If You Knew

Q: What does the Bible say about salvation as a gift?

The Bible teaches that salvation is God's gift to sinners through Jesus Christ, not something earned by works. Salvation is described in Romans 6:23 as the gift of God, which is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. This underscores that salvation is not something we can earn or purchase, but a free, unmerited gift. The Apostle Paul emphasizes in Ephesians 2:8-9 that we are saved by grace through faith, and this is not of ourselves—it's the gift of God. Thus, understanding salvation as a gift highlights God's sovereign grace and mercy rather than human effort or merit.

Q: How do we know that Jesus is the gift of God?

Jesus is explicitly referred to as the gift of God, providing salvation from sin and eternal life. In the sermon, the preacher underscores that Jesus Himself is the gift of God. The scripture passages indicate that our salvation, along with the very faith to believe, is granted to us by God's grace. 2 Corinthians 9:15 expresses gratitude for the 'unspeakable gift' which is understood to be Jesus Christ and the salvation He offers. Through this lens, we see that God's gift is not merely an offer, but the very act of delivering salvation through His Son.

Q: Why is knowing Christ essential for salvation?

Knowing Christ is essential because saving faith hinges on a real relationship with Him, not just doctrinal knowledge. In the sermon, it is emphasized that true saving faith is impossible without knowing who Christ is. Jesus told the Samaritan woman that if she knew both 'the gift of God' and 'who it is' that asked her for a drink, she would have asked Him for living water. This reflects how essential knowledge of Christ is to faith and salvation. In John 17:3, Jesus clarifies that eternal life is to know the one true God and Jesus Christ. Without knowing Him personally, attempts to attain salvation are futile.

Q: What does it mean to lack knowledge of Christ?

Lacking knowledge of Christ keeps individuals in a state of unbelief and spiritual blindness. The sermon illustrates that ignorance of Christ leads to spiritual blindness and unbelief, as seen in the case of the Samaritan woman. The preacher highlights that simply having doctrinal knowledge is not enough; true knowledge involves a personal understanding of who Jesus is and what He has done. Many people know about Christ but do not truly know Him as their Savior. This knowledge is critical for overcoming spiritual blindness, as illustrated by passages that demonstrate how essential it is to truly comprehend God's character and Christ's work for salvation.

Q: Why is faith not a leap in the dark?

Faith is based on knowledge of God and Christ, not a blind belief without understanding. The preacher communicates that faith should not be seen as a blind leap but as a confident step grounded in the knowledge of who Christ is. He argues that real faith is informed by understanding God's character and promises as revealed in Scripture. This knowledge leads to an informed trust in Him. Therefore, faith is about walking in the light with a clear understanding rather than taking a speculative risk. Romans 10:17 reinforces this by stating that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God, further emphasizing that understanding and knowledge are crucial to genuine faith.

