You have your Bibles, turn with me to Ephesians,
chapter 6.
We are coming down the home stretch.
Not only of this subject of
the warfare, of the believer,
and the resources that we have
for victory, but also the
Book of Ephesians as a whole.
A little bit over two years, I think.
We've been in Ephesians.
One of my favorite stories about the Book of Ephesians
came to me from Danny Miller, the music minister at Foster
Road Baptist Church.
Brother Huey Moch preached through Ephesians
much longer than I have.
Of course, Mother Huey, different
level of preacher.
But there, I don't know if you know Greg,
or if any of you have ever met Greg and Thomas at
Foster Road Baptist Church, the little special
needs guys.
They're always there.
And, uh, at
the time when their grandmother was alive.
Um, one son, she always came to church.
There was one particular Sunday morning,
the grandmother didn't come to church.
And so, um, Greg
and Thomas were asked, What's going on with my mom?
You know, we didn't see her here.
Mama said last night.
Ephesians, Ephesians, Ephesians,
I'm sick of Ephesians.
They let it out.
Brother Mike was probably 5 years in Ephesians.
I don't know.
But anyway, we are coming down the stretch
and this particular section that
we have been in here of late.
has been on the armor, as you know,
of the Christian, and in these verses
where Paul uses this great imagery of the Roman
soldier, dressed out for battle,
the practical application has
produced subjects like the
intense need for commitment
on our part as Christians in this warfare.
The selling out of ourselves in
obedience, to fulfill God's will in our lives.
We also talked about the manner of
disciplining ourselves.
day to day living, controlling our
desires, committing ourselves
into conformity, to
the standard of living that is
governed by the word of God.
And anytime we get into this type of
subject matter, there
exists the possibility of
falling into error on two
polar opposite ends
of the understanding of our sanctification.
legalism, on one
end, or antinomianism,
on the other, that's just a big word, theological word for
anti lawism, best
characterized by, you know, I'm saved,
Jesus paid it all, I live however I want.
And we've discussed this many times, these
two polar opposite ways of living through
the Christian life, but because it's so easy.
for all Christians to get out of balance
on one of those two other ends.
It's very important for us to continue to discuss
this, in order for us to keep
our balance, right in
the middle of the king's highway.
As we are all soldiers marching
on the king's highway to the celestial city,
and that comes from Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress,
if you're a Christian, you've never read Pilgrim's Progress, go home tonight, start reading it.
You need a copy.
I have one on the shelf.
Must reading for every Christian.
All throughout church history, there have been many different ways.
of teaching how to deal with
living the Christian life.
And wow, here, we have
been applying these verses, hopefully,
in a very balanced, non
legalistic way, and living
with commitment and discipline and obedience to
the Word of God.
Hopefully, that's the way I've conveyed it to you, as
good soldiers of Jesus Christ, because that's the meaning of
the text, and that Paul is conveying to us, I'm very certain
about that, or I wouldn't preach it that way.
But there's also another way of applying
these verses to our Christian living.
That is probably to
many varying degrees, the
majority report in American evangelicalism.
There are some, especially
today, but also down through church
history, who believe that all
of this exercise, and
all of this discipline, and all of this struggle,
and all of this effort, is
really not what God is after,
as Christians.
There is a statement in the Old Testament that
is made in reference to King Jehoshaphat that says this.
The battle is not yours.
It's the Lord's.
And that statement.
has become a byword.
For a group of people who
were originally labeled quietist.
This is a teaching that began in
the church in the late 17th century.
And this movement has taught that
the way to live the Christian life is not through
discipline, and effort,
and commitment, but
rather through absolute surrender.
There's a book by that name,
absolute surrender, written by Andrew Murray,
that has sold many copies, that
while not teaching classical quietism
is thought of in our
theological camp of definitely
having quietist leanings, I
remember being ignorant of reform theology and reading this book,
and thinking about how profound it was.
Murray was a leading figure,
and what is called Keswick theology, which
has many quietest elements to it, also
known as the higher life movement,
and I can help you boil down all
these labels I'm giving you in understanding
with one phrase that best defines this movement.
You ever heard this?
