Who Will Be Saved?

Q: What does the Bible say about who will be saved?

The Bible reveals that those who come to God through Jesus Christ will be saved. According to Hebrews 7:24-25, Jesus Christ, as our high priest, is uniquely able to save to the uttermost those who come to God by Him. The question of who will be saved is fulfilled in the invitation to all people who approach God through Christ. It is emphasized that salvation is only understood through the Word of God, with no other source providing assurance of a Savior or understanding of eternal life. The Bible consistently affirms that salvation is specifically for those who come by Christ.

Q: How do we know salvation is through Christ?

Salvation is secured through Jesus, our high priest, as described in Hebrews. The certainty of salvation through Christ is rooted in His role as the high priest who offered Himself as the ultimate sacrifice. Hebrews explains that the Old Testament priesthood and sacrifices were mere types pointing to Christ, who fulfilled these roles perfectly. Hebrews 9:11-12 clarifies that Christ entered the heavenly tabernacle with His own blood to obtain eternal redemption for us. Thus, our assurance of salvation lies not in our works but in the sufficiency of Christ’s atoning sacrifice.

Q: Why is coming to God through Jesus important?

Only through Jesus can we be accepted by God and receive salvation. Coming to God through Jesus is essential because He is the mediator who bridges the gap between God and humanity. Hebrews outlines that without a tabernacle, a priest, and a sacrifice, one cannot approach God. Jesus fulfills all these roles, being the true tabernacle where God meets man, our high priest who intercedes for us, and the perfect sacrifice that allows us to be accepted by God. Therefore, the importance of coming through Jesus is underscored by the reality that there is no other foundation upon which we can stand for salvation.

