A common question in our Lord's
day and also a common question in our day is, what must I do
to be saved? What must I do to inherit life
eternal? Well, the answer to that question
is really quite simple. There is nothing you can do in
and of yourself to obtain salvation. Nothing. There is nothing you
can do to merit God's favor. Grace is unmerited favor. You can't merit it. That's what
it means. Grace is a gift. So you can't
earn it, nor do you deserve it. It would cease to be a gift if
you did. And if we take the matter even further, dear friends, there's
only one thing that can be done in order for us to inherit life
eternal. And I'm telling you right now,
without reservation, it's the Lord God Himself that enables
and causes you to do that one thing. You can't do that without His
divine intervention. Well, what is that one thing?
believe, he that believes on the spotless Lamb of God, the
Lord Jesus Christ, shall be saved." It's a certainty. He shall be. Not if he or she lives right.
Not if he or she does this or don't do that. No, sir. They
that believe shall be saved. Now listen. When God says shall,
that means shall. If I say shall, that means maybe.
Hope it works out alright. Hope that I'm able, but not when
God says. Turn with me to the Gospel of
John chapter 3. I want to read a few verses.
John chapter 3, look at verse 18. He that believeth on Him,
who? Christ, the Son of God, is not
condemned. But he that believeth not is
what? Condemned already. Because he
hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Look down at verse 36 of John
3. He that believeth on the Son
has everlasting life. And he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life. But the wrath of God abideth
on him. Look over at John chapter 6.
A couple pages over. Look at verse 35. Chapter 6 verse 35. And Jesus said unto them, I am
the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger. And he that believeth on me shall
never thirst. Look down at verse 47. 647. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that believeth on me hath everlasting life chapter
7 verse 38 he that believeth on me as the scripture has said
out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water look at chapter
11 verse 25 Now you know the story here.
Lazarus had died and Martha, his sister, came running to him
and he told her, most certainly, your brother shall rise again. And she said, I know that he's
going to rise. Look at the previous verse. I
know that he'll rise again in the resurrection at the last
day. And he said, Martha, Martha,
listen to me. I am the resurrection. I am the
resurrection and the life. And he that believeth in me,
though he were dead, yet shall he live. Oh, I'm sure those words
meant something to Martha, but they ought to mean something
to us, shouldn't they? We're dead. Dead dog sinners. Dead in trespasses and sin. And Christ is our resurrection. He is our life. And if we believe
in Him, though we were dead, we shall live. Now if you'll
turn with me out of the book of John to the book of Mark.
And this will be my text this morning. Mark chapter 16, verse
16. Very, very familiar. and similar to the verses that
we just read. Mark 16, 16. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. Now notice the text is preceded
and followed by some other very, very important words. Look at
verse 15. And he said unto them, This is
Christ speaking. Go ye into all the world and
preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. The gospel, the message that
God uses to save in the foolishness of preaching his elect children,
friends, is to be preached to every creature. Did you notice
that? Verse 15, go ye into all the
world and preach the gospel to who? Every creature. Every creature. Every man, woman, child is the
gospel to be preached. And this Great Commission, as
we call it, is a commandment. It doesn't say if you feel like
doing it, or if you want to, or if you don't have anything
better to do. It says, Go ye into all the world and preach
the gospel to every creature. You who are gathered here today
are clearly within that description. Every creature. And therefore
the Gospel is preached to you. And I'm convinced beyond a shadow
of a doubt, and I don't hesitate to tell you for one minute, those
of you that are here this morning, you are right now doing the best
thing that you could ever do for yourself. And that's hearing
the Gospel. The Gospel of Christ. And Christ
alone crucified We live in a world, and you know this, we live in
a world of self-improvement, don't we? We live in a world
of self-help. Now listen, I don't care how
many best-selling books that Joel Osteen writes on becoming
a better you. And my message is not to preach
against religion and Joel Osteen, but I'm telling you that I don't
care how many books he writes, best-selling books, entitled
Becoming a Better You. Got a new one out that's called
Every Day Should Be a Friday, or Every Day's a Friday. That's
not the issue. But let me tell you about another
best-selling book. the best-selling book of all
time. Most of you hold it in your lap, in your hand right
now. And it's a book that God wrote. And that blessed book in which
you hold that God wrote, it's not a self-improvement book.
