to 1st Peter and the fourth chapter
1st Peter chapter 4 now there are many difficulties in this
passage at a first reading at a superficial reading there are
many difficulties in this passage and we need what Paul calls in
1 Corinthians 2.16 the mind of Christ so many people read the
Word of God and based on the scriptures they come out with
all sorts of weird and wonderful things because they don't read
it with the mind of Christ. Oh, we need the mind of Christ.
We pray that we would have the mind of Christ as we look into
these Scriptures. Because if you're not careful,
you'll get all sorts of weird and wonderful things, such as
in verse 6, preaching the gospel unto the dead. I mean, I'm sure
some of you who've been in various circles down many years will
remember people saying that Jesus goes to the dead in hell to preach
the gospel to them, to give them a second chance to believe the
gospel. That's doctrine that I've heard. Absolute rubbish.
And it's based on that verse 6, the gospel being preached
to the dead. As we'll see soon, it doesn't mean that at all.
It doesn't mean that in the slightest. You read down in verse 18, which
is going to be the majority of our focus later on, that the
righteous are scarcely saved. As if the righteous are saved
by the skin of their teeth. You know, they're just clinging
on by their fingertips. The righteous are scarcely saved
and they get all sorts of weird doctrines that Jesus gets you
so far and then there's so much more that you have to do and
they build doctrine based on 1 Corinthians chapter 3 that
some build with good solid good works that really build them
a lovely great big crown and they're not saved by the skin
of their teeth They're given the leg up into heaven by Jesus,
but then they build all these good things for themselves, and
they get a really good crown. But others, they don't have good
works. They don't have many good works,
and they are saved by the skin of their teeth, wood, hay, and
stubble. You see? Scarcely saved. And people build all sorts of
weird doctrines just on odd words taken out of context. We need
to rightly divide. the Word of Truth. And we must
read this in the context in which it is set. The context of this
is the verse we looked at last week, which is 1 Peter 3, 18.
There we read, "...Christ also has suffered once for sins, the
just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being
put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit." There
is the basis, the gospel of grace, the gospel of particular redemption,
bringing a specific people to God, bringing His sheep to God,
bringing His bride, that glorious bride without blemish and without
spot and without wrinkle to God as the Bride of Christ, called
by the preaching of Christ's Spirit. He goes out by His Spirit. In all ages is what this is talking
about. In all ages of human history.
In the time of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, Noah
was a preacher of righteousness. preaching this salvation in a
substitute with a graphic image of the Ark as that symbol of
the Lord Jesus Christ and if you were in you were saved and
if you were outside you perished and so it is now to be in Christ
all that I may be found in Him not having my own righteousness
but that which is in the Lord Jesus Christ and in the days
of Noah despite the preaching the hardness of the human heart
all perished apart from eight eight souls only Noah his wife
three sons and their wives they were the ones that those are
the people the human beings that were preserved from whom we all
descend it's always been the case that the people of God are
a little flock Jesus makes this plain you know we have the idea
we keep saying it but we have the idea that the success of
the gospel is in the numbers that come flocking in that is
a complete delusion of man in every age even when it has appeared
that there is very great interest in the things of God they've
been in a minority you know when Spurgeon was filling the Metropolitan
Tabernacle well I said that wrong it wasn't Spurgeon that filled
the Metropolitan Tabernacle it was God by his spirit who filled
the Metropolitan Tabernacle to bursting with thousands going
to hear him preach when he preached at the Crystal Palace the old
Crystal Palace thousands were there to hear him preach thousands
but nevertheless compared with the population of London tiny
minority little flock, tiny minority. Such is the way. The way to heaven
is a narrow way. Christ said this. He said it's
a narrow way. But broad is the way that leads
to destruction. That's the Sermon on the Mount,
Matthew 7, verse 13. Broad is the way that leads to
destruction. And that's what this chapter
4 is about. It's about the difference between
being saved and the cost of being saved. and the fate of being
outside of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse 1, chapter 4 and
verse 1. For as much then, as Christ hath
suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with
the same mind. For he that hath suffered in
the flesh hath ceased from sin, that he no longer should live
the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the
will of God. Christ has lived and died for
his people. and His people have lived and
died in Him. When He lived in the reckoning
of God, all who are in Christ lived in Him. And when He died
to put to death sin in the flesh, that sin was put to death in
the flesh. And so Peter's argument is, you are in Christ, therefore
no longer live in the lusts of the flesh, but in the Spirit.
