What Do We Mean By the Word, Saved?

My text will be taken from the
book of Acts, chapter 16, verse 31. And he said, Sirs, what must
I do to be saved? And Paul replied, Believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Now the question
today is, what do we mean by the word saved? S-A-V-E-D. What do we mean by the word saved? In the word of God, the greatest
word is the word God. It has no rival. It contains
all things. In him we live and move and have
our being. God is love. God is light. God is life. God is holy. Let his name be spoken in reverence
and fear. The scripture says, holy and
reverend is his name. The greatest word in the Bible
is the word God. And the blackest word in the
Bible is the word sin. By sin came death. Sin darkened
man's character. Sin brought hate, disease, sorrow,
tears into this world. Sin condemned our souls. Sin made us the enemy of God. Sin destroyed creation. All that
is good is God, and all that is evil is because of sin. The blackest word in the Bible
is the word sin. And then I thought about this.
What is the saddest word in the Bible? The greatest word is God.
It contains all things. The blackest word is sin. Sin,
the evil of it, the horror of it, the blackness of it. But
the saddest word of all words in God's word is the word depart
from me. In your wildest imagination,
in your darkest nightmare, can you think of anything more horrible
or hopeless than at that great final day to stand before the
Lord of Glory and hear him say, Depart from me, I never knew
you. Those would be the saddest words
that you could possibly hear. How final, how horrible, how
hopeless. Depart from me, I never knew
you. The most precious word in the
Bible, what is it? The sweetest word in the Bible
is the word Jesus. Peter said, under you that believe,
he is precious. Jesus, oh how sweet the name. Jesus, every day the same. Jesus,
let all saints proclaim his worthy name forever. The sweetest word,
the most precious word in God's word is Jesus. When Charles Haddon
Spurgeon, the great preacher of England, was only 18 years
of age, he wrote this poem. What the hand is to the lute,
what the breath is to the flute, what is fragrance to the snail,
what is spring to the whale, what is the flower to the bee,
that's Jesus Christ to me. What the mother is to the child,
what the compass is in pathless wild, what is all to troubled
ways, What is ransom to the slave? What is water to the sea? That's
Jesus Christ to me. The sweetest word in the Bible,
Jesus Christ. What is the happiest word in
the Bible? The greatest word, God. The blackest
word, sin. The most horrible word, depart
from me. The sweetest word, Jesus Christ. Now what is the happiest word
in the Bible? I believe the happiest word in
the Bible is the word S-A-V-E-D, save. Scripture says, blessed
or happy is the man to whom God will not charge sin, the man
who is saved from sin, from its penalty, from its power, from
its practice, and someday by his grace from its presence.
What does it mean to be saved? Well, to be saved is to be forgiven
of all sins. The Scripture says, in him we
have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins. What does it mean
to be saved? It means to have peace with God.
Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God. What does it mean to be saved?
It means to be free from the curse of the law. Christ hath
redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for
us. What does it mean to be saved?
It means to have eternal life. Scripture says this is the record.
God hath given us eternal life. And this life is in his Son,
and he that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the
Son of God hath not life. What does it mean to be saved?
It means to have the Holy Spirit. If any man hath not the Spirit,
he is none of his. All who know Christ, all who
are redeemed by his grace, all who are saved by his blood, have
the Holy Spirit as their comforter, as their teacher, and as their
guide. Saved by his power divine. saved to new life, sublime. Life now is sweet, my joy is
complete, for I'm saved." The happiest word in the Bible is
the word, saved. Now through the scriptures, the
word of God uses four words in describing and defining salvation,
and I want to give them to you in this message today. On the
subject, what do we mean by the word, saved? What is included
in that word, What does it mean to be saved? And there are four
Bible words, and I want to give them to you, and if you will,
you take your Bibles and turn first of all to the book of 1
Peter 4, verse 18. I want you to follow with me
in the Scripture. 1 Peter 4, verse 18. Now listen
to the reading of God's word. And if the righteous scarcely
be saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear? Now, you've
read that verse, you've heard it read. What does the word scarcely
mean? Saved scarcely. Well, first of all, it does not
mean there's any uncertainty about the salvation of the believer.
Our salvation is not uncertain. We are complete in Christ. We
have in him a perfect righteousness. We have in him a perfect atonement.
The scripture says the blood of Jesus Christ, God's son, cleanseth
us from all sin. So the word scarcely here does
not mean with uncertainty. Our salvation is as certain as
the throne of God, as certain as the purpose of God, as certain
as the finished work of Christ. Well, it does not mean that the
believer will barely get to heaven. It does not mean that. It does
not mean that the righteous are barely saved. For we shall enter
in with a full entrance, we shall sweep in the glory in full array,
clothed in his righteousness. We have an inheritance, undefiled,
eternal, that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven. We shall
sweep through the glory through Jesus Christ our Lord." Well,
what does it mean, if the righteous scarcely be saved? Now, this
is what it means, and you check any of the good translations
and any of the Bible commentators, and you will find this is the
word that they use for the word scarcely. Here's what it means.
