I. Scripture Introduction: 1 John 5:11-13
Body:
Many times we have heard individual christians say, "Oh, God, at last in heaven, save us!" If we’re ever going to get to heaven, we’re going to have to get saved right here! That indicates that this individual does not know whether he or she is going to get to heaven! Others have constantly prayed in agony of soul, "Oh God, help us hold on to the end!" And I get a picture of a life-and-death struggle of holding on to God, and if you let go, you’re a dead duck!
Now, I don’t read that in the Bible! I read, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one." (St. John 10:27-30).So, we are not holding on to God to keep us save; HE IS HOLDING ON TO US!! And that makes the biggest difference in the world!
My text today is 1 John 5:11-13, "And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These 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."
I mean right now! NO MAYBE! You either have eternal life, or you don’t have it - RIGHT NOW! You either have JESUS right now, or you don’t have Jesus! That’s what I like about this thing...it’s either BLACK OR WHITE! You know where you stand! "He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son hath not life. These 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 tha tye may believe on the name of the Son of God."
There is a wave of people today in America who have already been baptized and joined the church, but yet claim they never had a personal encounter with Christ. And who say, "I don’t think I’ve been saved, even though I have been baptized and joined the church." And this message is very needed today! CAN A SAVED PERSON EVER BE LOST? And I trust it will be a great help to you. I want to give you seven reasons why I know that I am saved, and if I were to die today, how I know I’ll go heaven. There’s no question about it! If the second coming was today, I am SURE I’ll go to meet the Lord in the air!
Number One: I’ve had a personal encounter with Jesus Christ!
A vivid experience wiht my Lord when I was 22 years of age. I heard that wonderful message so many times, but finally there in Frankfurt, Germany, I finally surrendered my life to Christ. I was tired of running. I realized I needed Christ in my life, just as that evangelist took me to the cross, and painted me a picture of Christ dying for me! A poor lost sinner! The Holy Spirit brought me under conviction, and I became aware that I needed Christ! Down on my knees there at that altar in Atterberry Chapel, Frankfurt, Germany I gave my life to Christ! And I want to tell you something today, my life has been completely changed! How do I know I’ve been saved? YOU SEE, I WAS THERE WHEN IT HAPPENED!
Now, ladies and gentlemen, here’s a very important point! Many, many christian people cannot point to an exact date to the time and place when they were saved. I could never understand this. But, yet wherever I’ve been, I’ve met many wonderful christian people, who kown they’re saved, but yet cannot pin-point a date to their personal experience and encounter. If you were to see the lives of Billy Graham and Ruth Graham - there are two different people. Billy could telll you the exact time and place of his conversion, yet, Ruth on the other hand says, "I can’t never remember not loving the Lord! My father was a missionary to China. And never did a day go by without my not loving Jesus." There are some people like this! They have learned the christian way at home, and there grew to love the Lord and surrender to Him; But can’t pin-point an exact date.
Now, I know I am saved because of THE EVIDENCE OF A CHANGED LIFE!
I am not the same person I used to be before I accepted Christ! Before I became a christian at the age of 22, I hated going to church! I used to sit in the very back, so that I could be the first one out! Church couldn’t end too quick for me. But, Oh, when I went to that altar there at Atterberry, after that I couldn’t get enough of the Word of God, and going to church. They couldn’t get me out of going to revival services, and church meetings! I had a NEW LOVE for God! Before I got saved, I used to critize people, and now I can’t love them enough! Yes, when I became a child of God, I BECAME A NEW CREATURE WITH CHRIST JESUS! Old things passed away, and behold everything became NEW! And I can say today, that if you don’t love to be in church, if you can’t stand to be with christians, if you can’t find time for the Word of God, then you can have your name on ten-thousand church-rolls and be lost! For the evidence of a saved person is that his life has changed, and has become hold, and pure and Christ-like!
I know that I am saved BECAUSE OF THE TREMEDOUS CLEANSING POWER OF THE BLOOD OF JESUS!
