I would like for you to open
your Bibles with me to the book of Hebrews. There's a passage
of scripture in the seventh chapter of Hebrews, verse 25, that I'd
like for us to look at carefully on this telecast today. Here
it is, Hebrews 7, 25. Wherefore, 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. Here's my subject Who
will be saved? Who will be saved now there's
much about the kingdom of God and The divine purpose of our
living God that I do not understand. I do not have all the answers
the Apostle Paul said in 1st Corinthians 13 we know in part
that we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect
is come, then I shall know, even as I have been known." But there's
a lot of questions I cannot answer. I know that the secret things
belong to God, and the revealed things belong to us and our children. But there's some things that
are quite clear to me. After preaching the gospel for
almost 40 years now, and pastoring the same church for nearly 35
years and reading the scriptures, there are some things that are
quite clear to me. They're obvious from the scriptures,
and I'm going to give them to you. Now, the first one is this.
I know that God is holy. The supreme attribute of God
is holiness. Now, God is love, and God is
just, and God is righteous. And God is merciful, and God
is gracious, and we can keep on naming the attributes of God,
but the supreme chief attribute of God is this, God is holy. God is unchangeably, infinitely,
eternally holy. When Isaiah saw the Lord in Isaiah
chapter 6, he said, I saw the Lord high and lifted up, and
his train filled the temple. And the seraphims cried as they
flew about the throne of God, holy, holy, holy, Lord God of
hosts. The whole earth is full of his
glory. The scripture says God is in
his holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence
before him. The scriptures are called the
holy scriptures. The angels are called the holy
angels. And the tabernacle was called
the holy of holies. Our God is holy. unapproachably,
infinitely, immutably, holy. Now I know that. Holy and reverend
is his name. Now the second thing I know is
this, I'm just positive, quite certain, it's beyond question
and without debate, I know that we're sinners. You're a sinner,
and I'm a sinner, and every son of Adam is a sinner. All have
sinned and come short of the glory of God. The scriptures
teach us that we're sinners. Our hearts tell us that we're
sinners. We don't love God as we ought to love God. We don't
love one another. We love ourselves. We're self-centered
creatures. And what we see all about us
tells us that we're sinners. In Isaiah 53, it says, all we
like sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his
own way. There's none righteous, Paul
writes. There's none that understandeth. There's none that seeketh after
God. They're all together become unprofitable. The heavens are not clean in
God's sight. How much more abominable and
filthy is man who drinks iniquity like the water? The most holy
of men have confessed their sins. Isaiah said, woe is me. I am
undone, I am cut off, I am a man of sinful lips, and I dwell among
a people of sinful lips. Unclean, unclean in God's sight. Job said the same thing. Job
said, I've heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, now mine
eye seeth thee, wherefore I hate myself. I repent in sackcloth
and ashes. David said, my sins are ever
before me. Paul said, O wretched man that
I am, who shall deliver me from this body, the body of this death? So I know that. There's not a
doubt in my mind, there's not a question in my mind that God
is holy, unspeakably holy. And that we are sinful, unspeakably
sinful. Jeremiah asked this question.
He said, can the Ethiopian change his skin? Certainly not, that's
his nature. Can the leopard change his spots? Why, certainly not. It's his
nature to be spotted. Well, he said, neither can you
do good. And that's good in the sense
of God's goodness. Neither can you do good that
are accustomed to doing evil or born doing evil. Your nature
is evil. We sin because we're sinners.
Adam is the only man who ever became a sinner. because he sinned. Adam sinned and therefore he
became a sinner. But you and I sinned because
we're already sinners, we're born sinners. Now here's the
third thing, I know of these things I am absolutely positive
and you can rest your soul upon the truth of these statements.
Thirdly, I know that we need salvation. We need salvation. There's plenty of people out
there that have different needs. But we have one thing in common,
whether we're male or female, old or young, rich or poor, black
or white, learned or ignorant, short or tall, Jew or Gentile,
Baptist or Methodist, we all need salvation from sin. We need
to be saved. from the curse of the law. The
scripture says, cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things
written in the book of the law to do them. And you haven't,
and I haven't, and we're under the curse of God's broken law.
