11/7/2020 - Assurance Of Salvation

TNG Radio, where today's culture and timeless truths come together. It's reasoned, relevant content apologetics, worldview, and answers to the questions that you need to know. From Alex McFarland Ministries, this is Truth for a New Generation Radio.

And now, the man who preached in 50 states in 50 days, speaker, writer, and advocate for Christian apologetics, Dr. Alex McFarland. Can you be sure of where you stand with God? Can you be absolutely certain of your relationship with God?

Hi, Alex McFarland here and welcome to the program. On today's show, we're going to talk about the assurance of salvation. And if you've ever wondered, am I really saved? If I died, would I go to heaven? Maybe if you've ever worried and you've thought, you know, what if I die?

What if I leave this world and open my eyes in eternity and I'm in hell? I'm not with God. If you've worried about that, you need to listen to this show because we're going to talk about how to have assurance of your salvation. And do you know that you can overcome doubts about where you stand with God?

You can overcome those doubts. Many people now are very interested in what it means to be right with God. That music you heard at the beginning of the program, it's the end of the world as we know it. There was a famous band years ago that had this song about the end of the world and I feel fine just glibly watching the world fall down and not really caring.

In another sense, let me say it this way, it may be the end of the world as we know it, but because of Jesus, we can feel fine and have comfort and assurance, even courage at this time. I want to tell you a story about many, many years ago. I was in a Christian bookstore and there was a person in the store going around trying to tell people about Jehovah's Witnesses, and in fact proselytizing for the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society in a Christian bookstore. And I was talking to this Jehovah's Witness representative and the person asked me, do you know that you'll go to heaven when you die? And I said, I do know that. And they said, nobody can know that.

I said, well I know it. And the person looked at me as if I was being very presumptuous and I said, listen believe me, I don't know that I'm going to heaven because of any worth or merit I've got in and of myself. And I'm not trying to be arrogant, but I believe God's promises and I believe what the Word of God says about salvation. Well the Jehovah's Witness person said to me, nobody can know that they'll go to heaven or not. There are only going to be 144,000 they said, and that's one of their teachings, it's not true and it's a complete misunderstanding of the 144,000 in the book of Revelation. But they said, nobody knows they're going to heaven or not until after they die.

I said, yeah, but then it's kind of too late to do anything about it. But friend, you can know, one of the verses that we share a lot is 1 John 5.7. Now remember, the Bible is a book shown to be inspired by compelling lines of evidence. We believe the Bible is the divine Word of God, and Jesus said that. Jesus, the only person who rose from the grave, in multiple instances affirmed the authenticity of scripture. And in fact, Christ's resurrection from the dead is one of the most documentable facts of ancient history.

So Christ rose from the dead. And remember, regardless of the critic or the skeptic, or even yourself, on the days that you may have doubts, the only person ever to have risen physically from the grave, Jesus Christ, affirmed the authenticity of scripture. And in the scripture, we read over and over the verses that promise, if you've been born again, you will not see condemnation.

The book of Romans talks about we have peace with God through Jesus Christ. One of the verses that we've shared before thousands and thousands of people is 1 John 5.13. In the Word of God, 1 John, not the Gospel of John but at the end of the New Testament, the small 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, I love those books, but 1 John 5.13 says of scripture and of your life in light of scripture, listen, these things were written to you who believe on the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. K-N-O-W. Know, knowledge, certainty.

Isn't that something? So these things were written to you who believe on the name of the Son of God that you may know you have eternal life. Now, friend, you can overcome doubts about where you stand with God based on what God's Word says, not on what you feel or what you assume. You can know that you have eternal life. And in fact, it says, He who has the Son has life in 1 John 5.12.

