Speak to our hearts tonight and help us to know what that means, that Jesus Christ is our Savior.
And please just help everyone to be established in the faith tonight more than they were when they walked in,
or perhaps there's somebody here tonight who's not saved.
I pray that they would know Jesus Christ as their Savior before it's eternally too late.
And in Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
Now in Matthew chapter 1, it's a very significant chapter, of course, the first chapter in the New Testament.
And it must be a significant chapter.
I mean, probably the two most read chapters in the Bible are Genesis 1 and Matthew 1, you know,
because people start reading the Bible and maybe they don't get very far,
but they're usually going to at least read the first chapter.
And so God introduces us to someone in this chapter, Jesus.
For the first time in the Bible that word is used, Jesus.
And you'll notice that it gives us a definition of what the name Jesus even means.
And in verse 21 where it says,
And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins.
Now, there's a lot of talk about salvation.
You hear the term a lot, saved. I use the term a lot, saved.
Every day of my life I use that word.
It's a word that's throughout the Bible.
Talk about salvation, being saved.
But the word being saved, I mean, it begs the question, saved from what?
You know, I mean, what is salvation?
I mean, what's the danger that I'm being saved from?
What am I saved from when I'm saved?
Well, the answer's right here in Matthew chapter 1.
The Bible reads,
He shall save his people, because the word Jesus means savior,
says he shall save his people from their sins.
You see, salvation is being saved from your sins.
Now, look if you would at the book of Romans.
Flip forward in your Bible to the sixth book in the New Testament, Romans.
And this is a little more of a doctrinal sermon tonight,
because I feel like we're living in a day where most Baptists even
don't even know what we believe about a lot of things.
They parrot something that they've heard over and over,
but they don't know why they believe it.
They don't know what the Bible says.
And so this is a doctrinal message
teaching you about the doctrine of salvation.
The most important doctrine there is,
because what has man profited?
That he should gain the whole world if he shall lose his own soul.
And so salvation is the most important doctrine in the Bible.
And what is salvation?
I mean, it's something that we need to know.
So look at Romans chapter 11.
See, with Romans chapter 11, verse number 26.
Remember, we established, first of all,
that salvation is being saved from our sins, according to the Bible.
The first time it's mentioned in the New Testament,
it says, he shall save his people from their sins.
Look at verse number 26 of Romans 11.
The Bible says, and so all Israel shall be saved.
As it is written, there shall come out of Zion the deliverer,
and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.
For this is my covenant unto them,
when I shall take away their sins.
You see, he says, salvation.
He said, when Israel is going to eventually be saved,
he said, it's going to be me taking away their sins,
because that's what salvation is.
Look, if you would, at the book of Hebrews,
toward the end of the New Testament.
I'm laying a little bit of a foundation for the message,
but look at the book of Hebrews toward the very end,
in verse, chapter number 10, verse number 10,
we'll begin reading.
Hebrews 10, verse number 10, the Bible reads,
by the which will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ,
once for all.
And every priest standeth daily,
ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices,
which can never take away sins.
But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice
for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God,
from henceforth expecting till his enemies
be made his footstool.
For by one offering, he has perfected forever
them that are sanctified.
Now, did you notice in verse number 11,
it says that the sacrifices in the Old Testament
that they were offering continually year by year,
it says they could never take away sins.
That's why salvation was never through
the Old Testament sacrifices.
But it says, but this man,
after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever,
sat down on the right hand of God,
from henceforth expecting till his enemies
be made his footstool, verse number 14,
for by one offering he has perfected forever
them that are sanctified.
You see, salvation through Jesus Christ,
atonement on the cross, is something that once for all
takes away our sins forever.
Something that the Old Testament sacrifice could never do.
It was only a shadow of things to come, the Bible says.
The offering of Jesus Christ once for all
will take away our sins and sanctify us forever.
Now, we understand, look if you would at Romans,
back at the book of Romans,
and I'm building the foundation for the message,
look at Romans chapter 10.
And I'm just proving to you these concepts
before I get into the meat of the message,
but look at Romans chapter 10 and verse number 9.
The Bible reads in Romans 10, 9,
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 see that?
He says in your heart when you believe on Jesus Christ,
you become righteous, is what the Bible says.
Now we know in Romans 3, 10,
we talked about it this morning if you're here,
there is none righteous, no not one.
But then Paul said in Philippians 3, 9,
not having mine own righteousness which is of the law,
but that which is through the faith of Christ,
the righteousness which is of God by faith.
The Bible says that Jesus Christ's righteousness
will be imputed unto us or put on our account
when we believe on Jesus Christ.
But to him that worketh not, the Bible says,
no good works, it says,
but to him that worketh not, in Romans 4, 5,
but believeth on him that justifies the ungodly,
his faith is counted for righteousness.
So the only righteousness that can save you,
what's righteousness?
I mean it's the absence of sin.
That's why the Bible says there's none righteous,
no not one, for all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God.
And so righteousness is where you've been,
you've had your sins taken away
by salvation through Jesus Christ,
and it's not something where you're living
this good righteous life,
but rather the righteousness of Jesus Christ
has been put on your account by faith.
Now, how do we get it?
Well, it's said right there, by believing.
With the heart man believeth unto righteousness,
and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Said in verse number nine,
if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus,
and shalt believe in thy heart that God is raised to be saved,
thou shalt be saved.
Now, the moment that you believe on Jesus Christ,
you are eternally saved.
He said, I give unto them everlasting life,
and no man shall pluck them out of my hand.
The Bible says he that heareth my word
and believeth on him that sent me
has everlasting life,
and shall not come into condemnation,
but is passed from death unto life.
So the moment that you believe on Jesus Christ,
you're saved, you're adopted as God's son or daughter,
you're a child of God, you have everlasting life,
you shall not come into condemnation,
you've been passed from death to life,
you've been adopted into the family of God,
God's your father, you're born again, you're saved,
you've been washed in the blood of the lamb,
but salvation has a past, a present, and a future aspect.
See, salvation happens in a moment
when you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus
and believe in your heart that God is raised from the dead,
but the effect of salvation on you
has a three-stage process.
One of them's in the past, one of them's in the present,
and one's in the future.
That's just basic Bible doctrine.
Number one, and this is the past aspect,
number one, you're saved the moment that you get saved
from the penalty of sin.
So if you've already been saved, this has already happened.
You've been saved from the penalty of sin.
You say, what is the penalty of sin?
Well, you're already in the book of Romans,
flip back to chapter number five,
look at Romans five, and look at verse number seven.
