Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:04 Good morning, village church. Good morning. My name's Michael fueling. I'm the lead pastor here at the village church. I have a huge favor to ask of you if I wander too far this way, uh, would you just kind of maybe put a hand up because I only do one thing well at a time and if I am preaching, I am not aware of that. There's a baptismal to my left and I will go right in. So if you would be so kind just, you don't have to yell at anything, just go like that. I would say about, about right here. <laugh> this is, this is, this is the moment. And, uh, the end of the service, we are really excited. We're gonna baptize Dominic and, uh, we're gonna celebrate what God's done in his life. Um, I remember when I was a kid, um, probably six, seven years old.
Speaker 1 00:00:46 I was very sincerely worried that I would lose my salvation. I trusted in Christ, uh, when I was four years old and I had a mom and a church and family who reinforced truth in my life that your salvation is secure because it's not up to you. It is up to Jesus. It was not earned by good works. Therefore you cannot lose it by good words. But I expressed this concern to my mom. Now, at the time, my mom was a baby Christian. She had just become a Christian a couple years earlier, kind of undoing a whole lot, a lot of false religion in her life. And, and so my mom was my discipler and she was giving me what she had just received as like a brand new Christian. And it was a really beautiful thing as I look back and I saw my mom disciple me, and I told her, I'm really concerned that I'm gonna lose my salvation. I don't remember the exact quote, but I remember the sentiment that my mom shared with me. It was this Mike, that's what she called me,
Speaker 1 00:01:51 False Christians. Don't usually worry about how now I've been around a lot of people who were Christians and then walked away from the faith. And typically this is a true statement and I don't know why the Lord used this statement or this sentiment in my heart. But from that point on my concern about losing my salvation, I was never a big anxiety or worry for the rest of my life. I don't, I don't understand exactly why, but my six, seven year old mind and heart needed to know this fact now fast forward three decades later, I'm laying down with my seven year old daughter at the time. Her mind is spinning. And you know, you see that in your child's eyes. You're like something isn't okay. And I asked her, you look worried. What are you thinking about? And quickly she responded. And she was so sweet and honest.
Speaker 1 00:02:45 She said, I'm afraid that I'm going to hell. And I told her, I said, sweetheart, you made the decision to trust in Jesus Christ. Like this is the most secure thing in your life. If, if you sincerely trust him, do you believe? She says, yes, I believe. And then we, we talked more and she's like, but what if you know that question? That anxiety always asks. But what if, but what if, but what if, and I, I remember talking and I asked her a lot of questions trying to get underneath it. And what I found her major concern was yes, I believe. But what if I'm, what if I'm bad enough that God says that's too far? She, she, at her course, she was concerned whether or not she could lose her salvation. And so I looked at her and I shared with this sentiment that my mom shared with me.
Speaker 1 00:03:30 I said, sweetie, false Christians. Don't usually worry about how. And so the fact that you're even concerned about this tells me that there is something in you that is, that is, that loves God and wants him. She's like, I do love him. And I do believe in him and I wanna be with him forever. And I was like, sweetie, this is not from the Lord. This is not the holy spirit talking false Christians. Typically they don't worry about this. They have a, an unusual confidence that they're, that they're good enough, or they don't really have the holy spirit, but via I've seen in you the power of the holy spirit. And I've learned, it's not just kids, by the way that Russell with this question, it's also adults. It's most brand new Christians. Um, what I find is that there are also some adults who, who, you know, who we are.
Speaker 1 00:04:11 Like, we have an unusual amount of anxiety that kind of just walks with us all throughout life. And so we often apply it in this situation and we're concerned like, can I lose my salvation is this secure? And, and we're in the book of John right now, but the same author, John, in the book of first John, here's what he writes in five 13. He says, I write all these things to you who believe in the name of the son of God, why that you may know that you have eternal life. And so what my mom understood the heart of God in that moment with me as a six or seven year old, and what I understood with the heart of my seven year old daughter in that moment is that the heart of God is that he wants us to have assurance that our hearts would know with certainty, that we truly are safe.