Put off, as Paul says elsewhere, Paul says, put off the old man
with his lusts and with his sinful affections and put on the new
man who is renewed in holiness in the Lord Jesus Christ. Put
off the old, put on the new. Be separate from the world because
such a price has been paid. Christ has suffered in the flesh.
There we have it again. He suffered in the flesh for
His people. Such a price has been paid. Psalm
49 and those verses that we read that I put on the back of the
bulletin. None of them can by any means
redeem his brother. No man can redeem. No man can
pay the price to purchase his brother for eternity. None of
them can give to God the ransom that God requires for his release.
You know we're captives to sin and God requires a ransom to
release captives from their captivity. But none of us can pay that ransom.
None of us. The redemption of their soul
is precious. and it ceaseth forever." What
does that mean? I think that means it's a once-for-all thing. It's a one-off thing. It's not
something that can be repeated or done by people. That he should
still live forever and not see corruption. That's the ransom
that is needed. That we should not see corruption
but live forever. It's a great price and Christ
has paid it. Christ has paid it. The Gospel
has been preached. The Gospel has been preached
down all the years of human history and in verse six we have that
verse for this cause the gospel was preached also to them that
are dead not that somebody went Christ or spirit or somebody
went to preach to people who were dead no the scriptures are
clear there's no second chance today is the day of salvation
today is the day of salvation we don't pray for the dead we
don't preach to the dead it's too late for them they've gone
they've gone But this is the gospel was preached to those
who are now dead, but it was preached to them while they were
alive. That's what the verse means. Down the years of history,
people alive have had the gospel, this gospel of grace preached
to them. They've had that gospel preached
to them. They're now dead. But Christ's
sheep, of all those that heard it, Christ's sheep have been
called out. And when they hear the call, as he says, my sheep
hear my voice and they follow me. And how does the world? You
see, it divides. It divides into those that have
heard and rejected and those that have heard and by the grace
of God are called as his sheep and they come. The world judges
them as fools. Look at verse 4. You see, he says in verse 3,
this is how you used to live. You used to live in times past. You've wrought the will of the
Gentiles. In other words, you've followed the lusts of the ungodly.
when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revelings,
banquetings, and abominable idolatries. Just a worldly existence. A worldly
existence of pleasure. What Hebrews 11 says about Moses,
the pleasures of sin for a season. The pleasures of sin that he
had as the son of Pharaoh's daughter, being brought up as the son of
Pharaoh's daughter. Those pleasures of sin. But Moses, by faith,
rejected those things. But nevertheless, they are very
real. And it says in verse 4, wherein they, those that reject
the gospel, those that are outside, those that want nothing to do
it but see you as a believer following Christ, they think
it's strange that you run not with them to the same excess
of riot, speaking evil of you, giving a bad report about you.
You're a nutcase. You're doing all sorts of stupid
things for the sake of religion. Look at the pleasures that you're
missing out on by what you're doing. Look at all of that. you
see the world judges the world judges believers as fools verse
6 for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are
dead that they might be judged according to men in the flesh
men in the flesh judge believers as fools but those who are called
by Christ live according to God in the Spirit living to God but
yet being judged as fools by the world by the world all around
us why look at verse 7 but the end of all things is at hand
Be ye therefore sober and watch unto prayer." What's this saying?
It's saying be conscious of how frail our existence is. The end
of all things at hand. You see, it could mean three
things here. It could mean this. For every
single one of us individually, the end of us could be at hand. Who knows when we will be taken? Who knows when, you know that
rich man who said, I've got more than I need and he built barns
and relax and take your ease and enjoy life and God said to
him, Thou fool, this night your soul shall be required of you.