Gospel. We meet a woman whose
name is not given to us. We're just told that she was
a woman of Samaria. She was an adulterous woman.
She had spent her life in promiscuity, ungodliness, and yet she considered
herself a righteous woman. It's the nature of man. This
woman was the one whom the Lord Jesus distinctly had come to
Samaria to save on this occasion. She was the object of God's electing
love. God chose her from eternity to
be saved by his grace. She was one of those whose names
had been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb before the
foundation of the world. She is one of those whom the
Lord Jesus distinctly came here to redeem by his blood, to save
by the pouring out of his life unto death as our substitute,
to put away her sin distinctly. And yet she was still an unbeliever. She was still lost. She did not
know and she did not trust the Son of God. The Lord may have
said to her as he did to the rich young ruler who came and
said to him, good master, what good thing shall I do that I
may inherit eternal life? And the Lord may have said to
her as he did to that young man, one thing thou lackest, just
one thing. And I say to you, all of you
who are yet without Christ, there's one reason why. One thing you
lack. which hold you yet in unbelief,
which hold you yet in your lost and undone condition. There was
with this woman, as with many of you, this one thing missing. She knew her Bible history. Read
the chapter. She disputed with the Lord Jesus
himself about what the scriptures taught and didn't teach. She
knew her religious dogma. She not only knew what her church
believed, she defended it with enthusiasm. She said, we believe,
we believe. She knew what her church was
supposed to believe. She stood for it. And she knew that Messiah
was coming, who is the common savior of men. She knew that
he alone is the one in whom salvation is and by whom salvation comes. And yet, just like you, she was
still lost. Lost because of one thing. Well, what is this one thing?
What was missing? What's missing with you? What
is it that now keeps you in unbelief? What is it that now keeps you
in your refuge of lies? What is it that keeps you from
the Son of God? Read the 10th verse and we'll
see. John chapter 4, verse 10. Jesus answered and said unto
her, If thou knewest, if only you knew, oh, if only
you knew, that's the problem. If thou knewest the gift of God,
and who it is that saith unto thee, give me to drink, thou
wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee to drink.
The Lord Jesus says, if you knew me, you would ask of me, and
I'd give you living water. Oh, if only you knew the Son
of God. If only you knew Jesus Christ,
you'd trust him. I know you would. You see, it
is your ignorance of Christ that holds you in unbelief. This is
what our Master said, if you knew me, You would have known
my father also. That's what he said, isn't it?
Our Lord Jesus wept over Jerusalem, that city full of unbelief, that
city which was about to be cursed forever, that city from which
he would withdraw all life and leave in desolation. And this
is what he said, if only you had known. Oh, if only you had
known. The Holy Spirit tells us that
if the rulers of this world had known, if they had known who
he was, they would never have crucified the Lord of Glory.
That's what he tells us. If they'd have just known, if
they'd have just known. You see, it is your spiritual
ignorance, the blindness of your soul that holds you still in
unbelief, just as it did this American adulteress. But blessed
be God at the appointed time of love and mercy the son of
righteousness arose in Samaria and arose in her heart and Dispelled
her darkness and when he arose and shone in her heart She believed
and he gave her living water. Oh May he now rise and shine
in your heart to give you the light of the knowledge of the
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Hold your Bibles open,
if you will, on your laps. We'll look at this text line
by line. There are three things here.
I'll spend the bulk of my time on the first one, and the other
two we'll just follow. But look what our master teaches
us. First he says, if thou knewest. If thou knewest the gift of God,
and who it is that saith unto thee, Give me to drink. Now I
hope you hear and understand what I'm about to say. I recognize
that doctrinal knowledge is not salvation. Grace is not gained
by learning. Righteousness is not the reward
of study. Salvation is not the successor
of research. You can have all the right doctrine
and miss Christ altogether. I received a letter this past
week, maybe last week, I can't recall. A young man said, will
you please explain to me how a man can have the right doctrine
and miss Christ? I'm about to. Calvinism, now
listen to me, Calvinism is no more beneficial to a man's soul
than Arminianism. It is absolutely no more beneficial. I have no more interest in converting
men and women from Arminianism to Calvinism than I do in converting
them from Hinduism to Catholicism. Salvation is not found in a religious
system. Salvation is not found in a system
of religious works, no matter how good. It is not found in
a system of religious rituals, no matter how biblically produced
those rituals may be. It is not found in a system of
doctrine, no matter how orthodox that doctrine is. Salvation is
in a person. Oh, Rod, I wish I could make
folks understand this. Salvation's in a person. It's
not just in a person, it is a person. It is a person. Simeon held the
Lord Jesus in his arms and said, let me now depart, mine eyes
have seen your salvation. David said, God say unto my soul,
I am thy salvation. Salvation is Christ, not election. not limited atonement, not irresistible
