Let me read a verse of scripture
to you. It's found in 1 Corinthians,
chapter 15, verse 2. By this gospel you are saved. if you keep in mind what I preached
unto you, unless you have believed in vain." Now this morning I
would like to preach a message that calls on each of us to ask
ourselves the most important question of all. As we go through
life, we must ask some very serious questions. For example, what
career path shall I follow? Whom shall I marry, if I marry
at all? What church shall I attend? Should
I buy this house or that one, or maybe none at all? Yet it
seems that very few are asking the most important question of
all, and that question is simply, have I ever been saved? Now, some do not ask themselves
that question because they have no understanding that they need
salvation. In fact, I would say that the
majority of people fall into this category. They may believe
they need some help. They may believe that they can't
quite get the job done, but in the end, God will be able to
overlook their small failures and allow them into his presence.
So they don't think that they need such a thing as salvation. And some do not ask this question
because they simply assume that indeed they have been saved. They were born into the church,
raised in the church, trained by the church and accepted by
the church. So they never even question whether
they have been saved. They have been through whatever
program it was that their church assigned for people growing up
in the church. and having successfully completed
that program, they have simply assumed that they are among God's
people, among the redeemed and the saved. But the Scriptures
teach us that there are many who shall be surprised on Judgment
Day. And note the word, many. Our
Lord Jesus Christ says, many shall say unto me in that day,
Lord, Lord. Did we not preach in your name?
Did we not cast out demons in your name? And in your name do
many wonderful works." And you know the Lord never denied any
of that truth about them. Yet He says to them, depart from
Me. Depart from Me. They didn't expect
to hear those words. They thought all was well. And
in the end, it was proven they were deceived. You know, I don't
want to find out too late that I was never saved. Furthermore,
concerning those who were assured to be among God's people, it
is written that only a remnant is truly saved. Now, if that
principle is true of Israel, it's no stretch. to believe that
it is also true of the visible church in our day. Of all those
people who claim to be saved, only a remnant shall truly be
among God's redeemed. Now I hope this message does
two things. I hope that it wakes up, sobers up, even alarms those
who live in the complacent belief that all is well. For after all,
they were born in the church of Christ, of Christian parents,
baptized in infancy, trained, and made zealous for the truth. I want to bring some comfort
to fearful believers, or even some encouragement to sinners
who are hesitant to lay hold of God's promises in Christ.
You see, there is a God-dishonoring, soul-damning doctrine that pops
up here and there. It's been found in all denominations
from time to time. It is the teaching that to be
confident of one's salvation is presumption. that it is only
proper humility to always be in doubt with regard to one's
salvation. When I have asked people whether
they are saved, I have sometimes heard the response, well, I hope
to be saved. And they think that is such a
humble attitude. But actually it's a great insult
against God. It insults the clarity of God's
promises. Is God unclear? Do we read a
gospel in the scriptures that's difficult to understand in all
its complexity? God said, whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. He said, believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. He said, he that
hath the Son hath life. Now these things are rather simple,
aren't they? But there are preachers and some
well-meaning preachers who clutter up the gospel. Some of them,
they're not well-meaning at all, they clutter it up and make it
like a maze. Difficult to find one's way through
it. And the reason they make it like
that is if they make it into a maze, they can brag that they
were able to crack the maze. They were able to figure it out
and get through. And then they can say, but you
probably haven't made it through. And they can hold you in bondage,
keep you ever fearful. that in the end you will have
not gotten through the maze. There is no maze to the gospel. Or we might say the only maze
part of grace is that it is amazing. Amazing grace. And it's amazing
in its simplicity. Is God insincere in his promises? To say that you can believe the
gospel And yet that only gives you the right to sort of hope
against hope that in the end you will be saved. Well, that
casts a doubt on God's sincerity. And yet the Bible tells us that
God swore an oath precisely so that we might be assured of the
certainty of His promise. God is clear. He is sincere. And even if we fumble up the
way we call upon His name, yet He reads the heart and knows
what we want and grants it according to His grace. Now before we can
ask whether we have been saved, we must clarify what we mean
by saved. There is an eternal aspect of
salvation because God is eternal and Christ's sacrifice is eternal. And there is a sense in which
salvation is an ongoing process that will not be perfected until
the day of Christ. The Bible says we are being saved. But that which was purposed in
eternity and that which will not be perfected until the end,
that must be brought to pass in time. It must have a beginning
in time. And that's what I'm speaking
of. I'm talking about when God comes to a man or a woman or
a child, the age is insignificant, But He gives them spiritual life,
imparts to them the gift of faith, and they believe the gospel.
