Speaker 1: Well, the Lord wants absolutely everybody not only to be saved, but to have what we call an assurance of salvation, meaning I’m saved and I know I’m saved. It’s not a mystery to me. I don’t have my fingers crossed when I go to bed at night.

I know I’m saved. I’m on my way to heaven. I’m a child of God.

I don’t hope to be born again. I am born again. There is no question about it that from the Bible we can have assurance of salvation.

But as I mentioned in the introduction, there’s a lot of confusion about this, some of which I hope to clear up. And maybe for somebody here, I’ll clear it all up for you because it was a wonderful day when I got saved. But I’m going to tell you what, one of the other days that rank up about as high as the day I got saved is when I made sure.

And I haven’t had to doubt it one bit since that day. And that’s a great thing. And now what we talk about also will help us to help other people because I think all of you know that many have trouble with this issue of am I really saved?

Okay, let’s pray a minute. Holy Spirit, we thank you for authoring the Bible and for coming to dwell within us to instruct us as to its meaning. I pray, Lord, that you make things very clear to us about the simple plan of salvation.

And may it be that this evening good will be done for us and then also for others to whom we will minister. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Now, you’ll want to open your notebook to the Thursday workshop on being sure of salvation. And I also want you to open your Bible to the third chapter of the book of John. John chapter 3.

Third chapter of the book of John. Now, I was saved reading the third chapter of John. The radio preacher who got me interested in salvation sent me a correspondence course on the book of John.

Book of John is a good place to read if you want to get saved. Okay, I read John chapter 1. I read the little study materials.

I answered the questions. That was the first day. The second day, I read John chapter 2, read the materials, answered the questions.

Second day. John chapter 3 was the third day. Nicodemus, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

And there I saw in Scripture a description of myself. For about two years, I had attempted to be or pretended to be religious. I never had any interest in the Bible prior to this time.

But these last two years, for a certain reason, I was so religious that I could argue religion with you. Only I didn’t have any idea what I was talking about. I was a real big mouth dummy.

But I was interested in church and religion for various reasons. But I had no assurance of my salvation. And the reason was because I wasn’t saved.

And yet I read John chapter 3 about a religious man who was told he had to be born again. And, you know, born again is a term that’s used a lot today. But when I was at that time, I never heard of it.

Been to church my whole life. I never one time ever heard of the term born again. And I read that and I said, now that hasn’t happened to me.

And I read the study materials. And then what I did is I trusted Jesus Christ to save me. Now, as a person completely unconnected to evangelicalism, what I mean is I’d never been in a revival service.

I’d never heard a gospel sermon. I’d never seen a public invitation. I say never.

One time I went and was invited to go to a meeting in which Dr. Billy Graham preached a sermon. And at the end of it, he asked certain people to stand up. When I was there with my friend, I thought he was basically saying,

how many of you are for Christianity? and I wondered why my friend John wouldn’t stand up. I mean, who wouldn’t stand up on that? In other words, it was such a vague invitation that I stood,

but I didn’t get saved. And my friend John, when we were driving home with his parents, he said, I saw that you stood up. And I went, like, yeah, who wouldn’t?

But obviously I didn’t have any idea what salvation was at all. So I’m trying to give you the idea. I was totally ignorant of the whole thing.

One advantage was, is I didn’t know how you were supposed to feel when you got saved. That was good. That was good because I didn’t know you were supposed to feel anything.

And you’re going to understand why. That was good that I didn’t know that. But I accepted Christ as my Savior.

The next day, John chapter 4, the Bible came alive. And I actually remember where I was when I thought, you know what? This really happened to me.

This really happened to me. The Bible speaks to me now. I have a new heart.

I want to live right. This is great. I went to my mother.

I said, Mom, my dad had died within the last year. I said, I can’t go back to our liberal church anymore. I’ve got to find a place where people are born again.

And my mother said, okay, we’ll go down to the Baptist church down the street. And we started going. And it was a wonderful thing.

And you would say, well, surely you were sure you were saved. What about the transformation in your life? I’m going to explain that to you in a minute.

I had a transformed life. But I tell you what, I would in my heart of hearts for two years say, Lord, I hope I’m really saved. And you know, a lot of times Christian people confuse me.

I was signed up for Bible college. That’s another interesting story, at least interesting to me, about how I found I was called to preach and found a Bible college. And I actually was thinking, Brother Jim, you know, once I get to Bible college, I’ll be sure I’m saved.

Every student at college who’s a Bible college student is sure he’s saved. You know, I’m called to preach now. I’ll be sure.