Then whose shall those things be that you put all your trust
in? Who shall they belong to then? No, for all of us the end
of all things could easily be at hand any moment. But also
at the time that Peter wrote this was very, very close to
the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. You could see the
political turmoil that was building up You know the sort of things
that we see in history. Anybody living and conscious
of these things, very few of them left alive these days, but
anybody born around the turn of the last century, 1900, and
seeing the way history was developing could see in the run up to 1914
that an impending, horrible disaster was coming. Composers wrote music
about it. Gustav Holst wrote Mars, the
planets, the bringer of war. The year before the whole thing
broke out. You see, people could see that
impending doom was coming and maybe Peter's meaning that as
well. The end of all things is at hand. Those that lived comfortably
in Jerusalem, the end of all things is at hand. There was
a terrible destruction took place. In the purposes of God, that
temple worship was destroyed forever. It has never ever been
reinstated. Here we are in 2009. That has
never been reinstated. Why? Because Christ had come
and fulfilled all things. Isn't that a marvelous thing
to see? Christ has fulfilled it all, therefore why do we need
it? And he put an end to it. The
temple there was sacked and despite efforts and efforts it has never
ever been rebuilt and it has never been re-established and
nowhere in the world, nowhere do Jews sacrifice animals according
to the Old Testament pattern. Because Christ has fulfilled
it all and God has prevented it ever happening again. The
end of all things is at hand, but also it's this consciousness.
What did Jesus say? about the end of all things,
the final judgment. He said, you're going about your
business thinking as it was in the days of Noah but so shall
it be when the Son of Man comes again at the end of time. People
will be going about their business and not expecting the thief to
come in the middle of the night but that's exactly when the thief
does come, when not expected. He said to some disciples about
his coming again When you think not, that's when it will be.
That's when it will be. An old preacher teaching his
students said, how many of you think the Lord will come tonight?
And they all went, no, we don't think so. And he said, that's
interesting. The scriptures say, He'll come when you think not.
He'll come when you think not. The end of all things is at hand.
So therefore, the exhortation here is to live soberly. To live
seriously, conscious of eternal things. Conscious that you know
as the flippant chorus says I've got a home in glory land that
outshines the sun my home is not here I'm just a pilgrim here
this is just a sojourn for a while this is just we're just camped
here just for a while but the home of God's people is eternity
is glory for eternity that's it live in the knowledge of that
and watch unto prayer have a prayerful spirit oh how I lament the lack
of prayerfulness in my own spirit, how I lamented that God would
come as He did to David. God came to David and God put
it in David's heart to pray, or that He would put it in our
hearts to pray to Him, to be in communion with heaven, knowing
that that's where we really are seated with the Lord Jesus Christ
in the reckoning of God. So live soberly, live prayerfully,
and use the gifts, the following verses down to verse 16 Use the
gifts. Use the gifts that were given.
Use the gifts of hospitality. Use the gifts of charity. For
charity covers a multitude of sins. As every man has received
a gift, verse 10, so minister the same one to another. Use
the gifts that God has given in proportion to how much He
has given as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If
it's a gift of ministering, verse 11, speak as the oracles of God
with the authority of God. If any man minister, let him
do it to the ability which God giveth, that God in all things
may be glorified. And then be ready for trials.
Verse 12 and onwards. Think it not strange concerning
the fiery trial, for that's your lot in this life. A fiery trial. Difficulties. You may think,
well, we're not suffering. Christians have down years. And in many ways, what's the
trial we suffer today? You may say, well, it's not very
painful in terms of the flesh. Oh, but it's grieving in the
Spirit, isn't it? The rejection of the Gospel that we see all
around us. The self-satisfaction. The happiness that people have
with their lot. Their lack of thought for God
and eternity. Oh, what a grief that is. What
a grief that is. What a trial it is of our hearts
and minds when we see such blatant open rejection of such gracious,
gracious words of grace and truth. When we see the truth of God
despised and rejected and held up to ridicule and regarded as
such a dreadful thing. There are trials for Christians
in all seasons. And he says, verse 13, "...rejoice
inasmuch that you are partakers of Christ's sufferings." You
see, he might also be referring to the fiery trial in the sacking
of Jerusalem which was to come and the upheaval in the Roman
Empire at the time. But it applies in all times.
