"A True Salvation Experience"
Text-Acts 4:9-12
dannymoss777@yahoo.com
Introduction-I hope that you will listen to this
message very closely and intently today, because I
feel that I have a much needed word from God to
share with you. My message concers having a genuine
expereience of salvation. Unfortunately, in this
"We gotta make ’um feel good generation of preaching"
it is clearly evident that we have much religion,
but little authentic Christianity. We hear people
share their so called "personal testimonies", and
tragically, there seems to be something missing.
They talk about "joining the church," and "being
baptized", or "being saved" by some preacher, or
unScriptural experience. Jesus isn’t mentioned.
No repentance has been shown, and no lives have
changed. God help us! It might surprise us to
go back to the Bible, and preach the truth, and
then we will see men transformed by the power of
God, and the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
It is clear that Peter and John, and the other
apostles did not worry about making folks "feel
good" on their way to Hell, but preached repentance
toward God, and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ.
I don’t guess I should be surprised. Some people
seem to think that salvation comes to them like
joining the PTA, or Lions Club, or some other
organization-attend a few meetings, give some
money, fill out some information on a card, and
"Hocus Pocus!", they now believe they have "fire
insurance" to keep them out of Hell, no matter how
they live from that point on. Preachers, we are
going to be help accountable for what we preach,
and whether or not we tell people the Gospel truth,
so we had better take heed.
So, what is a true salvation experience? How do you
know you have the real thing? I believe that every
conversion is different in some respects, but that
there are certain essential elements that are present
in every genuine conversion experience. What are
these elements?
I. First of all, in every true salvation experience,
faith is exercised.
Romans 1:16-"For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of
Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation
to every one that believeth; to the Jew first,
and also to the Greek."
"to every one that believeth"-Did you notice those
words. There can be no salvation experience with-
out believing God. Heb. 11:6-"But without faith
it is impossible to please God..."
If faith is required, and it is, then where do we
acquire it? We are not born with it. What do the
Scriptures say? Romans 10:17-"Faith cometh by
hearing, and hearing by the Word of God."
So, no one can be saved until they hear the Word
of God-the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Romans 10:13-14, "For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. How shall
they call on Him in whom they have not believed?
And how shall they believe in Him whome they have
not heard? And how shall they hear, without a
preacher?"
A messenger from God
Notice what is
required- An introduction to Jesus
belief, or faith
Instead of preaching Jesus today we see even
so called "Christian evangelists" using gimmics
like giving away presents to people who come
forward, and promising trips, or some other
thing to "get decisions." Again I say, we had
better be careful. Christ only wants true
followers. God is "the Justifier of him which
believeth in Jesus."-Romans 3:25-26
II.Secondly, I would like to point out that repentance
is necessary for there to be a true salvation ex-
perience. What is repentance? In the Greek there
are words that express sorrow for sin, a change of
mind, a change of heart, and a change of will.
All of these are involved when we truly repent.
We are convicted of our sins by the Holy Spirit.
We feel rotten-condemned and lost. But then the
light of the Gospel shines upon us, and we see
and realize that God truly loves us, and that He
gave His only Son to die for our sins, and we
turn from sin to God. We beg His forgiveness,
and we take Christ as our own personal Lord and
Master. Romans 2:4-"The goodness of God leadeth
thee to repentance..."
Luke 12:4-"Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise
perish."
Let me ask you to be honest now. Has there ever
come a time in your life when you were deeply
sorry for your sins, and you looked up to God and
asked for His mercy, believing in Christ, and
trusting only in Him, and what He did for you
on the cross and by His resurrection from the
dead? Then, if you have, I believe you can be
assured that your "salvation experience" is real.
Was there a definite turning point in your life?
Did you become a new creation in Christ. 2nd Cor-
inthians 5:17-"Therefore if any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature: old things are passed away;
behold, all things are become new."
We’ve got too many people in our churches who
have "man made religion," but no true experience
of God’s saving grace.
Every conversion experience is different in a
sense-
-some are more dramatic
-some are more emotional than others
-some are immediately more life changing
-Here are some examples of dramatic conversions-
1. The Apostle Paul-from Saul of Tarsus,
persecuter of believers, to Paul the
great missionary of God
2. Zachaeus-from a swindler and cheater
to a compassionte, caring person who
tried to make right all his wrongs
3. The Gadarene demoniac-from a crazed
man possesed of demons to a man in
his right mind witnessing for Jesus
4. The Philippian jailer-from a man about
to commit suicide to a devoted servant
of Jesus Christ
-Here are some examples of "confrontational
conversions"
1. Jesus confronted Nicodemus with his
lack of true salvation, even though
he was a very "religious" man.
2. Jesus confronted the woman at the
well with her sinful life, and lack
of meaning, and offered her "living
water."
3. Jesus confronted the hated tax collector,
Matthew, with His call, and said to him
"Follow me!" and his life was forever
changed.
Some salvation epereiences come to those who
have grown up knowing about God, but not yet
having trusted Him as Savior.
1. Timothy was apparently won by Paul to
Christ, even though he had grown up with
a mother and grandmother who taught him
about God.
2. Andrew was won to Christ by his brother
Peter. He was invited to believe in
Jesus.
Now, all of those people were truly conveted,
but all were unique. All repented. All believed.
I’m asking you today to repent of your sins, and
to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Invite Him
into your heart, and you will have a genuine sal-
vation experience. Then, after you are saved,
follow Him in New Testament believer’s baptism,
get in a church where you can be taught the truth
of God and grow, and lead others, as many as you
can to Christ, so that they can receive God’s
forgiveness and peace in their hearts.
