Let's open our Bibles again to
Hebrews chapter 6. You may recall, we looked at
the first three verses last week and the writer here in verse
3 ended up telling us we're to go on and build upon these ABCs
of the gospel. And we will, if God permit. And
believers will do that. Believers will build upon these
ABCs of the gospel because believers grow. God's people, they grow
in faith. They grow in knowledge of Christ.
They grow in love. They grow in kindness and humility
and forgiveness. It's impossible for them to stay
stagnant forever. Unfortunately, we do become stagnant
from time to time, don't we? But it's impossible for a believer
to stay stagnant forever because a believer is living. God's made
them alive and living things grow. But I'll tell you one thing. that a believer does not grow
in, ever. We don't grow in righteousness. We don't grow in sanctification.
We don't grow in salvation. Those things are already perfect.
And that's what our text is teaching us this morning. The verses I
read just a few minutes ago are not teaching us that it's possible
for someone to lose their salvation. It's not what they're teaching
at all. I've entitled the message, Two Impossibilities. Because
this is what the text is teaching us this morning. It's teaching
us that there are two impossible things. Number one, it's impossible
for someone who believes on Christ to lose their salvation. It's
impossible. And the second thing, it's impossible
for us to be saved any other way than by Christ, through faith
in him. Those are two impossibilities.
Now, I know the writer here seems to be talking about someone who's
falling away, but he's just he's talking more in a hypothetical
about believers. Now, I know there are people
who leave the gospel. That's happened many, many times
over the course of my lifetime. There are people who are around
for a while. They pretend to believe on Christ. They make a good show of it.
They seem to give some good evidence of it. But when those people
ultimately leave the gospel, and they denied it. All they're
doing is giving us an example of what, look at first John chapter
two. They're giving us an example of what John talked about here.
They're not giving us an example of unbelief or a believer turning
back to the flesh or losing their salvation. No, they're giving
us an example of an unbeliever turning back to the flesh. They
haven't lost anything. First John chapter two, verse
19. They went out from us. but they
were not of us. For if they had been of us, they
would no doubt have continued with us, but they went out that
they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. They
just went out because they're just making it manifest. They
never were in Christ in the first place. So here's the first impossibility. This is where we'll spend the
most of our time. It's impossible for believer to fall away from
Christ and lose their salvation. The writer here, what the people
he is describing, is not someone who has made a false profession.
You look at these verses and see if he's describing a true
believer. First, this is the description
of a believer, verse 14. I'm sorry, verse one. One more
try, verse four. It's impossible for those who
were once enlightened. It's impossible for someone who's
been enlightened to fall away from Christ. and to lose their
salvation. Now the only people who are enlightened
are believers. Unbelievers are in darkness,
aren't they? So the only people who are enlightened are believers. God has commanded the light to
shine out of darkness and has shined in their heart to give
them the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. They have light to see Christ
and they can't lose it. Go back to Ephesians chapter
one. See, this is talking about God's people. Ephesians 1 verse
17. That the God of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the father of glory may give unto you the spirit of wisdom
and revelation and the knowledge of him the eyes of your understanding
being enlightened. And what happens when your eyes
are enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his
calling and the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the
saints. And what is the exceeding greatness
of his power to us were to believe according to the working of his
mighty power. See that those are people who
are believers. Their eyes are enlightened to see salvation
in Christ. Look at second Timothy, second
Timothy chapter one. Verse nine, who has saved us
and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began, but is now made manifest
by the appearing of our savior, Jesus Christ, who hath abolished
death and hath brought life and immortality to light through
the gospel. And that word light is the same
word translated enlightened in our text. The believers have
been given Christ's delight. So they see, they understand
how God saves sinners. They see Christ, so they understand
how is it that God can save a sinner like me and still be just and
still be holy? Well, they see there's just one
way. It's in the person and the work of Christ. So the writer
here in Hebrews is not talking about an unbeliever who has what
we call white, you know, a head knowledge of the gospel. The
word he uses once, he said they were once enlightened. That word
means once for all, something that doesn't have to be done
again. Peter used the very same word in 1 Peter 3, verse 18,
for Christ also has once suffered for sins, just for the unjust
that he might bring us to God. Well, that sacrifice is just
offered once, once for all. It never has to be done again.
