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If you weren't at our church on Sunday,

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let me just tell you.

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I preached from Romans 13:11-14.

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And in verse 11, Paul says,

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"and this, knowing the time..."

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And the thing that he says 
about the time there

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is that our salvation is closer

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than when we first believed.

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Well, one of the things that I brought out

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is the fact that we tend not

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to think about salvation biblically.

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We typically talk about 
salvation past tense.

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Like I emphasized then,

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we live in this "once 
saved, always saved" era.

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Somebody's probably wondering,

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well, hey, I thought once you were saved,

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you're always saved.

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No doubt about it.

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The problem is the 
Bible doesn't typically -

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for one thing, the Bible never says that.

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That doesn't mean it's not true,

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but the Bible never says it,

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and it never emphasizes it that way.

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And what most people mean

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when they say that

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is I said a prayer, I walked an aisle,

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I went to church,

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I believed in Jesus,

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I was saved -

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now no matter what happens

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and no matter how I live,

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I am going to get to the end.

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That is an error.

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That is absolutely erroneous 
to the Scriptures.

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The Bible says - Jesus Christ Himself

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says very plainly

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that only if you endure to 
the end will you be saved.

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What does that endurance look like?

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Well, the Bible describes 
it in a lot of places.

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What I've done - I've done this before,

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and I encourage you guys to do it too.

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Go through your entire New Testament.

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Look at every place where "saved,"

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"saving," "salvation," "saves."

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Any of the words "salvation," "saved,"

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type of words,

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and guess what you find out?

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You find out that only

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maybe not even a handful of times

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out of all the many times that it's used

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does it ever speak about salvation

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as a past tense thing.

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Most of the time,

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salvation is looked at as

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an ongoing process or future.

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Your salvation is closer

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than when you first believed.

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Why do I emphasize that?

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I emphasize it for this reason,

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if we talked;

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if we spoke the way the Bible speaks,

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we would talk about:

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Hey brother, are you being saved?

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But we don't talk that way.

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But listen, just one place

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that just shoots to my mind right now

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is found in 1 Corinthians 15.

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"Now, I remind you, brothers,

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of the Gospel I preached to you,
which you received, in which you stand,

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and by which you are being saved

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if you hold fast to the 
Word I preached to you,

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unless you believed in vain."

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You know what he doesn't assume there?

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He doesn't assume that your past faith

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is worth anything unless you endure;

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unless you persevere in this truth.

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And he says, in fact,

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"You are being saved."

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That's just like Paul says 
over in Romans 13.

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Your salvation is closer

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than when you first believed.

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Peter talks about a salvation

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ready to be revealed in the last time.

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Well, okay, what does that 
have to do with creation?

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Well, it's got a lot to do with it

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because what it's got to do with,

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it's got to do with our Bibles.

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It's very important that we talk

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the way the Bible talks.

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Like I say, you and I

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typically talk about salvation

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as a past event.

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Which the Bible does.

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Look, to do that is not erroneous.

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But folks, generally heresies

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are not just a total 
turning from all truth.

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Heresy typically is when you

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exaggerate a certain truth to the point

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where it becomes no longer truth.

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Like, imagine a human face.

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If all of a sudden, my eye

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starts getting bigger and bigger

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until it's about that big,

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and I walk in here.

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Suddenly, something 
seems very wrong, right?

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If somebody came in with 
about a four foot eyeball,

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we would all notice.

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And it would not be beautiful, right?

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We would look at it and we would say

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that's hideous, that's grotesque,

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that's abnormal.

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Something's wrong.

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Well, that's what heresy is.

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(Incomplete thought)

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Typical heresies comes

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when people find one verse or two verses

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and they so jack them out of proportion

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that you end up with something 
that's no longer truth.

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And see, when you and I,

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we get into the mold

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where we talk in a certain way,

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but the emphasis is not biblical.

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Well, then, we're beginning 
to depart from truth,

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even though what we actually say

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may in the concept itself 
and in the statement itself

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be accurate.

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I mean, there are places

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that speak past tense 
about us being saved.

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"You've been saved by grace through faith,

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that not of yourselves."

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We know the Bible talks that way,

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but not often.

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I mean, I would challenge 
you folks right now.

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Any of you,

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other than the text that I just mentioned,

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Ephesians 2:8-9,

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find somewhere in your Bibles

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where salvation is past tense.

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I challenge you guys to do it.

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Most of you have your Bibles.

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Most of you know your 
Bible to some degree.

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Can anybody even think of another verse

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or produce anything

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or look something up?

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Now look, if you've got a concordance -

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some of you might be turning 
to a concordance in the back -

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but even so, that's legitimate.

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Go ahead.

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Learn how to use your Bible tools.

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(unintelligible)

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Say it.

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(unintelligible)

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2 Timothy 1:9

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"Who saved us and called 
us to a holy calling,

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not because of our works,

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but because of His own purpose and grace,

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which He gave us in Christ Jesus

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before the ages began."

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Okay, we've got two now.

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Anybody think of another?

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Titus 3:5

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"He saved us, not because of works

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done by us in righteousness..."

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Okay, we've got three.

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Now, if I were to ask you

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how many times do you think

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that some form of "save" or "salvation"

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is found in the New Testament,

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what do you think?

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You think like six?

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So, like half the times it's past?

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No, it's found there a lot. A lot.

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It really is.

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I don't have all the statistics.

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And this isn't something I 
really meant to go with,

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but it's something that I 
want to encourage all of you,

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when you read your Bibles,

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think about what your Bible's saying.

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Ask yourself,

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because like I said before,

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if we're going to be biblical;

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if we're going to talk 
like the apostles talk,

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we ought to talk about being saved,

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and we ought to talk about a salvation

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yet to be revealed.

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And that we're closer to it.

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Because this is how Paul

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sought to encourage Christians.

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This is how Peter did.

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They talked and they set our hope

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on a future salvation.

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(from the room)

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Excuse me, on this verse in 1 Peter 5,

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It says we're kept by the 
power of God through faith.

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That's right.

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No question about it.

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(from the room)

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But you said that God would keep us

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in salvation sometimes and sometimes not?

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Tim: No. No, no, no, no.

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We are kept by God.

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We are kept by the power 
of God through faith.

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The power of God is 
demonstrated in our lives

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by the faith He keeps us in.

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The bottom line, folks,

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if our faith is real to begin with

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and it is indeed the powerful,

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the power of God sustaining faith,

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that we're kept by,

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then all you folks know 
what James 2 says, right?

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James 2 says, "faith 
without works is dead."

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Bottom line is we find that 
if we say we know Him

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and we don't keep His commandments,

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we're liars and the truth isn't in us.

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Bottom line, if we are those

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who practice unrighteousness

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according to 1 John 3 -

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you can read about the first 15 verses

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of 1 John 3 -

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the Bible's pretty explicit.

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Jesus Christ says you're 
only going to be saved

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if you endure to the end.

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The fact is there are 
people that have faith;

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there are demons that have faith,

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and their faith doesn't save them.

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Bottom line is in John 2

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there were people who believed in Jesus,

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and you look at the 
last couple verses there,

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it says Jesus didn't 
commit Himself to them

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because He knew what was in men.

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And the bottom line is this,

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there is a faith that saves, and 
there is a faith that does not save.

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The Bible's pretty explicit about that.

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The faith that does not save

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is a faith that's no better

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than what the demons have.

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The demons believe Jesus Christ

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was a true historical figure.

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There's no question about it,

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when God saves us, we are born again,

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and nobody plucks us 
out of the Father's hand.

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I'm not saying that 
speaking about salvation

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as a past event is wrong.

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But because the Bible is so aware

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that multitudes that claim to know Christ,

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in the day of judgment for one,

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are going to say, "Lord, Lord,"

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and He's going to say, "I never knew you."

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Well, what happened there?
Did they not believe?

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Well, certainly, they believed 
He was a true historical figure.

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Certainly, they even believed He was Lord.

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They called Him Lord.

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And yet there was something innately wrong

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with their faith

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because they're being 
cast away in that day.

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And by the way, Jesus 
doesn't say it's just a few.

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He says multitudes, many.

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In fact, He says in another place

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that we need to strive to 
enter into the straight gate

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or the narrow gate

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because many are going 
to seek to enter in therein

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and are not going to be able to.

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Brethren, the way the 
Bible lays this thing down

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is we need to work out our salvation

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with fear and trembling.

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And there are people that fall out

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and make shipwreck all the time.

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Now, what do we say about those people?

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00:12:21,264 --> 00:12:22,887
Well, we can say that basically

270
00:12:22,887 --> 00:12:27,157
it's the type of soil where 
the plant began to grow

271
00:12:27,157 --> 00:12:28,527
and there were no true roots

272
00:12:28,527 --> 00:12:32,937
and it rejoiced and received 
the truth for a season.

273
00:12:32,937 --> 00:12:36,951
But we know, basically the Bible tells us

274
00:12:36,951 --> 00:12:39,056
that God keeps His own.

275
00:12:39,056 --> 00:12:41,208
But what the Bible also makes very clear

276
00:12:41,208 --> 00:12:43,064
is if we don't persevere to the end,

277
00:12:43,064 --> 00:12:44,372
we give the definite proof

278
00:12:44,372 --> 00:12:46,475
we never belonged to 
God in the first place.

279
00:12:46,475 --> 00:12:48,055
And there's a whole lot of people

280
00:12:48,055 --> 00:12:49,641
that believe they belong to God,

281
00:12:49,641 --> 00:12:50,920
claim they belong to God,

282
00:12:50,920 --> 00:12:53,083
make testimonies of such,
go to church,

283
00:12:53,083 --> 00:12:58,327
but they fall out and make shipwreck

284
00:12:58,327 --> 00:13:00,022
or they make it to the end,

285
00:13:00,022 --> 00:13:01,516
but then there on judgment day,

286
00:13:01,516 --> 00:13:05,264
they find out at the judgment bar itself,

287
00:13:05,264 --> 00:13:07,190
He didn't know me.

288
00:13:07,190 --> 00:13:08,565
What happened?

289
00:13:08,565 --> 00:13:12,125
What was wrong there?

290
00:13:12,125 --> 00:13:14,033
Did they not have any faith at all?

291
00:13:14,033 --> 00:13:16,514
No, they had a certain type of faith.

292
00:13:16,514 --> 00:13:19,381
But there is a certain type of 
faith that doesn't save us.

293
00:13:19,381 --> 00:13:20,849
There's no question about it,

294
00:13:20,849 --> 00:13:23,647
when somebody truly comes to faith,

295
00:13:23,647 --> 00:13:26,653
that true faith is a gift of God.

296
00:13:26,653 --> 00:13:28,268
God doesn't repeal it.

297
00:13:28,268 --> 00:13:31,433
By His power, He keeps that individual

298
00:13:31,433 --> 00:13:32,689
in that faith.

299
00:13:32,689 --> 00:13:34,870
But I'll tell you this, 
the reason Jesus says

300
00:13:34,870 --> 00:13:37,031
you've got to persevere 
and endure to the end

301
00:13:37,031 --> 00:13:38,571
in order to be saved

302
00:13:38,571 --> 00:13:43,376
is because the true faith

303
00:13:43,376 --> 00:13:46,518
that is energized by 
the true power of God

304
00:13:46,518 --> 00:13:51,051
will always declare itself 
by persevering till the end.

305
00:13:51,051 --> 00:13:53,522
And if you fall out shy of the end,

306
00:13:53,522 --> 00:13:56,438
you give the greatest evidence

307
00:13:56,438 --> 00:13:59,948
that it wasn't a God-given faith.

308
00:13:59,948 --> 00:14:02,449
And the only reason that 
I even brought this up

309
00:14:02,449 --> 00:14:04,398
is really not to get into any debates

310
00:14:04,398 --> 00:14:07,535
over the nature of salvation.

311
00:14:07,535 --> 00:14:08,998
The reason I brought this up

312
00:14:08,998 --> 00:14:15,513
is because we need to 
talk like the Bible talks.

313
00:14:15,513 --> 00:14:18,873
We need to talk about being saved.

314
00:14:18,873 --> 00:14:23,122
And we need to talk 
about a future salvation.

315
00:14:23,122 --> 00:14:25,132
And you see, this was the very point

316
00:14:25,132 --> 00:14:27,027
Paul made to the Corinthians.

317
00:14:27,027 --> 00:14:30,315
He said you're being saved by this Gospel

318
00:14:30,315 --> 00:14:32,364
unless you've believed in vain,

319
00:14:32,364 --> 00:14:34,511
which he's acknowledging they did believe.

320
00:14:34,511 --> 00:14:36,986
But it's possible people 
can believe in vain.

321
00:14:36,986 --> 00:14:38,767
And the way it demonstrates itself

322
00:14:38,767 --> 00:14:41,198
is when they fall out of the race.

323
00:14:41,198 --> 00:14:47,030
(incomplete thought).

324
00:14:47,030 --> 00:14:50,886
Look, a faith that is not 
connected with works

325
00:14:50,886 --> 00:14:54,569
is a dead faith James says.

326
00:14:54,569 --> 00:14:56,948
(incomplete thought)

327
00:14:56,948 --> 00:14:58,386
Are we saved by our works?

328
00:14:58,386 --> 00:15:01,116
No, but true faith is always

329
00:15:01,116 --> 00:15:02,612
accompanied by works

330
00:15:02,612 --> 00:15:04,381
because it's always accompanied

331
00:15:04,381 --> 00:15:06,684
by regeneration.

332
00:15:06,684 --> 00:15:08,542
Regeneration is being made

333
00:15:08,542 --> 00:15:10,676
a new creation in Jesus Christ.

334
00:15:10,676 --> 00:15:14,295
That's the truth that comes 
right out of 2 Corinthians 5.

335
00:15:14,295 --> 00:15:16,759
If we're not new creatures in Christ;

336
00:15:16,759 --> 00:15:19,998
if we haven't been born again,

337
00:15:19,998 --> 00:15:22,174
we will not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.

338
00:15:22,174 --> 00:15:23,195
Lay it down, folks.

339
00:15:23,195 --> 00:15:24,567
You must be born again.

340
00:15:24,567 --> 00:15:27,342
Born again means radical transformation.

341
00:15:27,342 --> 00:15:28,938
New creations in Christ.

342
00:15:28,938 --> 00:15:30,251
Old things passed away.

343
00:15:30,251 --> 00:15:33,029
All things become new.

344
00:15:33,029 --> 00:15:38,093
The problem is that as 
much as all that's true,

345
00:15:38,093 --> 00:15:39,713
the Bible does two things.

346
00:15:39,713 --> 00:15:41,660
It looks at salvation

347
00:15:41,660 --> 00:15:47,166
from the standpoint of 
God in some places, right?

348
00:15:47,166 --> 00:15:49,455
In some places, salvation is viewed

349
00:15:49,455 --> 00:15:52,234
from God's power,

350
00:15:52,234 --> 00:15:53,723
God's responsibility,

351
00:15:53,723 --> 00:15:56,096
God's protection, God's saving grace,

352
00:15:56,096 --> 00:15:57,702
God's saving power.

353
00:15:57,702 --> 00:16:00,004
For instance, anybody think of one?

354
00:16:00,004 --> 00:16:02,523
I think of Philippians 1:6 right off.

355
00:16:02,523 --> 00:16:04,376
We have this guarantee, right?

356
00:16:04,376 --> 00:16:07,462
That if God begins a work,

357
00:16:07,462 --> 00:16:09,189
He's going to finish it.

358
00:16:09,189 --> 00:16:11,521
(from the room) Ephesians 4:30,

359
00:16:11,521 --> 00:16:14,670
we're sealed by the Holy Spirit.

360
00:16:14,670 --> 00:16:16,095
Tim: That's true too.

361
00:16:16,095 --> 00:16:21,655
We're sealed with the Holy Spirit.

362
00:16:21,655 --> 00:16:24,565
Nobody takes that seal off.

363
00:16:24,565 --> 00:16:28,436
In other places, salvation is viewed

364
00:16:28,436 --> 00:16:30,394
from man's responsibility.

365
00:16:30,394 --> 00:16:33,409
And that's why we have places in our Bible

366
00:16:33,409 --> 00:16:36,283
like Hebrews 6, Hebrews 10,

367
00:16:36,283 --> 00:16:41,202
that actually describes 
people who fall away.

368
00:16:41,202 --> 00:16:43,009
Paul distinctly speaks about people

369
00:16:43,009 --> 00:16:45,883
making shipwreck of the faith.

370
00:16:45,883 --> 00:16:48,961
Christ specifically speaks 
about enduring to the end

371
00:16:48,961 --> 00:16:50,354
if you'll be saved.