Speaker 1 00:04:52 And that once we are saved, there is no amount of bad works or disobedience or rebellion that we can do that can undo what the power of God has done in us in the first place. Now, if I'm you, I've got a thousand questions and that is good, and that is right. I'm gonna try to answer maybe five of them. And then, and then we're gonna like, kind of go deeper here. And then I invite your questions in this. I think it's so good to go deeper in this issue. So open up your Bibles with me to John chapter 10, we're gonna start in verse 24. Um, and John 10, it is the winter before Jesus' crucifixion. We're not even halfway through the book and we're only a couple months away from the crucifixion. Now in the book of John, there is a nefarious group of people and John just calls them, quote the Jews.
Speaker 1 00:05:35 And whenever you see him use the word, the Jews, he's not talking about Jewish people in general, he's talking about a group typically made up of Jewish leaders who hate Jesus and are conspiring and coordinating his death. Now a part of the Jews, we're gonna find over time. Some of them leave this group and they personally trust in Christ, but the vast majority of these people hate Jesus. Now, something vital. You gotta get this. As we kinda read through this text, the closer Jesus gets to his death, the more inci he becomes, the more he likes to RLE things up, the more arguments he's starting. Why? Because Jesus knows that he must die. This is the plan. This notion that Jesus is a victim, false Jesus willingly went to the cross with the intention of dying. And so what you're gonna find is leading up to Passover the time when he was crucified, he is gonna be picking fights left and right, making these people, the Jews angry because his objective is to make them so furious that when Passover comes, they coordinate and succeed in his murder and execution.
Speaker 1 00:06:47 So if you see Jesus and he's like, he's getting a little bit more, I don't know, aggressive and pointy and direct and blunt it's on purpose because he is trying to incite them. And earlier in John 10, he used the analogy of the sheep and the shepherd to help the Jews kind of understand. Um, listen, I'm a shepherd. I'm a good shepherd. You're bad shepherds. Um, I, I give eternal life. You come to steal, kill and destroy. Just like your father, the devil are those like fighting words. Absolutely. So he, he's kind of, he's kind of riling things up. And in verse 19, it says, says this, there was again, a division among the Jews because of these words. Many of them said he has a demon and he's insane. Why should we listen to him? So you see how they're feeling about him right now.
Speaker 1 00:07:30 And it's this context that we enter into it's John chapter 10 verse 24. So the Jews gathered around him and they said to him, how long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly, you might be new with us. I wanna, I wanna bring you up to speed on what's happened to the book of John. Now, if you've been a part of the John study, has Jesus been explicitly and absolutely clear that he is the, the Messiah in the Christ, everybody, the answer is without a doubt, at some point, these people are just being belligerent. Now, here are just a few things that Jesus or things that have happened that have validated that this isn't just another false Messiah, another false Christ, but he has actually really got in the flesh. So here's, here's, I dunno, five things that have happened.
Speaker 1 00:08:19 Number one, and this is probably the least convincing of all of them, to me, to be honest. But Jesus has been blunt and explicit that he is the Christ. He is the Messiah. He is the son of God. He hasn't mince words. He said it. Now, any of us can say that about ourselves. And if any of us say that we are the Christ, the son of God, the Messiah, um, we should be called Looney tunes. Amen. Because we're not, there's only one. Now Jesus said that. And so they said, yeah, yeah, yeah. Anybody can say that. Um, but then comes John, the Baptist and John, the Baptist is Jesus's cousin, but he is deeply respected by quote the Jews. And they go to John the Baptist and they say, who is this? Jesus? And he's pretty clear. He's the lamb of God. They're pretty clear that he's the Messiah.
Speaker 1 00:09:00 So they kind of disregard John the Baptist once he affiliates with Jesus, but it doesn't stop there. Every single prophecy about the Messiah, Jesus perfectly fulfilled. And the Jews knew this. They actually start spreading rumors about where he was born to kind of divert people away from the clear messianic prophecies about the origins in the birthplace of the Messiah. And so you see they're even planting lies amongst the people to kind of get people, not thinking about the truth that wow, his lifestyle, his doctrine, the place of his birth, you take all of these messianic prophecies. They're all kind of accumulating to this one point that, wow, Jesus actually fulfills every single one of them, but that's not. It there's a fourth thing. He performed super near natural miracle after supernatural miracle. If you saw somebody raise someone from the dead, like I might think to myself, minimally, they have the power of God on them and Pharisees and commoners and people all over Israel and Romans, they all saw Jesus heal.