The title of the message today
is, Who Will Be Saved? Who Will Be Saved? Now, I'm reading from Hebrews
7. I wouldn't mind if you would take your Bibles and open them
to Hebrews 7. I'm going to use a passage in
Hebrews 7 and a passage in Hebrews 9 and one in Hebrews 10. for
this message on the subject, who will be saved. Here in Hebrews
7, the text is verse 25, 24 and 25, in which the apostle says,
But this man, but this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable
priesthood. This man, who continueth forever,
hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore, having that unchangeable
priesthood, he is able to save them to the uttermost that come
to God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for
them." Now, that's our text. Who will be saved? Who will be
saved? I'm sure that a topic such as
this will create much discussion, maybe some debate. Perhaps someone
even listening to me now will say, well, who does he think
he is? What can he know about such mysterious
matters? Who will be saved? Indeed. Why, no man can answer the question,
who will be saved? Nobody can answer that question.
I can. Oh, yes, I can. I know indeed.
who will be saved. And so can you, if you study
the Word of God. The Word of God tells us who
will be saved. You see, my friend, salvation
is a doctrine found only in the Word of God. It's not found anywhere
else. Salvation is a doctrine that's only found in the Word
of God. That's right, nowhere else. Now, we can find out a
lot about God and His wonderful works by other means. But this
business of salvation and eternal life is limited to the Scriptures.
I challenge you. How do you know God will forgive
sin? How do you know there's a Savior for sinners? How do
you know that God purposed in a covenant of grace to save a
people? How do you know there's a mediatorial
kingdom at all? How do you know there's a Messiah?
How do you know there's a Savior? Only from the Word of God. The
trees didn't tell you that. The sky didn't tell you that.
Your inner feelings didn't tell you that. If they did, how can
you trust them? May tell you something else tomorrow.
So we can find out a lot about God and His wonderful works in
other ways, but not salvation, only from the Word of God. You
see, creation reveals the power of God and the greatness of God.
David said that. The heavens declare the glory
of God. The firmament showeth His handiwork.
When I consider the heavens, the sun, the moon, the stars,
the things which thou hast made, I ask the question, what is man
that thou art mindful of him? Star, it won't tell me. Moon, it won't tell me. Heavens,
they won't tell me. Only the Word of God can tell
me if God's mindful of me. And then science and nature reveal
the wisdom of God. considering the ear and the eye
and the body, the human body, He said, how wonderfully I'm
made. And then the Lord in Job 38,
you'll be interested sometime in reading that chapter, He challenged
Job to tell him, He said, Job, tell me, where were you when
I put the stars in place, when I created the world, when I gave
the sea its limits and boundaries, where were you? Have you entered
the treasure of the snow? Will the lightning come and go
at your command? Can you make it rain on an earth,
on a place where no man is? Do you know about these things?
Well, science and nature reveal the wisdom of God and the conscience
reveals the holiness of God. The scripture says the law is
written on the heart so that our conscience accuses or excuses,
whatever, But the conscience tells us about the holiness of
God. And divine providence, divine
providence tells us about the government of God. God reigns
and rules over all things. He said, God said, the heart
of the king is in the hands of the Lord to turn it whithersoever
he will. Nebuchadnezzar said, God reigns
in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of this earth
and giveth it to whom he will. He said, I am the Lord, I kill,
I make alive, I wound and I heal. The Lord lift it up and the Lord
bring it down. So you can find out through creation
about the power of God, through conscience about the holiness
of God, through science and nature, the wisdom of God. You can find
out a great deal about God in other places, but salvation,
redemption, eternal life can only be learned and known from
the Word of God. I promise you that. You see,
the Bible was written, the Bible was written by holy men of God
who were moved by the Holy Spirit. The Scriptures are God-breathed,
God-breathed. All Scripture is given by the
breath of God, by inspiration of God. And all Scripture is
God-breathed. And these men wrote the Scriptures
as they were led by the Holy Spirit. The Word of God is verbally
inspired, divinely inspired, inspired of the Holy Spirit.
And the Word of God wasn't written to teach me history, but to teach
me grace, God's grace. The Bible wasn't written to give
me a system of philosophy and proverbs, but to give me a knowledge
of the mercy of God in Jesus Christ of sinners. Can you see
that? John tells us that in chapter
20. He said, These are written. These are written that you might
believe that Jesus is the Christ and believing you might have
life through His name. That's why this is written. And
1 John 5, 13 says, These things have I written unto you that
believe on the name of the Son of God that you may know you
have eternal life. That's why this is written. that
you might believe and that you might know. So if we entertain
the question, who will be saved? And that's my subject, who will
be saved? How can a man come to God? Who
