Gooding, David: 7 - Eternal Security - Part A

Now we start now a very large topic. It is now, uh, nearly five minutes to ten, and Sunday doesn't count till twelve o'clock. Uh, but, uh, it is a large topic, and, uh, uh, let me just say again, do feel free, please, all of you, to join in. I shall introduce it by saying certain things about the two passages I indicated, and then I shall sit back and I shall hear what you've got to say. We'll see. Eh, eh, uh, do please join in. Let's be frank and kind one to another and considerate and try to understand one another and see what God has to say to us over this very important matter. Important to us personally, isn't it? Can I be sure and secure in my salvation, or could it happen that I lost the lot, you'll see. Now, I take these two passages first because they are passages that are frequently quoted in this connection, so I take them anyway. And secondly, because they belong to our study this weekend, you see, we should have had to face them anyway. So let me say what I think they mean in their context. And when I said that, that isn't meant to stop all further discussion. There are other passages that are deal on it, and there are other passages that may well be saying something different from what these passages are saying, but at least that would make a start, wouldn't it? And the first of these very solemn passages is in chapter six um and begins in verse four. but it doesn't really begin in verse four, does it? Because notice what verse three says. And this we will do if God permit. What will we do if God permit? Well, what he has said at the beginning, verse one: wherefore let us cease to speak of the first principles of Christ and press on unto perfection. This will we do if God permit. Now, at first sight, that sounds very curious, doesn't it? Why wouldn't God permit anybody to press on to perfection? What does the man mean? We'll press on to perfection if God allows us to. I thought God was all for encouraging people to press on to perfection. Well, first we ought to consider, uh, what it means to press on to perfection. When we first find that phrase, we, we think that means, well, look, press on to greater and greater godliness and holiness. Well, that's a good thing to do, but in this context, I submit to you that what it means is press on from the Judaism in which they were brought up, which was only a copy and a shadow, and press on to the real thing. Why do I say that? Well, look, let me remind you of the phrases as it occurs, and in your translations you may have this Greek word that keeps reoccurring translated in different ways. For time's sake, I'm going to read it in a literal translation to let you see how the th- flow of the thought is going, how the phrase keeps recurring. To press on to perfection. What perfection? Chapter seven eleven. Now, if there was perfection through the Levitical priesthood, if there were perfection through the poli- Levitical priesthood, but there wasn't, of course. So let's leave it behind and press on to perfection, all right? Verse nineteen: for the law made nothing perfect. Well, let's scrap it then. What are you going to put in its place? Well, the end of the verse tells you, a bringing in of a better hope by which we draw near to God. The contrast is not between a true believer who's really trusted Christ and is now taking his first steps and someone who's gone on a long way. The contrast is between a system that could make nothing perfect and had to be scrapped because of its weakness and unprofitableness. And we're going to leave that behind and go on to this better hope by which we draw near to God. Or look again in chapter nine and verse eleven. But Christ, having come a high priest of good things to come through the greater and more perfect tabernacle. What do you mean? Well, they're not two Christian tabernacles, you know, one not quite so perfect as the other. There's the Jewish tabernacle that was only a copy, and there is this more perfect, the true tabernacle into which Christ has entered. What have we got to do? We've got to leave the old one and press on to perfection, this more perfect tabernacle. And so with the sacrifices, those Old Testament sacrifices, says chapter nine verse nine, they could not, as touching the conscience, make the worth- worshipper perfect. And as we were saying just before the tea break, chapter ten, you'll see, verse one, if those Old Testament sacrifices had been able to make those that used them perfect as pertaining to the conscience, they would have ceased. But they can't. Well, what's to do then? Well, abandon them and press on to perfection. That is the argument that is running through, like the chime of a bell, all through these passages. The man is writing to people that were born Jews, brought up under the Jewish priesthood, the Jewish temple, the Jewish ceremonial law, the Jewish sacrifices as a way to God in this Jewish temple, and now they've professed to have faith in Christ. What are they to do? And the writer says, you are to press on then to perfection, and goes on to explain what he means by perfection. Now, why is he as r- r- writing these things to them? Well, all sorts of reasons, of course. One little practical thing. Chapter ten twenty five says, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the custom of some is. And that seems an innocent little remark, but here are people who, being born Jews, have professed to trust the Savior, and they've been coming to the meetings of the Christians, and now they stop, or they're not doing it very much. It's become a custom, and they're forsaking the assembling of themselves together. That raises a big question. Where might they be going? Could they be going back to their Judaism? What would it mean if they were going back to their Judaism instead of pressing on to and with perfection? You say there's a lot in Judaism that's good. Agreed. Look back to chapter six and see the argument. Verse one, let us press on to perfection, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the teaching of baptisms and of laying on of hands and of the resurrection of the dead and of eternal judgment. And you know all those things Jews believe, in common with Christians. Jews believe all that. You say, well, then that's okay then to go back to Judaism. No, it isn't. We are to leave behind those, uh, uh, not lay again the foundation, that is very good stuff, but we are to press on to this full grown re- grown Christianity, this full grown adult salvation that God has provided in Christ. And says the writer, this we will do if God permit. We say, why wouldn't he permit it then? Well, says the writer, you see, as touching those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost and tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them to repentance. That's