For scarcely for a righteous man will one die,
yet peradventure for a good man, some would even dare to die.
But God commended his love toward us
in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,
much more than being now justified by his blood.
We shall be saved from wrath through him.
Now, you notice there that it's past tense
because it says, being now justified by his blood.
He says, now, we've already believed on Jesus Christ,
we're now justified by his blood,
and that's why we're not going to see that wrath of God
that's talked about in Romans chapter five, verse nine.
Now, flip back to the book of John, two books back,
and look at John chapter three,
and we'll see this more in depth.
Look at John chapter three.
John 3, 16, we'll start reading,
most famous verse in the entire Bible.
John 3, 16 reads, for God so loved the world
that he gave his only begotten son
that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish but have everlasting life.
Now, here's our word saved in verse number 17.
For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world through him might be saved.
So what's the opposite of being saved?
Being condemned, that's what it says.
It says, he didn't send his son into the world
to condemn the world,
but that the world through him might be saved.
He that believeth on him is not condemned,
but he that believeth not is condemned already
because he didn't live a good life.
No, that's not what it says,
because he didn't go to church,
because he didn't get baptized.
No, it says, he's condemned already
because he has not believed
in the name of the only begotten son of God,
because whosoever believeth should not perish
but have everlasting life.
Now, if you would go down to the end of the chapter
and look at the last verse there,
this is not Jesus speaking anymore,
this is actually John the Baptist speaking
in verse number 36.
The Bible reads in John 3.36,
he that believeth on the son
hath everlasting life.
That's present tense.
And he that believeth not the son
shall not see life,
but the wrath of God abideth on him.
You see that?
So salvation, number one,
the past aspect of our salvation,
is the fact that we've been saved
from the wrath of God.
We've been saved by believing on Jesus Christ,
by putting our faith in Jesus Christ,
been born again,
and because we've been saved,
we're not going to see the condemnation
of one day facing God's wrath.
You say, well, what is that?
What are we talking about God's wrath?
Well, turn, if you would,
back to Romans,
chapter number six,
and I'll show you this,
Romans six,
and we're only going to turn to a few more scriptures,
I don't want to wear you out,
but Romans chapter six, verse 22.
Romans 6.22, the Bible reads,
but now being made free from sin
and become servants of God,
ye have your fruit unto holiness
and the end everlasting life,
for the wages of sin is death,
but the gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ.
Lord, see, the punishment for sin,
the penalty of sin is death.
That's what the punishment for sin,
the wages of sin is death.
The Bible reads in the Old Testament,
the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
The Bible says,
when lust has conceived,
it bringeth forth sin,
and sin, when it is finished,
bringeth forth death.
See, the result of sin,
remember the first sin ever committed
in Genesis chapter three?
God said,
in the days that thou eatest thereof,
thou shalt surely die.
See, death is always the punishment for sin.
Well, it goes further than that.
Turn to the last book in the Bible,
right at the end of your Bible there.
Look at Revelation chapter 20.
And you'll see in Revelation 20.14,
the Bible reads,
and death and hell
were cast into the lake of fire.
This is the second death.
So after physical death,
there's a second death of going to hell.
That's where God's wrath is poured out on you
in eternal damnation.
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.
This is the second death.
And whosoever was not found,
written in the book of life,
was cast into the lake of fire.
Now look down at verse number eight of chapter 21.
But the fearful and unbelieving
and the abominable and murderers
and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters,
now you may think,
well, I'm none of those things.
But look at that.
And all liars shall have their part
in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone,
which is the second death.
So the Bible says even lying will send you to hell.
One sin, any sin, will send you to hell
because the wages of sin is death.
The punishment for sin is that you'll die
and then you'll face a second death
of going to hell when you die
and facing God's wrath.
Now look, if you would, at the next chapter.
That's hell.
Look, if you would, at Revelation 21.
The next chapter we'll see heaven.
The Bible reads in,
it's actually the heavenly city Jerusalem
descending down from God
onto the new earth that's been created.
And the Bible reads in Revelation 21, 21.
And the 12 gates were 12 pearls.
Every several gate was one pearl.
And the street of the city was pure gold
as it were transparent glass.
And I saw no temple therein
for the Lord God Almighty
and the Lamb of the temple of it.
And the city had no need of the sun.
Neither of the moon to shine in it
for the glory of God did lighten it
and the Lamb is the light thereof.
And the nations of them which are saved,
you see that?
Shall walk in the light of it.
And the kings of the earth
do bring their glory and honor into it
and the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day
for there shall be no night there
and they shall bring the glory and honor
of the nations into it.
Look at verse 27.
Remember all the nations of the saved
are going to be there, he said.
Everybody who's saved is going to be there.
Look at verse 27.
And there shall in no wise
enter into it anything
he said defileth.
Neither whatsoever worketh abomination
or maketh a lie.
He said, somebody who tells one lie,
they're not going to be there.
And then it says,
but they which are written
in the Lamb's book of life.
You say, how can that be?
Nobody's perfect.
Everybody's a sinner.
Exactly right, everybody's a sinner.
We've all been condemned by sin
and so that's why we need salvation.
And that's why we need the righteousness
of Jesus Christ to be imputed to us.
Because the Bible says that
blessed is the man to whom the Lord
will not impute sin.
And that's what salvation is,
where God takes away our sins
and he translates us into the kingdom
of his dear Son
and he forgets our sins
and separates us from our sins
and saves us from our sins.
Well, what's the first aspect of that?
The first aspect of us being saved from our sins
is that we're saved from that penalty of sin
because if our name is in the book of life,
if we believed on Jesus Christ,
he said, he that believeth on the Son of God
is not condemned.
Are we going to be condemned
and cast into hell?
No, we're going to walk the golden streets of heaven.
Why?
Because we believed on the name
of the only God and Son of God.
And so we have everlasting life.
Are you ever going to die, Pastor Anderson,
you might say?
No, I will never die.
Now, my physical body is going to die.
But the Bible says to be absent from the body
is to be present with the Lord.
Jesus said in John chapter 11,
he said, I am the resurrection and the life.
He that believeth in me,
though he were dead,
yet shall he live.
And whosoever liveth and believeth in me
shall never die.
Believeth thou this.
I mean, think for a second.
Everlasting life sounds like you're never going to die.
I mean, if you just think about it, right?
I mean, everlasting life
sounds like you're going to live forever.
And so when you breathe your last breath
as a saved, born-again child of God,
you'll be translated to heaven, the Bible says,
and you'll never face the condemnation
of the second death
because your sins have been paid for
by Jesus Christ as what salvation is.
