Do Not Neglect Your Salvation - Believer Beware 2

Calvary Community Church of Tampa LIVE PM Service Service with Pastor Jesse Martinez

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SUBSCRIBE https://www.youtube.com/c/bibleline
LIKE https://www.facebook.com/biblelinemin
TWEET https://www.twitter.com/biblelinemin
COMMENT ask us a question!
SHARE with all your friends and family

Do you have a Bible question? Send your question to questions@biblelineministries.org!

Support Bibleline - https://www.calvaryoftampa.org/donate/

Bibleline is a ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida and is hosted by Pastor Jesse Martinez.

LIKE THIS? CHECK THESE GUYS OUT:
https://www.youtube.com/c/Northlandchurchstc
(Tom Cucuzza)
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdddWVKMcM9c-SjUR1LZTBw
(Jim Scudder)
https://www.youtube.com/c/NorthsideChurchAthens
(Freddie Coile)
https://www.youtube.com/user/biblelinebroadcast
(Yankee Arnold)
https://www.youtube.com/c/TheKeesBoerMinistryChannel
(Kees Boer)
#beware #believer #dangers #hebrews #bibleline #salvation #neglect #osas #hebrewbeliever #truth

underneath that bulletin board all right let's take our Bibles and go to Hebrews chapter 2. We are continuing this
series that we're going through right now we've already gone through the book of Hebrews but I thought it was valuable to look at the warnings
um and see how they are viewed in context and then also take a look at what we can learn from them today
we have to remember that this is written to Jewish Believers whose entire lives have changed now
it's hard to understand that because most of us were raised in a Christian I
don't want to say Christian as though it was the truth but most of most of us were raised in a church background so
you kind of understand going to church going to Sunday school praying you know Fellowship dinners all that kind of
stuff is probably a part of your upbringing but imagine that there was
a new faith that you became a part of that didn't really take any interest in
those things and that's what was happening for the Jew they would go to synagogue they would
observe Shabbat together they had their entire childhood Faith was now
of really no value to them anymore because of the sufficiency found in Christ if you know much about the Jewish
history they are looking for a messiah they're looking for a redeemer they have their eyes peeled for who that will be
the Bible says that that Messiah will be cut off as we saw in Jesus Christ
but the Jewish people have rejected Jesus I remember I've been to Israel twice and I'm always really amazed when
you get to the to the wall which is the closest part to the temple not a part of the temple but it was the
closest part to the holy of holies and you just see uh the the total trust and
dependency and belief that putting a piece of paper in that wall will be heard by God
better than just praying a prayer and I go and you know you you just observe I
don't have my phone out recording people I don't see any value in that but I just I pray for these people
because they're so they're so deceived in these practices
and I have not seen this happen but I asked one of our tour guides the first time that we went
what happens to the papers you know they're they're stuck in the wall what what's the result of that I mean after
it has to be like maybe after a whole week there's no more places to put paper
pull them out and sweep them up I just feel like that's that's accurate to what that belief holds there's there's no
value in that that doesn't make you closer to God but they're depending on that being closer to the temple they
have a better shot of being heard by God it's a sad thing and you'll see uh
Chairs set up there and they'll have um the the men will have their uh talmud
out and they'll have their prayer Shaws and they'll have their phylactery the little piece of leather up here and a
little piece of leather right here and they'll Bob back and forth as they recite their prayers sometimes they'll be singing
most of the time though there's people with their foreheads pressed on the wall just just praying and thinking that God
will hear them because they're closer to where the sacrifices used to be
that is the Jewish faith I'm not saying that's all of it but that's a big part of it it's all about ritual and practice
sanctification being in the right condition to be brought before God
and for most of the Believers that are being written to here in Hebrews this was something that no they was no longer
a part of their lives that comfort and that safety had been replaced with Peril and persecution because to be identified
as a Christian from the Jewish perspective you side with that blasphemer
they didn't have a good positive view of Jesus they thought that he was
an all-out attack on anything that was good the Pharisees had whipped the
people's minds into this frenzy that he was a faker he was worthy of death and
anybody who Associated themselves with this movement was worthy of this of of
the same death and you see that first happened with Stephen when you look at the book of
Acts which I think is a very very good book to know know what happens in these different chapters know the timeline of
the book of Acts that's where you see that things began to get hostile towards Christians when Stephen was stoned
he gave that very thought-provoking and I think that's a gentle way to put it he gave a very
thought-provoking message he condemned those who were he said resisting the Holy
Spirit and that's exactly what they did they literally stopped their ears they
gnashed their teeth and wailed out in response these religious leaders and they had the men put to death and so
started you know the shedding of blood for the church it's and it's just gone throughout history that way when you
look at Jesus's letters to the seven churches and you get to Smyrna he says that they're they're like a fragrant
flower that is crushed and releases a sweet smell persecution while it is something that
is violent and graphic and it totally takes away people's freedoms uh it's
it's very necessary to the spreading of the Gospel when you look at first and second Peter those were written to Jews