will come to God? How can God be just and justify
sinners? If you entertain any question
relative to mercy and grace and forgiveness and eternal life,
You've got to go to the Scriptures. You just are forced to turn to
the Word of God. It's the only source on matters
of salvation. Now, the Old Testament, the Old
Testament Scriptures are filled with pictures of how God saved
sinners, patterns and types of redemption. That's what the Old
Testament is. It's just filled with patterns
and pictures and types of how God saved sinners. And the New
Testament, called the New Covenant is the fulfillment of these pictures
and patterns and types in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I've said this on this program many, many times, and I'll probably
say it many more times. The Old Testament says someone's
coming, the Messiah's coming, that prophet like Moses, that
king like David, that priest like Melchizedek, that atonement,
that sacrifice, Someone's coming. That's what the Old Testament
says. And it says it in promise. It says it in prophecy. It says
it in picture. It says it in pattern. It says
it in type. It says it in many ways that
God gave those people. It says someone's coming. And
the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, tell us that
someone has come. He is Jesus Christ of Nazareth. That's what John the Baptist
did. He pointed to him. He said, there's the Lamb of
God. There's the Lamb. There's the altar. There's the
atonement, there's the sacrifice, there's the Lamb of God, and
these epistles tell us that He's coming back again. You see that? In other words, in the Old Testament,
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of Man be lifted up. That serpent did not put away
sin. That serpent was a picture and
type of Him who did put away sin, Christ the Lord. He said
the Son must be lifted up. The Son of God must be lifted
up. Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us. There were
many Passovers sacrificed. There were many Passover lambs,
from the first one in the land of Egypt, the firstling of the
flock, the male of the first year, taken from among the flock,
kept up four days, slain, its blood shed, its body roasted
and eaten. There were many of those lambs,
thousands of them. took place years and years and
years and years and years until Christ came. And Paul said, there's
our Passover. Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed
for us. And when I see the blood, I'll
pass over you. That rock, that rock smitten
in the wilderness, that rock smitten by Moses and which gave
forth water to quench the thirst of all those people, that rock
is Christ. smitten of God and afflicted
that we might have the living water. It's not possible, Paul
said, for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin, but
this man, but this man, and you'll find that, those three words
occurring over and over again in the book of Hebrews, but this
man. It talks about Moses being a servant in the house of God,
but this man is the son. talks about the angels of God
and the glory that God's given the angels. But this man hath
greater glory than the angels. He talks about the priest, Aaron,
and the sons of Levi, and said these men offered sacrifices
every year that can never take away sin. But this man, after
he'd offered one sacrifice of sin forever, sat down on the
right hand of God. Talked about the tabernacle and
the sacrifices, but this man has a continual priesthood that
never ends, but this man. That's the theme of the book
of Hebrews, the excellency of Christ over Moses, over the angels,
over the tabernacle, over the priesthood, over the atonement,
over all things, but this man. And I told you a while ago I
wanted you to take your Bibles and turn to Hebrews 9. Now let
me show you This Bible is such a rich treasure. I just wish,
oh how I wish that preachers would get into it so they could
teach the people. You just can't spend your time
walking the streets and sipping coffee and visiting folks and
carrying on all this sort of toastmaster business and running
a side show and teach the Word of God. We're going to have to
get into the Word of God, get into the book and find out what
God says so we can teach our people who are busy about their
vocations and their occupations and their tasks. And this is
the preacher's business, to find out what God says about himself
and about his dear son and about salvation. Let's be found in
our studies, preachers. Let's be found in the Word of
God. God didn't call us to be a straight walker or a door knocker. He called us to study the Word
of God and preach the gospel. That's what The early apostles
said to the deacons, said, you fellows take care of this business.
We'll give ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word.
The reason our people don't know anything, we hadn't taught them.
The fault's not in the pew, it's in the pulpit. And you look at
Hebrews 9, listen to this. And ad-libbing won't get it.
And run around hollering praise the Lord and whoopee and hallelujah
won't get it either. We're going to have to find out
what this book says. And teach people verse by verse, line upon
line, precept upon precept. over and over again. Perhaps
the clearest picture in the scripture on this subject of salvation
is found right here in Hebrews 9. Now look at it, verse 6 through
8, Hebrews 9, 6 through 8. Now, when these things were thus
ordained, the priest went always into the tabernacle. Now, turn
your ears this way. The priest went into the tabernacle,
accomplishing the service of God. worship of God. But into
