"Can a Saved Person Be Lost?" - Pastor Doug Batchelor

[Music] the chimes of time ring out the news another day is through someone's liftand fair was that someone you you may have longed for added strength your courage to do not beat is news for you it is no secret what God can do what he's done for he'll do for you [Music] she'll pardon you it is no secret what God can do there is no night for a nice light you'll never walk alone you always feel at home wherever no evil park and conquer while God is on your side taking his girl [Music] it is no secret what God can do what he's done for he'll drew for you [Music] [Laughter] he'll pardon you it is no secret what God can do it is no secret what God can do typically you come to church and the year the pastor talked about how the loss can be saved how the loss can be saved is a wonderful message in the Bible and I think everyone here knows that but in case you don't and if you're lost I want you to know you can be saved two verses for you now if you like to follow along I suggest you pull out a pen or pencil today because I'm gonna give you about 50 scriptures this is a Bible study Luke 9 9 and 10 for the Son of man has come to seek and to save that which is lost Jesus comes to save the Lost John 3:17 God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but through him the world might be saved acts 2:47 and the Lord added to the church daily those who are being saved first Timothy 1:15 this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance that Jesus Christ came into the world for what reason to save sinners Jesus comes to save the Lost but our message isn't today that Jesus can save the Lost well that's part of the message the question we want to address today's can the save be lost that's a very important question because whether you know it or not there are a lot of dangerous doctrines that are out in the world among Protestants about 30 percent of Protestants believe in predestination they actually believe in the it's you know Calvinists or reformed theology you've heard the expression once saved always saved now that's really a package of different beliefs and don't misunderstand Calvin was a great reformer he was a tremendous theologian he wrote the book Institutes of the Christian religion when he was in his 20s he had an incredible mind and he contributed a great deal but some things they were coming out of such darkness yeah I believe that he misunderstood they can be dangerous the idea that one's you are saved you can't be lost as I think a dangerous belief another part of that is the idea that Jesus death on the cross wasn't to save everybody but he only shed enough blood and only suffered enough for those he knew would be saved better known as the elect and then the third which I find the most egregious of all is the idea that God has predetermined who he's gonna save and there are others that he is deemed he created to be lost and nobody really has any choice it's all only based on God's choice now that I think is a very dangerous belief and I've seen it play out I remember a friend who went to a church where they taught this and I tried to study with him I got his brother to go to church I tried to study with him he said no pastor says that if I'm an elect I'll be saved and if I'm not an elect I won't be said if it's meant to happen it'll happen and he never made any effort to study or to know anything more about it because he just figured you know if God wants to save me he'll just have to save me and last I heard he made no effort to draw near to God so this fatalistic idea is almost like Hinduism it's just you know you are what you are you can't change your circumstances or you don't have a choice I believe flies in the face of what the Bible says when Josh was a Jew Ziva stay who you will sir we very much do have a choice and we very much do have responsibility and the choices we make every day do lend themselves towards our ultimate destiny so I think it's very important you know they take the statement there where Jesus said in Matthew 20 16 many are called but few are chosen those who are saved are a few who are specifically chosen now one reason I've got a problem with that I've got many problems but one problem if God created some people who are destined to be sinners and they have no choice and then he's gonna burn them in hell through eternity which is part of the package that doesn't really sound fair does it he made them with no option to do anything but sin and then he's gonna put for doing what he made them to do you see the problem with that the other thing is God the Bible says can't be tempted neither does he tempt any men god is good the idea that God would make somebody to be bad with no choice to change almost makes him an accessory to the crime you see the danger in that so I think it's very important that Christians understand the truth about this now you see pastor Doug you know we are not a Calvinists congregation why are you talking about that cuz it's so 30 percent of Protestant pastors believe this according to a barn of study and because it is in the radio and the median the print and Christian speakers get up and a lot of them have a lot of good things to say that I respect but they'll just say little things that have the once saved always saved theology and I hear those things being echoed I see shadows of it in our church in our teachings and our publications and I think that's a concern so for any who might be fuzzy on the subject as it let it let's just make it clear what the Bible teaches and so I've just got to the heart of the question can the saved be lost and there's other things we're gonna talk about in the process now you might think well as long as you're sincere it doesn't matter what you believe wrong have you ever at night gotten confused at an off-ramp and you got back on the interstate going the wrong direction