So 1 John 5.12 and 13 are a great starting point. Do you have the Son, the S-O-N, Jesus? Was there a time when you said, Lord, I am sorry for my sins and I believe Jesus died for me? Yes, Jesus died for the whole wide world, but he died for me and he died for you. Well, 1 John 5.12, if you have the Son, you have life. Now, Jesus said, He who hears my word and believes on him that sent me has everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but has passed from death to life. Now remember, you are not saved by good works and you are not kept in a state of salvation through good works. Your merit before God is based on Jesus. His perfection, His holiness, His righteousness are credited to each person who believes in Him by what?

By faith. Jesus said in John 6.37, the one who comes to me I will not reject. Now this coronavirus situation has got so many people around the world frightened, apprehensive, but we need to tell the world that listen, where you stand with God is based on Jesus Christ. And should we die or should the world come to an end or if Christ were to return even right now? And maybe the rapture will be before this radio broadcast ends and we want you to know that you are ready and you can know. But our standing before God is not based on emotions that change. It is not based on good works that we strive and try to accomplish.

It is based on Christ's work on the cross and the promises of His word, but also the promises of God's character. And so we are going to continue talking about assurance of salvation and we want you before this radio broadcast is over, we want you to have the experience of salvation, but we want you to have the assurance of salvation and you can. Stay tuned, we are going to talk more about assurance of salvation when we come back. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Welcome back to the program.

Alex McFarland here. We're talking about having assurance of your salvation. And let me just say that as the coronavirus situation continues, 2020 is going to go down in history as being something almost like World War II, rationing and stores asking people not to buy so much and hoard so much. And do you know what? It's bringing out the good in people, too, though. And I want to say this very clearly because more than ever, listen to this, folks, we've been averaging 91 people a day, emailing us as high as 200 emails in a day, as low as maybe 75 in a day. People have been reaching out to us here at Alex McFarland Evangelistic Ministries, Truth for a New Generation, and they've been saying, how do I know that I'm saved? Or I've been away from God, I need to come back to God.

Could God still love me? And I just want to say this. If this situation, the physical and medical implications of this, the financial implications, if it takes this to bring us to our knees and to humble ourselves before God, if it takes this coronavirus to liberate us from pro sports and the busyness and all the things that have been a wedge between America and God, and if it brings us to our knees such that we humble ourselves, bow before God, repent of our sins, national and personal, and get a moral and spiritual revival, and finally we've stopped our lives long enough for the Holy Spirit of God to get our attention, if coronavirus has done all that, well then so be it.

So be it. And I just want to say, if you're one of the people and you're thinking about eternity and a number of the questions we've gotten in recent weeks, people say, Alex, do you think this is the end of the world? Doesn't the book of Revelation talk about plagues and sicknesses and is Jesus coming back? Friend, Jesus is coming back soon.

He really is. Listen to this. Somebody died that you may have heard of, Jack Van Impe. Jack Van Impe was a prophecy preacher, and for decades he preached about the return of Christ and there's going to be violence in the Middle East and then there's going to be a peace deal and there's going to be signs and rumors of wars and ultimately Christ is going to come back.

Well Jack Van Impe, if only Jack Van Impe had lived a couple of months longer, he would be having a time right now in this coronavirus situation. Now the New York Times of all places ran a relatively complimentary obituary and they basically said this. They said, well give him credit.

He was consistent on message. He preached Christ was going to return and the world was going to end one day and get right with God through Jesus. And a number of the obituaries around the world and on the web, like the New York Times piece, they said, you know, forty years ago people might have thought Jack Van Impe was just kind of an evangelical wing nut. Twenty years ago, maybe they thought that.

Ten years ago. But right now, with the rise of Islam, cryptocurrency, the wiring of the planet, talks about abolishing money, abolishing government, creating martial law for the whole wide world, let's unify under the UN, the rise of Islam, so many other things. Nowadays the way the world is escalating to where it is, worldwide pandemic, viruses, disease, people said, well you know, maybe Dr. Jack Van Impe wasn't far off the mark after all. Friend, if ever you've thought about getting your house in order and getting right before God, this is the time. And my point being, yes, Christ is going to return. History is going somewhere. And that somewhere is not so much history going somewhere, but Christ coming back into this world.