If you be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are you.
for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you on their
part he is evil spoken of but on your part he is glorified
but don't let your suffering be justly for sins for crimes
crimes of murder and theft and evil doing and busybodying in
other men's matters no no for the sake of Christ and for his
truth if any man suffer as a Christian verse 16 let him not be ashamed
but let him glorify God on his behalf these are encouragements
and exhortations to use what God has given us to use our gifts
to expect chastening as the lot of God's children and then verse
17 and 18 we have some statements that we need to look at in a
bit more detail for the time is come that judgment must begin
at the house of God and if it first begin at us what shall
the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God And if
the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the
sinner appear? Wherefore, let them that suffer
according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls
to Him in well-doing as unto a faithful Creator. Judgment
must begin at the house of God. It says there in verse 17. What
does that mean? Well again, I think it probably
has reference the house of God being the temple of God in Jerusalem. before it was pulled down and
that judgment came there that that which was the earthly symbol
of the presence and residence and the being of God with his people
in the midst of his people there in Jerusalem that that judgment
was coming on that and that was to be torn down and so you could
read it quite justly that judgment must begin at the house of God
in that sacking of the temple in Jerusalem but also it has
reference to the house of God being the church because the
house of God is the temple of God and in these days the temple
of God is the church of His people built of living stones by His
Spirit He lives in the hearts and minds of His people for we
are the temple of the living God and the church goes through
trials and chastenings this is not the chastening of God's people
for their sins for that sin has already been chastened in Christ
that sin has already been judged and punished in Christ This isn't
chastening for sins. This is chastening as a father
chastens his son. This is chastening as parents
lovingly chasten their children. And their children find it hard
at the time and difficult and they don't like it. But it's
because they're loved and it's for their good and it's with
the best of intentions. And God who knows all things.
God who knows all things. If even a parent, if his son
asks bread of him, he won't give him a serpent. If he asks for
an egg, he won't give him a stone. If you then being evil, you parents
know how to give good things to your children, how much more
does God give good things to his children? This is chastening.
These are trials of chastening which begin at the house of God.
But what about those that are outside of the house of God and
the judgment of God? The judgment for sin which hasn't
been dealt with in Christ. Oh, what shall the end be of
them? that obey not the gospel of God.
Do you know, that horrifies me when I think about it more than
anything else. Our neighbors, our families,
the nice people that we come across every day who reject the
gospel of God. What shall the end be of them
that obey not the gospel of God? It's a dreadful thought, isn't
it? Oh, how we must pray for them. how we must use the opportunities
that they might know the gospel of grace that we must pray that
God would open hearts and minds we know the God of all the earth
shall do right we know that His judgments and His justice are
true and righteous altogether but let's pray for those around
us who are outside of Christ and have no thought for Him and
then in verse eighteen if the righteous scarcely be saved What
shall the ungodly, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? You see? The contrast between
the saved and the not saved. And what does this word mean,
the righteous scarcely be saved? You see, many put forward the
idea that it's saved only just. As I was saying earlier, as Job
19.20 says, I am saved by the skin of my teeth. Now you say,
my teeth haven't got any skin on them. No, that's the whole
point. You're saved by something that's so thin you can't see
it. So intangible you can't see it. Saved only just. It doesn't
mean that. How can it possibly mean that?
What's the context? It's the scripture. How does
Christ save His people? How is Christ able to save His
people? Hebrews 7.25. He's able to save
to the uttermost. To the uttermost. There's no
short measure. There's no part measures. He
gives His Spirit abundantly. He saves His people to the uttermost. There is no shortfall in the
judgment and reckoning of God. He is just and He is the justifier
of His people. But scarcely means this. With
great difficulty. With great difficulty. As I keep
reading, this is the second or third time, that Psalm. It's
not easy. It's not easy. Not easy. None
of them can by any means redeem his brother. nor give to God
a ransom for him. For the redemption of their soul
is precious. It's costly and it ceaseth forever. It's a difficult thing. Scarcely
means with great difficulty. If the righteous only be saved
with great difficulty, where shall those who are outside of
Christ and outside of the gospel of God, where shall they appear?
