Better Than Moses?

We are entering into a new section of Scripture here in Hebrews chapters 3 and 4, where we encounter some of the heavy warnings of the Bible. Open with us as we consider them together. Would you stand with me and open your Bibles to the book of Hebrews? If you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and one of our ushers will bring you one.

Hebrews is near the end of your Bible, right after the books of 1st and 2nd Timothy and Philemon, and right before the book of James. As we continue our move through the Scriptures, we find in Hebrews chapter 3 that the author says, "Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house. For this One has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who built the house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God."

Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant for a testimony of those things which would be spoken of afterward. But Christ, as a Son over His own house, whose house we are, if we hold fast the confidence and rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, "Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, and saw My works forty years." Therefore, I was angry with that generation and said, "They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways." So I swore in My wrath, "They shall not enter My rest."

Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily while it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end.

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, "Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion." For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt led by Moses? Now, with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness?

And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter because of unbelief.

Father, as we open Your Word this morning, I pray that You would speak to our hearts by Your Spirit through this living Word, which is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. Certainly, there are challenging and heavy passages contained in the Scriptures. I pray, God, that You direct us through it by Your Spirit, that You'd teach us, and that You'd help us to make application from Your Word today. By it, You would transform us by the renewing of our minds so that we would be able to show in our lives this week what is Your good and perfect will. Jesus, make us more like You, we pray, and help us to observe Your Word with our lives. We ask this in Jesus' name, and all those that agreed said, Amen. You can be seated.

Jesus is better. That has been my proposition as we have started moving through the book of Hebrews over the last several weeks. This is also the proposition of the author of this book, whom I believe to be Timothy, as I proposed several weeks ago. If so, Timothy has been making the case that Jesus is better. Jesus, the uncreated, eternal Creator, Son of God.

We saw in our previous two messages together that Jesus is better than angels. Now, as we come to Hebrews chapter three, Timothy will make the case that Jesus is superior to and worthy of much more glory than Moses. Moses was one whom the recipients of this letter, Christians who came out of Judaism and a Hebrew background tradition, lifted high and exalted. He was the great lawgiver of Israel, the one sent as a redeemer for Israel to bring them out of Egypt by the power of God through the plagues there in Egypt. They honored Moses and looked up to him in a significant way.

Now, the author is going to make the case that Jesus is superior to him and worthy of much more glory. That is what he will continue to do over the next several chapters.

Jesus is better—better than angels, better than Moses, better than Abraham, better than the priesthood, better than all other options that are out there. When considering this proposition and the defense of it, the apologetic here in this passage begs the question: why is it important to recognize the superiority of Jesus? Why is it important to understand and acknowledge that He is better? Why write a letter such as this?

It is a long letter, and it will take us some time to get through it. This letter establishes and strongly argues the thesis that Jesus is better than all other options. The apologetic here, the defense, is for Christians who came out of Judaism. Therefore, all of the defenses and arguments will be presented with that mindset. The author will use the Old Testament Scriptures and the traditions of Israel, as those were authoritative to them. He is making the case that Jesus is better, but why? Why is it important to establish that?

Timothy has already alluded to the reason previously back in chapter two, and he will do it again several times in chapter three. He will mention it three more times in chapter four. This theme will recur repeatedly as we go through this book to show why Jesus is better.

What was the issue? What was the pressing problem that stirred him and prompted him to write these things? The first issue is shown to us in Hebrews chapter two. Look at verse three. Turn back a page to Hebrews chapter two, verse three. There it says, "How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?" How shall we escape apparent judgment if we neglect so great a salvation?

Then in chapter three, verse six, he says, "But Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are, if"—circle that word, "if"—"if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end."

He reiterates this in Hebrews chapter three, verses twelve through fourteen: "Beware, brethren," speaking to Christians, "lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily while it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end."

Then again, in Hebrews chapter four, verse one, it says, "Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it." If we skip down ten verses to Hebrews chapter four, verse eleven, we find, "Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience."

In Hebrews chapter four, verse fourteen, it states, "Seeing then that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession." Over and over again, the author of the book of Hebrews emphasizes the need for caution. We must be on guard and beware of the potential disaster of neglecting our salvation. We should not be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin and let go of the steadfastness of Jesus; instead, we must hold on tight.