I won’t have all these doubts, but I had all kinds of doubts. But now, we read our scripture that’s right here. I told you to turn to John 3, but the one that’s printed on our notes is, 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.

Now, looking on that verse on your page, I want to ask you a question. Is it possible to be saved and not know it? According to that verse.

And then prove it to me. Is it possible to be really saved, but not know that you’re saved? Yes.

Oh, yes. These things I have written unto you, to you that believe on the name of the Son of God. Now, I want to ask you, instructed Christians, If a person believes on the name of the Son of God, are they saved?

That’s right. We can like, what did the preacher say? Yeah, you know, don’t have that stone face.

You can talk back to me. Okay. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God.

Save people, right? That she may know that she have eternal life. That means you can be saved and not know it.

Did you see that? Okay. right and you can forget that and what that’s talking about is people who go back and live in sin they forgot they were purged from their own sins that’s not talking about forgiveness it’s talking about purge from your old sin but now back here i’m glad we’ve got at least one person who’s going to answer ask questions because they gave me extra time and i don’t need the extra

time okay now it not only says that you can be saved and not really know it but it tells you how you can make sure you are saved or be sure you are. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. The way we get assurance of our salvation, being sure we’re saved, is from the written word of God, black and white, where it says something.

Says what? Bible verses that say, if you do this, you shall be saved. Now, if I got a verse like that, that means if I do this, God is saying that I shall be what?

Saved. Or if it says, if you do this, you have eternal life. Now, that’s the word of God.

It is absolutely true. Okay? Which means that if I have done this, then I have what?

Eternal life. And it’s by the written word is the only way you can know. Now, I have a couple of points here.

Not from your feelings. Now, I believe in Christian experience and I believe in feelings. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace.

Some of those do involve emotions. I believe that they are real. Right now, I feel saved.

And I believe there’s such a thing as the Spirit bearing witness with your spirit that you are a child of God. And I think every Christian knows what I mean. But the fact is that feelings are not the final proof that you’re saved.

And one reason for that is we are complicated. We are body, soul, and spirit. I don’t fully understand it.

But the fact is our emotions are unpredictable. And if you were to study the whole Bible about emotions, here’s what it basically says. The Bible teaches that emotions arise from something else.

And they should never be counted on or followed. Okay, now, there’s joy in serving Jesus. Enjoy the joy.

Okay, but do not let your life be built on emotions because they are a product of something. You know, the emotion of guilt can be a product of action. An emotion of worry can be a product of your thought process.

And you can find this in the Bible. emotions are byproducts. And they can indicate something, like if I felt guilt, I should check to see if I am guilty.

But you know there’s such a thing as false guilt. And you can’t count on your emotions at all, especially about your eternal soul. So here’s what I would do.

Maybe you did it. Hey, I feel saved right after Sunday morning sermon. Man, I didn’t feel like this before I was saved, did I?

No, no, I didn’t. Did I start feeling this right the day I got saved? Yeah, yeah, I think so.

But you know what? Then I’d have a day where I felt down. I felt bad.

I felt not right with God. Do you know the Holy Spirit in you indicates that you’re saved? He bears witness that you’re saved.

But he does it two ways. Sometimes, and please forgive me for being just simple, but anyway, sometimes when I’m living right and walking in the light, Brother John, the Holy Spirit’s saying, attaboy, that’s right, that’s what I want you to do. But you know what?

The same Holy Spirit, when I walk out of the light, is saying, no. No, you shouldn’t have done that. That was wrong.

You need to get it right. Did you know that feeling of reproof from the Holy Spirit is a sign of salvation? But I’m going to tell you what.

We are not good at judging our feelings. And feelings are not anything to build your life on, ever, under any circumstances. Now, you’re looking so stony-faced that I’m thinking you’re not getting it.

So I’m going to give an illustration. I’ve used it in our church many times. I think of feelings like the smoke out of a smokestack on a tugboat in a harbor.

Okay, here’s a guy. He’s captain of a tugboat. And, you know, nowadays they have technology radios, cell phones or something, to talk to the guy on the tugboat.

And he’s supposed to be out there doing this. The guy on shore is noticing the tugboat floor is very erratic, going all over the harbor here, going this way, that way, making no sense, not where it belongs. not helping out almost wrecking almost running into somebody’s sailboat what are you doing number four and the guy says i’m following my smoke you’re what he says yeah i’m following my smoke

anyway my smoke goes that’s the way i aim this boat he would say you better park that thing and get out of there and we got to find out what’s wrong with you but you know what folks who base everything on their emotions they’re following their smoke which is a product of other things Now, what should he have followed? Instructions and the map. See, and then just let the smoke rise.