who were scattered abroad outside of their Homeland and probably in turkey at the time
they were everything that they knew had been uprooted and it came with hostility
and for a lot of people there was a temptation to apostasize and I want to talk about that because I think you hear
that word a lot and it's important to understand what it means to apostasize means to fall away from the truth
and you and I are tempted with this some of you have already been through this tempting and you've come through it meaning you've matured out of that
but it's this moment where as you're learning okay first of all you put your trust in Jesus Christ
you didn't know how you were getting to Heaven before you see the sufficiency of Christ and you put your trust in him
so now you're a part of God's family there are promises that are available to you and you're now held to be
accountable to know what's in the Bible and to do it James is very clear about that don't just be a hearer but be a
doer as people grow there's gonna there's gonna come this time where
you will come under persecution and we're thankful you know thankfully we live in a country where that
persecution is rather minor but for us it seems to be major
it may be something like taking a stand on a certain sin in your life I think for a lot of people especially younger
people that they come to faith in Christ but they have these addictions that they
bring with them it's a sad thing but there's a lot of things that people are addicted to I've got people in my life
who have a dependency on drugs and it's sad I hate to see it but it's a vice
it's stopping them from growing because they're letting that drug control the
way they view life I have somebody in my life that I've talked to constantly about their drug use and it
gets to the point where I say but do you need it to have any kind of function
and they'll say no I don't need it to have any kind of function but then later on the conversation they'll say I'll do
this so that I can you know Focus while I'm driving home that to me sounds like a dependency
and it begins to just like it is when you're drunk you become under the influence of something
and when you're under the influence of something that object or thing is it's
guiding your decisions the Temptation for the Christian is the culture begins to to to guide your
decisions and we're seeing it now I want to mention this because it happened this week and this is kind of
like a story time and Sunday nights are a little more relaxed so I just want to share this with you there's a church
right around the corner that I've never been a part of but there are people in my family who know others who go to this
church it's a Methodist Church and if you know anything about what's going on with the United Methodist Church there's a lot
of things that are being allowed that are a part of the society's movement towards
the affirming of people's sexual preferences and the UMC right now is pretty split they actually have
experienced the split in 2016. there's a they have a book of discipline and this is kind of what they say is how the
church should be run and they say well we're not going to have any clergy that practice homosexuality and we're not going to
have a pastor that does that either and that was accepted for many many years but as the culture began to normalize
that that began to creep into the church and there were UMC churches that were allowing that and the more
conservative biblical United methodists were saying we don't we don't see a case
for why that should be accepted you know why are we allowing that in our churches so they began to start splitting and if
you know much about denominations most denominations own the property of the church this is Calvary Community Church
we're not owned by a denomination this property is not even owned by the the
board of Elders I don't know how all that works so I'm not going to talk to it but I know in denominations like the
United Methodist Church they'll pay property taxes and workers comp insurance and all that on property that
they don't own and we're talking hundreds of thousands of dollars a year so when the denomination starts to
legalize something that the Bible has said is is not proper for people in
Ministry you're going to have the split and Division well this particular church had pushed
this vote off three times they were going to bring it to the congregation to decide now we have not experienced any
situation here at Calvary where we've had to have a special a special members vote in a long time I think the last
time that we did something like that was when we were going to allow Florida Bible College to operate with the
churches um back building and all the members were called and you have to have a certain number to pass it but the whole
point of this church is that it's your it's it's this is the Lord's building but you as the people
we decide how it's going to be used and with this church down the road they kept
delaying this vote on what they were going to do about are we going to disaffiliate with the United Methodist
Church and go with this new thing or are we going to stay here and allow this to be a part of how we run
you're talking about what people believe sadly a lot of people in the United Methodist churches are not saved because
they're depending on a certain form of works that they have to perform to be saved but there are some people who understand
the truth and they just decided to go to Methodist Church because they have good kids program or whatever it may be
throughout the process of this vote being delayed each year it seemed like it was less and less likely to happen at
least that was that's my observation the pastor wrote a letter this past week and kind of detailed the whole thing
they have until the end of this year to officially disassociate with the United Methodist Church and go with this new
thing the global Methodist Church or go with this local Thing by another church that's doing something similar either
way it's going to cost them roughly 150 000 dollars can you imagine
