Salvation Is Due to Jesus Christ - Part 1 — Milton Green

You know, there's two things I want to just stop and say. I praise God for His presence here the way it is right now. And I praise God for you loving the Word and loving the Lord and letting Him minister to you.

Repentance and God's Mercy

That's what He's doing right now. I praise God. Folks, do you know that we've gotten His presence again? Are you aware of it? Right now? What He's saying, He's not saying what a nice fellow I am. Or the man coming to town, He's confirming this Word right here.

He's saying this is where I want you to walk. That's what He's speaking to your hearts right now. That's what you're hearing in Him. He's showing you where you've been. And He wants you to repent of it.

See, if you don't repent, you'll never have changed. Hey folks, He set you free from a lot of stuff last night. How many realize that? Hold up your hands. He's doing it again tonight. He's doing it because of this Word that you're taking the Word into your heart.

He's doing it because of mercy and grace. He could be letting you do like the whole town out there is, dying. It's mercy and grace. He wants you to be honored and loved. He wants you to know that I'm the Creator.

I created you for good, not evil. We haven't learned what it is to have God to bless us. We get little crumbs of bread. Folks, let me ask you something. Instead of being hard-hearted, does it make you want to just kind of get on your face for God and say, Let me tell you something about Him, folks.

You know what He's really saying right here. He said, I don't mean no harm. I love you more than anything you can comprehend. And you can't do this thing. He said, that's the reason I sent Jesus. But I want your heart to be willing and obedient so that I can do it for you.

And then the only thing that you can just spend a whole eternity boasting in the grace of God that just loves you beyond anything you comprehend. But see, if your heart is looking back to family, friends, children, theology, our people who still love these things, they're not going to understand a person trying to change and walk around.

Persecution and Letting Your Light Shine

Because to your promise, folks, you're going to be persecuted by the world and the world and the church. Why have you never seen persecution before? Honey, there's no persecution for anybody that walks and talks like the world, like we've been doing.

The persecution comes when you start repenting and turning from it. And then you're not singing the song of the world, you know, walk and talk like them. But then see, you're blessed. And then you let your light shine in love.

And then people see it and the Spirit of God gets all over people around you. And then you get to snatch people out of the fire. But as long as we're going out and trying to do all these things, ain't the worst of it.

Obedience, Rest, and Overcoming Reluctance

You know, Jesus, we're called in to rest from our labors. Don't get in big no hurry, don't get in strife, you get a demon that way. Rest. You know what, get your mind on God. When God says get up and go back there, do it.

There's something good at the other end of it. And then you know there's a part of you that don't want to do that. Overcome it, get up and do it. Because you learn every time you do it, he loves the fire out of you.

Mercy and Grace Instead of Human Boasting

Because everything he asks you to do, I'm close to a fit right now. Let's be honest about it. Folks, I want to ask you something. Haven't we been getting our brains beat up while we hang in there and keep a stiff upper lip and let the rough end drag, right?

Just like the world out there, huh? And now we've got, see, we can't boast to no more folks, no more men. You start honoring men, you're on your way to hell. You boast because God's here. Mercy's here and grace's here.

You know at this point in my life, I'm more aware of the mercy and grace of God in my life than I am his love. That's because I moved to a different place, so I'm aware of his love. Don't misunderstand me, but I'm aware because I know me so well.

I'm aware of his mercy and grace. You see at this point. Amen? And I'm becoming more aware of his love all the time. I'm going to tell you something, folks. Now let's just be honest. We don't know too much, okay?

But let's know the one that knows it. The one that was sent here to save us. His name is Jesus. And when you start honoring him, there's no telling what he might do. And if he does something here, we're not going to boast in no man's ministry or nobody or no man.

We're going to say we had Jesus in our midst. Amen? Glory be to God. Can I do some of that I did this afternoon, just kind of tell him how much I love him? Lord, I love you. I love you so much. I just thank you, Lord, for what I'm seeing right out here in Jesus' name.

I thank you, Lord, that what I'm seeing in the hearts of these people, I thank you for what I'm seeing in your grace and mercy right now, in your word and your spirit. What I'm seeing right now, no man or nothing on this earth can do but only you.

Jesus Christ as the Only Way and Living Hope

You are the only God. Lord Jesus, you are the only way. You are the King of kings and Lord of lords. Hallelujah to the name of Jesus. Praise God forevermore. So what did Jesus come here for? He came to put a heart in you like him.

He came here and he loved the Lord with all his heart and he loved his neighbors as well. And he came to show you and I how to walk. He also came to make a place through Calvary in the blood. If Jesus did not come, I want you to understand something about him.

If Jesus did not come, glory be to God in his name, if he didn't come and go to the cross, this wrath of God that we hadn't understood much about, if he didn't come and make a place for your and my sins under this blood, there'd be no hope for you.

There's no hope except Jesus. And he's a living hope. He came here and I'm telling you what, he carried the cross the whole time he's on earth. And you know what? As a matter of fact, he's talking about taking up your cross before he ever went to the cross.

Suffering, Pleasing God, and Strength in the Lord

You take up your cross when you die. But folks, it's a joy when you get around fellowship with people who come to the Lord with a pure heart. It is a joy. Every time you suffer, you can rejoice. I pleased God.

Because every time you please him, you get promoted. You sure do get promoted and he just shows it. This is how you become strong in the Lord. If you're not strong in the Lord, you're strong in the devil.

And the powers of darkness run all over you. When you get strong in the Lord, you say things and things happen. The angels are watching over those and serving those who are inheriting salvation. Amen?

Salvation is overcoming. Glory be to God forevermore. Praise his precious name. Boy, I'm glad I don't have to do it. As full as he had called him, he'd bring it to pass. But if you come in the wrong way, coming in, you never do follow him.

You get out here with all this sin in you, you don't know what to do with it, and your conscience starts getting defiled, and you just worry yourself out, and you can't do enough to help God out. And your conscience gets defiled, and then finally you just say, you start getting hard and your conscience starts getting seared.

And you say, well, I've done all I can do. This is just the way it is. It's that way when you're walking in death. He put the laws on your heart so you'd bathe them, and when you break one of them, condemnation is on you.

The law condemns. And when you break them, your heart's condemned. You don't have peace. If you don't have peace, you repent and put it on the blood. Jesus is right there, and the blood's right there.

You've got a place to put it. And you confess it, but it doesn't get put there if you don't confess it. Those who walk in the form of God, it says, say on the front end, see, if you come here and you receive the Spirit of God, what does the Spirit of God come into you for?

He comes to lead you, to show you the way. But then you make that an experience right there, and say, God, you can't tell me that back there in that corn patch, I didn't get saved. Yes, sir? At the very beginning of it.

Then, see, when you stop right here, you'll never go on to obedience to the Lord. You'll never talk to be led by the Spirit of God. And you never do overcome. You stand right there and get killed. By the powers of darkness.

The Spirit Leads the Church to Holiness

Let me see that. Hold up your hand. Here's what Jesus is coming for in Ephesians 5, verse 27. That he is going to present to him the church in all her what? She's going to have glory. Why? She's going to have no spot.

She's not going to have no wrinkle or any such thing. But she's going to be what? Holy and blameless. Now look at me, folks. The Lord, the Spirit of God, leads us to overcome and put to death the deeds of the flesh, the character and nature of Satan.

Are you hearing what I'm saying?