1262. An Unmost Salvation

Welcome to The Daily Platform. Our program features sermons looking at two primary themes that we find in the scripture. And the first one we're looking at this morning from Hebrews chapter 7, and we're committed to continue by reason of death. What he meant here is he says the reason why there were so many priests is because priests passed away.

And the worship of God for the Jewish people continued on by bringing in more priests who grew up in the family of the Levites. Verse 24. But this man, speaking of Jesus, because he continues ever, that is he is a perpetual permanent priest, has an unchangeable priesthood.

Now he tells us why. Verse 25. Wherefore, or in consequence of this, he, Jesus, is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, or that is through Jesus, seeing that he ever lives, that is Jesus ever lives, to make intercession for them. There is only one book in the world that has ever been written in world history that teaches us a permanent salvation that comes only through the grace and the mercy of God.

There is only one book, that is the scriptures, the word of God that we have, in which we learn to have eternal life through the grace of God. And so this morning I would like to take Hebrews chapter 7 in verse 25 where he basically unfolds the way of salvation. And that is through the theme when he speaks about an utmost salvation. Let's look at verse 25 again. Wherefore he, that is Jesus, is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he, Jesus, ever lives, to make intercession for them.

Now, I want to take three questions and basically unpack this verse. And the first question is, who is it here that are being saved to the uttermost? And notice what he says, he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, or you could say by Jesus Christ. Who is it that God saves to the uttermost? It is everyone that comes to God by Jesus Christ. There is no restriction and there is no limitation to God if you come to God by Jesus Christ.

In more specific, notice where these people come to. It says they come unto God. How do I get to God? I get to God through Jesus Christ. And when he speaks about us coming to God, he's speaking about our whole self coming to God. For example, when you came into this building today, you didn't come into this building with just a part of you.

You didn't leave your arms or your legs outside. You brought your whole self into this building. When you come to God, you don't bring a part of yourself, you bring all of yourself. The story is told that when Christianity became a state religion under Constantine in 300 A.D. And Constantine, being a soldier, had all of his soldiers baptized. That when they were baptized, everything in their body went under the water with one exception, and that is their swords.

And they held their arm up out of the water holding their sword because they would not bring that to God. When we go through baptism and we are dipped under the water, it is the entire person who comes to God. Your whole life is to be brought to God just like the Old Testament sacrifices were completely devoted to God. I ask you this morning, have you yourself completely and wholly come to God? I know whom I have believed and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

What have I committed unto him? My whole self. Who is it that is saved to the uttermost? Those that come to God and they come through Jesus Christ. And obviously, this coming to God implies leaving something else. If you come to God, there is something you are leaving.

What is it that you are leaving? And in essence, you are leaving your old life before faith. And we talk about your old life, the Bible uses the phrase the old man. And that old life refers first of all to what you think is good and secondly to what you know is bad. When you come to God, you are actually leaving what you think is good and the first thing that you think is good is yourself.

You actually don't believe that you deserve the judgment of God but everyone that comes to God through Jesus Christ believes and understands that there is none good, no not one. But you also leave what you know is bad because you are leaving a life of unrighteousness, living for yourself, pleasing yourself, satisfying your own desires. Coming to God means I want God in my life.

I'm no longer running from Him, wanting my own way. I am coming to Him not as an enemy but I want Him to be my friend. Have you come to God by Jesus Christ?

But notice what He says not only where these people come but notice He says how they come. How do they come to God? They come to God by Jesus Christ. That means they come believing in the person of Jesus Christ.

For what? For there is one God and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. There is no other way to heaven but through Jesus Christ and Jesus is an all-inclusive Savior. That is He includes all who come to God through Him. If you come through Him, you come to God. He tells us that He is all-inclusive and that He excludes anyone who tries to come any other way. We read in Acts 4-12 and there's salvation and no one else.

For there is no other name under God given among men by which we must be saved. Nobody can come unto God except through Jesus Christ. So how do they come? They come by Jesus Christ. Have you come to God by Jesus Christ?

But notice He also says this. He tells us what do they come for. When you come to Jesus, when you come to God, what are you coming for?

What do you want God to do for you? Well, there's no doubt that there are people who come to God all the time. They may come to God for help in life's troubles. They may come to God for deliverance from life's perplexities and fears. They may come to God to protect them from life's threats.

How many people have prayed to God in the midst of COVID? And coming to God for those things are not necessarily wrong, but when this verse is speaking, coming to God by Jesus Christ, there is only one reason to come to God through Jesus Christ and that reason is I want God's mercy. Why do I come to God through Jesus Christ? Because I want God's mercy. There is only one group of people that come to God through Jesus and that's those who are sinners. Because we come to God to be saved, to be saved from my own sins. So I ask you this morning, have you been saved to the uttermost by coming to God through Jesus Christ?

