In the Book of Hebrews

Introduction: The Sweetness and Warning of God's Word

0:01 This sermon was preached on Sunday morning, May 16, 1982, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. In a psalm that is well known to many of us, the 19th Psalm, David celebrates the two-fold revelation God has given of himself, that revelation in creation and that more definitive revelation in his own word. And in that celebration, he says in verses 10 and 11, More to be desired are they, that is, the precepts of God, than gold, yea, than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the droppings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is thy servant warned.

0:58 Now, in the mind and in the spirit of the psalmist, there was... There was no tension between the precepts of God being sweeter to his taste than honey, and yet being the instrument of sober warning.

1:16 He delighted in the word of God when it made him tremble, as well as when it gave to him a spiritual experience like unto that which a honey lover has when he's dipped his finger in the sweetest of honey. And placed it on his tongue. And if we think and feel as did the psalmist with respect to the word of God, we will find the word to be precisely that to us, sweeter than honey, and yet rejoicing in its most serious, its most intense, its most sober warnings. And in the past few Lord's Day mornings, we have been considering portions which are indeed intense and sober in their warning, as we have been studying together from the scriptures the very vital biblical doctrine of the necessity of the perseverance of the saints. Or, stated in another way, the fact that the continuance of the believer in faith and holiness and obedience is not only certain but it is absolutely necessary, and to expect to be found amongst the redeemed in the last day,

2:44 having come to that day by any other path but that of adherence to the way of God in faith and holiness and obedience, is sheer presumption. Just as much as it would be gross presumption to expect, be found forgiven and accepted apart from the imputation of the righteousness of Christ. And so again and again in these initial studies, we have introduced our examination of the various portions by asserting our confidence that the Bible does indeed teach us that salvation is all of grace, all of God, and all of Christ. And yet the salvation revealed in Scripture as flowing out of the grace of God, effected by the power of God and based upon the work of Christ, is a salvation which secures for all to whom it comes their dogged adherence to the way of faith, holiness, and holiness. And so in our previous studies, we examined the key text in the teaching of our Lord as

4:04 found in the Gospels, and then we spent several Lord's Days examining the teaching of our Lord as found in the epistles of the Apostle Paul, and now this morning we will limit our study to seeing from the epistle to the Hebrews the necessity of prayer. Perseverance, and then God willing, next Lord's Day morning we will examine the necessity of perseverance in the general epistles. Having done that, we will have literally gone from Matthew to Revelation, catching the key texts in the New Testament with respect to this subject. Now then, as we turn to the book of Hebrews to examine, as time permits, four pivotal passages which teach the necessity of prayer. Let's begin. Let's begin. Let's begin.

Background to the Epistle to the Hebrews: A Season of Peculiar Trial

4:54 Let's begin. The necessity of the saints' perseverance in faith, holiness, and obedience. Let me remind you of the general background to this epistle, and the best way I can do this is simply to read a summary statement from the very excellent commentary on Hebrews by John Brown. I had written out my own summary, and then in my studies I came across his, and there was no question in my mind that he had written out his summary.

5:24 He had me hands down in his summary, so I want to give you the best. The epistle was written a few years before the final destruction of the Jewish civil and ecclesiastical polity by the Romans, that is, a few years before the destruction of the city of Jerusalem. This was a season of peculiar trial to the Christians in Judea. Christianity was no longer a new thing.

5:52 Its doctrines, though they had lost. Nothing of their truth and importance, no longer were possessed of the charm of novelty. And their miraculous attestations, though to a reflecting person equally satisfactory as ever, were from their very commonness less fitted than at first to arrest attention and to make a strong impression on the mind. In other words, the person who has a house five hundred yards away from Niagara Falls, after a while ceases to be impressed with the roar and the thunder and the rush of the tons of water.

6:32 You see them for the first time and you go, he no longer even sees them. So he is saying the miraculous attestation of the gospel through the hands of the apostles had become, as it were, so commonplace it no longer had the same impression on their minds. The long-continued hardships to which the believing Hebrews were exposed from their unbelieving countrymen. were clearly fitted to shake the stability of their faith and to damp the ardor of their zeal.

