MAYBE SAVED
I think I’m saved – I’m a
good person – I try to do good things for others – I give money.
There were two beggars
sitting on a bench overlooking a pond.
The first beggar said, “I haven’t eaten in two days and think I’m going
to die”. The other beggar said “I can
tell you about a place that has some food and it’s free”. – The first beggar
said, “Food! You’re just a dirty rotten
lowdown scumbag sinner, JUST LIKE ME”; what can YOU
tell me about food? - The other beggar
said, look
“I’m just a beggar, trying to show another beggar
where to find bread.”
And that’s where I am.
In the beginning
- In the beginning was
“God the Son” and he became flesh, made in the image of man and
lived among us. – He was before Abraham – He was present at the creation.
- The
fullness of God resides in the Him
John 1:1 – Jesus was in
the beginning
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God. NIV
John 1:14 – God the Son became flesh and lived with us.
14 The Word became flesh and made his
dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only
NIV
John 8:58 – Jesus was before Abraham
58 "I tell you the truth," Jesus
answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" NIV
9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity
lives in bodily form, NIV
Readers Digest/Cliff Notes - SIN
- Further back that
your mind can wrap around, God created an awesome angel named Lucifer and
he was in charge of the earth. – Angels are created immortal,
they will never die. - At some point Satan rebelled and wanted to be like God.
- A bunch of other
angels followed him – God gave Satan and his boys’ eons of time to repent,
but they didn’t – God prepared a place called Hell and the burning
- God destroys the earth in a flood and
starts all over with Adam – Satan strikes back at God by tricking Man, his
greatest creation into sinning. – God knew that he would; and already had
the plan of salvation in effect. (If you sin, you cannot be immortal, you
will die)
- Man is now a sinner
and the penalty for sin is death. - He is doomed to destruction in
Hell and the burning
- This torment goes on day
and night, forever and ever. – You are out of the presence of God. –
Darkness, weeping and grinding of teeth.
- It’s not God’s desire
that any should perish, so he sent His Son, Jesus Christ to pay the price
of sin, which is death.
- Jesus died on the cross and his blood paid the price for man to be saved. He did not die for all men – He died only for the ones that were drawn to Him by the Holy Spirit.
2 Thess 1:9 – Shut out of
the presence of God
9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction
and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his
power
NIV
Matt 8:12 – Darkness,
weeping and grinding of teeth.
12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown
outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing
of teeth."
NIV
10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown
into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been
thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
NIV
Matt 25:41 – The fire was
prepared for Satan and his angels
41 "Then he will say to those on his left,
`Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the
devil and his angels. NIV
Dying to go
The preacher said
“everybody that wants to go to heaven, raise your hand”. Everyone raised their hand except one young
man. The preacher said to him, “Don’t
you want to go to heaven”? The young man
said “yes I do, but I thought you were trying to get up a bus load to go TODAY”.
Most
folks want to go to heaven, but are “not dying” to go today.
Some Scary Stuff
- Some “say” they are Christians just so
they won’t go to Hell – They want “fire insurance” – He will say “I
never knew you”. – Christianity is about “the
- The fact that you are reading this
indicates that God has a call on your life - God said many are called, but
“few are chosen”. – He said the road to life is narrow and “few
find it”.
- He says that Jesus Christ is the
only way to enter into the ”Kingdom of God” and no one can come
unless the Holy Spirit “enables” them.
- Then He said; we don’t choose Him, He
chooses us. – It’s His gift.
- In fact we are told that we are DEAD
in our sins and do not have the ability to come to God.
- There is not one good person at all,
not one. – All are corrupt with thoughts continually on evil and
wickedness. – All have sinned and fall short of God’s standard.
- God says that we can’t do anything to
earn our salvation therefore it does not depend on our desire or effort,
but upon God's mercy.
- We can give to charities, go to
church, feed the poor and volunteer at the hospital, but without the
Spirit of God, it’s all in vain. – He will say, “I never knew you”.