what he means when he says if God permit. For there comes a situation, ah, you say this is the unpardonable sin where God ha- oh, is this a sin that God won't forgive? This is, it says, ah, it means that if we do certain wrong things, um, then God won't forgive us. It doesn't say so, ladies and gentlemen, does it? We must treat the verses very carefully. What it says is not that God doesn't forgive. It says that you'll never get these people to change their mind. And unless you can get people to change their minds to repent, of course there's no forgiveness anyway, is there? And the difficulty is that there comes a state with certain people where you'll never get them to change their mind. Now, when does that kind of thing happen, you see? Well, as touching those who were once saved. Uh, no, you ought to have raised a protest to took the roof off the building when I said that. Doesn't say that, does it? It says touching those who were once enlightened. What does that mean? So it raises a very big question. Is being enlightened the same thing as being saved? Some people will say yes, but I submit to you it ain't isn't the same thing as being saved. What God has to do is we are naturally in ignorance. We don't know the truth. We are blind. God, by his spirit, comes along and opens our eyes. Now we're no longer in the dark. We see, oh, but we still have a choice. And if with our eyes open, do you see, we reject the gospel and go back to Judaism, then says God, it is impossible to get such people to change their minds again. Why is it impossible? Is it that God is being a little bit peevish? Well, no. Let's take an illustration, and we go to the bottom of the, uh, uh, uh, paragraph, verse seven. For the land which has drunk the rain that cometh oft upon it and bringeth forth herbs meet for them for whose sake it is also tilled, receiveth the blessing of God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is rejected and nigh unto a curse whose end is to be burned. An analogy. Here's a bit of ground, yes? Rain comes down from heaven on a bit of ground, and the response is that it brings forth herbs, a beautiful herbs that the gardener likes very much. More rain, more herbs. Here's another bit of ground. Rain comes down from heaven. It brings forth thorns and thistles. Oh, say, I don't like that. So what do you do now? You say, some more rain, please. But all it will do will bring forth more thorns and thistles. And in the analogy, what is the rain? As poor pe- as the writer now tells you, he's talking about the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes upon a person and illumines their heart, now they see. If with their eyes open they reject God's Holy Spirit. Well, you say now, um, um, well, God, try something bigger. Well, can you suggest something bigger than the Holy Spirit? Make it clearer to them, God. Well, how? Well, you say do a miracle of some kind. Do an earthquake. Well, ladies and gentlemen, if an earthquake would save you, there'd be earthquakes every half a dozen yards down this road. You say send a ghost then. That's what the rich man said when he landed up in hell. Send a ghost to my... Ladies and gentlemen, if seeing ghosts would lead folks to repentance and faith, the supermarket would be teeming with them in every street in Coleraine. The fact is that the biggest and the last thing that Almighty God has it isn't a thing at all. It is God the Holy Spirit. When God has opened somebody's eyes and shone and, and now they see the truth and they deliberately say no, what, what would you suggest to God as some, some means and method he could now use to get them to change their mind? Here comes the point, ladies and gentlemen. This is one of the most solemn facts of our creation. There comes a point where the human being, with his eyes open, can see it is God and can, if he or she pleases, say no to God, turn round and go away. God has nothing left. Very solemn, isn't it? Now, to back up what I say, let's listen to Paul the Apostle talking in, this is one Timothy chapter one. And I'm going to read quickly for the sake of time. This is Paul giving the story of his conversion, One Timothy chapter one. verse twelve, he says, I thank him that enabled me, even Christ Jesus our Lord, for that he counted me faithful, appointing me to his service, though I was before a blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious. Howbeit I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly and in unbelief. Now, I suggest you ought to take notice of that phrase and very carefully underline it and say, what on earth does it mean? I obtained mercy, says Paul, because I did it ignorantly. But you say, how could he possibly have done that? He was a highly intelligent man, a, a vast theologian, and when he was persecuting the Christians, surely he knew what he was doing. If you'd have gone out to Paul, if you could have found a chariot fast enough and kept pace with him as he was going up the Damascus road and said to him, Saul of Tarsus, excuse me, sir, what are you doing? He'd have told you straight what he was doing. He was, uh, uh, exterminating nasty little Nazarenes, that's what he was doing. And as for this imposter Jesus, supposed to be risen from the dead, if you ever heard such junk and nonsense and blasphemy combined, he was going to wipe out his name from the earth, that was he doing, and all his massive intellect and powers and influence was being used to that end. You say he's doing it ignorantly? Yes, ladies and gentlemen. For you see, ignorance is or not is not a question of our intelligence. It's whether God's Holy Spirit has illumined somebody's mind or not. Massive intellect though he was, he was doing it in ignorance, unillumined by God's Holy Spirit. And because he was doing it in ignorance, that's why he had mercy shown. Uh, gen- la- ladies and gentlemen, see, the day he was illuminated by the risen Lord, more vividly perhaps than anybody this, uh, in the Christian era. The light from heaven shining physically as well as spiritually upon him, now illuminated. He said yes, of course, didn't he? Yes to Christ, bowed the knee and paid the price. Suppose with his eyes opened, he'd have said no because he wanted to keep his place on the Jewish Senate, and for cultural reason, that would have been immensely serious, wasn't it, to fall with your eyes open to go back to him. That was, would be serious. So notice the exact expression, uh, of he, uh, of um, uh, Hebrews six, after been illuminated, do you see? Now a question will rage later on towards, I should imagine it will be about a quarter to eleven. uh As to whether these people here described who with their eyes open turn back, were they ever genuinely born again? Are there religious experiences, experiences of the Holy Spirit, such as illumination and tasting