Say Yes To God

John Linton

I. Say “Yes” to Salvation
Whenever we say “yes” to God, we have to say “yes” first and foremost at the point where He appeals to us for salvation. Nobody can do much for God until he has said “yes” to His redemptive plan, until he has said “yes” to salvation.
It’s no trouble for me to get up on Sunday and get excited over the things I do because I remember when I got saved. I haven’t forgotten it. I haven’t gotten over the fact that I was lost but God came down, touched my life and saved me. Words are inadequate to tell the marvelous thing that happened in my life. I can open my Bible on any page and find a text which excites me.
Sunday I didn’t have the voice to preach as strongly as I wished, and I don’t have much voice this morning, but I’m going to tell you something: there’s a spring flowing inside me somewhere. It bubbles and fizzes as it flows. I’m not sure where it’s located, but somewhere inside there’s a spiritual mainspring; and when I stand in a place like this and open this precious Book, that spring winds tight. It’s difficult for me to keep my hand on the throttle and subdue it.
It all goes back to one Saturday morning in September 1951 when, as a lad, I heard the gospel story and the appeal of God to my soul. I knew in my heart I needed to say “yes” to God in Heaven.
I got up off my knees with tears streaming down my face, knowing I was forgiven, cleansed and clean. All at once something had happened within me that I’d never known before.
We must say “yes” to God for salvation.
Dear friend, listen to me. You need to be saved. Every member of your family needs to be saved. Every one of us is a sinner. Every sinner is a lost sinner. Every lost sinner needs a Saviour.
“For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” - Luke 19:10.
“For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved:’ - John 3:17.
Since Jesus saves sinners, you can be saved! The salvation He offers is real, genuine. It erases your sin record. It makes you a child of God. It admits you to Heaven when you die.
“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” - John 1 :12.
Do you see it? “As many as received him.” That’s saying “yes” to God. ‘’Yes, I’m a sinner. Yes, Jesus is the Saviour. Yes, I will trust Him. Yes, I do receive Him as my Saviour.”
It’s the starting place. Bring your sin, your need, your burden. Bring it all.
Throw yourself on the mercy of God and receive His Son, Jesus Christ, as your Saviour! God offers you forgiveness, salvation, everlasting life and a home in Heaven. Say “yes” to Him by saying “yes” to His wonderful offer.

II. Say “Yes” in Surrender
We have to keep on saying“yes” because He wants our heart and our lives to be surrendered. I want it; I really want it.
How long has it been since you got up on Sunday and said, “Now what am I going to do today?” How long ‘-has it been since you sat around on Sunday about 5:30 or 6:00 and said to your wife and kids, “Are we, or aren’t we, going to church?” How long has it been?
You say, “Why, we do that at our house every week.” We don’t. We haven’t done it for years. We don’t have to. Why? Because we decided a long time ago, we just surrendered that time.
You say, “Oh, but don’t you know about the tremendous thing that NBC’s having on Sunday night?” Some people think they have great stuff every Sunday night.
“Don’t you know the World Series is going to be on tonight?” You’ll not find anyone who loves baseball any more than the man you’re looking at. I keep a baseball bat under my bed (just in case). I keep a baseball bat sitting just outside the family room all the time. I swing a baseball bat every day of the world. I stand, I take it, and I swing it. I imagine myself at Camden Yards, Yankee Stadium or some such place. In the fantasy of my mind, I’ve hit more home runs in those parks than anyone who’s ever played there.
I love to go to cities where they have batting cages. I get my tennis shoes on. I go down to that batting cage and get in there with the bat where they’re throwing the hard ball about 65 or 70 miles an hour. I just stand there and swing at it. I can’t hit it; I just swing at it! I like it. Nobody likes that any more than I do.
But when the World Series is playing I don’t care if they’re playing it in Baltimore, I don’t care if I have tickets if it’s Sunday night or Wednesday night, this boy’s not going. Everybody else may go, but I made my decision years ago. At that time I know where I’ll be. It has been decided.
Why? A surrendered heart. You just surrender, give it over to God. You don’t have to make those decisions over and over again. You say, “Well, I’m pulled back and forth. I don’t know what to do.” Oh, get off that! Make the decision. Decide right up front. Surrender your heart to God. Say “yes” to God.

