Assurance of Salvation — Emanuel Esh

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The Blood of Jesus and Freedom From Sin

You have made a way possible that our sins can actually In reality be covered by the blood. Our sins can be taken away. And we can live our everyday life in freedom in victory from sin. Oh Joy. Father we worship you.

Thank you father for meeting with us here tonight. Your word says that we're to yours. We are gathered in your name there. You are in the midst. And we know that you inhabit the praises of your people.

And tonight where we have been. Praising you father because of the blood of Jesus it is not because of what we have done. But what Jesus Christ has done for us? No father, would you take these feeble lips and anoint them?

With thy Holy Spirit tonight. Would you take my heart father and fill it to overflowing. Would you let the rivers of living water flow through this vessel tonight? Oh God. So that Jesus Christ may be glorified.

That your name may be exalted and glorified. This is our prayer father. We do love you and bless you in Jesus Christ name. Amen.

Maybe seated privilege to.

Be able to share tonight to preach God's Word to so many Godly young people. To a crowd such as this and I am very grateful for what God is has been doing this week in the hearts of many of the youth.

I know that Some of you have gotten born again this week. I know that some of you have gotten your lives cleaned up what rejoicing that brings to our hearts. Because we know that God is Holy and he wants us to be holy also.

And he has made provisions for us to be holy. I would like to tonight share a message by God's grace On the assurance of salvation just a simple gospel message. One of the Burdens on my heart in times past and in years past in These Bible schools Has been that there are usually some In a crowd like this young people who are still struggling in their heart they're still wrestling and Some of them are wrestling and struggling for different reasons.

If I if I could by God's grace somehow tonight Preach God's Word so as to help those of you who are in that place to find a place of rest Then God would be glorified. God will be glorified by my body and by my life tonight.

That's my heart's desire and prayer. I also realize that sometimes when there is a week of intense teaching and Bible study and preaching that some of you sometimes there are some who have been clear and have had a Full assurance of their salvation they come to a week like this and and they get under some hot preaching once again.

And they get there gets to be some soul searching done in their lives and they again begin to wrestle and struggle and they wonder Am I really born again? And why is it such an important thing to be born again?

The New Birth and the Necessity of Salvation

I believe that most of us know the Word of God in John chapter 3 where Jesus speaking the Nicodemus said That except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Now I knew that scripture as a small young boy and I heard it many times preached.

But I for many many years did not know what it meant. Then wouldn't it be a sad thing if if I would have continued to go on in my life Never really understanding what it meant to be born again. I Mean near to those doors of death and they do not yet understand what it means to be born again.

Wouldn't it be a sad sad day For them to wake up on the other side of death. Once that death angel has come it has come in his quiet way. It has taken that life away. Wouldn't it be a sad thing for that person to wake up on the other side of death and to realize that he had missed it Realize that he was now headed for eternity of Fire and burning brimstone and darkness and torment forever and ever.

Wouldn't that be a sad day for that man? But you know, there are many people like that. The Bible says that many are called but few are chosen. Are you some of that few. I Used to console myself to think that we the people that are very plain that we were the few people and that all those out there Would be lost.

I Thought we were the few ones who will be saved, but I came to realize one day that that was not true. I Found out that unless you are born again by the Spirit of the Living God Through his word by faith in him that you are still lost and separated from God and any man who is doing a lost condition.

The moment he dies He has crossed that line and will spend eternity either in heaven or in hell. That is very clear those who are not born again in the Spirit of God. They will spend eternity without God.

Because they cannot enter the kingdom of God unless they become born again by the Spirit of the Living God. So we understand it is very very important that we become born again, I think there are some Christian people who have been going to church all their lives and They believe that they are born again.

But they're not. Because they have not been taught they have not been taught a clear With a clear understanding of what it means to be born again. I don't want to encourage you here tonight that if you are here, and you do not have a clear Assurance of salvation in your heart, and you don't know for sure if you're born again.

I encourage you to listen carefully. By God's grace. I will show you how that you can be born again of God's Spirit tonight. There are people who respond to the call of salvation. They respond to the altar they go back in these rooms to pray.

But they don't get saved. Thank God that many of them do. Let me share with you something that I see happens with our in our Congregation sometimes I believe this can happen very easily. Eight-year-old junior Goes to a revival meeting or comes to Bible school evenings.

And he hears the preaching and he sees. And then when the altar call is made and there's people responding it all recall. He's watching you know. He's looking he's learning and he's looking at what's happening.

And then he sees them all go out the sides and he sees him they went back there to pray and maybe he asked his Dad dad what are they doing and dad might say they're going to go there. They're responding to God calling on their hearts, and they're convicted of sin.