Now, there's a second aspect of salvation.
That's the past-tenth aspect.
I got saved when I was six years old.
I got on my knees by my bedside,
and I just said,
Dear God, I know I'm a sinner.
I know I deserve to go to hell,
but I believe that you died on the cross for me.
And I believe that you were buried in Rosie and I.
I just said, please save me right now.
I'm trusting only you.
I wasn't joining a church.
I wasn't getting baptized.
I wasn't deciding that I was going to turn my life around
and start living, right?
Because that's not what Jesus said you have to do.
He said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved.
That's what I did as a six-year-old boy.
And so that happened in the past.
When I was six years old
is when I was delivered from this condemnation
that's coming on the unsaved.
I was delivered from the penalty of my sin in the past.
But number two,
not only have I been saved from the penalty of my sin
when Jesus said he'll save us from our sins,
there's also a present-tenth salvation
that God is working in me
where God saved me from the power of my sins.
So number one, in the past,
I've already been saved from the penalty of my sin.
Number two, in the present,
I'm being saved from the power of my sin.
Look at Romans chapter 8.
I'll show you this.
I have to move quickly
because there's so much in this message.
But Romans chapter 8,
and look if you would at verse number 5,
we'll begin reading in Romans 8.
The Bible reads,
For they that are after the flesh,
Romans 8, 5,
do mind the things of the flesh,
but they that are after the Spirit,
the things of the Spirit.
For to be carnally minded is death,
but to be spiritually minded is life and peace,
because the carnal mind is enmity against God.
For it is not subject to the law of God,
neither indeed can be.
So then they that are in the flesh,
watch this, cannot please God.
So can an unsaved person
that's still in the flesh that has not been saved
and their spirit has been quickened,
can they please God?
No.
That's why the Bible says,
But without faith it is impossible to please Him,
in Hebrews 11, 6.
And so he says,
They that are in the flesh cannot please God,
but ye are not in the flesh,
but in the Spirit,
if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you.
Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ,
he's none of his.
So he's saying everybody who belongs to Jesus Christ
has the Holy Spirit living inside of them,
otherwise they're not part of the family.
And then in verse number 10 it says,
And if Christ be in you,
the body is dead because of sin,
but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
You see, the moment that I got saved,
remember how God told Adam in the Garden of Eden,
The day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die?
Well man is a three-part being,
body, soul, and spirit.
The moment that Adam sinned,
did his body die?
No.
He lived another several hundred years.
But what happened was his soul,
his spirit, I'm sorry,
his spirit died within him.
That's why the Bible says that our spirit is quickened
when we get saved.
It's brought back to life.
It's resurrected like Jesus was brought back to life.
And so the moment I got saved,
the unsaved person has a soul and a body,
but their spirit's dead.
That's why they can't understand the Bible.
That's why they can't understand spiritual concepts.
That's why they pray to God and God can't hear them.
Because they're not a spiritual person
because they don't have a spirit.
Their spirit's dead.
But as soon as they believe on Jesus Christ,
their spirit's revived within them and resurrected.
Now their spirit is saved,
but their body is still the same old sinful body
that they had before they got saved.
And now there's a dichotomy,
there's a war going on throughout the Bible.
You'll see this between the flesh and the spirit.
And the Bible says that the spirit left it against the flesh
and the flesh against the spirit
and the two are contrary one to the other
because the carnal mind, the fleshly mind,
is enmity against God.
It cannot be brought under the subjection of God's laws.
And so there's a battle that's always going to be going on there.
Now I'm going to read this for you quickly.
Turn to Romans 6.
You're in Romans 8.
Just turn back one page and while you're turning
I'm going to read to you something else for the sake of time.
1 Corinthians 10, verse number 1, the Bible says,
Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant,
how that all our fathers were under the cloud
and all passed through the sea,
and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea,
and did all eat the same spiritual meat
and did it all drink the same spiritual drink,
for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them
and that rock was Christ.
So here we see an illustration from the Old Testament
and this is the meat of the message,
but we see an illustration of the Old Testament
of how in the Old Testament the children of Israel
were in the land of Egypt, which represents bondage, slavery.
It represents being in the world, unsaved, heathen place.
Well, while they were in that place,
you remember they had what was called the Passover.
Now the Bible says that Jesus Christ is our Passover.
And so here they are in Egypt.
They apply the blood to the doorposts of their house
at the Passover and that saved them from the death angel
who was coming through to destroy them,
if you know the story.
Then the next day they get up and they decide,
okay, we've been saved.
The blood has been applied to the doorposts of our house,
so to speak, and now we want to leave the land of bondage.
We want to leave this ungodly place
where somebody's putting a whip to our back,
forcing us to do things that we don't want to do,
where we have no freedom
and we want to go out of Egypt into the promised land.
Well, what's the first thing they had to do?
The Bible says they had to cross the Red Sea
to do that, to leave Egypt.
And the Bible calls that, it says they were baptized
unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea.
He said when they went through that wall of water
on this side, wall of water on this side,
it was like a baptism that took place.
And they went through that and they got to the other side
and now they were totally separated, you know, from Egypt.
But then they were in the wilderness for a while.
And while they were in the wilderness, remember,
some of them in their heart turned back and said,
we want to go back to Egypt.
We'd rather be back in Egypt.
Others pressed forward and said,
we want to be in the promised land
where God's blessing is complete.
What am I talking about?
Look at Romans six and I'll show you.
Romans six, verse number one.
Now, we've been saved, been born again.
None of our sins are on our account.
We have the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
We're going to heaven no matter what.
No matter what I do, I'm going to heaven tonight.
But what does he say in chapter six, verse one?
What shall we say then?
Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
Now look, obviously if he's asking that question,
he's saying that if you continue in sin,
grace will abound.
But he's saying, should we do that?
Because just before that, in verse number five,
he says in chapter five, verse 20,
moreover the law entered that the offense might abound,
but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.
He said, the more you sin,
it's just the more grace of God that forgives you.
Because if you're born again, you're going to heaven
no matter what, because you shall not come into condemnation.
But he says, what shall we say then?
Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
God forbid, how shall we that are dead to sin
live any longer therein?
Know ye not that so many of us
as we're baptized into Jesus Christ
were baptized into his death?
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death,
that like as Christ was raised up from the dead
by the glory of the Father,
even so we also should walk in newness of life.
We also should walk in newness of life.
That's what we should do.
Are we all necessarily going to walk in newness of life
after we've been saved and baptized?
