Now Paul, in the passage of scripture
I just read, makes this staggering claim that every believer is
holy, unblameable, and unreprovable in the very sight of God. Holy. Do you know that holiness
is immutable? You can't lose it. If you have
it, it can't go down. It can't go up. Holy. That's an amazing thought partakers. The scripture says of the divine
nature, God is holy by nature. We have no holiness. It's given
to us in the new birth. Holy. And then unblameable, that
means without any blemish. God looks at me and there are
no blemishes, no weaknesses, no spots, without blemish. And unrebukable, nothing can
be laid to my charge. There's nothing there to charge
me with. Now that's a staggering claim, isn't it? Every believer,
by virtue of what Christ has done for them, is holy, unblameable,
and unreprovable in the very sight of God. This is a state
of sinlessness. That's what it is. A state of
sinlessness. And this is in God's sight. And
how God sees things is the way they really are. You and I really
don't see things as they really are. But he does. Can someone thusly described
fall away? No, no, it is impossible. They have eternal life. However
secure Jesus Christ is, that's how secure they are. As he is,
is he utterly secure? Is there any way that he'll fall
away? Does he even have the potential
of Not continuing? Of course not. He's the Son of
God. As He is, so are we in this world. Now, what is the evidence
that we are holy, unblameable, and unapprovable in His sight?
Because when we look at ourselves, we can't see the evidence physically.
If anybody looks their lives over and they say, yes, I think
that describes me, you're woefully deceived. That's not true. Surely we won't think anything
like that. It's not because we see this
in ourselves. But what is the evidence that
one is like this? Do we have to wait till we wake
up in heaven and we'll find out whether it's true or whether
it's not? Do we got to wait till we die and either go to heaven
or hell and then we'll find out what it, whether that was true
with regard to ourselves? No. What Paul says in verse 23,
he says, we're holy and unblameable and unapprovable in his sight.
If you continue in the faith, grounded and settled and be not
moved away. from the hope of the gospel. Now, the evidence that the Lord
has done something for me is perseverance in the faith. Not being moved from the hope. There's only one hope in there.
There's only one hope. There are not two. And every
believer has the precise same hope. My hope is that Christ
died for my sins. That's the only hope I have of
being saved. Now, I can't be moved from that
hope because if I am, that proves that the Lord had never really
done anything for me in the first place. The Lord said in John
chapter 8 verse 31, if you continue in my word, then Are you my disciples? Indeed. He said in John 15, four,
abide in me. That means remain there. Don't
be moved. Don't go anywhere else. Now, if you really believed that
the only place of God's acceptance was in this room. And if you
went outside of this room, there was no acceptance. Would you
go outside of this room? No, you'd stay in this room and
That's what a believer does. He stays in the Lord Jesus Christ
because he knows outside of Christ, there's no favor. There's no
grace. There's no mercy. There's no acceptance. The only
place of acceptance is in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why
Paul said, oh, that I may win Christ and be found in him. That's the only place I want
to be found. I'm not to be moved from that hope of salvation in
Christ. Acceptance in the beloved. 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, remain. Don't leave me. Turn to Hebrews
chapter three. I'd like you to look at these
scriptures with me. Hebrews chapter three, verse
six. But Christ as a son over his
own house, whose house are we if there's that word, if we hold
fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope. What is the hope? That all God requires of me I
have in Christ. What's my confidence that all
God requires of me I have in Christ. I'm to hold that hope
steadfast to the end. I never graduate past that. I
never go on to bigger and better things. This is the biggest,
this is the best. It doesn't get better. Look down
in verse 14. For we are made partakers of
Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence. What's the
beginning of your confidence? Now, I know, I don't know when
I was saved. I can't give you a date. But
I know this, when I was first saved is when I looked to Christ
only and the only confidence I had was Him. Now we're made
partakers of Christ if we hold that confidence steadfast all
the way to the end. It is only that one that endures
to the end that shall be saved. Now how many times have we seen
people come, get excited over the message, where are they now?
They're gone. They didn't endure to the end. I think of the parable of the
sower. They all heard the same gospel, the seed of the gospel. It wasn't a different gospel.
They didn't have one here hearing one thing and another hearing
something else. They all heard the gospel. But remember the
stoning around here? The scripture says, with joy,
he received the word. This is the best thing I've ever
heard. I believe this. I stand for this. But as soon as persecution
comes because of the word, as soon as he sees what it costs
him, by and by, he's offended. He leaves. What about that thorn
choked here? He heard the gospel. He received
it. And I believe the thorn choked here is still in the assembly.
