In the Words of Paul, Part 2

Introduction: The Necessity of Continuance in Salvation

0:01 This sermon was preached on Sunday morning, May 9th, 1982, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey.

0:12 If someone were to attempt to summarize the entire message of the Bible in as simple a statement as possible, he would have to say that the great theme of the Bible is the glory of God in the salvation of sinful men. And for all who take seriously the biblical doctrine of salvation, such words as our Lord Jesus Christ, words recorded in Matthew's Gospel, chapter 24, verses 12 and 13, are intensely sobering words. For here our Lord said, And because iniquity shall abound, the love of the many shall wax cold. But, He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved. Now with these words I introduced several Lord's Days ago, the first in a series of studies dealing with what has commonly been called the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, or that which I am calling the necessity of continuance in faith, holiness,

1:35 and obedience if we would enter heaven at the end of life's journey. Now because our study on this subject is all of one fabric, I want to spend just a few moments reviewing what we considered in the two previous times together. First of all, I asserted in our introduction that this Bible, which has as its grace, the great theme, the glory of God in the salvation of sinners, is a Bible which teaches from Genesis to Revelation that salvation is all of grace. That is, it is an activity of God that is not deserved by the sinner. It is rooted in his own goodwill to the undeserving. Furthermore, this Bible makes plain that salvation, that salvation is all of God. It is not God coming halfway to man and waiting for man to come halfway to him, but salvation that is all of grace is also all of God.

2:50 It is his work from beginning to end. And then thirdly, this Bible teaches us that the salvation proclaimed is all of Christ. That is, it is based upon the salvation of Christ. It is based upon the person and work of Christ who is indeed God and man.

3:13 But the same Bible that teaches us that salvation originates in the grace of God, is conceived and executed by the power of God, and is based upon the person and work of Christ, is a salvation which secures the continuance, in faith, love, and obedience, of everyone who truly receives that salvation. And so what we have begun to do is to demonstrate one simple truth, primarily from the New Testament, namely, the necessity of continuance in faith, holiness, and obedience, if we would be found saved in the last day. And so we considered first of all, the teaching of our Lord on this subject is recorded in the Gospels. And we looked at six or seven pivotal texts as recorded in the Gospel records. And then secondly, we considered the words of our Lord as recorded in Revelation chapters 2 and 3, Christ speaking to the seven churches of Asia Minor, and every promise of the Lord,

4:36 of bliss and heaven and the inheritance of the world to come is given only to the overcomers. And then we began to consider, two Lord's Days ago, the third category of teaching, the teaching of our Lord through the Apostle Paul. And we looked at three pivotal texts from the pen of the Apostle in the book of Romans, Romans 2, 5-11, Romans 6, 22-23, and Romans 8, 12-14. Now we're going to proceed with that third heading this morning.

5:13 Having considered the teaching of our Lord in the Gospels concerning the necessity of persevering in faith, holiness, and obedience unto the end, having considered the teaching of our Lord in Revelation 2 and 3, we are now... We are now going to continue our studies with respect to the teaching of our Lord through the Apostle Paul on this vital subject.

Paul's Witness: The Unrighteous Shall Not Inherit the Kingdom (1 Corinthians 6)

5:39 And it's particularly helpful to study the statements of the Apostle Paul, for in a real sense he is the great champion of the grace of God in the literature of the Word of God. He is the one who said of himself, I am what I am by the grace of God. He's the one who said, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? He's the one who wrote, being confident of this very thing, that he who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.

6:17 And yet this great champion of salvation by grace teaches with equal clarity and emphasis the absolute necessity of every believer, persevering in holiness, faith, and obedience to the end of his days. His witness in the book of Romans we've considered. Now let us move on this morning to the book of 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter 6.

6:50 And for those of you visiting with us who may not be too accustomed to following through a logical development of thought, let me underscore again, we're attempting to do... only one thing this morning.

7:04 We're attempting to see that the Bible clearly teaches, and particularly now, those sections of the Bible written by the Holy Spirit through Paul, that if we do not continue in faith, holiness, and obedience, we shall not be saved. 1 Corinthians chapter 6. Follow now as I read verses 9 through 11. 1 Corinthians chapter 6. Follow now as I read verses 9 through 11.

7:31 1 Corinthians chapter 6. Follow now as I read verses 9 through 11. 1 Corinthians chapter 6. Follow now as I read verses 9 through 11.