You know, we follow the word of God and let the feelings come. That’s basically it. Okay, it’s not on your feelings and it’s not on the fruit of your life, not your behavior, not your success or failure in the Christian life as a deciding factor.

Now, I want to show you what happens. Somebody hears a sermon and a lot of our problem is from preaching. That says, and this is one of the worst I ever heard.

I heard on tape a guy at camp. He really said, some of you guys don’t pay attention in chapel at the Christian school. That’s because you’re not saved.

Missed my devotions. Didn’t pay attention in chapel. Listened to the wrong music.

Disobeyed my parents. It’s all because I’m not saved. Okay, now watch.

Right living is the product of the Christian life. But here’s what the problem is about that. What if I discover, you know, I have been disrespectful to my parents for some time, and I say I’m saved. And now I’ve really heard, I mean, you claim you’re saved,

and you’re disrespectful to your parents just like the world. You can’t prove to me you’re saved. There’s a lot of different ways that this has subtly gotten across.

I’ve heard people say, you didn’t meet the Jesus I met. And, you know, a lot of that sounds really good, you know. And some of you folks who still puff on the tobacco but still suck on the cancer weed.

Tell you what, you didn’t meet the Lord I met. I’ve heard that preached. And, you know, people are going and having trouble their addiction to tobacco.

Some of the people I know who do this are extreme Calvinists. And the funny thing about them is a lot of their theologians were beer drinkers. So I don’t know quite what we would do about that.

But anyway, we’re back to this. okay now if i’m in that spot did you know it’s awful hard to go backward on the process of salvation see the product’s not here or i don’t think it’s here in my life now how do i redo this the way i got saved is i came as a sinner to jesus said i can’t do this you do it for me

and i put my faith in him and there was a change and i thought i was saved and now i find out That because of a continuing problem in my life, that means I never was saved. So what do I do? How do I do this backwards?

Now, maybe you’ve never heard it put that way, but a lot of people are in that same boat. You know, do I repent of disobeying my parents? Or how do I go all the way back to this?

I think Hebrews chapter 6 brings up that same question. But the point I’m making right here is it is not based upon your feelings in the final analysis. It’s not based upon fruit as a deciding factor, but it’s based upon verses that say, if we do this, we will be saved. Like Acts 16, 31, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,

and thou shalt be saved. Romans 10, 9 through 13, the last verse says, For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And then John 5, 24, There are many of them. Verily I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation,

but is passed from death unto life. And then the one we’re going to look at at the end of John 3. I got saved reading John 3. I struggled with the assurance of salvation, went off to Bible college, and I had a guy come up to me

on the very first night of the evangelistic meetings. Afterwards, he said, Brother, how long have you been saved? And I said, A long time.

But I remembered it. He is one of the very few people in my whole life who have ever asked me if I was saved. And he tried, but I didn’t let him get in there and didn’t let him know all the doubts I had.

They had a musical program at college. And they did a song and a poem that talked about giving your heart to Jesus. You know, there are terms dear to us that are not very clear.

And I would sit there and think, did I give my heart to Jesus? Did I give my whole heart to Jesus? Is that what I did?

And then I’d hear testimonies at Bible college. I remember the day I got saved. I was in a revival meeting, and I was 13 years old.

And when the preacher preached, I could tell he was preaching right at me. And I knew I was going to hell. And you know what?

When the invitation came, just as I am without one plea, my hands, I was just grabbing the pew in front of me. And I just wouldn’t move. And he talked about, you know, sweat pouring down his face.

And then he said, finally, I don’t even know how it happened. But it was like somebody lifted me up. And I was off the pew.

And I was at the altar. I don’t know how I got there. And I just poured my heart out in prayer to God.

The deacon prayed with me. It was like the weight of the world came off my shoulders. And I’m sitting there in vespers thinking, I didn’t feel any of that.

I just read in the Bible, you must be born again. Believe in Jesus Christ. I put my faith in Jesus.

And the next day, I was a new person. And we confuse people by being imprecise. but you know what a guy came to college and he preached on john 3 36 i don’t even know who he was it wasn’t during the revival meetings it was a few weeks later and i settled it once and for all through john 3 36 which i’m going to help you do but i’m going to make this illustration one more

way about the fact it is only the word of god that will give you a firm assurance of your salvation there was a man in our church who said we have got a semi-relative a friend at least that lives in our area who is an older man who’s been sent to the hospital and he’s going to die of cancer. And we wonder if you could go up and see him. He doesn’t know you, but you could say, I am so-and-so’s pastor.