372
00:16:50,354 --> 00:16:53,105
Well, why those verses?

373
00:16:53,105 --> 00:17:01,257
Because brethren, when the 
parable of the soils is given,

374
00:17:01,257 --> 00:17:05,114
only those who bear 
fruit are the true deal.

375
00:17:05,114 --> 00:17:07,076
Those who don't bring forth fruit

376
00:17:07,076 --> 00:17:09,447
aren't the real deal, and they fall out.

377
00:17:09,447 --> 00:17:12,650
Why do people fall out?

378
00:17:12,650 --> 00:17:14,171
We know it.

379
00:17:14,171 --> 00:17:17,889
This has been true of 
Christianity for 2,000 years.

380
00:17:17,889 --> 00:17:20,567
People start the race 
and they fall out. Why?

381
00:17:20,567 --> 00:17:23,603
You've got Demas. 
What type of soil was he?

382
00:17:23,603 --> 00:17:26,561
I'd say he's a pretty good 
indicator of the third type.

383
00:17:26,561 --> 00:17:28,595
What happened? Cares and riches.

384
00:17:28,595 --> 00:17:30,596
What did he do? He loved the world.

385
00:17:30,596 --> 00:17:32,846
He fell out.

386
00:17:32,846 --> 00:17:36,338
Paul talks about others that 
made shipwreck of the faith.

387
00:17:36,338 --> 00:17:39,020
Why do people make shipwreck?

388
00:17:39,020 --> 00:17:42,912
What about Judas? He made shipwreck.

389
00:17:42,912 --> 00:17:46,698
People right in Paul's own 
company made shipwreck.

390
00:17:46,698 --> 00:17:49,073
Brethren, it's been that 
way throughout history.

391
00:17:49,073 --> 00:17:50,934
People don't make it till the end.

392
00:17:50,934 --> 00:17:52,607
Christ says if you don't endure...

393
00:17:52,607 --> 00:17:55,008
So you have it from both standpoints.

394
00:17:55,008 --> 00:17:57,797
You have the truths that God gives to us

395
00:17:57,797 --> 00:18:01,569
that are meant to encourage us.

396
00:18:01,569 --> 00:18:04,583
Nothing can separate me 
from the love of Christ.

397
00:18:04,583 --> 00:18:08,420
My faith sinks its teeth in that.

398
00:18:08,420 --> 00:18:10,338
But you know what? There are some people

399
00:18:10,338 --> 00:18:13,536
that when the allurements 
of the world come along,

400
00:18:13,536 --> 00:18:17,696
they look at that and 
they look at the world

401
00:18:17,696 --> 00:18:19,431
and they'd rather have the world.

402
00:18:19,431 --> 00:18:21,043
It doesn't mean anything to them

403
00:18:21,043 --> 00:18:24,988
that the Bible says

404
00:18:24,988 --> 00:18:27,757
nothing can separate them 
from the love of Christ.

405
00:18:27,757 --> 00:18:28,868
They don't care.

406
00:18:28,868 --> 00:18:31,107
They don't have faith to 
even lay hold on that.

407
00:18:31,107 --> 00:18:33,354
They're looking at the 
worldly things over here

408
00:18:33,354 --> 00:18:37,252
and they weigh it out and they go.

409
00:18:37,252 --> 00:18:39,892
There are the people that 
are the second type of soil.

410
00:18:39,892 --> 00:18:41,095
What happens to them?

411
00:18:41,095 --> 00:18:44,511
Boy, they receive it gladly

412
00:18:44,511 --> 00:18:46,256
for a season,

413
00:18:46,256 --> 00:18:48,657
but then what happens to them?

414
00:18:48,657 --> 00:18:50,272
They can't endure persecution.

415
00:18:50,272 --> 00:18:52,146
They can't endure trial.

416
00:18:52,146 --> 00:18:54,933
Why is that?

417
00:18:54,933 --> 00:18:57,145
(incomplete thought).

418
00:18:57,145 --> 00:18:58,761
I'll tell you what it always is.

419
00:18:58,761 --> 00:19:00,410
There may be a number of answers,

420
00:19:00,410 --> 00:19:02,150
but it always comes down to this.

421
00:19:02,150 --> 00:19:05,746
You know why the true 
Christian doesn't bail out

422
00:19:05,746 --> 00:19:08,817
when the trials come?

423
00:19:08,817 --> 00:19:12,237
Because He wants Christ 
more than anything else.

424
00:19:12,237 --> 00:19:15,466
He wants Christ. He loves Christ.

425
00:19:15,466 --> 00:19:17,656
And when trial comes,

426
00:19:17,656 --> 00:19:19,979
he doesn't like the trial

427
00:19:19,979 --> 00:19:23,391
any better than the other guy.

428
00:19:23,391 --> 00:19:26,374
But he wants Christ more 
than he wants ease.

429
00:19:26,374 --> 00:19:28,471
He wants Christ more 
than he wants money.

430
00:19:28,471 --> 00:19:31,171
He wants Christ more than 
he wants anything else.

431
00:19:31,171 --> 00:19:33,709
And so no matter how hard the trial gets,

432
00:19:33,709 --> 00:19:35,588
even Paul getting beat by the rods

433
00:19:35,588 --> 00:19:38,576
and scourged and in the sea

434
00:19:38,576 --> 00:19:41,144
and false brethren and 
all that came upon him,

435
00:19:41,144 --> 00:19:43,849
he never bailed out of the race. Why?

436
00:19:43,849 --> 00:19:47,716
For him to live was Christ

437
00:19:47,716 --> 00:19:50,731
and to die was gain to be with Christ.

438
00:19:50,731 --> 00:19:53,277
Be absent from the body 
and present with the Lord.

439
00:19:53,277 --> 00:19:55,909
Folks, when Christ is your all,

440
00:19:55,909 --> 00:19:57,211
you'll hold the line.

441
00:19:57,211 --> 00:19:58,265
No matter what comes,

442
00:19:58,265 --> 00:20:00,275
no matter what riches 
you're tempted with,

443
00:20:00,275 --> 00:20:02,634
no matter what trials come,
no matter what persecutions come,

444
00:20:02,634 --> 00:20:04,658
no matter what pain, sufferings, sorrows,

445
00:20:04,658 --> 00:20:06,083
you'll toe the line.

446
00:20:06,083 --> 00:20:09,911
Why? Because it comes back to faith.

447
00:20:09,912 --> 00:20:14,826
Faith believes in a Christ 
we have never seen.

448
00:20:14,826 --> 00:20:16,018
Bottom line, the only way

449
00:20:16,018 --> 00:20:17,605
people will hang on to Christ

450
00:20:17,605 --> 00:20:19,271
at the expense of everything else

451
00:20:19,271 --> 00:20:20,623
is if they have a faith

452
00:20:20,623 --> 00:20:21,994
that really believes,

453
00:20:21,994 --> 00:20:23,490
if somehow in their faith,

454
00:20:23,490 --> 00:20:25,468
they've seen in their mind's eye

455
00:20:25,468 --> 00:20:27,021
the beauties and the glory

456
00:20:27,021 --> 00:20:29,872
and the preciousness of Christ,

457
00:20:29,872 --> 00:20:33,071
that in their estimation 
outweighs everything.

458
00:20:33,071 --> 00:20:35,511
We love Him, folks, not having seen Him.

459
00:20:35,511 --> 00:20:37,409
We believe in an unseen Christ.

460
00:20:37,409 --> 00:20:41,221
You and I haven't seen Him.

461
00:20:41,221 --> 00:20:44,169
There was Thomas,

462
00:20:44,169 --> 00:20:46,505
"My Lord and my God."

463
00:20:46,505 --> 00:20:48,567
And Jesus said to Him,

464
00:20:48,567 --> 00:20:49,866
"You believe you've seen.

465
00:20:49,866 --> 00:20:51,762
Blessed are those who believe

466
00:20:51,762 --> 00:20:56,494
and they haven't seen." Right?

467
00:20:56,494 --> 00:20:59,648
The fact is people fall out 
of this race all the time.

468
00:20:59,648 --> 00:21:02,190
And if they do, it's because 
they don't endure to the end.

469
00:21:02,190 --> 00:21:03,575
And the reason that Paul would have

470
00:21:03,575 --> 00:21:05,522
the Corinthians in one 
place examine themselves

471
00:21:05,522 --> 00:21:07,828
whether they be in the faith
is because you can believe it,

472
00:21:07,828 --> 00:21:10,456
there's a number of them 
that weren't in the faith.

473
00:21:10,456 --> 00:21:12,450
Why? You had all sorts of 
wickedness going on there.

474
00:21:12,450 --> 00:21:14,026
Paul never came along and assumed

475
00:21:14,026 --> 00:21:15,984
that everybody that said 
they were a Christian

476
00:21:15,984 --> 00:21:17,650
were actually a Christian.

477
00:21:17,650 --> 00:21:18,904
He doesn't assume that.

478
00:21:18,904 --> 00:21:20,121
Now, he deals with people

479
00:21:20,121 --> 00:21:22,613
based on testimonies they have.

480
00:21:22,613 --> 00:21:24,320
If people claimed to be Christians,

481
00:21:24,320 --> 00:21:25,843
he would deal with them on that level,

482
00:21:25,843 --> 00:21:27,241
but he would also tell them,

483
00:21:27,241 --> 00:21:32,242
examine yourself whether 
you're in the faith.

484
00:21:32,242 --> 00:21:34,377
In the pastoral epistles,

485
00:21:34,377 --> 00:21:37,920
he calls men out by name.

486
00:21:37,920 --> 00:21:40,831
He talks about men that made shipwreck.

487
00:21:40,831 --> 00:21:42,137
And the writer of Hebrews

488
00:21:42,137 --> 00:21:44,911
is pretty straightforward.

489
00:21:44,911 --> 00:21:46,801
Let me tell you this too.

490
00:21:46,801 --> 00:21:50,328
Peter's pretty straightforward as well

491
00:21:50,328 --> 00:21:52,492
in 2 Peter 2.

492
00:21:52,492 --> 00:21:53,927
He says you know what?

493
00:21:53,927 --> 00:21:59,068
We've got some people in the church.

494
00:21:59,068 --> 00:22:02,162
They're pigs. They go back to the mire.

495
00:22:02,162 --> 00:22:06,725
They're dogs and they 
go back to their vomit.

496
00:22:06,725 --> 00:22:09,602
What does that tell us about?

497
00:22:09,602 --> 00:22:12,721
It tells us that there 
was something wrong.

498
00:22:12,721 --> 00:22:15,151
These men had professions.

499
00:22:15,151 --> 00:22:17,386
You look at the context there,

500
00:22:17,386 --> 00:22:19,965
very likely even those

501
00:22:19,965 --> 00:22:22,810
that may have been teaching the Gospel.

502
00:22:22,810 --> 00:22:25,540
But what happens? They fall out.

503
00:22:25,540 --> 00:22:27,886
And then they prove to be 
what they always were,

504
00:22:27,886 --> 00:22:30,503
which is what? Dogs and pigs.

505
00:22:30,503 --> 00:22:32,976
And how are they proven?

506
00:22:32,976 --> 00:22:37,663
They go back. They go back.

507
00:22:37,663 --> 00:22:40,358
Brethren, this is serious stuff.

508
00:22:40,358 --> 00:22:44,466
When Christ says, "strive to enter in,"

509
00:22:44,466 --> 00:22:47,547
many are going to seek to go in there

510
00:22:47,547 --> 00:22:49,111
and will not be able.

511
00:22:49,111 --> 00:22:50,875
What do you guys do with that?

512
00:22:50,875 --> 00:22:52,670
Do you just write it off?

513
00:22:52,670 --> 00:22:56,751
Well, once saved always saved.

514
00:22:56,751 --> 00:23:00,039
For one, the Bible 
doesn't speak like that.

515
00:23:00,039 --> 00:23:02,494
Number two, the way the Bible speaks

516
00:23:02,494 --> 00:23:06,781
is the violent take it by force,

517
00:23:06,781 --> 00:23:07,907
strive to enter in,

518
00:23:07,907 --> 00:23:11,328
many are going to seek to 
enter in and will not be able.

519
00:23:11,328 --> 00:23:13,359
What's this?

520
00:23:13,359 --> 00:23:16,960
This isn't what you hear in many pulpits.

521
00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:19,541
But this is most certainly 
what you read in the Bible.

522
00:23:19,541 --> 00:23:21,507
You say, where's that come from?

523
00:23:21,507 --> 00:23:24,964
Well, that comes in 
places like Matthew 12,

524
00:23:24,964 --> 00:23:31,865
Matthew 7, Luke 13.

525
00:23:31,865 --> 00:23:37,669
Brethren, the Bible talks about violence,

526
00:23:37,669 --> 00:23:43,289
force, striving, pressing in,

527
00:23:43,289 --> 00:23:46,653
narrow gates, narrow ways,

528
00:23:46,653 --> 00:23:48,786
few there be that find it,

529
00:23:48,786 --> 00:23:50,729
many in that day saying "Lord, Lord,"

530
00:23:50,729 --> 00:23:53,980
and He says "I never knew you."

531
00:23:53,980 --> 00:23:57,335
Few there be that find it.

532
00:23:57,335 --> 00:23:58,933
We live in a country where, what,

533
00:23:58,933 --> 00:24:00,693
40-some-odd percent claim to be

534
00:24:00,693 --> 00:24:02,953
born again Christians.

535
00:24:02,953 --> 00:24:05,511
And yet the Bible says, 
"few there be that find it."

536
00:24:05,511 --> 00:24:06,633
Amazing.

537
00:24:06,633 --> 00:24:07,561
You know what?

538
00:24:07,561 --> 00:24:09,760
It's not amazing that on judgment day,

539
00:24:09,760 --> 00:24:15,070
Jesus Christ is going to say to many,

540
00:24:15,070 --> 00:24:17,437
"Depart from Me. I never knew you."

541
00:24:17,437 --> 00:24:18,822
Why isn't that amazing?

542
00:24:18,822 --> 00:24:21,090
That's not amazing

543
00:24:21,090 --> 00:24:23,421
because 45% of Americans 
claim to be born again.

544
00:24:23,421 --> 00:24:24,815
That's why it's not amazing.

545
00:24:24,815 --> 00:24:28,851
We see the very fruits of what 
the Bible says already, do we not?

546
00:24:28,851 --> 00:24:30,236
I mean, come on, folks,

547
00:24:30,236 --> 00:24:31,946
when you look around at the 45%

548
00:24:31,946 --> 00:24:33,377
that claim to be born again,

549
00:24:33,377 --> 00:24:35,811
and their abortion rates are just 
as high as the rest of the world,

550
00:24:35,811 --> 00:24:38,075
their divorce rates are just as 
high as the rest of the world,

551
00:24:38,075 --> 00:24:40,936
they watch the same filth that 
the rest of the world watches,

552
00:24:40,936 --> 00:24:43,592
immerse themselves in the same garbage,

553
00:24:43,592 --> 00:24:45,538
and what? What are we led to believe?

554
00:24:45,538 --> 00:24:47,051
Well, the church isn't much different

555
00:24:47,051 --> 00:24:48,342
than the lost world out there?

556
00:24:48,342 --> 00:24:50,209
No, folks, that's not what 
we're led to believe.

557
00:24:50,209 --> 00:24:53,686
Look, the Bible says this.

558
00:24:53,686 --> 00:24:55,810
In Romans 8, it says you are

559
00:24:55,810 --> 00:24:59,103
predestined to be conformed 
to the image of Christ.

560
00:24:59,103 --> 00:25:01,098
Guess what it says in Ephesians 1?

561
00:25:01,098 --> 00:25:04,809
It says that before the very 
foundation of the world,

562
00:25:04,809 --> 00:25:06,096
we were chosen.

563
00:25:06,096 --> 00:25:08,182
God chose us.

564
00:25:08,182 --> 00:25:11,193
It doesn't say we chose Him, by the way.

565
00:25:11,193 --> 00:25:13,926
It's amazing how many people 
flip that thing on its head.

566
00:25:13,926 --> 00:25:16,591
It says - what does it say?

567
00:25:16,591 --> 00:25:19,034
"Blessed be the God and Father 
of our Lord Jesus Christ

568
00:25:19,034 --> 00:25:21,780
who has blessed us with 
every spiritual blessing

569
00:25:21,780 --> 00:25:23,835
in Him in the heavenly places,

570
00:25:23,835 --> 00:25:25,897
even as He chose us..."

571
00:25:25,897 --> 00:25:28,516
Not as we chose Him; as He chose us.

