now, the Kisneros. Now, when's it come? When's it going? But here's what you can know. If God begins a work in the soul, he's going to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. Some person might come in this chapel that's unsaved, hear the gospel, be born again, saved, and everything else right in one night. Could be. I know a brother says, I don't know what happened to me, but I know I love the Lord. I know my sins are forgiven. So the important thing, you know you've trusted Christ as your Savior. And many of us, once we got saved, we look back and say, oh, the Lord was working in my life way long before I got saved. He knows, and he deals with us. So how good to know the Lord Jesus and our personal Savior. Well, there's something else in this little great salvation, and that's also in the book of Ephesians, and that's called the gift of the Spirit. The gift of the Holy Spirit, Ephesians chapter 1, notice verse 12. Verse 12, that we Jews, that's what that we means, has to do with Jews, that we Jews should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ and whom also he Gentiles, see that's Gentiles, that he, he Gentiles also trusted after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that you believed ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. Next verse, the word which should be who, who is the earnest of the down payment of the foretaste of our inheritance. And how long? Until the redemption of the purchased possession and it's all unto the praise of the glory of God the Father which he has worked into our lives, being given the Spirit of God. Now, we're not going to go in great depth about this because this type of meeting, the moment you trust Christ as Savior, you are given you're sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, now sealing denotes ownership, we belong to Christ, we don't belong to ourselves anymore we can't even tell ourselves what we're supposed to do. He that trusts his own heart is a fool. So we don't even tell ourselves what we're supposed to do, we have to get instructions from headquarters. So every day let us ask the Lord to lead us and guide us and direct us, because we might go our own way, it might sound very nice, but it may not be the Lord's will at all. So let's make sure we get instructions from that hand in the glory. We're sealed with the Holy Spirit, that denotes ownership. Now, verse 14, the Spirit of God is the earnest, there's an earnestness of the Spirit, that's just a foretaste. Wasn't it lovely this afternoon just to sit down and enjoy fellowship together with other believers, sitting under the sound of the word and fellowshipping with those who love the Lord, just a little foretaste of the glory. What would it be when we're with Christ? That would be a wonderful thing. So there's the foretaste of the Spirit, the earnestness of the Spirit. I might just mention here too, the baptism of the Holy Spirit happened on the day of Pentecost and can never be repeated. It's a historical act, it's not an individual act. When you get saved, you don't have to get the baptism of the Holy Spirit, because that already happened. For by one Spirit have we all been baptized into one body. First Corinthians chapter 12, verse 13. You say, how is that? Well, let me give you an example. Here's a young couple, they get married. They begin their family. One child is born into the family. The family has begun. Here's a second child, a third child, a fourth child. Does the family go all the way back and get started again? Of course not. When they launch a ship, they launch a ship with all kinds of flags and fanfare and all kinds of things. Once the ship is launched, they take out all those flags and fanfare and they go out into the ocean, as it were. Well, the Spirit of God came down on the day of Pentecost and baptized all believers who ever will be saved or shall be saved from Pentecost to the rapture. It's a historical thing. And for an individual believer to seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit, that's 2,000 years too late. He has already come and the moment you trust Christ, you come under the value of that work that happened on the day of Pentecost. No more could Christ die the second time on the cross. We wouldn't even entertain the thought as if we could, as if Christ would die a second time. Well, of course not. He died once and for all. The Spirit of God came down on Pentecost once and for all and baptized all believers into one body. And when you and I get saved, we come under the value of that one baptism of the Spirit of God. How good every believer, sealed with the Spirit, the harness of the Spirit. There's the anointing of the Spirit, which is for service. The unction of the Spirit. The simplest believer can detect error. They may not know what it's all about, but they'll know it's just not right. The unction of the Spirit. There are many other aspects of the Holy Spirit, too. To be filled with the Spirit. Not walking in the flesh or fulfilling the lust of the flesh, but walking in the Spirit and being here for Christ. Well, there's one more thing and we are all done. And that is salvation. You say, well, why do you put salvation? You've got so great salvation. Well, we have been saved, but there's a thing about salvation. You remember the Apostle Peter? The Lord Jesus was walking on the water. And Peter saw the Lord Jesus walking on the water. And he said, Lord, if it be Thou, make me come. And the Lord said, come. So he gets out of the boat and he's walking on the water. Instead of getting out of the boat, he's leaving Christendom and going to Christ outside the camp. That's the typical teaching. But he gets out and walks on the water. And as long as he has his eyes upon the Lord, everything is alright. And once he gets his eyes off, he starts to think. And what did he say? What did he say? Lord save me. Well, Peter is already saved. What do you need to be saved again for? Well, that's day-by-day salvation. So how wonderful to be saved day-by-day. I remember going to Cleveland, Pennsylvania one time to a conference, and it was only the two-lane road, not the interstate, the four lanes. And a car was coming towards us head-on. And we said, I said, Lord save us. At that time, I was just a little bit jotted off, and then back on the highway. He saved us from getting killed. We'd been in the glory if we'd gotten killed. I remember one of our children, swallowed a potato chip and got strangled. And my wife, we lived about a block from the fire station, and she took the little girl to the fire station and ran, and I got on my knees and asked the Lord to save her. And about the time she got to the fire station, the little girl breathed. So that was day-by-day salvation. The Lord might save me from an unpleasant experience tomorrow. I'm a Jedi. He saved us in the power of endless life. We have been saved. We're being saved day-by-day. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Oh Lord, save me from that unpleasant experience. Oh Lord, I've got to meet an unpleasant teacher tomorrow, and a child might save me from that unpleasant experience. When the child gets there, there's a substitute there that day. So have good of each day, and enjoy so great salvation. There is a verse or two to look at closing in connection with salvation. Go to Titus, chapter 3. Titus, chapter 3. Verse 5. Is everyone here saved today? Eternally saved. What are we talking about? Do you know the Savior? If you don't know him, we're going to sing a closing hymn, Saved Through the Blood of Jesus. I believe it's about 60. While we're singing this closing hymn, you can come and take the Lord Jesus as your personal Savior and be saved. Thank you very much. 152. If you're not saved, get saved. Thank you. …