let's take our bibles and we're going to turn to the book of hebrews in chapter two i know big scary uh... title up there we're starting uh... i think it'll be about nine weeks that will study this topic in hebrews uh... that are warnings to the believers i taught hebrews well i don't know how long ago maybe sometime in 2021, maybe going into 2022, but it's an excellent study. And as we did our verse by verse study, we came across a lot of different things and we covered some of these warnings initially. But the reason why I wanna talk about them today is because I'll tell you folks, it's the same old thing. I'm seeing a lot of people come here to Calvary through the internet world. And they're saved, but they have no assurance of their salvation. And what really amazes me, and to be honest, in the beginning this irritated me because I was just kind of thinking, well, How don't you know better and why are these things still something that you're struggling with? But I get it now because the prominence of these false teachers that are out there, their prominence makes them very powerful to where you'll hear a message or you'll read something and it'll stick in your mind as the only interpretation on a certain portion of scripture. And what I want to do tonight is not focus on the warnings yet, but we're going to talk about how these warnings that we see, they do not negate. They do not eliminate. the promises that we see of eternal life. However, if you're not careful, you're gonna read that right into everything in Hebrews. This can become one of those books that we don't talk about Hebrews, because there's some scary things in there. I'm gonna read you something that I came across this week. There's a channel on YouTube. The name of the channel is C4C Apologetics. He is an assistant pastor in Alabama. He pastors at Open Door Bible Church. Sound on the gospel, sound on internal security, good guy. Great reader too, he's read a lot of material. And he's around an area that has a lot of Mormons, so he created C4C Apologetics to just kind of put his studies on the internet to help people that are stuck in Mormonism. He started a series called Straight Outta Calvinism and he's basically rounded up a bunch of different ex-Calvinists and he's got them in front of a microphone and a camera and they are sharing their testimony back and forth. I listened to a young man who's in Utah. His name is Cole Morgani, I think. But he's doing ministry out there to LDS people, Church of the Latter-day Saints, which is, they don't call them Mormons really anymore. They're trying to move away from that because of a lot of things that have come out about the Mormon beliefs, which, surprise, surprise, they're weird. Sorry, the people are not weird. The beliefs are weird because they're not biblical. He's ministering to people, but for a while he was a Calvinist. And he would often think to himself, you know, one of the main points of Calvinism is unconditional election. And so you probably know this, especially those of you who are here on Sunday nights. God has chosen those to eternal life, and he's chosen people to eternal damnation, and it's not up to the person whether God chose you or not, it's the sovereignty of God. And the Calvinist really sticks on that point. Even Spurgeon, Charles Spurgeon, who had a clear gospel in many ways, he was a Calvinist, especially in this point. John Calvin himself, the originator of these ideas in the Reformation, he really stuck to this point. But this young man, Cole, he would go out to these LDS believers and he would be talking to them and in the back of his mind, slowly it was coming to the front of his mind, he would ask this question, does God really love the person I'm talking to? Because his doctrine demanded, his theological system demanded that you don't know that. that there are certainly people that you will come across that God does not love. In fact, he hates them. He created them for his hatred. And there's nothing you can do about that. So you're actually wasting your time if you talk to somebody that God has predestined against their will to go to hell. And that bothered him. That bothered him a lot. He would then transform as he went through a lot of different personal sin. He was struggling quite a bit with a lot of sin. And when he would fall into sin, he would cry out to God. I mean, he would lay himself out on his apartment floor and weep bitterly for God to save him because he thought that his sin was keeping him from heaven because, well, this is proof that you didn't have genuine faith. Do you know how much that messes with your mind? I mean, can you imagine if you were to be in here today and you don't know if you're going to heaven tomorrow? It's all based on your performance. I don't think we realize how blessed we are to be here and hear things over and over that people hear once in their life. They hear it once in their life. Anyway, the story I'm gonna tell here lands on this point. We're about to do a video this week on a teacher whose name is Paul Washer. He is from a ministry called Heart Cry Ministry, and he is a false teacher. This guy, I think, is