572
00:25:28,516 --> 00:25:31,312
"...In Him before the 
foundation of the world

573
00:25:31,312 --> 00:25:34,821
that we should be holy and 
blameless before Him."

574
00:25:34,821 --> 00:25:36,118
Holy and blameless.

575
00:25:36,118 --> 00:25:37,274
We're chosen for that.

576
00:25:37,274 --> 00:25:38,939
Predestined to be conformed

577
00:25:38,939 --> 00:25:42,653
to the very image of Christ.

578
00:25:42,653 --> 00:25:46,335
Folks, the church of Jesus Christ

579
00:25:46,335 --> 00:25:48,902
is very healthy and holy.

580
00:25:48,902 --> 00:25:52,061
Fighting? Yes. Striving? Yes.

581
00:25:52,061 --> 00:25:55,122
Having to cut off hands? Pull out eyes?

582
00:25:55,122 --> 00:25:57,686
Is there all-out battle? Yes.

583
00:25:57,686 --> 00:26:02,890
Are they pressing? Striving? 
Is there violence? Yes.

584
00:26:02,890 --> 00:26:05,986
But just like with the 
verse you brought up,

585
00:26:05,986 --> 00:26:09,550
listen, folks, if it wasn't 
for the power of God,

586
00:26:09,550 --> 00:26:13,124
we'd fall out of this race in a second.

587
00:26:13,124 --> 00:26:14,969
Because the violence it takes,

588
00:26:14,969 --> 00:26:16,622
the strength it takes,

589
00:26:16,622 --> 00:26:18,907
the plucking out of eyes it takes,

590
00:26:18,907 --> 00:26:20,462
the lopping off of hands,

591
00:26:20,462 --> 00:26:22,401
the tears and the groanings

592
00:26:22,401 --> 00:26:23,502
and the fighting

593
00:26:23,502 --> 00:26:24,956
and by the Spirit of God

594
00:26:24,956 --> 00:26:26,711
putting to death this sin,

595
00:26:26,711 --> 00:26:28,287
the all-out battle,

596
00:26:28,287 --> 00:26:30,579
if it wasn't the power of God

597
00:26:30,579 --> 00:26:32,254
keeping our faith a reality,

598
00:26:32,254 --> 00:26:33,883
keeping us locked onto Christ,

599
00:26:33,883 --> 00:26:36,312
keeping us in the midst 
of the heat and the battle,

600
00:26:36,312 --> 00:26:38,699
keeping us believing that Jesus Christ

601
00:26:38,699 --> 00:26:40,655
is more precious than anything else -

602
00:26:40,655 --> 00:26:42,655
we would fall out of the race.

603
00:26:42,655 --> 00:26:44,144
We'd fall out of the battle.

604
00:26:44,144 --> 00:26:46,643
The race would be over.
We'd be all done.

605
00:26:46,643 --> 00:26:48,028
Folks, the Bible says

606
00:26:48,028 --> 00:26:51,230
that fornicators and adulterers

607
00:26:51,230 --> 00:26:53,211
don't inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.

608
00:26:53,211 --> 00:26:54,421
Bottom line.

609
00:26:54,421 --> 00:26:57,377
We've got to fight against this.
We've got to overcome this.

610
00:26:57,377 --> 00:27:00,093
Basically, we are people 
who walk in the Spirit.

611
00:27:00,093 --> 00:27:03,058
We are people who we oppose

612
00:27:03,058 --> 00:27:04,499
the deeds of the flesh

613
00:27:04,499 --> 00:27:06,488
and we put them to death by the Spirit.

614
00:27:06,488 --> 00:27:08,172
And it's battle.

615
00:27:08,172 --> 00:27:10,031
And folks, listen, if you're here

616
00:27:10,031 --> 00:27:12,212
and you've become a Christian,

617
00:27:12,212 --> 00:27:15,708
and all of a sudden, 
you've encountered battles

618
00:27:15,708 --> 00:27:18,800
against sin that you never thought

619
00:27:18,800 --> 00:27:20,780
you would ever come up against,

620
00:27:20,780 --> 00:27:23,795
and all hell seems like 
it's raging against you,

621
00:27:23,795 --> 00:27:30,090
don't think: "Oh no! 
I must not be a Christian!"

622
00:27:30,090 --> 00:27:31,592
What you ought to be thinking

623
00:27:31,592 --> 00:27:33,593
is praise the Lord!

624
00:27:33,593 --> 00:27:35,253
He's brought me into this thing.

625
00:27:35,253 --> 00:27:37,143
He's given me a hatred for sin.

626
00:27:37,143 --> 00:27:38,818
And there is all-out battle here.

627
00:27:38,818 --> 00:27:39,793
What does Peter say?

628
00:27:39,793 --> 00:27:42,650
Peter talks about these lusts.

629
00:27:42,650 --> 00:27:44,553
He talks about these things

630
00:27:44,553 --> 00:27:46,332
that wage war against the flesh.

631
00:27:46,332 --> 00:27:47,611
What does he call them?

632
00:27:47,611 --> 00:27:50,836
What wages war against us?

633
00:27:50,836 --> 00:27:53,691
What is it that's all-out against us?

634
00:27:53,691 --> 00:27:57,480
Anybody know?

635
00:27:57,480 --> 00:27:58,860
What is it?

636
00:27:58,860 --> 00:28:00,819
(from the room)
Powers and principalities?

637
00:28:00,819 --> 00:28:02,898
Tim: No - I mean, no doubt.

638
00:28:02,898 --> 00:28:06,428
Principalities and powers are against us.

639
00:28:06,428 --> 00:28:07,930
But Peter talks about something

640
00:28:07,930 --> 00:28:12,151
that wages war against us.

641
00:28:12,151 --> 00:28:13,785
Fleshly lusts.

642
00:28:13,785 --> 00:28:14,842
They wage war.

643
00:28:14,842 --> 00:28:17,970
Folks, when you become a Christian,

644
00:28:17,970 --> 00:28:20,211
fleshly lusts wage war against us.

645
00:28:20,211 --> 00:28:23,047
Principalities and powers 
wage war against us.

646
00:28:23,047 --> 00:28:25,200
And in the midst of all of it,

647
00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:28,668
Spurgeon likened the Christian life

648
00:28:28,668 --> 00:28:31,693
to a dove flying through

649
00:28:31,693 --> 00:28:34,586
a literal cloud of arrows.

650
00:28:34,586 --> 00:28:38,535
And that God guides us against all odds

651
00:28:38,535 --> 00:28:41,077
through all the arrows

652
00:28:41,077 --> 00:28:44,465
to a haven of rest.

653
00:28:44,465 --> 00:28:45,798
And that's what it is.

654
00:28:45,798 --> 00:28:47,007
And I'll tell you what,

655
00:28:47,007 --> 00:28:48,737
if you don't have God supporting you;

656
00:28:48,737 --> 00:28:50,285
if you don't have God holding you up;

657
00:28:50,285 --> 00:28:52,215
if you don't have God moving you through;

658
00:28:52,215 --> 00:28:53,565
God giving you grace;

659
00:28:53,565 --> 00:28:54,739
God giving you strength;

660
00:28:54,739 --> 00:28:55,874
God giving you power;

661
00:28:55,874 --> 00:28:57,841
God keeping your faith real;

662
00:28:57,841 --> 00:28:59,369
God keeping you repenting;

663
00:28:59,369 --> 00:29:01,742
God keeping you mightier than the sins

664
00:29:01,742 --> 00:29:03,381
that are trying to overtake you;

665
00:29:03,381 --> 00:29:05,833
keeping you in a walk in the Spirit,

666
00:29:05,833 --> 00:29:11,040
a walk that does have 
the aroma of holiness,

667
00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:13,394
of righteousness.

668
00:29:13,394 --> 00:29:15,568
How does that happen 
with everything against us?

669
00:29:15,568 --> 00:29:16,916
It happens one way.

670
00:29:16,916 --> 00:29:18,939
God predestined us to be conformed

671
00:29:18,939 --> 00:29:20,135
to the image of Christ.

672
00:29:20,135 --> 00:29:23,057
And against all odds 
and against all enemies,

673
00:29:23,057 --> 00:29:24,610
He is going to work that fabric

674
00:29:24,610 --> 00:29:27,021
into the very character and being.

675
00:29:27,021 --> 00:29:30,111
2 Corinthians - I brought 
this up on Sunday,

676
00:29:30,111 --> 00:29:31,859
but 2 Corinthians 3:18,

677
00:29:31,859 --> 00:29:35,161
folks, as we behold Christ;

678
00:29:35,161 --> 00:29:38,081
as we behold the glory of the Lord,

679
00:29:38,081 --> 00:29:41,230
we are degree by degree transformed

680
00:29:41,230 --> 00:29:45,852
into the same image.

681
00:29:45,852 --> 00:29:48,338
That's the reality.

682
00:29:48,338 --> 00:29:51,361
So, why do we have to 
work out our salvation

683
00:29:51,361 --> 00:29:52,873
with fear and trembling?

684
00:29:52,873 --> 00:29:55,120
Where's the fear?
Where's the trembling?

685
00:29:55,120 --> 00:29:56,966
The fear and the trembling is this:

686
00:29:56,966 --> 00:29:59,933
unless you work out 
your salvation to the end,

687
00:29:59,933 --> 00:30:04,471
unless you endure to the end,

688
00:30:04,471 --> 00:30:07,098
you won't be saved.

689
00:30:07,098 --> 00:30:10,965
And believe me, in 20 years as a Christian

690
00:30:10,965 --> 00:30:15,012
I've seen people start well

691
00:30:15,012 --> 00:30:16,934
and fall out.

692
00:30:16,934 --> 00:30:20,052
Why? The same thing Christ said.

693
00:30:20,052 --> 00:30:22,551
The cares of this world.

694
00:30:22,551 --> 00:30:25,873
Riches - they ensare.

695
00:30:25,873 --> 00:30:27,134
(from the room)

696
00:30:27,134 --> 00:30:30,342
So then, for the sake 
of speaking biblically,

697
00:30:30,342 --> 00:30:32,621
you would change it from:

698
00:30:32,621 --> 00:30:34,263
"once saved, always saved"

699
00:30:34,263 --> 00:30:40,162
to "if saved, always saved"?

700
00:30:40,162 --> 00:30:41,423
Tim: Well, like I say,

701
00:30:41,423 --> 00:30:43,681
I'm really wanting to encourage us

702
00:30:43,681 --> 00:30:45,475
to speak biblically

703
00:30:45,475 --> 00:30:47,815
and speak to one another -

704
00:30:47,815 --> 00:30:52,133
brother, sister -

705
00:30:52,133 --> 00:30:55,115
you know, you are being saved

706
00:30:55,115 --> 00:30:57,922
if you hold fast to this Gospel.

707
00:30:57,922 --> 00:30:59,283
And I'll tell you this,

708
00:30:59,283 --> 00:31:02,184
the Gospel is essential

709
00:31:02,184 --> 00:31:03,855
to this whole thing.

710
00:31:03,855 --> 00:31:07,159
In fact, let me tell you something.

711
00:31:07,159 --> 00:31:10,706
We are so programmed in our thinking

712
00:31:10,706 --> 00:31:13,985
that I think oftentimes,

713
00:31:13,985 --> 00:31:16,451
we miss probably the truth

714
00:31:16,451 --> 00:31:18,826
in the first chapter of Romans.

715
00:31:18,826 --> 00:31:27,120
Romans 1:16-17,

716
00:31:27,120 --> 00:31:29,545
so often because we are so programmed

717
00:31:29,545 --> 00:31:32,064
to think about salvation past tense,

718
00:31:32,064 --> 00:31:36,889
we tend to think about v. 16-17

719
00:31:36,889 --> 00:31:42,293
as having to do with when 
sinners are saved the first time.

720
00:31:42,293 --> 00:31:46,312
I don't believe that's the case at all.

721
00:31:46,312 --> 00:31:48,319
Somebody want to read those two verses?

722
00:31:48,319 --> 00:31:51,579
I heard a couple Bibles open to it.
Somebody read it.

723
00:31:51,579 --> 00:31:54,429
"For I am not ashamed 
of the Gospel of Christ,

724
00:31:54,429 --> 00:31:56,379
for it is the power of God to salvation

725
00:31:56,379 --> 00:31:57,867
for everyone who believes..."

726
00:31:57,867 --> 00:31:59,678
Tim: Okay, wait.

727
00:31:59,678 --> 00:32:01,348
Anybody ever get that?

728
00:32:01,348 --> 00:32:03,711
The Gospel is the power 
of God unto salvation

729
00:32:03,711 --> 00:32:05,293
to everyone who believes.

730
00:32:05,293 --> 00:32:08,831
Not just to everyone who doesn't believe

731
00:32:08,831 --> 00:32:10,706
and then hears the Gospel and believes.

732
00:32:10,706 --> 00:32:12,455
It's the power of God unto salvation

733
00:32:12,455 --> 00:32:15,468
to everyone who believes...

734
00:32:15,468 --> 00:32:16,712
keep going.

735
00:32:16,712 --> 00:32:20,646
"To the Jew first and also the Greek.

736
00:32:20,646 --> 00:32:22,349
For in it, the righteousness of God

737
00:32:22,349 --> 00:32:24,215
is revealed from faith to faith,

738
00:32:24,215 --> 00:32:25,621
as it is written,

739
00:32:25,621 --> 00:32:27,764
'the just shall live by faith.'"

740
00:32:27,764 --> 00:32:28,701
Tim: You see that?

741
00:32:28,701 --> 00:32:31,373
It's how the just live.

742
00:32:31,373 --> 00:32:32,880
How do they live?

743
00:32:32,880 --> 00:32:34,233
They live by faith.

744
00:32:34,233 --> 00:32:36,116
Not just faith at one time,

745
00:32:36,116 --> 00:32:40,146
but from faith to faith.

746
00:32:40,146 --> 00:32:42,292
You see, folks, and this is

747
00:32:42,292 --> 00:32:45,649
exactly what he said in 
1 Corinthians 15 as well.

748
00:32:45,649 --> 00:32:47,435
Is it not?

749
00:32:47,435 --> 00:32:49,084
You are being saved

750
00:32:49,084 --> 00:32:52,925
if you hold fast to that 
Gospel I delivered to you.

751
00:32:52,925 --> 00:32:55,221
You see, folks,

752
00:32:55,221 --> 00:32:57,438
what is it that keeps our faith?

753
00:32:57,438 --> 00:33:00,281
How does God keep the power -

754
00:33:00,281 --> 00:33:02,539
we are kept, no doubt about it,

755
00:33:02,539 --> 00:33:04,054
1 Peter 1:5 -

756
00:33:04,054 --> 00:33:06,593
"kept by the power of God through faith."

757
00:33:06,593 --> 00:33:11,524
That's how the old KJV says it.

758
00:33:11,524 --> 00:33:13,075
Where does that faith come?

759
00:33:13,075 --> 00:33:16,341
It doesn't come out of nowhere.

760
00:33:16,341 --> 00:33:20,418
It comes by constantly 
looking to the Gospel.

761
00:33:20,418 --> 00:33:21,687
What's the Gospel?

762
00:33:21,687 --> 00:33:23,947
The Gospel is all about Christ

763
00:33:23,947 --> 00:33:25,370
and my salvation

764
00:33:25,370 --> 00:33:28,550
and Him taking my sin to the cross;

765
00:33:28,550 --> 00:33:30,620
Him living a perfect life;

766
00:33:30,620 --> 00:33:33,352
Him doing everything that's required

767
00:33:33,352 --> 00:33:35,149
for my justification.

768
00:33:35,149 --> 00:33:38,083
Beloved, that's where your meat is.

769
00:33:38,083 --> 00:33:40,264
Don't ever think the Gospel,

770
00:33:40,264 --> 00:33:42,267
yeah, we outgrow that,

771
00:33:42,267 --> 00:33:44,710
we get past that, we move beyond that.

772
00:33:44,710 --> 00:33:48,109
Brethren, the very Gospel is the very meat

773
00:33:48,109 --> 00:33:50,814
upon which your faith thrives.

774
00:33:50,814 --> 00:33:53,008
It's the very heart, it's the very core

775
00:33:53,008 --> 00:33:55,113
upon which we live.

776
00:33:55,113 --> 00:33:58,615
Brethren, let me tell you something.