Let go.
Let God.
Now, a lot of
this sounds good.
Hmm?
As far as Murray is concerned.
He does have some good things in
his book Absolute Surrender.
Mixed in with error.
in his teaching that most definitely
will lead a Christian to
anti-nomianism in his walk.
Let me tell you what I mean by that.
The main idea.
In a nutshell is, hey.
Stop all the striving and struggling and disciplined
in the Christian life and just totally surrender.
Just let go.
And let God.
And while we all do,
have to absolutely surrender to the Lordship of
Jesus Christ in Bible repentance and saving faith
to be right with God.
There's no question about that.
Listen carefully.
It's how you understand what
that means.
that makes all the difference in the world.
I've seen preachers.
With large crowds, on television,
and talked about it this morning again, they
call people, come down to the altar to surrender.
And the tears are flowing.
And the music is playing, stirring
up the emotions, and people are down on
their knees, without a hint of
an actual biblical gospel message ever
having been preached beforehand.
Just come down, and surrender.
to Jesus, without explaining
what that means, biblically.
There's a whole lot of misunderstanding in the church.
about what it means to surrender,
biblically.
I've read and heard from friends who grew up
in the church, who went to summer Bible camps, and
about how kids would come down to dedicate, and rededicate,
and re-rededicate their lives,
every year they went to Bible camp.
Now, I don't have any experience with that.
I was smoking weed and stealing car radios at that time of my life.
I did go to Bible camp one year.
With my cousins.
There's only one thing I remember about the Bible camp that I went to.
I think it was about 12 years old.
The highlight of the week that was talked about all week was
there was a certain night where the boys got to go over
to the girls' dorm and do a painty raid.
Now, that stuck in my mind for a long time, and
of course, it was all planned, and you wonder, thinking back,
who came up with that idea for Bible camp?
I enjoyed it.
But this definitely has been, and
continues to be a problem.
in the church.
And what it's done, as you've heard me say, and you've
heard Ed say, it's produced many false converts.
People trying to get surrendered with
no biblical substance or
foundation in doing so.
There was a man who used to teach to let go
and let God's system.
Listen what he said.
Listen to this.
When you are fully surrendered,
you'll never even experience temptation because
it will be defeated by Christ before it has
time to draw you into a fight.
Now, to the non discerning mind, that might sound.
Yeah, wow, that's...
But if you're using your brain, and you're
thinking biblically, consider.
If that's true, when
you sin, because you will, whose fault is it?
With what he said, it's
Christ's fault, because he just said, it'll be
defeated by Christ for you, never gets time to get going.
Is it Jesus' fault when you sin?
I mean, I find that kind of problematic, don't you?
That's this teaching.
In the Christian secret of a happy life,
Hannah Smith writes the following.
What can be said about man's part in
this great work, but that he,
man, must continually surrender himself and
continually trust.
But when we come to God's side of
the equation, what is there that may not be said as
to the manifold and wonderful ways in which
he accomplishes the work entrusted to him?
In other words, what she's actually saying there,
and in the rest of the book, for that matter, is, if you want
to grow spiritually, do
nothing, but surrender.
Let go.
and let God do it all.
Now, again, that sounds great.
But what happens when you sin?
What do you do then?
What do you do with that?
Do you just keep doing nothing?
You see, the point is, there just has to be
more to the Christian life than this do
nothing surrender approach.
And not only should this be self evident
to you,
We have a bible.
A Bible that has words in it.
And all of the words have meaning.
And never, in any
text that I can find, does
the Bible ever teach this approach to Christian living?
Look for yourself.
Consider just what we've been studying here in Ephesians.
The Bible simply nowhere teaches
that all you have to do in the Christian life is
just surrender and let go and let God.
John MacArthur tells the story of a guy who was
in a church, where they were calling for people to do this.
And he walked the aisle, and
he knelt down, and he started to pray.
He prayed for surrender.
And he prayed, and he prayed, and he prayed,
and the pastor is standing there watching him.
And finally the pastor says to him,
Bring it through, brother.
Pray it through.
And then everybody in the audience, the
pastor turns around and says, folks, let's
uphold him, so he can pray it through.