probably one of the main contributors to a lot of young people's lack of assurance. I'm gonna tell you a story that Cole shared. It's a video on the internet. Trent is gonna find it this week. It's a part of our research for the video. But in this video, Paul Washer, I want you to know his name and I want you to know his ministry because he's out there, millions of views. He is interviewing some teacher, excuse me, a teacher is interviewing him. And throughout the discussion in this interview, Paul Washer shares this story, that he had a young girl who was at a college campus rally that he was attending, like a revival, so to speak. And this young girl came to him and was in tears. She was distraught, emotionally conflicted, to the point of chaos. She was looking at Paul Washer and she begged him to answer the question of how can I know that I'm saved? I have this sin in my life, I can't get rid of it, and I have tried and tried and tried. I can't know. I don't have any assurance that I'm saved. And Paul Washer gives her this answer. Go to your dorm and cry out to God all night to save you. Don't stop. Even when it gets to the point where you feel like you're insane, don't quit. Beg for God to save you. And do you know what that girl did? She went to her dorm and she wept and she pleaded and she begged God to save her all night long. And she came back to the meeting the following day and she went to Paul Washer in total sincerity and said, I begged all night, but I still don't know if I'm saved. This is what Paul Washer's response to her was, and we're gonna find the video so that you can see. We're not just making this up. He said, two things are true of you. You're either gonna go back to that dorm room and continue to cry out for God to save you, or you can go to hell. That's the response. That is like just, It's so chaotic in my mind how somebody can get to that conclusion. I think you must not know the scriptures. You must not know what the Bible says about this issue. Because that's his sincere response. Or he doesn't care. Or in some sick fashion, this is fun. But I can't imagine a young person coming up to me with those kind of questions and not being able to give them a clear answer from the Bible. Can you imagine looking at someone and just saying, I guess you're gonna go to hell? And we have the answer to eternal life. It starts with stuff like what we're gonna study over this next several weeks. A lot of people misunderstand the warnings that are in the book of Hebrews. And if you misunderstand these warnings, then you're gonna look at God as though he is threatening you with the removal of your eternal life, but we don't see that. But there are some places in Hebrews where it speaks very, very severely about sin, about falling away from the truth. And we need to see those things in proper context. And that's why I want to start off with this tonight. Using the book of Hebrews, I want to show you how the warnings of severity of chastening that we'll see in Hebrews do not eliminate what God has already promised, in that we have eternal life. I'm gonna read this to you here that I've prepared. The life of the believer is a wonderful opportunity to live the kind of life that God has planned for his children. Progressive sanctification is not a scary term, it's biblically accurate. Every day the believer has a choice to make. Will he walk in the newness of life or will he walk in his old sinful nature? Within that one choice are many others. Each choice the believer makes will bring them closer to the Lord in fellowship or create distance between him and his Savior. God is not unaware of this potential. He issues strong warnings to His children and gives them direction that He expects them to follow. Hebrews is a book with such warnings. They are clear, they are potent, and sadly, they are so often weaponized by the proponents of Calvinism and lordship salvation. Regardless of the severe consequences the believer reads in Hebrews, there is never a threat on the believer's eternal life. In fact, most of the illustrations used in Hebrews point the believer to the life they live now because of Jesus' finished work. The warnings are all about the progressive sanctification and should not be misunderstood as qualifiers for maintaining eternal life. This series aims to review all seven, or some would say there's five, warnings in Hebrews with respect to the proper context. However, I believe it's important to see how the book does not teach the believer's eternal life is in jeopardy. And so I've got three points that I want to make, and I want to make them simply and clearly because I think that's how they're written. To reflect on the tone of Hebrews, it is a book of warnings to Jewish believers. Now this does not mean that it only applies to the Jews. Some people will tell you that. They'll tell you that about James. They'll tell you that about Hebrews because, well, it's not for the Gentiles, so it's not for us. Does anybody know where the mistake is there? In the body of Christ, there is no Jew and Gentile. Okay, so there is no expectation from God that the Gentiles get Romans one through