The Unworthy Saint

One should not rely on emotion to judge things of a spiritual nature.  Tears flow from many sources – both the religious and irreligious.  It is no significant sign that tears flow, only that the proofs outlined in scripture are present in one’s life.

Someone once described walking as the process of falling forward, catching yourself, and doing it again. Our hair grows out, we cut it. Our car slowly (or quickly if you have an SUV) runs out of gas, and we must fill it up again. We work through the day and finally lay down at night to go to sleep – to restore our energy. We eat only to burn off what we ate in activity. There’s a constant wave to life – a cyclical up and down. Should we then be surprised when we fall into sin? Should we mourn the fact we’re no longer “on top of the mountain”, but we’re now in the valley? No. I think not.

I whole-heartedly believe we must mourn our sin – our soul must be grieved when we rebel against the Almighty God of the universe. But that is all. Do not mourn that you’ve fallen from some high place, do not be shocked when you sin next. Life is falling and rising again – it is a process. It is the process of death or sanctification depending on your path – if you are walking on the path of sanctification there is hope, there is grace, there is love. You will be tested, you will fall – but your falling is to be expected – we are weak vessels – we are not the Christ.

Mourn your disobedience to the Father, mourn the fact that your sin put Christ on the cross, but do not mourn beyond that, and end your mourning in repentance and the knowledge that your sin is paid for – we live on earth, a wholly fallen and sinful place. You will rise, and you will fall – it’s guaranteed here, in this time. But know that soon the sin cycle will pass and we’ll be in Heaven with our glorious King.

I have a few thoughts on money, the rich and the poor, and transforming people groups.

There’s no middle class – there is the rich and the poor.  The rich are those who have surplus, who are not in debt.  The poor are those who are in debt and do not have surplus.  The majority of the “middle class” that I know are in debt and living as though they had surplus.

If you want to influence a community of a poor people for Christ, if you truly want to be the most effective, move in with them.  Live among them.  Think about it – that’s what Christ did.  He became poor, He gave up His status in Heaven, humbled Himself, became a servant – He became poor so that we might become rich.  So what would it mean for us to truly minister to the poor around here?  Much more than Transform this summer, we need the body of Christ to not just give to a community, but to move into a community and live radically, not just give radically every once in a while, but live radically day in and day out, giving the excess to those in need – giving up status, a life of wealth, and pouring ourselves into the poor.  And I’m not saying you quit your job and become poor in that sense, no you keep it but live on the same amount the poor people do, then take the excess and give to the people around you, spending on ministry rather than yourself.

So if I lived this out, I would move into the trailer park and help my neighbors get out of debt, help them fix their trailers, have them in my home, cook for them, keep their kids, take them to church, love on them, share the gospel, invite my friends to spend time with all of us, have football parties, play soccer and basketball in the neighborhood, etc etc…

All of this scares me.

This song just has me on my knees right now. I can’t help thinking that little kids need heroes (and ultimately a Hero) – I think true heroes are the ones who lay their cape and then themselves at the foot of the cross. We need to be the heroes that little kids can look up to… and I’m on my knees pleading to God that I would be worth to be called a hero someday.

—

Hero by Steve Taylor

When the house fell asleep there was always a light
and it fell from the page to the eyes of an American boy
in a storybook land I could dream what I read
when it went to my head I’d see
I wanna be a hero

But the practical side said the question was still
when you grow up what will you be?
I wanna be a hero

chorus:
Hero
it’s a nice-boy notion that the real world’s gonna destroy
you know
it’s a Marvel comicbook Saturday matinee fairytale, boy

Growing older you’ll find that illusions are brought
and the idol you thought you’d be was just another zero
I wanna be a hero

Heroes died when the squealers bought ‘em off
died when the dealers got ‘em off
welcome to the “in it for the money as an idol” show
when they ain’t as big as life
when they ditch their second wife
where’s the boy to go?
gotta be a hero

(chorus)

When the house fell asleep
from a book I was led to a light that I never knew
I wanna be your hero
and he spoke to my heart from the moment I prayed
here’s a pattern I made for you
I wanna be your hero

—

About The Song
>From Clone Club News Flash Spring/Summer 1984:

“['Hero'] is the most personal song on the album. I remember as a boy I’d pull a book out from under my bedcovers after my parents had turned out the lights and read by streetlight outside my window. My favorite books were biographies of presidents or generals or kings and queens, but as I’d grow older and read more in-depth accounts, I’d discover that my heroes weren’t all they were made out to be. Yet the more I read about Jesus, the more I realized that He was the one hero who wasn’t going to disappoint me, and that I could pattern my life after Him.”

>From the Now The Truth Can Be Told Song-By-Song Essays:

“And sometimes, by the grace of God, we get it right. My eyes went bad at an early age from all the books I read late at night using the streetlamp outside my bedroom window (this wouldn’t have happened if I’d watched more television…). Biographies were a favorite, but the accounts I’d read at age nine didn’t necessarily tell the whole unvarnished story. The more I’d read, the more my heroes (except for maybe Abraham Lincoln) tended to shrink in stature, eventually causing my adolescent psyche no small amount of post- Watergate disillusionment (‘Dad, what does ‘expletive deleted’ mean?’).

“Role models may vary in quality and consistency, but all are ultimately born to disappoint. Jesus is the only hero worth having.”

These are the instances where Jesus essential said, “well done” or “your faith has made you well” or “i’m astonished at your faith” etc… This is Jesus talking to an actual person and does not include parables, only when he essentially praises someone – responds to a behavior or a way of thinking positively.