This concern is what prompts the author to write this letter, providing an apologetic for the superiority of Jesus. It is very clear to me that early Christians, who were brought to faith out of Judaism and from their Hebrew background, were in danger of leaving the faith of Jesus. They risked neglecting His salvation and losing confidence and trust in Him—Jesus alone as the superior sacrifice, the better sacrifice. Consequently, they could come short of and miss out on the promise of God through Jesus.

This is clearly the problem that motivates the author to defend the reality that Jesus is better. He was concerned that some individuals in the Christian faith, coming out of Judaism like he was, might be tempted to revert and neglect the salvation of Jesus Christ.

Now, this issue raises a couple of questions and objections. One objection that might arise from us, sitting two thousand years after this letter was written, is, "What does this have to do with me? I'm not Jewish. I didn't come out of Judaism to follow Jesus." Based on sheer numbers and data, it is very unlikely that many of you in this room today came out of Judaism to be followers of Jesus. Therefore, you might think, "Well, this doesn't really apply to me, given the historical context and my own reality."

These defenses, these apologetics that he gives, are not necessarily applicable to me because I don't live in the same situation. Yet, they are applicable because every single one of us sitting here today came out of some belief. It may not have been Judaism, but you came out of some other worldview. Maybe it was Mormonism, or perhaps it was from the Jehovah's Witness Church. It could have been Catholicism, Buddhism, Islam, or Hinduism. Some of you may have come from naturalism and scientism. I know a few of you came straight out of paganism; hedonistic paganism was where you started. Regardless, you came out of something to be a follower of Jesus.

In leaving that old worldview and practice to follow Jesus, there is the possible temptation and danger that the author of the book of Hebrews alludes to. You could potentially turn away from and neglect this great salvation of Jesus, returning to your old pattern of belief and your old pattern of life. We know that this is a danger because every single one of us, I would say, knows someone who at one point in time attended church with us. Perhaps they came to this church and seemed to have a walk with Jesus. They appeared to trust in Jesus, opened the Bible with us, and studied through it together. Maybe they even sat in a Bible study with us. Yet today, they are no longer walking with Jesus; in some way, they have gone back to their old way of thinking and their old patterns of life. They are no longer here with us.

We recognize that the danger exists: someone could be walking with Jesus at one point in time or appear to be going to church with the saints, and yet now they are no longer there. The second question that arises is whether this is really a danger. Is leaving the faith, neglecting the salvation through unbelief and disobedience, a risk that would cause them to lose something? Would they miss out on or lose the promise that they once had? Leaving the faith is indeed a danger. Is it a danger to lose the promise, to come short of receiving the promise, which seems to be what the author is speaking about?

So, is it possible to miss the promise? The author says this: "Let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it."

Listen, those are challenging words. Those are actually frightening words. Let us be afraid, lest anyone we know come short of receiving this promise. The words get even more challenging.

Look again at Hebrews chapter 3, verse 12: "Beware, brethren." He's not talking to the non-believer. He's not talking to the non-churchgoer. He's talking to Christians, people who would be counted among the family of faith—brothers and sisters. He says, "You brothers and sisters, beware lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief and departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it's called today; don't waste time, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin."

So the question is, is it possible to have, as he says, an evil heart of unbelief and departing from the living God, and to be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin? Is that possible?

Now, depending upon the flavor of Christianity you like—the 31 flavors of Christianity—there may be some sitting here today who say emphatically, "No, it's not possible." You can give chapter and verse, and you can provide commentary readings to support your view that it's not possible for someone to lose their position and neglect and come short of the promise. That's not possible, and so you may prefer that flavor.

But there’s another person sitting here today, for sure, who kind of sheepishly tries to hold back a little smile, with one corner of your mouth kind of upturned as you think, "Well, it's possible." You have another flavor of Christianity that you ascribe to, one that you like among all the assorted flavors that exist.

And listen, this is a debate. This is an issue. There are some who hold to what's called a Calvinistic position, and they would say, "No, it's not possible that you could miss out on that promise." But there are others who hold to what's called an Arminian position, and they say, "Well, actually, it's quite possible that you could miss out on that promise."