Speaker 1 00:09:58 People raise Laers. So, I mean, unbelievable things were happening by Jesus Christ. And if that wasn't enough, I think the most convincing event is Jesus is getting baptized in the Jordan river, a voice from heaven. People hear this, this isn't like an isolated event. Voice from heaven. God, the father says, this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. There were a bunch of Pharisees too, by the way, hearing this. How much more evidence do you need? Okay. If he just says I'm the son of God, got it. He's crazy. But John, the Baptist, we respect him. He must be crazy. All right, fine. Got it. Well, the prophecies, that's just a coincidence. Oh, the miracles that's different. The audible voice of God, the father from heaven saying this in front of a bunch of people that this truly is the son of God.
Speaker 1 00:10:45 Hmm. Maybe we should think twice. Why? Why won't these people believe Jesus, no matter what obstinate unbelief, there are some people I need you to hear me. It does not matter what evidence you give them. They will never believe case in point Satan, a third of the angels. You, you know, some people probably in your life, like they just, it doesn't matter. I was talking to, to one atheist. And here's the sentiment that he shared back with me. Even if you could prove without a shadow of a doubt, that Jesus was the son of God, God, and the flesh. Even if God convinced me and had a conversation with me, I still wouldn't believe in him. And I said, why? He said, how could I ever worship a God who lets this much evil and pain happen in this world? It didn't even matter. And this is the nature of unbelief.
Speaker 1 00:11:41 Look at verse 25. Jesus answered them. I told you, I already told you it was me. And you don't believe the works that I do in my father's name. They bear witness about me. The messianic pro promises, the way that Messiah was said to live his life, the miracles that he did, et cetera, Jesus is saying, listen, I gave you everything. You need to make a clear headed decision about whether or not I am not just the Messiah of the Christ, but God verse 25 and 26, he just cuts to the chase. Here's what he says. This was never about evidence. He says, you do not believe because you are not among my sheep, my sheep, they hear my voice. I know them. And they follow me. If you wanna go deeper there last week, pastor Matt gave an excellent sermon on the nature of the voice in the shepherd and the sheep.
Speaker 1 00:12:33 And at this point, here's what the tender heart would do. The tender heart should say, based on all the evidence, how do I become one of your sheep based on everything I see, I actually want you to be my shepherd because anybody filled with this much power of God and their bones, I, I want to follow that person, but they don't. In fact, the more they learn about the true nature of Jesus, the harder their hearts get and the more resolved they become to murder him. What I, what I also find fascinating in verse 26 is that Jesus communicates. Guess what? There are other shepherds. The problem is I'm the only good shepherd. I'm the only shepherd that has the power to save you. I'm the only shepherd that has the power to grant you eternal life. I am the only shepherd who is for you.
Speaker 1 00:13:26 The other shepherds, they come to steal and to kill and to destroy. And their fate is sealed. They are doomed. But if you come to me, I give you eternal life. So village church, I want you to mark this next section. This me, these next couple verses. I think these are some of the most important verses in the Bible. If you have children, I want you to listen carefully. I want you to go back to these. I want you to read them to your children. If you are discipling somebody who is a new believer, I want you to grab these verses. I want you to get them in your brain. I want you to sit down with them and I want you to walk through these verses. These are some of the most important verses look at verse 28. I give them eternal life and they will never perish.
Speaker 1 00:14:13 And no one will snatch them out of my hand. Three statements, three promises, three divine commitments to every single person who trusts in Jesus Christ. Here's the first promise. Eternal life. Every single person who sincerely believes in Jesus, you have eternal life that begins now and moves into eternity. And at the point of your death and then your future resurrection, this takes on a whole new meaning. Amen. Giving a new body without sin and struggles, right? That's not decaying right in front of my eyes. Give me that any day. But eternal life begins today. The moment you believe in Jesus Christ. You're given the holy spirit who begins the process of renewing your inner person day by day. That is his promise to you. Eternal life promise. Number two, you will never perish. You will never experience the wrath of God on unforgiven. Sinners that is reserved for hell.