If you understand this, then you’ve won a wonderful truth! When the Lord Jesus saved you - He saved you with all your weaknesses, and hang-ups! The Lord Jesus Christ knew how you would live after He saved you! He died, PRAISE GOD, for sinners! He died for the UNGODLY! Everything is wrapped up in 1 John 1:7, where we read..."But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." You know in the original Greek the word cleanseth is in a certain form that means this...PUMPTILIER action! That means, it’s an action that takes place at a point of time in your life! Now, maybe you know when that action took place, or maybe you don’t, but yet this truth shold bring you alot of comfort! The blood of Jesus at a point-time of your life cleanseth that believer from all the sins in his life! And that takes cares of the past! And the ACTION OF THIS VERB IS CONTINUOUS ACTION! The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth the believer from all of his sins, and CONTINUES to cleanseth him from all of his sins until the day that he dies! Where he’ll be in a sinless environment, and will not be able to sin anymore. If some of you are ever going to say AMEN, say it right there - that’s the best I have to offer you! How many people here today can say, "Brother Silva, since the day Christ saved me, I’ve lived a sinless life!" Would you please raise your hand. I would love to meet you! I really would love to ask you how you do it! Now, let me ask you something, if since the Lord saved you, you have not been able to live a sinlessly, perfect life, what keeps you safe?
THE BLOOD OF JESUS! That precious blood Jesus shed on the cross! There on that cross, the Lord Jesus took all your sins away! HE PAID FOR ALL YOUR SINS! Can’t you see it! Every sin that Jesus paid for you on that cross, He paid for you in the FUTURE! So, that this blessed truth of the all-suficiently of the blood of Jesus to cleanseth a believer from all of his sins, not ONLY cleanseth you from your past sins, but also of YOUR FUTURE SINS!
Now, let me give you another point...another beautiful truth, the Lord Jesus when He came preached, "You must be born again!" "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God." So, I want to share with y ou the truth concerning the NEW BIRTH! If you understand this, you’ll understand yourself! There’s so many temptations today! That even the christian is not escaping! But if you know the truth that I will share with you now, much of your problems will be solved!
"Ye must be born again!" But how can y ou be born again, if you are old? But we’re talking about a SPIRITUAL BIRTH! Birth is the result of the coming together of two people - husband and wife! The spiritual birth is the result of the coming together of two people - the SINNER and the SAVIOR! Until the time you accept Jesus Christ into your heart you’re separated from God! You’re spiritually dead! For this life eternal is through Jesus. In 1 John 1:9 we read, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
In John 1:12 we also read, "But as many as receive him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." Picture a lamp in your home, disconnect the plug from the electricity line. As long as that lamp is disconnect, it’s good only as a decorative piece! BUT it was not made just for that reason - it was made for reading, and walking in the darkness! Now connect it again, and your lamp will come alive! Well, Jesus is in comparision to that line of electricity. As long as you were a sinner, you were separated and disconnected from God! Then you received Jesus as your personal SAVIOR! Jesus then made you alive - spiritually speaking! "As many as receive Jesus, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." That’s what it means to be born again! God becomes your father in heaven! You become his son!
Now, I give you TWO WORDS! And if you understand the difference between these two - your problems will be also solved! You’ll never walk in darkness to this truth again!
I give you the word RELATIONSHIP and FELLOWSHIP! Remember that God has no GRANDSONS or GRANDDAUGHTERS!
The word relationship - your relationship to God is God is your FATHER and you are HIS SON or DAUGHTER! Yes, the moment you receive Jesus Christ! Now, that relationship never changes! You can never be born again again! And again, and again! It is impossible to be born again again, and again! As impossible as it would seems for you to enter your mother’s womb and be born physically a second time!
There’s a song in our hymnbooks entitled-"You Must Be Born Again." The song goes like this...
"Ye must be born again,
Ye must be born again;
Oh, verily, verily, I say unto you,
Ye must be born again!"
Now, if you can loss your salvation, you would have to sing the song like this...