I said, I’ll be glad to do that. Well, they saw me before I got up there. And they said, have you been up there yet?

And I said, no, I go tomorrow morning. They said, well, you know, maybe you shouldn’t go up there. And I said, why not?

They said, you know what? He hates preachers. And if you go up to the hospital and see him, he’s liable to throw you out.

And I said, well, you know what? I’ve been thrown out before. It doesn’t really hurt.

So let me go down there. And I said, you’d be surprised how many people die and don’t mind seeing a preacher. So I went down there and he was alone.

And I went inside, told him who I was. He was very cordial. I asked him about his soul.

He didn’t know what would happen to his soul if he died. I took the scriptures and was showing him the scriptures. And then I found out who hated the preachers.

His wife came in. Well, the whole thing changed when she walked in the room. He didn’t want to talk to me anymore.

I was finished showing him the plan of salvation, but he didn’t want to get into it any further. So I gave him Dr. John R.

Rice’s book, What Must I Do to Be Saved? And I said, this is what we’ve been talking about. Would you read this?

He said, yes, I will. Well, then I leave. And then it isn’t long after that that these members of our church say to me, you know, they’ve sent him home now to die.

He’ll be dead in the next couple of days. I said, well, I better go see him. So I went to his house in our little town of Mayville, and I knocked on the door, and the wife came to the door.

And she had a scowl on her face. I don’t know if it was on there all the time, but at least when she saw me, it was. And she said, he isn’t feeling very well.

I said, well, I know he’s sick, and I thought maybe he might want to see me. She said, he is not, he is resting. He’s not interested in any visitors.

And his voice from the back said, who is it? She said, it’s the minister from Juniata Baptist Church. She said, tell him to come in.

All right, let me go in. I sat down with him. And then I got to the point in a few minutes that I said, you know, we did you read the book and everything.

We talked about this. Then I said, did you ask Jesus Christ to be your Savior? He said, I certainly did.

Well, then I’m leaving a lot of this out. I went to Romans 10, 13, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And I said, in the hospital, did you call upon the name of the Lord Jesus and ask him to be your savior and get you ready for heaven?

He said, yes, I did. And I said, then according to this verse of the Bible, are you saved? And when the time comes, will you go to heaven?

He says, according to that, I’ll go to heaven. And I said, how do you know? And then he said, because I’ve got a written guarantee, which is the best answer I have ever heard.

And I said, you know what? You and I are going to heaven on the same written guarantee. It’s the unchangeable word of God that guarantees it.

And so, now let’s look at John 3.36. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. Guess who said that?

John the Baptist. John the Baptist preached what? Repentance.

But it was John the Baptist who taught that we are saved by simple faith. He 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.

Two kinds of people in the world. One going to heaven, they have everlasting life. The other going to hell, the wrath of God abideth on him.

What’s the difference between the two? It doesn’t mention baptism. It doesn’t mention what church you’re a member of or good works.

It’s one thing that makes a difference. One is believing on the Son, and therefore he has everlasting life. The other one has not believed on the Son, so he will not see life, but the wrath of God is going to abide or continue on him.

Now back to the first half of the verse. Okay, ready? He that believeth on the Son of God has everlasting life.

Now you answer me back. Who is the Son of God? Jesus Christ, okay?

The word believe in the Bible means to put your faith in someone. In the Greek language, this is the verb form of the word faith. He that puts his faith in the Son of God has everlasting life.

Now, what that means is this. If a man or woman will put their faith in the Son of God to save them from their sins because he died for them and rose again, then he will give them everlasting life as a free gift so that God can say, He that puts his faith in my Son has, right now, everlasting life. All right?

Ready? Now, let me pick on anybody here who wants to be picked on. Okay, I talked to you about New Mexico, but I’ll pick on you.

I want to ask you, what’s your first name? Okay, Caleb, have you put your faith in the Son of God? Okay, you have.

And do you know when that was? When you first put your faith in the Son of God for your salvation? You know exactly when it was.

Well, then, Caleb, I can put your name in that verse. Caleb, that believeth on the Son, has everlasting life. Now, Caleb, what does that say you have?

and how do you know you have everlasting life? It says so right in the Bible. How long do you think everlasting life is going to last you?

It says you have it now. A week? Everlasting life.

And there it is right in a simple verse. And that verse, or verses like it, is what gives a person an assurance of salvation. Now let’s talk about fruit. Two words I want to talk about then I’ll be through,

but I will take questions. Fruit. Fruit. You know, people, I heard a good preacher

say, I don’t know who’s really saved. He says, I can’t judge him. I’m just a fruit inspector.

