Keep sharing good news without ads.
Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/brandon-doll/the-moment-of-salvation/
Turn, please, to the book of Romans. Romans, and we'll read together in chapter 10. We'll read together there at verse 13. My thoughts are similar to my brother John's in a sense. Romans 10. Verse 13.
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. We'll read that again. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Now we're going to go look at what that looks like in Psalm 107.
Psalm 107. Now in recent years, especially there seems to be a movement among evangelical peoples that is growing and growing. You'll find it on college campuses and so on where masses of people are saved at the same time.
And they're calling it a great revival. It's spreading all around America. And what's taking place in this is there are people and they're only getting half the truth. And they're professing to be saved.
And some of you here are in college and you know some of these folks and their story sounds pretty good, half good, or maybe a little more than half good. But what does it mean to call upon the name of the Lord and be saved?
We're going to look at examples in Psalm 107. And I think you'll see very clearly the reality of what it is to understand a person's need and a person's requirement of a Savior. Psalm 107, verse number three.
It says, He gathered them out of the lands from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. Now here's the first type of person. They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way. They found no city to dwell in.
Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they called unto the Lord in their trouble. I was going to have my title of my message be then, but that's kind of an ambiguous title. We're looking here at a moment of salvation.
We're looking at a person now and we're going to dive into the details in just a few seconds here. But this individual here has a moment in their life's experience. When they come to this place in life, they've come to the reality in life that they have nothing to offer God.
They have nothing that they can give to God. There's nothing that they can do for God. There's nothing that they can even do for themselves. And the solemn reality is we go all the way down through these and we're going to take three of them if the Lord gives time.
And the reality is this, they get to this place in life where they are absolutely helpless and absolutely hopeless. And they're going to be lost and they're going to perish. And it's not until they get to that moment, then, then, they cry unto the Lord.
You see, this person is wandering in the wilderness in a solitary way. How did he get there? Well, the Bible tells us all we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. And so these individuals, these wanderers, you know, they're going about and they're enjoying their stroll.
They're doing their own thing. They're going their own way. And as the further they get on their own way, the tougher the road gets. And the Bible is right again when it says that the way of the transgressor is hard.
And those that have gone their own way, they're going out into the wilderness. At first, it starts off as fun. It starts off as exploration. It just starts off at living life and doing what I want to do.
But very quickly, the deception of sin turns into the reality that I'm in a place further than I wanted to go. And I'm farther away than ever I thought I could be. And I can't find my way back. That is the reality of a lost sheep.
They're going after the greener pastures maybe on the other side of the fence. And away they go and they go and they go. And it's not very long, they find themselves in a place where they don't know how to get back.
They don't know where they are. They don't know how to get where they're going. And they're in a great place of great danger. This is the man that is lost. And so he finds out that he's lost and now he's searching.
He's searching. What is he searching for? He's searching for a way back. He's searching for home. He's searching for rescue. But he can't find it. He wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way. He found no city to dwell in.
Now he's hungry. Now he's thirsty. And it says this, hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. How much strength does a person have that's about to faint? This person here comes to the realization that I have nothing left to give.
And there's nothing more that I can do. You see the difference between this person who calls upon the name of the Lord and what you're getting in this modern day a terrible movement. These people are raising their hands.
They're bowing their heads and they're raising their hands. It was in a funeral not too long ago. And the very thing happened. We sit there and I believe the man was a saved man and he wanted the preacher to preach on John 3.
And the man preached on John 3 very well. There was a Gospel message there. A person could have been saved listening to what the man said. And then he said this. He said, I want everybody to bow your heads and we're going to pray.
And so we bowed our heads and we're waiting for him to pray and he keeps talking to us. So I lifted my head up and my dad lifted his head up. What's going on? And he said, if you want to be saved, raise your hand.
And he said, and make sure you have your heads bowed as he looked at me and my dad. And so I bowed my head. And then he said, oh, there's some of them! There's some of them! There's some of them! And so I looked.
Just with one eye, though. The preacher couldn't see me. I looked over there and there he was with his hand up. That is not salvation. As an evangelist, I thought it would be wise to know the man who wants to be saved.
That's why I looked. This man is laying upon the dust of the desert at the point of death. Then, he cries unto the Lord. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. It's absolutely true.
Because whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. God's Word declares it. But the reality is this, why do people call? Raising your hand in a comfortable situation. Raising your hand for a better life.
