{"id":19122,"date":"2016-09-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-09-11T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/soteriology-031\/"},"modified":"2016-09-11T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-09-11T05:00:00","slug":"soteriology-031","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/soteriology-031\/","title":{"rendered":"Soteriology 031"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[85],"series_event":[459],"sermon_service_type":[473],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-19122","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-matthew","series_event-soteriology","sermon_service_type-sunday-school","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Soteriology 031","sermon_date":"20160911","sermon_month":"9","sermon_year":"2016","sermon_notes":3946,"sermon_slides":3945,"sermon_mp3":3938,"sermon_id":"91116171917","series_or_event":459,"service_type":[473],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":85,"chapter_and_verse":"24:13","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nSoteriology 31, Matthew 8:11-12\n\nSeptember 11, 2016\n\nGood morning everybody.\u00a0 If\u00a0 you guys could take your Bibles and open them to the book of Matthew, chapter 8 and verses 11-12.\u00a0 We are continuing to navigate our way through this very thorny issue of eternal security.\u00a0 And of course eternal security is the idea that the grace of God that saved you is the grace of God that sustains you and keeps you, so therefore you can\u2019t lose your salvation.\u00a0 If salvation really doesn\u2019t depend on you what could you do to lose it, in other words.\n\nI\u2019ve laid out, if you remember in this study, about thirteen arguments favoring eternal security.\u00a0 And people say well, we\u2019re done, right?\u00a0 No, actually we just got started because what you\u2019ll discover is there\u2019s a ton of passages that at first glance it looks like you can lose your salvation so what we\u2019re doing is we\u2019re learning to harmonize these obscure passages with the thirteen clear arguments that you can\u2019t lose your salvation.\u00a0 So we\u2019re learning a process called harmonization because the Bible can\u2019t contradict itself.\n\nAnd of course we\u2019ve mentioned that Jacob Arminius is the Dutch theologian who really began, around 1560-1609, to articulate the idea that you can be saved and lose your salvation.\u00a0 So many Christians today believe that yes, they\u2019re saved by God\u2019s grace but they look at their lives as sort of on probation, where God is just going to rip the carpet out from under them at any moment.\u00a0 And the question is does the Bible teach this, and we\u2019re trying to communicate that it does not teach this.\n\nWe\u2019ve looked at some Old Testament passages, there are many of them that look like you can lose your salvation and from there we moved into passages in Matthew that make it look like you can lose your salvation.\u00a0 We looked at two passages last week, Matthew 6:14-15 and the one that I think is the most misquoted verses in the whole Bible, Matthew 7:21-23 where Jesus says, \u201cNot everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 And I would encourage you to go back and listen to that if you haven\u2019t had a chance because there we very carefully defined that that passage is not talking about saved people.\u00a0 That\u2019s talking about the self-righteous Pharisees who were pleading their self-righteousness before God as unbelievers.\n\nSo now we move into Matthew 8:11-12 and there\u2019s a parallel passage in Matthew 25:30 so I\u2019m kind of handling these two together.\u00a0 Notice what Matthew 8:11-12 says.\u00a0 Jesus says this: \u201cI say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaiah and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; [12] but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.\u201d\u00a0 So people look at that and they say well there\u2019s \u201csons of the kingdom\u201d which they think refers to a believer and then it talks about these \u201csons of the kingdom\u201d being \u201ccast out\u201d into a place that looks an awful lot like hell because it talks there about \u201cweeping and gnashing of teeth.\u201d\u00a0 And so people use a passage like this to really argue that yeah, you can lose your salvation.\n\nSo just a couple of points on this if you\u2019ll indulge me. One of the things to understand is when Jesus was ministering He was ministering under the prior dispensation of the Law.\u00a0 The dispensation of the Law or the era of the Law started at Sinai about 1500 years before the time of Christ.\u00a0 And so as Jesus is ministering He\u2019s still ministering under the age of the Law.\u00a0 A lot of people think that dispensational shift started with the birth of Christ and that really isn\u2019t true.\u00a0 Obviously the birth of Christ and His earthly ministry is a big deal but it\u2019s all taking place under the prior dispensation of the Law where Jesus primarily is reaching out to Israel, at least in the first part of His ministry, and He\u2019s giving them an opportunity to receive Him and the Kingdom.\n\nAnd Galatians 4:4, which you don\u2019t have to turn to, basically says Christ was born of woman under Law.\u00a0 [Galatians 4:4, \u201cBut when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law,\u201d] so yes, it\u2019s the New Testament but that doesn\u2019t mean that it\u2019s a different dispensation; it\u2019s still the same dispensation, stretching back 1500 years.\n\nI bring that up because the real dispensational shift really doesn\u2019t start until Acts 2; Acts 2 is after the ascension of Christ and that\u2019s when the church age starts with the baptizing of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 So these are the arguments I use in my class to show that the church started in Acts 2, and that\u2019s kind of a lengthy argument which I won\u2019t belabor with you right now.\n\nBut the point to understand about Christ\u2019s ministry is this, as recorded in the Gospels: While many of the Lord\u2019s teachings look forward to the church age\u2026 \u00a0you might remember when we were in John\u2019s Gospel we got to the Upper Room Discourse and in John 13-17 He made hint after hint of a church age that was on the horizon where God was going to begin to do something new.\u00a0 But that age, of course, didn\u2019t start until Acts 2.\u00a0 So while many of the Lord\u2019s teachings look forward to the church dispensation many other statements that the Lord made are not directed at the church, particularly in early Matthew, they\u2019re really directed at national Israel.\u00a0 So that\u2019s really how to understand Matthew 11:8-12.\u00a0 He is talking to Jews, the offer of the kingdom, which we will be explaining, is still on the table and there really hasn\u2019t yet been a formal rejection by Israel of their King.