Matt 8:5-13

Matt 9:20-22

Matt 9:27-31

Matt 11:7-15

Matt 15:21-28

Matt 16:13-20

Matt 19:27-30

Matt 20:29-34

Matt 26:6-13

Mark 1:40-45

Mark 5:25-34

Mark 7:24-30

Mark 8:1-2

Mark 10:13-16

Mark 10:46-52

Mark 12:41-44

Mark 14:3-9

Luke 5:12-17

Luke 7:2-10

Luke 7:24-30

Luke 7:36-50

Luke 8:43-48

Luke 10:38-42

Luke 17:11-19

Luke 18:35-43

Luke 19:1-10

Luke 21:1-4

Luke 23:39-43

This is Mark 4:18-19 but 19 is really the verse I’m concerned with:

18 “And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word,
19 but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

So I wrote about Matt 13:22 before. Basically, this is Mark’s passage saying the same thing only this time it’s not only worries of the world and the deceitfulness of riches, but also the “desires for other things.”

Of all the things that are haunting me right now, it’s this and Rom 14:23b which basically say the same thing – desiring and living for anything other than Christ, in every little way, leads to death. It’s only by Christ’s blood that we’re saved.

Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)

Enfield, Connecticut
July 8, 1741

“Their foot shall slide in due time.”
Deuteronomy 32:35

In this verse is threatened the vengeance of God on the wicked unbelieving Israelites, who were God’s visible people, and who lived under the means of grace; but who, notwithstanding all God’s wonderful works towards them, remained (as vers 28.) void of counsel, having no understanding in them. Under all the cultivations of heaven, they brought forth bitter and poisonous fruit; as in the two verses next preceding the text. — The expression I have chosen for my text, their foot shall slide in due time, seems to imply the following things, relating to the punishment and destruction to which these wicked Israelites were exposed.

1. That they were always exposed to destruction; as one that stands or walks in slippery places is always exposed to fall. This is implied in the manner of their destruction coming upon them, being represented by their foot sliding. The same is expressed, Psalm 72:18. “Surely thou didst set them in slippery places; thou castedst them down into destruction.“
2. It implies, that they were always exposed to sudden unexpected destruction. As he that walks in slippery places is every moment liable to fall, he cannot foresee one moment whether he shall stand or fall the next; and when he does fall, he falls at once without warning: Which is also expressed in Psalm 73:18,19. “Surely thou didst set them in slippery places; thou castedst them down into destruction: How are they brought into desolation as in a moment!“
3. Another thing implied is, that they are liable to fall of themselves, without being thrown down by the hand of another; as he that stands or walks on slippery ground needs nothing but his own weight to throw him down.
4. That the reason why they are not fallen already and do not fall now is only that God’s appointed time is not come. For it is said, that when that due time, or appointed time comes, their foot shall slide. Then they shall be left to fall, as they are inclined by their own weight. God will not hold them up in these slippery places any longer, but will let them go; and then, at that very instant, they shall fall into destruction; as he that stands on such slippery declining ground, on the edge of a pit, he cannot stand alone, when he is let go he immediately falls and is lost.

The observation from the words that I would now insist upon is this. — “There is nothing that keeps wicked men at any one moment out of hell, but the mere pleasure of God.” — By the mere pleasure of God, I mean his sovereign pleasure, his arbitrary will, restrained by no obligation, hindered by no manner of difficulty, any more than if nothing else but God’s mere will had in the least degree, or in any respect whatsoever, any hand in the preservation of wicked men one moment. — The truth of this observation may appear by the following considerations.

