“What Will Happen To Me If I Do Get Saved?”

Matthew 1.21

 

EXPOSITION:

1.   When you go to the store and take merchandise from the counter you expect the merchandise you purchase to be properly and accurately labeled.  Is that not reasonable?  When you find that something is not truthfully labeled you are rightfully and justifiably disappointed.

2.   So it is with Christianity.  Biblical Christianity is properly labeled, something which cannot be truthfully said about what passes for Christianity in most churches here in the United States.

3.   Listen to the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, in Luke 14.28-33:

²⁸     For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?

²⁹     Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,

³⁰     Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.

³¹     Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?

³²     Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.

³³     So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

 

4.   Using two illustrations, the passage I have just read shows that the Lord Jesus Christ makes a very strong argument for knowing what you are letting yourself in for, for counting the cost, for going in with your eyes open.  Yet we find many, these days, who urge people to make uninformed decisions about becoming a Christian.

5.   My friends, it is not possible to become a real Christian without your mind being fully engaged, without doing your due diligence, without carefully weighing the costs and benefits of being a Christian.  Those who supposedly become Christians, but who end up being nothing more than “a flash in the pan,” are invariably uninformed and impulsive; people who have not really counted the cost.

6.   So, to inform you, to help you count the cost, I have preached over the last several weeks on what “saved” and “salvation” is, and about what happens to a person who does not get saved.

7.   This morning I want to briefly address the question, “What Will Happen To Me If I Do Get Saved?”  Some people are terrified of the thought of getting saved, somehow imagining salvation to be worse than Hell, or an eternity in the lake of fire.  Others have no opinion about the matter at all.

8.   What I would like to do today is provide for you a balanced response to the question, approaching the answer by first examining a text of scripture, and then approaching the answer by considering the general topic of salvation as it is revealed in the Bible.

9.   Please turn to Matthew 1.20-21.  These verses record what an angel said to Joseph in a dream when he informed him that the woman he was betrothed to, a virgin named Mary, would be giving birth to the savior, in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.

10. When you have found that passage, please stand and read along silently while I read aloud, beginning from the middle of verse 20:  “Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.  And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.”

11. My text is verse 21:  “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.”

12. This verse is obviously related to our subject of interest, salvation.  It touches upon three different people’s roles in the coming of the savior.

 

1A.   First, TAKE NOTICE OF MARY’S ROLE

“And she shall bring forth a son . . . .”

1B.    In the previous verse, the angel had informed Joseph that the conception that resulted in her pregnancy, which had created so much anxiety for him, was the work of the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit of God.  Following this verse, Matthew informs us that this all happened to fulfill prophecy.

2B.    Way back in Isaiah 7.14, some seven centuries before Joseph’s encounter with the angel, the prophet Isaiah was inspired of God to foretell of the coming of God’s Son, the Messiah of Israel, by means of the virgin birth:  “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

3B.    Hebrews 10.4-7 gives us the reason why the Lord Jesus Christ was born of a virgin:

⁴      For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.

⁵      Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:

⁶      In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.

⁷      Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.

 

4B.    For the second person of the triune godhead to fulfill His mission as the savior He became a man.  Animal sacrifices were never intended by God to take away any sinner’s sins, but only to cover over those sins, or to atone for them, for a short period of time.  For sin to be properly dealt with it has to be cleansed.  But only the blood of the savior can cleanse sin, so it was necessary for Jesus to become a man.

5B.    What role, then, did Mary play in God’s great drama of redemption?  She was the chosen vessel, a virgin, used by God to provide for His Son a human body.  For the Son of God to become both God, which He already was, and man, which He became by means of the virgin birth, He had to be born.  Since His father is God and not any man, the mother who birthed Him had to be a virgin.  That virgin was Mary.

6B.    Her role in God’s plan was not to teach.  Her role in God’s plan was not to forgive any sins or to act in any way as a mediatrix between sinners and God, for she acknowledged herself to be a sinner in Luke 1.47, and even offered sacrifices for her own sins.^[1]  Mary’s role was a simple one.  She was the woman with the necessary lineage who God used to provide for His Own eternal Son a mortal body, so that as a physical heir of Israel’s great king David He would be able to cleanse away men’s sins with His Own precious blood.

 

2A.   Next, TAKE NOTE OF JOSEPH’S ROLE

“. . . thou shalt call his name JESUS . . . .”

1B.    It is quite obvious that God leaves nothing whatsoever to chance.  There is no such thing as coincidence, except in the minds of men.  God works “all things after the counsel of his own will.”^[2]  Therefore, it is no surprise to the Bible student to read the angel’s directive to Joseph:  “thou shalt call his name JESUS.”  Nothing was left to chance concerning the naming of this Child.

2B.    Just like Mary, I have no doubt that Joseph was a good and godly man, reverent and devoted to God. But we read nothing of Joseph’s deeds, beyond the fact that he was a just man who experienced heartache and doubt.  We read of no lessons he taught his stepson.  There is no hint of him in the Biblical record past our Lord’s twelfth year.