eight, and then the rest of it after chapter 12, after chapter 11, and the Jews just get two or three books. That's not the intent. The entire portion, or the entire scripture is profitable to the believer. It doesn't matter what nationality they are, it doesn't matter what background they may find themselves in now, or what spiritual condition they find themselves in in Christ, whether it be a healthy one or an unhealthy one. The Bible is for you. So when you read the Bible, you need to make sure that you understand application. You know, there are things like we read this morning in Jeremiah 30, that's specifically a prophecy about Israel, but we can learn from everything in the Bible. And one of the greatest promises is that of eternal life, and you know that. John 5, 24 is one of my favorite verses because it very clearly says that the person that believes is passed from death unto life, and they'll never be brought into condemnation. That's a promise for you. If you've believed, that promise is true of you. Jesus later said in John chapter seven at the great feast that whosoever believes he's gonna have the spirit out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. And John under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit says he was speaking about the Holy Spirit that was yet to come and we see that that actually happened in Acts chapter two. So if you've put your faith in Jesus Christ, you put your trust in him, you've got the Holy Spirit. That's not just a promise for the people in Ephesus in which Paul wrote in Ephesians. That's something for you and for me because we are now partakers of this body of Christ. But when Paul is, well I say Paul here because I think he's the writer of Hebrews. It's been in controversy for a long time. But when the writer of Hebrews is going through all these different warnings, at no point does he bring up whether the believer's faith is genuine. And you have people like Washer, MacArthur, Sproul, Piper, as educated as they may be, they always take the responsibility for eternal life and put it back on the believer. I've told you before about a video I watched with MacArthur talking to a young woman whose name is Joy. And when I watch that video, I still get emotional because I just, you hear this woman's voice crack and she pleads, how can I know that I'm saved? And MacArthur says, do you love God? And she says, yes. Do you have a heart for God? What does that even mean? I don't know, but she says yes. Do you desire to do what God wants you to do? Yes. And so MacArthur kind of, you know, plods around and says, well then you're saved. And her immediate follow-up is, but I've already done those things, I already know those things, and I still don't know that I'm saved. He never addresses the issue. He never leads her to the fact that our faith is finished in Christ. The work of our salvation is already completed. How does it get to that point? It gets to that point because we allow the teachings of men to supersede the teachings of the scripture. I was talking to a student just this morning, and I was telling him about the dangers that can happen when we start to look at our sermon like a skeleton, right? Just for imagine, for a moment, you have a body, and you're looking to put a bunch of different things on the body. And some people will say, oh, well, the skeleton of your study is the Bible, but then your commentary and your illustrations and your titles and all that, that's all the meat. You have to be careful that you don't look at your contribution to the Word of God as better than the Word of God. I think one of the things that we get the most from Christians that are very high-minded and prideful is that we don't move on to the deeper things of God. Well, first of all, a lot of people are not here on Sunday nights and Wednesday nights. When I do probably some of the meatiest teachings, People are just here on Sunday mornings and they hear messages that are not designed to be difficult to understand. The message that I did on Romans 3 and James chapter 2 a couple of weeks ago, that was a pretty heavy message and it required a lot of explanation before you actually get into the meat of what's going on. But there's nothing wrong with being repetitive, absolutely nothing, because God is repetitive. There is a problem with mankind and that he has a problem in obeying. He knows what he needs to do, but he doesn't do those things. And so God has to repeatedly tell what needs to be done and then holds that expectation for it to be followed through by the believer. But one of the things I wanna help you understand is that as we're moving through these things, we can't ever take a view that is contrary to what Scripture has already established. So when I was looking at this study, and I got a lot of this help from Dr. Phil Myers, who's a teacher here in the college. He had put together a study on this, and I saw it, and I was like, this is great, we should do this on a Sunday night, I think it would be beneficial. Because I think there needs to be more teaching about Chastening of the believer not because it's like all doom and gloom like hey, I'm