Alright, let's open our Bibles
to the book of 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy chapter 1. In these past few weeks I've
been dealing with the subject of salvation. Salvation, that
term that people throw around so much. When you think about
it, you know, what is it to be saved? What is it to be lost?
And everybody has their own opinions, their own ideas of what a saved
person is and what a lost person is, how they should be, how they
should act, all of these things. But what I've been trying to
do in the past few weeks and what I'm going to continue doing
today is I want to talk to you about the fundamentals of salvation.
What does God's Word teach us? about salvation. What is true
salvation? What is it like? What are the
effects of it? The evidences of it? How does
it come about? All of these things. You know,
people often talk about, how do you get saved? And I told
you last week, I don't really like that language because it's
not biblical. But I'm going to talk to you
about how a sinner is saved. I've been talking about that.
And I've been using 2 Timothy 1, beginning at verse 8, as my
base text for these messages, and I want to go back to that.
And today I want to talk to you about God's great salvation. God's great salvation. And in
doing so, if we're going to study the Scriptures, you know, the
Bible says, or Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3, that all Scripture
is given by inspiration of God. God breathed the word of God
and he said it's all profitable. In other words, there's no section
of scripture that we should leave out as if that part were not
good for us or something we shouldn't study. And I thought about that
because in dealing with this issue of salvation, I don't want
to leave anything out. And I know I'm going to be dealing
with some things today that a lot of a lot of preachers, a lot
of denominations, a lot of people don't really like to deal with
concerning the source of salvation. But let's look at this. He says
in verse eight, Paul is writing this letter to Timothy from prison. Paul's in prison at Rome. And
he says in verse eight, a second Timothy one, be not thou therefore
ashamed of the testimony of our Lord nor me, his prisoner. But
be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God, who hath saved us, and called us with an holy
calling, and not according to our works, but according to his
own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began, but is now made manifest by the appearing
of our Savior Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath
brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,
whereinto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher
of the Gentiles, for the which cause I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed,
for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able
to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." We
sing that hymn today. For I know whom I have believed,
and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed
unto him against that day." Now, in dealing with this subject
of salvation, I made these three points that I want to emphasize.
Number one, that salvation is of the Lord. And I want to elaborate
on that a little bit today. Salvation is of the Lord. It's
not of man. What does that mean? It's of
God. God who saved us, he says here in verse 9. God hath saved
us. The only one who can save, the
only one who does save eternally is the Lord God. Whenever you
read the scriptures and you see, in the King James Version, you
see the title LORD in capital letters, all capital letters.
That's usually referring to the title of God, the name of God,
which we translate into English as Jehovah. You've heard that
term, Jehovah. There's a denomination called
Jehovah's Witnesses, and I'll just say it very bluntly. They
are not Jehovah's Witnesses, but we are. What does Jehovah
mean? It means God saves, or God our
Savior. That's what it means. And Christ,
the Lord Jesus Christ, the one and only Jesus of Nazareth, that
one born of Mary, that one who is both God and man in one person,
the Lord Jesus Christ took that title unto himself. He referred
to himself as I am, the great I am. You remember when Moses
stood on the mountain and he asked, The Lord, when the Lord
commissioned him to go into Egypt to bring the children of Israel,
the Hebrew children, out of Egypt, he said, Whom shall I say has
sent me unto you? And the Lord said, I am that
I am. That's the eternal, everlasting
God. Has no beginning and no end.
The Lord stood before the Pharisees and he said before Abraham was,
I am. Read it in John chapter 8. And
so when we look at Christ, whose name is Jesus, which is a derivative
of Joshua, or Yeshua, which is a derivative of Jehovah. God our Savior. Salvation is
of the Lord. Here's the second point. Salvation
is totally in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. He is salvation. If you want to understand biblical
salvation, a lot of people say, well, I don't really believe
that He's the only way of salvation. Well, that's okay, but you don't
believe the Bible. And just admit that. I came to
a place before God saved me that I understood what the Bible said,
I just didn't want to believe it. I was like Mark Twain. You know the author Mark Twain?