and you didn't know I remember one time that's happened more than once I remember one time I was going from California to Texas late at night and you go through these clover Leafs of arm ramps and exits and stuff and you get your fuel and you're kind of tired and you you get back on and I remember driving for like 20 minutes and all of a sudden I noticed it said interstate 10 west are you going through the desert I mean you know the scenery is the same said West West I'm going from California to Texas I should be seeing East I was so discouraged because not only had I backtracked now I had to go back again and I wasted all the gas now suppose when I first realized the sign says East I could have said well God knows I'm sincere as long as I believe I'm getting to Texas it won't matter is that true is my sincerity ever gonna get me there so God wants us to be wise because people who are deceived suffer the consequences of that deception Karen I recently either talked to her got heard a post from some friends that they booked a beautiful hotel room for their vacation got a really nice room in an incredible rate planned their vacation got to the town got to the hotel they said we have nothing in your name they had gone to a bogus site they took all their credit card information they were happy to take their money they had nothing to show for it well they were absolutely sincere but they were scammed and so it pays to be a little bit suspicious and to scrutinize things not just for a hotel room that's coming usually to say if it's too cheap to be true it probably is but what about your salvation if you're gonna be careful about something how about being careful about what's gonna happen to you forever I mean so we need to know what we believe not just for our own Souls but we may know people that are being deceived about what does it mean to be saved and if you are saved can't you lose it could we in bad behavior now my friends that believe once saved always saved they sort of believe that once you're saved you get a new heart you're born again God said you know I will never lose anything come to me and there's some key verses they have I don't want to undermine there are some verses that not rightly placed are in the wrong context it can confuse you they say so once I am saved it doesn't matter what I do I could you know turn from the Lord and go back to the world and descend like the devil but God's promised I am saved and I'm going to be there and if pastor ross and i hear it all the time when people call him with bible questions they say well i was saved back when i was nine years old i gave my heart to the lord and he said i haven't been walking with the lord for twenty years now and I've got this drinking problem and i'm i'm having an affair and i want to know and i'm we're going with brother you are not saved no I was saved I was safe oh no you're not because Jesus said you'll know them by their fruits so there's millions of people out there that have this false security that is deadly that's as bad as having a defibrillator with a dead battery you know what I mean clear wait what nothing's happening wouldn't that be a bad time to find out there's no power and so this is what's gonna happen the Bible tells us Matthew 7:21 not everyone that says to me Lord Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven but he that does the will of my father in heaven that's clear enough many will say to me in that day what day is he talking about the day of the Lord the great Judgment Day Lord Lord have we not prophesied in your name and cast out Devils in your name and done many wonderful works in your name and I'll declare to them I never knew you depart from me you who practice lawlessness so it doesn't matter what a profession is if a person's practicing lawlessness then are they really converted is the question well well I want to first do this in sequence let's address the big question that I started with did Jesus in his sacrifice only died for the elect a certain group or did he die for everybody he provided enough forgiveness for every human who is ever lived or ever will live by his sacrifice this was not the sacrifice of a man it was a sacrifice of God and so it's adequate you and I can't understand that but he could do it some verses 2nd Corinthians 5:15 and he died for all that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them John 1:29 the next day John the Baptist saw Jesus coming he said behold of God that takes away the sin of the elect that what he said the sin of who the whole world first on to - and he himself is the propriate for our sins and not ours only but for the whole world I mean if God wants to save the whole world if that wasn't adequate what other words would he use the whole whole world what else get he saying he's trying to make it clear for everybody it's not talking about this the planet and the dirt he's talking about the people first John 4:14 and we have beheld and bear witness the father has sent his son to be the savior of the world and there's many many more verses I'm just giving you some and Bible says in the mouth of two or three witnesses I just gave you four that make it clear Jesus died for everybody that's why it's especially sad that you would have a blank check from the Lord with adequate funds and you don't cash it because he already paid for your sins whether you take advantage of it or not he suffered for your sins how bad that how sad that you would both suffer isn't that sad he suffered for your sins why would you also want to suffer for your sins because that's what's gonna happen with a loss that don't take advantage of the debt that he's paid so now is salvation available to everybody that's the other question they say oh no he didn't die for all it's just available for the elect Romans 5:18 therefore asked through one man's offence judgment came to all men resulting