He's just thorn choked. The lusts of riches, the deceitfulness
of riches, the lusts of other things entering in, choke the
word. He's still there, but there's
no fruit. There's no fruit. He received
the word at first joyfully, but he's been choked with the cares
of this life. Now, I think of, turn to first
Timothy chapter six. Here's another scripture about
this. Paul says in verse 7, For we
brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry
nothing out. And having food and raiment, let us be therewith
content. Now, look at that from a couple
of angles. First, literally. If you've got food and clothing,
what else do you need? I really believe this, and I hope I'm
experiencing this more as I get old. Materialism is overrated.
It really is. It's just having food and raiment. I love that thing Bunyan tells
about being with that widow, and all she had to give him was
bread and water. And she said, Christ and all
this, too. This is great. That is the attitude. Oh, may
we espouse that attitude. Having food and raiment. Let
us be there with content. But having Christ as my clothing,
having his righteousness as my wedding garment that makes me
beautiful before God, feeding on him as my necessary food,
I'm satisfied. I'm not looking for anything
else. If I have Christ, his righteousness of my clothing, himself as my
food that gives me life, I'm content. He says in verse nine, but They
that will be rich, that's their desire. It may be material riches,
it may be some kind of false spiritual riches, something that's
based on pride. They that will be rich fall into
temptation and a snare and to many foolish and hurtful lusts
which drown men in destruction and perdition For the love of
money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after,
they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through
with many sorrows." I couldn't help but thinking about Demas.
Do you know Paul mentioned him on three different occasions
in the New Testament? Demas was one of Paul's traveling companions. He preached the gospel. Maybe
he was a miracle worker. I don't know what all he could
do. Paul said in 2 Timothy chapter 4 regarding Demas, Demas hath
forsaken me, having loved this present world. Satan has no access to the Lamb's
book of life. If he knew positively, you or
I were one of the elect, you know, he wouldn't bother with
us, even though there's no point in it. I think of that scripture
in 2 Timothy 2.19. First John, I mean first John
2 19 they went out from us. They left us, but they were not
of us For if they'd been of us, they would have no doubt had
continued with us But they went out that they might be made manifest
that they were not all of us Now, if Satan knew you were one
of the elect, he would know there's no point in trying to tempt you
away from Christ because it would be a thing impossible. But he
has no access to the Lamb's book of life. And he looks at me and
he looks at you and he wants us to fall away. That's what
he wants. And he'll give us every temptation
to cause us to not abide in Christ. Now, Paul says, You're holy and
unblameable and unreprovable in God's sight if you continue
in the faith. Grounded and settled. Now the word grounded is founded,
laid upon the foundation. Settled is sealed, immovable. You cannot be moved if you continue
in the faith grounded and settled. I love this thing of being settled
to where you can't be moved. Now, if you could be moved, or
if I could be moved, I can guarantee you this, we would be moved.
No doubt about it. If you could fall away, you would
fall away. But God's people continue grounded
and settled in the faith. Turn with me for a moment to
Isaiah chapter 28. This is a beautiful verse of scripture. Verse 16, therefore, thus saith
the Lord God, behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone,
a tribe stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. He that believeth
shall not make haste. He won't be in a hurry to get
away from this, will he? He'll want to stay right there. You'll
notice three different words that are used to describe this
foundation, which is Christ that God laid. First, tried. Put to the test. You know the
Lord Jesus Christ was tried by the holy law of God. And what
he did? He kept it. He honored it perfectly. He never sinned. He was tried
by Satan. Satan tried to tempt him. I love
the way the Lord said, he hath found nothing in me. Don't you
reckon he can find plenty to work with in me and you? No,
he wouldn't have any trouble at all. But regarding the Lord,
the Lord said he had found nothing in me. And he was tried by God's
wrath on the cross, the fire of God's judgment. And he was
raised from the dead, having satisfied the justice of God. He was tried. He that spared
not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall
he not also with him freely give us all things? Not only is he
a tribestone, he's a precious stone. He's precious because
of who He is. He's the Son of God. He's the
altogether lovely one. You see, His work is successful. His blood is precious because
of whose blood it is. His promises are precious because
of whose promises they are. Oh, He is precious. Faith is
precious because it's His gift. Would that like precious faith?
