Take your Bibles this morning and turn to, we will get to John chapter number 10. John chapter number 10, if you would, John chapter number 10. Today is, there's a couple of, there's definitely holidays that we acknowledge and recognize within our nation. But I believe there's a couple of holidays that are special days that we recognize as the church, because these are days that had a great impact for the church. Obviously, Resurrection Sunday is one of those days we pause to recognize. I think that this is a Sunday, the Sunday before the 31st of October. is a day that impacted the church in history. And it's a conviction of mine that we recognize it, partly because I have a desire to reclaim that day as Reformation Day. But it is a day that was set aside in history. It was a moment. Of course, God was doing a thing in the hearts of people for well over 100 years, from the time of a guy named John Hus to Martin Luther, but also in the hearts of other men and women and believers across Europe at the time. But it was when Luther, on October 31st of 1517, went and nailed the 95 theses, basically 95 things that was a point of contention, a point of disagreement, a point of debate, really, was what he was proposing. Let us discuss these. Let us see if these things are actually what the Bible teaches. And God was really orchestrating things in that event because some have sort of wondered that had Luther nailed those things or had somebody like Luther done that very action 30 years before, would what have happened, happened? Or would it have been forgotten in history? But you see what happened was, is that it was such a bold statement that just a few years after that, a guy named Gutenberg had developed the first printing press. And as young men do, young college age men do, they see something and they say, oh, this is controversial, let's spread it. And so some young students of Luther got all excited and they took what Luther had posted, they ran it through the printing press and it started spreading across Europe to where it got to the Pope. Now, this only emboldened Luther, and of course, the debate didn't really happen. There was other debates that did happen, but those 95 things didn't get to address. And before long, there's a lot to the story, but before long, the pope wrote what was called a papal bull. What a papal bull was, was basically an order, we can think of it sort of like, almost like an order of cease and desist, or an order of condemnation. When the Pope did this, and you also have to understand this, as Protestants in America, we don't quite understand. Like, it's hard for us to put ourselves in the shoes of what that would have been like over 500 years ago when somebody with the stature of the Pope did something like that, okay? It was, you are, just foreboding, I mean, you basically forfeit your life, right? You are done, okay? And when he received that, Luther's action then did something else, they got these young men stirred up again, that then spread like wildfire across Europe, and that was, he took that papal bull, he went outside to a field with an audience, and he burned it. lit it on fire, in other words saying, write all the papal bulls you want, I don't care. And it was that kind of action that God used. People that do studies on the life of Martin Luther or read biographies, they like to focus on some, some like to focus on like the problems with Luther. Yes, Luther was not a perfect person. Luther had issues, all right? If we were to take some of the things that Luther wrote, some of his more colorful language, we could not necessarily read it in mixed company or in the company of children. But sometimes God seems it necessary to use individuals like that. We normally look at this at the Reformation, at things that were recovered, were reformed from what the Roman Catholic Church had done and recovered or reformed back to what the Bible taught. And the main things that normally come to mind are what is known as the five solas. If we look at this, sola scriptura, sola gratia, sola fide, Solus Christus and Sola Deo Gloria. That's Latin for scripture alone, grace alone, faith alone, Christ alone, to the glory of God alone. And those were the main things that were reformed or recovered in the Reformation. But there were other things that as those things were battled out, that reforming or Reformation continued to happen within the church and across Europe. One of those things that were battled for and reformed about are one of the things that we're going to be doing this morning. That is the Lord's Table communion. In fact, there's a very famous debate that actually happened with two of the reformers. who was leading the reformation efforts in Switzerland and Luther came together and they tried to like, they're friends and everything, like, we gotta get you guys together, you're on the same page and we can have like a team up, like an Avengers event, right? And like, it would be awesome. And they did. And the two personalities of Zwingli and Luther found that they sort of butted heads a little bit. but were finding that they could agree on most things, the things that they felt were important. And they developed 14 points, 14 points of doctrinal conviction that needed to be agreed upon. And they agreed on 13 and a half. And it was to such a, and the one point that they disagreed on was what was meant by the Lord's Supper. To the point that the decision was so much that Luther said, if Zwingli says one more thing, I'm throwing something at his