He told people, he said, you know, people always talk about
places in the Bible they don't understand. And there are a lot
of places we may not understand fully. That really may confuse
you and perplex you. But Mark Twain told a reporter
one time, he said, well, it's not the parts of the Bible that
I don't understand that bother me. It's the parts that I do
understand that bother me. And that's the problem. Christ
is the only way of salvation. That's what the Bible teaches,
all right? And these folks that are telling
people that there are many ways of salvation, whether it's world
religions or different denominations or whatever, they are not telling
you what the Bible teaches. It's a way of salvation in and
by the Lord Jesus Christ, based upon who He is. And this is why
it's important that we know who Jesus Christ is. if we're going
to understand biblical salvation and claim to be saved. You see,
the one who is my Savior must be the only one whom God appointed
to save. He must be the only one who's
able to save, and he must be the only one who's willing to
save. And if the one I claim to be my Savior doesn't meet
those qualifications as laid forth in the Scripture, then
I have faith in a counterfeit. in an imposter. Now, if the Lord
Jesus Christ is not God, I'll tell you openly, He is the greatest
imposter that ever stood on this earth. But He is God. He is the Lord our righteousness,
Jeremiah 23, verses 5 through 6. Jehovah said, He is the Lord
God Almighty in human flesh. His name shall be called Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins." What do I need
to be saved from? I need to be saved from my sins.
Now, who's the only one who can do that? Jesus. Jehovah, my Savior. God, my Savior. His name shall
be called Emmanuel, Matthew 1.23, which is interpreted, God with
us. So, salvation is of the Lord.
Salvation is totally, totally in and by the Lord Jesus Christ,
who is the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto
the Father but by me, John 14, 6. And then thirdly, here's the
third one. This is the basis for all these
messages. Salvation is totally, 100% all of grace. It's not by our works. It's not
even conditioned on us. That's why God sent Christ into
the world. to fulfill all qualifications,
all conditions, all stipulations, all requirements of salvation.
That's why he is our salvation. That's why it is all of grace.
If it's not by grace, totally, there is no salvation. If it's
up to me or up to you, there's only one reason God would have
to save you and not me. It'd be because you're better
than me. And if you're better than me, and that's the reason
God saves you, then seer salvation is not by grace. You see, grace
teaches this. Now listen to this. Grace teaches
that we cannot deserve salvation and we cannot earn salvation.
You understand that? We don't deserve it and we cannot
earn it. Now, if you can deserve it or
if you can earn it, then it's not of grace. It's something
God owes you. Romans chapter 4 teaches that
when it's talking about Abraham as an example of how God saves
a sinner. He said, if it's a debt, then
it's not of grace, you see. So it's nothing we deserve, it's
nothing we earn at any time, at any stage, to any degree,
in any way. It's grace, grace, grace. Sovereign
grace. It's of the Lord in Christ by
grace. Now, salvation in the scripture
is a big term. And I'm not talking about how
many letters of the alphabet it takes to spell the word, because
there are bigger words in the Bible. But as far as its meaning
and its scope and everything else, it is a big word. And let me start out this way.
