1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:12,960 In our own location, and be able to sit down on the front row again instead of up here 2 00:00:12,960 --> 00:00:13,960 on the platform. 3 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:22,680 Have you ever thought what it's like to blow your nose with 250 people watching you? 4 00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:23,680 How are you going to do it? 5 00:00:23,680 --> 00:00:24,680 You've got to do it real carefully. 6 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:27,280 And not make too much noise. 7 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:30,440 What about yawning? 8 00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:35,680 I mean, it's a bad evening if the preacher yawns before he gets up to preach, right? 9 00:00:35,680 --> 00:00:39,480 So I have learned to yawn keeping my mouth shut. 10 00:00:39,480 --> 00:00:41,040 And that's an interesting experience. 11 00:00:41,040 --> 00:00:42,720 It's a real high. 12 00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:47,480 You ought to try that sometime. 13 00:00:47,480 --> 00:00:50,920 I hope you haven't started the tape yet. 14 00:00:50,920 --> 00:01:02,600 A couple of weeks ago you helped me out by suggesting some passages that trouble you, 15 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:04,480 which you find difficult to understand. 16 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:09,480 What I have done is categorized a number of those. 17 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:17,360 They seem to fall into lots and therefore in the worship folder today you have an outline 18 00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:23,800 of the preaching for the next three months, and we'll be covering given areas of doctrine 19 00:01:23,800 --> 00:01:28,320 and trying to deal with the specific verses that some of you have asked about. 20 00:01:28,320 --> 00:01:32,920 Others of you have asked concerning verses that require shorter answers, and therefore 21 00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:36,960 we'll be talking about those in a couple of minutes or maybe five minutes in evening 22 00:01:36,960 --> 00:01:40,680 services from now on until we get through all of them. 23 00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:44,600 So one way or the other we'll try to get to the specific text that you've asked about 24 00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:46,920 and you say, well what if I'm not there that night? 25 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:50,040 Shame on you, tough. 26 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:51,040 You'll just have to be here. 27 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:53,800 I'm not going to tell you what it's going to be. 28 00:01:53,800 --> 00:01:57,160 Tonight though we're going to talk about some verses that deal with the matter of the 29 00:01:57,160 --> 00:02:00,560 security of the Christian. 30 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:06,480 Some of the most misunderstood passages have been taken to mean that a believer can lose 31 00:02:06,480 --> 00:02:16,480 his salvation, that having been once saved by God's grace apart from works, he may somehow 32 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:25,640 become lost again by his works, that having been truly justified, cleansed, and sanctified 33 00:02:25,640 --> 00:02:34,600 by the work of God, that he may somehow become not right with God and again defiled and return 34 00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:38,980 to the place and the world he left. 35 00:02:38,980 --> 00:02:43,920 This teaching that one can lose the salvation that God has graciously given him is a sad 36 00:02:43,920 --> 00:02:49,760 one in my opinion because I believe that it robs God's people, some of them at least, 37 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:55,640 of the assurance and joy that he intends for them to have in this world. 38 00:02:55,640 --> 00:03:04,160 It tends to keep one in a certain kind of fear that neither promotes spiritual maturity 39 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:12,560 nor honors the Lord who is faithful to his promises and cannot lie. 40 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:20,720 Now while certainly it is possible for a true believer to sin and to live in carnality and 41 00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:25,360 even to love the world system, if it weren't we would have been commanded, love not the 42 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:27,420 world. 43 00:03:27,420 --> 00:03:36,440 It is not possible however for him to cease to be what he is by his new birth, that is 44 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:40,520 a child of God. 45 00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:46,880 Now if in fact he does continue to live and sin without confessing it, if he lives in 46 00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:54,480 his carnality, if he begins to love the world system as a child of God, he will be chastised 47 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:59,680 by his heavenly Father because his Father loves him. 48 00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:05,520 Indeed he may even be removed from the world seen by an untimely death. 49 00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:08,400 We'll talk about that a little later. 50 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:16,160 But the child of God will not be forsaken by his heavenly Father, abandoned on the way 51 00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:22,360 to heaven, or plucked out of the family of God. 52 00:04:22,360 --> 00:04:30,640 What is the basis for my teaching, my conviction regarding the security of the believer? 53 00:04:30,640 --> 00:04:35,560 I'd like to very quickly cover this and then get to some of the problem texts. 54 00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:39,160 Would you turn first to Romans chapter 8. 55 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:46,360 I want to look at four aspects of the basis for our believing in the security of the believer. 56 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:50,860 Number one is the Father's work in saving us. 57 00:04:50,860 --> 00:05:03,400 In Romans 8 verse 29 it says, For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to become conformed 58 00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:05,400 to the image of his Son. 59 00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:07,400 So this now is the work of the Father. 60 00:05:07,400 --> 00:05:13,240 You will notice five verbs in verses 29 and 30, all of which are in a tense, as we would 61 00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:14,560 say the past tense. 62 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:16,200 It is a settled issue. 63 00:05:16,200 --> 00:05:21,720 These things in the mind of God have already been done and accomplished. 64 00:05:21,720 --> 00:05:29,800 He foreknew, he predestined, verse 30, whom he predestined, these he also called, and 65 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:35,560 whom he called, these he also justified, and whom he justified, these he also glorified. 66 00:05:35,560 --> 00:05:38,920 Notice that is in the same tense as the others. 