No.
And so here's what he's saying.
And here's the picture that I'm trying to paint for you.
He says, you were in Egypt.
You're unsaved, you're in bondage.
He said, you can't please God if you wanted to.
You couldn't quit sinning if you wanted to.
You must obey the lust of your flesh
because your spirit is dead.
All you have is an ungodly flesh
that cannot be subject to the laws of God
and that's an enmity with God.
And so you just live a life where you
try to maybe reform yourself from sin and you can't do it.
You try to quit this sin and you can't do it.
You try to live some kind of a life
and you can't do it because you don't have
the spirit of God inside you.
OK, so here's what happens.
You get saved, pictured by the blood on the doorpost
in Exodus chapter 12.
You put the blood on the doorpost, so to speak.
You've been washed in the blood.
You're saved.
You're born again.
You believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you're saved.
You've been saved from the penalty of sin.
But now there's a present action where you have to decide,
not only am I going to be saved from the penalty of sin,
but right now I'm going to choose to be
saved from the power of sin.
See, once you're saved, now you have a choice.
Because God has quickened your spirit,
now there's that dichotomy that we talked about, remember?
The war between the flesh and the spirit.
So now you have a choice where he says, walk in the spirit
and you'll not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
So he says, now you have the choice.
Now you have the freedom to decide
whether you want to live in the bondage of Egypt
or whether you want to live in the freedom of walking
in the spirit where you actually have the option where
you can decide, I'm going to live for God.
I have to be controlled by sin.
Well, think about the illustration here.
He says, as many of you as were baptized into his death.
And yes, I take the Bible literally always.
It's talking about being baptized, man.
It's talking about being dunked under water, baptized.
As many of you as were baptized into his death, OK?
He says, I'm sorry, let me read it for you.
I mixed it up a little bit.
Verse 3, chapter 6, verse 3, know ye not that so many of us
were baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into his death.
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death
and like as Christ was raised up from the dead
by the glory of the Father.
Even so, we should walk in newness of life.
And so what happens is when we do get baptized,
this is what you're saying.
When you get saved, you have the choice
whether you're going to be baptized or not.
I mean, that's an option that you have.
Nowhere does the Bible say you have to be baptized to be saved.
It says, whosoever believeth.
But see, once you get saved, he says,
are you going to obey me and be baptized?
And when you get baptized, you're saying,
I'm burying the old Steven Anderson.
I want to bury the old new man.
I want the old man to die.
And I want to come up out of this water.
And just as Jesus Christ grows from this,
I want to walk in newness of life.
He says, that's the goal.
So the first step to getting out of the bondage of Egypt
after you get saved is to be baptized
so that you can cross that Red Sea, so to speak,
and get out of the bondage of Egypt
and go into the Promised Land where
you have freedom and liberty.
See, think about it.
What if the children of Israel would have said,
hey, I'm glad that the death angel passed over me.
I'm glad that I've been saved by the blood.
I'm glad that I applied the doorpost,
the blood of the doorpost, the blood of the lamb
that was slain, but I think I'm just going to stay in Egypt.
I mean, don't you think that there
were some people that put the blood on the door?
In fact, you read the Bible, there
were people who put the blood on the doorpost,
but they did not cross the Red Sea.
They did not get baptized, so to speak.
And so what do you think happened to them?
What do you think happened to that Jew who was in Egypt,
in slavery, in bondage?
Jesus Christ delivered him from his sins,
but he said, you know what?
I think I'm just going to stay right here in this worldly,
ungodly, wicked place in Egypt.
I'm not going to cross that Red Sea.
What do you think happened?
I'll guarantee you that a couple days later or the next day,
some big burly Egyptian with a big whip said,
hey, buddy, get to work.
You're still our slave, because if you stay in Egypt,
you're still going to be in the bondage of sin.
That's why he said, once you've been saved,
once you've been saved from the penalty of sin,
he says you have the power to be saved
from the power of sin reigning over you and dominating you.
He says, why are you putting yourself willingly back
under bondage?
Let me ask you something.
If you've been saved, if you've been set free from sin,
if you've been born again and God has given you
the power to go through sin, to get over sin,
he said you could be dead to sin.
He said you can die daily to sin,
and you could live in the glorious liberty
of the children of God by following God's laws.
Let me ask you something.
Why are you still in Egypt then?
If you've been saved, why don't you cross the Red Sea
and get in the Promised Land?
So you're talking about being baptized?
Well, yeah, if you've been saved and you haven't been baptized,
that's the first step, because otherwise you're not living
the Christian life that God wants you to live,
and then you get baptized.
He said that's the first step to getting out of Egypt.
But not only that, you say, maybe I've been baptized.
Why are you still in bondage to the sin
that the people in Egypt are in bondage to?
Hey, you don't have to.
You don't have to be in Egypt anymore.
You've been saved from sin.
You can leave Egypt and you can go to the Promised Land.
Why do you want to live a life of slavery?
Think about the slavery that those that are in Egypt
are in bondage. Think about alcohol.
Think about the addiction of alcohol dominating you.
You say, I hate going to church because of all the rules.
You know, tell me what to do, and I can't do what I want to do.
Hey, look, you want to have somebody tell you what to do?
Just go live in the world apart from God's laws.
Go live like the devil.
Go to the bar, and you won't do what you want to do
because you'll get so addicted to the sin
that it's going to dominate you and control you.
I just want to do whatever I want.
And then you start drinking, and then pretty soon
you don't control whether you're going to drink or not.
You have to drink because you're addicted to alcohol,
and alcohol will destroy your life.
Think about the other day, you know, cigarettes.
Do you decide every day?
Am I going to smoke today or not?
You don't decide that. You have to smoke.
Because you're in bondage just like the on-stage Egyptian crowd.
Hey, get out of that bondage and get in the palm of sight.
You've been saved from your sins.
You don't have to be dominated by the things that dominate the world.
Hey, you've got the power of God.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
You can say, hey, I'm through with that garbage.
I'm tired of somebody hitting me with a whip.
I'm going to cross the Red Sea.
I'm going to get as far away from it as I can,
and I'm going to go into the Promised Land and be free.
I'm going to spend my money on what I want to spend it on,
not just some pack of cigarettes, Circle K, every day.
Because I have no control.
That's not freedom. That's bondage.
That's the slavery that sin will always put you into bondage.
Think about drugs.
And, you know, you say, well, drugs.
Good night. I don't do drugs.
There's a lot of drugs that people don't consider drugs that are drugs.