And then finally, the
guy stood up, and he turned around
to the audience, and he said
out loud, Hell, I can't get through!
And he walked right out the back door.
Think about that.
And I hear that.
And I want to know, just
what exactly, were they
trying to pray him through too?
What does this mean?
Surrender.
Sounds great.
It has no substance.
In this move.
You see, It's a great example of
when it comes to this issue of surrender.
listen to me.
There has to be a biblical understanding
of it, or all you are ever going to
do with that kind of teaching that sounds great.
You're going to be frustrated.
So let's get our biblical bearing straight here with this.
There is no question.
Again, now listen to me.
There's no question that every single Christian
must totally depend on the resources of God
in the Christian life.
There is no question that we must totally
depend on God's power and God's energy and God's strength.
We learned that.
Look at it.
Ephesians chapter 6 and verse number 10.
Remember?
Finally, be strong in the Lord.
And in the strength of his might.
But it's unbiblical to
think that while we're doing that, then
all we have to do is just sit there and surrender.
Now, for sure, we can go too far with this idea
of self discipline and go beyond the balance that the
Bible gives us into legalism.
And that is just as bad,
in the opposite direction, and
those who did that in the 17th century at the same time period were
called the Pietist.
So you had the pietist and the quietist, okay?
They were both wrong.
And they still are both wrong.
Today.
But just think about this idea for a minute.
of absolute surrender, as I
have laid it out for you here today.
And once again, let's
just read this whole text concerning
spiritual warfare.
And listen to me now, as we read, C,
if you're in your thinking, if you
can pick up any hint of
surrendering in the way I've laid it out to you in
what Paul is teaching here, let's read together.
Verse 10.
Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might.
Boy, now that's starting out pretty in line, right?
Verse 11.
Put on the full
armor of God, so that you will be able to stand
firm against the schemes of the devil.
For our struggle is not against
flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the
powers, against the world forces of this darkness,
against the spiritual forces of wickedness, in the heavenly places.
Therefore, take up the full armor of
God, so that you will be able to resist in the
evil day and having done everything to
stand firm.
Stand firm, therefore, having girded your loins
with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel
of peace, in addition to all, taking
up the shield of faith, which you will be
able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of
the evil one, and take the helmet of salvation,
and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.
Amen.
Are you sensing?
Any let go and let
God in any of those words?
I mean, I'm really just a simple minded man.
I'm just a preacher that works at an all company warehouse.
But what I read there is
about discipline.
What I read there is about commitment.
What I'm getting out of that, is
that the Christian life is a war that
we have to fight in.
And we have to do things like stand
firm and put on and take up,
and we're taking on enemy fire of flaming
arrows from a powerful, relentless enemy
in daily battle.
That what I'm reading here.
And you'll find this all over the New Testament.
With a quick summary, just as quick summary.
You go to Hebrews 12, you'll find the Christian life described as a race.
In 1 Corinthians 9, it's described as a fight.
In James 4 and 1 Peter 5, it says, We must resist the devil.
Also in 1 Corinthians 9.
It says we must beat our body to bring it into subjection.
In Philippians 3, it says, we must press on toward
the mark of the high calling in Christ Jesus, so clearly.
It's just way too simplistic to say,
all we need to do in the Christian life is
let go, and let God surrender.
You want to say, All right, God, you do it.
Again on the opposite end.
You've got to do it all.
You've got to grind it all out.
Legalism is really just a faith plus work system.
That's really all that amounts to.
The balance again.
It's in the middle.
Yes, we depend on the power and strength of God, absolutely.
Yes, it's not I, but Christ, who lives in me.
But at the same exact time.
There has to be a tremendous level in
the Christian life of commitment and self discipline and self control.
There has to be in the Christian life,
a dedication of our day to day lives, to fight
against our adversary with all that we have,
in the strength, of the
Lord's might.
There has to be a commitment to surrendering, to
the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and acknowledging
his power and resources in it.
But it doesn't end there.
Church, that's where it begins.
Are you with me?
Now, the best example that I know of.
of how the balance works
in the Christian life.
And I've read this many times.
