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Sacramento Central SDA Church

Chris Buttery

Sure Salvation- Part 2

For millennia, people from different countries, cultures, and backgrounds have found direction and encouragement in the inspired pages of the Bible.

In his day, Jesus directed listeners to search the prophecies of Scripture to find Him, the only way of salvation.

2, 000 years later, as we stand on the break of eternity, we no less need the purpose and hope God's Word provides.

Sacramento Central Church brings you Receiving the Word, timely Bible messages presented by pastors Chris Buttery and Mike Thompson.

Amazing Revelations await you in God's holy word, the Bible.

Glad you've joined us for part 2 of Sure Salvation.

In part 1, we discovered that we can know our standing with God.

We discovered there were some pitfalls as well.

But in this presentation, we'll be answering the very important questions.

How can I be 100% sure of my standing with God?

We're going to discover that the gospel is simple and the gospel is life changing.

So we trust that you have your Bible in your hand.

Sit back, stay tuned as we go live now to part 2 of Sure Salvation.

How can I know that my salvation is sure?

John chapter 3, verse 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." This is not complicated.

1 sentence, 25 words that can be repeated in about 10 seconds.

1 pastor, I understand, apparently has about 600 sermons on this 1 verse alone.

And if that wasn't impressive enough, he'd made a pretty bold statement about this particular text.

He said, If all the Bible were destroyed except John 3, 16, anyone, anywhere could be saved by believing this oft-quoted and cherished verse.

Did the pastor have an unbalanced emphasis on the love of God?

As a matter of fact, another author pointed this out in Testimonies to the Church, Volume 6, page 55, we're told Christ's favorite theme was the paternal character and the abundant love of God.

And then more than this, in Testimonies to Ministers, page 37, referring to the conversation Jesus had with Nicodemus there in John chapter 3, and then quoting John 3, verse 16, the author says, this lesson is 1 of the greatest importance to every soul that lives.

For the terms of salvation are laid out in distinct lines.

If 1 had no other text in the Bible, this alone would be a guide to every soul.

This means, to me, this means that if all we had was John 3.16, we would have enough to understand and know the lines of salvation would be clearly laid out, the distinct lines of salvation would be clearly laid out, the terms of salvation would be clearly laid out in John 3 16.

Now of course we have more than that, amen?

We have more than that and for that we should always be grateful and we should always study and we should always grow.

But here we're talking about Salvation 101, salvation at its very minimum, at its very basics, you understand.

Simply this, when Christ is received as a personal Savior, then salvation comes to a person's life.

Salvation can be yours when you receive Jesus as what?

Your personal Savior, not just some Savior out there, not just 1 who died on a cross out there, but your personal Savior, when you receive Christ as your personal Savior, then salvation comes to a person's life.

You recall the story of Zacchaeus, the little man?

Zacchaeus heard Jesus was coming, couldn't get close enough to see Jesus, so he climbed this sycamore tree, so he could at least see Jesus.

Luke chapter 19 verses 6 through 9, notice the story here.

And Jesus came up to him and he looked up to the tree, verse 5, Zacchaeus he said, come down, hurry up, come down, for today I must stay at your house.

So Zacchaeus made haste, verse 6, and came down and received him, what?

But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, he has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.

Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, look, look, look, Lord, I have given half of my goods to the poor, and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore it fourfold.

And then Jesus said these words to Zacchaeus.

Salvation has come to this house because he is also a son of Abraham.

For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." Zacchaeus accepted Jesus into his house and accepted Jesus into his heart.

This penitent and sorry repentant thief went from being lost to being saved when he opened his heart and received Jesus as his personal savior.

He went from being reckless to being redeemed.

He went from being a perfect mess to becoming a perfect man.

From being a lawbreaker to a law keeper, from the son of the devil to the son of God, from 100% wickedness to 100% righteousness, from sinner to saint, from hell to an eternal damnation, to heaven and eternal life when he received Jesus as his personal Savior.

Oh man, how is it possible that a person can undergo such a radical change in such a brief moment, like a friend of mine told me, and likes to tell me.

It only takes a moment to get right with God.

There are many things that I don't know, there are many things you and I don't know, but I do know what the Bible says.

John 1 verse 12 says, but as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.

And in 1 John chapter 5 verse 12, we're told he that has the Son has life, and he that hath not the Son hath not life.

I also love what it says in that powerful little book, Steps to Christ, on page 62.

The author agrees, if you give yourself to him, that is Jesus, and accept him as your savior, then sinful as your life may have been for his sake, you are accounted righteous.

Christ's character stands in place of your character.

You are accepted before God just as if you had not sinned.

And more than this, Christ changes the heart.

Man, what an experience, coming to Christ in repentance with a penitent heart, giving Him our sin, giving Him our hearts, our lives, inviting Him into our lives, and as verily as a person opens their heart to receive Jesus, and it's that simple, receive Jesus into their hearts, they can be assured that salvation has come to their house, just as it did for Zacchaeus.

Now, long-time Christians need to understand that we're dealing with, here is salvation at its irreducible minimum.

We are looking at bottom-line salvation, beginner's salvation.

And friends, this is so, so very, very important.

The Bible states the following as God's free gifts to miserable sinners like you and to me.

These are the gifts, his drawing love, His grace, He gives conviction of sin, He offers repentance, He gives us faith, He provides salvation, He gives us eternal life, He provides the Holy Spirit, He gives us righteousness, justification, forgiveness, a new heart, sanctification, and victory over sin.

These are all gifts that heaven provides for you and for me.

Jesus himself is also offered as a gift, all coming to us at such a great cost to heaven.

When I was in college, I had a terrific and most generous gift provided to me by a terrific and generous family.

I was in college, I needed to get out and sell some Christian books, I needed a car, and I was here from Australia, I came when I was 19, and I needed to sell some Christian books to get out there and then pay off my college bill.

And I also had some interns, I had some internships coming up and I needed to get to where I needed to go.

And I got a phone call from the husband, the father of the house, called up and said, Chris, Hey, I heard you need a car.

And my heart kind of sank and I said, that's okay, I'd love to buy it from you, I just don't have what it takes to buy it from you at this point.

And he kind of smiled on the other end of the phone.

You can tell when someone's smiling on the other end of the phone, they kind of chuckle a little bit.

And he said, you know, he said, I'm not selling the car.

I had to make sure that I was hearing things right, you know?

I picked up the keys and signed the paperwork.

Sure Salvation- Part 2

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