7:32 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither fornicators, that is, people who indulge in illicit sexual behavior, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, those who violate the marital bond, either in actual act or according to Matthew 5, mentally, willfully, continually, either in act or in thought, either in external act or according to Matthew 5, mentally, continually, either in act or according to Matthew 5, mentally, continually, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterors, nor effeminate, and don't use the euphemism gay, it is not a gay lifestyle, it is bondage, it is misery, it brings destruction upon all who indulge it, and upon nations that tolerate it. Be not deceived...

8:26 nor the effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with men, nor thieves the kind who go around prowling at night with a crowbar or who simply steal when they make out their income tax and lie about their income and don't report their tips don't report other forms of increase steal from the government steal time from the boss nor thieves nor covetous those always grasping after more whether outwardly evident or inwardly consuming nor covetous nor drunkards those who have chronic alcohol dependence who must live with a wall of alcohol in their brains to keep them from reality nor drunkards nor revilers those guilty of abusive speech nor extortionists shall inherit the kingdom of God and such were some of you but you were washed you were sanctified you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the spirit of our God now just a

9:45 word about the context in which Paul wrote these words there was a problem at Corinth to which he addresses himself in the opening words of this sixth chapter it was a problem at Corinth to which he said the flock will never cooled you will sin sin sin sin sin sin sin sin sin who are in the church, they are in the judgment of charity, still to be regarded as believers, he addresses them as brethren, in the midst of giving them directions as to how they ought to deal with this problem of one brother apparently defrauding or stealing from another, he then tightens the screws and says in essence, however, if you are tempted to treat lightly my directions about how to deal with this sin, let me remind you of a fundamental fact, and then we have the

11:03 words read in your hearing, know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? If any of you people at Corinth are tempted to treat lightly my directions as to how to deal with this problem in a righteous manner, if you are tempted, to defy my directions, let me remind you that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. And then he gives his word of warning, do not be deceived. Don't buffalo yourself. Don't let anyone else buffalo you. Don't be deceived. Those who continue in a path of unrighteousness of whatever kind whatsoever, shall not inherit the kingdom of God. And in the list of the patterns of unrighteousness, he puts everything from what we would call the grossest forms of sensuality, queerism, perversion, homosexuality, adultery, and then in between such things as thievery, all the way to the end of the world. And then he puts everything from what we would call the grossest forms of sensuality,

12:25 queerism, perversion, homosexuality, adultery, and then in between such things as thievery, all the way to sins of the heart, such as coveting, and sins of the lips, such as being guilty of abusive speech concerning our fellow creatures. And he brings within that entire canopy of unrighteous living anything that is a deviation from the norms of righteousness as set forth in the law of God and says, anyone who is committed, to a pattern of unrighteousness, shall not inherit the kingdom of God. And I ask you, dear people, who have any degree of rationality, if language can express anything in plainer terms, know you not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Do not be deceived. No matter what you've professed in the past, no matter what you have said in the past, no matter what you have said in the past, no matter what you have said in the past, no matter what you have experienced, no matter what your patterns have been, if you give yourself to a pattern of fornication, idolatry, adultery, effeminacy, abusing of yourself with men, thievery, coveting, drunkenness, reviling, extortion, you shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

13:48 And then he says, when the grace of God comes, it does not come to take such people and stick apart them. It does not come to take such people and stick apart them. It does not come to take such people and harden in their pocket and seal them for heaven while it leaves them wedded to their sins. Just the opposite is true. Such were some of you, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the spirit of our God. And he says, in essence, if you are saved at all, you have been saved by a joint action of the Lord Jesus and of the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you are saved at all, you have been saved by a joint action of the Lord Jesus and of the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you are saved at all, you have been saved by a joint action of the Holy Spirit, which result in your being washed, you're being sanctified, and you're being justified. And talk not about being justified from your sins

14:38 if you are unwashed and unsanctified and yet wedded to your sins. Of such a justification, the Bible knows absolutely nothing. And so the great champion of grace tells us here, in this epistle, that you and I must continue and adhere to a path of holiness unto the end. And if we choose a contrary path of sin, whether gross manifestations of sin, some of which are even yet condemned by society, or the most refined forms of sin that can be indulged in without the knowledge of any other human, or the most refined forms of sin that can be indulged in without the knowledge of any other human, covetousness, adultery of the mind, sins which become a pattern known only to God in the individual, deceived, you enter the kingdom in that path of sin. And there will be people in hell as much for their revilings over a telephone

15:58 as there will be some for their blasphemies in the open public.

