Please find Ephesians chapter four. I'm gonna be reading only verses four through six. We'll continue to be developing this text as we have already started, but beginning in verse four. There is one body and one spirit just as you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all. Let's pray. Oh Lord, we thank you for this very clear language to help us to understand what it means to believe. I pray that you would confirm the salvation of every person here one way or another. I pray that you would do a work of confidence and assurance of faith. I pray that you would separate the sheep from the goats. I pray that you would help all of us examine our own hearts according to your word and Lord that you would have mercy upon us that you would place us in your body with one Lord one faith one baptism one God and father of all. Oh Lord that you would unite us together in Jesus Christ and in Christ alone. We thank you for that unity and all of what it means. Lord, it's such a blessing to be found in you. And oh God, that you would move all of us to deeper understanding of what it means to be in you. Amen. Please be seated. So this message is part of the series we're doing on the church. We want everyone to get a refresher course on why we're doing what we're doing in this church to understand what it means to be a part of a local church. We started this series talking about the love that Jesus Christ has for his church and we asked, do you love his church that way? We talked about the fact that the church is a communion of converted sinners, that it is, there are various metaphors that are used of the church, all of them beautiful and give a different perspective on the church. We've talked about the church as a household, like it's like a family. We've talked about the church that it's a nation. It has laws, it has boundaries. It has ways of going about. We've talked about a prayer that the Apostle Paul prays for a local church, the church in Ephesus. And we've talked about the pivotal nature of teaching in the church, that God has appointed various teachers in the church for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry. We're turning a corner now here. We're gonna begin talking about the unity of the church. We're gonna begin at the beginning of the unity of the church, but we'll continue to speak about it in the afternoon service. Today, Kella Jennings is gonna bring a message on some applications of this unity that we're gonna talk about this morning. Next week, I'll do the very same. I'll continue to elaborate on what it means, practically, to be unified. in the church. But these verses here, verses four through six, they explain the foundational element of the unity of the church. Six times in these verses, the apostle explains the church using one word, one. And he is speaking of the essential unity of the body of Christ. Gerald Bilkes explains this in just a few words by saying, every true member of Christ's church partakes of the spiritual essence of the church. That's what this is about. It's about the spiritual essence of the church. We are united to Christ. He has united us to one another. He has joined and fit us together in Christ. That is our unity. Our unity isn't demographic. It's not social. It's not economic. It's not ethnic, it's not based on friendship, it's not based on being nice to one another in the church. It's actually based on Jesus Christ and Christ alone and his work on the cross. It's not founded on having peaceful relationships, while that is an implication, a necessary implication of it, and it's not based on whether you are reformed or dispensational in your doctrine. It's based on Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone. It's also very clear here that our unity is not inclusive. This is the exclusive unity of the church of Jesus Christ. What this is saying is that all paths don't lead to God. There is only one God. Our unity is not based on inclusivity. It's actually based on exclusivity. Because there are some who are members of the body of Christ and some who are not. A testimony of the exclusivity of this unity. You know, there are all kinds of people in the world. Different traditions, different cultures. There are only two kinds of people. There are those who are in Christ and those who are not. There are sheep and there are goats. There are those who follow the light and those who follow darkness. That's all there is in the world. So the world is divided very simply that sense. So what we're being told here is that Christian community, the unity that we have, is first of all not an ideal to be achieved. It's a spiritual reality. It's something God did by sending His Son and His dying on the cross. And what makes us one is that we become partakers of this one God, of the divine nature. And so our unity is not based on anything human, it's based on justification, it's based on what Jesus Christ has done. It's a reality of the fact of the new birth. This is what Jude talked about when he talked about our common salvation. That's what binds us together. And so we, in the church, we come together through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ always stands between us and our brethren, and he mediates his love between us. The only way we can really appreciate our brother is to understand our spiritual being, that we are united in Jesus Christ for all eternity. And so our unity is, that we have been baptized into one body, we drink of the same spirit, we are led by the same truth, we hunger after the same righteousness, we thirst, we are filled with the same power, it's the power of the Holy Spirit, and this is an essential unity And we'll further talk about how to keep it because the apostle