Talking about all these prescription drugs, the antidepressants, the Ritalin.
I'm against all of it.
I tell you right now that every pharmaceutical company in this nation
is nothing more than a legalized dope dealer.
I have no more respect for the pharmaceutical companies in this country
as I have a respect for a dope dealer on the street corner.
Because what they do, they get kids.
You know, any kid who's got a brain in his head, you know,
he maybe acts up a little bit, right?
He tests the boundaries a little bit.
Let's put them on dope.
You know, let's slow them down with Ritalin.
Let's put them on drugs.
Look, you know, maybe if they spank your kids,
you won't have to put them on dope.
But, you know what, they want you to put your kid on dope
because it costs 800 bucks a bottle.
But the health insurance is paying for it, so who cares?
And the only thing that these prescription drug dealers
are just a legalized dope dealer, like a heroin dealer.
They get you on the antidepressants.
They get you addicted to the muscle relaxers.
They get you addicted to the sleeping pills.
Hey, get out of that addiction.
That's up for Egypt, man.
That's up for the Egyptian crowd.
That's not something that God's people
should be entangled with.
Say, no, I will not be addicted to this stuff.
Now, a good friend of mine,
he got in a bad accident with his back.
They start putting him on all these pain pills
and muscle relaxers.
And muscle relaxers and antidepressants are the same drugs.
They put him on these mind-altering muscle relaxers
and on real heavy pain medication.
And he went to the doctor and said,
you know what, I'm getting addicted to these things.
He said, you need to switch my medication.
You need to do something because I'm getting addicted.
Oh, no, those things aren't addictive.
You're wrong.
Don't worry about it.
Keep taking them.
And what happened?
He started taking them and taking them.
Pretty soon he got so addicted to them,
he started doubling and quadrupling the dosage.
He got so into it that one time the ambulance
had to come and pick him up
because he was almost to the point of death
from ODing on these things.
And he just got so addicted and bonded.
I'm not talking about that it's wrong
to take a legitimate medicine.
That's not what I'm talking about.
I'm talking about how the medical industry
in this company just wants to get you on dope,
to get you to go to sleep,
to get you up, to get you down,
to get you to sleep, to give you energy.
Hey, don't be addicted to that garbage.
Don't be addicted to alcohol.
Don't be addicted to cigarettes.
Don't be addicted to drugs.
An addiction is bondage.
And it's something that should be left to Egypt.
First thing about television.
You know, lately I've been driving around the road
and it's like everybody's got the DVD player in their car.
You know what I'm talking about?
They got the DVD player in the car.
They're so addicted to television
that they can't even like drive in the car for a little while
just apart from television.
I was in the checkout at Walmart the other day.
Now this is their new thing.
This is the one on, this is the one on Priest & Elliott.
You don't know where I want to put it.
On Priest & Elliott there's a flat screen TV
right in the checkout.
So not only do I have to look at all the filth
and pornography in the magazines
and all the whores and whoremongers of Hollywood
and their personal lives on People Magazine.
Now I have this plasma screen
just right there playing television for me.
Because people are just so addicted to television.
And you know, you want it double standard.
You know, they want to lower the speed limit,
wear a seat belt and do this, all this safety, safety, safety.
But why is it legal for somebody to watch TV and DVDs
while they drive in the front seat?
I'll tell you why.
Because they want to dominate your mind with their garbage.
They want the TV to turn you into a mindless idiot
because that's what it does.
Yes, that's what it does.
Yes, it's the idiot box.
No Christian has any business watching TV.
But you know what's on TV?
A bunch of sodomy.
And if you watch any TV you know that that's true.
You know what's on TV?
A bunch of beer commercials.
You know what's on TV?
A bunch of girls that are dressed like hookers used to dress
but now everybody dresses.
A bunch of girls that are dressed like men
and that are dressed in the tight clothing
and the immodest clothing, the low cut.
It's a bunch of worldliness.
It's a bunch of sin.
It's a bunch of rock and roll music.
It's everything that's against this book.
You're going to bring it in your house.
But the reason that you bring it in your house,
you say, Patrick Anderson, I sit down and watch the TV
and I don't even want to watch it because it makes me sick
because I'm thinking like every time some faggot's on there.
Yes, I said some faggot's on there.
Yes, that's what I said.
You know, it gets on there and it's not taped by the way.
So go give it to whoever you want.
Put it in your pipe and smoke it.
But, you know, you look at the TV
and you see some filthy sodomite on the TV
and you say to yourself,
oh, I wish they wouldn't have that on there, right?
I mean, you know what I'm saying is true.
If you're Christian and you're watching some sodomite,
it's not, then don't get around me after the service,
especially if you're the male gender.
But, you know, you're sitting there watching it
and some sodomites on there, you're thinking, ugh.
Or like let's say you're watching
and you hear that cuss word and you're like,
ugh, man, you know.
Ugh, I wish they wouldn't use God's name in vain.
I wish they wouldn't use these four-letter words.
Ugh, man.
Oh, you know, and then some girl gets on there
and she's stripped half-naked.
You know, there's some kind of a filthy scene on there.
And you look at him and you say, ugh, mm, ugh, ooh, ooh, man.
Why are you watching it?
I'll tell you why, because you're addicted,
because you're in bondage.
Hey, why don't you break the addiction?
Why don't you take your television
and throw it out the window?
And then maybe you could say,
hey, I'm going to the Promised Land.
I don't need to watch Egypt on TV.
I don't need Egypt to fill my mind with their garbage.
I long ago left Egypt for the Promised Land.
I crossed the Red Sea when I got baptized,
and now I'm going to walk in newness of life.
I don't want to live the Egypt life.
That's why I left.
That's why I got saved.
You say, why did you get saved?
When I got saved, I got saved because I didn't want to go to hell.
But then once I got saved,
I realized that there was a lot more to salvation than that.
It wasn't just salvation from hell.
It was salvation from my sins,
where God said, if you want, you can walk in the new man.
If you want, you can walk in the Spirit.
If you want, you can break these addictions in your life,
and you can live like God wants you to live.
Hey, that's freedom.
It's grace.
That's the second phase of salvation.
It's something that's present tense,
because hey, look, am I completely set free
from the bondage of my sin?
Absolutely not.
I sin every day.
I mean, I'll tell you right now, I sin every day.
I'll be the first one to admit that,
because there's a lot of rules in this book.
There's a lot of wrong that you can do,
and I sin every day.
But I'm going to tell you something.