head. And we can easily judge those men from our American standpoint today in 2024. But I dare say, especially if you study history, withhold your judgment of historical characters until you're able to put your feet into their shoes and to that time. Another one of those things that was battled out in the Reformation time period are the things that we've been covering in our series, The Doctrines of Grace. Was man good or was man sinful? Is man inherently sinful? Is he totally depraved? Or does he have the ability to contribute to his salvation? This was one of those fights that Luther actually fought with a Roman Catholic priest named Desiderius Erasmus, and he wrote his book, the book that survives today, called The Bondage of the Will by Martin Luther, was really his response to the debate he was having with the Catholic priest Erasmus. The sovereign election of God. And these are the subjects that have been covered so far in this series. So we talked about the radical corruption of man. The sovereign grace of God or God's sovereign election was a point of disagreement with the Roman Catholic Church during the Reformation. The definite atonement of Christ and what we covered last time, the effectual call of the Spirit. These things are what have been categorized as the doctrines of grace and now we come to the final point, the final point. Which in the acronym TULIP, where you have total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace. When you come to the P, it is perseverance of the saints. Now, I have titled this morning's message as the preservation of the saints. You say, well, why did you change the word? I'm not the first person that changed the word, okay? It has actually been a thing, but I think that part of the problem with the word, although I believe perseverance is a truth, is a doctrine that is taught in scripture, I believe that it is misleading to start with that, and maybe I can explain that clearly for you this morning. So as we jump into this, let's look at this. We're gonna look at three, basically ask three questions. Three questions this morning. The first question is, what is the difference between preservation and perseverance? So we can basically get an understanding of preservation and perseverance, this final doctrine. This is sometimes labeled in Baptist circles as eternal security, all right? So having an understanding of this, and one of my goals this morning is to drown you with Scripture. I want to just completely overload you with this morning with the Bible. And so we will look at many scriptures with that. Then we're gonna tune in a little bit closer as we get to our second point. Our second question is, how does this work? How does this truth or this doctrine of preservation actually work? And we will take a closer look at one passage, which is John chapter 10. Then we will end with a look at an objection. An objection, and what is that objection? And I sort of categorize this as the third question is, what about Hebrews chapter six? What about Hebrews chapter six? Now, some of you are thinking, yeah, what about Hebrews chapter six? Some of you are thinking, what is Hebrews chapter six? We will get there, and you will understand once we read Hebrews chapter six, verse four through six, why that is an objection. But we will explain that as well. So let's look at death. What is the difference between preservation and perseverance? Perseverance has been misunderstood. Armenians have, and those that are opposed to this, have disliked, even those, I'll say this, even those who disagree with the doctrine of election, but believe in eternal security, which I hope by the end of this series you'll see that that's a bit of a contradiction. theologically, logically, okay? But even those that believe in eternal security will criticize those that believe in the doctrines of grace because of the term perseverance of the saints. And this is what they say. They totally misunderstand it. And they say this, oh, you believe that you've got to work your way to heaven. You believe that you've got to persevere. And if you don't finish, then you've lost your salvation, you're not gonna go to heaven when you die. That is a complete misunderstanding, which is why I sort of like, prefer the term preservation. However, I hope I get across to you and make it clear to you that perseverance is a part of it, okay? Why do we use the term perseverance to begin with? Matthew 10 is not the only place but Matthew 10 verse 21 and 22 Jesus same brother will deliver brother over to death and the father his child and children will rise against parents and have them put to death You'll be hated by all for my name's sake but the one who endures to the end will be saved and He mentions the same truth in Matthew 24 verse number 13 The one who endures to the end will be saved and so someone may say wait a second Is the bible saying there that the only sure cap of our salvation is if we make it to the end? Therefore it's on us And we would say No No John Frame, the theologian, wrote a very lengthy systematic theology, said this, perseverance simply means that those who are truly regenerate, have been born again, have experienced a new birth, in saving union with Christ, can't lose their salvation. In other words, All right, here's the linking of preservation and perseverance, okay? God will preserve his elect, and therefore, they will continue to persevere unto the end. All right, so when we say preservation, we are speaking of what God does. for the security of the