HEBREWS CHAPTER 12 HEBREWS 12 THE TITLE OF THE MESSAGE FROM ENCOURAGEMENT TO WARNING FROM ENCOURAGEMENT TO WARNING THE BELIEVER'S LIFE IS DESCRIBED IN THE SCRIPTURES here in chapter 12 as a race. In other places as a fight. Paul said, I have fought a good fight. He called Timothy a soldier. Do you see yourself as a soldier? We are, we are. And then in another place we are called pilgrims. WE ARE JUST PILGRIMS HERE, THIS IS NOT HOME. I'M GLAD IT'S NOT. I'M THANKFUL, I REALLY AM. I'M GLAD THIS IS NOT HOME. THIS IS A JOURNEY. THIS IS A PILGRIMAGE.

LIKE ABRAHAM, LOOK FOR A CITY WHICH HAS FOUNDATIONS, WHOSE BUILDER AND MAKER IS GOD. and that city is above, the New Jerusalem, it s home, that s where home is. But none of these descriptions give us the image of an easy life, do they? They don t speak of an easy life. A race is not an easy life.

I watched A couple Ironman races. The man coming across the line was on his knees. He was on his knees, crawling across. Another one was a woman, just like the one here, the hands hanging down in the feeble knees. She was staggering like a wet noodle. She looked like a wet noodle. She'd fall to the ground and just stagger back up and fall to the ground and stagger back up until she was able to get across the finish line. We're in a race. We are in a fight. We are on a pilgrimage.

And our Lord said this, and this is written in the book of Acts 14.22, but our Lord said this also, With much tribulation, Shall ye enter the kingdom of God with much tribulation? Shall ye enter the kingdom of God? That's why he said count the cost. He didn't fool anybody into joining up. It'll cost you your life. Salvation is free, but it'll cost you your life. He that loves his life shall lose it, and he that hates his life for my sake shall find it.

Now Hebrews 12 here in verse 1, the Apostle has called us, He called them and has called us. This is relative, the Scriptures are relative to every day. He's not only just writing to them, it's written to us. It's just like what came in the mail today. That's how I look at it. I feel like when I read the Scripture, I feel like I just got it in the mail. It's sent to me today, it's mine, it's to read.

My Father sent it to me. and we've been called here the apostle tells us we've been called to run with patience this race that is set before us is laid out before us looking unto Jesus the Lord Jesus who's the author and finisher of our faith but now in verse 15 he goes from this image of a race to this solemn warning HE GIVES A SOLEMN WARNING HERE TO SOME OF THOSE HEBREWS WHO WERE DRAWING BACK.

HE SAID WE'RE NOT OF THEM WHO DRAW BACK TO PERDITION, BUT OF THEM THAT BELIEVE TO THE SAVING OF THE SOUL. SOME WERE DRAWING BACK. THEY WERE DRAWING BACK TO THE CEREMONY. THEY WEREN'T BECOMING ATHEISTS, THEY WEREN'T BECOMING JUST NON-RELIGIOUS, THEY WERE DRAWING BACK TO THEIR OLD religious ways, the ceremonies, the temple, and the high priest, and the sacrifices that they were drawing back to that because there was no persecution in that. They were being persecuted and losing their land, their homes, and everything because of their faith in Christ, because of their following the Lord Jesus Christ.

So He gives warning here. Warning is not about the persecution or the suffering. Here's the warning. It's about spiritual failure in the end. It's about NOT FINISHING THE RACE. Here's a warning, He says. He gives to them and us. There are some who will start out, who will not finish. one reason or the other they will apostatize they won't they won't stay the course they won't stay the course.

Now in Hebrews 12 here in verses 15 and 17 it's one of the most searching portions of scripture in this epistle here to the Hebrews. It confronts us with our responsibility to watch WE ARE TOLD TO WHAT? WATCH AND PRAY. WATCH AND PRAY. WATCH AND PRAY. TOLD TO DO THAT. WE ARE TOLD TO PERSEVERE. AND WE ARE TOLD HERE TO VALUE SPIRITUAL PRIVILEGES THAT'S GIVEN TO US BY OUR HEAVENLY FATHER. AND NEVER TAKE THEM LIGHTLY. NEVER TAKE THIS LIGHTLY. WHAT THIS TONIGHT? WELL, I DON'T REALLY FEEL LIKE GOING TONIGHT. I'LL GO NEXT WEEK. DON'T TAKE IT LIGHTLY. NEXT WEEK IT MIGHT NOT BE HERE.