And we need to be saved. The word saved is delivered,
ransomed, redeemed from that broken law. And we need to be
saved from the justice of God. God has promised every soul that
sinneth, it'll surely die. Sin, when it's finished, brings
forth death. There's no way around it. It's
appointed unto men who wants to die. And after that, judgment. We shall all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ. That's scripture. There's no
way around it. There's no way to avoid it. There's no way to
escape. We'll appear before the judgment
seat of Christ. And we need to be saved from
our sins. We need pardon. Justification
we need mercy. We need forgiveness. We need
salvation. That's true. You can't argue
with that Can't a preacher out there argue with that or a deacon
or elder Sunday school teacher or whatever. God is holy Unchangeably
holy he'll remain holy. He's the same yesterday today
and forever and we're sinners and You know it and I know it
and you can profess perfection all you want to but in in your
heart, there's sin And we need salvation from sin. And I know
here's the fourth thing. I know this is certain and sure,
just as sure as God's in heaven and the Bible is his word. I
know that salvation from sin, pardon, justification, is of
the Lord. I can't save myself, and you
can't save yourself, and we can't save one another. If we're ever
redeemed, if we're ever justified, if we're ever saved, It'll be
by an act of God. It won't be by an act of the
priest or the preacher or the evangelist or the pastor. It
won't be by an act of mother or father or by the church or
the church ordinances. If we are forgiven, it'll be
by an act of God. You see, the wages of sin is
death, but the gift of God is eternal life. We've sinned against
God. And so it's God who must pardon.
If you've wronged someone, You can't come to me and say, forgive
me. Because you haven't sinned against me, you haven't wronged
me. You'll have to go to the fellow that you wronged. You'll
have to ask his forgiveness. And we sinned against God. That's
what David said, all sins against God. Against thee and thee only
have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. Your sin's against
God. So if you ever pardoned, if you
ever forgiven, now you may wrong another human being. But you
can't sin against anybody but God. Sin's against God. You may
do a person wrong. You may mistreat a person. But
sin's against God. Sin is a transgression of God's
law. And so it's God who must pardon
you. It's God who must justify you. It's God who must accept
you. Salvation's of the Lord. It's
in His hand. Will the Lord indeed show mercy?
That's what the publican in the temple said. Lord, you be merciful
to me, the sinner. He'll be merciful now. Here's
the next thing I know and this is as certain as you're listening
to my voice Point number five. I know that God's way of salvation
of life forgiveness pardon God's way of salvation is only found
in the scriptures in the Word of God nowhere else Nowhere else. Now the heavens declare the glory
of God. You can stand out and look at
the heavens and know there's a God, but you can't know much
about him. You can know that he's powerful. He says the firmament
showeth forth his handiwork. His power and wisdom are shown
in all of creation. And you can stand out and look
at the heavens and see the power and glory of God. You can look
at the creation and see something of the wisdom of God. But there's
only one place where you can find out anything about the redemptive
work of God, and the salvation for sinners, and pardon, and
eternal life, and that's in the scriptures. The heavens do not
tell you that God gave his son to die for sinners, the Bible
tells you that. The heavens do not tell you that
God is merciful to the ungodly. that God so loved the world he
gave his only begotten son, where do you find that? You can look
at the trees and the mountains and the valleys and the streams
and the stars and the clouds and all the rest of your life
and they won't tell you one thing about the redemptive work of
God or the redemptive grace of God. You'll have to go to the
scriptures. That's the only place you'll find. You see, the Bible
is given to reveal the mercy of God in Christ Jesus. This
is his story. It's the story of Christ. From
Genesis 1 to the last chapter in Revelation, this book is about
a person. It's about the Lord Jesus Christ.
And the Bible was not written to teach me history. That's not
why the Bible was written. It was written to teach me God's
love and grace in Christ. The Bible was not written to
give me a system of philosophy. Not at all. It was written to
teach me the way of life. The Bible was not written to
give me religious form and ceremony. We're so wrapped up in this day
in religious form. And what we need to do is get
back to the simplicity of worship, to the simplicity of Christ,
to the simplicity of the gospel. God doesn't dwell in temples
made by hand. That's what Paul said when he
stood on Mars Hill. And he looked down and saw all
these temples and shrines and altars and And he said to the
people gathered in front of him, he said, the living God doesn't
dwell in temples made with human hands. He dwells in the heart. So the Bible wasn't given to
teach me form and ceremony and legalism. The Bible was given
to reveal Christ, who is my wisdom, my righteousness, my sanctification,
and my redemption. I'll tell you something else
I know. I know this beyond a shadow of a doubt. I know that God's
word in the hands of God's Spirit, if God's Spirit is pleased, to
make His Word effectual to your heart, to your heart right now
while I'm preaching, that God's Spirit is able, using the Gospel,
the Word of God, to give life and salvation to those who hear
it and to those who believe it. The Word is the seed. Of His
own will begat He us with the Word of Truth. Peter said, we're
born again, not of corruptible seed, not like our fleshly birth,
but of incorruptible seed by the word of God that liveth and
abideth forever. Our Lord said, verily, verily,
I say unto you, he that heareth my word, heareth my word, and
believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life, and shall
not come into condemnation, but is passed from death into life.
