Am I Saved?

From the Writings of

Dwight L. Moody

A great many people say, "Mr. Moody, I would like to know if I am saved." The longer I live, the more I am convinced that it is one of the greatest privileges of a child of God to know - to be able to say, "I am saved."

How many people in the church when I ask them if they are Christians say, "Well, I hope so," in a hesitating way? Another class say, "I am trying to be." This is a queer kind of testimony, my friends...

Suppose a man asked me if my name was Moody, and I said, "Well, I hope so," wouldn't that sound rather strange?  Or, "I'm trying to be Moody."

We can rely on what Christ says, "Ge that believes in me will not die but have everlasting life." 

I find a great many people who want evidence that they have been accepted by the Son of God. If you want evidence, take God's word for it. You can't find better evidence than that. 

I believe hundreds of Christian people are being deceived by Satan on this point. They have not the assurance of salvation just because they are not willing to take God at his word. There cannot be any peace where there is uncertainty.

If the Bible doesn't teach assurance, then it doesn't teach justification by faith; if it doesn't teach assurance it doesn't teach redemption. The doctrine of assurance is as clear as any doctrine in the Bible.

Because of my personality and lack of knowledge and faith, when I was first a Christian I could hardly believe I could be saved. I always felt like such a terrible sinner God would never take me to heaven. I know better now and I am learning to trust I will be finally saved and live with God which is my dearest hope.

Hey! I'm Doing Great!

The last church on earth is called Laodicea. (Revelation 3:14) This is what God says about the condition of Christianity right before Jesus returns.

"To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this:
'I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot.
'So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.

For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.

I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.
Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent."  Revelation 3:14-19

God tells us the majority of Christians at the end of time will be relying on themselves. They see themselves as prospering; they see nothing wrong in what they do or say. They think they are doing a great job being a Christian. They are quick to condemn others and never themselves. But God says these Christians are filthy and need to be clothed with Jesus' righteousness - without which no one can be saved. They need eye salve to see their true condition.

If you think you are righteous, why would you feel a need for Jesus? An example of this would be the parable of the Levite and the tax collector who prayed in the temple. One of them listed all his virtues to God. The other said, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner."  Jesus said the second man went home justified.

Laodicia is like ancient Israel who said,

 "Surely I have become rich, I have found wealth for myself; In all my labors they will find in me No iniquity, which would be sin." Hosea 12:7 

But how did they become rich? God said,  "A merchant, in whose hands are false balances, He loves to oppress."
"And now they sin more and more, and make for themselves metal images, idols skillfully made of their silver, all of them the work of craftsmen. It is said of them, “Those who offer human sacrifice kiss calves!” Hosea 13:2 

Finally, in their wickedness, they gave human (child and adult) sacrifice to the god, Baal. Yet they say they have no iniquity!

Why does God warn us? Why does God want us to repent? Is he just being cranky?

No. Because he knows what sin does to other people. He knows sin leads to sadness, suffering and eternal loss. He wants us to repent because of love, love for the entire human race.

Hatred of God.

"If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin." John 15:22

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin.—In this and the following verses our Lord shows the sinfulness of the world’s hatred, because it was in the face of His revelation to them by both word and work . Apart from this revelation, their sin would have belonged to the times of ignorance, which God overlooked (Acts 17:30-31). It would have been the negative evil of men who know not. It was now the positive evil of men who, knowing the truth, willfully reject it.


"If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well." John 15:24

Pulpit Commentary
Verse 24. - If I had not done among them works which none other did Here he comes down from "Word" to "work," and indicates the lower agency, that of works, which are neither inoperative nor valueless, and which transcend all other similar deeds. They are works of the Son of God, works of creation and of healing, triumphant conflict with the forces of nature and the malice of the devil, of a kind which may be compared with, but which exceed all human and angelic ministry. They had not had sin, but now they have both seen and hated both me and my Father. The works as well as the words of Christ might have softened their hearts, but the Divine claims, which were thus pressed home upon the conscience, provoked their malice. "They took counsel to kill him;" "They took up stones to stone him." They hated God as God, and goodness and truth just because they were goodness and truth. The awful condemnation is here pronounced, "that men loved darkness rather than light." They positively saw their Father, and hated him. This is the most terrible condemnation that can be pronounced on moral beings. 

Homesick and Lonely.

Anecdotes by Dwight L. Moody.

A Dream.  

I heard of a Christian who did not succeed in his work so well as he used to, and he got homesick and wished himself dead. One night he dreamed that he had died, and was carried by the angels to the Eternal City. As he went along the crystal pavement of heaven, he met a man he used to know, and they went walking down the golden streets together. 