Now, if you're here today and the words Calvinist and Arminian mean nothing to you, you might be among the most blessed Christians in all the world. Rejoice.

I teach at a Bible college, and I get to watch this happen every single semester. New students come to the Bible college, and they know nothing about these two positions. By the fourth week of Bible scholars, they are experts on Calvinism and Arminianism. They are arguing and fighting. It doesn't matter if you're teaching, as I am, a class on church planting and don't ever touch the topic; it will come up. It always does.

But it doesn't just happen at Bible college. It happens in churches, particularly in those that are divided on this position. This year, 2017, we are celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. It was 500 years ago this year, on October 31st, that we recognize as the significant event that started the Protestant Reformation and where all of these arguments originated.

There is an argument between those who say emphatically that there is no possibility of losing your promise in Christ and those who argue that there seems to be a possibility. Whichever flavor you prefer, I will tell you right now that I like the chocolate flavor of security in Jesus that tastes good. It's like chocolate brownie ice cream—just lap it up and give me some more.

However, the other flavor, broccoli, is not as appealing. I would much rather have chocolate brownie ice cream than broccoli. But here's the thing: one will help you grow strong, while the other might lull you to sleep with fatness. I am very concerned that one of these positions can lull the Christian to sleep with complacency.

Both flavors are found in the Bible, which is challenging. This brings us to point number one: warnings exist for a reason. The entire book of Hebrews is one big fat warning—my big fat Hebrew warning. It serves as a huge warning to Christians, whether they come out of Judaism or secular humanism. There is a challenging warning here, and perhaps that's why people love to argue about the authorship of the book of Hebrews. They want to debate that issue because it keeps them from ever confronting the warnings presented in the text. So, they go on and on about who wrote the book of Hebrews.

But listen, we already figured that out. We don't need to worry about that any longer. We know emphatically who wrote the Book of Hebrews, don't we? If you disagree, you can't email me because you signed the pledge.

Now, if you have a problem with the concept of the warnings that are revealed here in Hebrews, and we're just starting to scratch the surface, they're going to get even bigger in Hebrews chapter six and bigger in Hebrews chapter ten. If you don't like the concept of warnings like we find in the Book of Hebrews, then it's all well and good to just study the Book of Romans for eight and a half years. Some churches have. Some pastors have. They spend all their time in the Book of Romans because, man, Romans chapter eight especially, that is the chocolate ice cream of security in Jesus. Who does not like to read things like "nothing can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus"? And "there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus"? And "God is working all things together for the good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose"? We love passages like that. We write them on cards. We memorize them.

But there’s broccoli, too. Warnings are there for a reason. Someone sent me a picture of a warning sign a couple of years ago. It says, "Danger: Not only will this kill you, it will hurt the whole time you're dying." Now, there's one thing I can tell you: If I saw a sign like that, I would heed it. I've been shocked a time or two—not too bad—but I can tell you this: I've been shocked enough to know I don't want to be shocked unto death. It doesn't sound good.

We were sitting down at dinner some months ago with a couple in our church, and one of the husbands was a lineman for SDG&E for years. He got a major shock, and he was telling me the story about it. I'll tell you, it did not sound fun at all. "Not only will this kill you, it'll hurt the entire time that you're dying." That is the reality with some things. When you see a sign like that, you take notice of it, and you take heed to it. You don't want to get too close to it.

Here we have warnings in the Scripture—very clear, heavy, fear-inducing warnings. Warnings exist for a reason. So how do we deal with this? How do we approach this?

Well, here's my thinking and approach to a warning like what we find in the book of Hebrews, chapter three. We will find it in other places as well. The only person who is worried by warnings such as this—worried about whether or not you can actually be losing the promise that you have in Jesus—is the Christian. You will never meet a non-Christian or non-churchgoer who says, "Well, I'm just really worried about this salvation issue or eternal security issue." They simply do not exist.

Many Christians concern themselves with issues about eternal security and whether or not you can hold and maintain your salvation in Jesus Christ. If you are a Christian, the type of person who worries about these things, then that means you believe that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. It is therefore profitable and useful for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, so that the man or woman of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. This means that if you are one of the people who worries or concerns yourself about eternal security, then you are one of the people who believes that all Scripture is inspired by God.