in condemnation even so through one man's righteousness at one man's righteous act Jesus sacrifice the free gift came to all men resulting in justification of life Romans 10 12 for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek for the same lord is over all is rich to all who call upon him for whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved is that clear who anybody who calls on the name of the Lord now some Calvinists will take that verse all you've got to do is call on the name of the Lord and you're safe so you pray you call on the Lord you're safe and then go on and live the way you want that's not what that verse is saying calling on the Lord means those who have a life of calling upon God and so it's an ongoing behavior first Timothy 2 verse 3 and 4 for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior who desires all men to be saved it's not just a few elected are gonna be saved he doesn't want anyone to be lost so this idea that God said well you know I've got a I've got to make some sinners out there or I've heard people say well you know Jesus said I'm saving the the Apostles except for Judas because somebody had to be the fall guy that the prophecies might be fulfilled so Judas had no choice is what they say I don't believe that they say well because prophecy said he'd be betrayed by a friend somebody had to be the fall guy and so God said Judas you know how I'd like to save you but I I need to condemn you because I need someone to be the bad guy now Jesus God knew he would do it but he did it because of his choice or you read the verse where it says and God hardened hardened Pharaoh's heart so God is looking down from heaven he's going let me see who will I say eenie meenie miney moe you can be the Pharaoh I'm gonna heart in your heart no matter what happens you are not gonna repent because I'm not giving you the capacity to repent you're just gonna be lost because I makes for a good story so Pharaoh you're lost I'm hardening your heart keep reading you got a compare Scripture with Scripture you'll find it says many more times Pharaoh hardened his heart see it's the way that God hardened Pharaoh's heart it's simply saying that the circumstances that God sent because Pharaoh was proud it hardened him it's like someone said one time the Sun can shine on wax and it will melt it the Sun can shine on clay and it will harden it it's the same Sun it's shining on different substance so if a person has a proud heart the circumstances that might humble one king like David or Manasseh they humbled themselves when the circumstances came will harden somebody like the Pharaoh and so it really is what is this does that make sense you still with me I know it's a lot of scripture and stuff I'm gonna want to make sure that this is kind of deep theology Christians have been debating this for years but I think that it's a life and death issue that you should understand first Timothy - I've read that well all he wants all men to say it be saved Titus 2:11 for the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to some men all men oh man Jew Gentile male female everybody it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved now actually I'm reading in acts before I was reading in Romans John 3:16 who knows that one that whosoever believes in Him might not perish but have everlasting life go to 2nd Peter 3:9 the Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some men count slackness talking about why is it taking him so long to come back said he hasn't forgotten his promise but he's long-suffering to us-ward not willing that any should perish so the idea that God arbitrarily made some people to be doomed if God is not willing that any perish think about this why why isn't everybody saved now I'm getting ready to say something that some he'll struggle with Muslims struggle with this when anything happens there little fatalistic they say it must have been the will of Allah everything that happens is the will of Allah have you heard that some Calvinists say God is sovereign everything that happens is his will I don't believe that I just read it is God is not willing that any should perish why do we pray in the Lord's Prayer thy will be done if God's will is always done why we even praying it it's because God's will is not always done we should be praying that it will be done does that make sense and so yeah there's a battle between good and evil it is not God's will that innocent people suffer it's not God's will that the devil rebelled none of the evil is God's will if you want to know God's will you'll look in Genesis chapter 1 and 2 and you see a perfect paradise with creatures made in His image completely happy they're living in bliss everything is good good very good that's God's will when the devil came in and he brought the sin that's not his will he doesn't want you to perish which is why he sent Jesus so you have an option but he can't force love and he can't change your heart that's something we must do one more verse on this to let you know that it's available to everybody the Bible ends with an invitation it says in the spirit and the bride say come let him who hears come and let him who thirsts come whoever let him come whosoever will let him come and take the water of life freely so does that make it clear the invitation for salvation is provided for everybody and given to everybody and God is never going to run out of salvation and say look we got a quota we're rationing right now we're having rolling brownouts and if you remember in California maybe we've back during the arnold schwarzenegger time we had a power shortage and they had rolling brownouts where people's power would just go off because there was a shortage does the lord ever have salvation blackouts where for some reason there's just not enough he's always much more salvation available from God than there are people