in the previous verse says, preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. What does that mean? Well, you've been given an essential unity and there are implications, there are applications of that unity because disturbance of love in the church contradicts the unity that God has established in Jesus Christ. And so we'll talk about that more this afternoon. when Kelly preaches here. But this passage, though, is a declaration of the exclusivity of the body of Christ. Everyone is not in this body. Well, that's a fanciful thought for many people. I understand 66% of people believe that many religions lead to God. 52% of people who identify as evangelicals believe that there are many ways to God. 48% believe that God accepts, 48% of evangelicals believe that God accepts worship of all religious people. So this is a very contrarian principle to say that there's one God, there's one body, there's one Lord, there's one faith, and there's one baptism. There's only one way to God. This is the exclusivity of the gospel. you are either in his body, you either have one spirit and one God and Father or you do not. And this is a very offensive idea to say that there's only one God and there's only one way to God and that is Jesus Christ. But the idea of saying that there's only one way to something shouldn't be all that offensive because we face it all the time. You know, for example, let's just say that Russia detonates a nuclear bomb on Ukraine, and so the water sources are now polluted from the nuclear fallout, and the water is now radioactive. And someone says, there's only one source of pure water, it's over here. You would not call that person arrogant. You would thank that person for pointing you to the only pure water so that they don't drink radioactive water. And I just want to submit the idea that it's not unusual for somebody to say there's only one way to something. And we could give dozens and dozens of illustrations of that. Because the exclusivity of the claim for clean water would keep you from a fatal choice of drinking that polluted water. But the Bible says that there is one body, one spirit, just as you were called. in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all. And this is proclaimed all over the scriptures. The Lord Jesus made it very clear in John 14, six, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me in 1st Timothy 2 5 & 6 we see this same principle there's only one God there for there is one God and one mediator between God and men the man Christ Jesus who gave himself as a ransom for all acts 412 says there's only one salvation in one name nor is there salvation in any other For there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. That's Acts chapter 4 verse 12. In John 3 36 we understand from the Lord that there's only one way to escape the wrath of God. John 3, 36, he who believes in the Son has everlasting life, and he who does not believe in the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides upon him. In Deuteronomy 4, 35, Moses launches this whole idea where he says, to you it was shown that you might know that the Lord himself is God and there is none other besides him. And then he says in chapter 8 verse 19 that if you follow after other gods you will perish. He says then it shall be if any of you by any means forget the Lord your God and follow other gods serve them and worship them I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish the Lord Jesus said there is only one true God John 17 3 and this is eternal life that they may know you the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent now in biblical Christianity you have two things One, you have a broad invitation for all to come, but at the same time you have a narrow inclusion. And so this passage of scripture speaks of the exclusivity of the body of Christ. There's so much we can say about this. One thing that we can say is that what you have here in this church, what you have, with your brethren, it's very special. It's something that God has done. It's a miracle of his salvation. And the world does not have this kind of unity. It's not derived from artificial means. It's not the same kind of unity that you have with people at your workout center. It's not the same kind of unity that you have anywhere else. It's a divinely ordained and accomplished unity. in Jesus Christ. It's a supernatural unity, and it's internal. It's something that is inside you, and no one can take it away from you. Now, I want to speak of this matter of assurance of salvation. If you have an outline in front of you, you know the title of this sermon, Are You a Member of the Body of Christ? And I want to speak really from some experience that I've had, primarily here in this church but elsewhere as well. When you have people who've grown up in the church and they reach a certain age where it becomes very clear that they need to understand for themselves, they ask a lot of questions, they wonder if they're in the faith. And I've had many conversations like that with young people in our church who've heard all the sermons, They can give you the gospel backwards and forwards. They do have a grasp of the Bible. They've memorized scripture. They say they want to follow the Lord. They say that they believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God. But they're still not sure. And they ask, it's a legitimate question. And it's a question that has to be considered and labored over. And I want to, this morning, answer these questions that I've been asked many times and have engaged in different ways, particularly with young people in our church. I want to really speak to the matter of assurance of salvation. One of the most dangerous things any of