Brethren, be careful, never allow any of you to have a wicked heart of disbelief that takes you away from the living God; on the contrary, exhort yourselves every day, during the time called today, so that none of you will be hardened by the deception of sin, because we have become partakers of Christ, if we stand firm to the end, the trust we had from the beginning. Saying: Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart, as was the case with provocation (Hebrews 3:12-15).
The events of revolt and unrest in the world should serve as a warning that sooner or later the day will come when man’s hostility cannot be contained by human force; will cross the containment dam and flood its own door. The most urgent question for all the disciples of Jesus Christ will be: “Will our faith in Jesus last?Or will we give in to fear, disbelief, anger and vengeance?
- The prophet Daniel describes a time when one of the latter-day leaders will utter words against the Most High will harm the Saints of the Most High (Dan 7.
- 25).
- And in the book of Revelation.
- The Apostle John describes this time as follows: “If someone takes him captive.
- He enters captivity; if someone kills by sword.
- They must be killed by sword.
- Here is the perseverance and fidelity of the saints? (Revelation 13.
- 10).
The crucial question for you these days, and these days, is ‘you will persevere’. Will your faith endure the attacks that will come, or will you be discouraged?And you will abandon faith and join in the incredulous illusion of security?It’s a matter of perseverance. The question of eternal security, the subject of this sermon.
The doctrine we are talking about today has different names and has an urgent and practical application in our community life; some call it the doctrine of eternal security. Some call it the doctrine of perseverance and practical application is that no matter what you call it, the process is a community project, that is, you and I are essential to help each other endure to the end in faith and not ruin our souls.
The text of Scripture that we return to several times during these decades is Hebrews 3:12-15, so I think it would be useful to outline a three-point theology of perseverance based on these four verses and their implications for their lives. Then I will show the broader basis of this in the scriptures and its relationship to the cross of our Lord Jesus, and conclude with some practical applications for your family and small group life.
Hebrews 3. 12: “Be careful, brethren, that none of you have a wicked heart of disbelief that takes you away from the living God. “It is a clear call to all believers (“brothers”) to persevere in faith. who do not surrender to disbelief. Don’t be discouraged, it’s a call to persevere. Sign it. Keep faith to the end. Don’t let your heart become petty and incredulous. Don’t you step away from the living God? It is a real danger reported to the church; those who reject it because their doctrine of eternal security does not admit such danger are most at risk.
Hebrews 3. 13: “On the contrary [instead of giving a respite to a wicked and disbeliever heart], exhort yourself every day, for the time called Today, so that none of you will be hardened by the deception of sin. “in verse 15, he does what he tells us to do. He exhorts us with the words of Psalm 95: 7-8: “If you hear his voice today, do not harden your heart. “
So is the second point one of the essential ways not to harden? Protection from a wicked heart of unbelief? It is the other believers around you who speak words of support for the faith in your life: your family, your friends, your small group. “Exhort you every day,” that is, “speak words of truth that support faith in the life of another. Paul said in Ephesians 4:29:” Do not let clumsy words come out of your mouth, but only what is good for edification, if necessary, and thus give thanks to those who listen?
Thus, the second point of this theology of perseverance is that God conceived his church so that its members may endure to the end in faith, speaking and listening to words of support in the faith of others. You and I are the instruments by which God preserves faith. of your children Perseverance is a community project. Just as God will not evangelize the world without human voices that awaken faith, Nor will He preserve his church without a voice that supports human faith. And clearly the words, “do you exhort each other?” (verse 13), means all of us, not just preachers, depend on each other to persevere in faith to the end.
Verse 14: Let us exhort one another and help each other to maintain their trust: “For [why] we come to participate in Christ, if we truly keep our original trust firm until the end. “This is one of the most important verses in the book. of the Hebrews, because he says that if a person shared Christ, that person would certainly last to the end in faith. Look carefully at logic and times. It all depends on it.
Verse 14: “Why have we become partakers of Christ, if, in fact, we cling to the end of the trust we had from the beginning?”Look, he doesn’t say, “if we keep our trust to the end,” which means that persevering to the end doesn’t give him a part in Christ. To endure to the end only proof that you have already had part in Christ. Perseverance is the proof of the new birth in Christ, not the means to it.