16:05 According to this passage, if you're a reviler and you continue a reviler, you'll never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Paul's Witness: Self-Denial and the Fear of Being Cast Off (1 Corinthians 9)

16:14 Brethren, this is the clear teaching of this passage, if it teaches anything at all. Now we move over to chapter 9. Listen to this great champion of grace again.

16:30 Let me say just a word about the setting. In chapter 8, he has given us another one of those sections of rich teaching on what we call the doctrine of Christian liberty. That is the Christian's relationship to things that are not sinful in themselves. But then in chapter 9, he follows the teaching on Christian liberty with the teaching on his own life of self-denial.

16:59 And we must always say concerning the kingdom of heaven, he chapters on Christian liberty void if detached.

17:08 Void if detached. Romans 14 teaches the doctrine of Christian liberty. It's void if you detach it from Romans 15, in which we're called upon in love to serve one another's best interest, not in liberty to serve our bellies.

17:30 1 Corinthians 8 teaches the doctrine of Christian liberty. Void if detached. From chapter 9 and 10. Chapter 9, which teaches the necessity of self-denial.

17:43 And chapter 10, which teaches the tragedy of people who have great privileges, but who abuse their liberties to their own damnation. Don't you ever detach those main chapters on Christian liberty from the chapters which God has joined to them. So here in chapter 9, the apostle Paul, is telling us something of his own life of self-denial. Not the self-denial of the poor deluded monk who thinks that with his hair, shirt, and his fastings he'll build a ladder to heaven.

18:21 This is the man who knows that he is saved by grace and grace alone. This is the man who knows that if he attains to life, he will attain it on the basis of the grace of God. This is the man who knows that if he attains to life, he will attain it on the basis of the grace of God. This is the man who knows the doing and the dying of another.

18:38 Philippians chapter 3. But listen to his language beginning with verse 25. And every man that strives in the games exercises self-control in everything. Now they do it to receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible.

19:00 You see, the difference is not in what we do, but the difference is what we're doing it for. You see that? Here's a man determined that he is going to win the gold medal in the 400 meters in the 1980, what, four Olympics? He's determined. And what does he do? Every facet of his life for months and years is regulated by that one passion.

19:30 I am determined to come home with the gold medal at the Olympics. So every facet of life, the time he goes to bed, when he wakes, what he eats, his friends, his leisure time, his exercise, every facet of his life down to the most personal, intimate matters of personal behavior, everything is dominated by one obsession. I want the gold in the 400 meters in the 1980, four Olympics. Now, Paul says they do it. That is exercise self-control in all things. They do it to receive a corruptible crown.

20:15 Even the gold medal, the symbol of that which has worth and that which does not decay, even that gold will melt at the return of Christ. When the elements melt with fervent heat and the world that now is will be consumed. So that's a corruptible crown. For them, it was not a gold. Of course, it was the wreath made up of the olive leaves.

20:39 But we, that is, we exercise the same kind of all-encompassing self-control to obtain an incorruptible crown. I, therefore, so run, not as uncertainly. So fight I, not as beating the air, but I buffet my body and bring it into bondage, lest by any means, after I have preached to others, I myself should be ad documus. That word is used eight times in the New Testament, and every other instance it means reprobate.

21:24 Cast off by God. Damned to hell. And Paul in this passage is telling us that he exercises this strictest self-control in every facet of his being. And notice the particular focus of the self-control. It is the body and its appetites.

21:48 Do you see it in the text? He says, I buffet my body and I bring it into bondage. Now he was not an ascetic who thought that sin somehow was in the corpuscles of the blood or sin was in the cells of the flesh. But he was a realist who knew that sin found its great expression through bodily appetites and passions.

22:16 Eating, drinking, sex, the faculty of speech, the need for rest and for sleep. And isn't it amazing how much the Bible has to say about the damning influence of gluttony, of drunkenness, of evil speech, of sluggardliness. Isn't it interesting? And Paul the realist knew that.

22:48 And for Paul, exercising self-control over bodily passions was not an option. It was a matter of heaven or hell. And that you will know that this is no bizarre position. I quote from Jeffrey Wilson's commentary reflecting all responsible commentary on the passage.

