Romans chapter 7 in the Word of God. Romans chapter 7 is where we're at tonight. And as you're turning, all the children 4 years old up through 3rd grade may be dismissed. You can follow Mr. Drew out the back door for children's Bible time. All the children can be dismissed. And let's pause and pray and ask the Lord to help us tonight as we get in the word. Father, I need your help and I need your filling as I preach your word. Lord, may the word of God be very clear, very timely to each person here. And I pray that if there's someone in this place that does not know Christ as Savior, that tonight they would come to know him, that tonight they would receive him. I pray, Lord Jesus, that if there's someone here that's walking at a guilty distance from you and it's been a while since their heart's been warmed by the Holy Spirit flame, I pray that tonight All of that would change and they'd come back to Jesus and their heart would be turned to Him. I pray dear Lord Jesus that you'd help us as we approach the Word of God not to approach it as another book and not to approach it as we've heard all this before but I pray that we'd come with a heart that's open and tender and yielded to you. Lord, bind Satan far from this place. May he have no influence over hearts and minds. I pray for the young people in the children's meetings that the touch of heaven would be upon them and Lord, that you would save those young people and draw them to yourself and help them to give their all to you. I pray, dear Lord Jesus, that you'd work in a very unusual and a very powerful way right now. We ask this in the mighty and precious and exalted name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. In every place where I preach, I find that there are four groups of people in every setting, in every church that I preach at here or overseas, in every Christian school or even public school, in every college setting, in every camp. I've found myself preaching to four groups of people in every place. The first group of people include those that are on their way to hell and they know it. They've never trusted Christ. They've never met the condition for salvation, which is faith in Jesus Christ alone. And they know that they're lost. They know that they've never been born again, that that's what's necessary to be saved, and they've not done that. If I were to talk to them on a personal basis, and I were to say, Sir, Ma'am, where would you go if you died right now? They'd say something like this, well, I'd go to hell. They know that they've not been saved. They know that they've not been born again. They know that they're not on their way to heaven and they've never settled it. The second group of people in every place where I preach include those who are on their way to hell but they think otherwise. They think by some merit of their own, by some religious affiliation, by some pattern of good deeds that they've done, by some merit or some accomplishment religiously that they're going to heaven. They're not going to heaven because none of those things save, none of those things are what get you to heaven or wash your sin away. But they think perhaps by some religious tradition or ritual or religious affiliation or by some pedigree that they have, some good deed that they've done or some good family that they're a part of, that they're okay. If I were to talk to them on a personal basis and I were to say, sir, ma'am, where would you go if you died right now? These folks would say, well, I think I'm all right. I think you don't have to worry about me. I've always been a part of church and I've always known the Lord and you don't have to worry about me. Now they know how to talk the right talk. They know how to word the right words but they've never truly been born again. And they could be good Baptists, they could be good Presbyterians, they could be good Catholics or Lutherans or Methodists or They could be whatever religion and pretty good and pretty decent. They're good at achieving things, good at pleasing the crowd and following the rules that are set forth, but they've never come to Jesus. They've never pled guilty before the judgment bar of God and accepted His pardon. So those in the third category who are on their way to heaven but they struggle with that reality. There's been a time and place when they've trusted Christ, they've accepted the Lord as their Savior, but they struggle with that. They wonder sometimes, am I saved, am I not saved? They've met the condition for salvation, which is a decision of repentance and faith. It's faith in Jesus Christ and His Word and His way, faith in what He did on the cross, and faith in His death and resurrection, and they've done that. They've called upon the name of the Lord, but boy, there's always this tinge of doubt. in their heart and mind. If a pastor or an evangelist coming through would give an invitation and ask, how many of you know for sure you're going to heaven when you die? Raise your hand. These people would raise their hand, but they wouldn't raise it very far. They just struggle with that. They struggle and wrestle, maybe because of some false teaching they've been exposed to. Maybe because of some weakness of their own flesh. maybe because of some specific attack from the devil. They struggle with the reality of their salvation and sometimes they go back and forth and they struggle with that. Then there are those in the fourth category who are on their way to heaven And they know it. They don't doubt and wonder. They're not uncertain about the matter. They've settled the matter once and for all by coming to Jesus and believing on Christ and believing that the blood shed on Calvary was enough to wash their sin stain away. And they've accepted God's gift of eternal life. They're not wondering or hoping or wishing or trying to get to heaven. They have accepted Jesus' payment and Jesus' payment as sufficient and enough. If I were to talk to them in a personal one-on-one basis and I were to say, sir, ma'am, where would you go if you died right now? They'd say, oh, I'm going to heaven. Let me tell you about when Jesus saved me. Or they say, I'm going to heaven. I can show you from the Bible why I know that I'm going to heaven. When they put their head on their pillow at night, they don't wonder, they aren't uncertain, they're absolutely sure of it. Now, in a certain way, I'm going to address all four categories tonight, but I want to hone my sights on those in the third category, because as I've traveled all over the country over the last nearly three decades, I've found scores of people who struggle with the assurance of their salvation. Maybe in a good church, they may be under good sound preaching, but it's just an attack of the devil. The devil doesn't want you to know. If you don't know that you know, you can't grow, and the devil knows that. And so the devil's always trying to undermine, always trying to doubt, always trying to sow seeds of uncertainty in their heart and soul. And so I'm going to focus on them. I'm going to address all four categories, but I'm going to focus on those in the third category. Tonight, for a few moments, I want to preach to you on the subject, The Test of True Salvation. The Test of True