1. There is no want of power in God to cast wicked men into hell at any moment. Men’s hands cannot be strong when God rises up. The strongest have no power to resist him, nor can any deliver out of his hands. — He is not only able to cast wicked men into hell, but he can most easily do it. Sometimes an earthly prince meets with a great deal of difficulty to subdue a rebel, who has found means to fortify himself, and has made himself strong by the numbers of his followers. But it is not so with God. There is no fortress that is any defence from the power of God. Though hand join in hand, and vast multitudes of God’s enemies combine and associate themselves, they are easily broken in pieces. They are as great heaps of light chaff before the whirlwind; or large quantities of dry stubble before devouring flames. We find it easy to tread on and crush a worm that we see crawling on the earth; so it is easy for us to cut or singe a slender thread that any thing hangs by: thus easy is it for God, when he pleases, to cast his enemies down to hell. What are we, that we should think to stand before him, at whose rebuke the earth trembles, and before whom the rocks are thrown down?
2. They deserve to be cast into hell; so that divine justice never stands in the way, it makes no objection against God’s using his power at any moment to destroy them. Yea, on the contrary, justice calls aloud for an infinite punishment of their sins. Divine justice says of the tree that brings forth such grapes of Sodom, “Cut it down, why cumbereth it the ground?” Luke 13:7. The sword of divine justice is every moment brandished over their heads, and it is nothing but the hand of arbitrary mercy, and God’s mere will, that holds it back.
3. They are already under a sentence of condemnation to hell. They do not only justly deserve to be cast down thither, but the sentence of the law of God, that eternal and immutable rule of righteousness that God has fixed between him and mankind, is gone out against them, and stands against them; so that they are bound over already to hell. John 3:18. “He that believeth not is condemned already.” So that every unconverted man properly belongs to hell; that is his place; from thence he is, John 8:23. “Ye are from beneath:” And thither he is bound; it is the place that justice, and God’s word, and the sentence of his unchangeable law assign to him.
4. They are now the objects of that very same anger and wrath of God, that is expressed in the torments of hell. And the reason why they do not go down to hell at each moment, is not because God, in whose power they are, is not then very angry with them; as he is with many miserable creatures now tormented in hell, who there feel and bear the fierceness of his wrath. Yea, God is a great deal more angry with great numbers that are now on earth: yea, doubtless, with many that are now in this congregation, who it may be are at ease, than he is with many of those who are now in the flames of hell.So that it is not because God is unmindful of their wickedness, and does not resent it, that he does not let loose his hand and cut them off. God is not altogether such an one as themselves, though they may imagine him to be so. The wrath of God burns against them, their damnation does not slumber; the pit is prepared, the fire is made ready, the furnace is now hot, ready to receive them; the flames do now rage and glow. The glittering sword is whet, and held over them, and the pit hath opened its mouth under them.
5. The devil stands ready to fall upon them, and seize them as his own, at what moment God shall permit him. They belong to him; he has their souls in his possession, and under his dominion. The scripture represents them as his goods, Luke 11:12. The devils watch them; they are ever by them at their right hand; they stand waiting for them, like greedy hungry lions that see their prey, and expect to have it, but are for the present kept back. If God should withdraw his hand, by which they are restrained, they would in one moment fly upon their poor souls. The old serpent is gaping for them; hell opens its mouth wide to receive them; and if God should permit it, they would be hastily swallowed up and lost.
6. There are in the souls of wicked men those hellish principles reigning, that would presently kindle and flame out into hell fire, if it were not for God’s restraints. There is laid in the very nature of carnal men, a foundation for the torments of hell. There are those corrupt principles, in reigning power in them, and in full possession of them, that are seeds of hell fire. These principles are active and powerful, exceeding violent in their nature, and if it were not for the restraining hand of God upon them, they would soon break out, they would flame out after the same manner as the same corruptions, the same enmity does in the hearts of damned souls, and would beget the same torments as they do in them. The souls of the wicked are in scripture compared to the troubled sea, Isa. 57:20. For the present, God restrains their wickedness by his mighty power, as he does the raging waves of the troubled sea, saying, “Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further;” but if God should withdraw that restraining power, it would soon carry all before it. Sin is the ruin and misery of the soul; it is destructive in its nature; and if God should leave it without restraint, there would need nothing else to make the soul perfectly miserable. The corruption of the heart of man is immoderate and boundless in its fury; and while wicked men live here, it is like fire pent up by God’s restraints, whereas if it were let loose, it would set on fire the course of nature; and as the heart is now a sink of sin, so if sin was not restrained, it would immediately turn the soul into fiery oven, or a furnace of fire and brimstone.
7. It is no security to wicked men for one moment, that there are no visible means of death at hand. It is no security to a natural man, that he is now in health, and that he does not see which way he should now immediately go out of the world by any accident, and that there is no visible danger in any respect in his circumstances. The manifold and continual experience of the world in all ages, shows this is no evidence, that a man is not on the very brink of eternity, and that the next step will not be into another world. The unseen, unthought-of ways and means of persons going suddenly out of the world are innumerable and inconceivable. Unconverted men walk over the pit of hell on a rotten covering, and there are innumerable places in this covering so weak that they will not bear their weight, and these places are not seen. The arrows of death fly unseen at noon-day; the sharpest sight cannot discern them. God has so many different unsearchable ways of taking wicked men out of the world and sending them to hell, that there is nothing to make it appear, that God had need to be at the expense of a miracle, or go out of the ordinary course of his providence, to destroy any wicked man, at any moment. All the means that there are of sinners going out of the world, are so in God’s hands, and so universally and absolutely subject to his power and determination, that it does not depend at all the less on the mere will of God, whether sinners shall at any moment go to hell, than if means were never made use of, or at all concerned in the case.
8. Natural men’s prudence and care to preserve their own lives, or the care of others to preserve them, do not secure them a moment. To this, divine providence and universal experience do also bear testimony. There is this clear evidence that men’s own wisdom is no security to them from death; that if it were otherwise we should see some difference between the wise and politic men of the world, and others, with regard to their liableness to early and unexpected death: but how is it in fact? Eccles. 2:16. “How dieth the wise man? even as the fool.“
9. All wicked men’s pains and contrivance which they use to escape hell, while they continue to reject Christ, and so remain wicked men, do not secure them from hell one moment. Almost every natural man that hears of hell, flatters himself that he shall escape it; he depends upon himself for his own security; he flatters himself in what he has done, in what he is now doing, or what he intends to do. Every one lays out matters in his own mind how he shall avoid damnation, and flatters himself that he contrives well for himself, and that his schemes will not fail. They hear indeed that there are but few saved, and that the greater part of men that have died heretofore are gone to hell; but each one imagines that he lays out matters better for his own escape than others have done. He does not intend to come to that place of torment; he says within himself, that he intends to take effectual care, and to order matters so for himself as not to fail.But the foolish children of men miserably delude themselves in their own schemes, and in confidence in their own strength and wisdom; they trust to nothing but a shadow. The greater part of those who heretofore have lived under the same means of grace, and are now dead, are undoubtedly gone to hell; and it was not because they were not as wise as those who are now alive: it was not because they did not lay out matters as well for themselves to secure their own escape. If we could speak with them, and inquire of them, one by one, whether they expected, when alive, and when they used to hear about hell, ever to be the subjects of misery: we doubtless, should hear one and another reply, “No, I never intended to come here: I had laid out matters otherwise in my mind; I thought I should contrive well for myself — I thought my scheme good. I intended to take effectual care; but it came upon me unexpected; I did not look for it at that time, and in that manner; it came as a thief — Death outwitted me: God’s wrath was too quick for me. Oh, my cursed foolishness! I was flattering myself, and pleasing myself with vain dreams of what I would do hereafter; and when I was saying, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction came upon me.”
10. God has laid himself under no obligation, by any promise to keep any natural man out of hell one moment. God certainly has made no promises either of eternal life, or of any deliverance or preservation from eternal death, but what are contained in the covenant of grace, the promises that are given in Christ, in whom all the promises are yea and amen. But surely they have no interest in the promises of the covenant of grace who are not the children of the covenant, who do not believe in any of the promises, and have no interest in the Mediator of the covenant.

So that, whatever some have imagined and pretended about promises made to natural men’s earnest seeking and knocking, it is plain and manifest, that whatever pains a natural man takes in religion, whatever prayers he makes, till he believes in Christ, God is under no manner of obligation to keep him a moment from eternal destruction.So that, thus it is that natural men are held in the hand of God, over the pit of hell; they have deserved the fiery pit, and are already sentenced to it; and God is dreadfully provoked, his anger is as great towards them as to those that are actually suffering the executions of the fierceness of his wrath in hell, and they have done nothing in the least to appease or abate that anger, neither is God in the least bound by any promise to hold them up one moment; the devil is waiting for them, hell is gaping for them, the flames gather and flash about them, and would fain lay hold on them, and swallow them up; the fire pent up in their own hearts is struggling to break out: and they have no interest in any Mediator, there are no means within reach that can be any security to them. In short, they have no refuge, nothing to take hold of; all that preserves them every moment is the mere arbitrary will, and uncovenanted, unobliged forbearance of an incensed God.