23:14 Lest by any means, after I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected. Paul seeks to awaken the Corinthians from their carnal slumber. By confronting them with this alarming thought. Be he even an inspired apostle, it is not enough to have preached to others if he fails to practice what he preaches.

23:44 A preacher of salvation may yet miss the salvation he preaches. He may show others the way to heaven and never get there himself. A holy fear of himself. The fear of himself was necessary to preserve the fidelity of an apostle.

24:04 How much more necessary is it to our preservation? Holy fear of ourselves and not presumptuous confidence is the best security against apostasy from God and final rejection by him. And all my dear people, I fear this perspective. You play with your physical passions and appetites.

24:39 You come too near what could be called gluttony. What could be called drunkenness. Too near what could be called the life of a sluggard. You come too near what could be called the life of a gossip.

25:00 You come too near those indulgences of physical passions and appetites and activities which it continued in. According to the word of God will land you in hell. Paul was not asking the question, how near can I come to the brink? And yet he saw the brink from afar.

25:29 And he said, I will exercise the soul near the brink. Lest in a moment of weakness, when my eyes decide, I would fall out into the abyss of apostasy. He says, I exercise self-control in every facet of my life. I'm not snuggling up to the brink saying, how much liberty may I exercise and still find justification for it in the Bible.

26:09 What he said was this. How and take me to hell. You'd better begin to think that way, some of you. For I fear that as we've seen others drop over the edge.

26:44 Into apostasy, you may be next. And that's exactly where he goes in chapter 10. Speaks of all the privileges the fathers had. All the opportunities they had.

26:59 And yet he says, in spite of that, God had to judge them. And he says, wherefore, let him that thinketh he stand, take heed, lest he fall. I'm strong enough. I know the six inches between the solid ground.

27:20 Of legitimate liberty. And the excess into apostasy. Oh, I know my ground well. I can handle my liquor.

27:31 I can handle certain TV programs. Oh, immature people could look at those and they would lust and covet. But I can handle it. I'm grown up and I am mature.

27:41 I can handle the filthy drivel of soap operas. Whether daytime or nighttime. I can handle the cheap titillation of Love Boat. And all of the other stuff that goes under the name of adult entertainment.

28:00 Ah, yes siree. I'm really mature in Christ. I can come right up to there and plant my feet. And I'll never go over.

28:08 My friend, what a fool you are. I can walk by the magazine rack at the 7-Eleven store. I don't need to buy it. But I'm mature enough just to see.

28:23 What the covers are. And the main lead stories are. Why a Christian's got to be informed. Is that so?

28:34 Isn't it interesting? That your fantasies may be with you right in this assembly this morning. And you may find yourself lusting even after pure Christian women in this very building. Because of your too frequent trips by the newsstand at the 7-Eleven store.

28:51 And you know why you keep making your trip there? Because you don't believe 1 Corinthians 9. This is a matter of heaven or hell. Shake some of you.

29:09 This is heaven or hell. That's the teaching of the passage. Though Paul had preached to others. Though Paul understood the doctrines of grace as none of us will ever understand them.

29:27 With respect to himself he said. I exercise self-control in all things. Isn't it amazing? Here's the man who rejoiced in a present justification.

29:41 No condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Present joy of his adoption now we have received. Not the spirit of the world. But the spirit which is of God.

29:54 The spirit who enables us to say. Abba Father. He was the one who understood and enjoyed liberty of access to God. Romans 5.

30:05 He had a bright assurance. I know whom I have been. I know whom I have believed. And yet that man said.

30:11 I buffet my body lest in preaching to others. I myself should end up in hell. Now do you say you have a present joy of justification? A present assurance?

30:26 A present enjoyment of access to God? A present sense of adoption? Then there is nothing whatsoever incongruous or contradictory. Between all of those.

30:39 There is only the present enjoyment of grace. And the lifestyle marked by buffeting your body. And bringing it into bondage. And if you reject that my friend.

30:53 You are rejecting the word of the living God. And you're saying. You have supplies of grace. And dimensions of spiritual power.

31:06 That even the apostle Paul didn't have. Because he knew no way to heaven. But this way. Now let me press on.

Paul's Witness: Perseverance in Faith and the Hope of the Gospel (1 Corinthians 15 & Colossians 1)

31:21 Turn to 1 Corinthians 15. And here the emphasis falls. Again upon continuance. But continuance in a different area.

