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Sermon Manuscripts
The Danger of Not Running Part 2
a sermon in the series
Hebrews: an Epistle of Encouragement
A sermon delivered
Sunday Morning, February 24, 2002
at Oak Grove Baptist Church, Paducah, Ky.
by S. Michael Durham
© 2002 Real Truth Matters
Hebrews 12:14-29
In Hebrews chapter ten verses thirty-five and thirty-six the writer of Hebrews makes this most profound statement, "Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise." These types of texts in the book of Hebrews are most interesting. Words like the fifteenth verse, “Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God” peek our curiosity, if not stump us.
Now the question we must ask ourselves is why would an anointed apostle write such warnings to Christians whose eternal destiny is safe and secure? In our previous message I shared with you that, for centuries, good men, theologians and scholars, have debated these kinds of passages.
Some answer the question as to why the writer of Hebrews would write such warnings by saying it means that a believer could lose his or her salvation. Others have argued the contrary and have said the warnings are not to believers, but to those who think they are saved but in truth are really not saved. These warning passages are like a test of genuineness. And then we have had others come along in the twentieth century with the new idea that these verses are not about a loss of salvation, rather they are about a loss of rewards.
So tonight we want to finish what we began a few weeks ago and determine what these kinds of texts teach. Let me quickly review that sermon so that we can proceed to unlock this passage.
First, one must understand the Biblical concept of salvation if he is to rightly divide this text. The Biblical concept of salvation is not explained in a past experience. Salvation is not something that happens only in the past. Unfortunately, many view salvation in this way, and they have come to a wrong conclusion. They believe salvation is nothing more than being justified, that this justification is the sum total of our salvation. If you have been justified you need nothing else. Sanctification is not a necessity but an option. From this inaccurate view, the conclusion is that the believer is eternally secure.
The Bible teaches that salvation not only has a past tense quality, but also a present tense and a future tense quality. Salvation is puncticular, in other words, it manifests itself in a point in time when the sinner is justified. But another function of salvation is linear in quality. In Philippians two verse twelve we read, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,” referring to the continual cleansing of the believer from remaining corruption. Lastly, salvation is yet to come; it has a future aspect. Paul talks of a future redemption in Romans chapter eight, verse twenty-three through twenty-five,
And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
The Apostle saw a future tense to the salvation that God by grace gives to the elect, and the salvation that God gives will have all three qualities about it. Anyone who refuses to see these three tenses will miss much and will run into error. Salvation is eternal life and, as with any life, there is a beginning, a present and a future. Often these warning passages are written with the future tense in mind.
Justification does not eliminate living holy. In Eastern Europe such as the Ukraine, Romania, and the Republic of Moldova, Baptists do not believe in the security of the believer. They have heard numerous American Baptist pastors tell them "Once saved, always saved." These American preachers believe in a grace that will keep one saved even if the Christian does not pursue holiness. I am thankful that my European brethren have enough wisdom from the Scriptures to know that such could not be true. They reject a justification only or past tense view of salvation. Yet, unfortunately, they view salvation from only a future tense view, and therefore, believe that the believer could in the future forfeit salvation.
I believe that I'm eternally secure and therefore I'm not worried about the eternality of my salvation. I'm not trying to destroy people's assurance of salvation. I'm trying to lead us into a biblical assurance and that it would be a full assurance. Having the idea that salvation is just a past experience only is not the source of true biblical assurance. Rather it leads to a false assurance. Thinking of salvation only as a completion of the Christian race leads to uncertainty. It will also lead one to a works concept of salvation. True biblical assurance comes from understanding the warning passages of this book and the other warning passages of the New Testament.
Until now we have been reviewing our last message. Now let me show you what the writer Hebrews is doing. You and I have to understand that God uses means to preserve His children. God has used these warning texts as a means to preserve us. The Christian left to himself would eventually fail of the grace of God. Our security as believers is not something that results solely from our position alone. Our Lord does not lock us up in a box from which we could not break loose if we wanted to. It is possible that a Christian could fall and be eternally lost. If I should choose to live like the devil, it would matter and my position with God would be in great doubt.
What then is the security of the believer? The security of the believer is God's grace promised to the truly converted to work righteousness and holiness in them. God is not only going to justify you by grace, but He will cleanse you from all remaining corruption. God’s salvation is in God and not in man; therefore, it is the oath of God to develop the believer by causing him or her to grow in righteousness. Those of you who have been graced by God will run the race. This is the proper view of eternal security.
Our Lord Jesus prayed in John seventeen verse eleven, “And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.” If it is impossible for the believer to fall, “to fail of the grace of God,” why did Jesus pray this way? He prays for God to keep not only the disciples but all who would follow Christ. It is obvious that our Lord’s view of salvation is much different than the modern Baptistic view. He did not believe as so many do today that justification was sufficient to keep the believer secure.
The prophet Jude believed the same as his half-brother and Savior Jesus believed about the security of the believer. In Jude twenty-four we read “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.” To Jude it was clear and plain, God must preserve his children and keep them from falling.