III. Say “Yes” for Strength
Very early in your Christian experience, you will discover the need for power, a spiritual anointing upon your life. The flesh is weak and vulnerable. The mind is corruptible and cantankerous. The sum total of your best is not adequate for the demands which will be thrust upon you repeatedly as you set out to serve God.
If you do only what you yourself can do, you will undoubtedly fail, and that right early, and often, and miserably.
“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria. and unto the uttermost part of the earth. “ Acts 1 :8.
So many sincere Christians flounder their whole lives long. They win no souls. They influence no one for God and for good. They are on again, off again, spiritual yo-yos, up and down, up and down. You never know where they will be next or what to expect from them. They are frustrated incessantly because they are without sufficient power to drive their Christian lives successfully. They know what God commands, they see it fulfilled in others, but they do not secure it for themselves. What’s the problem?
It’s simple. It’s a power failure! They need to be filled with the Spirit and empowered with divine strength.
Folks, you can’t do God’s business God’s way as God commands’” without God’s power. You simply must have more than your little muscle and might.
Just as you said “yes” to God for salvation and you said “yes” to God in surrender, now go a step further and say “yes” for strength. Claim the power of God in your life! It will mightily impact your life. Nothing will ever be the same again.

IV. Say “Yes” to Separation
When you say “yes” to salvation, you shou1d also say “yes” to surrender, and then you should consciously and deliberately decide that you’re going to live your life sanctified and holy, set apart for the service of God. To do so you must say “yes” to God in separation.
You say, “I’m having such a terrible time trying to quit smoking cigarettes. I’m trying to quit drinking beer!’ Listen! Get it out of the refrigerator! You won’t have such a big problem with it if you make no provision for the flesh.
With a lot of this stuff, you’re still wavering. You’re sitting in the gate of Sodom. You’re still hanging around. You’re still tying your horse to the hitching post in front of the saloon. You need to say “yes” to God. Surrender. Say, “Yes, my life will be holy unto God and separated from the world. I will do it. I don’t have any desire to look like the world. I don’t have any desire to do the things that they do. I cut that off when I said ‘yes’ to .God.”
Separation is not legalism. Standards are not legalism. Separation is scriptural. Standards are biblical.
When the skillful surgeon prepares to perform a delicate operation, he follows some very basic standards. He washes his hands. He scrubs carefully. He puts on the special gloves. He masks his face. He dresses in the surgical attire. Every instrument is sterilized and handled carefully.
Now why do you suppose the surgeon has standards? “I suppose it’s because he delights in making up rules for himself:’ No! He does so to prevent infection. He intends to perform a successful operation. The standards protect the patient. The standards help to insure the health and well-being of the patient.
The imposed limits and restrictions are not without cause or purpose.
When you get serious about your Christian life, you’ll see the standards of separation are not intended to cheat you or harm you. To the contrary, they are for your good, your well-being.
God knows more about what you need than you do. So quit trying to explain away God’s standards. Say “yes” to God in separation. Deny the darkness.

V. Say “Yes” in Stewardship
Stewardship! Yes, indeed! You cannot ignore God’s clear instructions on this and expect everything to progress as you want. The Lord has made His claims on us, and we must not refuse Him. To refuse Him is disobedience. Disobedience is serious business.
Stewardship! “That means tithe?” Yes, indeed!
“Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.”-Mal. 3:8.
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.”-Matt. 23:23.
That’s Old Testament, and that’s New Testament! What more do you want? If it’s God’s plan, and it is, why would you even think of doing it some other way? Say “yes” to God in stewardship!
Stewardship! “That means Sunday?” Yes, indeed! The Lord’s day is the Lord’s day! It’s not yours to squander at leisure. It’s not the day to invest in your own pursuits of pleasure and whatever else. If the people of God would get right with God on this matter, the churches would be packed every week.