- Works without Faith is a dead work. – Faith
without works is a dead Faith.
Ex 3:3 – In hell nothing
burns up – Fire Insurance
3 So Moses thought, "I will go over and see
this strange sight--why the bush does not burn up." NIV
Matt 22:14 – Few are chosen
14 For many are called, but few chosen. ASV
Matt 7:13-14 – Few find
the road to life
13 "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide
is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter
through it.
14 But small is the gate and narrow the road
that leads to life, and only a few find it. NIV
Matt 7:21 – Not everyone that says “Praise the Lord” is saved.
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord,
Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the
will of my Father which is in heaven. KJV
John 15:16 – I do the choosing.
16 You did not choose me, but I chose you
and appointed you to go and bear fruit-fruit that will last. NIV
Eph 2:1-2 – We are DEAD in
our sins.
1 As for you, you were dead in your
transgressions and sins,
2 in which you used to live when you followed the
ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who
is now at work in those who are disobedient. NIV
Rom 3:12 – There is not one good person
12 There is none who does good, no, not one." NKJV
Ps 53:3 – Everyone is
corrupt.
3 Every one of them has turned aside; They have
together become corrupt; NKJV
Gen 6:5 – Man’s thoughts
are evil and wicked.
5 The LORD saw how great man's wickedness
on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his
heart was only evil all the time. NIV
Rom 3:23 – All have sinned and fall short
23 All have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God, NIV
John 14:6 – The only way
6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth
and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. NIV
John 6:65 – The Holy
Spirit must enable you to come
65 He went on to say, "This is why I told you
that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him." NIV
Rom 9:16 – You can’t do anything to earn God’s mercy
16 It does not, therefore, depend on
man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. NIV
Eph 2:8 – Salvation is a
gift
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through
faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- NIV
Matt 7:22-23 – Many only
think they are saved
22 Many will say to me on that day, `Lord,
Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and
perform many miracles?'
23 Then I will tell them plainly, `I never knew
you. Away from me, you evildoers!' NIV
James 2:26 – Faith without works is a dead faith
26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith
without works is dead also. NKJV
Here’s where we are
- The Bible says we are
all sinners and because of sin, we are separated from God. This makes us the object of God’s
wrath - The penalty for this sin is death – We are doomed to be out of
the presence of God and into everlasting destruction.
- The only way to
escape the wrath of God is to embrace Christ and His work on the cross.
- Jesus bore our sins
in His righteous body so that our body would “die to sin”.
Rom 3:23 – We have all sinned
23 for all have sinned and fall short
of the glory of God, NIV
Isa 59:2 – Sin separates
us from God
2 But your iniquities have separated you from
your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not
hear. NIV
Eph 2:3 – We are objects
of Gods wrath
3 All of us also lived among them at one time,
gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires
and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. NIV
Rom 6:23 – The wages of sin is death
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the
gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. NIV
2 Thess 1:9 – everlasting
destruction out of the presence of God
9 They will be punished with everlasting
destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the
majesty of his power
Rom 3:10 -11 – No one seeks God on his own
10 As it is written: "There is no one
righteous, not even one;
11 there is no one who understands, no one who
seeks God. NIV
1 Peter 2:24 – Jesus bore our sins on the cross
24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the
tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his
wounds you have been healed. NIV
The Law
- The
Bible is an instruction manual written for the believers, those that
have been drawn by the Holy Spirit. - For the unbeliever, the written laws
of God are just foolishness.
- God gave us the laws
of scripture to guide us; to make us aware of our need for a savior.
- Keeping the Ten
Commandments and the other laws cannot save man. – Man can do nothing to remove his
own sin. - If the law could save, then Jesus would have died for
nothing.
- We were once the objects
of God’s wrath; all our good works were counted as nothing; as filthy
rags – But, the blood of Jesus Christ on the Cross made us righteous.
