I've entitled the message for
this evening, How Long Will You Be Saved? You may think that's a strange
title, but I think you'll understand it by the end of this message.
How Long Will You Be Saved? Now in that passage of scripture
I just read, It says that if certain things take place, you
shall continue in the Father and in the Son. Look at verse
24. Let that therefore abide, remain,
stay in you which you heard from the beginning. If that which
you heard from the beginning shall remain in you, You also
shall continue in the Son and in the Father. Now, what I'm
doing now will determine whether or not I persevere and continue
in the faith. What I'm doing right now, this
second, as I'm speaking to you, will determine whether or not
I will continue and persevere in the faith. And not everybody
does. John makes that clear when he says, they went out from us,
but they were not all of us. For if they had been of us, they
would no doubt have continued with us, but they went out that
they might be made manifest if they were not all of us. The
Lord said in John 8 31, if you continue, if you continue in
my word, then are you my disciples and be Paul said in Colossians
chapter 1 verse 22 regarding every believer that Christ has
presented us holy, unblameable, and unreprovable in his sight.
Boy, that's a good place to be, isn't it? Holy and unblameable
and unreprovable in his sight if, if you continue in the faith
grounded and settled and be not moved from the hope of the gospel. Now, the question is, how long
will you be saved? How many times has someone asked
you, or if you ask somebody else, how long have you been saved? How long have you been saved?
Well, my only way of knowing the answer to that is, well,
I guess as long as Christ has been my surety, that's how long
I've been saved. I can't really give you a time in my experience
where I was saved. I'm sure there was a time, but
I don't really know when it was. I can't give you the date of
my salvation other than the fact that however long Christ has
been my surety, that's how long I've been saved. But you know,
that question really is irrelevant. How long have you been saved?
And you start looking to some kind of experience you had that
makes you think, I must have been saved then. And the fact
of the matter is, you might know when you were saved, but that
doesn't mean you were. And you may have started in the faith,
but that doesn't mean you'll continue. That's a very sobering
thought, but it's a very true thought. You know, the stony
ground here and the thorn choked here, both received the word
joyfully. They didn't receive error. They
didn't receive a false gospel. They received the word that the
sower sowed. They both received the truth,
but they did not continue in the faith. Now, it's not how
we begin, but how we finish. He that endureth to the end,
the same shall be saved. Now notice what John says in
verse 24. Let that therefore abide in you
which you have heard. It has something to do with what
you've heard from the beginning. Now I got to thinking about this. What have you heard from the
beginning? And the scripture that actually came to my mind
thinking about this was the Passover. Do you know that Passover, the
Lord actually changed the date? He changed the calendar. He said,
this is going to be the beginning of months for you. This is where
life begins. Now, life begins when you know
that the only place of salvation, the only place of safety, the
only place of security is in the house with the blood over
the door. You don't want to be found anywhere
but in Christ. Now, when you first have life,
that's what you believe. You believe the only way God
can accept me is if I am in the Lord Jesus Christ, in the house
with the blood over the door. I thought of this scripture.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Now, you know when
you fear the Lord? You fear the Lord. When you're
afraid to look anywhere but Christ, the only place you can find any
acceptance or assurance of salvation is if everything God requires
of you, He looks to His Son to, that's who you look to. You look
only to Him. You're afraid to look anywhere
else. And if you can look anywhere
else, it's because you're not afraid of the Lord. You don't
have the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord will cause someone
to look only to Christ. The reason we're afraid of sin
is because sin is against him. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. Now remember, I'm talking about
beginnings right now. What you hear in the beginning, what you
received in the beginning. I remember being in Romans 10.
Here's another passage of scripture I thought of. I thought of several. Romans chapter 10, verse 1. Brethren, my heart's desire and
prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. Now, there are two things that
stand out prominently in that verse. Number one, the people
he's praying for were not saved. Number two, he wanted them to
be saved. He said, my heart's desire and
my prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. Now look what he says in verse
two. These people who were not saved, but he wanted them to
be saved. He said, for I bear them record. They have a zeal
of God, the God of the Bible. but not according to knowledge. What is it they are ignorant
of? What is it that they did not
know? Verse three, for they being ignorant of God's righteousness. Now here's where these people
were at who were not saved. They were ignorant of God's righteousness. They're ignorant of the righteousness
of His character. Do you know that if you think
you can do anything to please God, you're just completely ignorant
of His righteousness? You just don't know who He is.