I've quoted this many times, and I'm going to continue to do so,
I'm certain, until my last breath of preaching, is Philippians
2, let's read it once again, back
to back verses, same context, so
then, beloved, just as you have always obeyed,
not as in my presence only, but
much more in my absence, work out,
not work for, your salvation with fear,
and trembling.
Keyword there is obeyed.
You work out your salvation in
a life of obedience.
And then you flip right to the next verse, verse
13, 4.
It is God, who is at work
in you both to will and to
work for his good pleasure.
God is at work, and you and I, accomplishing
his will, while you work it out, we
work it out in our obedience.
That's the balance.
Right there, in those two verses.
Now, I don't know about you.
I don't find that too complicated.
And finally, just one more for the balance team.
We're on team balance, by the way.
Colossians 129.
Paul writes this.
For this purpose, also, look at it.
I, labor, striving,
accordingly, to his
power, which mightily works within me.
There's both of them right there.
You see that?
If we just let go and let God,
what do all these exhortations from Paul about laboring,
and striving, and fighting, and on and on and on, he goes,
What is that all that about?
We simply have to grasp that
there is a balance between a yieldedness
to the lordship of Christ and a total commitment
and discipline in my own life to follow through
in that surrendering to his lordship in obedience.
Now, let's get back to Ephesians 6.
That's my introduction.
I don't know.
If you can find a text, that
is more anti let go and let God, than
these verses on spiritual warfare in
the armor of God that we read in verses 10 to 17.
The last time we were here, we were looked at verse
17 and the helmet of salvation.
And I have just a little bit more to say about
this piece of armor in line with what
I've given you so far.
So today is helmet of salvation, part two.
Quickly, by way of review.
Remember, the helmet of salvation is not about getting saved.
You wouldn't already have the belt
of truth in the breastplate of righteousness and the shoes of
the preparation of the gospel of peace, and the shield of faith.
If you weren't already saved, you wouldn't have all that armor on.
You wouldn't have any armor on.
If you weren't already saved.
And remember I told you last time that salvation
has 3 dimensions to it, past, present, and future.
You were saved in the past from the penalty of sin.
That's the doctrine of justification.
You are being saved in the present,
from the power of sin, that's the doctrine of sanctification,
and you will be saved in the future, from
the very present of sin, that's the doctrine of glorification.
For further explanation of all that, go back and watch my last sermon.
For our purpose is here today, we're
studying the helmet of salvation here in verse 17.
And we're focusing in on the meaning of
this phrase, which deals with, particularly,
our salvation in the future dimension.
What Paul is saying to us here is,
you, Christian, can be sure of your future
salvation, and that eternal security,
of your glorification, becomes a protection against
the broad sword blows of our enemy.
Remember, we said, the broadsword that Satan
has is double edged.
He wields discouragement on one side.
He wields doubt on the other side in
the lives of all believers.
And the protection that we have is
the helmet of salvation, that it's
our trust in the Lord, that there
really is light, at the end of this tunnel
that we're in right now, in this warfare.
There's glory waiting for us on
the other side that is guaranteed by God
in his word for the believer.
There's a finish line.
There's a final gun.
The clock will run out on this life,
and we will stand face to face with King Jesus.
We'll be at that Bemus seat that Ed talked about this morning.
Remember, 1 Thessalonians, I'll requote it again from
last time, chapter 5, verse 8, describes it
well, but since we are of the day, let us
be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love
as a helmet, the hope of salvation.
Remember biblical hope?
This guaranteed assurance of a future outcome,
the guaranteed hope of salvation in the future,
the helmet, is what gives us strength to press on
in the present.
No more sin is coming.
No more struggle with the flesh is coming.
No more warfare.
That's what we're looking forward to, and so much more.
And like I said last time.
If there were no future element.
of salvation.
The other two parts of salvation would be
absolutely meaningless, would they not?
Again, imagine having
to struggle and fight the world, flesh,
and the devil for eternity.
Imagine that.
There'd be no hope in that.
I'd give up.
easily.
Why would I keep doing all this, if that were the case?
But knowing and understanding our
biblical hope of future glorification that is guaranteed?