If you have faith, it's because He gave it to you. You see, the
preciousness of the gospel comes from the preciousness of His
person. And to you, which believe, Peter said, he is precious. Now I know this, anybody that
believes to them, the Lord Jesus Christ is precious. He's preciousness itself. And then Isaiah tells us that
this is the sure foundation, the surest. Don't you love sure
thing? I love that verse of scripture where David said, although my
house be not so with God. And I know he was talking about
his family life. I think he's talking about this
house. Although my house be not so with God, yet have he made
with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure. Don't you love that? And David
said, this is all my salvation. And it's all my desire, though
he make it not to grow. Now he that believeth on him
shall not make haste. He's not gonna be in a hurry
to go anywhere else. And I love the way the New Testament quotes
this. He'll not be ashamed. You know, I'm not ashamed of
the gospel. I'm proud of the gospel. I'm
proud of the gospel, I believe. It's worthy of God. And I won't
be put to shame. I'll be, I'll be justified before
all the world. I'll not be put to shame. I won't
have my sins put up on a screen for everybody to see because
there's nothing there. I'm justified. Now the word grounded back in
our text. If you'll look back to Colossians
chapter one, and this is an important distinction. If you continue in the faith
grounded, and it is in the passive voice. If you actively continue
in the faith, it's because God himself has grounded you on the
foundation. Don't you know that? If you continue
in the faith, grounded and settled, it's because God has grounded
you and you cannot leave. You're unable to do so. Turn
to Jeremiah 32. Jeremiah chapter 32, beginning
in verse 39. And I will give them one heart
and one way that they may fear me forever for the good of them
and of their children after them. I will make an everlasting covenant
with them that I will not turn away from them to do them good.
But I'll put my fear in their hearts that they shall not depart
from me. That's why we don't depart. He
puts his fear in our hearts and we cannot depart. Now, this is
a good kind of inability. It comes from two places. God
won't let me depart. He won't let me. Somebody, Aaron,
who's you? I remember you talking about
that yoke. It's a good thing to be yoked to Christ because
if you're yoked, that means you can't get away. You're yoked
to it, you can't get away. That's a good thing, isn't it?
I want it to be that way. I want the Lord to prevent me
from departing. And here's another thing. They
don't depart because they don't want to. They don't want to. You don't have anything worth
trading me for Christ. You really don't. I mean, what? What could be possibly worth
leaving the Lord Jesus Christ over? Riches? Wealth? No, no. You don't have anything that's
worth trading for him. We don't want to depart. We can't
depart. That's why we don't. And we don't want to depart.
We want to continue in the faith, grounded and settled, don't we?
That's all we want to do. He said, if you continue in the
faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved from the hope
of the gospel. The gospel of God, the gospel
of Christ, the gospel of the grace of God, the glorious gospel
of the blessed God, the gospel of peace, the everlasting gospel. Now, what is the hope of the
gospel? It's, it's expressed in many
ways. For instance, I already read
that one passage of scripture, and this is what a glorious hope
this is that when I stand before God in judgment, I'm going to
be holy, unblameable and unapprovable in his sight. Is that the hope
of the gospel? It sure is. That's, that's the hope we were
waiting on. Colossians chapter two, verse 10, it says, you are
complete in him. Man, what a hope. Here's my hope
that everything God requires of me, I have in its fullest,
in its perfection. I am complete in the Lord Jesus
Christ. I'm full. I can't get any more
loved. I can't get any more saved. I can't get any more accepted.
I can't get any more holy than I am in the Lord Jesus Christ.
As he is, so are we in the world. That means right now. Now that's
a hope, isn't it? The hope of the gospel. The hope
of Romans 8, 1, there is therefore now no condemnation to them that
are in Christ Jesus. The hope of Romans 3, 24, being
justified freely. That means without a cause in
me. I love that hope. Being justified freely by his
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. What
a hope we have. The hope that if God's for me,
nobody can be against me. The hope that he foreknew me.
that he predestinated me to be conformed to the image of his
son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren, that he
called me, that he justified me, that he glorified me. What
a hope, a hope that all my sins are forgiven. The songwriter
said, here's pardon for transgressions past. It matters not how black
they're cast. And oh, my soul with wonder view
for sins to come. Here's pardon too. Isn't that
wonderful? You know, what good would it
do you if the Lord gave you a completely clean slate up to this point
and said, go for it? What good? It wouldn't do you
any good at all. You know that. But all sin has been canceled
through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have the hope
of final perseverance, that we're kept by the power of God through
faith unto salvation. We have the hope of resurrection,
that we're going to be raised perfectly conformed to the image
of Christ. We have the hope of the second
advent of the Lord Jesus Christ, that when he shall come with
Trump itself, we earnestly look forward to his return. We have the hope of ever being
with the Lord. beholding his face. Now Peter said, that's the hope
of the gospel and we're not to be moved from that hope. And
Peter said in first Peter three verse 15, but sanctify the Lord
God in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every
man that asks you a reason of the hope that's in you. Now I've
given you the hope that I'm holy and unblameable and unapprovable,
that all my sins are forgiven, that I'm completing Christ, that
there's no condemnation, and all those scriptures that we
just love to think about what our hope is, that we really are.
