All right, if you'll take your
Bibles, first of all, and turn with me to Luke chapter 13. We'll begin here, and then we're
going to move over to 1 Thessalonians. So Luke chapter 13. And we'll
begin our reading in verse 22. I'm sorry, verse 23. Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, strive
to enter in at the straight gate, the narrow gate. For many, I
say unto you, will seek to enter in and shall not be able. The title of the message tonight
is this question. Am I saved? Am I saved? I know that there are many, like
these Jews that are in the Lord's time here, hold fast to the privileges
of hearing the Word of God. Many hold fast to the ordinances
that God has given us. They have a form of godliness,
but know nothing of the power of saving grace. Many people are very religious,
very dedicated, very devoted, and sincere in their religion
and the exercise of their religion, but who know nothing of God's
salvation. Now these who rely on these privileges,
who are dedicated and devoted, these many These may eat and
drink in the presence of Christ's saints at the same table. They
may preach, they may teach Jesus Christ, and yet themselves do
not know Him. Many, many. There will be many who strive
to enter into the kingdom of God. but will not be able." What
does that mean? Will not be able? Well, the Lord
here is saying, Strive to enter in at the narrow gate, for many
will seek to enter in. Enter into the kingdom of God.
Who wants to go to hell? No one wants to go to hell. A
hundred out of a hundred surveyed. And when asked the question,
who wants to go to heaven? 100 out of 100 will raise their
hand. Who wants to enter in? But these
that are not able to enter into heaven are those who desire to
enter in another way. They desire to enter in in their
own strength or by their own works. I'm sure most people in
religion today in this country, I am sure of this. that most
religious people in our day are lost. Are lost. There are few who trust in Christ. There are few who are committed
to Christ. And there are few that love Christ. I say this is true because the
scriptures declare this to be true. In the last day there will
be multitudes of men and women who are sincerely convinced that
they were saved. They thought surely they would
be permitted entrance into the kingdom of heaven, but the Lord
will meet them on that day and say unto them three words, ìDepart
from Me.î Three of the saddest words that
any mortal could ever hear. Depart from Me. These are those who said they
believed the Gospel. These are those who said they
preached the Gospel and even did miracles. Lord, did we not
hear Thee when You preached? Did we not preach? Did we not
prophesy in Thy Name? And in Thy Name cast out many
devils? The Lord did not rebuke them
for this. They may have done these things. I'm sure they did. And sadly, He will say, depart
from Me. Everyone who hears these words should honestly consider this
question, since there will be many deceived. Since there will be few saved,
many are called, our Lord said, but few are chosen. Since there will be many who
are deceived, we should ask this question of our own selves. Am I saved? Am I saved? We should ask this question openly
and honestly. Let us ask like the disciples
at the Lord's table when He confessed that there would be one among
them who betrayed Him, they all asked this question, Lord is
it I? Should we not ask this same question?
Lord is it I? Will I be deceived? Will I be
the one John Newton said, "'Tis a point
I long to know, and oft it causes anxious thought. Do I love the
Lord or no? Am I His or am I not?' I'll tell
you, if you've never considered this, if this has never troubled
you to the core of your soul, and all has been well with you,
and you've never had these thoughts, am I saved? Most likely, you're
not. If you've never had these troubled
questions brought to your breast, you're like those that Asaph
said in Psalm 73. Asaph was troubled. He said,
I know God's going to save Israel, but as for me, I don't know.
My foot is nigh well slipped because he saw the wicked and
how they were bold in their conversation. He said, they're not troubled
like other men. They're not troubled like me.
They're strong in their, they don't fear death like I do. I
tell you, if you don't have any fear, if you don't have any concern
about this, it's probably because you're lost. Therefore, Jesus says to each
one of us, to individually, listen to me, every one of you, listen
to me, are you saved? Jesus is saying strive to enter
in the straight gate. strive to enter in the straight
gate, the narrow gate. For many, I say unto you, will
seek to enter in, but not be able. Do you long to know your salvation? Do you have doubts and fears
concerning your hope of your immortal soul? One day our Lord
was asked of this man this question, are there few that be saved?
The gospel of God is often twisted by Satan and what is meant for
the encouragement of the saints is used as a barrier or obstacle
in the hearts of men. This man most likely was a Jew
and had a narrow view of salvation. The Jews only thought that the
Jews were saved. And now this man's with the Lord
and he's looking around and saying, well, Lord, there's only a few
Jews here. Does that mean that only a few of Jews are going
to be saved? I tell you, at any one time,
at any one time, the gospel There are only a very few who
are saved. But whatever this man's motive
was, Jesus gives a very needful admonition to us. Strive to enter
in the straight gate. The scriptures clearly teach
us that God has an elect people. God has an elect people. This
is a sure number, a certain number of Adam's race that He has given
to His Son. And clearly, all the elect were
redeemed by the blood of Christ, and every one of the elect the
Holy Spirit will call to life and faith, and none of them shall
perish. This is the will of the Father,
that He should lose nothing, but raise them up again at the
last day. This is the will of God. And
all the elect shall come from the east and the west. Look at
that in verse 29. He said, And they shall come
from the east and the west, and from the north and from the south,
and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. There shall be some who
come. These are the elect. But friends, there's no reason
really to debate this issue of how many the elect are. There's
really no issue for this. Would it really matter how many
elect there are if you're not one of them? I want to know if
I'm one of them. I don't know how many there are.
