If you turn with me to the seventh
chapter of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 7, I'd like to
read beginning in verse 22 through verses 25, but my text will be
found in verse 25. Hebrews 7, 22. by so much was Jesus made a surety
of a better testament and they truly were many priests because
they were not suffered to continue by reason of death but this man
oh we could uh... that'd be a good title for a
message wouldn't it but this man because he continueth ever,
forever, everlasting, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore, he is able also to
save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing
he ever liveth to make intercession for them. My parents thought they were
doing me good when they made a decision early in my life to
raise me in church, to see that I went when church was held. And I lived 30 some years believing
what I had been taught. But what I had been taught was
wrong. plumb wrong. I'd been taught
that Christ was willing but not able. That he wanted to save me, but
it was really up to me if I was saved or not. The problem with
all that was, is I really didn't care if I was saved or not. I really didn't want to be saved
at that particular time in my life. You see, God had been so
belittled, so belittled in what I heard that I really
wasn't too worried about it. I'd made a profession. I'd walked
an aisle. I'd been baptized. What else did I need? I had no fear of God because
he'd been reduced in the preaching that I heard to no more than
just the old man upstairs. You've heard that saying. A little
old man upstairs that was willing but not able unless I gave him
permission to save me. I'm going to tell you something,
friends. That kind of teaching, preaching, will lead men and
women to hell. You know why? Because it's a
lie. It's not the truth. If God is dependent on me in
any way, any way, then I have the upper hand, right? That's
not an exaggeration. If He's dependent upon me, then
I have the upper hand. And I could always decide later
to allow Him to save me, allow Him to have His way. And there was another thing that
kept me from needing God. And it was the emphasis put on
my works in order to be saved. You see, I had to straighten
up. I had to be a good boy, so to speak. And at least I had enough revelation
or common sense or whatever you want to call it by experience
to know that I couldn't do that. So many times I'd made promises
to God that I would not do this or that, only to do them every
single time. God, I'm not going to do that
anymore and turn right around and do it again and again and
again. Each and every time I failed,
failed time after time doing the things I promised him I wouldn't
do. And then I didn't do the things
that I told him I would do. The truth of the matter is, if
I had never been truthfully told who God really was, And what
God required of the sinner in order to be saved just never
was told. And I know that probably more
times than necessary I talk about that false religion because I
have family and friends in hell right now because of it. They
trusted in a decision. They trusted in walking an aisle.
They trusted in a baptism. Friends, we must trust in Christ. Salvation is in a person in whom
we have redemption. You see, I've been misled, deceived. I was never told the truth about
the God of the Bible. I was lost and without hope and
without God in this world. And it's so with all of us. There's a time in all of our
lives that that was the case. That was our state. That was
our standing, lost without hope and without God. And I wouldn't
be so presumptuous to say that there are not still some here
this morning that are in that condition. For you see, when
you're without Christ, the Scriptures say that you're an alien and
a stranger. You're far off in a far land,
an alien from the truth, and a stranger to His covenant promises. That's what Ephesians 2.12 says,
isn't it? That at that time you were without
Christ. There's a time that we were all
without Christ. aliens from the Commonwealth
of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise having
no hope and without God in this world. Now there's a true formula
found in that verse. Without Christ equals no hope
and without God. Always the same. Without Christ,
there's no hope and you're without God. Nothing but a stranger and
an alien. Now alien means differing in
nature to the point of incompatibility. Boy, that describes me pretty
well there outside of Christ. Oh, my nature. Depraved nature. No desire to trust God. No desire to believe God. No
desire to obey God. Alien. Alien. No compatibility
with God. But there is in Christ. Oh, how He and I differ by nature. Stranger. Basically means the
same thing. It means a foreigner or an intruder. An intruder is someone who has
no right to be where he is. One who has no right to God's
covenants of promise or rightful residence to God's commonwealth. God's state or place of being. And this is what we are when
we're without Christ. We're without hope. I lived 30
years of my life as one who had no hope. And I didn't even know
it. Are you here this morning without
Christ? If you are, then you're an alien and a stranger from
all that God graciously gives in the Lord Jesus Christ. But
thanks be to God, He's able to save. To the uttermost. And that, if I had to give a
title to this message, would be just that. He's able to save. to the uttermost. Now this morning
I want to endeavor to answer three questions. Three simple
questions but yet impossible questions to answer unless God
reveal it to us from the scriptures by the Holy Spirit to our hearts.
Who, the first question is, who will be saved? Well I know this
much, salvation is not in us. Jeremiah 10.23 says, Oh Lord,
I know that the way of man is not in himself. There's no salvation in man.