Now somebody says, give me a reason for that hope. You know, it's
one thing to have a hope, and it's another thing to be able
to give a reason for that hope. Well, here's the first reason.
Everything I said was scripture. The reason is the infallibility
of scripture. It's God's word that says we're
holy and unblameable and unapprovable in his sight. Now, if you're
going to talk about your hope, you better be able to go to the scriptures
to give why you have that hope. Because if it's not in the scriptures,
it's not a good hope. It's not a well-grounded hope.
The only hope that's well-grounded that has a good reason is that
hope that's found in the word of God. The ground of that hope is grace. You know, I put in my notes,
sovereign grace. And I like the term sovereign grace, I guess,
but I just marked it out because I like grace. It's grace. Of
course, if it's grace, it's sovereign grace. That's all. That's obvious.
But it's the unmerited favor of God. God doesn't have to find
a reason in me to do anything for me. He really doesn't. Because
if he did, I wouldn't have anything. But thank God this hope is because
of the freeness of his grace. By grace, you are saved through
faith and that not of yourselves. It's the gift of God. not of
works, lest any man should boast, for we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them. The ground of the hope we have
is the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't, I really, really, I hope I'm
being honest. But all I'm looking to is Him.
That's it. I'm not looking to myself for
anything. I'm not looking to any, I'm looking
to His person. And because of who He is, His
work, it's the person that makes the work successful. He's the
Son of God. He's the God man. And He kept
the law for me. He obeyed God for me. He died
for me. He was raised for me. I'm relying
utterly and completely. Same thing we confess in baptism.
When somebody's baptized, we confess that all of our hope
is that when he lived, we lived. When he died, we died. When he
was raised from the dead, we were too. That's our hope, the
person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And listen to this, the
ground of that hope we have, well, it's scripture. It's because
salvation's by grace. It's because of the person and
work of Christ, but the ground of our hope is the character
of God. What do I mean by that? Well,
God promised salvation. The scripture says God can't
lie. He can't. He's unable to. And he promised
salvation before the foundation of the world. When God, which
cannot lie, had promised. The reason that I And still not
consumed is because the Lord said, I am the Lord. I changed
not. Therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. It's because
of the immutability of God that I continue in the faith. Lamentations
3.22 says it's of the Lord's mercies that were not consumed
because his compassions fail not. Great is thy faithfulness. I think of that passage of scripture
in Psalm 106. Nevertheless, he saved them for
his namesake, that he might make his mighty power known. We're
saved by the power of God. We're saved by the wisdom of
God. Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. God is
so wise, so infinitely wise that he's made a way to be just and
justify the ungodly. Scripture says we're kept. by
the power of God through faith and salvation. I love this verse
of scripture, 1 John 1, 9. If we confess our sins, he's
faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse
us from all unrighteousness. He mentions these two glorious
attributes of God. Now, if I confess my sins, here's
why I do it. And I hope by the grace of God
I do. I mean, there's salvation to that one who confesses his
sins. But the reason I confess my sins is because God decreed
that I would do it. And he's faithful to make sure
I do it. And he's just he's just to forgive me. Yes, he's merciful.
Yes, he's gracious. But he's just I deserve forgiveness
because my sins were paid for. He's faithful and just to forgive
us of our sin. Do you see how every attribute
of God is the cause of salvation? We have this hope that we're
going to continue in the faith because we really believe that
we have a nature that cannot fall away. This is so mysterious,
but turn to first John chapter three. Now we know from the context
of this verse of scripture, verse four, Whosoever committeth sin
transgresseth also the law, for sin is the transgression of the
law. Sin is any lack of perfect conformity
to the Ten Commandments. Sin is the transgression of the
law. There are other definitions of sin in the scripture. Whatsoever
is not of faith is sin. The plowing of the wicked is
sin. We could name six or seven, but here he says sin is the transgression
of the law. So now you know what John's talking
about when he talks about sin in this passage of scripture.
Somebody says, well, he's talking about practicing sin. All you got to do is breathe
and you practice sin. That is not what he's referring to. Well,
let's go on reading. And you know that he was manifested
to take away our sins and in him, is no sin. That means if I'm in him, I have
no sin. Whosoever abideth in him. What's it said of him? He doesn't
sin. He sinneth not. It doesn't say
his sins not charged to him. It says he doesn't sin. In Christ,
there is no sin. Whosoever sinneth hath not seen
him, neither known him. Now, little children, let no
man deceive you. He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even
as he is righteous. And he that committed sin is
of the devil. And remember in the context,
he's talking about any sin. He's talking about the new nature
of the believer here is exactly what he's talking about. For
the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose, the son of
God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil.