I don't know how few or how many. God will save. But I know this. I desire to know my election. I desire to know if I'm one of
them. Don't you? I want to know that. Many religious people hate this
truth of election and they mock us and they say, well, you people
only think a few are going to be saved. The Lord said that.
We didn't. Many are called, but few are chosen. He said that,
not us. And we know that God's elect
As the scripture says, shall be as many as the stars of the
sky and as the sands of the sea. Ten thousand times ten thousand
and thousands of thousands. Yet at any one time, God's elect
are always few. When it's all said and done,
there's going to be many saved. But when we are living, as we
live through time, if you were to pinpoint any one time, there's
always been a few, hasn't there? Think of Noah. Noah found grace
in the eyes of the Lord. Only eight souls were saved in
the ark and the rest were destroyed. Only Joshua and Caleb out of
all the nation of Israel, only those two made it in the promised
land. The rest perished in unbelief. There were 851 prophets of Baal
and only one prophet of God. And God told that prophet, out
of the millions of people in Jerusalem, only 7,000 had not
bowed the knee to Baal. So at any one time, it always
seems to be few. Doesn't it seem to be few? Look
around. Does it seem to be few? At any one time, it's always
few. In Matthew 7 and 14, Jesus said concerning the way of faith
and life, he said, few there be that find it. Few there be
that find it. There are always tares among
the wheat, always going to be goats among the sheep. Always. There will always going to be
false professors of faith with those who truly believe. There
will always be those who profess to serve Him and are lost, while a few truly do believe
the rest perish in deception. Hear the Word of God. Hear the
Word of Jesus Christ. Are you among those that perish
in this delusion? Are you among the chosen? Which
are you? Does it really matter what anyone
else is? You really should be concerned
about your own soul. Are you saved? Do you truly trust
in Jesus Christ alone as all your salvation? Has the Son of
God revealed himself to you? Well, how can we know? Since
there'll be many who are deceived, since there are few that shall
be saved in our time, what then can I do to know? How can I know? Is it possible to know? Yes. Yes. Yes, it is possible. Now then, go to my text. First
Thessalonians. First Thessalonians. Let us now see what the Apostle
Paul says about this, knowing our election, knowing our salvation,
knowing we have a part in this kingdom of God. In verse 4, the Apostle here
writing to these Thessalonian believers, he says, knowing,
brethren beloved, your election of God. Knowing, brethren beloved,
your election of God. The Apostle Paul preached to
these Thessalonians when he came from Philippi. You remember what
happened to him at Philippi. He was thrown in jail there.
And that's where the Philippian jailer, the Lord, saved that
man in that dungeon and brought him up. But yet he was persecuted
there at Philippi. And after he left, he went to
Thessalonica to these people. And in Acts chapter 17, it tells
us how that the apostle preached to them and how they believed
the gospel. And yet, what follows? What follows
when someone believes? Trouble. That's what follows. That's what happened. These Jews
that didn't believe, they stirred up trouble. And they had to slip
the apostle Paul and Silas out by night, and these people were
persecuted for their faith. And so the apostle goes to Athens,
and now he's concerned. He slips out, and now he thinks
back, and he sends Timothy back to check on these people who
were persecuted for the gospel. And so it is, Paul writes to
these in their condition, in their persecution. And it was
his intention to give these believers comfort. I'll tell you, do you
need comfort? You who believe on Christ, do
you need comfort? That's what the Apostle here,
his intention is, to give comfort. He says knowing. Knowing your
election of God. Even so does every preacher of
the gospel desire that God's people know. I desire you to
know your election. I desire you to know your election. See then that this salvation
is all of God. That's what we desire you to
know. This salvation is not of us. This salvation is of God. It's all of grace. It comes from
the Father's election. We desire you to know that the
peace of God comes by the blood of Jesus Christ. So that's why
the apostle says in his introduction, he says, grace and peace. Grace and peace. Grace in the
election of grace. God chose a people. And in the
blood sacrifice of Christ, He made peace by the blood of His
cross. Therefore, Paul, seeing these
graces, seeing these graces in these people. He preached to
them and he saw the graces in them. He says they're remembering
without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and patience
of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. He saw these graces in these
people and he encouraged them of their election. And so in
verses 5 through 10, the apostle gives five identifying marks. And I want you to consider these
marks, these tokens. Handfuls on purpose. Isn't that
what the Boaz left out for Ruth? Handfuls on purpose. These are
five handfuls on purpose for you who believe. This should
be a comfort to you because you should identify with these five
things. Look at these five things with me in verse 5. In verse
5. Knowing your election of God,
for our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in
power and in the Holy Ghost in much assurance, as you know what
manner of men we were among you for your sake. First of all,
this mark. Those who are saved have heard
and received the gospel. Those who are saved have heard
and received the gospel. First of all, have you heard
the gospel? Have you heard it? This gospel
I preach to you is a gospel of God. It's not of men. This gospel is of God, not of
men. In Acts, Paul preached to them.
