Survivor Series
#1 – THE ASSURANCE OF SALVATION
Today, we begin a brand-new series of messages, entitled – SURVIVOR
This is taking a spinoff of the famous TV series where a bunch of people get thrown on some deserted island and have the learn how to survive in the wild with the extreme elements and bare essentials, as well as have to learn to get along with each other
And the last one on the island gets the prize
It’s a very, very popular show, and it spawned all of the reality TV series since then
And as we think about…
--the times in which we live
--the economic problems we are seeing
--the bankruptcies
--bank failures
When we think about how that the Bible says that things will continue to get worse and worse, even so much so that the hearts of men would fail for fear for looking after the things coming
When we think about the fact that the book of Revelation tells us that the devil is come down, knwoing that his time is short
When we think about all these things we’re facing in this critical hour, then without question, WE NEED SOME SURVIVAL SKILLS
We’ll, I want you to know something – God has given us everything, absolutly everything we need to survive
And I tell you something else, God doesn’t just want us to SURVIVE, but to THRIVE
But, before we THRIVE we have to SURVIVE
And over the next few weeks, we’re going to be talking about what does it take to be a SURVIVOR!
We’re going to be talking about…
--salvation, sanctification, and the Baptism in the Holy Spirit
--surviving as a mother (Mother’s Day)
--surviving as a father (Father’s Day)
--surviving in the end times
--surviving with the Word of God
--surviving through prayer
It’s going to be a great series and we will end with a sermon entitled I SURVIVED!!!
And I want some of you with some great testimonies to tell me and we will use that in our final message
So, let’s get ready to embark upon a new and exciting journey as we learn what it takes to be A SURVIOR – and I believe we’re going to SURVIVE!!
Now, the very first thing we’re going to talk about is, if you want to SURVIVE, then you need something very important – THE ASSURANCE OF SALVATION!
With that in mind, let’s read…
•1 John 3:1-3 ( KJV ) 1Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 2Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 3And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
•1 John 5:13 ( KJV ) 13These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
INTRODUCTION
In our text, this morning, the Apostle John writes – beloved NOW are we the sons of God
In others words, he’s saying that IF YOU’VE BEEN SAVED, you are NOW a Son of God, not…
--next week
--sometime ahead
--in heaven then
But on earth, NOW, right now, if you are saved, you are NOW A SON/DAUGHTER OF GOD
In other words, what he is saying is that you can KNOW that your’e saved
In fact, if you take time to read the entire little book of 1 John, that seems to be his theme, because he uses the word KNOW over 30 times in this little book
It’s like he wants you to know, over and over and over again, that you can KNOW, NOW, that you are saved!
In other words, he wants you to have THE ASSURANCE OF SALVATION
And one of the great things about our Christian life, is that we can KNOW that we’re saved
Someone said that the first greatest thing in all the world is to be saved
And the second greatest thing in all the world is to KNOW that you’re saved
And one of the great tragedies is for someone who has…
--given their life to the Lord
--been born again
--made a public confession of their faith
To walk around…
--defeated
--deflated
--dejected
Because they DO NOT really have an ASSURANCE of their salvation
Sometimes they think, I’M SAVED
Sometimes they think, WELL, I’M NOT SURE
But the truth of the matter is that…
--we ought to know
--we should know
And here’s the good news: WE CAN KNOW that we are saved beyond a reasonable doubt
Someone asked Billy Bray what he would do if he found out that he had been wrong and ended up in hell. He said, "I would hit the streets of hell hollering, 'Jesus, where are you Jesus? Jesus, where are you.'" He then said, "The devil will come up to me and say, 'You can't talk about Jesus down here. You are going to have to leave.'"
And that’s a wonderful thing to know in times like this
When we’re dealing with so much uncertainty…
--in the economy
--in politics
--in government
--religion
It’s good to know that we know that we know that…
--our names are written down in heaven
--now we are the sons of God
--we are saved
And to be very honest with you, if you’re going to SURVIVE…
--all that’s going on
--the mental stress
--the economic stress
--the spiritual stress that comes from Satan
Then one of the very basic survival tools is this thing called ASSURANCE
And so, today, I want to talk to you about 4 things…
--the BATTLE for assurance
--the BASIS for assurance
--the BLESSINGS of assurance
--the BESTOWAL of assurance
First of all,
1. THE BATTLE FOR ASSURANCE
Because let me tell you something, the very first thing the devil does after you get saved, is he tries to make a real believer doubt his/her salvation
That’s what happened to me
When I was stealing candy at White’s Supermarket in Rocky Mount, not one time did I hear the words, “Hey, you’re not a Christian”
When I was cheating in school, the devil never one time said, “Hey, you’re going to hell!”