Signing on the back of the card to get the matter, the transaction, done is not the salvation of the Bible. This man is on his face down to his last gasp. And with likely his very last breath, he calls upon the name of the Lord.
What does it sound like? Lord, save me. Lord, save me. Save him from what? If you're saved tonight here, what have you been saved from? When were you saved from it? How were you saved? This man realizes he has made a great mistake.
And he has gone his own way. And he wants to be saved from perishing. Yes. Saved from his own way. Yes. He wants to be rescued from his sin and the consequences of it. When in your lifetime did you ever come unto the great reality that your sin is a very real problem?
We're just getting down to fundamentals tonight. Where sin is my problem. Oftentimes, visiting with folks who want to be saved, we'll ask them a question. If you died tonight, where would you be? And I'm going to ask you that question.
Don't answer it out loud, but think about it. If you were to die tonight, where would you be? And if your answer is heaven, why would you be in heaven? And if your answer is hell, why would you be in hell?
Talking to folks in an audience like this, usually people say, I would be in hell because I'm not saved. Because I'm not saved. The reason people go to hell is because of their sin. There's a difference.
There's a real difference. And when sin is the problem, you can find all sorts of verses in the Bible that tell you what God has done with sin. You can find all sorts of verses in the Bible that tell you what Christ has done for the sinner.
Even for what He has done for the ungodly. This man there, he is in the very place of death. He is absolutely lost. He is absolutely without strength. And then he cries unto the Lord because there's nothing else to do.
And what does it say? It says, then, they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them. He saved them from their distresses. The man had no part in it. How did the Savior know where he was?
The Savior was there the whole time. Because the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost. If you're lost in this meeting tonight, you can be saved tonight. The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost.
Joey Baker had an excellent line at the conference last weekend in preaching the Gospel. And he was speaking to people that had concerns and that would have doubts and would have a lack of assurance. And he said the reason that people have lack of assurance is because they're looking at themselves.
And when it comes to salvation, it begins with God. And it stops with God. And when a person is trying to examine themself whether I have believed in the right way, whether I have believed enough, whether I have repented enough, whether I have prayed enough, their focus is internal.
And you'll never find peace there. And you'll never have satisfaction there. Because it all depends on you in the end. When this man is saved, the Lord delivers them. And He does it all. And they don't even help him.
They don't even help him. What does He do to save them? He says He leads them forth by the right way. The right way. And they've gone their own way. And now Christ puts them on the right way. That they might go to a city of habitation.
Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for the wonderful works to the children of many. He satisfies the longing soul. Only Him. Only the Savior can satisfy the longing soul. Then the next one.
Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. Now there's an awful place to be. Sitting in the darkness and the shadow of death is already cast. And being bound in affliction and iron. The man is in chains.
He's in bands. He's a prisoner. He is a slave. What does it say? Why is he there? Because they rebelled against the Word of God and condemned the counsel of the Most High. Here is a person that has gone against God.
He has not run from God as the wanderer has run from God. He has condemned the counsel of the Most High. He finds himself in bonds. You see, he didn't take God serious when God says that he that commits sin is a servant of sin.
And God had warned the man about the dangers of sin and the deception of sin and the reality of death because of sin. And this man now persists and he condemns God's counsel and he does his own thing.
He goes into his sins. He finds himself a prisoner, a slave, a servant to sin. He can't get out. And he can't break the bands. And what does it say? Therefore, he, that is God, brought down their heart with labor.
Oh, how they struggle. I don't want to sound cruel, but I really love it when sinners struggle. That's the best thing ever. If you see a sinner that is struggling and God is bringing him down, get out of the way.
It's a full-time job staying out of God's way. And there this man is bound in affliction and iron. And God is dealing with him. And this man is struggling. And oh, is he ever trying so hard to break the bands of sin.
But he's finding out he can't. And the harder that he struggles and the harder that he tries, the weaker he gets. And the weaker he gets, the more hopeless it gets. But he's not given up yet. He can still do it in his own mind.
I can dig deeper. I can get it done. I can get rid of this. But he can't! He can't. And I can tell you this, when you go to these revivals, you won't hear this preached. It's a great concern of mine. Because there are thousands of young people in colleges today that think they're saved and they're not.
And this dear soul, the Lord is bringing down his heart with labor. He now has come to the point where he's fallen down. He's on the floor of the dungeon. He can't get any lower. Then what happens? There was none to help.
He's all alone in his sin. He's all alone in the dungeon. He's all alone in his bands. He can't help himself. There's no one there to help him. Then, then, not until then. Why not until then? Because he was still working to himself until then.