Salvation. I want us to take a test tonight from the Bible. We used to preach or take a test. Today was a day off. Don't you have any mercy, any compassion? Can't you give me a break? Some of you say, Preacher, it's been a long time since I've taken one of those. I'm not so sure I'm really up to taking a test. Well, everybody's going to take a test tonight. There are eight questions on the test. of true salvation. We're going to go to 8 specific passages of scripture so we must hasten along. Notice Romans chapter 7 if you would. Romans chapter 7, I want to draw your attention to what the Bible says in Romans chapter 7. Now in this passage of scripture the Lord Jesus Christ is dealing with this matter of a struggle. And I want to draw your attention to what the Bible says in verse number 14. It says, For that which I do, I allow not. For what I would, that do I not. But what I hate, that do I not. He said, for that which I do, I allow not. Verse number 14, for we know that the law is spiritual, but I'm carnal. He says in verse number 16, if then I do that which I would not, I can send unto the law that it is good. Now then, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. For the will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not. But the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. Is anybody confused? Now this is one of those passages where you have to read the verse and you look at it again and say, huh? What did he just say? Now I wanna say there's no better way to say it than the way the Bible says it. And I don't want anybody to get the wrong impression here. There's no better way to say it than the Bible says it. In fact, I'd like to challenge you to go home tonight and try to say what the writer is saying in a more succinct manner. I guarantee you can. But here, he's simply saying this. The things that I wanna do I don't do. The things that I don't want to do, I do. And he comes along saying, I know that when I would do good, evil is present with me. Notice verse number 22. He says, verse 22, for I delight in the law of God after the inward man, but I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members. Do you see there's a war going on, a war not just going on but raging day after day after day. The things I want to do I don't do, the things I don't want to do I do. Oh wretched man that I am. Watch now, he's saying something very specific and he's talking about the first question that we're examining on our test. Number one is what I call the question of conflict. The question of conflict. Would you say that with me tonight? The question of conflict. Would you say it again please? The question of conflict. Alright, here's the question. From the time you say you got saved till right now, has there been this kind of conflict in your soul? Now this is not the conflict between a man's conscience and his own desire to do whatever he wants to do. Every man has a conscience, every woman has a conscience. We're not talking about a war going on between a conscience, a little Jiminy Cricket hopping up on your shoulder, whispering in your ear saying, I don't think this is the thing to do. I don't think this is the place to go. Now, every man has a conscience, saved or unsaved, but a conscience that's not saved, someone that's not saved has a conscience they can ignore, they can disregard that conscience. But when you get saved, God quickens every part of you, including your conscience, and the Holy Spirit comes to live within, not as a temporary guest, Not as a visitor, not just staying in an Airbnb for the night. He's coming as a permanent resident. And when he comes, he plants his flag down and he sets his colors out and he lets everybody know this is what's right and this is what's wrong. And the Holy Spirit will never be silenced. He will never be neutral on this matter of right or wrong. He will never be neutral. He will speak very clearly and very plainly. He doesn't deal in doubt. He deals in clarity. He doesn't deal in confusion. He deals in conviction. And now he comes along and starts a war. I mean a full on big time war against the flesh. It glistens, Paul said it this way. He says, walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. for the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary the one to the other, so that she cannot do the things that she would." In other words, he's saying there's a war, there's a battle. This is only in the heart of a believer. This does not exist in the heart of an unbeliever, but it does in the heart of a believer. Look what Paul said in verse number 24. He says, Oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Now, this is the word picture that he's using. The Romans were expert at torture, They were expert at crucifixion. They were expert at scourging. And oftentimes they would take a prisoner, sometimes who had killed someone, they would take that prisoner and they would tie a dead body to their back, excuse me, and they would make that person walk around until that dead body literally rotted off their back. And that's the word preacher that Paul is referring to. He's saying, I've got a dead body on me, and it's everywhere I go, and the stench of it, and it's limiting, and it's hindering me from doing what I ought to do. Oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? And the answer comes ringing clear. I thank God through Jesus Christ, my Lord, our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. So watch, he says, there's a battle, battle raging in my heart to walk with God or to depart, to walk within the narrow way, to live for Christ or go astray. Oh, this battle is raging. And watch, this rages in the heart of a believer, not in the heart of unbelievers. An unbeliever can disregard his conscience. Certainly a believer can disregard it, but a believer cannot disregard the word of the Holy Spirit. He cannot disregard the presence of the Holy One living within him. And that raging conflict goes on and on. Someone comes to me and says, Brother Dwight, I just don't know if I'm saved. And I say, well, why don't you know? Well, they say, sometimes I do what I ought not do, and sometimes I don't do what I ought do. So maybe I'm not saved. Watch. That does not negate one's salvation. In fact, that highlights one's salvation. Because an unbeliever doesn't care. And an unbeliever can have a conscience that's concerned about right and wrong, but he doesn't care about pleasing the Lord or not pleasing the Lord. It makes no difference to him. He can sin and sin and sin, and it doesn't bother him. He can do wrong and not do right, and it doesn't bother him. Unbelievers in this county don't care whether they go to church on Sunday morning. They don't care whether they're here in revival meetings or not. They don't care whether they tithe or not. That's the last thing on their radar. That's the last thing they're thinking about. You see a person can sin, a Christian can sin. Can a Christian sin? Should a Christian sin? No. But can a Christian, is he able, is it possible for him to sin? Yes. But can a Christian sin and it not bother him? No. So number one is the question of conflict. Would you say it with me? The question of conflict. Quickly turn