willing to receive it that leads us to the big question once saved always saved once a person is saved can they then be lost now I'll tell you why this doctrine developed and there are two extremes who wants an experience where you come to Jesus to be saved but you you just never feel you're good enough and every time you think a bad thought or do a wrong thing you say now I'm lost I'm sorry Lord now I'm saved oh but what if I do someone got lost no save now repent confess repent confess sin repent commit sin sir and you're going back and forth and it's like you can go crazy like that you have no assurance so theologians you said does God once want us to always be living in wondering and hoping that we might be saved and always in doubt and you're miserable because you're just always wondering did I do something wrong and there's no peace there's no assurance and they said that can't be the answer so it must be that once you are saved you can't be lost that's the only way you would have that assurance and that the security they call it eternal security is one of the names for once a bill we see well that's the extreme solution that's also the other problem the idea okay I'm saved now I'm gonna do what I want no matter what I do I have peace I'm safe don't you dare tell me otherwise because you're gonna shake me you can take away my peace and my security and so that's the other extreme now you know I have a lot of Baptist friends I believe in eternal security and they're very godly people they they don't try to exploit it but I've also preached in some Baptist churches where people's that you better not go along with a sermon because the football game starts at 12 and so you know and I saw him gathering outside and smoking right after church and and then go home and drink beer and watch the football and they said yeah I was saved at 12 years old I gave my heart to the Lord but they're not living for God and so you've got these two extremes of people that are constantly in fear they're always looking at their works and you got the other group that there they say once I was saved i'm saved by faith it doesn't matter what I do now I want to make it clear we are saving entirely by grace through faith we are not saved by works but that is not a license to live a life of sin so get back to a question once saved always saved this last week we had a interesting experience Karen that were gone for a couple weeks it came home and I went to my sink we had dual sinks in our bathroom and I went to my sink and there was a spider in the sink and you know the porcelain walls he could get in but he couldn't get out and he didn't want to go down the drain he couldn't get out and so you know I don't have any great love for spiders they don't scare me so I did what most people would do I turned the water on and I splashed around with a cup and I washed them down the drain brush my teeth did whatever I did to I mentioned it to Karen and a little while later she said your spiders back I remember that song itsy-bitsy spider went down the waterspout out came the rain washed the spider out out came the sun dried up all the rain itsy-bitsy spider went down and I thought there's no way he could have survived that and so I came back I looked at him I thought maybe it's his brother but I looked at him he looked at me and it was the same when he said why did you do that to me and so I thought well sorry guy look I apologize but I just can't take you in there's only enough room in this house for my wife and I I turned on the water I washed him down the drain I actually put the plug out of the drain poured a cup let it run for a minute put the cap back in went about my business I came back a couple of hours later and either there were identical triplets that kept falling into the same sink he was back out again as a Karen you're never gonna believe this she said well how can you possibly have be so cold-hearted and still wash him down the drain the third time and you know I thought to myself even in America if you survive a hanging and the rope breaks they're not supposed to it's like what do they call it double indemnity you can't you can't carry out a death sentence twice you gotta let him go free I said alright today is your lucky day so I put a piece of Kleenex in there he crawled up on the Kleenex I took him outside and I said be fruitful and multiply and I let him go and I thought yeah what a miraculous story of salvation if God cares about sparrows and spiders and does he care about us he wants us to be saved but after he's done all he's done to save you you must then nurture that relationship you can't lose it I'm just gonna tell you straight up yes if you are not continuing to daily walk in the Lord you can lose that assurance and you can lose eternal life let me give you some verses Galatians 5 verse 4 you have become estranged from Christ you who attempt to be justified by the law you have fallen from grace no matter what you think about grace in the law there Paul says grace these are people he's writing to the church and glaciar you can fall from it now if you've fallen from grace when you save if you're only saved by grace and you've fallen from grace are you still saved no so Paul said it mark 1313 jesus said he that endures to the end will be saved so when do you finally know at the end you've got to continue enduring now that doesn't mean you can't have peace that you're saved and I'll explain that because the word saved is used different ways Paul said 1st Corinthians 9:27 but I keep my body under and I bring it into subjection lest that by any means when I preach to others i myself should be a castaway paul was saying i need to continually bring my body into subjection Paul said I die daily now if once you're saved you always saved why would you need to die daily but pulse it daily I must deny myself jesus said whoever takes up his cross daily