So whoever it is that Christ died for, Whoever it is that
he has enlightened can never lose that salvation and never
be in darkness again, because God has once, once for all enlightened
them. So you're talking about believers
here. All right, here's a second description, verse four, of a
believer. It's impossible for those who
have tasted the heavenly gift to fall away from Christ and
lose their salvation. Now, what is it when you've tasted
something? Well, it means that you've eaten it, and now it's
part of you. You don't taste the heavenly
gift and spit it out. No, you taste the heavenly gift.
You eat it and you keep eating it and you keep eating it. You
keep coming back for more. You've tasted it. You've eaten
it. It's in you. You've experienced it. That's
what he's really talking about here. You've experienced the
heavenly gift. Now, what is the heavenly gift?
Well, it's our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul called him the unspeakable
gift. Remember the Lord told the woman
at the well, Oh, if you just knew who you're talking to and
you knew what the gift of God is, you'd ask him. He is the
gift of God. He is the living water. And if
you drink this water, if you drink of Christ, you can't lose
your salvation because whoever drinks of Christ, whoever experiences
him is never going to thirst again. They can't die. They can't
lose that water because our Lord said, I'll put in you a well
of water springing up in you. This heavenly gift is salvation
in Christ Jesus by God's grace. That's the heavenly gift. And
the Apostle Peter told us, if you've tasted of Him, you're
going to keep coming to Him. You're going to keep coming back
to that well over and over and over again. If you've tasted
that the Lord is gracious, you're going to keep coming back for
more. Look at Romans chapter 5. Romans the fifth chapter. Verse 17. For if by one man's offense death
reigned by one, much more, they which receive abundance of grace
and of the gift of righteousness, they shall reign in life by one,
Jesus Christ. See, if Christ has made you righteous,
you'll never be unrighteous again. You can never die and lose that
righteousness because it's not of you. It's not something that
you've done or you produced or you keep. It's a gift that God's
given you. All right, here's the third way
in verse four. Back in our text, he describes
believers. He says here, it's impossible for those who are
made partakers of the Holy Ghost. It's impossible for them to fall
away from Christ and lose their salvation. Now to be a partaker
of the Holy Ghost means that the Holy Ghost dwells in our
hearts by faith. That's what the Apostle Paul
told us in 1 Corinthians 6, is to be the temple of the Holy
Ghost, which dwells in you. You're a partaker of it. He dwells
in you. Being a partaker of the Holy
Ghost means that you have union with that spirit, with the Holy
Spirit. That union can never be broken. The word partaker
means sharer or a participant in it. Well, someone who is a
sharer of the Holy Ghost or a participant of the Holy Ghost, That person's
a safe person. That's not a lost person. A person
who's a sharer, a participant of the Holy Ghost, they know
Christ because that is the one function of God the Holy Spirit,
is to take the things of Christ and reveal them to us. Well,
if we're a sharer, if we're a participant with him, we know Christ. We've
been put into his body. And no one who's ever been put
into the body of Christ can be taken out of it. That's impossible. you'd have to maim the body of
Christ to do it. And his body's perfect. See, no one who's ever
seen Christ would ever leave him. No one who's been made a
partaker of the divine nature can ever lose it. See, he's talking
about believers here. It's impossible for that person
to lose their salvation. All right, here's the fourth
way he describes believers. In verse five, it's impossible
for those who have tasted the good word of God to fall away
from Christ and lose their salvation. And here's the word tasted again.
It means something that you've eaten. So it's a part of you.
So you've experienced it. Well, that word of God is our
Lord Jesus Christ. He is the incarnate word. And
all this written word is written to reveal one thing, one person,
the Lord Jesus Christ, the message of every word, every Sentence,
every paragraph, every punctuation mark, all of it is written to
reveal one message. Look to Christ. Here He is. The
written Word reveals Christ, the incarnate Word. Well, to
taste the Word of God means you've eaten His flesh and you drank
His blood. And our Lord said, whoever's
done that is saved. Whoever drinks His blood and
eats His flesh has eternal life. That's what our Lord said, isn't
it? Because now he's part of you. Christ dwells in you, and
you in him, and you have union with Christ. And what did the
Apostle Paul tell us in Romans chapter 8 about those who have
union with Christ? Nothing can separate you from
him. Nothing. It's impossible for
you to lose your salvation if you're united to Christ. And
then here the writer says, believers have tasted, he says, the good
news of the word. Well, what is the good news of
the word? The good news of the word is the gospel of Christ
that we preach it. Here's good news for sinners.