with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. Would you 2 Corinthians chapter 5 in the Word of God? I draw your attention to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. Notice please what the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5 and verse number 17. It says, Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. He's talking about our position in Christ. And when a person gets saved, everything is new. Everything is brand new. When you get saved, everything changes. This is number two, the question of change. Number two, would you say it with me? The question of change. Would you say it again? The question of change. Alright, here's the question. From the time you say you got saved until now, has there been Holy Spirit change in your life? Scriptural change in your life? Now this is an important question. Now, theologically and positionally, when a person gets saved, they're placed in Christ, on the cross, in the grave, up from the grave, ascended and seated at the right hand of the Father. They instantly become trophies of God's grace, set on full display for all the universe to see. That's the change that happens supernaturally. There's a change that happens inwardly because the burden of sin is rolled away. He's separated us from our sins as far as the east is from the west and he buries our sins in the depths of the sea when we accept his gift and his gift of eternal life. But then there's a change, that's an inward change, but then there's an outward change. An outward change that begins to develop over time. My dad said, son, when I got saved as a 17 year old boy in 1951, He said, before I got saved, I'd use language that would make my unsaved friends blush. He said, but when God saved me, He just took that language away. And He changed it, and He changed it supernaturally. And it wasn't something that was difficult. It was just something that the Lord just took away. Now watch, listen carefully. That's not the way all sin works. That's not the way all change works, but when God saves you, He begins a changing process. And if there's no change, there's no Bible salvation. Bible salvation brings change. It brings a transformation in a person's life. In fact, I'll give $1,000 to anybody tonight, tonight, that can show me someone from the Bible who came to Jesus and who was saved and who didn't walk away changed. whose life wasn't changed. You see, Jesus changes us from the inside out. There's change that's obvious to us. There's change that's obvious to the Lord. There's change that becomes obvious to those around us. You see, this is called the question of change. If any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. That's why one songwriter wrote the What a wonderful change in my life has been wrought since Jesus came into my heart. Another songwriter wrote, put it this way, the things I used to do, I don't do them anymore. The places I used to go, I don't go there anymore. The songs I used to sing, the words I used to speak, I don't speak them anymore. There's been a great change since I've been born again. When you get saved, God changes your life and changes your perspective and changes your desires and changes your focus and changes your destiny and changes your direction. He's just in the business of changing people's lives. You want to change this old wicked world? Get the gospel in it. And you know, we can talk a lot about that. But if we want millions to be saved, then millions are going to have to hear the gospel. And if millions are going to hear the gospel, then Christians are going to have to arm themselves with the gospel and be ready to give the gospel. And when they do, you can expect when people receive the gospel, their life will be changed. My mom was saved when she was 11 years old. She went forward in a in a service and her grandpa came and knelt beside her. And when she got up, there were tears in his eyes because he was so glad his granddaughter had been saved. And then she thought, well, if I go to school tomorrow morning, will everybody see a difference just by looking at my face? What was she thinking about? She was thinking along new lines. Jesus had saved her and she thought, will they be able to look at my face and see the change that I feel within? You see, God's in the business of changing you. Now I want to caution you right here and listen carefully to what I say. When I was saved, I was four years old. I lived in northwestern Indiana in Merrillville, Cherreville. And I lived in a Bible-preaching home, in a Bible-teaching home. Mom and Dad didn't just send me to church, they took me to church. And I went to a good, sound Bible-preaching church. Now you know what I wasn't doing? I wasn't running a drug ring into Gary, Indiana. But I was a dirty sinner that needed a Savior. All right, now watch, watch. It's easy for us to look and compare our experiences. Don't compare your experience. If somebody is going to come to Jesus in one part of life, a little different than someone comes in another part of life. And so it would be easy for someone who was saved like me to sit in the sit in the auditorium or the service and hear somebody get up who was saved a little later in life and say when God saved me they saved me out of drugs or alcohol or fornication or whatever and immediately there was all this change that took place and I could be tempted to sit and say well it didn't happen to me that way maybe I'm not saved now you know this happens And a person may say, well, it didn't quite happen to me like that. Maybe I don't have what's real. Now watch. Don't compare the extent of change. Compare the existence of change. Let me say that again. Don't compare the extent of change. Compare the existence of change. If there's no change whatsoever from the moment you got saved until now, and there's no desire, and there's no direction change, and there's no ambition change, and there's no heart change, and there's no perspective change, then you ought to look back and say, well, maybe whatever happened was just something that was insincere or just a brush over. It wasn't real or genuine. But if, watch. If there's change, that's an evidence of salvation. It's a mark, it's a fruit of real salvation. Alright, so number two is the question of change. Quickly, turn to Hebrews chapter 12, would you? Hebrews chapter 12 in the Word of God, just a little bit to your right. You'll find Hebrews chapter 12, a few books along. And when you come to Hebrews chapter 12, I draw your attention to what the Bible says in Hebrews chapter 12 and verse number 4. Hebrews chapter 12 and verse number 4. The Bible says, you have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you, as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him. For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. Now, he's speaking here about this third question on the test of true salvation. Notice verse number 7. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, we're of all our partakers, then are ye bastards and not sons." Alright, now what's the Bible saying? Here's what the Bible's saying. Here's the third question on the test of true salvation. It's what I call the question of correction. The question of correction. Would you say that with me tonight? The question of correction. And again please, the question of correction. All right, here's the question. From the time you say you got saved until now, has there been any correction in your life? Divine correction? The Bible asks the question, what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? Now that's a good question. You ought to study the questions of the Bible. You'll come up with all kinds of really good questions. And then you ought to go through and answer all the questions in the Bible. Now listen, what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? You know what the answer is? Doesn't exist. There's no such creature. God takes seriously this matter of parenting and he chastens his own. And you ought to chasten your own. Some lady comes to me and says, Oh, I could never chasten or correct my little Susie or my little Johnny or whatever. I could never do that. Well, then you ought to just go march right down to the police department and reserve a room right now. Because if you don't correct them, somebody else eventually will have to. And so it's your responsibility. It's your duty. It's your task. It's your privilege. It is your divine mandate to correct your child. And do you know God corrects his own? He corrects his own. You say, well, preacher, how does he do that? Well, now that's a very good question. Let me give you five ways that he corrects quickly. Number one, he'll correct with a look. He'll correct with a look. If you can think through the Bible, you can find somebody who was corrected with a look. You remember when you were over at your friend's house and you just finished a five-course meal, pushed away from the table, loosened a couple notches on your belt, and all the adults, they went into the front room or into the side room with coffee or tea and maybe an extra cookie or two. And all the kids, they went upstairs and they're playing video games or they're rummaging through the cartoons or the comic books, or the baseball card collection, or whatever, and you're over at your friend's house, all of a sudden, your friend calls your name. And you look up and find yourself staring down a fully loaded, automatic super soaker. Now for those parents here and adults that don't know what that is, that's a squirt gun on steroids. And you thought you were in a safe place and now your mind races and you think I don't have dry clothes and not here and not now and not ever and you dive under the bed and dart in the closet and shoot out the door and run down the stairs and your friend is in hot pursuit firing away as you go. and you run right in through the front room and just about knock your dad's coffee off his lap and run into the kitchen and you get to the kitchen and you feel a strange sensation like someone's watching you and you look behind you and your mom and dad are. And they've got their coffee, and they've got their little pinky out to kind of show they're cultured, and they know how to behave even if their kids don't, and they're looking at you. And they both have smiles like everything's fine, but as you look closely, their eyeballs have been replaced with hot glowing embers. You know what I'm talking about? They're trying to get your attention. They don't want to snap because that would be too conspicuous, and they don't want to say anything, but they're surely giving you the look. You understand? What are they trying to do? They're trying to correct you with a look. You say, preacher, does God do this? Yes. The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. The Bible says the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his going. Psalm 139 says, Whither shall I go from thy spirit? Whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall thy hand hold me, and thy right hand shall guide me. The Bible says the eyes of the Lord run to and fro across the face of the earth. to show himself strong on the behalf of them that fear him. God's eyes are watching and the fact that God sees me many times prevents me from doing what I ought not do. Many times motivates me to do what I ought do. But watch, watch. Do you remember when Jesus was in the court of Gabbatha, and they were trying him back and forth. First they took him to Herod, then back to Pilate, and in the process, before Annas the high priest in Caiaphas, you remember this? And you remember how that they were questioning him, and Peter was watching afar off, warming himself at the fire of the wicked. He was the one who just hours earlier had said, though all would forsake you, I'll never forsake you. And Jesus said, you'll have denied me three times before the cock crows thrice. And what happened? They came and they said, you're one of the followers of Jesus. No, no, I'm not. And they came again. Yes, yes, I've seen you with him. You're one of the followers of Jesus. No, no, no, I'm not. And again, a girl said, yes, yes, your speech betrays you. And he cursed and swore. What does the Bible say? The Bible says Jesus looked at Peter. It doesn't say that he said his name. It doesn't say that he said Simon, Simon and shook his head. He just looked and Peter went out and wept bitterly. Listen to me. God wants us to remain so tender to him that all we need is the knowledge of his look to motivate us to do what's right and to keep us from doing wrong. And when we've done wrong to get it right. He said, preacher, what if we don't respond to the look? Well, then it gets more severe. Look at what he says at the end of Hebrews chapter 12 and verse number 5. He says, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him. Now, a reproof and a rebuke is generally verbal. And if we don't respond to the look, God will use his word to correct us. You're in the kitchen. You're breathing heavy. You've got your hand on the island. You're thinking, how could this attack come from a so-called friend? You have no dry clothes. There's no way that you can change clothes. It'd be uncomfortable, and still they attacked you with this super soaker. And you're trying to think of strategies and countermeasures and counterstrategies and all of the above. And all of a sudden, your friend just stands up from behind the other side the island. They got there first. They got the home court advantage. They figured out how to get there. Your eyes get wide as saucers and you, without engaging brain, just hasten and act. And you run right back through the room where your parents and your friend's parents are solving all the world's problems and discussing all the important news items of the day. And this time you just about knock your mom's coffee all over her lap and all over the couch and all over the carpet and you get to the door and you grab the knob and you just about step outside and you hear this low, guttural, almost demonic-like sound. It's your dad calling your name, all five of them. You know what I'm talking about? Now watch, this is mom or dad trying to correct you with a word. The look didn't take, so the word must do. That's why we emphasize preaching the Word of God. That's why the sermon is the most important part of the service. That's why we emphasize reading your Bible through. That's why we say families ought to talk about the Bible and read and