All right, you can return to
1 Corinthians 10. We believe that those who have
been saved by the grace of God cannot fall from that state of
grace. You can't. Or maybe we should put it this
way, they will not fall. They certainly could, but the
scriptures say, now unto him who is able to keep you from
falling be glory and honor. So yeah, we could fall. Not only
that, we would fall. if he didn't keep us from falling. I heard Brother Don Fortner preaching
a message on, well, I don't remember the subject, I just remember
this quote from it, so obviously within this message he was at
least addressing the subject of whether or not a person can
fall. And he said, anybody who can
fall will fall. The only ones who don't fall
are the ones who by the grace of God are kept from falling. But we do believe we're kept
from falling. Adam fell, but what does that
mean? Well, he was not in a state of
grace. He had no sin. And because he
had no sin, there was no need of the grace of God, in the sense
that we think of the grace of God. He was on his own. And despite the fact that when
he was created, there was no sin in him, he did not have within
himself the power to keep himself that way. Consequently, when one stronger
than him, one more intelligent, more clever than him, came to
him, he was able not to deceive him, because it
says Adam was not deceived, Eve was, but Adam was not. I don't think that the devil
was able to work in him a desire to rebel against God. He wasn't able to work in Adam
a belief that God did not have his best interests at heart.
I believe he did pretty much what he does to us in temptation. He sets before us something that
is dear to us. precious to us and makes us realize if I remain
faithful, I will likely lose this thing. What was that which
was precious to Adam? Eve. And that's why the devil
went to her first. He went to her and brought her
into sin And then more or less said, all
right, what'll it be, Adam, her or God? And don't be so tough on Adam. You love your spouse. Could you
bear the thought of losing them? If by something you did, you
could preserve them? Many have followed Adam's pattern. It's a sad thing to say, but
I'll tell you, humanly speaking, I understand what they're dealing
with. But Adam fell because there was
a power of sin greater than him. We believe that none of God's
elect shall fall because God will keep them from following.
But here in this passage of scripture we read earlier, and in many
other places, we are warned to be careful or watchful so that
we do not fall. Why are we told to rest in Christ
And at the same time, we are exhorted and warned against a
lackadaisical approach to the life of faith. Let me see if I can clarify something. I hope it clarifies it instead
of making it muddier. But salvation is had entirely
without works. but it has never been had without
work. Wait a minute, that doesn't make
sense. Well, understand this, when we say it's without works,
it's not without, or we say it's without works, it's without works
of righteousness, which we present to God, and on the basis of those
works, we expect God to bless us. But seeing that this world is
utterly opposed to the God of our salvation, and seeing that
in our flesh we are still a part of this world, there is no such
thing as believing God without struggle, without expending effort. That's why
that seemingly contradictory statement is found in Hebrews,
let us labor to enter his rest. Doesn't make any sense, does
it? It doesn't make any sense unless you're a believer. And if you're a believer, you
probably know what I'm talking about. Because Paul says that
there is a warfare going on between the flesh and the spirit. Anybody
whose spirit has been made alive unto God by the new birth, with
the regeneration of that spirit, a war was declared. Because the
flesh and the spirit desire opposite things. And so from the moment God gives you faith to trust
in him and trust in his son. From that moment until you take
your last breath, there's a warfare going on in you. And neither
side is willing to back down. It is much like the Civil War
that happened in our nation 160 years ago. It went on Well, it never should have started,
but it went on much longer than either side thought it would.
