It is Easy to be Saved and Hard to be Lost - Skip Hartmann

[Music] It is easy to be saved and hard to be lost. I'm going to begin by mentioning, um, an author back in the 1800s. Now, I wasn't there then, but Mark Twain, who, uh, some of you have heard of him, probably. Okay, I see some nodding of heads. He, uh, wrote the book *Tom Sawyer* and *Huckleberry Finn*. So that might bring some of—those books are still around. I guess they're very well popular still, and uh, I remember when I was a little boy, we had movies on those two books. Am I at the microphone? All right, Travis. Okay.

I remember one time I was up here and I was talking, and somebody told me, "Halfway through your sermon, we didn't hear what you said because you weren't talking into the microphone." So I don't want that to happen again. Okay, okay. The reason I mentioned Mark Twain is in one of his stories of the early West—this is back in the 1800s—he tells of the old-time preachers who told the people, and this is in a book that he wrote called *Tonight*. It's on page 119. Now, yeah, I know you don't have the book, but listen to what I—what he said here. He says, "What a beautiful place heaven is and how nearly impossible it is to get there, and what a jury place hell is and how easy it is to get there." So, um, his idea was it's—it's hard to be saved and easy to be lost. Now, there's so many people today believe that the same idea lingers to this day, so much so that the very title of the sermon sometimes brings and causes controversy.

Turn with me to [Music] just a minute, I gotta get this. I'm not used to using these things. Ah, [Music] Okay. Turn with me—well, maybe you don't need to turn there—Matthew 7:13-14. Jesus said, "Enter by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." Didn't Jesus say few will be saved? When you think of it, that's what he's saying, maybe [Music]. You'd be surprised how many young people and adults today have been turned off by Christianity and the Adventist Church completely because they say it's just too difficult. It's hard to do what they ask me to do, what God asks me to do. So it's so difficult, so why try so hard when it seems so hopeless?

Now, I want to be honest with you, I have felt that way in my Christian experience a few times, but because I didn't understand the Gospel was the reason I had a problem. [Music] Surely what Jesus said about the few does not mean it's hard to be saved and easy to be lost. Now, I'd like to suggest that Jesus was just stating the facts. He was saying, "Few will make the kind of surrender necessary to be saved; few understand the Gospel; few will accept it; and few believe it." If you haven't accepted the Gospel of Jesus Christ—haven't accepted it and believe it—because the salvation is going to be very difficult, because there's no hope—only our only hope is in whom? In Jesus' name, in the Gospel. But Jesus did say it was easy. Open your Bibles to Matthew 11:28-30. Jesus says this also. He says, "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Getting to heaven is going to—we're going to find out—is easy, and it's hard to be lost. [Music] Jesus did say that it was hard to do something. Let's go to Acts 26:12-15. "While thus occupied, I journeyed to Damascus. On the road to Damascus, with authority and commission from the chief priests, at midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from heaven brighter than the sun shining around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me, saying in the Hebrew language, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?' It is hard for you to kick against the goads." So I said, "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting." [Music]