for those of you who are aware of the budget here at Calvary that's more than half of what we bring in a year
I can't imagine to do that just take a stand on the Bible but that's where this is coming to
so this pastor delayed delay delayed and then he was finally pressed on it because the end of the decision the
decisions to be made in December and I was sent the letter where he
basically used phrases that try to conceal the truth but he basically said we're not going to
vote on this we're going to stay with the UMC it's not worth division he said things like God doesn't care what's on your bumper sticker of your
car but that's that's setting up a straw man for something different the real truth is you don't care about what God's
word says is right we're going to let the culture inform what the Bible should say I tell you this for two reasons
there's a statement he made in the meeting that blew my mind that he actually believes this but before I get to that I want to share with you what a
progressive thinker looks at the Bible I had this light shed on this because
this is how the progressive Methodist Church begins to affirm this type of Lifestyle in their clergy and this is
what they say the Bible has to be interpreted in three buckets okay so imagine we have three buckets here and we take this passage
and we decide which bucket do we place it in okay so all the passages that speak are very very plainly that you
know homosexuality is a sin we have to look at that and say where do we put that the first bucket is it's Timeless
truth okay they don't even say it's on authority of God they just call it Timeless truth okay and they say
Timeless truth is stuff that uh passes all time it's always going to be true the second bucket is it was culturally
acceptable then but the times have changed so now that verse doesn't apply
and then the third bucket is it should have never been in the Bible
I don't know if you guys recognize what that means but each one of these buckets it's a
hermeneutical approach what informs these buckets the culture where does the culture go what does the
world say is acceptable that's where we put these Bible verses and so the progressive
thinker takes passages that talk very plainly about marriage between a man and
a woman and how Jesus talked about marriage or they say he never talked about homosexuality so it's not wrong
they say all these things so they take these passages that people properly use to defend the view of traditional
marriage and they put it in the it never should have been in the Bible bucket so what this means is the the more
conservative churches that leave this Methodist organization there's only going to be liberal pastors
that are in there and I don't mean liberal I mean in that you vote Democrat that's not what I mean I mean you take more freedoms with your interpretation
of the scripture and so this church is not this church here but the church that I was watching
this happen they're basically saying we're not going to have any more bible-believing preachers to teach the
word it's just going to be people that don't take a stand on things and here's the second thing the
statement that this Pastor said I was watching this because I had already read the the press release and then
I was watching the video and I'll be honest I wanted to see what happened because I've never been involved like this and if there's one thing I was so
thankful for when watching this video I was saying I'm so glad that's not this church that we don't have to worry about is the
pastor going to teach the word of God are we going to uphold Traditional Values I don't even I don't even mean
traditional American values just biblical values and he's he's just totally disinterested
and this this lady began speaking and she says I want to be a part of a god-honoring church
and if the if the denomination that we are associated with does not honor God I don't see how God is going to respect
that why can't we just still be a church outside of the Methodist Sunbrella she's
speaking the truth and this pastor looks at her and says so
you want a God on or so so you think uh separating from the United Methodist
Church gives you a god-honoring church and she says yes I want a god-honoring church and he looks at her
and says it doesn't exist a god-honoring church doesn't exist
I of course slammed the space bar on my uh uh keyboard because that's how you pause
a video and I was like what and I hit the back button to go back five seconds and I listened to it again I said he really said that
and he said it like this this is this is how he was looking at her it doesn't
exist I don't know how many people were in the room but you could tell there were people in the room
because everybody responded to that everybody said like you know they they
gasped they said what that's not true blah blah blah and that man probably preached a message
this morning the reason why I give you that story is because this is how apostasy happens
when you stop taking the word of God at face value and
you start putting it in buckets that are filtered through the culture you get to a pastor who looks at his church takes
away their freedom to vote and says a god-honoring church doesn't exist that's how you get there
and it's a the reason why I hit the space bar and pause the video is is was it was like a
gunshot in public it drew everybody's attention you are you're looking at a pastor and
you're saying what did you just say I can't you are you're asking your people to
trust your leadership decisions in not taking this vote and then you also say that God honoring churches don't exist
what how do you get there well
you start picking and choosing what the Bible says is truth that's how you get there and that's what apostasy is it's
falling away from the truth and each one of you if you haven't experienced this already you will you will be tempted to
walk away from your faith circumstances are the number one reason why people are used by those
circumstances many of you have faced difficulties in your families because you've come to the
light of the truth that Jesus Christ is the only way to get to heaven not by any system of Good Works which is religion
