Good morning. I'm going to ask you if you'll open your hymnals back to that same hymn where we just were, number 311. And I appreciate the fact that Adam didn't want us to sing that last stanza. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. There's a word in this last stanza that needs to be changed in our hymnals. On the very last line, where it says, we would see Jesus by dying, rising, and then the word pleading. Do you have that in your? Scratch out the P, and we can sing the last stanza. Just scratch out the P. It's so simple. But that's an example of a little leaven leavening the whole lump.

Our God doesn't plead with us. We plead with him. And what a difference that makes to know that our God is, he's almighty, he's sovereign, and he doesn't have to plead for us to let him have his way, he always has his way, always has his way.

All right, we're gonna be on the eighth chapter of the gospel of John. If you'd like to open your Bibles there with me, John chapter eight. Let's pray together. Our gracious and merciful Heavenly Father, we are here to plead with thee. Truly, Lord, our prayers are cries of needy, weak, sinful people asking for your mercy, asking for your grace, asking for your spirit, asking, Lord, for your help. we might be enabled by thee to worship, to hear, to believe, to see, to rest and rejoice in thy dear son, our Savior and our Lord. Lord, we join our hearts together in remembering the Briggs this morning and ask Lord that you would continue to provide for their every need, provide for their physical needs and comfort their hearts as they as they go through this trial together and as they wait on the help us Lord to be remembered to remember to pray for them and to encourage them as we're able. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen.

I don't remember when Donnie fell, if he fell before last Sunday, or was that? He was, OK. So everybody knows about that. He is in rehab up in Lake Mary and has had his jaw wired shut for three weeks. And Donnie can't afford to lose any weight. If you need to know where he is, let us know and we can tell you. But they both have their cell phones, so Donnie's not able to talk well, but he can kind of mumble and he can hear. So if you want to give him a call. Jeanette had her bone marrow transplant this Thursday, I think it was. and is having another chemo treatment again today. So she didn't have any immediate reaction to the bone marrow transplant, but is having some nausea, as I understand, today. So continue to remember both of them. It's a difficult time, both of them.

You have your Bibles open to John chapter 8. Verse 30, and as he spake these words, many believed on him. Many professed that they believed what he was saying about himself being the Christ. And our Lord, knowing the hearts of men, responded by with these words, then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, if you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed.

Many would say they believe that Jesus is the Christ. I think about 30% of the world's population profess themselves to be Christian. And I suspect that every one of them would say that they believe that Jesus is the Christ. But our Lord is making it clear that true disciples, true disciples are those that remain in his word. When they heard him speak, they said, we believe what you're saying is true. That's what a disciple is. A disciple is a learner. A disciple is a student. A disciple is one who follows the teaching of another. A disciple is one who listens, believes, and follows. the words of the teacher.

I want to know if I'm a true disciple. The Lord tells us very clearly here, then you are my disciples indeed. So many examples in the Bible of those who would profess to be a disciple of Christ but in fact are not. The Lord gave that parable of the soils, you remember, the sower who's sowing the seed, the sower, the church operating in the power of the spirit of God, the Lord Jesus Christ himself, the seed being the gospel, the word of God, and we don't separate God's word from the gospel. The gospel is the message of the Bible. And so the sower is sowing the seeds. And some of the seeds fell on the wayside. And before they could be even trampled upon, the birds of the air came and plucked them up and carried them away. some of the seeds fell on thorny, on stony soil. And the Lord interprets that by telling the disciples that this is soil that's very shallow and has rocks underneath. And when the seed falls on that soil, though it may be a very fertile soil, and the seed might spring up instantly. When the heat of the sun dries out the soil and there's no depth of soil, then the plant dies and withers away and produces no fruit. Some of the seed fell on thorny soil. And when the seed sprang up again and it grew, the thorns choked it out and it eventually died.

Now, every child of God can identify with having heard the gospel or read something from God's word and soon forgotten it. I can identify in my own experience with that soil, with those seeds that fell on the roadside and were soon plucked away and forgot them altogether. I preached messages where someone has asked me within a day about the message and I couldn't remember what I preached.

