Sermon #7                                                      Jude Sermons

 

     Title:           “The Common Salvation”

     Text:           Jude 1:3

     Date:          Sunday Morning — November 14, 2004

     Tape #        Jude #7

     Reading:    Ephesians 1:3-23

     Introduction:

 

We all have many things in common. We are all sinners (Rom. 3:9-23).

 

(Romans 3:9-23)  “What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; (10) As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: (11) There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. (12) They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. (13) Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: (14) Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: (15) Their feet are swift to shed blood: (16) Destruction and misery are in their ways: (17) And the way of peace have they not known: (18) There is no fear of God before their eyes. (19) Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. (20) Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. (21) But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; (22) Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: (23) For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”

 

We are all sinners because we are all the sons and daughters of one sinful father, Adam. And “the wages of sin is death.” Being fallen Adam’s fallen children, we are all spiritually dead sinners, altogether without life before God, deserving of God’s eternal wrath in hell (Rom. 5:12).

 

(Romans 5:12)  “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:”

 

“All we, like sheep, have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way.” — We are all, by nature, children of wrath (Eph. 2:5), helplessly lost, condemned and in desperate need. Because we are all sinners, because we have this one thing (sin) in common, the Scriptures describe the bread we eat as “common bread” (1 Sam. 21:4). Some eat bread prepared freshly and served hot on silver plates by servants, while others eat molded pieces from the rich man’s scraps; but when all is said and done it is the same bread, sustaining the lives of what the Bible calls “common people” (Lev. 4:27).

 

We don’t much like that, do we? — Being thought of and called “common people”? But that is what we are, all of us, the rich and powerful as well as the poor and despicable, the well-educated and the uneducated, the moral religionist and the immoral profligate. We are all just “common people.” That is to say, we are all essentially the same.

 

Because we are “common people” we all have the same common troubles (Ecc. 6:1) and the same common temptations (1 Cor. 10:13). And the Scriptures speak of our death, your death and mine, as a “common death” (Num. 16:29). And after we die, we will all be buried in a common grave (Jer. 26:23).

 

Like it or not, the reality is, we are all just common people, who live common lives, eat common bread, have common troubles, die common a death, and our dead bodies will be cast into a common grave. And, unless God intervenes for us, we will all go to one common place of eternal torment called “hell”. We all truly have all things common.

 

Oh, this is a hard pill to swallow, but swallow it we must. There is really nothing special, remarkable, or distinct about any of us.

 

Proposition: Being such common people, we all have need of a “common salvation

 

That is what I want to proclaim to you today. — “The Common Salvation.” You will find my text in Jude 1:3. We read in Mark 12:37 that “the common people” heard our Savior gladly. It is my prayer that this day “the common people” will hear the Son of God speak and hear him gladly.

 

(Jude 1:3)  “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”

 

Beloved

 

I love the way Jude began this verse. He is writing to God’s saints, people “sanctified by God the Father, preserved in Jesus Christ, and called” by God the Holy Spirit, a people to whom God multiplies his mercy, peace and love, to a people beloved of God and beloved by him. So he addresses them as — “Beloved.” Hear me, you who are by nature just “common people,” sons and daughters of Adam, but saved by the grace of God, you are the “Beloved of the Lord!”

 

Needful

 

Now, notice the word “needful” in our text. Jude tells these children of God, “it was needful for me to write unto you.” The word “needful” means “constraining” or “compelling.” He says, “I am writing to you about ‘the common salvation’ by divine constraint.” That’s how a man ought to preach the gospel.

 

Our God makes “his ministers a flame of fire.” And when I hear a man preach, I want to hear someone who preaches with fire in his belly. Don’t you? Two hundred years ago John Rusk wrote…

 

“I want an experimental preacher, one who, when he has had one meal, is tried how he shall get the next; one who is tormented with devils fit to tear him limb from limb; one who feels hell inside himself and every corruption in his nature stirred up to oppose God’s work; one who feels so weak that every day he gets over he views it as next to a miracle.”