the gift of the Holy Spirit? Are there experiences of the Holy Spirit that are short of genuine, thoroughgoing being born again? Are there such? In other words, are these people here envisaged in chapter six people that were once genuinely not only illuminated but born again and then lost their eternal life, or are they folks that being illuminated, is that possible, and having had certain experiences of the Holy Spirit, had never been actually born again and therefore fell away? I'm not going to answer that question at the moment because I want now very briefly, uh, to to be quiet as as soon as I can, but just to complete the sketching in of what you see my, uh, understanding is and that you come back at me. Let's go to the companion passage in chapter ten, verse twenty six. For if we sin willfully after we have been born again, there remaineth no more sacrifices. No, ladies and gentlemen, you ought to protest it. Does not say it, does it? No. For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth. This is ten twenty six. Once more, we have to ask our quest- ourselves the question, is receiving the knowledge of the truth the same thing as being saved? Is it possible to know the gospel, to be illuminated by the Holy Spirit, to know what you've got to do to be saved, and to see it, and then deliberately say no? Well, anyway, if we res- if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no forgiveness. No, no, no, not anything of the sort. Says there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. You say it must apply to a believer. Why is that? Why, you say it is possible for a believer, isn't it, to to sin willfully? Or what do you take that to mean? Well, you say to do a sin, knowing it to be a sin. Well, yes, I'm afraid that is possible, and I know that. Alas, to my shame, I confess it, because I have done sins, knowing them to be sins. I don't know about you. And since I came to Christ, shame on me, but I have done things, knowing them to be wrong, since I've come to Christ. What does this verse say then? That I'm lost eternally because I, since I trusted Christ, have done things, knowing them to be wrong? I'm lost eternally then. Well, if that means that, I tell you, you're lost as well. And I never met anybody that was saved, to be in fact, to be honest. I can't mean that for the absurdity it would be. There isn't a believer ever who, after he trusted Christ, never did a thing knowing it to be wrong. If we say we have not, Bible says we make him a liar. What does it mean then if we sin willfully? Well, I'm going to submit to you now that the word sin in the Bible is sometimes used in a somewhat special sense. Let's, um, look at John's gospel. Some of you have been studying it, it'll be fresh in your mind. Chapter sixteen, Talking of the coming of the Holy Spirit, chapter sixteen, verses eight and nine, says our Lord, and he, that is the Holy Spirit, when he has come, will convict the world in respect of sin and of righteousness and of judgment, of sin because they believe not on me. Of unrighteousness be- of unrighteousness because I go to the Father. Of judgment because the prince of this world has been judged. And we notice the first one, of sin because, what's the sin in question? The great sin, they believe not on me. Look at, uh, chapter, uh, uh nine, if you will, of that same Gospel of John. And the end of the chapter, verse forty, forty one. Those of the Pharisees which were with him heard these things and said unto him, Are we also blind? He said to them, If you were blind. Now, I don't know what your versions say, but the Greek literally says you would not have sin. That doesn't mean that they would be sinlessly perfect, but what our Lord is saying is if you were blind and you couldn't see, you couldn't be held responsible for it. But now you say you see. You say your eyes are open. You can see it as clear as daylight. Oh, well then, now your sin remains. You must be held responsible for that, yes? So in scripture, this matter, uh, this word sin is sometimes used for this specific sin of deliberate, knowing unbelief. And what this verse is saying in Hebrews, let's come back to it. If we sin willfully, why willfully? After we have received the knowledge of the truth. Oh, you know now then. You can no longer say, like Paul says, I, I, I had mercy shown me because I did it in ignorance. I didn't know. Now you can't say that anymore. Now you know. Know in the sense that you know what the gospel is. You know what the truth is. And the truth in question has been all this business about the sacrifice of Christ. You know it's true, says the writer. Your eyes are opened. Ah, but if with our eyes open we deliberately reject it, then what? You say God won't forgive us. It doesn't say that. What it says is that there is no longer any sacrifice. Why isn't there? Well, for one very simple reason, ladies and gentlemen. If you reject the only sacrifice there is, there isn't any other, is there? And if with your eyes open, you see those animal sacrifices, ah, no, that constant round of offering sacrifices, that's no good. That was only a, that was only a, a copy at the bare. Jesus is the real sacrifice and the only sacrifice, and the sacrifice is finished, and you see it and know it, and knowing it, you reject it and go back from it. Well, please, says the writer, observe this, there isn't any other, is there? There is no more sacrifices in yesterday. I'm going back to Judaism and, and and that was a God-given system, and there's a lot of good in Judaism, and I'm going to the altar and offering my sacrifice to get forgiveness of sins. Sorry, says the writer, you might as well pack up because it doesn't count. There is no other. And if you have rejected knowingly the only sacrifice there is, there isn't any other. What have you left? You stand utterly unprotected to face the coming wrath of God. Now you say, well, who is this man then? Who is this woman? Are they believers? Well, they're certainly not believers now, are they anyway? Whatever they were, for just finally, let me point out what they have done. Verse, uh, the verses describe it in logical detail. A man that set at naught Moses' law dies without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses. How much sore of punishment, think you, shall he be judged worthy? Who has, what has he done? Well, he's sinned willfully after he has received a knowledge of the truth. Oh, well, what is sinning willfully then? What does that involve? Well, three things. He has trodden underfoot the Son of God, and every word in that phrase is exceedingly deliberate. Trodden underfoot is not stumbled over accidentally, made a little mistake. It is the word to describe a deliberate stamping underfoot, and this person has done that. With whom? Well, not simply with Jesus, but with the Son of