If you think there's something you can do that He can accept,
if you think there's something you can do to help out and aid
in your salvation, you're just ignorant of God's righteousness. These people who were not saved
were ignorant of God's righteousness. ignorant of his righteous character,
get this, ignorant of his righteousness in their damnation. These people
who are ignorant of God's righteousness think they've got some kind of
claim on God. They think that they can do something that would
obligate God to save them, and they can't accept this thing
of Him being just in their damnation. You know, anytime you hear someone
bristle at, how could it be fair for God to love some and pass
by others? How could it be fair for God to save some and not
save others, and elect some and not others, and to die for some
and not others? How could that be fair? You wouldn't
be saying that if you weren't ignorant of God's righteousness,
because if you knew anything about God's righteousness, you
know this much about yourself, it'd be fair if he passed you
by. It'd be fair if he damned you. It'd be the right thing
for him to do. Amen? Ignorant of his righteousness
and their damnation. Thirdly, these people are ignorant
of God's righteousness and salvation. They're ignorant of the fact
that you're saved by the righteousness and merits of somebody else. Saved by the righteousness of
Christ. Now, ignorant of how God can
be just, and yet justify somebody sinful like me. They're ignorant
of God's righteousness, and this ignorance plays itself out like
this. Paul says, they're going about
to establish their own righteousness. Now, if you're ignorant of God's
righteousness, here's what you're gonna do. You're gonna go about
to try to do something to make yourself where God's gotta save
you and accept you and have mercy on you. Now that comes from ignorance
of the very righteousness of God. And verse four, for Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believe. Now,
here's the beginning. The beginning is when you see
that Christ is the end. That's when you begin. Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness. Story over. The end. That is when life begins. When you see that the Lord Jesus
Christ is the end. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter
six. I'm gonna give you six or seven different scriptures that
tell what it is we've heard from the beginning, which must remain
in us for us to continue in the faith. And if this doesn't remain
in us, we will not continue in the faith. Hebrews chapter six, verse one. Therefore leaving the principles,
now that word principles is the same thing that's translated
in our text, beginning. Leaving the beginning, the starting
point, the place where we start. He doesn't mean leave it permanently,
going on to bigger and better things, but what he's saying
is, is we shouldn't have to be continually grounded in this.
This shouldn't be a foundation we have to lay over and over
and over again. Therefore leaving the beginning,
of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on into perfection, maturity,
not laying again, the foundation of repentance from dead works,
of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of
hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
Now those are the beginnings. Those are that which I must be
grounded in if I'm gonna continue to faith. First, repentance from
dead works. You know, that's the first thing
he mentions. You realize when you repent of your dead works,
you have a change of mind about your dead works, that all your
works before He saved you were nothing but dead works and could
not save you in any way. And if you haven't been brought
to that place, you've never reached the beginning. You've never began.
And then the next thing he says is faith toward God. Isn't that
what faith in Christ is? Faith toward God. You trust him
as the God man. That's why you believe he must
be successful. And then he speaks of the doctrine of baptisms. And the doctrine of baptisms
is this. Baptism represents union with the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
all it means. When he lived, I was in him and
I lived. When he kept the law, I kept
the law. When he died, I died. When he was raised from the dead,
I was raised from the dead. That's all my hope. Now that's
where we begin. The doctrine of baptism, union
with the Lord Jesus Christ so that all my hope is found that
all God sees when he sees me is he sees Christ because I'm
in him from beginning to the end. And then he talks about
the doctrine of the laying on of hands. Now understand, this
isn't where people lay their hands on people and all of a
sudden they fall backwards and receive the Holy Ghost. That's
foolishness. That doesn't have anything to
do with what he's talking about. He's talking about the priest laying
his hands on the head of the sacrifice. And what happened? Symbolically, sin was transferred. The scapegoat The priest would
lay his hands on the head of that scapegoat and lay all the
iniquities and transgressions and sins on that scapegoat, and
that scapegoat would bear it away. Now, here's the point.
I've got to understand this. The only hope I have, and this
is the beginning of my hope and this is the end of my hope, and
everything in between, is that God took my sins off of me and
put them in Christ. and punish Christ in my room
instead. The transference of sin and his
very righteousness is given to me so that it's my actual righteousness. Now that's the beginning. That's
what you heard in the beginning. And he said, the resurrection
of the dead. My only hope, and I understand
this, The only answer there is for a clear conscience is the
resurrection of Christ from the dead. When Christ was raised
from the dead, God said, I'm satisfied with him. And that's
the only place that my conscience gets any satisfaction, that God
is satisfied with what he did. And the resurrection tells us
that. And that's the beginnings. That's the ABCs. That's the first
principles. And then he speaks of eternal
judgment. Whatever he does is eternal.
Is that hard to understand? Whatever he does is eternal.