 

A man ought never stand to speak in the name of God to eternity bound men and women simply because it is expected of him. He ought never speak in God’s name unless he is constrained to do so, unless he has something to say that must be said. Spurgeon once said, “Unless a man feels an imperative necessity to speak he will not speak as an ambassador of God.”

 

Jude would not have given all diligence to write this epistle if he had not been constrained of God the Holy Spirit to do so, if he had not felt that necessity was laid upon him. I am preaching this message to you because you need it, because it is absolutely vital. “The love of Christ constraineth us,” Paul wrote, to proclaim to you the word of reconciliation. The thought of you dying without Christ is overwhelming to my soul. You must have him. You must be born again. Else you will perish forever under the wrath of God. As it behoved Christ to suffer, so it behooves me to preach Christ crucified to you, that you may never suffer the wrath of God. If you care for your soul, hear what God the Holy Spirit has burned into my heart for you this hour.

 

Our Necessity

 

What was the necessity, the constraint that compelled Jude to write this epistle concerning “the common salvation”? If it is common — commonly understood and commonly received — why did he need to write about it? The fact is, it is more needful to preach the common doctrines of the gospel than any other truths, simply because those things that appear to be the most elementary and the most readily received are the things that are vital to our souls. And those things that are most vital are most common and most quickly neglected by us.

 

“I am determined to know nothing among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified.” — “Necessity is laid upon me. Yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel.” I am determined, every time I stand before you to speak in God’s stead, to preach to you “the unsearchable riches of Christ,” the wonders of redemption and grace flowing to sinners through the precious blood of Christ, and to do so in the simplest of terms. I fully agree with Rowland Hill who said, “Any sermon that does not contain the three ‘R’s’ of the gospel (Ruin by the Fall, Redemption by the Blood, and Regeneration by the Holy Spirit) ought never to have been preached.” Any sermon that does not have Christ crucified for its theme, its beginning, its middle and its end, that does not point you to Christ and leave you looking to and seeking Christ is a worthless waste of time.

 

I know that those who deem themselves brilliant, academic, learned theologians look upon your pastor as a man less intelligent than a box of rocks, who just preaches the same old platitudes week after week. Let men call the doctrines of the Gospel platitudes if they dare, our souls’ eternal salvation rests entirely upon these divine truths they call “platitudes!” — “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” If worthy of all acceptation, it is surely worthy of all proclamation. I will leave it to others to debate their opinions and rehearse their brilliance before men. For my part, “I am determined to know nothing among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified.” — “Necessity is laid upon me. Yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel.”

 

Certain Men

 

Jude was constrained to write about the common salvation because it is vital to the souls of men. But there was, in his day, as in ours, another immediate necessity. There were certain men who had crept into the church unawares, perverting the gospel, “denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ” and “turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness,” speaking “evil of things they know not.” “These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit

 

These sons of Cain, Balaam, and Core, these wicked promoters of will-worship, self-righteous, freewill, works religion, never change. They assert that the preaching of salvation by the free and sovereign grace of God in Christ alone will make men lascivious. They deny that Christ is our all-sufficient, effectual, sin-atoning, successful Savior, blasphemously asserting that there are at least some aspects of salvation, righteousness, and holiness that depend in some way upon men. Having crept in among us unawares, defiant of common honesty, they preach against the gospel, preaching “another gospel, which is not another,” “another Jesus,” and “another spirit” from our own pulpits and wage war against Zion from within her own gates. That fact makes it necessary that faithful men incessantly proclaim “the common salvation

 

Let me lay the axe to the root of the tree. I will not spend five seconds defending any creed, speculative point of religious dogma, denomination, or theological point of view. I quit arguing with people about Calvinism and Arminianism about the same time I quit whining for a bottle. I want you to know Christ, not Calvin, or Gill, or Fortner. I want you to know and experience “the common salvation,” not a church confession.