the Holy of Holies, into the Holy of Holies, where dwelt the
Shekinah glory of God. Into the Holy of Holies went
the high priest alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered
for himself and for the sins of the people." Hey, this is
worship. This is entering the presence
of God. This is being accepted of God.
This is doing business with God. This is doing business over sin
with God. This is forgiveness, redemption,
acceptance of God by God of sinners. And this is a picture and a pattern
of how everybody comes to Christ. And there are three things mentioned
here, and if you were listening, you heard it. Three things, three
essentials to worship, three essentials to coming to God.
Three things that were necessary, had to be. You know what they
were? Read it again. Now, when these things were ordained,
the priest went always into the tabernacle. There had to be a
tabernacle. There has to be a meeting place
where God meets men and men meet God. Now, come on. The tabernacle. In the tabernacle. And that tabernacle
had two divisions. It had the outer court, or rather
the holy place, where the showbread and the lampstand and the incense,
there was the veil. And in the second part of the
tabernacle called the Holy of Holies, the Holy of Holies, there's
where the Ark of the Covenant was. You know what was in that
Ark of the Covenant? The Ten Commandments written
on tables of stone by the finger of God and given to Moses. The
Ten Commandments which the people had broken. broken in that ark. And over that ark, and then there
was Avon's rod that budded, designating him as God's priest. And there was the manna, the
bread that came from heaven, picture of Christ. But over that
ark was a mercy seat, beaten gold. And over that mercy seat,
the cherubims, and in the middle of the mercy seat, the cloud,
The presence of God, the very Shekinah glory of God in that
tabernacle. That's where God met men and
men met God in that tabernacle. There was the ark, there was
the mercy seat, there was the very presence of God in the tabernacle. The second essential was this.
There had to be a priest. No man came to God without the
priest. And no man took this office upon
himself voluntarily, but he that was called of God." There was
always the priest. You see, it said there that they
had a lot of priests that ministered about the courtyard and about
the outer court, and took care of the table of showbread, putting
fresh bread every day, and took care of the lampstand, kept the
oil there, took care of the incense, kept the incense burning 365
days a year, cleaning up the altars. There were a lot of priests
doing a lot of things. But one high priest, One high
priest, only one. And that high priest went into
the Holy of Holies, into the presence of God, once a year.
Now, what was that third thing? To come to God, to come to God,
to worship God, to be accepted of God, to come into the presence
of God. It had to be a tabernacle. It had to be a place where God
designated He would meet men, over the mercy seat, only over
the mercy seat. only with a covering, only with
a propitiation over the mercy seat. And there had to be a priest,
had to be somebody to represent the sinner, somebody consecrated
by God, somebody anointed by God, someone ordained of God,
some special person representing the people. And he came into
the Holy of Holies not without blood. In other words, the third
thing had to be a sacrifice. Are you understanding what I'm
saying? Well, I'll just tell you this. In the Old Testament,
old King Uzziah tried to do it another way, and God killed him.
The sons of Avon tried to do it another way, and God killed
them. Old Uzzah touched the ark, and God killed him. I can just
keep telling you about folks that came the other way. There's
just one way to come to God. That's to the tabernacle, represented
by the priest who has the atonement. You say, what's all that got
to do with us? Well, I'll tell you this. Now look at verse Hebrews
chapter 9, verse 11 and 12. I just read 6 through 8. Now
watch the next verses. Here are the three essentials.
But Christ, but Christ being come, a high priest of good things
to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle. Now we need three things for
worship. We need a priest. We need a place, a tabernacle. A tabernacle not made with hands,
that is to say, not of this building, neither by the blood of goats
and calves, but by His own blood. There's number three. He entered
in once, our great high priest, into the holy place and obtained
eternal redemption for us. You ever heard that preacher
before? It's been in this book 2,000 years. And my friends, it's so vital.
It's so vital. There's no coming to God without
it. I don't care how many hours we run up and down and scream
and saying, I shall not be moved and whoopee and throw our arms
around and cut up like a bunch of people that have lost their
mind. There's no coming to God except one way. And the greatest
mistake a man ever made is to turn his back on God's way and
try another way. And you start in the book of
Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, and go all the
way through this Bible, go all the way through that Old Testament,
and every man that ever came to God and was accepted came
to the temple through a priest with a suitable sacrifice. And
all that's fulfilled by Christ. Christ is our tabernacle. He
said, A body thou hast prepared me. Jesus Christ tabernacled
among us. He's where God meets men and
men meet God. No, we don't go to a building