believer. And when we say perseverance, because of what God does, we speak to what the believer will do. All right, so let me say it this way. If you are saved, if you have been born again, if you have experienced a new birth, if you are in Christ, You will endure to the end, but it is not because of anything you have done. It is because of God's hand on you. So that's the thesis statement, all right? That's the truth, all right? Now what do we do? We must back it up from scripture, right? All right, so let's do this. I have some slides, Colin. You're gonna have to do your best, buddy, because we're gonna go through this fast, and I've tried to put some of these on the screen, so hang on, okay? Hang on. All right, Psalm 37, verse 28. Preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off psalm 66 9 who has kept our soul Among the living and has not let our feet slip psalm 94 14 for the Lord will not forsake his people He will not abandon his heritage psalm 97 10. Oh you who love the Lord hate evil He preserves the lives of his saints. He delivers them from the hand of the wicked and Psalm 121, 3, he will not let your foot be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber. Psalm 127, or 121, 7 and 8, the Lord will keep you from all evil. He will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. Psalm 145 verse 14, the Lord upholds all those who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. Psalm 145 verse 20, the Lord preserves all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy. Ezekiel 11, 19 and 20, and I will give them one heart and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh and that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them and they shall be my people and I will be their God. Now, before we just pause right there, you may be thinking, hey, you're just reading Old Testament passages. How's that talking about us if they're in the Old Testament? All right, understand this, get this. Those who were saved were God's elect. Those who were saints in the Old Testament came to be that way by the same way that we come to be saints in the New Testament. All right, understand it this way. You say, but Christ hadn't come. It is still by their faith in Christ. See, remember this, and this will help you understand salvation in the Old Testament. Promises made, promises kept. Promises made, promises kept. They looked towards the anticipation of the Messiah and believed and had faith. And what does the New Testament say? Abraham's faith was counted to him as? Righteousness, we look back to the work of Christ on the cross by faith. Promises made, promises kept. So therefore we do not section off the Old Testament saying that was talking to them. We still see the truths that are written in the Old Testament still have impact for us today, okay? But let's get to the New Testament. Hebrews 13 verse five, keep your life free from love of money and be content with what you have for he has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. The gospel of John, John chapter three verse 36, whoever believes in the son has eternal life. Whoever does not obey the son shall not see life but the wrath of God remains on him. Whoever believes in the son has what? eternal life John 5 24 truly truly I say to you whoever hears my word and Believes him who sent me has eternal life Period it is not common to judgment, but it's passed from death to life very definite statements John 6 really studied Jesus's teachings on John 6 all of what we've covered in the doctrines of grace is in John 6 and All of it John 6 verse 39 through 40 and this is the will of him who sent me that I should lose nothing Of all that he has given me Well, hey, what if I do this after I'm saved he will lose nothing He will lose nothing that the Father has given, but raise it up on the last day, for this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. Verse 51 of the same chapter, I'm the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live until he messes up really bad. He will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. 2 Timothy 1 verse 12, which is why I suffer as I do, but I am not ashamed. For, does this sound familiar this morning? I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day that which has been entrusted to me. Church, I hope you sing that with a heart full of gratitude towards your God that what you have believed and committed He will keep until that day. It's not on you. It's not resting upon your efforts. It is Him First Peter 1 verse 3 through 5 blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ According to his great mercy. He has caused us to be born again To a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance All right. So what is he saying so far salvation, right? That's the gospel. You've been born again new birth Through Christ, the resurrection of Christ from the dead, now verse four, to what? An inheritance. What is your inheritance? What is the nature of that inheritance? It is imperishable. It is undefiled. It is unfading. And it is kept in heaven for you. You cannot lose this inheritance. Who by God's power, are being safeguarded through faith for a salvation ready to be refilled in the last time. Our book that we have been covering, and we are going to pick up again and finish it out by the end of the year, 1 John. 1 John chapter five, verse 11 through 13, and this is the testimony that God gave us, what? Eternal life. How do you know that eternal life is secure for you? He says, this life is in His Son, Whoever has the Son has life. Whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. Philippians 1.6, and I am sure of this, that he who began A good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. See, there's great error whenever you take a belief that you have begun the good work. When you think it is by your will and your efforts that have begun that good work, you make great error because you miss on what God, by His power, is actually doing. 