Matter of fact, he was a Texan. He’d say, I’m a fruit inspector. And so now you’ve heard that. What’s so interesting is the chapter that says, by their fruits you shall know them,

is the chapter that begins, judge not that you be not judged. And now fruit, and the other word I want to talk about is the word proof. Both of them are Bible words. And most of these you’ll

have to look up on your own, but I think I’ll remind you of several things. The word fruit in the Bible always means a product. If it is something’s fruit, it is the product of that thing. Now, if you run through your New Testament, the teachings of Jesus and the apostles and others,

you will find several kinds of fruit mentioned. Look at them down on your list there, okay? It says the fruit, the fruit of a prophet. Now, did you know that’s where it says,

by their fruits ye shall know them. He says, beware of false prophets. They are wolves in and he says, by their fruits ye shall know them. And somebody will say that means how they live,

whether they come back on Sunday night. Tell you what, if you get saved Sunday morning, you’re not back on Sunday night, brother. Tell you what, that’s not real religion. That’s not

salvation. See, you get, I was in Ireland. I’ve been there a few times.

I love the country. My wife and I were driving through a place. She went shopping, and I went into an old monastery that was kind of a public place you could look through, and it was famous from the Crusades. And I went through there and looked around, and I saw the awful idolatry and stuff they had in there

and different things that they would claim if you did this or that, you got this blessing. You know, I looked around having studied this, and I realized and thought this, and I want you to know this. Did you know that every diversion from the pure gospel that professing Christianity has ever known has come this way by saying, if you are truly saved, you will.

That’s where it has always come from. I looked around that old stone building and I said, you know, these people in darkness, these people in legalistic bondage, How did they come from the simple gospel of Jesus Christ, which early believers believed, to this all set of rules and do this. And if you don’t do that, it always starts with this.

I’m not saying you’re saved by works. I’m saying that if you’re really saved, you will do this particular work. And friends, I’m going to tell you, that’s where the quicksand is.

Now, by their fruits, ye shall know them, is talking about the product of a false prophet. Now, I’m going to go down to Matthew 12, but I’m going to come back to Matthew 7. In Matthew 12, it picks up the same thing.

It says, you don’t get bad fruit from a good tree or good fruit from a bad tree. Do you remember what that is? He says, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh.

And so the product of the heart is the words of the mouth and will be judged by. Okay, now watch. That is what Matthew 7 was about.

The words of the prophet is how you judge him. What does that mean? You know how I know that a prophet is a false prophet?

By what he teaches. You know, that’s throughout the Bible. I used to be bothered by those passages that say, you know, no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Christ accursed.

But no man can say that Christ is Lord except by the Spirit of God. Now, does that mean anybody who mouths the words, Christ is Lord, is saved? no here’s what it means it means the way you judge a prophet is by what he teaches see and it is a doctrine of the spirit of the lord that christ is lord and it is a doctrine of

the spirit of antichrist that he is not lord or that he’s accursed okay back to this how do i know a false prophet okay it’s certainly not by the signs that he does if i came to this room and i could go like this and make all this jim uh van gelden all these women fall down on the floor just by waving my hand. Does that prove I’m a true man of God? Think I could do that?

No, it doesn’t prove anything. How can you tell if I’m a true man of God or not by what I teach? False doctrine means I’m a false prophet.

That’s the product there. Product of the heart is the words of the mouth. The product of the womb is a baby.

Luke 1, 42, the fruit of your womb, Mary. Product of repentance, fruits meet for repentance, is a change in behavior, Luke 3. But read what John the Baptist says.

They say, we’ve repented. What shall we do? He says, okay, bring forth fruits, meet or fitting for repentance.

You should do this. You know, that’s talking about ought, should, not automatically will. He’s saying, now you’ve repented today, so now you have a duty to show your repentance by your actions. And the fruit of repentance,

That is the product of a heart repentance is a change in the life that comes from a change of mind. You know, the word repent in the Bible means a change of mind. So he says the appropriate sign of a changed mind is changed behavior, right? You know, people come forward at the Teen Conference on Revival, go home, and you know, that’s going to be the instruction in the bus all the way back,

is now live up to your decisions. But it’s not automatic. It is what ought to be done.

The product of a believer, John 15, where it says we’re the branches. He’s the vine, and God wants us to bring forth much fruit, and we will be his disciples if we do. That’s the product of a believer, and the product of a believer is another believer. He’s talking about reproduction, just like Paul did when he said,

I long to come to Rome so that I might have fruit among you. The product of the Holy Spirit or the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace. It’s Christian virtue.