There's a process that I'm going through right now
of being saved from the power of sin over my life,
and God says that that's available to me,
to be saved from that power,
that sin will grip you
and force you to sit out in front of that TV.
You want to read your Bible.
I mean, you want to pray, right?
I mean, you want to go somewhere.
I hope so.
You want to win people to Christ.
You want to do what's right.
Instead, you find yourself watching some reality TV show,
you know, about some filthy people somewhere
that are living in some apartment together
or whatever these reality shows that are ungodly.
You know, and they stick the little bisexual character
on there inevitably.
Tell me there's a show that doesn't have them on there.
And I haven't watched TV in years.
I mean, I haven't even watched the TV
in like three or four years,
and I know what it was like back then.
I don't think it got better in the last three or four years.
Did it get better?
Somebody tell me if it got better,
because I haven't even seen it
in the last three or four years.
Three or four years ago,
you couldn't even turn it on without being perverted
and just molested in your mind,
looking at this stupid thing.
Pastor Anderson, are you thinking about getting a TV?
No, I left Egypt.
I don't want to go back there.
I'm headed for the Promised Land.
That's where I'm headed.
I'm not mindful of the countries from whence I came out,
because the Bible says if they'd been mindful
of that country from whence they came out,
they might have had opportunity to have returned.
That's what he said.
So they could have gone back to Egypt
even though they're saved.
They wouldn't lose their salvation.
I mean, they'd still go to heaven,
but they'd live a life in bondage.
And so just because you're saved
and you're on your way to heaven,
hey, I want to be set free from sin now.
I mean, it's great that I'm going to heaven when I die,
no matter what,
but I don't want to be controlled by sin now.
I want to be set free.
Pornography, another addiction
that takes control of men's lives,
but on and on.
But, you know, think about this.
If you left Egypt,
why are you still listening to Egypt music?
And I'm not talking about the world music section
where they have music from Egypt.
I'm talking about the worldly unconscious.
Yeah, I'm not talking about Barnes and Noble, you know,
where they got, like, Egypt, you know, Botswana,
and you can listen to all those music.
Hey, I'm talking about the Egypt music
like the unsafe worldly kind of music.
The Bible says in Psalm 43,
he put a new song in my mouth,
even praise to my God.
Hey, and by the way,
notice it says he put a song in my mouth,
not in my headphones.
See, you go from what the world does
where they just sit around listening to music,
they just listen and listen.
Yes, music's an addiction.
The worst addiction that I ever gave up
was the music that I used to listen to
when I was a teenager.
That was the hardest thing I've ever given up in my life.
I had all the CDs, I listened to music just all day long.
But you know what he said?
He put a new song in my mouth
where now I don't just sit around
listening to the world music,
now I sing with my mouth the praises of God.
He put a new song in my mouth.
He didn't put the doors in my mouth.
He put Jimi Hendrix in my mouth.
He didn't put, you know,
NSYNC and Backstreet Boys in my mouth, thank God.
He put a new song in my mouth, even praise to my God.
What are you doing singing the Egypt music?
What are you doing listening to the Egyptian music?
Hey, haven't you been saved?
Then why are you willfully going back to Egypt?
It doesn't make any sense.
You like being beaten?
You like working all day for nothing?
You like having somebody else control your life?
Or do you like to have the freedom
where you say, I can do whatever I want.
I can do all things through Christ which strengthen me.
I don't have to be controlled by sin.
I can live a life that's glorifying to God.
I can do the things that I want to do on the inside.
Because if you're saved inside,
I mean, you have some desire to do what's right
if you're saved.
The inward man, the Bible calls it.
You know, if you're not in Egypt anymore,
if you've been saved,
then why is it that you dress like you're in Egypt?
I mean, think about it.
If you left Egypt, why do you still dress?
You want everybody everywhere you go?
I mean, think about the children of Israel,
as they're walking through the wilderness.
You want everybody to say, oh, there's an Egyptian.
You know, you think about Moses,
the first time that he left Egypt,
what'd they say?
They said, oh, this Egyptian guy.
I mean, they thought he was Egyptian.
Why?
He was probably dressed like an Egyptian.
That was before God had worked with him
for 40 years in the wilderness
before he was ready to go back and deliver God's people.
He came out of there.
After 40 years of living in Egypt,
he came out of there looking like Egypt.
Hey, don't look like Egypt.
Why don't you dress like God's people?
Why does he not dress like Egypt?
You say, what am I talking about?
Well, I always tell you what I'm talking about.
And I'll tell you what I'm talking about.
I'm talking about this unisex movement.
Huh?
I'm talking about the unisex movement.
God said that he wants a man to wear clothing
that pertains to a man.
And he said, I don't want a woman
to put on a man's garment
because all that do such an abomination.
You know, you see these guys.
Oh, did you ever think that you'd see the day
where you see a man wearing a skirt?
I saw it the other day.
I've seen several transvestites around Tempe.
Did you ever think that you'd see the day
where men dress like women and women dress like men?
My wife saw one today in Subway, a transvestite.
A man dressed as a woman.
God help us.
And I'm thinking to myself, okay,
well, you say, Pastor Angela,
I don't dress like a transvestite.
Good night.
But think about it.
Why are you even close to that crowd?
I mean, think about this.
You know, you see these guys
and they wear these tailored shirts.
You know what I'm talking about?
And they wear these real tight shirts.
I'm talking about men, you know, males.
I'm sorry, they're not men, they're males.
And they have their little tailored shirt,
you know, kind of tailored around their waist.
It almost looks like they have curves like a woman.
You know, they're like an untighted shirt
and it like is tailored in right here.
And it kind of goes out
and they got their little tight jeans on,
you know, and they're just like, you know,
and they're walking.
They got their little cute little earrings in.
Isn't that so sweet?
And they got their little necklace.
Hey, be a man, huh?
Why are you dressed like a sodomite?
You know, you say, well,
that's not fair, Pastor Angela,
for you to look at that guy and think he's a queer
and think he's a sodomite.
Well, then why is he dressed like one?
Hey, if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck,
it's probably a duck, you know?
And I see this unisex movement
where they're trying to blur the lines of the gender,
you know, and, you know, men wearing a skirt.
You say, that's crazy.
What about women wearing pants?
I'm against women wearing pants
because it's men's clothing.
It's a look at the bathroom door.
I didn't make that.
I didn't invent the sign for the bathroom door.
I didn't invent the universal sign of male and female
which has a man with a pair of pants
and a woman with a skirt.
I didn't invent that.
But that's what God says.
He says, I want there to be a distinction.
I want men to have short hair.
I want women to have long hair.