Application

The use of this awful subject may be for awakening unconverted persons in this congregation. This that you have heard is the case of every one of you that are out of Christ. — That world of misery, that take of burning brimstone, is extended abroad under you. There is the dreadful pit of the glowing flames of the wrath of God; there is hell’s wide gaping mouth open; and you have nothing to stand upon, nor any thing to take hold of; there is nothing between you and hell but the air; it is only the power and mere pleasure of God that holds you up.You probably are not sensible of this; you find you are kept out of hell, but do not see the hand of God in it; but look at other things, as the good state of your bodily constitution, your care of your own life, and the means you use for your own preservation. But indeed these things are nothing; if God should withdraw his hand, they would avail no more to keep you from falling, than the thin air to hold up a person that is suspended in it.

Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and to tend downwards with great weight and pressure towards hell; and if God should let you go, you would immediately sink and swiftly descend and plunge into the bottomless gulf, and your healthy constitution, and your own care and prudence, and best contrivance, and all your righteousness, would have no more influence to uphold you and keep you out of hell, than a spider’s web would have to stop a falling rock. Were it not for the sovereign pleasure of God, the earth would not bear you one moment; for you are a burden to it; the creation groans with you; the creature is made subject to the bondage of your corruption, not willingly; the sun does not willingly shine upon you to give you light to serve sin and Satan; the earth does not willingly yield her increase to satisfy your lusts; nor is it willingly a stage for your wickedness to be acted upon; the air does not willingly serve you for breath to maintain the flame of life in your vitals, while you spend your life in the service of God’s enemies. God’s creatures are good, and were made for men to serve God with, and do not willingly subserve to any other purpose, and groan when they are abused to purposes so directly contrary to their nature and end. And the world would spew you out, were it not for the sovereign hand of him who hath subjected it in hope. There are the black clouds of God’s wrath now hanging directly over your heads, full of the dreadful storm, and big with thunder; and were it not for the restraining hand of God, it would immediately burst forth upon you. The sovereign pleasure of God, for the present, stays his rough wind; otherwise it would come with fury, and your destruction would come like a whirlwind, and you would be like the chaff on the summer threshing floor.

The wrath of God is like great waters that are dammed for the present; they increase more and more, and rise higher and higher, till an outlet is given; and the longer the stream is stopped, the more rapid and mighty is its course, when once it is let loose. It is true, that judgment against your evil works has not been executed hitherto; the floods of God’s vengeance have been withheld; but your guilt in the mean time is constantly increasing, and you are every day treasuring up more wrath; the waters are constantly rising, and waxing more and more mighty; and there is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, that holds the waters back, that are unwilling to be stopped, and press hard to go forward. If God should only withdraw his hand from the flood-gate, it would immediately fly open, and the fiery floods of the fierceness and wrath of God, would rush forth with inconceivable fury, and would come upon you with omnipotent power; and if your strength were ten thousand times greater than it is, yea, ten thousand times greater than the strength of the stoutest, sturdiest devil in hell, it would be nothing to withstand or endure it.

The bow of God’s wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God, without any promise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrow one moment from being made drunk with your blood. Thus all you that never passed under a great change of heart, by the mighty power of the Spirit of God upon your souls; all you that were never born again, and made new creatures, and raised from being dead in sin, to a state of new, and before altogether unexperienced light and life, are in the hands of an angry God. However you may have reformed your life in many things, and may have had religious affections, and may keep up a form of religion in your families and closets, and in the house of God, it is nothing but his mere pleasure that keeps you from being this moment swallowed up in everlasting destruction. However unconvinced you may now be of the truth of what you hear, by and by you will be fully convinced of it. Those that are gone from being in the like circumstances with you, see that it was so with them; for destruction came suddenly upon most of them; when they expected nothing of it, and while they were saying, Peace and safety: now they see, that those things on which they depended for peace and safety, were nothing but thin air and empty shadows.

The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked: his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times more abominable in his eyes, than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours. You have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn rebel did his prince; and yet it is nothing but his hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment. It is to be ascribed to nothing else, that you did not go to hell the last night; that you was suffered to awake again in this world, after you closed your eyes to sleep. And there is no other reason to be given, why you have not dropped into hell since you arose in the morning, but that God’s hand has held you up. There is no other reason to be given why you have not gone to hell, since you have sat here in the house of God, provoking his pure eyes by your sinful wicked manner of attending his solemn worship. Yea, there is nothing else that is to be given as a reason why you do not this very moment drop down into hell.

O sinner! Consider the fearful danger you are in: it is a great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath, that you are held over in the hand of that God, whose wrath is provoked and incensed as much against you, as against many of the damned in hell. You hang by a slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it, and ready every moment to singe it, and burn it asunder; and you have no interest in any Mediator, and nothing to lay hold of to save yourself, nothing to keep off the flames of wrath, nothing of your own, nothing that you ever have done, nothing that you can do, to induce God to spare you one moment. — And consider here more particularly,