us can do, particularly a pastor, is to flatter someone to believe that they're saved when they're not. It's the most dangerous thing a pastor can do is to flatter some in that sense and give them assurance that God is not giving them. The things that I have to say today, I pray, will be helpful. But you know, I think you know me well enough that I'm not here to flatter people. I'm not here to air condition people's rides to hell. If I think you might be going to hell, I might actually talk to you about it because I'm terrified for your soul. And that's the right thing to do. At the same time, I want us to understand what it means to be a Christian. And so I have several questions. And the questions are based on an assumption, but they're also questions that I've actually received many times. My assumption in these questions, I'm gonna give you 15 questions. My assumption in these questions is that you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. You believe that he's the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. You believe that you must be born again. You don't want to love the world, you don't want to follow the world, but you're not sure if you're a Christian. So that's what I wanna speak to here this morning. So question number one, are you waiting for a dramatic moment Are you waiting for a dramatic moment? You know that you hate your sin, you've repented, you've asked Jesus Christ to fill you, you believe, but you're waiting for something dramatic to happen to you. You're waiting for a bright light to appear. Maybe you're waiting for something like happened to the Apostle Paul, where he was blinded and he heard the voice of Jesus Christ. Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And you're waiting for this This electrifying moment, you're thinking that there must be some dramatic experience. I'm gonna call this salvation by electrification. And you want God to do something electrifying to you before you can say that you're a follower of Jesus Christ. Now, if you've been a crack addict and a serial adulterer or fornicator, and you've just been running hard against God, and you're saved, you might fall on your face and cry all day long. You might. But if you grew up in a Christian home where the love of God was there, truth of God was there, You might not find yourself in that state. I'm sure there are some that have, but it's actually rare for someone who's grown up in homes like many of the ones you've grown up in. I heard this story of a dear friend of mine. I think many of you know him. He was talking to his son, and his son came to him and said, Dad, last night the presence of Christ was so real in my bedroom, I think I was saved. And then a few months later, he came to his father and he said, I don't really think I was saved there because I've realized that I'm only saved by grace, not by an experience I had in the night. And I think there's something to that I want to drive a stake in the ground and declare that the evidence of your salvation is not your feeling. There's no such thing as salvation by electrification. Romans 3.20 says, therefore by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. Galatians 3.11, but that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident. The just shall live by faith. Salvation is by faith. by the grace of God. Sinners are not saved by dramatic moments. Sinners are not saved by lightning bolts. They're saved by grace. Now again, it is true that God does change, he does change your emotions toward things. If you think the law of God is good, God's changed your emotions. If you think Jesus Christ is the Son of God, God has changed you. If you wanna be holy, it means that God has changed you. You're changed. You think differently about sin. And that's what it means to be a new creation, is to relate differently to the world and your passions. So are you waiting, the first question is are you waiting for a dramatic moment? Do you believe in salvation by electrification? You shouldn't believe in salvation by electrification. There's no such thing. Number two, are you waiting for a massive outward change in your life? Are you waiting for a massive outward change in your life? And again, I would just say if you've grown up in a Christian home, you may not see radical outward changes in your life. Radical outward changes in comparison to those who've been smoking dope every day for the last 10 years. For those that are living out of control lives. Well, there will be radical and sometimes immediate changes in your life. But if you've grown up in a godly home and you've honored your father and mother, then you won't see some of those outward changes. You will see changes, but they won't be massive outward changes. What God does with people is he saves them and he deals with their biggest problems first. And then he engages in a long sanctification. It's slow. Don't you think sometimes it's a little too slow? I do, for me, myself. Many people believe in salvation by drama. A big drama. A big drama that happened in your life. Where there are 10 things that really have to change now. But in the normal Christian life, there are 10 changes that God is working over time. And you know, a person you know, in a godly home is just as lost as a drug dealer. But the outward manifestations of their salvation might be different. All are lost in the same way. Growing up in a godly home can mean that you are lost, you are going to hell, and you're a nice person. So you don't want to confuse your niceness with salvation necessarily. A lot of nice people, very, very nice people are unconverted. There are atheists that are really nice, maybe even nicer than you and me sometimes. Niceness is not the grounds