\u00a0 So there\u2019s no dispensational shift here; the dispensational shift is not going to come and even be hinted at\u00a0 until later on in Christ\u2019s ministry, at the end of it.\u00a0 And the dispensational shift, where God changes the house rules doesn\u2019t really start until Acts chapter 2.\n\nSo all of that to say it\u2019s this: many Jews under that prior age were servants of God.\u00a0 That\u2019s what he means here by \u201csons of the kingdom.\u201d\u00a0 They\u2019re servants of God but they were not believers.\u00a0 They were not what we would called saved.\u00a0 And Paul makes that point very clear, we actually read the verses last time, Romans 9:30 through Romans 10:4 which basically talks about how the Jews, primarily, with a few exceptions, of Christ\u2019s day essentially felt that they could be saved by good works, not by faith alone.\n\nAnd the Jews, of course, should have known better because Abraham was personally saved by what?\u00a0 Faith alone, Genesis 15:6, Isaiah 64:6 says that works of righteous before God are as filthy rags.\u00a0 [Genesis 15:6, \u201cThen he\u201d Abraham \u201cbelieved in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.\u201d\u00a0 Isaiah 64:6, \u201cFor all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.\u201d] And this is why Jesus, in Matthew 5:20 says your righteousness has to surpass that of the Pharisees.\u00a0 It\u2019s got to be more than self-righteousness for personal salvation.\u00a0 [Matthew 5:20, \u201cFor I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.\u201d]\n\nSo what you have to understand about the Jews of that time is it\u2019s equivalent to a person who is looking at themselves as a son of the kingdom, a servant of God, they have the externals of religiosity but they never have embraced the saving faith that\u2019s necessary for justification.\u00a0 So there were a lot of people that looked like servants but never actually had experienced personal salvation.\u00a0 Can you think of one of the disciples that fit that category?\u00a0 Judas, because over in Matthew 10 and verse 1 it says, \u201cJesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.\u201d\u00a0 So there\u2019s Judas, with the twelve, preaching the offer of the kingdom to Israel, given authority over demons and over sickness.\u00a0 And if you drop down to verse 4 you\u2019ll see Judas is in that group.\u00a0 [Matthew 10:4, \u201cSimon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him.\u201d]\n\nYet we know from the rest of the Scripture that Judas was never saved.\u00a0 But I\u2019ll tell you something about Judas, he looked saved because Jesus says in Matthew 26:21-22, one of you is going to betray Me and all the disciples didn\u2019t say it\u2019s Judas; remember what they said?\u00a0 Is it me?\u00a0 Is it me? Is it me?\u00a0 [Matthew 26:21-22, \u201cAs they were eating, He said, \u2018Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me.\u00a0 [22] Being deeply grieved, they each one began to say to Him, \u2018Surely not I, Lord?\u2019\u201d]\n\nSo Judas was what we would look at as a son of the kingdom, a devout Jew, but he was never actually regenerated.\u00a0 And the nation of Israel was filled with these kinds of people.\u00a0 That\u2019s why, when you go back to the preaching of John the Baptist, over in Matthew 3:7-9, it says this: John the Baptist says, \u201cBut when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees\u201d now who are those?\u00a0 Those are the religious leaders, sons of the kingdom who looked saved but never had embraced God\u2019s plan of personal salvation by faith alone.\u00a0 \u201cBut when he say many of the Pharisees and the Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them,\u201d now notice how un-seeker friendly John the Baptist is here.\u00a0\u00a0 How would you like it if I started out a sermon like this, \u201cYou brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? [8] Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance;\u201d now watch this, [9] \u201cand do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, \u2018We have Abraham for our father\u2019; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.\u201d\u00a0 Verse 10, \u201cThe axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.\u201d\n\nSo what he\u2019s saying is ethnic identification, even Jewish ethnic identification is not going to get the job done in terms of avoiding hell.\u00a0 You have to be more than simply a son of the kingdom being born a Jew, you have to have personal faith in Messiah.\n\nSo that\u2019s why we\u2019re told over and over again, John, early Gospel of John, John 1:12-13 says a true child of God is one that has been born of the Spirit.\u00a0 [John 1:12, \u201cBut as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, [13] who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.\u201d]\n\nSo the type of salvation that God honors amongst the Jew is not just ethnicity.\u00a0 A lot of Jews thought I\u2019m saved because I\u2019m Jewish and John the Baptist is saying no, God could raise up stones like that if He wanted to.\u00a0 Just being a son of Abraham or a son of the kingdom is not enough, you have to be born spiritually. And that\u2019s why Paul, when he\u2019s arguing justification by faith is always going back to the first Jew, Abram or Abraham, and pointing out Genesis 15:6.\u00a0 Even Abraham, the man who received the Abrahamic Covenant, the beginning of the Hebrew face, even he was justified by faith alone.\u00a0 Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.\u00a0 [Romans 4:3, \u201cFor what does the Scripture say? \u2018ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.\u2019\u201d].\n\nSo this is why in the writings of the Apostle Paul, you might want to jot down Romans 9:6, Romans 2:28-29, Paul says things like this: Not all Israel is Israel.\u00a0 What does he mean by that?\u00a0 Yes, the Jews are the chosen people but God is going to fulfill His program, not just through the Jews, through the believing Jews. [Romans 9:6, \u201cBut it is not as though the word of God hath come to naught. For they are not all Israel, that are of Israel:\u201d\u00a0 Romans 2:28, \u201cFor he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh.\u00a0 [29] But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.\u201d]\n\nAnd this is why Christ, in the book of Revelation, He is critiquing the seven churches in seven letters.\u00a0 In Revelation 2:9 and Revelation 3:9 he says things like this: \u201cI know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich),\u201d as He speaks to the church at Smyrna, \u201cand the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.\u201d\u00a0 [Revelation 2:9]\u00a0 [Revelation 3:9, \u201cBehold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie\u2026.\u201d]\u00a0 So there were a lot of people that felt that they were saved because they were just Jewish and Jesus says they say they\u2019re Jews but they\u2019re really not the type of Jews that God is going to work through because God is not just going to fulfill His program through the Jews, He\u2019s going to fulfill it through the believing Jews.