67 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:43,400 And though we have not experienced it in the process of time and are living out of our 68 00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:49,840 lives, as far as God is concerned, our glorification, that is our complete conformity to the image 69 00:05:49,840 --> 00:05:57,160 of Jesus Christ, is just as settled and just as secure and just as real as though it had 70 00:05:57,160 --> 00:06:04,360 already happened, like our justification, like our being foreknown and predestined, 71 00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:06,920 which happened even before the world was created. 72 00:06:06,920 --> 00:06:10,960 Now we have talked about the concepts here in our series in Romans, so I am not going 73 00:06:10,960 --> 00:06:12,600 to take time to go into that tonight. 74 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:15,000 But I want you to notice the Father's work. 75 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:21,000 If I lose my salvation, it means not only is God going to have to roll back the glorification, 76 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:25,600 but he is going to have to roll back the justification and the calling and the predestination and 77 00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:31,320 the foreknowledge, which happened before the foundation of the world. 78 00:06:31,320 --> 00:06:36,320 He is going to have to cancel and roll back all of that. 79 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:37,800 So sure is our salvation. 80 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:40,440 The apostle goes on to say, what then shall we say to these things? 81 00:06:40,440 --> 00:06:43,400 If God is for us, who is against us? 82 00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:46,440 Who can outmaneuver God? 83 00:06:46,440 --> 00:06:51,660 Who can be stronger than God? 84 00:06:51,660 --> 00:06:54,600 Not even we ourselves. 85 00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:57,240 If God is for us, who can be against us? 86 00:06:57,240 --> 00:06:58,400 Rhetorical question. 87 00:06:58,400 --> 00:07:00,720 Nobody can, of course. 88 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:06,640 He who did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how will he not also with 89 00:07:06,640 --> 00:07:09,480 him freely give us all things? 90 00:07:09,480 --> 00:07:15,520 Who will bring a charge against God's elect, God's chosen ones? 91 00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:18,720 There is only one who can, and that is God. 92 00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:20,840 What does the apostle say? 93 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:24,440 God is the one who justifies. 94 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:26,280 God says, I declare them righteous. 95 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:29,900 I choose not to bring any charge, in other words, against them. 96 00:07:29,900 --> 00:07:34,120 As I see them in my sons, says the Father, there is no basis of charge against them. 97 00:07:34,120 --> 00:07:39,360 I justify them. 98 00:07:39,360 --> 00:07:44,520 So the work of the Father is one reason that I am so thoroughly convinced of this doctrine 99 00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:46,640 of the security of the believer. 100 00:07:46,640 --> 00:07:52,160 But then the work of the Son in our salvation, verse 34, who is the one who condemns? 101 00:07:52,160 --> 00:07:53,160 Who's going to condemn us? 102 00:07:53,160 --> 00:07:55,760 Who's going to point a finger of accusation? 103 00:07:55,760 --> 00:07:59,200 He says, Christ Jesus is he who died. 104 00:07:59,200 --> 00:08:05,600 Now who is it that has been appointed to be the judge of all? 105 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:09,080 Who is it who said the Father has committed to me all judgment? 106 00:08:09,080 --> 00:08:13,020 It's the Lord Jesus Christ, isn't it? 107 00:08:13,020 --> 00:08:15,420 He is the one who can condemn. 108 00:08:15,420 --> 00:08:19,720 He is the judge who can point the finger and accuse. 109 00:08:19,720 --> 00:08:21,520 But look at what it says. 110 00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:23,440 Christ Jesus is he who died. 111 00:08:23,440 --> 00:08:28,240 Yes, rather who was raised and who's at the right hand of God who also intercedes for 112 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:29,240 us. 113 00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:31,080 He's not interested in condemning us. 114 00:08:31,080 --> 00:08:33,760 He's interceding on our behalf. 115 00:08:33,760 --> 00:08:38,240 Reminds me of what 1 John 1, the end of the chapter, in chapter 2 says. 116 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:45,660 It says, if any man sins, talking about believers, we have an advocate with the Father. 117 00:08:45,660 --> 00:08:51,360 That means one who stands before the Father on our behalf. 118 00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:57,880 Not to condemn us, but to present himself as the propitiation, as the sacrifice once 119 00:08:57,880 --> 00:09:01,320 for all made for us. 120 00:09:01,320 --> 00:09:03,120 And why does he stand there? 121 00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:09,960 Well, to perpetually be a reminder of that sacrifice so that whatever sin we commit, 122 00:09:09,960 --> 00:09:13,920 he is there to remind the Father that the price has been paid. 123 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:17,680 There is no condemnation. 124 00:09:17,680 --> 00:09:20,120 He says, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? 125 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:21,840 He names the possibilities. 126 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:28,400 He says, we are more than conquerors in all these things through him who loved us. 127 00:09:28,400 --> 00:09:32,480 I'm convinced that neither death or life, angels, principalities, things present, things 128 00:09:32,480 --> 00:09:36,480 to come, or powers, height, depth, or any other created thing. 129 00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:40,080 That's pretty broad, isn't it? 130 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:44,120 What hasn't been created besides God? 131 00:09:44,120 --> 00:09:48,880 He says, there's nothing in all of creation that can separate us from the love of God, 132 00:09:48,880 --> 00:09:51,400 which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. 133 00:09:51,400 --> 00:09:55,920 And so because of the Son's work on our behalf, his death and resurrection, and his present 134 00:09:55,920 --> 00:10:00,560 advocacy, his intercession for us. 135 00:10:00,560 --> 00:10:10,720 And then we have the Spirit's work in salvation, Ephesians chapter 1, verse 13. 136 00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:17,040 In Christ, in him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your 137 00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:23,120 salvation, having also believed, you were sealed in him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 138 00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:29,840 who's given us, who's given as a pledge of our inheritance. 