The goads were used by eastern ploughmen to hasten the slow gait of oxen. There was a little stick that prodded them, and Saul was hurting himself by kicking against the goads of his own conscience. [Music] Saul was not the only one who finds it hard to kick against the goads. Everyone, I believe everyone, including myself, who puts off surrendering to Jesus is persecuting Jesus just as much as Saul did—Paul. And not we—anyone who's fighting against the Spirit of God, he's fighting against Jesus and the Holy Spirit. And many times we present the message of Christian character perfection in such a way that the people, especially young people, deem it a hopeless impossibility. I'm an Easterner; I'm from New Jersey, and we're about, oh, 80, 90 miles south of New York City. I went up in New York—the Empire State Building—once years ago when I was a little boy. And I would like to compare the idea of Christian character perfection to climbing the Empire State Building. The tower is a hundred and I think it's twelve hundred feet tall. It's not the tallest building in the world now. Each of the hundred and uh, three floors to the top are different doctrines. Let's—let's look—let's parallel this with doctrines, points of growth needed to reach the top—perfection. In other words, we grow in Christ on a daily basis, and I'm comparing this going up the uh, to the up of the Empire State Building to different doctrines, points of growth needed to reach top perfection. Many people want to reach there, but they are on the outside of the building trying to scale the bricks in their own power. They're trying to get up another way other than going up uh, the way that they should go up. Their hands are getting bloodied, and they parachute off and give up. If they stay in that state, they're lost. They've lost everything. They forget one very important thing, and I want to refer to what Jesus said on John 10:7. "I am the door." He also said, "I am the way and the life," John 14:6. You see, they don't need to climb the bricks on the outside. They can take the elevator to the very top. And I understand there's 76 elevators that go up to the Empire State Building. I looked this up on the computer. So—so the elevator to the top is—hung by—now the elevator at the top will take us to the top of the Empire State Building. The Holy Spirit will lift them higher and still higher. I believe that if we daily invite the Holy Spirit into our lives, we'll have the beautiful presence of God in our life, Jesus in our life, and He will lead us step by step by step. He's the elevator. Christ in—in them will become the hope of glory. All they need to do is get on the elevator and surrender to Jesus. They need to believe Jesus. They need to abide in Christ, John 15:7, 5:4-7. Let's turn there for a minute. Jesus says this, "Abide in me and I in you." We're to abide in Jesus, and He will abide in us. Okay. "As a branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me." And verse 7, "If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall be done unto you." [Music] In a sense, He's the elevator to the top of the building. Christ in us will be the hope of glory. The people going up to the Empire State Building, all they need to do is get on the elevator. All we need to do to—to reach that character of perfection in Christ is to believe in Jesus and have Him live—that's life—in us. Abide in me, and my words will abide in you. [Music]

Now, I'm going to try this again. Okay. Okay, there we go. [Music] Open your Bibles to Philippians the um, first chapter, verse 6. "Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." And goes on to say in Philippians, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known unto God." Mike and Paul says also in Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." And then verse 19, "And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches and glory by Christ Jesus." You see, Jesus began to change your heart when you accepted Him. In His own words, He says, "I will finish what I began." I'm thankful to God, aren't you? He's going to finish it in our lives if we allow Him. We don't kick against the goads—the Holy Spirit. We resist God. He's going to do that in our lives. In order to be lost, one has to fight against the Holy Spirit's wooing. You have to fight against your own conscience. You have to fight against the Word of God, and that is a hard thing to do. "It is hard for you to kick against the goads." Do you know that ever since you were born, the Lord has been trying to win you to His love? Jeremiah 31:3, "The Lord has appeared to me of old, saying, 'Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with loving-kindness I have drawn you.'" Jesus has been trying to win us to Him, to come into our lives, to abide in us, and we abide in Him. In Romans 2:4, it says that the goodness of God that leads us to what? Repentance. So one of the things I found out in my own life is we have to understand God's goodness to us, God's love for us. I want to read something to you from a little book that I'm sure most of you have in your home. If you don't have it, I'll get one for you. It's called *Steps to Christ*. [Music] Jesus said, "If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto me." Christ must be revealed to the sinner as the Savior dying for the sins of the world. And as we behold the Lamb of God upon the cross of Calvary, the mystery of redemption begins to unfold in our minds, and the goodness of God leads us to repentance. In dying for the sinner, Christ manifests that a love that is incomprehensible. And as the sinner beholds His love, it softens the heart, impresses the mind, inspires the contrition of the soul. It's all in Jesus. How we look at God. Do we know Him? Has He been the focus of our life and understanding and knowing His love for us? I think it's important that uh, we understand this, that the love—the great love of God—the sinner may resist this love, may refuse to be drawn to Christ. That'd be sad, wouldn't it? But if he does not resist, he will be drawn to Jesus. A knowledge of the plan of salvation will lead him to the foot of the cross in repentance for his sins which have caused the sufferings of God's dear Son. [Music] His goodness has been wooing us and leading us to repentance. How does He do this? I believe He does this through the kindness of parents, friends, teachers, strangers, even. He does it through favors bestowed upon Him. He does it through the rebukes and warnings and appeals He's made by His preachers—people that have spoken to them. He does it through the Sabbath school lessons. Also, creation speaks to us daily of His everlasting love. [Music] And again in the book of *Steps to Christ*, in the very first chapter of that book, it says—it says that every opening bud and on every leaf is written God's love. On each one, Jesus has written, "I love you." As we look at the flowers—the beautiful flowers—some of you like beautiful nature—you can learn when you look at a beautiful flower, say, "Jesus is saying, 'I love you.'" Dear friends, it's hard to be lost. You have to turn from God's love, reject it, and spurn it. You might be saying now, "We have a terrible battle to fight." That's true. We have a battle, but that battle is not where we have often supposed to be—with obedience and hard works that we don't know how to do. Um, the real battle, I believe myself, is ingrained unbelief. We don't really believe what Jesus said. Paul calls it in 1 Timothy 6:12, "the good fight of faith"—good fight of believing the good news. Do all you can to have faith. Pray for it. Even fast for it. Have faith. Believe on God's Word, and you will find that unbelief leaves you. Jesus said in John 12:32, "If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto me." Jesus is drawing unto Him today. The Father is teaching you about His love for you. His goodness is trying to bring you and me to repentance. Oh, how wonderful God is. It's hard to be lost with a God like that. God's love is powerful, drawing for us. Lord, turn with me to 2 Corinthians 5:14 and 15. "For the love of Christ—what is it?—compels us, because we judge thus that if one died for all, then were all died. And He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again." What is it that motivates us? It's the love of Christ, the love of Jesus. That's what we have to have. It's called agape. And if we don't have that love, just pray to God, pray to the Holy Spirit, and God will teach it to you. [Music] [Music]