And they're going to back there and pray and maybe they'll get saved and then after a while. There's some come through the doors, and there's a group around them. They start singing in and and rejoicing that yes, this one gets saved and in this little Eight-year-old juniors mine.

He's thinking What what is he seeing he sees them come to the altar if he can go back there to pray. If you should come out rejoicing and so as he grows older. What is he going to do? What is he going to think?

This these things should not happen, but they do happen. I Yes, I asked one this week how he got saved. He said I responded to an altar call and I prayed a prayer is that what the Bible says the Bible says.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth Shall not perish, but have everlasting life. It does not say that whosoever Responds to an altar call and prays a prayer shall be saved.

It's not what it says. And so sometimes I'm afraid that we even as counselors ministers and evangelists We tend to even misdirect those sincere seeking souls into thinking that an altar call and a prayer Will lead that will help them to be saved and so what happens some of these young people and I know this is happening.

Some of these young people they they respond to an altar call and they go back there to pray and they Unload some of their guilty sins they confess some of their sins because that's what they've been taught to do you confess your sins and they confess their sins and and they they do what the The counselor or the one praying with him tells him to do it.

I said, well, I'll pray this prayer maybe they pray a prayer and and then they do feel better because they've confessed their sins and so they get up and they They smile smile and they come out and everyone sings for him and hallelujah.

Amen. Yeah, we think junior got born again and and About a week or two later. It just kind of all falls off. He tries real hard for a couple weeks and it just kind of fizzles out. What has happened if that is your experience if that is your?

Testimony, I have news for you. I have good news for you the gospel of Jesus Christ. It does save souls, but what is happening? What is happening. This is a mistake that I think many have made. I have made it but you know God's grace is so big so wide so deep so long and so vast if his grace covers.

Yay, our sincere mistakes he covers and the people still get saved and they still get born again. Hallelujah, even if we don't do it. All right. Let me tell you a story a Bible student came Concerned and confused about her salvation.

She says She was confused because she was wondering. Did I do it right? Was I really sincere? Did I really accept Jesus into my heart? So she was a little confused. You know preaching is hot and there's confusion in the heart am I am I not.

She finally decided to come. Just in case she had not done it, right? And would ask me to see what I would say she had been sincere when she had made her commitment. She had been seer when she had responded.

She had seen that she was a lost sinner and the evangelist Who worked with her? Told her that there's nothing she can do to be to save herself. It is not of works that any man should boast is a gift of God and we all believe that we know that but then then we tell them well now you Do something you need to do and so we tell them but now you need to ask Jesus come into your heart and We tell them but now you need to accept Him as your Savior and what happens at that point is we we turn their focus To what needs to happen in here instead of what has happened up there very critical and So what happens is even though she had gotten saved I believe she did.

Because the focus was put on her the question was did I really do it right or not? But let me share this with you that that if you turn your eyes upon Jesus Looking on to him the author and the finish of our faith.

And you look at him what he has done for me for you. And you keep your eyes on him you get away from what you have because you can't do anything. You can just trust the Bible is so clear only believe.

What does it say he has given his son that whosoever Believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life now. How does someone come to truly believe that is it right? To Take someone. You and I know very clearly that or I suppose you do maybe you don't but working with missions if we go into into the darkened Villages of northern Ghana in Africa in West Africa there where the gospel has not been named.

And they have never heard of the saving name the power of Jesus Christ. They don't even know about Jesus for you, and I are for someone to go in there and preach Jesus Christ to them. Will not work. Why not?

The Three Things Necessary for the New Birth

It is because their hearts are not prepared to receive the gospel and the gospel is the good news Of the Savior of Jesus Christ coming to save sinners. That is what the gospel is. But if we take even young people some of the young people your hearts I believe are open and prepared and you are ready to receive Christ as your Savior you're ready to believe you're ready to take your your all and cast yourself at his feet.

And believe on him, but then there are others of you who may not be prepared to receive the gospel. You may not understand that you're lost yet there are three things that need to be understood in order for someone to Become clearly born again and saved whether you are sitting here tonight.

Or whether you are sitting in a darkened village in heathen Africa there are basically three things that you must Understand and get down into your hearts, or you cannot be saved. What are those three things I?

Was so excited about the message on on Monday night even though I didn't hear it. I heard about it. Because the first thing that must be understood in order for you to get truly born again and saved as you must have an understanding Of God and of who God is.

How many of you got a glimpse of who God is on on Monday night? Men. So that groundwork is laid. So now you see that God is holy and he is pure and he is righteous. And if anyone would come into his presence he also must be pure and holy and righteous as he is.