now. We don't go. The temple's gone. The tabernacle's
gone. The Ark of the Covenant can't
be found. The cherubims who stood on either side can't be found.
Our tabernacle is Christ. He tabernacled among us. The
Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. They said, Show us
the Father. He said, You're looking at Him.
He that hath seen Me hath seen My Father. He that comes to Me
comes to the Father. He who knows Me knows the Father.
He who loves Me loves the Father. No man cometh to the Father but
by Me. I am the tabernacle. When He died on that cross, God
ripped that veil in two and said, The Holy of Holies is open. And Christ is our great high
priest. Having a high priest over the house of God, let us
come boldly. He's our priest. And He didn't
go, listen to me, when Christ died on that cross, He didn't
go into the holy place made with hands. He went into heaven itself. Not on the mercy seat in the
tabernacle, but He went there to the mercy seat in the very
presence of God Almighty. and offered not the blood of
animals, but with His own precious blood, He obtained eternal redemption
for us. I just tell you, I don't know
how to make it plainer. And the thing I get from my generation
is that we're just not interested in learning. We just want to
have a good time. We're not interested in knowing
anything. We're not interested in having any foundation. We're
not interested in studying the Word of God. I hear people say,
well, you're not much of a preacher, you're a teacher. A man that
doesn't teach doesn't preach. I don't accomplish anything by
stomping around up here foaming at the mouth and sweating and
throwing my handkerchief around and yelling and screaming. I'm
trying to tell you how to come to God. I'm trying to tell you
who will be saved and how men are saved. And it says here,
when these things were ordained of God, the priest went always
into the tabernacle accomplishing the services of God but into
the holy of holies went the high priest alone, one at once a year,
not without blood, which he offered for himself and the sins of the
people." But Jesus Christ, but this man to whom all this points,
of whom all this speaks, of whom all this is written, of whom
all this is a picture, but this man, but Christ being come a
high priest, of good things to come, perfect things, redemption,
by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands,
but a body hast thou prepared me, he said. Neither by the blood
of calves and goats, but by his own blood our high priest took
an effectual sacrifice. That's the reason he's not any
more offered. By one offering he hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified, them that are redeemed. And having made
that perfect offering, he sat down. He sat down because there's
nothing further to do. There's no more trips into the
Holy of Holies to make. There's no more death to die.
There's no more suffering to bear. There's no more sins to
bear and for which to pay. It's done. These Old Testament priests stood
daily offering the same sacrifices which could never put away sin,
but this man. after he had offered one sacrifice
for sin forever, sat down on the right hand of God. Now the
question, who will be saved? Well, here's the answer. Them,
them that come to God by Him. Those are the ones... You see,
that's the way to come to God. In the Old Testament, who was
accepted? Them that came to God, to the
tabernacle, through the priest, by the offering, That's right. Those are the ones that God accepted,
Israel. Well, now, that type having been
fulfilled in Christ, all of that pattern being fulfilled in Christ,
who will be saved? Them. Jew, Gentile, old or young,
of every tribe, kindred, nation, unto heaven, them, them, that's
all, them. Not the Baptists, Catholics,
the Presbyterians, the Nazarenes, them. What denomination do you
belong to? Them. Them, that's my denomination,
the thems. Them that come to God, not to
formal religion, not to the front of the church, not to a priest
or a preacher, not to an altar, they come to God. They come to
God. How do they come to God? They
come by Him. They come through their high
priest, they come through His blood, they come through His
sacrifice. The greatest mistake that a man
ever made is try to come some other way. When the scripture
said, there's none other name unto heaven given among men whereby
we must be saved. Other foundation can no man lay
than that which is laid, Christ Jesus the Lord. To what extent
can he save them? He can save them to the uttermost.
To the uttermost. To the uttermost extent of guilt,
despair of time. Why? Seeing he ever liveth to
make intercession for them. THAT'S HOW HE CAN SAVE THEM.
HE HAS A CONTINUAL PRIESTHOOD, AN UNCHANGING PRIESTHOOD, AND
HE EVER LIVES TO MAKE INTERCESSION FOR THEM. ALRIGHT, NOW HERE'S
TWO MESSAGES. HERE ARE TWO MESSAGES ON A CASSETTE
TAPE. WHAT IS IT TO SEEK THE LORD?
I BROUGHT THAT LAST SUNDAY, AND THEN THIS ONE I JUST DELIVERED
ON WHO WILL BE SAVED. WRITE FOR THEM. SEND TWO DOLLARS
UNTIL NEXT WEEK. MAY GOD BLESS YOU EVERYONE.

Who Will Be Saved?

What does the Bible say about who will be saved?

How do we know salvation is through Christ?

Why is coming to God through Jesus important?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

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Who Will Be Saved?

What does the Bible say about who will be saved?

How do we know salvation is through Christ?

Why is coming to God through Jesus important?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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