 

The Common Salvation

 

(Jude 1:3)  “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”

 

What is “the common salvation”? The common salvation is that which Paul speaks of in Titus 1:4 as “the common faith.” It is message of the gospel of God’s free and sovereign grace in Christ, the message of redemption, pardon, righteousness, justification, and sanctification in Christ. The covenant of grace and the blessings of promises of it are shared commonly by all believers. The gospel may be said to be common because it is preached to all. Christ is the common Savior of all his people. We are bought with the same blood, justified by the same righteousness, called by the same Spirit and shall enjoy and possess the same glory.

 

Christ is Salvation

 

Christ is Salvation. I do not mean only that salvation is in Christ, or that salvation is by Christ, or that salvation comes from Christ. All that is true. But I want you to understand and know that Christ is salvation. Salvation is not a doctrine, but a person. It is not an experience, but a person. It is not a belief, but a person.

·       David prayed like this: “Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.”

·       Old Simeon cried for joy, “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: for mine eyes have seen thy salvation.”

Get Christ and you get salvation, no matter what else you miss. Miss Christ and you miss salvation, no matter what else you get (John 17:3; 1 John 5:11-13).

 

(John 17:3)  “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”

 

(1 John 5:11-13)  “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. (12) He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. (13) These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”

 

·       I know the doctrine of covenant grace, but Christ is the Covenant (Isa. 49:6).

·       I sing with Isaac Watts about the blessedness of God’s elect, knowing that Christ is the Elect and we are elect in him (Isa. 42:2).

 

“JESUS, we bless thy Father’s name;

Thy God and ours are both the same,

What heavenly blessings from his throne

Flow down to sinners through his Son!

 

‘Christ be my first elect,’ he said;

Then chose our souls in Christ, our Head,

Before he gave the mountains birth,

Or laid foundations for the earth.

 

Thus did eternal love begin

To raise us up from death and sin;

Our characters were then decreed,

Blameless in love, a holy seed.

 

Predestinated to be sons,

Born by degrees, but chose at once;

A new regenerated race,

To praise the glory of his grace.

 

With Christ, our Lord, we share our part

In the affections of his heart;

Nor shall our souls be thence removed,

Till he forgets his first Beloved.”

 

·       I delight in the doctrine of redemption, but Christ is my Redemption (1 Cor. 1:30).

·       I am thankful for the doctrines of justification, righteousness and sanctification, and preach them all the time, but Christ is my Justification, my Righteousness, and my Sanctification (1 Cor. 1:30).

·       Substitution is a blessed, sweet doctrine set forth in all the Book of God, but Christ is my Substitute.

·       Preservation and eternal security are truths sweet to my soul, because Christ is my Preservation and my Security.

 

(Psalms 31:3-4)  “For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name’s sake lead me, and guide me. (4) Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my strength

 

(Psalms 40:17)  “But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.”

 

(Psalms 71:3)  “Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: thou hast given commandment to save me; for thou art my rock and my fortress

 

(Psalms 142:5)  “I cried unto thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.”

 

·       I do believe in the resurrection of the dead and live in the blessed hope of it, but my faith is in Christ who is the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25).

·       I have hope of eternal life because Christ is my Hope (Col. 1:27).

 

Christ is himself Salvation. He was called and appointed to it. He undertook it and accomplished it. He is the Author and Finisher of it. Because Christ alone is Salvation, he is “the common Salvation” and of all his people. He is not the common salvation of all men; but he is “the common Salvation” of all God’s elect, of all true believers.

 

All who are saved are saved the same way, by Christ alone (John 14:6; Acts 4:12; 16:31; Eph. 2:8-9).

 

(John 14:6)  “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

 

(Acts 4:12)  “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

 

(Acts 16:31)  “And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”

 

(Ephesians 2:8-9)  “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (9) Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

 

If you ever you are saved you must be saved the same way Adam, Abraham, and Noah were saved — By Christ Alone! There is no other way, no matter…

·       What the color of your skin is.

·       Whether you are Jew or Gentile.

·       What language you speak.

·       Whether you are male or female.

·       Whether you are rich or poor.

·       Whether you are educated or uneducated.

·       Whether you are a good church going, religious person or a vile, base profligate.

