Christian Salvation Promise: Mark of Being Saved through Jesus Christ

The true mark of being saved is through Jesus Christ.

We must be willing to give up everything to serve Christ.

Humility is a key characteristic of a true disciple.

We must be heavenly-minded and not worldly.

The The name of this word today is called the true mark and promise of those who are saved. In John 8, verse 32, Jesus made a promise to his followers. He said, you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. You see, the Bible teaches that there is a character of a disciple of God that God is looking for in all of his followers. We can see this as we look at Christ's original disciples. We know by reading the Gospels that when Jesus called the first twelve, they forsook all that they had. They left their businesses, their families, and they followed Jesus. The point of all of this is that they were willing to give up everything to answer the call and serve Christ the Messiah. For us, this lesson tells us that we must be willing to give up all and that we put Jesus first, and that means even our loved ones. He must be first in our hearts, in other words. In the case of Paul, he tells us that every sin, every idol, and every circumstance inconsistent with Christ's word must be renounced. Listen to what he says in Philippians 3, verses 7 and 8. But whatever former things I had that might have been gained to me, I have come to consider as one combined loss. Combined loss or loss means detriment. It becomes a loss or a detriment for Christ's sake. Yes, furthermore, I count everything as loss compared to the possession of the priceless privilege, the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing worth, the supreme advantage of knowing Christ, Jesus, my Lord, and progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with him, of perceiving and recognizing and understanding him more fully and clearly. For his sake, I have lost everything and consider it all to be mere rubbish, refuge, dregs, in order that I may win and gain Christ, the Anointed One. The disciples were compliant, but they were submissive and obedient to Jesus as he taught them. They had many prejudices and were very ignorant about many aspects of life, but they willingly sat at the feet of their master. Sitting at the feet of Jesus is really a crucial and a necessary mandate for all true believers in Jesus Christ. And we see this in Jesus' own words in Matthew 18, verses 2 and 3. And he called a little child unto himself and put him in the midst of them and said, Truly, I say to you, unless you repent, change, turn around, and become like little children, trusting, lowly, loving, forgiving, you can never enter into the kingdom of heaven at all. the New King James Version tells us this way in Matthew chapter 18 verses 2 and 3 then Jesus called a little child to him set him in the midst of him and said assuredly I say to you unless you are converted and become as little children you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in my name receives me. So Jesus himself lays out the mandates for his true followers. Unless you be converted and become like little children, you will not have the privilege and the honor of entering into my holy realm called the eternal kingdom of God. Or it can be said like this, Unless you be clothed with the spirit of humility, you cannot receive my spirit and enter into the design and the privileges of my divine eternal kingdom. so we must realize here God's divine eternal kingdom is heavenly it is not of this earthly realm eye has not seen ears not heard what he has in store for those who love him hallelujah we must realize also that our Lord's subjects are heavenly minded our country is heavenly we are strangers and pilgrims on this earth The government of our heavenly kingdom is totally spiritual and divine, and it is not like the governments of this physical earth. Jesus said, unless you become like little children, you will not enter into the kingdom of God. So to have the heart and the mind of a little child, this says to us, we must be without worldly ambitions. so to have the heart, the mind of a little child this says to us that we must be without the lust of power so as little children we must be free of lust of the flesh lust of money and if you have ever noticed that with little children who act among themselves they act as though they are all equal it's really a sight to behold while the disciples had the spiritual knowledge of Christ even though the world knew him not they knew who he was and it is still that way amongst true followers who follow after Jesus Christ today how do we know this? how do we prove it by the word of God? and that will be by the words of our precious Savior in John chapter 17 verses 6 through 8 Jesus says I have manifested your name I have revealed your very self Father your real self to the people whom you've given me out of the world they were yours and you gave them to me and they have obeyed and kept your word and now at last they know and understand that all that you've given me belongs to you is really and truly yours. Verse 8, for the uttered words that you gave me, I gave to them, and they've received and accepted them and have come to know positively and in reality to believe with absolute assurance that I came forth from your presence and that they have believed and are convinced that you did send me. And our chief apostle confirms this truth of knowing or keeping or obeying this divine truth in his epistle in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verses 6 through 7. He says, for God who said, let light shine out of darkness, has shown in our hearts so as to beam forth the light for the illumination of the knowledge of the majesty and glory of God as it is manifest in the person and is revealed in the face of Jesus Christ. However, we possess this precious treasure, the divine light of the gospel, in frail human