study the Bible. That's why we encourage you to memorize the Bible, because it doesn't matter what the question is, the answer's always the same, more Bible. And when you get the Bible in your life, there's so much there to correct you and keep you on the right way. You see, we say, preacher, what if we don't respond to the word? Then the matters get more severe. Look at what he says in verse eight. He said, for whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth. Now you ought to do a study in the Old Testament and find the word chastening as it relates to rod. And we've talked about this already this week. Sometimes the Lord would send sword, or famine, or pestilence, or some other kind of physical tragedy in a person's life. Not because He hated them, but because He loved them. He wanted them to turn back to Him. And when we don't, then there comes a more severe measure because the Lord's trying to get our attention. He's trying to get us to come back to Him. The Bible says, Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth. In other words, He's doing this like a shepherd would break the lamb's leg that is just always wandering, always wandering, and then He would set that bone and He would put it in place and carry that lamb around Him. He's trying to correct that lamb so it won't continue to wander, and God's trying to do that with you. Sir, God's trying to do that with you tonight. God brought you to this place tonight so that you could hear a preacher with leather lungs point his finger and say, tonight's the night to get right with God because he loves you. He doesn't want you wandering off. He doesn't want you going your own way. All we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his own way. And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. God doesn't want us to continue wandering. Once we get saved, now we ought to follow the shepherd. My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. But if we don't respond to the word, God will use his rod. Now watch, look at verse number eight. He said, whom the Lord loveth, he chasteth and scourgeth. Now do you see how it's getting more severe? First it's a look, then it's a word, then it's a rod, now it's a whip. A scourge is more severe than just a rod. Chastening or scourging is more severe than chastening. Scourging is what they did to Jesus when they beat him under Roman scourging, numbers of times. A scourging is what they did with the Apostle Paul on three occasions, 40 stripes save one. Scourging is more severe than chastening. Maybe this is when God takes something very precious, God alters our direction, God changes our plans, and he does something very earth shattering. Now watch, not everything that happens that is a tragedy. is God scourging and chasing. Sometimes He's purging or pruning. We touched on this lightly yesterday. Sometimes He's drawing us and the impurities out of our life. Sometimes He's doing something that only He alone will know until we get to glory. But watch, one of the first things we ought to ask when something like this happens of great magnitude is, God, is there something in my life that has precipitated you to try to get my attention? Lord, would you speak to me? He said, well, preacher, what if we don't respond to the scourge? Then God will use the coffin. 1 John 5, there is a sin unto death. James chapter 5, there is a sin unto death. I do not say that you should pray for it. Listen to me. A Christian can go so far, so far, so far in their rebellion and they can cross a line which only the Lord knows and the Lord says, all right, you've blasphemed my name too long. You'll say, you've given the enemies of God reason to blaspheme. Too long, I'm going to take you home in a premature grave. There could be someone here tonight who has been insisting on their own stubborn, rebellious way against God, saying, I'm going to have my sin, and I'm going to have my way, and you won't be here in a year if you continue on to stubbornly resist God. Proverbs 29, one, he that being often reproved, hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. Now watch, God sends correction. Has there been any correction, the first four in your life from the moment you got saved? Look at 1 John quickly. 1 John, hasten along to your right just a few books along and you'll be in 1 John past James and 2 Peter you'll come to 1 John chapter 1. I draw your attention to 1 John 1 and verse number 7. The Bible says in 1 John 1 and verse 6, if we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, 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. Now this fellowship I used to think was horizontal. If I'm walking in the light and Brother Jose is walking in the light, then we're gonna have good fellowship. And I believe that's true. But I don't believe that the fellowship primarily here in this passage is horizontal, I believe it's vertical. If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another in the blood of Jesus Christ, his son cleanseth us from all sin. In other words, if I'm walking in the light like he is in the light and that he is the light, I'm gonna have sweet fellowship with the Lord. Number four is the question of communion. The question of communion. Would you say that with me? The question of communion. Would you say it again? The question of communion. Now by this I do not mean the elements of the Lord's table. I'm not talking about that. That is just a beginning stage. That's an encapsulated form of our sweet fellowship that ought to take place on a regular basis. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the regular daily communion that a Christian, only a believer, can have with God. Do you have that? Do you have that? When you get saved, immediately the channels of communication are opened between you and the Lord. Immediately you've been reconciled to God by His Son, Jesus Christ. He said, no man cometh unto the Father but by Me. I am the way, the truth, and the life. In other words, immediately He's reconciled us to Himself through the blood of the cross and now, now we can talk to the God of heaven and God hears us. And now we can open the Bible and God speaks to us. An unsaved person doesn't understand the Bible. That's oftentimes why he doesn't read it and doesn't want to read it because he's never accepted the Lord as his Savior. I was with my dad in the ER on Friday and we were there for a good portion of the day and my dad was giving out some gospel tracts and giving out these Bible reading charts and he asked his nurse that was tending to him, he said, do you read the Bible? And she gave a quick no. like she wasn't interested in that. Well, unsaved people don't read the Bible. We wouldn't want to try to get unsaved people to get a habit of reading the Bible, although that surely could lead them to Christ. But that's not what they need. They need to be saved first and foremost. And there's no reason to expect an unsaved person to do anything but what unsaved people do. And so here in 1 John 1, he talks about sweet fellowship that we have. Do you have communion? Do you read the Bible and get word from the Lord? Do you pray and your prayers get further than the ceiling? All right, now that's only possible for a believer. The Bible says in John chapter 12, John 9, if any man be a worshiper of God and doeth his will, him he heareth. But if any man be a sinner, God does not In other words, he's under no obligation whatsoever to respond and to commune with unbelievers, and he doesn't do it. If there are certain exceptions in the Bible, like Cornelius, it was because they were obeying the light that was given them, and God was giving them more light. But God doesn't have, he has no obligation, and he has in no way obligated himself to speak to and to have sweet daily communion with unbelievers. But He does with those of us that are saved. And isn't it sweet? So watch number 5. Number 4 is the question of communion. Look at 1 John 2 quickly. 