You must also believe that this passage was inspired by God, that God inspired the author of the book of Hebrews to say, "Warning, beware, brethren." Warnings exist for a reason. The God who inspired Scripture considered it necessary to put a warning sign in front of the church, and therefore we have passages like this. So, is it really a danger? Apparently, it is, because God saw fit to have it in the Scriptures.

This leads us to the question: Can you lose your salvation? To which I say, can I know? Can you? Now, that's a whole other wrong question. You see, the wrong question is asking, "Can you lose your salvation?" as if you could lose your wallet or lose your keys. I don't think you go around saying, "Gosh, I seem to have misplaced it. I thought I had it. I don't know what happened to it. I had it here a few minutes ago, and now it's not there."

You cannot lose your salvation like you lose your wallet or your keys, which is really refreshing because, as time goes by, we have a tendency to lose things a little bit more. So, you can't lose it like, "Well, I just misplaced it. I thought I had my salvation in Jesus Christ a little while ago, and now I can't find it."

It seems that many people struggle with the question of whether one can lose their salvation. However, the more pertinent question is whether someone, through an evil heart of unbelief and the deceitfulness of sin, can depart from Jesus and therefore miss the promise that He gives in salvation. There is a significant warning in Hebrews that states danger; not only will this kill you, but it will hurt the entire time you're dying.

Point number two on your outline is that Jesus is better. This statement serves as a warning against departing from Him. The mere fact that the statement "Jesus is better" exists is, in itself, a warning against straying away from Him. The author of the book of Hebrews emphasizes this in Hebrews chapter three, verse one: "Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus."

To "consider" means to look to Jesus. He was faithful to Him who appointed Him, just as Moses was faithful in all his house. The author begins with "therefore," which connects this passage to Hebrews chapter six, verses four through six, where there is a stern warning about departing from the faith. We will examine that in depth when we reach Hebrews chapter six in a few weeks.

However, it is essential to note that this passage starts with "therefore," prompting us to ask, "What is it there for?" It points us back to Hebrews chapter two, specifically the last two verses. In Hebrews chapter two, verses 17 and 18, it states: "Therefore, in all things, He, Jesus, had to be made like His brethren, us in the flesh, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in the things pertaining to God, to make propitiation—that is, a payment or reconciliation—for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted."

He suffered the temptation, the power, the presence, the persistence of sin, and the penalty of sin. He suffered that for us who suffer and who are tempted. Therefore, because of this, holy brethren, partakers of the holy calling, consider Him. He suffered for us, so consider Him.

What do we consider about Him? He was faithful. In chapter three, verse two, it states that He was faithful to Him who appointed Him. He is faithful. Point number three on your outline: Jesus is better because only Jesus is always faithful.

Now, do we have any Marines or former Marines in the room? There we go, some Marines. What is the motto of the Marine Corps, Brian Barta? Semper Fi, Semper Fidelis, always faithful. I have the utmost respect for the United States Marine Corps. However, the reality is that only Jesus is always faithful. We may strive to be always faithful. We may make it our motto and our aim to be always faithful, but only Jesus is absolutely 100 percent always faithful.

Now, the Hebrew Christians reading this 2,000 years ago, as they heard about Jesus Christ, the always faithful one, might object and say, "Yes, but Moses was always faithful as well." They looked up to, honored, and elevated Moses, and there was the temptation to leave the faith in Jesus, the confident trust in Jesus, and to move their trust back to faithful Moses and the law that Moses gave. That danger is clearly addressed in this passage.

There is the danger that one could move from trust and confidence in Him to putting it in Moses, because he was faithful too, and the law that he gave is wholly just and good. The author of the book of Hebrews does not counter that by saying, "No, no, no, Moses was not faithful." Instead, he acknowledges that Moses was also faithful. As stated at the end of verse two, Moses was faithful in his household. Indeed, Moses was faithful. But look at Hebrews chapter three, verse three, for this one, Jesus has...

Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses. He is greater than Moses inasmuch as he who built the house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by someone, but he who built all things is God. Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, but Christ, as a Son over his house, whose house we are, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.

This one, Jesus, has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses. Why? Moses was faithful as a servant; Jesus was faithful as a Son. Point number four on your outline: Jesus is better than Moses because the Son is always greater than a servant. He is worthy of much more glory than Moses because the Son is always greater than a servant.

The author continues in Hebrews chapter three, verse seven: "Therefore, this being the case, as the Holy Spirit says, today, if you will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of the trial in the wilderness when your fathers tested me and tried me and saw my works forty years. Therefore, I was angry with that generation and said, 'They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways.' So I swore in my wrath, 'They shall not enter my rest.'"

The original readers of this letter, 2000 years ago, when the author wrote these words, quoting from the Old Testament, specifically Psalm ninety-five, verses seven through eleven, would have understood exactly what was being spoken of here. They remembered that their ancestors turned away from the Lord during the trial in the wilderness for those forty years.

For us, who may not come from a Jewish background, 2000 years after this letter was first penned, we might need a little refresher. God sent Moses down to Egypt to say to Pharaoh, "Let my people go." Through a series of ten plagues documented for us in the book of Exodus, the second book of the Bible, chapters four through fourteen, Pharaoh ultimately releases the children of Israel to depart out of Egypt. They go out of Egypt, and they...

The Israelites crossed over the Red Sea, following Moses to a place called Mount Sinai. There, at Mount Sinai, God delivered the law through angels to Moses, and he gave it to the people. They entered into a covenant with God. After a period of two years at Mount Sinai, they moved on to go to the Promised Land, the land that God had promised to the father of the Jewish people, Abraham, 400 years before. God said this land would be for Abraham's descendants.

As they approached the Promised Land, there was joy and rejoicing. However, if you read through the Book of Numbers, you will see that right as they came to the very border, they sent in spies to the land. Ten of the twelve spies returned and said, "Listen, it's going to be too hard for us. There are giants in the land. We can't go in." The people, who had trusted in God to come out of Egypt, lost their confidence.

Two of the spies, however, said, "No, God will give us the land. We just have to trust in Him and have our confidence in Him. Let's go into the land." That night, the people wept in unbelief. In that moment, as they wept, they began to test God, even though they had seen His power, might, and works in Egypt. They had witnessed His provision and protection over the last two years as they approached the Promised Land, yet they lost their confidence in God, who had parted the Red Sea.

Therefore, God said in Psalm 95, "I was angry with that generation and said, 'They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My way.' So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest.'"

Here is the amazing and challenging reality: even the great lawgiver, Moses, died in the wilderness and did not obtain the promise. This man, who was faithful in his generation and was elevated, exalted, and venerated by generations after, died in the wilderness and did not enter the Promised Land.

The author continues in Hebrews chapter three, verse twelve: "Beware, brethren," speaking to those who are brothers and sisters in the church. "Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another, stir one another up every single day while it is called today, before the sun goes down."

Lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin, for we have become partakers of Christ. If we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, while it is said, "Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion." For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt led by Moses?

Now, with whom was God angry for forty years? Was it not with those that sinned, whose corpses fell in the desert? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter because of unbelief, not because their works weren't good enough, but because their confidence had swayed. Their faith had shifted; they no longer put their trust in God, but they began to trust something else.

Point number five on your outline: old warnings are no less important than new ones. Just outside a ghost town of a village in central Ukraine, there's a sign. It's an old sign; it's rusted and hard to read. But the sign says, "Danger. Do not enter. Radioactive." It's in a number of languages so that those who come to that place would not go in because there's an invisible killer residing in that place at Chernobyl. It's an old sign, but it's no less important than a new sign.

There is an old sign in the Scriptures. Paul speaks about it in First Corinthians, chapter 10, when he talks about the nation of Israel and their wilderness wanderings. He says this: "Now, all these things happened to the children of Israel as examples, and they are written for our instruction upon whom the ends of the age have come. Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall."

Sir Edmund Burke once said, and it has been repeated ever since, "Those that do not know history are doomed to repeat it." So then, what does this say to us? What does this speak to us? I think the enduring message, the enduring point, is to trust in Jesus alone because Jesus...