Sometimes, and I'm not going to give you an English grammar
lesson today, but you know the tense of verbs, don't you? There's
the past, there's the present, and there's the future. Now,
sometimes when the Bible speaks of salvation, it speaks in the
past tense. We have been saved. We who are saved have been saved. That's past tense. That's a past
act. It's already accomplished, already
completed, already done. And then sometimes when the Bible
speaks of salvation, of those who are saved, it speaks in the
present tense. We are being saved. A continual
process. In other words, it's not just
something that happened in the past and then it stops. It's
something that happened in the past and then it continues. So
we have been saved. We are being saved. And then
sometimes in the Bible, when the Bible speaks of the salvation
of the saved, it speaks of the future. We shall be saved. In other words, there's a future
aspect of salvation. So there's a past, there's a
present, and there's a future. Now, all the past of salvation
is by God's grace in Christ. It's of the Lord, it's in the
Lord Jesus Christ, and it's by grace. Now, listen to me. If you're going to understand
biblical salvation, all the present of salvation is of the Lord in
Christ by grace. The continuing of it. Being saved. That's all by grace, too. You
see, some denominations, they want to teach, well, we're saved
by grace in the past, but our continuing is by our works. You see, that is not biblical
salvation. I'm going to show you that from
the Word. We have been saved by grace. We are being saved
by grace. We're kept by grace. And then,
sometimes when the Bible speaks of the salvation of the saved,
it speaks of the future. That's talking about our final
glory in heaven. We're not there yet. We're not
yet. That's talking about when we leave this life or when the
Lord comes back again and we're glorified with Him. And let me
tell you something, that too is by grace. Of the Lord, in
the Lord Jesus Christ, by grace. Every aspect of it. Now let me
give you this. right here on this issue of salvation by grace. Look back here at 2 Timothy chapter
1. And here's what I want to tell
you. First of all, salvation is what God has done, has already
done for us in Christ. Salvation is what God has already
done for us in Christ. And here's the second thing.
Salvation is also what God has done and is doing in us. It's what God has done for us. And secondly, it's what God has
done and is doing in us. So there's an objective part
of salvation. That's what God has done for
us. And then there's a subjective part of salvation. That's what
God has done and is doing in us. And then thirdly, salvation
is also what God shall do with us. What He shall do. So what He has done for us, what
He has done and is doing in us, and what He shall do with us.
You understand that? Now let me give you this. Here's
the first one. Salvation is what God has done for us in Christ. Two aspects of this. I told somebody,
I said, I felt like there used to be an old preacher come here
during the conferences and he'd have like three points to his
message. But he'd have three sub-points under each point.
Then he'd have three sub-sub-points under each point, and three sub-sub-sub-points
under each point. And pretty soon you just, where
are the points going? You know, what point is there
to this message? I don't want to be like that. But I do have
two things under this first point. Now listen to it. First of all,
salvation is what God has done for us in Christ. Think about
it as the source of salvation. The source of salvation. What
is the source of salvation? Well, I've already said it. Salvation
is of the Lord. Now, look at 2 Timothy 1. The
source of salvation. He says here, in verse 9, God
hath saved us. God is the only source and originator
of salvation. It says, called us with an holy
calling, not according to works, but according to His own purpose. Salvation is by God's purpose,
that's the source of salvation. And grace, now listen to this,
which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Before the world began. Salvation
is eternal in that sense. It's according to God's eternal
purpose and grace. which was given us in Christ
Jesus before the world began. Now turn to Ephesians chapter
1 with me. Look over here at Ephesians chapter
1. This is what the Bible teaches
about salvation. Ephesians chapter 1. God is the
only source of salvation and that's, listen, the originator
of salvation, the source of salvation, before the world began. Salvation
is the product of an eternal covenant made between the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit before the world began. And here's
what it says, look at verse 3 of Ephesians chapter 1. Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Sometime when you get a chance,
sit down and read the whole first chapter of Ephesians, and notice
how many times it says, in Christ, by Christ, or in Him. It's all
in Him. So He says in verse 4, according
as He hath chosen us in Him. That's election. I know people
don't like to hear about that. Or they'll say, well, He's talking
about the Jews. Well, He's writing to the church
of Ephesus here. There were Jews there, but there were Gentiles
too. chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world. What's before the foundation
of the world? What does that mean? It's before the world was created.
He said that we should be holy and without blame before Him
in love. Verse 5, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to Himself according to the good pleasure of His will,
there's the source of it, God, His will, not ours, His will.
To the praise of the glory of His grace wherein He hath made
us accepted in the Beloved, that's Christ, in whom we have redemption
through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches
of His grace. You can go on and on with it.
