Please turn to 2 Corinthians 1:10.
Who delivered us out of so great a death, and will deliver: on whom we have set our hope that He will also still deliver us.
May we have a word of prayer.
Dear heavenly Father, we thank Thee for the privilege of being gathered together in Thy presence. We thank Thee for Thy presence in the midst of Thy people. We know that it is Thy good pleasure to reveal Thyself and Thy purpose to Thy people.
So we are here this morning, looking to Thee to share with us what is uppermost upon Thy heart, and to bring us all into Thy very presence, that we may see Thee and, by Thy grace, love Thee, serve Thee, and do Thy will, that Thou mayest be honored and glorified. We pray in Thy precious name. Amen.
The salvation of God is all-inclusive. He delivers us not only from our past, but also for our present, and yet also for our future.
Sadly, we were born in sin and trespasses. Our forefather Adam sinned, and all who came forth from him had that sinful nature within them.
You can sense that we are born to die, not to live, because the sinful nature of Adam in us leads us to sin. Whether we have sinned or not, we have the tendency to sin. We are open to sin.
So it can be rightly said that we are born to die—to die in our own sins. But thank God, in His great mercy, He has sent His beloved Son, our Lord Jesus, into the world.
As our Lord was crucified on the cross, the first thing He said was:
Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.
Brothers and sisters, we cannot look at the cross of our Lord Jesus without being deeply touched in our hearts. Because we who were destined to die, through the cross of our Lord Jesus, have hope.
Because He died for our sins, the first prayer of our Lord Jesus on the cross was, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
Brothers and sisters, how we thank God for the salvation of our Lord Jesus. We who were born of Adam inherited his sin. It is in our very nature. Whether we have sinned or not, we have a tendency to sin.
It can be directly said: we were born to die, not to live. This is our destiny. There was no hope in ourselves.
Sooner or later, the sinful nature in us will reveal itself and will lead us to commit all kinds of sins and transgressions. So, in other words, we were born not to live, but to die. This was our destiny.
But then God sent His only beloved Son into this world to seek and to save the lost. So the first word that our Lord Jesus spoke on Calvary’s cross was, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
This was spoken not only to the people at that time. It is spoken to every one of us here: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
We did not know what we did, but the Lord knew. He knew the sinful nature that we inherited. Sooner or later, that sinful nature would express itself in sins.
So it can be truly said that we are born not to live, but to die. That is our destiny. So far as we are concerned, brothers and sisters, no matter who you are, our destination is tragic.
We have been born not to live, but to die. And that death is more than physical death; it means eternal death, because that is the wages of sin.
Throughout our life, whether we have the desire to live righteously or not, unfortunately our nature brings us into sin. So in the sight of God, we were all sinners, and we were all destined to eternal death.
But thank God, He loves us so much. He sent His only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus, into this world.
As we read the Gospels, we find how our Lord Jesus lived a perfect life upon this earth. He was tempted in all things. Whatever temptation we may know, He knew. Satan tempted Him to the uttermost.
But our Lord Jesus resisted the devil and obeyed the Father in all things. How often He said, “I can do nothing of Myself. I do it because I have seen My Father do it. I cannot go anywhere that I want to go. I go because that is where My Father sends Me.”
Throughout His life, He was obedient to the Father to the uttermost.
And on the Mount of Transfiguration, it was a glorious thing. Our Lord was transfigured in glory. Moses and Elijah appeared to talk with Him about His departure.
Brothers and sisters, it was a very important time so far as the Lord Himself was concerned. He was qualified on the Mount of Transfiguration to ascend and go back to His Father on the throne.
But we know that when Moses and Elijah were talking with Him on that mount, our Lord was not going to leave the world and go back to the Father. If that was the case, today in heaven there would be only one Man, our Lord Jesus.
But our dear Lord was willing to come down from the mountain, go to Jerusalem, even to the cross, to bear the sins of the world.
So the first word our Lord Jesus spoke on the cross was, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
Because of the prayer of our Lord Jesus, because of the work of our Lord Jesus on the cross, all who believe in the Lord Jesus shall have their sins forgiven. And not only that, they will be given eternal life. They shall not die, but they shall live by the grace of God.
And this happens to all who believe in the Lord Jesus. I suppose all who are here this morning have believed in the Lord Jesus. And if this is the case, then we thank God. We know that we shall live, and live forever, because of the prayer and the work that our Lord Jesus has done on Calvary’s cross.
So this is salvation.
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have eternal life.
