Things to Come-pt3
Things To Come • Sermon • Submitted
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· 9 viewsGod preserves His own, even though martyred in this life.
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
11 “Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God. 12 “Those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved. 13 “Those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away. 14 “The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity. 15 “But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.
The reality of God’s omniscience is our comfort.
The reality of God’s omnipotence is our comfort.
God has all knowledge and all power, the two very attributes man does not think He has.
Either God does not know what is going to happen, or God cannot do anything about it.
Those are the two options when calamity strikes.
However, it is exactly the opposite.
God knows and God acts…on His own schedule and His own purpose.
I want to remind us of this omniscience and omnipotence for a moment.
Consider:
Job is rebuked by God (YHWH) for his ignorance and self-pity.
In order to rebuke him, God exposes this ignorance by reciting His own glorious omnipotence/omniscience.
4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding, 5 Who set its measurements? Since you know. Or who stretched the line on it? 6 “On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone,
8 “Or who enclosed the sea with doors When, bursting forth, it went out from the womb; 9 When I made a cloud its garment And thick darkness its swaddling band, 10 And I placed boundaries on it And set a bolt and doors, 11 And I said, ‘Thus far you shall come, but no farther; And here shall your proud waves stop’?
12 “Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, And caused the dawn to know its place,
19 “Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And darkness, where is its place, 20 That you may take it to its territory And that you may discern the paths to its home? 21 “You know, for you were born then, And the number of your days is great!
31 “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades, Or loose the cords of Orion? 32 “Can you lead forth a constellation in its season, And guide the Bear with her satellites? 33 “Do you know the ordinances of the heavens, Or fix their rule over the earth?
1 “Do you know the time the mountain goats give birth? Do you observe the calving of the deer? 2 “Can you count the months they fulfill, Or do you know the time they give birth? 3 “They kneel down, they bring forth their young, They get rid of their labor pains. 4 “Their offspring become strong, they grow up in the open field; They leave and do not return to them.
26 “Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars, Stretching his wings toward the south? 27 “Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up And makes his nest on high? 28 “On the cliff he dwells and lodges, Upon the rocky crag, an inaccessible place. 29 “From there he spies out food; His eyes see it from afar. 30 “His young ones also suck up blood; And where the slain are, there is he.”
The statements of God here are statements of absolute sovereign and wise control over this creation.
His ongoing, active command over every created atom and molecule in time and space until the New Jerusalem, and even then after, is the comfort and strength of His people.
This is the song of the redeemed:
7 For the king trusts in the Lord, And through the lovingkindness of the Most High he will not be shaken. 8 Your hand will find out all your enemies; Your right hand will find out those who hate you. 9 You will make them as a fiery oven in the time of your anger; The Lord will swallow them up in His wrath, And fire will devour them. 10 Their offspring You will destroy from the earth, And their descendants from among the sons of men. 11 Though they intended evil against You And devised a plot, They will not succeed. 12 For You will make them turn their back; You will aim with Your bowstrings at their faces. 13 Be exalted, O Lord, in Your strength; We will sing and praise Your power.
It is no wonder that Jesus said to His disciples,
28 “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
4 “I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. 5 “But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!
Only the Creator of the soul can destroy it.
Therefore, if that Person is for you, no one can destroy you.
This is not a pep rally, but the truth.
This is the truth about the fact that God, if a person is regenerate, is his justification.
Therefore, He preserves him and sustains him forever.
The assaults of wicked men, Satan, and demons, are of no avail because of the greater One who loves us.
Body
Body
v.18
v.18
18 “Yet not a hair of your head will perish.
18 καὶ θρὶξ ἐκ τῆς κεφαλῆς ὑμῶν οὐ μὴ ἀπόληται.
“Yet” = in contrast to v. 17
Consider:
v.10 = international war
v.11 = geographical upheaval
v.12 = worldwide persecution/arrest
v. 13-15 = court trials
In that context, even though you might be found guilty, yet without cause, and be martyred, the ultimate death will be impossible.
Paul wrote,
21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
This brings up a greater teaching.
Death is not when your body dies and your soul exits your body.
Death is when God pronounces judgment upon you.
