Our message today is on the subject “Saved by obedience.” Why, you say, that flies right in the face of Ephesians 2:8 which says, “By grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.” And we must concede the validity of that statement. For Psalms 39:5 tells us that every man at his best state is altogether vanity.
“Years ago, President Lincoln stood on the battlefield at Gettysburg and delivered that immortal address. The world will little note nor long remember what I say here…
One day a stranger came to my door, asking if I were interested in spiritual things. I said, “You’ve come to the right door. I am an evangelist.”
“Oh!” He said, “So you’re a preacher. Sir, do you preach the Kingdom?”
I said, “Yes, I do. I wonder if you know anything about it.”
In 1 Corinthians 4:20, Paul writes that the Kingdom of God is not in word but in power. I told him truthfully of blind people that had received sight in my meetings. Of cripples that had gotten up and run. Etc. Etc.
“Today as we discuss the matter of faded dreams, our text is found in Ecclesiastes 1:14-15.
14I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.15That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.