let's not mince any words here and your family is so offended by that
that they don't even want to talk to you because you venture to say I'm just trusting in Jesus Christ I want you to
do the same you can see where second Corinthians 4 comes to light that the devil blinds the
the minds of people but how does that happen how does a person who's trusted in Jesus Christ
apostasize fall away to the from the truth and live back under error how does that happen
well there are seven warnings throughout the entire book of Hebrews that talk about that happening
and the first step is you neglect your salvation take a look at Hebrews chapter 2 and
verse 1. therefore we ought to give the more Earnest heed to the things which we have heard lest at any time we should
let them slip I've slipped before I worked at Skate
World for a year and a half I like the people at that job but I
loathed that job because I didn't know how to skate I became a DJ eventually because I was a
risk on the floor when kids fell they hired me as a floor guard when kids fell at Skate World I would just circle
around them and gently fall and then ask them are you all right and some kids would look at me and say
are you all right and we just have a little moment there two people that have no idea what
they're doing with eight wheels on their feet but I remember what it's like to slip
and fall I've seen kids slip and fall it's uh you you don't pay attention to your surroundings
I'll never forget one time well that that story is a little graphic so we're not going to get into that but you can just imagine all the injuries that could
happen falling on a hardwood floor that's slick I've seen kids run into each other and all that but it starts
because they're not paying attention to the things around them we'd have this this this time during Saturday nights where it would be a uh a
fast gate and it was you know the kids it would be like a really high energy song and the kids would like Bob and
weave they'd be going so fast around the rink and there's always one kid who was going from the outside to the inside
from the outside to the inside to get speed as he's coming around the corner and if he doesn't pay attention when he
kicks out his foot to push off he'll tangle his foot with another person's skate and I mean somebody will be
airborne as they have a very nasty end and that all happens because people
don't pay attention to their surroundings and I want you to see the War I want you to see the warning here before the
consequences look at what it says therefore we ought to give the more Earnest heed to the things which we have
heard now there's a whole chapter before this where it's told that Jesus is better
than the Angelic beings and in the Old Testament God used angels to communicate
truth and if you are a good student you'll find out that almost every time with the effect with the exception of a
few times every time an angel is present they're always telling the person they're standing to fear not
because it's a frightful thing there's a guy on YouTube I've said this before he actually depicts with animation programs
he actually depicts what these angels look like they don't look like really strong dudes some of them they look scary geometric
eyes all that kind of stuff if that appeared in my room I'm not going what's up man I've been waiting
for you what are you doing you know and what am I doing
but you see that Angels had a lot of power and this the these Jewish Believers are
being reminded that Jesus is better than the Angels none of the angels have been given that responsibility to go die on the cross
they give praise honor and glory to the Lord in Revelation chapter 19 John actually
falls down to worship one of the angels that is communicating to him a truth
about Jesus Christ and the angel Stoops down to his position and says stand up
I am a servant like you so there's the perspective of angels at
least the ones that are God honoring the Demonic ones even they are restricted by what God allows them to do you study
demons in relation to their interactions with Jesus they were always in submission
always one of the ones that chills me is when the gadarian man has all those demons
come out of him and they're called Legion for we are many and they say what have you to do with us
thou son of I think they said Son of Man is is the Judgment early
and they beg to be cast into the swine which in that area
where that gadarian man was that swine was a high commodity
and Jesus allows it two thousand can you imagine seeing two thousand pigs
in a demonic rage jumping off of a cliff screaming and squealing as they drown in
the ocean that sounds disturbing but even those beings submitted their
authority to Jesus Christ and so the author in Hebrews he just gets done making that that claim about the
sufficiency of Christ he's better than angels but when he says in verse 1 I don't
think he's just talking about what we had just said it's everything that they had learned about Jesus Christ
they need to do something with it look at what it says we ought to give the more Earnest heed
to the things which we have learned we need to yield and submit to them more
than we would other things the Jewish person would understand this because they saw what it was like to
keep the law in ceremony only the Pharisees were accused of this that they just had an outward appearance but
inwardly inwardly they were not doing the right thing they were just going through the motions
that's why we don't do communion every Sunday because it can become very ritualistic
your mind can be a million miles away and you still are taking the elements and you're not in the right frame of
mind I don't want to enable that I think Dr Lindstrom did that practice of having it
once a month and so we keep that the same but can you pray ritualistically
I think we certainly can I think the third the first thing that Believers get challenged on and when
they're new to Christianity is you don't only pray for your food you pray for other things
you don't only pray at night you don't only pray when you're about to get into an accident