All at once he noticed everyone looking in the same direction, and saw One coming up who was fairer than the sons of men. It was his blessed Redeemer. As the chariot came opposite, He came forth, and beckoning the one friend, placed him in His own chariot-seat, but himself He led aside, and pointing over the battlements of heaven, 

"Look over yonder," He said, "What do you see?" "It seems as if I see the dark earth I have come from." "What else?" "I see men as if they were blindfolded, going over a terrible precipice into a bottomless pit." "Well," said He, "Will you remain up here, and enjoy these mansions that I have prepared, or go back to yon dark earth, and warn these men, and tell them about Me and my kingdom, and the rest that remains for the people of God?" That man never wished himself dead again. He yearned to live as long as ever he could, to tell men of heaven and of Christ

Different Ten Commandments.

'As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise; and another will arise after them, and he will be different from the previous ones and will subdue three kings.

This beast in Daniel began as Pagan Rome. When it fell, it was divided into 10. The new power (the little horn) is Catholicism. Read Daniel 7.

 History shows that the Western Roman Empire divided into ten separate kingdoms, Alemanni, Franks, Burgundians, Suevi, Vandals, Visigoths, Anglo-Saxons, Ostrogoths, Lombards, and the Heruli; this is the order that they came into prominence in the western empire. History is also unmistakable as to who uprooted the three exterminated kingdoms. It can be attributed to one power only and this power is the little horn of Daniel 7, which is synonymous with the beast from the sea in Revelation 13 and the power that enforces the mark of the beast, the Papal Church of Rome.

http://www.danielbibleprophecy.org/ten_divisions_of_rome.html

'He will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time. Daniel 7:25

Here are the Ten Commandments from the Bible:

1. “You shall have no other gods before[a] me.

2. “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

3. “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

4.  “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

5.  “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lordyour God is giving you.

6.  “You shall not murder.

7.  “You shall not commit adultery.

8.  “You shall not steal.

9.  “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

10.  “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

Here are the Catholic Ten Commandments:

1. I am the LORD your God. You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.
2. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
3. Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day.
4. Honor your father and your mother.
5. You shall not kill.
6. You shall not commit adultery.
7. You shall not steal.
8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
9. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor's goods.

Do you notice how the 4th commandment was changed to the third? Also, it doesn't mention why there is a holy seventh day. 

This is the change in times (Sabbath Day) and laws (10 Commandments) that Daniel wrote about. 

There are many beautiful Catholic Christians. I am not writing about any person, only what the leaders of this church did many years ago.

The important thing is that if we see that God did not change the day of the true Sabbath, then all Christianity should be worshiping God on Saturday as a memorial of his great creation.

What Does the Catholic Church Say About the Sabbath Day?

Quotations from the Catholic Church Catechism.

II. THE LORD'S DAY

This is the day which the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.¹⁰³

The day of the Resurrection: the new creation

2174 Jesus rose from the dead "on the first day of the week."¹⁰⁴ Because it is the "first day," the day of Christ's Resurrection recalls the first creation. Because it is the "eighth day" following the sabbath,¹⁰⁵ it symbolizes the new creation ushered in by Christ's Resurrection. For Christians it has become the first of all days, the first of all feasts, the Lord's Day (he kuriake hemera, dies dominica) Sunday:

We all gather on the day of the sun, for it is the first day [after the Jewish sabbath, but also the first day] when God, separating matter from darkness, made the world; and on this same day Jesus Christ our Savior rose from the dead.¹⁰⁶

Sunday - fulfillment of the sabbath

2175 Sunday is expressly distinguished from the sabbath which it follows chronologically every week; for Christians its ceremonial observance replaces that of the sabbath. In Christ's Passover, Sunday fulfills the spiritual truth of the Jewish sabbath and announces man's eternal rest in God. For worship under the Law prepared for the mystery of Christ, and what was done there prefigured some aspects of Christ:¹⁰⁷

Those who lived according to the old order of things have come to a new hope, no longer keeping the sabbath, but the Lord's Day, in which our life is blessed by him and by his death.¹⁰⁸

2176 The celebration of Sunday observes the moral commandment inscribed by nature in the human heart to render to God an outward, visible, public, and regular worship "as a sign of his universal beneficence to all."¹⁰⁹ Sunday worship fulfills the moral command of the Old Covenant, taking up its rhythm and spirit in the weekly celebration of the Creator and Redeemer of his people.

Quotations from the Convert's Catechism of Catholic Doctrine.