There's only one reason to come and that is for mercy. Back when I was in the ministry of evangelism, we had a young lady who came to travel with us on our team for two or three years who was our school teacher. She grew up in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. She went to a Christian school, grew up in a Christian family. She attended a Bible college and got a degree, an educational degree from Bible College. And so she came to travel with us and in her second year, we were actually holding a two week revival meeting here in Greenville, South Carolina in 1990 at Morningside Baptist Church.

Think about that. That's two weeks of preaching every single night. And on the second week on a Monday night, this young lady, our teacher, was in the front of the auditorium standing there with my wife. And during the song service, she turned to my wife and she said, I need to talk to you.

Can we go out? And so they went out in the lobby of the church. And she said to my wife, I don't think I'm saved. Now remember where she came from and what she was doing. And my wife said, I think you need to talk to my husband after the service. So after the service, my wife tells me. And so I go with my Bible in hand with the intention to help her to get and understand the assurance of salvation.

Surely she's just doubting her salvation and I think I can help her. And I sat down and I asked her some basic questions because my assumption was that she was a believer. And I said, I said, her name was Gretchen. I said, Gretchen, let me ask you this question.

When do you believe you became a Christian? And she said to me, she said, Steve, I've always grown up in a Christian home and I've always believed in Jesus. That's what she told me. But she said, I never have understood why is it that I really need Jesus? And I went, OK. And then she said, I never saw myself as being all that bad.

Now, my first thought was, well, if you had asked me, I would have told you. But for the first time in her life, she literally had a revelation about herself. That she actually started to understand that the reason she needed to come to God by Jesus Christ was she needed God's mercy in her life. And you would have thought that she would have gotten saved that night. She didn't. Fact is, she said, I'm not ready. And for one week, she ran from God resistant, stubborn.

It's almost like squeezing a pimple. Everything on the inside just started coming out. And one week later, she came to our trailer and walked in and literally got on her knees. And she said, I want to be saved now. She came to God by Jesus Christ. Why do you come to God? There is only one reason, because you know you need mercy. And I pray because I believe there are many of you who know about God and you know about Jesus.

And it's all in your head, but it's never dropped down 18 inches into your heart. You've never come to God by Jesus Christ for His mercy. So question number one, who is it that are saved to the uttermost? Those who come to God by Jesus Christ. Question number two, how far does this uttermost salvation extend?

How far does it go? What are the boundaries or what are the limitations of this salvation? And notice what he says, wherefore Jesus is able to save them to the uttermost. What does the word uttermost mean? It's one word in the Greek, but it's two words put together. The one word is the word pan or pan telos or telos.

And that comes from two Greek words. The first word is the idea of the word pos, which means all. And the second word telos means complete or to the destination or to the end.

So when you drove to Bob Jones University or you flew here, when you arrived here at your destination, that's what the word telos means. So it's the idea of all and destination and in that we have the idea of uttermost. That is first and foremost, Jesus is able to save all who come to Him.

John 6 37, all that the Father giveth me will come to me and he that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out. Uttermost extends to everyone, even to those who've experienced extreme guilt. There is no limitation to His demonstration of salvation. Uttermost means all who are sinners. Nobody is beyond the power of Jesus.

That's why the word He is able is put there because the word He is able means, it's the idea we get the word dynamite. It is referring to the supernatural, all powerful, omnipotent power of God. That God is able to save you to the uttermost. Every single part of you can be redeemed and saved. Your heart, your soul, your mind, your will, your emotions, your purposes, your plans. He saves to the uttermost.

Nobody is beyond the grace of God. In 1989, we experienced in the world something very unique and that was the fall of communism. Russia, East Germany and so forth. Around 1991 or 2, I went on a missions trip to Siberia, Russia. We flew from the United States to Anchorage, Alaska and then we flew to far eastern Siberia, right north of North Korea in a city called Khabarovsk. It was there we took a 15 hour train ride inland into Siberia, just north of China. And we came to a city called Blagaviskhynx.

And we were there in that area for over a week preaching the gospel. But one of the profound experiences I had was when we were on the train going to Blagaviskhynx. Everybody was Russian except for us who were Americans. And I actually began to have a conversation and they could speak in some broken English. I began to have a conversation with Russian soldiers who had been fighting in Afghanistan long before the United States ever went there. And I began to share the gospel with them.

And here I was on the other side of the world and yet the human heart is the same. And when I told them that God would save them, do you know what their response was? Their response was, we cannot become a believer. We cannot be forgiven because we have done too many bad things.

Obviously it's soldiers and all that goes with that. And here I was on the other side of the world understanding that when Jesus says, the Bible says He saves to the uttermost, it is to those who are in extreme guilt God is able to save you. And He also refers here to that uttermost extends to those who have not only experienced extreme guilt but those who have experienced extreme rejection.

And what I mean by rejection is this. And I know it's true in this building today that there are many of you who have heard the gospel from your childhood. You have grown up in a Christian home. You have Christian grandparents. You have Christian parents. You have Christian siblings. You were educated in a Christian school. I mean you even drank Christian milk.