You will not be able to go into heaven unless you have taken care of your sin. Cannot and so you the first thing is that God that you must teach that God who God is and if you're teaching a heathen African or a Christianized American you must teach who God is and the second thing that must be understood is that that you must understand.

Who you are. And by that?

I mean you must be you must come to realize deep in your heart that you are a lost sinner. You might know it up here that you're a lost sinner but if you don't understand it in your heart that you are a lost sinner and that you cannot help yourself and that you Cannot do anything to save yourself apart from believing on the Lord Jesus Christ.

You are you you can't even be saved unless you first realize that you are a lost sinner. Let me illustrate a little bit on the board about what a lost sinner is. And I've done this before and some of you may have heard me preach it before but I want to say tonight.

If I go and plant a seed in the ground I can be 100 certain what kind of fruit it's going to bring. Is That right. If I put corn seeds in the ground, I am 100 sure that corn will grow. Is that right?

Let's suppose that I would plant some beans and Can anything but beans grow out of those seeds are you sure. Let's suppose you have an apple tree. Can you pick oranges from an apple tree? Why not? Because the seed that is put that is so ordained by God in Genesis.

It says that when God made the made those that the trees and the herbs and things he made them to bear fruit. And it and the and the seed is within the in those fruit and that seed will when it comes down into the ground that seed Will again bear the same kind of tree that it came from we understand that.

Amen. Why is it then that we it is so hard for us to understand that we are sinners. We know that God in the beginning created heaven and earth. We know that God made a beautiful garden there to put man in there.

He created man and breathed into him his his spirit and man became a living soul. And then he brought he took man and he took a rib out of his side and made a woman. So he put these two people into the garden and they were perfect.

They were pure. They were holy. They did not have any children before they fell in the sin. Did you know that if Adam and Eve would have had children before they fell in the sin? Those children those children would have been pure and holy and sinless but they did not have children before that that I can read of they they fell into sin and they they they.

They because of their sin they were separated from God and they became known as Sinners. Now when Adam and Eve had children Where their children sinners or whether their children holy? Their children were sinners.

All right when King took a wife and he and They had children where their children sinners or whether children holy. They were sinners. Do we understand that? God Jesus many times Illustrated mankind as trees that we just draw a little tree up here.

Sorry. My mark is not very bright. That's better. Can you see that on this tree we have lots of fruit. Some of you have seen this illustration before. And what happens is because the seed of this tree if this were an apple seed.

Then we know that this tree would be bearing oranges. Is that right? That's wrong the tree would bear apples. Why would the tree bear apples? Reproduction of itself. Okay. Now, let's suppose that this tree Let's put the seed down here at the bottom would be sin.

What is the fruit of the tree? Sin plural. The root of you know that one seed brings many many seeds out. Is that right? And so because the root of the human nature than of mankind is Sin, which has passed out of Adam the whole way down to you and me today.

We are born in sin. And the fruit of our sinful life is sins. Many of them is that right? I said that the second thing to understand that you must understand is you must understand that you are a sinner and Romans 3 it chapter 3 it says that there is none righteous.

No, not one. There's none that understand of none that doeth good and so forth and we understand that One of the difficulties that we face today is we face the same ones same difficulties that Jesus faced there were lots of church people in Jesus days.

The church people they depended on their church or on their creed or on their their background. They depended on their heritage. They depended on the church. They were a part of this is what Jesus dealt with.

Also Most it is human nature To trust in something other than Jesus Christ. It is human nature to trust in something they can see and something tangible and so Satan has deceived mankind in the thinking that if they do certain things or do few things a Certain number of them or don't do certain things that then they can be saved.

I know very well what I was taught. I was taught that if I would just if I would be baptized and be a good member of the church and keep the ordinance of the church that then I would when I Die, I would go to heaven For myself.

I couldn't understand why God said you must be born again and not Allow it to be clear if you know if you are or not. I Used to ponder that why did God say you must be if it doesn't let us know if we are or not.

I didn't think it was fair. I Thought surely if God would say that something you must be doing that you must happen to you. Then you surely he surely should have left us know if we can or not. Of course, I was taught that you can't know you're saved.

But I found out that that that was the wrong teaching in first John. It says that these things have I written. Actually this book Did you know was written the first book of first John specifically was written that to unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God that ye May know that you have eternal life.

Actually, you mean this says that I can know that I have eternal life. Yes, the Bible says it very clearly. That you can know you have eternal life. And I believe that most of you believe that but not all of you have that if I'm going to say that so the The first thing to understand is who God is that God is holy and righteous and he demands righteousness.

The second thing to understand is that we are all sinners. What tends to happen it is so difficult for us to recognize that we are Sinners, it is difficult for us to understand that somehow we believe that The seed which I came from is pretty good.