grace, not predestination, not divine sovereignty. I wouldn't
spend five seconds arguing with folks about those doctrines they
don't believe, but rather make them to hear of Him whom they
must believe. Do you understand the difference?
It doesn't do folks any good to argue doctrine with them.
It doesn't. You can get them to agree to all the doctrine,
and if they dot every i and cross every t and say this is exactly
the way it is, it hasn't changed a thing. It hasn't changed a
thing. I'll tell you what you must do. You must know the Son
of God. You must believe on the Son of
God. You must bow to the Son of God. Now having said that,
I want you to understand that what you know or what you don't
know is really rather irrelevant. But that doesn't mean that a
person can be saved without knowing Christ, without knowing the gospel,
without knowing God. Not on your life. Knowledge is
essential to faith. Knowledge is as essential to
faith in Christ as oxygen is to breathing. You can't have
one without the other. Understand this. It is not what
we know that saves us, but who. Did you get that? It's not what
we know, but who. Our Lord told this American woman
that she would be saved, she would be a believer if she knew,
if she knew the gift of God, if she knew who he was. Is that
what you see in the text? Jesus answered and said unto
her, if thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that says
to you, give me to drink, you would have asked him to drink,
and he'd have done it. All right, now let's stay with the text.
Let me show you what I'm talking about. Gospel knowledge, gospel
knowledge, gospel knowledge is essential to saving faith. Let
men rattle on all they want to about people being saved who
don't know God, who don't know Christ, who don't know the gospel.
It just ain't so. It makes just as much sense to
talk about Mormons and Russellites being saved as it does to talk
about Armenians and real worshipers being saved. Neither is true.
It just isn't so. I had a fellow stop by here the
other day. I was out mowing. He caught me
at a bad time because he stopped me from doing something I was
in a hurry to get done and wanted to give me some of his watchtower
papers. And I didn't hesitate to send him on his way. How could
you do that? He's sincere. He's religious. He's devoted. He's selfless. He don't smoke. He don't drink.
He don't chew. He don't go to the grocery store. How could
you treat him like that? He's an idolater. He's an idolater. How do you know that? The God
he worships is just a figment of his imagination. And the same
is true of all we are worshipers. The same is true of all religion,
apart from the gospel of Christ and the gospel of God's free
and sovereign grace in him. You see, those who deny the gospel,
folks say, They love the Lord, they just hate God. He's a good
man, he just doesn't like, he just doesn't love, he doesn't
understand the gospel. He loves the Lord, he just, he just doesn't
believe what God teaches, that's all. Do you understand how absurd
that is? You wouldn't talk like that if
you was talking about some, some naked witch doctor down in Haiti,
dancing around his campfire, spreading chicken bones, trying
to raise the dead, would you? Paul, no, no, he's an idolater.
Yeah, that's because he's not kin to you. That's because that's
not your grandma or granddaddy, that's not your brother, sister,
son, or daughter. That's the problem. That's the problem.
That's because you've never been there and you're not clinging
to that. That's the problem. You see, the fact is those who
despise the gospel don't know God. Doesn't matter whether they're
naked witch doctors down in Haiti or whether they're blooming idolaters
kneeling at a mourner's beach in First Baptist Church. It doesn't
matter. It just doesn't matter. Those
who despise the character of God do not love God. No, they just don't. Well, he
loves the Lord, but he can't stand election. It's kind of
like saying he loves the Lord, but he hates holiness. Does that
make any sense at all? Those who trample the blood of
Christ under their foot as a useless thing, as something that has
no value and no merit and no efficacy without their will and
their consent and their faith despise the blood of Christ.
Those who despise the Spirit of grace simply have never experienced
the grace of God by His Spirit. You see, gospel knowledge is
absolutely essential to saving faith. It is impossible for anyone
to trust an unknown savior. It just can't be done. We read
it in Romans chapter 10. The apostle Paul declares these
things are just impossible. He said it's impossible for anyone
to call upon and worship the Lord if they don't trust him.
I believe in Jesus. Tell me who he is. Tell me who
he is. Well, he's a nice fella. He came down here from heaven,
and he lived a good life, and he taught us the way of God,
and he loves everybody, and he wants to save everybody, and
he died to save everybody, and he'll save you if you let him.
No, you don't know him. That's right, you don't trust
him. No, that Jesus is a false Jesus. That Jesus is the invention
of men. That Jesus is a stump in the
depraved forest of man's depraved dark mind. He's not the Christ
of this book. Well, preacher, are you saying
that people who worship the Christ of free will, works, religion,
are lost people? Yeah. You too, if that's the
Christ you worship. That's exactly right. Your mom
and dad, too. Mine, too. Your sons and daughters,
too. Mine, too. Your wife, too. Mine, too. That's just it, Bobby. That's just it. Either Jesus
Christ is who he says he is, or he's not. And either you'll
