Glen Bond Wednesday Oct 25, 2006 Baton Rouge LA. Subject: The Lord is able to save I want to talk about my Lord, why he is able to save. I want you that are lost to be assured that he has promised to save you. I know he is able to save because he saved me. He has saved others. You, YOU - know that he can save, you see what he has done. First, Gods word tells us that salvation is of the Lord. Jonah 2:9 Its not from the Pastor not from the priest, not from the Pope. Its from the Lord God of Heaven. Then He said; And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. John 12:32 Then Lord is drawing you to him. Don't resist. Start praying, get honest. We can look at the apostle Paul and how he was saved. We can see how the Lord saved him. He was a sinner, steeped in self-righteousness, going about killing the saints of God. The Lord stopped him, showed him that he was a sinner, showed him that Christ died for sinners and saved him. The Lord is able to save. Are you waiting for the Lord to stop you in your tracks like he did Saul?? I think that Saul lost everything that day. We don't know much about Saul. I think He lost his job, his social standing in the church, he probably lost his family and friends. Is that what you want the Lord to do to you? take away everything that you have? Look what the Lord did to king Nebbuchadnezzar. The Lord took all that he had, his kingdom, all of his luxuries, his pleasures, his money, his family and friends. The Lord took everything. Is this what you want the Lord to do to you? I truly believe that if you won't stop chasing after the world, or whatever it is that you are doing, if you won't stop, I believe that the Lord will do something like this to you. The Lord is able to save. Isaiah 59:1 Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: ...his ear (is not) heavy... This means that he is able to hear you. The Lord can hear you... What does the Lord hear?? Does he hear you crying out for mercy? Does he hear you pleading for salvation? Or does he hear silence? Maybe a new car? Luke 19:10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. Are you a lost sinner? If you are, the Lord is looking for you. A lost sinner is someone who knows that he needs salvation. Nobody wakes up one day and says, "Oh my, I am a lost sinner". The fact that you are lost must be revealed to you by the Holy spirit. If the Lord never shows you that you are lost, you will continue on as a blinded sinner. If you don't see yourself lost, take my word for it - you are lost. Then cry out to him that is able to save. ...his ear (is not) heavy... He is listening... Matt 18:11 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. 12 How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? 13 And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. Look at verse 12: if a MAN have an hundred sheep... The Lord is telling a story about how we may compare heaven and earth. He is telling how a man might go and search for a lost sheep. How would be the easiest way for a shepperd to find a lost sheep?? By listening for that poor sheep's cry. Are you crying to the Lord? If not, how can you ever expect to be saved? Isaiah 45:22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. The Lord tells us to look to him for salvation. Where are you looking? Are you loking to your self? Are you looking for help from someone other than the Lord God of heaven? The Lord is a soveriegn God. That means - He does as he pleases. The Lord hates a proud heart. I wonder if some of you that are seeking the Lord are coming to him with a proud heart. You are saying "Ok Lord, I'm here. You can save me now." I worked real hard to come to you. I'm here now and I'm ready for you to save me. Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. That is not the heart of a humbled down sinner. The humbled, contrite heart that the Lord does not despise will never speak like that. The humble heart will beg and plead for mercy. Why? Because the humble heart knows that it has sinned against God. The humble heart knows that it only deserves hell. The Lord will never save a sinner with a proud, or un-broken heart. If you are coming to the Lord thinking that the Lord SHOULD save you, you are going to be very surprised, and dissapointed. Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.