And certainly, one or the other side should have realized this
is going to cost, should have realized earlier on, this is
going to cost a whole lot more than I'm willing to spend. But neither side was willing to surrender to the other. And
it only happened when it became absolutely obvious there was
no way for the South to win. And even then, the pill of surrender
was a very bitter one. But we have two natures within
us, and those two natures are bitter enemies. For one is born of this world,
the other is born of the next. And neither one of them is going
to give up. The only thing that will end
that warfare is the death of one of them. It is a fight, literally,
to the death. Now, knowing that, that we have this
struggle within us, we are warned. Here in verse
12, it says, if you think you are standing
firm, be careful that you don't fall. Seeing that the comforts and
the warnings are both valid, we need to ask ourselves,
why do we perceive a contradiction between the comforts of he is
able to keep you from falling and the warnings, if you think
you're standing, take heed lest you fall. Now, I believe that the problem
arises from applying fleshly reasoning to spiritual principles. And that's one of the struggles
we go through. You see, we have these two natures. but they are both expressed through
a single consciousness. I have said in times past, sometimes
I feel like I'm two people. But it's more like, you know,
one person at one time and another person at another time, like
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It's never as though I
experience as though there's two people in my head. It's always
just one guy, me. And so since we have only this
one consciousness, this one self-awareness through which both natures are
being expressed, it's only a good idea to make sure that what's
being expressed is the truth. And the only way we can reliably
discern which nature is speaking at any given point is to compare
what is said or thought with what the Scriptures say. We always must submit, subject
our thought thinking to the Scriptures. and we submit them to the scriptures,
not because we think this is a magic book. We think it's a
miraculous book. We believe it to be a true and
faithful record of everything that it addresses. We believe
it to be a written record of the testimony of God concerning
his son. But it's not the book we have
faith in. It's the one who inspired it,
and it's the one about whom the book speaks. So Paul talked about
bringing every thought and imagination into subjection to Jesus Christ. I would say that, I mean, we're
perfectly free to apply that word every in its broadest sense,
but I do believe that Paul's meaning was more focused. He was talking about what we
think is the way to obtain favor with God. by the preaching of the gospel
and by the hearing of the gospel. Our intention is to bring all
of our thoughts into subjection to the truth of Jesus Christ. For the more that our way of
thinking is in submission to the testimony of God concerning
his son, the more that we express what Paul calls the fruit of
the spirit as opposed to the works of the flesh. So we submit what we think to
the scriptures. That which is born of God, the
spirit of a believer, will always be presenting what the Spirit
of God has inspired God's apostles and prophets to record. That's
one way you know whether the thoughts that are going through
your mind, your opinions on things, your suppositions and all that,
that's the way you can know whether they are arising from a born-again
spirit or from the natural thinking of the flesh. if they are arising
from the Spirit, a born-again Spirit, those thoughts will be
in conformity to what God's prophets and apostles have recorded for
us. Why? Because the born-again Spirit
and the spirits of those apostles and prophets are guided by a
single spirit, the Spirit of God. So that's why we make so
much of the Bible. I know there's many methods by
which the truth in the Bible can be taught, and one of them
might be a catechism-like method. But if we have catechisms or
Sunday school lessons or whatever, we may devise as a means to teach
the truth of scripture. We must realize those things
that we come up with are not the authority. Commentaries, I use them, but
I'm not in subjection to any of them. I've read a lot of them, you
know, and I'm studying, and I go, well, that ain't true. You know,
how do I know? align with what the scriptures
say. The only authority we have for
truth, the only objective and unchangeable authority that we
have for truth in this world is this book. Therefore, whether
or not we can see the harmony between resting and being watchful,
let us rest even as we are watchful. and let us watch even as we rest. Even if we cannot find a way
for our natural way of thinking to put both of the concepts of restfulness
and watchfulness, even if in our natural minds we can't reconcile
them, let's follow them anyway. knowing indeed there is no disharmony,
for the call to rest and the call to watch come from the same
God. Now let's first look at Paul's
exhortation there in verse 12. He says, if you think you're
standing firm, be careful that you don't fall. Now, here's an
important point. He says, if you think you stand. Now, if you stand, and you're
absolutely certain that you stand, you can know that you will never
fall. But Paul says, if you think, you stand. If you're of that
opinion, that's what the word means, to be of an opinion, to
suppose. In one place, it's translated,
if it seems good to you, do such and such. So you get the idea
here. He says, if you think, you stand. If you think you stand firm,
what is it to stand firm? Well, the first thing it must
be, or it must involve anyway, to stand firm, we must stand
on something firm. I've been to the ocean a few
times. If you've ever been to the ocean
and you go out there just a little ways into the water, you're very
near the beach, but you're out in the water and you just stand
there. About a year ago, we were there. I remember standing there
and the water would go out and I felt like I was standing pretty
firm. Just stood right there, no problem. Then the water comes
in. It moved under my feet a little
bit, but not much. When the water went out again,
and you've got that current go there, it starts to undermine
the sand underneath your feet. Now, it will probably not do
it so quickly that you can't make adjustments and keep standing.