Or to put the same point in a negative way: if you don’t trust Christ to the end, what would that show?It would show that you have not “become a supporter of Christ. “Therefore, the refusal in verse 14 would be: “We have not become partakers of Christ, if in fact we do not stand firm, until the end, the trust we had from the beginning. “
So you see what that means about eternal security?He said, Have you become a supporter of Christ?That is, if you are born again, if you are truly a convert, if you are justified and forgiven by the saving faith. I can’t help but persevere. You will maintain your trust in Christ until the end.
The logic is identical to 1 John 2:19. ” They have left our community; However, they were not ours; for if they had been ours, they would have stayed with us; however, they set out to make it clear that none of them were ours?(1 John 2. 19) “. If they had been ours, would they have stayed with us?”
So here’s the summary of our three-point theology of perseverance
And to those who predestined, he also called them; already those he called, also justified; and those you have justified, those you have also glorified?(Rom. 8,30). Which means: between eternity spent on God’s predestination and future eternity in God’s glorification, no one will be lost; no one who is predestined to be a child of God fails in this call; and no one who is called is justified. And no one who is justified should not be glorified; it is an unwavering steel chain of the fidelity of God’s covenant.
And then Paul said, “Am I completely sure that he who has begun a good work in you will finish it until the day of Christ Jesus?(Fp 1. 6). This will also confirm you to the end, to be irrepressible in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Is God faithful, for whom you have been called to the communion of His Son Jesus Christ, our Lord?(1Co 1. 8-9). These are the promises of our God who cannot lie. again they are as sure as God is faithful.
What is the link between this security?and the cross of our Lord Jesus? Just before Jesus shed his blood for sinners, he lifted up the cup at the last supper and said in Luke 22:20, “This is the cup of the new covenant in my blood shed for you. “This means that the new covenant, most explicitly promised in Jeremiah 31 and 32, was guaranteed and sealed by the blood of Jesus. The new covenant becomes a reality because Jesus died to establish it.
And what does the new covenant guarantee to all who belong to Christ? Perseverance in faith to the end. Listen to Jeremiah 32:40: “I will make an everlasting covenant with them, according to which I will not fail to do them good; and I will put my fear in your heart, so that they will never depart from me? The covenant? The new covenant? Includes the unbreakable promise : “I will put my fear in your heart, so that they never depart from me. ” They cannot. They will not go. Christ sealed this covenant with his blood. He bought your perseverance. If you persevere in faith today, you owe it to the blood of Jesus. The Holy Spirit, working in you to preserve your faith, honors the purchase of Jesus. God the Spirit works in us what God the Son has. Obtained for us. The Father planned it. Jesus bought it. Does the Spirit “All” Unfailingly God is fully committed to the eternal security of His blood-bought children.
That brings us to that point of application now. God has combined the certainty of security with the needs of the community. Hebrews 3:13: “Please exhort one another every day, for the time called today, that none of you may be hardened by the deception of sin. “Security eterna. es a community project. Or now we can say that the eternal security that is acquired with blood is a community project bought with blood.
This may seem fragile, because our community life is always imperfect, but it is not fragile. It is no more fragile than God’s sovereign ability to bring others into your life and send you to participate in their lives. God will sovereignly preserve all who belong to Christ and do so through the ministry of support of the faith of other believers. .
If you’re married, does God mean? And not man (What did God join?). Have you ever placed him in designated homes for that purpose?The daily ministry of speech that sustains faith and conquers sin. Husbands and wives. Parents and children.
Let me give you some examples of what this means for husbands and wives.
For husbands
For women:
I know that this presupposes that you are believers and that you are both willing, and I know that is not true for all couples, but that is why God calls us to pray and go for the good of our spouses and the perseverance of our children. in faith Eternal security is a family project.
Here’s a final word for all of us, single and married: God did not plan the wedding to replace the church, He did not design families to replace friendships, every married man needs believing men in his life, every married woman needs other believing women in her life. his life. Young people need more young people. And single people need married and single people in their lives. Families do not replace any of these relationships.
The Church of Christ, bought with blood, is the new supernatural family. Single, married, old and young, rich and poor, all ethnic groups find brothers and sisters here. Marriage is temporary. Fatherhood is temporary, but the church, the new family?it’s eternal.