7:03 Jesus Christ had plainly intimated to them that before that generation had passed away, he would appear in a remarkable manner for the punishment of his enemies and the deliverance of his faithful followers. The greater part of that generation had passed away, and Jesus had not yet come according to his promise. The scoffers were asking in sarcastic form, where is the promise of his coming? And according to the writer to Proverbs, hope deferred makes the heart sick.

7:36 The perilous time spoken by our Lord had arrived. Multitudes of pretenders to Messiahship had made their appearance and had indeed deceived many. Many of the followers of Jesus were offended. Many apostatized and hated and even betrayed their brothers and sisters.

7:54 Brethren, iniquity abounded, and the love of the many who did not cast off the Christian name was waxing cold. In these circumstances, it was peculiarly necessary that the disciples of Christ should be fortified against the temptations to apostasy and urged to perseverance in the faith and profession of the gospel. This is the grand, the grand object of the epistle to the Hebrews. And every part of it is plainly intended and calculated to gain this object.

8:38 What is the grand object of this epistle? To fortify the professing believers against the temptations to apostasy. And the manner in which the writer to the Hebrews does this is to fortify the professing believers against the temptations to apostasy. And the manner in which the writer to the Hebrews does this is to fortify the professing believers against the temptations to apostasy.

8:54 And the manner in which the writer to the Hebrews does this is to fortify the professing believers against the temptations to apostasy. And the manner in which the writer to the Hebrews does this is basically twofold. On the one hand, he expounds and displays the better and more glorious realities of the new covenant. And on the other hand, he continually warns of the intensified judgments that will come on those who despise those greater privileges and better realities of the new covenant.

9:19 So you have the exposition of the glories of Christ under the new covenant. And then you have the warnings in the light of the increased judgment that will come upon any who despise and turn their backs upon that revelation of the goodness and mercy of God in the Lord Jesus. Now with that general introduction to the overall burden of the epistle to the Hebrews, examine with me, as I've already intimated, and as time permits, four questions. Three key passages which demonstrate this one thing we are seeking to establish in this part of our study, the necessity of perseverance in faith, in holiness, and obedience. We are not considering the certainty that all true saints will persevere. We believe that. We are simply considering the passages which teach it is necessary, that they persevere.

Passage 1: Hebrews 2:1-3 – The Danger of Drifting and Neglecting

10:27 All right? Passage number one is chapter two, and the first two verses, and just the first part of verse three.

10:37 Therefore, we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which were heard, lest happily we drift away from them. For if the words spoken through angels prove steadfast, and every transgression, and disobedience received a just recompense of reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? Now, what is the setting of this exhortation? Well, the setting is the contents of chapter one.

11:17 In chapter one, the Lord Jesus, as God's eternal Son, has been set forth as God's, final revelation to men. The God who spoke in times past unto the fathers by the prophets has, in the language of the text, spoken unto us in this end time through His Son. And that Son is greater than the angels. The very angels through whom the old covenant was mediated and revealed, the Son who is God's final revelation, is greater than the angels.

11:58 That's the setting now of the exhortation, that declaration of God speaking in His Son, the Son who is greater than the angels. Now, the concern of this warning is evident from the language. Look at it. It's the concern that focuses upon the possibility of drifting away and the possibility the possibility of drifting away.

12:24 of neglecting so great salvation. Therefore, we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things that were heard, lest happily we drift away. So the great concern of the writer is that his readers might engage in a form of spiritual declension called drifting away. Now, any of you who've had any experience with canoes or boats in any kind of current know that it takes no effort to drift.

13:05 Just pull up your anchor, pull in your oars, and drifting is what you do naturally in a current. And it's amazing, and some of us have found this who've done a little fishing, that though the drifting is almost unnoticeable, when you look at the boat and the current because you're moving with it and there are no ripples going against it or cross-current, you get involved in what you're doing and lo and behold, after 15 or 20 minutes, you lose all of your bearings. You've drifted so far with so little awareness that you were even moving.