1 Thessalonians 5, 23 and 24, now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful. He will surely do it. Revelation 14, 12, here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. 1 Timothy 4, 16, keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by doing so you will save both yourself and your hearers. Each person in the Trinity has a hand in securing a believer. As the believer perseveres God the Father establishes 2nd Corinthians 121 and it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us So God the Father establishes God the Son confirms 1st Corinthians 1 verse 8 who will sustain you to the end guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ And God, the Holy Spirit, seals, Ephesians 1, 13, which we read this morning, in him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. Anyone who has the Holy Spirit has a guarantee of final perseverance. That is preservation and perseverance. God has preserved you, you persevere to the end. And it is not dependent upon you. Although we walk in the statutes of the Lord, we walk in His obedience, we walk in His commandments, we grow in sanctification, we obey, it is a work of God that is working with us. This brings us to point number two, question number two. Did you turn the air down? Okay. All right, I was about to say something is hot. All right, but we got the air going, all right? So it's gonna cool down just a little bit. How does this work? How does this work? How do we understand this? The 1689 London Baptist Confession says this, in chapter 17, paragraph two, this perseverance of the saints depends not upon their own free will, but upon the immutability of the decree of election, flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father, upon the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ and union with Him. The oath of God, the abiding of His Spirit, and the seed of God within them, and the nature of the covenant of grace, from all which ariseth also the certainty and infallibility thereof. So if I can get something across to you this morning that this truth, your continuing, your perseverance is not dependent upon you. It's based on what God's work is. So let us go to John chapter 10. John chapter 10. John chapter 10. This is the text where Jesus is teaching and he declares the truth. I am the Good Shepherd Jesus is the Good Shepherd Now he teaches this through verse 21 and there's discussion and upset the Pharisees there They think that he's teaching wrong things Verse 22 Now it was the feast of dedication in Jerusalem and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch. Then the Jews surrounded him and said to him, how long do you keep us in doubt? If you are the Christ, if you're the Messiah, tell us plainly. Verse 25, Jesus answered them, I told you and you do not believe. The works that I do in my father's name, they bear witness of me. But you do not believe because you, here it is, are not of my sheep, as I said to you. Now, this is where we're gonna focus in on here in verses 27 through 29. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one. This is a wonderful passage. Actually, in these three verses, the doctrines of grace are here. First election, when Jesus identifies his sheep as having been given to him by the Father. In other words, they are the gift of God's electing love. Death, not atonement. Verse 15, if you drop down to verse 15, he says, as the Father knows me, even so I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. So in this, these are the sheep for whom Christ died, a factual call which we covered last week. He says, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. By the efficacious work of the Holy Spirit, these sheep respond to God's irresistible grace. They are said not only to listen to Jesus' voice, but also to follow him. And then where's the preservation of the saints? Well, let's look at verse 28. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. Okay? So what do we see here in this text? First of all, he asserts absolute security in three ways. In three ways. When he calls, when his sheep, his sheep, God's sheep, God's, you know, not everybody. You go to John chapter 17, he's like, I'm not praying for everybody. I'm praying for those you've given me. All right, so we understand that. His sheep, the ones that are elect, his through time and history that he's called, okay? What does he do for them? What is the gift he gives them? Eternal life, eternal life. But can't we sin in such a way to where we lose that, all right? Are we saying now that Jesus gives something and then takes it back? I'm gonna give you eternal life because you're my sheep, but I will take it back, so watch out. Are we saying, that's not what he says. He says, I give them eternal life. Now he goes on even further. So that's number one, he gives them eternal life. He goes further in number two and he says, he says the sheep will never perish. So first is a positive assertion of here's what I give to you, eternal life. And then a negative assertion of you will never perish. You have eternal life, so