31:33 You remember the problem he takes up in chapter 15. Is the problem. That certain people at Corinth. Were denying the bodily resurrection of Christ.

31:46 And so Paul is determined to demonstrate. That apart from the doctrine of the bodily resurrection of Christ. There is no gospel. And if there is no gospel.

31:54 There is no salvation. And if there is so vast no salvation. There is no hope. And if there's no hope.

32:00 Let's go out and eat and drink. And be merry. And let's get what little with joy out of life we can get now. That's his chain of argument.

32:08 But now notice what he says. As he opens up the subject in 1 Corinthians 15. Now I make known unto you brethren. The gospel.

32:17 The gospel which I preached unto you. Which also you received. Wherein you also stand. By which also you are saved.

32:33 If. If. If. If.

32:38 If. Ye hold fast the word which I preached unto you. Except ye believed in vain. What is he saying?

32:54 He's saying you know the gospel I preached unto you. I'm going to give you a little capsule of it in a moment. That gospel is the one by which you are saved. If.

33:06 You hold fast the irreducible minimum of that gospel message. And if you don't hold it fast. All of your former professed faith in it. Is empty and vain.

33:19 It's a mere nothing. It's not real faith. For if it were real faith. It would be persevering faith.

33:25 So you see the emphasis here falls not so much upon perseverance in holiness and obedience. But perseverance in what? Faith. And you notice how I've been using that trilogy of terminology.

33:37 We must persevere in faith. Holiness. And obedience to the end. Now here's a faith passage.

33:44 And Paul says our salvation is dependent upon from the human standpoint. Our continuance in that gospel. If you hold it fast. Now look at a parallel passage in Colossians.

34:02 And then I'll attempt to expound what that means in a practical way. Colossians chapter 1 verse 21. And you speaking to the Colossians. Being in time past alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil works.

34:20 Yet now have he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death. To present you holy and without blemish and unreprovable before him. You see that's the picture of the last day. Ephesians 5.

34:36 When the perfected church will be presented in its perfected state. All of this he said will be true of you. Verse 23. If.

34:45 If. If. If so be. That you continue in the faith.

34:53 Grounded and steadfast. And notice particularly the emphasis now. And not moved away from the hope of the gospel. Now what is the hope of the gospel?

35:06 The hope of the gospel is that every sinner who believes on the Lord Jesus Christ. Has all of the demands of the law so met in his substitute. That he will attain to eternal life on the grounds of the doing and the dying of another. That's the hope of the gospel.

35:28 Now he says. You will be part of that company of reconciled redeemed sinners. Who are presented perfect in the last day. If.

35:38 You hold fast to that gospel. If so be that you continue in the faith. Grounded and steadfast not moved away. Notice the emphasis here now is not upon holiness or obedience.

35:56 But not moved away from the hope of the gospel. And now please listen carefully because I'm convinced with all of my heart. And in consulting with my fellow elders it's a conviction they share. Out of the matrix of their pastoral council as well.

36:15 This is the fundamental point. You have very little problem some of you are having in your Christian life. You have very little problem with the previous text. You see.

36:26 That you must continue in a life of holiness. You must persevere in a life of obedience. But then when you fall into sin. When you are overcome in sin.

36:40 And you say my life does not meet the pattern of one persevering in holiness and obedience. Therefore. I'm a sinner. And as such there's no hope for me.

36:52 And then you go down in a heap of unbelief. And spiritual paralysis. My friend what you need to hear is this dimension of the doctrine of perseverance. The biblical doctrine of perseverance is not only that we continue.

37:08 In the holiness to which the gospel calls us. The obedience to which it calls us. But the confidence in the saving mercy of God to miserable sinners. Which is held forth in the gospel.

37:24 When you first came. How did you come? How did you come? Romans 4, 4 and 5 says.

37:34 Now to him who works not. But believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly. His faith is counted for righteousness. How did you come?

37:45 Did you come and say. Oh God look at me now. I've been working hard for six months. And I got rid of this sin.

37:51 And that sin. And the other sin. And Lord I've done this. I've done that.

37:55 I think Lord I'm in pretty good shape. Now will you accept me? Is that the way you came? I hope not.