1 Corinthians chapter 11, there's a whole chapter about it.
He says, I want men to wear men's clothing.
I want women to wear women's clothing.
I want girls to be feminine
and I want them to be lady-like.
He says, I want them to dress like a lady,
not walking around, you know, like,
you know, you see these women that walk like this and stuff
and they got their carpenter pants on
and they're just, you know, they got, look,
it's not of God.
Why are you dressed like, that's what Egypt is like.
Where the men dress like women and the women dress like men
and now, you know, women put on the pants back in the 1940s
is when it started
and now the sodomites are out of the closet.
Because what happens is you start blurring the lines
between the gender and what happens?
Pretty soon you start blurring the lines between
who you're going to get married to
and who you want to go out with.
Now look, you say, Pastor Andrew, I think you're crazy.
Well, I think you're crazy
because I think that this is what the Bible teaches
and I think this is what everybody used to believe
about 50 to 100 years ago.
Until we've just been so inundated with Egypt
crammed down our throats via the television
and via other methods.
I mean, if you're not living in Egypt anymore,
if you've been saved,
why are you going back to Egypt and picking up People magazine
and reading about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie
and the whores and whoremongers of Hollywood?
Who cares?
I mean, look, if you've been in Egypt in slavery
and you left across the Red Sea,
do you think you care what's going on back in Egypt?
I mean, do you think you care
who's getting divorced for the 50th time
and marrying this person
and we caught her on this beach cheating with him
and we got the photos and everything, you know?
It's like this head that's been superimposed
on somebody else's body, you know?
And all this garbage where they want you to, like,
follow every step of the way of,
oh, Madonna's off adopting a child
or whatever this garbage.
Britney Spears got married for one weekend.
It's like, who cares?
I don't care.
I don't care what's going on in Egypt.
I said goodbye to Egypt.
A long time ago when I crossed the Red Sea
and said I'm going to the promised land.
Why do you still have this Egypt attitude
where you have a bad attitude at work,
where you bad mount the boss,
where you think you know it all, you know,
and you don't believe in authority,
like kids who don't believe in obeying their parents,
like wives who don't believe in obeying their husbands?
Yes, that's what I said.
Wives who don't believe in obeying their husbands.
That's from the Bible.
Believe it or not, it's in there.
Why do you still have this attitude
where employees feel like they don't have to obey the boss,
which is also commanded by God?
Why is it that you have this attitude that says,
nobody's going to tell me what to do?
Hey, that's an Egypt attitude,
and you end up having people tell you what to do
because you end up being a slave.
And so we could go on and on with that all night.
It would be great.
It would be fun to go down the list.
But I'm going to tell you something.
Salvation is not just to save you from hell,
but glory to God, it saves you from that bondage
where you're just enslaved to sin in this life.
Also, you can if you want to.
You could break any addiction if you want to.
I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.
If you want to, you can live the life
that you've always wanted to live.
Hey, would you like to be somebody
who gets a lot of people saved,
who lives a clean and godly life,
who reads the Bible for more than just
some little 15 minute a day,
I mean, really reads the Bible, really knows the Bible?
I mean, would you like to be a powerful servant
of God in this life?
Would you like to get to heaven
and have all the people with you that you've brought with you
and be honored with Jesus Christ
and have him, as we saw on Wednesday night,
where he said he'll gird himself and serve you?
Hey, how would you like that?
You can do it.
You have the freedom to do that.
Why don't you do it?
Why don't you say goodbye to Egypt
and why don't you be,
take advantage of your salvation to the fullest,
not just the salvation from the penalty?
Hey, be saved right now from the power of sin.
It's available, why don't you take advantage of it?
And so on and on, I got to hurry.
I'm skipping a page of my notes here.
But the last phase is in the future
when glory to God,
we're going to be saved from the presence of sin.
So number one, we're saved from the penalty
right when we get saved.
Right now, we kind of have the choice
whether we want to be saved from the power of sin.
I mean, it's available.
It doesn't have to have power over us.
It doesn't have to dominate us.
But number three, glory to God.
One day, we're going to be saved
from the very presence of sin.
You say, what are you talking about?
Well, think about this.
What did we talk about?
You know, your spirit's already been resurrected.
The moment you got saved, it was dead.
He says, you who were dead in trespasses and sins
had to be quickened together.
So you've been quickened.
Your spirit's been brought back to life,
resurrected just like Jesus Christ was resurrected.
And I have to skip a lot of the scriptures on that.
But then he says, your body is still the flesh.
That's why you're still sinning even after you got saved.
I mean, your body's still sinning.
Your flesh is still sinning.
But he says, one day when you die, okay,
you're not going to die.
Only the old flesh is going to die.
And the moment that that flesh dies off your body,
or if you're alive at the second coming of Jesus Christ
when he returns, and the Bible says, you know,
those that are dead in the ground, you know,
their soul and spirits in heaven, according to the Bible,
but then their body's actually going to be resurrected
from the dead.
And then those which are alive and remain
are going to be changed in a moment
in the twinkling of an eye.
And we're going to be raised from the dead
in our physical body.
So not only has our spirit and soul been saved,
but at that final day when the last trump sounds,
and the dead in Christ shall rise first,
then your body's going to be totally saved.
That's why it says in Romans 8, are you still going to look at Romans?
Look at Romans 8.
It says in Romans 8,
look at verse number 8,
so then they that are in the flesh cannot please God,
but ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit,
if so be that the spirit of God dwell in you.
Now if any man have not the spirit of Christ,
he is none of his.
And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin.
See, the body's still unsaved, so to speak.
But the spirit is life because of righteousness.
But if the spirit of him that raised up Jesus
from the dead dwell in you,
he that raised up Christ from the dead
shall also quicken your mortal bodies
by his spirit that dwells in you.
He says, someday your body is going to be raised up from the dead,
just like Jesus Christ was raised from the dead,
and then you're going to have a glorified saved body
that has no sin in it at all.
That's why it says in verse number 20,
let's see, verse number 18,
well, let's skip ahead.
I'm in a hurry, we're almost out of time,
but look at verse number 21,
because the creature itself also shall be delivered
from the bondage,
remember that's what we're talking about,
slavery, bondage,
of corruption into the glorious liberty
of the children of God.
For we know that the whole creation groaneth
and travaileth and pain together until now,
and not only they, but ourselves also,
which have the firstfruits of the spirit,
see, that's the part of us
that's been totally saved and sanctified,
with the firstfruits of the spirit,
even we ourselves groan within ourselves,
waiting for the adoption
to wit the redemption of our body.