you'll never, You'll never go into outer darkness. Christ uses a double negative actually in the Greek. They shall never ever perish. Millard Erickson sort of translates it this way. They shall not, repeat, shall not ever perish in the slightest. It is such a definite, solid statement of His work of keeping those who are His. But He's not done yet. So He said, I give them eternal life. They shall never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever perish. But wait, there's more. Look at verse number 20, end of verse 28. Neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. Whose hand is he talking about? Christ. Then he goes on in verse 29, my father who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of my father's hand. James Montgomery Boyce in his book on this subject says, thus, we are doubly secure, clutched by both the Father and the Son. And if we still feel insecure, we should realize that even when we are held in this manner, both the Father and the Son have a hand free to defend us. We are being held in the hand of Christ, and that hand of Christ is being covered over with the hand of the Father, so therefore we are both in the hand of Christ and the hand of Father, and there is not even a being ever in creation that is even close to coming to threaten to snatch anyone of His out of their hands. Samuel Rutherford, the Puritan. You think about many of the teachings of those who say, in fact, I had an acquaintance, a friend, and that friendship has actually waned because of some of his doctrinal positions. That changed on this area of the eternal security of the believer. and believed that you could, yes, someone who was a Christian could lose their salvation. And in that, he basically, like, we're understanding this is very, a hard clenching, like, ugh, don't wanna let go attitude of this idea of free will, because think about it. Let's take this logically. If you, it's dependent upon you to exercise your choice to choose God, and we understand how fickle man is, plus in our human experience, do we not see this? Do we not see those who have been in the church, even preachers who have apostatized and left the faith? There's one very famous one that wrote several books For many years, pastored a church in the outer D.C. area. His name's Joshua Harris. Claims to be an agnostic now. Left the faith. So they say, yes, we see this experientially. Those who were believers left the faith. Samuel Rutherford, the Puritan, I think gives, and I'm gonna read a quote also from Spurgeon, gives a very good pushback to this logic. Rutherford said, were I in heaven and the crown on my head, if free will were my tutor, I should lose heaven. So think about this, if we could lose our salvation on earth by free will, Why not also could we not lose it in heaven? Or do we say that someone who claims and very strongly says we have this free independent will here on earth, and we could lose it here on earth, we could lose our salvation on earth, but are you saying that God takes away our free will in heaven? Is that their position? Because if it's not, then you're still under the same threat once you're in heaven. Plus, you're contradicting a lot of scripture. What about Spurgeon? What did Spurgeon say about this matter? Well, he wasn't as kind as maybe Rutherford would have been. He said, and if I were an Arminian, I should recommend the angels not rejoice over a sinner that repenteth, for he might fall from grace and perish. And then they would have to ring the bells of heaven backward, or to toll them, and to recall their songs and say, we rejoiced too soon. Don't you love Spurgeon? Much problems result in the logic of saying that God is not more powerful than we are in our salvation. Salvation then follows that we persevere, we go forward, we grow in Christ. We call this sanctification. Kurt Daniels said, salvation without sanctification, following is no salvation. So what about backslidden believers? Let me say one thing about backslidden believers before we move on to our major objection in Hebrews 6. What about those who backslide? Do we who believe in the doctrines of grace have a category in our belief system on backsliding? And I would say yes, but I think that what has been traditionally taught in the church about backsliding is very, very off, all right? So the idea that some say of this idea of backsliding is that somebody can walk an aisle, make a profession, do whatever, and then they can go and never step foot in the church for another 20 years, they're just backslidden. This is actually a category that theologians of that mindset have come up with called the carnal Christian. I do not believe that is a biblical category. All right, but are we saying that those who are in Christ are perfect? No, we're not. We do not teach that Christians never backslide or fall into heinous sins or grow spiritually cold. This should be obvious from experience as well as scripture. The Bible records examples of the sins of great saints, Noah, Moses, Samson, David, Solomon, and others. A Christian might even commit worse sins after his conversion than before. That may trouble some of you. Well, think about it. What if you're truly converted at the age of 10, but you struggle in your growth and commit stronger sins than you have committed before you were 10 years old? This is particularly true of those converted as children. All Christians still have indwelling sin. So again, I wanna quote one of my favorite Puritans, Thomas Watson, who said, though sin lives in him, yet