Whatever happens in time was done before time. He's the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world, and all the works
were finished from the foundation of the world. Now, understand,
no. Believe altogether. This is the
ABCs of the experience of the believer. They know that if they
are going to be saved, it's by what he did for them without
them, actually done in eternity. Now turn with me to Hebrews chapter
3. Verse six, the Christ as a son
over his own house, whose house are we if we hold fast the confidence. And that word confidence is the
word that's generally translated boldness. If we hold fast the
confidence or the boldness and the rejoicing of the hope, firm
unto the end. continuing in holding fast the
boldness and the rejoicing of the hope. Now, what is the boldness
of the hope he's speaking of? Hold your finger there in Hebrews
3 and turn to 1 John chapter 4. Verse 17, herein is our love
made perfect that we may have boldness. in the day of judgment. Now think about the statement. Standing before a thrice holy
God in judgment and having boldness? No fear? John says this is how
we have boldness in the day of judgment. Now, how can I have
boldness in the day of judgment? Can I stand before God and say
I was a very faithful preacher? I mean, I was true to your word.
I sought to pray and seek your face and seek your blessings.
I've tried to combat sin. But I don't have any boldness
to anything like that. No way. I'd know God would zap
me and send me to hell if that's the way I came into his presence.
Where's our boldness before God and judgment? Verse 17. Because
as He is, so are we in this world. Is Jesus Christ perfect, without
sin, holy, righteous, altogether lovely to the Father? Yes, He
is. You know He is, don't you? Oh,
He's the fairest of 10,000. As He is, so are we in this world. Here's my boldness before God
in judgment. Christ. How much confidence does
Christ have before his Father? How much boldness does he have?
Well, however much he has, that's my boldness before the Father.
If we hold back to our text in Hebrews chapter, or not text,
but go back to Hebrews chapter three. If we hold fast, the confidence,
and the boldness, and the rejoicing of the hope. The rejoicing of
the hope. Now that word is the boasting
of the hope. Remember where Paul said, God
forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ. That's the same word. What is the hope that I boast
in? That everything God requires
of me, Christ accomplished for me. And God looks to Christ for
everything he requires of me. Now I'm to hold that hope firm
to the end. I never graduate past that. I
never reach higher ground. That is the highest ground. Ephesians chapter 3 verse 12
says in whom we have boldness. In whom we have boldness and
access with confidence by the faith of him. I love that proverb
the wicked fleeth when no man pursueth, but the righteous are
bold as a lion. And this boldness comes from
them being righteous because Christ made them righteous. The
only way I can be bold is if I'm righteous and I'm without
sin before God and I stand perfect before God through what the Lord
Jesus Christ did for me. Bold as a lion. And that hope is to be held firm
to the end. Now look at verse 14. This is the verse I most
wanted to deal with in what I'm trying to say. Verse 14 says,
for we are made partakers of Christ. Now notice the word of. It doesn't say we're made partakers
with Christ. It says we're made partakers of Christ. That means I'm Him. If I'm a partaker of
the Lord Jesus Christ. This is talking about union with
the Lord Jesus Christ. Both he that sanctified and they
who are sanctified are all of one. I love that passage in Ephesians
chapter five where Paul's giving us how marriage pictures the
relationship between Christ and the church. And I love that verse
that says he that loveth his wife loveth himself. Well, on
a human level, men, if you love your wife, you're loving yourself.
You're the better off for it. They're gonna treat you better.
I mean, it's just a lot better for you to love your wife, and
you're gonna get all kinds of benefit out of that, I think,
I hope. You will, but that's really not what that verse of
scripture even means. When Christ loved his wife, you know who
he loved? Himself. I am himself. If we believe not, he abideth
faithful, he cannot deny himself. For him to deny me would be for
him to deny himself. Now that's what it means to be
a partaker of the Lord Jesus Christ, not a partaker with the
Lord Jesus Christ, but a partaker of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now
let's go and read verse 14. For we are made partakers of
Christ if, there's that word again, if, if we hold the beginning,
that's the same word John used. If that which is, you heard from
the beginning remains in you, same thing. We are made partakers
with Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto
the end. Now how can I know if I'm a partaker
of Christ? Well, I can answer that question. What was the beginning of my
confidence? When I first came to Christ,
listen to me, I don't know exactly when it
was, but I know this. When I first came to Christ,
I knew I was nothing but a sinner. I knew that. With nothing to
bring to the table, in my hands no price I bring, simply to thy
cross I cling. Fall I to the fountain fly, wash
me, Savior, or I die. You know what? It's no different now than it
was then. Let me repeat that. It's no different
now than it was then. And if it's different now, I'm
in trouble. I've not held on to the beginning
of my confidence steadfast to the end. Now, when I first came
to Christ, I was nothing then. It's no different. No different at all. The only
hope I had then was that all God required of me, he looked
to Christ for, nothing has changed. The same thing that was true
at the beginning is true now. When I first came to Christ, He was my only plea. I didn't
have any works. I didn't have any experience
that I could hold on to. All I had was Christ. Today, as I'm speaking to you
right now, all I have is Christ. The same thing I was in the beginning,
I am now. Now the way you will persevere
in the faith is by never leaving that. That's what John tells
us. The way you continue is continuing
in what you heard from the beginning. Now when I first believed, if
you told me I was to be a doormat for the saints to wipe their
feet on, I would have considered that too. greater privilege than
I didn't even deserve. Better not be any different now.