gonna crack the whip on Sunday nights That's not my intention. I want you to see what God is saying Because if you can see what he's saying and the way that he's saying it it's gonna help you understand The responsibilities in your Christian life and how still there's no threat of you losing the validity of that Christian life otherwise, you're gonna be like people that They add all this fluff, but deep down in their heart, they're saying, I don't even know if God loves everybody I'm talking to. I don't even know if I'm saved, because I have all these other problems in my life. Listen, I'm your pastor, and I have sin in my life. There are things that I still struggle with, but I am so thankful that as I've continually seen in the scriptures, that sin will never take me out of the family of God. It's been paid. Now, as I've grown up in the Lord, that sin, That habitual sin that we can all be prone to if we're not focusing on improvement, we won't improve, but as I've seen more from God's word, the sin is less. And I'm not talking about a sin in particular, I'm just saying sin in general. You learn to speak less, listen more, and the opportunity for God's word to be obeyed is so much easier when you're not talking and always trying to justify your position. There's a verse in Proverbs that says, the wise man concealeth. Boy, you want to take something with you tonight? Keep your mouth closed most of the time. The issues will resolve themselves. You will know when it's your time to speak and when it's your time to keep your mouth closed. Because a lot of times we think we have an answer for everything. We're going to trip all over ourselves. I think one of the worst things that Bible teachers can do is give an answer to a question and they don't know if that answer's true. That's one of the worst things you can do. There is no humility in saying, I don't know. I don't know. There's a lot of questions in Bible line that are sitting in a folder and it's in the I don't know folder. I got to do some research and see if I can find out. But I don't want to put a video together that could last forever with a really poor and possibly incorrect interpretation. That wouldn't be good. All right, let's look at our first support here, that our salvation is completed, especially in the book of Hebrews. Let's look in Hebrews chapter two, in verses nine through 11. This is on page 1293 in a church-owned Bible. Hebrews two begins with a strong warning against negligence, and we'll have more on that next week. After this warning, the tone shifts to the sufficiency believers should draw from during the sufferings in this life. The author does not call the stumbling believer's salvation into question. He does not make him doubt if his trust in Jesus Christ is enough for eternal life. Instead, every warning points the struggling believer back to Jesus. Why? Jesus has eternally secured the believer. He cannot be concerned with hell because he has been delivered from it in the resurrection of Christ. He can, however, face chasing in this life with a loss of rewards in the next. Those are real dangers that the struggling believer faces, and salvation is not a part of those issues. Let's look in Hebrews 2, 9 through 11. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death. I think if we look back on our lives and we look after we've trusted Christ and we have suffered, I think we may have missed the very important teaching we're going to see here, that Jesus suffered in the same way. There is nothing better than finding like-mindedness with another person who's going through what you're going through. I think one of the valuable things that we have as adoptive parents is when my wife, she reaches out to somebody who's also experienced the same thing that we're going through, and automatically there's this connection. It's like, man, they know what I'm going through. Because sometimes you can explain it to people that have no idea what you've experienced, and you start to feel a little isolated. Well, I want you to see here that as this passage will continue to show, Christ suffered for us. And so we can suffer knowing that he has suffered too. He's not asking us to do something that he has not already done himself. And he walks with us through these things. For the suffering of death, verse nine, crowned with glory and honor. I want you to see this here as the completion. Salvation's done. This is something that has already come to pass with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But I want you to see this as well, that He, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man. What does it mean by the grace of God? Meaning that this is how God has demonstrated unmerited favor to us. He has offered His Son in our place. And the next thing I want you to see here is, should taste death for every man? We did this study when we were in Hebrews, and so we're not gonna go through it in the most detail tonight, but that word taste is very important, okay? This brings on the connotation of, this is something that we partake in. This is not something that Jesus kind of dabbled in the realm of death, but didn't really