You can't save yourself, but Christ is the savior of sinners.
Go to him and have it freely. Oh, I know your sins are scarlet.
I know how horrible, rotten is your sin, but you go to him.
His blood will make your wine snow. I know you're a rebel. I know you hate God. I know you're
born a hatin' God or runnin' from Him. I know you've been
a rebel to Him. But you go to Him. This man forgives sin. He receives sin. He eats what
you go to Him. That's the good news of the gospel.
And if you've ever tasted the good news of the gospel of Christ,
you won't eat anything else. Nothing. You just won't do it.
You're not going to be deceived by a false gospel. We've got
these two crazy little Yorkies dogs that don't know that they're
dogs and they don't know they're dogs. Janet don't know that they're
dogs. But every once in a while, some day they get sick or something
happens, you know, and we've got to we give them dry dog food
all the time because it's cheaper. But every once in a while, you
got to give them wet dog food out of the can. And when it's
time to go back to the dog food, they look at that dry dog food
and they look back up at Janet like, uh-uh, uh-uh, no, no, this
isn't what it's supposed to be, uh-uh. If you've ever tasted
the sweetness of forgiveness of your sin in Christ, you hear
a false gospel, you look at that and say, uh-uh, no, I'm not eating
that. I'm not eating that. I need the
gospel. I need Him. And that brings me
to the Fifth thing, he's describing believers here. He says in verse
five, it's impossible for those who have tasted the powers of
the world to come. It's impossible for them to fall
away from Christ and lose their salvation. Now, what's he talking
about here, the powers of the world to come? Well, these are
all the miraculous powers that makes God's people, makes a sinner
fit to inherit glory. This is the power of Christ's
righteousness. to make his people righteous. Now, if you've tasted
that power, it's impossible for you to lose that righteousness.
It's the power of Christ's blood to cleanse us from all sin. If
you've tasted that power, you can't be made guilty again. Christ's
blood's already paid for, washed you white as snow. It's the power
of God's love. that would make Him set His love
on sinful men and women and send His Son to die for them. And
I've already told you how the Apostle Paul said, nothing can
separate you from that love. If God loves you, nothing can
separate you from that love. And He will, without a doubt,
bring you to glory, make you just like His Son. This power
of the world to come is the power of faith in Christ, just to believe
Him. It's all your salvation. This
is the power of the hope of the gospel. This gospel gives us
a hope that powerful, living, and sure, an inheritance that
cannot be lost. It's the power of the resurrection.
Not just the resurrection of these bodies, but in the new
birth. In the new birth. The power of
that resurrection. There's a new man, a new woman
born that can never die. Lord told Mark, can you believe
that? Can you believe that? He's not talking about the resurrection
of her brother's body. He's talking about the new birth.
I am the resurrection, Martha. You believe that? You believe
me? That you can never die. Whoever lives and believes in
me can never die. That's the powers of the world
to come. Now, if you've ever tasted that, you've ever tasted
the power of the gospel. The gospel is the power of God
unto salvation. If you've ever tasted that, you
can never lose that salvation. This gospel. Powerful enough
to save your sinful soul. And the very same gospel. See,
I don't have a gospel for different people. There are people here
that don't know the Lord. There are people here who are
babes in Christ. Just start to drink that milk
and be able to digest that milk. There are people here who have
been believing in God a long time. They've been in the faith a long
time. They can eat meat. But you know what? I don't have
three different messages for everybody. I got one. This gospel
is powerful enough to meet every need. This gospel is powerful
enough to save you. It's powerful enough to keep
you saved. It's powerful enough to make you grow in grace and
do what the writer tells us here, to build upon these ABCs. That's
what we'll do if God permits. Well, you know how God's going
to permit that? Through the preaching of the gospel. If you tasted
that, you can't lose your salvation. It's an utter impossibility.