In Acts 17, it tells us what he preached to them. He preached
to them the suffering of Christ, the necessity of the suffering
of Christ, the necessity of the resurrection of Christ, and that
Jesus is the Christ. Those are the three things he
preached to them. He preached to them Jesus must
suffer and die. because God purposed from eternity
to save and elect people. Jesus must have suffered. We were born dead in sins. We were by nature haters of God,
even as other men. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins,
hath quickened us together with Christ." Have you seen your need
of Christ? Have you seen your complete depravity? I need Christ to suffer in my
stead. There's no other way. There's
no other way. Jesus must needs have come down
to restore what he didn't take away He needs to restore righteousness
I Need a righteousness I could not provide This is the gospel
Jesus has provided a righteousness that you could not provide. I
By His own obedience, He honored and magnified the law of God
in the stead of all of His elect. And by His death, He satisfied
the justice of God. Those are two things that everyone
who's saved knows they need. They need righteousness and they
need to satisfy the justice of God. And in Jesus Christ, we
find all we need. We find all we need. Have you
found all you need in Him? Have you found all you need in
Him? Over in Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 24. It says, For Christ is not entered
into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures
of the truth. but into heaven itself now to appear in the presence
of God for us. Nor yet that he should offer
himself often as a high priest entered in the holy place every
year with the blood of others. For then he must have suffered
since the foundation of the world, but now once... I love that word,
once. Once in the end of the world
he hath appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And what's the result of that
sacrifice? In chapter 10 and verse 14 it
says, For by His one offering He hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified. And God having accepted His offering,
raised Him from the dead. We who believe, believe in a
living Savior. A living Savior. Not only just
a living Savior, but a reigning Savior. One who is reigning and
ruling all things after the counsel of His own will. This is the
Gospel. It's a person. It's not a creed.
It's not a checklist. It is a person. And those who
are saved believe in that person, Jesus Christ, and Him crucified
as all their hope. These people, they received this
message, they heard this message, they received it as a starving
man received bread. Simply, in my hands no price
I bring, simply to thy cross I cling. Naked come to thee for
dress, helpless look to thee for grace. Foul I to the fountain
fly, touch me, Savior, or I die. One who's come to Christ that
way has come by the power of the Holy Spirit. No one can know
their depravity and know that Christ meets all our needs except
the Spirit of God teach us. That is a miracle of grace. Have
you experienced that? You know that? You know Him?
You heard that gospel? You received it? You pick up that handful on purpose.
You hold on to him. knowing this, He holds on to
you. Number two, let's go back. Number two, they heard the message,
they received the message, and here it is, number two, they
became followers of Christ. He said, and you become followers
of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction
and joy of the Holy Ghost. Those who are saved, they follow
Christ. We who are saved follow Christ
by faith. By faith. The just shall live
by faith. We don't follow Christ by law. We know that Christ is the end
of the law for righteousness to everyone that believe it.
You believe on Christ, then we follow him by faith. We follow
Him believing Him, trusting His grace. We follow Him believing
His work is accomplished. We who are saved do not begin
by grace and finish by will-all. No! If you begin this by faith
and you finish by works, you're lost and you're deceived. We
who believe on Christ believe on Him completely. trusting Him
as all our Savior, all our righteousness. I live by the faith of the Son
of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. We live by faith, not by works
of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy
He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, renewing of the
Holy Ghost which He shed upon us abundantly through Jesus Christ
our Savior, that being justified by His grace we should be heirs
according to the hope of eternal life. Believers, our assurance
of our salvation is not measured by the amount of faith It's not
measured by the amount of hope. It's not measured by your amount
of love. It's measured by the object of your faith. You get
that? Your assurance is not measured
by your faith. Your assurance is measured by
your Savior. I heard this illustration today
and I'll use it because it's good. A man was on a plane and
a lady was sitting right next to him. and she'd never flown
before and she bared down on that on the hand of his wife
sitting next to her, bared down and she she got up and she was
alright and when she went down the plane started coming down
she again grabbed a hold and started feeling really nervous
you know what she was just as safe as everyone else on the
plane who wasn't worried. Why? Because if the plane made it,
she made it. It didn't matter how much she
bore down on the seat or the hands of someone else. It didn't
matter how anxious she was or how nervous she was. The plane,
if the plane made it, she made it along with everyone else.