There's some that think it is. But it's not. It's not a self-improvement
book. This book tells you how to be
perfect! And it doesn't have anything
to do with what you do. Nothing. Becoming a better you. No, so this book don't tell you
how to self-improve. It tells you how to be perfect. Perfectly righteous. Perfectly
holy before a perfect and holy God. And that's what you need.
Every one of us, that's what we need. The Lord commands us
to preach the Gospel. Then friends, you're commanded
to hear it. Now you may not know that, but you're commanded to
hear the gospel. And to hear it without attention,
to hear it without resolving to obey it, will be According
to the words that we just read in verse 16, look at the end
of verse 16. He that believeth not shall be
damned. Eternal damnation awaits every
man and woman that will not submit and bow to the only provision
that God has made for your sin's atonement, the Lord Jesus Christ. Only one thing neutral, the Bible
said, The only one thing that will reconcile you to God Almighty,
and it's a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's sent to every
creature. You know why? Every creature
needs it. There ain't a creature alive
with any kind of intelligence, man, woman, or child, that doesn't
need The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And whether the creature
knows it or not, he's lost by nature, he's lost by practice,
and he cannot save himself. Cannot. Cannot save himself. He needs to be saved. Now, will
you believe that? If you have not believed in and
on Christ, if you're not trusting Him and Him alone to be your
sacrifice for sin, then you're lost. You're lost. Well, who are you to say that
I'm lost? I'm just a voice crying in the wilderness. I'm just a
messenger. It's what God said. God said
it. Oh, you're lost and you cannot
save yourself. And that's a good place to begin
right there with that fact. You're lost and you can't save
yourself. Where are we going to go? What are we going to do?
I'm telling you that without Christ you're lost, and until
you know that fact, you'll never seek the only help that there
is. If God has shown you your need
of Him, dear friend, then rejoice, because He sent you a gospel. THE gospel. And there's no other which can
save such a person as you are. What did the Lord say here? He
that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. So this morning,
as best as I can and as briefly as I can, I want to speak a few
words. First, concerning believing.
Secondly, concerning baptism. And thirdly, concerning being
saved. And I promise to be as brief
as I can. Believing. That's a word that
we use probably every day of our life. Oh, I believe that.
I believe so-and-so did this. I believe so-and-so. I believe
this is going to happen. I believe that's going to happen.
But disbelieving is the difference between life and death. He that
believeth in Christ is not condemned. We read that in John, didn't
we? For whosoever believeth in him hath everlasting life. This
believing has an object. This faith has an object. And
that is Christ and Him crucified. One thing you must believe first
and foremost is that you've broken God's law. Now you have, whether
you know it or not. You've broken God's law. And
because you've broken His law, you're under His condemnation. But God in His infinite mercy
sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world that you might through
Him, dear friends, God's divine Son, might be saved. God's precious Son became a man.
He was made of a woman, made under the law. For what reason? To redeem them that are under
the law that we might receive what? The adoption of sons. The adoption of daughters. We
became sons and daughters of God Himself in Christ. Isn't
that amazing? That's amazing, isn't it? on
the cross of Calvary. His blood was shed, for it is
written that without the shedding of blood there is no remission
of sin. But by that shedding of blood, dear friends, He blotted
out sin, your iniquity. All those that put their trust
in Him, guess what? No sin. Forgiven. Your sin has been put away. This
is why you must believe. You must believe on Christ. And
I tell you, I tell you just as sincerely as I can possibly tell
you, it's impossible to believe unless God gives you eyes to
see, ears to hear, and hearts to believe. You just, you can't
do it. Now after Christ's death, he was laid in a grave. But the
grave couldn't keep him. You know why? He knew no sin.
He was made to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. He was laid in the grave, and
on the third day He came forth from the tomb by the power of
God Almighty. How did Lazarus come forth? God
in the flesh said, Lazarus come forth. That's not hard, is it?
Not if you're God. Not if you're God. It's not.