38:01 Because that sounds awfully much like a Pharisee. Lord I thank thee I'm not like other people. I've got my act all cleaned up Lord. I don't do this.

38:11 I. You didn't come that way in the beginning did you? How did you come? Well if you came drawn by the spirit of God.

38:18 You came as a publican. Who would not so much as lift up his eyes to heaven. But he beat upon his breast saying. God be merciful to me.

38:30 The sinner. I come in the nakedness of my sinfulness. To embrace grace. In the glory of its profuse provision.

38:41 For needy sinners. And the hope of the gospel is. That every sinner who thus comes in trust Christ. Will be brought home to glory at last.

38:52 Perfected in the very righteousness of Jesus Christ. And part of perseverance dear child of God is this. That you continue in that hope of the gospel. That you hold fast in the language of first Corinthians 15.

39:11 If ye hold fast that which we preach. Unto you. And what we preached is. Christ died for sinners.

39:21 Christ was buried. Christ was raised for sinners. You came as a sinner. And you must continue.

39:29 In the posture. Of a helpless sinner. Who has no hope. But in the son of God.

39:37 And oh for some of you dear struggling. People of God. In whom there are many evidences. That you have the root of the matter.

39:48 And I have not been describing you so much. In that description of those. Who cloak their licentiousness. Under the guise of Christian liberty.

39:58 With all your heart. You've sought to stay as far away. From the precipice as you could. But in spite of your prayers.

40:06 And your watchfulness. You fell. And you have fallen again. And again.

40:11 And again. And again. Oh child of God listen. You must persevere.

40:17 In the faith and hope of the gospel. And the hope of the gospel is. Christ Jesus came to save sinners. What's the next word?

40:32 Was or am? Am chief. He didn't get beyond calling himself. Chief of sinners.

40:41 If he did he'd gotten beyond the gospel. And when you get beyond the gospel. That's apostasy. You see it's just as much apostasy.

40:49 From the gospel. To leave the hope of the gospel. As the holy. Which the gospel demands.

40:59 And so must persevere. In faith. In holiness. And in obedience.

41:11 And these two great texts. First Corinthians 15. One and two. And Colossians 1.

41:17 Make that abundantly clear. But then there is one final text. I want to bring before you. For here the focal point.

Paul's Witness: Enduring Suffering and Not Denying Christ (2 Timothy 2)

41:24 Of the emphasis of perseverance. Again is different. But so vital. Second Timothy chapter 2.

41:30 Here's Paul's. Last witness to this doctrine. Not because it's all there is in the Bible. But it's because all I.

41:40 Have time to bring to you this morning. Second Timothy chapter 2. The subject is very clear. Verse 9.

41:51 I suffer hardship unto bonds. As a criminal. As a slave. As a slave.

41:57 As a slave. As a criminal. But the word of God is not bound. Second Timothy 2.10.

42:04 Therefore I endure all things. For the elect's sake. That they may obtain the salvation. Which is in Christ Jesus.

42:12 With eternal glory. You see what the subject is. Paul's sufferings. As a Christian and as a minister.

42:21 Now then that launches him. Into repeating. What had become one of those five. Faithful sayings.

42:29 Were common verbal currency. In the church. Faithful is the saying. For if we died.

42:37 With him. We shall also live with him. If we endure. We shall also reign with him.

42:45 If we shall deny. Him. He also will deny us. If we are faithless.

42:53 He abideth faithful. For he cannot deny himself. Now in the context. Of speaking of his own sufferings.

43:01 Paul introduces. This faithful saying. That has two positives. And one negative.

43:09 The two positives are these. Verse 11. If we died with him. We shall live with him.

43:17 There's the great truth of Romans 6. If we have become so identified. With Christ by faith. That we have shared in his death.

43:25 His death has become our death. We will share in his life. The second positive. If we endure.

43:34 If we persevere. We shall also reign. With him. Now the negative.

43:42 If we shall deny him. He also. Will deny us. And then he buttresses.

43:50 That faithful saying. With its two negatives. And its two positives. And one negative.

43:58 If we die with him. We shall live with him. And then he buttresses. That faithful saying.

44:06 If we die with him. He also. Will deny us. And then he buttresses.

44:15 That faithful saying. He also. Will deny us. And then he buttresses.

44:23 That faithful saying. He also. Will deny us. And then he buttresses.

44:31 That faithful saying. He also. Will deny us. And then he buttresses.