he does not live in sin. So what about the objection? So turn with me to Hebrews chapter six. Hebrews chapter six, okay? Hebrews, for some reason, Some reason, Hebrews is like one of those books that whenever you're looking for it, you just never can find it. It's like one of the longer New Testament books. When you go looking for it, it's like, well, where is it? Hebrews chapter six, it's right after the little book Philemon or Titus, but it's before James and 1 John. So if you get there, you've passed it, but Hebrews chapter six. So what's going on in Hebrews? Let's first read these verses. There's actually two sections that give people a lot of struggle in the book of Hebrews. First is Hebrews 6, 4 through 6. The other passage is Hebrews 10, 26 and 27. All right, we're gonna focus in on Hebrews 6, okay? Hebrews 6. Look at chapter six, verse number four. For it is impossible, very strong language, right? Impossible for those who were, now watch the language, once enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come. If they fall away to renew them, again to repentance, since they crucify again themselves the Son of God and put Him to an open shame." Ooh, that is a hard one, is it not? Because here's how the argument goes, that someone says, see, Hebrews 6 means you can lose your salvation, because someone who is, let's go through the list. They've been enlightened, they've tasted the heavenly gift, they've become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and they've tasted the good word of God, What does fall away mean? Because it says if they fall away, there's no chance of repentance for them after that. Surely these things mean someone that's in Christ. Well, first of all, when we talk about hermeneutics, what is the one thing that I always say? Context, context, context, okay? In this case, we have to understand the context of the entire book. What is the context of the book of Hebrews? I think I have this on here written by the author of History and Theology of Calvinism, Kurt Daniel. He says, the writer of Hebrews is addressing a congregation of Jews who profess to follow Christ. Some were having second thoughts and were about to reject Him and return to the old covenant sacrifices and law. The writer warns that they would die in the wilderness like their ancestors. Jesus is the promised Messiah, surpassing even Moses and Abraham. To reject him brings worse condemnation than even rejecting Moses. Denying the gospel is worse than breaking the law. A true believer proves he is such by continuing in faith to the end. Those who go back prove they were not true believers. So, you have to think about it again. Part of this is understanding this and trying to get yourself to look and put yourself into their shoes. This idea of Christianity, the Messiah had come and what they were teaching and this way of doing faith was now changing things up for the Jews who were now coming to Christ. And so now they're being taught things like, well, you don't have to do this, the veil was rent, you don't have to do this. This was so jarring to them that it created a lot of fear. Oh. No, we were taught we must do these things. We must do these things to secure, you know, but the Messiah's come. To the point where you look at the cultural impact, the peer pressure of that family who said, no, we're still looking to Messiah. There's great anger and animosity towards those. Is this worth it? Some of them probably were thinking. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I just got caught up in emotion. This is not the Messiah, we're still looking. And things will go back to normal for me if I go back. There's a lot of anxiety with these people. And so the writer of Hebrews is explaining to them the error of that. And by the way, do not go back to it so nonchalantly. All right, so that's our context. So what is he saying here? Let me break some of these phrases down. I'm trying to move quickly here. Break some of these phrases down individually. He says, first, he says, it is impossible for those who were once enlightened. This enlightening simply means that they came to understand the truths of the gospel, that they responded to those truths, not that they responded to those truths with genuine faith. They had been enlightened by the gospel. They understood what you're saying. How many of you have ever been in evangelism and you're giving someone the gospel and you ask them a question, now, do you understand this? And they look at you and they say, yeah, I understand it. And then walk away. How many of you ever had an experience like that? It's heartbreaking. They understand what you're saying and they're not completely opposed to it. But they're not ready to die. to self. They've been enlightened. What about tasting the heavenly gift? This means that these people have come to understand the heavenly gift, which probably means here that they had experienced some of the power of the Holy Spirit at work. Just think about it. When we look at even the phrase, partakers in the Holy Spirit. If you come to church and you get involved in a local body of believers, like some of these were, and you see the Holy Spirit doing things in people and giving great blessings to his church, and you've been ministered to by somebody who is a true believer, and the Holy Spirit's working through them, you may not have the Holy Spirit, but you're sharing in the blessings of the Holy Spirit. You're partaking of that gift. That term partaker is the term metochis in the Greek. It has a