worship him as he's revealed in this book, or you'll perish
in your sins. Now, preacher, how can you be so dogmatic? One year ago, I preached my mother's funeral. And she went to hell trusting
a false god. And I don't want you to. I don't
want you to. Do you hear what I'm saying? It's not a point of theology
I'm debating. I'm talking about life and death.
I'm talking about knowing God and not knowing God. I'm talking
about who God is and who he's not. It's utterly impossible
for anyone to trust Christ till they know him. The apostle tells
us it's utterly impossible for anyone to know Christ without
a preacher, without somebody coming and telling them who he
is, and nobody can preach him who hasn't been sent. People
talk about faith as though it's some kind of a leap in the dark.
You know, just believe. Just believe. Oh, keep the faith. Keep the faith. Everybody talk
about keep the faith. Just got to keep the faith. We're
going to win the state championship this year. We just keep the faith.
What's that got to do with winning a ball game? Oh, no, no, no. Faith's not a
leap in the dark. Faith is walking in the light
deliberately. That's exactly right. I was in college, they used to
tell us, you need to get folks to make a profession of faith,
sneak up on the blind side and get them to confess Christ before
they know what they've done. What good would that do anybody?
What good would that do anybody? Be sure you get the children
now, either two or three years old, as soon as they can say
yes and no, as soon as they can nod their heads, you get them
to make a profession of faith before they realize what's happened.
What good is that going to do them? Faith is not a leap in
the dark. Faith is walking in the light.
There's no saving faith without saving knowledge. Now I could
say much concerning this and much needs to be said, but our
text specifically says two things about this knowledge. First,
all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, all who are taught of
God, all who are born of God, Gary, know the gift of God. Is that what you see in the text?
If thou knewest the gift of God. The gift of God. Now notice the
text does not say, if you knew a gift of God. But it says, if
you knew the gift of God. Well, what's that? What is that? Let's see if we can get us a
few books and study that and find out what it is. Or let's
just look at scripture and see what God says. Look at Romans
chapter 6, verse 23. The wages of sin is death. Now, David Copeland, that's what
you deserve and me too. Death. Eternal death. Eternal damnation. If we get
it, we've earned it. It's the wages of sin. If you
go to hell, it's your fault. It's the wages of sin. But, on
the contrary side, on the other side of this thing, the very
opposite of this, The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Listen to the scriptures, for
by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves,
it's the gift of God. The faith, the salvation, the
grace, it's the gift of God. The apostle writes in 2 Corinthians
9 and says, thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. So the gift of God is Jesus Christ
himself and the salvation that God gives to sinners in him and
by him as a matter of pure, free, undeserved, sovereign grace,
the gift of God. Now, most all religious people,
almost all who claim to be worshipers of Christ, in every church in
this town, in every church in this town, and some sitting here
this morning, I'm sure, imagine somehow that the gift of God
can be purchased. Now, preacher, we know salvation
is the gift of God. We know salvation is by grace. We know a man can't be saved
by something he does, but The goat's always going to get that
butt in there. Always going to. But, you know
now, you know. You know that a man's faith has
got something to do with it. You know a man's decisions got
something to do with this. You know, you know a man's works
count for something. You know. It just stands for
reason. It just stands for reason that
God's going to consider your good works being better than
somebody else's bad works. Your good works are bad works.
Your righteousnesses are just filthy rags. Everybody thinks
like Simon Magus, they vainly imagine that the gift of God
can be purchased with money or with human effort or human merit
of some kind. Everybody, except somebody who's
taught of God, Lindsey Campbell, every sinner in this world who's
taught of God, every one of them, every one of them, know that
salvation is his gift. Not his offer, not his present. We're getting close to the time
we start seeing this silly preacher over in Lexington, I expect.
Last year I watched him so many times come on television, smiling
like a possum eating briars, and he says, you know, I have
a present in my office. all wrapped up, I purchased it
for someone and I've been moving it around and stumbling over
and it's just getting in my way. He said, because they never came
to get their present. Now that's sort of like God's
salvation. I'm sorry. No, I'm not sorry. No, it's not
sort of like God's salvation. God's salvation, not a present.
He's stumbling over and hoping maybe you'll accept it. It's
a gift. It's a gift, not something he
offers you, not something he proposes to you, not some advice
he gives you, but a gift he operates in you, a gift. Saving faith
involves knowledge of God's gift. It is knowing the gift of God
and it involves knowing him by whom the gift comes and who it
is. There is no saving faith in Christ
without a saving knowledge of Christ. No one is saved who does
not know who Christ is and what he's done. Turn to John chapter
17 for a moment. John chapter 17. Look at verse 3. This is life eternal. Now, Skip,