That's here again. And that's not hearing it only
with these ears, that's hearing it with the heart. In that supernatural,
mysterious revelation by the Spirit of God. The Spirit of
God makes God's Word effectual. I'm not ashamed of the Gospel,
Paul said, it's the power of God. It's the very power of God
unto salvation to everyone that believe it. It pleased God by
the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. And
our God said this, My word will not return unto me void. It shall
accomplish that whereunto I have sent it, and that which pleases
me." God is able, I know this, to take the preaching of the
word and make it in the hands of his spirit effectual. To give
life, to give eyes to see and ears to hear and understanding
hearts, to illuminate and enlighten the blind creature who sits in
darkness, and bring him forth into the very light of the kingdom
of God's dear Son. But that's God's work. My work
is to preach the gospel, to declare it, and the work of the Holy
Spirit is to give you an understanding of it. Now look back at my text.
Let me answer that question, who will be saved? It says in
Hebrews 7.25, He is able to save. Now this
is what we're talking about. God's holy, we're sinners. We
need salvation. Salvation's of the Lord. It's
revealed in His Word. And this is the salvation I'm
talking about. Wherefore He is able, He is able to save them
to the uttermost who come to God by Him, seeing He ever liveth
to make intercession for them. Now three questions. Who will
be saved? Who will be delivered? Who will
have everlasting life? Who will be translated from the
kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God's dear son? Who will be? I know. It's very clear to me. Secondly, how far does this salvation
reach? How far does it reach? He said
to the uttermost. That's an important word. And
then thirdly, well, why is he able to perform such a great
task? Seeing he ever liveth. He ever
liveth. Now let's take those one at a
time. First of all, who will be saved? Who will be saved?
I know who will be saved, it's perfectly clear. It says he is
able to save, he is able to save them to the uttermost who come
to God by him. That is the first thing. These
people who are going to be saved are people who come to God. It's
not those who come to church, it's those who come to God. It's
not those who come to the priest, or to the preacher, or to the
pastor. It's those who come to God. It's
not those who come to the altar. To come to the altar is not to
come to God. It's not those who come to a
doctrine. He is able to say to the uttermost, them who come
to God. Listen to David. Out of the depths
have I cried, O Lord, unto thee. Lord, hear my voice. As the heart
panteth for the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee,
the living God. Seek ye the Lord while he may
be found, call upon Me, he said, while I'm near. You shall seek
me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. This
thing of salvation is not a ritual. It's not a walking an aisle or
shaking a preacher's hand or an idol profession or joining
the church or getting religion or turning over a new leaf. It's
coming to God. The living God. The true and
living God. The only true and living God.
It's the heart. The innermost being, the soul
of a sinner, to pen after a knowledge of God, communion with God, fellowship
with God, to know God. And these people who are going
to be saved are those who come to God. But that's not all it
says. It says they come to God by Christ,
by Him. He is able to save them to the
uttermost that come to God by Him. Now don't get upset with
me. But there's only one way to God.
I hear people talk about there are many ways to God. There's
only one way to God, if the Bible's true. The Bible says, Christ
declared, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Those are definite
articles. The way, the truth, the life. No man cometh to the
Father but by me. Again, he said, other foundation
can no man lay than that which is laid, Jesus Christ. Again,
he said, there's none other name unto heaven given among men whereby
we must be saved, except the name of Christ. It says, he that
believeth on the Son hath life. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life. It's very clear to me, Christ
said, I am the door, the door, not a door, the door. By me,
if any man enter in, he shall be saved and go in and out and
find pasture. Again, he said, no man knoweth
the Father but the Son, and he to whom shall the Son will reveal
it. It was just one Passover lamb, and Christ is our Passover. There was just one rock in the
wilderness, and that rock was Christ. There was just one tabernacle,
one mercy seat, one atonement, one great high priest. If a man
came to God, he came through that great high priest, through
that atonement and that mercy seat. And Christ is our great
high priest. There's one God, the scripture
says, and one mediator between God and men. And that's the man
Christ Jesus. Do what you will, my friend.