If the righteous be saved with difficulty, that's what the word
means, difficulty, where shall the ungodly appear? Now, when
we hear men speak about the simple plan of salvation, I don't like
that term, because there's nothing simple about this thing of the
salvation of a sinner. There's nothing easy about the
redemption of a lost soul. It is not the simple plan of
salvation. If the righteous be saved with
what? Difficulty. Difficulty. Now, the difficulty is in two
areas. Two areas. First of all, the
difficulties with God. Now, Paul asks this question,
how can God be just and justify the ungodly? That's a difficult
question. That's a difficult endeavor.
That's a difficult venture. How can God be just and yet justify
the ungodly? Job asked that question. He says,
how can man be just with God? Behold, the moon shineth not,
the stars are not pure in his sight. How much more abominable
is man that drinketh iniquity like the water? Job asked this
question. How can he be clean that's born
of a woman? How can God save sinners and
still be just? God is holy as well as merciful. God Almighty is righteous as
well as gracious. God Almighty is true as well
as love, and every attribute of the Godhead must be honored
in this matter of salvation. It's a difficult thing, this
thing of saving a sinner. It's a difficult thing. How can
God be just? How can he punish you and pardon
you? How can God Almighty put you
to death because of your sins, and yet give you life as a justified
person, as a redeemed person. He declares this, I will in no
wise clear the guilty. That's what he says. He says,
the scripture says, who shall stand in his presence? He that
hath clean hands and a pure heart. The word of God says the soul
that sinneth, it shall surely die. How am I going to die and
live? How am I going to be punished
and be pardoned? How's God going to sit on a throne of justice
and righteousness and at the same time set crazy guilty? That's
the difficulty. Well, my friend, that difficulty
was met in Jesus Christ. That difficulty was met and satisfied
in the person of God's Son. The scripture says in Galatians
4 verse 4, But when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth
his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them
that were born under the law, that we might receive redemption,
remission, forgiveness, righteousness, and the adoption of sons. In
other words, Jesus Christ came down here as our representative,
he came down here as our federal head, as our surety, and he did
for us what we couldn't do for ourselves. He met the law of
God head-on, and he honored it completely and totally. He met
the justice of God, the righteousness of God, the holiness of God,
and satisfied it completely. The sword of God's wrath was
plunged into his heart because of our sins, for he bore our
sins in his body on the tree, and by his stripes we are healed. Christ as a man, as our representative,
met the law, met justice, and satisfied both. The difficulty
was met in Christ. Wait a minute, there's another
area. If the righteous be saved with difficulty, the difficulty
lay with God. Then secondly, the difficulty
is with man. Now listen to this. This is the
condemnation. Men love darkness rather than
light because their deeds are evil. That's what the word of
God says about us. We know that by the scripture.
We know that by experience. Christ said, you will not come
to me that you might have life. We've got to be made willing.
And the scripture says, his people shall be willing in the day of
his power. We've got to be regenerated.
We've got to be born from above. As many as received him, that's
right, to them gave he power, the right to become the sons
of God, who were born, not of the will of the flesh. The flesh
does not will to be regenerated. Not of the will of man. Man does
not will to come to God. But he was born of God. We not
only must be made willing, must be regenerated, we must be called,
supernaturally called, divinely called. Paul said, God who separated
me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace was pleased
to reveal his Son in me. What is this thing of salvation?
It's a new creation. It's regeneration. It's a new
birth. It's life from above. It's a
vital living union with the Son of God. And this is a difficult
thing. It's something that can only
be done by God. The disciples asked the Lord
one day, Lord who then can be saved? He said with me and it's
impossible. With me and it's impossible. But with God all
things are possible. You see what I'm saying? If the
righteous with difficulty be saved. Paul said my little children
I prevail to Christ be formed in you. Now you may be satisfied
with a little easy believism. You may be satisfied with the
decision to do better. You may be satisfied with a profession
of religion. You may be satisfied with your
name alphabetically recorded on a church roll book. I'm not.
I want to know God. I feel like the Apostle Paul
who said, oh, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection. I count all things but dumb that
I might win Christ and be found in him, saved with difficulty.