Salvation's of the Lord. It's not in man that walketh
to directed steps. That's what Jeremiah 10.23 says. Those that will be saved are
those who come unto God by Jesus Christ. That's the only way.
Their steps are directed by Him. Salvation has never, ever, ever
been in a denomination. It's not denominational. It doesn't
say that the Baptist or the Methodist or the Independent shall be saved. Now there are many denominations
that think that they're the only ones that will be saved. salvation is to them. Is that what verse 25 said? Wherefore he is able also to
save who? Them. Them. To them that come to Christ.
Where do sinners come for salvation? They come unto God. It's the
only place it's to be found. Salvation's of the Lord. Not
those that come to church. Not those that come to pray.
Not those that come by works of righteousness or works that
they've done. But those that come to God. And you can only come to God
in one way. He saves those who come to God. Notice those two
little words, by Him. By Him. So how do we come to
God? By Christ. That's the only way. That statement in itself, I believe,
implies that coming to God means leaving something else. If a man comes to God, he must
leave his sin. He must leave his righteousness.
He must leave both his good and bad works. And come to God leaving
them all. There's only one way to leave
these things. It's the same way. That we're to come to God by
Him. We come to God by Christ alone. He took my sin. That's how I leave it. I don't
just throw it off and throw it down. He took my sin upon Himself. He bore them where? In His own
body on the tree. 1 Peter 2.24. And as far as righteousness,
well, we don't have any righteousness to leave. Our righteousness is
nothing but filthy rags. And you know what filthy rags?
They stink. They stink. I've heard many other preachers
use this illustration and I don't have any reason to believe that
it's not true. I haven't researched it myself
but I've heard them said many times that back in old times
if you murdered someone that they actually took that dead
corpse and strapped it to your back and you carried it around.
Have you heard that? I've heard that a couple, three
times from preachers that I know and love and trust. And they carried that decaying,
corrupt body on their back as a reminder of what they had done. And I got to thinking about that
and carrying, that's no different than us carrying around our dead
righteousness. Because our righteousness is
nothing but filthy rags, it makes us stink. It's dead and dead
things stink. Not by works of righteousness
that we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us. By the washing of regeneration
and renewing of the Holy Ghost. Well, that's what you said last
week. Thank you. I hope I say it every time I
stand before you. What do we come to Christ for? What do we come to Christ for?
Well, you might ask a college student and he might say that
he comes for help in his studies. You might ask a businessman why
he comes and he might say, well, I need guidance in business affairs. The homeless might come to God
to ask for a place to live. The sick man might come that
he might be made well, but why do sinners come to Christ? They come for salvation. They
come for redemption. They've been brought to the end
of themselves. And they say, like Peter, to
whom else will we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. You see, mercy is the sinner's
sole request. Oh, if you've ever come to God
crying out for salvation, and for salvation only, I'm going
to tell you something. You've come to God for the right
reason. For only He can give that which we need. And if you cry for bread, He
won't give you stones. I know that. Now many men stand before congregations
and they constantly preach on giving. They say, give to God
your offerings and He'll multiply them maybe a hundred fold. Someone asked me not long ago,
he said, do you preach on giving? I said, yep, every Sunday. And
he looked at me kind of funny, I think, a little surprised.
And I said, every Sunday I preach on what God gives sinners. Grace. Mercy. Undeserved grace and mercy. That's what makes it what it
is. Every Sunday we preach on what God gives sinners. Not what
sinners give God. What can we give God? Salvation is a gift from God,
is it not? We preach on giving every time
we meet. What God gave to us. It's our
constant message. The wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
For by grace are you saved through faith, and that's not of yourselves.
It's a gift of God. What attitude does a sinner come
to Christ with? I'm going to tell you, it's not
with the pompous pride of the Pharisee. He doesn't come with
the arrogance of self-proclaimed worth. One who thinks that he
somehow deserves salvation. That's not how a sinner comes.
Not truly comes. I've known men that felt like
they were doing God a favor by joining the church. Oh, I tell you, when He comes,
He comes with a poor, broken spirit. He comes with the earnest
desire of a thirsty soul who needs living water. He comes
as a poor, helpless leper who says, Lord, if you will, you
can make me whole. That's how He comes. To come any other ways, not to
come at all. Really. To come any other ways,
not to come at all. Christ came into the world to
save sinners. Sinners. when that publican stood in the
temple with that Pharisee. And what that Pharisee said,
Lord, I thank you. I ain't like other men. I do this and I do
that. And I'm faithful in this and
I'm faithful in that. And they said, that old publican,
he stood afar off. He wouldn't even dare come out
front. He's standing back in the corner somewhere with his
head bowed, beating him on his chest, saying, Lord God, be merciful
to me, a sinner. Why do sinners come to Christ?