"Have you not any other way of proving that the Church has power to institute festivals of precept?" 
"Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her, she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the Seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority" Stephen Keenan, A Doctrinal Catechism 3rd ed. p. 174 

How prove you that the Church hath power to command feasts and holydays? 
By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves, by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same Church." Henry Tuberville, An Abridgment of the Christian Doctrine (1833 approbation), p.58 (Same statement in Manual of Christian Doctrine, ed. by Daniel Ferris [1916 ed.], p.67) 

"The Catholic Church,... by virtue of her divine mission, changed the day from Saturday to Sunday. 
" The Catholic Mirror, official organ of Cardinal Gibbons, Sept. 23, 1893. 

"Is Saturday the 7th day according to the Bible and the 10 Commandments?" 
"I answer yes". 
"Is Sunday the first day of the week and did the Church change the 7th day, Saturday, for Sunday, the 1st day?" 
"I answer yes". 
"Did Christ change the day?" 
"I answer no!" Faithfully yours, "J. Cardinal Gibbons" Gibbons' autograph letter. 

Which is the Sabbath day? 
Saturday is the Sabbath day. 
Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday? 
We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church transferred the solemity from Saturday to Sunday." 
Peter Geiermann, The Convert's Catechism of Catholic Doctrine (1946 ed.), p.50. Geiermann received the "apostolic blessing" of Pope Pius X on his labors, January 25, 1910. 

"The Catholic Church changed the observance of the Sabbath to Sunday by right of the divine, infallible authority given to her by her Founder, Jesus Christ. The Protestant, claiming the Bible to be the only guide of faith, has no warrant for observing Sunday. 

---------------------------------------

In this matter the Seventh Day Adventist is the only consistent Protestant. The Catholic Universe Bulletin, Aug. 14, 1942, p.4 

"The observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the [Catholic] church." Monsignor Louis Segur, Plain Talk About the Protestantism of Today (1868), p. 213 

How Was the Sabbath Day Changed From Saturday to Sunday?

Sol Invictus ("Unconquered Sun") was the official sun god of the later Roman Empire and a patron of soldiers. In 274 the Roman emperor Aurelian made it an official cult alongside the traditional Roman cults.

The Roman gens Aurelian was associated with the cult of Sol.^[21] After his victories in the East, the Emperor Aurelian thoroughly reformed the Roman cult of Sol, elevating the sun-god to one of the premier divinities of the Empire. Where previously priests of Sol had been simply sacerdotesand tended to belong to lower ranks of Roman society,^[22] they were now pontifices and members of the new college of pontifices instituted by Aurelian. Every pontifex of Sol was a member of the senatorial elite, indicating that the priesthood of Sol was now highly prestigious. Almost all these senators held other priesthoods as well, however, and some of these other priesthoods take precedence in the inscriptions in which they are listed, suggesting that they were considered more prestigious than the priesthood of Sol.^[23] Aurelian also built a new temple for Sol, bringing the total number of temples for the god in Rome to (at least) four^[24] He also instituted games in honor of the sun god, held every four years from AD 274 onwards.

...claiming the Unconquered Sun as a companion to the Emperor, used with particular frequency by Constantine.^[26] Statuettes of Sol Invictus, carried by the standard-bearers, appear in three places in reliefs on the Arch of Constantine. Constantine's official coinage continues to bear images of Sol until 325/6. A solidus of Constantine as well as a gold medallion from his reign depict the Emperor's bust in profile twinned (jugate) with Sol Invictus, with the legend INVICTUS CONSTANTINUS^[27]

(After his conversion to Christianity) Constantine decreed (March 7, 321) dies Solis—day of the sun, "Sunday"—as the Roman day of rest [CJ3.12.2]:

On the venerable day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country however persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits because it often happens that another day is not suitable for grain-sowing or vine planting; lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost.^[28]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sol_Invictus

 On March 7, 321, Sunday, the Day of the Sun, was declared an official day of rest, on which markets were banned and public offices were closed,^[21] except for the purpose of freeing slaves. The Christians reacted to this by moving their Sabbath from the tradition Jewish day to Sunday. There were, however, no restrictions on performing farming work, which was the work of the great majority of the population, on Sundays.^[22]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_the_Great_and_Christianity

The very next day, Constantine enacted another law giving pagan soothsayers official acceptance in the Empire. In all Constantine issued five additional Sunday laws over a few years to strengthen the first one.

The meaning of these weekly Sunday rituals is explained as follows:

Constantine sent to the legions, to be recited upon that day, a form of prayer which could have been employed by a worshiper of Mithra, of Serapis, or of Apollo [277], quite as well as by a Christian believer. This was the official sanction of the old custom of addressing a prayer to the rising sun." [280]

Constantine (337-361 AD), in council with the local bishop of Rome, aimed at bringing about conditions which would bring peace and prosperity where there was distrust and persecution among the leading religions of the Empire. Thus the foundations for a compromise were laid transforming the Christian Church away from its scriptural roots in the fourth century A.D.