This is the promise of God. It is based upon the finished work of Christ on Calvary’s cross. So whoever today will believe in the Lord Jesus, accept Him as his or her personal Savior, all his or her sins will be forgiven.
And more than that, he or she will be given eternal life, even the life of the Lord Jesus, that will enable him or her to live today by the grace of God. So this is salvation past.
I trust that all who are in this auditorium have done that. If you have not done that, today is your opportunity. God is waiting for you. Just confess your sins before the Lord, and you will be saved.
I remember my own story. When I was fourteen, I was sick almost unto death. My pulse became irregular. At that time, that type of fever had no cure. The only thing was to see if you could pull through.
Now, as a young man of fourteen, I did not want to die. I prayed, asking the Lord to heal me. My father prayed for me. The missionary prayed for me. And after four months, I recovered.
After I recovered, there was a natural thought within me: I should have died, but now I live. It is the grace of God. How can I do something to repay His grace? That was the natural thought.
Thank God, a classmate of mine came to me and said, “Can we organize some Christian meetings in the school?” Now, that fit me very well, because I wanted to repay God for His goodness.
So we started to have meetings in our school. Every night after supper, we would knock on the doors of the dormitory and invite our fellow students to come to the library for a Christian meeting.
I still remember very vividly the first time I was supposed to lead a prayer meeting. You know what I did? I did not know God in a living way. I knew of Him, but my father was a pastor, and he had many books in the library.
So I went to his library and took out a book on prayer. I translated it into Chinese, memorized it, and that evening I gave a message on prayer and how God answers prayer. Wonderful.
After I finished speaking, I asked all to kneel down and pray. There were my fellow students, and there were even some teachers among us. But nobody knew God in a personal way, so nobody prayed.
After a while, some people began to laugh. I scolded them. I said, “We are before God. We have to be reverent.”
I still vividly remember that was the first time I led a prayer meeting. I still remember the first time I preached.
No, no, I was not saved yet. I went to my father’s library and found a book on prayer. I still remember, it was J. Wilbur Chapman’s book on prayer. He was, at that time, a famous preacher in this country.
So I chose a subject called “Noah’s Ark.” I translated it into Chinese and memorized it. And on Friday after school, we went to the church Sunday school building to have our meeting. I started to preach.
I preached not my own sermon, but Chapman’s sermon. I felt good about it. The only thing I regretted was that nobody praised me.
That was how it all began. But brothers and sisters, God is merciful. Wherever there is one who is seeking, as a matter of fact, it is God who is seeking him or her, not he or she seeking God.
So God was really seeking me. Without anybody talking to me, outwardly I looked very religious, very pious, a good student, in good relationship with everybody, even with the servants in our school.
But the Spirit of God began to work in me. He began to show me that I was a great sinner. From the top of my head to my feet, there was nothing but sin. I was destined to die—eternal death. There was no hope in me.
So think of that: as a young man of fourteen, I sometimes sat there and wept. I wept for my sins. I wanted to be saved.
At that time in Shanghai, lots of world-famous preachers came to Shanghai to preach, and they were always preaching in my father’s church. No matter how busy I was in school, I was always present. I wanted to be saved.
A few times, I even went to the altar and prayed and cried. But nothing happened. This went on for a whole year.
During the summer, there was a summer conference at Bethel in Shanghai. So I determined to go there to get saved. Three young men, just graduated from Asbury College in this country, came to preach the gospel.
I went to hear them, but what they preached, I knew already. Nothing was new. A few days passed, and I was still unsaved.
One morning, I was in my room. I do not know whether I was praying; I was just talking to myself. I said, “God, why is it that other people get saved so easily, but it is so hard for me?”
“If You want to save me, save me now. If You do not, goodbye.”
That afternoon, I went to the meeting. It was Mr. Kirkpatrick who was speaking, and he spoke on John 3:16. It was so familiar to me. Nothing was new. I was not touched anymore.
After he finished, he asked everybody to kneel down and pray. So I knelt down by my chair, and an Indian brother came and knelt by my side.
All he did was to encourage me to go to the altar. I thought, “I had been there a few times. Nothing happened. I do not want to go again.” But because of courtesy, I went.
I went to the altar. I prayed, I wept, I cried for mercy, but nothing happened. The meeting was over. There were hundreds of people there.
As I was walking out, a Chinese pastor—he was not a pastor yet; he was just a preacher—must have noticed me. So he stopped me, and very pointedly he asked me a question: “Are you saved?”