God. That is, he or she deliberately denies the deity of the Lord Jesus. You'd have to, wouldn't you, to go back to that sacrifice business in Judaism. Yes. Do you know, I have a good friend in Belfast. He's a Jew. God bless him. His wife was a professing Christian. To marry him, she converted to Judaism. Oh, what do I hope for that dear woman? I hope she never knew the gospel before she did it, don't you? And she went to London. I know the rabbi because I studied with him as a student in Cambridge, and she had to say that faith in Jesus was merely one alternative, and she said it. What would follow if you deliberately deny the deity of the Lord Jesus? Well, the next thing follows automatically. He's counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified. A common thing it should be, not an unholy thing, a common thing is what the Greek says. I don't know what your translation says, but if it doesn't say common, well, then scrub it out and, uh, demand the money back from the bookseller and get one that says common, because that's what the word is, and it's very important. A common thing? What do you mean, the blood of Christ being common? Well, without being rude, ladies and gentlemen, the blood in your veins is common, isn't it? I mean, who are you after all? Jolly decent, but you're only one human being amongst multi-million human beings. Your blood is as common as anybody else's blood. It ain't even rude. Um, do you see? Jesus Christ? Well, if he is the Son of God, his blood isn't common. If he's the Son of God, his blood is sufficient to pay the price of the sin of the whole world. But if he isn't the Son of God, then his blood is common, and the covenant that it seals isn't worth the papers written on, ladies and gentlemen. And as this man goes back to Judaism, what is he saying? Perhaps he hasn't faced it in his heart, you see, under pressure from relatives, social pressures, goodness knows what pressures. So he's finding it convenient not to meet with the Christians, and he's going back to the temple, and he's offering sacrifices to get forgiveness of sins, and perhaps he hasn't worked it out in his heart. Perhaps he thinks he can mix the two or something. And the writer is solemnly warning him, all but see what you're saying by implication. It's very serious, isn't it? You are denying the value of the blood of Christ, and he's done despite to the Holy Spirit. Ah, but it doesn't say the Holy Spirit, does it? You see, these are very solemn words. You must not paraphrase them inexactly. They're there to be taken very strict. He's done despite to the Spirit of grace. What do you mean, a Spirit of grace? Sometimes the Holy Spirit is said to be, uh, so the Spirit of God is said to be the Spirit of God, or the, the Holy Spirit, or the Spirit of Jesus. But here, the Spirit of grace, and this man has insulted the Spirit of grace. How has he done it? Well, it follows logically, gentlemen. In Judaism, as in many other religions, of course, salvation is offered on the terms, ultimately, when you work it all out of your work. Religion preaches it, every religion preaches. All religions, by definition, preach that somehow it's ultimately your effort that saves you by the help of the gods or the saints or the whoever, yeah, which you, you seek the help, but it's your works that have to qualify. And then they had come to Christ, just, and they had been faced with Christ. These Jews, I'm afraid, religious though they were and supposed believers in God, they murdered God's son, which shows that they weren't really believers in God at all, actually, though they would have sworn they were. Well, they murdered God's son, but God raised him from the dead, and on the day of Pentecost, he sent the Holy Spirit down from heaven to preach to those very murderers of his son. And what did he say? Well, I know what I would have done if I'd have been God. I wouldn't have said anything. I'd have rotted them out to start with. Or if I'd have thought, well, give him one more chance, I'd have sent the Holy Spirit down from heaven and I'd said, now look here, ladies and gentlemen, you weren't very good to start with. You murdered my son. Have you realized what you've done? I'm going to give you one more chance. My law, you'll keep it from today on. You'll keep it one hundred percent. The first moment you break the first commandment, finished. And wouldn't I have been very gracious instead of blotting them out? No, God didn't say that either. He sent his Holy Spirit down from heaven to tell these people who originally thought that salvation was by keeping the law. He sent them down to from heaven to tell them that in spite of having murdered his son, he loved them in spite of it, and he was prepared to forgive them and save them free, gratis, and for nothing, utterly by grace. And this one sacrifice for sin put them in the clear forever if they'd have it. Can you, can you imagine such grace? The spirit of grace, the very act of murdering his son brought about Calvary by which sacrifice, as we've been reading, sin put away forever if they'll have it. Now here's the Jew, and he hears it and sees it and understands it. He's not in ignorance. He knows the truth. He sees it, and he goes back to a system of religion that is preaching salvation by work, carrying on offering sacrifices to get forgiveness of sin. And God reads it as what? As downright direct insult to the spirit of grace. Solem, isn't it? You know, these are some of the most solemn passages of the New Testament. I don't really know how we come to be discussing with about half past ten of a Saturday night when it's dark and eerie, but goodness me, they are solemn. You say, is he a believer? Well, he isn't now anyway. The man or woman that does that, you say, were they ever? Well, I sit back at this juncture and I'm all ears to hear what you've got to say, not only on those two scriptures, of course, but on the whole business, any scriptures any way you like. The question that Sherman has raised is, can we be sure of eternal salvation in the sense that sitting here tonight, to put it blunt, having trusted the Savior, we have done so, and been born again, can we be sure that we shall arrive in God's heaven, or could it possib- be possible for us to fall away and be lost? That is the proposition. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm all ears to hear what you're going to say. Here's the chairman, you have to speak to him. Speak through the tear, if you will, ladies and gentlemen. Go ahead. A question about verse six. It says in verse six— this is, uh, the first passage, Hebrews six. It says that it's impossible if they fall away to be brought back to repentance. Mm. Does that mean that they had actually repented and then fallen away? Mm. That's the NIV. I don't know what it says in the other translations. Oh yes, it is impossible to renew them again. It's literally, that's as as literal as you can get the Greek, to renew them again through through repentance, meaning you'll not get them to change their mind again, if you like to say again. You say, had they changed their minds before? Well, I would have said they professed to. By definition, the people you're talking about is people that have been illuminated, and I presume have made some kind of profession of Christianity and now have gone back. You'll not get them to do again what the Holy Spirit did the first time. What's your definition of going back, Pastor? You said going back to what? Person will be son, going back to what type of life? You know, when you get, you get a Christian there that, um, see as well as I am, and probably I'm as guilty as any, you get the lukewarm Christian. Oh, you do, yeah. Now, what category are they in then? Ah. I mean, the Lord, they make the Lord sick. I do that. Very well put, sir, and very vividly. Yeah. And if you say that they are lukewarm Christians, well, let that stay for the moment, you see. Uh, um, well, I, you raise a lot of big questions, sir, uh, don't you? You see, let me at once say, what do I mean by falling away? Let's take some prominent and well-known examples because they're easy to remember and see. What about Peter himself? Of the fact that he was a believer to start with, there is no doubt. Uh, in the night of the arrest, he denied the Lord with oaths and curses. Now, was he one of these people who, being illuminated, had deliberately gone back? Well, the answer is no, of course. Momentarily, he had fallen. Um, our Lord tells us before he started and told Peter, before he started, Peter, you're going to deny me. I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail. So he was a believer then, who momentarily fell but remained a believer and said, our Lord, and when you turn again, not if you, but when you, no doubt in the Lord's mind the man was coming back. When you have turned again, strengthen your brethren. Now, what maintained Peter? Well, one, he was a genuine believer. Note that. Yes, he hadn't just repented, he had actually believed. He was a genuine pe- uh, believer. Secondly, the Lord prayed for him. I prayed for you that your faith shall not fail. And of course, his faith didn't fail, because when our Lord prays for you, he gets what he asks for. Yes? And this is what this epistle has been talking about. What were we talking about this morning? We have a high priest. What for? Well, he ever lives to make intercession. Well, why does it really matter? Suppose he left off one day. What would it matter whether he made intercession or not? Oh, goodness me. You see, the whole link between us and God is not merely that we repent. It's possible to repent and never believe. If you want to be a, a, a true born-again child of God, you have to be both repent and believe, yes? We're justified by faith, born again through faith in Christ, yeah? And the whole link is faith. What happens if that faith gets broken? Well, that would be disaster, wouldn't it? So I don't know if you follow me now, what I say now, but some people ask the question, is it true to talk about the eternal security of the believer? Do you, do you, do you agree with the doctrine of the eternal security of the believer? Well, strictly speaking, forgive my pulling your leg if that's what you think is I'm doing, but strictly speaking, every, every Christian believes in the security of the believer. Surely they must. Bible preaches it. He that believeth on the Son has everlasting life. You ain't got any option. You have to believe in the eternal security of the believer. Yeah, the point at issue is, once you are a genuine believer, can you be sure you'll always remain a believer? As long as you are a believer, then the word of God stands. Who could contradict it? He who believes has everlasting life shall not come into condemnation, and so forth. Eternal security of the believer. What happens if a man or woman being a believer, is it possible to have their faith broken or to throw it away? Then it'd be useless to talk about the eternal security of the believer, wouldn't it? There's no verse in the Bible that says, he that believeth on the Son of God has everlasting life, and he that once upon a time believed but doesn't believe anymore, never mind, he still has eternal life because he once believed, even if he doesn't believe now and is a positive atheist. I, no verse in the Bible like that that I know of, is there? So what the question really comes down to is, not is the believer eternally secure? Well, of course he is, but once a believer, always a believer? We'll see. Of course, other sides of the question I want to mention, but you see what my answer is. Uh, you'll see what my answer is. You'll see at once what my answer to that question is, because we've been spent three sessions today, if not four, talking about that great high priest and why we have one, and of the chief things of which we're saying, the chiefest is all this, we have a high priest. Oh, marvelous, says Hebrews. He ever lives to make intercession. And if you've been wobbling a bit and you are feeling you're a genuine believer and you've been wobbling and Satan's been whispering in your ear, you might as well pack up, old girl. You see, you aren't much cop. You a believer? You profess to believe on the Savior? Goodness me, look at you. Nah, no, you might as well throw away your profession. The writer to this epistle says, oh, don't do that. Whatever you do, hold fast your confession of faith. Notice he doesn't say hold fast your faith, but your confession of faith. If you are a believer, you have no need to throw away your confession. You say, but I blotted my copy book. Oh, but my dear good soul, there's a high priest, and there's a mercy seat. Come boldly to the mercy seat that you might find mercy for these past mistakes and grace to help in time of need. Oh, don't throw away. Hold fast your confession. We've got a great high priest. Yeah. What happens if somebody with his eyes open? Yes, that's the question, isn't it? Knowingly turns his back, and that raises what, what turning your back means, what falling away means. I talking too much, as usual. There are lots of other folks that are bursting to say things. They can't think of the first word to say. Yes? Uh, I would say that if my salvation depended on me to obtain it, Yes. then it's dependent on me to keep it, and I'd have to keep on and on Yes. to make sure I did keep it. But it depends only on God. It didn't come from me, so I can't lose it. Ha, yes, that's an interesting thing. Am I re- restate your proposition? You're saying that if it depended on me to get it. Yes, I would have to keep it. You see, uh, then I would have to keep it. And salvation being by grace to start with, it wasn't dependent on your effort to start with. If it thereafter depended on your effort, that would, um, that would rule out the first thing, wouldn't it? Yeah. Do you see, because it would amount to the same thing. It would still depend on your effort to have it anyway. This is what you're saying, and you say, no, it ain't that. It is a genuine gift. Yeah? Or, yes. And just, uh, the, when the meaning of the parable was Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. It's in chapter eight of Luke. Luke, yes. And it's verse eleven. Mm-hmm. And it says, this is the meaning of the parable. The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, Yeah. so that they cannot believe and be saved. Yeah. Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. Mm. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing, they fall away. Mm-hmm. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, for as they go on their way, they are choked by life's worries, riches, and pleasures, and they do not mature. But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop. Mm. Um, and just whenever we were reading that, we felt that, uh, it was possible for people to believe in the word of God, that is the gospel, to to receive the gospel and to believe it with joy and stuff, uh, to really just rejoice in it, but that there is a need for a person to persevere, uh, to retain it, to persevere and to do it, and to see a a crop coming. And like, it goes through different responses in people's hearts. At first, people don't seem to actually believe in their heart that the word is preached. They hear the word, Mm-hmm. but they don't actually even respond to it in their heart. Mhm. They don't actually receive it. Mhm. But the second people, it says, they believe for a while. Mhm. So in i- in i- the second people actually do respond in their, in in their heart. Uh, and in that sense, we are responsible, do you know? Like, it doesn't just depend upon God. We we have a responsibility in our heart. We have, there's a response that we have to make Mhm. to God. Uh, but in a time of testing, in other words, there will come time of testing. I've, I've discovered, I mean, there is times when I feel tested. Mm-hmm. Everybody comes into that. You can fall away. Uh, the seed that fell among the thorns stands for those who hear, and as they go on their way, they're choked by life's words. I think this is a believer as well, who hears the word of God, but maybe because of, uh, just the cares of the world and the riches of the world, they get choked and they don't produce anything for God. Um, but seed and good soil stands for those who are with a noble and good heart, hear the word and retain it, and by persevering produce a crop. I'm not saying that they lose their eternal salvation, but what I'm saying, like, I don't understand what, you know, I- I have puzzle over it, you know? Mm-hmm. Yes. Yes, that's very interesting, and that's a very, very important passage you've brought up because it is one of the basic parables, isn't it? Our Lord in Matthew said, or is it in Mark, when the disciples came and said, explain this parable, he said, don't you understand this parable? Because this is, if you don't understand that, how will you understand anyone? Because this is the number one basic parable illustrative of principles of salvation. So that's a, thank you very much, Vincent, for raising it. And, uh, it does seem to many, uh, folks that, uh, when it says that these folks believe for a while, well, it must mean what it says, they say. They believe for a while, so believers then. But then they fell away, so they were no use. They lost, they got lost in the end. They'll say, may I point out, uh, would I wonder if you'd agree with me that the only thing that's any good is fruit? I want to say that the only one out of this four that's any good is the one that produced a fruit. Yes? By their fruits you shall know them, says Christ. If there are no fruits, if there are no works as a result, what are you going to make of it? I think in that sense I would be slightly more severe than you, Vincent, you see. I would say that the only one of these four that is any use whatsoever is the one that brings forth fruit with endurance. Anything less than that is useless, you see. And I would want to interpret that as to say that when someone is a genuine believer and the word has taken root in them, then inevitably they will bring forth fruit. And James will tell you, oh, but look, you say you've got faith, but you haven't got any works. Sorry, my good man, he'll say. But that's useless, you know. If you've got faith, you must be able to show me the evidence of your faith, because if it's genuine faith, it will lead to works. It will lead to fruit. Listen to Paul talking to the Colossians. Lovely, now he says, to hear about you, how the word of the gospel has come to you, and it bringeth forth fruit as it does in all the world. I want to be a bit more severe and say that not that there were, was one group that was useless and two groups that were sort of semi, semi, semi, and then one group that was rather deluxe. I would be more severe and, uh, uh, uh, you know, well, I mean the deluxe group, they actually brought forth some fruit, or hurrah, deluxe Christians. No, I would want to say, be a little more severe, I think, than you, and say, no, there was only one group that was any use whatsoever. Well, then if it works and and it says there, um, in in the scripture that he himself shall be saved, those works be born, you know. Wow. So that'll be fruit, that'll be fruit. Mm-hmm. So then if his fruit would be born, he'd bow too according to that. Oh, ah. Well, that's interesting. Uh, here our chairman, his delightful soul. You'll see now he has brought to bear another very important scripture, so we might as well read it, and then we'll put these two things together and, and trace the idea through the New Testament. Uh, this is 1 Corinthians 3 that he's referring to. 1 Corinthians 3. Uh, Mr. Chairman, sir, do read it. As you know, the verses are 1 Corinthians Using verses 10 to 15. Using the gift that God gave me, I did work, I did the work of an expert builder and laid the foundation, and another man is building on it. But each one must be careful how he builds, for God has already placed Jesus Christ as the one and only foundation, and no other foundation can be laid. Some will use gold or silver or precious stones in the building of foundation, in the building on the foundation. Ours will use wood or grass or straw, and the quality of each person's work will be seen when the day of Christ exposes it. For in on that day, fire will reveal every man's work. The fire will test it and show its real quality. Mm. If what was built on the foundation survives the