Is There Any Evidence That you are Saved？ — Anton Bosch

The Narrow Gate and the Two Ways

From verse 13. Enter the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction. And there are many who go in by it, because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life.

And there are few who find it. Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inward they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?

Even so every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Therefore by their fruits you will know them. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name?

And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. Therefore whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock.

But everyone who hears these sayings of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house.

And it fell and great was its fall. And so it was when Jesus had ended these sayings that the people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.

The Sermon on the Mount's Central Warning

This is obviously part of the Sermon on the Mount, and we know these passages very well, and so familiarity breeds contempt. We assume that we understand what they're saying, and yet it's important for us to go back to them again and again and to make sure that we understand what they're saying, and obviously what they're saying to us.

And I don't know what heading one would give to them, because all of these stories, because if you look, not stories, but statements of the Lord Jesus, he speaks about the narrow way, he speaks about the fruit, he then speaks about those who say, Lord, Lord, and then about building the house on the rock.

All of these things have one central message, and we need to get that message, because it is important that we get the message. And of course the point of the message is that there is an end which is destruction, there is an end which is hell, and we can easily end up on the wrong road to the wrong destination.

Examining Whether We Are on the Right Road

I've spoken to you before about the fact that when I fly, I check my ticket over and over and over to make sure I have the right ticket, and we say, well, that's just being pedantic, it's not that important.

It is important. When I was in England a few weeks ago, I was traveling from Wendover to London, and I had to get off the train on a particular point to get another train to another part of London to get another train to go from there to York.

And I bought the right ticket, I checked my ticket, I checked the thing on the station which tells you what the next train is that's coming in, where it's going to, yes it's going to the right place. When the train pulled into the station, I checked on the side of the train, it says it's going to the right place, so I got on the train, and I thought everything was good.

But as I was sitting on the train, I decided to check one more time, because inside of the train there's an electronic board that tells you the destination of the train. And so I looked up, and yeah, the destination was right.

I was going to a place called Marylebone. And so everything looked right. And then as I looked at the board again, I realized that it was not stopping at the station that I needed to go to. It needed to stop at, where I needed to get off.

Because what I didn't realize was that it was what they call a fast train. And the fast train only stops at certain stations. And it did not go where I needed to go. If I stayed on that train, I would have ended in a place where I didn't need to be.

And in fact it would have created all sorts of problems because I would then have to catch another train across, I would then miss the train, the ticket that I had bought to go up to York, which was very expensive, 130 pounds, about $160 I guess.

And everything would have been, the people were waiting for me on the other side, the whole thing would have been messed up. And I thank God that I checked again. Now, I know some people will say, well that's crazy, how many times did you check?

I didn't count, but I probably checked a dozen times, 10, 12 times I checked. And then finally I realized, in fact, I thought I was on the right way, but I'm not in the right place. And I was able to get off in time and be able to catch the next train and be able, I was able to fix the mistake.

Now, in speaking here, Jesus then says, end it by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. And so he's saying there are two gates.

The one is wide, the other one is narrow. Now, he's not saying that the narrow gate is narrow because God has only chosen a few to be saved. That's not what he is saying. It is narrow simply because there are few who go through that gate.

God's Universal Invitation and the Religious Broad Way

God has not made, God wants everyone to be saved. He's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. God so loved the world that he gave his only, that whosoever believes in him will not perish.

So God's grace is wide, but unfortunately what Jesus is saying is there are only few who actually enter in the right gate. Now, the problem here then is what is the broad way? And I've spoken on this before, so please forgive me if you've heard this before, but the broad way is not necessarily the way of the world.

This is the way it is traditionally taught. It's the way of the world and so it's the way of sinners and of those who are not religious, who are not Christians, those who are out in the world. That's the broad way.

But if you read the context carefully, Jesus is not speaking to sinners. When I mean sinners, I mean people who are outside of the faith. He is speaking to Jews who are in the faith. And he is saying there is a way and elsewhere he says a way that seems right unto man.

The way of the world is clearly not right, but the religious way seems right unto man. And so the road that he is talking about here that is the broad way is the way of religion and it may be the way of Christianity.

In fact, here's my problem, that there are many in churches today and there are those probably in this church today who believe that they are on the right way, but they are not. They think they are on the narrow way, but they are on a broad way which is not leading to eternal life.

And as much as I needed to check my ticket one more time, I've been asking you last week and for the next couple of weeks to check your ticket again and make sure you're on the right way. Because he says the problem is that the one leads to life and there are few who find it.