It might not. A strange thing, the other morning I woke up probably, I don't know, five o'clock, I was waking up early, but I could hear Fort Bragg. I could hear Fort Bragg and I laid there and I thought, you know, I could wake up one morning and we have a war going on. Does anybody believe that could actually happen? That could actually happen. As I heard that going off, I thought, I could wake up one morning and that would be real. That'd be real.

Only by God's grace have we continued as we are. Only by God's grace we've continued as we are. So we never take this for granted. Never take this opportunity here for granted. We should cherish it. Paul reminds them and us that losses in spiritual life can be very real, they can be very grievous, and sometimes they are irreversible.

Look over in Hebrews chapter 6. I'm not going to explain it, I'm just going to read it. In Hebrews 6, listen to this in verses 4 through 6. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance, seeing they crucified themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame.

Some losses are irreversible, they really are. Now let me just touch on just quickly briefly what I touched on a little bit down through the previous verses. I want us to see first of all the words of encouragement then we'll get to the words of warning.

First he says, Lay aside there in verse 1, Lay aside every weight in the sin that so easily, that does so easily assail us, that's what it means, beset us, it so easily assails us. Sin and weights hinder progress in this spiritual race, it hinders our spiritual growth in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why He says put it away, put it away, lay aside every weight and the sin, which begins with unbelief.

And that weight, that weight, whatever it is, companionships, whatever it is, I thought, and I'm not trying to be mean, but I thought when this lay aside every weight, I thought, I've never seen a fat man win a race. Have you? I've never seen a fat man win a race. Not a marathon race for sure. Not a marathon race. And that's why he says here, if you're gonna run this race, you lay aside every weight. Whatever's hindering you, you lay it aside. It's not worth, it's not worth the loss of spiritual growth. It's not worth being stunted, being spiritually stunted. It's not worth it. And run with patience.

Life and faith are not lived in a day. My granddaughter, Maddie, she wants her whole life laid out in front of her. She just wants everything just laid out, just says, this is how it's gonna be, everything's gonna be all right. And I told her, I said, Maddie, you can't live your life in a day.

It'll come day by day and everything will take its course and everything will work out. By God's grace, it does. And we run this race with patience. Patience. We live in such a fast-paced world and everything we want it now. This is patience, waiting on the Lord. Look into Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. We look to Him as we run. Christ is always before us. He's always our guide. He's always our example. We always look to Him. And when we get cashed down, consider Him.

WHO SUFFERED SUCH HOSTILITY OF SINNERS. DON'T KEEP YOUR GAZE ON YOURSELF. LOOK AT HOW HE HANDLED IT. HAVING LOVED HIS OWN, HE LOVED THEM TO THE END. HE DIDN'T FORSAKE ANY OF THEM. HE NEVER QUIT. HE NEVER QUIT. AND THEN WHEN WE ARE GOING THROUGH A TRIAL, LET'S REMEMBER THIS. GOD CHASED THOSE WHOM HE LOVES. Discipline is evidence of his love. It's not rejection. It's not a sign of rejection. It's a sign of love.

And that being the case, lift up the hands that hang down in the feeble knees. I just got this marathon, this Ironman race in my head when I read this. I mean, this woman couldn't get her hands up. She was literally, she couldn't get her hands up. You know when you run a race, your hands are like this, your arms are moving. But when they're hanging down, you can't run in a race with your hands hanging down. You can't do it. He said, LIFT UP THE HANDS THAT HANG DOWN IN THE FEEBLE KNEES.

WE HAVE NOTHING TO BE DEPRESSED ABOUT. God SET THE TRIAL. God's expressing His love to you. He is. And make straight paths for your feet, wavering effects. And listen here, straight paths, it's not going this way or this way, it's not wavering. It's not wavering. And it's so important that we make straight paths for our feet because weaker brethren are watching us.

This really came home to me years ago, 20 years ago now, 20 years ago, when there was a split at 13th Street. And I left. When I did leave, when I finally left, there was a lady that also left, and she said to me, She goes, I really didn't know what to do. I was waiting to see what you do. And we talked about the situation. I mean, a whole conversation I'm not gonna get into. Boy, it just hit me and just struck me that they was watching me. They was watching me. I'm gonna see what you do. It's important.

