July 29, 01

The kind of salvation I want
Jeremiah 3:23

The prophet Jeremiah did not come with a message of deliverance to announce
but rather a tragic message of judgment. So dangerous was his message that
people hearing it called him a traitor. He would be misunderstood,
persecuted, arrested, and imprisoned; and more than once, his life was in
danger. The nation did not want to hear the truth, but Jeremiah told them
plainly that they were defying the Lord, disobeying the Law, and destined
for judgment. Jeremiah's task was not an easy one because he had to sound
the death chime for his nation. He denounces the people, priests, and
princes for their sins, especially the sin of idolatry. The nation of Judah
had turned her back on the Lord and was following the false prophets who led
them to worship idols.
Judgment was coming. Their salvation was not in the pagan idols on the
hills. Heathen gods would not and could not deliver them. As far as
bringing them salvation, the idols had cost them their cattle and even their
children whom they had sacrificed to them. The hope of their salvation was
their destruction. Their idols brought them nothing but shame.
I don't want that kind of salvation. All men need salvation, but what do
you have or want in a salvation?

I. I want a salvation that is established on the Word of God
Not interested in a salvation based on a church or some ritual. I want a
salvation that is based upon that which will not change!
"For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven" - established in God's
presence beyond the possibility of change.
Matthew 10:35 "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not
pass away."
I Peter 1:25 "But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And
this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you."
A. Inspired - God breathed
B. Infallible
Wholly trustworthy and reliable
C. Inerrant
free from error

This is the greatest book on earth
Unparalleled it stands
Its Author is God; its truth is divine
Inspired in every word and line,
Though written by human hands.

It is eternal in its composition.
It is inerrant in its content.
It is impeccable in its character.

The Bible is a Book above and beyond all books. It is inexpressible in
value, immeasurable in influence, infallible in authority, and inspired it
totality.
Century after century men have tried to burn it or bury it. Kings of the
earth have set themselves against it to destroy it form off the face of the
earth, but it "liveth and abideth forever."

The Bible stands like a mountain tow'ring
Far above the works of men;
Its truth by none ever was refuted,
And destroy it they never can.

The story is told a visitor who toured a blacksmith's shop[. Viewing heaps
of discarded hammers but only one huge anvil, he asked, "How often to you
replace your anvil?"
With a smile the owner replied, "Never, It is the anvil that wears out the
hammers, you know."
So it is the Word of God. The hammers of persecution, ridicule ,
liberalism and atheism have for centuries pounded out their vicious blows
upon the divine anvil, but to no avail. There they lie, in rusting piles,
while the mighty anvil of the Scriptures stands unbroken, unshaken, and
unchipped.

Voltaire once said, "Another century and there will not be a Bible on the
earth." The century is gone and the circulation of the bible is one of the
marvels of the age. After he died, his old printing press and the very
house where he lived was purchased by Geneva Bible Society and made a
warehouse for Bibles.

"The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall
stand forever" (Isaiah 40:8).

II. I want a salvation that can erase my sins
"All have sinned....."
One of the truly great and far reaching blessings of God's salvation is
what it does to sin.
The repenting sinner is immediately and eternally saved from the penalty of
sin, provided with victory over the power of sin, and guaranteed final
removal from the presence of sin.
No preacher, priest, pope, church or water can banish my sins.
Jesus bare our sins in his own body on the tree. He paid our sin debt.
The Bible is full of beautiful passages that vividly describe what Jesus
can do with our sins:
"As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our
transgressions from us" (Psalm 103:12).
The north-south measure is finite, not so with the east-west measure. Sin
is removed so far, then we may be sure that the scent, the trace, the very
memory of it must be entirely gone. If this be the distance of its removal,
there is no shade of fear of its ever being brought back again."The blood of
Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."

There is a fountain filled with blood
Drawn from Immanuel's veins;
And sinners punged beneath that food,
Lose all their guilty stains,
Lose all their guilty stains,
Lose all their guilty stains,
And sinners, plunged beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains.

"For thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back" (Isaiah 38:17).
"Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea" (Micah 7:19).
never to rise again to view, buried out of sight in eternal
oblivion: not merely at the shore side, where they may rise again.

III. I want a salvation I can enjoy thoroughly
I don't want a religion that burdens my soul and makes me gloomy and sad.
There is already enough in this world that burdens and weighs me down.
I want a salvation that I can cherish and boast of. Peter described the
salvation I want and have as one who rejoices "with joy unspeakable and full
of glory." I want a salvation that brings a joy so deep and so wonderful
that I have a difficult time expressing it. "Thanks be unto God for his
unspeakable gift."

Man who had recently trusted Christ was questioned about his decision,
"Well, I hear you have given up all your pleasures."
"No, no" replied the new Christian, "the fact lies the other way. I have
just found all my pleasures, and I have given up all my follies."

I want and have a salvation that makes my enjoy praying, peaching,
witnessing, and singing.
"I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation" (Hab.
3:18). Don't feel sorry for me. I am enjoying what I have in Christ.
A. I am enjoying the righteousness
B. I am enjoying the resources
C. I am enjoying the relationship

IV. I want a salvation that will escort me to heaven
When it comes to die, I want a salvation that will bring me to glory. When
my life is ebbing away, I want a salvation that will open heaven and receive
me. "Lord, Jesus, receive my spirit," as Stephen.
I want a salvation that will let me shout aloud at death, "O, death, where
is thy sting? O, grave, where is thy victory."
I want a salvation that can say with confidence as Paul, "absent from the
body, and to be present with the Lord."
I want a salvation that will allow me to say as David, "though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear not evil; for thou
art with me.........and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

I read about a lady who broke the lines and tocued the Queen of England. As
she was hauled off she was heard to say, "Now I can die happy." That is the
kind of salvation I want.

Conclusion
What kind of salvation do you have? Do you have a salvation that will bring
shame and destruction as Judah did during the time of Jeremiah? Or do you
have the true salvation that is found only in Jesus Christ? All other
salvation is sinking sand!

Jimmy Chapman

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