So what is it that the writer is talking about here in verse
six? If they, if they shall fall away, what following way is he
talking about then? Well, I'll tell you some things.
He's talking about a hypothetical. All he's saying is it's impossible
for a believer to fall away. It's not possible, but this falling
away, how, how would a person fall away? Well, let me give
you two, three things here that will comfort your heart. If you're
a believer, this falling away, is not falling into sin. It's
not even falling into open sin. That can't make a believer lose
their salvation. Christ has already cleansed us
from all of our sin. Christ has already paid for all
the sin of his people, past, present, and future. So falling
into open sin can't make me lose my salvation. Our brother Noah
gave us an example of it. Oh, he got off that ark. Such
a clear picture of Christ, a preacher of righteousness. 130 years he's
built that ark. A preacher of righteousness.
And what did he do when he got off the ark? Got drunk and lay naked
in front of his children. Abraham, the father of the faithful,
scared of the king and said to his wife, you don't have a son. I'm afraid that king will kill
you. Lot chose to live in Solomon. He chose it. He chose to. David, open sin in front of everybody. God made it open in front of
everybody. Committed adultery with a woman and killed her husband
trying to cover up his sin. Solomon helped his wives worship
idols. Not one of them lost their salvation.
God called David, man of my own heart. So this falling away is
not falling into open sin. I mean, we ought not to fall
into open sin, but when we do, it doesn't mean we've lost our
salvation. You know, we can never say a believer wouldn't do that.
The only thing we can say is a believer won't lose their salvation.
That's the only thing we can say. As far as what we'll do,
we'll do anything. Our brethren have given us example
of that in the Old Testament. This falling away is not even
falling into doctrinal error. And I know a believer won't fall
into doctrinal error forever. But you know, if we do for a
time, that doesn't mean we've lost our salvation. It really
doesn't. We need to be not too quick to judge our brethren.
The Apostle Peter, the Apostle Peter, who learned the gospel,
not from a man, but straight from the Lord himself. After
he'd been taught this lesson by the Gentiles, salvation, Peter,
is by faith. It's by grace. It's not by keeping
the laws, not by being circumcised, not who your father and grandfather
and great grandfather are. Salvation is by grace. It's through
faith. Learn that from the Lord. Peter,
do you love me? Feed my sheep. He didn't say
feed my Jewish sheep. Peter, you feed my sheep. And
Peter was there eating with the Gentiles. That was church fellowship
dinner after service. And Peter's eating with the Gentiles.
And the Jews come walking in. They come visit. Come walking
in. Peter left those Gentiles and ran away from them, ran over
there. with those Jews, because it seemed it was wrong for a
Jew to be eating with these Gentiles. And the Apostle Paul got there
and was stood him to the face. This is no small thing. This
is not just being rude, like I got up from the table and not
eating with people I was eating with. This is not just being
rude. It's not saying, well, these are, you know, more esteemed
believers. I want to hang around them, not you. That's not what
the issue here is. Paul told him, Peter, by the
way you acted, you're living like we're justified by our works. by what we put in our mouth,
by who we hang around with, by if we're circumcised or not,
we're justified by works, not by grace through faith. Peter,
when you did that, you denied the truth of the gospel and you
fell into doctrine. Paul was stood in the face of
it. And he should have, but he didn't lose his salvation, did
he? No, he didn't. The Lord brought him back. The
Lord taught him. The Lord taught him. This falling
away is not even denying Christ. God help us to never do it, but
that's not falling away. Poor old Peter did that too,
didn't he? But the Lord wouldn't let him
go. The Lord brought him back and used him mightily. So that's
not losing your salvation. And we use those examples, and
I just Like I said in the lesson, we're not going to publicly confess
our sins one to another. You just think this in your own
mind. Which of us hasn't done that? Well, every one of us,
we're men of life passions. We've all fallen into sin. We've
all fallen into error. We've all fallen into doubts
and fears and weakness and unbelief. But if you're a believer, if
you know Christ, you cannot lose your salvation. I can show you
that in Psalm 37. You know, we typically quote
part of this verse, part of this passage. Look here what it says
here. Someone who's been made righteous
in Christ. It's impossible for them to lose
their salvation. Psalm 37, verse 23. The steps of a good man are ordered
by the Lord, and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he
shall not be utterly cast down. For the Lord upholdeth him with
his hand." Oh, we're going to fall. Now, we're going to fall.