13:44 And the writer to the Hebrews says, my great concern, dear readers, is this, that we give heed, lest we drift, drift away. And then his second focal point of concern in the language of verse 3 is that they may neglect so great salvation. Now this word neglect is precisely the same word used in Matthew 22, 5, concerning those who have been invited to the feast and it says of them, they made light of it. They heard the invitation, they could repeat it to others, but they regarded it as something unworthy of their own seriousness.

14:25 It's not an obvious concern. It's the word used by the apostle when he writes to Timothy and says in 1 Timothy 4, 14, neglect not the gift that is in thee. Timothy, don't let your gift lie idle. He doesn't say despise not, kick it not, deny it not.

14:44 No, he says don't neglect it. Timothy, by disuse and by the absence of careful attention, there will be a spiritual atrophy with respect to your gift so that you will be able to receive it. So that you will be able to receive it. And he says, The concern is twofold, the possibility of drifting and the possibility of neglecting.

15:03 Now, having looked at the setting, the concern, what's the antidote to that twofold danger of drifting and neglecting? Well, he says the antidote is giving earnest heed. Look at the language. Therefore, we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard.

15:22 And that word giving heed is often translated in the New Testament, beware. When you beware of something, you concentrate all your attentions upon that impending danger. When you come up to a particular home and there's a fenced-in area and a gate and a big sign saying, beware of the dog, you know in all likelihood there's an animal there which, if you do not concentrate all of your powers with respect to his presence, and its possible influence upon you, you may come away with some teeth sunk in the seat of your britches. Beware of the dog.

16:02 And so the whole concept that the apostle or the writer to the Hebrews has in his exhortation is, you can't fool around.

16:12 Drifting and neglecting, you give the more earnest heed. Take heed. Beware of these issues before your mind. Keep them in the midst of your heart.

16:36 The truth of the gospel, the personal privileges, the demands of the gospel, give the more earnest heed. That's the antidote. But now, in the fourth place, what's the ultimate issue involved?

16:52 Well, the issue is couched in the question, how shall we escape if we neglect? You see what the issue is?

17:04 The concern is drifting and neglecting. The antidote is giving earnest heed. That we do not drift or that we do not neglect. And the issue is this, how shall we escape if we neglect?

17:20 If we enter into a course of drifting that leads us imperceptibly away from the vigorous grasp of faith upon the realities of the gospel, from the vigorous actings of faith in the obedience of the gospel, how shall we escape? Escape what? Losing a few rewards? Missing a bag of yo-yos?

17:48 Mm-mm. You look at the context. For if the words spoken through angels prove steadfast, if the old economy mediated through angels proves steadfast, every transgression, every disobedience received a just recompense of reward, there was the anger and wrath of God. Upon those who with a high hand transgressed that revelation, how shall we escape?

18:21 Escape what? The retributive justice of Almighty God, nothing less than the wrath and anger of Almighty God crushing us with irreversible judgment. The issue at stake in this passage is persevere or perish. Under the judgment of God.

18:47 That's the issue. How shall we escape? Now again, I read from John Brown only because I feel the pressure of the text which says, let all things be done unto edifying, and John Brown has captured the thrust and burden of this passage so beautifully and powerfully that I want you to reap the benefit that my own heart has reaped. There is something very instructive in this figure.

19:16 It is the figurative representation of the drifting. The Christian is embarked in his little vessel on the stream of life, and he is bound to the New Jerusalem. The winds of temptation, the tides of corrupt custom, the powerful undercurrents of depraved inclination all present such obstacles in the way of his reaching the desired haven that he is in great apparent hazard of being carried past the celestial city of heaven. As if he were painted in the same way.

19:46 As if he were painted in the same way. How can he escape? As if he were painted in the same way. and of making shipwreck on the shores of the land of destruction.

19:51 You get the picture now? You see the vivid imagery? We're in our little ship, headed for the celestial city, but because of the currents and the opposition and the winds of temptation and indwelling sin, there is the danger we shall drift right on by and end up on the shores of the land of destruction. He is in reality quite safe.