\n\nSo all of that to say that when Jesus makes this statement here about the sons of the kingdom being cast into outer darkness in that place where there\u2019s going to be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you understand this background He\u2019s not talking about people that are saved and lost their salvation.\u00a0 When He uses the expression \u201csons of the kingdom\u201d in this context He\u2019s basically talking about people, Jewish people, that essentially felt they were saved because they were Jewish.\u00a0 And those are the people that are going to go to hell is basically what He\u2019s saying, because they never embraced the plan of salvation by faith alone in the Messiah alone.\n\nAnd you have to sort of look at this whole context because going back to Matthew 8 there\u2019s a Gentile centurion who gets saved.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know if it says he\u2019s saved, I would assume he\u2019s saved, but he believes in Christ and that takes place in Matthew 8:5-9.\u00a0 [Matthew 8:5-9, \u201cAnd when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, imploring Him,[6] and saying, \u2018Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented.\u2019 [7] Jesus said to him, \u2018I will come and heal him.\u2019 \u00a0[8] But the centurion said, \u2018Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. \u00a0[9] For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, \u2018Go!\u2019 and he goes, and to another, \u2018Come!\u2019 and he comes, and to my slave, \u2018Do this!\u2019 and he does it.<\/em>\u201d]\n\nAnd then in that same context Jesus, right away, begins to critique Jews who never believed but felt they were saved because they were Jews.\u00a0 And it\u2019s is that context that he makes this statement about sons of the kingdom being cast out, where they\u2019re weeping and gnashing of teeth.\n\nSo basically what am I trying to get at here?\u00a0 What I\u2019m trying to get at here is when Jesus makes this statement the sons of the kingdom are going to be cast out where there\u2019s weeping and gnashing of teeth it\u2019s not contextually talking about someone who had salvation and lost it.\u00a0 It\u2019s someone who thinks they\u2019re saved because of their race or their ethnicity.\u00a0 It would be the equivalent of somebody thinking they\u2019re saved because they\u2019re Baptist or a lot of people think they\u2019re saved because they live in the\u00a0 United States, I\u2019m an American, or I\u2019m a Presbyterian, or I\u2019m a Metha-Catha-Baterion, or a Bapticostal Fundamatic or whatever.\n\nAnd the fact of the matter is God doesn\u2019t really care about that in terms of personal salvation.\u00a0 You may be the most religious person on planet earth but if a person hasn\u2019t come to God through His path, which is faith alone in Christ alone, they can\u2019t come.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t matter if they look like a son of the kingdom; it doesn\u2019t matter what their church attendance is, it doesn\u2019t matter what their baptism certificate says or their Sunday School attendance, they\u2019re going to hell.\u00a0 That\u2019s basically what He\u2019s saying.\u00a0 So this is not a loss of salvation verse when understood in that way.\n\nAll right, let\u2019s go to Matthew 10 for a minute, let me take you to another problem passage, I\u2019m trying to handle these as they come up in the chronological order of the Bible.\u00a0 Notice Matthew 10:32-33, Jesus says, \u201cTherefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My father who is in heaven.\u00a0 [33] But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.\u201d\u00a0 So people think this, that if I\u2019m a Christian but I live in an Islamic country where if I speak up for Christ I could be murdered, my family could be tortured.\u00a0 But if you don\u2019t speak up for Christ, if you don\u2019t publicly confess Christ then number 1, you were never saved to begin with, or number 2, maybe you had salvation but lost it.\n\nSo this is the justification that people use for altar calls.\u00a0 You know, there is no altar call anywhere in the Scripture.\u00a0 I\u2019m not necessarily against altar calls per se if people understand that walking an aisle doesn\u2019t save anybody.\u00a0 If you want to have an altar call that\u2019s fine, there\u2019s nothing necessarily wrong with that but the problem is people confuse walking an aisle with salvation.\u00a0 That works pretty well in America but it\u2019s not going to work real well in Saudi Arabia, Iran, places where there\u2019s a real threat of coercion, violence, rape, all kinds of things that are put on a person if they do publicly confess Christ.\u00a0 So people live under this condemnation but man, I\u2019ve never really confessed Christ, I guess I\u2019m not saved or never was saved.\n\nAnd I had a student, when I started to explain this at the College of Biblical Studies, she basically told me, she said I\u2019m so glad you went over that because I go to a church that gives altar calls and I\u2019ve been terrified for years to walk down in front and I have had doubts about my salvation and so I\u2019m so glad you helped me with this and the Bible says you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you\u2026 what?\u00a0 \u201cfree.\u201d [John 8:32]\u00a0 So having said all that what is this verse really talking about?\u00a0 Again, the answer to all of these passages is people are cherry picking verses; all I\u2019m trying to do is help us put these verses back into their context because context is what gives the verse meaning.\n\nSo if you go back to verses 1-4, which is also in Matthew 10, you see the twelve, eleven men of the twelve, other than Judas, are saved and they are sent out to preach something called the offer of the Kingdom, which says this: These twelve men saved, other than Judas, right?\u00a0 [5] \u201cThese twelve men Jesus sent out after instructing them: Do not go in the way of the Gentiles,\u201d I mean, is that something we\u2019re supposed to follow today, do not go the way of the Gentiles?\u00a0 I thought we were supposed to take Christ to the nations.\u00a0 Oh, this is a different dispensation, where the offer of the kingdom is being extended to first century Israel. \u201cThese twelve men Jesus sent out after instructing them: Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, do not go to any city of the Samaritans; [6] but rather go only (I can add that in) to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.\u00a0 [7] And as you go,\u201d say trust in Christ for salvation.\u00a0 No, it doesn\u2019t say that does it.\u00a0 \u201cAnd as you go, preach, saying \u2018The kingdom of heaven is at hand.\u2019\u201d\n\nIs that how you preach the gospel to people when they want to know about Christ?\u00a0 Do you say repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand?\u00a0 No, you don\u2019t say that.