Whosoever is born of God, there it is, doth not commit sin. Now that new nature does not
commit sin and the old and it's the new nature that owns the
sins of the old nature. Now understand that the old nature
never confesses a sin. It's the new nature that owns
the sins of the old nature. Whosoever is born of God doth
not commit sin for his seed. The seed of God remains in him
and he cannot sin because he's born of God. Now you read Romans
7 in light of that. There's a holy nature that does
not sin. And there's an evil nature that
does nothing but sin. But the reason a believer continues
in the faith is because he's got a nature that cannot fall
away. The reason for our hope is the
intercession of Christ. I love that scripture. Peter,
Peter was so given over to pride and presumption at this time.
He said, the rest of these fellows will deny you, but not me. Oh,
how, what, how far off he was. You know what the Lord said to
him, Peter? I pray for you that your faith fail not. Now
you're going to deny that you even know me three times. You're
going to make a complete mess of everything. But I've prayed
for you that your faith fail not. And you know what? Peter's
faith never failed. Peter failed, but his faith never
failed. Peter needed to fall, didn't
he? He needed it, but his faith never failed. Thank God for the
intercession of Christ. Hebrews 7.25 says, wherefore
he is able to save them to the uttermost that come to God by
him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. Now,
Paul said you're wholly unblameable and unreprovable of God's sight
if you continue in the faith, grounded and settled and be not
moved away from the hope. There's only one hope in there.
All of us have the same hope. If we're believers, we have the
exact same hope as one hope. Be not moved away from the hope
of the gospel. Now, how can somebody be moved
from this? There's only one way. They never
were there in the first place. That's the only way. If somebody
can be moved from this hope, they never were there in the
first place. I want to close by reading Hebrews
chapter 10, because I think that's an expanded version of Colossians
1 23. Would you turn to Hebrews chapter
10? This is what we're going to close with. Verse 23, let us hold fast the
confession of our faith. Now they're the word faith. I'm
not real sure why the translator is translated that way, because
it's the word hope. Let us hold fast the confession
of our hope, that one hope that we have, the hope of the gospel,
without wavering, for he is faithful to the promised. And let us consider
one another to provoke unto love and to good works, not forsaking
the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but
exhorting one other. And so much the more as you see
the day approaching, For if we sin willfully, after that we've
received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more
sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for judgment
and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
He that despised Moses law died without mercy under two or three
witnesses. Now for a long time, I used to avoid Hebrews chapter
10. I didn't want to read it. And
I didn't want to read it because of this verse of scripture used
to scare me to death. If we sin willfully. Well, anytime you
sin, your will's involved in it. You can't say, well, the
devil made me do it. You did what you wanted to do. What's he mean if we sin
willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth? What
this is a reference to is if after you receive the knowledge
of the truth, what's the truth? Who is the truth? Christ is the
truth. He's the truth of the only way
I can be saved is by him. Now, if you receive the knowledge
of the truth and then leave that and go back to works in some
way, it's over for you. That's what he's talking about.
That's the sin against the Holy Spirit to leave grace and to
go back to works. If we sin willfully, after that
we receive the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more
sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for judgment
and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three
witnesses of how much sore punishment supposes you. Shall he be thought
worthy who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God and hath counted
the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing. Now that word unholy is the word
that's quite often translated common. That which is general
to all as opposed to that which is peculiar to the few. All you
got to do is believe universal redemption and you've you've
left the faith. And have done despite unto the
spirit of grace for we know him that has said vengeance belongeth
unto me. I will recompense sayeth the
Lord and again The Lord shall judge his people. It's a fearful
thing to fall into the hands of the living God. But call to
remembrance the former days, in which after that you were
illuminated, you endured a great fight of afflictions. Partly
whilst you were made a gazing stock, people made fun of you
both by reproaches and afflictions, and partly whilst you became
companions of them that were so used. You wanted to be identified
with those who were suffering for the gospel of Christ, and
you birds of a feather flocked together. For you had compassion
of me in my bonds and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing
in yourselves that you have in heaven a better and enduring
substance. Cast not therefore away your
confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For you
have need of patience, that after you've done the will of God,
you might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he
that shall come will come and will not tarry. Now the just
shall live by faith. But if any man draw back, my
soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who
draw back unto perdition. but of them that believe to the
saving of the soul. Let's pray.