vessels of earth that the grandeur and exceeding greatness of the power may be shown to be from God and not ourselves Paul tells us that possessing this precious treasure of the divine light of understanding of the gospel is due to obedience of conformity to this truth. one could not have the divine or supernatural understanding of this blessed truth of God without conforming to its commands the disciples were all so humble in their understanding of this divine wisdom and truth that was entrusted to them and they walked with the one who was humble in every way and far richer by far than any ever could be. Because of the disciples' love and conformity of Christ's commands and ways, they enjoyed friendship with their Lord and Master. Jesus spoke this in John 15, 15, when he said, I do not call you servants, slaves, any longer. for the servant does not know what his master is doing is working out but I have called you my friends because I have made known to you everything that I heard from my father I revealed it to you everything I've learned from him hallelujah and Jesus also made it clear that each one of his disciples were chosen in John 15 verse 16 through 19 when he declared, you have not chosen me, but I've chosen you and I've appointed you, I have planted you that you might go and bear fruit and keep on bearing that your fruit may be lasting, that it may remain and abide so that whatever you ask in my father's name as presenting it all that I am, he may give it to you. And this is what I command you, that you love one another. If the world hates you, know that it hated me first before it hated you. And if you belong to the world, the world would treat you with affection and would love you as its own, but because you are not of the world, no longer one with it, I've chosen you, selected you out of the world, and the world hates and detests you. Each one of his disciples were chosen and appointed to go and to bear fruit that would be lasting. Just think about the fact about what Jesus, when he said, if you belong to the world, it would treat you with affection and would love you as its own. But since you don't belong to the world, the world will hate you. Today, in our troubled world, hatred is spewed out in every aspect of life and society. People say to those who are believers, how can you believe in a God who allows so much hurt and pain in the world? And as a believer, our reply would be, because people are inherently bad and we have an evil nature due to the fall in the garden by our first parents, Adam and Eve. God isn't to blame for all of this trouble. We, as a people, are to blame and are responsible. This truth of the beginning doesn't fully satisfy most people in today's culture who are wondering about the issue of all the hatred and violence and outright perversion that is on the scene right now. They need to hear the truth from faithful stewards of God that God is fully aware of what is going on and he is a God who deeply cares for all people. The truth of the matter is that the world is broken and broken men and women are trying to fix it. so since man is broken and sinful in his heart and soul and unregenerate people assume God is a big monster up there who allows these horrible things to happen and they assume that if there is a God up there he wouldn't have created a world full of violence and hatred they assume that God is not personally involved in the affairs of the world but I say just wait wait just one minute our great God Jehovah which means I am that I am and I will be who I will be our great God and Father gave to this world his only begotten son and whoever believes and abide habitually in his son Jesus Christ will spiritually live and thrive abundantly on this earth as he or she journeys through life filled with the Holy Spirit and the knowledge of the truth and shall have the promise of eternal life. Almighty God, Jehovah, has given the remedy for broken man to be fixed and is found only in his precious son, Jesus Christ, who says, See, I make all things new. Only Jesus can take that which is broken and can make it a new creation in and after himself. Beloved Apostle John declared in 2 John 4 through 6, It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. and now dear lady I am not writing you a new command but the one we had from the beginning I ask that we love one another and this is love that we walk in obedience to his commands as you have heard from the beginning his command is that you walk in love Apostle John in writing to the elect or the chosen lady of the church stated that he greatly rejoiced in hearing that some of her children were walking in the truth. Some meant that all the children or believers were not obedient to the commands and precepts that they had learned. It seems that deceivers had infiltrated the church and brought another gospel other than that of Jesus Christ. Remember, in verse 6, beloved John wrote and highlighted what define love and this is love he says that we walk in obedience to his commands as you have heard from the beginning his command is that you walk in love so if we're not walking in the love of our Lord we will not and cannot truly love others love is the greatest prerequisite for obedience in the scripture we obey our Lord our God by his commands because we love him and we want to please him the wonderful and awesome word of the Lord tells us in Psalms 25 verse 14 that I love this one the secret of the sweet satisfying companionship of the lord have they who fear revere and worship him and he will show them his covenant and reveal it to them in its deep inner meaning hallelujah hallelujah king david shows us in the scripture the fear of the lord is not a fearful or a slaving fear that comes as a result of the fear of punishment, but rather it is a deep inner awe and love and admiration, a respect that is born out of fellowship with the creator of the universe. Prophet Ezekiel had spoken