You see, the natural view, the natural view of man all around
us is that it's very easy to be saved for eternity. Generally
speaking, people fall into a couple of categories. One, they don't
think there is any afterlife and any eternity and they kind
of atheistically convince themselves that that's not the case. That
there just isn't anything. When in their heart of hearts,
they know. They know. You watch a man on his deathbed.
You know, you watch a person there. Oh boy, eternity becomes
a reality then. It really does. But many walk
through this life pretending that there is no afterlife, that
there is nothing beyond this and therefore it's easy to be
saved because nobody's saved. But then there's the others,
this is the much more sentimental one and you notice this when
you go to a family funeral and this is so sad because what does
it appear like? Remember the last one we went
to and everybody's there and it's as if it's a big family,
we're just celebrating the fact that the one who has departed
is having a big family reunion with all the ones that have gone
before and they're easily saved, aren't they? They're saved because
they're just good folks and members of the family and they're all
having a big family reunion up there in the sky and all looking
down on us and that's what so many, many, many people think
and they don't reckon with the judgment of God and they don't
reckon with the fact that it's appointed to man to die once
and then the judgment, then the judgment and there's Arminian
false religion, it's sentimentalism Arminian false religion that
says, Oh, salvation is so easy. The simple plan of salvation.
We call it easy believism. Oh, nothing to it. All you have
to do is you say this simple thing and then you're saved for
all eternity. Do you know, I went through that and I used to keep
thinking, what have I said? You know, come into my heart,
Lord Jesus. Come in today, come in to stay,
come in to my... I might as well have said, as
we used to do as kids as an ambulance went by down the street we used
to say touch my head touch my toes and hope I never go in one
of those or carry a rabbit's foot in my pocket as a good luck
charm or some four-leaf clovers and things like this it's just
a form of words which is just a form of sentimental superstition
there's no such thing as easy believism unto salvation there's
no such thing as a simple plan of salvation The plan of salvation
isn't simple. The plan of salvation is the
most profound thing that's beyond the wit of any man, which is
why this book must be the Word of God, because it's only here
that this plan of salvation is declared. It's only here by the
Spirit of God. It isn't easy. It's with great
difficulty. What did Jesus say? He said about
becoming a Christian, it's not an easy thing. He said it's easier
for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for
a rich man by which he meant rich in his own righteousness
not just necessarily rich in his worldly goods rich in his
own righteousness it's easier for a camel to go through the
eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven
oh true saving faith is rare it's a rare thing scarcely saved
with great difficulty Luke 18 verse 8 when the Son of Man comes
will he find faith on the earth True saving faith is a rare thing.
We see it all around us. As I said, even when Spurgeon
was filling the Crystal Palace and the Metropolitan Tabernacle,
compared with the population of London, it was a rare thing
to find a true believer. There's a great cost and we're
encouraged. The reading that we had in Luke
14 encourages us to count the cost. So why are the righteous
scarcely saved? Why are the righteous saved only
with great difficulty? Here I've got some things. to
let you see, to meditate upon how costly it is to save a soul. Firstly, divine justice. The very nature of God, of who
He is, of His justice. Oh, that's an unmovable thing. That's an unchangeable thing.
We could read, turn to Romans chapter 3. Romans chapter 3 in
verse 24. being justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom
God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to
declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are
passed through the forbearance of God, to declare, I say at
this time, His righteousness, that He might be just and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Where is boasting then?
It is excluded. By what law? Of works? Nay, but
by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude, that a
man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. The divine
justice of God could never be satisfied by the works of righteousness
of the law, but only by the righteous works of the Lord Jesus Christ,
by the justifying works of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the
only thing. Divine justice is such an enormous
barrier to being saved for eternity. Oh, it needs one who alone can
pay the ransom. Job 33-24, deliver him from going
down to the pit. Have you heard these words in
the gospel of grace? Deliver him from going down to
the pit for I have found a ransom. And where has he found a ransom?