777
00:33:58,615 --> 00:34:01,998
Churches where maybe some of the people

778
00:34:01,998 --> 00:34:04,499
sometime came to the Lord,

779
00:34:04,499 --> 00:34:06,019
but now you get in this church

780
00:34:06,019 --> 00:34:07,683
and all they want to talk about

781
00:34:07,683 --> 00:34:09,814
is how long women's dresses ought to be,

782
00:34:09,814 --> 00:34:13,024
or whether the ladies 
ought to wear head coverings,

783
00:34:13,024 --> 00:34:15,750
or whether we ought to dance,

784
00:34:15,750 --> 00:34:17,345
or whether we ought to smoke,

785
00:34:17,345 --> 00:34:23,671
or whether we ought to drink.

786
00:34:23,671 --> 00:34:26,240
Brethren, legalistic churches

787
00:34:26,240 --> 00:34:28,806
that become all hung up 
in all sorts of stuff,

788
00:34:28,806 --> 00:34:31,220
look, does the Bible have things to say

789
00:34:31,220 --> 00:34:34,077
about whether I drink?

790
00:34:34,077 --> 00:34:36,666
Or how much I drink?

791
00:34:36,666 --> 00:34:39,494
If my drinking causes 
a brother to stumble?

792
00:34:39,494 --> 00:34:41,520
Or whatever it is, whether I eat meat?

793
00:34:41,520 --> 00:34:43,964
Whether I drink? Whether I observe a day?

794
00:34:43,964 --> 00:34:47,179
I'm not saying those 
things aren't important

795
00:34:47,179 --> 00:34:48,184
in their place,

796
00:34:48,184 --> 00:34:49,404
but I've been in churches

797
00:34:49,404 --> 00:34:50,667
and I know of churches,

798
00:34:50,667 --> 00:34:53,615
and there's lots of these 
fundamental churches out there

799
00:34:53,615 --> 00:34:58,583
that they just want to 
press all these little things.

800
00:34:58,583 --> 00:35:00,046
Brethren, I'll tell you what -

801
00:35:00,046 --> 00:35:02,437
I'll tell you where the sweet aroma

802
00:35:02,437 --> 00:35:08,960
of the real thing exists

803
00:35:08,960 --> 00:35:11,255
is where people talk about Christ,

804
00:35:11,255 --> 00:35:13,972
they sing about Christ,

805
00:35:13,972 --> 00:35:17,060
they hear preaching about Christ,

806
00:35:17,060 --> 00:35:20,171
where everything is coming 
back to Christ all the time -

807
00:35:20,171 --> 00:35:21,743
that's where the life is.

808
00:35:21,743 --> 00:35:26,157
That's where we move from faith to faith.

809
00:35:26,157 --> 00:35:28,224
We're not ashamed of that Gospel, folks.

810
00:35:28,224 --> 00:35:30,336
It's the power of God unto salvation -

811
00:35:30,336 --> 00:35:31,520
unto salvation!

812
00:35:31,520 --> 00:35:34,686
You see, if we think about salvation 
all the time as a past thing,

813
00:35:34,686 --> 00:35:36,873
then we miss what 
he's really saying there.

814
00:35:36,873 --> 00:35:40,310
The Gospel unto salvation.

815
00:35:40,310 --> 00:35:41,832
Faith to faith.

816
00:35:41,832 --> 00:35:43,448
Yes, God preserves this faith,

817
00:35:43,448 --> 00:35:44,671
but it's faith to faith.

818
00:35:44,671 --> 00:35:46,184
I keep going.

819
00:35:46,184 --> 00:35:47,562
I don't live by bread alone.

820
00:35:47,562 --> 00:35:49,044
I'm living by the Word of God.

821
00:35:49,044 --> 00:35:50,407
I'm living by this Gospel.

822
00:35:50,407 --> 00:35:52,121
I keep going back to it.

823
00:35:52,121 --> 00:35:54,360
I keep going back to the cross

824
00:35:54,360 --> 00:35:56,172
and to the risen Christ

825
00:35:56,172 --> 00:35:57,632
and to His victory

826
00:35:57,632 --> 00:35:59,583
and to the payment of sin.

827
00:35:59,583 --> 00:36:01,378
And brethren, you know how it is,

828
00:36:01,378 --> 00:36:03,512
when we sing about it,
when we hear about it,

829
00:36:03,512 --> 00:36:06,895
when we go back there,

830
00:36:06,895 --> 00:36:10,482
this is where our strength 
to live comes from.

831
00:36:10,482 --> 00:36:12,877
This is where our strength to survive,

832
00:36:12,877 --> 00:36:15,178
this is where are strength to move on...

833
00:36:15,178 --> 00:36:17,190
Justification.

834
00:36:17,190 --> 00:36:24,687
Brethren, we have to have works

835
00:36:24,687 --> 00:36:30,559
with our salvation or it's dead stuff.

836
00:36:30,559 --> 00:36:32,382
Look, if you say you know Him

837
00:36:32,382 --> 00:36:34,312
and you don't keep His commandments,

838
00:36:34,312 --> 00:36:36,779
you're a liar!

839
00:36:36,779 --> 00:36:41,726
That's not me, that's John.

840
00:36:41,726 --> 00:36:44,096
But if we get to the place

841
00:36:44,096 --> 00:36:46,285
when we go to the mirror

842
00:36:46,285 --> 00:36:48,477
and we're looking: okay...

843
00:36:48,477 --> 00:36:50,523
how well am I keeping the commandments?

844
00:36:50,523 --> 00:36:51,943
how well am I doing that?

845
00:36:51,943 --> 00:36:54,032
I'll guarantee you not 
one of you in this room

846
00:36:54,032 --> 00:36:55,426
keeps them well enough

847
00:36:55,426 --> 00:36:57,830
to merit your salvation with God.

848
00:36:57,830 --> 00:37:03,362
And not one of you has 
done it perfect in the last hour.

849
00:37:03,362 --> 00:37:05,096
You say, well, what does that mean?

850
00:37:05,096 --> 00:37:07,357
(incomplete thought)

851
00:37:07,357 --> 00:37:10,117
Brethren, it's like we 
talked about before.

852
00:37:10,117 --> 00:37:13,192
It means that bottom line,

853
00:37:13,192 --> 00:37:17,240
we're people that are 
producing the fruits of God.

854
00:37:17,240 --> 00:37:21,862
Is that not what Ephesians 2:10 says?

855
00:37:21,862 --> 00:37:23,680
Anybody know what that verse says?

856
00:37:23,680 --> 00:37:26,203
Some of you have memorized it.
What does it say?

857
00:37:26,203 --> 00:37:29,793
"For we are His workmanship..."

858
00:37:29,793 --> 00:37:31,970
What does it say?

859
00:37:31,970 --> 00:37:36,511
"...created in Christ Jesus 
unto good works

860
00:37:36,511 --> 00:37:40,699
which God beforehand ordained
that we should walk in them."

861
00:37:40,699 --> 00:37:41,918
Good works.

862
00:37:41,918 --> 00:37:45,236
We've been ordained to produce good works.

863
00:37:45,236 --> 00:37:46,668
We've been ordained.

864
00:37:46,668 --> 00:37:49,330
Anybody think of any 
verse in all the Bible

865
00:37:49,330 --> 00:37:56,867
that says that we ought to be 
producing righteousness?

866
00:37:56,867 --> 00:37:58,912
Anybody think of somewhere where it says

867
00:37:58,912 --> 00:38:01,096
we're a people for His own possession?

868
00:38:01,096 --> 00:38:03,016
For what?

869
00:38:03,016 --> 00:38:10,622
Anybody know where it says that?

870
00:38:10,622 --> 00:38:13,197
Titus.

871
00:38:13,197 --> 00:38:19,242
A people for His own possession for what?

872
00:38:19,242 --> 00:38:21,367
Zealous for good works.

873
00:38:21,367 --> 00:38:25,939
Folks, He gave Himself up for us

874
00:38:25,939 --> 00:38:28,989
to purchase a people 
for His own possession

875
00:38:28,989 --> 00:38:31,862
who would be zealous of good works.

876
00:38:31,862 --> 00:38:33,279
He saved us.

877
00:38:33,279 --> 00:38:40,176
Listen, the book of 
Romans starts with this:

878
00:38:40,176 --> 00:38:43,508
What is it? Romans 1, about v. 4?

879
00:38:43,508 --> 00:38:52,796
It says that Paul went 
forth preaching the Gospel

880
00:38:52,796 --> 00:39:02,718
to bring forth a people that 
are going to be obedient.

881
00:39:02,718 --> 00:39:05,343
Or he talks about the obedience of faith.

882
00:39:05,343 --> 00:39:06,632
You guys ever heard that?

883
00:39:06,632 --> 00:39:08,038
He starts the book of Romans

884
00:39:08,038 --> 00:39:09,421
with the obedience of faith,

885
00:39:09,421 --> 00:39:10,888
and he ends the book of Romans

886
00:39:10,888 --> 00:39:12,682
with the obedience of faith.

887
00:39:12,682 --> 00:39:15,859
I think it's Romans 1:4

888
00:39:15,859 --> 00:39:17,603
and then it's at the end there,

889
00:39:17,603 --> 00:39:21,343
about Romans 15 -

890
00:39:21,343 --> 00:39:25,002
it's right at the end of Romans 15

891
00:39:25,002 --> 00:39:26,416
if I reckon right.

892
00:39:26,416 --> 00:39:28,426
But he starts and ends the book that way

893
00:39:28,426 --> 00:39:32,756
that there is an obedience of faith.

894
00:39:32,756 --> 00:39:35,610
Brethren, if your faith 
doesn't have obedience,

895
00:39:35,610 --> 00:39:37,440
if your faith doesn't have works,

896
00:39:37,440 --> 00:39:38,919
if your faith isn't accompanied

897
00:39:38,919 --> 00:39:40,562
by a zealousness for good works,

898
00:39:40,562 --> 00:39:42,923
if your faith isn't accompanied by

899
00:39:42,923 --> 00:39:45,579
a regular demonstration 
of commandment keeping,

900
00:39:45,579 --> 00:39:48,679
what does John say?

901
00:39:48,679 --> 00:39:50,716
His commandments are no longer grievous.

902
00:39:50,716 --> 00:39:51,958
Doesn't he say that?

903
00:39:51,958 --> 00:39:55,330
Anybody think I'm making that up?

904
00:39:55,330 --> 00:39:58,455
That John would say that His 
commandments aren't grievous?

905
00:39:58,455 --> 00:40:02,865
Which means what?

906
00:40:02,865 --> 00:40:06,683
The desires of the flesh 
have been crucified.

907
00:40:06,683 --> 00:40:08,181
And God gives me new desires.

908
00:40:08,181 --> 00:40:09,992
Anybody think of anywhere in the Bible

909
00:40:09,992 --> 00:40:15,133
where it talks about me 
actually having new desires?

910
00:40:15,133 --> 00:40:16,029
Where is it?

911
00:40:16,029 --> 00:40:16,802
(from the room)

912
00:40:16,802 --> 00:40:19,402
In Isaiah where He says 
He'll give you new heart?

913
00:40:19,402 --> 00:40:20,482
Tim: That's Jeremiah -

914
00:40:20,482 --> 00:40:22,329
he does say He'll give me a new heart.

915
00:40:22,329 --> 00:40:25,088
That's under the New Covenant.

916
00:40:25,088 --> 00:40:26,255
And that's good.

917
00:40:26,255 --> 00:40:29,959
Jeremiah 31, Jeremiah 32, Ezekiel 36.

918
00:40:29,959 --> 00:40:33,965
We get these pictures - Ezekiel 11,

919
00:40:33,965 --> 00:40:36,221
Ezekiel 18 - we get these pictures

920
00:40:36,221 --> 00:40:38,649
of the New Covenant.

921
00:40:38,649 --> 00:40:40,857
And he says He's going to cause us

922
00:40:40,857 --> 00:40:42,987
to keep His statutes

923
00:40:42,987 --> 00:40:45,623
and walk in His judgments.

924
00:40:45,623 --> 00:40:50,099
According to the old KJV.

925
00:40:50,099 --> 00:40:52,826
I'm thinking somewhere in Philippians 2.

926
00:40:52,826 --> 00:40:54,531
What about verse 12-13?

927
00:40:54,531 --> 00:40:56,716
He says we should work out our salvation

928
00:40:56,716 --> 00:40:59,827
with fear and trembling, for it is...

929
00:40:59,827 --> 00:41:03,145
God who does what?

930
00:41:03,145 --> 00:41:09,874
To will and to do His good pleasure.

931
00:41:09,874 --> 00:41:10,906
Isn't that amazing!

932
00:41:10,906 --> 00:41:14,460
If you're actually in Christ,

933
00:41:14,460 --> 00:41:17,196
God works in us not just to do

934
00:41:17,196 --> 00:41:18,891
what we need to do,

935
00:41:18,891 --> 00:41:23,282
but to will what we need to do.

936
00:41:23,282 --> 00:41:25,661
This is salvation, brethren.

937
00:41:25,661 --> 00:41:27,663
It says they would call His name Jesus

938
00:41:27,663 --> 00:41:29,556
and He'd save us from our sins.

939
00:41:29,556 --> 00:41:32,040
Don't think that that 
just means from hell.

940
00:41:32,040 --> 00:41:34,564
Yes, it is that. It is from hell.

941
00:41:34,564 --> 00:41:37,002
But He promised to save us from our sins,

942
00:41:37,002 --> 00:41:39,095
from the power.

943
00:41:39,095 --> 00:41:42,386
Brethren, Romans 6:14 says

944
00:41:42,386 --> 00:41:45,800
sin will not have dominion over you.

945
00:41:45,800 --> 00:41:48,037
You're not under the law. 
You're under grace.

946
00:41:48,037 --> 00:41:50,753
Do you know what it means 
when you're under grace?

947
00:41:50,753 --> 00:41:56,165
It means sin will no longer have dominion.

948
00:41:56,165 --> 00:41:59,296
Why?

949
00:41:59,296 --> 00:42:04,266
Because according to Romans 8:13,

950
00:42:04,266 --> 00:42:09,322
by the Spirit we put to death 
the deeds of the body.

951
00:42:09,322 --> 00:42:11,441
Brethren, if you don't put to death

952
00:42:11,441 --> 00:42:13,777
the deeds of the body by the Spirit,

953
00:42:13,777 --> 00:42:16,446
you're not going to make it to heaven.

954
00:42:16,446 --> 00:42:17,913
You say how do you know that?

955
00:42:17,913 --> 00:42:20,471
Because Romans 8:13 says

956
00:42:20,471 --> 00:42:23,346
if you live according 
to the flesh, you die.

957
00:42:23,346 --> 00:42:25,961
If by the Spirit, you put to 
death the deeds of the body,

958
00:42:25,961 --> 00:42:27,276
you will live.

959
00:42:27,276 --> 00:42:29,363
This is life and death.

960
00:42:29,363 --> 00:42:30,543
This is always the case.

961
00:42:30,543 --> 00:42:32,176
It always comes back to this.

962
00:42:32,176 --> 00:42:33,211
Life and death.

963
00:42:33,211 --> 00:42:34,365
Is there righteousness?

964
00:42:34,365 --> 00:42:36,696
If you're practing righteousness,
you're born of God.

965
00:42:36,696 --> 00:42:40,396
If you're practicing unrighteousness,
you're of the devil.

966
00:42:40,396 --> 00:42:45,801
If you are one to whom God causes you

967
00:42:45,801 --> 00:42:48,720
to will and to do of His good pleasure,

968
00:42:48,720 --> 00:42:50,545
His commandments are no longer grievous,

969
00:42:50,545 --> 00:42:54,197
He causes us to walk in His statutes.

970
00:42:54,197 --> 00:42:56,293
You say, perfect?

971
00:42:56,293 --> 00:43:01,144
No, brethren, not perfect.

972
00:43:01,144 --> 00:43:03,369
But in the eyes of God, perfect.

973
00:43:03,369 --> 00:43:04,802
Why?

974
00:43:04,802 --> 00:43:06,911
Because the blood of Jesus Christ

975
00:43:06,911 --> 00:43:11,048
has atoned for every one of our failings.

976
00:43:11,048 --> 00:43:14,065
And so, John would say,

977
00:43:14,065 --> 00:43:16,635
I write to you, little 
children, that you sin not.

978
00:43:16,635 --> 00:43:18,744
But if you do... if you do,

979
00:43:18,744 --> 00:43:20,688
we have an Advocate with the Father.

980
00:43:20,688 --> 00:43:22,963
And how does His advocacy work?

981
00:43:22,963 --> 00:43:24,922
Well, because of His shed blood.

982
00:43:24,922 --> 00:43:27,115
There's been atonement made.

