The California Collection/TheCaliforniaCollection.cdr/his116/vanimp2a.txt

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THE LORD JESUS CHRIST
SAVIOR OF THE WORLD

CHAPTER 1

Today, I want to speak to you about my wonderful Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ. The Holy Bible gives Him manifold titles and names, but
the one that means so much to all of us as poor hopeless sinners, is
Savior, because it immediately instills hope within our hearts
concerning salvation. His very name -- Jesus, means, "salvation."
Matthew 1:21 states," . . . thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall
save his people from their sins." Multitudes today are trusting in man-
made rituals to get them inside of God's heaven. I very dogmatically
and emphatically want to state at the outset of this message that there
isn't a ceremonial rite in all of Christendom's churches that can save a
man. Jesus Christ alone is the only way to get eternal life.

THE SAVIOR

1. First of all, let's see how often he is called the Savior. Mary, the
mother of Jesus, in that tremendous portion of Scripture often
described as the "Magnificant," cries out, "My soul doth magnify the
Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior," Luke 1:46-47. In
Luke 2 the angel of the Lord appears unto the shepherds and states in
verses 10 and 11, "Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which
shall be to all people; for unto you is born this day in the city of David
a Savior which is Christ the Lord." Also in Luke 2, Simeon, who had
been waiting for the consolation or hope of Israel, has the Holy Ghost
come upon him, and jubilantly shouts in verses 29 and 30, "Lord, now
lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For
mine eyes have seen thy salvation." And he's looking upon Jesus as he
cries out these words. In John 4, a wicked woman, who has had 5
husbands and living common law with number 6, turns to Jesus Christ
for forgiveness. The woman excitedly runs back to the city and tells
the people about her new-found joy in this Christ, who has blotted out
her sordid past. When the men of the city hear the Lord's discourses
for 2 days, they exuberantly cry out in verse 42, "Now we believe, not
because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know
that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world." In Acts 5,
Peter and some of the apostles are threatened with punishment, even
unto death (verse 33). However the great apostle Peter so loved this
Jesus and believed so strongly in the fact that he was the only way of
salvation and eternal life, that he was willing to die in order that this
message might be proclaimed. I can almost hear this impulsive
preacher saying, "We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of
our Fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him
hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior,"
verses 29-31. Acts 13:23 calls him a Savior, Jesus. Ephesians 5:23,
"Christ is the head of the church: and he is the Savior of the body."
Compare this with I Corinthians 12:13, "For by one Spirit are we all
baptized into one body." This is the church, the body of Christ, into
which we are implanted at the time of regeneration. And Ephesians
5:23 states that Christ is the Savior of this body. Notice--it is not
baptism, reformation, confirmation, works, creeds, and human efforts
that place one into the true church, but it's the Lord Jesus Christ who
is the Savior of this body. Amen! The apostle Paul tells us that one of
the reasons he was willing to go thru suffering, torture, and even
death, was because of his trust in the Savior. Death could only mean
that the one who saved him would welcome him home into heaven.
Hear him in I Timothy 4:10, "For therefore we both labor and suffer
reproach, because we trust in the Living God, who is the Savior of all
men, especially of those that believe." In II Timothy 1:9-10 Paul goes
on to say that it was not a system of self-attainment thru works that
would place him eternally in the glory land but a precious Savior
whose name was Jesus Christ. Listen to the simplicity of these
instructive verses. "Who hath saved us and called us with an holy
calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose
and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ,
who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to
light thru the gospel" (or thru the good news). Again, he hath
abolished death. Wonderful, isn't it? "And he hath brought life and
immortality to light thru the gospel." Immortality speaks about living
eternally, and it all comes thru the gospel, or the good news. Did you
get the impact? Eternal life was thru the gospel, and gospel means
good news, and that gospel or good news is explained in I Corinthians
15:1-4, "Christ died, was buried, and he rose again the third day,
according to the Scriptures." Put it all together and it simply says that
everlasting life does not come thru your denominational record of
being a good worker, but thru acceptance of the Savior's death by the
shedding of blood and resurrection. Titus 2:13 speaks about the return
of the Lord and says, "looking for that blessed hope and the glorious
appearing of the great God and Savior, Jesus Christ." Notice--it is not
Buddha, Mohammed or Zoroaster who is the Savior, but the Lord Jesus
Christ. There's no other Savior-- Jesus is the only way. II Peter 1:1
again calls him "Our Savior, Jesus Christ."

SAVIOR'S MINISTRY

Now, a Savior is not some honorary title bestowed upon the Lord Jesus
Christ at heaven's commencement exercises in recognition of his
wonderful teachings, but rather depicts his ministry upon earth. So,
secondly we consider the Savior's saving power. We're living in a time
of rebellion. Corrupted mankind is trying to destroy all of our
foundational structures. This can also be witnessed in the religious
world, as apostate liberal clergymen try to mock the doctrines of the
virgin birth, the deity of Christ, his blood atonement upon the cross,
and his bodily resurrection.