you pray all the time without ceasing it's a new type of communication it's not doesn't have to be formulaic like
the Lord's Prayer there's benefit to that but Hebrews 4 says we can approach the
throne of grace and obtain help in that present time of need this is interesting this is a much
different thing and they're learning these things but there's a there's a temptation to slide into Comfort back
into what we know and that's exactly what is warned look at the last part of that verse
lest at any time we should let them slip
for if the word spoken by Angels was steadfast and every transgression and Disobedience
received a just recompense of reward how shall we listen how shall we escape
if we neglect so great salvation which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was
confirmed unto us by them that heard him God also bearing them and I believe he's
talking about the apostles here bearing them witness both with signs and wonders
and diverse Miracles and Gifts of the Holy Ghost according to his own will lots to unpack here but I want you to
notice some things number number one in verse 2
he's arguing based off of the history they already knew in the Old Testament
question did God punish transgressions in the Old Testament
answer I'll give you four choices yes absolutely or yes
which one I will go with absolutely absolutely he did study the Israel's wandering 40 years in
the desert at one point the rebels who were leading Israel against the leadership of Moses
the Earth opened up and swallowed them whole hello now that doesn't mean they weren't saved
what that means is God disciplined them and it's important to recognize that
this we don't escape this discipline listen to me now we don't escape this discipline
because we're God's children I think sometimes as Christians that's
how Believers act well I'm covered under the blood of Christ so God's never going to discipline me wrong big time and
that's the argument that's being made here read the verse again with that understanding for if the word spoken by Angels was
steadfast and every transgression and Disobedience received a just recompensive reward
meaning whatever was disobeyed received punishment how shall we escape
do you realize we're entering into a more personal Covenant with the Lord than those in the Old Testament
this is bought by the blood of his son if anything Believers are more likely to
receive accurate discipline and severe discipline if need be
now some people think that God disciplines like an angry father with a switch and he's just waiting and waiting
like a teapot and then you finally do that one last sin and he's like and you're just getting beat around
that's not how God disciplines he disciplines out of love which is way more organized and intentional than
anger that's a scary thing and several weeks from now when we look
in Hebrews 10 which I think people abuse and misuse all the time you'll see how severe it is to
apostasize to go back and essentially say what Christ did was
I don't you know I'm not going to follow that anymore for comfort how shall we escape if we neglect so
great salvation how do you neglect salvation you allow verse 1 to be true of you
you do not give Earnest heed to the things that you have heard and you slip you drift
and then he he tells you this salvation so great was confirmed by the apostles
what were the apostles going around and doing people were being healed
people were getting saved they're getting baptized they're abandoning their way of life to
help push this perfect doctrine of Jesus Christ the apostles are being beaten and put in
jail they're being scolded not to teach in public in the way they're teaching but they're doing it anyway
Gamaliel probably the highest teacher of his time met with the council and said uh before
we do anything to these Apostles we better be sure that this thing they're doing
we're not going against God and he gives two examples he gives names of two people who had you know christ-like
followings but as soon as that leader died everybody dispersed what happened when Jesus died
they dispersed for three days he came back from the dead
he taught him for 40 days he ascended over 500 people saw him at
once second Corinthians tells us that and then the Holy Spirit came down
on the 50th day from his resurrection and these men started to speak in languages that they did were not native
now that doesn't mean they were that's not what that means they were speaking in languages and in
dialects of that language that only a person from that place would understand
and that's why everyone around him was like are they drunk this just doesn't happen
then they started healing Peter and James were healing at the or Peter and John were healing at the gate called Beautiful for a while
people were seeing this is different I'm seeing things confirmed and that's what is being argued by the
writer here verse 3 which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord Jesus
taught of this salvation by him and was confirmed unto us those who have
believed by them the apostles that heard him Jesus is in English
so gooder anyway God also bearing them those Apostles
witnessed both with signs and wonders and with diverse Miracles and Gifts of
the Holy Ghost according to his own will
now I want to show you an example of the danger that comes from drifting slipping from
the truth I just gave you that thing about the United Methodist pastor I I learned some things about him that
he has gone through recently and they're very tragic and I've come to a better understanding of he needs prayer
it's not my intention to name the guy I don't think there's any prophet in that just know there are people that are
trying to go do what God says but they don't have any power to do it because they're not even saved
but that's that's a situation that you can't really corroborate right like you just have to take my word that that
story is true I want you to see in the Bible where the Apostle Peter slipped up made a mistake
and he got called out on it because of how it made salvation appear
you can let Hebrews go and we're gonna we're gonna end in this passage here Galatians chapter 2.