They come for mercy. They come for help. They come
to be saved, redeemed by the precious blood of the Lamb. Well, I know I asked more than
one question there, but my second question is, does Christ have
the ability to save? There are some that act as if
He doesn't. Of course, the answer is an astounding yes. He, and
He only, has the ability to save. No other can save. Matthew chapter
1. It's as though the gospel of
that account starts out with the words, "...and she shall
bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus. For he shall..."
He shall save his people from their sin. Christ is the Savior. How far
is He able to save? Well, the writer of Hebrews says,
"...to the uttermost." To the uttermost. He's the great physician. He's not just a physician, he's
the great physician. And to what extent will his skill
as a physician reach to heal disease? To the uttermost. What a wonderful answer that
text gives. He's able to save to the uttermost. Now how far is the uttermost,
someone might ask. Well, you think about that for
a moment. Now, my uttermost may not be
very far. I'm just a wretched sinner. Good
for nothing. But what about the uttermost
of a sovereign God? The God of heaven and earth.
He who rules and reigns by the power of His own will. The one
who none can stay His hand or say unto Him, what are you doing?
What about Him? What is His uttermost? Well,
I tell you what. An angel from heaven could take
off flying to the farthest star. And we look out into the heavens
at night and there's galaxies and all that we can't even see
with the naked eye. That angel could fly to the farthest
star light years away and still not have come to the uttermost
of God. Christ is able to save to the
uttermost. He can save to the uttermost
extent of guilt, I'll tell you that. He can save to the uttermost
amount of which a man can sin. Is there any sin too big for
God to forgive? For Christ to put away? If a
man or a woman would commit murder and then commit murder again
and then again and again and again, would He have gone to
the uttermost? Could not a man be yet more guilty? Well, as long as I live, I become
more guilty. Not in the sense of the way God
looks at it, but every day I fall short, do I not? If you have
a man in prison, and while he's there for murder, and while he's
in prison, he commits murder in the prison, do they not add
on to his sentence? Isn't he not in a sense more
guilty than he was when he went in? But God, Christ, is able
to say to the uttermost. Now there might be some that
think, well, I've gone too far, I've sinned too much to ever
find mercy and grace, to find salvation in Christ. Well, I'm
going to tell you something. When you think that you've gone
to the uttermost, you remember that even then you would not
have gone beyond the reach of His divine mercy. Man, what mercy,
what grace. He's able to save to the uttermost.
Now I know men personally, and I know you do too, men and women,
that are staggering through this life on the brink of hell. And I often think to myself,
is he too far gone? There have been many times I've
even said, he's too far gone. No matter what I would say, what
I would do, he just seems too far gone. They've got
no interest in spiritual things. God is no more than just some
far-fetched character who may or may not exist. And they think
that if He does exist, surely He takes notice of my charitable
work or my good deeds for mankind in some shape or form. Their thoughts of God are absolutely
so distorted. And their concern for their soul
is absolutely non-existent. You know people that way. I know
you do. And they are literally banging over hell by a mere thread. But you know what? I think I'll
continue to pray for them. And you know why? God can save
to the uttermost. Until the pits of hell shuts
them up, in death, I believe it's still possible that divine
grace might save them. Uttermost. God can save to the
uttermost. He can save to the uttermost
of rejection. He can save to the uttermost
of despair. There's some who preach that
a man can be a child of God today and a child of the devil tomorrow. They teach that God can acquit
a man and then yet condemn him, save him by grace, and then let
him perish. That's not the God of this Bible. Yes, He's full of love, grace,
and mercy, but He's also full of power. He is able to save
to the uttermost. He won't ever suffer one of His
people to perish. There are none in hell for whom
Christ died. He saves to the uttermost. If
you think that you saved yourself, By earning, meriting, deserving,
working, somehow or another attaining God's precious gift, which cannot
be done. It can't be done, and yet God's
got to reveal that to a man. Now you might be concerned, if
that's the case, you might be concerned about losing your salvation. Because if you earned it, there's
a good chance that you'd lose it. That's just the nature of
man. We can't do anything. But if
God saved me, if God Almighty saved me, there's no man that
can pluck me from his hand. None. I can't jump out. I'll have the ability to jump
out of his hand if he's truly saved me by his grace. So let me ask you the third question
and I'll wrap it up. Why is Christ able to save to
the uttermost? Well, I know the natural answers,
but I'm looking at the answer that's found in this verse. The answer is that he ever liveth
to make intercession for them, for us. If you ask me how Christ can
save you, I'll tell you that He can save you because He did
not save Himself. He can save you because He took
your guilt and endured your punishment. We call that substitution. There's
no salvation apart from the satisfaction of God's divine justice. Either
the sinner must die, Or someone must die for him. God's justice
has to be appeased. And it cannot be just anyone.