Amen. And we tend to think that if we do the right things then I'll I'm a pretty good person. And we tend to think that if I'm a church member if I get baptized I go to communion table. But then I'll that's the way to go and then somehow if that's going to get me in.

Well, I have news for you that's a lie from Satan that is not true. The Bible says whosoever believer shall have life. Whosoever has the son has life. It didn't say whosoever goes to communion. It didn't say whosoever gets baptized.

It just doesn't say whosoever goes to the altar goes back and said the prayer will be saved. No, it says that God gave his only begotten Son that whosoever Believer Should not perish it is only when when we understand the first two.

That we are ready for the gospel and that is the third one. The third thing that we must understand is that Jesus Christ is the Savior of mankind. But if we're not prepared to hear if we do not realize who God is and we just kind of have a little Vague idea.

He's some guy up there in the sky somewhere. That's not a proper understanding and so when we if we take someone who is not properly prepared to Receive the gospel of Jesus Christ the saving power, which is which the what is the gospel?

The gospel is the power of salvation unto them that believe but warned us if we take someone and we before their Heart is prepared. Let's look a little bit at the parable of the sower in Matthew chapter 13 and let's look at this in light of hearts of The preparation of the heart for the gospel.

The Parable of the Sower and Prepared Hearts

I believe that most of us know the parable very well. But let's read it in chapter 13 of verse 3 and he spake many things unto them in parables saying behold a sower went forth to sow and when he sowed.

Some seeds fell by the wayside and the fowls came and devoured them up. And now we know that the Word of God is like the seed and so when we go sowing the seed. When we preach the Word of God We preach it to many different kinds of hearts.

Some hearts are open and they're prepared some Some hearts are still full of sin. They're stony they're hard and they're not prepared for the gospel of Syria. And when the seed comes in there takes root it may it might even spring up, but it gets choked out.

There's some hearts there that that are like the that are still or something that have thorns in them. There's lots of different things in there. There's actually four kinds of hearts depicted in here.

But the difficult the thing I want to bring out to you is that if the heart is not prepared. Then it will not bring forth lasting fruit. Let's read it some fell upon study stony places where they had not much earth and forthwith they sprung up because they had no deepness of earth and When the Sun was up they were scorched and because they had no root they withered away.

That's a picture of some of the people some people who come and make a profession of faith. One of the difficulties I I see happen sometimes is that when let's go back to this Junior again who now is 12 or 13 years old and comes to this meeting.

He has seen the altar calls. He's seen what happened is he knows to go back there to pray when I he comes up and he wants to get saved also He responds to our call. God is working on his heart. He's got some sins to confess so he goes and goes back and prays and He comes back out of things.

Well, this must be what they talk about. This must be what they call born again. How do we know whether You know He's only going by what he has seen happen and if he has not really experienced in his heart He really wants to be saved really wants to be born again.

But if it doesn't really happen in his heart then there's then there's tends to be deception there and Even unknown to him. He just thinks well this oh, this is what they talk about. Okay. Yeah, I guess I'm born again.

Okay. Yeah, praise the Lord. But they wrestle they struggle. They wrestle and they just oh, they just don't know am I am I saved am I lost and and they go and they recommit their lives and or There's there's some who There's a popular teaching that you need to get them saved when they're four or five and six and so forth and I just say that.

Those kind will probably struggle with assurance of salvation. Why? It is because they do not have an understanding About who God is. They don't have a clear understanding about who they are as sinners.

They might have an understanding of who Jesus is. But unless we have a clear understanding of who I am First we Jesus did not come to save the righteous. He came to save the lost. He came to save the sinners.

He did not come to come necessary to save us from heaven or save us save us from hell or take us to heaven. That's not what he came for. He came to save us from our sins. And so we must recognize that I am a sinner and I have the fruit of my life is sin.

Now, let me ask you this if I'm a sinner. Unsaved unregenerated have not been born again. Can I have good fruit? Are you sure?

You weren't very loud that time. You're sure. Are you sure?

You know it to be true, but. Well, I don't know. I've not done a lot of good works before I was saved didn't I? You mean all the things I've done before I was saved. All right are counted as sins against me like those who came to Jesus said Lord Lord Have you not done?

Have you not preached. Have you not cast out devils in the name? Have you not done this and the Lord said depart from me? I never knew you. The problem was they were depending on what they had been doing.

Let's read on in this parable. Some fell among thorns. The thorns sprung up and choked them. Other fell in the good ground brought forth fruit some in a hundredfold. Some sixty fold some thirty fold. Who that hears to hear them here.