In eternity, before the worlds were made, the Lord God loved
us, chose us, predestinated us to be his own, adopted us in
Christ, accepted us in Christ, and blessed us in Christ. Now
that's biblical salvation. Whenever we preach the gospel,
the good news, and we're to preach it to every creature, every person
that we have opportunity to preach it to, We're preaching the terms
of an eternal covenant. It's an eternal message. It's
not new. It's as old as God is, and He
has no age. He's the Alpha and the Omega,
the beginning and the ending. Our salvation was arranged and
accomplished in that covenant of grace, ordered in all things,
and sure, because it was conditioned on the promise of the coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ to fulfill all of its requirements, all
of its conditions. It was made between the persons
of the Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And in that
everlasting covenant, God the Father became our Father, God
the Son became our surety and our righteousness, and God the
Spirit became our sanctifier. We were justified in Him, justified
by God in eternity based upon the promise of Christ's coming
to do the work. that would enable God to be both
a just God and a Savior. That's salvation, you see, in
the Scripture. That's the source of salvation.
But now here's the second thing under that first point. Now,
salvation is what God has done for us in Christ. He chose us
in Christ. There's the source. 2 Timothy
1 again. Look back at it. It is according
to his own purpose and grace, verse 9, which was given us in
Christ Jesus. Now, how could it be given to
me in Christ Jesus? Christ is my representative.
He's my substitute. He's my surety. He said in John
chapter 6 and verse 37, he said, all that the Father giveth me. Then he said, they shall come
to me. That's another aspect of salvation. Him that cometh
to me, I will in no wise cast out. It was given us in Christ
Jesus. Christ as my representative,
as my surety, as my substitute, as my sin-bearer, the promise
of it, all right there. Listen, all the responsibility
of the salvation of God's elect was placed upon Christ. You see
a picture of that in the Old Covenant, in the priest. You
know the high priest in the Old Covenant, he had to wear a certain
garment, certain garments that were made for him. And one of
those garments was a breastplate, and on the breastplate they had
the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. And then on his shoulders
he had amulets that had six stones on one and six stones on the
other, representing the twelve tribes of Israel. Now, that picture
is Christ, the great high priest who bore his people, spiritual
Israel. Now, who is spiritual Israel?
Everyone who has faith in Christ. If you're a believer, you're
a spiritual Israelite. That picture, Christ upon whose
shoulders we stand. All of the government of grace,
all of the salvation of his people was placed upon his shoulders,
and the breastplate was over his heart. That's his love for
his people. He loved his own until the end,
John 13.1. He loved his own until the finishing
of the work. So you see a picture of not only
his ability to save us, but his willingness to do so because
he loves his people. Hearing is love, 1 John 4, 10.
Not that we love God, but that He loved us and gave His Son
to be the propitiation, the satisfaction for our sins. And so Christ set
up as our representative insurity before the foundation of the
world. That's the source of salvation, God alone. But now here's the
second part of that. And that is the ground of salvation. Here's the ground. There's the
source. Salvation's in the... Here's the ground. 2 Timothy
chapter 1 again, verse 10. Now, all of it, it's not according
to our works, you see, but it's according to God's purpose. When
did God purpose it? Before the foundation of the
world. God had never changed his mind. It's always been God's
purpose. You see, salvation is not God's
plan B. It was plan A from the beginning. No, it's really not plan A. It's the only plan from the beginning. But now look at verse 10, now
here's the ground of salvation, the source of salvation. Salvation
is what God has done for us. Here's the same thing, the ground
of salvation. Verse 10, "...but is now made
manifest, made apparent by the appearing of our Savior Jesus
Christ, who hath abolished death." Now how did Christ abolish death? By His death. That's how he did
it. Look over at Hebrews chapter
2 with me. He abolished death by his own
death. In verse 14, Hebrews chapter
2, you could refer to this as our redemption in Christ. He paid the price. He satisfied
the justice of God. This is the ground upon which
God chose us and saves us. It says in verse 14 of Hebrews
2, it says, for as much then as the children, now who are
the children? That's God's elect, are partakers
of flesh and blood. That's us. We're flesh and blood.