1. Whose wrath it is: it is the wrath of the infinite God. If it were only the wrath of man, though it were of the most potent prince, it would be comparatively little to be regarded. The wrath of kings is very much dreaded, especially of absolute monarchs, who have the possessions and lives of their subjects wholly in their power, to be disposed of at their mere will. Prov. 20:2. “The fear of a king is as the roaring of a lion: Whoso provoketh him to anger, sinneth against his own soul.” The subject that very much enrages an arbitrary prince, is liable to suffer the most extreme torments that human art can invent, or human power can inflict. But the greatest earthly potentates in their greatest majesty and strength, and when clothed in their greatest terrors, are but feeble, despicable worms of the dust, in comparison of the great and almighty Creator and King of heaven and earth. It is but little that they can do, when most enraged, and when they have exerted the utmost of their fury. All the kings of the earth, before God, are as grasshoppers; they are nothing, and less than nothing: both their love and their hatred is to be despised. The wrath of the great King of kings, is as much more terrible than theirs, as his majesty is greater. Luke 12:4,5. “And I say unto you, my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that, have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom you shall fear: fear him, which after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell: yea, I say unto you, Fear him.“
2. It is the fierceness of his wrath that you are exposed to. We often read of the fury of God; as in Isa. 59:18. “According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay fury to his adversaries.” So Isa. 66:15. “For behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.” And in many other places. So, Rev. 19:15, we read of “the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.” The words are exceeding terrible. If it had only been said, “the wrath of God,” the words would have implied that which is infinitely dreadful: but it is “the fierceness and wrath of God.” The fury of God! the fierceness of Jehovah! Oh, how dreadful that must be! Who can utter or conceive what such expressions carry in them! But it is also “the fierceness and wrath of almighty God.” As though there would be a very great manifestation of his almighty power in what the fierceness of his wrath should inflict, as though omnipotence should be as it were enraged, and exerted, as men are wont to exert their strength in the fierceness of their wrath. Oh! then, what will be the consequence! What will become of the poor worms that shall suffer it! Whose hands can be strong? And whose heart can endure? To what a dreadful, inexpressible, inconceivable depth of misery must the poor creature be sunk who shall be the subject of this!Consider this, you that are here present, that yet remain in an unregenerate state. That God will execute the fierceness of his anger, implies, that he will inflict wrath without any pity. When God beholds the ineffable extremity of your case, and sees your torment to be so vastly disproportioned to your strength, and sees how your poor soul is crushed, and sinks down, as it were, into an infinite gloom; he will have no compassion upon you, he will not forbear the executions of his wrath, or in the least lighten his hand; there shall be no moderation or mercy, nor will God then at all stay his rough wind; he will have no regard to your welfare, nor be at all careful lest you should suffer too much in any other sense, than only that you shall not suffer beyond what strict justice requires. Nothing shall be withheld, because it is so hard for you to bear. Ezek. 8:18. “Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity; and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet I will not hear them.” Now God stands ready to pity you; this is a day of mercy; you may cry now with some encouragement of obtaining mercy. But when once the day of mercy is past, your most lamentable and dolorous cries and shrieks will be in vain; you will be wholly lost and thrown away of God, as to any regard to your welfare. God will have no other use to put you to, but to suffer misery; you shall be continued in being to no other end; for you will be a vessel of wrath fitted to destruction; and there will be no other use of this vessel, but to be filled full of wrath. God will be so far from pitying you when you cry to him, that it is said he will only “laugh and mock,” Prov. 1:25,26,&c.How awful are those words, Isa. 63:3, which are the words of the great God. “I will tread them in mine anger, and will trample them in my fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment.” It is perhaps impossible to conceive of words that carry in them greater manifestations of these three things, viz. contempt, and hatred, and fierceness of indignation. If you cry to God to pity you, he will be so far from pitying you in your doleful case, or showing you the least regard or favour, that instead of that, he will only tread you under foot. And though he will know that you cannot bear the weight of omnipotence treading upon you, yet he will not regard that, but he will crush you under his feet without mercy; he will crush out your blood, and make it fly, and it shall be sprinkled on his garments, so as to stain all his raiment. He will not only hate you, but he will have you in the utmost contempt: no place shall be thought fit for you, but under his feet to be trodden down as the mire of the streets.
3. The misery you are exposed to is that which God will inflict to that end, that he might show what that wrath of Jehovah is. God hath had it on his heart to show to angels and men, both how excellent his love is, and also how terrible his wrath is. Sometimes earthly kings have a mind to show how terrible their wrath is, by the extreme punishments they would execute on those that would provoke them. Nebuchadnezzar, that mighty and haughty monarch of the Chaldean empire, was willing to show his wrath when enraged with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; and accordingly gave orders that the burning fiery furnace should be heated seven times hotter than it was before; doubtless, it was raised to the utmost degree of fierceness that human art could raise it. But the great God is also willing to show his wrath, and magnify his awful majesty and mighty power in the extreme sufferings of his enemies. Rom. 9:22. “What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction?” And seeing this is his design, and what he has determined, even to show how terrible the unrestrained wrath, the fury and fierceness of Jehovah is, he will do it to effect. There will be something accomplished and brought to pass that will be dreadful with a witness. When the great and angry God hath risen up and executed his awful vengeance on the poor sinner, and the wretch is actually suffering the infinite weight and power of his indignation, then will God call upon the whole universe to behold that awful majesty and mighty power that is to be seen in it. Isa. 33:12-14. “And the people shall be as the burnings of lime, as thorns cut up shall they be burnt in the fire. Hear ye that are far off, what I have done; and ye that are near, acknowledge my might. The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites,” &c.Thus it will be with you that are in an unconverted state, if you continue in it; the infinite might, and majesty, and terribleness of the omnipotent God shall be magnified upon you, in the ineffable strength of your torments. You shall be tormented in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb; and when you shall be in this state of suffering, the glorious inhabitants of heaven shall go forth and look on the awful spectacle, that they may see what the wrath and fierceness of the Almighty is; and when they have seen it, they will fall down and adore that great power and majesty. Isa. 66:23,24. “And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord. And they shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me; for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched, and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.“
4. It is everlasting wrath. It would be dreadful to suffer this fierceness and wrath of Almighty God one moment; but you must suffer it to all eternity. There will be no end to this exquisite horrible misery. When you look forward, you shall see a long for ever, a boundless duration before you, which will swallow up your thoughts, and amaze your soul; and you will absolutely despair of ever having any deliverance, any end, any mitigation, any rest at all. You will know certainly that you must wear out long ages, millions of millions of ages, in wrestling and conflicting with this almighty merciless vengeance; and then when you have so done, when so many ages have actually been spent by you in this manner, you will know that all is but a point to what remains. So that your punishment will indeed be infinite. Oh, who can express what the state of a soul in such circumstances is! All that we can possibly say about it, gives but a very feeble, faint representation of it; it is inexpressible and inconceivable: For “who knows the power of God’s anger?“