20:14 He safely depends on the power and faithfulness of his Lord and King, whose will all the elements obey, but that power and faithfulness are manifested according to fixed laws, and this is one of them, that the Christian mariner constantly attend. Give earnest heed to the instruction he has received. Christians are kept by the mighty power of God, but, it is through faith, they are saved by the gospel which is preached to them, but, they must keep it in memory, quoting from 1 Corinthians 15. They shall never fall, but it is in the doing of these things, the promise of Peter. They shall be made partakers of Christ, but, they must hold fast the beginning of their confidence, steadfast unto the end. If any man who seemed to others, or seemed to himself, a believer, do not give heed to the things which are spoken. If the truth, in its meaning, its evidence, its importance, is not kept before his mind, he will most assuredly come short of the celestial blessedness.

21:32 He will be floated past the harbor of rest, and destruction in its most fearful form will ultimately overtake him. Now, I ask you sitting here this morning, do you believe that? Do you believe you can just drift into hell? I'm not asking you to believe that men can go like wild demons into hell, with their passions burning, with all forms of inordinate affections in their lives manifesting abandonment to those affections.

22:15 I'm asking you, do you believe you can drift into hell? That it is easy to be an apostate as it is to drift in a boat in a strong current on a beautiful summer day. That's the language of the passage. And the only antidote to drifting and neglecting is earnest heed.

22:46 That's perseverance. That's the engagement of all of your faculties ordained of God, in conjunction with the gospel and all the means of grace ordained for your preservation. And he who sits back and folds his oars and said, God has stamped my little boat and marked it for heaven and I'll get there no matter what I do, and lies back in the sun and pulls in his oars, such a man or woman demonstrates, continuing in that attitude, that he never, never, never, was in the boat in the first place. Perseverance is essential, not as the ground of our salvation that is to be found in Christ alone, but as an element of our salvation secured by God and demanded of Him, without which we have no biblical grounds to say we shall reach heaven. Now then, turn to Hebrews 3. Hebrews chapter 3. I'll read the text and we'll again consider the setting, the concern, and the issues at stake.

Passage 2: Hebrews 3:12-14 – The Danger of an Evil Heart of Unbelief and Hardening

24:14 The same basic outline. Take heed, brethren, lest haply there shall be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief in falling away from the living God. But exhort one another. Day by day, so long as it is called today, lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, for we are become partakers of Christ, if, if, if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm unto the end.

24:58 All right? Briefly, what's the setting of this exhortation? Well, he has demonstrated in the immediately preceding context that Christ is greater than Moses. If you just glance up, you'll see the word Moses in Christ again and again in the preceding verses.

25:17 Christ is greater than Moses. Therefore, we must hear and obey Him. That's the thrust of the preceding context. That's the setting.

25:30 Now, what's the concern? The concern is the dangers of, number one, an evil heart of unbelief in departing from God and the hardening of the heart by the deceitfulness of sin. Do you see those two things in the passage? Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief in falling away.

25:57 And the Greek word is the one from which we get our English word apostasy. In apostatizing from the living God. But then the second area of concern is, exhort one another lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. So there is a two-fold concern.

26:18 The danger of an evil heart of unbelief which departs from God. And as one has accurately stated, all apostasy, whether partial or total, originates from unbelief. All apostasy, whether partial or total, originates in unbelief. And so his concern is the danger that there should be found in any one of them an evil heart of unbelief which inexorably takes a man away from the living God.

26:52 Then there is a second concern, and that is that their hearts may become hardened not by some open, gross, critical, unrighteousness. But by the heart of unbelief. oven hiring The severePlease close It should be put in the Bible. Nope, in the Old School of Bible scholars, it is believed that when an evil heart and powerful demon comes upon a man affecting anything in this world by the very force of God.

27:22 Ephesians 16, from the里 It is said, Hillelah. Though you see that there is a Lot going through the people of NFL. Your village. Well?