Every child of God can identify with the seeds of the gospel that fall on rocky soil. And when persecution and trouble and the heat of trials and tribulations come, the soil proves itself not to have any depth to it. And that plant dries up and produces no fruit.

every child of God can identify with that thorny soil, the soil that gets choked out by the cares of this life and of this world.

And so we hear this parable, and though we might say, well, that parable refers to the unbeliever, who hears the gospel but never really believes the gospel, a false disciple. My point right now, brethren, is that we see enough of our own unbelief in those very examples to say, Lord, you're going to have to keep me. Lord, you're going to have to break up the fallow ground of my own heart. You're gonna have to make this fruit to bear.

Lord, I'm so prone to wonder, I wonder sometimes. You said right here, if you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed. And the child of God fears because they, they see in their own experience so many times when they didn't continue in his word. They didn't continue in his word. Lord, does that mean that I'm not your disciple?

When this is the same time when the Lord gave this parable, the fourth, the fourth soya was the was the soil that was the good soil, the soil in which the seed fell, and it germinated, and it grew, and it produced fruit, some 30-fold, some 60-fold, some 100-fold.

We know that the fruit is the fruit of the Spirit. It's the fruit of the Spirit. The Spirit of God is the one who must take God's Word and make it fruitful in our hearts. We are dependent upon Him for that.

Continuing in God's word is not a condition for discipleship, it is the manifestation of discipleship. For continuing in God's word is God's work. It's God's work.

But here's the difference between the true disciple and the false disciple. The false disciple would comfort themselves and find peace in believing that they have been faithful in continuing in God's word. And they would see this as a condition for discipleship, a condition for salvation that they have met. Whereas the child of God cries, Lord, you're going to have to meet this condition. You're gonna have to make this, you're gonna have to enable me to continue. You're gonna have to keep me from falling. You're gonna have to present me faultless before the throne of God. Lord, I'm so prone to be shallow. I'm so prone to be thorny. I'm so prone to forget.

The Lord said to the disciples, the Pharisees didn't understand the parable. Well, the disciples didn't understand it either. And so the disciples asked the Lord, why do you speak to them in parables?

And the Lord told them, he said, because it is not for them to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God. The mystery of the kingdom of God is for you. It's for you to know. That's why I'm speaking to them in parables.

And then the disciples said, well, Lord, you're gonna have to explain the parable to us. We're gonna have to explain it to us, because we don't understand it either. And privately, he explained to them what the parable meant, and they understood, and they continued in his word.

That's what we're doing right now. We're just trying to explain the parable to the people of God that we might understand and that we might, by God's grace, continue in his word.

This is the most often quoted verse from the Old Testament in the New Testament. It's found in Isaiah chapter 6. Isaiah chapter 6 is that chapter where Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up in the year that Uzziah died, and the seraphim were hovering over the throne of God, and they were crying, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts. And Isaiah cried out. He said, woe is me. My eyes have seen the Lord. And then the Lord sent Isaiah out with the gospel. He sent him out with the gospel. And the Lord told Isaiah, he said, they will have ears, but they will not hear. Eyes they will have, but they will not see. Now that Isaiah responded by saying, Lord, you're telling me to go preach the gospel to a people who are not going to believe. They're going to hear what I'm saying, but they're not going to hear. They're going to see, but they're not going to see. How long, Lord, do I need to do this?

And the Lord told Isaiah, he said, until the cities be wasted without inhabitants and the land be utterly desolate, in other words, If there's anyone left living, you preach this message, but know that there's going to be a whole lot of people. There's going to be a whole lot of people that aren't going to believe it, that aren't going to continue. They're going to hear what you're saying.

Now, that's the most often quoted verse in the Old Testament. And when we think about Christianity, and I use that word very loosely, 30% of the world's population, I think that comes up to about 2.5 billion people who profess themselves to be Christians. How many of them have fulfilled that prophecy? They have ears, but they do not hear. Eyes they have, but they do not see. These men who heard Let's go back to our text.