that's just about as plain as a sales advertisement in a Sears
Roebuck catalog. This is life eternal. This is
it. That they might say, I believe
in Jesus. That they might repeat the sinner's prayer. That they
might get in the waters of baptism. That they might join the church.
That they might lead a good life. That they might believe in Jesus
and start doing good. That's not what it says. Our
Lord says this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. There's
no salvation apart from knowing God as he's revealed in Christ. It won't do you any good to know
falsehood. I can think of no better illustration. When I first
moved to town, We called for a fella to come tune the piano.
I had never met another Don Fortner until I moved to Danville. But
20 years ago, moved to town. And called up a fella to tune
the piano. Somebody told us, said, they'll
call Don Fortner. Huh? Don Fortner? So I called
Don Fortner. This is going to be interesting.
And he came out to tune the piano. Gary, he was just about your
size. Just about your size. He was an Armenian Methodist
preacher who tuned pianos on the side. Now then, let's suppose,
let's just suppose that somebody came to town and they wanted
to find Don Fortner. And they stopped by the bank
and said, do you know Don Fortner? Well, let's see here. Yeah, you
know, as a matter of fact, there was just one accounts number
between his bank account and my bank account at the bank.
Yeah, right here he is, right here. and send you down the road,
you go look up Don Fortner, here comes this little old bitty fella.
I'm sorry, I'm looking for Don Fortner. I'm Don Fortner. You
would know immediately it's the wrong fella. Doesn't look like
him, doesn't talk like him, doesn't act like him, doesn't preach
like him, doesn't believe like him, and got a different wife.
Now, I'm sorry, you're not the one I'm looking for. And I'm
telling you that the God of this age no more resembles the God
of Holy Scripture, the Christ of this age no more resembles
the Christ of the Bible than a gnat resembles an angel. It just ain't alike. The gospel
being preached, by which men are told they must do something,
by which they contribute to and make effectual the work of God
Almighty, is a false gospel, damning to the souls of men.
That's the language of the Bible. You can read it in Galatians
chapter 1. When our Lord Jesus put the question to the man who
had been born blind, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? He
answered and said, who is it, Lord, that I might believe? And then Christ made himself
known to him. Jesus said to him, thou hast
seen him, and it's he that talketh with thee. Now his eyes were
opened and his ears were opened so that he could see and hear
both physically and spiritually. And immediately he responded,
Lord, I believe. I believe. And I'm telling you,
no man ever believes until he knows the Son of God. This knowledge comes to sinners
only by divine revelation. Oh, it comes by the preaching
of the Word. There's no question about that. Faith comes by hearing,
hearing by the Word of God. But I preach the gospel to you. And you can't see. You just can't
see. Two boys raised in the same house,
sitting in church all their life, hear the same message. Words
preached, man, I see it. Another one shakes his head,
I can't see it. I can't see it. Husband and wife sitting side
by side. Woman says, oh, I see, I see.
Heard the same message, Ron, preached the same way, maybe
prayed for one more than the other, but one sees and the other
doesn't, how come? Because, Baba, you can't see
till God turns the lights off. You can't see till God shines
in your heart by supernatural power to give the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Now then, look at the next part of our text. Our Lord said to this woman,
if you just knew, oh, if you knew the gift of God, who it
is that's talking to you, you would have asked of Him. You
would ask. People say you gotta I tell sinners
to do this, do that, do the other thing. The Lord said, if you
ever know who I am, you'll ask. You'll ask. You'll say, Lord,
if you will, you can make me whole. You'll say, Lord, God
be merciful to me, the sinner. You'll ask that I might receive
my sight. Like that penitent thief, you'll
say, Lord, remember me. You'll ask. Because the sure
result of Christ being revealed is faith in the heart, and faith's
sure evidence is calling on God. You'll ask. And our Lord says
one more thing. He said you'd ask of him, and he would have given thee
living water. When Christ is revealed, when
Christ is made known, when you see Him, you ask of Him, and
He gives eternal life. To who? Everybody who asks. He gives water to all who are
thirsty, bread to all who are hungry, forgiveness to all who
are guilty, righteousness to all who are naked, redemption
to all who are in bondage, salvation to all who are lost. If you knew
the gift of God, if you knew Jesus Christ, you would ask of
Him and He'd give you eternal life. Amen. Lindsey, you come lead us in
the hymn, please.

If You Knew

What does the Bible say about salvation as a gift?

How do we know that Jesus is the gift of God?

Why is knowing Christ essential for salvation?

What does it mean to lack knowledge of Christ?

Why is faith not a leap in the dark?

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If You Knew

What does the Bible say about salvation as a gift?

How do we know that Jesus is the gift of God?

Why is knowing Christ essential for salvation?

What does it mean to lack knowledge of Christ?

Why is faith not a leap in the dark?

Sermon Transcript

About Don Fortner

Comments

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