But if you've ever felt that, You don't feel like you're standing
firm. Now it's the same you, it's the same legs, it's the
same feet, nothing's changed. What's actually changed is what
you're standing on. So the issue here, and it's like
the whole, our Lord's parable about the guy that built his
house on the sand and then the guy who built his house on a
rock. The issue wasn't the house. Both houses were fine houses.
The issue was what was the house built on? Now, the only way to
stand firm is to stand on something firm. In Psalm 40, and I'm going
to turn there, you can turn along with me if you want. It's one of my favorite Psalms. I guess we should say that we
have 150 favorite Psalms. We do. We do have those that
seem maybe to speak to us more powerfully than others do. And
that's OK. But David wrote, I waited patiently
for the Lord. He turned to me and heard my
cry. He lifted me out of the slimy
pit. Out of the mud and mire, he set
my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand." Here's what I like about this.
David didn't say, I waited patiently for the Lord and he gave strength
to my legs and nimbleness to my feet. He didn't do anything to David.
except pull him out of a miserable, slimy, nasty, muddy pit and set
him on a rock. And in setting him on that rock,
he gave him a firm place to stand. And David stood firm. And we know who that rock is.
That rock is Christ. Everything else is a nasty, muddy,
slimy pit from which we cannot extract ourselves. We must realize that if we think
we are standing firm, it's only our opinion of the matter, and
we could be deceived. So far as I know, the scriptures
never tell us to examine ourselves for evidence of grace. I know
that a lot of religion says that's what you need to do. And what
they'll do is take you over to 2 Corinthians 13, where Paul
says, examine yourself and see if you be of the faith. But when
you look at Paul, or what Paul's saying there, within its context.
He's not saying, examine yourselves to see if you really believe. If I could paraphrase it, he's
saying, examine yourselves. Aren't you of the faith? Unless, of course, you're reprobates.
And the issue at hand in that exhortation, if you look at it
in this context, is not whether or not they believed. Because
the issue, and Paul has to deal with it both in 1 Corinthians
and 2 Corinthians, there were those who were casting doubt
on whether or not Paul was an apostle. And what he's saying
to the Corinthians there, in 2 Corinthians 13, he's saying,
examine yourselves, whether you be of the faith. And this is
in 13.5, if you want to look. Do you not realize that Christ
is in you, unless, of course, you fail the test? And I trust
that you will discover that we have not failed the test. Now,
Paul's way of arguing often leaves out many of the steps of logic
it takes him to get from the premise to the conclusion. But
here's what he's saying. People say, I'm not an apostle. Well, of all the people that
should know that I am an apostle, it should be you. Examine yourselves. Are you not of the faith? How'd you get that way? By whose
ministry did the gospel come to you in which you now believe? That's what his argument is about.
So even then, he's not saying, look to yourselves, do this kind
of, someone once called it navel gazing, you know, like those
guys that like to meditate, you know. No, we're not looking at
ourselves, because I know this, every time you examine yourselves
to find proof that you have been an object of the grace of God,
you are going to be disappointed at what you see. At least I hope you are. I've
never looked at me and been made happy by what I saw. And you'd think we'd learn, quit
looking there. You know, I've told you, I can't tolerate a
closed door. You know, if there's some information
close to me, I want to find a way to get at it. And that time I
was, probably the first summer I was here in 87, and I was walking
around town, and over there, you know, we used to have our
own meat locker here in town, and next to there sat this great
big truck. I didn't know what was in it.