44:39 That faithful saying. He also. Will deny us. And then he buttresses.

44:47 That faithful saying. He also. Will deny us. And then he buttresses.

44:55 of a Peter who was overcome by fear under the pressure of a moment, it's speaking of a denial that is a repudiation of our relationship to Christ. It is a denial that is the settled repudiation of the heart that says I can't hack it. I don't want to bear the pressure, the shame, the reproach, the possible pain to my body, the possible death. I repudiate any attachment to Christ that brings me into and holds me in a posture of suffering.

45:31 I want a way to heaven that bypasses the fellowship of His sufferings. Paul says there is no such way. The immutability of God is committed to one path to heaven and it's the path of the communion of the sufferings of Christ. And if you step out of the way because of the sufferings in the way, God will send you to hell.

45:54 As sure as He is God, He will send you to hell. Now my friends, that's the teaching of the Bible. I didn't put it there. I didn't write it.

46:06 But I'm obligated to preach it. And you and I must persevere in faith, in holiness, in obedience, and follow closely now, and in the combination of faith, holiness, and obedience in their confessional reality in the faithfulness of any opposition.

46:32 For there is no true biblical faith, holiness, and obedience that is silent.

46:40 It is confessional.

46:44 He that confesses me, if we shall believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths, there is no such thing as a non-confessional faith recognized in the Bible.

47:00 And that initial confession must be the person, the persevering principle of life. And so you and I must settle in our hearts before God that if we are called upon to seal our confession with our life's blood, God will give us grace, but we will not look for another path to heaven. And frankly, this disturbs me with some of you. If you're not willing to confess attachment to Christ, His gospel and His laws at the price of maybe not obtaining a job, losing a job, being put down a position, what makes you think you'll confess Him if you must sacrifice life itself?

47:44 And I saw such an encouraging expression of this recently in the case of a young person looking for a job, desperately wanting to work, not wanting to sit around and be lazy, but work in obedience to the Scriptures. This young person went out aggressively seeking job opportunities, pounding the streets and going from stores to stores, things I couldn't do, I don't think, if my life depended upon it. But this individual did it. And in the course of every interview, one of the first questions this person asked was this, because these jobs were not, any of them, jobs of necessity or of mercy.

48:22 It wasn't the job of a nurse. It wasn't the job that demanded occasional Lord's Day work. The question was asked was this, will this job at any time, under any circumstances, demand that I work on the Lord's Day? And if the answer came back in the affirmative, this young person said, I'm sorry, I am no longer interested.

48:43 Non-negotiable! Bless God for that kind of confessional commitment to Jesus Christ.

48:55 A young person who said, the Lord's Day is the Lord's Day and I'm the Lord's and He commands me to keep it holy to Himself, and it is my privilege as well as necessary for my soul. Non-negotiable!

49:18 Puts some of you to shame, doesn't it? Why? If you ever took that kind of stand, you might lose your job.

49:26 What makes you think you lose your life if you have to take a stand for God's law?

49:32 Now am I saying that anyone who's not a nurse or a doctor who under any circumstances ever works on the Lord's Day is sinning? I said no such thing. I didn't say it. What I did do is give you an example of someone who's prepared to confess Christ at personal cost.

49:55 And I ask the question, are you? So don't you make a smokescreen by saying I made an overstatement. That's a smokescreen to try to get out from the pressure of the Word of God upon your conscience. Do you snicker and the dirty jokes are told in the ladies' room at the office?

50:20 In the men's room? Do you laugh at the ribald jokes? Do you join in the comments about the over-endowed woman? You call that confessing Christ?

50:35 I call that slinking in with the world and denying Christ. And my friend, this book says if we deny Him, He'll deny us. Are you convinced of the necessity of persevering in a way of confessional faith, holiness, and obedience? You better be, because Paul was.

50:58 He was convinced. He was convinced of it. And that's why he said, I'm prepared to endure all things, not only for the sake of the elect's salvation, but my salvation as well. Now as we close this morning, I want to close by answering what may be an objection in the minds of some.

Addressing the Objection: Grace for the Weak

51:20 You say, Pastor Martin, if that's what it means to be a Christian, then I've got to be like that through the end of my days. If I'm going to go to heaven at last, I'm just too weak a character. I'll never make it in my own strength. Oh, my friend, if you're thinking like that, there's hope for you.