this to the same effect that King David just spoke it in Psalms 25 verse 14. the Lord through the prophet said a new heart I will give you and a new spirit I will put within you and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh and I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and you shall heed my ordinances and do them The new spirit is God precious Holy Spirit who was given to all sincere followers of Jesus Christ. In 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 verse 17 Paul declared therefore if any person is engrafted in Christ the Messiah he is a new creation a new creature altogether the old previous moral and spiritual condition has passed away behold the fresh and the new has come in the book of Revelation Jesus says behold I make all things new and this is that Jesus takes a broken man or woman who comes to him with a broken and contrite heart to repent of their sins and come into covenant with him in the agreement that they will love him with all of their hearts and vow to serve him only all the days of their lives while journeying through this life and another thing that the disciples did as they followed Jesus was to have a certain attitude that says none of us lives unto himself but to the Lord and none of us dies to himself but to the Lord and if we live to the Lord and if we die we die to the Lord so then whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. That is Romans chapter 14 verses 7 through 8. So this word declares to us, as long as we have breath, we live unto the Lord. And this means that we will do his will and we will promote his glory and his way of life. And this, after all, is the greatest purpose of life of every true believer in Jesus Christ. Other people live to gratify themselves and their flesh. The true believer in Jesus Christ, because they love him and want to please him, live to do those things which the Lord requires and are outlined in his word. And these are the wonderful attributes and attitudes which constitute the sincere believer in Jesus Christ and distinguishes him or her from other people. Verse 8 says, if we live, we live to the Lord. And if we die, we die to the Lord. Whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. so whether we die or are in a state of the dead in the future world we are not our own in all conditions we belong to Jesus Christ we are his and we are bound to his will and this is divine covenant dear ones this is divine covenant this you need to see this is truly belonging to Christ since we belong to another in every state and aspect of our lives and are bound to do his will we have no right or the prerogative of holding grudges against someone or to be rude or unloving to people we have no right to harbor hatred or look down on others of different cultures creed or color we have no right to defile our temples with unclean worldly amusements or perverse movies or impure thoughts we are the subjects of the greatest king who lives in the eternal kingdom and has prepared a mansion for each of us to live with him and love him with all of our hearts, everything within us, every part of our being, forever and ever and ever. We have the privilege, promised, to be called Christ's disciples, his children, his subjects, and his friends. he tells us that we shall know the truth and the truth will set us free remember the promise of prophet ezekiel when the lord threw him in ezekiel 36 26 says in essence i will give you a new heart i will give you a new spirit that is faithful to me i'll remove your stubborn hearts from you and I will give you hearts that obey me. Hallelujah. Can I tell you please, unless this is the case in any professing believer in Jesus Christ, that they are filled with Christ's spirit who causes a self-willed, angry heart to be softened and to love the Lord with all that is within them. If they do not, they'll never know the truth. Jesus' death and burial and resurrection changed the whole perspective of knowing the truth. Jesus says, I will make all things new in your heart, your soul, your life, if you habitually live in me. I will give you my spirit. Jesus comes to live in our hearts through his spirit. You shall know the truth, he says. The truth we speak about is that Jesus Christ is the truth. In John 14, 6, Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And no one comes to the Father except by through me. so the very one who spoke the world into existence tells us that he is the truth and no one comes to the Father but through him and by way of him alone. Jesus Christ is everything we need to be successful in our journey on this earth. He has all power to save and is our glory and the one who teaches us to love him first and others secondly. Apostle Paul confirms by his word in Ephesians chapter 4 verses 21 through 23. He says, assuming that you have really heard him and been taught by him as all truth is in Jesus embodied and personified in him. Verse 22, strip yourselves of your former nature put off and disregard your old or unrenewed self, which is characterized in your previous manner of life and becomes corrupt through lusts and desires that spring from delusion and be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind, having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude. The command is that we put off the old self or strip ourselves of our former unlovable sinful nature. and this is not done by us alone but we have a helper the Holy Spirit is our helper you see the truth that we are looking for and desirous of is found in Christ's holy character and his extraordinary awesome life and death he's done it all for us he is the sum and the substance of our existence now he is our life and when he says you shall know he is not speaking of this as a mere theory but rather you will have a living power in you called Holy Spirit who gives you spiritual experiences and insight into the mysteries and the secrets of our Lord Jesus