I'd like to read a statement from one of my favorite books. It's called *Desire of Ages*. [Music] It says this: "It is not the fear of punishment or the hope of everlasting reward that leads the disciples of Christ to follow Him. They behold the Savior's matchless love revealed throughout His pilgrimage on earth, from the manger of Bethlehem to Calvary's cross, and the sight of Him attracts, it softens and subdues the soul. Love awakens in the heart of the beholders. They hear His voice, and what do they do? They follow Him." It's—for me, I want to be saved. I fear punishment, and I want to be saved. But she says here, "It is not the fear of punishment—the hope of everlasting reward—that leads the disciples of Christ to follow Him." What is it that leads them to follow Him? "They behold the Savior's matchless love revealed throughout His pilgrimage on earth, from the manger of Bethlehem to Calvary's cross. The sight of Him attracts and softens the soul and subdues the soul. Love—love for Jesus—awakens in the heart of the beholders. They hear His voice, and they follow Him." Love is the key to our salvation. It's our key to following Jesus—the love of Jesus. I'd like to imagine us—to imagine for a minute something that might kind of be—kind of silly, but um, if you—you had a car out here in the parking lot—the lower parking lot down here—maybe it's Chester's big car. He's got a big car. Okay, can I use your experience? I guess. Okay, again. And let's say, um, [Music] Chester's is having a hard time getting it started. It's not a Cadillac, but uh, it's a—I don't know what it is—Lincoln. Okay. He's having a hard time getting up that hill because he can't get it started. So he gets a bunch of guys together in the church here, and we start pushing that car up. Oh, this is terribly hard. Can't do it. But imagine if Chester gets in the car, turns on the ignition key, starts the engine, puts it in drive, and just goes right up. The engine that we need in our Christian experience to live that Christian life is the love of God that compels us. That's the key in the ignition. That's the engine and transmission that propels us up there. Paul said, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives 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." You see, to be lost, one has to fight against Christ, to steel himself against God's love. In this case, he's—that's what he's actually doing. And turn to Romans 2 for a moment. Romans 2:4 and 5, "Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God—God's love—leads us to repentance? But in accordance with your hardness and impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath—the revelation of God's righteous judgment." Saul of Tarsus had been steeling himself against the hardness and impenet—and heart until he finally repented on the way to Damascus. He met Jesus. He would have killed himself had he continued on the way he was now. If he was going on and didn't accept Christ, he probably would have killed himself, destroyed himself. [Music] That's only a conjecture. Okay. There's a statement here from a book called *Our High Calling*, page 11. "Infinite love has cast up a pathway upon which the ransom of the Lord may pass from earth to heaven. That path is the Son of God. Angel guides are sent to direct our erring feet." So we have the help of angels—not only the Holy Spirit, but we have the help of angels. Guys are sent to help direct our erring feet. "Heaven's glorious ladder is let down in every man's path, barring his way to vice and folly. He must trample upon the crucified Redeemer, Jesus, ere he pass on to a life of sin again." It's God's love. It's Jesus doing everything possible to save us through the Holy Spirit for His love living in our lives. Jesus puts a ladder in our path, hoping we'll get on it, and by His grace climb it. We go on sinning. If we go on sinning, it's the trample underfoot—the crucified Savior. God's love is constantly drawing you and me to Him. And I want to get—read again—a step—*Steps to Christ*—the statement here on page 26. "The sinner may resist this love, may refuse to be drawn unto Christ; but if he does not resist, he will be drawn to Jesus. A knowledge of the plan of salvation will lead him to the foot of the cross in repentance for his sins which have caused the suffering of God's dear Son." [Music]