983
00:43:27,115 --> 00:43:29,617
But brethren, what I was getting at before

984
00:43:29,617 --> 00:43:32,138
is as much as all this is true,

985
00:43:32,138 --> 00:43:36,587
we don't live on looking at ourselves.

986
00:43:36,587 --> 00:43:38,601
We live on looking at Christ.

987
00:43:38,601 --> 00:43:40,492
And listen, if you ever get to the place

988
00:43:40,492 --> 00:43:42,704
where you're running to 
the mirror all the time,

989
00:43:42,704 --> 00:43:44,510
and you're looking at your performance

990
00:43:44,510 --> 00:43:49,205
to try to draw your assurance out of,

991
00:43:49,205 --> 00:43:51,991
you'll look at yourself for 10,000 years

992
00:43:51,991 --> 00:43:54,652
and you can look at yourself 
till you're blue in the face,

993
00:43:54,652 --> 00:43:58,173
and it is not going to 
do a thing for your faith.

994
00:43:58,173 --> 00:44:00,216
Brethren, we need to live

995
00:44:00,216 --> 00:44:03,575
on the doctrine of justification by faith.

996
00:44:03,575 --> 00:44:04,948
In all of our working,

997
00:44:04,948 --> 00:44:06,296
in all of our good works,

998
00:44:06,296 --> 00:44:08,262
in all of our seeking to do good,

999
00:44:08,262 --> 00:44:10,757
in all of our seeking to 
keep His commandments,

1000
00:44:10,757 --> 00:44:12,567
in all our seeking to perform

1001
00:44:12,567 --> 00:44:15,686
as righteously as we can,

1002
00:44:15,686 --> 00:44:22,506
and work out our salvation 
in fear and trembling,

1003
00:44:22,506 --> 00:44:25,272
brethren, what is it that's 
revealed in the Gospel

1004
00:44:25,272 --> 00:44:28,226
that we live on from faith to faith?

1005
00:44:28,226 --> 00:44:31,174
The righteousness of God

1006
00:44:31,174 --> 00:44:33,586
is revealed in that Gospel.

1007
00:44:33,586 --> 00:44:35,840
Wait! What's that?

1008
00:44:35,840 --> 00:44:38,228
If you look over at Romans 3,

1009
00:44:38,228 --> 00:44:39,716
what? About v. 22?

1010
00:44:39,716 --> 00:44:41,362
Right in there somewhere?

1011
00:44:41,362 --> 00:44:43,166
It says that the righteousness of God

1012
00:44:43,166 --> 00:44:45,927
which is for those who 
believe in Jesus Christ.

1013
00:44:45,927 --> 00:44:48,983
It's a righteousness that is for us.

1014
00:44:48,983 --> 00:44:50,578
What does that remind us of?

1015
00:44:50,578 --> 00:44:52,993
Maybe like 2 Corinthians 5, 
last verse there,

1016
00:44:52,993 --> 00:44:54,738
which says what?

1017
00:44:54,738 --> 00:44:58,585
"He who knew no sin became sin,"

1018
00:44:58,585 --> 00:45:00,692
that what?

1019
00:45:00,692 --> 00:45:04,053
"That we might become the 
righteousness of God in Him."

1020
00:45:04,053 --> 00:45:06,486
Brethren, you know what message

1021
00:45:06,486 --> 00:45:09,272
is kept in that Gospel that we live on?

1022
00:45:09,272 --> 00:45:12,557
The Gospel that is unto our salvation,

1023
00:45:12,557 --> 00:45:14,379
that we live on and feast on

1024
00:45:14,379 --> 00:45:15,933
from faith to faith -

1025
00:45:15,933 --> 00:45:21,498
it's Christ satisfying all 
the demands of the law

1026
00:45:21,498 --> 00:45:23,432
in our place.

1027
00:45:23,432 --> 00:45:26,483
And paying the penalty in our place

1028
00:45:26,483 --> 00:45:29,376
for every violation and transgression

1029
00:45:29,376 --> 00:45:31,250
of that law.

1030
00:45:31,250 --> 00:45:33,278
And now, a righteousness

1031
00:45:33,278 --> 00:45:37,041
has been bestowed upon me legally.

1032
00:45:37,041 --> 00:45:39,808
Brethren, that's where 
we go back all the time.

1033
00:45:39,808 --> 00:45:41,247
Because I guarantee you,

1034
00:45:41,247 --> 00:45:46,555
no matter how righteous

1035
00:45:46,555 --> 00:45:49,887
the life of the Christian is - 
and it is - it is.

1036
00:45:49,887 --> 00:45:53,386
You have to deny all of the 
New Testament to say it's not.

1037
00:45:53,386 --> 00:45:55,444
But no matter how 
righteously you might be

1038
00:45:55,444 --> 00:45:56,755
living right now,

1039
00:45:56,755 --> 00:45:59,537
and no matter how much of 
a new creature you may be,

1040
00:45:59,537 --> 00:46:02,308
and no matter how much old 
things may have passed away

1041
00:46:02,308 --> 00:46:03,607
and all things become new,

1042
00:46:03,607 --> 00:46:05,668
I guarantee you this,

1043
00:46:05,668 --> 00:46:07,916
you are not glorified yet.

1044
00:46:07,916 --> 00:46:09,374
And until you are,

1045
00:46:09,374 --> 00:46:11,920
you know what the problem is?

1046
00:46:11,920 --> 00:46:14,165
We have been renewed on the inside,

1047
00:46:14,165 --> 00:46:16,468
and day by day, we're being renewed,

1048
00:46:16,468 --> 00:46:18,995
but this outside -

1049
00:46:18,995 --> 00:46:21,634
we still live in the same fallen body.

1050
00:46:21,634 --> 00:46:23,090
And we have not experienced

1051
00:46:23,090 --> 00:46:25,002
the resurrection of our bodies.

1052
00:46:25,002 --> 00:46:27,117
We have not experienced the glorification

1053
00:46:27,117 --> 00:46:28,740
of these.

1054
00:46:28,740 --> 00:46:31,407
These things belong here.

1055
00:46:31,407 --> 00:46:33,094
They're of this place.

1056
00:46:33,094 --> 00:46:34,218
And because they are,

1057
00:46:34,218 --> 00:46:36,268
we still tote around the flesh.

1058
00:46:36,268 --> 00:46:37,582
The flesh.

1059
00:46:37,582 --> 00:46:41,147
The word "flesh" - that sinful part of us

1060
00:46:41,147 --> 00:46:43,626
sounds a whole lot like 
what I've got right here.

1061
00:46:43,626 --> 00:46:45,373
Why? Because it's connected.

1062
00:46:45,373 --> 00:46:48,718
Sin seeks to reign in my mortal body.

1063
00:46:48,718 --> 00:46:50,911
Why? Because that's where the flesh is.

1064
00:46:50,911 --> 00:46:53,386
That's the only place sin can any longer

1065
00:46:53,386 --> 00:46:56,351
find a seat.

1066
00:46:56,351 --> 00:46:58,206
And that's why even on our best days,

1067
00:46:58,206 --> 00:47:00,103
we find this struggle.

1068
00:47:00,103 --> 00:47:03,251
We find this battle that goes on. Why?

1069
00:47:03,251 --> 00:47:06,180
Because these things wage war against us.

1070
00:47:06,180 --> 00:47:08,200
Sin wages war against us.

1071
00:47:08,200 --> 00:47:10,728
Fleshly lusts wage war against us.

1072
00:47:10,728 --> 00:47:12,994
No matter how righteous 
your life might be -

1073
00:47:12,994 --> 00:47:14,217
and I guarantee you this,

1074
00:47:14,217 --> 00:47:15,451
if you're truly saved,

1075
00:47:15,451 --> 00:47:17,246
your life looks a whole lot different

1076
00:47:17,246 --> 00:47:19,568
than it did before.

1077
00:47:19,568 --> 00:47:23,260
It's not yet what you want it to be,

1078
00:47:23,260 --> 00:47:25,588
but it is certainly a whole lot different

1079
00:47:25,588 --> 00:47:27,896
than it used to be.

1080
00:47:27,896 --> 00:47:29,763
That's the picture of Christianity

1081
00:47:29,763 --> 00:47:31,617
displayed before us.

1082
00:47:31,617 --> 00:47:33,607
We're still putting sin to death.

1083
00:47:33,607 --> 00:47:35,362
And I'll tell you, once in a while,

1084
00:47:35,362 --> 00:47:36,920
while we're putting it to death,

1085
00:47:36,920 --> 00:47:37,970
it lashes out at us

1086
00:47:37,970 --> 00:47:41,306
and knocks us in the jaw good.

1087
00:47:41,306 --> 00:47:43,591
And if you want to go 
over to your little mirror

1088
00:47:43,591 --> 00:47:44,960
and gaze in that mirror

1089
00:47:44,960 --> 00:47:47,933
and try to draw out of that confidence

1090
00:47:47,933 --> 00:47:49,449
in your standing before God,

1091
00:47:49,449 --> 00:47:51,273
you're going to fall right on your face.

1092
00:47:51,273 --> 00:47:53,476
And you'll get about as 
much assurance out of that

1093
00:47:53,476 --> 00:47:57,308
as you can out of a very 
imperfect performance.

1094
00:47:57,308 --> 00:47:59,909
What you want to go over 
and look in the mirror at

1095
00:47:59,909 --> 00:48:03,510
and gaze at is the glory of Christ

1096
00:48:03,510 --> 00:48:06,776
working and sweating and laboring out

1097
00:48:06,776 --> 00:48:09,390
a salvation in our stead.

1098
00:48:09,390 --> 00:48:12,059
Working out a perfect righteousness.

1099
00:48:12,059 --> 00:48:13,990
Fulfilling all righteousness.

1100
00:48:13,990 --> 00:48:16,773
Born of a virgin; born under the law.

1101
00:48:16,773 --> 00:48:19,467
And keeping that law so that His Father

1102
00:48:19,467 --> 00:48:24,212
could say, "This is My Son, 
in Whom I'm well pleased."

1103
00:48:24,212 --> 00:48:25,661
Well pleased.

1104
00:48:25,661 --> 00:48:30,127
And by the obedience of one,

1105
00:48:30,127 --> 00:48:32,544
the many are declared righteous.

1106
00:48:32,544 --> 00:48:34,119
And you have a very similar truth

1107
00:48:34,119 --> 00:48:40,502
come at us in Isaiah 53.

1108
00:48:40,502 --> 00:48:43,692
Brethren, who can bring charge against us?

1109
00:48:43,692 --> 00:48:45,991
It's God who justifies.

1110
00:48:45,991 --> 00:48:48,164
There is now therefore no condemnation

1111
00:48:48,164 --> 00:48:50,271
to them that are in Christ.

1112
00:48:50,271 --> 00:48:51,881
That's where our confidence is.

1113
00:48:51,881 --> 00:48:54,120
That's where we look.

1114
00:48:54,120 --> 00:48:57,931
That's where we trust.

1115
00:48:57,931 --> 00:49:01,752
And I'll tell you this, brethren,

1116
00:49:01,752 --> 00:49:06,699
you're only going to be saved 
if you make it to the end.

1117
00:49:06,699 --> 00:49:08,684
You're only going to be saved,

1118
00:49:08,684 --> 00:49:12,779
if you stay locked into 
that Gospel to the end.

1119
00:49:12,779 --> 00:49:14,667
Isn't that exactly how we started

1120
00:49:14,667 --> 00:49:18,083
when we read out of 1 Corinthians 15?

1121
00:49:18,083 --> 00:49:20,884
Brethren, I'll read it to you again.

1122
00:49:20,884 --> 00:49:22,468
"I would remind you, brothers,

1123
00:49:22,468 --> 00:49:24,027
of the Gospel I preached to you

1124
00:49:24,027 --> 00:49:27,378
which you received, in which you stand,

1125
00:49:27,378 --> 00:49:29,435
and by which you are being saved,

1126
00:49:29,435 --> 00:49:33,019
if you hold fast to the 
Word I preached to you

1127
00:49:33,019 --> 00:49:35,050
unless you believed in vain."

1128
00:49:35,050 --> 00:49:37,357
Brethren, faith to faith.

1129
00:49:37,357 --> 00:49:40,774
The just shall live by faith.

1130
00:49:40,774 --> 00:49:44,581
We live in faith of the Gospel now.

1131
00:49:44,581 --> 00:49:51,990
In it, the righteousness 
of God is revealed.

1132
00:49:51,990 --> 00:49:56,135
That's our hope.

1133
00:49:56,135 --> 00:50:03,855
Well, we'll get to creation next week.

1134
00:50:03,855 --> 00:50:10,994
Any questions or comments or observations?

1135
00:50:10,994 --> 00:50:31,872
(unintelligible)

1136
00:50:31,872 --> 00:50:34,335
To the Thessalonians on several occasions,

1137
00:50:34,335 --> 00:50:36,727
he said, "more and more."

1138
00:50:36,727 --> 00:50:38,855
They were loving already,

1139
00:50:38,855 --> 00:50:43,703
but more and more.

1140
00:50:43,703 --> 00:50:48,690
Love characterizes the redeemed life,

1141
00:50:48,690 --> 00:50:50,249
but more and more,

1142
00:50:50,249 --> 00:50:53,241
pressing on, pressing upward,

1143
00:50:53,241 --> 00:50:57,138
towards Christlikeness,

1144
00:50:57,138 --> 00:51:01,999
onward, upward, inward.

1145
00:51:01,999 --> 00:51:04,970
We do believe in progressive 
sanctification.

1146
00:51:04,970 --> 00:51:06,985
No question about it.

1147
00:51:06,985 --> 00:51:11,220
Progressive sanctification, and yet,

1148
00:51:11,220 --> 00:51:14,750
the new birth is so radical

1149
00:51:14,750 --> 00:51:19,893
that when a person is first born again,

1150
00:51:19,893 --> 00:51:23,152
they become new creatures in Christ.

1151
00:51:23,152 --> 00:51:26,988
Although they are not what they'll be

1152
00:51:26,988 --> 00:51:30,821
even in a year,

1153
00:51:30,821 --> 00:51:33,771
old things have passed away.

1154
00:51:33,771 --> 00:51:40,742
And there's something 
drastically different and new.

1155
00:51:40,742 --> 00:51:42,996
Sometimes if you're 
looking from the outside,

1156
00:51:42,996 --> 00:51:44,915
we don't always see it so much

1157
00:51:44,915 --> 00:51:46,883
because the body doesn't hardly change,

1158
00:51:46,883 --> 00:51:52,071
but that's a reality.

1159
00:51:52,071 --> 00:51:53,327
It's kind of like this,

1160
00:51:53,327 --> 00:51:56,965
we live way down here in the doldrums

1161
00:51:56,965 --> 00:52:00,198
of total wretchedness and depravity,

1162
00:52:00,198 --> 00:52:04,187
all the way down at 
the bottom of the barrel.

1163
00:52:04,187 --> 00:52:06,003
We're born again

1164
00:52:06,003 --> 00:52:10,761
and we fly way up to this level.

1165
00:52:10,761 --> 00:52:12,649
And then now it's kind of this...

1166
00:52:12,649 --> 00:52:14,902
and we have our ups and our downs,

1167
00:52:14,902 --> 00:52:17,181
but it's constantly upward.

1168
00:52:17,181 --> 00:52:18,918
And the Spirit of God takes us

1169
00:52:18,918 --> 00:52:20,902
through that sin-killing,

1170
00:52:20,902 --> 00:52:24,264
walking in the Spirit more and more

1171
00:52:24,264 --> 00:52:31,036
adventure going on to perfection.

1172
00:52:31,036 --> 00:52:36,262
That's kind of the picture 
we get in the Scriptures.

1173
00:52:36,262 --> 00:52:38,509
And the thing that the Bible warns about

1174
00:52:38,509 --> 00:52:42,337
is no matter what this thing looks like,

1175
00:52:42,337 --> 00:52:48,957
if you return to the vomit and the mire,

1176
00:52:48,957 --> 00:52:53,507
you show yourself to be a pig.

1177
00:52:53,515 --> 00:52:57,463
Never a lamb.

1178
00:52:57,463 --> 00:52:58,264
(from the room)

1179
00:52:58,264 --> 00:53:00,685
It's heartbreaking how many churches

1180
00:53:00,685 --> 00:53:04,769
don't teach this.

1181
00:53:04,769 --> 00:53:06,979
Tim: It's heartbreaking how many churches

1182
00:53:06,979 --> 00:53:11,946
have abandoned the Scriptures.

1183
00:53:11,946 --> 00:53:20,224
You know what?