That death is inescapable.
That death does not change.
26 Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 27 And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, 28 so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.
Therefore, the question here is, “To what is Jesus referring?”
Is He saying that people who are handed over to death sentence by unfair trial will miraculously escape dying?
Or, is He saying that “...even though you might die, you will not ultimately die”?
It is best to understand Him from the second statement.
21 Martha then said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 “Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”
Jesus promised that people who believe in Him will never die.
But, Lazarus was already dead.
Yet, Jesus said that Lazarus is not dead.
In fact, Jesus said that Lazarus will never die.
How can this be?
This is only true if you understand death as God’s judgment in the future and not simply as the time when your body ceases to work.
The kind of death which Jesus taught is that death wherein God condemns.
Man cannot condemn.
Therefore, Jesus taught His disciples that even though they physically lose their lives, they will not die and, in fact, have not died.
v.19
19 “By your endurance you will gain your lives.
19 ἐν τῇ ὑπομονῇ ὑμῶν κτήσασθε τὰς ψυχὰς ὑμῶν.
Instrumental preposition = “by” endurance you will save your own souls.
Endurance is the tool by which death cannot touch you.
This is the reason why the NT writers wrote about endurance, or perseverance.
It is the mark of the believer.
They will continue with Christ.
“Salvation began in eternity past, when God set his saving love on his elect and grated them grace in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 1:9), appointing Christ to be their Mediator…It is impossible that one who has been united to Christ and granted his righteousness in justification will not be glorified as well. The Father will not fail to carry out the fullness of his electing purpose to its designed end.” MacArthur and Mayhue, Systematic Theology (Wheaton: Crossway, 2017), p.644.
37 “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. 38 “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. 40 “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”
Endurance
Matthew 10:22
“You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.
Matthew 24:13
“But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.
Romans 2:7
to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life;
Romans 5:3f
3 And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; 4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope;
Hebrews 10:36
For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.
James 1:3
knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
2 Peter 1:6
and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness,
What are the components of perseverance?
Does this mean that we work at our salvation?
Does this mean that only those who never disown Jesus Christ will enter heaven?
Does this mean that people who say they no longer want to believe in Jesus Christ are going to hell?
The elective purposes of God are known only to Him.
He is the One Who decided, decreed, created, and redeemed those who are the brethren of Jesus Christ.
The plan and purpose of God cannot be changed, inhibited, destroyed, or rendered completely ineffective.
Creation does not supersede eternal purpose.
Therefore, the purpose of God, which is the election, predestination, creation, redemption, and glorification of the elect, will happen and will happen completely.
Since that is the case, then, nothing can change it once it is done.
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? 33 Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; 34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 Just as it is written, “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
This is why we understand, from the Bible, that election is God’s means of securing His people forever.
This is also how we know that those who abandon Jesus Christ, who refuse to believe in Him, who finally walk away from Him, or who profess Him but disobey Him willfully and flippantly, will not inherit the kingdom intended for the elect, those who are conformed to the image of the precious Son of God, Jesus Christ.
The evidence of those elective purposes of God are obvious by perseverance.
Since the Father has elected some to be sons of God forever, like Jesus Christ is the Son of God, holy and an Heir, those who no longer live like Him demonstrate that they were never His.
Sometimes, these people can be in a church, a Christian family, a Christian marriage, a pastor, an evangelical leader, an elder, or even and apostle (like Judas).
Consider these passages:
1 Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.
22 Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off.
5 Now Moses was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later; 6 but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house—whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
What does endurance look like?
It is continuing to believe in the Jesus of the Bible.
It is continuing to obey Him.
It is continuing to profess Him.
Examples:
1 And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain— 2 for He says, “At the acceptable time I listened to you, And on the day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is “the acceptable time,” behold, now is “the day of salvation”— 3 giving no cause for offense in anything, so that the ministry will not be discredited, 4 but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, 5 in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger, 6 in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love, 7 in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left, 8 by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; regarded as deceivers and yet true; 9 as unknown yet well-known, as dying yet behold, we live; as punished yet not put to death, 10 as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things.
9 Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door. 10 As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.
Conclusion
Conclusion