27:35 apparently innocent form and colors and we've allowed it to define itself in its acceptable names when we've indulged it it has a hardening effect upon the heart and the one whose heart is being hardened is not even aware of it and that's why he says as we'll see in subsequent messages under the means of perseverance we need the outsider who can see as it were the state of our own hearts and its fruit better than we can now there's the great concern the danger of the evil heart and the hard heart now what's the issue at stake suppose the evil heart of unbelief is not dealt with suppose the hardening of the heart through the deceitfulness of sin is not checked what's the issue at stake why get all concerned so i go to heaven with a little bit of an apostatizing heart and a little bit of hardness of heart So what? Well, I'll tell you, so what? You look at verse 14.

28:41 For, for, this is my burden, he says, in writing these things, expressing my concern, warning you to take heed. Oh, my brethren, hear me. For we are become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence firm unto the end. Now, here you need a little language lesson.

29:07 He does not say we shall become partakers of Christ, but he uses a form of the verb which we call the perfect, which in the Greek language points to action accomplished and the fruit of that action continues to the present. So we could translate it this way. We have become and yet remain partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence firm unto the end. So you see what he's saying?

29:39 He's not telling us how you become a partaker of Christ. He's telling us what the fruit of becoming a partaker of Christ will be. See the difference?

29:54 It's parallel as John 8, 31 and 32. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, he doesn't say, then shall ye become my disciples. He says, then are ye my disciples. So what the writer is saying is simply this.

30:14 It is those who, when they see a passage like this, take heed, brethren, and they hear the warning about the evil heart of unbelief and the hardening of the heart through sin. It is only such as take this seriously and hold the beginning of their confidence firm unto the end. That is, they maintain the tenacity, of that faith and repentance and that response of whole-souled obedience to the truth of the gospel, which marked them at the beginning. It is only such who are truly partakers of Christ.

31:00 So this is not a matter of rewards. This is not a matter of going to heaven in a Ford or a Cadillac. This is a matter, my friend, of life and death.

31:13 You say you're talking double talk. How in the world can you say, on the one hand, it is certain that everyone who is ever once truly saved will never be lost and will ultimately be brought home to glory? How do I say that? Because the Bible teaches it.

31:29 The same Bible that teaches me this says that all who are truly saved will hold the beginning of their confidence firm unto the end. And it is in that holding fast that they manifest that they are truly saved.

31:46 And you will notice that the only way we hold fast the beginning of our confidence, that's just a description of faith in the gospel, is in the context of taking heed with respect to an evil heart of unbelief and the hardening heart because of sin. Now listen to me closely. Listen to me closely. Often when this kind of text is preached, people hide behind a pious subjugation, a subterfuge.

32:19 They say, I don't like this teaching. They say, I must persevere. All of my perseverance is in Christ. All of my confidence for heaven is in Christ.

32:31 It sounds so pious, but it's a subterfuge because according to this passage, you cannot hold fast the beginning of your confidence in Christ firm unto the end in the context of a hard heart and a departing heart from God with lips that express a lie when your heart has been hardened and through unbelief is departed from God. I say that's a pious subterfuge and it's nothing but turning the grace of God into lasciviousness.

33:18 The heart that is most tender to sin is the heart that finds Christ most precious.

33:27 For to whom much is, is forgiven. The same loveth much.

33:36 My friends, this passage doesn't teach that perseverance is optional.

33:44 That means you better keep a tender heart or run the risk of going to hell.

33:51 You must give heed to keep a believing heart or you run the risk of going to hell no matter what you've professed to believe or to experience in the past. And I refuse to water down the cup. The clear implication of this passage, the issue at stake is an issue of life or death. While we hasten on to the third passage, we slip all the way over to Hebrews 10.

Passage 3: Hebrews 10:26-39 – The Danger of Shrinking Back Unto Perdition

34:19 This is not an exhaustive study. I simply want to acquaint you with the basic pivotal passages. Hebrews chapter 10.