fire, the builder will receive award. But if anyone's work is burned up, then he will lose it, but he himself will be saved as if he had escaped through the fire. And that, of course, is an exceedingly important, uh, scripture, uh, statement of principle. Here's Paul, and he's laid the foundation in Corinth for the church, and the foundation is Christ, of course, and the gospel of Christ. Now it comes to Christians to build on that, their works, yes? And it says that when the Lord comes, the day of Christ, and examines the work of his people, not as a judge judging in the criminal court, but as the judge and master surveying the work of his servant and rewarding them according to the quality of that work. Paul takes two extreme cases. If a man's work is good quality and abides, what does he get? You say he gets salvation. No, he doesn't. Salvation is never by works. Salvation is never a reward for work done. What does he get? He gets a reward, good man. So he's got two things. We've got three, actually. He's saved through faith in Christ. He's on the foundation, and he's done some good quality work, and the Lord approves of it, and so that abides for all eternity, and he's got something to show for his life, and in addition, he gets a reward on top. Good man. Another man comes and his work is burned up. What happens to him? Well, he suffers loss twice over, doesn't he? He doesn't get any reward to start with. That could have eternal consequence. Then his work is burned up, so there's nothing to show for his life. And for that to happen, and for you to be left eternally without anything to show, that's a sorry state to be in eternally, isn't it? What happens to the man himself? He himself shall be, you say, lost then if all his work is burned up. No, no, he himself shall be saved. How can that be, you say, if all his works are burned up? Because, frankly, ladies and gentlemen, salvation is not, never was by work. And so if the man is a true believer, then even though his works are burned up, he himself shall be saved, says script. So now we learn what is a very important thing. Let me put it in technical language and legal language, if I can. Christian works are not the condition of salvation. They are the expression and evidence of salvation. Yes? Let me repeat that. Christian good works are not the condition of salvation. They are the result and evident and fruit of salvation. And that's an exceedingly important principle. But now, uh, Paul is deliberately stating the extreme case, isn't he? I don't know whether we are to suppose that there will be some Christians so miserable that they won't have any works at all. Do you think that's possible even? Well, perhaps the man who, who, um, uh, uh, is, uh, falling down from the sky in a jet airplane that's about to crash, and realizing what is happens in repentance, he casts himself on the mercy of God like a dying thief and is saved before the aircraft hits the ground from a life that was nothing but a life of sin from that, from the beginning right up to that moment. Saved. No works to show, no chance on earth for the salvation to show the evidence of its reality. What chance would there be? Thank God, in such a case, salvation, works are not the condition of salvation. Works are the evidence of salvation, the result of salvation, and for such a man, there wasn't the time to show any evidence. But now, for the most of us who do have time to show, let's come back to Vincent's scripture, if you will, because I think this is exceedingly important. What about these, uh, uh, in this is Luke chapter eight, isn't it? Uh, verse thirteen. These on the rock are they which, when they have heard, receive the word with joy, and these have no root, who for a while believe and in time of testing fall away. And the question is, who are these people in our present sense? Are they any good? Are they genuine believers? Now we start now a very large topic. It is now, uh, nearly five minutes to ten, and Sunday doesn't count till twelve o'clock. Uh, but, uh, it is a large topic, and, uh, uh, let me just say again, do feel free, please, all of you, to join in. I shall introduce it by saying certain things about the two passages I indicated, and then I shall sit back and I shall hear what you've got to say. We'll see. Eh, eh, uh, do please join in. Let's be frank and kind one to another and considerate and try to understand one another and see what God has to say to us over this very important matter. Important to us personally, isn't it? Can I be sure and secure in my salvation, or could it happen that I lost the lot, do you see? Now, I take these two passages first because they are passages that are frequently quoted in this connection, so I take them anyway. And secondly, because they belong to our study this weekend, you see, we should have had to face them anyway. So let me say what I think they mean in their context. And when I said that, that isn't meant to stop all further discussion. There are other passages that are deal on it, and there are other passages that may well be saying something different from what these passages are saying, but at least that would make a start, wouldn't it? And the first of these very solemn passages is in chapter six and begins in verse four. But it doesn't really begin in verse four, does it? Because notice what verse three says. And this we will do if God permit. What will we do if God permit? Well, what he has said at the beginning, verse one: Wherefore let us cease to speak of the first principles of Christ and press on unto perfection. This will we do if God permit. Now, at first sight, that sounds very curious, doesn't it? Why wouldn't God permit anybody to press on to perfection? What does the man mean? We'll press on to perfection if God allows us to. I thought God was all for encouraging people to press on to perfection. Well, first we ought to consider, uh, what it means to press on to perfection. When we first find that phrase, we, we think that means, well, look, press on to greater and greater godliness and holiness. Well, that's a good thing to do, but in this context, I submit to you that what it means is press on from the Judaism in which they were brought up, which was only a copy and a shadow, and press on to the real thing. Why do I say that? Well, look, let me remind you of the phrases as it occurs, and in your translations you may have this Greek word that keeps reoccurring translated in different ways. For time's sake, I'm going to read it in a literal translation to let you see how the th- flow of the thought is going, how the phrase keeps recurring. To prep on to perfection. What perfection? Chapter seven eleven. Now, if there was perfection through the Levitical priesthood, if there were perfection through the poli- Levitical priesthood, but there wasn't, of