I'm so glad that there's some hearts here that are open those hearts have been plowed upon and Their hearts are prepared For the gospel for Jesus Christ. You can take you can take someone Whose heart has been prepared for the gospel and you can point them to Jesus Christ and they can be saved immediately.

Amen. One of the part of the work of a counselor is to determine where the person is at and If they're not open and ready to to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. They need to take them and prepare their hearts.

It might not be able to be done on one night, but basically what needs to happen is that. How do we come to faith what is faith? Let's look a little bit of what faith is. How does faith come? The Bible says that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

Faith is not just some Empty blind thing that I'm supposed to have. Let me give an example a story was told of a a foolish Queen. This is just a story she would practice believing impossible things and.

And so she tells this one girl she says I'm 101 years old in five days and the girl says I don't believe it. Oh, she said just try real hard to believe it close your eyes and just believe with all your might.

Believe that I'm a hundred years old in five days. Well, the girl laughs said no, I can't believe that and the Queen kind of looked at her said Well, I was your age. I've practiced believing impossible things.

Many times in fact before breakfast, I'd have six impossible things believed. Is that what we talk about when we talk about believing? No. Our faith our believing in in what in Jesus Christ is not based on just some empty vain thing trying to believe.

Right trying hard to believe this. No, no, no, no, no faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Let me give an example when When the Ethiopian eunuch was riding his chariot out there in that desert and the angel spoke to Philip and said go join Thyself in that go down there to that place at the gaze of desert and he went down there when he was down there.

He saw this Chinese saw this man riding by he heard him reading from the book of Isaiah. And the Spirit said unto Philip go and join thyself to him. So Philip walks runs up to him and and I can just about see him running beside that chariot, you know.

And going down through the desert there and and Philip said understand this thou shall not know what thou readest. And the man said how can I understand except some man teach me. And Philip went up in the chariot there and he began at the same place that he was reading which was Isaiah 53 and he preached unto him Jesus.

Now Philip asked him if he Understands what he's reading the man. He knew about God and I believe that the man had seen himself as a needy soul. But he didn't know about Jesus. And so when Philip Perceived where this man was at in his walk with God when Philip proceeded this man was right for for to receive the gospel.

He preached unto him Jesus. You see the man was ready to receive Jesus and when Philip preached unto him then he received Jesus Christ readily. So much so that he said why here is water what hinders me from being baptized.

And Philip simply said if thou believest with thine whole heart Thou mayest. And they stopped there and it both went down to the water and he baptized him. And so the what I'm saying is that we must discern where the people are at.

I think of Paul when he was in jail there with him and Silas in in Acts chapter 16 I believe it is they were in jail that night and there was a certain earthquake. They were there singing and praising God sitting in stocks in stocks in the innermost part but God came the angel the Lord came down and brought an earthquake and how that when.

When that happened that all the doors were open and the jailer waking up seeing all the doors were open. He was afraid for his life because if you were a jailer or a soldier and you lost one prisoner you'd pay your life with it and so he's about to take his sword and kill himself and when Paul said do that self no harm a Brought her light and came out and this man this jailer fell on his knees in front of Paul.

He said what must I do to be saved. And Paul said believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Just as simple as that. So I'm just I wanted to be clear that Tonight if you're struggling with assurance of salvation.

Defining Assurance of Salvation

You don't need to anymore. There are some reasons. Sometimes there are reasons for struggling. I'll go with them real quickly here if you're here tonight. And you do not have assurance of salvation. First of all, let's let's determine.

What is assurance of salvation? Assurance of salvation is simply the the very confident assured knowledge and understanding. That I have salvation. That I have been saved. What does it mean to be saved?

I've been preaching about that to be saved means to be to be taken from. Being a sinner to being a saint to be to having your sins washed away. There are some people who I mean, there's so many different ways that people get saved and I'm rejoicing it.

And I'm very glad for that and God saves people and in spite of who we are and of our mistakes. But what does it mean to be saved? To be saved means to be not lost. But you cannot be saved unless you first see that you are lost and separated from God.

But we saw we see that we are sinners. Is that right? If we are sinners our sinners lost. Sinners are lost. Sinners will die and go to an eternal lake of fire and That is very clear. God has made that clear in his word.

Jesus spoke about hell many times. He warned about that place of darkness and fire and damnation unless Unless we are somehow Changed we will also go to that place of fire For eternity. That's an awful thought isn't it unless we're changed you might Be here tonight and have never Yielded have never believed.

And you might be the place where you say what must I do to be saved? Well, I can tell you You don't have to come to altar. You don't have to go back there and pray a prayer. No. You can be saved right there where you're at right now.