\u00a0 So this is obviously instructions given to a nation to receive the offer of the Kingdom which we\u2019re not following today.\u00a0 Our instructions come from the dispensational change which begins to be hinted at in Matthew 28; after has rejected the offer of the Kingdom they\u2019re told to go into all nations and make disciples of all nations.\u00a0 [Matthew 28:19, \u201cGo therefore and make disciples of all nations\u2026\u201d\n\nSo what essentially is happening is He\u2019s sending them out to offer the Kingdom.\u00a0 He is giving them authority, verse 8, to perform miracles as they go to authenticate this offer about the sick and the demons being cast out.\u00a0 [Verse 8, \u201cHeal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons.\u00a0 Freely you received, freely give.\u201d]\n\nAnd then as you look down at verses 9-10 he says by the way, don\u2019t take any provisions for yourself because you\u2019re going to be supported financially by people that receive the offer of the kingdom.\u00a0 And that\u2019s in verse 9 and 10.\u00a0 [Matthew 10:9-10, \u201cDo not acquire gold, or silver, or copper for\u00a0 your money belts, [10] or a bag for\u00a0 your journey, or even two coats, or sandals, or a staff; for the worker is worthy of his support.\u201d]\n\nAnd then you go down to verses 11-15 and he begins to give a very harsh warning that many people are going to reject this offer.\u00a0 [11, \u201cAnd whatever city or village you enter, inquire who is worthy in it, and stay at his house until you leave that city.\u00a0 [12] As you enter the house, give it\u00a0 your greeting.\u00a0 [13] If the house is worthy, give it\u00a0 your blessing of peace.\u00a0 But if it is not worthy, take back your blessing of peace.\u00a0 [14] Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city shake the dust off your feet.\u00a0 [15] Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than that city.\u201d]\n\nAnd then as you go down to verses 16-23 he begins to talk about how many are going to persecute you in Israel, as you offer them this offer of the kingdom.\u00a0 [16, \u201cI send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. [17] But beware of men, for they will hand you over to the<\/em> courts and scourge you in their synagogues; [18] and you will even be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. [19] But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say. [20] For it is not you who speak, but it is<\/em> the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. [21] Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his<\/em> child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. [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.\u00a0 [23] But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through<\/em> the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes.\u201d]\n\nSo I\u2019m going to really spend a lot of time when we get to Matthew 12 explaining the offer of the Kingdom so I won\u2019t go into that now but basically what it was is it was an offer given uniquely and only to first century Israel to enthrone Christ on His terms, and had they done so, as the elect nation, the covenanted nation, the Millennial Kingdom would have been manifested on planet earth.\u00a0 That\u2019s basically what the offer of the Kingdom is.\n\nSo it is not instructions for us in the church age, it\u2019s a unique offer given to national Israel. That\u2019s what\u2019s he\u2019s instructing them about.\u00a0 It\u2019s the same offer that John the Baptist preached in Matthew 3:2, Jesus preached in Matthew 4:17, the apostles preached, Matthew 10:5-7, and its preached faithfully until Matthew 12 because once you hit Matthew 12 they\u2019re attributing Christ\u2019s miracles to the devil so it\u2019s obvious they are not going to receive the offer of the kingdom.\n\n[Matthew 3:2, \u201cRepent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.\u201d\u00a0 Matthew 4:17, \u201cRepent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.\u201d\u00a0 Matthew 10:5-7, \u201cThese twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: \u201cDo not go in the<\/em> way of the<\/em> Gentiles, and do not enter any<\/em> city of the Samaritans; [6] but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. [7] And as you go, preach, saying, \u2018The kingdom of heaven is at hand.\u2019\u201d]\n\nIt\u2019s something unique to first century Israel that we don\u2019t preach today.\u00a0 So as you go down to Matthew 10:38 He begins to talk about the price of being a disciple.\u00a0 Now a disciple is a step beyond a believer; a believer is someone who receives Christ by faith alone in order to receive justification by God.\u00a0 But a disciple is a follower of Christ.\u00a0 When you become a disciple you begin to learn that being a follower of Christ means you\u2019re going to lose certain things.\u00a0 So there\u2019s a cost involved, but that\u2019s not true with your initial salvation.\u00a0 There is no cost whatsoever in your initial salvation.\n\nSo all disciples are believers but not all believers are necessarily disciples.\u00a0 So when He is sending them out to preach this offer of the Kingdom and He says a lot of people aren\u2019t going to listen to what you have to say, he begins to talk about the cost of discipleship.\u00a0 And it\u2019s so clear as you look at the context here.\u00a0 For example, if you go to verse 37, \u2018He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.\u201d\u00a0 He\u2019s not talking about initial salvation; these guys had initial salvation, other than Judas.\u00a0 He\u2019s talking about the cost of being a disciple.\n\nVerse 38 he says, \u201cAnd he who does not take up his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.\u00a0 [39] He who has found his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.\u201d\u00a0 What he\u2019s saying there is you\u2019re really going to find meaning in your life by following through with the Lord\u2019s commands to be a disciple, not by taking up your own life constantly but by laying it down over and over again as a believer who now wants to graduate into discipleship.\n\nSo in that whole context, which never is explained to people when they toss this verse at you, they toss it at you like a hand grenade but they never explain the meaning.\u00a0 When you look at the whole context of Matthew 10:32-33 he says, \u201cTherefore, everyone who confesses Me before me, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. [33] But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.\u201d\u00a0 So what is the confession and what is the denial?\u00a0 It is not whether\u00a0 you\u2019re going to heaven or not, it\u2019s a reward that you receive above and beyond salvation by cooperating with the Lord throughout your life and submitting to the call of discipleship.\n\nSo the confession is a confession for reward; the denial is a denial for reward. In other words, remember we talked about the three tenses of salvation: justification, sanctification, glorification.\u00a0 Which tense of salvation are we dealing with here.