In what we've just read. The propitiation that is in the
shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know the law of God,
well let's put it the other way around, the law of the Medes
and the Persians is a picture in some respects of the law of
God. Do you remember the story of Daniel and the lion's den
and Darius and the law of the Medes and the Persians? And that
law was a law which can never be changed. It was an unchangeable
law. And they got Darius to come up
with a law that anybody that didn't bow down to Darius' statue
would be thrown into the lion's den. And then they went and,
because it was a trap that they set, and then they found Daniel.
Daniel, whom Darius loved Darius loved Daniel, this servant of
God, because he was such a faithful servant of the king. He worked
diligently. He did the king's business, but
he worshipped the living God and wouldn't waver from that.
And Darius loved Daniel. And, of course, these men set
this trap with this law, which then couldn't be changed. And
then they found Daniel not bowing down to this, but worshipping
the true God of heaven. And they went to Darius And they
said, didn't you make a law? And he said, yes I did. And isn't
it the law of the Medes and the Persians which cannot be changed?
Yes it is. Right, we've found Daniel and
he's not obeying you. And Darius was absolutely torn
apart by the dilemma that here was his favoured one, Daniel,
who, because his justice was unchanging, it may not be like
the justice of God in terms of its goodness, but nevertheless
in its unchanging character, He had to throw the one he loved
into the lion's den. But he did it saying this, I
am sure that the God whom you serve will preserve you in that
situation, and of course we know he did. The justice of God is
unchangeable. He's not going to say when we
pass through death into eternity, oh it's alright, I didn't really
mean it. It's okay anyway. Never mind. Just, you know, you
were a naughty boy, but never mind, we'll let you in this time.
No, he's not going to say that. His justice is unchanging, and
there's only one ransom that can overcome that barrier, and
that's the ransom paid by the Lord Jesus Christ for His people.
And then secondly, there's the sinfulness of sin. Here's a barrier
to being saved. Here's a difficulty to overcome.
What are we like by nature? We're so disinclined to the things
of God. By nature, Romans 8 verse 7 says,
we're at enmity with God. You know, we're not all good
children of God. We're at enmity with Him by nature. We won't come to Him. He's talking,
Jesus is talking to the Pharisees. He tells them, John 5, 39, you
search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal
life, but these are they which speak of Me. And then He says,
but you won't come to Me that you might have life. You won't
come to Me. By nature, the sin that's in
us, we won't come to Him that we might have life. We're dead
in trespasses and sins, says Ephesians 2. verses 1 to 4 and
it's only the quickening of the Spirit of God that makes us alive. The picture that Ezekiel had
of the people of God was a valley of dry bones and that's what
we're like and it's only as the Spirit of God breathes on them
that they come together and the sinews and the flesh come upon
them and without God's intervention whoever would come and what should
we pray? Are you in Christ or outside
of Christ? If you're outside of Christ this must be your prayer
Pass me not, O gracious Saviour. Hear my humble cry. Whilst on
others Thou art calling, please do not pass me by. That's all
you can pray, for it's of the gift and Spirit of God. And then,
thirdly, there's such a need for commitment. Did we not read
in Luke 14 about counting the cost before embarking on the
journey, on the road to eternal life? Recognizing how narrow
is the way. Recognizing how difficult is
the way. Recognizing that Christ is Lord. That phrases you so glibly. Oh,
the charismatic groupings that we used to be in. They wave their
arms in there, He is Lord, He is Lord, He is risen from the
dead. And they all sway and get all emotional, but they don't
for one second believe that He is Lord. He is Lord. Christ is
Lord. He will not have anything other
than a 100% commitment to Him. If you will not take up your
cross and follow Me, If you will not love Me and put Me before
all of these other things, husband, wife, children, career, possessions,
everything, all of these other things, you cannot be My disciple. For He is a jealous God. He will
not have any other rival. And so it must be. So it must
be. The God of the universe must
have our total and utter commitment to Him. Great difficulty. Great
difficulty to overcome. But in Christ, He overcomes it. He makes His people willing in
the day of His power. Willing to have this One as Lord. Willing to look and see that
He is the fairest of 10,000. Willing to look and see the beauties
of His face. The beauties of all that He has
done for us in the Lord Jesus Christ. And then fourthly, there's
the lure of the world. The lure of the world all around
us. The temptation. The flesh wars against the Spirit.