34:30 Again the setting,

34:32 the writer has expounded the greater priesthood of Christ, the greater and better sacrifice of God, Christ ratifying a better covenant for the people of God and in the light of all of these privileges he then exhorts them to live in the light of those privileges beginning in verse 19 of Hebrews 10 having therefore brethren boldness to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus by the way which he dedicated for us a new and living way through the veil that is to say his flesh having a great high priest over the house of God you see the exhortation is all in the light of all of the privileges I've expounded a better priesthood a better sacrifice a better covenant in the light of all that he says have dealings with God that evidence your present confidence in those realities come with boldness come with a conscience cleansed from accusation come and enjoy such dearly purchased privileges but then having no sooner given that exhortation based on the positive privileges he gives one of the most sober warnings to be found anywhere in the Bible in verses 26 to 31 this warning about willful sin which does not refer to a Christian who sins willfully if it did there'd be no hope for any

35:59 one of us it refers to a sin that is a willful final repudiation of Christ and his grace as the context and the language indicates then having given that sober warning now as a pastor trying to use every motive to stir them up to perseverance he now appeals to their own experience he says in essence are some of you tempted to turn back because of opposition because of peer pressure because of the difficulties encountered all think of your privileges verses 19 and following then he says oh think of the the terrible thing it will be if you turn back and trample under foot the son of God count the blood of the covenant and unholy thing and do despite the spirit of grace oh think of the judgment that will await you now he comes back to the positive and he says oh look you've already suffered you've already endured hardship are you going to throw it all away look at the language but call to remembrance the former days in which after you were enlightened you endured a great conflict of sufferings partly being made a gazing stock both by reproaches and afflictions and partly becoming partakers with them that were so used for you both had compassion on them that were in bonds and took joyfully the spoiling of your possessions

37:22 knowing you have for yourselves a better possession and an abiding one do not cast away therefore your boldness which has great recompense of reward for you have need of patience that having done the will of God you may receive the promise you see what he's saying he's saying here I appeal to you along another front don't cast away that confidence in Christ and his gospel because when you first embraced him yes that confidence led you to an identification with Christ and his people that was costly yes you suffered the spoiling of your own goods you identified with others who were suffering but he says don't quit now you have need of patience that having done the will of God you may receive the promise what is the promise suffering now glory to come if we suffer with him we'll reign with him if we die with him we'll live with him if we share his reproach we'll share his glory you've shared some reproach you've shared some suffering don't quit now until the glory comes for as certainly as your partaker of the sufferings the glory is coming don't quit mid-stream then he adds the sobering heart he adds the sobering heart and he adds the sobering heart note you see the mixing from the positive he draws them then he drives them he sweet talks and then he thunders at them now notice what he does quoting now from the old testament for yet

38:50 a very little while he that cometh shall come and shall not tarry but my righteous one shall live by faith and if he shrink back my soul hath no pleasure in him but we are not of them that shrink back unto perdition but of them that have faith unto the saving or the gaining of the soul you see what his concern is his concern is to urge them on in persevering faith and what is the issue at stake the issue at stake is either persevere in faith in the face of all the hardships the life of faith may bring or shrink back and go to hell that's what it says the word perdition is exactly the same word used by our lord jesus in matthew 7 13 the broad road which leadeth to that's the word perdition destruction it's the word used in philippians 3 19 remember a few months ago when we were preaching through

40:09 philippians the sensualist whose end is destruction perdition that's the word it's the word used in first timothy 6 of those who would be rich who drown themselves in perdition it means nothing less than hell company of the devil and demons and all of the death and the text is clear my righteous one should live by faith but if you shrink back if he draws back through carnal fear of the consequences of the life of faith my soul shall have no place you're in a mom but someone says he's still his child just like a father with his son disagree as has no pleasure in him the next verse will not allow us to put that construction notice again We are not of them that shrink back unto not fatherly displeasure, fatherly rebukes, but unto perdition.

41:19 But of them that believe unto the gaining of the soul, those who persevere in faith until the gracious promise is fulfilled, that having suffered with him, we shall be glorified with him at his return. What's the issue? The issue is you and I must persevere in the face of whatever opposition and hardship the life of faith may bring upon us. And if we shrink back, the results are perdition.