Speaker 1 00:15:20 It is not yours. You will never perish. The re the, the concept of hell is out of your vocabulary. If you have trusted in Jesus Christ, I write these things that you might know that you have eternal life. This is important. Promise. Number three, no one will snatch them out of my hand. I have you now and forever, and nothing can change that. Just listen. I do not understand why some people work so hard to convince Christians that their salvation is insecure and that they might lose it here. Here's how they respond. By the way, to these three promises. When Jesus says eternal life, here's what he actually meant. This is what they say. I'm not saying this. This is what I think. People who don't handle the scriptures well or understand the full power. The gospel say, they'll say eternal life is future. It's not present.
Speaker 1 00:16:05 The problem is that's not. Jesus speaks of it as now and building and growing beginning. The moment you trust in him and believe in him and then building and growing this. Oh, no, no, that's all future. That's all future tense. When Jesus says they will never perish. He says, I'm not talking about now. That's only later. Once you die and go to heaven, you won't be sent to Hal. Once you are in heaven. When Jesus says nobody will snatch them outta my hand. Here's what people say. Yes, but you can untangle yourself from Jesus' aunt. He gives you the power to do that. If you want to. And these are just not truths taught in the Bible. And I have really good news. I wanna read this to you again.
Speaker 1 00:16:46 I give them eternal life. They will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand. So Jesus Paul, the other authors of scripture, I'm so grateful, but they happen to agree with Jesus and bring even more clarity to this. And what they all understand is that the origin and the preservation of salvation was never on you in the first place, but on God himself. So I'm gonna walk through just a handful of scriptures that I think are just incredible. And, and, and again, as you go through, um, John chapter 10 verse, 28 and 29 with your child with a new believer, you can also make a reference of these and open them up and read them one by one. Let's go through these Romans chapter eight, verse 29 and 30 starts off and says for those whom he for knew. And I wanna be clear.
Speaker 1 00:17:40 He's talking about people. He for knows not decisions they're going to make. There are people that he knows for knows intimately. He also predestined and those whom he predestined, he also called and those whom he called. He also justified. And those whom he justified, he also glorified. Let me just interpret this. Every single person in the mind of God before the foundation of the world, that he for knows he predestines, no one is lost in the process. And every single person that he for knew and predestined before the foundations of the world, he calls no exceptions and every single person that he for knew and was predestined. And that was called, okay. They are justified. Justified means this to be made right with God. This is what happens. The moment you trust in Jesus Christ. You are legally declared righteous before God. You are transferred from the domain of darkness, into the kingdom of his beloved son.
Speaker 1 00:18:35 You are adopted as sons and daughters. All of this happens in the moment of justification. Every single human for known is predestined. And every single person predestined is called. And every single person who is called is justified to catch this. Every single person who is justified is glorified between for known and glorified. Not a single human being is going to be lost. Where did Jesus, where did Paul get this idea? Maybe it's Jesus. Here's what he says, uh, to the Philippians in verse one sec or chapter one, verse six. I am sure of this, that he, who began a good work in. You will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. Meaning those of you who have trusted in Jesus Christ, when he comes back at his second coming, he is gonna find you still in faith. And why is he sure of this?