Only God can do for me what needs to be done. Only God can do it. All right, here's the second
word now. What do we mean by being saved? It's saved with
difficulty. God's righteousness and holiness
must be honored. God's truth and God's justice
must be satisfied. And I've got to be made to love
what I hate and hate what I love by nature. I've got to be made
a new creature. I've got to be made to love God,
and only God can do that for me. Now, the second word is found
in Luke 7, verse 50. You turn over there with me,
Luke 7, verse 50. And Christ said to the woman, Our faith
hath saved thee. Now, we've talked about salvation
with difficulty. Now we're talking about salvation
by faith. What's the background of this
verse of Scripture? Well, the Lord Jesus had been
invited to a religious leaders home for dinner. And this Pharisee
had little regard for the master. When the Lord Jesus came through
the door, he did not give him water to wash his feet. That
was the custom in those days. They wore sandals and went barefooted,
and when they came into a home, common courtesy was to have someone
at the door with a basin of water and a towel You'd wash the feet
of the guest, and then you'd give him a kiss of welcome, and
then you'd give him some soothing, cool oil to anoint his head.
But when Christ came into this proud, religious man's home,
he gave him no water to wash his feet, he gave him no kiss
of welcome, he gave him no oil with which to anoint his head,
and he came in, and they reclined in those days when they would
eat a meal, they'd all gather around a table, and they'd recline
on pillows, and their feet would be out behind them. And while
the Master was reclining here, eating the meal in this Pharisee's
home, the scripture says that a woman of the streets, a harlot,
slipped in, and she fell at the dusty, tired feet of the Lord
Jesus. And she began to kiss his feet. And she began to weep, and she
wept so much that her tears just covered the feet, the dusty feet
of the Master. And the dust turned to mud. and
the tears were streaming down his feet, and she then un-plaited
her hair, her long hair, and she began to dry his feet with
the hair of her head, and then she anointed his feet with precious
ointment. And while she was doing that,
the old Pharisee, sitting up there in his pious, holier-than-thou
position, looked down at this woman in the street, weeping
over the feet of the Master and kissing his feet and wiping them
with the hair of her head. And he turned to someone next
to him, and he said, Now, if that man were a prophet, he'd
know that that woman was a sinner, and he wouldn't let her handle
his feet and kiss his feet. And the master knew what he was
saying, knew what he was thinking. And he looked at him, and he
said, Simon, I've got something to ask you. He said, Simon, if
a man owed another man five hundred silver or gold pieces, and he
forgave him, and another man owed him fifty, And he forgave
him. Which of the two would love him
the most? The one that owed him the fifty and was forgiven, or
the one that owed him five hundred and was forgiven? Simon said,
Well, I say that the one that owed him five hundred would love
him most. And the master said, Thou hast well said. When I came
into your home, you didn't give me any water with which to wash
my feet. Since I came in, this woman has not ceased to bathe
my feet with tears. You gave me no kiss of welcome
when I walked into your door. This woman has not ceased to
kiss my feet. You gave me no oil with which
to anoint my head. This woman has anointed my feet
with precious ointment. Wherefore I say unto you, her
sins, which are many, are forgiven her." And he turned to the woman
and he said, Woman, thy faith hath saved thee. What kind of
faith did she have? I think I can sum it up in about
five words. Listen. First of all, her faith
was reverent. She fell at his feet. She fell
at his feet. She fell at his feet as a sinner,
not worthy to sit in the uppermost seat where the Pharisee was sitting,
not worthy to sit even at the table with him, not worthy to
kiss his cheek or hold his hand, but she fell at his feet. It
was a reverent faith. And then it was a humble faith.
She uncladded her hair, the glory of her womanhood, and she dared
to use that beautiful hair to dry the dusty, tear-stained feet
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Her faith was repentant. She
wept. She wept over her sins. You don't see any tears falling
from the eyes of Simon the Pharisee. You don't see any tears falling
from the eyes of these people around the table who thought
they were equal with the Master. You see the tears of repentance,
the grief, the mourning from the eyes of this fallen woman,
this sinnerful woman. And then her faith was loving.
She kissed his feet. Judas kissed his feet. She kissed
his feet. She was a humble sinner, and
I'll tell you something else, she was a bold sinner. It took
a lot of courage for her to come into this man's home, this Pharisee's
home. But he spoke nothing but evil
of her, he had nothing but hatred for her. He looked down upon
her as dirt under his feet, and she dared to even come into his
home, right into his presence, right in front of all of his
friends, and confess her guilt, her sin, her need, and her Savior. She dared to confess him publicly
in front of the Pharisees and the leaders of that community
and the religious leaders of that particular synagogue. Experiences
may differ. Yours may differ from this, but
faith is the same. And faith, you'll find, is always
in Christ, and it's always a reverent faith and a humble faith and
a loving faith and a repentant faith, and it's a bold faith.