for salvation. So, are you waiting for a massive outward change in your life? Do you believe in a salvation by drama? Question number three, are you waiting to be holy enough to have assurance of your salvation? Are you waiting to be holy enough to have assurance? Now, if you are thinking biblically about salvation, then you know that you'll never come to the place where you're holy enough to be a Christian. Nobody ever became holy enough to become a Christian. God doesn't save unholy people. He only saves unholy people. And He only sanctifies the unholy people. God only deals with sinners. He only deals with the unholy. And of course, I don't want to dismiss the fact that we can put on the holiness of Jesus Christ and not just in terms of our position. But there actually is holy behavior and you can live holy in Christ Jesus. I'm not saying that at all. But what I'm saying that if you're a true Christian, you'll never be satisfied with your level of holiness. I have never known a Christian who is satisfied with his level of holiness. I have never been satisfied with mine or anyone's around me because God only saves sinners. You know, a Christian sees himself as a person whose only hope is the holiness of Christ. It was Christ who kept every law perfectly, but he kept it for us. That is substitutionary atonement. His holiness is a substitute for our unholiness. And of course, the Lord does give you a desire to be holy if you're a Christian. But you're always aware of your unholiness all the way along the way. You know Isaiah saw the Lord and he said woe is me for I am ruined for I am a man of unclean lips and I live amongst a people of unclean lips for my eyes have seen the king. When you see the king you want to bow down and you say oh Lord you are holy. You are good and oh Lord I am not. That's what it means to be a Christian. Lay hold of Jesus Christ. In John 1 verse 12, there's clarity. But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. You know, that's why the Lord Jesus said, come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden. All of you who are beat up, come to me. Those are the only ones that can come to him. You know, Romans 10, 9, the apostle to that church in Rome made it very clear. If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. You don't reach a certain level of holiness that qualifies you for salvation or else no one would ever be saved. God takes us where we are and then he takes us where he is. That's what God does. So this question, this third question, are you waiting to be holy enough to have assurance of your salvation? This is salvation by a comfortable satisfaction with your holiness. Like if you have a comfortable satisfaction with your holiness, that actually might be a sign you're not saved. Now that's not the same as a person who rests in Jesus Christ, who rests in the holiness of the sacrifice made, and who's relieved and thankful and at rest at what God has done. Those are two different things. I think that you can be dissatisfied with your level of holiness, but so satisfied in God and what he's done. You can be at rest at the same time. This is the miracle of the spirit of a true Christian. He's unsettled in one sense, but he is so settled, so thankful in the sacrifice of Christ. Question number four, are you waiting for deep enough repentance. What I mean by a deep enough remorsefulness. Like have you grieved enough to be saved? How much do you need to grieve over your sin to be saved? I've run across folks, they don't think that they have repented deeply enough or sincerely enough to be saved. And the question is how, How complete is my repentance? Has my repentance been too shallow for me to be saved? You know, this is salvation by remorse. You have to feel bad enough. You know, how bad is bad enough? You know, how deep does your repentance need to go? Five feet? 10 feet? 1,000 feet? 100 million feet? How deep does your repentance need to go? But here's what you need to know about the Christian life. There isn't a single person on the planet who has repented to the depth of their sin. Sin is so deeply embedded We're not even aware of the depth of our sin. We're not godly enough to even know about that. Our pride blinds us to our sin. I've said this before, I'll say it again. Jonathan Edwards used to say, that your pride blinds you from your pride. You will never be able to repent to the full depth of your sin because there's just too much pride left. The other thing too, and many have suspected this, God doesn't expose you to all of your sin so that he doesn't crush you If you knew the depth of original sin and the effect on every part of your thinking and living, you would want to die. You would know that you would be judged in everlasting damnation because of the depth of it. You can't repent yourself out of the hole. Only Jesus Christ can save you. And that doesn't make repentance unimportant. You know, Martin Luther wrote the 95 Theses. You know what the first thesis was? The entire Christian life is repentance. The whole Christian life from beginning to end. That means you're always gonna be repenting, and you're never gonna be repenting to the depth of your sin. Because God is, he's moving, he's, Moving with you in his own pace, he reveals sin and you repent. He reveals more and you repent. And I guarantee you, if you're a real Christian, he's not gonna stop revealing stuff to you. And that shouldn't be discouraging because you also have the refreshment of repentance. That's why Peter said, repent that times of refreshing might come in. You know, Christians grow. in their repentance. As they acquire more knowledge of God and more knowledge of themselves, they grow. Repentance is also a matter of