He also, Christ also, himself likewise, or in the same way,
took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that
had the power of death, that is the devil. That is Christ
through his death destroyed The devil, his power over death. Now, the devil doesn't have the
power of death in the sense that he can kill you or he can make
you alive. He didn't have that power. But
the power of death that the devil has is his power to accuse. You're a sinner. What do you
deserve? You deserve death. But you see,
in Christ, who took my death, Upon whom my sins were laid,
he died for them and satisfied justice. Now he can say, who
shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Romans chapter
8, verse 33. It's God who justifies. Who can
condemn us? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather,
he is risen again. He says in verse 15 of Hebrews
2, And deliver them who through fear of death were all their
lifetime subject to bondage. Back over here in 2 Timothy chapter
1, he speaks of it. Verse 10, Christ who abolished
death and hath brought life and immortality to light through
the gospel. What does the gospel teach? It
teaches salvation by God's grace in the crucified, risen Christ. He didn't stay dead. He conquered
death. He satisfied the justice of God. By His blood we have the forgiveness
of sins. What can wash away my sins? Nothing
but the blood of Jesus. What does that tell you? The
only ground of forgiveness is what? The blood of Jesus. The
blood of Christ. What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus. His blood speaks of His death
in satisfaction to the justice of God. In His death, He brought
forth righteousness. Last week, we dealt with that
term, the righteousness of God. Look over at Romans chapter 10
that Brother Ron read. This is what people by nature
are ignorant of. Look at verse 1, Romans 10. Brethren, my heart's desire and
prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. I'm praying
for their salvation. What's the problem? He says in
verse 2, I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, they're
religious, but not according to knowledge. For they, being
ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish
their own righteousness..." Now, what is it to go about to establish
your own righteousness? It's trying to be saved by your
works. He says, "...they have not submitted themselves unto
the righteousness of God." Now, what is the righteousness of
God? Verse 4 tells you, "...for Christ is the end of the law."
That word, end, means the finishing or the completion or the fulfillment
of the law for righteousness. to everyone that believeth."
The righteousness of God is the obedience unto death of the Lord
Jesus Christ for my salvation. That's the ground of salvation.
My sins were charged to Him. His righteousness is charged
to me. Therefore, I stand before God
whole, forgiven, complete, based upon one ground, the blood of
Christ. The righteousness of Christ,
same thing. That's the ground of salvation. There's no other
ground. Look at Galatians chapter 4. Remember we talked about the
source of salvation being God's purpose and grace which was given
us in Christ Jesus before the world began? All of that purpose
that God purposed in the salvation of His people before the world
began was conditioned on one ground, one thing. And that was
the coming of Christ into the world to fulfill those conditions,
to satisfy the justice of God, to enable God to be both a righteous
judge as well as a loving, merciful, gracious Father. Look at verse
4, Galatians chapter 4. He says, "...but when the fullness
of the time was come..." The fullness of the time means the
appointed time. Appointed when? Before the foundation
of the world. Revelation tells us about Christ
who was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. All
the Old Testament sacrifices that God accepted in a temporal
ceremonial way pictured and typified the death of Christ on the cross
as the only ground of our salvation. And he says, when the fullness
of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, as His deity,
made of a woman, that's his sinless humanity, made under the law,
that's the responsibility that he took to fulfill the law, to
redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the
adoption of sons in the fullness of the time. That's the ground
of salvation. That's what Paul's saying back
here in 2 Timothy chapter 1. Now made manifest, verse 10,
by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who has abolished
death. And by his resurrection from the dead, he brought life
and immortality to life through the gospel, the gospel of salvation,
the gospel of resurrection. Now, that's that aspect of salvation. God has done for his people in
Christ. That's the objective part of
it. Later on, in another message, I'm going to talk about the terms
imputed and imparted. Well, this is what's imputed
right here. That means literally charged to our account. Our sins
charged to Christ. His righteousness charged to
us. But now here's the second thing. Salvation is also what