He came forth from the tomb by the power of God. He rose again
for the redemption of His people, for He was crucified for their
offenses, and in their place He stood. I heard it said long
ago, and I've adapted the phrase many times, we do the sinning,
and God does the saving. He's our great substitute, and
He does the saving. And if you don't believe that
Christ died for your sin, now listen to me, I'm being sincere
with you. You're going to perish forever
under the awful wrath of God. And if God doesn't make you aware
of that, you'll leave here today no different than you came, not
giving it a second thought. Friends, the Lord Jesus Christ
raised He was raised from the dead by the power of God and
He still is exalted on high. He's the King, capital K, of
kings. He's the Lord, capital L, of
lords. He's the only Savior. He's just
and justifier. He's the only one who can give
repentance and remission to the sinner. And that word remission,
you know what it means? Cancellation of debt. Charge
of penalty and sin is gone. Christ gives this remission to
whosoever He wills. And whosoever wills, He wills. We'll believe it. and those whosoever
wills will be saved. The question is not what we believe,
friends. It's who we believe. If we're
to be saved, we must trust in the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He who died and ever lives is
what? Able to save to the uttermost
those that come unto God by Him. Saving faith. Now listen. Saving
faith. is trusting in Him. Trusting Him truly. Trusting
Him wholly, solely, constantly. Trusting Him right now. Trusting
in Him tomorrow. By God's grace, may you behold
Him, the Son of God, enthroned in glory. And friends, if you
do, lay your soul and all its sins at His feet. Leave them
there and trust in Him to save you. And you know what? He'll
do it. Has there ever been a time that
a sinner asked for mercy that he didn't receive it? Nowhere
in scripture I can find. Nowhere in scripture. Now I can
go on and on about believing, but time won't allow. Believe
in Christ. I'll leave you with that on that.
Believe in Christ. in him is life. Secondly, baptism. Our text says, he that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved. Now those aren't my words. They're
God's. First, let me remind you that
our Savior's words teach us that baptism follows faith. He that
believeth and is baptized. We must never neglect the order
of things. God's a God of order. The order
of things in the Scripture, if God puts them 1, 2, 3, then we've
got to put them 1, 2, 3. When we read the New Testament,
we'll always find that those who were baptized were believers. They were baptized after they
were saved. They believed in the Lord Jesus
Christ and then they were baptized in the name of the Father and
the Son and the Holy Spirit. Now does the Bible say, I'm asking
you, does it say, He that believeth and cometh to the communion table
shall be saved? It doesn't say that, does it? He that believeth and is baptized. Let me make this perfectly clear.
Sir, I want you to hear this. I want all of you to hear this.
The act of applying water in no way, no fashion can wash away
a single sin. That would be going back to the
old covenant. I'd be going back to the old ceremonies of the
Mosaic Law. All their washings under the
Law. Now a man had to wash his hands so many different ways,
and this, that, and the other. And as many as there were, there
was never one washing that washed away one sin. Water cannot wash
away the sin of a man or woman. Only the precious blood of Jesus
Christ can do that. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. Yet when the condemnation is
announced here in verse 16, it says simply, he that believeth
not shall be damned. And notice that the matter of
baptism is not mentioned. Salvation is not in baptism. It's in Christ. Baptism, now
this is a good way to explain it. And it didn't originate with
me. Baptism is the outward expression
of an inward faith. Be sure you understand that.
He who believes in Christ with his heart, with his soul, with
all his being, confesses his faith before God and before the
church by being baptized. There's no salvation in this
water. Why is this confession necessary to prove faith? Well,
I'm sure there are many reasons, and I didn't have time to research
them all, but I'll tell you this, this is the main one, God commands
it. He that believes and is baptized. Christ commands that we believe
and confess Him in baptism. What are we confessing? We're
confessing that He's our all in all. That He's our everything.
That we put our trust on Him and Him alone. It's needful for
Christ's kingdom that the believers should openly confess his or
her faith. And as I said, for many reasons,
but mainly because Christ said so. Baptism is not salvation. Did you hear me? If you're here
this morning and you're trusting in your salvation because of
you were baptized, you're lost. Baptism is not salvation. And
there's many that believe that. I can tell you most sincerely
there's many. There are multitudes, and I know
you've run into them, who if asked if they're saved, are you
saved? Do you believe that God has given
you salvation? They will immediately tell you
the hour, the day, and the year that they were dunked in the
water. They're trusting in baptism,
not Christ. Isn't that right? If you ask me if I'm saved, I'll
say, oh yeah, washed clean in the blood of the Lord Jesus.