Okay, can you see now why it's hard to be lost? It's uh, constantly going against our Savior. Now, I've got to ask you a question. Is it easy to be lost? Is it easy to be lost? Some of you might say, "Yeah, it is." Let me read something to you. This is from a book called *Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing*. It's a book on the Sermon on the Mount. It says this: "Do not therefore conclude that the upward path to heaven that is—is hard and the downward road is the easy way. All along—all along the road that leads to death there are pains and penalties, there are sorrows and disappointments, there are warnings not to go on. God's love—love—has made it hard for the heedless and headstrong to destroy themselves. It is true that Satan's path is made to appear attractive, but it's all a deception. In the way of evil there are bitter remorse and conquering care. We may think it pleasant to follow pride and worldly ambition, but the end is pain and sorrow. Selfish plans may present flattering promises and hold out the hope of enjoyment, but we shall find that our happiness is poisoned and our life embittered by hopes that are centered in self. The downward road—in the downward road—the gateway may be bright with flowers, but thorns are in this path. The light of hope which shines from its entrance fades into darkness of despair, and the soul who follows that path descends into the shadow of unending night." What a statement, isn't it? Many times we feel—maybe we haven't felt—but many people feel it's easier to go on living the life of the world rather than the life of Jesus. But that's not so. I uh, I meet with some guys out the Kelkar County Jail that felt—have felt that way. You know, it's easier to give in to the—myself—and the world, and as a result, they're in a sad position right now. A person must fight against the Holy Spirit's efforts to lead him to Jesus. They must harden their hearts against the cross. They must remain deaf to their conscience. They must cover their ears to keep from hearing God's Word spoken to them. They must resist the drawing power of Jesus, and all that takes a lot of effort. It's hard to be lost. Many believe that it's hard to be saved because they know that they have a past filled with sin, and they are sinful. They forget that God has forgiven them if they ask. They think that God does not accept them because they are not perfect enough for God to save. Remember, it's God's righteousness that saves us. They think that they must study more and learn more, as if salvation was gained by Bible study or theology. That is important—Bible study—but that does not save us. Only Jesus does.