You and I are filled with the Spirit of God and yet we still sin. What would we be like without Heaven’s Helper’s aid and strength? Have we not proved that if it was left up to us what we would do? We wouldn't only fail of the grace of God, we would run from it. If we are to run the race and be saved, God must do something for us. Here we can only conclude that salvation is a continual process as well as a past event. Dear friend, you are progressing in holiness not because you're holy and not because you're devout, but because God is still saving you, still working in you, still developing you. He has started a work and “He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it.” I for one am not worrying if I'm not going to finish the race, for I have One who has guaranteed to carry me across the finish line.
How does God help us to persevere? Among many things, He puts warning passages in the Scripture. Perhaps, as most people, you have been taught that the warnings are only for those who think they're saved but are not. But this is a prejudiced view that is foreign to the texts themselves. Certainly, these warnings have application to the non-converted, but they are first written to believers. Let me give you an example. If you are at the Grand Canyon you will notice signs all around the canyon rim about the danger of going beyond the railings and to the canyon’s edge. Every year at the Grand Canyon at least one person falls to his death, not taking the warnings seriously. At this moment I am over a thousand miles away from the Grand Canyon. Those warning signs at the Grand Canyon are very real, and they warn of a very real danger. But at this moment those signs do not bother me in the least. The warnings are not creating any sense of fear in me. The reason I have no fear produced by these signs is because I'm over a thousand miles away. I'm completely safe.
But should I make a trip to the rim of the Grand Canyon, the signs of warning that are found there will work their purpose in my mind to be careful and stay away from the edge of the mile-deep precipice.
The warnings that are found in the Bible, like our text, work in much the same way. When a man or a woman is walking in obedience to God, the warning texts do not bother him or her. The warnings do not upset feelings of assurance for him who is pursuing righteousness. They do not shake a believer’s feeling of security. I am secure because I know that I'm not close to the edge of failing the grace of God. However, should I stray from righteousness and begin to flirt with the edge, I should take warning and my heart should be melted within my chest. If a man is a Christian, he has a new nature and there is something in him that fears God and mourns sin. The warnings of Scripture appeal to this man. He is alerted to his danger and he will turn from the danger. But if a man does not have a new heart that is tender before the Lord, these warnings do not alert him to the danger. He believes he is invulnerable to danger. He will dance as close as he can to the slippery and unsure edge. And although he may boast of his superior balance and finesse to walk the fine line between the word of God and the world, he will fall to his spiritual death. His arrogance will send him headlong into the pit of destruction because he ignored the warnings.
Beware lest one of you fail of the grace. Oh, beware lest while running you lose your confidence and quit running. Are you now in disobedience? How then do the warnings make you feel? Is your heart smitten? Do you say, “Oh, yes, Lord, I hear your pleadings and my heart fears, thus I will turn and return to Thee.”
Let me give you another example using road signs. How many of you have ever left for a destination, let us, for sake of argument, say we are on our way to Los Angeles. As you are driving along you see a sign that says “New York, New York ahead.” What is our response and plan of action? We turn around and go back in the direction which will take us to our planned destination. We do not want to go to New York; and therefore, we stop our current progress and go in the direction we do want to go.
A true Christian does not want to fail of the grace of God and therefore when the warnings prove him to be failing, he is humbled and repentant. He turns himself to the merciful God of grace and resumes his pursuit of holiness. This is how the warning passages of Scripture work in all who have been graced by the redeeming love of God.
God’s preservation of His saints is not without means. The warning passages work as not forsaking fellowship with other believers works to helps us to persevere. Yes, God preserves us using means even as road signs are means to help us arrive at our destination.
Surely now it should be evident that you cannot press upon any text a theological dogma, even if that dogma is Scriptural. Even though you come to the same conclusion, the way in which you get there can be extremely crucial. In this case it is so important to let the text speak for itself since it provides a means to get the desired result—the security of the believer. The warning passages do not weaken the position of the Christian, they actually aid in the Christian’s perseverance.
Finally, it is important that we all understand that this interpretation does not lessen the fact of God’s salvation and that we are saved by God and not by any work of our own. It is God that saves and keeps us saved, but that does remove our responsibility to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling.” Sanctification is the process of our salvation in which God delivers us from the remaining corruption by empowering us to grow in holiness. This is what we mean by “running the race.” The security of the believer does not remove this responsibility, rather it ensures it.
I must illustrate this to help us see it. Sarah Hughes won the gold medal in the 2002 Winter Olympics. But let’s suppose that an angel appears to Sarah Hughes and tells her that she will win a gold medal. It would be impossible for her to lose since the angel guaranteed Sarah she would win. But as a result of this angelic promise, Sarah decided to not skate with the vigor and intensity with which she would have skated had the angel never appeared. What would have happened? She would not have won the gold medal. The guarantee does not remove Sarah’s responsibility to skate as well as always.
God’s guarantee of the saint’s final salvation does not remove the necessity of the saint’s running the race. I must run the race no matter my position in the church. If I should quit running the race, being a pastor will not help me. It is my desire to finish the race valiantly and with full vigor. I want to finish better than I began. And I want you to finish with me. I want you to be there running bravely and finishing the race admirably. For some of you, I will preach your funeral. I don’t want your family members wondering whether you in the end finished the race or not. They must mourn your loss, but they should not be made to mourn with uncertainty. We desire to celebrate your home going and your faithful running the race to the very end. Amen. |