139 00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:35,560 So the Holy Spirit not only indwells us, but he says that we are sealed into Christ by 140 00:10:35,560 --> 00:10:43,560 the Holy Spirit, and that he has given to us as God's down payment, his earnest, his 141 00:10:43,560 --> 00:10:51,280 guarantee of the full inheritance that is coming to us as children of God. 142 00:10:51,280 --> 00:10:54,600 And he says the same thing in chapter 4, verse 30. 143 00:10:54,600 --> 00:10:59,160 He says, do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of 144 00:10:59,160 --> 00:11:00,160 redemption. 145 00:11:00,160 --> 00:11:08,200 In other words, we as believers can sin, and by our sin and rebellion and disobedience, 146 00:11:08,200 --> 00:11:13,080 we can grieve the Holy Spirit of God. 147 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:22,120 But we cannot grieve him away, because he himself is the seal that is on us, that causes 148 00:11:22,120 --> 00:11:25,360 us to be kept by God. 149 00:11:25,360 --> 00:11:30,000 He is the seal for the day of redemption. 150 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:33,720 And so because of the work of the Father, the work of the Son, the work of the Holy 151 00:11:33,720 --> 00:11:40,680 Spirit, I believe that we are kept secure in our salvation. 152 00:11:40,680 --> 00:11:43,540 We were not saved by our works. 153 00:11:43,540 --> 00:11:46,280 We are not kept saved by our works. 154 00:11:46,280 --> 00:11:52,000 We were saved by grace, and we are kept saved by the grace of God. 155 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:59,400 So if a person understands what the Bible teaches about salvation, and if he understands 156 00:11:59,400 --> 00:12:07,720 what the God of salvation is like in his nature, he must come to this position, and will come 157 00:12:07,720 --> 00:12:10,480 to it as he grows. 158 00:12:10,480 --> 00:12:13,720 Why do you say, aren't there verses which teach the opposite? 159 00:12:13,720 --> 00:12:14,720 No. 160 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:19,040 Shall we pray? 161 00:12:19,040 --> 00:12:27,080 No, there are no verses that teach the opposite. 162 00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:30,400 Because you see, if there were verses that taught the opposite, we would have what in 163 00:12:30,400 --> 00:12:31,400 the Bible? 164 00:12:31,400 --> 00:12:33,800 A contradiction. 165 00:12:33,800 --> 00:12:37,760 And God cannot contradict himself. 166 00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:45,840 God is a God of perfect truth and unity, and whatever he says to us must be consistent. 167 00:12:45,840 --> 00:12:53,400 Now it is true that there are some verses that apparently give contradiction to it. 168 00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:59,720 But they cannot be true contradictions, or frankly, I would give up the faith, because 169 00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:03,080 God would be a God of inconsistency. 170 00:13:03,080 --> 00:13:05,540 And he is not that way. 171 00:13:05,540 --> 00:13:11,200 There are not verses which truly contradict, but there are verses that are difficult. 172 00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:20,520 And one of the basic principles of interpretation is that we allow the obvious passages to clear 173 00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:24,400 up those which are obscure to our understanding. 174 00:13:24,400 --> 00:13:30,440 Now frankly, I don't know how much more obvious a verse can be than the ones we've read in 175 00:13:30,440 --> 00:13:35,960 Romans 8, Ephesians 1, and we could go on and on and on with verses that are very clear 176 00:13:35,960 --> 00:13:40,360 in this matter of our salvation and its security. 177 00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:43,200 But let's talk about some of the verses that are often used. 178 00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:48,480 We're going to sail through these, except for a couple of them. 179 00:13:48,480 --> 00:14:06,320 Matthew chapter 24, and verse 13, but the one who endures to the end, he shall be saved. 180 00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:11,840 And you get the picture there by some people of a different persuasion that it's almost 181 00:14:11,840 --> 00:14:14,360 as though you're hanging onto the edge of salvation. 182 00:14:14,360 --> 00:14:18,520 If you can hang on long enough to the end, you're going to get into heaven. 183 00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:21,120 Is that what God is saying here? 184 00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:22,720 No. 185 00:14:22,720 --> 00:14:26,880 You find a very similar phrase in a similar context, by the way, in chapter 10, verse 186 00:14:26,880 --> 00:14:29,720 22, which we'll not take time to look at. 187 00:14:29,720 --> 00:14:40,840 Chapter 24 and 25 deal with a matter of future events. 188 00:14:40,840 --> 00:14:46,960 These chapters record the response of Jesus to three questions they asked, and we find 189 00:14:46,960 --> 00:14:49,200 those recorded in verse 3. 190 00:14:49,200 --> 00:14:53,040 Tell us when will these things be? 191 00:14:53,040 --> 00:14:56,760 That he doesn't answer. 192 00:14:56,760 --> 00:14:59,320 And what will be the sign of your coming? 193 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:01,880 He does answer that. 194 00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:03,880 And of the end of the age? 195 00:15:03,880 --> 00:15:04,880 And he answers that one. 196 00:15:04,880 --> 00:15:07,200 So he answers two out of the three questions. 197 00:15:07,200 --> 00:15:12,920 And the first one, he says, no one knows except the Father. 198 00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:16,880 The chapter we're looking at, verses 4 through 28, he answers the questions regarding the 199 00:15:16,880 --> 00:15:22,520 signs of the end of the age and deals with the tribulation period. 200 00:15:22,520 --> 00:15:32,400 And then later in the chapter, he deals with the, or rather, in verse 4 through verse 14, 201 00:15:32,400 --> 00:15:35,400 he deals with the first half of the tribulation period. 202 00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:39,360 And then beginning in verse 15 down through verse 28, he deals with the last half of the 203 00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:41,120 tribulation period. 204 00:15:41,120 --> 00:15:47,200 And then beginning in verse 29 in this chapter, he deals with the signs regarding his coming. 205 00:15:47,200 --> 00:15:51,320 So the first half of the chapter basically is the signs dealing with the end of the age. 206 00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:55,640 The second half, the signs of his coming. 207 00:15:55,640 --> 00:16:02,520 And so the text that we're looking at in verse 13 are verses that deal with the tribulation 208 00:16:02,520 --> 00:16:03,520 period. 209 00:16:03,520 --> 00:16:04,520 That's the context. 210 00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:07,880 That's one of the things you have to do when you begin to interpret a verse. 211 00:16:07,880 --> 00:16:11,760 Back up, read forward, see what the context is. 212 00:16:11,760 --> 00:16:13,160 He's talking about the tribulation. 213 00:16:13,160 --> 00:16:20,040 And what this verse really is, is an encouragement to believers who will live in the tribulation 214 00:16:20,040 --> 00:16:21,040 period. 