1 John 2. Look at what the Bible says in 1 John 2 and verse number 3. He says, Hereby we do know that we know Him if we keep His commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected. Hereby know we that we are in him. All right, watch. Now he's talking about the question of commitment. The question of commitment. Again, these are fruits and marks and evidences that show that Jesus is within me. Hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his commandments. This is what the Bible is saying. The Bible is saying that if you're saved, then there's going to be a new pattern of commitment to following the Lord. Here's the question of commitment. Would you say it with me? The question of commitment. Would you say it again? The question of commitment. Alright, here's the question. From the time you say you got saved until now, has God put a desire to follow Him? A new pattern of commitment to following Him? My sheep hear my voice. And I know them and they follow me. Now I want to say when you get saved, the preacher shouldn't have to put a double stuffed Oreo on your front steps and every couple of feet all the way to the church house to get you to church. Now I will say, if you put a double-stuffed Wario on my front doorsteps all the way to the church house, I'm coming. That's the kind of church I believe in right there. And God bless double-stuffed Warios, can I get an amen right there? I don't know, whoever thought of Thins, I don't even know, whoever thought of that, They must have just been a flunky or on drugs or something. Thins, I mean, we're talking about Oreos. What in the world are you thinking, thins? We're going for more, not less. I mean, it must have been an abiding depression when that was invented. But anyway, so watch now. When you get saved, you shouldn't have to have all these outside extra things motivating you. You have Jesus within you motivating you to follow him. Now, it doesn't mean we always follow him. He said, Preacher, I'm not always committed like I ought to be. That's not the question. The question is, has he put any commitment within you? When you get saved, there's a new desire and there's a new pattern and there's a new life. There's a desire to live. A little baby will scream its head off. if you don't feed it food. That's why the Bible says, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby. Maybe we need some Christians that'll lose all their dignity and scream their full head off so that they can get some food from heaven. Now watch, question number five is the question of commitment. Has God changed your commitment and motivated you to follow him? Quickly look at 1 John chapter three. Notice 1 John chapter 3. I draw your attention to what the Bible says in verse number 14. He says, We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer, and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. Alright, what's this? This is number 6, the question of charity. The question of charity. Would you say it with me? The question of charity. Here's the question. From the time you got saved until now, has God changed your love life? You say, well, what a question. Well, it is a question and it's something you need to ask. You see, before a person gets saved, they look at those of us that are saved and they say, Those people are crazy. Those people down at Currytown, they're half crazy. I've watched them on YouTube. They'll amen the announcements. I'm telling you, those folks are one, they're a little crazy. And they'll say, oh, they'll sing, and some of them can hardly carry a tune in the bucket, and they'll just sing to the top of their lungs. They'll sing. sing like they actually know what they're doing, and then they'll gather for preaching three, count it, three times a week. I mean, that's crazy. I mean, I think maybe twice a year is about enough, but three times a week, that's just a little overboard. Those folks are crazy. And then they'll say, it's time to tithe and time to give, and they'll start passing a plate and have guys all dressed up in the same color coats going around and collecting it all, and people gladly reaching their purses and pockets and get whatever they can, and they give. And they tell me they give a tithe of everything that they possess. That's crazy. I wouldn't give a tithe. I couldn't afford it. I wouldn't give it if I had it. Those people over there, they're one brick short of a load. They're one fry short of a happy meal. There's something wrong with those people. Right? And then they get saved. And they say service. What time is the service? Oh, I want to be there. Ain't got preaching going on and singing and shouting and praising. I want to be there. And they say, song, what page are we on? They're grabbing the hymnal, and they don't even have it upside right. They're looking at it, but they're trying to figure it out. And they get it figured out, and they say, what page are we on? And they just join in and get crazy like the rest of us. Give, what's time to give? Wow, I wanna give. You see, now this doesn't all happen. Certainly there's a process of growth and sanctification, but there's some life and there's such a difference between life and death, it's not even a fair contest. Such a difference between light and darkness, it's not even, it shouldn't even be a competition. It shouldn't even be held. Light beats darkness by a country mile. And when God gives light and God gives life, all of a sudden there's brand new life and God changes their love life. And they love to be around the brethren. Do you love the brethren? We used to preach, I don't love all the brethren. Some of them kind of getting on my nerves lately, or my last nerve. Well, now, if that weren't a problem, he wouldn't have put it in the Bible. Of course, we always have to be cultivating our love and learning to forgive and learning to seek it and learning to offer it. But watch, watch, when God saves you, He gives you a love for the brethren, you say, wow, God's people are the best people. And you mean to tell me people like this have been right here in my neighborhood all this time, and I never knew anything about it? You know what God did? He changed your love life. Look at 1 John chapter 4 quickly. I'm trying to help you tonight. Look at 1 John 4. Notice what he says in verse number 13. Hereby know we that we dwell in him and he in us because he hath given us of his spirit. And we have seen and do, here's the word, testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. He says in verse