\u00a0 This is middle tense stuff and what people do is they want to drag it back into first tense salvation.\u00a0 That doesn\u2019t fit the context at all because all of these guys that he\u2019s sent out to preach this\u00a0 unique offer, other than Judas, already had initial salvation.\u00a0 These guys are already justified, what they\u2019re learning about here is the concepts and the principles of discipleship which they\u2019re going to have to understand to go out and faithfully offer a Christ-rejecting nation, the Kingdom, which by and large we know from the gospels that the nation wouldn\u2019t want to receive that.\n\nSo you say well, does this apply to us?\u00a0 Well, we\u2019re living in the church age so obviously our message is different, but the concept of discipleship is the same.\u00a0 As we graduate from being mere believers into becoming disciples there\u2019s actually a reward in it for us above and beyond simply being in heaven one day.\u00a0 And we\u2019ve gone through the passages that describe the doctrine of rewards.\u00a0 The doctrine of rewards is not condition based on whether you trust in Christ or not, the rewards that people receive above and beyond salvation is conditioned upon cooperating with the principles of discipleship, 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, 2 John 8, Revelation 3:11.\n\n[1 Corinthians 3:10-15, \u201cAccording to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. [11] For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. [12] Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, [13] each man\u2019s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be<\/em> revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man\u2019s work. [14] If any man\u2019s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. [15] If any man\u2019s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.\n\n2 John 8, \u201cWatch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that\u00a0 you may receive a full reward.\u00a0 Revelation 3:11, \u201cI am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown.\u201d]\n\nSo what he is saying here doesn\u2019t apply in terms of our message but what he is saying here does apply and does translate over, looking at other things that the Apostle Paul brings up and the Apostle John brings up, not so much in the Gospels but in the epistolary literature related to the principle of discipleship.\n\nSo all of that to say this verse is not about altar calls; it\u2019s not about if I don\u2019t aggressively speak up for Christ maybe I\u2019m not saved.\u00a0 It\u2019s certainly not about if I\u2019m not aggressively speaking up for Christ in Saudi Arabia maybe I lost my salvation.\u00a0 It\u2019s all about if you do those things then\u00a0 you\u2019ve graduated from being just a believer into discipleship and God is going to\u2026 God knows the cost involved in that decision and He is mindful of it and He\u2019s going to reward people for it.\u00a0 Obviously God is like that because He\u2019s perfectly equitable at the end of the day, right?\n\nSo the believer that\u2019s just a believer, they\u2019ve got their fire insurance paid up and they\u2019re going to heaven, it\u2019s wonderful to be in heaven with the Lord but there\u2019s other believers that are really under God\u2019s power trying to move into discipleship, which is always going to incur the wrath of the devil and the wrath of the world and it\u2019s that latter category that\u2019s going to be rewarded.\n\nSo all that to say we\u2019re not talking about first tense salvation issue, this is all middle tense salvation issues when you understand the context.\n\nLet\u2019s just keep on marching, shall we?\u00a0 Matthew 12:31-32, the unpardonable sin; don\u2019t turn there because I\u2019m going to skip that one.\u00a0 Why am I skipping that one?\u00a0 Because it\u2019s so big it requires its own lesson, so I will return to that one next week.\u00a0 It may take two lessons.\u00a0 [\u201cTherefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven.\u00a0 [32] Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.\u201d]\n\nSo let\u2019s keep on marching, let\u2019s go to Matthew 24:13, here\u2019s a doozy, it says this: \u201cBut the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.\u201d\u00a0 Now you look at that verse at first glance and what people think it means is man, I\u2019d better endure to the very end of my life and if I don\u2019t endure in faith and fruitfulness to the very end of my life maybe I\u2019m not a Christian.\u00a0 Or the Armenian camp comes along and says you know, if you don\u2019t endure to the very end of your life in faith and in fruitfulness you can have your salvation taken away.\u00a0\u00a0 And if you don\u2019t care about context and\u00a0 you just want to toss a verse and look at it without understanding what it means in context, the verse does look that way.\n\nThat\u2019s why James Boyce, when he was dying, a very godly man, a very strong Reformed guy but a very godly man, God used him throughout his life, he\u2019s getting ready to die, he\u2019s going senile; R. C. Sproul at the Ligonier\u2019s Conference in Florida, I think it was in Orlando some years back, about 6,000 people or more in attendance, says you know, we all need to stop right now and pray for James Boyce.\u00a0 Why are we praying for James Boyce?\u00a0 We\u2019re praying for James Boyce, Sproul says, because we want him to endure to the end; we need him to die in faith.\u00a0 Now why would Sproul say something like that?\u00a0 He says something like that because of his theology which says if you truly are one of the elect and you have been given the gift of faith by God which can never fail, then you have to demonstrate that through perseverance in faith and good works to the end of\u00a0 your life.\u00a0 That\u2019s the strong Calvinistic Reformed side of the equation.\n\nThe Arminian side of the equation says if you do not endure until the very end of your life then you have salvation but it can be taken away, because after all, the Bible does say doesn\u2019t it, the one who endures to the end will be saved.\u00a0 [Matthew 24:13, \u201cBut the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.\u201d\n\nNow I want to show you the actual context in Matthew 24:13.\u00a0 Look at verse 15, which is just a verse or two later, right?\u00a0 \u201cTherefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), \u201c what did Jesus just quote there?\u00a0 He quoted Daniel 9:27.\u00a0 If you know your eschatology you understand that Daniel 9:27 is a key piece of the prophetic jigsaw puzzle because that\u2019s the verse that describes the seven year tribulation period.\n\n[Daniel 9:27, \u201cAnd he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.\u201d]\n\nIn fact, the rest of the Scripture is going to build on that single verse.\u00a0 So it\u2019s the only verse we have that tells us that the tribulation period is exactly seven\u00a0 years.