Not because some preacher dumped me in the water. Baptism is simply
professing to all in the local assembly that Christ is your
only hope. You're saying that He's everything.
He's all you need. And He's everything that God
requires. And you won't be embarrassed
about it. I know people who profess to believe, but they go, I'm
not going to be baptized though. It would just be too embarrassing. Better get in that water if God's
done something for you. And profess to God's people that
He's your everything. Philip preached Christ to that
eunuch in Acts chapter 8. You all know that story. And
after he had preached Christ, that man believed. And in verse
36, they're riding along and they went on their way. And the
scripture said they came into a certain water. And you know
what that eunuch said? He said, hear this water right
there. What doth hinder me to be baptized? I tell you what hinders most
folks, themselves. Themselves. Nothing should. You remember those words of the
Lord Jesus that said, Whosoever shall confess me before men,
him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
But whosoever shall deny me, And by that it means He who does
not confess me before me and Him will I also deny before my
Father which is in heaven. Baptism is also a test of obedience. He who believes in Christ and
takes Him to be their Master as well as their Savior does
what He commands. When your Master says, you go
and you do this and you do that, you need to do it. If a man refuses to do it, he
proves that he does not intend to be the disciple of the Master.
We confess and profess in front of others. Our trust is in Christ
alone. And also, it's an act of obedience
to our Lord and Master. Because he said, believe and
be baptized. Third thing, shall be saved.
He that believeth and is baptized, what? Shall be saved. What does it mean to be saved?
Well, it means, of course, what everybody wants it to mean. It
means salvation, deliverance from the punishment of sin. It means that those that believe
on Christ, their transgressions are forgiven. Their iniquities
blotted out. And they shall not be brought
into condemnation. And in the last great day they
shall stand before God justified, just as if I'd never sinned in
Christ. In Christ we're justified right
now. You're no more saved, Sarah,
after we get out of that water than you are right this minute.
That's right. Justified means just as if I'd
never sinned. Therefore, being justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."
Well, that's certainly a part of being saved, isn't it? Peace. Peace with God. Oh, I could go
on and on. It means dominion over our own
nature. Sin shall no longer have dominion
over us and no longer rule us as it did before. We're given
a new nature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things have become new. The greatest miracle of all,
my dear friends, is performed by God in the heart and the soul
of a believer. Being saved means that all your
past sin, all your present sin, all your future sin, it's gone! Gone! And I know you've heard me say
these things so many times, but they're gone never to be remembered
again by God. It's not an excuse to continue
in sin, no. It becomes a saved one's desire
that in their flesh, though still wretched and wicked, They desire
to live upright before the Lord who loved them and gave himself
for them. They desire to be pleasing to the one who forgave them so
much. He who is forgiven much loves
much, our Lord said. We're motivated by love, not
to dishonor Christ who loved us and gave himself for us. If you're saved, friends, you're
always saved. God cannot fail. No man can pluck
you from His hand. You can't jump out. If you're
truly trusting in Him, you're saved. As that old expression
says, to the hilt. You heard that before? To the
hilt. We're to love Him to the hilt.
We believe in His manhood. God became a man and He was tempted
in all ways as we are. sympathizing with our every trial
and tribulation and the heartaches of this life. But in His sovereign
grace, He became what I could never be, that I might become
what He is. On that day of judgment, dear
believer, God is going to say, Well done, thy good and faithful
servant. Enter thou into the joy of the
Lord. And you know what the believer
is going to say? I've never done anything well. I do not and will
not see myself as a good and faithful servant. But we will
enter into the joy of the Lord. You know why? Because He was
good and faithful for us. Our well done was done by He
who does all things well. And as I said, today we rejoice
for God has caused a young lady to desire to possess and profess
Christ in baptism. She came to me a couple weeks
ago, and in so many words she said, I believe Christ has called
me and revealed to me that He's my only hope of salvation. Not
trusting in any of my works, not trusting in anything other
than Christ and what He's done for sinners. She said, He's shown
me I'm a sinner and that I can only be cleansed and washed clean
by His precious blood. She said, I believe He's called
me by His sovereign grace. And then she said, I desire to
publicly profess my faith in Him alone. What do you say to somebody that
tells you that? You say, Amen. Amen. What doth hinder me to be baptized? Like the eunuch said. So with
that said, Sarah, you come.