I had to be honest. I told him, “I want to be saved.” So he stopped me there. Everybody had left; it was just the two of us in the big auditorium.
And he said, “Do you believe the Bible is the Word of God?” I said, “From my childhood, I believed it.” He said, “All right. Turn to 1 John 1:9 and read verse 9.”
So I turned to 1 John 1:9, and he said, “Put your name there and read it.” He made me read it twice. I did, and he said, “Let us pray.”
So we knelt down. I knew how to pray, so I started to pray and said, “Lord, I have confessed my sins. Many things I have forgotten, but You remember. According to Your Word, I have done it. Now it is up to You whether You want to save me or not.”
But when I was praying in this fashion, suddenly a great peace came into my heart. I stood up.
So this brother asked me again, “Are you saved?” I said, “Yes, I am saved.” He said, “How do you know?” I said, “I felt such peace in my heart. The burden was gone.” He shook his head.
Immediately, I knew. So I told him, “I know I am saved because God has said so.” He said, “Yes, this is the right thing. Your emotions may change, but God’s Word never changes. Go out. Tell some people what the Lord has done for you.”
I did. I went to my room and opened my Bible. It was 2 Peter 1. As I read it, every word began to speak to my heart.
The Lord, in His mercy, saved me.
Brothers and sisters, are you saved? Have your sins been forgiven? If you have yet to believe in the Lord Jesus as your personal Savior, this is the opportunity. You may do it.
Any time when you begin to confess your sins and believe in the Lord Jesus as your personal Savior, salvation will come upon you.
So when I was doing that, a great peace came upon me. I stood up, and Brother G. asked me, “Are you saved?” I said, “Yes, I am saved.” He said, “How do you know?” I said, “I have such peace in my heart.” He shook his head.
Immediately, I knew. I told him, “I know I am saved because God has said so.” He said, “Yes. Your emotions may change, but God’s Word never changes. Go out. Tell some people what the Lord has done for you.”
I did. I went to my room, opened the Bible—it was 2 Peter 1—and I read it. Every word was living, speaking to my heart.
From that day onward, for over eighty years, the Lord has been keeping me. He has enabled me to serve Him as I know Him.
Brothers and sisters, what about you this morning? Are you sure that you are saved?
If you are not sure, this is your opportunity. Right here, you can open your heart to the Lord, confess your sins, trust in the Lord Jesus as your personal Savior, and experience the salvation of the Lord, just as I did.
So this is salvation past. So far as all who are the Lord’s are concerned, we are sure of the salvation of the Lord. If we should die today, we know where we will go. How blessed this is.
But, brothers and sisters, this is not the end. This is just the beginning. There is salvation now that God has provided for us.
You know, sometimes I wondered: as soon as I was saved, how good it would be if He immediately took me to Himself. Then I would be safe from all the troubles that I have gone through in this world. This was my wishful thinking at that time.
But God knew better. After He saved me, He did not take me right away. He allowed me to live, and live for so long.
Do you think living is easy? No. I believe we all know that living as a Christian is very difficult, because we are living in a wrong environment. The enemy is trying very hard to bring us back to sin.
Only by the grace of God will we be kept. So now we come to salvation now. Salvation is not only past; salvation is now.
Now, how can we live victoriously, gloriously, doing the work of God, the mind of God, and learning to please Him in our lives?
Oh, brothers and sisters, living in this wretched world is not easy. To be a Christian and try to live righteously according to God is the most difficult thing, so far as human life is concerned. By ourselves, we will not be able to do it.
But thank God, there is a salvation now.
When we believe in the Lord Jesus, not only have our past sins been forgiven, but God has given us a new life. And with that new life, He has put His Spirit—His own Spirit—into our new life.
And the work of the Holy Spirit, the indwelling Holy Spirit, is this: He is there to see and to help me to be a Christian.
To be a Christian, you will find, in this world, is very difficult. There are temptations everywhere. The enemy is trying very hard to bring us back into sin.
And to live righteously according to God, none can do it except by the provision of God. So thank God for salvation now.
He has not only forgiven our sins, He has not only given us a new life, but He has even put His own Spirit within our new spirit.
What is the work of the indwelling Holy Spirit? Brothers and sisters, all who believe in the Lord Jesus have a new life. And not only that, in that new life dwells the Spirit of God.
Why is He there? What is His work? The indwelling Holy Spirit is doing one thing: He is bringing us into Christ.
We cannot do it ourselves. If you try to be a Christian by your own effort, you will find it is impossible. You are surrounded by temptations, surrounded by things that will lead you astray.