Mark 4:11 -12 – The natural man is blind and deaf
11 He told them, "The secret of the kingdom of God
12 so that, "`they may be ever seeing but never
perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; NIV
1 Cor 2:14 – The Bible is foolishness to the perishing
14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the
things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him,
and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
NIV
Gal 2:21 – If the law saves – Jesus died for nothing
21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if
righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!" NIV
Eph 2:3 – Once we were
objects of God’s wrath.
3 All of us also lived among them at one time,
gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and
thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. NIV
Isa 64:6 – All our good
works are like filthy rags.
6 All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like
a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. NIV
The Wheel
- Jesus went to cross
and bore our sins that we might be redeemed from destruction.
- The scoffer says that
all the spokes in a wheel lead to the same hub. – There are
many paths and many ways to god, just with different names.
- The Bible says there
is only one way.
- Jesus is The Way, The Truth and The Life and no one comes
to “God the Father” except through Him.
- There is no other name under heaven
upon which man can be saved. – Jesus is the only name. - No one can
come to God on his own; the Holy Spirit must draw him.
1 Peter 2:24 – He bore our sins that we might die to sin
24 He himself bore our sins in his body on
the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by
his wounds you have been healed. NIV
John 14:6 – The Way, The
Truth, The Life
6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the
truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
NIV
Acts 4:12 – There is no other name by which we can be saved
12 Salvation is found in no one else,
for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be
saved." NIV
John 14:6 – Jesus is the
only way
6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and
the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. NIV
John 6:65 – The Holy
Spirit must enable you to come
65 He went on to say, "This is why I told you
that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him." NIV
Maybe Saved
- Embracing Jesus
Christ - Better count the cost first – It can cost you family and friends.
- Have you confessed
that you are sinner – Repented and changed your ways?
- Have you confessed
with your mouth before other men that Jesus is your Lord?
- Have you believed
in your heart that Jesus was raised from the dead?
- Do you believe He
will come again and receive you to Himself and you will dwell with Him?
Luke 14:28 – It will cost you to confess Christ
28 "Suppose one of you wants to build a
tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has
enough money to complete it? NIV
Rom 10:9-10
Confess with your mouth and Believe in your heart
9 That if you confess
with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart
that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For it is with your
heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that
you confess and are saved. NIV
John 14:2-3
– He will come again and get the believer.
2 In My Father's house are
many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a
place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare
a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself;
that where I am, there you may be also.
NKJV
Done Deal
- With the child of
God, there is no “Ifs or Maybes”, it’s a done deal – You can know for sure that you are His. – ONCE SAVED, ALWAYS
SAVED.
- Nothing can take you out of His hand. – Not even sin
– Jesus Christ died for your sins past,
present and future. – The work on the
cross was sufficient – There is nothing more man can add to it.
- Neither death, nor
life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor
things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be
able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus
our Lord
- When you receive
Christ, you receive the Holy Spirit
– You now have direct access to the throne of Grace. – Your prayers
ascend directly to Him. –The Holy Spirit helps you to pray.
- No longer do you say
“I hope I’m saved”; that’s
doubt – You now say; “I know I’m saved”, that’s faith. – You no longer “hope to just get into heaven”,
but look forward to seeing the sights, seeing other believers and finding
out what you are going to be doing. - SELAH
- For the believer, as
soon as you die you are present with the Lord. – The body is in the
grave, but the soul is in heaven.
- Because of Christ you
have already been judged righteous. – It’s
a done deal.
John 18:9 –
He has not lost one soul that was given to Him
9 "I have not lost
one of those you gave me." NIV
John 10:27 -30 – No one can take you out of God’s hand
27 My sheep listen to my
voice; I know them, and they follow me.
28 I give them eternal
life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my
hand.
29 My Father, who has
given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my
Father's hand.
30 I and the Father are
one." NIV
Rom 8:38 -39 – Nothing can separate you from Christ
38 For I am persuaded,
that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor
things present, nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Eccl 3:14 – Nothing can be added to it.