I'm gonna call that the juice that's worth the squeeze.
Now, for me personally.
I have a hard time conveying this.
It's been 1997
is when I was saved.
So next year'll be 30 years.
I've been a Christian.
And I'm telling you, I am still
radically amazed by
God's grace in my life.
Not only so thankful, still,
that he saved me from the wrath,
which I so richly deserve, but man,
he saved me from myself.
He saved me from the dumpster
fire of a life I was living when life was left up to me,
and it was a raging dumpster fire.
And so, I'm still so amazed
of the nature change that
I can't help myself.
I just want to maximize.
All that I can in serving him with
the rest of my life with whatever vapor of a life I have left.
We talked about it on the podcast yesterday.
As pastors, Brian,
we are compelled to do this.
I cannot not do this.
And I just really believe, we talked about it this
morning, that the harder we roll here in the Christian life, the
more satisfied and glad we're going to be,
when we look back at what we did with
this new nature that God gave us in our life.
What did we do with Jesus in our Christian life?
The more that we rolled hard for him here?
How much more unbelievably
joyous will that occasion be when you're
standing in front of the king?
Now, last time, we talked about Satan's
double edged, broad sword.
Doubt on the one side, discouragement
on the other.
And we focused in on some examples
of discouragement last time, and for today,
I want to consider a little bit more about how he uses the
doubt side of the blade.
Most Christians, I mean really, you could
say that doubt is the ultimate discouragement, right?
And most Christians wrangle with doubt,
especially early on in the Christian life, and
as we grow in sanctification, you usually get to the place where
you don't wrangle with doubt about your eternal
security, but even as I say that, we
have to acknowledge that none of us is immune
to spot hits of flaming doubt arrows
at any time, right?
especially when we don't have our armor on.
As I touched on last time, it's
typically our fleshly responses
to circumstances that we find ourselves in, that
are used to fire a doubt arrow our
way by the enemy.
Remember?
You think you're a Christian?
Look at what you just said.
You think you're a Christian?
Look at what you just did.
And let me tell you, try being a pastor.
We don't even have to worry about the enemy with this one.
We have people who
are very quick to remind us, you're a master?
You're a pastor?
I mean, I've had the clergy card pulled
on me more times than I can count when
I falter and fail.
Now, on top of this, the
enemy uses false teaching in
this area, to keep many people, in
a constant state of doubt and fear.
For example, there are
far too many churches that teach that
you can lose your salvation.
They teach and believe in eternal insecurity.
They live in a constant state of insecurity.
They are taught that you will really never know if
you made it or not until you get face to face with Jesus.
Can you imagine living like that?
I couldn't.
I agree with John MacArthur.
If I could lose my salvation, I would.
I'd lost it a long time ago.
This teaching is such a denial of
the total sufficiency of
the finished work of Jesus Christ.
There's just no way around the fact that
it's Christ's work, plus my works,
that keeps my salvation in check in this teaching that
you can lose your salvation.
You can't get around that, right?
And that immediately brings
up the question for me, and it always has, since this came
into my understanding.
I have a question.
for these folks.
Just how many sins are
to what degree of sins does
it take, to get to the center of
the lose your salvation tootsie pop.
I've never had anybody answer that question.
You know why?
Because you will find exactly zero
answers to that question in the Bible.
Because losing your salvation after
you genuinely have it is false doctrine.
That's why.
And of course, Satan
wants us to be afraid that we don't really have salvation.
Of course he does.
Because he loves for Christians to be miserable.
He's a far more adept
to theologian than any of us.
And guess what?
He knows expertly that
the doctrine of the eternal security of the believer is
true.
And he also knows that what that means is, he
can't have us, no matter what.
So he figures, why not?
While he has access to us, make
us despair and doubt and
worry and be miserable about the state of our soul.
Remember, he hates us.
With a supernatural level of hate.
So any amount of adversity that he can cause
us is his goal, every minute of
every single day.
And he hates God.
He hates God with a seething,
vicious hatred, and he wants us to
doubt the promises of God.
He wants us to believe that
God does not keep his word.