Because he is. Now, you can be sure of where you stand with God, so whether by your own mortality or by Christ's return, you can be ready. Let's talk for a moment about rededication. Maybe you were a believer and you need to rededicate your life to Christ. A news reporter once asked me what is meant by the term, quote, rededication.

He had heard me use this term as I spoke. And rededication is for a believer who desires that their walk with Christ be renewed and deepened. Now a Christian can wander from God into sin or simply lose their closeness to the Lord through the busyness of life. But a born again believer is forever God's child. Your salvation is a matter of birth.

Your daily Christian growth is a matter of fellowship. Now your spiritual birth into God's family is an event that occurs through repentance and faith. You admit your sin, you put your trust in Jesus, you turn to Christ and you're born again. That's John chapter 3. Not 1 John, but John 3. Read the story of Jesus in Nicodemus. And Jesus said that you must be born again.

And the word is anothon, born from above. Now just like a child is born into a human family, growing up as a child you may have disappointed your parents or disobeyed somehow. And something you did may have grieved your father, but you were still his child because you were born into that family. Now in the same way, a Christian's relationship to Jesus is still intact, even if you commit a sin that may hinder your daily fellowship with God. Salvation is a one-time instantaneous event, but Christian growth is a lifelong adventure. Personal fellowship with God is a daily pursuit, and it's a lifelong process. So consistent daily prayer by law Bible study, obedience to the Holy Spirit, nurture in a local church fellowship in a church family are all keys to growth and Christian maturity.

And let me say also, to feel close to God. Now I want to tell you, truth is truth. And truth is black and white.

True or false. I know nowadays our world doesn't really think in terms of true, false, right, wrong, black and white. You know nowadays our world has become so subjective, people like to think that it's really based on how I feel. But in a way, it's not that how we feel precedes what is true. In reality, what is true is the foundation.

And very often how we feel, our emotions have to catch up to what reality is. Now stay tuned, we're going to continue talking about having assurance about your state before God. So Truth For A New Generation will be back after this. Don't go away. Don't go away. Don't go away. Don't go away.

Don't go away. In the midst of a culture obsessed with relativism, Alex McFarland is a voice you can trust to speak the timeless truths of Christianity in a timely way. You're listening to Truth For A New Generation radio.

Welcome back to the program. We're talking about assurance of your salvation, knowing where you stand with God. And you can know the Word of God promises whoever has the Son has life and will not pass into condemnation.

You know, I love John 6, verse 40. And I want to get there in just a moment, but right now I do want to say a big, big thank you to everybody who's been buying my brand new book, The Assault on America, How to Defend Our Nation Before It's Too Late. And the book is doing very well. I would encourage you to read it. There's a lot of the book that really is evergreen about our history, and morally how imperative it is that we return to belief in morals, and how talking about morality does not violate the First Amendment.

I really do talk about what's at stake in terms of our Constitution, our civil liberties, our freedoms, religious freedom. Maybe you've been following in the news how John MacArthur out in California is being persecuted and threatened with jail time for preaching the gospel and having church services. Christians in California are told they can't sing hymns in church. They can't have pew Bibles or hymnals.

And really, persecution is present in our nation. And I talk about all of these things in my book, The Assault on America. It was published by Harrison House.

It's available everywhere. I don't make any money off of this book, and that's really by design. I don't want any money. I literally wrote this book for God and country. And the message is urgent that we must have a spiritual awakening, and I give the steps to this.

What does an authentic move of God look like, and why do we need one, and how can we, by God's grace, experience one in our nation? So I'm urging people to read the book. And for those that may be on the fence, maybe you think, well, it doesn't really matter. This world is passing away.

Why get too invested in the state of America? I think this book will persuade you. I really do. So pray, please consider reading the book, The Assault on America, and please consider a donation to our ministry. You can give online at alexmcfarland.com, or you can mail in a donation, and we'll give you that contact info later on in the show. But I thank you for reading the book.