And I tell you, if your faith is in Christ, it doesn't matter
how tight you hold on. It matters how tight He holds
on to you. Your hope is not in your faith. Your hope, your faith is in Christ. And He's already successfully
made it. And you've made it in Him. You've already made it. You just hadn't realized it yet.
You haven't experienced it yet. You've already made it. Can you
identify with this? Do you follow Christ by faith?
Thirdly, true believers are committed to the gospel. Look at this in
verse 8. It said, For from you sounded
out the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia,
but also in every place your faith to God's word is spread
abroad. True believers are committed
to this gospel. In other words, the gospel of
God's free grace in Christ is the only gospel it will do. I cannot stand to hear gospel
of works or free will religion. I just cannot stand it. Because that's another gospel.
It's another gospel. They worship another Christ and
I don't have any interest in listening to it. I don't. I'm
committed to this gospel here. The gospel that God saved me
by the power of His grace is the gospel that Paul preached.
It is the gospel that he said, if any man or angel from heaven
preach another gospel, you let him go to hell. You are committed
to this gospel. I'm committed to this gospel.
May God, by His grace, keep me in this. But I ask you as a testimony,
if I had not shown myself committed to this gospel, And you who believe,
are you not committed to this gospel? You bet you are. I'm
invested in this gospel. I'm sold out to this gospel. I'm sold out to Jesus Christ
and Him crucified is all my hope. And I don't dare trust anything
in this flesh. I don't put any confidence in
me. All my confidence rests in Him. I'm committed to this gospel
because it is the gospel of God. It is the gospel that saves. And we don't have any part of
another gospel. And fourthly, those who are saved turn to God
from idols. Look at this in verse 9. For they themselves show what
manner of entering we had unto you, and how you turn to God
from idols to serve the living God. Have you not turned from
your false gods? I had a God of my own imagination.
I had a God that I thought I was pleasing and doing well. until
the God of heaven revealed my sin and showed me His Son. And then I turned from that false
God to the real. I repented of my works and my
religion and I turned to God from my idols. Repentance. Have you turned to God from your
idols? That's a mark of everyone who is saved. They forsake all
and follow Christ. Have you forsaken all and followed
Christ? Forsake all, follow Christ. Turn
away from what you thought and believe Christ. All who are saved
turn to God from idols. And lastly, they wait for the
Son from heaven. Look at that verse 10, and to
wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead,
even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. Everyone
who is truly saved will endure to the end. Will endure. Matthew 24 and verse 13 says,
he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved. True
believers shall endure all types of persecution and affliction.
Are you afflicted? Are you persecuted? I'll tell you, if a man is not
hated by this world, something's wrong. God's people have this promise.
You will be hated. You'll be hated by this world.
You cannot be a friend of this world and a friend of God. True believers shall endure persecution. They'll endure persecution. We're
promised trouble, we're promised hatred, and we're promised a
cross. And true believers bear it gladly. Because I'm waiting for something
better. I'm waiting for something better, aren't you? I'm waiting
for something. There's coming a day that's going
to be better than this. My home is not here. I don't know much about my home.
I know it's better than I can ever imagine it to be. But this world is not it. We
wait for His coming. Do you desire Him to come If He came now, would that be
okay? Would that not be great? If He descended from heaven right
now, with the shout and the voice of the archangel, and the trump
of God shall sound, and the dead in Christ shall rise, being incorruptible,
and we be called up into glory, would that not be okay? It would
be if you're saved. It would be if you're saved. It wouldn't be if you're deceived. I don't know if you're like me, but I have trouble. I don't always
feel saved. I know I'm full of sin. I know I don't love Him like
I should, and I know I don't believe in Him like I should.
And I get cast down. I get depressed. I get down.
I feel as though God has left me. But I know this, I don't trust
in my feelings. I trust in my Savior. I trust Him. All my soul rests
in Him. And in this, I can find peace.
In this, I find joy. And I find that my hope is sure
if it's in Him. If our hope is in us, there's
no surety at all. Praise God, my hope's in Him.
And in that, you can rest, believer. In that, you can find great comfort.
And I pray you do. I pray you know that you are
saved, who believe, who heard the word, believe, who are committed
to his gospel, you who love his gospel, you who endure by faith. I pray that God give you assurance
of this. Know your election. Let's stand. We'll be dismissed
in prayer.