THE KIND OF SALVATION I WANT

  • Text:         Jeremiah 3:1-25
  • Intro:
    • 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.
        • See v. 23.
    • 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?
  • This morning I want to speak on “The Kind of Salvation I Want”
  • I.    I want salvation that is established on the Word of God
  • I am not interested in a salvation based on a church or some man made ritual and tradition.
    • I want a salvation that is based upon that which will not change!
    • The scriptures say concerning itself –
      • Psalm 119:89, “For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.””
      • Psalm 119:160, “Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.”
        • God’s word is established in His presence beyond the possibility of change.
      • Matthew 24:35, “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.”
  • When I say the Word of God, I mean as preserved in Authorized Version 1611 King James Bible.
  • The Word of God is –
    • 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 .See 2 Peter 1:20-21.
      The Word of God is –
      • 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 towering 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 un-chipped.
    • 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.
      • Isaiah 40:8, says concerning the word of our God – “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.”
  • My friend, I don’t know about you but I want salvation that is established on the Word of God
  • # 2
  • II.   I want a salvation that can erase my sins
    • The word of God says –
      • “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:”“ For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”
      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.” (1 John 1:7)
  • Hymn “There Is A Fountain Filled With Blood” – written by William Cowper.
    • There is a fountain filled with blood Drawn from Immanuel’s veins; And sinners plunged beneath that flood, 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.
  • Isa. 38:17 – “…for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.”.
  • Micah 7:19 – “…thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.”
    • Never to rise again to view, buried out of sight in eternal oblivion: not merely at the shore side, where they may rise again.
  • My friend, I don’t know about you but I want a salvation that can erase my sins
  • # 3
  • 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 me enjoy praying, preaching, witnessing, and singing.
      • Habakkuk 3:18, “Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.”
    • If you are saved then you can tell people 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
  • My friend, I don’t know about you but I want a salvation I can enjoy thoroughly
  • # 4
  • 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.
      I want a salvation that will let me cry as Stephen did upon his death “Lord, Jesus, receive my spirit, “.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, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. “   and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.”
    • I read about a lady who broke the lines and touched 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!