number 16, verse number 15, whosoever shall, here's the word, confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in Him, and He in God. This is the question I call number seven, the question of confession. Now I don't mean here by confessing your sins. I mean here you're confessing Jesus, you're agreeing with God that Jesus is the Son of God and He's the Savior of the world and He's my Savior. You're testifying that He's the only one that can wash sin away. You see when you get saved God helps you to confess. My dad said one thing that kept me from getting saved was I knew I was going to have to go public with it. And he said I was shy and backward and I didn't want to do that. And he said, I was laying on my bed in February of 1951, and I was looking eyeball to eyeball with one of the evangelists that had come up from the Bible College down in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, and I said, well, if you're saved, do you have to confess Christ? In other words, he said, I meant, do you have to tell people about it? And the evangelist wisely said, no, but if you're saved, you'll want to. He said, my dad rolled over and looked at the wall and prayed and asked Jesus to save him, and he hasn't been able to keep quiet about it since. You should see him. His new hobby now is going to the doctor, and I think the new hobby is so that he can get out and meet people, and he gives everybody these gospel tracts in his testimony, wanting to tell everybody about Jesus. Watch, I'm simply saying to you that when you get saved, God begins to put within you a new song, and he puts in that desire to tell everybody. Jesus had to tell those that he led to himself, don't tell anybody, and the word still got out. The Samaritan woman went and brought a whole town to Jesus. Why? She said, come see a man which told me all things that ever I did. Is not this the Christ? Now watch, watch, listen carefully. If you have the first seven, they're marks, they're evidences, they're fruits. But the last one is the litmus test. It's the acid test. It determines whether or not you have been saved. Look at it, 1 John 5 and verse 9. If we receive the witness of men, The witness of God is greater. For this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. Now I'm trying to help you tonight. I found there are two groups of people that struggle with the assurance of their salvation. Maybe pastor can verify this. Those that are analytical particularly struggle with the assurance of their salvation. They make good engineers. They ask lots of questions Sometimes they ask too many questions. Sometimes they forget what questions they asked in the first place. And they're the kind of people that can take a problem apart and solve it. They're good math people. They're the kind of people that can take a machine apart and put it back together. And it's all there. They're good at analyzing things. And sometimes their strength becomes their weakness. They say, well, I admit it, I was a sinner. Way back when, but I didn't admit I was a dirty, filthy, rotten sinner. Maybe I'm not saved. They say, well, I prayed, but I don't know if I prayed all the right words in all the right order. They'll say, well, I prayed, but I'm not sure if I meant it or truly was in every way, in every place sincere. And they're thinking through it and they get what I call fog. fog on the brain, the paralysis of analysis. And they ask so many questions after a while, they don't know which way is forward, and which way is backward, and which way is sideward. And they come to the pastor, and they come forward again, and again, and again. And they counsel with the pastor, the pastor's wife, or others, over, and over, and over. And they struggle, and they struggle. And another preacher comes in, preaches a hard message against sin, a hard message about hell. And they think, I gotta get saved all over again. And they struggle. They're in the third category. They've met the condition for salvation. But they analyze it so much, they begin to get just completely confused. Number two, those that are emotional struggle with the assurance of their salvation. Now ladies, you won't be offended would you? If I said the female gender has a bit of a tendency to be more emotional than the male gender, I may be overstating it. But when you take someone who is analytical, and emotional, I guarantee you they'll struggle with their assurance of their salvation at some point. Now, I'm not hoping they will. I'm not thinking that they should. I'm just saying that's just a reality and a fact of life. Years ago, I heard a fine preacher. If I mentioned his name, you'd know it. He's in heaven now, so he's got it straightened out. But I heard him early in the morning say, if you doubt whether or not you're saved, you're not saved. Excuse me, I don't believe that. Not for a minute. And I don't believe you can give me one verse of scripture to support that. Look here, the devil wants you to doubt. Your flesh wants you to doubt. Look here, you're going to have attacks against you and some people are more certain than others partly because of their own makeup and their own nature and their physical personality. Sometimes it's just because of maybe their salvation later in life. Look here, that's an unbiblical and unwarranted statement. Now watch here. You need to be reminded of the preacher named Uncle Buddy Robinson. He was preaching just like I was and every night somebody came forward. The man came forward every night. Same man. He was dealt with by every personal worker in the place. Finally, the last night the pastor or Brother Bud Robinson came down and said, I'll deal with him tonight. He got down on the altar. He said, Sir, what's wrong? He said, Well, I don't know if I'm saved. He said, well, why don't you know if you're saved? He said, don't you know that you're a sinner? He said, yes. Don't you know that Jesus died on the cross to save you? He said, yes. Don't you know that if you'll put your faith in Him, He'll save you? He said, yes, well, right now, call upon him and ask him to save you. And the man called out, and Uncle Buddy Robinson said, well, what of it? He said, well, I just don't feel saved. He said, well, don't you know that you're a sinner? He said, yes, don't you know that Jesus loves you? He said, yes, don't you know that he died on the cross to pay for your sin? He said, yes, don't you know that if you'll call upon him, he'll save you? He said, yes, well, call upon him right now. And the man called out for the Lord to save him, and Uncle Buddy Robinson said, well, what of it? He said, well, I don't feel saved. He said, well, don't you know that you're a sinner? He said, don't you know that Jesus loves you? And about the third or fourth time, while the man was praying, Uncle Buddy Robinson got his tie tack, and he positioned it strategically in his hand. And when the man said amen, he walloped him on the back, said, he said, yeah, I feel it, I feel it. So what am I saying? I'm saying feelings come and feelings go and feelings are deceiving. I'll place my faith in the Word of God. None else is worth believing. That's what I'm saying. Now watch, this is the litmus test. This is the acid test right here. Look at verse 9, 1 John 5. He said if we receive the witness of men, do we receive the witness of men? Yes. No one here doubts whether or not the new president is President Trump. Nobody doubts whether or not Biden served his last day yesterday. You say, I saw it on TV. It has to be so. Well, we hope so. We're kind of learning more and more to trust the media less and less. But the truth is, is that we receive the witness of men. Nobody doubts that there's an Arctic blast coming along. Nobody doubts what the weather is going to be on Friday or Saturday. Of all people in the world, we ought to doubt it's the weatherman, but we don't even give him a second thought. We've received the witness of men. Look at what he says, verse 9, If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. And this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. Verse number 10, He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself. He that believeth not God hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. 