growth. Now, your doctrine of salvation ought not to rest based on a self-conceived depth of repentance. A self-conceived depth of repentance. The question really ought to be, is the Lord continuing to work in me? And I want to follow him. And I want to turn from sin. We will always and only be a needy people before the Lord. And I don't believe that any of my repentance has ever been deep enough. Because it's me doing the repentance. and I'm so clouded by my own pride, even in my repentance, is probably a little bit of self-justification. And that's true for, I'm pretty sure, most people. But this just exalts the grace of God. How great is His mercy toward us. We are saved by grace through faith, by the justifying power of the Son of God who gave himself up in our place. So the fourth question, are you waiting for a deep enough, remorseful enough repentance to prove your salvation? Don't believe in salvation by remorse, because you can never get enough of it. Question number five, are you waiting for a deep enough faith to prove your salvation? Notice I'm working through various doctrinal categories of repentance, now faith. You don't think your faith is deep enough for you to be saved. Your question is how deep is my faith? Is my faith too shallow to be saved? God saves those with the slightest bit of faith. He talks about the faith of a mustard seed. The reality of the Christian life is that you actually grow in faith. And growing in faith is a normal part of the Christian life that we call that sanctification. Paul told the Ephesian elders What their message was, it was repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. These all imply a process and an inclination toward. God changes the heart and you now have an inclination toward him. You have an inclination toward more faith. You want more faith. You say what the apostles did, they said, Lord, increase our faith. That's what they said to Jesus. Lord increase our faith. Now remember earlier we were studying in Romans 12 and we learned that God actually measures out amounts of faith. And all of those measures are possessed by the people who are saved. He says, for I say through the grace given to me in Romans 12, three, to everyone who is among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think, but to think soberly as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. Everybody has a different measure of faith. We should expect that. God deals the faith in those who are saved. And those who are saved pray, Lord, increase my faith. Help me to walk by faith, not by sight. This is part of being instructed all your life long in the word of God. And your faith grows. You're strengthened. So your question should not be, is my faith too shallow? Because God only saves people with weak faith. And then he distributes measures of faith according to his grace in his church. I'm talking really about salvation through a self-conceived depth of faith. A self-conceived depth of faith. And we're not saved by a certain depth of faith, we're saved by faith. And that faith is actually delivered to believers in various measures. Some have great faith, some have little faith. All faith ought to be growing over time. So the fifth question, are you waiting for a deep enough faith to prove your salvation? Have you believed in a salvation according to a self-conceived depth of faith? And then question six, are you waiting to be passionate enough to be saved? Are you waiting to be passionate enough to prove that you're saved? The Christian life is marked by ebbs and flows. And there are times in every Christian's life where motivation runs high and times when it runs lower. Where passion runs high and then passion runs lower. This is the normal Christian life. And our minds, our bodies are subject to many influences. Sometimes it's the things that we feed our minds and our hearts that makes our passion wane. If you're filling up your mind with things of this world, your passion is gonna wane. The movies you watch, the things you listen to, the affections that you grow, all of those things will have an effect. If you feed your life on silliness, you're gonna get sillier. That's just the way it is. Nobody can break that rule. So there are things that affect passion, but there are also physical things. Disease, sickness, maladies, foods, all kinds of things can affect the way you feel. You do not want to rest your salvation on your passion. You might get an allergy or a sickness or something And then your passion is gone. Your strength is gone. You have no motivation. You don't even want to get up in the morning. And you're thinking, am I saved? Don't base your salvation on motivation. Don't base it on passion. Now when you feel like that, you ought to go to your brothers and sisters and say, pray for me. I don't want to be here. I don't want to live like this. That's legitimate. And there may be a spiritual driver, it might be a physical driver. There are times in the Bible where God actually kind of hid his face to test his people. He might be doing that. Don't even base your salvation on whether you feel the presence of God. There have been times in the Bible where God has turned his face away. Ultimately, it proves to be a strengthening thing to a real Christian. But don't say I'm not a Christian because I don't feel like it today. And God makes people very different as well. Some are more passionate and motivated than others. Some are more effusive than others. Some are effusive all the time. I can't even believe, how does that happen? It happens. Some people are like born with a smile on their face. But everybody's not. Some people cry very easily. Others don't cry very easily at all. But it's not right to base your