But thank God, He has made provision for us now. You know, I had a wishful thought when I was saved. I hoped that God would take me right away. Then I would be safe from all the difficulties that I had to go through in my long life.
But God knew better. He does not want heaven to be filled with babies. He wants to fill heaven with people who are grown up in the life of the Lord Jesus.
So that is why, after we are saved, He leaves us on earth. How can we be Christians on this earth? What is the secret of Christian life?
There is only one secret, and the secret is this: He put His own Spirit in our spirit. The indwelling Holy Spirit is the secret of Christian living.
You cannot do it yourself, by yourself. You have to learn to listen to the inner voice of the Holy Spirit. Allow the Holy Spirit to guide and lead you. Obey Him. Go with Him. And that is the way of Christian living today.
So what is salvation now? Salvation now is the indwelling Holy Spirit working in your new life, enabling you to overcome all temptations and do the will of God.
That is the secret of Christian living. You cannot do it yourself. Nobody can. It is the indwelling Holy Spirit who is doing His work.
Even though, at times, we do not listen to Him, and we may even rebel against Him, He will never leave us nor forsake us. He is faithful to God and to you.
He will continue to touch your spirit, enabling you to see what is the will of God. And by His strength, you are able to overcome all temptations, be obedient to God, and grow in your spiritual life.
This is the secret of Christian living. The secret of Christian living is not you. The secret of Christian living is the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Dear brothers and sisters, learn to cooperate with the indwelling Holy Spirit. As He moves your spirit, follow Him. No matter how difficult it may seem, trust Him. He will enable you to live out Christ in your life.
And this is salvation now.
Thank God, there is also a salvation in the future. When our Lord shall return, you remember the Lord, before He left, told His disciples, “I am going, but I will come back to receive you to Myself. Where I am, there you will be also.”
And this promise has been for two thousand years. Has our Lord forgotten? No. It is not He whom you wait for; it is you whom He waits for.
It is because you have not cooperated. You have not followed the leading of the Holy Spirit. You are not willing to pay any cost to be a Christian.
When we are ready, He will return. He is waiting for us. So, brothers and sisters, the only way to live a Christian life is not by yourself. You cannot do it. It is by cooperating with the indwelling Holy Spirit.
He will give you the strength to bear all the sufferings that you must go through. But as you obey Him, He will make the life of Christ in you grow until you come into maturity.
So that is salvation now. But there is the third element, which is salvation in the future. That is our blessed hope.
Even though it has been two thousand years, yet to God, a thousand years is as one day, and one day as a thousand years. But we know that our Lord is returning.
Why is it that He is not yet coming? The reason is not in Him; it is in you, because He is waiting for you. Are you ready for Him?
When, by the grace of God, we are ready, He is ever ready. So I often say, I believe the Lord can come at any moment. He may come now if He finds that you are ready.
He does not want to see you being rejected. He wants you to be completed by His grace.
Do you know, brothers and sisters, we are living on the verge of the return of our Lord Jesus. He can come back at any moment.
Even when we are gathering here this morning, He can come, because He is ever ready. He is more anxious to return to receive us.
It is we who delay His return. But when He sees the time has come, He will come. The trumpet will sound, the dead in Christ will be raised, and those who are still living will be changed.
And we will all be taken into the air before the judgment seat of Christ.
Those who live by the Spirit will be rewarded with the kingdom—the millennium, a thousand years of rule. Those who have disobeyed Him will have to go into outer darkness in order to repent and be restored.
Because once He sets His eyes upon you, He will never give you up. He will continue to work in you until you are completed, until we shall all be like our Lord Jesus and rule and reign with Him for eternity.
This is the will of God for you. Thank God for that.
So, dear brothers and sisters, the Lord is coming. He may come at any moment now. All the indications show that all the prophecies preceding His coming have been fulfilled, and now the next one will be His return.
Are you ready? One is taken; one is left. The one taken is one who has been prepared for Him. The one who is left, God has to do something more.
So the Bible tells us that those who have been left, they will go into outer darkness with gnashing of teeth, regretting, repenting, and allowing the Holy Spirit to complete His work.
Until finally, in eternity, all whom the Lord has saved, He will perfect. And all will be ready with Him for eternity. This is our destination, our destiny.
Brothers and sisters, what a glorious day this will be. So may the Lord have mercy upon every one of us here.
May it be the prayer of our hearts:
Come, Lord Jesus, come.
In His name, amen.