It will confess Christ. Now, here's the third word. in
Romans 8.24. Saved with difficulty, saved
by faith, and then Romans 8.24 says we're saved by hope. We're saved by hope. Now what
does that mean? Well, saved by hope means more
than to say, well, I hope I'm saved. I hope I'm saved. That's not it at all. I hope
to get to heaven. Are you a Christian, my friend?
Well, I hope so. If you died tonight, would you go to heaven?
I hope so. That's not what we mean at all. This is the way
that the world uses that word, hope. I hope it rains. You say,
I hope that the peach crop is not killed in this cold weather.
I hope my business doesn't fail. That's not hope. That's a wish. That's a wish. What is hope? Well, now listen to me carefully.
We're saved by hope. Now, hope must have two ingredients. First of all, there must be a
desire. With hope, there's always desire.
But secondly, and this is very important, hope is expectation
based on reason. Now, when a man's lying on the
bed and the doctor's already said he's dead, you don't have
any hope that he'll get well, do you? He already is. No reason
for hope. You may have a desire, but it's
not based on expectation with some reason. If your loved one
is sick and the doctor says he has a 50-50 chance of living,
you've got a reason to hope. The doctor's given you a 50-50
or a 90-10 or a 70-30 chance of the man living. There's hope
where there is expectation with reason. Now when we say we're
saved by hope, we mean this. I hope to be saved, this is my
desire, and I've got a reason to believe I will be. The scripture
says, always be ready to give a reason for your hope, and I've
got three or four reasons. I hope to be saved, first of
all, because God's word says I can be saved. That's right,
the word of God says, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
thou shalt be saved. The word of God says, though
your sins be as scarlet, I'll make them as white as snow. The
word of God says, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy
laden, I'll give you rest. The Word of God says, For God
so loved the world, he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life. I hope
to be saved because I've got God's Word to back me up. That's
the reason I hope to be saved. His Word says I can be. And then
secondly, I hope to be saved because Christ Jesus, my righteousness
before God, He is my righteousness, and that's available to all who
will receive it. Paul said that those people we
talked about in Romans 10 went about to work out their own righteousness,
to establish for themselves a righteousness. That's not our trust. Our trust
is Jesus Christ, God's righteousness, available to all who will believe.
And then thirdly, Christ died for our sins. The Scripture says
he bore our sins in his body on the tree. The Scripture says
he was wounded for our transgressions. Now, if Christ died for my sins,
I won't die for them too. If he bore my sins, I don't bear
them. If he paid my debt, I don't owe it. You see, that's my reason
to hope I'll be saved. And then fourthly, he was buried
and rose again. Now Paul said in 1 Corinthians
15, if Christ be not risen, then you are of all men most miserable.
Those who have died in Christ, believing on him, trusting him,
are perished. If in this life only we have
hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But Christ
is not in the grave. He's not in the tomb. He's not
on the cross. He's risen. He's been there and
he came out. And he said, because I live,
you live. So we are saved by hope. But
this hope is not just a wish. It's not just a desire. It is
a desire based on reason. Expectation with reason. God's
word says I can be saved. Christ's righteousness is available.
His blood has been shed. He's been in the tomb and he's
He's come out of the tomb. All right, the last one. Now
listen to this. Matthew 16, 25. We're saved by losing, losing. Listen to this scripture. Whosoever
shall save his life shall lose it. And whosoever shall lose
his life for my sake shall find it. Years ago, an old missionary
returned from Africa. He'd been over there 30, 35,
40 years. His life was about over. He came
home to retire. He was alone, having buried his
wife and three sons in Africa. And he came back and someone
met him at the ship and asked him about the life he'd lived
and his losses, and this is what he said. He replied, if I had
my life to live over, I'd walk the same path, I'd preach the
same gospel, I'd visit the same open graves, I'd weep the same
tears, For what I have lost in time, I have gained for eternity."
Now, my friend, listen to me. Whosoever shall save his life
from the offense of the cross, from the reproach of the gospel,
from the trials and persecutions that come because we believe
on Christ, in order to please men, whosoever shall save his
life in this way is going to lose it. But Christ said, whosoever
shall lose himself in whatever trial God sends him for the glory
of God, whosoever will take up his cross and follow after Jesus
Christ, whosoever will dare to bear the reproach and the shame
and the offense of the cross and the persecution which an
almighty God sends into his life for the glory of Jesus Christ,
he'll find his life. Finding it by losing it. Saving
it by losing it. I was saved with difficulty.
I was saved by faith. I was saved by hope. I was saved
by losing. Now these messages are available
to you for a small cost, small charge, on cassette tape recordings. If you'd like to have them, you
write to me. The announcer will give you the address. And I hope
you'll be with us next Lord's Day at this same time. Until
then, Henry Mahan bidding you a very pleasant good day.

What Do We Mean By the Word, Saved?

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What Do We Mean By the Word, Saved?

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