He wants us to believe that
salvation isn't forever.
and that God can't hold on to us,
and he will use men
and any and all types
of the twisting of scripture to
convince us of what he wants.
He wants us to deny God's power.
He wants us to deny God's resources.
He wants us to deny that
God speaks the truth, just like in the garden at the very beginning.
And all of these things are simply denials of that.
That God speaks the truth in his word.
So how do we react properly
and biblically to all of that?
Well, as often as the case, we
have to use our minds to
read and comprehend our Bibles and have
a solid understanding of just basic,
fundamental, sound doctrine, for example,
as easily proven from scripture, is this reality.
That if you have a past salvation
that we've talked about, then
without question, you have a future
salvation that is guarantee.
How do I know that?
Because there is no other kind of salvation
that's found in the Bible.
There's no other kind of salvation that has
the 3 dimensions that I've taught you past,
present, and future, justification, sanctification, and glorification.
Those are the three most fundamental
Christian doctrines of the Christian faith that every Christian
absolutely must understand.
You must understand those doctrines separately.
And you must also understand how
they inseparably work together.
And if you sit in here in this
church this morning, and you profess to be a Christian, and
you don't understand what I just said, please come see me immediately
after church, and we will get that straight today.
Amen.
And you know where we'll start?
Romans chapter 8, verse 29.
Look at it.
For those whom he foreknew,
he also predestined
to become conformed to
the image of his son.
Now, let me ask you something.
If Creator, omniscient,
omnipresent, omnipotent God,
predestined you to become conformed to the
image of his son.
Is there any way possible that you
will not become conformed to the image of his son?
I ain't too smart.
But that makes clear sense to me, and Paul's not done, verse 30.
And these whom he predestined,
he also called, and these whom he called, he also
justified, and these whom he justified,
he also glorified, for very
obvious reasons, this is called the golden chain of
redemption, predestined, called, justified, glorified.
There's nobody in the gaps there.
You see anybody in the gaps?
If you can find a brake in that chain.
You also need to see me after church.
Because I need to try to understand how your mind
works when you read sentences.
We're talking about biblically, understanding
the three dimensions of salvation, past,
present, and future, and we're talking about the guarantee of
that future aspect of glorification.
Folks, we just simply cannot exclude John chapter 6.
Please look at verse 37.
Jesus says, all that the Father gives me will come to me.
And the one who comes to me.
I will certainly not cast out.
Now, that phrase right there, you got to understand,
certainly not, see that phrase, in the Greek, you know what that
also can be translated as?
Under no circumstances.
That's what it means.
This means there are no circumstances
in existence whereby Christ would ever
cast anybody out who comes to him in saving faith.
Why?
Because the only ones who come are the ones who the
Father gives in verse 37.
And if God, the father.
gives you to Christ.
Then you have the decree of God
himself to eternal salvation,
and not only that, you have the response of Christ.
to eternal salvation.
There is absolutely no way you can lose.
As we have learned, before,
we are the love gifts, from
the Father, to the Son.
Now, this
reality is the extremely rarefied
error that exists within the Trinity.
This is way above
our human ability to fully comprehend, but
just feel the weight of the blessing
of understanding this in the way that we
have been allowed to by God.
The Son has accomplished,
the greatest work, that has
ever occurred, in the human experience, in
redemption, and the Father, in
response to this great work, gives
the Son gifts, the
souls of his people, that he died
for, and the Son loves the Father.
so much that he holds on tightly
to the gifts that he's been given by the Father.
He says, All that the Father,
Look at it, gives me, will come.
And when they come under no circumstances,
will I ever turn them away, why?
Well, it isn't because of you and me.
We aren't even really into picture here, folks.
This is all about the Son,
loving the Father so much to ever lose
anybody that is a love gift from the Father to the Son.
That's what's going on here.
Now watch this.
Look, next in verse 38, Jesus says, for
I have come down from heaven, not to do my
own will, but the will of him who sent me.
That's the Father's plan to redeem his people, to
give them to the Son, and have the Son keep them.
How do you know that, preacher?
Look next in verse 39.
This is the will of him who sent me, that of all
that he has what?