As he spake these words, what are the words that he spoke? Well, he declared himself to be the Christ. He declared himself to be the son of the living God. He declared himself to be the almighty, sovereign savior of sinners. The one who could not fail. The one who would accomplish the purpose for which his father sent him. And what was that purpose? The salvation of his people. That's who he professed himself to be. Is that who men believe? More importantly, is that who I believe? Is that who you believe?

because the Lord knowing that many of these people who say, well, we believe what you're saying, many of them would be like those soils that would never produce fruit. Many of them would be like Judas. Three years, Judas Iscariot spent in the very presence God incarnate the fullness of the Godhead in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ the one who himself was holy and harmless and undefiled and separate from sinners Judas Iscariot spent three years with the other disciples when the Lord sent the disciples out two by two Judas went out with them preaching the gospel and yet we know his end We know his end.

Demas was an assistant to the Apostle Paul, traveled with him on his missionary journeys. And then when Paul wrote later in his life to Timothy, he said, Demas, Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world." He has forsaken the gospel. He's gone back after all that he had seen and after all that he had done.

We remember in John chapter 6, after the Lord fed the 5,000 and they all believed, that he was the Christ and they all followed him until he made clear to him who he really was and what he required. Complete following. If you be my disciple, what is a disciple? A disciple is a learner. It is a student. It is one who listens to and follows the words of the teacher. If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed. Then it will be evident that a work of grace has been done for you.

Now let me say this, brethren. I wanted to introduce this message with that parable because I hope that we're all encouraged to know that there are times when we do not continue in God's word. There are times when we're like those first three soils. The difference is that we recognize that. We recognize our sin. We fear ourselves. We're afraid of, Lord, you're gonna have to keep me. A lot better men than me have fallen away. Lord, if I'm going to continue in your word, if I'm going to, you see, it's not how we begin. It's how we end. It's how we end. And over the years, I can say, and I know many of you have experienced, so many that begin with great zeal and great enthusiasm. Judas Iscariot was before he was called a zealot. He was a zealot. Now the zealots were those Jews who were secretly in rebellion against Rome. And they carried around knives hidden in their robes in hopes of finding a Roman soldier privately that they could actually kill. He was a Jewish nationalist and was a rebel against, I mean, he was a zealous man. And I'm sure that a lot of that zeal carried over in his zeal for Christ. but he proved himself not to ever been truly converted.

Let's turn in our Bibles to 1 John 2. 1 John 2. Verse 18. Little children. Little children. That's what we are. Lest you become as a little child, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. Suffer the little children to come unto me, for such is the kingdom of heaven. Lord, I'm a weak, dependent child. I can't feed myself. I can't do any. I need you. Every hour, I need you. Little children, it is the last time. It's the end of days. The entire period of history between the first and second coming of Christ is the latter days. We live in those latter days. And John, 2,000 years ago, said this is it. This is the last time. And as you have heard, that Antichrist shall come Even now are there many Antichrists whereby we know that it is the last time. This is a messenger of salvation who denies Christ his glory. That's what the Antichrist is. Antichrist. Takes from him the full glory of salvation. and gives to man something that he can do in order to save himself. And it was no time at all after the Lord ascended back into glory that many Antichrists came in to the scene. And many were deceived by the Antichrist. Many followed the teachings of the Antichrist.

Here's what the Lord is telling us. John chapter 8 verse 31 when they heard his words they believed on him and the Lord knowing their hearts said unto them if you continue in my word then you are my disciples indeed then you are truly disciples but if you fall away and you listen to the Antichrist if you you prove yourself to be like Judas or like Demas, then it will only be evident that you were never really truly converted. Because when I save someone, I keep them. God never started anything he didn't finish. How many things we start and we never finish? There were unforeseen circumstances. That's never the case with God. There were obstacles. There were things that I couldn't do. Never the case with God. Everything that God starts, he finishes. And when God saves a man, he carries him all the way.

So continuing in his word is not a condition that we have to meet. It is the manifestation. It is not the cause of our spiritual life. It is the proof of our spiritual life. Look what the Lord says, they went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have no doubt continued with us. But they went out, that they might be made manifest, that they were not all of us.

" Now that has happened time and time and time again. The precious truth of the gospel is the perseverance of the saints. Historically, it's been called the perseverance of the saints. Saints persevere in the gospel. They never forsake the word of God. They remain by God's grace. They got there by God's grace. They'll stay there by God's grace.

