By Jerald and Sandra Tanner

As the reader may know, Pastor Wesley P. Walters had a great deal to do with bringing to light the true history of Mormonism. He was a man who loved the Mormon people and labored very hard to bring them the truth. The following extracts are taken from his last sermon, “For All The Saints.” It was delivered on October 21, 1990, at the church in Marissa, Illinois, where Walters served as pastor for 33 years:

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WHAT IS A SAINT?
Ephesians 1: 1, 2

1 Paul an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:
2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. . . .

God had already told us in the Old Testament—centuries before Paul ever addressed his letter “To the Saints in Ephesus.”

Psalm 50:5: Gather to me my saints—those who have made a covenant to me by sacrifice.

So a saint is one who has entered into relationship with God by means of a blood sacrifice. . . . It takes on a special meaning of a blood sacrifice for sin—and points to that one perfect bold sacrifice for sin—the Lord Jesus our Messiah.

Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
[John 1:29]

So a Saint is one who looks exclusively to the Son of God and the pouring out of his life’s blood as his only hope for forgiveness.

Now in Ephesians, Chapter 1:4-5, Paul elaborates more fully upon what it means to be one of God’s Saints:

For he chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love, He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will.

Consider how infinitely small a cosmic speck this earth of ours is—

We are but a blip amidst our galaxy of billions of stars—

And our galaxy is but one of thousands upon thousands of galaxies in the universe that extends beyond where the most powerful of our telescopes can see.

And upon this microscopic speck we call the earth, our world, are some 5 billion of us crawling around—so minute that we can not even be seen from a weather satellite a few thousand miles from our earth. In our vast universe, we are by comparison a million times smaller than the smallest electron in an atom.

Yet the mind-boggling thing is that we—who are totally imperceptible in the vastness of space—are not only known to God, but even loved by him from the distant ages of eternity.

That the Mighty God who framed the vastness of the universe should fix his love upon us who are less than a whisper, who are but as a vapor that quickly vanishes—is indeed the enigma of the ages.

Yet he did more than love us in eternity. . . .

We have redemption through his blood—the forgiveness of sins. [Ephesians 1:7] Can you imagine such a cosmic figure as the Son of God—by whom this vast universe was called into existence— becoming one of us, just so he could pay the price of sin!

This is almost beyond belief. So highly exalted and valued was this person, the Son of God, that (as one theologian expressed it) . . . it would have been a lesser crime to have crucified every man, woman and child who ever lived, or would live, than to have killed the Lord of Glory.

Can you imagine any person of such exaltation and dignity doing this? Let alone the God who made us and against whom we rebelled.

An English poet pictured God as having forgotten this rebelling world … But far from forgetting the world, He was redeeming it. “He loved me, and gave Himself for me.” [Galatians 2:20] . . .

Archeologists are always on the lookout for seals, — “le Meleck” — “Belonging to the King” — stamped in the soft clay and fired.

It identifies that vessel as forever belonging to the King—15 centuries later it still bears witness of this.

God has set His seal upon us—He has given His children His stamp of ownership—the Holy Spirit. The Spirit marks us as belonging to God forever. [Ephesians 1:13]

“They shall never perish!” [John 10:28]

What can we say to all this? Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Glory to God! Amen and Amen! . . .

It should break our hearts for gratitude. It should bring tears of devotion to our eyes. It should make our souls sing for joy and leap with praises.

Did you see the Cincinnati Reds when they won the Series? They came out of the dugout, leaping and shouting . . . And the World Series is nothing compared to what God has won for us in His own Son.

Paul said it so well. “We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” [Romans 8:37] If you are a saint, rejoice! If you are not, then hurry to make a covenant with God through his Son Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Amen.

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