die, you know, or kind of just set the example and expects us to follow it. No, he actually died. for every man. There are two words I want you to focus on here. The first one is that the death of Christ is sufficient for all people. You realize how good that is? You study major world religions today and there's a barrier to entry. Even to know the truth. You wanna know the truth, you gotta get this book. You gotta do this, you gotta do that. But with Christianity, with God, the real God, he says, I did it for you. Before you even believe, God has taken care of that which was in the way. There's a payment waiting for your sin. And all you have to do is believe. But while the grace of God through the death of Jesus Christ is sufficient to save anybody, it's only efficient to those who believe. And this is where the Calvinist stumbles. The Calvinist goes, mm, no, one of these has to be true. Either it's efficient only to those that would believe, and so Jesus only died for the elect and not for the non-elect, or then it's by works, because they say if you choose to believe, it's by works. Does anyone have a verse to combat that? Mark it down, Romans 4, 5. Absolutely destroys any kind of evidence. that says believing is a work. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for what? Righteousness, because it's found in Christ. That'll slap the jaw of any Calvinist shut, if he's honest. But we see here that he takes the death for every man, and that's sufficient to save anybody. only efficient to those who believe. But look in verse 10. For it became him for whom are all things and by whom are all things in bringing many sons unto glory to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. How was Christ brought into full maturity? Not that he had an area of weakness that he had to work on, but how did the whole story map out? through his sufferings. He suffered in his public ministry, he suffered at Calvary in his two trials, and then of course on the cross. And that brings many sons into glory. This is not glory of eternal life, this is the glory of one day we're not gonna be surrounded with our sin nature anymore. How do we know that? because Christ died and he rose again. That's what the author is building off of here. He just made a really serious warning in verses one through four, which we'll study next week, but it doesn't take away what's already clearly said here. For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one, for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren. God is not ashamed to call you a part of his body. That should be enough, that should be strong enough to keep us away from sin. That we are party here in the body of Christ. How are we representing? If we take 2 Corinthians 5 literally as we should, and Paul says that we are ambassadors, how are we representing our faith? I can't tell you how many times I either read comments or hear from people that they don't go to church because of an experience they have with church people. Sometimes I think denominational church can be very damaging if it's not done right. Like I said, that barrier to entry exists. But the church is full of hypocrites. But let's not be a shining example of that, okay? Let's not be the first one to sign up as an illustration of a hypocrite. Let's walk soberly, righteously in this present life as Titus instructs us. Jesus has tasted death for every man. For the unbeliever, salvation within reach by the simple faith in Jesus' work for the payment of his sin. For the believer, Jesus' death has covered his sin and he has escaped the reality of the second death. Remember, that word death being separation. We're not guaranteed that we will be delivered physically from any kind of physical persecution save the rapture. We will not experience the second death. because that is the separation of the soul from God in hell. Jesus is not a stranger to our sufferings. Believers can enjoy a close fellowship with him as we suffer in this life. And if you remember the context, these are Jewish believers that have left their childhood faith, their childhood organization, and they're now being brought up on trials and being convicted and being killed. That's enough to make you walk away from this. But the encouragement of Hebrews is don't quit. Don't quit. Don't miss out on that rest here in this life. Look in Hebrews chapter 12 verses one and two. This section I've got titled The Author and Finisher. I want to point out some things here that I don't think are a stretch, I just think they're good observations. Let's read these two verses here. Wherefore, this is on page 1303, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us and let us, I want you to pay attention to this here, run with patience the race that is set before us. looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. There are two things about this passage that jump out. One is the fact that the believer is told to run his race with patience. Now, I know I don't look like the model athlete, and if you were to take a guess tonight, you would have guessed correctly. I am not the model athlete. But there is a difference with the