215 00:16:21,040 --> 00:16:29,400 Now the question is, in verse 13, the one who endures, what is he enduring? 216 00:16:29,400 --> 00:16:38,440 The answer is, he is enduring persecution, false prophets, and pressure-filled stress 217 00:16:38,440 --> 00:16:39,640 during that time period. 218 00:16:39,640 --> 00:16:41,600 You can read about it in the previous verses. 219 00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:43,680 That's what he's enduring. 220 00:16:43,680 --> 00:16:46,140 He says, he that endures to the end. 221 00:16:46,140 --> 00:16:48,140 The end of what? 222 00:16:48,140 --> 00:16:49,980 Not the end of life. 223 00:16:49,980 --> 00:16:52,920 The end of the tribulation. 224 00:16:52,920 --> 00:16:55,800 The end of that period of time. 225 00:16:55,800 --> 00:16:58,740 He that endures to the end of that, he says, shall be saved. 226 00:16:58,740 --> 00:17:01,280 Shall be saved from what? 227 00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:05,920 Saved from those terrible circumstances that he is enduring at that point in order to enter 228 00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:11,820 into the glorious millennial reign of Jesus Christ. 229 00:17:11,820 --> 00:17:14,240 And so that is the meaning of that verse. 230 00:17:14,240 --> 00:17:18,800 It has nothing to do with the security of the believer's salvation, but as a promise 231 00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:25,040 and encouragement to those who will live during the tribulation time and who believe. 232 00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:31,280 Chapter 25, verse 30. 233 00:17:31,280 --> 00:17:35,160 And cast out the worthless slave into the outer darkness. 234 00:17:35,160 --> 00:17:38,600 In that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 235 00:17:38,600 --> 00:17:42,040 This is the last verse in the parable of the talents. 236 00:17:42,040 --> 00:17:50,040 The talents represent opportunities that God gives to us according to our abilities. 237 00:17:50,040 --> 00:17:54,080 Opportunities to serve the Lord Jesus Christ here and now. 238 00:17:54,080 --> 00:17:59,880 Some get more opportunities, they have greater abilities, some receive lesser opportunities, 239 00:17:59,880 --> 00:18:03,620 consistent again with abilities in the will of God. 240 00:18:03,620 --> 00:18:10,860 This deals with one particular servant who had few opportunities. 241 00:18:10,860 --> 00:18:17,480 He wasted his talents, his talents, and as a result of that it was taken away from him 242 00:18:17,480 --> 00:18:22,720 and he was cast into outer darkness and in that place there will be weeping and gnashing 243 00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:23,720 of teeth. 244 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:28,600 And those who tell us, well here is a man who is a servant of God and he wasted his 245 00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:32,760 life and the result was he was cast into hell. 246 00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:35,380 That is not what the verse is teaching. 247 00:18:35,380 --> 00:18:38,360 By the way, when you deal with parables there is something you need to remember and that 248 00:18:38,360 --> 00:18:43,240 is you cannot press every detail of the parable. 249 00:18:43,240 --> 00:18:48,240 Normally a parable is given to make one point. 250 00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:52,120 It has one major thrust to it. 251 00:18:52,120 --> 00:18:58,640 So don't try to press every detail of a parable to mean something on a deeper level. 252 00:18:58,640 --> 00:19:02,480 But let's talk about what this could mean here. 253 00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:06,240 The first place I would have you notice that this slave is still called a slave in verse 254 00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:09,440 30, it's still called a servant. 255 00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:14,800 He's called worthless because he wasted his opportunities, but he was still a servant 256 00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:17,600 of his master. 257 00:19:17,600 --> 00:19:22,120 Finally I want you to notice the terms outer darkness. 258 00:19:22,120 --> 00:19:28,000 I believe that what it's talking about, especially in the context here, because this is teaching 259 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:33,060 leading up to the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ in the kingdom, I believe that the 260 00:19:33,060 --> 00:19:41,320 outer darkness he refers to here is the sphere outside of the enjoyment of the kingdom. 261 00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:49,840 In other words, the faithful, such as the earlier slaves in this parable, will enter 262 00:19:49,840 --> 00:19:55,200 into the kingdom to enjoy, to have a part in it, they will reign with Christ in it. 263 00:19:55,200 --> 00:20:02,840 But those who have been faithless and worthless in their opportunities in this life will not 264 00:20:02,840 --> 00:20:06,440 be able to participate in that same sense in the kingdom. 265 00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:10,440 Not that they're going to be outside of the kingdom, but they'll be outside this sphere 266 00:20:10,440 --> 00:20:15,160 of the enjoyment given to the faithful in the kingdom. 267 00:20:15,160 --> 00:20:16,840 What about the weeping and gnashing of teeth? 268 00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:23,040 Well that is a phrase used six times in Matthew, five times in parables. 269 00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:26,240 Basically all that it means is it's regret. 270 00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:31,360 So what you have here is a very sad thing indeed, but it's not a person losing his 271 00:20:31,360 --> 00:20:32,480 salvation. 272 00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:41,560 For application to us it would be one who has wasted his life as a Christian, and as 273 00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:47,000 a result of that is regretful. 274 00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:52,140 He sorrows, and at the judgment he suffers loss. 275 00:20:52,140 --> 00:20:58,640 Not loss of his salvation, but loss of reward, loss of blessing. 276 00:20:58,640 --> 00:21:02,640 If hell were intended by the way, in verse 30 it seems to me that Jesus could have made 277 00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:10,160 that as clear as he does later on in the same chapters in verses 41 and 46. 278 00:21:10,160 --> 00:21:22,480 Let's go to Luke chapter 9. 279 00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:28,600 Time prohibits our getting into the full context of all these verses, but I hope that if we 280 00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:33,000 do, your thinking is not stimulated to the point of satisfaction by what we're saying 281 00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:37,600 that you will do some digging on your own in some of these verses. 282 00:21:37,600 --> 00:21:41,120 Luke chapter 9, verses 61 and 62. 