But the minute I got saved the very first thing he said was, “Are you really sure you got saved? You might think you did, but you know you didn’t!”
And I should have known better, because all those years I was not saved, he never one time mentioned it to me
And that’s no surprise, because the Bible says…
Revelation 12:10 ( KJV ) 10And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
In other words, Satan’s job is to accuse us and to make us feel insecure about our salvation
And one of the first things that will happen to you, and it will continue until you reach heaven, is that Satan will attack your assurance
And not only that, but we lack assurance not only because of SATAN, but we also have an attack on our assurance because of SELF!!
Because the truth of the matter is that after we’re saved when we do…
--miss the mark
--mess up
--fall and fail
And the devil comes around and tells us we’re not saved, we look at our own short-comings and think, devil, you got a point!
But my friend, I want you to know something this morning, you can you can BE SURE despite…
--Satan
--self
--surroundings
--sorrows
His…
--grace is sufficient
--word is enough
--desire to forgive is greater than your desire to ask
You can know that you have the ASSURANCE of salvation
And you may say, “How?”
Well, let’s look, secondly, let’s look at…
2. THE BASIS OF ASSURANCE
How can I know that I know for sure?
The Bible says…
Deuteronomy 19:15 ( KJV ) 15One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.
And when it comes to the BASIS OF OUR ASSURANCE, we have the 2 or 3 witnesses
First of all…
A. WE HAVE THE WITNESS OF THE WORD OF GOD
Someone said that the Bible is the Christian’s birth certificate
How do I know I’m saved? Because I have it in writing!
You see, if you’re going to really get anything done and really make it official, but it in writing
The Bible says…
•John 3:36 ( KJV ) 36He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
•John 6:37 ( KJV ) 37All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
•Romans 10:13 ( KJV ) 13For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
•John 6:47 ( KJV ) 47Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
3. WILBUR CHAPMAN WAS A GREAT EVANGELIST OF YESTERYEAR AND HE TELLS HOW HE WENT TO HEAR D. L. MOODY PREACH AND AT THE INVITATION HE WENT DOWN FRONT TO THE INQUIRER S BENCH. HE SAID THAT MOODY CAME UP TO HIM AND SAT DOWN AND SAID., "SIR, ARE YOU A CHRISTIAN?" HE SAID, "MR. MOODY, I'M NOT SURE WHETHER I AM A CHRISTIAN OR NOT. ' I SAID, "I'M A CHURCH MEMBER BUT I AM NOT SURE WHETHER OR NOT I AM TRULY A CHRISTIAN." HE TOOK JOHN 5:24 AND READ IT, "TRULY, TRULY I SAY TO YOU. HE WHO HEARS MY WORD AND BELIEVES HIM WHO SENT ME HAS ETERNAL LIFE. HE SAID " DO YOU BELIEVE THAT?" SAID, "YES." HE SAID, DO YOU ACCEPT IT?" I SAID, YES. HE SAID, "WELL, ARE YOU A CHRISTIAN?" HE SAID"I'M NOT SURE, I DO NOT KNOW WHETHER I AM OR NOT. HE SAID. MOODY SAID, "READ IT AGAIN." SO HE READ THIS VERSE AGAIN. THEN MOODY SAID "DO YOU BELIEVE THAT?" I SAID, "YES". HE SAID, "'AVE YOU RECEIVED CHRIST?" I SAID, "YES. HE SAID, "WELL, ARE YOU A CHRISTIAN?" JUST AS I STARTED TO SAY AGAIN THAT I STILL WASN'T SURE. MOODY LOOKED AT ME WITH THOSE FLASHING EYES AND SAID, "SIR, JUST WHOM ARE YOU DOUBTING?" CHAPMAN SAID FOR THE FIRST TIME I REALIZED THAT AFTER I HAD DONE WHAT GOD TOLD ME I NEEDED TO DO THAT TO DOUBT MY SALVATION THEREAFTER WAS TO DOUBT THE WORD OF GOD. HE SAID FROM THAT MOMENT ON TO THIS DAY I HAVE NEVER DOUBTED MY SALVATION.