You know, that's why Paul said this. IF HE'S MY WEAKER BROTHER, DID I EAT MEAT? I'M NOT GOING TO EAT MEAT. I'M GOING TO DENY MYSELF FOR HIS SAKE. WHEN HE'S AROUND, I'M NOT GOING TO EAT MEAT. I'M NOT GOING TO DO IT. THEN PURSUE PEACE AND HOLINESS, BECAUSE WITHOUT THESE, NO ONE'S GOING TO SEE THE LORD, AND CHRIST IS BOTH OF THESE. HE'S OUR PEACE, HE'S OUR HOLINESS, HE'S OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. SO PURSUING PEACE AND HOLINESS IS PURSUING CHRIST. IT'S PURSUING HIM.

NOW the warning. Now we get to verses 15, 16, and 17. As someone said and I've heard this many times and you've heard it, we have promises lest we despair and warnings lest we presume, lest we presume. But here in verse 15 he says, Looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God. This is a strong, strong warning to the Hebrews and to us tonight since we're looking at it, since we're looking at it. It's like that woman this looking diligently is like that woman you remember in the scriptures where she looked for that lost coin she swept that house I mean she looked in every nook and cranny she looked diligently until she found that coin he's saying looking diligently here the command before us is very clear and it's very urgent and you can hear the urgency in this statement looking diligently the word means to look carefully it's to look with sustained oversight and vigilance that's what that it's what it means to look that diligent It looked to look that diligent and what are we looking diligently for?

Two things, over our hearts and over one another, looking after one another. We must be jealous and I don't think we take this serious enough. We must be jealous over our hearts. Listen to Proverbs 4.23. thy heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life. In another place Solomon said, My son, give me thine heart, give me thine heart.

Oh how important, you see we are so prone to sin And our adversary the devil is going about seeking whom he may devour. He's seeking whom he may devour. There's nothing that would give Satan more pleasure than to devour one of God's children here in this place. Nothing would give him more pleasure. to devour one of God s children. But the context makes clear that the Apostle has more than just this private examination of ourselves.

It s also a watching over one another, looking after one another. We honestly should look after one another like we looked after our children and our grandchildren. That s how we ought to look after one another. THIS RELATIONSHIP WE HAVE IN CHRIST, IT OUGHT TO BE THE STRONGEST RELATIONSHIP WE HAVE. IT OUGHT TO BE STRONGER THAN BLOOD, BLOOD RELATION.

It's sad, but I rarely see it, but it's so. It's so. It ought to be. That's the way it ought to be. We are family. You and I are going to spend eternity together. Our unbelieving family members, that relationship is going to be dissolved. It's really going to be dissolved. We love them now. We don't stop loving them. We weep over them. We pray for them.

Like, you know, my father passed away. My mother's passed away. That relationship, fleshly, physical relationship is gone. It's gone. And so we need to really cultivate this relationship we have with one another here in Christ. You see the precept here, the lesson, the message, the teaching is this.

It's completely opposite to that spirit that was found in Cain. When the Lord said, Where's your brother? What did Cain say? Am I my brother's keeper? Well, the short answer for the church is absolutely. We are one another's keeper. WE SHOULD NEVER SEE A BROTHER OR SISTER GETTING READY TO WALK INTO A SITUATION THAT'S GOING TO BE A TROUBLE WITHOUT WARNING THEM. WE SHOULDN'T DO THAT. WE SHOULD WARN THEM. THAT'S NOT A GOOD THING, THAT'S NOT A GOOD PLACE. WE SHOULD WARN THEM. DON'T HAVE THE SPIRIT OF CAIN LIKE, WELL, I'M NOT YOUR KEEPER. YES, I AM. YES, I AM. YES, WE ARE. YES, WE ARE.

NOW THIS LOOKING AFTER ONE ANOTHER IS NOT FAULT-FINDING, THAT'S NOT WHAT HE'S TALKING ABOUT. IT'S NOT WATCHING EACH OTHER AND FINDING FAULT AND PICKING AT EACH OTHER. THAT'S NOT WHAT IT IS. IT'S LOOKING AFTER ONE ANOTHER FOR OUR SPIRITUAL GOOD AND GROWTH IN CHRIST. BELIEVERS ARE TO MIND NOT ONLY THEIR OWN THINGS, BUT THE THINGS OF OTHERS, THAT IS, THEIR BROTHERS AND SISTERS. Philippians 2 verse 4, LOOK NOT EVERY MAN ON HIS OWN THINGS, BUT EVERY MAN ALSO ON THE THINGS OF OTHERS. DON'T JUST MAKE SURE YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO EAT, MAKE SURE YOUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS HAVE SOMETHING TO EAT.

