thing. I have a list of 226 things on my desk that Christ wants to be to you. So we confess with the mouth out loud, saying ourselves, “Jesus Christ is my Lord.” One time people said of Christ, “We will not have this man to reign over us.” But this is exactly what the Chris tian wants. When we are saved it means we turn ourselves completely over to Him. He has a perfect right to put away all the sins and iniquities in our life. You turn yourself over to Him as you would to a surgeon. He does the operating that needs to be done. I had a patient on the table one time on whom I was going to perform a local operation. But when I uncov ered my instruments, this patient got the “heeby-jeebies” and nearly fell off the table. I had to go and get the ether can and put her to sleep, because she wanted to hold my hand while I was operating. Now I don’t mind having my hand held by some people but not when I am operating. That is the way it is with the Lord in saving the soul. You can’t hold His hand. You can’t help Him a bit. Scripture rightly says, “When he had by himself purged our sins, he sat down” (Hebrews 1:3). You get on an airplane and you turn yourself over to the pilot. You don’t go fooling around with the instruments and telling him what to do. So it is with salvation. You confess right out loud, “Jesus Christ is my Lord and I love Him. He owns me. He bought me with His precious blood.” In Matthew 10:32 we read, “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.” “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” That is the joy of salvation. You remember Thomas said, “My (continued on next page) 29
W h en it comes to the matter of salvation, God’s Word is very exact. For instance, we read, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, (or that Jesus is thy Lord) 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” (Romans 10:9, 10). Notice that the mouth is mentioned in both those verses. All true bom again believers should be in the business of winning souls for Christ. Our mouths are to be used to tell about the Lord. The person we are seeking to win is to confess that Jesus is Lord. Some zealous personal workers are wrong when they do all the talking. They will earnestly say, “Now you take Jesus as your Saviour, don’t you?” The fellow nods his head. Such action is not what this verse says. “If thou,” means the person who is being won for Christ. He is the one who has to say, “I’m taking Jesus Christ as my Lord. I’m trusting Him with my soul.” He must make this as sertion, not the soul winner. Otherwise all he is doing is telling what is in your heart as the worker. Almost everybody would like to be saved from hell at the end of life’s pathway. Yet a desire or wish is not sufficient for salvation. I have per formed many marriage ceremonies. As an example, I never say, “Bill, will you take Margaret to be your lawful wedded cook?" I never say, “Jim, will you take Betty to be your lawful wed ded housekeeper?" The man takes the girl for all that she is. (Remember, get ting married under orange blossoms doesn’t mean you didn’t get a lemon. And she may get a lemon, too.) The Lord Jesus is to be Lord, Sav iour, Redeemer, High Priest, Shepherd, Bishop of the Soul, Lover and every
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