Speaker 1 00:19:24 Because Jesus himself promised it. This isn't like a I'm crossing my fingers. I'm pretty confident, like 90% sure. No, he is confident in this because of the promise that Jesus has already made. Uh, Paul has studied meticulously the writings and the teachings of Jesus. Here's how he says it to the Corinthians first Corinthians, uh, chapter one, verse seven and eight, or Lord Jesus Christ. And Mercedes says, this will sustain you to the end guiltless in the day of our Lord. Jesus Christ will. Why, why, why does Paul believe this? That every single one of the Corinthians who sincerely trusted in Christ will be sustained all the way to the second coming. Why? Because Jesus promised to do it. Here's how Peter says it. First, Peter, one five by God's power. You are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Speaker 1 00:20:20 Here's how the author of Hebrew says it. Hebrew 7 25. He is able to save to the uttermost. And this is a word that means fully, completely and forever. It is complete in every single way, not just in quality, but quantity and duration. He is able to save to the uttermost, those who draw near to God through him. And that is Jesus. Listen, you do not have the power to undo what God has done inside of, of you. And this is really good news, because guess what? When God saved you, he knew all the ridiculously dumb things you were gonna do from that day forward to the point when you died. And let me, let me speak for all of us in this room, we've done a lot of dumb things. This is where you should all gimme a big Hardy. Amen. And are, are you not in this moment?
Speaker 1 00:21:07 Very thankful that the blood of Christ covers us and that we don't have the power to undo the ceiling work that God has done in our hearts, by the power of the holy spirit. We don't have the ability to undo the legal decrees over our life that had been made in the moment of justification. When Jesus said it is finished and we are justified, those are legal declarations, and I don't have the power to change the law of God. And so I think, I think if I'm a seven year old me, would've loved to actually just hear this sermon, right? Seven year old daughter of mine, would've loved to just hear this sermon and not just like, oh, that's a good sentiment. It feels good that you can't lose your salvation, that it's secure. And it's permanent. Like the character of God is on trial.
Speaker 1 00:21:47 If there is somebody who is saved, sincerely justified and filled with the holy spirit, and then that is taken away from them. I've got some serious issues with multiple scriptures. Now, what you can do is you can go onto village church, digital VC, digital.org, and you type in the words fall away. There are two passages of scripture that are vague, hard to interpret, been debated for 2000 years. And honestly are, are the only scriptures that people point to, to say. But what about these? I don't have all the time in the world, inevitably, you would like to go home. So go on village, search digital. You just type in the search engine, fall away. And we deal with those. There's two episodes that will come up. Where, where did all these authors of scripture get this? Jesus look at verse 29 of John 10. My father who has given them to me is greater than all.
Speaker 1 00:22:37 And no one is able to snatch them out of my father's hand. And by the way, this isn't the first time Jesus taught this four chapters earlier, John six verse 39. Do you remember this? This is the will of him who sent me that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day for this is the will of my father, that everyone who looks on the son of God and believes in him should have eternal life. And I will raise him up on the last day. Again, no one, no exceptions, no one is lost. 100% of the lost, who were found, remained, found, and they are held, preserved and protected by the power of God. And the promise of God, if you are the Jews at this point, you're profoundly uncomfortable. Remember this is the group he is talking to.
Speaker 1 00:23:34 His disciples are listening. They're being taught by this conversation that he's having with him. They're uncomfortable for a few reasons. Number one, only God can give eternal life. And yet here, Jesus is saying that he has the authority to give eternal life. O only God can keep someone from perishing eternal. And here Jesus is claiming to have the power that only God himself has O only God is strong enough to protect the soul against demons or anything that could plausibly come, come against the human soul to, to take it away from God only. God is powerful enough to protect the human soul. And yet Jesus takes full credit and responsibility for protecting souls. And in verse 30, Jesus drops a nuke.
Speaker 1 00:24:22 He says this I and the father are one. And if you need any help interpreting this at all, John and the Jews, they, they tell us exactly how everybody heard it and what Jesus meant. Or 31 says this, the Jews, they picked up stones again to stone him, Jesus answered them. They have stones in their hand. He says, I've shown you many good works from the father. For which of them are you gonna stone me? Is it for healing? Somebody? Is it for caring for people? Is it for changing lives? Have I taught something that isn't in scripture or consistent with the word of God? Have I made claims about myself that I couldn't substantiate and back up, by the way with, I don't know, miracles, I don't know the audible voice of God. I don't know testimony left and right here and there and everywhere, like prophecies fulfill, like, what are you lacking?