I encourage you, the audio book is out there on amazon.com, or Barnes & Noble can get the book, or at afastore.net. But also, I want to remind you, we've got a very wonderful DVD on Thanksgiving. My dear friend and colleague, Jerry Newcomb, helped produce this wonderful DVD on the pilgrims on Thanksgiving, and I'd like to send you a copy of this for your donation in any amount, your contribution in any amount. If you would write to us at P.O. Box 485, Pleasant Garden, North Carolina, 27313. If you write a check, you can write it to TNG, as in Truth for a New Generation, or you can donate securely online at alexmcfarland.com, and we'll send you out the DVD on Thanksgiving.

Very informative, just as our way of saying that we appreciate you. But John 6.40, the Gospel of John, chapter 6, verse 40. Jesus said this, whoever sees the Son, S-O-N, to see the Son and believe in him will have everlasting life.

Not maybe, but will. Jesus said, whoever sees the Son and believes in him will have everlasting life, and I will raise you up at the last day. So I want to ask you, have you believed in him?

Have you understood? Do you understand that Jesus is the Son of God? Not just a good man, but the God-man.

God incarnate. That's why he was qualified to pay for our sins on the cross. That's why he was able and he was willing. And when he went to the cross, when the wrath of God that the whole world deserved was put onto Jesus, he was doing that for you. Now we think about people in terms of how we perceive gradiations of goodness or morality, and we think, well Billy Graham was a good person. Mother Teresa was a good person. God could love them. But let me tell you, in the eyes of God we're all bad people. We're sinners.

We've known the right and we've done the wrong. Augustine said, even our best deeds are merely splendid sins. And so God loves sinners. God loved this sinner Alex McFarland, and I was saved many years ago. God loves you right now.

And you need to know that and you need to believe that. And that's why we're talking about assurance that God, listen, please believe this, God lovingly receives all who turn to him, and all who return to him. He'll cleanse us from our sins, he'll restore our fellowship with him. King David was called, quote, a man after God's own heart, but his sinful deeds required that he humbly recommit himself to the Lord. And in Psalm 51, David said, cast me not away from your presence, and restore unto me the joy of my salvation. Psalm 51, 11 and 12. Now it doesn't say restore unto me my salvation, but the joy of my salvation.

And Christian publications often use 1 John 1.9 in terms of evangelism, but it was really written in terms of Christian fellowship. It says if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And really that's speaking to Christians, to confess your sin. And maybe you need to do that right now and turn back to Christ. Hebrews 12, 1 and 2 says that we are to lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily besets us or entangles us and turn to Jesus Christ for assurance of your salvation. Maybe you need to pray a prayer like this and say, Lord Jesus, I acknowledge my sin.

I'm sorry I've wandered from you. I confess my sin and I turn from it. I recommit myself to you as Lord.

Thank you for forgiving me. I trust you to give me the strength to live for you each day forward. Thank you for being my Savior and my Lord and my friend. Here at Truth For New Generation, Alex McFarland Evangelistic Ministries, we care about your personal walk with Christ. And you can have that assurance, that confidence, that rock solid unshakable confidence that you're ready to meet Jesus whenever that comes. Jesus said, the one who comes to me I will not reject. That's John 6, 37.

If you haven't come to him, do that today. And if we can help you in your walk, your growth, your church, if we can help you to know, to accept, to grow, to defend the faith, reach out to us. Go to our website, alexmcfarland.com, and may God bless you as you journey on with Jesus.

That's 877-YES-GOD and the number 1. Or give online at alexmcfarland.com. While you're there, listen to program archives, read Alex's blog, invite Alex to speak at your event, or contact Alex with a question or comment. alexmcfarland.com. Thanks for listening today and join us again next time as we bring you more truth for a new generation on TNG Radio.