Given me?
I lose nothing.
But raise it up at the last day.
How many does Jesus lose?
None.
He loses none.
There is absolutely no loss
between the decree of the Father, the
gift of the Son, and the resurrection on the last day.
Church is so clear.
The Bible teaches that God has a
counsel that cannot be changed.
A calling that cannot be
revoked, an inheritance that
cannot be defiled, a foundation that
cannot be shaken, a seal that
cannot be broken, a life that cannot
perish.
Jesus said in John 10, 27 to 30.
My sheep, hear my voice.
And I know them, and they follow me,
and I give eternal life to
them, and they will never perish,
and no one will snatch them out of my out of my hand.
Verse 29.
My father, here it is again, who has given them
to me is greater than all, and no
one is able to snatch them out of the father's
hand, and just for good measure, I and the father are one.
With his own words.
Jesus is confirming the fact that
a past salvation includes a future one as well.
He gives eternal life,
he says, and no one can reverse that.
Now, I got to land this plane.
Food is smelling really good right now.
And I promise you, this week I left a lot on the table.
Back there in the new, I got my room back,
and Cat, Frank the Cat went outside.
So I got to study in my room again.
And I left a lot on the table.
I had to really condense this, but...
Just for quick hits, Philippians 16,
Paul, for I am confident
of this very thing.
that he who began a good working,
you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
That's a promise.
He began it, he's going to finish it.
Like, 2 Timothy 112,
For this reason, I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed, for
I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he
is able to guard that which I have entrusted to him
until that day.
That's a promise.
Jude verse 25, now to
him who is able to keep you from stumbling
and to make you stand in the
presence of his glory, blameless with great joy.
That's a promise.
You getting this?
Now, there's really much more to say about this.
But I really hope you grab some of what I'm trying to tell you here.
When Satan's blows of doubt and
discouragement assail you, I'm
telling you here today, put on the helmet of salvation.
Put on the reality of your future glory.
Put on the reality of the eternal security
unbreakable of your salvation, the
guarantee of the very eternally
secure future that you have that lies ahead
in glory.
All right, let's turn over to 1 Corinthians 11.
Because now this is what we get to do.
We get to proclaim, and
we get to celebrate, what
made all this future glory possible for us.
1 Corinthians chapter 11.
Starting in verse 27.
Therefore, whoever eats the
bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner shall
be guilty of the body in the blood of the Lord, but a
man must examine himself, and
in so doing, he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
For he who eats and drinks, Each
and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly.
For this reason, many among you are weak and
sick, and a number sleep.
Do you get any let go and let God out of that?
I don't find any hint of let go and let God in there.
I find examination.
Now, remember, I'm going to say this to you.
to continue to say this every time.
It's a specific context of this.
They were getting quite out of
hand in Corinth.
And Paul needed to correct them about
what was happening at the Lord's Supper.
It was wild.
Maybe one day I'll preach, one Corinthians, and we'll get through the
whole thing, but they were way out of order.
So he had to correct what was going on.
He said, Hey.
You need to examine yourself.
You need to check to make sure, you know, you're
Christian acting like this.
So why would I quote this?
Why do I quote this every time?
Because I want you to feel the weightiness.
That big word gravitas.
I like that word better.
Same thing, but it has a little more to it.
The gravitas of what it is that we're doing.
So there should be two primary
thoughts and two primary
emotions in my mind, and in our thinking.
One of reverence, number one
for what we're doing.
So we read this verse and we say, hey, examine
myself about the security of my salvation that I just heard about.
But number two, pure joy.
You should be feeling pure joy
and thanksgiving at the same time you're being reverent
with what we're doing, absolute joy
of the fact that God has plucked
you as a brand from the fire.
And you get to come down here and
participate in what he has commanded
us to do until he returns.
Preach the gospel through the Lord's
Supper until he comes again.
So let's bow our heads and close our eyes.
Just take some time to do business with him.
Consider the realities of the need for temporal forgiveness,
that you need to ask for, that's
rooted and grounded in the judicial position, forgiveness of Christ.
Take a moment of silence.
Pray.
And, you know, one of the time.