course. So let's leave it behind and press on to perfection, all right? Verse nineteen, for the law made nothing perfect. Well, let's scrap it then. What are you going to put in its place? Well, the end of the verse tells you, a bringing in of a better hope by which we draw near to God. The contrast is not between a true believer who's really trusted Christ and is now taking his first steps and someone who's gone on a long way. The contrast is between a system that could make nothing perfect and had to be scrapped because of its weakness and unprofitableness. And we're going to leave that behind and go on to this better hope by which we draw near to God. Or look again in chapter nine and verse eleven. About Christ having come a high priest of good things to come through the greater and more perfect tabernacle. What do you mean? Well, there are not two Christian tabernacles, you know, one not quite so perfect as the other. There's the Jewish tabernacle that was only a copy, and there is this more perfect, the true tabernacle into which Christ has entered. What have we got to do? We've got to leave the old one and press on to perfection, this more perfect tabernacle. And so with the sacrifices. Those Old Testament sacrifices, says chapter nine verse nine, they could not, as touching the conscience, make the worth- worshipper perfect. And as we were saying just before the tea break, chapter ten, you'll see, verse one, if those Old Testament sacrifices had been able to make those that used them perfect as pertaining to the conscience, they would have ceased, but they can't. Well, what's to do then? Well, abandon them and press on to perfection. That is the argument that is running through like the chime of a bell all through these passages. The man is writing to people that were born Jews, brought up under the Jewish priesthood, the Jewish temple, the Jewish ceremonial law, the Jewish sacrifices as a way to God in this Jewish temple, and now they've professed to have faith in Christ. What are they to do? And the writer says, you are to press on then to perfection, and goes on to explain what he means by perfection. Now, why is he as r- r- writing these things to them? Well, all sorts of reasons, of course. One little practical thing. Chapter ten twenty five says, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the custom of some is. And that seems an innocent little remark, but hear of people who, being born Jews, have professed to trust the Savior, and they've been coming to the meetings of the Christians, and now they stop, or they're not doing it very much. It's become a custom, and they're forsaking the assembling of themselves together. That raises a big question. Where might they be going? Could they be going back to their Judaism? What would it mean if they were going back to their Judaism instead of pressing on to and with perfection? You say there's a lot in Judaism that's good. Agreed. Look back to chapter six and see the argument. Verse one, let us press on to perfection, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the teaching of baptisms and of laying on of hands, and of the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And you know all those things Jews believe in common with Christians. Jews believe all that. You say, well, then that's okay then to go back to Judaism. No, it isn't. We are to leave behind those, uh, uh, not lay again the foundation, that is very good stuff, but we are to press on to this full grown re- grown Christianity, this full grown adult salvation that God has provided in Christ. And says the writer, this we will do if God permit. We say, why wouldn't he permit it then? Well, says the writer, you see, as touching those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost and tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them to repentance. That's what it means when he says, if God permit. For there comes a situation, ah, you say this is the unpardonable sin where God ha- oh, is this a sin that God won't forgive? This is, it says, ah, it means that if we do certain wrong things, um, then God won't forgive us. It doesn't say so, ladies and gentlemen, does it? We must treat the verses very carefully. What it says is not that God doesn't forgive. It says that you'll never get these people to change their mind. And unless you can get people to change their minds to repent, of course there's no forgiveness anyway, is there? And the difficulty is that there comes a state with certain people where you'll never get them to change their mind. Now, when does that kind of thing happen, you see? Well, as touching those who were once saved. Now, you ought to have raised a protest to took the roof off the building when I said that. Doesn't say that, does it? It says touching those who were one enlightened. What does that mean? So it raises a very big question. Is being enlightened the same thing as being saved? Some people will say yes, but I submit to you it ain't, isn't the same thing as being saved. What God has to do is we are naturally in ignorance. We don't know the truth. We are blind. God, by his spirit, comes along and opens our eyes. Now we're no longer in the dark. We see, oh, but we still have a choice. And if with our eyes open, do you see, we reject the gospel and go back to Judaism, then says God, it is impossible to get such people to change their minds again. Why is it impossible? Is it that God is being a little bit peevish? Well, no. Let's take an illustration, and we go to the bottom of the, uh, uh, uh, paragraph, verse seven. For the land which has drunk the rain that cometh oft upon it and bringeth forth herbs meet for them for whose sake it is also tilled, receiveth the blessing of God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is rejected and nigh unto a curse whose end is to be burned. An analogy. Here's a bit of ground, yes? Rain comes down from heaven on a bit of ground, and the response is that it brings forth herbs, a bit of herbs that the gardener likes very much, by the way. More rain, more herbs. Here's another bit of ground. Rain comes down from heaven. It brings forth thorns and thistles. Ooh, say I don't like that. So what do you do now? You say, some more rain, please. But all it will do will bring forth more thorns and thistles. And in the analogy, what is the rain? As Paul P- as the writer now tells you, he's talking about the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes upon a person and illumines their heart, now they see. If with their eyes open they reject God's Holy Spirit, what do you say now? Um, um, well, God, try something bigger. Well, can you suggest something bigger than the Holy Spirit? Make it clearer to them, God. Well, how? Well, you say, do a miracle of some kind. Do an earthquake. Well, ladies and gentlemen, if an earthquake would