In other words, true Christian virtue isn’t by a diligent attempt at living up to a standard. It’s the Holy Spirit producing these virtues and qualities in our life. That’s what a product is.

And the product of chastisement in Hebrews chapter 12 is righteousness. When you read about God’s chastisement, what did I go through all that about? It’s to let you know what fruit actually is.

That’s what it is. Now look, fruit in our life can be, and there’s the other word, proof. That’s a Bible word in 2 Corinthians 13.

Or evidence of my salvation. But it does not determine whether I’m saved or not. Now I think I’ll unconfuse this by saying this.

O.J. Simpson, you ever heard of him? You know, time goes so fast.

How long ago was that? Huh? 13 years, some of you weren’t even born. But those of you who remember the trial,

and how could we have missed the trial if we were even alive during that time? Okay, now, he was found. What was the verdict?

You don’t remember? Not guilty. Okay, why was that?

It was because the jury didn’t find enough evidence to prove that he killed his wife. Okay, now that means since they couldn’t prove he was a murderer, that means he’s proven innocent. Right?

No. Just because I don’t have enough evidence to prove something about you doesn’t mean that I prove the opposite. You understand what I’m saying? You know, I thought that this man over here

was the one who stole my watch. I had my watch, I think, stolen at the airport or something happened. Long story.

I don’t really think it was you. but you know I can’t prove it. Does that prove he didn’t?

Are you thinking tonight? Does that prove he didn’t? Okay, now if we had proof, let’s make it something good. Let’s say we had proof that this man,

did you go, are you a student in college or high school or what? High school or what’s your classification, senior, senior. Okay, what if we had proof that he got the highest grades of anyone in the junior class last year.

That’s a good thing, right? Okay, that would mean that on paper, he made the best record of any student in the junior class of his school. And I’m proud of him, aren’t you?

That’d be great. Okay, now, that would be proof of something that would be conclusive and it would be great and it would be good evidence that he is a hardworking student and applies himself in his studies, right? Right? Now, if I had no such proof,

If I had never seen his grade book. And he just told me. I am the best student in the junior class.

But he couldn’t prove it. Does that mean he’s not. The best student in the class.

No it doesn’t. Okay now watch. Every Christian virtue in my life.

Every victory over sin. Every blessing of God on my life. Every evidence of the new birth.

Is evidence. Of Christ in me. And we ought to look for it.

And it ought to be there. But if we can’t see it, it doesn’t mean it’s not there. I’ll probably have to say that a few more times. I remember, and you don’t want to go by experience, but I remember meeting a man who’s a pastor now

who told me about the unusual circumstances under which he was converted. And he lived in what we would call the world back before he was saved. I guess we all did.

But he was doing things that were bad. But he told me about hearing the gospel and getting saved. And told me some Christian experience in his heart about that.

But he said it was three or four years before he ever clicked into the Christian life. Started going to church, started reading his Bible. And now I know I’m talking on experience now.

But he said, I had the new birth. I was convicted that I was on the wrong path for three or four years and finally got things right. Married a good Christian woman and went on with his life.

Did you know his testimony is not unusual? Did you know that the new birth had taken place in him, but you and I just couldn’t see it? Did you know the fruit or product of the new birth may be there, but you might not notice it?

And that does not automatically mean that he isn’t saved. So those two words, fruit and proof, go together. But the Bible never says that we have to have proof, otherwise we’re not saved.

Matter of fact, it’s 2 Corinthians 13. It says, prove your own selves. It says, examine yourself whether you be in the faith.

But you’ve got to read all the verses I gave you. He starts out by saying that they were saying, we seek a proof of Christ speaking in you. Paul, we want you to prove to us that Christ is speaking in you. So he turns it around and he says,

well, if you want me to prove it, then I want you to prove it. By you living right. But in the context, what he’s saying is this. if you live right and do the words of this epistle, that’s going to be evidence and proof of your new

birth. But he is not implying that lack of it means a proof that they aren’t saved. Did I just confuse everybody worse?

I hope not. So, okay. Now, I want to talk to you about this. I think I got

this written down here and explain this to you. Then I’ll be all through, take questions. Salvation is the main issue, but it’s not the only issue. Now, look, there’s two ways to look at this problem,

And that’s this. One way is to think that salvation is the only issue. Meaning, if God saved you, there will be all of these victories.

And it’s just there. And God never saved anybody where these victories were not there. And, you know, the way it’s explained is all, is more confusing than ever.