denies himself and it follows me those are the terms of Jesus daily take up your cross deny yourself follow me and if you should cease to daily have that ongoing relationship you're it's dangerous said I would be a castaway revelation 2:10 jesus said do not fear any of those things you're about to suffer indeed the devil is about to throw some of you into prison that you might be tested and you will have tribulation 10 days be faithful until death endure to the end and I will give you a crown of life see Christianity is not a sprint it's not a hop it's marathon Paul said we are running a race and we need to continue to daily guard or we're gonna slip back that's why they call it backsliding John 15:2 Jesus said every branch in me so he's talking about branches or in him you with me that does not bear fruit he takes it away if we're in him we've come to him we've been grafted-in but through abiding in him we need to bear fruit and if we do not he cuts it away says they're gathered and burned now how can you misunderstand that you can't say yeah well those who were in Christ that are cut away gathered and burned they're still saved that's and I've heard people say that Romans 11 21 4 of God did not spare the natural branches he's talking now to the Jewish nation we are to the Gentiles rather he's saying the Jewish nations and natural branches but those that did not receive the Messiah they were cut off he's saying now you've been grafted in Gentiles but you need to continue to abide and to bear fruit or even you who have been grafted in you can be cut off - let me read it to you 4 of God did not spare the natural branches so even just because you're born a Jew he said doesn't mean you're automatically saved he may not spare you therefore consider the goodness and severity of God on those who fell severity but toward you goodness notice if now why don't that make it conditional goodness if you continue in his goodness otherwise you will be cut off so being a Christian is an ongoing relationship you need to abide you need to continue in his goodness and he says it's the goodness of God but for those who reject Jesus they're cut off 2nd Peter 3:17 you therefore beloved since you know this beforehand beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness fastness being led away with the error of the wicked paw a Peter here is warning said you know that sometimes the dog that returns to his own vomit and the pig that was washed to wallowing in the mire Peter saying you've been saved therefore you want to hang don't follow from your steadfastness Hebrews 10:26 if we sin willfully and that there means if we continue to live a life of sin doesn't mean if you once sin but if we sin willfully after we've received the knowledge of the truth right so he's talking right now to somebody they've received the knowledge of the truth but they turn from it for willful ongoing sin they're no longer remains a sacrifice for sins but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation that will devour the end of series golden same chapter Hebrews 10:35 therefore do not cast away your confidence which has a great reward for you need endurance he that endures will be saved so that after you've done the will of God you may receive the promise so what in the world is going on here pastor Doug can we have any peace the secret to the Christian life is you've got to keep moving if you're going through the jungle and you stop you'll be bit by mosquitos and bit by ants and you got to keep moving you know a Motorhome does not get termites a lot of Christians think you come to the Lord you say a prayer that is done with now you come to the Lord and you are saved from your past sins you are justified that is true that salvation is instant justification is a gift that is given to you so when the thief on the cross said Lord remember me when you come into your kingdom what's he saying yes all right suppose now that they pulled the nails from his hand and he came down could he be lost yes now that he's been saved and justified now he needs to be saved from the power of sin through sanctification and then when the Lord comes you're saved from the presence of sin through glorification so you got three ways the word saved is used and this is what confused people yes you are saved by grace and justified when you come to when you get off your knees after you've asked them to forgive your sins you have salvation of justification but you have not been saved yet from the power of sin in the world the devil is gonna be there tempting you and so you continually day by day you've got the freedom to choose and we are encouraged all through the scriptures to continue choosing God but can we have peace where does the word confidence come from when you say con means with fidelity our fight ends means faith with faith Matthew I'm sorry mark 16:16 he who believes and is baptized will be saved can you have security if you believe John 3:36 he who believes in the son has everlasting life that isn't that a good promise what does it mean to believe that's a big question some people people think that means just believe that he exists or believe that he died believe that he live believe that he rose all those things I just mentioned does the devil believe all of those does the devil believe that God lives he knows it better than you used to see him in his glory does the devil know that Jesus came to earth does he know that he died for our sins does he know that he rose again he does he knows all that he even knows he loves you it's not gonna save him it's the kind of belief where it means the word be live means to the word believe means to be live the word believe means to be live it means to live in something it's not just a mental assent because that James said the devil's believe like that it means saying I'm willing to do your will Lord you know the reason that it's