salvation on your passion or your motivation or how much you cry. Or whether you just feel so deeply Because those things ebb and flow. Yeah, I mean, ungodly music can make you feel certain things. It can make you cry. How about that? You know, a lot of people are just sort of addicted to emotional highs created by music, and church leaders have figured out they can make people cry, feel really good, and send them away the same way they walked in. Salvation by feelings. is false. You know me well enough. I don't believe in salvation without feelings. There must be feelings. People love God. You love God. I'm not talking about that. I'm not talking about having affection toward God and things like that. But you don't want to base your whole salvation on the fluctuations of those kinds of things. So question number six is are you waiting to be passionate enough to prove that you're saved? Don't you dare believe in salvation by passion. Just go to the conference, passion, and see where it gets you. There's no salvation by passion. Question seven, are you waiting for a righteousness of your own to prove your salvation. This is salvation based on self-righteousness. A self-perceived understanding of righteousness. Now, we know without question that a true Christian is known by his works, that salvation does cause works. If you're a Christian and you don't have works of righteousness, you shouldn't be calling yourself a Christian. The Bible makes that very clear. But you're not saved by your works. Your salvation creates works. And those works are often mediated by the measures of faith. that God gives. And they are sometimes dampened by foolish pursuits. And they are increased by pursuing righteousness. Seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. So true Christians are seeking God's righteousness. But they're not saved by their righteousness. You know, in Revelation 19, the last time we were in Revelation 19.8, we saw that true salvation results in the righteous acts of the saints, which is characterized by their garments of fine linen, bright and clean. Those symbolize the righteous acts of the saints. The saints do perform acts of righteousness. There should be acts of righteousness, but no one is saved by acts of righteousness. The problem that we have is we want to bring something to the table. We want to bring some good deed to the table and congratulate ourselves for how good we are, how nice we are, how inclusive we are, how gracious we are. We want to bring something to the table. But here's the reality. There has never been a moment in our lives when we have loved the Lord our God with all of our heart. Never. The commandment to love the Lord your God with all your heart is to draw you into loving him more, to show you the ways that you're not loving him so that you would seek him more. What's that line in that song? It's the gospel doxology. Your perfect law exposes me. No one has ever kept the Ten Commandments. And James says, if you've broken one, you've broken them all. If you've broken one, you've broken them all. They're all connected. They're all for perfection. The Ten Commandments was given to declare the perfect law of God, and everyone will be damned by the breaking of any of those laws. But God has provided a sacrifice for sin. No one ever kept the law of God perfectly. No one ever loved the Lord their God or their neighbor as themselves. And that law is given to us to humble us and to turn us to Jesus Christ, to turn our faces to our only hope. the one who did keep every law, who was perfectly righteous. Jesus loved the Lord his God fully, every moment of his earthly life. So question number seven, are you waiting for righteousness of your own to prove your salvation? And don't believe in a salvation of self-righteousness. It doesn't exist except in the thinking of an unbeliever. They think they're righteous. If you think you're righteous, if you say that you have no sin, you're a liar. That's what John says in 1 John. See, Christians actually think they have sin. Non-Christians think they're pretty doing okay. They don't really need, they don't need him. They don't need God. He's just a crutch. They're just fine, thank you. Question number eight. Are you thinking too highly of your sin? Are you thinking too highly of your sin? I wanna be very careful here. not to minimize or underestimate the harmfulness of sin. You've heard us preach over and over again, turn away from sin. Somebody last Sunday said, be done with sin. That's our doctrine. Turn from sin. Every vestige of it in your life, that's our message. Sin is bad, it's harmful, and the devil is out to destroy you by tempting you to sin. That has to be said. But do you think that Christ's blood is enough to atone for your sin? The value of sin needs to be considered. I've heard young people say, I think my sin is too great. Oh really? You think your sin is too great for the grace of God? We sing a song about this. Grace that is greater than all our sin. It's greater than all of our sin. You know, we might recoil if somebody told us that Adolf Hitler was saved at the last minute of his life. Do you think the grace of God is big enough for that? It is. His grace is big enough. Do you remember Manasseh in the Old Testament? Horrendous. Sacrificing his own children, plunging the entire nation into just rank horrific idolatry. I think he's in heaven. God changed his heart at the end of his life. There's no sin that's greater than God's grace. None. You haven't sinned beyond the pale. God's grace is great. Grace, grace, God's grace. Grace that will pardon and cleanse within. Grace, grace, God's grace. Grace that is greater than all of our sin. So I don't know if you're thinking too much of