You know, they’ll have to leave leeway. I remember a man reading the verse from 1 John chapter 2 that says, And hereby do we know that we know him if we keep his commandments. So he took from that verse and he said, you know, that verse says that if you are truly saved, you will have a deep desire to keep God’s commandments.

Well, I said, he said it in writing. So I was talking to the page. I said, it’s a friend of mine.

I said, great. That’s not what it says. It says, hereby do we know that we know him if we keep his commandments, not that if we have a deep desire to keep his commandments.

Okay, see, now here was the evidence and proof by keeping his command. By the way, back to what I’m saying is this. One point of view is salvation fixes everything.

Salvation fixes rebellion in the home, language that you use, attitude, desire for the church. Salvation fixes everything. And you know what?

Whenever you’ve got a sin in your life or a problem in your life, it’s just proof you’re not saved. So the only thing you can do about that is get, I’m going to use the term humorously, re-saved. Okay, because you never were saved.

Can I tell you, you get going down that road and you are on the wrong road. You are on the wrong road. I have someone that I dearly love, still confused today. He’s out of the ministry because he went somewhere, heard that kind of preaching,

met up with a guy, oh, a guy who is priding himself. He told my friend, he said, you know what? You are the 13th guy in full-time Christian work that I’ve helped get saved.

Now, are there people in full-time Christian work unsaved? I’m sure there are. But do you know how you get somebody saved?

Preaching the gospel to them. Death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Faith in him alone.

Not by examining your Christian life. And that’s what his whole deal was. I said, let me hear your story. And his whole deal was, even though he was in Christian work, he had not spent enough time in the Bible,

and he didn’t have a real passion for God like he should. And he got away somewhere and at a retreat, He became convinced it was because he wasn’t saved. Well, I’m going to tell you what.

You know what? Next year, when this man has a dry season in his life, now what does he do? You talk about going backwards to get re-saved again.

What if it happens again? There are people depressed, broken up because of that wrong road. And that is not biblical.

But why? Because salvation is the main issue. We will have none of the presence of Christ in our life.

We won’t have Christ in us without being saved. But it’s not the only issue. In other words, if I’m having a problem with my parents, I need to deal with the problem of disrespect and disobedience.

And not just go back and say, if I was really saved, I’d be respectful. I need to go back and get right with my parents and right with God. Now, Pastor Flanders, how do you know that salvation isn’t the only issue?

All right, here’s how. Here’s a simple way. If salvation was the only issue, if you were saved and you wouldn’t do these following things, then why do we have the epistles in the New Testament? You know, Paul in 1 Corinthians, he says,

flee idolatry. Why would he tell Christians to flee idolatry if a truly born-again Christian would never be drawn back to false religion? He says, this is awful, flee fornication.

Flee fornication. Why would he say that to a born-again Christian if a born-again Christian would never be involved in sexual sin? Matter of fact, this is stunning. In that passage, where he says flee fornication, 1 Corinthians 6, he says, God forbid that a man whose body is the temple of the Holy Ghost

would be joined with a harlot. Do you remember that? Which does say it should not happen, but that it could happen. And this is not justifying wrongdoing,

but in other words, all the epistles are telling Christians to live right. You know what? If we would automatically live right, if we got really saved, We wouldn’t need the epistles.

So what I’m saying is this. There are two ways to look at the issues of the Christian life. One is that all of the redeemed, everybody who has trusted Christ, will follow a pattern of holiness, and it’s going to be automatic. And if they fail in some way, it means to go back to the beginning

because they were never born again. And that kind of preaching gets mixed up with preaching from good churches that really follows people up. The other way is to say the main issue is salvation.

And ultimately, it’ll settle all the rest because Christ in me is the solution to all those other problems. What we’re talking about at the revival conference now, which is the spirit-filled Christian life, which is victory over our sins, that’s what’s needed. Matter of fact, my friend who’s left the ministry and got all kinds of problems, I wish he had heard the truth about the victorious Christian life instead of being talked into thinking that he had never been saved.

Do you see what I mean? In other words, there are other issues, sin issues, victory over sin, that are matters that Christians learn as to how to live right now that Christ is in their heart. Okay, now I’m going to stop and ask, what questions do you have?

And I mean, on the whole subject, even if I didn’t bring up something here.

Speaker 2: This thing in 1 John, it doesn’t say these things that are written that you might not know you’re saved. Yeah. It says these are written that you might know, but most preach it so you don’t know.

They try to use 1 John to get you not to have assurance. When the book wasn’t written, it gets you not to have assurance.