Who is that good man? Well, it's the person who's made
good in Christ. It's the person that God's made righteous in
His Son. And all of His steps are ordered by the Lord. Now,
we wander, we stray from time to time, but His steps are ordered
by the Lord. Where is He going to end up?
His steps are going to affect the Lord. That's what God's going
to bring to man. And along the way, from here to there, we're
going to fall. Every one of us, we're going to fall. But we cannot. It's impossible for us to fall
away from Christ. We'll be cast down, but never
destroyed. Never destroyed. It's impossible. It's impossible for someone who
believes Christ to fall away from Him and lose their salvation.
That's what the writer's talking about. It's impossible for that
to happen. And it's never happened to anyone anywhere. See, the writer here is not talking
about an unbeliever who just had some head knowledge and then
finally heard what you're saying and got tired of it and left.
This is more than someone just leaving the gospel. He's talking
about someone losing their salvation. It's impossible. Now, I'll admit
to you, if somebody leaves the gospel and they never return
to it, well, I don't really have much confidence in their salvation.
But you know what? I ain't my business. That's between
them and the Lord. This is what needs to be the
foundation of our faith, what we need to take from these, these
verses. The writer here is telling us it is impossible for someone
who believes Christ to lose their salvation. It's impossible for
them to lose their salvation in Christ because there's no
other sacrifice for their sin. Look at verse six. He says, if
they shall fall away, it's impossible to renew them again unto repentance,
seeing they crucify to themselves the son of God afresh and put
him to an open chain. Now, what he's saying here is
suppose, suppose someone would fall and they'd fall away from
Christ and they'd lose their salvation. If that would happen,
it would be impossible for them to be saved, wouldn't it? Because
there isn't another sacrifice other than the sacrifice of Christ.
If a person would fall away from Christ, why? They would lose
their salvation. Because there's no other sacrifice
for their sin. Christ can't be sacrificed again.
He can't be sacrificed all over for them. Christ was offered
once, wasn't He? Once for all. By one offering,
He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Well, if
we fall away from Him, fall away from that sacrifice, if that
sacrifice didn't sanctify us, there's not another one that
can. There's not another sacrifice for us. If someone would lose,
fall away from Christ and lose their salvation, it would be
impossible to recover because there isn't another righteousness
other than the righteousness of Christ. They can't make themselves
righteous by their obedience. No, they're not another righteousness. If they fall away from Christ,
it would be impossible to recover. But that can't happen. See, this
is what the writer's teaching us. It's impossible for someone
who believes in Christ to lose their salvation. There's a whole
list of impossible things would have to happen for you to lose
your salvation if you believe in Christ. Christ would have
to be put to open shame because he tried to save you and couldn't.
Matt, that's impossible. Impossible. In order for a believer
to lose their salvation, God would have to quit being sovereign.
Oh, God willed to save some people, but he couldn't do it. Man's
will reigns supreme over God. Can't happen. In order for a
believer to lose their salvation, Christ's blood would have to
quit being effectual. It would quit being able to cleanse
from all sin. That's impossible. In order for
one of God's people, one of God's elect to be saved and then lose
their salvation, Christ would have to begin a good work in
you, but not finish it. It's the impossibility. The Holy
Spirit would have to come and then depart from one of God's
elect. The call of the Holy Spirit would quit being effectual. Christ
would have to quit interceding for one for whom he died. Brethren,
it's impossible. That can never happen. In order for one of God's elect
to lose their salvation, they'd have to be saved by grace. But
then grace alone couldn't keep them saved. Faith alone, faith
in Christ alone wasn't enough to save them. Christ alone wouldn't
be enough to save. That's an impossibility. Here's
another. In order for a believer, someone
who believes on Christ, who put all their hope and their confidence
in Him, in order for that person to fall away, to be pulled away
from Christ and lose their salvation, Satan would have to be victorious
over Christ. And that cannot happen. It cannot
happen. Satan's already been put out
of business. Christ already crushed his head. He crushed his power
at Calvary. It's impossible for him to be
victorious over Christ our Savior. then it's impossible for us to
lose our salvation if Christ is our only hope. Here's another
impossibility. It's impossible for someone to
lose their salvation in Christ because God makes His people
live. He gives them eternal life. Verse 7, For the earth, which
drinketh in the rain, that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth
earth's meat for them, by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing
from God. Now, like I told you, anything
that lives grows. God's people live. They have
eternal life and they grow because God sends just the right amount
of sunshine, just the right amount of rain. He gives them just the
right amount of food and causes them to grow. It's just like
plants out in the field. The farmer takes a seed in the
spring, a corn seed, plants it down there in the ground, and
he works that field throughout the year, throughout the spring
and throughout the summer, weeding it and watching it. And God sends
just the right amount of rain, just the right amount of sunshine.