athlete who is running in a sprint and the one that is running in a marathon. What is the difference? The pace. Those who are running in a sprint know that they're going to be running for a very short period of time. They intend to finish, but there could be something catastrophic that happens with their pace that takes away that ability to finish. With a marathon, there is always the intent to finish, but the question that is difficult to answer is, how well will I finish? Will I break a personal record? Will I come in at my worst time? Will I do very well, but not break the record? Or will I do kind of middle of the road? All that is determined on their pacing. Patience is the tool of the marathon runner. And so when I see it says here, run your race with patience, I see this as an illustration to the entirety of your Christian life. From the moment that you trusted and put your faith in Jesus Christ to your death, you're on a pace now. And the idea is not to start off super hot in the beginning and not be able to keep a pace to finish. There's a good pace to keep. And that's between you and God, because he's going to gift you with certain talents and abilities as you obey to the filling of the Holy Spirit. Patience is a tool of the marathon runner. He knows he will finish, but the way he finishes is determined by his pace. He must focus on his stamina, his breathing, his rhythm, and his gait. If he runs too fast, he runs the risk of burning out toward the end. If he paces too slow, he may not be able to place in the position he wanted at the onset of his marathon. He must watch the conditions around him and be ready to adapt his pace accordingly. The believer has no threat to lose eternal life here. As a matter of fact, they are encouraged to finish well. If there was a risk for them to lose eternal life, verse 2 would not exist. And that's the second thing that jumps out. I'm going to read to you Ephesians 2.10. You don't have to turn there, but I'll read this to you. For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. When I see at verse 1 here where it says, Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, I see a connection with Ephesians 2.10, and let me explain to you why. When Ephesians 2.10 says, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them, I see that God has prepared a path for us of good works, not specific works, but to maintain good works, and he is going to use that to showcase us as his workmanship, as his masterpiece. And so this race that is set before us is literal in that sense. God has set it before us. He's asking us to run this race. And it's gonna be hard. That's exactly why it says in the beginning of the verse, let us lay aside every weight. Okay, I don't know what marathon runner is trying to run with any weight outside of their body weight. Their clothes are the lightest that they can be. Their shoes are the lightest that they can be. Runners are, some of them, the good ones, like the ones that compete on a high level, they're like skin and bones. And that is more conducive to them being able to get the job done and finish their race well. The believer is supposed to be, in the same way, not hindered down by the weight of sin. But God has already set this race before us. That doesn't mean that God has already controlled what you're going to do, but I do think he has opportunities just for you. I believe that because I've seen that in my life. There are places that God has put me that I don't think anybody else would be in, that I know of at least, but he's asked me to be found faithful in that moment. That's prepared for me. Whether I'm gonna do that or not is based on me, and God will reward me when I obey, and when I disobey, I'll have lost that opportunity, and I'll lose that reward that I could have had. But verse two would not exist if the threat of eternal life was present. What's the encouragement in verse two? Look at it. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, so you endure this life. He endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Think about the Jewish, The Christian who is a new convert here from Judaism, they're gonna be under shame. They're gonna be despised because they've gone with the blasphemer in the eyes of the Jewish culture. What's the encouragement for them? Endure it, run well, lay aside any sin that will keep you from finishing well. If eternal life could be lost, wouldn't you think this is a place you could see it? where it would be said unless you miss it entirely, unless you're really not saved. It's kind of funny, I laugh to even think that way because the Bible doesn't use that language, ever. We have to be careful of that. And then here's the last one here, and it's in chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10, verses 10, 12, and 14. Perhaps the strongest support for the eternal security of the believer found in the book of Hebrews is in the content of chapter six through 10. What is in the content of chapter six through 10? How Jesus is a better high priest. What was the function of the high priest? Once a year would go in and offer sins for the temple, sacrifices for the sins of