How dreadful is the state of those that are daily and hourly in the danger of this great wrath and infinite misery! But this is the dismal case of every soul in this congregation that has not been born again, however moral and strict, sober and religious, they may otherwise be. Oh that you would consider it, whether you be young or old! There is reason to think, that there are many in this congregation now hearing this discourse, that will actually be the subjects of this very misery to all eternity. We know not who they are, or in what seats they sit, or what thoughts they now have. It may be they are now at ease, and hear all these things without much disturbance, and are now flattering themselves that they are not the persons, promising themselves that they shall escape. If we knew that there was one person, and but one, in the whole congregation, that was to be the subject of this misery, what an awful thing would it be to think of! If we knew who it was, what an awful sight would it be to see such a person! How might all the rest of the congregation lift up a lamentable and bitter cry over him! But, alas! instead of one, how many is it likely will remember this discourse in hell? And it would be a wonder, if some that are now present should not be in hell in a very short time, even before this year is out. And it would be no wonder if some persons, that now sit here, in some seats of this meeting-house, in health, quiet and secure, should be there before tomorrow morning. Those of you that finally continue in a natural condition, that shall keep out of hell longest will be there in a little time! your damnation does not slumber; it will come swiftly, and, in all probability, very suddenly upon many of you. You have reason to wonder that you are not already in hell. It is doubtless the case of some whom you have seen and known, that never deserved hell more than you, and that heretofore appeared as likely to have been now alive as you. Their case is past all hope; they are crying in extreme misery and perfect despair; but here you are in the land of the living and in the house of God, and have an opportunity to obtain salvation. What would not those poor damned hopeless souls give for one day’s opportunity such as you now enjoy!And now you have an extraordinary opportunity, a day wherein Christ has thrown the door of mercy wide open, and stands in calling and crying with a loud voice to poor sinners; a day wherein many are flocking to him, and pressing into the kingdom of God. Many are daily coming from the east, west, north and south; many that were very lately in the same miserable condition that you are in, are now in a happy state, with their hearts filled with love to him who has loved them, and washed them from their sins in his own blood, and rejoicing in hope of the glory of God. How awful is it to be left behind at such a day! To see so many others feasting, while you are pining and perishing! To see so many rejoicing and singing for joy of heart, while you have cause to mourn for sorrow of heart, and howl for vexation of spirit! How can you rest one moment in such a condition? Are not your souls as precious as the souls of the people at Suffield, where they are flocking from day to day to Christ?

Are there not many here who have lived long in the world, and are not to this day born again? and so are aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and have done nothing ever since they have lived, but treasure up wrath against the day of wrath? Oh, sirs, your case, in an especial manner, is extremely dangerous. Your guilt and hardness of heart is extremely great. Do you not see how generality persons of your years are passed over and left, in the present remarkable and wonderful dispensation of God’s mercy? You had need to consider yourselves, and awake thoroughly out of sleep. You cannot bear the fierceness and wrath of the infinite God. — And you, young men, and young women, will you neglect this precious season which you now enjoy, when so many others of your age are renouncing all youthful vanities, and flocking to Christ? You especially have now an extraordinary opportunity; but if you neglect it, it will soon be with you as with those persons who spent all the precious days of youth in sin, and are now come to such a dreadful pass in blindness and hardness. — And you, children, who are unconverted, do not you know that you are going down to hell, to bear the dreadful wrath of that God, who is now angry with you every day and every night? Will you be content to be the children of the devil, when so many other children in the land are converted, and are become the holy and happy children of the King of kings?

And let every one that is yet out of Christ, and hanging over the pit of hell, whether they be old men and women, or middle aged, or young people, or little children, now hearken to the loud calls of God’s word and providence. This acceptable year of the Lord, a day of such great favour to some, will doubtless be a day of as remarkable vengeance to others. Men’s hearts harden, and their guilt increases apace at such a day as this, if they neglect their souls; and never was there so great danger of such persons being given up to hardness of heart and blindness of mind. God seems now to be hastily gathering in his elect in all parts of the land; and probably the greater part of adult persons that ever shall be saved, will be brought in now in a little time, and that it will be as it was on the great out-pouring of the Spirit upon the Jews in the apostles’ days; the election will obtain, and the rest will be blinded. If this should be the case with you, you will eternally curse this day, and will curse the day that ever you was born, to see such a season of the pouring out of God’s Spirit, and will wish that you had died and gone to hell before you had seen it. Now undoubtedly it is, as it was in the days of John the Baptist, the axe is in an extraordinary manner laid at the root of the trees, that every tree which brings not forth good fruit, may be hewn down and cast into the fire.

Therefore, let every one that is out of Christ, now awake and fly from the wrath to come. The wrath of Almighty God is now undoubtedly hanging over a great part of this congregation. Let every one fly out of Sodom: “Haste and escape for your lives, look not behind you, escape to the mountain, lest you be consumed.”