3B.    Like Mary, Joseph had the needed ancestry, being one of the many descendants of king David and having the legal right to the throne of Israel.  But unlike Mary, Joseph was directed to actually do something.  Mary was told to do nothing.  Her role in the incarnation, in the virgin birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, was entirely passive.  Joseph, however, was given an order.  Name the child.

4B.    A. T. Robertson:  “The angel puts it up to Joseph as the putative father to name the child. ‘Jesus is the same as Joshua, a contraction of Jehoshuah (Nu 13:16; 1Ch 7:27), signifying in Hebrew, ‘Jehovah is helper,’ or ‘Help of Jehovah’’ (Broadus). So Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua (Heb 4:8). He is another Joshua to lead the true people of God into the Promised Land. The name itself was common enough as Josephus shows. Jehovah is Salvation as seen in Joshua for the Hebrews and in Jesus for all believers. ‘The meaning of the name, therefore, finds expression in the title Saviour applied to our Lord (Lu 1:47; 2:11; Joh 4:42)’ (Vincent). He will save (sôsei) his people from their sins and so be their Saviour (Sôtêr). He will be prophet, priest, and king, but ‘Saviour’ sums it all up in one word. The explanation is carried out in the promise, ‘for he is the one who (autos) will save (sôsei with a play on the name Jesus) his people from their sins.’”^[3]

5B.    To restate, Mary provided for the Lord Jesus Christ a physical body and a bloodline back to David.  Joseph provided for the Lord Jesus Christ his given name, as well as the legal right to sit on David’s throne as the king of the Jews.

6B.    One other thing before moving on:  Do you remember Mary being asked to occupy her role in God’s plan and purpose?  No?  Neither do we find any indication of Joseph being asked to occupy his particular role in God’s plan and purpose.  Why not?  God does not ask.  He is God.

 

3A.   Finally, TAKE NOTE OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST’S ROLE

“. . . for he shall save his people from their sins.”

Three things in this phrase merit our undivided attention:

1B.    First, “. . . he shall save”

1C.   That is, the Lord Jesus Christ is the savior.  He does the saving.  No one does any saving except Him.  And there is no indication that He needs any help to save anyone, either.  He neither needs your help or wants you help, and will not accept your attempts to help Him save you, or to help Him save anyone else.

2C.   One other thing before moving on.  In Isaiah 45.6, we read these words, “. . . there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.”  The context clearly shows that it is Jehovah who is speaking there.  If Jehovah is the savior, and there is no other savior than Jehovah, and yet the Lord Jesus Christ is the savior, then Who is Jesus Christ?

3C.   He is none other than the God of Israel, the Creator of all things, the one true and living God known in the Hebrew scriptures as Jehovah.  Wow!

2B.    Next, “. . . he shall save his people”

1C.   No one is better than John Gill’s comment on this: 

By “his people” whom he is said to save are meant, not all mankind, though they are his by creation and preservation, yet they are not, nor will they be all saved by him spiritually and eternally; nor also the people of the Jews, for though they were his nation, his kinsmen, and so his own people according to the flesh, yet they were not all saved by him; many of them died in their sins, and in the disbelief of him as the Messiah: but by them are meant all the elect of God, whether Jews or Gentiles, who were given to him by his Father, as a peculiar people, and who are made willing in the day of his power upon them, to be saved by him in his own way. And these he saves from “their sins”, from all their sins, original and actual; from secret and open sins; from sins of heart, lip and life; from sins of omission and commission; from all that is in sin, and omission upon it; from the guilt, punishment, and damning power of it, by his sufferings and death; and from the tyrannical government of it by his Spirit and grace; and will at last save them from the being of it, though not in this life, yet hereafter, in the other world, when they shall be without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing.^[4]

 

2C.   So, how is it discovered who is and who is not among those who are “his people”?  If you respond to the gospel you are one of “his people.”  If you die without Christ and spend eternity in torment for your sins you are not one of “his people.”  In short, the answer is found by what you do with Jesus Christ.

3B.    Finally, “from their sins.”

1C.   Nowhere in scripture is mention made of sinners being saved from Hell.  And while it is true that those who are saved from their sins will not suffer punishment in Hell, it is the fear of the LORD that is the beginning of wisdom, not the fear of Hellfire.

2C.   To be concerned about Hell apart from being concerned about God, or apart from being concerned about sin, shows that the criminal does not believe his crimes are wrong, and has no concern for his victim.  He only has a selfish concern to escape punishment for his crimes.

 

CONCLUSION:

1.   Our text, Matthew 1.21, is one of the many important verses in the Bible concerning the salvation which is in Jesus Christ.  In that verse we saw that the Lord Jesus Christ will save His people from their sins.

2.   But one Bible verse cannot provide a full picture for us concerning gospel truths and salvation issues.  So, after brother Isenberger comes to lead us in a song, my sermon will be a topical sermon overviewing this broad, but important, subject of salvation.

