SAVED OR CONVERTED

Luke 22:31-38

Sunday Morning Sermon

July 12, 1998

Fair Avenue Baptist Church

This morning I want you to think with me for a moment?

Would you consider the problem that a preacher faces?

A preacher has to try to sell three products to three different people:

He tries to sell salvation to the unsaved,

followship to the saved,

and conversion to the follower,

And we can never please anyone.

It’s a tough job, but this is where God wants me.

But on with the message, take your Bibles now and turn to JOHN 1:40-42.  Andrew said, “Peter, we’ve found the Messiah!”  He brought him to Jesus.  That took care of that decision: Peter decided to be saved.

He had to make the decision to be saved, but that was not the only decision he had to make.

After he was saved, he still had to face

another decision:  What kind of Christian am I going to be?

So he had to come to the place where he said, “I will leave everything and follow Jesus.”

People who have left everything and followed Jesus still have another decision that they must make: Will I be converted?

You say, “Preacher, explain that.”  Okay, listen carefully and I’ll explain.

I.     SAVED OR LOST?

 This world is divided into two groups: saved or lost; going to Heaven or going to hell; born again or without God.

There were two thieves on the cross, one on either side of our Lord.  One was saved; the other was lost.

Two men went into the temple to pray.  One was justified, the other was not.  One was saved, the other was lost.

There are two classes of people as God sees them in this room this morning.  Either you are saved or you are lost.

There is no “hope so.”

There is no “trying to be.”

There is no “maybe so.”

Either you are saved and on your way to Heaven or you are lost and on your way to hell.

Let me give you a few facts:

 There is no purgatory,

There is a Heaven and there is a hell,

You are going to Heaven OR you are going to hell.

The decision is yours!

You have to decide!

Nobody can do it for you!

The priest cannot do it for you,

This preacher cannot do it for you,

You can join the church,

but that will not do it,

You can get sprinkled,

but that will not do it,

You can get dedicated,

but that will not do it,

You can turn over a new leaf,

but that will not do it,

You can live a good life,

but that will not do it,

 You can tithe, but that will not do it,

(though I wish some would try)

You can take communion,

but that will not do it,

You can take the Eucharist,

but that will not do it,

You must decide ONE question and ONE question only:  Where would you go if I died this morning?

Jesus died for you on the cross to pay the penalty for your sins.  If you, in faith, will receive Him as your  Saviour, God will impart to you His righteousness and will impart to Jesus your sins.

Jesus will bear your sins, give you His

righteousness and though you will still be a sinner, in the sight of God Almighty your

record will be clear, clean, perfect, because

the sins that you committed were imputed, imparted to Jesus and His righteousness

covers your sins.

Now I ask the question again:  Where would you go if you died this morning?

You say, “I don’t plan to die”  Well, no one ever does.

My cousin, Bobby Green, passed away on July 1, 1998, at the age of 40.   He didn’t play to die so young.

A 17 year old boy died over the 1998 4th of July weekend in a watercraft accident.  I’m sure he wasn’t thinking about dying.

Tens of thousands of people will die

tomorrow who are not planning to die soon. 

You are going to hell or you are going to Heaven, it’s as simple as that!

“I don’t believe it!” you say.  That doesn’t change it one little bit. 

You are going to hell or you are going to Heaven.

You belong to God or you belong to Satan.

You are on your way to Heaven or you are on your way to hell.

The difference is not to what church you

belong,

not what baptism you have experienced,

not the good deeds you have done,

but the question is this:

What have you done with Jesus Christ who paid the penalty for your sin?

You are saved or lost.  Let’s suppose this morning you do face the issue. 

You say, “I am not saved.  I know that I am a sinner.  I am lost and I know that I am going to hell.  This morning, I put my faith and my trust in Jesus Christ.  I receive Him now as my Saviour.  Jesus, I trust You.”

If you are not saved, in God’s name, do it today!  Do not take a chance on walking out those doors not prepared to meet God.

II.   SPIRITUAL OR CARNAL?

You face another decision.  A person’s first decision is to be saved or lost.

When a person is saved, he faces another decision: Will I be spiritual or carnal?

After you come to Christ, the next decision you face is what kind of Christian you are going to be.  Are you going to live after the

flesh or after the Spirit?

Are you going to live a carnal life or a

spiritual life?

Look in your Bibles to I COR. 3:1, “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.”

“Oh,” you say, “I've decided to be saved.  I am going to go to Heaven.”

I know, but as soon as you are saved, you face another decision.

You face being either a spiritual Christian or a carnal Christian.

Are you going to come to Prayer Meeting on Wednesday Night?

Are you going to give God tithes and

offerings, or are you going to rob God and be selfish and steal God’s money?

Are you going to read your Bible and become acquainted with God in His Word, or are you going to read it just once in awhile and never learn much about the Bible?

Are you going to bow your head and pray before you eat or are you going to dig in

without praying like any ungrateful pig?

One guy prayed one time, “Lord God of the Holy Ghost, the one eats the fastest gets the most.”

Many don’t even do that.  Are you going to eat without thanking God, or are you going to say, “God, thank You for the food You have

provided, Amen”?

Are you going to live as if there were no God?

Now remember, I’m not talking to unsaved people.  I am talking to a saved people.

Listen to me this morning - America is going to hell!

America is headed for destruction this

morning, but not because of the:

Hollywood crowd,

Supreme Court,

President,

or the queers.

Listen to this!  Washington State University just recently hosted a Homosexual Conference this past June 19-21, 1998.  They invited junior high students from around the state to

participate in the three day conference on homosexuality described as the university as a “kind of Camp Queer experience.”

The university advertised the camp by e-mail and sending flyers to school and youth agencies, and stated that

“we hope to attract as many junior high and high school aged youth from the Pacific Northwest as we can.”

There you have it!  I have always known that recruitment of children into the homosexual lifestyle was central to the homosexual agenda. 

Yes, they have denied it.  But here is the proof!  Here is the smoking pistol of the big lie.

A state university coaxing children into

homosexual conduct - that is what America has come to.

[Washington State Legislature Conservative Caucus Media Services]

America is headed for destruction because we have a generation of people whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life but they live their lives as carnally as the unsaved.

They are carnal Christians.  Oh yes, they are saved.