In conclusion this morning, I just want to share with you that those who trust in the merits of Jesus—the crucified, risen Savior—will never perish because while they do this—trusting in Him—they'll be saved by His grace. You see, from the beginning to the end is trusting in the merits of a crucified and risen Savior. The bottom line: You can never be lost if you trust Jesus. I really believe that. I want to share something. I uh, this is not—it was not part of my sermon. What time is it? Oh, dear. I didn't think it was going that late. Okay. I want to read something here that uh, has always been a blessing to me in this little book, *Steps to Christ*. In fact, I recommend if you don't have it, get a copy. I have some around if you want one afterwards. This is a chapter on discipleship, and I'm going to finish with this. [Music] It says on page 62, "The condition of eternal life is now just what it was—was—and always has been—just what it was in Paradise before the fall of our parents. And what was the condition of eternal life? Perfect obedience to the law of God and perfect righteousness. Okay. Now, if eternal life were granted on any condition short of this, then the happiness of the whole universe will be imperiled. The way would be open for sin, with all its train of woe and misery, to be immortalized." Now, what is she saying here? I believe if we get to heaven and we have a guy that hasn't accepted Christ next door to us and he's a thief, we're going to be afraid of living next door to him, right? Right. Okay. So, "Perfect obedience to the law of God and perfect righteousness is what God requires from each of us." Hold on. Okay, I'm going to say—I'm not—I can't be perfect. Okay, just a—just a minute. "It was possible for Adam before the fall to form a righteous character by obedience to God's law. Adam had the uh—it was possible for him to form a righteous character by obedience to God's law before sin entered, but he failed to do this. And because of his sin, our natures are fallen, and we cannot make ourselves righteous. Since we are sinful, unholy, we cannot perfectly obey the holy law. We have no righteousness of our own with which to meet the claims of the law of God." But here's what—this is beautiful—"Christ has made a way of escape for us. Amen. He lived on the earth amid trials and temptations such as we have to meet. He lived a sinless life. He died for us, and now He offers to take our sins and give us His righteousness. If you give yourself to Him and accept Him as your Savior, then, as sinful as your life may have been, for His sake you are counted righteous—righteous—excuse me. Christ's character stands in place of your character, and you are accepted before God just as if you had never sinned. Not beautiful." It's in this book. If you don't have it, I'll give you one after the service. Now, excuse me for going on—just one more paragraph—more than this—more than this—"Christ changes the heart. He abides in your heart by faith. You are to maintain this connection with Christ by faith and continual surrender of your will to Him. And so long as you do this, He will work in you to will and to do according to His good pleasure. So you may say, 'The life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me,' Galatians 2:20. So Jesus said to His disciples, 'It is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.' Then Christ working in you will manifest the same spirit, do the same good works—works of righteousness and obedience." So we have nothing in ourselves to which to boast. We have no ground for self-exaltation. Our only hope—ground of hope—is in the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and wrought by His Spirit working in and through us. Beautiful. This is a part of *Steps to Christ* I like because I have to remind myself once in a while that it's not Skip Hartman that does the work—it's Jesus. I picked up a couple little sayings over the years, and one is that grace is a gift we'll never earn from Him whose love we will never lose. Nice. When God is nowhere to be seen—in fact, He's behind the scenes, working it all out for us—the Maker of all things loves me and wants me. I just feel myself, brothers and sisters, that God's love is that which will cause us to want to stay with Jesus. His love—you know—you'll find it easy to be saved once His love is in your heart, once He is in your heart, and it's going to be hard to be lost. It's hard to be—able to—steel against those goads once you believe and experience His love and His grace for you. You will find it's a beautiful experience in Jesus Christ. So I hope this is maybe a blessing to you and some thoughts that maybe you haven't thought of before. But God does love you. He cares for you. It's easier to be saved knowing and understanding the Gospel and loving Jesus than it is to be lost. This power has—Father, we thank You for the redemption, the love that we have in Christ. Lord, help us to focus our study, our lives, our minds and hearts on Jesus' love. It's the only thing that's going to get us through the time of trouble that's coming upon the world and is even here now. So I pray Your blessing upon us, Lord. Help us to really develop—devote our lives to the Holy Spirit's leading in our lives, who will lead us to Jesus, His love and His kindness and mercy to us. We thank You for the forgiveness of our sins. We thank You for His righteousness which saves us. All we can do is praise You, Lord, for what You've done for us and are doing for us each day. Thank You for hearing our prayer in the wonderful name of Jesus. Amen. [Music] You.