important to understand that God can give us power not only to justify us but he can give us power to save us from the power of temptation and sin is when you know that God will do his part you have more security what is righteousness bike when you believe that God hears your prayer for forgiveness and you are justified and you believe at the moment you prayed that he forgives all your past sins and he gives you power and he is gonna begin creating a new heart in you that gives you confidence that hey I've got eternal life if you have eternal life how will that motivate you to be different if you know that God said I am the author and the finisher of your faith I will stay with you if you continue to turn to me you may fall but turn right back to me and see if he doesn't grow you that should give you confidence I remember reading when they were building the Golden Gate Bridge at first they had no safety precautions and 23 men slipped and fell to their deaths in the water below finally they thought you know we need to do something because it was in the early stages it already lost 23 men and a guy named Strauss helped develop he was an engineer a net that was spread all the way across they'd never had a safety device like this on a big project they built in that at a hundred thousand dollars if for us it would be like 10 million today that went across the entire span you know what they discovered after they put the net under there first of all the net saved like 19 men but the other thing they noticed was once the net showed up the men because of their confidence we're a lot braver and the work went a lot faster and it was a lot more successful because the men had security now do you hear what I'm saying because you cannot say once saved always saved doesn't mean you cannot have security in your relationship with the Lord you've just got to be careful about being presumption I've used this illustration before I Karen I got married we've actually got witnesses to the wedding today you make very restrictive vows you promise to keep yourself only under that other person and we love each other we made those promises now if I want to I could break that promise tomorrow I could break it today I am free I'd never have god-willing I never will I don't worry about it I don't worry about her because when you've got love and faith you can have confidence but that doesn't mean we don't have the freedom see what I'm saying and so this is how it is in our relationship with Ord he loves you he accepts you he adopts you and he'll never let go of you but you can let go of him his love for you is none failing life and death cannot separate you from his love my Calvinist friends say that means you can't be lost no it means he will not stop loving you but you are still free cuz you can't force love the idea once God saves someone he takes away their freedom what does that mean your robot now that's not love anymore there's another word for forced love and it's not a pretty word so can we have confidence yes John 10:28 and I give them eternal life and they will never perish neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand Jesus I'll not lose any who come to me Romans 8:16 the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God and this is the testimony that God has given to us eternal life this is great by the way this is 1st John 5 great promises here 1st John 5:11 this is the testimony that God has given us eternal life and this life is in his son he that has the son has life so is it wrong to ever tell a person I have eternal life no when someone asks you are you saved you know I think sometimes we all feel a little bit you know confused about how do you answer that question if someone says you're saved why it depends on who's asking me if a Baptist asked me I'll see you saved I say yeah I'm safe what what they mean by that is have you given your heart to the Lord yeah now if an Arminian asked me are you saved I'd say I'm being saved I am saved from in justification the past of sand I am being saved from the power of sin I don't think any of us here would brag that we have been delivered from the power of sin even Paul said I do not count myself to have apprehended but I press on so the Apostle Paul said you know we're still fighting daily there's a battle that goes on but we can have assurance it says here these things I've written to you who believe in the name of the son of God that you might know you have eternal life and that you might continue to believe so what happens he's writing these things that we might continue believing because some people lose faith along the way Colossians 1:13 he's delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of his son of love in whom we have redemption through his blood and forgiveness of a sense so so this gives us it gives us confidence it gives us a faith FB Myers said unbelief puts our circumstances between us and God but faith puts God between us and our circumstances if you want to you can look at all the things that you've done wrong that are all your temptations and all your battles and if you do that you'll think how in the world could I ever be saved it's like a pastor said one time when I look at myself I think how could I ever be saved but when I look at Jesus I think how can I ever be lost so what are you looking at if your focus is only on your weakness and that's not good the Bible says how do we Hebrews chapter 12 therefore let us fix our eyes on Jesus sitting or not seeing that we have so great a cloud of witnesses on us let us lay aside every sin and the weight that does so easily beset us looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith and so it's not looking at our sin we lay our sight our sin by looking at Christ keeping our eyes on him all things are possible so we need to be careful and not have a reckless faith be confident but don't be overconfident