Solomon said, meddle not with them that are given to change.
And I think I've understood that for the first time. Meddle not
with them that are given to change. Somebody says, well, I've changed.
I've changed. Are you no longer a sinner? Are you no longer a totally depraved
sinner? If that's the case, if you've
changed from that, you've gone in a direction that will never
be blessed of God. That's the way people leave the
gospel. Because when you change like
that, you lose your need of the Lord Jesus Christ. It really
is that simple. Now let's go back to our text
in 1 John 2. Verse 24, let that therefore
abide, remain, continue in you which you have heard from the
beginning. What was it you heard from the beginning? If that which
you've heard from the beginning shall remain in you, you also
shall continue. And there the word is in the
future tense. This is the way you're going to continue in the
Son and the Father, if that which you heard from the beginning
shall remain in you. Now that word means, listen to
these definitions, I've got these all out of the dictionary, the
Greek dictionary, it means do not leave, tarry. You know you tarry in a place
because you like being there. That's the place you feel comfortable.
That's the place you feel at home. you aren't out on a limb. It is translated, do not leave,
do not depart, continue to be present, to be held, to be kept
continually, to continue to be, to not perish, to last, to endure,
not to become different or another. Now when someone fails to continue
being what they were, it's because they're not that anymore. As I said last Wednesday, I didn't
used to be totally depraved. And now I'm not. I am right now. And how desperately I need the
electing choice of God, the perfect, complete atonement of Christ,
the invincible, irresistible grace of God the Holy Spirit
to cause me to continue. I know that if I don't have that,
I won't. Now, a phrase that I have come
to hate, I've said this a couple of times in the last couple of
weeks, this is one of the things I start thinking about something.
I've come to hate the phrase, living the Christian life. Living the Christian life. I read recently where a preacher
was given an award for being the Christian of the year. Now, it's amazing that they give
a reward like that. But what's more amazing is that
the guy accepted it. Humbly, I'm sure, you know. Living
the Christian life. I want to live the Christian
life. Now, I understand. I want to be in Christ. I want
to follow him. through hell or high water, but
this thing of trying to find some kind of, here is living
the Christian life, and you got this picture, and then you put
yourself up beside it to see how you're doing, that's pure
foolishness, Phariseeism, and self-righteousness is all it
is. It's evil, it's evil. Don't call it anything but living
the Christian life. But let's say for a moment that
that phrase was good, What is the key to living the Christian
life? Charles Spurgeon tells a story,
and I've given this story before, but I love it, of a man by the
name of Jack the Huckster. Jack the Huckster. And he was
what his name is. He was a huckster. And irreverently,
he would walk around singing a song. People heard him sing
it. He sang it all the time, I'm
a poor sinner and nothing at all, but Jesus Christ is my all
in all. And one day, God blessed that
to him to where he believed it. He was made to see, I am a poor
sinner and nothing at all. Jesus Christ is my all in all. It became real to him. It became
his thing. And he wanted to join the church.
He wanted to be baptized. He came to the church and asked
to be baptized. And they said, well, we need
to ask you some questions first. Watch out for somebody that needs
to ask you questions. But we need to ask you some questions
first. And we need to know your Christian experience. What is
your Christian experience? He said, I'm a poor sinner, nothing
at all. And Jesus Christ is my all. Well, don't you have times of
deep conviction and mourning over your sin? Well, I said I'm
a poor sinner and nothing at all. What else can I say? Well,
don't you have times of elation when you're brought up to the
heavens and you feel assurance? Well, I said Jesus Christ is
my all in all. What else would you want? Now, here is the key
to perseverance in the faith. leaving this. I'm a poor sinner
and nothing at all but Jesus Christ is my all in all. You know it's easy to have assurance
when you're not looking to yourself for anything and you're looking
to him for everything. And we're made partakers of Christ
if we hold the beginning of the confidence. Steadfast to the
end. Let that therefore abide in you
which you heard from the beginning. If that which you've heard from
the beginning shall remain in you, you also shall continue. in the Son and in the Father. You get above that, you're not
gonna continue in the faith. You don't need to. But if you
stay right there, what a blessing that would be to all of us. In
Christ's name, let's pray. Lord, we ask for grace to continue in that which we've
heard from the beginning, to look to Christ only as all
at all times. Lord, what joy, what peace we have in that. And Lord, whenever we are moved
from that, what darkness. Bless this message for the Lord's
sake. In his name we pray, amen. We got Matt.