And the Spirit against the flesh. And the cares of the world. You
know the parable of the sower and some falls amongst weeds
and thorns. And it grows up and it looks
like healthy shoots to start with. It looks like the start
of eternal life, of true spiritual life, but then the deceitfulness
of riches. The weeds and the thorns, they
strangle the good corn and it becomes unfruitful. The deceitfulness
of riches, they choke, they choke the good life out of those who
would appear for a while to be the people of God. And only Christ
is able to keep His people. Oh, the lure of the world is
such, such a strong lure and such a difficulty to overcome.
Divine justice cannot be changed. The sinfulness of man cannot
be improved by our own efforts, only by the life that God gives.
The need for commitment will not be compromised under any
circumstances. You cannot serve two masters.
The lure of the world must be overcome. The temptations of
the flesh, these things must be overcome and His people must
be kept. And then fifthly, the chastisement
which is the lot of the people of God we read about it here
in this passage these trials the time has come that judgment
must begin at the house of God we read about them in verse 12
beloved think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which
is to try you as though some strange thing happened to you
this is the common lot of the people of God we could read about
it if we had more time in Hebrews chapter 12. Read about it for
yourselves. The chastisement of God on the children he loves
to bring them to eternity. It's through much tribulation,
says Acts 14.22. It's through much tribulation
that we must enter the kingdom of God. There's a hymn that we
nearly had, but I thought of it too late. It says, if I find
him, this is one of the verses. Do you know it? If I find him,
if I follow, What awaits me here? No? If I find Christ, if I follow,
what awaits me here? Many a sorrow, many a labor,
many a tear. If I still hold closely to Him,
what is He at last? Sorrow vanquished, labor ended,
Jordan passed. That's the goal. That's the prize. Eternal life. I press towards
the mark, you see. There are great barriers to salvation. It's a difficult thing. But Christ
has overcome them all. He's overcome the barrier of
divine justice for He's met it perfectly. So that God can be
just, He can remain with immovable, unchangeable justice and yet
justify the sinner in Christ. The sinfulness of sin is overcome
because although there's not the slightest inclination in
any one of us by nature to come, God's Spirit comes and implants
new life There's the need for commitment, because whilst we
will not have this man naturally to rule over us, when he melts
our hearts, oh, the bliss of bowing at the feet of the Lord
Jesus Christ. There's the lure of the world,
which is so strong, but the more we look at Him, the more we look
at Him, the things of this world grow strangely dim in the light
of His glory and grace. Chastisement? What is that but
the loving care of our Heavenly Father, bringing us to glory,
therefore we can say this if any think they are saved easily
if any think oh well I just walked the aisle I signed a card I made
my decision however many years ago it was I'm fine for eternity
you're not truly saved you're not truly saved if that's the
case but any who are in Christ are most surely saved and kept
they can say this with Paul in Romans 8 28 to 39. You know that
we haven't got time to read all those verses. But who shall bring
any charge against God's elect? Christ has died. The justice
is satisfied. Who shall do anything? Height,
depth, all of these other things. Nothing can do anything to separate
us from the love of God that is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
So we make this our goal. I'll finish with this. I'll read
these well-known verses from Philippians 3, verses 8 to 14,
to be found in Him. yea doubtless and I count all
things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do
count them but done that I may win Christ and be found in him
not having mine own righteousness which is of the law but that
which is through faith of Christ the faithfulness of Christ remember
not my faith in Christ the faithfulness of Christ the righteousness which
is of God by faith that I may know him and the power of his
resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made
conformable unto his death, if by any means I might attain unto
the resurrection of the dead, not as though I had already attained,
either were already perfect, but I follow after, if that I
may apprehend that for which I also am apprehended of Jesus
Christ. Brethren, I count not myself
to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those
things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things
which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the
high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Amen.