He says, that's what we're waiting for,
for the redemption of our body,
because the moment that our body is redeemed,
not only will we have been saved from the penalty of sin,
not only will we have been saved
from the power of sin over our lives right now,
but glory to God,
we'll be saved from the presence of sin,
because our flesh will be God,
and when we walk into heaven,
and when we meet Jesus Christ,
when we stand before the judgment seat of Christ,
we'll have no sin in our body at all.
Glory to God.
I mean, I'm not going to stand before Jesus
and have them say,
what about this sin that you did?
What about this one that you did after you got saved?
No, it's gone, it's dead.
The old Steven Anderson
will have been completely dead,
and only the resurrected new creature in Christ
will stand before God
with a saved spirit,
and a saved soul,
and glory to God,
a saved body that's been resurrected,
and he'll stand before Jesus Christ,
and he'll say,
well done, thou good and faithful servant,
enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.
And when I stand before Jesus Christ,
the Bible says,
we know that when he shall appear,
we shall be like him,
for we shall see him as he is.
I mean, we're going to be like him.
Totally sinless.
When you get to heaven,
you'll never sin again.
That's why he said in Revelation 21,
when we saw,
he said no one's going to enter in
that makes a lie.
Nobody that defiles,
nobody who does any sin,
no liar's going to enter in,
no drunkard,
nobody who does any sin,
not even one lie will walk in,
but when I walk in,
I'm no longer a sinner
because I've been saved from the penalty,
and the power,
and glory to God,
the presence of sin is gone
because the flesh will have died,
and only the new man will walk into heaven,
and I'll never sin again for all of eternity.
I'll be saved from the presence of sin.
I've got to hurry,
but let me just read these off for you,
just a few verses.
Isaiah 38, 17,
I'm just going to read these off for you,
and I'll close.
Isaiah 38, 17,
Behold for peace,
I had great bitterness,
but thou hast in love to my soul,
delivered it from the pit of corruption,
talking about hell,
for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.
Micah 7, 19 says,
He will turn again,
he will have compassion upon us,
he will subdue our iniquities,
and thou will cast all their sins
into the depths of the sea.
He says, I'll take all,
he said, this is what salvation is.
Remember we started the sermon
talking about how salvation
is where God takes away your sins,
where God separates you from your sins?
Now, right now, my spirit,
that's complete.
I've been separated from the penalty,
I've been separated from the power,
but only when I finally am resurrected,
that's when I'm going to be separated
from the very present.
That's when salvation is complete,
because I'll be totally separated from my sins,
and that's why he says,
he said, as far as the east is from the west,
in Psalm 103, 12,
as far as the east is from the west,
so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
He says, I've cast their sins
in the depths of the sea,
I've separated you from your sins
as far as the east is from west.
He says, I've cast all your sins behind my back.
The Bible says in Jeremiah 31, 34,
he says, for I will forgive their iniquity,
and I will remember their sin no more.
I mean, if you walked up to Jesus Christ
at that judgment seat,
and you said, Jesus, I'm glad you're rewarding me
for the good things that I've done in my body,
for the right things I've done,
but I want to tell you I'm sorry
about the time that I did thus and so
that was wrong to your Jesus.
I just want to tell you I'm sorry.
He'd say, you know what?
I don't even know what you're talking about.
He'd say, what are you talking about?
I mean, he says he'll forget.
He says, take the Bible literally, friend.
Quit making it say whatever you want it to say.
Let's just read what it says.
Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
He says, I've separated them from their sins
as far as the east is from the west.
He says, I've put all their sins behind my back.
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
Because if he imputed sin, we'd be damned forever.
That's what God said the penalty for sin is.
But glory to God, he says, salvation.
What's salvation?
Being saved from your sins.
It's being separated from your sins.
Past, I've already been separated from the penalty.
I'm never going to see hell.
Present, I can be separated from the power
that sin dominates unsaved people.
He said, I can have power over that sin right now
by walking in the spirit and not walking in the flesh.
Future, one day I'll be saved and separated
from the very presence of sin.
When God will not even remember my sins again.
When my sins will be totally separated from me
and I'll be a brand new creature, a brand new body,
a brand new soul, a brand new spirit.
The former things have passed away, the Bible says,
and glory to God, I'll walk in to those streets of gold
no longer a sinner whatsoever.
It's like I've never even sinned.
Praise the Lord.
Isn't salvation great?
I mean, yeah, it's great going to heaven versus hell.
But think about all the repercussions of salvation.
It's the power to live a godly life in this life also.
And it's also the idea that you'll never have to answer
for your sins because they've been paid for
by Jesus Christ.
When he was beaten and bruised for our iniquities,
when his soul went to hell for three days and three nights
and paid every sin that mankind has ever done.
He already paid it all.
And so now we can just walk in
on a total free ride into heaven.
You say, nothing's free.
You're right, it wasn't free.
Jesus paid for it.
That's why he said the gift of God's eternal life.
He sacrificed his eternal life on the cross
by dying and going to hell.
He rose again from the dead.
And so now he will give us eternal life
if we'll just believe on him.
That's his gift to us.
Who pays for a gift, the giver or the receiver?
Hey, the giver always pays.
If I have to pay for something that somebody's given me,
that's not a gift.
But if somebody says I paid for it,
I'm going to give it to you for free, that's a gift.
That's salvation.
The gift of God is eternal life.
And so Jesus Christ was punished for our sins
and glory to God, salvation separates us from our sins.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
God, I thank you so much for the Bible
and the promises of God.
I thank you so much that I've been saved.
And God, thank you that when I was six years old,
I didn't understand everything that it meant to be saved.
I mean, I knew I was saved.
I knew I was no longer going to hell.
I knew I was on my way to heaven,
but I didn't understand everything about salvation.
I still don't understand everything about salvation.
But God, thank you so much for everything that you gave me
the moment I got saved, even though I didn't realize it.
Thank you for giving me the power over sin.
Thank you for giving me a home in heaven.
Thank you for giving me the fact
that my sins are going to be blotted out
and that my sins won't even be remembered.
Thank you for giving me the salvation of my soul,
my spirit, my body, the redemption of my body,
all these different aspects
I didn't even know about, dear God.
Thank you so much for paying all of it
on the cross with your blood, dear God,
and giving it to me for free when I was six years old.
I didn't even know what I had.
But God, thank you so much for giving it to me
and help me to take advantage of it fully, dear God,
and help me to be saved from the power of sin
and with every head bowed and every eyes closed.