Everything you had was Christian. But you're not a Christian. Somewhere along the line you have decidedly decided not to believe. You have resisted a thousand prayers. You have wasted hundreds of sermons. You have run away from countless gospel presentations. You have resisted the Lord.

You have hardened your heart in your own willful choice of not believing. And yet, even in your extreme rejection, God's grace still reaches out to you. Return unto me, the Lord says, and I will return unto you. He is able to save those who will come to Him, who are coming from the very worst. He is able to save all. But then the second idea of the word uttermost is He's not only to save all, all to come to Him, but He's able to save completely those who come to Him. You see, salvation to the uttermost is not just referring to you when you come to Jesus, but when you come to the end of your life. God's ultimate end in your salvation is salvation from all sin. You have been saved from the penalty of sin. If you are a believer, you will not perish. But this ultimate salvation is the final salvation, and that is the deliverance from all sin. Not only sin in its penalty, but sin in its power over my life. For this salvation extends to your temptations and to your infirmities. It extends to your darkness.

It extends to your depression. The Bible says now unto Him that comes to Him, He is able... The scripture says in Philippians 1, He that began a good work in you, He will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. We live in a neighborhood, and we've been there for five years. In the last five years, they have built 15 homes.

It's been crazy. And every day, I'll drive by these homes that are being built, and I see them clear the land, and then I see them pour the foundations, and then I see them put up the structure. They're framing the house, and then bricking the house, and then putting on the roof. And then they start to do the yard, and one thing they have all done, everything they started, they finished. And if you have come unto God, when it says He's going to save you to the uttermost, it means He's going to finish what He started in your life. He is not going to leave you. He's not going to forsake you. You have been saved to the absolute uttermost.

And that leads me to the third and final question. And that is, why is it specifically in this verse that Jesus is able to save to the uttermost? Look at what He says in Hebrews 7, 25. He says, Seeing He, Jesus, ever lives to make intercession for them. Why is it that we're saved to the uttermost? Because of the intercessory work of Jesus.

I want you to think of it this way. What is Jesus doing right now? As we sit in chapel, it is 1132. What is Jesus doing right now? Because when we think of Jesus, we think of what He did. His incarnation, His crucifixion, His resurrection, His ascension into heaven. But why did He go into heaven? It says He sat down at the Father's right hand.

Why? What is He doing? What is Jesus doing right now? He is interceding for us.

What does that mean? And just for the sake of time, to make it the simplest I can. An intercessor is one who is an agent for you on the behalf of another. And in this case, the picture that we have here is the Old Testament priest. For what did the primary job of the high priest to do? He was to go into God's presence with a sacrifice to be offered for the sins of people.

Blood sprinkled on the Ark of the Covenant in the mercy seat. And as he appeared in the presence of God with a sacrifice, it brought forgiveness of sin for the Jewish people for one year. But the problem with all of that is that this was not a permanent priesthood because they all died. This was not a perfect sacrifice because the blood of animals can't take away your sin.

This is not a permanent priesthood because they live and they die, they come and they go, and they can't stay in God's presence forever. And when Jesus died and rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, what did He do? Just like that Holy of Holies, He entered into the presence of God and Jesus Christ entered in with the sacrifice of His own life.

It's a perfect sacrifice that takes away all of our sin. He is a permanent priest forever after the order not of the Levites but Melchizedek, which was an eternal priesthood. And He is permanently in the presence of the Lord. He has been there for 2,000 years.

And what is He doing? Just like the Old Testament, high priest offered sacrifices for us so that we could experience forgiveness. We have in the very presence of the Lord Jesus Christ who is there and He is ever living to, through His life and sacrifice, intercede on our behalf so that you and I can be saved all the way to the end.

So let me put it this way. You can't lose your salvation. Not because you don't mess up, and I'm going to talk about that tomorrow. But I know that I'm going to be saved to the absolute uttermost because I have a permanent high priest who has already offered a perfect sacrifice for me and He is ever living in the presence of the Lord. And all those mess ups and all those things that you do wrong throughout the course of your life, how do I know for confidence that I'm saved?

Because I have that one ever living in the presence of God for me. We know the song, Before the Throne of God Above, I have a strong and perfect plea, a great high priest whose name is love, whoever lives and he pleads for me. My name is written on His hands.

I'm engraved on His heart. And I know that I am saved by His grace to the uttermost. There are many of you in this room that are not saved. I beg of you today, come to God by Jesus Christ. Father, thank you for your word. And thank you for this rich grace that we have in Jesus, our intercessor, whoever lives and pleads for us. Thank you for this glorious assurance that we have, not on the basis of our righteous life, but on the basis of our high priest who lives to plead for us. We thank you for this in Jesus' name. Amen. You've been listening to a sermon preached by Dr. Steve Pettit, President of Bob Jones University. We hope you'll join us again tomorrow at this same time as we study God's Word together on The Daily Platform.