If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed. I like to think of it as the preservation of the spirit rather than the perseverance of the saints. Perseverance kind of has the connotation of, well, I've got to really work. I've got to make this happen. The saints of God do persevere. but they persevere because they preserved. It's called abiding in Christ. It's called remaining steadfast to the end. It's called enduring, enduring in salvation.

Turn with me, if you will, to the book of Jude, right before Revelation. The Little Book of Jude. It's just one chapter. Here's the perseverance. Verse 19. These be they who separate themselves. They forsake the gospel. They forsake the people of God. They forsake Christ. They forsake his church. Why? For sensual reasons, for fleshly reasons, having not the spirit. So he's identifying those who make a profession like these men did. When they heard these words of Jesus, they said, we believe. And the Lord said, well, if you really believe, you'll remain. If you really believe, you'll remain. You'll continue in my word.

But you, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost. What is it to build yourself up? We're looking at Jude verse 20. building yourself up in your holy faith. It's faith is, is our, it's not our contribution to salvation. Faith is our confession that we have nothing to contribute. See the difference? Faith in Christ is not your contribution to salvation. It is your confession that you have nothing to contribute, that you're completely dependent upon him. And so how do we build ourselves up in his holy faith? We hear these warnings, we hear these cautions. We know by history and by observation that there are many who make professions who don't remain, who don't continue. And we find ourselves crying for the Lord to keep us. Lord, you're gonna have to enable me to continue. You're the one that gave me faith to believe you in the first place.

As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. How did you receive him? How did you receive him? You received him as a sinner. You received him as a mercy beggar. You received him as one who had nothing to contribute other than your sin. And so as you received him, so walk in him. We never get beyond that, do we? That's faith. And that gives to Christ all the glory for our salvation. And this is what it is to persevere. This is what it is to remain. This is what it is to continue in his word.

Keeping yourselves in the love of God, verse 21, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. To the fullness of life? Lord, I've got to keep looking to Christ. And of some have compassion, making a difference. Brethren will stumble, brethren will fall, brethren will falter. You that are spiritual, lift one up in the spirit of humility and grace, knowing that you yourselves are prone to the same sin. Pray for one another, encourage one another, remind one another of the gospel.

And others, save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garments that's spotted by the flesh. Now, making a difference means that we don't I just, someone leaves the church. Someone says to me, I'm going over here to this, and I know it's a false gospel. And I warned them. And warned them a second time. But after that, I don't chase them. We don't chase after men who have forsaken the gospel. That's what he's talking about, making a difference. We continue to pursue and encourage one another in our trials and troubles and in our temptations, but we don't chase an unbeliever who forsakes the gospel and goes out after a false gospel.

I used to, back in religion, oh, I'd pursue you until you came back in hopes of getting you. Nope, not anymore, no. We make a difference. Look at verse 24, and this is the verse I wanted to get to. 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 the only wise God our Savior be glory and majesty dominion and power both now and ever amen amen

he's the one who keeps us from falling he's the one who gets all the glory for having open the eyes of our understanding, having given us faith, having caused us to confess Christ to begin with, and he's the one who will persist and pursue and enable us to remain in his word, to remain in his word.

Let's read our text one more time. John chapter 8. And as he spake these words, many confessed him. That's what this is really saying. To believe on him sometimes is what we believe what you're saying is true. They confessed him.

And the Lord, knowing their hearts, said unto those Jews that believed on him, if you continue in my word, continuing in his word is not a condition that we meet in order to prove that we're disciples. It is the it is the manifestation or the evidence of the grace of God who has kept us from falling and who will present us faultless before his throne.

The Lord tells us in Matthew chapter 10 verse 22 You shall be hated by all men for my namesake, but he that endures to the end shall be saved. Shall be saved. It's not how we start. Many have started with great gusto and great enthusiasm. It's how we finish. And that, with all of our salvation, is to God's glory.

Paul put it like this in Philippians chapter one, he that began a good work in you, he that began a good work in you, will continue it until the day of Jesus Christ. And so in all our salvation, He gets all the glory. Amen.

All right, let's take a break.