41:56 Now that does not mean that a true Christian may not in a moment of weakness temporarily shrink back and deny his Lord.

42:07 This statement records the denial. Denial of her made with oaths and with curses. But it also records his restoration to boldness and to a life of identification with Christ that ultimately led him to martyrdom.

42:29 Don't forget that. So this is not talking about an act of denial here, a disposition of denial there. It is the shrinking back that says, No, I embrace Christ in the promise of peace. I embrace Christ in joy and forgiveness.

42:46 And when that immediate reflex response to that message was causing me great joy, I was willing to endure some hardship, but I'm, it's too cost.

43:16 Attachment in faith to Christ without attachment to Christ in his sufferings and his reproach. That's the issue. The issue. That's why Revelation 21.8 says, The fearful and the unbelieving, along with the whoremongers and adulterers and liars, have their part in the lake of fire. Fearful. Think of it. He says some people will go to hell because they're fearful.

43:49 Fearful of what?

43:52 Identified within faith and to bear whatever that identity entails.

44:02 Am I speaking to some of you young people? God the Holy Ghost has used the instruction of mom and dad, the faithful instruction of your Sunday school teachers, your pastors, many others, and you feel the pressure of the claims of Christ upon your heart. You feel the reality of your sinfulness. But what keeps you back?

44:23 Here it is. Fearful. Fearful of what? Of what those classmates will say if you go back to school this fall and say, I belong to Jesus Christ.

44:35 My ears won't listen to your dirty jokes. My eyes won't look upon your lecherous behavior. My feet. My feet won't walk with you in your paths of indifference to God and to his law.

44:49 I belong to Jesus Christ. You're afraid that fear is keeping you back from identifying yourself with him. God says the fearful go to hell.

45:03 I didn't write it to fearful where that fear keeps you from closing with Christ. It will damn you. And if you profess Christ and at any point that fear brings you to drawing back. And I emphasize again, not a temporary lapse into the fear of men.

45:25 Peter even later on fell into that same sin and Paul had to rebuke him, but that was not the pattern of his life. We're talking about a shrinking back that says I can't hack the life of faith because it's just too costly. Hear the word of God. Hear the word of God.

45:46 If he shrink back my soul, I shall have no pleasure in him.

45:55 But then he expresses confidence. You see how the pastoral part comes through. We are not of them that shrink back. He said, I've warned you the dangers real, but I have better hopes for you.

Passage 4: Hebrews 12:14 – The Necessity of Sanctification

46:08 We are not among those who shrink back, but of those who believe unto the gaming of the soul, those who persevere in faith and subsequently, of course, the fruits of faith, holiness and obedience, even. And to the end very quickly, let me just at least underscore the verse, though I don't have time to expound it. Hebrews 12 in verse 14, that's the final text.

46:38 Hebrews 12 in verse 14, follow after peace with all men and the sanctification without which no man shall see the Lord looking carefully, lest there be the setting is very clear. The great examples of faith in chapter 11 that we've read about the exhortation to run the race with perseverance. The first two verses looking unto Jesus for strength and grace and power to complete the race. And then that great dissertation on the subject of chastisement.

47:17 It's not going to be easy. The father loves us too much and is determined to make us holy. So he's going to take us in line and he's going to whoop us when we need it.

47:28 He's going to let us have. What we need to bring us into line. And now after that setting, he says, follow literally the word used for persecuting the New Testament in the present imperative. Be continually tracking down peace with all men and the sanctification, the life of separateness unto God without which here's the issue without which he doesn't say no man should receive a full reward.

47:57 No man shall have a complete. Compliment of joy is set no without which no man shall see the Lord. That's the issue. That's the issue.

48:09 It's holiness or hell and not holiness that comes in a package. It's holiness that comes at the end of a self-conscious pursuit. Pursue the holiness or the sanctification without which no man shall see the Lord. Now it's obvious.

48:30 That is not our imputed righteousness. That is not the sanctification that comes on the initial threshold of our union with Christ. You don't pursue that and continue to seek after it. You either have it or you don't in the initial actings of faith.