\u00a0 It\u2019s the only verse we have that tells us how the tribulation period is going to start, with a peace treaty between the antichrist and unbelieving Israel.\u00a0 It tells us how the tribulation period is going to end, with the personal return of Jesus and the establishment of His kingdom.\u00a0 And when Gabriel gave Daniel that key piece of the prophetic jigsaw puzzle, who was that given to?\u00a0 It\u2019s actually part of a 490\u00a0 year clock that God gave to who?\u00a0 The nation of Israel.\u00a0 So how do I know that?\u00a0 I know that from Daniel 9:24, \u201cSeventy weeks\u201d better said 490 years, 483 have passed, 7 years are yet future, \u201cSeventy weeks have been decreed for\u201d Sugar Land Bible Church, oh, it doesn\u2019t say that.\n\n\u201cSeventy weeks have been decreed for your people\u201d this is given to Daniel \u201cand your holy city,\u201d now the last time I checked Daniel was Jewish, right.\u00a0 So this whole seventy weeks prophecy is not for the church; the church isn\u2019t even on the earth when these things happen.\u00a0 The church has already been raptured to heaven.\u00a0 This is talking about the final seven year clock that concerns the nation of Israel.\u00a0\u00a0 That\u2019s what Jesus is quoting it here.\u00a0 So Jesus, in context, back to Matthew 24 is not talking about I\u2019ve got to make it to the end of my life to demonstrate enough proof to see whether I\u2019m saved or not.\u00a0 That\u2019s totally foreign to the context.\u00a0 He\u2019s talking about the nation of Israel right in the middle of this tribulation period.\n\nAnd you\u2019re going to see, you Jews, once this tribulation period happens, you\u2019re going to see the temple desecrated by the antichrist.\u00a0 He\u2019s going to go into the temple and he\u2019s going to deify himself, he\u2019s going to proclaim himself to be God, he\u2019s going to set up a pagan image in the temple, he\u2019s going to replicate really what one of your villains in history have already done, a man named Antiochus Epiphanius, what he did in the intertestamental period.\u00a0 And when\u00a0 you Jews see that happen you need to \u201cget out of Dodge.\u201d\u00a0 You need to flee.\u00a0 How do I know that?\u00a0 Look at verse 16, \u201cthen those who are living in\u201d Houston\u2026 oh, it doesn\u2019t say that, \u201cthen those who are living in\u201d what does it say? \u201cJudea\u201d that\u2019s in the Middle East, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 \u201c\u2026those who are living in Judea must flee to the mountains.\u201d\u00a0 A lot of people think that they\u2019re fleeing to Pella, other verses seem to talk about that.\n\nAnd then look at verse 20, \u201cBut pray that your flight will not take place in the winter,\u201d because that\u2019s tough traveling in the winter, \u201cor on the\u201d what? \u201cSabbath.\u201d\u00a0 When was the Jewish Sabbath?\u00a0 Saturday.\u00a0 He\u2019s talking to Jewish people here.\u00a0 Now in the church age the Sabbath of the Ten Commandments is not repeated for the church age.\u00a0 All of the Ten Commandments are repeated other than the Sabbath commandment.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Because as members of the church age we\u2019re not under the Sabbath principle in the sense that we worship on Saturday.\u00a0 We worship on Sunday.\u00a0 Acts 20:7 says when they had gathered on the first day of the week, that\u2019s us.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0[Acts 20:7, \u201cOn the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread\u2026. \u201c]\n\n1 Corinthians 16:2, basically is instructions for the offering and Paul says when you all get together on the first day of the week, which is not Saturday, it\u2019s Sunday.\u00a0 [1 Corinthians 16:2, \u201cOn the first day of every week each one of\u00a0 you is to put aside and save, as he may prosper so that no collections be made when I come.\u201d]\n\nAnd the book of Colossians, written to the church, chapter 2, verse 16-17 says this of the Sabbath, he says \u201cTherefore, no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0These things are a mere shadow of what it so come but the substance belongs to Christ.\u00a0 There isn\u2019t a single command given to the age of the church that we follow the Jewish Sabbath principle.\u00a0 We worship on the first day of the week, not the last day of the week because Jesus rose on which day?\u00a0 Sunday, which is day one rather than day seven.\u00a0 So everything shifted with the advent of Christ and more specifically the beginning of the church age.\n\nSo when you see this word \u201csabbath\u201d back in Matthew 24:20 you know very clearly He\u2019s not talking to the church at all; He\u2019s talking to Jews in the tribulation period.\u00a0 And if that isn\u2019t clear enough look at verses 21-22, \u201cFor then there will be\u201d what?\u00a0 \u201cgreat tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will.\u00a0 [22] Unless those days had been cut short,\u201d no one would survive or be saved, \u201cbut for the sake of the elect\u201d that would be Israel, \u201cthose days will be cut short.\u201d\n\nIf that isn\u2019t clear enough look at verses 29-30, \u201cBut immediately after the tribulation of those days, THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s talking about things that are described in the bowl judgments in the book of Revelation, chapter 16.\u00a0 If that\u2019s not clear enough look at verse 30, \u201cAnd the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s talking about, not the rapture, which is what we\u2019re looking for, but the Second Advent of Christ to rescue Israel at the end of the tribulation period.\u00a0 And then verse 31 he describes this rescue operation.\u00a0 \u201cAnd he will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect\u201d the Jewish nation, \u201cfrom the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.\u201d\n\nSo what am I trying to say here?\u00a0 This is not talking, Matthew 24:13, about perseverance to the end of your life, the end of your natural lifespan to figure out if you\u2019re one of the elect or not; it\u2019s not talking about the issue of someone losing their salvation.\u00a0 What it\u2019s talking about is not perseverance to the end of one\u2019s life but perseverance by a Jew from the midpoint of the tribulation period to the end of the tribulation period.\u00a0 And it\u2019s so clear that that\u2019s what he\u2019s talking about, not the end of the life of a person but the end of the age because look at Matthew 24:3, look at their initial question. \u201cTell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of\u201d your life, it doesn\u2019t say that, does it, \u201cthe end of the age.\u201d\u00a0 The end of the seventieth week of Daniel, that\u2019s what they want to know about.\n\nTake a look at verse 6, \u201cYou will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars.\u00a0 See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.\u201d\u00a0 What end?