range of meaning. One Lucy association is with the other person or person's name. The text here speaks of people who have been associated with the Holy Spirit because of this close association perhaps, even being involved in the church. They have shared in the Holy Spirit but were never truly regenerated by the Holy Spirit. So then go on, what does it say? If they're not truly converted, but they have seen these things, they have even experienced some of these things within the church, and then what? They fall away. What is the very grave warning he gives to them? Well that grave warning is, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again themselves, the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame?" In other words, don't think, don't think that you have not Romans 1 talks about this and most of the time people read this because of the context of Romans 1 into those that are committing very gross sins. But it says God did what? Gave them over to a reprobate mind. The warning here is to those that have been sitting in church, have experienced these things, have seen these things, completely understand, and then they reject it and walk away. And he's saying, don't be surprised if God gives you over. Don't count on repentance to be there for you. It's a very grave warning. Whether it's this passage or Hebrews 10, Frame talks about these two passages together. He says they're not about immature believers who are trying to serve Christ, but who struggle with sins in their lives. The apostates of Hebrews 6 and Hebrews 10 were wolves in sheep's clothing. Those in Hebrews 10 are people who became part of God's holy people, separated from all others, as Israel was set apart by sacrifices. And those in Hebrew 10 were set apart by the blood of Christ, which separates the visible church from everyone else in the world. But God did not change their hearts and they came to despise the blood of Christ as Judas Iscariot certainly did. And most often we have those that are in the church that are very concerned about whether they are believers or not. They look to a sin that they committed, maybe even the past after their conversion. Maybe they're struggling with it now. And they say, I just can't be. Wouldn't God just totally condemn me to hell because of what I've done? Again, quote Frame here, he says, if you're concerned about your faithfulness and devotion to Christ, your concern is a mark of true faith. Wolves in sheep's clothing are not concerned about such things. As we come to a conclusion, I want to read one more passage for you. And I want us to look at how this, so we've looked at several passages, we've read a lot of scripture, and how different passages sort of characterize and present this truth of the preservation of saints. Romans 8, turn with me over to Romans 8. But Paul in Romans 8, writes a masterpiece about the hold that Christ has on his people. And he centers it all in the subject of love. So read with me Romans 8, beginning in verse number 31. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Let me remind you, that was my add-in. He who did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? That's really what is going on many times, right? When someone's struggling with their assurance because of their past, somebody, the accuser, is coming and bringing a charge against you. It is God who justifies, verse 34. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword. As it is written, for your sake we are killed all day long. We are counted as sheep for the slaughter. Yet, in all these things we are more than conquerors, not because of us, but through him who what? Loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, or principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, or maybe I should throw in there, nor any type of Arminian theologian can come up with, shall separate us from The love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. How deep the Father's love for us. How vast beyond all measure. We sang this morning. I want to close with reading the lyrics to another hymn, a much older hymn, written by a preacher, a Scottish preacher in the 1800s. His name was George Matheson. The lyrics of these verses go like this. Oh love, that will not let me go. I rest my weary soul in thee. I give thee back the life I owe. that in thine ocean depths its flow may richer, fuller be. O light that follows all my way, I yield my flickering torch to thee. My heart restores its borrowed ray, that in thy sunshine's blaze its day may brighter, fairer be. Oh joy, that seekest me through pain, I cannot close my heart to thee. I trace the rainbow through the rain and feel the promise is not in vain. that mourn shall tearless be. O cross, that liftest up my head, I dare not ask to fly from thee. I lay in dust, life's glory dead, and from the ground their blossoms red. Life, that shall endless. Church, the God who chose you, who atoned for you, who called you, will most assuredly preserve you. Let us pray. Father, we thank you for your Word. and the assurance it brings us. We thank you for Christ, who sacrificed on the cross, atoned for our sins. We thank you for the Spirit, who calls us and works within us that salvation in our hearts as we grow to be conformed daily into the image of your dear Son. And we thank you for your hand, who holds us tightly, close to you, that nothing can snatch us out of it. We pray that you will continue to be worshiped and glorified in the taking of your supper. We love you. In your name, amen. Pastor Adams.