48:45 This is that progressive life of sanctification and we must seek after it. Pursue it. And the issue at stake is without it. No man shall see the Lord.

Conclusion: The Absolute Necessity of Perseverance and Means of Grace

48:57 Well, in conclusion, what do we say? As we. Face the witness of the epistle to the Hebrews. Well, I hope what you say is that necessity.

49:06 Necessity stands identified with the biblical doctrine of perseverance. I must at any cost. Persevere in faith in holiness and obedience, and I must persevere unto the end. We're not dealing with the means of our perseverance the hope that.

49:30 We shall. That will come in subsequent expositions. We're dealing with one issue. The absolute necessity.

49:39 Do you see it? If the Bible teaches anything dear people, it teaches we must. We must persevere. That means that every God-ordained means for our perseverance must be taken seriously.

49:57 Give earnest heed lest we drift. Chapter three. Take heed lest there be. How long has it been?

50:08 Professing Christian since you've gotten down before God in judgment day, honesty and said, Oh God ever. My heart is departed and unbelief wherever it's become hard to the deceitfulness of sin. Show me and then follow and then get up off your knees and welcome God's instrument to show you namely your brother or sister coming to you. Pointing out your sin.

50:34 Because the context demands that. Exhort one another daily lest you be hardened. And when you pray God show me if I've become hardened. Show me if I've become backslidden and then you resent your brother or sister who is God's mouthpiece to show you you cancel your prayer.

50:58 You show it and hypocrites up in judgment to condemn you. He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law. Even his prayer is an abomination. That's serious business.

51:21 Some of you husbands. You resent your wife when she points out your spiritual declension. You pull rank on her. Yeah, but you may be a backslidden hard-hearted head of the home.

51:41 Dangerously near the brink of apostasy. You ought to go down on your knees and thank God. That he's put a female Nathan at your side to say thou art the man. Vice versa.

52:00 Oh dear people. This is this is serious business. How many will drift right by the Celestial City and make shipwreck on the shores of the land of destruction. May God grant that none of you sitting here within the sound of my voice today shall be of that number.

52:27 Flee to Christ. If you've never gone to him. And then continue to go to him who alone can give you strength to persevere. And then in his strength use every means ordained for your perseverance.

Prayer: Deliverance from Spiritual Dangers

52:44 In the conviction that I must persevere or I shall be damned. Let us pray. Oh our Heavenly Father. We have felt something of the meaning of David's words.

53:11 Moreover by them. Is thy servant warned. May we also know by experience what he meant when he went on to write. In the keeping of them.

53:23 There is great reward. Oh Lord may your word be so written upon our hearts. That we will embrace it. Walk in its light.

53:34 And by your grace stand one day in glory. With him who loved us. Poured out his life's blood. Blood for us.

53:45 Sent his spirit to endow us with every needed gift and grace to persevere unto the end. Oh we thank you for such a savior. May we not despise his grace nor treat it lightly. May we not trifle with grace.

54:04 For those who have yet to embrace him. Oh Lord draw them. Draw them. By the overtures of mercy.

54:12 Drive them by the whiplash of that frightening prospect that awaits them if they do not repent. Drive them. Draw them. Woo them.

54:23 Terrify them. Oh God by every legitimate scriptural motive. Pry them loose from their sins and their unbelief. And bring them broken in repentance and faith to the feet of your son.

54:39 And oh bring us there again. And again. And again. And again.

54:44 And again. Deliver us from drifting. Deliver us from neglect. Deliver us from hardness of heart.

54:48 Deliver us from an evil heart of unbelief. Deliver us from shrinking back. Oh God from every one of these things that would damn us if it could. Deliver us by your own almighty power.

54:52 Hear then our prayer and seal the word to our hearts. And now we pray. Amen. Amen.

54:56 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

55:00 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

55:04 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

55:08 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

55:12 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

55:16 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

55:20 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

55:24 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

55:28 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

55:32 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

55:36 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

55:40 Amen.