The qualities of an overseer (1 Tim 3:1-7)

• Above reproach
• The husband of one wife (not given to trading spouses in divorce)
• Temperate
• Prudent
• Respectable
• Hospitable
• Able to teach
• Not addicted to wine or pugnacious
• Gentle
• Peaceable
• Free from the love of money
• One who manages his household well – keeping his children under control with all dignity (if he has any)
• Not a new convert
• Must have a good reputation with those outside the church

The qualities of a deacon (1 Tim 3:8-13)

• Man of dignity
• Not double tongued
• Not addicted to wine
• Not fond of sordid gain
• Holding to the mystery of faith with clear consience
• Tested as being beyond reproach
• Husbands of only one wife
• Good managers of their children and their own household

Show yourself to be a believer through (1 Tim 4:12)

• Speech
• Conduct
• Love
• Faith
• Purity

Pursue (1 Tim 6:11)

• Righteousness
• Godliness
• Faith
• Love
• Perseverance
• Gentleness

Misc

• Someone who prays for all who are in authority (1 Tim 2:2)
• Someone who receives all created things with gratitude (1 Tim 4:4)
• Discipline myself for the purpose of Godliness (1 Tim 4:7-8)
• Not neglecting the spiritual gifts within me (1 Tim 4:14-15)
• Pay attention to myself and my teaching – persevere in both for the sake of salvation for myself and those who hear (1 Tim 4:16)
• Honor widows (1 Tim 5:3)
• Be content with food and covering (1 Tim 5:8)
• If I am rich, be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share (1 Tim 6:18)

How to be a good workman (2 Tim 2:14-26)

• Accurately handle the word of truth
• Avoid worldly and empty chatter
• Fleeing from youthful lusts
• Pursuing righteousness
• Pursuing faith
• Pursuing love
• Pursuing peace
• Refuse foolish and ignorant speculations
• Not quarrelsome
• Kind to all
• Able to teach
• Patient when wronged and gentle in correcting opposition

Always ready to (2 Tim 4:2)

• Reprove
• Rebuke
• Exhort
• With patience and instruction

Misc

• Do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord but join in suffering for the Gospel (2 Tim 1:8)
• Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus (2 Tim 2:1)
• Work hard at the faith (2 Tim 2:4-6)
• Persevere in the thing you have learned (2 Tim 3:14)
• Preach the word; be ready to reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction (2 Tim 4:1-2)

This is my attempt to sift through the book of Hebrews and pull out the texts that are about, or seem to be about, salvation and assurance. Here’s what I found:

Hebrews 1 talks about Christ being greater than the angels, but the purpose of the angels being “to render service to the sake of those who will inherit salvation” (Heb 1:14). So when we get to Hebrews 2:1-4 which says:

1 For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.
2 For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty,
3 how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard,
4 God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.

So Hebrews 2:1 talks about drifting away but I don’t think this is referring to someone who was claiming to be a Christian and has drifted away, rather the whole passage is about hearing the gospel and not heeding it. This passage is saying there are so many signs and wonders – spoken by the Lord, attested to by the angels, confirmed by believers and accompanied by various miracles and gifts from the Holy Spirit – that you will hear and see the gospel. Therefore, if you have heard the good news and neglect it (Heb 2:3), how will you escape Hell?

The rest of Hebrews 2 speaks of Jesus and how he was “briefly humbled” in order that He might become human and conquer death.

Hebrews 3 begins by talking about Jesus being our High Priest and Moses, which is all important, but not necessarily directly relevant to our discussion. However, Hebrews 3:7-11 talks about how the Lord spoke through the Holy Spirit in the days when Israel was in the wilderness preparing to enter the Promised Land. But Israel rebelled and was disobedient – they hardened their hearts to God so God poured out His wrath and didn’t allow the people of that disobedient generation to enter his rest (the Promised Land).

Then in Hebrews 3:12-19 the bible says:

12 Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.
13 But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
14 For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end,
15 while it is said, “TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS, AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME.”
16 For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses?
17 And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?
18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient?
19 So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.

So what this tells us is this:

• Don’t have an evil unbelieving heart that falls away (Heb 3:12)
• Encourage each other day after day so that no one will be hardened by sin (Heb 3:13)
• Our assurance that we are partakers in Christ is based on whether we hold fast from the beginning to the end (Heb 3:14) – which is explained by verses 15-18
• In the wilderness, the reason some were not able to enter the Lord’s rest, why some fell away, was because of their unbelief (Heb 3:19)

Which now takes us to the beginning of Chapter 4. Verse 1-2 says:

1 Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it.
2 For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.

So we should fear coming short of the promise of entering God’s rest, right? Why? Verse 2 says that we have had the good news preached (just as Heb 2:1-4 speaks of) to us, just as the Israelites had in the wilderness – but just as the Israelites became disobedient and hardened their hearts through unbelief, we can fall short of the promise because of unbelief. Similarly verse 11 states:

11Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.

How do we avoid falling? Avoid following the example of the Israelites in their disobedience and unbelief. Rather, be diligent to believe, encouraging each other day by day so that no one will be hardened by sin (Heb 3:13) and also drawing near to the throne of grace so that we may receive mercy and grace to help in times of need (Heb 4:16). Which indicates to me that perseverance in belief comes from a couple places: The throne of grace (God) and fellow believers through encouragement.

Hebrews 5 goes into Melchizedek and Jesus as our perfect High Priest which is a great, but somewhat difficult passage that we’ll skip because it doesn’t directly pertain to what we’re researching. However, Chapter 6 picks up right where we left off and talks about the peril of falling away:

1 Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,
2 of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.
3 And this we will do, if God permits.
4 For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit,
5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,
6 and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.
7 For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God;
8 but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.

What I take away from this passage is this: you can have been enlightened, have tasted of the heavenly gift, have been made a partaker of the Holy Spirit, have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and still fall away. Which tells me you can participate in Christianity and witness the work of the Holy Spirit in you (right?) but still not receive salvation in the end. In other words, as verses 7-8 say, you can be watered but if when the time comes you yield thorns and thistles (unbelief and disobedience from previous passages?), you will burn. (If you have trouble with this passage like I did, check out Piper’s sermon.  Also check out Gal 3:1-5)

Hebrews 6:9-12 talks of the Author’s conviction that the people he’s writing to will be saved, but he still encourages them to “minister to the saints” in an effort to be “diligent so are to realize the full assurance of hope until the end” (Heb 6:10-11) and too not be sluggish but to by “faith and patience inherit the promises” (Heb 6:12).
Then in Hebrews 6:13-20 states:

13 For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself,
14 saying, “I WILL SURELY BLESS YOU AND I WILL SURELY MULTIPLY YOU.”
15 And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise.
16 For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute.
17 In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath,
18 so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.
19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil,
20 where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

In verse 18 it talks of “two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie” which we can find hope (and to some degree assurance of salvation) in that will serve as an anchor for our soul.