"The Logos has transformed by the New Alliance the celebration of Sabbath to the rising of the light. He has given us a type of the true rest in the saving day of the Lord, the first day of light. ... In this day of light - first day and the true day of the sun - when we gather after the interval of six days, we celebrate the holy and spiritual Sabbaths. ... All things whatsoever that were prescribed for the Sabbath, We have transferred them to the Lord's day, as being more authoritative and more highly regarded and first in rank, and more honorable than the Jewish Sabbath. In fact it is on the day of the creation of the world that God said, `Let there be light and there was light.' It is also on this day that the Sun of Justice has risen for our souls." [288]  ([288] Eusebius, Commentary on the Psalms, Psalm 91, in Patrologie Cursus Completus, ed. J.P. Migne, p. 23, 1169-1172.) 

http://www.specialtyinterests.net/lords_day_history.html#tld

a) No traces of the observance of the Sunday are found until about the middle of the second century. Those appear first in Justin Martyr's First Apology. The leading reason assigned by him for its observance is founded on a mystical interpretation of certain passages supposed to refer to the millennium. The supposed resurrection of Christ on that day is mentioned incidentally as a secondary reason. About the close of the second century, the idea of commemorating the resurrection by the observance of the Sunday increases, and the term "Lord's Day" begins to be applied to it.

http://www.specialtyinterests.net/lords_day_history.html#tld

Some may say it doesn't matter which day we worship on since we do not live under the law but under grace. If that is true, then it doesn't matter if we lie, cheat, steal, murder or worship idols. These are the other commandments.

A Prayer by Francis Drake.

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

-- Sir Francis Drake (1540 - 1596)

Satan: The Prince of this World.

I have read many articles where people wonder why God allows such evil in this world. It is hard to understand. I believe God overcomes evil many times here but we don't see it because the spiritual realm is invisible to us. However, the Bible tells us how God does interfere. 

"Why do the nations say, "Where is their God?" But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases." Psalm 115:3

"Therefore, you kings, be wise;

be warned, you rulers of the earth.

Serve the Lord with fear

and celebrate his rule with trembling.

Kiss his son, or he will be angry

and your way will lead to your destruction,

for his wrath can flare up in a moment.

Blessed are all who take refuge in him." Psalm 2

I believe God lets evil go so far and no further. Like Hitler and Sadamm Hussain, evil men will reign for a season and then fall.

When Adam and Eve shook off the rule of God and did the exact one thing he told them not to do then Satan became, "The Prince of this World."

"I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler (Prince) of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me; John 14:30

But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons." Matthew 12:24


"...in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, (the commander of the powers in the unseen world) of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience." Ephesians 2:2

"In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." 2 Corinthians 4:4

This prince of our world can even pretend to be a good angel; deceiving those who do not know God.

"No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light." 2 Corinthians 11:14

"The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved." 2 Thessalonians 2:9,10

Near the end of the world, Jesus said there would be false Christs and false prophets (Matthew 24:24) and that we must beware of this. But he gives us the way to find the truth which is how he will return the next time: 

"So if they say to you, 'Behold, He is in the wilderness,' do not go out, or, 'Behold, He is in the inner rooms,' do not believe them. "For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.

"And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory. "And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other." Matthew 24. 

What Satan Says About Christians.

The Councils of God.

"One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. TheLord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”

Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”

Apparently, in the councils of God, Satan comes to represent earth. At least he did this in times past before Jesus died for us.

Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”

Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.”  Job 1:9-11

So, Satan accuses God's followers of loving him in order to be protected and also to prosper in this world. The other angels are listening. The other worlds are listening. How can God prove to them his people would follow him no matter what happened?

God gave an answer that shows nothing can happen to us without God's permission, "So the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life."

The story of Job is a lesson in suffering and yet trusting in God. Most people in this world suffer if they live long enough. Job wondered why he suffered, he wished he had never been born, he complained to God about his treatment; but he never turned away from God. He said he wished he could talk with God face to face and God showed up.

We may not understand God's answer to Job but we should look at how Job reacted when he saw God face to face:

Then Job replied to the Lord:

“I know that you can do all things;

no purpose of yours can be thwarted.

You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’

Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,

things too wonderful for me to know.

“You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;

I will question you,

and you shall answer me.’

My ears had heard of you

but now my eyes have seen you.

Therefore I despise myself

and repent in dust and ashes.”

After Job saw God he knew God is all wise and wonderful. Seeing God was enough.

We may not know why we suffer and we may complain to God about it, but one day when we see God's face, we will be satisfied.