JOHN R. RICE SAID, "DON'T EVER PUT A QUESTION MARK WHERE GOD HAS PUT A PERIOD. THE BASIS OF KNOWING YOU ARE SAVED IS THE WORD OF GOD.
The Bible also says…
•Romans 3:4 ( KJV ) 4…yea, let God be true, but every man a liar…
•Hebrews 6:18 ( KJV ) 18That…it was impossible for God to lie…
If it says it in this book, then DON’T DOUBT IT!
We have the WITNESS OF THE WORD OF GOD!
Secondly,
B. WE HAVE THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD
Romans 8:16 ( KJV ) 16The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
And this is where feelings come in – now you can’t always go by feelings!
Feelings are the shallowest part of our being, and God never does his deepest work in the shallowest part
But there will be at times feelings – brought to you by the Spirit of God
I can’t explain it
But when we are saved, the Holy Spirit will bear witness to our salvatin!
And then, thirdly..
C. THERE IS THE WITNESS OF A REDEEMED CONSCIOUS
Here’s the deal: Before conversion, you had not problems sinning
But, the moment you get converted, when you sin, you…
--know it
--sense it
--feel it
Why? Because you have been born again!
My friend, you can KNOW that you’re saved, you have…
--the word of God
--the Spirit of God
--a redeemed conscious
But listen – THERE’S EVEN MORE!
Think about all that Jesus went through!
Think about all the scriptures that tell us to rejoice
We couldn’t really rejoice if we thought at any moment, I may go to hell
Think about the promises for peace! We couldn’t have peace if we were not assured we were going to heaven!
Which brings me to my 3rd point
Not only do we have…
--the BATTLE over assurance
--the BASIS of assurance
But, thirdly, we have…
3. THE BLESSINGS OF ASSURANCE
Because, when you know that you know
You have the blessings of…
--joy
--peace
--confidence
I WAS READING ABOUT THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE, WHEN THEY FIRST STARTED TO BUILD THE BRIDGE, NO SAFETY DEVICES WERE USED AND 23 MEN FELL TO THEIR DEATH. AFTER THAT THEY SPENT $100,000.00 TO PUT A LARGE NET UNDER THE CONSTRUCTION IT SAVED THE LIVES OF 10 MEN. BUT AN INTERESTING FACT IS THAT 25% MORE WORK WAS ACCOMPLISHED WHEN THE MEN WERE ASSURED OF THEIR SAFETY.
And I’ll tell you something else – one of the greatest blessings of having ASSURANCE is the fact that you can tell somebody about Jesus
We don’t need…
--pouting Christians
--doubting Christians
We don’t need Christians like questions marks with their heads drooped over, we need exclamation points, saying…
Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine,
Oh what a foretaste of glory divine;
Heir of salvation, purchased of love,
Born of His spirit, washed in His blood.
We need to be like this fellow I heard about…
A businessman was traveling through the country and got lost. So, he stopped at a country store to ask a young boy for directions; "Son, I seem to be lost. Do you know how to get to next town?" The boy replied, "Nope." "Do you know far it is to the next town?" Again he replied, "Nope." "Do you know the name of the next town? Again he answered, "Nope." "Do you know where this road goes?" Again the answer was "Nope." Finally the man said, "You don't seem to know much do you?" The boy replied, "I know I ain't lost."
That’s what we need to tell the world – I AIN’T LOST, AND YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE EITHER!
What a blessings!
And finally, I’ve talked to you about…
--the BATTLE over assurance
--the BASIS of assurance
--the BLESSINGS of assurance
Let, me close with…
4. THE BESTOWAL OF ASSURANCE
You can’t have assurance until you have salvation
Do you know the Lord today
You can absolutely know that you know
There’s another reality show called THE BIGGEST LOSER
You’ll be the BIGGEST LOSER if you don’t know the Lord!
Come to Him today!