The Scripture set forth this as clearly as anything else in
the Word of God, that Christ is the way. And then I know this,
who will be saved? Them that come to God, them that
come to God by Him, by Christ. And there are men who come to
God by Christ to be saved from sin. Now I know, I know that
we're concerned about our health. I'm concerned about your health.
My health and everybody else's. I like for people to be well.
I know you're concerned about your living, your job, your family,
your indebtedness, your house, and your children, and all these
things. But my friend, here's our greatest
need. We need salvation from sin. And
this is why Christ came into the world. It says, thou shalt
call his name Jesus, he shall save his people from their sins.
Again he said, the Son of Man has come to seek and to save
the lost. Again Paul said, this is a faithful saying and worthy
of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to
save sinners, of whom I am the chief. God sometimes heals people,
sometimes he doesn't. You see, trials and afflictions
and sicknesses and sorrows and all these things are the result
of sin. And if so long as we have sin
on this earth, we're going to have these consequences and results
of sin. Who will be saved? Them that
come to God by Christ, seeking the one thing, the one thing,
the one great important thing, mercy and forgiveness of sin. Now, secondly, How far does this
salvation reach? Listen to the text. Wherefore
he is able to say to thee, uttermost. Have you come across that word
before in scripture, uttermost, the uttermost? I read it over
in Psalm 139. David said, Whither shall I flee
from thy presence? If I take the wings of the morning,
if I ascend into heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in
the grave, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, the uttermost part,
even there shall thy right hand guide me and hold me. In other
words, the uttermost, the uttermost is the uttermost extent of the
very dwelling of God, the very presence of God. Where is that?
Well, that reaches the far reaches of His dominion, wherever that
is. That's as far as the East is from the West. That's as far
as you can imagine and even farther, because God dwells everywhere.
There's no end to His reign. There's no end to His presence.
He's omnipresent. He's everywhere. God is omnipotent,
omniscient, and omnipresent. And so the uttermost is the uttermost
extent of God's dominion. And that's how far the saving
power of Christ can reach. He can save men to the uttermost
extent of sin. You've never sinned so greatly
that Christ's blood cannot make you clean. You've never stooped
so low. You've never rebelled so terribly
that the blood of Christ cannot put away every stain. The blood
of Jesus Christ God's Son cleanses us from All sin, I don't care
who you are or where you are or what you've done. If by the
grace of God you hear the word and believe it and turn to Christ,
he's able to save to the uttermost. To the uttermost extent of low
holiness and righteousness and the law in him dwelleth all the
fullness of the Godhead bodily and you're complete in him. Oh
my, you know, he is our righteousness. That's what scripture says. He
is our righteousness. With his spotless garments on,
I'm as holy as his son. Colossians 1.22 says he's able
to present you holy, unblameable, unreprovable in his sight. Brother
man, what are you saying? I'm saying that my Lord can take
the most wretched creature, listening to my voice, wino, harlot, thief,
gambler, drug addict, Whatever you have been or are, and He's
able to cleanse you by His blood and present you spotless and
holy and unblameable in the sight of His Heavenly Father to make
you holy to the uttermost extent of your sins and to the uttermost
extent of God's requirement and God's holiness in Christ. No
church can do that, but Christ can. He's able to save to the
uttermost extent of time, trial, temptation. He's able to keep
you from falling. He's able to save to the uttermost
extent of death and grave and judgment. He's able to raise
our vile bodies and make them like His own spotless precious
body. He's able. He's the only one
who is. I point you to Christ. Look away
from me. Look away from the mourner's
bench. Look away from the baptismal water. Look away from the sacraments.
Look away from anything or anyone. You look to Christ. He's able. Nobody else is. Why is He able
to save? You know what it says here? Seeing
he ever liveth. He ever liveth. He always has
lived because he's God. He lives now. He lives now at
the right hand of God. He lived on the earth as a man,
our mediator. And he ever lives for what purpose? To make intercession for us.
To pray for us. To represent us. We have an advocate. We have a representative at the
very right hand of the Father, seated at the right hand of God,
and he prays for us. That's what it says. Paul said,
who can condemn me? Christ died. Yea, rather, is
risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, and who also
maketh intercession for us. What a promise. He's able to
say to the uttermost, them that come to God by him, seeing he
ever lives, to make intercession.