Religious Credentials Cannot Replace New Birth

You see there's many in the day of Jesus who believed they were on the right way because they believed they were Jews. They were sons of Abraham. They were part of the covenant. They were keeping the feasts.

They were keeping the law. They were going to the temple. They were doing all of these things. And yet Jesus points to them and he says you are not my children, you are not children of the Father, you are children of the devil.

And the problem is that we find ourselves in exactly the same place today. That there are millions of people in churches today who believe that they are children of God, but they are not. And you say well that's a very broad statement.

Well I'm going to prove that to you in a moment from the text. But you see here's the problem we have. We have a legacy in evangelical Christianity in the last 50, 60, 70 years that comes out of the Reformation, and I'm not going to get into that in great details, but says that if you believe you are saved.

So have you believed? Yes I believed. I prayed the sinner's prayer. You may even have a little card in the back of your Bible signed on the day, a decision card, the day you decided to become a Christian.

But you know the scary thing is I don't find anything in the Bible about a decision card. I don't find anything in the Bible about praying the sinner's prayer, and if you just prayed the sinner's prayer now you're saved.

You say well are we not saved by faith? Yes we are saved by faith. And I'm going to get to that in a moment, but faith without works is dead. So we are not just, we can't claim to be saved and that's the problem is that there's been a false gospel preached for the last 60, 70, a few hundred years in fact, that you're saved just because you say you believe in the Lord Jesus.

But where's the proof of that faith? Where is the proof of that faith? And so Jesus then goes on and he speaks about false prophets and again we so easily shift the burden of the text of the Word of God because we say well this is dealing with false prophets, this is dealing with preachers, this doesn't apply to me.

No the principle that he is establishing here applies to every one of us. And it's a universal principle. And the principle is that by their fruit you will know them. By their fruit you will know them.

Fruit as Evidence of Faith

How do we know that we have two olive trees in the front of the church here? We know they are olive trees because right now they are bearing olives, which we're trying to get rid of because they make a mess.

But we know they're olives. You don't need to know anything about trees or about leaves or about anything. But if you look at the fruit you recognize an olive and you say this is an olive tree. And Jesus says that even so, verse 17, a good tree bears good fruit but a bad tree bears bad fruit.

It's as simple as that. And why is Jesus saying this? He's saying this because he is saying you need to check the preachers. But if we are to check the preachers then we are to check ourselves by the same standard.

And the standard is their fruit prove who they are. Your fruit proves who you are. And if you live in constant sin and disobedience it proves who you are. If you say I love the Lord and I'm going to speak about loving the Lord next week.

We like to speak about love. But how real is that love? Is it proven? It's become fashionable today for men to tell their wives that they love them but they don't provide for them. They sleep around. They do everything that's detrimental to the marriage.

And they say well I love you. No, you don't love because your fruit proves differently. Now it's interesting that when he speaks about fruit he is not speaking about knowledge. You see here's one of the things.

We say well I know the Bible. I can quote verses from the Bible. I've been in Sun Valley Community Church and we're taught the word of God. We know stuff about the word of God. That's not fruit. What has the word of God produced in your life?

Is it producing holiness? Is it producing a zeal for the things of God? Is it producing a hate for sin? Is it producing obedience to the Lord and to his word? Is it producing a love for his people? For his church and for his word?

The fruit proves it. And folks just to be very blunt about it when I look at the fruit of some lives I seriously question whether some are saved. And we're being honest. And I think that Henry agrees with me.

I can't speak for him. But the fruit of obedience is missing in certain lives, in many lives. And folks here's my problem. I've been in Sun Valley we feel, we think, we believe we're saved. But where is the fruit?

Where is the fruit? The fruit proves the tree. It's not the decision card. It's not the fact that you've prayed the sinner's prayer. It's not the fact that you say I believe. It's the fruit that proves it.

And is there fruit in your life? You remember how important this is to the Lord Jesus. He speaks in John chapter 10 and he says that every branch that does not bear fruit is cut off. And we say well brother we want to hear about love.

We don't want to hear about judgment. I have to warn you about judgment. Because here's the problem is that I don't think that many of us believe in hell. Now I know that very few churches believe in hell anymore and I couldn't care about that.

I believe what the word of God teaches me. And it teaches that there is a hell. There is destruction. There is eternal perdition. Call it whatever you like. And it's real. And here's the thing. I don't believe that most in this church believe in hell.

You say well brother we do believe in hell. Your fruit don't prove it. If we believed in hell we would live different lives. If we believed in hell we would be different in the way that we relate to our children and relate to those around us who are going to hell.

