Sermon Tone Analysis
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*Grace Series #2*
*Grace And Assurance*
*By Bill Denton*
*Introduction*
A. Illustration
When asked by interviewer Meg Grant to name three wishes, actress Candice Bergen, responded, "Aside from eternal life?" -- Reader's Digest (September 2002), p. 93
1.
I think Candice Bergen's response might be more telling than we suspect
a. within the human heart, there is a great desire for eternal life, some way to
connect with the divine, and to have some assurance that whatever lies on the
other side of death it will be something we want
b. the problem is that I'm not so sure that many Christians are confident about
what lies ahead
2.
The sad, often unspoken truth about too many Christians is that salvation is an iffy
subject to them
B.
Milton Jones in /Grace, The Heart of the Fire/
1. Describing his first visit to the Bible Chair at Texas Tech University
When I first walked into the Bible Chair, a smiling coed greeted me and acted thrilled that I would have chosen to pay this place a visit.
Patti asked the usual questions about hometown, major, dorm, etc. Then she dropped the bomb.
"Milt," she said.
"Are you saved?"
She didn't ask if I went to church.
She didn't ask if I was religious or even a good guy.
Somehow she wanted to know the ultumate.
She wanted to know if I had a blimpse of my eternal destination.
Why hadn't anyone asked me this before?
I don't know.
My church attendance had been impeccable.
I knew by rote all the scriptures on how to become a Christian.
I had become a Christian.
I was a Christian.
Why then was this such a difficult question for me?
I paused, pondered, and stumbled around in answering the question.
Patti knew she had asked a good one.
She could have let me off and changed the subject, but she didn't.
Oh, I longed for one more question about my major.
But the topic at hand was my salvation.
"Was Milton Jones saved?"
I wanted to say "Yes!" but I didn't think that was true or an appropriate answer.
I couldn't say "No" because that was to admit more than I was ready to reveal.
And after all, I was a Christian.
Finally, I was able to mutter a feeble reply.
"I hope so" was the best answer I could conjure up for the most significant question of my life.
2.
I believe the struggle Milton Jones experienced trying to answer that question is a far
more common struggle than anybody knows
a.
I say that from my personal experience and background
b.
I say that from my experience as a preacher
C.
We need to know that God's grace is the only thing that will produce spiritual confidence
*I.
What Happens When Somebody Asks, "Are You Saved?"*
A. A lot of people seem to think that it is the height of presumption to give a positive answer
to that question
1.
I know people whose concept of salvation is that it's an ever-shifting conclusion
a. if they're having a good day and haven't done too much wrong, then they are
inclined to believe that maybe, perhaps, possibly they're saved
b. if they're having a bad day, said or did something wrong, then they are
inclined to believe that probably, most-likely, almost surely they are lost
2.
The idea people have about God's judgment also produces this insecurity
a. they see judgment day as a kind of weighing in experience
b.
God is going to put you on some sort of spiritual scale and weigh your good
against your bad -- whatever the "weigh-in" result determines saved or lost
B.
Where does this thinking come from?
1. Mostly, it comes from a faulty view of salvation that leaves out grace, and creates
the idea that people are saved because they are either good enough or right enough
2.
This thinking more common than anyone wants to admit, and it directly contradicts
the biblical declaration that we're saved by God's grace
a. think about it -- if our idea is that we're saved because we're good enough or
right enough, how does that square with grace which says God saves those
who are undeserving and have earned nothing?
b.
still, this idea of "better and righter" often prevails over grace
C.
"Better and righter" thinking leads to some real problems
1.
Consider the person who thinks that salvation depends on their morals, ethics, or
accomplishments
a. the honest person is all too aware that however morally good they are, or
however great their accomplishments - they have failed too many time
b.
that person may also know somebody else, perhaps from a different religious
background, who is their moral or achievement equal (or superior!)
c.
what happens is that if he thinks salvation depends on those morals, ethics, or
accomplishments, then there is always work to be done -- salvation is always
just a bit ahead of where they are -- they're not quite there yet
2.
Consider the person who thinks that salvation depends on their being more right than
other people
a. but everybody recognize that "being right" depends on knowledge and insight
that grows, develops, and sometimes changes over time
b.
what happens when you find somebody more right than you are
c.
again, "being right" becomes a burden with salvation just out of reach
D. Now ask that person, "Are you saved?"
1.
They may want to raise their hand and say, "Yes!"
2.
But their conscience will fight them tooth and nail
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