the temple, his own sin and for the sin of the people. Jesus was that offering who totally covered sin. And that's why the veil of the Holy of Holies separating those two places in the temple was torn when Jesus died. Now there's nothing in the way. This whole chapter, because there's three warnings within those four chapters, will be reviewed in greater detail throughout the series. But the focus for today should rest on Hebrews 10, 10, 12, and 14. I'll read them to you here. By the witch will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Verse 12, but this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, forever sat down on the right hand of God. For by one offering, verse 14, he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. You know that many translations add one more thing. They add one more word there. They say them that are being sanctified. They make this based on your works. That's dangerous. Jesus Christ's offering at the cross was sufficient for all believers' sin. Yes, that includes the sin of unfaithfulness in this Christian life. To be perfected forever means exactly what it says. There isn't much more to say here about that. These are some of my favorite verses in all of scripture because they speak so plainly. When you look at verse 10, we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. I do not have to go back to some type of confession style to reapply myself into the body of Christ. If Jesus died once, then I'm set apart once, and that is a done deal. The insanity would be if you woke up tomorrow and for the rest of this week, for the rest of your life, seeking out to find out if you are really born physically. You're already here, you're born. However old you are, that issue was resolved that long ago. It would be crazy to try and determine if you were really born again physically. People would think you are not looking at the evidence around you. Well, the evidence around us for the believer are the promises that are here in God's word. You're already delivered. You're already justified before God. But there's a real threat for you to lose out on rewards, and there's a chasing as a result of that. And there's some very strong language in Hebrews that needs to be reviewed. Because I guarantee you, as you walk through this Christian life and you continue to grow, people are gonna take verses from Hebrews and they are going to misuse them and put them in front of you as a stumbling block. And if you're not prepared, you'll trip and fall. Or you may even have your faith shipwrecked by these false teachers. As your pastor, I don't want that for you. I remember what that's like. I don't do chat rooms anymore. Well, not chat rooms, comment sections, I'll put it that way. I signed up for a website one time called CARM, Christian Apologetic Research Ministry, or something like that. It's a hotbed for Calvinists. I remember typing out the gospel, going through, making sure my spelling is right, formatting good, posted it in a forum, and I got so many answers back of all sorts of crazy stuff that I literally deleted my account. I was reminded of what Paul said to Timothy, don't waste your time with endless debates. There's people who just want to argue with you. But there will be people in honesty who come up to you and ask a serious question about some things in Hebrews. And I think you should know the answer in context, not just, well, hang on, my pastor said this, so that's what I believe. I want to show you, as I try to do with every message that I give to you, this is what the Bible says. And I'll be honest with you when there's things that I don't know. I've said that before, not entirely sure what this means, but here's my interpretation of it. If I come along something better, I'll change it. I've done that already. with some passages in scripture. But when it comes to eternal life, I have not, I've yet to see any evidence in the scripture that supports a born again believer being able to lose their eternal life. Even the warnings in Hebrews. There's nothing. You can close your Bibles as I review the conclusion here. The aim of this series is to show the warnings in Hebrews with respect to their context. God is not ever going to threaten the believer with the removal of eternal life. Calvinist and teachers of Lordship Salvation use these warnings as a battering ram on the believer. God did not intend to beat us down but to lift us up. Believers must rest assured that the finished work of Christ will always be finished. At the same time, it is still true that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God. Both of those things can be true. You can have eternal life without any threat of losing it and still find yourself in a tight spot because of your sin. The judgment on your sin was satisfied at Calvary. and it'll never be removed, but God still, as a loving father, will properly discipline you. If he didn't, it would be a sin for him to allow that behavior to go undisciplined. You ever been around people that have undisciplined kids? You probably haven't been around them for long. They're nightmares, and you know, I think to myself, What a shame