283 00:21:41,120 --> 00:21:45,840 And another also said, I will follow you, Lord, but first permit me to say goodbye to 284 00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:47,640 those at home. 285 00:21:47,640 --> 00:21:52,820 But Jesus said to him, no one after putting his hand to the plow and looking back is fit 286 00:21:52,820 --> 00:21:54,600 for the kingdom of God. 287 00:21:54,600 --> 00:22:01,040 Again, you need to look at the context, and the context beginning in verse 57 deals with 288 00:22:01,040 --> 00:22:05,800 excuses that people were giving for not following and obeying the Lord Jesus Christ. 289 00:22:05,800 --> 00:22:07,840 And I take that in a saving sense. 290 00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:11,200 They were not following him and obeying him. 291 00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:16,400 Verse 62 does not say this man did put his hand to the plow and turn back, but Jesus 292 00:22:16,400 --> 00:22:19,520 is saying such a man is not fit for the kingdom of God. 293 00:22:19,520 --> 00:22:26,440 It doesn't mean he can't be saved, but he's a shame to the kingdom of God. 294 00:22:26,440 --> 00:22:30,560 I do believe that no true believer is going to put his hand to the plow in the sense that 295 00:22:30,560 --> 00:22:35,760 Jesus means here and will look back longingly to where he's come from. 296 00:22:35,760 --> 00:22:40,880 Indeed, after we put our hand to the plow, as it were, in the sense that Jesus means 297 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:46,120 here, we rejoice and we look straight ahead. 298 00:22:46,120 --> 00:22:50,440 But I believe the real meaning here is that if one does, in fact, put his hand to the 299 00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:57,200 plow and then looks back, that he is a disgrace to the kingdom of God. 300 00:22:57,200 --> 00:23:00,720 He's not dismissed from it. 301 00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:04,520 John chapter 15 verse 6. 302 00:23:04,520 --> 00:23:15,140 If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up. 303 00:23:15,140 --> 00:23:20,080 And they gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burned. 304 00:23:20,080 --> 00:23:23,760 Again, we look at the what? 305 00:23:23,760 --> 00:23:25,260 The context. 306 00:23:25,260 --> 00:23:30,420 The context in John chapter 15 is not salvation. 307 00:23:30,420 --> 00:23:32,400 Please understand that. 308 00:23:32,400 --> 00:23:36,800 John chapter 15 is dealing with fruit bearing as Christians. 309 00:23:36,800 --> 00:23:42,260 That is the context. 310 00:23:42,260 --> 00:23:54,240 If one is not consistent in fruit bearing, it places him in a position of possible judgment. 311 00:23:54,240 --> 00:24:00,320 The possibility of being set aside in this life, as well as losing reward at the beam 312 00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:04,200 of seed judgment that we talked about this morning. 313 00:24:04,200 --> 00:24:05,800 That is what Jesus is saying here. 314 00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:09,500 But you say, what about the casting them into the fire and they're being burned? 315 00:24:09,500 --> 00:24:14,000 That's just part of the whole metaphor, the picture he's using here. 316 00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:17,960 Branches that did not bear fruit were cut off of those vines and they were useless and 317 00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:19,880 so they were burned. 318 00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:24,000 But Jesus is not saying that a Christian who does not bear fruit is going to be cast into 319 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:25,640 hell. 320 00:24:25,640 --> 00:24:30,600 It could be that if he consistently does not bear fruit, he will be set on the shelf for 321 00:24:30,600 --> 00:24:37,960 this life and become disqualified, as we'll look at in the next verse that we'll see. 322 00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:43,520 But it is not a point here where Jesus is saying if a man does not bear fruit, he's 323 00:24:43,520 --> 00:24:48,940 going to be cut off and cast into the fire of hell and burned. 324 00:24:48,940 --> 00:24:51,400 That is not what our Lord is saying. 325 00:24:51,400 --> 00:24:58,160 Rather it is the terrible possibility that we as believers can be set on the shelf as 326 00:24:58,160 --> 00:25:05,800 far as this life is concerned, no longer of any use to the Lord because of our consistent 327 00:25:05,800 --> 00:25:09,960 lack of bearing fruit. 328 00:25:09,960 --> 00:25:15,140 First Corinthians chapter 9 is the verse I'm referring to by being disqualified. 329 00:25:15,140 --> 00:25:20,040 I think that particular word helps clarify the verse. 330 00:25:20,040 --> 00:25:24,440 The King James Version uses the word cast away. 331 00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:30,800 That is usually what causes the concern here. 332 00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:36,960 The apostle says, I buffet my body and make it my slave, lest possibly after I have preached 333 00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:44,720 to others, I myself should be disqualified or cast away, as the King James Version says. 334 00:25:44,720 --> 00:25:46,600 Disqualified is the better idea. 335 00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:50,120 You will notice again there is a metaphor that is used here. 336 00:25:50,120 --> 00:25:57,800 He's picturing himself as a runner, as an athlete, and as a boxer. 337 00:25:57,800 --> 00:26:02,840 He says, I continually have to discipline my body and make it my slave, lest after I 338 00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:07,360 have preached to others, it should get out of hand. 339 00:26:07,360 --> 00:26:12,080 As a result of that, I should be disqualified in my race. 340 00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:13,560 That's the thought. 341 00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:19,300 Being disqualified in the race here, resulting in loss of reward at the judgment seat. 342 00:26:19,300 --> 00:26:24,020 Not in loss of salvation, but in loss of reward at the judgment seat. 343 00:26:24,020 --> 00:26:25,680 Being disqualified in that sense. 344 00:26:25,680 --> 00:26:30,520 Then in chapter 10, those following verses, he tells us what some of the disqualifiers 345 00:26:30,520 --> 00:26:31,520 are. 346 00:26:31,520 --> 00:26:36,000 He says, look back to ancient Israel and take them as an example. 347 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:38,120 Notice the kinds of things that got them in trouble. 348 00:26:38,120 --> 00:26:47,200 Watch out for those, because they can disqualify you and your race, in your athletic contest. 349 00:26:47,200 --> 00:26:50,320 Using that as a picture of the Christian life. 350 00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:56,640 I've kind of rushed through these in order to get to Hebrews. 351 00:26:56,640 --> 00:26:59,640 Our time is gone. 352 00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:02,600 Oh no. 353 00:27:02,600 --> 00:27:21,420 Hebrews chapter 6, beginning in verse 4, for in the case of those who have once been enlightened 354 00:27:21,420 --> 00:27:27,320 and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and 355 00:27:27,320 --> 00:27:35,720 have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away. 356 00:27:35,720 --> 00:27:45,880 He says, in the case of these, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they 357 00:27:45,880 --> 00:27:52,880 again crucified themselves the son of God and put him to open shame. 