God has done and is doing in us, within each and every individual
redeemed sinner. And that, think of that this
way, that's the fruit of salvation. We talked about the source of
salvation, that's God. We've talked about the ground
of salvation, that's the finished work of Christ. Now here's the
fruit of salvation, the fruit of it. And there's two aspects
of it. There's the new birth, and then
there's preservation. You must be born again. The Scripture
says it. John chapter 3, Christ looked
at Nicodemus and he said, you must be born again or you cannot
see or enter the kingdom of heaven. That's the new birth. That's
the work of the Holy Spirit within us. Look over at 2 Thessalonians
chapter 2. And look at verse 13. 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 13. Paul writes here. He says, but we are bound to
give thanks all the way to God for you, brethren beloved of
the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation. That's the source. He says, through
sanctification of the Spirit, that's the setting apart, being
set apart by the Spirit, and belief of the truth. That's the
new birth. When the Holy Spirit comes and
sets a sinner apart under the preaching of the gospel, and
imparts saving knowledge, faith, repentance to that sinner's heart. And you know, the heart in the
Scripture is the mind, the affections, and the will. He changes our
mind. He changes our affections, our will. He changes it toward
Christ. And he says in verse 14, "...whereunto
he called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of
our Lord Jesus Christ." That's regeneration. That's the new
birth. You must be born again. That's what God has done within
every one of His people. And it's the fruit of salvation. Let me show you that. Turn to
John chapter 12. I know I'm having you turn to
a lot of Scripture. Like I said, I don't want to leave anything
out here. Look at John chapter 12. This
regeneration, this new birth, is when the Holy Spirit, under
the preaching of the gospel, brings an unbeliever to faith
in Christ, brings an unrepentant sinner to being repentant, repenting
of his dead works and idolatry. That's when he gives a dead sinner,
one who's born ruined by the fall, one who is born dead in
trespasses and sins, he gives that sinner spiritual ears to
hear and love the truth. spiritual eyes to see and love
the glory of God in Christ. That's what he does. The Bible
talks about that's a work on the heart. Sometimes it's called
giving him a new heart. Sometimes it's called the cleansing
of the heart. Sometimes it's called the circumcision of the
heart. There's all kinds of terms for it in the Scripture, but
it's all the same thing. It's the Holy Spirit in the new
birth bringing a sinner to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Bringing
a sinner to call upon His name. You read that in Romans 10 and
verse 13. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. We read about it in 2 Thessalonians
there. We're called by the gospel. And you'll call upon his name,
the name of the Lord. Look at John chapter 12, verse 23. Jesus answered them,
saying, The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.
That's talking about his resurrection. and his ascension unto the Father
after his death. Barely, barely, I say unto you,
except a corn or a seed of wheat fall into the ground and die,
it abideth alone. You can take a sweet seed and
set it on that table there, and it's going to stay right there
alone, no change. But if you take it out and plant
it, and it literally dies, that's what happens to the seed, it
corrupts, it dies in that sense, Then it springs up with the wheat,
the fruit. And he said, if it fall into
the ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth
forth much fruit. You see that? Now, look down
at verse 31. He says, now is the judgment
of this world. Now shall the prince of this
world be cast out. That's when Satan's going to
be defeated. And he said in verse 32, and I, if I be lifted up
from the earth, that's on the cross, to die, will draw all
men unto me. That's the fruit. Who are the
all men here? All who are drawn to him. Not
all without exception, but all who are drawn to him. And it
says in verse 33, this he says signifying what death he should
die. You see that? That's the fruit
of salvation. Go back to 2 Timothy 1. The second
aspect of what God has done and is doing, now this is that, when
I first started out, talking about how salvation is a continual
process, we're being saved. That's our preservation in Christ. Paul wrote about it here in 2
Timothy 1.12. He says, For the which cause
I also suffer these things, nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know
whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to
keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day." Not
only does He save us by grace, He keeps us by grace. And that, too, is the fruit of
salvation. Mark this down in your mind. Those who are saved
by God's grace in Christ are securely saved unto the end. They can never be lost again.