 

All God’s elect are loved with the same, common, everlasting love of God, to the same common degree. All are saved because of the same, common eternal election of grace, chosen in Christ to the same, common eternal salvation. All are beneficiaries of the same, common covenant of grace, possessors of the same common blessings and promises, bought with the same common price of Christ’s precious blood, justified by the same common righteousness, and are regenerated, sanctified, and called by the same, common, effectual grace. And all shall possess the same, common, eternal glory. There is but one way of salvation, and that is Christ. It is not the Baptist way, or the Catholic way, or the Protestant way, or the Arminian way, or the Calvinistic way. It is Christ, Way!

 

Ephesians 4

 

Now, turn with me to Ephesians 4:1-6, and I will wrap my message up.

 

(Ephesians 4:1-6)  “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, (2) With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; (3) Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (4) There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; (5) One Lord, one faith, one baptism, (6) One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”

 

Let’s look at verses 4-6 line by line. Here the Apostle Paul shows us why we ought to labor at keeping “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,” why we ought to walk worthy of our calling as the children of God in this world, “with all lowliness and meekness, forbearing one another in love.” — We ought to do so because ours is “the common salvation

 

·       “There is one body.” — The Church of God is one body, the body of Christ. We are one in him. One cannot be divided. We are all reconciled in one body by Christ.

 

·       “And one Spirit.” — We are all quickened, born again, called, and led by one Spirit, God the Holy Spirit. We live in that one Spirit and are indwelt by him. He is our common Teacher and Comforter. He gave us life and faith in Christ; and he keeps us in the grace of God. It is by him that we are sealed in Christ.

 

(Ephesians 4:30)  “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”

 

·       “Even as ye are called in one hope of your calling.” — God the Holy Spirit has called us in one hope of life everlasting, giving us confidence with God because of him and in him, as the sons of God (Rom. 8:16-17).

 

(Romans 8:16-17)  “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: (17) And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”

 

·       “One Lord.” — The Lord Jesus Christ is our “One Lord.” He is Lord of all by right of creation and by right of redemption. He is specifically our Lord Jesus Christ by right of marriage. He betrothed us to himself and is our husband and our Lord, the One we worship, revere, and obey. Christ redeemed us, bought us with the price of his blood. Therefore we are not our own, but his. Let us therefore glorify him in our bodies and in our spirits, which are his.

 

·       “One faith.” — There is but one grace of faith. It is that common faith by which all who are born of God lay hold of and take possession of eternal life and draw near to God with confidence and full assurance. That one faith has one Object. It looks to Christ as our one Lord and our only Savior (Heb. 10:19-22). — And there is but one doctrine of faith; the Gospel of God’s free and sovereign grace in Christ (Gal. 1:6-9).

 

(Galatians 1:6-9)  “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: (7) Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. (8) But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. (9) As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.”

 

·        “One baptism.” — As there is but one faith, that faith is confessed by one baptism; and that baptism is the baptism our Lord Jesus received at the hands of John the Baptist as a picture of the fulfillment of all righteousness by his death, burial, and resurrection as our Substitute. Being immersed in and arising from the watery grave, we who believe God confess Christ, symbolically declaring that we died with him, arose with him, and live with him.

 

·       “One God and Father of all.” — There is but one God, the triune, sovereign, omnipotent, holy God, who is Father of all who trust his darling Son. Let me tell you five things about this one God. — (1.) God is holy. — (2.) God is sovereign. — (3.) God is just. — (4.) God is gracious and merciful. — And (5.) God is mine! — Now, look at this next line…

 

·       “Who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” — Our great God is above all. He is bigger, greater, and above all our troubles and troublers, all our needs and cares, all that concerns us and all about which we are concerned. — He is through all. That is to say, he encompasses and comprehends everything. He who is our God is the God of salvation, creation, and providence. — “For of him, and through him, and to him are all things!” — And this great, infinitely great God is in you all! We are his house, his temple, his dwelling place.

 

Now, I have a question. — Is this common salvation yours? It is if you come to Christ. Believe him, ad he is yours now and forever.

 

This common salvation calls for a common song of praise for all who possess it.

 

(Jude 1:24-25)  “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, (25) To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and for ever. Amen.”