358 00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:57,760 I'm not going to take time to read the context, though that is extremely important as we come 359 00:27:57,760 --> 00:28:00,760 to these verses. 360 00:28:00,760 --> 00:28:05,820 First let me point out to you that the word impossible in verse 6 actually is much earlier 361 00:28:05,820 --> 00:28:08,560 in this whole sentence in the Greek. 362 00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:12,120 It begins with the word. 363 00:28:12,120 --> 00:28:15,360 That means that that is the emphasis. 364 00:28:15,360 --> 00:28:17,640 That is the real point he's trying to get across. 365 00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:21,440 It is impossible. 366 00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:26,040 In the case of the blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, to renew them to repentance. 367 00:28:26,040 --> 00:28:31,600 The impossibility of what he's talking about is the real emphasis. 368 00:28:31,600 --> 00:28:33,160 Now what is he talking about? 369 00:28:33,160 --> 00:28:38,760 Well, there are those who say he's talking about losing our salvation. 370 00:28:38,760 --> 00:28:42,240 This is one of the favorite verses that people use who believe in that. 371 00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:50,920 They say he says here that we can fall away and then, in other words, be lost. 372 00:28:50,920 --> 00:28:55,560 Well if that is in fact what this passage teaches, and I think it is not, but if it 373 00:28:55,560 --> 00:29:07,000 is what this verse teaches, then it also teaches the impossibility of ever being saved again. 374 00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:12,680 So that if a person can lose his salvation on the basis of this verse, this verse also 375 00:29:12,680 --> 00:29:15,800 locks him forever out of the kingdom of God. 376 00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:21,320 God's finished if he can lose it. 377 00:29:21,320 --> 00:29:24,560 That's one problem I have with that interpretation. 378 00:29:24,560 --> 00:29:29,840 Furthermore, these words fall away in verse 6. 379 00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:35,680 That's not the word apostasy, although that's the thought here I think. 380 00:29:35,680 --> 00:29:41,840 These words mean to fall beside, to stumble, to wonder. 381 00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:44,440 There's another possible interpretation that some use. 382 00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:48,920 They say, well this applied only to the first century, so don't worry about it. 383 00:29:48,920 --> 00:29:52,800 Well, that would be a nice way to just say, no, forget that. 384 00:29:52,800 --> 00:29:55,640 You don't have to worry about it. 385 00:29:55,640 --> 00:30:01,920 But the point here is that it's linked to the importance of going on to maturity, previous 386 00:30:01,920 --> 00:30:11,400 verses, and it ties into the eternal priesthood of Christ in the last part of the chapter. 387 00:30:11,400 --> 00:30:15,080 Now both of those have something to do with us, so it seems to me that there's something 388 00:30:15,080 --> 00:30:20,680 here that we need to take a look at and not just say this doesn't apply to this part of 389 00:30:20,680 --> 00:30:21,680 the age. 390 00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:27,440 There are those that say, well what's talked here is a hypothetical case. 391 00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:30,800 They say actually this is an argument for security. 392 00:30:30,800 --> 00:30:35,440 They're saying that if one were to fall away, there's no possible repentance, but that is 393 00:30:35,440 --> 00:30:36,440 impossible. 394 00:30:36,440 --> 00:30:40,800 And so they say this is just hypothetical, and yet I have a hard time squeezing that 395 00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:44,240 out of this verse. 396 00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:48,560 Then there are those that say, well what is talked about here is a true believer. 397 00:30:48,560 --> 00:30:56,120 A true believer, for the phrases in verses four and five are ones that surely must describe 398 00:30:56,120 --> 00:30:58,360 a believer. 399 00:30:58,360 --> 00:31:02,920 Been enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift, partaken of the Holy Spirit, tasted 400 00:31:02,920 --> 00:31:07,080 the good word of God and the powers of the age to come. 401 00:31:07,080 --> 00:31:13,840 So we must be talking about a believer, they say, but a believer who has stumbled, who 402 00:31:13,840 --> 00:31:20,400 has fallen beside the path, who has wandered away. 403 00:31:20,400 --> 00:31:24,600 They say what this verse is saying then, that it's impossible for that believer to be renewed 404 00:31:24,600 --> 00:31:31,120 to repentance while he is living that way because he is crucifying the Son of God afresh 405 00:31:31,120 --> 00:31:34,400 and is putting him to an open shame. 406 00:31:34,400 --> 00:31:37,720 And that is a possible interpretation here. 407 00:31:37,720 --> 00:31:43,560 In fact, that is the interpretation that I have taught in the past. 408 00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:49,240 But I must say that in looking at this verse again, particularly in preparation for tonight, 409 00:31:49,240 --> 00:31:55,880 I think that there is probably a better explanation for the verse. 410 00:31:55,880 --> 00:32:06,680 And I change my position reluctantly, but I do change it, at least tonight. 411 00:32:06,680 --> 00:32:17,280 I believe that what this passage is actually talking about is a warning to the believers 412 00:32:17,280 --> 00:32:22,880 regarding apostates. 413 00:32:22,880 --> 00:32:28,420 You must remember to whom the book of Hebrews was penned. 414 00:32:28,420 --> 00:32:31,840 From its name you see it as Jews. 415 00:32:31,840 --> 00:32:32,840 And who were these Jews? 416 00:32:32,840 --> 00:32:39,440 Well, they were ones who were believing on the Lord Jesus Christ and yet who were under 417 00:32:39,440 --> 00:32:47,880 tremendous pressure to turn away from that faith in the Messiah and to go back to the 418 00:32:47,880 --> 00:32:54,400 Judaism out of which they had come, back to the temple, back to its sacrifices, back to 419 00:32:54,400 --> 00:32:57,560 its priesthood. 420 00:32:57,560 --> 00:33:03,040 And that is why in this whole book the theme is Jesus Christ, our high priest, is better 421 00:33:03,040 --> 00:33:07,280 than Aaron and his descendants. 422 00:33:07,280 --> 00:33:12,100 That's why he says that the covenant that we have with his blood, in his blood, is better 423 00:33:12,100 --> 00:33:18,080 than the covenant that was a part of the Old Testament. 424 00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:24,480 So he keeps arguing with the fact, don't turn back, keep believing, keep pressing on, keep 425 00:33:24,480 --> 00:33:26,080 maturing. 426 00:33:26,080 --> 00:33:33,220 But his warning here regarding the possibility, it seems to me, of apostates. 427 00:33:33,220 --> 00:33:39,440 The phrases in verses four and five would therefore be taken as describing less than 428 00:33:39,440 --> 00:33:49,360 true salvation, but so close to it, so right up to the point of salvation that it would 429 00:33:49,360 --> 00:33:56,200 be impossible for anyone to distinguish, to tell whether that person was truly saved or 430 00:33:56,200 --> 00:34:03,360 not until what happened in verse six occurs, he falls away. 431 00:34:03,360 --> 00:34:09,520 Have you ever wondered about that person, for example, who professes faith in Christ 432 00:34:09,520 --> 00:34:17,600 and there is this initial response with a lot of enthusiasm and there's a change in 433 00:34:17,600 --> 00:34:26,040 the life and for everything you can see at that point, that person must truly be saved. 