3.   It is my hope that by the end of our service this morning you will have a useful answer to the question, “What will happen to me if I do get saved?”

 

INTRODUCTION:

1.   A study of God’s Word will reveal that this subject of salvation is somewhat more complex than most people realize.  However, the basics are quite easy for most people to grasp.

2.   When we use the word “saved” we need to keep in mind that there is a threefold aspect to salvation.  When Paul and Silas told the Philippian jailor, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,” here is what they meant:

 

1A.   First, IF YOU GET SAVED YOU WILL BE SAVED FROM THE PENALTY OF SIN

1B.    Look up some verses with me.

1C.   Luke 7.50.  Notice what the Lord Jesus Christ said to the woman:  “And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.”

2C.   First Corinthians 1.18.  Paul, writing to the Corinthians concerning a benefit already experienced:  “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.”

3C.   Second Corinthians 2.15.  Notice that there is a sense in which Christians are saved:  “For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish.”

4C.   Second Timothy 1.9.  “Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.”

2B.    These verses, and many more besides, show us that there is a sense in which a Christian is already saved.  That is, his sins have already been forgiven and he is spiritually safe.  Thus, the believer in Jesus Christ is delivered from the guilt and penalty of sin.  But that is not all.

 

2A.   IF YOU GET SAVED YOU WILL ALSO BE SAVED FROM THE POWER OF SIN

1B.    Some other verses having to do with a second aspect of salvation:

1C.   You really should read the entire sixth chapter of Romans, but at this time we will look at verse 14:  “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”

2C.   In Philippians 1.19, Paul refers to this aspect of his own salvation:  “For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.”

3C.   Philippians 2.12-13, referring to this aspect of the Philippian’s salvation:

¹²     Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

¹³     For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

 

4C.   Galatians 2.19-20:

¹⁹     For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.

²⁰     I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

 

2B.    No Christian is without the experience of and the struggle with personal sin.  Indeed, First John 1.8 declares that, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”  But the salvation that the Christian has in Jesus Christ is not only a salvation from the penalty and guilt of sin.  It is also an ongoing deliverance from the dominion and power of sin in our daily lives.

3B.    Are there ongoing struggles with sins?  Yes.  Will there be all too many personal failures and tragedies?  Yes.  But is there also a dramatic and noticeable difference between the Christian’s struggle against personal sin and the lost person’s enslavement to sin?  Absolutely.

4B.    First Corinthians 6.9-11:

⁹      Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,

¹⁰     Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

¹¹     And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

 

5B.    Personal sins must be dealt with by every Christian.  And by God’s grace, through the preaching of the Word, in answer to prayer, with the encouragement of other believers, and by the inward work of the indwelling Holy Spirit, victory over sin is our experience.

6B.    Is our present salvation from the power of sin in our lives perfect and complete?  No.  Does any Christian ever experience sinlessness and perfection in this lifetime?  Not possible.  But by God’s wonderful grace, any Christian can say, “I am not what I was, and I do not do what I once did.”

 

3A.   Finally, IF YOU GET SAVED YOU WILL BE SAVED FROM THE PRESENCE OF SIN

1B.    If I am not what I was, and I do not do what I did, I still have a problem that remains to be solved.  That final problem is addressed by the final aspect of salvation, which is salvation from the very presence of sin in glory.

2B.    Again, some verses for you to look up with me:

1C.   Paul anticipated this aspect of salvation in Romans 13.11:  “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.”

2C.   First Peter 1.3-5:

³      Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

⁴      To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,

⁵      Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

 

3C.   First John 3.2:  “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”

3B.    If I am not what I was, and I do not do what I did, I can also say that I will not be what I now am, and I will not someday do what I now do.  There will come a day when Christians, those who are saved, will experience the full and complete deliverance that began the moment they believed in Jesus Christ.  In that day sinless perfection will be every Christian’s experience, because when that day comes we will be fully and completely saved from our sins; from their penalty, from their power, and from their presence.

 

CONCLUSION:

1.   These last three Sunday morning sermons have provided for you the basic foundation to understanding what the words “saved” and “salvation” mean, in a spiritual sense.

2.   Last Sunday morning’s sermon had to do with what happens to a person who does not get saved before he passes from this life to endless eternity.  And this morning’s sermon has taken a very brief look at three aspects of salvation; salvation from sin’s penalty, salvation from sin’s power, salvation from sin’s presence.

3.   The problem with this brief overview of salvation is that it is too clinical, too abstract, too remote from your personal experience for you to feel as though you need to be saved.

4.   Lord willing, next week I will bring a sermon dealing with guilt, and how the salvation that the Lord Jesus Christ provides is a deliverance from the guilt that has so plagued your conscience.  Wouldn’t you like to have a truly clear conscience?  The salvation which is in Christ Jesus is a salvation that clears the conscience.

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