\u00a0 Not the end of one\u2019s life, the end of the age.\n\nLook, if you will, at verse 14, \u201cThis gospel of the kingdom\u201d oh wow, isn\u2019t that the offer of the kingdom that we talked about in Matthew 10?\u00a0 That\u2019s going to get re-extended to Israel, \u201crepent for the kingdom of God is at hand,\u201d preached, I think primarily through the hundred and forty-four thousand Jewish evangelists descending from the twelve tribes of Israel, spoken of very clearly in Revelation 7.\u00a0 \u00a0The \u201cgospel of the kingdom\u201d and this time Israel is going to get it right, and the Jews always get it right the second time in the Bible.\u00a0 Did you know that?\u00a0 And this is the point of Stephen\u2019s speech in Acts 7.\u00a0 He stands up in front of the Jews, Acts 7, you think my sermons are long, this goes 53 verses, he says you Jews, you get it right the second time.\u00a0 That\u2019s how it was with Joseph, Joseph was betrayed by his brothers but then they got it right and submitted to his authority 13 years later.\u00a0 That\u2019s how it was with Moses, the Jews resisted Moses, he fled into the wilderness, he came back 40 years later, and you submitted to his authority finally in the Exodus.\n\nAnd Stephen goes on and he says this is what\u2019s happening right not to you all, you\u2019re getting ready\u2026 you rejected Christ, you\u2019re getting ready to kill me, but the Second Coming you\u2019re going to get it right.\u00a0 And they appreciated his sermon so much they stoned him to death.\n\nSo what biblically is being explained here is that the Jews are going to get it right the second time.\u00a0 That\u2019s the offer of the kingdom that will be embraced and it\u2019s going to take the events of the tribulation period to awaken them to this issue.\u00a0 \u201cThis gospel of the kingdom will be preached to the whole world as a testimony to all nations and then the end,\u201d the end of what?\u00a0 Not the end of one\u2019s life but the end of the age, \u201cwill come.\u201d\n\nSo what is being said, back to our verse here, \u201cBut the one who endures to the end will be saved,\u201d what he is saying is this: if you are a Jew living on the earth in the midst of the Tribulation period at the midpoint, and you watch the antichrist desecrate the temple you need to flee into the wilderness.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Because Satan is about ready to be cast out of heaven.\u00a0 How do I know that?\u00a0 It\u2019s from a passage we\u2019re going to look at in the sermon today, Revelation 12:6 and following.\u00a0 Satan, even in his fallen condition, has access to God\u2019s throne; just ask Job about that sometime.\n\nSatan is going to lose that access, he\u2019s going to plummet to the earth.\u00a0 The Bible is very clear, it happens in the final one thousand two hundred and sixty days of Daniel\u2019s seventieth week, the final forty-two months, he plummets to the earth and Satan in his mind knows he\u2019s got three and a half years left to gobble up the Jewish people, who is the woman that\u2019s fleeing into the wilderness, Revelation 12.\u00a0 See, Revelation 12 is giving you the story from the angelic point of view.\u00a0 Matthew 24 is giving you the story from the human point of view.\u00a0 And it\u2019s at that point that the devil actually, I believe, goes into the beast, possesses him, just like he possessed Judas.\u00a0 There\u2019s only two men in the Bible that are given the designation, \u201cson of perdition,\u201d and that\u2019s Judas, John 17:12 and the antichrist, 2 Thessalonians 2:13.\n\n[John 17:12, \u201cWhile I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.\u201d\u00a0 2 Thessalonians 2;13, \u201cBut we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.\u201d]\n\nSo the devil himself, through a man, is going to unleash the worst persecution that\u2019s ever been unleashed upon the Jewish people.\u00a0 In fact, the prophet, Zechariah tells us in Zechariah 13:8 that it\u2019s going to be so severe that two-thirds of the Jewish people are going to be killed.\u00a0\u00a0 [Zechariah 13:8, \u201cIt will come about in all the land,\u2019 Declares the LORD, \u2018That two parts in it will be cut off and perish; But the third will be left in it.\u2019\u201d]\n\nYou know, Hitler did quite a job but he only got a third of them killed; this guy is going to kill two-thirds of them.\u00a0 But God is going to be faithful to a remnant through that terrible process, this remnant is going to come to saving faith in what we call Christ, they call Yeshua, and God is going to fulfill His covenant through this remaining third.\u00a0 And if they make it to the end of the seven year period Jesus is going to come back and rescue them from the wrath of the devil who is using the antichrist.\u00a0 And that\u2019s what verse 31 is saying.\n\nSo when it says he \u201cwho endures to the end will be saved,\u201d it is not talking about salvation from hell.\u00a0 See, this is the problem, people look at this verse and every time they see the word \u201csaved\u201d they think it\u2019s talking about personal salvation from hell.\u00a0 That demonstrates a very poor understanding of the semantic range of this word \u201csaved.\u201d\n\nFor example, in the book of Hebrews, chapter 11 and verse 7, it says this: \u201cBy faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation\u201d there\u2019s our word \u201csaved,\u201d there it\u2019s a noun form, same root, \u201cfor the salvation of his household\u2026\u201d does that mean Noah got to heaven by building a boat?\u00a0 No, it means he was physically protected from what?\u00a0 Water, by building a boat, and his family.\n\nSo when Jesus says \u201che who endures to the end will be saved\u201d He\u2019s not using the word \u201csaved\u201d when you understand the context, as justification before God.\u00a0 What he\u2019s talking about is being physically protected from the antichrist who is throwing out hell itself through Satan\u2019s power on the Jewish people.\n\nIn fact, I would say this: most of the time you see the reference to \u201csave\u201d in the Bible it\u2019s not even talking about justification.\u00a0 It\u2019s typically talking about salvation from some kind of temporal problem.\u00a0 Paul, in Philippians 1 talks about getting out of jail and being saved.\u00a0 Is he talking about going to heaven there?\u00a0 No, he\u2019s talking about being protected from a jail sentence by God.\u00a0 So how do I know if the word \u201csaved\u201d means protection from something temporal or going to heaven?\u00a0 The context tells you that.\u00a0 So all of that to say \u201cthe one who endures to the end will be saved\u201d has zero to do with R. C. Sproul\u2019s prayer and what he prayed at Ligonier ministries, it has zero to do with I\u2019ve got to make it to the end of my life and maybe if I persevere with enough faith and fruit I\u2019ll make it into heaven.\u00a0 It\u2019s got zero to do with loss of salvation.\u00a0\u00a0 I mean, all of that stuff is just read right into the verse and so that becomes a tragic thing.