Speaker 1 00:25:10 You pick up stones. What is this really about? The Jews answered him. It is now for a good work that we're gonna stone you before. Blast me because you being a man, make your self God. Did Jesus have any confusion about his identity zero? Did they understand what Jesus meant perfectly? Well, a hundred percent. Why does Jesus have the power to protect your soul from ever being lost? Because he is God in the flesh and all the power. And might of God, the father resides in Jesus Christ fully man and fully God, no other shepherd. And this world can say this. Every other shepherd will lead you to hell. Jesus is the good shepherd who leads you to eternal life. Verse 28. I give you eternal life and you will never perish. And no one will snatch you out of my hand. Now three. So what's for you. And, uh, the first one really, um, is for those who struggle with this doctrine, if so, identify why you struggle with this beautiful doctrine.
Speaker 1 00:26:35 Like, like I, there, there are some, I just don't, I don't quite quite get it. There's some people like it's too good to be true. That's the whole gospel. Here are a, a couple reasons why you might struggle. Maybe you just haven't learned enough scripture. And, and that is true. You might be newer to the faith in nor to the Bible. You're starting to put it all together. May maybe you have a small view of the gospel. I'm not saying you're not a Christian. I'm just saying like, like we are all kind of continually unpacking the beauty of the depth and the glory of the gospel and the love of God through Jesus Christ and salvation from our sin and the promise of eternity. But maybe this is one part of it that you need the word of God to form and shape more clearly.
Speaker 1 00:27:11 Your understanding of what happens when you are saved. Salvation is not like most marriages nowaday when it's like, eh, it didn't work out. I see you later, right? It's not like that. It's permanent. It's secure. It's forever. It's unchangeable. But, but many of us have these notions that we import to God, the way human relationships work. Good news. He's way better may. Maybe you can't explain the reality in front of us, of why there are some people who say they're Christians and then they walk away from the faith. You're looking experientially at what's happening. And that's a whole nother question. Again, go to VC, digital.org type and fall away. We'll go. We, we deal with that question, but you're looking at all these people and you're like, I don't, I don't get it. You tell me you can't lose your salvation, but that person was a Christian.
Speaker 1 00:27:56 And now they reject the gospel in Jesus Christ. So it makes sense of that for me. Okay. Maybe you've just never personally experienced unconditional love. And so that even as you receive it from the father, there's something broken in you that has to push it away. Like it's too good to be true. Maybe you were just prone to high anxiety and high anxiety. People worry about things that are not worthy of being worried about, but I've never met a high anxiety person who says, I love being anxious. Like, if you could stop it, you would. Right, right. Like I have no condemnation of that. I'm just saying like, like a lot of other people, don't worry about the things that you worry about. And sometimes you can take a thought that's normal and you can make it way bigger and way darker and way more scary than it is.
Speaker 1 00:28:35 And maybe this is just a, a mental brain, uh, habit pattern, struggle that you have. And, and so like if there's something to be worried about, you're gonna find it. And, and you need to be reminded regular than the goodness of God and the gospel and that even if you emotionally or mentally struggle with this, it is still secure because it's not rooted in, in your concern. It's rooted in the promise of God, maybe you've historically had poor and inaccurate teaching. Maybe you grew up in a church where they, they told you your whole life, be very afraid. Cuz if you do X, Y, or Z, your salvation is gone. Believe it or not. This is an experience we, we run into quite a bit of old church. Maybe you struggle with, I don't like saying this word, but really big sin. And I've heard this multiple times.
Speaker 1 00:29:18 If you, if you knew what I was really struggling with, I, I don't think God could overlook this. Like I really feel like if I had the power of God in me, uh, I would not be wrestling with sin in the way that I do. Um, let me just tell you the struggle of following Jesus against our body of flesh. It is massive until the day we die and God gives some of us victory over some things. And there are some really amazing godly men and women and students and, and, and they just wrestle and they struggle with the same things for the rest of their life, but they're fighting, they're struggling. So number two really plays off this, this last point. And it needs to be said, ask the right question. The question is not, can I lose my salvation? That's not the right question.