remember when Jesus said one of you is going to betray me Peter said all these might be tradie but not moi said no sir and Jesus a Peter before the rooster crows twice you're gonna deny me three times not me and he was so sure it could never happen to him what happened the Bible says 1st Corinthians 10:12 therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest you fall so you want to have confidence but you don't want to have arrogance you need to have faith but be careful again Hebrews 4 1 therefore since the promise remains of entering his rest let us fear unless any of us seem to come short of it we need to be god-fearing and yet have peace see there's a balance here in the Christian life so hope is very important now abide three things faith love hope Psalm 33 18 behold the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him and those who hope in his mercy I have faith that God has forgiven my past sins I could never stand before you otherwise I believe and have hope that he is saving me from the power of sin having that hope makes a big difference remember I told you that when Deanne was in the Falls and she was going towards the precipice they saved her twenty feet from the edge that when she saw the people on the shore beckoning her come come swim swim it encouraged her and if she they hadn't done that she never would have got close enough to grab that one man's thumb they did an experiment Duke University they'd never allow it today it was kind of kind of mean worse than me and the spyder they put these rats in a circular container where they had sheer walls they put one rat in and they timed how long he would swim if there was no obvious avenue of escape to the rat if there was no hope within reach the rat circled a few times and then just gave up put his head under and drown then they put a little ladder and a Ledge just out of reach of a rat and they dropped around in there he swam three times as long because he had hope he swam a lot better we've got everything will go better this is righteousness by faith if you believe don't cast away your confidence don't lose hope and so many people say oh I'm never gonna make it well you probably not jesus said be it unto you according to your faith right all things are possible to them to believe Clare Boothe Luce said there's no hopeless situations there's only people who've grown hopeless about them and when you say a situation or person is hopeless you're slamming the door in the face of God so now in conclusion that's what a pastor says when he realizes he's losing people there's a tension but he still has more to say say now in conclusions give him hope right now really I am getting there is it ever appropriate to say I am saved I told you it depends on the context does the Bible ever use the term I am safe yes Titus 3:5 not by the works of righteousness which we have done but according to His mercy he saved us through the washing and regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit Ephesians 2:8 by grace you are saved he talks about it in present tense of course he's talking there but you have been saved in the sense of justification all your past sin powers provided then to save you from the power of sin ultimately the presence of sin Romans 10:13 whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved and if we are calling on God he promises to save us but we need to press on the Bible says in 1 John 1st John chapter 1 verse 7 if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin what is a walk one step per its ongoing ongoing we need to walk 1st Corinthians 15:1 moreover brethren I declare to you the gospel which I preached you which also you received and in which you stand by which you are saved that's good news if you hold fast to the word that I preached to you unless you believed in vain again it makes it clear and he says in Galatians 6:9 let us not grow weary in doing good for in due time we shall reap if we don't lose heart don't become hopeless don't be discouraged don't lose heart says you will reap the reward he promises us that revelation 2:5 remember there from whence you have fallen repent and do the first works or else I'll come to you quickly and remove your candlestick out of its place and this is a message to the church Jesus is saying to even the church your candlestick can be removed if you don't repent revelation 3:5 he who overcomes will be clothed in white raiment again he's speaking to the church and I will not blot his name from the book of life now why would Jesus even say that unless it was possible for a name to be taken from the book of life if your name once put in the book of life could never be taken out why would he say that matter of fact x2 this 33 he didn't expect me to go to the Old Testament Exodus 32 verse 33 and the Lord said to Moses whoever has sinned against me I will blot him out of my book so even in the Old Testament this is what Jesus is referring to here in Revelation 3 God's enters a person in his book when you come to Christ and you're justified you're saved your name is entered in the book of life but then you must press on through sanctification and faith and you have the victory amen Romans 11:22 therefore consider the goodness I already read you that one so he doesn't want us to live in fear first on 4:18 there is no fear in love but perfect love casts out fear God has promised in Hebrews 13 verse 5 I will never leave you or forsake you he says being confident Philippians 1:6 of this very thing he that has begun a good work and you will complete it God gives you so many promises not to be discouraged not to think he doesn't want to save you he's desperate to save every one of us but you need to cooperate don't there's two ditches you can fall and one is get discouraged and say I'm never gonna make it the others say once I'm saved I can't be lost you need to be but tor and Biblical about