And in the fall, the farmer receives a harvest, doesn't he? He receives
the blessing because God sent the rain and the sunshine to
make that seed grow to life. Well, he does the same thing
with his people. God's people grow because God's the farmer. The father's the husband, and
he plants the seed. He sends the seed of his word,
plants it, and he prepares the heart and makes the heart good
ground. He plants the seed in there,
gives life, and that seed grows. God sends just the right amount
of rain, just the right amount of sunshine, and they receive
the blessing. They grow in grace. Look at John
chapter 15. Here's why they grow. Because
they're connected to Christ. This is the issue. Are we connected
to Him? If we're connected to Christ, we must grow. If we have
union with Him, we cannot die. John 15, verse 1. I am the true vine, and my Father
is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth
not fruit, He taketh away. And every branch that beareth
fruit, He purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now
ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit
of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye except
ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I
in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me ye
can do nothing. If we are joined to Christ, have
union with him, It's impossible for us to not bear fruit. It's
impossible for us to die and lose our salvation. The only
way we could lose that blessing is for God to change. And that's
impossible, isn't it? God can't change. All right,
so that's our first point. I told you, that's where I spend
the most of our time. It's impossible for someone who
God has saved, who has faith in Christ, it's impossible for
them to lose their salvation. But here's the second impossibility.
It's impossible for us to be saved without this union with
Christ. It's impossible for us to be
saved outside of Christ. If you're still there in John
15, look at verse 6. If a man abide not in me, he's
cast forth as a branch and is withered, and men gather them
and cast them into the fire, and they're burned. If a man
abide not in me, the only end of that man is eternal death. And the writer to the Hebrews
says the same thing in verse eight. But that which bear thorns
and briars is rejected. Now that which God, where the
God prepared to heart, made to heart good ground, and he sends
the seed and the sunshine to rain, that man receives a blessing
from God. He grows and is accepted. But
that which bear thorns and briars is rejected and is nigh into
cursing, whose end is to be burned. The only fit end for that person
is to be burned. The only fit end. for anybody
outside of Christ is damnation. It's the only fit end. It's the
only way it can end. Why? Because they rejected the
only Savior. They rejected the only way of
righteousness. They rejected the only way of
acceptance. Salvation outside of Christ is
impossible. It's impossible. It's impossible
for us to be saved by our works of the law. Because our works
are sinful, they're rotten, they're evil. It's impossible for us
to be saved by our works of the law. It's impossible for us to
be saved then without faith in Christ. Hebrews chapter 11. It's impossible to be saved without
faith in Christ. But without faith, it is impossible
to please him. For he that cometh to God must
believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek him. See, it's impossible to be saved
without faith in Christ. Impossible to be saved by our
works. Salvation is by faith, not by works. Paul wrote a whole
epistle to the church at Rome to show us that point. Salvation
by works is impossible. Salvation can only be by faith.
Salvation without the sacrifice without his blood being shed
for us, without him dying as our substitute is impossible. There's no other sacrifice. It's
impossible for us to be saved by sacrificing something that
is enjoyable to the flesh. And we think, well, I give up
this sin or I give up this bad habit. Then God will be happy
with me. It's impossible to be saved that way. Hebrews 10 verse
four, for it is not possible. that
the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. And you
just take out the blood of bulls and goats and put in anything
that you can do. Put in anything you can sacrifice
and give up. Put it in the place of that and
the verse will still be true. It's not possible that that should
take away sins. It's impossible for us to be
saved by any other sacrifice, by us giving something, giving
up something other than the sacrifice of Christ. Look at Mark chapter
10. Everybody here has been good. Church going, boys and girls.
Church going, men and women. We live in the Bible Belt. We've
been taught the Bible. We all still put a lot of stock
in that. We like to say we're a member
of the local church and we do all this, that, and the other.