"JESUS SAVES"

Many laugh at the old-fashioned terminology, "Jesus Saves." Many
deliberately mock the word, "saved," as an invention of some
simpleton. Our God predicted this would happen, and it's one of
the signs of the end. II Peter 2:1-2, "But there were false prophets
also among the people, even as there shall be (one of the signs) false
teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies,
even denying the Lord that bought them. And bring upon themselves
swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways by
reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of." There are
two things we can do for these poor misguided souls: 1) pray for them,
2) thank God that they're around because it means that Jesus Christ is
coming soon to call us home. Let them laugh. The term "saved," was
placed in the Bible scores of times by a Holy God. One better
investigate and accept this truth if one is interested in eternal life.

TERMINOLOGY

2. Now let's study the terminology. I could quote verses for a solid hour
that salvation is of God and that God put it in the Bible and I'll take a
limited number that speak exclusively about Christ being the way of
salvation. "Thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save his people
from their sins," Matthew 1:23. "The Son of man has come to save that
which was lost," Matthew 18:11. "God sent not his son into the world to
condemn the world; but that the world thru him (Jesus) might be
saved," John 3:17. Jesus said, "I am the door: by me if any man enter in,
he shall be saved," John 10:9. "I came not to judge the world, but to
save the world," John 12:47. Paul says, "Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and thou shalt be saved," Acts 16:31. "I am not ashamed of the
gospel of Christ (or the good news
of Christ) . . ." Not rites, ceremonies, rituals, the Sermon on the Mount,
the Golden Rule, the Ten Commandments, but the gospel, the good news
of Christ. ". . . for this good news of Christ is the power of God unto
salvation to every one that believeth," Romans 1:16. "We shall be saved
from wrath, through Him," Romans 5:9. "That if thou shalt confess with
thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God has
raised him from the dead. thou shalt be saved," Romans 10:9. In I
Corinthians 15:1, we find, "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the
gospel (the good news), which I preached unto you, which also you
have received, and wherein you stand; By which also you are saved."
How? Verse 3."Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; And
that he was buried, and he rose again the third day according to the
Scriptures." This alone is the message of the gospel, the good news, the
only way of salvation. Christ died, shed his blood, and rose again.

THE BLOOD

This power to save all the world is because of his precious, shed
blood at Calvary. Leviticus 17:11, "It is the blood that makes an
atonement for the soul." Acts 20:28, "He bought the Church with his
own blood." Ephesians 1:7, "In whom we have redemption thru his
blood." I Peter 1:19, "Redeemed with the precious blood of Jesus."
Revelation 1:5, "Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in
his own blood." So you see, without shedding of blood there is no
remission of sins (Hebrews 9:22). It's not enough to state that Christ
died, as so many intellectuals do today in order to do away with the
sacriflce of his blood. Literature and sermons often leave out the blood;
but a bloodless death on the cross could not save anyone. Let me repeat
that. A bloodless death on the cross could not save anyone. Had Christ
died of a heart attack or of suffocation upon that cross, you would have
been lost forever, for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.
Because of it, he came to earth to take upon himself a body with blood
so that he might shed that blood for your sins (Hebrews 10:5). If you
receive this sacrifice of the shed blood of Jesus Christ now you can be
saved immediately.

SINNER NEEDS SAVIOR

3. Finally, if Christ is a Savior and has saving power, we conclude that
he came because sinners needed saving. This is what it's all about.
Christ, a Savior, came to save sinners. That's what Paul says--"This is a
faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners," I Timothy 1:15. Not only does this
include everyone you know, but embraces you, as well. Christ would
have all men to be saved, including you (I Timothy 2:4). "He gave
himself a ransom for all," including you, I Timothy 2:6. The only
reason some of you will never get saved is because you think you've
never been lost. You think you were born into sainthood. You're like
the Pharisee in the temple who said, "I am not as other men are,"
Luke 18:11. However, Jesus said in Matthew 5:20, "Except your
righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and
Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of heaven."
Why? The Pharisees were so caught up in admiration of their own
goodness that they needed nothing from God, nothing at all. Some of
you are like that and God says to you in Isaiah 64:6, "We are all as an
unclean thing and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags." Galatians
3:22, "The Scripture hath concluded all under sin." God not only wants
to save you from the misery of your sin now, but from the eternal
penalty into which your sin will drag you. John 3:36, "He that
believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth
(that's eternally) on him." Why? Because you won't receive the Son.
Oh, my friend, the Savior longs to save you if you will only listen.
You need saving because all are sinners, and thru his blood you can be
washed white. Some of you are white-washed, because you've had all
the rituals of the Church performed upon you, but you need to get
washed white. Call on him. "Lord Jesus. come into my heart."