So I opened the back gate, and I discovered what a rendering
truck is. And whenever I look at me, friends,
it's like opening up the back end of a rendering truck. And
you know something? I've never opened the gate of
a rendering truck since. We don't look at ourselves. We look at Christ. We don't do,
as I heard one preacher exhort, You must ask the question, has
God done a work of grace in my heart? No, the question is, has
God done a work of grace in Christ? That's the question. And that's
where our gaze belongs. And this is the miraculous aspect
of the gospel. That when I look at me, even
though I'm a believer, if I focus on me, doubts arise, fears arise. And self-loathing arises, and
I guess all of that is appropriate, isn't it? I might have to look
at what I'm looking at. But when I look at Christ, everything
about me goes out of sight. When by the Spirit of God I see
Him, I see Him in the glory of His righteousness such as was spoken when he was
transfigured there on the mount this is my beloved son in whom
I'm well pleased I'm not even pleased with me
so I'm pretty sure God couldn't look at me as I am and say I'm
pleased with that but here is what our Lord Jesus God looked
on him in the days of his flesh on earth and said, I'm pleased
with that. I approve. That's what I like. When I am enabled by the Spirit
of God to see him crucified, not just in some gaudy Hollywood
display, as though by seeing those images. I'm not talking
about, I mean, see it in my mind and heart, not only for the actual
event, but for what that event signified. When I look at me, I see my sins
on me, and it makes me fear. When I look at him on the cross,
I see my sins on him. And as much as it might pain
me that the Lord had to suffer for my sin, it rejoices my heart
that He did. Because if He suffered for my
sin, I won't. And when by the grace of God
I'm enabled to look at that rock upon which I stand, as He has
been glorified in the presence of
God, I know He is God, but He's also a man, and even in His humanity,
He is glorified and seated at the right hand of God, having
all the favor of God, all the approval of God, all the authority
and power of God at His disposal. Oh, then do I rest. If your father slash elder brother,
because the Lord is presented as both. If he's the king, you've got
nothing to fear in the kingdom, do you? So when we examine, it says,
if you think you are standing firm, be careful you don't fall. He's saying, Make sure that your
standing is not just your opinion. Look at what you're standing
on. Because it doesn't matter how
weak you are, if you are standing on the rock Christ Jesus, you're
standing firm. You will not fall. It doesn't matter how strong
you are. If you're standing anywhere else, the day will come when
you will fall. And I pray that if that's the
case with you, that happens before you die. And you say, well, I don't want
to examine, you know, even where I'm standing. I'm afraid I'll
find out that I'm standing in the wrong spot. You know, that's like people
who have but it's a scary disease, and they say, I'm not going to
go to the doctor, I'm afraid he'll just tell me I have such and
such. Well, friend, you going to the doctor isn't going to
change whether or not you have it, it's just going to change
whether or not you know about it. And by examining that on
which you are standing, that on which you have put your hope
of eternal salvation, by examining it, you're not changing what
you're standing on, you're merely becoming aware of whether or
not you're standing in the right place. The Lord said, many shall
say unto me in that day, and that word many is a scary word
here, many shall say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, did
we not And they'll rattle off the things they did. And the
Lord Jesus is not going to deny that they did those things. He's not calling into question
their testimony about themselves. He simply says, depart from me,
you workers of iniquity. And you know what revealed their
great sinfulness? The Lord didn't mention, you
know, well, I know you did all those things, but I also know
you did this, that, and the other. No, what they did was the worst
kind of sins a person can do, because they listed what they
perceived to be good things about themselves, which made them surprised
that the Lord Jesus is not accepting them, which means they were trusting
in themselves all the time that they thought they were serving
the Lord Jesus. They were denying Him by trying
to establish their own righteousness. Now, it'd be a terrible thing
to find that out on that day, because at that point there is
no remedy. Look, determine the best that
you are able to do. Where am I standing? Am I standing in Christ or am
I standing on the fact that I'm standing on Christ? See how subtle
this can be? We say we believe in free and
sovereign grace. I hope you do, that's the truth.