love the book of Galatians so so so so good I love the whole Bible
but Galatians is really nice because it lays out quite clearly what salvation is and what it is not
amen Remy but in verse 11
Paul is saying Peter made a mistake and it began this whole it started to
give credit to what these people were saying you yes you're saved by grace but you got to keep the law too you got to
get circumcised look what it says in verse 11 but when Peter was come to Antioch I withstood
him to the face because he was to be blamed now if Paul was lying it wouldn't be here in the Bible
God is speaking through Paul here about a decision that Peter made that warranted strong rebuke what was it
for because that certain men came from James he did eat with the Gentiles
remember a gentile is a non-jew so Greek Roman whatever but when they were come these Jewish
people he withdrew and separated himself for what cause
fearing them which were of the circumcision he feared what the Jews
would think of him if they saw him eating with the Gentiles
I'm not saying Peter apostasized but he's giving the appearance of
something that is not true why in the body of Christ there is no Jew or
Gentile there is no bond or free it's all one thing I bet you if we were to all take a
microphone tonight and share our backgrounds there would be unique stories of where we came from where our
parents came from our family histories all that that's what's beautiful about the body of Christ you don't have to be
of a certain tribe of a certain race if you're a sinner
the grace of God is available to you you can get saved right now tonight by putting your trust in Jesus Christ no
barriers but what Peter was doing is he was making it seem as though the Jew
receives certain respect that the Gentile did not and specifically 13 look at 13 and the
other Jews disassembled likewise with him they all kind of withdrew to themselves in so much to have Barnabas
who was a disciple of these other men also was
carried away with their dissimulation but when I saw that they walked not
uprightly according to the truth of the Gospel now I don't think it's a stretch here but when I look at Hebrews 2 1
about taking heed to the truths that are taught and I see what Paul just said here about people not walking upright by
the truth of the Gospel I connect those two principles in that we need to keep the gospel
clear we shouldn't do things or teach things that affect the truth of the Gospel
when we do that Hebrews 2 1 Part B becomes true of us we
let things drift I'm gonna tell you this as a kid because it's a very fond memory that I have it
still happens when I go to the beach time and time again we're kids right I'm so thankful I had
two brothers I'm so thankful for them it was just a great time growing up with them and we'd go to Fort De Soto quite
often I feel and we'd run out into the water you know and we do the stingray Shuffle make sure no stingrays are
underneath there and we'd run out into the water and we'd have our Super Soakers and we'd be spraying each other and the Sun is
baking down on us and all this stuff and like after 30 minutes right I'd look at the shore and my uncle who's usually
sitting on the shore he's all the way over here any y'all experience that when you're at the beach
you're like I didn't move though I'm right here
but you're not paying attention you're not keeping an eye on the shoreline and where you started is not where you
ended up you drifted and we were always told about the very
present reality of rip currents where it just sucks you in and you just got to let it go and you'll come back hopefully
but you know you got you got to pay attention and it it sucks you out if you're not careful
and I whenever I think about drifting or slipping and I read that verse in Hebrews it just God uses that memory to
remind me that's how easy it happens all you have to do is turn your back to the truth
you you neglect your salvation you take it for granted you start saying things like well I didn't share the gospel with
him because I'm pretty sure he knew it you don't know that I didn't correct him on this false
Doctrine because I I didn't want to disturb the peace you're neglecting what's happened you
stop reading your Bible you stop praying these things are not mandatory but
they're good practices to stay close to the Lord the next thing you know you're going to turn around and he's all the way down over here and you're over here
in error and you go how did that happen you don't walk uprightly according to
the what the gospel teaches Timeless truths Timeless truths that we
can understand and they're so basic it's like little you know little those little chewy foods that babies eating
that just disintegrates on their mouth and they're just learning how to do stuff that's how easy this stuff is
don't depart from what brought you into the family the grace of God
you know when I see people grow the people that maintain growth and stay faithful for their whole lives those are
the people that don't depart from the gospel they don't move on to bigger and better things
you know they stick with what they have been taught not a teaching of a man but the teaching
of the Gospel the gospel sufficient Paul was a Pharisee okay he had major major
background and he said to the Port City of Corinth I don't want to
know anything among you except Jesus and him crucified that should tell you if a scholarly educated man
draws that conclusion that should that should be what we want too I don't want people to know anything
outside of Jesus Christ and him crucified of me that's what I want to teach
look at verse 14 finishing up here but when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the Gospel I said unto Peter before them all
if thou being a Jew livest after the manner of Gentiles and not do as the Jews why compel us now the Gentiles to
live as do the Jews he says you're being a hypocrite
you're preaching it doesn't matter but then when they come into town you're giving them preference
that's damaging people look at 15.