And so we say we believe. But where's the fruit? Where is the evidence of the fact that we believe in hell? Let alone the cross. Verse 20. Therefore by their fruits you will know them. By their fruits you will know them.

Self-Identification and Enduring Fruit

Not by their profession. You see we have a modern idea today that you can self-identify as whatever you like. Men self-identify as women and women self-identify as men. But nothing changes what you really are.

And we want to self-identify as Christians but nothing changes what we are. And I've spoken to you before about the fact that we can't stick, we can't glue fruit on to create the impression that we are fruitful.

Because it is evident that that is not real. And one of the ways that it is evident that it is not real is because it does not last. And you know there's so many scriptures I want to get to today but I'm not going to get the time.

But in John 10 again Jesus speaks about fruit that endures, fruit that lasts. Not just for a season but something that, you see you can put on an act for a while. But when the test comes the act falls away.

And the reality becomes real. Becomes manifest. Becomes present. Becomes proven. And that's why God tests us. We've been speaking about the fact that God tests us. And He tests us, remember He does not test us to find out for Himself what is in our hearts.

He knows what's in our hearts. But He tests us so that our hearts may be revealed to ourselves. And when we fail the test we need to examine the root. And we need to examine and say am I really born again?

Am I really part of the Lord Jesus Christ? Or was it all fake? Now if I was on that train going to London and I said well you know don't worry everything will come right. I'll just sit here and somehow it will work out in the end.

Well guess what? It wouldn't have worked out. When I, the moment I realized I was on the wrong train there was only one thing that needed to be done and that could be done and that was to get off that train and to get onto the right train.

Repentance and Turning to God

And when God tests us and reveals our hearts to us and when we by the convicting of the Holy Spirit realize that in fact we're not what we claim to be. We're not what we profess to be. Folks there's only one thing that we can do and that is not to put on more makeup.

Or try and cover up even more. There's only one thing that's going to work and that is to get off that train and get on the right train. You say well brother I've lived a lie all these years. I said I was a Christian.

Everybody calls me brother. Everybody thinks I'm saved but I'm not. What do I do? Well there's nothing else you can do. You need to get right with God. You can't keep continuing down the wrong road. Because it's not going to change the direction.

I can wish as much as I like. I can exercise as much positive thinking as I like. I can pray as hard as I like. If I was on the wrong train I was not going to end up in my destination. And you can do whatever you like.

The only thing that will get you in the right place is by turning back to where you should be and finding the Lord as your Savior. Now verse 21 and you'll see that he's emphasizing the same message over and over and over 1, 2, 3, 4 times the same message.

Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven. But he who believes. Is that what it says? He who does the will of my Father. Not everyone who says Lord, Lord. Why does he say Lord, Lord?

Why does he say twice Lord, Lord? Because in order for them to show how religious they are, they would use the Lord's name abundantly. Lord this, Lord that, Lord the other thing. And it's interesting that he uses the word Lord, which is his name, but it means master.

Kurios in Greek, master. The boss. Not everyone who calls him the master of their lives is going to go to heaven. Folks that's scary. Because now it's gone beyond just saying I believe. It's now come to a place of saying I acknowledge him as my Lord.

Now remember there's a problem because many people acknowledge him as their Savior. They want him to save them from hell, but they will not accept him as their Lord. But these people are saying he is my Lord.

False Professions and “I Never Knew You”

But again what's the point? Many will say to me in that day Lord, Lord have we not prophesied? Have we not done these things? And he will say I do not know you. Depart from me you who practice lawlessness.

What's the problem? They're not doing his will. Now they're doing stuff. They're doing amazing stuff. They're preaching. And they're preaching in the name of the Lord Jesus. They're performing miracles.

They're casting out demons. Now folks here's the thing. There are not many of us here this morning who preach in his name, who cast out demons and perform miracles. We're not even near there. And yet we claim because we are members of Sun Valley Community Church, because we've been baptized, because of this, because of that, because of the other thing, that we are born again.

And he says even if you were a preacher, if you're not doing my will, you're not saved. Now one of the problems we have with this passage is that traditionally again, and our traditions really trip us up, because the tradition says that well these were people who were saved at one time and who backslid.

That's not what Jesus is saying. Look at verse 23. I will declare to them I never knew you. You were never saved. Now folks just think about it. These guys had come into the church. They had worked their way up to the top.

They had become preachers or prophets. They were performing miracles. They were casting out demons. Not in Hinduism or in Buddhism, but in Christianity. In your name, in the name of Jesus. And he says you were never saved.