1184
00:53:20,224 --> 00:53:22,553
The danger in all of this

1185
00:53:22,553 --> 00:53:25,622
is what we're talking about is the Gospel.

1186
00:53:25,622 --> 00:53:28,963
If we were talking about ecclesiology,

1187
00:53:28,963 --> 00:53:32,657
maybe the forms of church government,

1188
00:53:32,657 --> 00:53:34,766
or if we were talking about eschatology,

1189
00:53:34,766 --> 00:53:38,088
maybe the end times,

1190
00:53:38,088 --> 00:53:41,959
we could have some happy debates maybe.

1191
00:53:41,959 --> 00:53:43,969
But we're talking about the Gospel.

1192
00:53:43,969 --> 00:53:48,993
We're talking about if people are wrong:

1193
00:53:48,993 --> 00:53:51,241
"Many will say to Me in that day,

1194
00:53:51,241 --> 00:53:53,533
'Lord, Lord.'"

1195
00:53:53,533 --> 00:53:57,051
And He's going to say, "I never knew you."

1196
00:53:57,051 --> 00:54:00,079
This is life and death.

1197
00:54:00,079 --> 00:54:06,014
This isn't marginal.
This isn't optional.

1198
00:54:06,014 --> 00:54:12,365
Folks, people can get bent out of shape.

1199
00:54:12,365 --> 00:54:18,930
They can get all worked up.

1200
00:54:18,930 --> 00:54:25,678
But if they're wrong, they're wrong.

1201
00:54:25,678 --> 00:54:29,380
They can be so confident in this world -

1202
00:54:29,380 --> 00:54:31,622
blindly confident;

1203
00:54:31,622 --> 00:54:36,593
unbiblically confident.

1204
00:54:36,593 --> 00:54:40,118
If you're wrong in that day, you're wrong.

1205
00:54:40,118 --> 00:54:45,211
And it's going to cost you your soul.

1206
00:54:45,211 --> 00:54:49,201
We can be wrong about lots of things.

1207
00:54:49,201 --> 00:54:56,184
Brethren, it's supposed to rain tomorrow.

1208
00:54:56,184 --> 00:54:59,854
If we're wrong, if you 
think it's not going to,

1209
00:54:59,854 --> 00:55:02,213
you don't take your umbrella,
you get rained on.

1210
00:55:02,213 --> 00:55:06,720
I don't carry an umbrella anyway.
I don't care if I get rained on.

1211
00:55:06,720 --> 00:55:10,109
Bottom line is you can be 
wrong about the weather,

1212
00:55:10,109 --> 00:55:14,574
it doesn't really matter.

1213
00:55:14,574 --> 00:55:18,487
If you're wrong about this,

1214
00:55:18,487 --> 00:55:24,043
it's all that matters.

1215
00:55:24,043 --> 00:55:28,129
If you're wrong about this,

1216
00:55:28,129 --> 00:55:35,130
there's hell to pay.

1217
00:55:35,130 --> 00:55:36,721
We don't want to hide anything.

1218
00:55:36,721 --> 00:55:39,968
We just want to say it 
like the Bible says it.

1219
00:55:39,968 --> 00:55:41,592
Brethren, the thing is

1220
00:55:41,592 --> 00:55:44,265
none of us should be embarrassed

1221
00:55:44,265 --> 00:55:47,287
about any of this.

1222
00:55:47,287 --> 00:55:49,141
This is what the Bible says.

1223
00:55:49,141 --> 00:55:51,238
We're open to examination

1224
00:55:51,238 --> 00:55:53,230
from anybody and everybody.

1225
00:55:53,230 --> 00:55:54,949
We're not like the Jehovah's Witnesses

1226
00:55:54,949 --> 00:55:56,387
that have to come to the door

1227
00:55:56,387 --> 00:55:57,891
and be subversive

1228
00:55:57,891 --> 00:56:00,415
and not really tell our agenda,

1229
00:56:00,415 --> 00:56:02,036
not really tell what we believe.

1230
00:56:02,036 --> 00:56:03,256
We can lay it out there.

1231
00:56:03,256 --> 00:56:06,163
This is what we believe.

1232
00:56:06,163 --> 00:56:09,535
Bottom line, if somebody looks to Christ,

1233
00:56:09,535 --> 00:56:15,404
and it doesn't radically change the life,

1234
00:56:15,404 --> 00:56:19,941
they're going to hear 
words on judgment day

1235
00:56:19,941 --> 00:56:23,378
of such horror and fear

1236
00:56:23,378 --> 00:56:31,436
that they do not want to hear.

1237
00:56:31,436 --> 00:56:36,925
Brethren, think about it,

1238
00:56:36,925 --> 00:56:38,340
if this wasn't true,

1239
00:56:38,340 --> 00:56:40,554
what in the world advantage do I have

1240
00:56:40,554 --> 00:56:42,220
to emphasize this?

1241
00:56:42,220 --> 00:56:43,121
None at all!

1242
00:56:43,121 --> 00:56:44,607
You know what, if the truth was

1243
00:56:44,607 --> 00:56:50,137
that we could be saved and live like hell,

1244
00:56:50,137 --> 00:56:53,060
I'd tell you that.

1245
00:56:53,060 --> 00:56:54,792
But the Bible doesn't say that.

1246
00:56:54,792 --> 00:56:58,617
And you know the thing 
about it is anyway,

1247
00:56:58,617 --> 00:57:03,936
brethren, God gives us new desires.

1248
00:57:03,936 --> 00:57:05,722
Don't you guys agree?

1249
00:57:05,722 --> 00:57:07,718
I don't want to live like hell.

1250
00:57:07,718 --> 00:57:08,706
I don't.

1251
00:57:08,706 --> 00:57:11,208
The two things I want 
more than anything else

1252
00:57:11,208 --> 00:57:14,465
in the entire universe

1253
00:57:14,465 --> 00:57:17,448
is to see Christ face-to-face,

1254
00:57:17,448 --> 00:57:21,626
and to be done with sin forever.

1255
00:57:21,626 --> 00:57:24,734
Those are the two greatest 
longings of my heart.

1256
00:57:24,734 --> 00:57:26,796
Even if I found that you could

1257
00:57:26,796 --> 00:57:28,706
live like hell and get to heaven,

1258
00:57:28,706 --> 00:57:30,018
I wouldn't want that.

1259
00:57:30,018 --> 00:57:32,417
I don't want that.

1260
00:57:32,417 --> 00:57:34,029
Even if I could find out I could

1261
00:57:34,029 --> 00:57:37,714
live here forever living like hell

1262
00:57:37,714 --> 00:57:39,050
and never have Christ -

1263
00:57:39,050 --> 00:57:41,456
that would be hell to me.

1264
00:57:41,456 --> 00:57:43,894
I want Christ.

1265
00:57:43,894 --> 00:57:49,446
And I want to be like Him.

1266
00:57:49,446 --> 00:57:52,634
That's what the Gospel produces.

1267
00:57:52,634 --> 00:57:57,670
And that's our hope, right?

1268
00:57:57,670 --> 00:58:03,309
And as it was brought up before,

1269
00:58:03,309 --> 00:58:06,173
we read this in Ephesians 1.

1270
00:58:06,173 --> 00:58:08,455
The Holy Spirit -

1271
00:58:08,455 --> 00:58:12,971
He's the guarantee of our inheritance

1272
00:58:12,971 --> 00:58:16,482
until we acquire possession of it.

1273
00:58:16,482 --> 00:58:18,057
What does that mean?

1274
00:58:18,057 --> 00:58:21,931
Well, where the Holy Spirit is, 
He puts sin to death.

1275
00:58:21,931 --> 00:58:23,207
Where the Holy Spirit is

1276
00:58:23,207 --> 00:58:27,411
He works love, He works joy,

1277
00:58:27,411 --> 00:58:29,281
He works peace -

1278
00:58:29,281 --> 00:58:32,548
you know those fruits of the Spirit.

1279
00:58:32,548 --> 00:58:36,989
Where the Spirit is

1280
00:58:36,989 --> 00:58:40,417
He assists us in our prayer, does He not?

1281
00:58:40,417 --> 00:58:43,325
Where the Spirit is He bears witness

1282
00:58:43,325 --> 00:58:46,464
with our spirit that 
we're children of God.

1283
00:58:46,464 --> 00:58:48,839
Where the Spirit is He's 
the Spirit of adoption

1284
00:58:48,839 --> 00:58:51,533
by which we cry, "Abba, Father."

1285
00:58:51,533 --> 00:58:54,550
Those that have the Spirit 
are led by the Spirit.

1286
00:58:54,550 --> 00:59:01,329
Those that have the Spirit 
walk in the Spirit.

1287
00:59:01,329 --> 00:59:05,653
You see, having the Spirit

1288
00:59:05,653 --> 00:59:08,922
as a guarantee of our inheritance

1289
00:59:08,922 --> 00:59:11,793
is not a blind thing.

1290
00:59:11,793 --> 00:59:13,481
It's something that's real.

1291
00:59:13,481 --> 00:59:15,542
It produces fruit.

1292
00:59:15,542 --> 00:59:20,045
And if the fruit of the Spirit isn't there

1293
00:59:20,045 --> 00:59:22,150
then you give the very evidence

1294
00:59:22,150 --> 00:59:26,063
that you don't possess the guarantee

1295
00:59:26,063 --> 00:59:28,177
of salvation.

1296
00:59:28,177 --> 00:59:31,767
You see where I'm coming from?

1297
00:59:31,767 --> 00:59:34,918
There's no question the 
Spirit is the guarantee.

1298
00:59:34,918 --> 00:59:37,008
But the way that's a guarantee to us

1299
00:59:37,008 --> 00:59:39,683
is we see the manifestations

1300
00:59:39,683 --> 00:59:45,261
of the presence of the very Spirit -

1301
00:59:45,261 --> 00:59:49,438
the Spirit Who leads us into truth;

1302
00:59:49,438 --> 00:59:55,536
the Spirit Who convicts us of sin;

1303
00:59:55,536 --> 00:59:59,325
a Spirit Who can be grieved.

1304
00:59:59,325 --> 01:00:02,319
And when once you've 
been given a love for Christ,

1305
01:00:02,319 --> 01:00:05,043
a love for truth, 
a love for righteousness,

1306
01:00:05,043 --> 01:00:09,390
and you grieve the Spirit, you feel it.

1307
01:00:09,390 --> 01:00:11,669
Any of you that have 
known the smile of Christ

1308
01:00:11,669 --> 01:00:15,468
and then had it disappear,

1309
01:00:15,468 --> 01:00:17,257
any of you that have known that,

1310
01:00:17,257 --> 01:00:19,443
you know what that feels like.

1311
01:00:19,443 --> 01:00:23,616
For the Christian, that's 
the worst thing in this life.

1312
01:00:23,616 --> 01:00:30,311
Give me trials, just don't 
hide Your face from me!

1313
01:00:30,311 --> 01:00:34,473
Any other comments, questions?

1314
01:00:34,473 --> 01:00:37,162
Okay, what would you guys say?

1315
01:00:37,162 --> 01:00:39,100
What verse would you go to

1316
01:00:39,100 --> 01:00:41,638
to absolutely solidify to somebody

1317
01:00:41,638 --> 01:00:44,077
that you cannot lose your salvation?

1318
01:00:44,077 --> 01:00:52,315
(unintelligible)

1319
01:00:52,315 --> 01:00:55,351
He's the guarantee of our salvation.

1320
01:00:55,351 --> 01:00:56,897
You can't guarantee salvation

1321
01:00:56,897 --> 01:00:58,239
by giving the Spirit of God

1322
01:00:58,239 --> 01:01:00,140
if the Spirit of God can be taken away

1323
01:01:00,140 --> 01:01:01,960
and it's no guarantee.

1324
01:01:01,960 --> 01:01:04,039
There are any number of places

1325
01:01:04,039 --> 01:01:05,502
that we could go to,

1326
01:01:05,502 --> 01:01:13,057
but it was brought up the New Covenant.

1327
01:01:13,057 --> 01:01:14,900
"This is the covenant that I will make

1328
01:01:14,900 --> 01:01:16,891
with the house of Israel after these days

1329
01:01:16,891 --> 01:01:17,883
declares the Lord,

1330
01:01:17,883 --> 01:01:19,509
I will put My law within them;

1331
01:01:19,509 --> 01:01:21,497
I will write it on their hearts;

1332
01:01:21,497 --> 01:01:23,050
I will be their God;

1333
01:01:23,050 --> 01:01:24,542
they shall be My people.

1334
01:01:24,542 --> 01:01:27,054
No longer shall each 
one teach his neighbor

1335
01:01:27,054 --> 01:01:28,233
and each one his brother saying,

1336
01:01:28,233 --> 01:01:29,705
'Know the Lord,' for 
they shall all know Me

1337
01:01:29,705 --> 01:01:31,244
from the least of them to the greatest,

1338
01:01:31,244 --> 01:01:32,188
declares the Lord.

1339
01:01:32,188 --> 01:01:33,777
I will forgive their iniquities.

1340
01:01:33,777 --> 01:01:35,882
I will remember their sin no more."

1341
01:01:35,882 --> 01:01:37,445
And then over in v. 32,

1342
01:01:37,445 --> 01:01:39,995
He says this, "They shall be My people.

1343
01:01:39,995 --> 01:01:41,379
I will be their God.

1344
01:01:41,379 --> 01:01:43,471
I will give them one heart and one way

1345
01:01:43,471 --> 01:01:46,111
that they may fear Me forever,

1346
01:01:46,111 --> 01:01:47,207
for their own good

1347
01:01:47,207 --> 01:01:48,942
and the good of their children after them,

1348
01:01:48,942 --> 01:01:50,861
I will make with them 
an everlasting covenant.

1349
01:01:50,861 --> 01:01:52,840
I will not turn away from 
doing good to them.

1350
01:01:52,840 --> 01:01:54,769
I will put the fear of Me in their hearts

1351
01:01:54,769 --> 01:01:57,568
that they may not turn from Me."

1352
01:01:57,568 --> 01:01:59,884
I will put My fear in their hearts

1353
01:01:59,884 --> 01:02:02,659
that they will not turn from Me.

1354
01:02:02,659 --> 01:02:05,872
And I think grandmother back there

1355
01:02:05,872 --> 01:02:09,519
brought up 1 Peter 1:5,

1356
01:02:09,519 --> 01:02:12,550
"We are kept..." the ESV

1357
01:02:12,550 --> 01:02:14,292
doesn't bring it forth as clearly,

1358
01:02:14,292 --> 01:02:16,065
but the KJV: "We are kept

1359
01:02:16,065 --> 01:02:20,050
by the power of God through faith."

1360
01:02:20,050 --> 01:02:23,703
And we are kept.

1361
01:02:23,703 --> 01:02:26,807
He will complete that work -
we've got Philippians 1:6.

1362
01:02:26,807 --> 01:02:29,811
But the very tenets of the New Covenant -

1363
01:02:29,811 --> 01:02:31,224
nothing's left up to us.

1364
01:02:31,224 --> 01:02:34,425
God says, "I will, 
I will, I will, I will..."

1365
01:02:34,425 --> 01:02:38,352
And He says, "I will put My fear in them

1366
01:02:38,352 --> 01:02:40,250
that they not turn away from Me.

1367
01:02:40,250 --> 01:02:45,160
I will rejoice in doing them good."

1368
01:02:45,160 --> 01:02:48,052
Ezekiel 36 - we can go there as well

1369
01:02:48,052 --> 01:02:54,204
and just carry on all the "I will's" 
that He says He's going to do.

1370
01:02:54,204 --> 01:02:58,839
In Ezekiel 36, He says,

1371
01:02:58,839 --> 01:03:01,083
"I will sprinkle clean water on you

1372
01:03:01,083 --> 01:03:03,709
and you shall be clean 
from all your uncleanesses

1373
01:03:03,709 --> 01:03:05,922
and from your idols, I will cleanse you.

1374
01:03:05,922 --> 01:03:07,422
I will give you a new heart

1375
01:03:07,422 --> 01:03:09,967
and a new spirit I will put within you

1376
01:03:09,967 --> 01:03:12,491
and I will remove the heart 
of stone from your flesh

1377
01:03:12,491 --> 01:03:13,924
and give you a heart of flesh,

1378
01:03:13,924 --> 01:03:15,672
and I will put My Spirit within you

1379
01:03:15,672 --> 01:03:17,768
and cause you to walk in My statutes

1380
01:03:17,768 --> 01:03:20,024
and be careful to obey My rules."