Speaker 1 00:30:09 The real question is, am I really saved? This doesn't need to be an anxious question by the way, because some people like this would be another thing. If you're, if you're prone to anxiety for struggling with big sin, like this might be like, okay, I know I can't lose my salvation, but what if I'm not actually saved again? John says, I write these things to you who believe in the name of the son of God, that you may know you have eternal life. Paul says, and first Corinthians to examine yourselves to see if you're really in the faith. This is a good exercise. It doesn't need to be a freak out exercise. It's just a healthy exercise. So let's, let's just exercise together. If we could. Here's some, here's some things that scripture says of those who have eternal life saved people. People have eternal life.
Speaker 1 00:30:54 They believe in a simple, pure gospel. They believe they are sinners. They believe Jesus Christ is God that he died in the cross for their sins. They believe he was raised from the dead. They believe he's coming back. They believe salvation is not for people who accrue enough. Good works. But he was trusted that Jesus was good for them. Pure, simple. Don't add to it. And so there's one thing that's that's do you believe those things? Do you believe you're sinner? Do you believe that Jesus is God. Do you believe he died of the cross for your sins? Do you believe he was raced in the dead? Do you believe that salvation is by grace through faith? Not by works like that's good. When you diverge from that, that might be a symptom that your salvation wasn't sincere and true in the first place. Here's another one.
Speaker 1 00:31:40 Save people want to grow spiritually. Now let's put a caveat here. Do you let's just assume all of you are all saved or all going to heaven. You have the holy spirit do all of you want to grow spiritually at all times with a 10 out of 10. Fervency the answer is no I don't. I'm your passion. I love to say that like every single day and every single moment, but you know what I do see in, in people's lives, I see a trajectory and a desire to grow spiritually. I see that there is a desire to get to know God and the word and be around as people. Is it perfect? No. Do we have setbacks? Yes. Do we have seasons of struggle for sure. Uh, do mental health disorders make that even more complicated? Absolutely. But we're looking at trends and trajectories of wanting to grow spiritually safe.
Speaker 1 00:32:24 People have the holy spirit. The holy spirit is our helper, our convictor of sin, our encourager. And the reason there is a general trend to spiritual growth is not because of all of your human effort, but because the holy spirit is in you working on you and transforming you. Here's one saved people, struggle with sin emphasis on struggle. Can I tell you how many Christians? I get the chance to talk to? Who don't struggle. If you get confronted on sin and your heart has a wrestling match, praise God, the concern is when you go fine. So that's the concern. And so like if somebody confronts you on sin, by the way, don't be surprised, cuz we all probably need to be confronted on a semi-regular basis. But right. But the fact that you're wrestling, that is a beautiful indication that the holy spirit is in you save people, repent of sin.
Speaker 1 00:33:20 Once they realize what the word of God says and the prompting of the holy spirit, they begin to change and they go the other direction. Are there gonna be struggles on the way everybody? Absolutely. But you start to see a posture of change and repentance of sin. Once they see what the word of God says and the word of God coupled with the holy spirit will convict us of sin and then empower us to begin the process of moving in the right direction. Here's one saved. People are disciplined by God when they don't repent of their sin. A good dad, disciplines, his kids. That's what scripture says. And as our God a good dad. Absolutely. And if you are disciplined for your sin, praise God, like when somebody gets caught in sin, I always tell them the same thing. Praise God, if you didn't get caught, that's where, that's where I would really be concerned.
Speaker 1 00:34:10 And so you step back and I start to look at people's lives and I'm like, I wanna see these things. Do you have a desire to grow spiritually? Are we seeing some motion? Do you believe in a pure gospel? Do you have the holy spirit inside of you? Do you have a, uh, the struggle with sin? Are you moving in the direction of repentance? Are you being disciplined by God at all? These are really good things. And these are indicators. I think we're asking sometimes this Christian's the wrong question. The wrong question is not. Can I lose my salvation or the wrong question is can I lose my salvation? The right one is, am I really saved? But John writes all this that you might know. And when you get done with that little examination that we did together, little exercise, there should be something in. You says, I'm pretty sure I'm saved. Believe in a pure gospel. I am growing spiritually slower than I want, but dog gone. I see the trajectory. I have the holy spirit. I experience encouragement, conviction of sin, promptings of the holy spirit, particularly when I'm about to do something really dumb. He's like stop it. Don't do it. Quench.