Now that's what I mean, have you been saved? Have you ever
had that experience in your life? Well, there are three questions,
and if you can answer yes to these questions, then you can
say with confidence that you have been saved. And you need
not live in doubt. And let no one hold you in doubt
if you know these things to be true of yourself. First of all,
do I believe that I am someone who needs to be saved? Now, that's a good question to
ask. Not everybody believes they need
to be saved. Are you convinced that you need
saving? Well, maybe you're thinking,
saved from what? Well, our Lord Jesus, when he was coming into
the world, the angel told his parents to name him Jesus because
he will save his people from their sins. Now, here's a crucial
point. There are many who think they
have a particular sin from which they need to be saved. And they
think if they can get a victory over that sin, that that is salvation.
That's not at all what salvation is. If you're an alcoholic, I
hope that you get sober. It'll make your life better.
But overcoming alcohol addiction is not salvation. And there are
some who have been saved who still struggle with it. That's
not the issue. You see, the Bible teaches us
that everything we do is sin. And that sin is beyond our ability
to overcome. We can't do anything about it.
Jesus Christ was sent to save His people from their sins, all
of them. The sins in their transgressions
against God, their sin, their nature that's within them. God's
salvation extends to all of that. So we might ask the question
this way, do I believe that I am a sinner and unless someone saves
me, God will punish me forever because of my sin? Now not everyone
thinks they're bad enough to need saving. Almost everyone
will admit they've sinned. But very few people will believe
that they have sinned enough to deserve everlasting punishment.
How much sin does it take to become subject to eternal punishment? Only one. And you and I have
millions of sins. Not only that, we have a nature
which is nothing but sin. So I ask you this question, have
you ever been brought to the realization that you are a sinner
in need of a savior? That you are beyond your own
help? That you are guilty before God, and if he sends you to hell,
you'd be getting what you deserve? Second question, have you ever
understood God's way of salvation? In verse 3 of chapter 15 of 1
Corinthians we read, Now that is the gospel. That's the history of the gospel.
That's what God did. to put our sins away by Jesus
Christ. He put Christ to death. Christ
died for our sins. You don't have to understand
everything about the work of the Lord Jesus Christ in order
to be saved. You simply need to understand
this, that Jesus Christ was a righteous man, the God-man, and that he
bore the sins of the guilty he was innocent but he became guilty
in the sight of God with the sins of God's people and he bore
those sins before the Lord and the Lord punished him for those
sins he bore our sins in his body on the tree is the way the
apostle Peter put it Now this is God's way of salvation, putting
the sins of His people on the Lord Jesus Christ and punishing
those sins there. See, God is a just God. He cannot
simply say, oh, I'm just going to let these sins go. They must
be paid for. And He does that by laying those
sins on Christ and punishing those sins in Christ. And then
Christ was raised again on the third day and what was the reason
for that? It was proof that God accepted
His sacrifice and that indeed all the sins that were laid on
Him have been put away. Now the New Covenant, God says,
their sins and iniquities I will remember no more. Why is that? Because they're gone. It says
that there shall be a search made for Israel's sin and not
be found. Why? Because they're gone. Now
that's how God saves people by Jesus Christ. Do you believe
that? Do you understand that? And then the third question,
have you ever asked God to save you? You see, knowing all this
doctrine means nothing if it does not prompt you to call upon
the name of the Lord for His salvation. I fear that there
are many who would say, yes, I am a sinner who deserves to
go to hell. And they say that because they were taught to say
it. And they say it because they realize, according to the Bible,
it's true. And they would likewise say that they believe the gospel,
that is, they believe that the work of Jesus Christ was a work
of substitution. That the righteous one died in
place of the unrighteous. They understand that. But they
have never called upon the name of the Lord and asked him for
his salvation. They've just assumed they were
saved because they're in church. Have you ever called upon the
name of the Lord and found his salvation? If you never have,
I pray that God will grant you grace to do so today. And if
you are merely assuming that you are saved because you have
been in the church since you were born into this world, May
God shake you up, may He stir you up, and cause you to call
upon His name and beg for His mercy. The grace of the Lord
be with you.