we who are Jews by nature and not Sinners of the Gentiles knowing that a man is not justified by The Works of the
law what's the work of the law men get circumcised and that's what these judaizers were coming in and teaching
but by the faith of Jesus Christ even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the Faith
of Christ and not by The Works of the law for by The Works of the law shall know flesh be justified but if while we
seek to justify to be justified by Christ we ourselves also are found Sinners is there for Christ the minister
of sin God forbid you just said Peter just because
you're a part of this new thing doesn't abstain you from keeping away
from sin and what you did is worthy of bringing rebuke
this could be very easily your name or my name
here's an example and I'm in no offense by this if the pope came in to the city and wanted to stop by here
he's not getting preferential treatment just because he's the Pope can you
imagine as a church that believes the gospel and denies the salvific teachings of the
Catholic church if I gave preference to the pope to come in here and gave him all the respect and honor that he
demands I'm not going to be disrespectful I'll be kind but we're not lying in the
driveway with roses what kind of message would that send
if that's how I treated the leader of someone who keeps people away from Christ
what does that send what I'm saying is he's just like me in a different way and he deserves more respect no no no no no
no that's when I've let things slip that's when I've let things move off
how do you avoid these things you stick true and here's a little encouragement the
chastening hand of God is always near
sometimes people go Pastor you need to speak with a little more Love sometimes you yell too much you're missing my
point you really are for those of you that know me and I know most of you do I love people
I want people to do right I my heart breaks when I have to have
counseling appointments for people that I know don't want to do right because I can't help them even though I want to if
you don't want to do it it's not going to get done these are things that my uncle's in attendance tonight he can tell you he
taught me these things over and over like you can do it with a bad attitude and the only person that you're hurting
is you and as a kid you know what not getting it but now as an adult
understanding biblical principles if you don't want to obey God's still going to get what he needs
out of you and it's gonna you're gonna cost yourself that Joy it doesn't have to be that way
and the chastening hand of God is ever near and what I mean by that is it's a promise
you act up he'll discipline you
some of us have been in messages where we sit in the pulpit and we go my goodness was there a live stream of my
week before this message I think that the was the pastor spying
on me does he know what I did he probably doesn't but you know what if
he's teaching under the leading of the Holy Spirit God knows there's no place where God goes
where did Armando go again this guy sorry Armando I don't mean to pick on
you but you're just there you know we can't run away from God
and good Bible teachers when they teach the word they're going to teach and it will convict you
but it's not my intent to bury you in the ground or to yell and holler and scream that's not my intent I want you
to see the word and be convicted by the truth of the word and obey that's better
than oh I better not Pastor Jesse is going to yell at me which first of all no I won't
and second of all it's God that will do the correcting and if it's through my preaching then
you know I'm teaching what the Bible says these are some strong words for our friend Peter
now I choose to believe he got he got right we've seen the books that he wrote he understood it
but he made mistakes and that's what happens when we drift when we neglect what God has given us I
talked about it this morning so I'm not going to go into detail of it but aren't you glad you're saved those of you who have put your trust in Jesus Christ
aren't you glad you didn't do that in the tribulation period
or even in Old Testament times I believe that I'm in this time for a
purpose God has things that he wants me to do I don't want to squander that
for selfish pleasures I don't want to
there's a golf tournament going on right now and the guy who was in the lead when I left it's in the Canadian open
and the guy's name is Nick Taylor and he was playing with his hair on fire the guy started the first round he was tied
for 120th second round he was tied for 40 47th in the third round which was
yesterday he bumped all the way up to eight and then he went into today and took the lead he was number one and on hole 15
chunks it I mean it looks like I took that golf swing he's got all this pressure and the
announcers are like he could win the major for Canada you know in his own country he's a Canadian hasn't happened
in 60 something years pressure pressure as somebody who's a child of God I watch
that and go so glad nothing in the world defines me like that
I'm I think it's exciting to watch other people go through that kind of competitive pressure but the believer
doesn't have that kind of competitive pressure you shouldn't you have everything that you need in
Jesus Christ and in the obedience to his word you do what this book says he will
reward you and when I left the guy was falling apart and there was some other non-canadian hot on his heels
oh good I just turn it off and go to church I'd rather be there anyway right
obedience it's so important it's such a frowned upon word obedience that means
no fun if you obey the traffic laws you'll have a lot of fun as a driver
go disobey the traffic laws and see how much fun you have when the police are chasing you oh this
is fun much rather be doing this obedience brings about Joy
but when we don't do those things we rob ourselves of that Joy so that's the first warning there
as you see in Hebrews 2 verses one through four I really wanted to make sure we got to Galatians and we did