My next question is what are the two unchangeable things he’s talking about there? From verse 17 I would say it’s the promise and the oath that God gave to Abraham. His purpose and his promise is revealed in verse 14 where it says “I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.” His oath is revealed in verse 13 where in addition to His promise, he swears (makes an oath) by Himself, because there’s no one greater to swear by.

So what is the hope found in verse 18? It’s that God is God, He cannot lie and so when He makes a promise, it will come to pass – and that the promise is that God will bless the descendants of Abraham, of which we are a part because of our faith, not physical descent. (This is seen in Hebrews 3:19 where the physical descendants of Abraham weren’t able to enter the promise land because of their unbelief – indicating belief is the measure stick, not heredity.)

Hebrews 7-10 then goes on to talk about Melchizedek’s Priesthood being like Christ’s, the new covenant that Christ ushered in, the differences between the old and new covenant, and the fact that now one sacrifice, made by Christ, is sufficient to cover the sins of the people. All of which leads into verses 26-39 of chapter 10 which say:

26 For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
27 but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES.
28 Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
29 How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?
30 For we know Him who said, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY ” And again, “THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE.”
31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
32 But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings,
33 partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated.
34 For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one.
35 Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.
36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.
37 FOR YET IN A VERY LITTLE WHILE, HE WHO IS COMING WILL COME, AND WILL NOT DELAY.
38 BUT MY RIGHTEOUS ONE SHALL LIVE BY FAITH; AND IF HE SHRINKS BACK, MY SOUL HAS NO PLEASURE IN HIM.
39 But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.

So the first 3 verses of this passage essentially say “if you are living in unrepentant sin, and 2 or 3 witnesses confront you (Matt 18:15-17, 1 Cor 5), and you are still unrepentant, you can expect Hell.”

Verses 29-31 talk about the severity of falling under God’s wrath and judgment, further expanding on the first 3 verses. Then verses 32-35 lead into verse 36 which says that we “have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.” So this is once again tying God’s promise to Abraham to the need to endure and persevere in faith.

Chapter 11 of Hebrews opens with “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” So this verse speaks to the idea that assurance is found in faith. And as we said earlier, our faith is strengthened through the church and by drawing near to the throne of Christ.

The vast majority of the rest of 11 talks about the “heroes” of faith but at the very end it says something that can appear horrific at first reading:

37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated
38 (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.
39 And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised,
40 because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.

Now it says they endured all kinds of horrible things (verses 37 & 38), and did not receive what was promised (verse 39). What? Is that saying they endured but in the end didn’t receive salvation? No. Look at verse 40 – God provided something better. This promise wasn’t the promise of salvation, but a different promise, one made for here on earth – meaning that they will have the salvation that was bought for them by Christ, however they had to endure all kinds of horrible things here in this life. And that’s the best explanation I can come up with at this time for those verses.

Let’s move on the Hebrews 12. Scattered throughout chapter 12 are hints of ways you can find some assurance of your salvation.

Verses 7 and 8 say “It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.” So one way to find some assurance of your salvation is to look at your life and see if God has and is currently disciplining you when you sin. If you are sinning and not being disciplined, you shouldn’t think that you are saved.

Verses 14-17 say:

14 Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.
15 See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled;
16 that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal.
17 For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.

Now, I’m not even going to touch the Esau parts of the text except to say it’s apparent that he did not receive salvation. But before that it says to pursue “peace with all men and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.” So in order to see the Lord, according to this verse, what has to be present? Sanctification in your life. You are commanded to pursue sanctification and peace in this passage. You are also commanded to see to it that no one comes short of the grace of God, which is similar to what we saw earlier in chapter 3, and to see that no root of bitterness springs up in your relationships – lest you fall like Esau.

Verse 25 states “See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven.” Which is to say, be sure you do not reject God like the Pharisees did. If you reject God, things will go bad for you.

Then Hebrews 13 concludes the letter and includes a wonderful passage exhorting God’s people to sacrifice, praise and do good works, but doesn’t directly relate to what we’re talking about.

So that’s a rundown of the passages in Hebrews which teach, or seem to teach, on assurance and salvation. Here are my findings wrapped up in a number of short paraphrases:

• Don’t have an evil unbelieving heart that falls away (Heb 3:12)
• Be diligent to believe by encouraging each other day after day so that no one will be hardened by sin (Heb 3:13)
• Our assurance that we are partakers in Christ is based on whether we hold fast from the beginning to the end (Heb 3:14)
• We should fear fall short of the promise because of unbelief, even if we have heard the good news (Heb 3:19 – 4:2)
• Be diligent to believe by drawing near to the throne of grace so that we may receive mercy and grace to help in times of need (Heb 4:16)
• You can have been enlightened, have tasted of the heavenly gift, have been made a partaker of the Holy Spirit, have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and still fall away (Heb 6:1-8)
• “Minister to the saints” in an effort to be “diligent so are to realize the full assurance of hope until the end” and don’t be sluggish but by “faith and patience inherit the promises” (Heb 6:9-12)
• God is God, He cannot lie and so when He makes a promise, it will come to pass – and that the promise is that God will bless the descendants of Abraham, of which we are a part because of our faith (Heb 6:13-20)
• If you are living in unrepentant sin, and 2 or 3 witnesses confront you, and you are still unrepentant, you can expect Hell. (Heb 7:26-28)
• God’s promise to Abraham is tied to the need for endure and persevere in faith. (Heb 7:36)
• Faith = assurance (Heb 11:1)
• If you are sinning and not being disciplined, you shouldn’t think that you are saved (Heb 12:7-8)
• Sanctification must be evident in your life (Heb 12:14-17)
• If you reject God, things will go bad for you (Heb 12:25)