I never knew you. See it's not who we know, it's whether he knows us. We've spoken about that before. We say we know him. He's Lord. He says I don't know who you are. You're not mine. You may identify with me, but I don't identify with you.

Now folks that's scary. The fact that there are preachers and we know there are preachers. And that's why I have to examine my own heart over and over and over. And say Lord am I in the faith? Am I one of these who says that I know you, I'm preaching in your name, but I don't know you.

You don't know me. Then he says many will say to me in that day Lord, Lord we prophesied. Many. Folks this is not a minority that he is talking about. This is not a fringe group within the context of Christianity.

This is the majority. The many is a majority. In other words I don't know what percentage that is, but that is more than 50%. Because a minority is not many. And he's saying they will stand on that day and they'll say Lord.

You remember Jesus told a parable of those who came to the bridegroom and he's closed the door and he says I don't know you. Never knew you. Don't know who you are. Does he know you? It's not whether you know him.

It's whether he knows you. That's the question. It's not whether you've prayed the sinners prayer. It's not whether you believe. But the point that he is making here is it is not those who say Lord, Lord verse 21, but he who does the will of my father.

Doing the Father's Will

You see not doing what we think we should be doing. Not doing what Christianity tells us we ought to be doing, but doing what God has told us to do. And we say well I don't know the will of God. Yes you do know the will of God.

It's declared in his word. Remember the rich man and Lazarus. Send somebody. If somebody rises from the dead we'll hear. No they have the law and the prophets. Let them hear them. You see some of us are so arrogant we say well I need a voice from heaven.

I need God to speak to me and tell me what I need to do. No he has spoken through us by his son. Hebrews chapter 1 verse 1. He has told us. In fact here's the scary thing. Not many amongst us are living in obedience to this book.

We say it's not a big deal. It is a big deal. Not those who say Lord, Lord, but those who do the will of the father. He has declared his will. He has declared his will for every area of our lives. We faithfully preach that in these last 16 years.

He has declared his will for us concerning marriage. He has declared his will for us concerning our relationship with the world. He has declared his will for us in the way that we conduct ourselves within our families.

He has declared his will for us in how we do our jobs in our secular employment. He has declared his will for us as far as paying taxes. He has declared his will for us as far as our relationship with the government and we're the police.

He's declared his will for us as to how we raise our children and yet we follow our own wills and our own minds and psychology and modern ideas and modern books and modern philosophies and we say well I'm born again.

No you're not obeying his will. You're not obeying his will. Remember Jesus told a parable of a father who has two sons and he says to them go and work in my vineyard and the first son says sure dad I'm going but somewhere between there and getting to the vineyard he gets sidetracked and he doesn't get there.

The other one says I'm not going but afterwards he repented and he went and worked in the vineyard and the point that Jesus makes is who did the will of the father? The one who actually did it not the one who said it but the one who did it and there's the problem.

The problem is that we can say we believe but our faith is not proven. We can talk about it but talk is not action. Now let me deal with this question of of faith. Let's go to James obviously and we quote from here often but we very seldom look at the whole passage and so I want to spend a few minutes just here in James chapter 2 and verse 14 and I'm just going to read through it and make comments here and there.

James 2 14 right at back of the Bible. What does it profit my brethren if a man says he has faith does not have works? Can faith save him? And it's a rhetorical question. The answer is no. Now I know that some people particularly those of the reformed persuasion get horrified at James and are horrified by the statement that I'm just going to make right now.

Faith cannot save you. Faith cannot save you. Oh you say but we're saved by faith. Well James says can faith save him? And the point is that faith without works is dead. Unless your faith results in action, unless your faith results in a changed lifestyle, unless your faith changes who you are, it's not real faith.

Yes faith saves but faith without fruit, faith without results, faith without a change is worthless. Just as I spoke about hell we can say we believe in hell but if that reality doesn't grip our hearts and change how we live, well we clearly don't believe.

We say I believe in Jesus dying on the cross. If you really believe that Jesus hung on that cross because of my sin, how can I continue in sin if that is the very thing that caused him to die on the cross?

We don't believe that he died for us because if we did we would be different people. Every one of us. Verse 15 if a brother or sister is naked or destitute of daily food and one of you says to him says to him depart in peace and be warmed and filled but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body what does it profit?

In other words words are valueless. Verse 17 thus also faith by itself if it does not have works is dead. Faith if it does not have works is dead. Verse 18 but someone will say you have faith and I have works show me your faith without your works and I will show you my faith by my works.

You believe there's one God you do well. Even the demons believe and tremble. So here's the scary thing the demons believe in the cross more than any of us. They believe in heaven more than any of us.