But don't say that as though the fact that you believe in
free and sovereign grace has gained you God's salvation. Because once again, you're boasting
about something you have done. Oh, look, and know this. If in looking, you discover that
you are not standing in the right place, well, that's a good reason to
tremble, but only for a moment. Why? If God gives you eyes to
discern that you are standing in the wrong place, it's for
this reason that you might move and stand in the right place. You see, God does not reveal
this to everyone. As it says, many shall say to
me, look how many They claim Christianity is the biggest religion
in the world. And if by Christianity you mean
all those people who claim to be Christians, well, that may
be true. I'm the judge of no man, but
I can take the scriptures and I can examine what they claim
to believe and know that it's not according to truth. And so I know from what they
say they believe, they are not believing what the scriptures
say concerning God's Son. And that means they're lost.
I'm not the one passing judgment, the scripture is. I'm not saying
I'm better or that they're worse, I'm just saying God has not shown
them that they're standing on the wrong spot. Thank God. If he reveals to you, you're
not standing in the right place. We stand on Christ. Oh my. Henry said, if the time's up
and you're not done, that's all the Lord intended you to say. I'll work the other points in
another message someday. But just let me sum it up. If you stand on Christ, you're
standing firm. If you stand anywhere else, you just think you're standing
firm. Pay attention. Don't sleepwalk through your
life, thinking all is well because sometime back yonder, someone
told you everything's okay. It's a long road for many of
you. Some of us, the road's not quite
so long between us and the grave. But it doesn't have to be very
long for us to fall. Be careful. Don't let yourself be fooled
by fleshly religion. Don't allow yourself to think
you stand firm just because you go to a church that preaches
this, that, or the other, or you read your Bible, or you sing
good songs, or anything about you. Make sure your entire hope
is resting on Christ, who he is, and what he's done. And in
the end, you will still be standing. Weak as you are, you'll still
be standing. I've gotta tell you one illustration.
It's done by Brother Don Fortner. I've told you this story before,
but we'll bring it up again. He was preaching in a conference
at a church that was made up of a mixture of Presbyterians
and Baptists, but they thought because they all believed in
sovereign grace that they could get along. And in this conference,
there were two Presbyterians and two Baptists. One of the
Presbyterians, oh, and they had agreed, they would not bring
up the issue of infant baptism, because they knew that wasn't
going to fly on both sides of the aisle, so to speak. But one
of the Presbyterian preachers couldn't help himself, and he
had to hold forth on infant baptism. Then the other Baptist preacher,
who I also I said, I know him personally, he's since passed
away, but I knew him, he was a good friend of mine when I
was in Owensboro. He got up and he was preaching
and he said, the life of the believer is like a tightrope
walk, where you got that balance beam in your hands. And on one
side is the righteousness of Christ, and the other is your
own righteousness. And you've got to keep that balanced. I knew this fellow. I think he was just not very
good at illustrating truth. But what he just said was absolutely
awful. It was the Galatian heresy is what it was. Brother Don Fortner,
and this is one of those times when somebody like Don Fortner
is exactly the kind of man who needs to get up in the pulpit
afterward. looked over at that Presbyterian
preacher and he said, brother so-and-so, he said, you show
me one instance in the scriptures of an infant being baptized and
this Sunday we'll baptize every infant and child in our church. And then he looked at that other
Baptist preacher and he said, so-and-so, I'm not walking a
tightrope. I'm standing on a rock. And if you're standing on a rock,
you're standing firm. You won't fall.