Speaker 1: Right.

Speaker 2: It was written to get you assurance.

Speaker 1: Now, I want to ask you a question because I may have nobody’s hand go up on this. how many of you know what brother jim and i are taught or he is talking about there when we say about people using the book of first john to make you doubt your salvation how many of you have any idea okay enough of you that i want to tell you a couple things to look at chapter one

tells you that the purpose of first john is that we might know how to have fellowship with him and john chapter one says god is light and it is no darkness at all john chapter four says god is love. So the message of 1 John is, if you want to walk with God, God is light, so you’re going to have to walk in the light. God is light. If you want to walk with God, fellowship with God,

got to walk in the light. God is love him, we ought to walk as he walked. That’s walking in the light. Now, it doesn’t say,

now, what does the word ought mean? Does ought mean will? If I said, you ought to be on time for the service tonight, does that mean that you automatically will? No, or if I even talked about

your family relations, my son John works here. My son John ought to respect me. Does that mean that if he was ever disrespectful to me, that means he was not my son? No, it means that as a son,

he ought to respect his dad. See, it’s an ought matter. Dr. Bill Rice used to say about 1 John, when it says, you know, if you’re born of God, you don’t sin, he’s saying like a son, like his dad

would say to him, you’re a rice and rice don’t, rices don’t do that. Does that mean he can’t do it? know, but it’s inappropriate for him to do that. And the word ought is in there, not only about

walking in the life, but also about walking in love. It says, if we love God, we ought to love one another. And ought doesn’t mean will, but thank God ought does mean can. See, I would never say

ought about something if you couldn’t do it. If I walked into a doctor’s office or a hospital in a waiting room, we’re sitting there and there’s a man sitting in a wheelchair and he really doesn’t have legs. He has nubs down to maybe about the knee, and he was born that way. And I just looked

at him, and he became incensed with him. Finally, I couldn’t hold myself back, and I got up, and I said, listen, mister, I can tell you, I bet I know what you’re doing. You’re probably on the dole somehow.

Other people are taking care of you. If you were a man, you know what you ought to do? You ought to get up out of that chair and get yourself a real job and make yourself a living. Well, if I did that in front of people, everybody would be mad at me,

because it would be crazy to say ought about somebody doing something they can’t do, right? Okay, so when 1 John says ought, it means you can do it. You can walk in the light, you can walk in love, but it doesn’t mean you automatically will, because that epistle was given to us to encourage us to live the way a Christian ought to live. And 1 John really, and another place, I’ll just say this, in chapter 2, he says, after saying something about,

if you don’t love your brother, you’re walking in darkness. Right after that, he says, I write unto you, children, because your sins are forgiven you. I write unto you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one.

And he’s making it real clear, I’m not saying these things to you because I think you’re not saved. I’m saying these things to you because I know you are saved. And I am urging you to live the way a Christian ought to live.

Any other questions? Yes, ma’am. Okay, I don’t know if I gave them to you, so let’s take a look here.

Number two, okay. Fruit can be evidence, that’s the first blank, of the new life. But it’s, now there was an error made by those who typed this up because I only sent it last week.

But its absence is not proof, so there’s no real blank there. If you write in, if you look in the answer key, it says absence. So if you wrote that in, it would be, but it’s absence.

Absence is not proof of the absence of life. Okay, absence of life. This will give you plenty to think about, but our Lord made a salvation that was, the hard part was his part.

You want to talk about a hard part of getting saved. The hard part is finding a way to get a sinner to be accepted by a holy God. and Jesus Christ took the hard part we had to there had to be someone found who never sinned himself which has not happened since Adam’s sin and then if we found such a one who had not sinned himself he would have to love us enough to volunteer to take our sins and take our penalty

you talk about very little chance that that would happen but it did happen in God’s wonderful plan and the one who had never sinned volunteered to die for my sins and rose again the third day and that was the hard part. But folks, I don’t even hesitate to say it. Being saved is easy.

Our side of it is easy. We come to Jesus Christ and that’s what he said. Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out.

Shall we pray? Oh Lord, we glory in the wonder of your grace and Lord, we hold high the standards of your holiness and every one of us ought to live according to that standard and you’ve enabled us to do so because you live right in us. And Lord, that’s what this conference is about. But Lord, we thank you for the security we have

of being accepted in the Beloved One. And may we, Lord, stand on the foundation of that security for our own Christian growth. And may we also, Lord, enlighten others to the truth that salvation is by simple faith in God’s Son.

And Lord, may many be helped because of our little talk today. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.