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. You either have the Son or you don't. You either have eternal life or you don't. Verse 13, 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. All right, watch. This is what he's saying. It's the question number eight, and finally, of confidence. Would you say it with me? The question of confidence. Here's the question. Has there been a point in time when you have put your confidence in and only in Jesus Christ that he died and rose again for you? I'm not asking if you were catechized or confirmed or sprinkled or baptized three times forward and one time backward. I'm not asking if you were sprinkled or dunked or poured or squirted with a squirt gun. I'm asking, have you been born again? Has there been a point in time when you put your confidence, your faith in Jesus Christ and received his gift of eternal life? If so, you're saved and you should walk out here with your hands raised high saying, I passed the test. If not, God Almighty brought you to this place so that you could get it settled. So get it settled. It's no more complicated than that. All the first seven, they may or may not exist to one measure or another as far as fruits go, but this one you can answer unequivocally tonight. There has been a point in time when I have put my faith in Christ, or there has never been a point in time when I put my faith in Christ and His payment complete for my salvation. And if not tonight, God brought you here to be saved. My cousin and her family they were out in the boat and they were canoeing and they were coming back to shore and they thought that everything was fine but they didn't know there was something lurking in the water near the shore. It was their mother. And she was an eternal prankster, and she was lurking under the water. And just when they came close enough, she jumped up and grabbed the side of the canoe and started rocking it violently. And my cousin didn't have her life jacket on. She went into the water. And everybody went in the water. And she started thrashing wildly around, help! Help! Help! I'm drowning! Help! Until finally her daddy was standing nearby, and he said, stand up! and she stood up in waist-deep water. Now maybe somebody came tonight thrashing wildly around for no good reason and you have trusted Christ and the rock of ages is underneath you. I say in the name of Jesus Christ, stand up and thank God for the salvation that He's given you. Would you bow with me in prayer? Your heads are bowed and your eyes are closed. I thank you for your patient attention to the Bible. I want you to be honest now. How many in this room would say, Brother Dwight, I know that I'm saved, but as you were preaching, God has used his word to correct me tonight. There's something in my life that is not right, and he's used his word or his look to correct me. Would you pray that I'd get it right? If that's you, would you slip up your hand, slip it up high? Thank you. God bless you. Question number two, if you just raised your hand in a moment we're going to begin, but you don't have to wait. You can come right now. If God's touched your heart, you need to get something right. You come on to Jesus. Question number two, I want to ask, is there anybody here that's a preacher? I came in that third category, but I realized tonight that I have trusted Christ. and I don't need to leave in the third category. I'm leaving in the fourth category. If that's you, heads are bowed and eyes are closed. You say, preacher, I've been plagued with doubt lately, and I'm moving tonight from doubtful to trusting Christ. I know that I've been saved. There's been a time and a place when I've called upon Him, and I don't need to doubt another minute. If that's you, would you slip your hand up high, slip it up high? Okay. All right, God bless you. Anyone else along with these? Okay. Anyone else? I wonder with your heads bowed and eyes closed, if you said, Preacher, I can say along with these that have raised their hand that I know that I'm saved. There's been a time and a place when I've called upon Christ and he saved me. I'm not wondering or wishing or hoping I'll go to heaven. I know I'll go to heaven when I die. If you don't know that, don't raise your hand. But if you can join these that have just raised their hand, would you just lift your hand up high. Preacher, I know that I'm saved. I'm sure that I'm on my way to heaven. God bless you. You can put your hands down. I wonder, is there anybody here or listening by way of live stream that would say, Brother Dwight, I don't know. I need to know and I wish I know, but I don't know. And I want to get this matter settled and I don't want to wait any longer. If that's you, would you slip up your hand? Is there anybody here like that? Preacher, please pray for me. I'm not sure I'm saved, but I want to be and I want to know that I'm saved. Pray that I get it settled tonight. Anyone at all? Slip up your hand. Let me pray for anyone. Let's stand, please, with our heads bowed and our eyes closed. Precious Father, help us, I pray, to respond rightly to Your Word. Help us, I pray, not to wait, not to hesitate. There are at least three or four, there may have been five that raised their hand saying they came in the third category, but with Your help, they're going to move into the fourth category. They came doubting, they're going to leave thanking You for salvation. Help them, Lord, to nail it down tonight. And I pray to You, Lord Jesus, for these that Maybe couldn't raise their hand saying they know they're going to heaven. Help them to get saved. Help them not to put it off or let pride hinder them. Help them to come to Jesus. I pray this in the wonderful name of our Savior. Amen. Heads are bowed, eyes are closed. The pianist is playing. Would you come? Don't wait. Come on right now. The altar is open. If you need help, you come on. There's people that can pray with you. There's people that are ready to pray with you. Would you come? Would you sing that first verse if you know it? If you don't, just hum it along. The pastor's coming shortly. Would you come? Would you come? Don't wait. Just as I am without one plea, a bath thy blood was shed for me. that thou bidst me come to thee, O Lamb of God.