That's what He's saying now, and God will hold us to it. God will hold us to it. If you say, well, be warmed and your belly be full, I'll see you tomorrow, and you do nothing for it, and you can, you're in trouble. That's the truth. God will hold us to it. That's who God is. This watchfulness is one of the ordained means God uses to help His people persevere in this race. Now that woman, I told you about in the marathon, the Ironman race, she was wobbling, falling, I mean just, and one runner came up beside of her and picked her up and held his arm around her and she put his arm over her shoulder and they ran across the line together.

That's what you do. NOW HE GIVES US A WARNING HERE IN VERSE 15 AND 16 OF A HIDDEN APOSTASY. IT'S HIDDEN. IT COULD BE HIDDEN FOR A LONG TIME. I KNOW A PERSON THAT SAT DOWN WITH THE GOSPEL FOR PROBABLY 30 YEARS AND THEN ONE DAY SAID, I DON'T BELIEVE THAT. I DON'T BELIEVE THAT NO MORE. THAT'S A LONG TIME. You could have knocked me over when I heard that. Now the reason for this diligent watchfulness is given lest any man, you notice when he started out here he was talking about we are compassed about with a great cloud of witness and we are in this race but now he's brought it down to personal, any man, any man, any person in this room.

Lest any man fail of the grace of God, any man or any woman. This does not mean that God's grace is insufficient and cannot keep us. He said, My grace is sufficient for thee. Nor does it deny the certainty of God's preserving grace to His elect. Christ said no man's gonna pluck them out of my hand, it doesn't mean that.

It describes coming up short or falling away in a profession that was never real. It was never real. I think people can become Calvinist and not believers. Just like Armenians can accept Jesus as a personal Savior and never know Him. We're not educated into the Kingdom of God, we're born into it and then we're educated. You can't teach.

Henry said this one time, I know I say this a lot but I learned a lot from him and it stuck. Amazingly some of it stuck but he was telling me one time he said you can't counsel an unbeliever because there's nothing to work with, there's nothing to work with. You can counsel through the gospel, through the scriptures, you can counsel a believer because Christ is the counselor, and there's something there to work with.

It's falling away, the meaning is, get this image, because this is what it means, this person is drawing back, you know, the race is on, We're running, but this person is getting further and further and further behind until finally they're not in the race no more. They're not in the race. They're falling further and further behind.

Listen, this is how we know that we are truly partakers of divine grace. And here it is. by continuing in the race, by continuing in the faith, by continuing in the gospel, by continuing in the Lord Jesus Christ and abiding in what I think John said this over in one of the epistles of John, abiding in the doctrine of Christ. We abide in it.

You remember the parable of the sower? I read it just before coming out here. But there the Lord warns us that some receive the Word with joy, they receive it quickly, but they have no root in themselves, and in time of temptation and trouble, they fall away. The Lord gives four types of believers in that sower of the seed.

We will fit one of those people. We will fit one of them. We'll either be good ground, hard ground, thorny ground, the wayside hearer, we'll be one of them. My constant prayer is, Lord, let me, let us be the good ground. Make us good ground. I mean, we're not good ground by nature, that's for sure. But make us good ground. Make us that way.

Sin, listen here, apostasy, it begins like the root, lest any root of bitterness. Now this bitterness is against God. You know if you go back to the sower, when the sun came up and it scorched it, they left. Those are the ones who were, when the trials and the temptation come, they were offended, it says, and they left. Offended at God. This root of bitterness is against God. this scripture reaches back to Deuteronomy 29 18.