I can't die for your sin. You can't die for mine. It's
got to be a perfect sacrifice. Without spot, blemish, wrinkle.
It has to be a perfect substitute. a sacrificial lamb without spot,
wrinkle, blemish. We've already established that
no man can come except the Father which has sent me drawing. Why? Because we're all without righteousness. We're all sinners in the hands
of an angry God. We can't do anything to appease
God Almighty. We owe God a great sin debt. And because of divine justice,
dear friends, it can't be put away until it's paid for. I can't pay it. I can't pay it. But Christ paid it for me. Christ
paid it for me. He's able to save not only because
He died for our sin, but because He lives to make intercession
for us. That man who died on the cross,
Gary, he's alive. That man that was buried in the
tomb, Christ Jesus, he's alive and risen. He's no longer in
that tomb. Well, you might say there is
a limit to God's mercy. That doesn't sound right. Though He's able to save the
other most, there is a limit to His purpose to save. And if I read the Bible right,
there's one sin which can never be forgiven. It's the sin against
the Holy Ghost. Oh, for years I struggled to
find out what that was. You know why? Because I wasn't
sure I was going to do it. That's why, well let me tell
you something. The only thing that you cannot
be forgiven of, I believe this with all my heart, is unbelief. The one thing you cannot be forgiven
of is rejecting Christ. Saying, I don't want any part
of Him. Not believing what God says about His Son. If you die
without Christ, it's because you didn't believe what God said
about His Son. You don't believe what God said
in His Word about His Son. Will we continue in rebellion
or will we kiss the sun? If by inspiration and Revelation
from the Spirit of God, the Holy Ghost. We don't kiss Him. God
will be angry with you and you will perish. Over in Hosea chapter 4, verse
17, it says, Ephraim is joined to Idos. Do you remember that
verse? And then God says these three words that absolutely scares
me to death. It says, let him alone. Let him alone. Oh, how sad those words are from
God Almighty. Let him alone. Leave him to himself. My spirit shall not always strive
with man. Let him alone. But I'll tell you, if you come
to God by Him, Him alone, when God able to save you to the uttermost,
He's able. Your sin is forgiven in the Lord
Jesus Christ. You know, I say that, I wish
I could truly enter into its depths. My sin is forgiven. My sin is removed. My sin is
gone. In other words, I have no sin. The chief of sinners has no sin. Every past sin, present sin,
future sin, it's been put on Christ. Help me believe that more, Lord.
Help me believe that more. That leads me to one conclusion
concerning me, and I believe concerning you. We must have
Christ. Our only hope. Your only hope
this morning, Russell, is to be found in Christ Jesus. There's nothing you can do but
hope that you're found in Him. How are we found in Christ? Well,
we come like that leopard did, worshiping, bowing, saying, Lord,
I know you're able. If you will, you can make me
whole. And it seems to me ever, well
it doesn't seem to me, it's in the scripture. He always says
to those who come that way, I will. I will. Oh me. Look at John 6 with me
and I'll close. John 6, 65. John chapter 6, verse
65. The Lord Jesus is speaking to
a multitude of people, those disciples who follow him. And
he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto
me, except it were given unto him of my Father. And the next
words just absolutely amazed me. He told them the truth. He
said, no man can come to me unless God reveal it to you, except
God draw you. And it says that from that time,
many of his disciples went back and walked with him no more.
And that's still not a popular message, is it? No man can. People
don't want to hear that. People say, well, I can do something
to be saved. What good thing must I do to
be saved? And the Scriptures say nothing.
No man can come. You can't work your way. You
can't earn your way. You don't deserve it. No man
can come except... And they walked with him no more.
And Jesus looked over to the twelve and He said, will you
also go away? And Simon Peter answered. One
of my favorite passages of Scripture. He said, Lord, to whom shall
we go? You're asking me if I'm going
to go away. Where else is there for me to go? You. You have the words. Is that what
it says? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. Where else would we go? Only Christ has the words to
eternal life.