There was a Pastor, who after the usual Sunday Evening Hymns, stood up, walked over to the pulpit and, before he gave his sermon for the evening, briefly introduced a guest minister who was in service that evening. In the introduction, the Pastor told the congregation that the guest minister was one of his dearest childhood friends and that he wanted him to have a few moments to greet the church and share whatever he felt would be appropriate for the service. With that, an elderly man stepped up to the pulpit and began to speak. "A father, his son, and a friend of his were sailing off of the Pacific Coast," He began, "When a fast approaching storm blocked any attempt to get back to shore. The waves were so high, that even though the father was an experienced sailor, he could not keep the boat upright and the three were swept into the ocean as the boat capsized." The old man hesitated for a moment, making eye contact with two teenagers who were, for the first time since the service began, looking somewhat interested in his story. The aged minister continued with his story, "Grabbing a rescue line, the father had to make the most excruciating decision of his life: to which boy he would throw the other end of the lifeline. He only had seconds to make the decision. The father knew that his son was a Christian and he also knew that his son’s friend was not. The agony of his decision could not be matched by the torrent of waves. "As the father yelled out, 'I love you son!' He threw out the lifeline to his son's friend. By the time the father had pulled the friend back to the capsized boat, his son had disappeared beneath the raging swells into the black of the night. His body was never recovered." By this time, the two teenagers were sitting up straight in the pew, anxiously waiting for the next words to come out of the old minister’s mouth. "The father," he continued, "knew his son would step into eternity with Jesus and could not bear the thought of his son’s friend stepping into eternity without Jesus. Therefore, he sacrificed his son to save his son's friend…" With that the old man turned and sat back down in his chair as silence filled the room. The Pastor again walked slowly to the pulpit and delivered a brief sermon. Within minutes after the service ended, the two teenagers were at the old man's side. "That was a nice story," politely stated the boys. "But I don’t think it was realistic for a father to give up his son's life in hopes that the other boy would become a Christian." "Well, you've got a point there," the old man replied glancing down at the worn Bible. A big smile broadened his narrow face; he once again looked up at the boys and said, "It sure isn’t realistic, is it? But I'm standing today to tell you that the story gives me a glimpse of what it must have been like for God to give up His only son for me. You see, I was the father and your Pastor was my son's friend." Our theme for this month of January is Salvation. I would like to draw our attention to what we possess if we are a true believer.
John 4:14 What A true believer possesses in his life
1. A true believer has personal confession.
A. His confession is real from his heart.
RM 10: 8But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: 9That 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. 10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. DT 30: 11 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.
B. This comes from a personal conviction. We have to experience being saved on our own. What some one else has experienced will not do. Take for instance the people that Jesus healed from blindness. One had to wash mud out of his eyes; another received sight because Jesus said so.
C. What we believe must come what we know and we find this in 1 John 2:3We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. 5But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him. 29If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him. 3:2Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure. 5But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. 14We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. 18Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 19This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence 20whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 24Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us. 4: 6We are from God and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood. 13We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 16And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 5:2This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 14This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15And if we know that he hears us whatever we ask we know that we have what we asked of him. 18We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him. 19We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. 20We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
A cynic once remarked that nothing is permanent except change. We live in a world of change. World events seem to happen before some thing else comes. In such an amazing age, men look here and there for a point of dependability. Money only serves to purchase more change. The famous are soon forgotten. One said we will have 15 minutes of fame but that is not true for any one. Some rely upon friends but even the best of friends are sometimes called away. Someone has said: "The religion of China is Confucian: the religion of America is confusion."
I want us to hear about Jesus as given us in Hebrews 13:8. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
1. JESUS CHRIST THE SAME.
What marvelous satisfaction we can take in these four words, “Jesus Christ the same.”
A. Your health will leave you. Your circumstances in life will not remain the same. All too often, we find that those around us cannot be counted on. Since all this is true, what a relief it is to turn from these changing scenes to Jesus Christ, the same. Here is One Who never fails the heart that leans on Him for rest. Health may fail us but His strength is made perfect in our weakness. Misfortune may crash upon us but He draws closer than a brother and whispers, "In the world you shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."
2. JESUS CHRIST THE SAME YESTERDAY.
A. There is an eternity locked up in these words. In fact, eternity stands on either side of the Christ of today. B. Strictly speaking, there is no past tense with the Lord Jesus Christ.
JN. 8:58 "Before Abraham was I AM". We must never forget to admit the eternal pre-existence of Jesus.
C. But what of the Jesus of modern history? He was born in another man’s stable, buried in another man’s tomb. He lived in a land less than half the size of Arkansas. In His public ministry, never over a hundred miles from home. He never wrote a book, had no armies, and left His truths with a few plain and unpromising disciples. He died the death of a criminal. Yet that life stands alone. What He said and did proves who He is.
D. But the Jesus Christ of yesterday did not end in a sealed tomb. Christians are not living on a memory.
E. In the midst of despair Jesus appeared to His disciples as the eternal King; victorious over death, hell, and the grave.
F. Jesus Christ of yesterday is the Eternal Son from everlasting with the Father, sharing with Him in creation. Jesus Christ of yesterday is the Word made flesh, taking the form of a servant, made sin for us. Jesus Christ of yesterday is the risen and glorified Christ, living His life in millions of lives through 2,000 years.
3. JESUS CHRIST THE SAME TODAY.
A. Many Christians find themselves getting upset with God because Christ is not working the way they think He should work.
B. Christ is doing exactly what He purposed to do in this age, and His program is following the Father’s schedule. The blind are seeing, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the Gospel preached to them. You say, "Yes Jesus did that then, but He is not doing it now." Consider the working of Christ in this age. The eyes blinded by the god of this world are still being opened by the light of the world. Those who are crippled by sin are walking in the newness of life thanks to the great physician. Ears are being opened to the music of heaven. Those who are dead in trespasses and sins are now given eternal life. The Gospel is being preached the whole world over.
The Lord Jesus Christ is still the same today as He was yesterday. He is still doing mighty works and if He is not doing them in your life it may be because while you hold the Jesus of yesterday in high regard, you have not experienced the Jesus of today.
4. JESUS CHRIST THE SAME FOREVER.
A. It would not be enough that He is the same yesterday and today if somewhere down the road He should cease to be. But the best is yet to come. He has promised to come for us. We will see Him as He is and we shall be like Him. Then we will rule and reign with Him. Sorrow will be removed, sickness will be vanquished, sin will be conquered and death will be destroyed. And in the middle of all this is Jesus Christ. So, in this changing age, rejoice in a changeless Christ.
1. He is the same yesterday, and because of who he was yesterday, the Son of God dying for the sins of the world, He meets the problem of our yesterdays, our guilt before a holy God.
2. He is the same today, and because of Who He is today, our Lord, He meets the problem of our todays, He directs our lives and pleads our cases before the Father.
3. He is the same forever, and because He is, He meets the problem of our tomorrows, He assures us of life eternal and a home with Him.
If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist. If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer. But our greatest need was forgiveness, So God sent us a Savior.