your sin and too little of the grace of God. Christ's sacrifice provides atonement for all sin and all sinners who repent. Question number nine. Are you trying to pinpoint the exact moment of your salvation? Are you trying to pinpoint the exact moment of your salvation? I'm gonna call this salvation by omniscience. Salvation by omniscience. I have to know the moment. Well, some people can pinpoint a moment. I know many of them. They knew the moment that a line was drawn. and other people point to a season in their life. Well, that would be me and lots, frankly, in my interviews with people, in my non-statistical analysis, at least most of the people I know, there was like this time of their life that they were being saved and then it somehow became clear to them. There are two things I think should be said here. First of all, there is a pinpoint in time when a sinner is saved. Jesus said you must be born again. There is a time of being born. Now there's also labor, but there's also a time when a person is born. And there is a time when you were transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. There's a time, there's a moment. There's a moment in your life where the law of sin and death was broken. And I do believe it happened in a moment. And there is a pinpoint time when a sinner is justified. But I think the other truth I believe is that the converted sinner does not always know the exact time. It may feel like a process leading to a final realization. Actually it was last week I was listening to a sermon by Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones and he said in his sermon that the moment of salvation is sometimes imperceptible to the sinner. I guess he'd met people like that too. So don't ask, when did I believe? Don't think that you have to be omniscient. You don't have to know everything. You know what omniscience is. Knowledge of everything. Well, we're not omniscient. And we're not omniscient about every movement of our soul either. And it's rather more profitable to say, do I believe now? Am I seeking the Lord now? That's enough for me. Am I seeking the Lord now? So the ninth question, are you trying to pinpoint the exact moment of salvation? Don't believe in salvation by omniscience or secret knowledge of the soul. I praise God for the people who know that moment. It's really neat. It's so sweet. Some of you might have actually written it down in your Bible. You know, it's a blessing to know that, but it's also a blessing just to know that you believe. That's just as much of a blessing to say, yes, Lord, I do believe. Help my unbelief. Question number 10, are you using the right tests of faith? Are you using the right tests of faith? There are different tests that people use, and it's legitimate to use different tests, but there are emotional tests of faith, but there are also objective tests of faith. And you need to know the difference between your subjective tests of faith and objective tests of faith. And the Bible teaches us that we ought to examine ourselves to see if we're in the faith. We ought to do that. In Paul Washer's Gospel of Jesus Christ little booklet, it's a great little booklet, he says this. The word of God is the only proper standard for judging the genuineness of our faith in order to grow in the assurance of salvation. The proper standard. for evaluating whether you're in the faith. Of course, there are many in the Bible. I had before me a list of 16 tests of salvation in 1 John alone. 16. Just questions you can ask yourself. I'll just read a couple of them. Do you walk in darkness? First John 1.6, if we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. Here's another one. Do you claim to have no sin? Do you think you're okay? First John 1.8, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. Do you keep his commandments? Is the pattern of your life to keep his commandments? He's not talking about perfection. First John 2.3, now by this we know that we know him if we keep his commandments. These are objective tests of salvation. Do you love the world? 1 John 2.15, do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. These are objective tests. Are you using emotional subjective tests or are you using objective tests from the word of God? Rest your life on the word of God, not your emotions. The Apostles' Creed. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. This is a test of salvation. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord. This is an objective test. Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, he suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to hell. The third day, he rose again from the dead, ascended to heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From there he will come and judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit. And it goes on. I believe in the communion of the saints. I believe in the forgiveness of sins. I believe in the resurrection of the body. I believe in everlasting life. Those are helpful objective tests. Is that where you've parked your car? On those, in that parking lot? Because Jesus Christ said, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. So question 10, are you using the right tests of faith? Because there are emotional tests of faith and there are objective tests of faith. You need to know the difference. Question 11, are you taking lightly the promises of God that salvation is by faith? Are you taking lightly the promises of God that salvation is by faith? Think about what God has promised. Rest your salvation and the understanding of it on God's promises. Romans 10, 9 and 10, if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. He's not talking about fake confession. He's talking about a real