Speaker 1 00:35:13 Save people, struggle with sin. I'm I'm repenting. I'm actually trying to figure out how to do these things better. They see the discipline of God in their life. This is a really good thing, but so at number three, believe in Jesus in receive life. That is actually eternal. There are so many shepherds offering you a false salvation. They are here to steal, kill, and destroy. There is one good shepherd. His name is Jesus. And he offers you eternal life. He offers you eternal life. If you believe in Jesus, abandon forever, the lie that good people go to heaven. That is not in the Bible. Abandon the lie that going to church makes you better off with God. You're not any closer to heaven because you went to church this morning. Heaven is exclusively. And only for those who say to God, I'm a sinner. Forgive me.
Speaker 1 00:36:02 I believe Jesus. You're God, you died for my sins and rose again from the dead. I believe you're coming. I believe these things forgive me. And have you personally said to God, save me. You don't inherit your grandparents or your parents' faith. It's not transferred by proximity because you have Christian friends. It is only ever given to individuals who personally ask God for forgiveness and ask 'em to save them through belief in Jesus, in a pure gospel. If you have never done that, do you know when the best time to trust in Jesus is now today? That's what scripture says today is the day tomorrow not promised. One hour from now is not promised today right now is the best time to personally trust in Jesus. There is no mantra. There is no special saying you can talk to God in your brain because God hears everything.
Speaker 1 00:36:50 Tell him, you're sorry. Ask him to forgive you. Tell him you believe in Jesus Christ, that he died for your sins in your place. The promise of God is that eternal life begins. When you sincerely believe in Jesus Christ and his gift to you is the holy spirit and forgiveness and justification and future resurrection. Yes, but his gift to you is that this becomes the most permanent secure thing in your life. Praise God, praise God. Let's pray together. Father love you. So thankful. Salvation is not fickle but secure because you hold it. And so father, we do not put our hope or our confidence in our good behavior. We do not put our hope in our confidence in false teachers, but in you and you alone, God, you hold our salvation secure and with complete sincerity, if everybody here knew the weight of the darkest sins of our lives, we would all be probably pretty shocked, but you're not shocked.
Speaker 1 00:38:02 You've seen us at our worst. And for those of us whose worst is still ahead of us, you see that and you still guarantee our salvation, but father, may we be men and women and students and children who regularly ask ourselves, do I believe in a pure gospel? Am I wanting spiritual growth? Am I pursuing you? So I have the holy spirit in God. I pray that we would not be ever afraid to examine our faith, but you would give us who are sincere and true Christians assurance. And Lord, if there's anybody in this room here who thinks that they are a Christian, but actually, you know, they are not, they have never received the holy spirit. Maybe they came to you and, and they were just wanting to get outta hell. And that was it. They have no love for you in their heart.
Speaker 1 00:38:45 God, I pray. Even this morning, you would expose that you would show them the beauty of what is offered and that you bring them to a place where they personally trust in Jesus Christ. Not just outta get outta hell for you carpet because they love you. And they want forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus Christ. So Lord, we love you and we thank you. And now we just consider our honor and privilege to worship you in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Well, this time we're going to sing a song that's called Christ is risen. And one of the, one of the things I love about this song is that it emphasizes the resurrection of Jesus, which is an essential. If you're going to become a Christian and the, the Bible is so utterly clear about this, but the chorus of the song says this hallelujah Christ is risen from the grave.
Speaker 1 00:39:38 Most people dunno what hallelujah means. It comes from two Hebrew words. Hello? And yah, which means halal is to praise and Yas is shorten for Yahweh. It means praise Yahweh. And so as we look back to the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we say, hallelujah, Christ is risen from the grave because if God has the power to raise him from the dead, then he most certainly has the power to raise your body and soul to new life forever and ever. And that is a reason to celebrate and to worship. So I'm gonna invite you now, we're gonna stand together and we're gonna worship it in a little while. We're gonna have some baptism.