I want to tell you something. What God's Word says, it's impossible
for us to be saved through our religious activity. Impossible. You know the story of the rich
young ruler. He came to the Lord and that rich young ruler, that
poor young man, really did think. He'd done all those things. I
reckon outwardly, yeah, probably. I don't know. But he really did
think that. But the Lord knew and he knew. That didn't save him. If that young man thought, doing
all those things that saved his soul, made him right with God,
he never would have come to the master asking him, what must
I do to be saved? What must I do to inherit eternal
life? He never would have done it if he thought he already had
it. He knew, he knew all that religious activity did not save
him. Look at Mark 10 verse 26. This
is after our Lord had talked to this young man. He went away
sorrowful because he had great riches. And verse 26 says, And
they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who
then can be saved? And Jesus looking upon them,
saying, With men it is impossible. With men it's impossible. No
matter what you do, no matter what you give up. With men it's
impossible. It's impossible for us to be
saved outside of Christ. Oh, but thank God there's a comma
there, not a period. Oh, but not with God, for with God all
things are possible. And not only are they possible,
they're sure, they're certain they cannot be lost. I know there
are folks here right now listening to the sound of my voice. I know
there are folks here who as of right now have not trusted Christ.
You haven't trusted him. I want to ask you something.
Why not? Why not? You think you're going
to find a better Savior than this one? Huh? Are you going
to find a better salvation than salvation in Christ? You going
to be able to work out something better? Are you going to find a better
gospel than this one? Why haven't you trusted Christ?
If He can't keep you, who will? Huh? Who will? You going to do
it better than He does? You going to keep your own self
better than He does? Now you just quit. Quit your stubborn
rebellion. Trust Christ. Come to Him. I
know there are many false professors out there. I know that. I know
most people in the world at any given time don't believe the
gospel. I know only the remnant do. But I know this. That really doesn't discourage
me. I mean, I hate that. I wish more people did. But that
doesn't discourage me in my faith. That doesn't discourage me in
preaching the gospel. Because God's people believe it. God's
people believe Christ. and they'll never lose their
salvation. That's what the writer says in verse nine. But beloved,
we're persuaded better things of you and things that accompany
salvation, though thus we speak. We're persuaded of better things
than you, but we give you this warning. We give you this warning.
He seems to be telling us here, make your calling and election
sure. And I'll tell you how you do that. By examining yourself
with only one question. This is not complicated to make
your calling and election sure. You examine yourself with one
question. Dry faith in Christ. Is He all
my hope? Is the only way I can be saved
in Him and His sacrifice and His righteousness? Is the only
righteousness I can have His obedience? Is that the only way
I can be saved? If He's your only hope, then God saved you. Your calling and your election
is sure. And you'll never lose your salvation.
Because He'll never change. He'll never change. You'll never
lose one that the Father gave you. And you'll never lose one
that He died for. because his blood cleanses us
from all sin. Let's bow together in prayer.
Father, how we thank you for this blessed encouragement from
your word that comforts and encourages the heart of your people that
is impossible for those who believe on Christ to lose their salvation.
Christ died for us, the Father chose us, the Spirit called us,
giving us faith in Christ is impossible. Father, how we thank
you. This encourages and strengthens
our hearts. Because to our shame, we're so
sinful, we're so weak, we're so shameful. But what a comfort
to know our salvation is not in us becoming less sinful or
less shameful, but it's in Christ. who's made us perfect and righteous
and accepted in Him, all how we think. Father, increase our
faith in Him. Cause us to quit ever looking
to ourselves for evidence of salvation, some evidence that
you're pleased with us, and cause us to look only to Christ. Give
us faith that runs to Him and stays right there. Father, we
pray this. We do ask it for our salvation,
for our good, but for your glory. Father, give glory to your name
in saving and comforting and keeping your people in the Lord
Jesus Christ. In his precious name, we pray
and give thanks.