confession of faith. That's a promise. Okay, so is it possible that anybody here needs to be rebuked for waiting for something that does not exist? and distrusting the promises of God. Are you trusting the promises of God that he will save you? You know, God hears the prayer of a true repentant sinner. He does, and he saves those. He makes promises that he will receive you. He says, come to me and I will receive you. Those are promises of God. You know, don't distrust the promises of God. Don't look down on the promises of God. Do you need to be rebuked for not trusting in the promises of God? Do you need somebody to say, hey, just trust him, trust what he said? Number 12, is your desire for God an indication of your regeneration? This is a question about the order of salvation. Theologians call this ordo salutis, the order of salvation. Of course, the order of salvation begins with election, but the desires for God come as a result of regeneration. When you are regenerated, then you want to follow the Lord. you're regenerated then you exercise faith you're regenerated and you want to follow God your your desires follow regeneration God saves you and then he he changes your wanter and you want different things so if you want different things is it possible that that's just a manifestation of your regeneration you want to live holy in Christ Jesus how come Maybe you've been regenerated, but you just don't believe it. Again, the worst thing I can do as a pastor is to pamper or flatter someone to believe when they don't really. Okay, that's not what I'm doing here. I'm trying to talk to people who've grown up in sweet families and they've lived orderly lives. And I want them to think rightly about the greatness of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is so great. And your desires for God flow from regeneration. Question number 13, do you fear fakery and failure? Do you fear fakery and failure? Is that what's keeping you? Do you feel like you're just going through a phase? I did when I was in this season of being converted. I wonder, is this just another phase? Is this just another fad? All around me there are hundreds of thousands of people rushing to be saved. You know, in Southern California at that time, we used to say, all you have to do is breathe on somebody and they'll be saved. There were so many, and many of them really were saved. It was a time of revival. But I remember wondering, you know, is this just a phase? And it's easy to fear that, because you don't want to be a faker, and you don't want to just be going through a phase. Question 14, is there anything keeping you from Christ? You know, okay, so what could it be? Unbelief, doubt, pride, selfishness, anger, besetting sins, fear. Do you fear just accepting the religion of your parents without it being real? Man, that's what's holding you back. You really do believe, but you have this other fear out there. You fear being one of those people who just says, well, I just grew up this way. Because you know it needs to be yours. It needs to be yours. It's actually good to go through this process of thinking about your salvation. Question number 14. Or question number 15. Do you think it's pleasing to God to delay? Do you think it's pleasing to God to delay? I'll review. Are you waiting for a dramatic moment of salvation by electrification? Are you waiting for a massive outward change in your life? Some kind of salvation by drama? Are you waiting to be holy enough to have assurance of your salvation, salvation by personal satisfaction with one's own holiness? Are you waiting for a deep enough, remorseful enough repentance to prove your salvation? Number five, are you waiting for deep enough faith to prove your salvation, a salvation by a self-conceived depth of faith? Are you waiting to be passionate enough to prove your salvation and having embraced salvation by passion? Are you waiting, are you wanting a righteousness of your own to prove your salvation? It's called salvation by self-righteousness. Are you thinking too highly of your sin, believing that Christ's sacrifice for sin is not enough for your sin? Are you trying to pinpoint the exact moment of your salvation, which is salvation by omniscience? Are you using the right tests of faith? There are emotional and there are objective tests of faith. Are you taking lightly the promises of God that salvation is by faith? Is your desire for God an indication of your regeneration? Do you fear fakery and failure? Is there something keeping you from Christ? Do you think that it is pleasing to God to delay? Here's what I would say. Be like Jacob and say, I will not let you go until you bless me. Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is taken by violence. Go and take the kingdom of heaven by violence. Take it, take it, it's being offered to you. The kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force. Be like that man who said, Lord, I believe, help my unbelief. Okay, I'm gonna close with this. Luke 11. Luke 11, nine through 13. So I say to you, ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly father Give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him. How much more? Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call on him while he's near. Would you pray with me? Father, you're the one that knows everything about all of our hearts. I pray that you would search the hearts of every person here. Oh Lord, we rejoice that salvation is by grace through faith, and it's not of ourselves. It's not by any work of our own. And so Lord, here today, we have seen that there are some who are united to Christ, and there are some who are not. And only those are united to him are united by faith in your shed blood. Amen.