Trust in Jesus alone because He is better. There may be the temptation, the danger of moving your trust, shifting your faith. Having once walked strong and followed after Him, it is possible to turn aside and go after something else, to be brought back to the old pattern of life, the old way of thinking.

You may object and say, "No, no, no, that could never happen. That's not possible." I would simply point out that there is a warning in the Bible, and warnings exist for a reason. We have to be careful not to overindulge in the chocolate ice cream of the eternal security presented in certain places in Scripture. It's there, but we need to be cautious not to fall asleep while eating that ice cream, becoming spiritually fat and making ourselves feel better, as is often the case.

When we say, "Yeah, you know, that brother of mine, that sister of mine, they used to go to church, and you know what? They prayed a prayer, so it's okay." I know that they've departed, left their spouse, and now they claim, "I don't know if there is a God. I'm an agnostic." Maybe they've returned to a former pattern of life, such as drunkenness or addiction. Yet we say, "It's okay. They prayed a prayer. I was there. I saw them pray that prayer. They'll be okay at the end of the day."

I say, listen, don't lull yourself to sleep on ice cream. The Scriptures say that if we see a brother or sister overtaken in a trespass, we who are spiritual should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering ourselves, lest we also be tempted. Take heed when you think you stand, lest you fall.

As we sit here this morning, there may be a dozen or more phone calls that need to be made to people. We should say, "Listen, I'm concerned for your salvation." As Nacho says, did you know that research indicates Easter is the number one Sunday of the year when people return to church? Easter is three weeks away. It might be an opportunity for you, for me, to make that call to someone who once seemed to be walking in the faith, and yet now you're not so sure. I don't know about you, but I would want to be sure.

The only way to be sure of someone's salvation is as long as they are abiding in Jesus. May it be that our passion for Christ burns ever so bright as we follow hard after Him, knowing that His hand holds us up. God, help us to not lull ourselves to sleep thinking it's okay; they prayed a prayer, they'll be just fine. Are you absolutely sure about that? Because there's a warning in the Bible. In fact, there are a number of them we are going to see over the next several weeks.

May it be that God stirs our hearts with a passion for the souls of those who are not only lost but also those who seem to have gone astray. The person who is a Calvinist might say, "No, no, no, they could never lose their salvation; they must not have actually been a Christian." On the other hand, the Arminian might argue, "No, they could lose their salvation; they have lost their salvation." What do they both conclude? They need to repent. They need the gospel. In the end, they come to the same conclusion: they need to repent and they need the gospel. May it be that the Lord wants to use you to share that good news of the gospel with them again, a second time. Amen.

Would you stand with me as we close in prayer? Lord Jesus, thank You for Your grace, Your loving kindness, and Your mercy. It is because of Your mercy and loving kindness that we are not consumed. You are holy, completely separate from sinners, and You are just. Yet, Lord, You have given us time and time again Your mercy and grace. We thank You so much for Your saving grace.

At this moment, I pray, and I am sure there are faces in some of our minds—names that come to our minds right now of individuals, friends, and family members who once seemed to be walking with You, and yet at this moment, they are not. Lord, we pray that You would draw them by Your Spirit and perhaps use some who are in this room today to invite them back. It may be that as we are standing here this morning, you might be one of those individuals who is returning to church for the first time in a long time.

A friend or a family member invited you here this morning, and you realize that you want to put your faith and trust in Jesus again, or maybe you've never done that. I want to give you a chance to do that this morning. If you'd like to receive the grace and forgiveness of Jesus for your failures and your sin, remember that Jesus died on the cross 2,000 years ago to deal with the penalty of our sin. He makes that grace available to you right now.

If that's you and you'd like to receive His grace, would you just lift up your hand as we're in a time of prayer? Is there anyone here this morning who would like to receive the grace and forgiveness of Jesus? I see you there in the back, and a couple of you as well. Anyone else? Praise the Lord.

If that's you, would you, where you're at, pray out loud with me? Dear Jesus, I recognize my need for You. I've failed and I've sinned, but I thank You that You died for my sin so that I could live with You forever. Would You come into my life, forgive me of my sin, and help me to follow You by faith?