Moonday Morning 10.3.11
jmichaelwalls
Acts 26:24-32
Introduction: Paul has just finished giving his testimony of the
salvation grace of God. If there was anyone who least seemed to be saved,
it was Paul. He had every thing seeming going for him. He was part of the
most notable religious organizations in Israel. Not only that, he went
after the Christians in the name of God. He did everything right but all
that he did was for nought. He was trusting in what he did to get to
heaven. The scriptures are very plain on this. Ephesians 2:8-9
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it
is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."
Titus 3:5
"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his
mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the
Holy Ghost"
Romans 3:20
"Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in
his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin."
His past was a man lost in sin. Every man, woman, boy and girl are lost
that have not taken Christ as their Saviour. Taken Christ, as Saviour is
a life changing experience. A person who has not any change in his or her
life is not saved. This is backed with scripture.
2nd Corinthians 5:17
"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are
passed away; behold, all things are become new."
His present was being saved by the grace of God. He tells how he was
saved. He was on his way to Damascus to prosecute the Christians. He met
the Master. Even since that day, his life was never the same. Being saved
has nothing to do with my personality or looks. It has nothing to do with
my nationality or race. Jesus came to save anyone who will come to Him.
John 6:37
"All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to
me I will in no wise cast out."
The only person that Jesus cannot save is the one who does not ask Him to
do so. By reviewing just the book of John, you can see changed lives that
came into contact with Jesus. In chapter three we see the clean sinner in
the life of Nicodemus. He was religious but lost. In chapter four we find
the corrupt sinner. She was an outcast. It is seen in the fact that she
was at the well in Samaria at noontime instead of the cool of the day. In
chapter five we see the crippled sinner. He is crippled for over thirty
years. Then we see the cornered sinner in chapter eight. She is facing
certain death. In each of these cases, the person in question life was
changed. The four gospels are full of lives changed. This is the possible
present that everyone can face.
His prospective was bright. He was going to face some of the greatest
trials of his life but the end was really glorious. If Paul had a motto,
it would this verse in the book of Philippians.
Philippians 1:21
"For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."
He lived in the real world of 2nd Corinthians 5:8.
"We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body,
and to be present with the Lord."
Paul lost his head at the hand of Nero but instantly he was transported
into the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ who probably uttered the words
"Well done my good and faithful servant."
Salvation is the greatest event of any person�s life. It is my prayer and
direction that I would like to see in others lives today.
Paul is standing before King Agrippa and his wife Bernice. He appealed
his case to him. But the chief verse is verse twenty-eight.
"Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a
Christian."
There are some dangerous situations in regards to salvation. We can see
this today as the message progressive.
I. THE DANGER OF PUTTING SALVATION OFF
2nd Corinthians 6:2b
"behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation."
A. Scripture or history never records the salvation of Agrippa and his
wife. History tells of their death shortly after this invitation to be
saved. What a shame, to believe with your head and not with your heart.
Acts 26:27
"King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest."
Romans 10:9-10
"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt
believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt
be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with
the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
You can believe and not be saved.
James 2:19
"Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also
believe, and tremble."
The devils or the demons believe that Jesus is God and that He can and
will saved but just not them. As I said a few minutes ago that you could
believe with your head but not with your heart is a huge problem. That
will laid you in hell when you die.
B. Life is short. 1st Peter 1:24
"For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of
grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away"
James 4:14
"Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life?
It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth
away."
3 people die each second, 180 people die each minute, 10800 people die
each hour, almost 260,000 people die each day and almost 10 million
people die each year.
It seems like that it was like yesterday that I was a teenager in high
school and that I was saved. Now I am fifty-five years old. It seems a
few days ago that our boys were born and now all three of them are
married and two have children. Life is short.
C. Today may be your day to meet the Lord.
Amos 4:12
"Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this
unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel."
Hebrews 9:27
"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the
judgment"
No one wakes this morning and say with it absolutely certainty that they
would not die. Why is that? There is no secret formula to know if you are
going to die today. So the first dangerous situation in salvation is
putting off being saved.
II. THE DANGER OF PLAYING GAMES WITH SALVATION
2nd Corinthians 5:17
"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are
passed away; behold, all things are become new."
Some are using the Lord like a convenience store. I can go to the Brogden
Mart and get almost anything I need. But I have to pay much more for it.
I bought a can of evaporated mile recently and it cost three times what I
would have paid at Wal-Mart.
Some have what is called foxhole salvation. One person said that there
are no atheists in foxholes. I remember what my pastor says in his
personal testimony of salvation. He was the Korean War. He was in a
foxhole and he promised God that he would be saved and quit drinking if
the Lord would keep him alive. After he got out of the army, he forgot
his "deal" he made with the Lord. Almost ten years later, God saved him
from the life of a drunkard.
A. Some try to make deals with God. The Lord is not "Monty Hall". He does
not make deals. It is not what is behind door number one or number two or
door number three. He is plain on the subject. John 14:6
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man
cometh unto the Father, but by me."