1381
01:03:20,024 --> 01:03:21,719
And if somebody comes along and says,

1382
01:03:21,719 --> 01:03:24,300
well, yeah, He said He'd do 
that for the house of Israel,

1383
01:03:24,300 --> 01:03:26,105
I would say, whoa...

1384
01:03:26,105 --> 01:03:28,896
did you never read that 
a true Jew is one inwardly?

1385
01:03:28,896 --> 01:03:30,548
And circumcision is a matter of the heart?

1386
01:03:30,548 --> 01:03:32,210
And to the Gentile Philippians,

1387
01:03:32,210 --> 01:03:35,168
he says we're the true circumcision.

1388
01:03:35,168 --> 01:03:37,189
What is that? Philippians 3:3.

1389
01:03:37,189 --> 01:03:39,098
We are the true circumcision.

1390
01:03:39,098 --> 01:03:42,562
And it doesn't matter 
if we're Gentiles or not.

1391
01:03:42,562 --> 01:03:46,098
Who is a true child of Abraham?

1392
01:03:46,098 --> 01:03:48,202
According to Galatians.

1393
01:03:48,202 --> 01:03:50,512
They're those who have 
faith in Jesus Christ.

1394
01:03:50,512 --> 01:03:52,210
Bottom line, a true child of Abraham

1395
01:03:52,210 --> 01:03:53,725
are those that believe in Jesus Christ.

1396
01:03:53,725 --> 01:03:56,113
The true circumcision are those that what?

1397
01:03:56,113 --> 01:03:58,503
Put no confidence in the flesh.

1398
01:03:58,503 --> 01:04:04,355
They make their boast in the Lord.

1399
01:04:04,355 --> 01:04:07,678
If they want to say, well, 
that's speaking about Israel,

1400
01:04:07,678 --> 01:04:10,454
well, we are the Israel of God.
We're the true Jew.

1401
01:04:10,454 --> 01:04:13,353
Who? All of those who 
are children of Abraham.

1402
01:04:13,353 --> 01:04:15,224
All of those who by faith

1403
01:04:15,224 --> 01:04:21,209
have trusted Christ.

1404
01:04:21,209 --> 01:04:22,750
Do you guys believe that?

1405
01:04:22,750 --> 01:04:24,300
That's what the Scriptures speak.

1406
01:04:24,300 --> 01:04:27,474
Have you ever read in Ephesians 2?

1407
01:04:27,474 --> 01:04:29,814
It says that middle wall of partition

1408
01:04:29,814 --> 01:04:32,202
has been taken down. How?

1409
01:04:32,202 --> 01:04:35,858
He's created one new man from the two.

1410
01:04:35,858 --> 01:04:37,883
And what?

1411
01:04:37,883 --> 01:04:42,110
We used to be at one time

1412
01:04:42,110 --> 01:04:45,360
called the uncircumcision by
what is called the circumcision

1413
01:04:45,360 --> 01:04:47,887
which was made in 
the flesh by hands, right?

1414
01:04:47,887 --> 01:04:49,081
At one time, we were.

1415
01:04:49,081 --> 01:04:51,327
At one time, we were what?

1416
01:04:51,327 --> 01:04:52,906
Separated from Christ.

1417
01:04:52,906 --> 01:04:55,289
You were alienated from 
the commonwealth of Israel.

1418
01:04:55,289 --> 01:04:57,727
We were separated from 
the covenants of promise.

1419
01:04:57,727 --> 01:05:00,768
But now, that's not true.

1420
01:05:00,768 --> 01:05:01,945
Now we're not.

1421
01:05:01,945 --> 01:05:03,544
We're no longer on the outside.

1422
01:05:03,544 --> 01:05:05,964
Now, we're fellow citizens.

1423
01:05:05,964 --> 01:05:07,940
We're heirs, folks.

1424
01:05:07,940 --> 01:05:10,272
We're on the inside.

1425
01:05:10,272 --> 01:05:13,443
We all - those who were near
and those who were far -

1426
01:05:13,443 --> 01:05:16,510
have been all brought and accepted by God

1427
01:05:16,510 --> 01:05:18,525
through the shedding 
of the blood of Christ.

1428
01:05:18,525 --> 01:05:21,744
He's done this, folks.

1429
01:05:21,744 --> 01:05:27,247
We Gentiles by faith in Christ

1430
01:05:27,247 --> 01:05:29,043
are true Israel.

1431
01:05:29,043 --> 01:05:30,972
So don't ever let anybody disarm you

1432
01:05:30,972 --> 01:05:32,124
of the New Covenant

1433
01:05:32,124 --> 01:05:35,749
just because they say 
that promise is for the Jews.

1434
01:05:35,749 --> 01:05:37,467
There's no question about it.

1435
01:05:37,467 --> 01:05:39,426
But have you never read in Romans 9?

1436
01:05:39,426 --> 01:05:42,337
"Not all Israel is Israel."

1437
01:05:42,337 --> 01:05:44,538
There is a spiritual Israel

1438
01:05:44,538 --> 01:05:48,532
to whom the promises have truly been made.

1439
01:05:48,532 --> 01:05:50,712
And in fact, when Paul realizes

1440
01:05:50,712 --> 01:05:53,021
some of the Jews are going 
to take issue with that,

1441
01:05:53,021 --> 01:05:54,965
he said, whoa, wasn't it even said

1442
01:05:54,965 --> 01:05:57,506
way back to Moses,

1443
01:05:57,506 --> 01:06:01,714
"I will have mercy upon 
whom I will have mercy,

1444
01:06:01,714 --> 01:06:03,217
and I will show compassion

1445
01:06:03,217 --> 01:06:05,349
to those to whom I will show compassion."

1446
01:06:05,349 --> 01:06:08,583
And it says God shows compassion

1447
01:06:08,583 --> 01:06:10,727
and God hardens.

1448
01:06:10,727 --> 01:06:17,229
There are vessels of mercy
and there are vessels of wrath.

1449
01:06:17,229 --> 01:06:18,470
You know, the problem is

1450
01:06:18,470 --> 01:06:20,826
we make God out to be a very small God

1451
01:06:20,826 --> 01:06:25,049
when we say we can lose our salvation.

1452
01:06:25,049 --> 01:06:28,859
Yeah, He's not strong enough to keep us.

1453
01:06:28,859 --> 01:06:32,743
But, He's not only strong 
enough to keep us,

1454
01:06:32,743 --> 01:06:36,396
He's strong enough to keep 
us doing good to the end.

1455
01:06:36,396 --> 01:06:39,393
He's strong enough to keep us persevering

1456
01:06:39,393 --> 01:06:42,119
all the way.

1457
01:06:42,119 --> 01:06:44,063
You see, you make God weak either way.

1458
01:06:44,063 --> 01:06:45,796
If you say, "God can't keep us,"

1459
01:06:45,796 --> 01:06:47,028
you make Him weak.

1460
01:06:47,028 --> 01:06:48,856
And if you say,

1461
01:06:48,856 --> 01:06:50,545
"We're going to make it,

1462
01:06:50,545 --> 01:06:53,455
but we're not going to 
make it doing good works,"

1463
01:06:53,455 --> 01:06:54,565
you make Him weak too

1464
01:06:54,565 --> 01:06:57,652
because you're saying basically 
He's going to drop the ball.

1465
01:06:57,652 --> 01:07:04,178
But He says, Philippians 1:6 - let's read.

1466
01:07:04,178 --> 01:07:07,310
Do you have your KJV over there?

1467
01:07:07,310 --> 01:07:09,906
Somebody read the KJV.

1468
01:07:09,906 --> 01:07:15,517
Philippians 1:6

1469
01:07:15,517 --> 01:07:17,270
I never memorized it in the ESV,

1470
01:07:17,270 --> 01:07:20,542
so I'm not sure exactly how it reads.

1471
01:07:20,542 --> 01:07:22,742
Philippians 1:6,

1472
01:07:22,742 --> 01:07:24,762
"Being confident of this very thing,

1473
01:07:24,762 --> 01:07:26,861
that He which hath 
begun a good work in you

1474
01:07:26,861 --> 01:07:29,148
will perform it until 
the day of Jesus Christ."

1475
01:07:29,148 --> 01:07:31,184
Paul was confident.

1476
01:07:31,184 --> 01:07:36,771
God was going to perform 
it to the day of Christ.

1477
01:07:36,771 --> 01:07:39,510
Any other questions or comments

1478
01:07:39,510 --> 01:07:40,672
or observations?

1479
01:07:40,672 --> 01:07:41,666
(from the room)

1480
01:07:41,666 --> 01:07:43,746
I think what I'm hearing though

1481
01:07:43,746 --> 01:07:51,596
is that you don't know if 
you've really been sealed

1482
01:07:51,596 --> 01:07:55,471
unless you persevere to the end.

1483
01:07:55,471 --> 01:08:02,021
It's like saying that the narrow way 
is more like a narrow plank.

1484
01:08:02,021 --> 01:08:06,624
I can walk sincerely believing on Christ

1485
01:08:06,624 --> 01:08:10,787
for 15 or 20 years and fall off.

1486
01:08:10,787 --> 01:08:13,164
But the fact that I fell off proves

1487
01:08:13,164 --> 01:08:15,282
that I was not in Christ.

1488
01:08:15,282 --> 01:08:20,804
So what churns in my heart

1489
01:08:20,804 --> 01:08:22,377
is where's the peace

1490
01:08:22,377 --> 01:08:24,823
that Christ leaves with us?

1491
01:08:24,823 --> 01:08:28,041
So I feel that the only assurance

1492
01:08:28,041 --> 01:08:33,565
is if you persevere to the end.

1493
01:08:33,565 --> 01:08:36,893
It's not that there's faith in Christ...

1494
01:08:36,893 --> 01:08:44,861
(unintelligible)

1495
01:08:44,861 --> 01:08:46,722
Tim: Well, actually, that's exactly

1496
01:08:46,722 --> 01:08:51,361
what I wasn't saying 
as far as the mirror thing.

1497
01:08:51,361 --> 01:08:53,693
And that if we keep going 
back to that mirror

1498
01:08:53,693 --> 01:08:55,444
and we keep gazing in that mirror

1499
01:08:55,444 --> 01:08:56,889
at our performance,

1500
01:08:56,889 --> 01:08:59,687
that basically that is not 
where the power of God

1501
01:08:59,687 --> 01:09:02,854
is dispelled into the 
life of the believer.

1502
01:09:02,854 --> 01:09:06,440
It is looking to what Christ 
has accomplished for us.

1503
01:09:06,440 --> 01:09:08,817
But there's no question about it,

1504
01:09:08,817 --> 01:09:13,403
the Bible is replete 
with texts that tell us

1505
01:09:13,403 --> 01:09:15,114
that we've got to endure to the end,

1506
01:09:15,114 --> 01:09:18,618
that there's got to be a 
keeping of His commandments,

1507
01:09:18,618 --> 01:09:21,356
that there's got to be 
a practicing of righteousness,

1508
01:09:21,356 --> 01:09:25,174
and so, Paul can come to the Corinthians

1509
01:09:25,174 --> 01:09:29,094
and say, look, fornicators, adulterers,

1510
01:09:29,094 --> 01:09:32,350
thieves, effeminate, 
homosexuals, whatever...

1511
01:09:32,350 --> 01:09:35,514
they don't inherit the kingdom.

1512
01:09:35,514 --> 01:09:38,170
Bottom line,

1513
01:09:38,170 --> 01:09:41,666
the Bible never is going 
to give confidence

1514
01:09:41,666 --> 01:09:44,558
to a person who's walking a wicked life

1515
01:09:44,558 --> 01:09:46,527
to believe that the power of God

1516
01:09:46,527 --> 01:09:48,346
has ever transformed them.

1517
01:09:48,346 --> 01:09:51,224
They shouldn't expect to have any hope.

1518
01:09:51,224 --> 01:09:52,981
But bottom line is this,

1519
01:09:52,981 --> 01:09:56,823
the Spirit of God is distinctly 
said in Romans 8:16

1520
01:09:56,823 --> 01:10:00,156
to bear witness with our spirit 
that we're children of God.

1521
01:10:00,156 --> 01:10:02,786
And in fact, if we go back before that

1522
01:10:02,786 --> 01:10:05,293
to about Romans 5:5,

1523
01:10:05,293 --> 01:10:06,959
we've got the truth

1524
01:10:06,959 --> 01:10:12,621
that the love of God

1525
01:10:12,621 --> 01:10:15,852
is shed abroad in our 
hearts by the Spirit.

1526
01:10:15,852 --> 01:10:18,216
And if you read, you see 
where that love's coming from.

1527
01:10:18,216 --> 01:10:20,521
It's coming out of the cross.

1528
01:10:20,521 --> 01:10:21,877
And I would say this,

1529
01:10:21,877 --> 01:10:26,667
that bottom line,

1530
01:10:26,667 --> 01:10:29,757
if somebody is truly saved,

1531
01:10:29,757 --> 01:10:31,668
they love Christ,

1532
01:10:31,668 --> 01:10:33,065
they believe Christ,

1533
01:10:33,065 --> 01:10:34,779
they trust Christ,

1534
01:10:34,779 --> 01:10:36,045
they look to the cross

1535
01:10:36,045 --> 01:10:37,776
and they find hope in Christ,

1536
01:10:37,776 --> 01:10:41,315
and the Spirit of God energizes

1537
01:10:41,315 --> 01:10:43,966
that look to the cross

1538
01:10:43,966 --> 01:10:45,898
and floods that person

1539
01:10:45,898 --> 01:10:47,861
from one degree to another

1540
01:10:47,861 --> 01:10:49,108
with assurance.

1541
01:10:49,108 --> 01:10:51,466
And that Spirit is the Spirit of adoption

1542
01:10:51,466 --> 01:10:53,571
that is bearing witness.

1543
01:10:53,571 --> 01:10:55,468
And it's the Spirit of adoption

1544
01:10:55,468 --> 01:10:58,015
that brings an inner compulsion

1545
01:10:58,015 --> 01:11:02,219
now to look at God not as 
a far and a distant God,

1546
01:11:02,219 --> 01:11:03,910
but as a God Who's very close

1547
01:11:03,910 --> 01:11:05,155
and Who is a Father.

1548
01:11:05,155 --> 01:11:07,121
We cry, "Abba, Father."

1549
01:11:07,121 --> 01:11:10,209
And so, bottom line is

1550
01:11:10,209 --> 01:11:13,975
the Christian feeds and finds his strength

1551
01:11:13,975 --> 01:11:15,170
in Christ.

1552
01:11:15,170 --> 01:11:18,000
Christ said that He was going to send

1553
01:11:18,000 --> 01:11:20,635
a Helper or a Comforter.

1554
01:11:20,635 --> 01:11:23,821
And He said that 
"He's going to glorify Me."

1555
01:11:23,821 --> 01:11:25,267
I guarantee you this,

1556
01:11:25,267 --> 01:11:27,802
no matter what operation 
the Spirit is involved with,

1557
01:11:27,802 --> 01:11:29,916
Christ is the focus.

1558
01:11:29,916 --> 01:11:31,903
Christ is always the focus.

1559
01:11:31,903 --> 01:11:36,079
Not the Spirit - Christ is the focus.

1560
01:11:36,079 --> 01:11:39,354
And in our assurance,

1561
01:11:39,354 --> 01:11:40,935
in our strength,

1562
01:11:40,935 --> 01:11:43,731
in our persevering,

1563
01:11:43,731 --> 01:11:46,019
Christ is always going 
to be central to that.

1564
01:11:46,019 --> 01:11:49,414
And the Spirit is going to 
bring that assurance,

1565
01:11:49,414 --> 01:11:50,748
bring peace,

1566
01:11:50,748 --> 01:11:52,179
bring that confidence,

1567
01:11:52,179 --> 01:11:55,247
bring a sense of that shedding abroad

1568
01:11:55,247 --> 01:11:57,236
of the love of God into my heart

1569
01:11:57,236 --> 01:11:59,364
as we gaze at Christ.

1570
01:11:59,364 --> 01:12:02,958
And that is a real, vital

1571
01:12:02,958 --> 01:12:05,397
manifestation of the Spirit of God

1572
01:12:05,397 --> 01:12:08,282
that the true Christian 
is going to experience.

1573
01:12:08,282 --> 01:12:13,169
And so, I think what happens is

1574
01:12:13,169 --> 01:12:15,464
we end up creating a straw man

1575
01:12:15,464 --> 01:12:16,939
if we're not careful.

1576
01:12:16,939 --> 01:12:20,504
And what I mean by that,

1577
01:12:20,504 --> 01:12:23,105
the man doesn't exist

1578
01:12:23,105 --> 01:12:27,156
who has true assurance from the Spirit

1579
01:12:27,156 --> 01:12:28,952
and no works.