you can go ahead and close your Bibles I want to share with you the most important news in all the world for those of you that are here tonight maybe
you've never heard this before you can know before you die that you'll be in heaven and it'll be a guarantee and it
has nothing to do with how good you are or anything like that it has everything to do with who you put your trust in
essentially do you trust yourself and a religion or do you trust Jesus Christ and him alone this hand is going to
represent you and me okay and this is all of our sin I put this on top of my hand because the Bible says for all of sin and comes short of the glory of God
okay we've all missed the mark Heaven is a perfect place you want to get there you have to be absolutely perfect and
that's the standard that God has set you've got to keep the law perfectly and we all fall short just in the Ten
Commandments no one can follow those and there's 600 and something more to follow after that you can't do it we all fall
short that's what the word sin means it means to miss the mark God he loves you and I know it might not feel like it and
the world has told you no he doesn't but the Bible says that he demonstrated his love toward us and that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us so I can
confidently tell you today even if you're here and you haven't put your trust in Jesus Christ God loves you and he's very patient
extremely patient with you he wants you to come to a change of mind and put your trust in Jesus Christ
but he loves you what he hates is sin because that sin separates you from him if you were to pay for your sin the
wages of sin is death separation from God forever in a place called hell religions teach the wages of sin is good
works so get a lot of good works and it'll pay for all your sin but the Bible doesn't say that we're not saved by any good works
somebody's got to die for this sin this hand will represent Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God fully God and
fully man and what Jesus did is he went on the cross and he took that sin and paid it for you
what a kind thing and isn't that an understatement what a merciful gracious thing that God
has done through his son for God so loved the world that's you and me that he gave his only begotten
son that's Jesus Christ that whosoever anybody well you Pastor you don't know how bad I've been I don't have to know
God does and he already died for your sins he already sent his son to do that
that whosoever listen here believeth in him put his trust in him in Jesus Christ
death Brown Resurrection should not perish means you won't go to hell but instead you'll have everlasting life
so you can be here today not knowing how you're going to finish the rest of your life whether you're going to finish well or poor doesn't
matter right now you can receive the Forgiveness of sins by placing your trust in Jesus Christ it's that simple
and anybody that complicates it misunderstands the scripture
we're saved by God's grace that's the death of Jesus Christ and his resurrection we receive that by placing
our faith in Jesus Christ the moment that you do that I don't have
to walk down and shake your hand and say did that make sense did you really do it you got to show me
if you believe right now that what Jesus Christ did on the cross and his resurrection was for you
God gives you eternal life right there Pastor I don't feel different does it matter about how you feel it matters
about what God Said right now that's available to you you can simply trust in him and for those
and I know it's many of us who have put our trust in Jesus Christ already don't depart from the word of God you'll slip
you'll be playing around in the ocean of life and you'll look back and you're so far away from the truth
don't let that be true of you let's pray heads are bowed please and eyes are closed nobody's looking around
if you're here tonight and you put your trust in Jesus Christ for the first time maybe you walked in here and said pastor you know I'll be honest with you
I had no idea where I was going when I died I was too busy living you know no one's thinking about dying
but what you said made sense using the word of God and I see I can't work my way to heaven
I'll never be perfect and if it made sense to you tonight and
you put your trust in Jesus Christ that what he did in his death burial and Resurrection
paved for your sin the Bible says you're saved and I would like to pray for you if you raise your
hand that just means Pastor pray for me I trusted in Christ I know I'm going to heaven raising your
hand does not save you in and of the raising your hand it just lets me know so I can pray for you is there anyone at
all tonight before we head out that would say Pastor pray for me I just trusted in Jesus Christ I know I'm going
to heaven anyone at all had your Bowden eyes are still closed I
know many of you that are here you're able to be here and you're in Ministry some of you have been in Awana
all of these months I really just want to sternly warn you in a loving way as the scripture says
don't neglect your salvation don't neglect this this eternal life that you've been given
Don't Drift stay close to the Lord
do what his word says you'll be blessed for it but if you do drift please know that God out of love
will discipline you and that will be a hard thing you don't have to experience that but it's a promise that you will
and the church will be here to help you as Galatians 6 says to restore such a one which has fallen away
but it doesn't have to be that way take the word of God seriously
father thank you for your word and thank you for the comfort and promises that you give us I pray
as we each go back home and get ready to do another work week and all these different things that we're trying to do
I pray that we would keep you at the center we'd be sensitive to sharing the gospel with people and we would pray for those
who are seeking to find the truth in Jesus name we pray these words amen
It's been a