They believe in hell more than any of us. They believe in God's great judgment at the end of time more than any of us but they're not saved because it hasn't resulted in a change. Now I'm not getting into the theology of why not but you can clearly see that just believing in the existence of God believing in the bible does not save.

Verse 20 but do you know oh foolish man that faith without works is dead. It's so simple faith without works is dead. Was not our father Abram our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar.

Do you see that faith was working together with his works and by works faith was made perfect. In other words faith is only made complete when it results in deeds when it results in obedience. And then he cites various other examples and then ends in verse 26 for as the body without the spirit is dead so faith without works is dead also.

And so here's the problem there are millions of people right now this morning who believe they're saved because they say I believe but there's no works they're not in church this morning they have no relationship with Jesus they don't walk in obedience their faith is of no value whatsoever.

Lawlessness, Grace, and Obedience

Now if we go back to Matthew chapter 7 verse 23 then then I will declare to them I never knew you depart from me you who practice iniquity in the old King James lawlessness in the modern translations.

Remember lawlessness in the scriptures does not refer to lawlessness in a civil sense in a civic sense in the sense of not obeying the traffic laws or the bylaws of the city or the laws of country. This is dealing with lawlessness in the sense of living away from the word of God without the word of God becoming a law unto us.

Now here's one of the other heresies that we have we that we've been taught in these last days and that is that we're not under great we're not under law we're under grace. So you can live any old how it doesn't matter because we're not under law but Jesus will say to those on that day depart from me you who are without law.

If we love him we're speaking about that next week we will love his word we will love his commandments we will obey his commandments. Jesus said that if you love me keep my commandments and so he then tells the story about the house on the rock.

Building on Obedience Rather Than Disobedience

Now I'm sure you've heard many sermons on this and I can tell you now that most of those sermons are wrong because most sermons on the story about the man who built his house on the rock and the other one who built his house on the sand says that Jesus is the rock and yes indeed he is the rock and if you build on Jesus your house will stand and if you build on sand your house will not last.

But that's not the point that Jesus is making that's not why he's using the parable he tells us what the parable means. The parable has nothing to do with building on Jesus yes we must build on him yes he is the foundation and the cornerstone of our faith but that's not the point here the point is clearly in the scriptures and it's amazing how preachers will preach without even looking at what the word says and Christians will live their lives without even looking and thinking about what God's word says.

Verse 24 therefore whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them I will liken to a wise man who built his house on the rock. Verse 26 everyone who hears these sayings of mine and does not do them I will liken him to a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

It's got nothing to do with building on Jesus it has to do with everything he's been speaking about from the beginning of this passage. Folk if you're not obeying him you may be building a house and you may be saying it's a religious house it's a it's a Christian house it's the house of the for the Lord and we have to ask the question of our church because remember Paul says that everyone is building but we need to take heed how we build because one day our works will be tested.

Are we building on obedience or are we building on disobedience. That's my concern and that's why we are where we are right now in these weeks of re-examining ourselves individually and examining our church.

My concern is that as a church we are building on sand because we are building on disobedience. Parents are teaching their children to be disobedient because they will not discipline them and as elders we need to examine ourselves whether we have been teaching disobedience because we won't deal with those who will not repent in the congregation and I'm examining my heart on that because at the end of the day if we build on the rock which he says is those who hear the sayings and does them when the storms come the house will stand.

When the test comes the house will stand. If we as a congregation if you as an individual or you as a family are building your house on disobedience it your house will not stand. Your personal life will crumble your family will break up and in the end you will lose the hope of salvation.

There's only one way to build Jesus is saying and that is on the on the rock of obedience the rock of obedience. Now before anyone who listens to the recording or who's here this morning says that I'm teaching faith or salvation by works.

I'm not preaching salvation by works. We cannot save ourselves by the things that we do but what we do is evidence of what's inside. And if I am a good tree in other words I have truly been born again it must result in fruit.

And if the fruit is not obedience it's as simple as this then you are not born again. I can't make it more simple than that now. I'm not asking you a question this morning and I am going to make an appeal this morning.

The Appeal to Examine the Evidence of Salvation

It is not my custom but I asked a couple of other pastors to listen to last week's message and to admonish me if I spoke incorrectly in any way and the only response was you didn't give people an opportunity to respond.

And so I'm going to give an opportunity to respond this morning. I'm going to make an altar call. And I want you to examine your own heart. And I'm not asking you to examine whether you believe because I think most of us here 99 of us here say we do believe.