Let me read it to you I've got it here marked and Moe's writing here LEST THERE SHOULD BE AMONG YOU, now you can read the rest of that chapter later, but LEST THERE SHOULD BE AMONG YOU MAN OR WOMAN OR FAMILY OR TRIBE WHOSE HEART TURNETH AWAY THIS DAY FROM THE LORD OUR GOD TO GO AND SERVE THE GODS OF THESE NATIONS, LEST THERE SHOULD BE AMONG YOU A ROOT THAT BEARS GAUL AND WORMWOOD THAT'S WHERE HE'S PICKING THAT UP FROM, BACK THERE IN DEUTERONOMY, BACK IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, WHERE MOSES WARNS OF THIS HIDDEN ROOT, A ROOT IS HIDDEN, IT'S DOWN INTO THE EARTH FOR A WHILE, FOR A WHILE, BECAUSE YOU'RE GOING TO SEE THE FRUIT OF IT, EVENTUALLY YOU'LL SEE THE FRUIT OF THE ROOT, YOU'LL SEE WHAT THAT ROOT REALLY IS. apostasy begins like the root underground it's unseen and it's unnoticed and it may go that way for a long time you know when the gospel was preached here started preaching here years ago that root was revealed wasn't it there's a lot of them left there were a lot of them that left the gospel It went for a while, then it was unseen, unnoticed, but when it springs up, it doesn't remain private. It troubles the church and it says it defiles many. You know, sin rarely destroys just that center.

It always reaches out and touches others. There's always going to be somebody else affected every time. You think of this, one spark, one spark can kindle a great flame. One spark. You see the California fires, they came from a spark. If somebody did it on purpose, they had a match probably. And then you have this blazing, out of control fire. One unchecked root of bitterness CAN POISON THE WHOLE ENTIRE GROUP!

And now He brings in Esau. Esau as an example, and I have to say this, you DO NOT WANT TO BE AN EXAMPLE OF EVIL! I don't want to be an example of evil. Esau, WHAT MOTHER AND FATHER IS GOING TO NAME THEIR CHILD JUDAS? THEY DIDN'T NAME HIM ANYTHING BUT JUDAS, THAT'S AN EXAMPLE OF EVIL, A NAME OF EVIL. But listen here, lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau. Any fornicator, any immoral person acting as a believer like that incestuous person in the first Corinthians.

Remember that? Committing incest. Paul said, I can't believe you're all putting up with this. Kick him out and he did. Turn him over to Satan and they did. And he came back and they received him with open arms. The Lord can save him but He said you've got to deal with it, you can't let that go on.

Not at all, but I think to hear any fornicator, I believe he's speaking here of spiritually, of worshiping other gods is an act of spiritual fornication. Do you know that to worship Christ, any other Jesus, Gospel, that s not the gospel of God. Paul said He ll come preaching another gospel. That s spiritual fornication. That s what that is. And brethren, that s real! That s real! That s not just a theological statement, it s real! It happens! You go back and you read the Old Testament, like we are doing, and you ll see many times where Israel was compared to a fornicator. a whore, a prostitute, spiritually. Or he says here, a profane person as Esau. A profane person is one who treats holy things as common, they don't mean anything. His sin was not merely sensual appetite, but it was an ungodly heart. ESAU PLACED LITTLE VALUE ON SPIRITUAL PRIVILEGE. He was the firstborn. He had all the privilege of the firstborn. When his father passed away, the priesthood of the house, the leadership of the house, in all matters, fell to him. And things pertaining to God, it fell to him.

But it didn't mean anything to him. It didn't mean anything. THIS CONTEMPT REVEALED ITSELF IN A SINGLE ACT OF REJECTION. ESAU REJECTED GOD! When he sold his birthright, it meant NOTHING! It meant NOTHING to him! And here's the disaster being warned against. Spiritual LOSS DISCOVERED TOO LATE! For you know, HOW THAT AFTERWARD, WHEN HE WOULD HAVE INHERITED THE BLESSING, HE WAS REJECTED. HE WAS REJECTED. ESAU SOLD HIS BIRTHRIGHT, NOW LISTEN, HIS BIRTHRIGHT, FOR ONE MORSEL OF MEAT FOR A BOWL OF SOUP. HE SAID, YOU CAN HAVE MY BIRTHRIGHT, JACOB, YOU CAN HAVE IT. I DON'T WANT IT. IT DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING TO ME. You can have it, just give me a bowl of pottage.

It was a small price that he paid for such a great loss. My, what he paid for such a great loss! ETERNAL PRIVILEGE WAS EXCHANGED FOR JUST A MOMENT OF SATISFACTION! Great, THE LORD DON'T LET ME BE LIKE THAT BECAUSE I'VE GOT THE SAME NATURE. Judas is in HELL OVER 30 PIECES OF SILVER! And he gave it back. Thirty pieces of silver he sold out!