what it means to be saved second Timothy 4:18 the Lord will deliver me from every evil work amen and preserve me for his heavenly kingdom to him be the glory for ever and ever Hebrews 10:22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith so God wants us to have some assurance doesn't he doesn't want us to live in fear you know just as we were let me read one more verse to you and if you have any doubts nobody can misunderstand this passage in Ezekiel this will be my last verse ezekiel chapter 33 he says in verse 12 therefore o son of man say to the children of your people the righteousness of the righteous will not deliver him in the day of his transgression as for the wickedness of the wicked it will not he will not fall because of it in the day of his he turns from his wickedness nor shall the righteous be able to live because of his righteousness in the day that he sins that's pretty clear when I say to the righteous that he will surely live but he trusts in his own righteousness and he commits iniquity this is describing the once saved always say people he says to the righteous you'll live I saved you you're forgiven but he trusts in his own righteousness he commits iniquity none of his righteous work shall be remembered because of the iniquity that he's committed he will die again when I say to the wicked man you will surely die but he turns from his sin and he does what is lawful and right if the wicked restores the pledge and gives back what he has stolen and walks in the statutes of light life without committing iniquity he will surely live he will not die none of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him he shall surely live God is telling us that he's covering the two extremes we're right in that wonder is he saying look if you follow me you can live now we're saved by His grace because if if we're gonna get what we deserve we're all doomed right penalty for sin is death none of us has hope so if anyone makes it it's grace for everyone but when you are saved by grace and you accept that embrace that by the Bible says we should walk in a newness of life amen when we were leaving Niagara Falls care and I wanted to take one wrap around the park and so we took went and took this bridge and we walked above the Falls we'd been down looking at everything below the Falls and we got under and got all wet and some of you saw our Facebook picture and we went the boat up there and it's like going into a hurricane and and then we went up where the water goes above the Falls and you could see right where it crashes over the edge it was amazing to me that it was like glass a few feet before it crashes over and it goes down to 175 feet or so and in the thundering spray and down below and I saw somebody swimming just above the falls in that peaceful water ten feet from the edge no lifejacket it was a duck he didn't look like he had a thing in the world to be afraid of he's just swimming around this enjoying himself and I'm almost sure he knew there was a girl deck watching somewhere and he wanted to impress her but the reason he wasn't afraid is because he knew he had wings he had webbed feet he wasn't worried about the waterfalls you and I are kind of like that ducks sometimes you we can swim in the peaceful waters because we know that the Lord is with us that he's got angels that'll help us he sends his holy spirit to give us strength the Lord do you know the Lord wants you to be saved more than you want to be safe no matter how much you want to be saved you don't want to be saved as much as God wants you to be saved did you know that because look at how much he gave that you might be saved you've never given that much for anything so if you cooperate with his heavenly agencies you can be saved he's not willing that any should perish but then also we've got to be careful not to presume on his grace and say well because Jesus died and I say I've accepted that now I can live like the rest of the world and live a selfish life you might find yourself among those who say Lord Lord and you'll say I don't know you being a Christian is a daily experience friends and he wants you to have that joy but we also need to have the balance in our experience amen now does this Bible study did it make sense to you will anyone say well pastor Doug you didn't use the Bible today I tried to give you a scripture for why we believe what we believe and I think we're on a good foundation we're gonna sing about it in our closing song it's old brother be faithful I want you to look at who wrote that song number 602 let's stand as we sing number 602 [Music] we shall enter a glorious home and joy the car [Music] [Music] who [Music] City of Gold people it's called and [Music] Slim's dark night of sorrow was wearing away we [Music] oh brother be paid before creations on agent of Angels chair [Music] well people serve [Music] Oh these years for this [Music] something oh thank you for the promises we have in your word that we can be saved right now through justification that you promise you will forgive all of our past sins and provide power so we can be saved also day by day through sanctification an ultimate Lord we look forward to the day when Jesus will come and we will be saved from the presence of sin through glorification lord help us each day to keep our eyes fixed upon you I pray that you'll teach us how to have that appropriate balance of confidence faith assurance and yet cautioned I pray that you'll teach us how to keep our eyes on Jesus that we might be empowered by your righteousness be with us Lord bless each person we thank you and pray in Christ's name Amen god bless you happy Sabbath please be seated and let the elders go to the door so we can greet you

Channel: Aaron

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Id: 0XfI5-veIIQ

Length: 58min 51sec (3531 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 30 2018