"Ye must be born again, and again,
Ye must be born again, and again,
Oh, verily, verily, I say unto you,
Ye must be born again, and again!"
So, you would talk about the first time you were saved, and then the second, and then the third, and so on and so on.
But friends, it’s impossible to be born again again! And if that’s a fact - THEN listen to this...if you can loss your salvationone time, HOW MANY SINS WOULD IT TAKE TO LOSS YOUR SALVATION? O - N - E!!! For one sin, God threw Adam and Eve out of the Garden! If for one sin you can loss your salvation, then you better wait one minute before you die, and get saved then you’ll be sure you’ll get to heaven!
Now, let me give you another Word - I gave you the word relationship, once you receive Him, and you become a child of God that relationship is established once and for all...the NEXT WORD is FELLOWSHIP!
1 John 1:7 says, "If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."
What do we mean by fellowship - perfect communion, it’s harmony! Sometimes when you get mad with your parents, you’re out of fellowship with them, yet, it does not change your relationship! The harmony is broken! If we do sin as a child of God, our fellowship with the Lord is broken. We live with a grieved Holy Spirit! If you’re a child of God, you can’t sin and enjoy it! There’s not one child of God here today that can sin, and enjoy yourself. Because the Holy Spirit living within our bodies is grieved, and He’ll torment you about that thing that broke your fellowship with the Heavenly Father. How do we make that fellowship right when it’s broken? We don’t come back and try to get saved again! The truth about 1 John 1:9 - "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Confess them, and God will forgive you! The fellowship then is brought back again! The most miserable people right now are those who out of fellowship with the Heavenly Father - Christians living in a world of sin!
Now, I know that I am saved BY HOW GOD SAVED US...BY HIS GRACE!
We didn’t find Jesus! He found us! Salvation and eternal life are a gift! PAID FOR BY JESUS! He doesn’t expect any works for salvation - what makes anyone think, that once you’re saved by the Grace of God, you gotta work to keep save! That’s so foolish! It would be like God telling Noah to buy 8 spikes, 3 feet long. And telling him to nail them 5 feet apart on the side of the ark, and saying, "Alright, when I tell you to go; take your family and hold on tight for dear life on those spikes for it’s going to be a long-wet summer!" And so it happened, while one by one each fell in the water! NO! God told them to go inside the ark, and He shut the door, and when they fell...they fell inside the protection of God’s Ark! Everytime you’ve fallen down to the world and the devil as a child of God, you’ve fallen down in Christ! He keeps you save by His Grace!
Finally, one more reason, that I know that I am saved is BECAUSE OF THE KEEPING POWER OF GOD!
Who is stronger? The devil or our Heavenly Father? You know the answer to that! One time in an old country area, a young man challenged an old preacher to this same question, "Once Saved Always Saved." And the young man took the Bible out of context, as taking the scriptures..."And Judas went out and hung himself." and "Go Ye and do likewise!" He took over an hour to convince the people. Oh, some fell sorry for the old, country preacher. But, when he got up...he said, "Friends, I’m not going to take an hour like this young man...I’m going take only five minutes." He asked some within the congregation to go to his car and get three barrels he had in his trunk. Then he said, "I only have one verse of scripture and this illustration...my verse is Colossians 3:3 - "For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." As the barrels were brought in, there was one large one, one medium, and a smaller one. He said, "The big one is God, the medium one is Christ, and the smaller one is you, the christian." He placed the smaller one inside the medium one, and then the medium one inside the larger one. And said, "There, your life is hid with Christ in God." "Now, I challenge the devil and all his demons of hell, under the protection of the blood of Jesus, to come to this platform and get to that smaller barrel without first going through that larger one, and the medium size barrels!"
My Friends, under the Protection of the Blood of Jesus, I challenge teh devil and all the demons of hell, and anything else you can name, to get to my soul...for my life is hid with Christ in God!! THAT’S ETERNAL SECURITY!!! That’s why we say, ONCE SAVED ALWAYS SAVED!