1580
01:12:28,952 --> 01:12:30,322
It's a straw man.

1581
01:12:30,322 --> 01:12:34,120
The man who, in the end, falls out

1582
01:12:34,120 --> 01:12:37,151
was a man maybe who in self-righteousness

1583
01:12:37,151 --> 01:12:42,296
was striving to please 
God in his own merits.

1584
01:12:42,296 --> 01:12:45,306
He's a man who maybe was a Pharisee

1585
01:12:45,306 --> 01:12:50,622
and he put up a good outer shell show.

1586
01:12:50,622 --> 01:12:52,419
He had confidence in a lot of things,

1587
01:12:52,419 --> 01:12:53,842
maybe in his church-going,

1588
01:12:53,842 --> 01:12:56,609
maybe in his efforts, but like Demas,

1589
01:12:56,609 --> 01:12:58,363
he ends up falling out.

1590
01:12:58,363 --> 01:12:59,700
But I guarantee you,

1591
01:12:59,700 --> 01:13:03,443
whatever confidence he had 
was a vain confidence.

1592
01:13:03,443 --> 01:13:06,078
And it wasn't a Spirit 
of God-wrought thing.

1593
01:13:06,078 --> 01:13:10,988
And so, no, I would adamantly 
say that's not true.

1594
01:13:10,988 --> 01:13:13,954
The true Christian doesn't all of a sudden

1595
01:13:13,954 --> 01:13:16,911
find out at the end of 
the race that he's true.

1596
01:13:16,911 --> 01:13:23,625
The true Christian had that 
Spirit of God indwelling,

1597
01:13:23,625 --> 01:13:28,187
and there was true, living manifestations

1598
01:13:28,187 --> 01:13:29,833
of His presence

1599
01:13:29,833 --> 01:13:32,471
that gave the believer confidence.

1600
01:13:32,471 --> 01:13:34,715
And where the Spirit gives confidence,

1601
01:13:34,715 --> 01:13:37,025
the Spirit also works love

1602
01:13:37,025 --> 01:13:39,481
and works the fruits of the Spirit

1603
01:13:39,481 --> 01:13:42,852
and works these works in us,

1604
01:13:42,852 --> 01:13:44,215
giving us desires,

1605
01:13:44,215 --> 01:13:45,771
giving us the compulsion,

1606
01:13:45,771 --> 01:13:47,462
giving us a love for God

1607
01:13:47,462 --> 01:13:50,158
that compels us and constrains us

1608
01:13:50,158 --> 01:13:52,925
by the love of Christ to carry this out.

1609
01:13:52,925 --> 01:13:55,171
And the two go hand-in-hand.

1610
01:13:55,171 --> 01:13:58,620
Where men and women fall out of the race,

1611
01:13:58,620 --> 01:14:00,436
they didn't have that.

1612
01:14:00,436 --> 01:14:03,020
They had confidence

1613
01:14:03,020 --> 01:14:04,909
and they believed certain things,

1614
01:14:04,909 --> 01:14:07,422
but in the end, it was a vain confidence.

1615
01:14:07,422 --> 01:14:10,355
And I believe the truth is

1616
01:14:10,355 --> 01:14:12,198
the flags were always there,

1617
01:14:12,198 --> 01:14:15,557
because Jesus Christ 
says this in Matthew 7:

1618
01:14:15,557 --> 01:14:19,830
"Depart from Me, you 
workers of lawlessness."

1619
01:14:19,830 --> 01:14:25,526
And bottom line, it was there.

1620
01:14:25,526 --> 01:14:27,423
There was lawlessness.

1621
01:14:27,423 --> 01:14:30,940
The Spirit of God was not 
communicating with them

1622
01:14:30,940 --> 01:14:33,171
the way the Spirit of God does.

1623
01:14:33,171 --> 01:14:34,916
Because they weren't children.

1624
01:14:34,916 --> 01:14:38,070
And in the end,

1625
01:14:38,070 --> 01:14:40,063
it wasn't true. It wasn't right.

1626
01:14:40,063 --> 01:14:42,687
We have a lot of people 
with vain confidence.

1627
01:14:42,687 --> 01:14:46,235
A lot of people believing 
that everything is okay,

1628
01:14:46,235 --> 01:14:51,349
but it's vain.

1629
01:14:51,349 --> 01:14:56,687
And so, yeah, if that's 
what it sounded like,

1630
01:14:56,687 --> 01:15:01,438
definitely I don't think 
that's anywhere at all

1631
01:15:01,438 --> 01:15:05,532
the flavor that we feel coming from

1632
01:15:05,532 --> 01:15:08,892
what the Spirit of God 
does in the life of a believer.

1633
01:15:08,892 --> 01:15:10,458
(from the room)

1634
01:15:10,458 --> 01:15:12,672
1 John 5:13 also says,

1635
01:15:12,672 --> 01:15:14,267
"I'm writing these things to you

1636
01:15:14,267 --> 01:15:16,247
who believe in the name of the Son of God

1637
01:15:16,247 --> 01:15:18,538
that you may know that 
you have eternal life."

1638
01:15:18,538 --> 01:15:21,918
Right, and you know,

1639
01:15:21,918 --> 01:15:23,883
think about 1 John.

1640
01:15:23,883 --> 01:15:25,645
What are the proofs in 1 John

1641
01:15:25,645 --> 01:15:28,229
that we're true believers?

1642
01:15:28,229 --> 01:15:31,044
We keep His commandments.

1643
01:15:31,044 --> 01:15:35,396
We walk as He walked.

1644
01:15:35,396 --> 01:15:39,357
We have answer to prayer.

1645
01:15:39,357 --> 01:15:43,319
We love the brethren.

1646
01:15:43,319 --> 01:15:46,168
Basically, you go through all these proofs

1647
01:15:46,168 --> 01:15:48,248
and you get to the 
last chapter and he says

1648
01:15:48,248 --> 01:15:50,381
I write these things that 
you might have assurance.

1649
01:15:50,381 --> 01:15:52,468
And there's no question about it.

1650
01:15:52,468 --> 01:15:55,423
Folks, I don't know how it is with you.

1651
01:15:55,423 --> 01:15:57,703
I look at the cross

1652
01:15:57,703 --> 01:15:59,021
and the Spirit of God

1653
01:15:59,021 --> 01:16:02,065
assures me I'm His child.

1654
01:16:02,065 --> 01:16:04,085
Then I look at my life

1655
01:16:04,085 --> 01:16:09,670
and I see I'm not what I used to be.

1656
01:16:09,670 --> 01:16:11,822
And that gives me assurance.

1657
01:16:11,822 --> 01:16:15,381
And then I find out that when I stray,

1658
01:16:15,381 --> 01:16:18,743
the Spirit of God - 
my Father comes for me

1659
01:16:18,743 --> 01:16:20,573
and He lays the rod on my back

1660
01:16:20,573 --> 01:16:22,088
and He brings me back.

1661
01:16:22,088 --> 01:16:24,183
I have found that the corrections of God

1662
01:16:24,183 --> 01:16:29,089
in my life,

1663
01:16:29,089 --> 01:16:32,263
they give me assurance 
like few other things do,

1664
01:16:32,263 --> 01:16:34,826
that I see His faithfulness to me;

1665
01:16:34,826 --> 01:16:36,746
that if ever I begin to stray,

1666
01:16:36,746 --> 01:16:38,649
bang! He's there. He's on me.

1667
01:16:38,649 --> 01:16:40,419
And He pulls me back.

1668
01:16:40,419 --> 01:16:42,477
I mean, sometimes that has caused me

1669
01:16:42,477 --> 01:16:45,321
to go to tears more than anything.

1670
01:16:45,321 --> 01:16:46,281
He is so faithful.

1671
01:16:46,281 --> 01:16:47,744
That gives me such confidence.

1672
01:16:47,744 --> 01:16:49,511
He's not going to let me go.

1673
01:16:49,511 --> 01:16:51,677
I'm in my Father's hand.

1674
01:16:51,677 --> 01:16:58,265
If I start drifting, He 
puts the clamps down.

1675
01:16:58,265 --> 01:17:02,616
This thing is real. It's living.

1676
01:17:02,616 --> 01:17:05,144
I look at this thing and realize

1677
01:17:05,144 --> 01:17:06,902
I need to make it to the end.

1678
01:17:06,902 --> 01:17:09,798
I pray, "God, get me to the end!"

1679
01:17:09,798 --> 01:17:11,236
"Help me to the end!"

1680
01:17:11,236 --> 01:17:15,187
Because I feel that if God let me go,

1681
01:17:15,187 --> 01:17:18,678
I would run away.

1682
01:17:18,678 --> 01:17:21,720
I mean, prone to wander,

1683
01:17:21,720 --> 01:17:23,394
Lord, I feel it.

1684
01:17:23,394 --> 01:17:24,646
I feel it.

1685
01:17:24,646 --> 01:17:27,347
If You let me go, I'm going!

1686
01:17:27,347 --> 01:17:30,323
Not that I want to, but I feel that.

1687
01:17:30,323 --> 01:17:34,405
I feel the battle.

1688
01:17:34,405 --> 01:17:36,240
But at the same time,

1689
01:17:36,240 --> 01:17:39,597
I feel this confidence.

1690
01:17:39,597 --> 01:17:42,172
Do I expect that God's going 
to take me to the end? Yes.

1691
01:17:42,172 --> 01:17:44,083
I don't feel like I have 
to wait to the end

1692
01:17:44,083 --> 01:17:45,814
to figure out whether I'm truly saved.

1693
01:17:45,814 --> 01:17:48,304
I believe with all my heart 
God has truly saved me.

1694
01:17:48,304 --> 01:17:51,616
And I've seen a massive 
transformation in my life.

1695
01:17:51,616 --> 01:17:54,527
And I think that's exactly what 
the Bible tells us we should see.

1696
01:17:54,527 --> 01:17:56,160
And on top of that,

1697
01:17:56,160 --> 01:17:59,939
I've known repeatedly the floodings

1698
01:17:59,939 --> 01:18:01,381
and the sheddings abroad

1699
01:18:01,381 --> 01:18:04,021
of the love of God in my heart

1700
01:18:04,021 --> 01:18:06,473
at sights of the cross.

1701
01:18:06,473 --> 01:18:11,006
I know that He has caused me to will

1702
01:18:11,006 --> 01:18:13,697
in a way that I never willed before.

1703
01:18:13,697 --> 01:18:16,523
I have a desire now to do things

1704
01:18:16,523 --> 01:18:20,144
I never had a desire for before.

1705
01:18:20,144 --> 01:18:22,296
I know I don't love 
the brethren perfectly,

1706
01:18:22,296 --> 01:18:24,110
but I love the brethren.

1707
01:18:24,110 --> 01:18:25,991
I want to be around Christians.

1708
01:18:25,991 --> 01:18:27,450
I want to be where they are.

1709
01:18:27,450 --> 01:18:28,802
I want to talk with them.

1710
01:18:28,802 --> 01:18:30,572
I love the same Christ they love.

1711
01:18:30,572 --> 01:18:33,688
I love being at church with them.

1712
01:18:33,688 --> 01:18:37,574
I love hearing preaching.
I love hearing about Christ.

1713
01:18:37,574 --> 01:18:40,234
I mean, the simple Gospel -

1714
01:18:40,234 --> 01:18:42,918
there's times that when 
I'm studying for a message

1715
01:18:42,918 --> 01:18:53,976
and I'm looking at just the old truths,

1716
01:18:53,976 --> 01:18:55,639
and they flood over me again,

1717
01:18:55,639 --> 01:19:00,731
and then I find myself falling 
out of my chair on the floor.

1718
01:19:00,731 --> 01:19:02,311
Can you guys relate to this?

1719
01:19:02,311 --> 01:19:03,718
This is Christianity.

1720
01:19:03,718 --> 01:19:06,793
This is the living reality.

1721
01:19:06,793 --> 01:19:10,716
This is life in Christ.

1722
01:19:10,716 --> 01:19:14,435
This isn't make-believe.

1723
01:19:14,435 --> 01:19:15,847
(from the room)

1724
01:19:15,847 --> 01:19:18,857
One last thing in regards 
to what the brother said

1725
01:19:18,857 --> 01:19:20,842
I think about assurance,

1726
01:19:20,842 --> 01:19:22,860
on that day when the Lord said

1727
01:19:22,860 --> 01:19:25,764
not all those who call Me 
Lord shall enter the kingdom,

1728
01:19:25,764 --> 01:19:29,233
and there was that one 
worker of iniquity that said,

1729
01:19:29,233 --> 01:19:32,311
Lord, we cast out demons in Your name.

1730
01:19:32,311 --> 01:19:34,780
And they stood before Him

1731
01:19:34,780 --> 01:19:36,638
and questioned the Lord about His works

1732
01:19:36,638 --> 01:19:39,449
(unintelligible).

1733
01:19:39,449 --> 01:19:45,261
I've never seen assurance described

1734
01:19:45,261 --> 01:19:48,401
that says that you must place your trust

1735
01:19:48,401 --> 01:19:50,470
in the fact that you prayed the prayer

1736
01:19:50,470 --> 01:19:51,851
and you believe.

1737
01:19:51,851 --> 01:19:53,386
That doesn't guarantee assurance.

1738
01:19:53,386 --> 01:19:56,382
Assurance is by what pastor 
brought forth in the Word

1739
01:19:56,382 --> 01:19:58,233
and that is by the work of your life.

1740
01:19:58,233 --> 01:20:02,886
(unintelligible)

1741
01:20:02,886 --> 01:20:05,791
That worker of iniquity never once said,

1742
01:20:05,791 --> 01:20:10,057
"But I was sure! You gave me assurance."

1743
01:20:10,057 --> 01:20:13,175
Tim: No, He was drawing 
it out of the fact,

1744
01:20:13,175 --> 01:20:15,268
He was there with God's people,

1745
01:20:15,268 --> 01:20:16,682
did some mighty works,

1746
01:20:16,682 --> 01:20:20,227
we cast out demons, we spoke in tongues.

1747
01:20:20,227 --> 01:20:23,495
(Incomplete thought)

1748
01:20:23,495 --> 01:20:25,738
And you know, you get at the end too,

1749
01:20:25,738 --> 01:20:29,730
and you've got judgment day in Matthew 25.

1750
01:20:29,730 --> 01:20:31,920
Isn't it interesting?

1751
01:20:31,920 --> 01:20:35,425
"I was naked. You clothed Me."

1752
01:20:35,425 --> 01:20:40,690
"I was naked, and you didn't clothe Me."

1753
01:20:40,690 --> 01:20:45,276
I was pointing past you, brother.

1754
01:20:45,276 --> 01:20:53,130
He doesn't care. He's not even listening.

1755
01:20:53,130 --> 01:20:56,425
Anything else before we stop?

1756
01:20:56,425 --> 01:20:58,403
Okay.

1757
01:20:58,403 --> 01:20:59,879
(from the room)

1758
01:20:59,879 --> 01:21:01,439
Just to finish it off,

1759
01:21:01,439 --> 01:21:08,990
Paul talks about you were delivered

1760
01:21:08,990 --> 01:21:10,597
by grace through faith -

1761
01:21:10,597 --> 01:21:12,469
you were saved by grace through faith.

1762
01:21:12,469 --> 01:21:14,568
That same thing that you were saved by,

1763
01:21:14,568 --> 01:21:17,991
continue in that same thing as well.

1764
01:21:17,991 --> 01:21:24,417
(unintelligible)

1765
01:21:24,417 --> 01:21:26,851
It's not about the 
reflection of who you are,

1766
01:21:26,851 --> 01:21:28,201
but who He is.

1767
01:21:28,201 --> 01:21:30,457
It's Who God the Father sees,

1768
01:21:30,457 --> 01:21:32,426
which is Christ in His righteousness

1769
01:21:32,426 --> 01:21:34,963
upon your life, and not your own self.

1770
01:21:34,963 --> 01:21:37,637
Tim: And I still have faith to this day

1771
01:21:37,637 --> 01:21:39,126
20 years later

1772
01:21:39,126 --> 01:21:42,145
that I don't know anywhere else to go

1773
01:21:42,145 --> 01:21:44,463
when I'm in trouble.

1774
01:21:44,463 --> 01:21:46,696
And I'm in trouble pretty regular -

1775
01:21:46,696 --> 01:21:50,645
like hourly.

1776
01:21:50,645 --> 01:21:52,898
Amen.

1777
01:21:52,898 --> 01:21:54,357
Good night.