Now, I know. Now, all the objections that
are raised to that, and usually it's not biblical objections,
it's people. We'll talk about people. Well,
I know this one fellow. I know he was saved. He was baptized. He went to church for 20 years,
and then he just left it totally. What does the Bible say about
that? Now, I don't want to know what
you think about it, I want to know what I think about it. I
want to know what the Bible says. I'll tell you exactly what the
Bible says about that situation. That fellow, I don't care if
he lasted 30 years, he never truly was saved. That's what this book says. Read
in 1 John chapter 2 and verse 18 and 19. They just never were. Listen, let me tell you something
about false professions of faith. They can last up to the judgment. Read Matthew 7, 21 through 24. Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied
in thy name? Have we not done many wonderful
works? He said, depart from me, you that work iniquity, I never
knew you. Who is he talking about there? Wolves in sheep's clothing.
No, sir. Turn to Philippians chapter 2.
I want to show you this. Well, doesn't the Bible say we
are to persevere in the faith? It sure does. It sure does. But the only way that you and
I are going to persevere in the faith is by the preserving grace
of God who keeps us by His power and grace. Look at verse 12 of
Philippians 2. He says, wherefore, my beloved,
as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now
much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear
and trembling. What's he talking about, work
out your own salvation? Is he talking about working to
earn salvation? No. This has to be kept within
the context and the framework of the gospel and the scriptures
here. What do you do when you work out your own salvation?
You persevere in the faith. But look at verse 13. Here's
the key. For it is God which worketh in
you both to will and to do His good pleasure. Turn the page
back one page to Philippians chapter 1. Look at verse 6. He says, being
confident of this very thing. that he which hath begun a good
work in you," that's at the new birth and continuing in the faith,
he says, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ, until
Christ comes again. Now, who begun that good work
in us? God did, by His Spirit, in that
regenerating work of the Spirit upon the heart. Here's the last
one. Now, salvation is what God shall
do with us. Think of that as the harvest.
You have the source of salvation. You have the ground of salvation.
You have the fruit of salvation. Now, here's the harvest. Look
at Romans chapter 13. Romans chapter 13. Paul is talking about different
things that believers should do in our attitude, in our walk
and obedience. The obedience of grace now. Not
obedience aimed at earning our salvation. But obedience out
of love. Obedience out of grace. Obedience
out of gratitude. And he tells us to be fervent,
to be zealous in obedience. He says in verse 11, look at
it, Romans 13, And that knowing the time, we know the time. Time is short. We don't have
a whole lot of time. Even if we are not here on this
earth when the Lord comes again, time is short. That now it is
high time to awake out of sleep. Don't fall asleep in this business.
Don't get lazy. For now is our salvation nearer
than when we believed. What salvation is near? Our glory
with Christ. That's the harvest. Paul said
it back here in 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 12. He talked about,
I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he's able to
keep that which I've committed unto him. And then he says against
that day. What day? The day of his return.
He's coming again. And when he comes again to gather
his people unto himself, that'll be salvation. That's the future. That's the harvest. That's when
he comes back to reap the harvest of his church, and to judge the
world in wickedness, but to gather his people together with him.
Now, the issue that comes to mind is this. How can I know
I'm saved? Well, I'm going to capitalize
on that in coming messages, but let me just give it to you very
simply and very clearly. Who are you looking to for salvation? Are you thinking about, well,
am I qualified? Well, you're not, and I'm not either, but
Christ is. We run the race of grace looking
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. You see, the assurance
and surety of your salvation or my salvation is not in our
qualifications, but in the qualifications of our Savior. And I'll tell
you this much, he's qualified, he's able to keep that which
I've committed unto him against that day. All right.