\n\nAs a matter of fact, I was reading John MacArthur\u2019s commentary on Matthew, he\u2019s got a lot of good things to say in there, and I\u2019m watching very carefully what he\u2019s doing with Matthew 24, it\u2019s all very good, it goes right along with what I believe the context of the passage is saying, and then he gets to this verse and he goes on this whole excurses or digression into Calvinistic theology and how if a person doesn\u2019t make it to the end of their life in faithfulness then they\u2019re not a believer.\u00a0 And I\u2019m looking at this and saying what is going on?\u00a0 I enjoy many of the things he says in his Matthew Commentary, and it\u2019s like he\u2019s a different guy when he\u2019s working in verse 13.\n\nAnd you see, this is what you need\u2026 I\u2019m not here to bash Sproul, MacArthur, I\u2019m just using these as examples, but you have to watch theologians very carefully because a lot of times what they\u2019ll do is they\u2019ll start frontloading theology into passages that don\u2019t belong there.\u00a0 All that Calvinistic theology, we can have a discussion if you want to have it but don\u2019t use Matthew 24:13 to set before the gullible Christian public who doesn\u2019t have any training in context and make it look like this is some kind of Calvinistic verse or Arminian verse.\u00a0 It\u2019s not that at all.\n\nCan I do one more?\u00a0 Matthew 25:41, and then I\u2019ll be finished with the Matthew passages and we can start Matthew 12 fresh next week because we\u2019ll need it with Matthew 12, believe me.\u00a0 \u201cThen He will also say to those on His left, \u2018Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for\u201d who? \u201cthe devil and his angels;\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Now people actually look at this verse and they say the angels lost their salvation.\u00a0 And the devil who was once an angel, he is an angel today, a fallen angel, they lost their salvation.\u00a0 But to my mind that\u2019s an apples and oranges comparison.\u00a0 Satan and the angels, we know a third of them fell from Revelation 12:3-8, we know about Satan\u2019s fall in Isaiah 14:12-15, Ezekiel 28:12-17, Satan and the angels never had salvation.\n\nIt\u2019s like what people are doing with Adam and Eve; Adam and Eve lost their salvation\u2026 no they didn\u2019t, they didn\u2019t have salvation initially.\u00a0 See, what\u2019s our situation.\u00a0\u00a0 What are Arminians saying?\u00a0 We\u2019re lost, saved, lost, and they want to use Adam and Eve as an example and they want to use the angels as an example but the angels don\u2019t fit that paradigm, they were never lost, saved, lost.\u00a0 They were just in a perfect relationship with God and they lost what they had but they never had salvation in the sense that the angels were saved after they lost their perfect standing with God.\u00a0 They were just in a perfect relationship with God and then through sin out of a perfect relationship with God.\n\nSo when people want to throw in Adam and Eve and they want to throw in the angels, to me it\u2019s like making an apples and oranges comparison.\u00a0 And something to understand about the angels is God never offered the angels salvation, the fallen angels I\u2019m talking about.\u00a0 The two-thirds that didn\u2019t fall don\u2019t need it, but God never offered salvation to angels.\u00a0 Did you ever ask that question: how come God never offered salvation to the angels, but He does offer it to us?\u00a0 Here\u2019s what Thiessen writes:\u00a0 \u201cBecause the angels are a company and not a race, they sinned individually<\/em>, and not in some federal head of the race [as was true with humanity\u2019s fall in the person of Adam].\u201d\u00a0 See, I\u2019m a sinner because of a sin nature that I\u2019ve inherited from Adam.\u00a0 Not so the angels; each of these third of the angels that fell stood in the exact presence of God and made a decision to rebel against Him.\u00a0 I never had that opportunity.\n\n\u201c It may be\u201d can\u2019t be dogmatic about this so we wouldn\u2019t want to start a new church over this necessarily, \u201cIt may be that because of this that God made no provision of salvation for the fallen angels.\u201d\u00a0 Here\u2019s a little chart that I put together that might help.\u00a0 It\u2019s the difference between human accountability and angelic accountability.\u00a0 Humans sinned as a class; Adam\u2019s sin affected all of us; not so the angels, they sinned individually.\u00a0\u00a0 We sin against God because we have a sin nature.\u00a0 Not so the angels, they\u2019ve never had a sin nature, at least initially, yet they made a conscious decision, each of them, not as a group but as individuals, to sin against God.\u00a0 I never stood in the very glory of God and rejected Him; the angels did.\u00a0 \u201cTo whom much is given much is\u201d what? \u201crequired.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s a basic biblical theme, the more light you have the more the threshold of accountability goes up.\u00a0 And so to try to examine God\u2019s program with the angels and draw from that parallels regarding our loss of salvation,\u00a0 you\u2019re mixing two things that don\u2019t really go together whatsoever.\n\nBy the way, I have salvation because Jesus took on human form.\u00a0 Did Jesus ever take on angelic form?\u00a0 He never did.\u00a0 Right.\u00a0 The plan of salvation is not open to the fallen angelic realm but it\u2019s open to us.\u00a0 That\u2019s why James says things like this: The demons believe and what?\u00a0 Tremble.\u00a0 They know the whole thing is true, but at the name of Jesus Christ they\u2019re scared out of their minds and you recall what the demons, as they were speaking through people said to Christ when He was on the earth 2,000 years ago?\u00a0 What do you want with us, Son of God, Son of Man.\u00a0 They knew exactly who He was.\u00a0 What do you want with us?\u00a0 Have you come to torture us before the what? Appointed time.\u00a0 So they themselves understand that there are written off; there\u2019s no hope for them whatsoever.\n\nSo anybody that wants to somehow develop a soteriological blueprint based on God\u2019s plan and program for the angels is mixing basically two things that don\u2019t belong together.\u00a0 So I don\u2019t think Matthew 25:40 has anything to do with loss of salvation.\n\nSo we\u2019ve looked at Matthew 8, Matthew 10, Matthew 24, Matthew 25, next week it\u2019s the big shawarma, I\u2019m trying to use more Jewish motifs, where we\u2019re going to be looking at the unpardonable sin.\u00a0 And people look at that and say have I committed it?\u00a0 Well, I\u2019ve got good news for you, if you\u2019re worried about it you probably haven\u2019t committed it. So that\u2019ll comfort you at least this week before we get into that.\u00a0 I went a little long as usual but any thoughts or questions?","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t