14 I know that everything
God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing
taken from it. NIV
Rom 8:26 – The Holy Spirit helps us pray
26 Likewise the Spirit
also helps our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought:
but the Spirit itself makes intercession for us with groanings which
cannot be uttered. KJV
2 Cor 5:8 –
Absent from the body – present with the Lord.
8 We are confident, I say,
and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the
Lord. KJV
Description of the believer
- Wonder how you know a
Christian? – You will know them by
their fruits; their works. – We do not do good works to be saved
– We do good works because we are saved. - Want to know where the
believer’s heart is? – Go look in his checkbook.
- The Sermon on the Mount
is not about promises of blessings to the child of God, but is a description of the child of God.
1
They are not proud in spirit – They know they are spiritually bankrupt
and can offer God nothing.
2
They mourn over perishing souls – They anguish over sin – They want
righteousness to prevail. – They have compassion for injustice, afflictions and
sins of others.
3
They are meek, mild and kind – bearing patiently – do not
murmur or seek power – accepts opposition, insults and provocations. – has a
compassion for injustice.
4
They Hunger and thirst to do God’s will – To know Christ and
make Christ known.
5
They are merciful; showing compassion and mercy even when it not
convenient, because they themselves have received mercy and compassion – They
do not show mercy to get mercy.
6
They are pure in heart with singleness of purpose, no hidden motives or
self interest. They are utterly sincere
in their faith.
7
They are peacemakers, not only keeping the peace, but bringing men
into harmony with each other – Working to calm the waters – knowing many will
resent their efforts.
Matt 5:3-9 –
Sermon taught by Jesus on the Mountain.
3 Blessed are the poor
in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are they that
mourn: for they shall be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek:
for they shall inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are they which
do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful:
for they shall obtain mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure
in heart: for they shall see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers:
for they shall be called the children of God. KJV
Matt 7:20 – You will know them by their fruits
20 Therefore by their fruits you will know
them. NKJV
Eph 2:8-9 –
Works do not save – It’s a gift from God
8 For it is by grace you
have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift
of God-
9 not by works, so
that no one can boast. NIV
Rom 10:9-10 – Confess with
your mouth, Jesus is Lord
9 That if you confess with
your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that
God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For it is with your
heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you
confess and are saved. NIV
SAVED FOR SURE
No maybes, ifs, ands, or buts
In the multitude of counselors,
there is wisdom.
Prov 11:14
I am grateful for those that went before me providing concepts, ideas, historical information, and scripture verses. Because of them I can stand on their shoulders and see further than I otherwise ever could have.
A Commentary, Critical, Experimental and Practical – Erdman’s
Apocrypha; The – Edgar J. Goodspeed
Baker Commentary on the Bible – Walter A. Elwell
Bible Almanac; The – Packer-Tenny- White
Bible Commentary – F.B. Meyer
Bible Dictionary - Harper
CARM – Christian Apologetics &
Research Ministry
– M .J. Slick
Expositor’s Bible Commentary; The – Frank E. Gaebelein
Great Doctrines of the Bible Vol 2 – W.
A. Criswell
Illustrated Bible Dictionary – Nelson’s
Illustrated Bible Dictionary - Tyndale
Illustrated Manners and Customs of the Bible – Packer-Tenny
Influence; The – A novel – Matthew John Slick
International Dictionary of the Bible; The new – Douglas-Tenney
Josephus; the Jewish Historian A.D. 37-98
Matthew Henry’s Commentary - Zondervan
Mysteries of the Bible – Readers Digest
Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible; The – Zondervan
Secrets of the Dead Sea Scrolls – Hugh J. Schonfield
Today’s Dictionary of the Bible – T.A. Bryant
Victor
Journey through the Bible; The – V. Gilbert Beers
Where to find it in the Bible – Ken Anderson
Who’s Who in the Bible – Paul D. Gardner
Wikipedia Encyclopedia
Wycliffe Bible Commentary; The – Pfeiffer-Harrison
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