People sell out their character, their NAME OVER NOTHING! over NOTHING! It's crazy! People sell their souls for a temporary FEELING! They'll buy drugs and they get into drugs and they become drug addicts and their life is GONE! It's GONE! Why? A FEELING! That's all it is! It's just a FEELING! ESAU SOLD HIS BIRTHRIGHT BECAUSE HE WANTED TO SATISFY HIS HUNGER! HE'D BEEN BETTER OFF TO STARVE TO DEATH AND DIED!

And verse 17 presses the warning further that we might get a hold of this, it says afterward. Listen to this, you know how that afterward HE WOULD HAVE RECEIVED THE BLESSING, HE WOULD HAVE INHERITED THE BLESSING. He's the one who sold out. He's the one who rejected God. Now listen, Esau afterward, he desired the blessing. He sought it CAREFULLY. CAREFULLY. He sought it TEARFULLY. He had tears running down his face.

Yet he was rejected. The Scripture is careful here, it does not say that Esau was incapable of repentance in general, in a general sense. It says that he found no place of repentance. He found no place of repentance. THAT IS, HE FOUND NO OPPORTUNITY TO REVERSE WHAT HE HAD WILLFULLY DONE. HE COULD NOT GET HIS FATHER, ISAAC, TO CHANGE HIS MIND. HE COULD NOT GET HIM TO REPENT AND CHANGE HIS MIND.

THAT'S WHAT HE WAS TRYING TO DO, TO GET ISAAC TO REPENT, CHANGE HIS MIND, GIVE IT BACK TO HIM, TAKE IT AWAY FROM JACOB. BUT ISAAC KNEW GOD WAS IN THAT AND HE DIDN'T DO IT. And Esau, do you know how much Isaac loved that boy? Oh, he was the hunter, he said, he brings me that savory meat that I love. And here he is, whining, crying, weeping, give me the blessing, give me the blessing. It ain't gonna happen, it's too late. Too late. You can write that on a lot of tombstones. You can just write on tombstones, too late, too late. He was REJECTED. He found no place of REPENTANCE.

I'll tell you this, also He found no place of TRUE REPENTANCE in His heart toward God for what He had done. You see, His REPENTANCE was not toward God, this is important. HIS TEARS WERE VERY REAL, THEY WERE RUNNING DOWN HIS FACE, BUT THEY WERE NOT TEARS OF REPENTANCE TOWARD GOD.

He didn't regret what he did toward God, he didn't regret, he said, LORD FORGIVE ME, I SOLD THE BIRTHRIGHT. No, he said, FATHER, ISAAC, CHANGE YOUR MIND, GIVE IT TO ME, HE CHEATED ME. THEY WERE TEARS OF REGRET OVER LOST INHERITANCE. THAT'S WHAT HE REGRETTED.

DON'T BE FOOLED BY TEARS. DON'T BE FOOLED BY TEARS. A LOT OF PEOPLE COULD WEEP WHEN THEY NEED TO WEEP. HE MOURNED THE CONSEQUENCES, NOT THE SIN. HE WANTED THE BLESSING, BUT NOT THE GOD WHOM HE HAD DESPISED. AND THIS WARNING HERE IS SOBERING. OPPORTUNITIES NEGLECTED THROUGH UNBELIEF MAY NEVER BE RECOVERED. Man, that ought to put us on the edge of our seat. A PERSON MAY HEAR THE GOSPEL MANY TIMES AND WALK OUT THE DOOR FOR THE LAST TIME, AND MANY HAVE, AND ARE NOT RECOVERABLE.

We need to understand that emotional distress is not the same as saving repentance, it's not the same. To treat spiritual realities lightly now will rise up in judgment later. Now closing, I won't close. Hebrews 12, 15, 17 calls us to take spiritual matters seriously. Take hearing the gospel seriously. Take reading the gospel seriously. Take knowing Christ to be the most serious thing in your life.

GOD PRESERVES HIS PEOPLE, BUT HE DOES SO THROUGH MEANS, and this is one of the means, what we're doing tonight. And another one of those means is WATCHFULNESS, WATCH! Don't lollygag through life, WATCH! I don't know how many times when I stumbled when I was a kid and Dad told me, WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING OR YOU WON'T FALL! Perseverance, that's a means.

We have watchfulness and perseverance over our own hearts and over one another. What is lightly esteemed today may be bitterly wept over tomorrow, and that being so, look diligently, give diligence to this. Hold fast to the grace of God, salvation by grace alone, Christ alone, faith alone. Watch over one another in love and persevere in the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ and the truth as it is in the Lord Jesus Christ. A word of encouragement and a word of warning.