it is for those children. They don't know better. Kids need correction. They're not gonna tell you. They're not gonna come up to you and be like, hey, I need a spanking today. I'm ready, I guess. But you as mom, dad, you're supposed to set that standard. And when the standard is broken, there should be consequences. Why? Because that's how God is going to deal with them. And if you set up some type of standard that's not reflected in the Bible, you're setting them up for failure. That's why when we look at things in Hebrews, this is God telling his children, this is the standard. You fall short, there's gonna be discipline. You'd be a bad pastor to say, no issues, just live life as you want. You got a license to sin, everything's good. I don't wanna be in that church, because that's not what the Bible teaches. But we can rest assured in knowing that eternal life is never on the chopping block. We're not trying to see if we're really in. Would you pray for that girl that Paul Washer talked to? I have no idea what she's gone on to do. I don't know how long that video was, but boy, when I heard that testimony from Cole, I thought, what a life. Can you imagine going to your respected Bible teacher, your pastor, and he gives you those two options? Cry out until you feel something, I guess, and if you don't feel anything, I guess you're going to hell. I don't know what kind of life that is. What did that poor girl feel as she drove home? You know what she probably felt? God doesn't love me. And that's not true. That's a burden. That's something for me personally. I don't want that to be the reality for people. But it is. And God wants them to be saved. And I believe she'll have the opportunity. If she continues to seek, she will find. God loves her. But sometimes I wish, sometimes I've thought about, you know, going to these conferences and just kind of being a plant, you know? Buying the t-shirts, looking like I'm a part of it, and then talking to people that ask a question and get a real bad answer. Hey, let me, can I talk to you for a second? Let's look at the Bible and see what that says. But the attractiveness of these false teachers really keeps people bound, and it's a sad thing. We should be praying about that often. especially those of us that are learning more and more about the Bible. This hand represents you and me. My wallet represents sin. I put this on top of my hand because the Bible says, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. God loves us very much. He hates our sin because it separates us from Him. To get to heaven, you have to be absolutely perfect without any sin and we all fall short. And the very serious fact is that without a payment for this sin, The individual who dies without that payment will spend an eternity separated from God in a literal fire burning hell. That's a reality for people today like we talked about this morning. God loves us and he's offered a way for this sin to be paid, but it's not by any good works that we can do. It's not by turning or starting or anything like that. Somebody's got to die for this sin, shed their blood for this sin. This hand will represent Jesus Christ, God's only begotten son. And in John 3, 16, we see the very clear plan for salvation. For God so loved the world. So loved does not mean, oh, I love you, love you, love you. For God so loved, meaning for God loved in this way, that he sent his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. The promise there is not, shall not perish physically, because it's appointed unto man once to die. unless you're in the rapture, which I'm excited about. That's an exciting number to be in. And I think we're real close. I'd probably say what Dr. Lindstrom said in that it'll happen in my lifetime, but he's in glory now. We don't know when it's going to happen, but the point is the promise in John 3, 16 is that you'll be spared from physical suffering. It's that you will not experience the second death. You believe on Jesus Christ, you receive as a free gift everlasting life. And once you do that, you're saved forever. You're a part of God's family. All your sin is removed as far as the east is from the west. That's the invitation of eternal life. If you're hearing anything that I'm saying, I know most, I know all of you here tonight. Those of you who I don't know who are on the internet, I would beg you to put your trust in Jesus Christ right now. Don't wait, because we don't have any guarantee of what's next. No guarantee. We just have right now. Let's go to the Lord in prayer, shall we? If you're watching on the internet, I encourage you to put your faith in Jesus Christ, to trust in him alone. If you're here in the audience, I want to encourage you to be here this summer. This series will take us right up through the summer, and I think it'll be a blessing to you. Father, thank you for your word. I pray that we come back here safely. on Wednesday night. Bless the programs that meet before then like ESL and all the things that go into all the ministries here. We specifically think about camp. The back to school bash that's coming up soon as well. In Jesus' name we pray these things.