51:37 Because the Lord Jesus already told you that. He said in John 15, Without me, ye can do. How much? Zilch.

51:51 Goose eggs. What the pitcher likes to see when he's pitching and what the team he's pitching against don't like to see on the score bed. Goose eggs. Without me, ye can do.

52:03 That's no objection. That's the best confession you can make. You stand before that and you say, Oh, God, with remaining sin in me, I know, left to myself, I can't persevere in holiness. The cards are stacked against me.

52:23 My remaining sin, a seductive world, a wily devil. Ah, but God has made some marvelous promises. He that spared not his own son but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him freely give us all things? The greatest obstacle to your salvation was not overcoming this sin or that sin or the other sin.

52:46 It was burying the mountain of your guilt. And God made a way to do that. He did it by the incarnation and bloodletting of his son. And if he gave the greatest gift, every other gift needed to get me safe to heaven, he has pledged in the gift of his son.

53:04 How shall he not with him freely give us all things? Go to the Lord Jesus in all your weakness, in all your proneness to sin, and be honest with him. Tell him, Lord, every time that nice-looking woman in the office walks by, unto to look the second and the third time you die, that I would not look the second time. Lord Jesus, give me the grace that flows down from your cross.

53:39 Come to him and say, Lord Jesus, I'm a coward. I deny you in the presence of a ladybug. All that need to do is flip it wings and have printed on it, confess Christ or else. And Lord, I deny you in the presence of a ladybug.

53:57 I'm a coward. Come to Jesus and say, Lord, you purchased all the courage I need to persevere even unto death so that I might stand in the last day as one of yours. Lord Jesus, I come to you for courage I do not have in myself. And Lord Jesus, by temperament, I'm so drawn in upon myself and I look at my sins and my failures.

54:19 The hope of the gospel eludes me every five minutes. Lord, I don't have the tenacity of faith to believe that as I came in the beginning, I can continue to come and come and come and come and you will ever receive the ungodly who comes and pleads mercy in your name. Lord Jesus, I come to you for courage and I deny you in the presence of a ladybug. All that need to do is flip it wings and give me grace, Lord Jesus, and the humility, listen to me, the humility to continue to come as a sinner.

54:51 That's why some of you don't want to continue to come as a sinner. You're proud. It's pride. It's Phariseeism.

54:57 You say, I don't make any progress. I have to come every day as a sinner. That's right. So every day, Jesus gets all the praise for what you are.

55:09 And it's your proud heart that wants to rob him of that. So you tell him all about it. That objection I'm not courageous enough. I'm not strong enough.

55:19 The Lord knew that and he said, without me, ye can do nothing. And he that spared not his own son, how shall he not with him freely give us all things? Oh, dear child of God, it's wonderful to be able to sing with top lady as we considered two weeks ago. Yes, I to the end shall endure.

55:45 Why? Because I'm a big macho bundle of courage and tenacity. No, I'm a weak, vulnerable, unbelieving sinner. But I have an almighty Savior who's made some gracious promises and sealed them with his own precious blood.

56:06 And I can come to that Savior and find that he is all I need to be all I need to be and do all I need to do to get where I want to go. And that's to heaven when I die. And if you don't go to such a Savior, it's your own wicked unbelief. And if you turn aside from the path of perseverance through unbelief, through sin, through disobedience, it will be because you did not go to him in whom the grace sufficient for all of those things was freely offered to all who would take it from him. May God grant that you will seek those things in the only place they can be found, even in our blessed Savior. Is it necessary to persevere? I hope you're convinced it is.

57:08 And I hope your lifestyle reflects that that conviction is more than an intellectual one, but that it's a conviction of the heart that regulates the totality of your life. Let us pray. Our Father, we bless you for your presence with us in the ministry of the Word. We thank you for giving us again a glimpse of the glory, the power, the majesty, the graciousness of our Savior.

57:52 And while we tremble before the seriousness of many of the texts we've examined this morning, we thank you that you've not left us in the dark as to what is essential if we would attain to that blessed state of entrance into your presence. Write upon our hearts the verses that have been expounded. Embed in the very fiber of our souls the conviction that we must persevere and then, O Lord, strengthen in us the faith that we shall persevere because of the grace vouchsafed to us in the Lord Jesus Christ. Hear then our prayer. Seal the word to our hearts and to your name, and to your name alone be praise and honor and glory through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.