And in that very moment of salvation, having been brought down by God, he cries unto the Lord in his trouble. And he saved them out of their distresses. He saved them. How did he do it? He fell down. There was none to help.
Verse 13, they cried unto the Lord in their trouble and he saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of the darkness. He sent the light. God was the one that brought him down. God was the one that allowed him to struggle.
God couldn't save him because if God would have saved him before the man was at the end, what would happen? Well, you know what would happen. That man would have been in that dungeon. He would have been struggling.
He would have been almost there to his knees. And if God would have saved him, he'd have went, oh, just like Samson. I knew I could do it. I didn't need anybody to help me. But God sends the light. God says the entrance of His Word brings light.
I pray God sends the light tonight. You've been reminded of the illumination. That's what John was talking about. That God would send the light that you might see. If God could illuminate your little world and you could see that in your world, you're spinning around and yet you're in your own dungeon.
And you're shackled by your own sin. And the reality of escape seems possible for now. But if He would send you the light, you'd see. You'd see it. He sends the light. He brought them out of the darkness and out of the shadow of death.
He'd break their bands and sunder. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men. Then verse 16 is touching. I want you to look at verse 16. It says, For He hath broken the gates of brass and cut the bars of iron and sunder.
Even if the man could have got out of the bands, he'd have never made it out of the gate. It was far worse than he ever imagined. And isn't that the way it is? Once we're saved, brethren, our sin was far worse than we ever imagined.
And if we would have known the trouble that we were in, we would have fainted. And this man now, the Lord is not only breaking the bands of sunder, but He's broken the bars, the gates of brass. He's cut the bars of iron and sunder.
Why? They'll never bind that man again. And when God saves a person, He saves them forever. But you notice when he cried, when he had nothing else to do, in the essence, he surrendered. The next one is the fool.
Verse 17. Fools, because of their transgression, because of their iniquity, they're afflicted. So you're seeing the type of person here. It's a man without constraint. And because of their transgression and because of their iniquity, they are afflicted.
And their soul, even though they're afflicted, their soul abhors all manner of meat. It hates anything that can make strong. It is just all taken up with the filth. And it says this, they draw near unto the gates of death.
Here's a man. Because of his transgression, because of his iniquity, he's afflicted. God brings him right down to the gate of death. Why does God do that? I've known a few over the years that God brought them to the very edge of death before they ever were saved.
And it was a mercy of God that He ever let them get there. It was the goodness of God leading them to repentance. And there a man runs in his sin and I remember praying for him. And we prayed for him and we prayed for him and we prayed for him and he had a motorcycle accident.
He found himself in the Madison Hospital, a broken mess. And God brought him to the gate of death. You can read about this man in Luke 23 nailed upon a cross. A malefactor. That God brought right to the very edge of death.
And it was the goodness of God. And there at the edge of death, something marvelous took place. The reality that he was going to meet God. And I'm going to meet God in my sin? Have you ever been there, friend?
The reality that you could meet God tonight and if you met God tonight, you'd meet Him in your sin. And if you met God in your sin tonight, what would it mean for you, friend? A holy God! A vile sinner!
And they meet! And eternity makes my heart shudder to think that there might be a soul in this audience tonight and you might meet God in your sin tonight. And if you met God in your sin tonight, you'd be in hell.
Sure as you're in this seat tonight, if you meet God in your sin, you'll be in hell. Here's a man. He's at the gate of hell. I want to tell you, friend, lovingly, you're just a step from death tonight.
You're on the very edge of eternity tonight. You're just a heartbeat from the fires of hell. Then, they cry unto the Lord. Then, isn't God good? Oh, God is so cruel that He lets the wandering man wander until his heart faints in Him.
No, God is gracious. God is so unloving to let the man in the irons stay there in the irons until he has nothing left, no strength left, and his soul faints in Him. No, it's the goodness of God leading to repentance.
Oh, God is so cruel to bring a sinner to the very edge of hell. No, it's the love of God. And friend, if you've got there tonight, how does He save them? He sends His Word. He sends His Word. That's what it says.
Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble and He delivers them out of their distresses. He sent His Word. You have the Word of God tonight. It says He sent His Word. And He healed them. And He delivered them from their destructions, plural.
Saved them from their sins. Saved them from the fires of hell. Saved them for eternity. Is it true that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved? A thousand times yes. But this is what it looks like to call upon the name of the Lord.