THE K I N G ’ S BUS I NESS
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came, but their emancipation was noth ing to ours. Think of the man who has been the slave of drink for years, the slave of a merciless master who has robbed him of health, of position, of manhood, of the love of his wife and the respect of his children, the master who has made him a liar and a thief and a fool and a brute and a beast. Think of his being set free. Think of any of you who have had the iron manacles and fetters of sin upon you being set free: That is what salvation means. It is glorious indeed, but that is not all. 5. In the fifth place, We are saved from future judgment. There is a coming judgment: “ God hath appointed a day in which He shall judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He hath ordained, whereof He hath given assurance unto all. men in that He hath raised Him from the dead.” (Acts 17:31). It will be an awful day for many, it will be an awful day for many who sit very care lessly in this house tonight unless they speedily repent. When a notorious murderer in New York, sometime ago, (Molineaux) was found guilty of mur der and sentenced to death, many thought it strange that he passed a quiet night, thereafter, but that is not so strange as the indifference with which men and women out of Christ in Los Angeles look forward to the awful judg ment that is surely coming. It is in God’s Word that there is to be such a judgment. God hath given assurance thereof to all men in that He has raised Jesus Christ from the dead. The resur rection of Jesus Christ is an absolutely certain fact, established by overwhelm ing evidence, but just as surely as Christ arose there is a coming judgment day coming, with awful penalties for all impenitent sinners and rebels against God. But every believer in Jesus Christ is saved from that judgment. Jesus Himself said when here on earth, “ Ver
ily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my words and believeth Him that sent me hath eternal life, and cometh not into judgment but hath passed out of death into life.” . (Jno. 5:24 R. V.) I know that there is to be a future judgment, but it has no terrors whatever for me, for my Lord •Jesus has saved me from it. That is what salvation means. It is glorious. But even that is not all. HI. To What We Are Saved. We have seen thus far that we are saved from all guilt, from God’s dis pleasure, from the condemnation of our own conscience, from the power of sin, from future judgment. But that is only the negative side of salvation. Let us now look at the positive side. To what are we saved? 1. First of all, we are saved to peace and joy. The Apostle Paul says in Rom. 5:1, “ Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ,” and the apostle Peter says in 1 Pet. 1:8, “ In whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” The man who is saved and knows he is saved, has a peace and joy of which this world knows nothing. Not only does the Bible show us all that, but the experience of every believer in Christ confirms what the Bible says. I wish I could tell you the peace and joy I have in my own heart tonight. I wish there were some way by which. I could get you to see it. Peter describes it the best of anyone I know when he calls it “ joy unspeakable and full of glory.” That is what real salvation means, salvation to “ joy unspeakable and full of glory.” It is glorious. But even that is not all. 2. In the next place, we are saved to a true and pure and holy and use ful life. Some of the vilest lives this world has even seen have become beautiful
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