434 00:34:26,040 --> 00:34:33,720 And yet down the road a terrible thing happens and he stumbles and turns his back on the 435 00:34:33,720 --> 00:34:40,480 faith and says, I reject all of that. 436 00:34:40,480 --> 00:34:42,040 I want nothing to do with it. 437 00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:44,240 You say, what about a person like that? 438 00:34:44,240 --> 00:34:52,040 Well, in the first place, a person like that was never truly saved, never truly saved. 439 00:34:52,040 --> 00:34:53,400 For a believer will not do that. 440 00:34:53,400 --> 00:34:55,500 A believer will persevere. 441 00:34:55,500 --> 00:34:57,600 He will continue on. 442 00:34:57,600 --> 00:35:05,680 But a person like that is one who in one sense was enlightened, he tasted, he partook of 443 00:35:05,680 --> 00:35:06,680 the Holy Spirit. 444 00:35:06,680 --> 00:35:11,740 The word there partake means to go along with the Holy Spirit. 445 00:35:11,740 --> 00:35:16,500 He tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, but it was not in a saving 446 00:35:16,500 --> 00:35:18,680 way that he did it. 447 00:35:18,680 --> 00:35:25,180 And at some point due to temptation or due to pressure or whatever, tribulation, whatever, 448 00:35:25,180 --> 00:35:29,400 he turned and fell away. 449 00:35:29,400 --> 00:35:37,720 And for that apostate, it seems to me, this passage is saying it is impossible for him 450 00:35:37,720 --> 00:35:40,000 to be saved. 451 00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:44,600 He cannot return to the place of repentance. 452 00:35:44,600 --> 00:35:52,280 Now I have changed my opinion because of the strength in this paragraph in that word impossible 453 00:35:52,280 --> 00:35:53,420 and the way that he places it. 454 00:35:53,420 --> 00:35:58,040 He says it is impossible for him to do this. 455 00:35:58,040 --> 00:36:02,720 That is to be brought back to the place of repentance because he again crucifies the 456 00:36:02,720 --> 00:36:06,320 Son of God and puts him to an open shame. 457 00:36:06,320 --> 00:36:10,820 So I believe it is a warning regarding apostasy. 458 00:36:10,820 --> 00:36:15,480 That is not something that a true believer need worry about because a true believer will 459 00:36:15,480 --> 00:36:19,520 not apostatize. 460 00:36:19,520 --> 00:36:26,320 The one who has only a profession, one who only outwardly is converted, is one who is 461 00:36:26,320 --> 00:36:34,440 in danger of this, of turning away and then finding himself in a place of impossibility 462 00:36:34,440 --> 00:36:35,920 for repentance. 463 00:36:35,920 --> 00:36:39,360 Now that brings us to a second passage in Hebrews. 464 00:36:39,360 --> 00:36:51,240 I wish we had time to look at a couple of others, but look at Hebrews 10. 465 00:36:51,240 --> 00:36:58,640 Verse 26, for if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, 466 00:36:58,640 --> 00:37:06,720 there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment 467 00:37:06,720 --> 00:37:11,360 and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. 468 00:37:11,360 --> 00:37:16,280 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two 469 00:37:16,280 --> 00:37:17,360 or three witnesses. 470 00:37:17,360 --> 00:37:23,800 How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled underfoot the 471 00:37:23,800 --> 00:37:31,760 Son of God and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified 472 00:37:31,760 --> 00:37:33,880 and has insulted the Spirit of grace? 473 00:37:33,880 --> 00:37:38,040 And it goes on to talk about the judgment of God. 474 00:37:38,040 --> 00:37:43,000 I do believe and I do want to do more thinking in this particular passage, but I believe 475 00:37:43,000 --> 00:37:47,960 at the point where I am tonight, I'm going to say that it's talking here again about 476 00:37:47,960 --> 00:37:51,440 the same situation as chapter 6. 477 00:37:51,440 --> 00:37:55,220 It is a repeat of the same warning just in different words. 478 00:37:55,220 --> 00:37:59,920 You say, but it talks about the blood with which he was sanctified, but the he there 479 00:37:59,920 --> 00:38:05,480 who was sanctified can as well mean the Lord Jesus Christ, the blood of the covenant by 480 00:38:05,480 --> 00:38:08,240 which he was sanctified. 481 00:38:08,240 --> 00:38:10,240 You say, what would that mean? 482 00:38:10,240 --> 00:38:13,680 Well, the word sanctified means to simply be set apart. 483 00:38:13,680 --> 00:38:18,840 If you'll recall, the Old Testament priests were sanctified. 484 00:38:18,840 --> 00:38:22,080 They were set apart to their ministry by what? 485 00:38:22,080 --> 00:38:24,040 By blood. 486 00:38:24,040 --> 00:38:27,120 That was the seal of their priesthood into that covenant. 487 00:38:27,120 --> 00:38:32,920 And I believe that it's saying here that the Lord Jesus Christ likewise was set apart 488 00:38:32,920 --> 00:38:42,920 to his ministry as our great high priest by the blood which he himself shed as the sacrifice. 489 00:38:42,920 --> 00:38:49,400 So I believe that it's talking about him who was sanctified and not the person who's 490 00:38:49,400 --> 00:38:51,480 in view here. 491 00:38:51,480 --> 00:38:57,760 If we go on habitually sinning willfully, deliberately, intentionally by choice is the 492 00:38:57,760 --> 00:39:04,520 thought after receiving the full knowledge, after understanding the truth, he says there 493 00:39:04,520 --> 00:39:08,520 no longer remains a sacrifice for sins. 494 00:39:08,520 --> 00:39:17,020 So here we have one who has understood salvation and not just in a superficial way, but he's 495 00:39:17,020 --> 00:39:24,600 had an in-depth understanding of it and then willfully and consistently and habitually 496 00:39:24,600 --> 00:39:28,720 and perpetually he turns from it. 497 00:39:28,720 --> 00:39:29,960 He refuses it. 498 00:39:29,960 --> 00:39:34,720 And he says for one who's done that, there is no other sacrifice for his sins. 499 00:39:34,720 --> 00:39:41,200 All he has to look forward to is judgment under the hand of God. 500 00:39:41,200 --> 00:39:47,240 And undoubtedly those two passages create the most questions in your mind. 501 00:39:47,240 --> 00:39:49,120 I would encourage you to do some more studying. 502 00:39:49,120 --> 00:39:53,520 Let's do some sharing about it from your own Bible study. 503 00:39:53,520 --> 00:39:58,400 But just in closing, turn over to the book of James because this was another of the verses 504 00:39:58,400 --> 00:40:04,800 asked me and I want to at least cover those. 505 00:40:04,800 --> 00:40:13,520 James chapter 5 verses 19 and 20, my brethren if any among you strays from the truth and 506 00:40:13,520 --> 00:40:15,160 one turns him back. 507 00:40:15,160 --> 00:40:21,280 Let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul, the 508 00:40:21,280 --> 00:40:26,760 sinner's soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. 509 00:40:26,760 --> 00:40:35,840 What is being described here is a believer who goes to the aid of another believer who 510 00:40:35,840 --> 00:40:42,800 has fallen into sin, who has fallen into error in his way. 511 00:40:42,800 --> 00:40:46,860 He exhorts him, he rebukes him and brings him back. 512 00:40:46,860 --> 00:40:50,360 He turns him back to the truth. 