Christ your spiritual eyes now are opened up Your heart is warmed by understanding that your beloved has for you personally and your soul subdued you for the truth which has been ingrafted within your heart and your soul This is love He has done this for you. This is your desire now. He is the one in whom you wish to please in all things and above anyone else. He must be first. I must be last. I am not my own any longer. James chapter 1 verses 21 through 22 declare and speaks a command that shows a prerequisite and the only way that our souls will be engrafted with the truth of our God so get rid of all uncleanness and the rampant outgrowth of wickedness and a humble heart, a gentle modest spirit receive and welcome the word which implanted and rooted in your hearts, hear this, contains the power to save your souls. Verse 22. But be doers of the word. Obey the message and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves into deception by reasoning contrary to the truth. See, the promise is that if we obey the Lord's commands to get rid of all of our sins and humble ourselves, His Word will be implanted and rooted in our hearts and His Word has the power to save us. Hallelujah! The Lord's promise is that you shall know. This is saying as well, that you shall know that you are truly saved saved because a clear conscience is at work in your spirit now and to reiterate what a clear conscience means it can be defined as an inner feeling that acts as a guide to the rights and wrongs of one's behavior and for those who are believers in Jesus Christ our conscience is a part of our soul that is most like God himself the conscience of man was awakened when Adam and Eve disobeyed God's command and ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Before that, they'd only known good. It was God whom Adam and Eve had offended by their willful sin. Yet God himself provided the solution to the violated consciences when he slaughtered an innocent animal to cover their nakedness. And this was the foreshadowing of God's intended plan to cover the sin of all mankind through the precious blood of his son, Jesus Christ. When an individual chooses to know or experience evil by intimate experience with the enemy of evil, their consciences are violated and emotional discomfort takes over. Remember, the Lord's promise is that you shall know. And when we do something wrong that is against what we know to be right and just, we sense that we are at odds with our created purpose in life and that the emotional feeling that we have deeply disturbing to our hearts and our souls, and there's only one way for a guilty conscience to be cleared and that is repentance from dead works and just like reading in the book of James shows the prerequisite for the holy word of God engrafted into our souls and provide the joy and the fellowship with the one who died for us and to be with him forever James commanded Again, I repeat, repetition is good. He says, get rid of all uncleanness and rampant outgrowth of wickedness, and in a humble, gentle, modest spirit, receive and welcome the word, which implanted and rooted in your hearts contains the power to save your souls. But be doers of the word, obey the message, and not merely listeners to it, Betraying yourselves into deception by reasoning contrary to the truth. The result of the truth engrafted in our hearts means that Jesus rescues our souls from the declaration or the condemnation of declared guilty of wrong. Romans 8, 1 declares, therefore, there's no condemnation, no adjudging guilty of wrong. for those who are in Christ Jesus and who live and walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the Spirit, but after the dictates of the Spirit. So we're not going to fear the wrath either that is to come upon the earth. And we're not going to have the depressing cares and troubles that come with life because the Prince of Peace lives within us. we will not be tormented with the dark and glooming anxieties of death as some people are Hebrews 2 verse 14 tells us since the children of flesh and blood he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death that is the devil Verse 15, and free those who all of their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. What a mighty Savior we have. Jesus promised those who truly and sincerely growing in him says, you will know these things. and the highest evidence that one is truly a follower a disciple of Jesus is that if you continue growing in the understanding of God's precious word and obey what it tells you to do you are truly his disciple and are joined in an everlasting covenant with him Jesus said you shall know you know that you are not your own anymore you shall know that you are kept by the power of God through faith unto your final salvation and you shall know that you are not merely kept from the enemy but you know you're now living a life of holy love and obedience until the end and will reap the promise, the reward called eternal life. And you shall know that your devotedness to your beloved and carrying out what he has given you to do for his kingdom will one day be rewarded with a crown and the words from your king saying, Welcome to eternity, my child, my good and faithful servant. Jesus is our life now. He has sealed us with his spirit. He tells us, you shall know. Speaks of a discerning spirit, doesn't it? It speaks of knowing and growing in discernment, doesn't it? You shall know. Do you know? Do you know? Is your conscience tender to his nudgings? that your behavior, that your actions or your words are questionable and need a course correction Jesus told us that by their fruit by our fruit we shall know them and we can also know ourselves by our own fruit if we're honest with ourselves you shall know if you truly belong to him hallelujah hallelujah if we truly belong to the king of kings and the one who died for us our beloved Jesus Christ Amen .

Playlist coming soon.