Acts 4:12
"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name
under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."
Here are some of the deals some people like to deal with God.
1. If you will heal me, I�ll get saved. I wonder how people could really
think that is the way that God works. There have been a few that God has
healed and they really got saved but it is a rarity. That would make Him
like a genie in a bottle.
2. If you can help me out of this problem, I�ll get saved. Then after the
problem is gone, they forget God.
I could not think of all the "deals" people try to do with salvation.
Jesus is not a way but the way. Jesus is not some truth but the only
truth. Jesus is not a way of life but real life that only comes from God.
John 10:10
"The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I
am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more
abundantly."
B. Some are trying to mimic deliverance from God. This is an act to try
to fool others. Remember something I said earlier and it is reemphasized
now. If there is NO CHANGE, there was NO SALVATION. Why play the game of
being saved and go to hell? It is pure foolishness to do so.
III. THE DANGER OF PAYING NO ATTENTION TO SALVATION
Isaiah 55:6
"Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is
near"
You better pay attention to the Lord. Why? Let me give you three good
results of not pay attention to salvation.
A. Calamity could be coming. Proverbs 1:22-28
"How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners
delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? Turn you at my
reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my
words unto you. Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched
out my hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my
counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your
calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; When your fear cometh as
desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and
anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not
answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me"
It may be a personal calamity. I know that it rains on the just and the
unjust. It may be a serious illness. It may be the death of a loved one.
Whatever calamity comes, you might try to call upon the Lord and He will
not answer. Why? God has tried to get your attention so you would get
saved. But you pay no attention to Him. Calamity comes and you want God
to help.
B. Careless with your life Luke 12:16-20
"And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich
man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying,
What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he
said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and
there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my
soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease,
eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night
thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be,
which thou hast provided?"
You pay more attention to getting stuff than the salvation from the Lord.
Some of the rich people of the world don�t care that lies ahead. They
have all the toys that they want. They think that they don�t need God.
The shame of the matter is that very few ever witness to this class of
people.
You don�t have to be rich to be like this man in the parable. You cannot
ignore God forever. You can be careless with the opportunities to be
saved.
C. Christless eternity is coming Revelation 21:8
"But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and
whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have
their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is
the second death."
People need to think of the company that you will be having by paying no
attention to salvation. This passage is the whos who of the lake of fire.
I will not be able to go into each category of sinner that is in the lake
of fire. Let me say this about the lake of fire. Hell will be cast into
the lake of fire. So that must mean that the lake of fire is worse than
hell. Revelation 21:14
"And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second
death."
Hell will fill of the worse of the worst and the best of the best. All
are lost and have stood the Great White Throne Judgment. Now for
eternity, they will suffer with this group of inhabitants.
IV. THE DANGER OF PASSING OVER SALVATION TO THE POINT OF NO RETURN
I am told that there is a place on a runway that if the plane goes pass
that point, the pilot is totally committed to fly the plane. Before he
gets to that point, he can start putting on the brakes and easing up on
the throttle and he can stop but not after that point. The same can be
applied to being saved. You can go to the point of never being saved. But
it is individualized. What may be the point of no salvation for one will
not be for another!
Pharaoh would have not suffered with the plagues that came upon the land
if he had repented. He would not repent. So he went to the point of no
return. Once there, he never repented or turned back. Genesis 6:3
"And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that
he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years."
One opportunity is sufficient to be saved.
Matthew 11:28-30
"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly
in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy,
and my burden is light."
It is said that that the average person hears the Gospel three times
before they get saved. But God is merciful by giving us more than one
chance to be saved. In fact, there are literally billions that have not
gotten one chance to hear even the name of the Lord Jesus and we have
opportunity after opportunity and take ourselves to the point where God�s
Spirit does not deal with us no more. Yes, He is the God of mercy and
love but you have to come on His terms and in His time.
The same sun that melts the wax hardens the clay.
Proverbs 29:1
"He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be
destroyed, and that without remedy."
Each time that you say no to the Lord, you harden your heart to the
speaking of God to your heart. Each time it is easier to say no until you
will not even feel convinced any longer.
Conclusion: As I said from the beginning, being saved is the greatest
event in anyone�s life. Why should a person say no to the Lord when He is
calling you to be saved.
It is dangerous to put off being saved. It is dangerous to playing games
with salvation. It is dangerous to pay no attention to salvation because
you may get to the point of no return.
If God is speaking to your heart today, you need to do business with God
today. Jesus is waiting to save you today.
Pastor Mike Walls
Freedom Baptist Church Smithfield, NC
http://freedombaptistchurchnc.wordpress.com/
http://iglesiabautistalibertad.wordpress.com/
____________________________________________________________
60-Year-Old Mom Looks 27
Mom Reveals Free Wrinkle Trick That Has Angered Doctors!
http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/4e89a6947c3f274d811st06vuc