513 00:40:50,360 --> 00:40:57,680 Revelation 6.1 is in view, turning him back to the truth and the result of that is that 514 00:40:57,680 --> 00:41:00,200 he will be saved from death. 515 00:41:00,200 --> 00:41:01,200 What kind of death? 516 00:41:01,200 --> 00:41:04,400 I think he's talking about physical death here. 517 00:41:04,400 --> 00:41:06,840 The sin unto death. 518 00:41:06,840 --> 00:41:08,200 You say what in the world is that? 519 00:41:08,200 --> 00:41:13,320 Well 1 John chapter 5 verse 16 talks about the sin unto death. 520 00:41:13,320 --> 00:41:18,080 If we had more time we'd look at that passage in detail tonight too. 521 00:41:18,080 --> 00:41:24,560 The sin unto death was not a specific sin that one is not a specific sin that one can 522 00:41:24,560 --> 00:41:32,840 commit but rather is an attitude, a careless attitude, a habitual attitude towards sin. 523 00:41:32,840 --> 00:41:35,200 Not desirous of repenting and confessing it. 524 00:41:35,200 --> 00:41:41,320 It's the sin of a believer who is carnal in his ways and the result of that habitual 525 00:41:41,320 --> 00:41:48,200 carelessness about sin in the life brings the awful possibility that God will take his 526 00:41:48,200 --> 00:41:50,960 life and he will leave the world prematurely. 527 00:41:50,960 --> 00:41:56,800 1 Corinthians 11.30 suggests to us that that had happened to some of the believers in the 528 00:41:56,800 --> 00:41:59,040 city of Corinth. 529 00:41:59,040 --> 00:42:04,200 Now I believe that that is the saving from death that is mentioned here also in James 530 00:42:04,200 --> 00:42:05,840 5.20. 531 00:42:05,840 --> 00:42:10,520 And the result of his being converted, being turned back to the truth will be that those 532 00:42:10,520 --> 00:42:14,360 sins that he committed will be covered. 533 00:42:14,360 --> 00:42:21,520 They will not be there to disgrace the Lord and to shame the testimony of that man but 534 00:42:21,520 --> 00:42:22,520 they'll be covered. 535 00:42:22,520 --> 00:42:29,040 He'll be turned away from them and saved from that sin unto death. 536 00:42:29,040 --> 00:42:37,320 May we just look at one more passage and with this I close and that is 2 Peter chapter 2 537 00:42:37,320 --> 00:42:39,760 verse 20. 538 00:42:39,760 --> 00:42:45,520 He says, If after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord 539 00:42:45,520 --> 00:42:53,360 and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become 540 00:42:53,360 --> 00:42:56,000 worse for them than the first. 541 00:42:56,000 --> 00:43:01,280 For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than having 542 00:43:01,280 --> 00:43:05,440 known it to turn away from the holy commandment delivered to them. 543 00:43:05,440 --> 00:43:11,120 It has happened to them according to the true proverb, a dog returns to its own vomit and 544 00:43:11,120 --> 00:43:15,440 a sow after washing returns to wallowing in the mire. 545 00:43:15,440 --> 00:43:19,720 What is in view here and again, you look at the context of the whole chapter, what is 546 00:43:19,720 --> 00:43:26,960 in view are false teachers, apostates, those who had initially aligned themselves with 547 00:43:26,960 --> 00:43:38,240 the truth, with the word of God, those who had at first agreed on a superficial level 548 00:43:38,240 --> 00:43:45,040 with the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ and his sacrifice but then at some point turned 549 00:43:45,040 --> 00:43:51,120 away from that and adopted a false teaching and began to promote that. 550 00:43:51,120 --> 00:43:55,640 For them, Peter says, it would have been better for them never to have known the truth in 551 00:43:55,640 --> 00:43:58,640 the beginning than to have known it and turned away from it. 552 00:43:58,640 --> 00:44:00,720 Why is that? 553 00:44:00,720 --> 00:44:08,480 Because my friend, for those who apostatize and fall away in doing that, they incur to 554 00:44:08,480 --> 00:44:13,880 themselves greater punishment in hell, in the lake of fire to come. 555 00:44:13,880 --> 00:44:19,320 I believe that the hottest part of hell will be reserved for those who have been false 556 00:44:19,320 --> 00:44:26,000 teachers in this world and in particular those who have apostatized. 557 00:44:26,000 --> 00:44:27,000 There have been those. 558 00:44:27,000 --> 00:44:32,440 I remember seeing a man on a national news show, the Today Show, in fact I think several 559 00:44:32,440 --> 00:44:39,040 years ago, who was a great preacher back in the 50s, even priest with Billy Graham and 560 00:44:39,040 --> 00:44:42,680 I think may have been on the Graham team at one point. 561 00:44:42,680 --> 00:44:51,120 And now who is a, I believe a teacher in Canada and on this national program he rebuked and 562 00:44:51,120 --> 00:44:57,280 repudiated anything to do with the Bible and with the gospel of Jesus Christ. 563 00:44:57,280 --> 00:45:02,680 Such a one is an apostate and is one who is in view here in 2 Peter 2 as well as I think 564 00:45:02,680 --> 00:45:05,800 in Hebrews 6 and 10. 565 00:45:05,800 --> 00:45:09,680 So those are the passages that are often used to show that a true believer can lose his 566 00:45:09,680 --> 00:45:11,960 salvation. 567 00:45:11,960 --> 00:45:16,800 Make no mistake about it, these are serious passages. 568 00:45:16,800 --> 00:45:20,440 Don't just write them off. 569 00:45:20,440 --> 00:45:25,480 Recognize they are not a threat to one who is truly saved, but they are a severe warning 570 00:45:25,480 --> 00:45:30,400 to anyone who is playing around with Christianity. 571 00:45:30,400 --> 00:45:35,480 One who has not made a genuine commitment to Jesus Christ. 572 00:45:35,480 --> 00:45:43,080 One who is still in the text here, verse 22, a dog, why does the dog return to his vomit? 573 00:45:43,080 --> 00:45:45,000 Because he is still a dog. 574 00:45:45,000 --> 00:45:46,000 His nature hasn't changed. 575 00:45:46,000 --> 00:45:49,240 Why does the sow go back to her wallowing in the mire? 576 00:45:49,240 --> 00:45:52,880 Because you can wash her up and clean her up just like some of you did for, and I did 577 00:45:52,880 --> 00:45:54,880 for 4-H fair, right? 578 00:45:54,880 --> 00:45:59,960 As soon as you get them out of the fair, nice clean, sparkly, smell good, what do they do? 579 00:45:59,960 --> 00:46:01,200 Right back to the mud. 580 00:46:01,200 --> 00:46:02,200 Why? 581 00:46:02,200 --> 00:46:03,200 Because they are still pigs. 582 00:46:03,200 --> 00:46:05,300 Their nature is still the same. 583 00:46:05,300 --> 00:46:09,400 So Peter is warning about those who play around with Christianity, but who have never been 584 00:46:09,400 --> 00:46:13,120 truly born again, whose natures have not been changed. 585 00:46:13,120 --> 00:46:17,280 He says ultimately they will be revealed because they will go back to their vomit. 586 00:46:17,280 --> 00:46:19,640 They will go back to the wallowing in the mire. 587 00:46:19,640 --> 00:46:23,680 They will not continue with us, and it will reveal that they were never really a part 588 00:46:23,680 --> 00:46:28,680 of us in the language of John, in 1 John. 589 00:46:28,680 --> 00:46:35,800 So after counting the subject, let's turn over in our hymnals, just sing a verse dedicated 590 00:46:35,800 --> 00:46:37,800 to you Swedes. 591 00:46:37,800 --> 00:46:59,240 Number 327, Children of the Heavenly Father.