If you know the truth and you don't receive it, there's a deeper and greater responsibility because you're trampling under your feet the Son of God. Can you imagine that? You say, I would never do that. I just haven't made up my mind yet. No.
That's not how the how the Bible looks at it. You may see it as not making up your mind. God sees it as treading underfoot the Son of God. Welcome to Grace to You, the Bible teaching ministry of John MacArthur. I'm your host, Phil Johnson.
Matthew 7:23 may record the most terrifying words in Scripture. In that verse, Jesus warns that there are many people who believe they're going to heaven, but they will one day hear Christ say, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. How can you be certain that you won't hear those words spoken to you? You may believe God exists, you may read your Bible regularly, you may serve your local church faithfully, but is any of that proof that you're truly saved?
Bottom line, how can you be sure you're a Christian? Consider that today on Grace to You as John MacArthur gets to the heart of the issue of genuine salvation in his classic series called Examine Yourself. And now here's Jean with today's lesson. Look with me for a minute before we examine the book of Hebrews to John chapter 12. In John chapter 12 and verse 32.
Our Lord said, and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die. The people answered him, We've heard out of the law that Christ abides forever. And how sayest thou the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is the Son of Man?
In other words, we've heard that the Messiah will live. What are you talking about, that he would be crucified? What Son of Man is this? Then Jesus said unto them, and listen. Yet a little while is the light with you.
Walk while ye have the light. lest darkness come upon you. For he that walketh in darkness knoweth not where he goeth. While ye have light, believe in the light. that ye may be the sons of light.
These things spoke Jesus and departed and did hide himself from them. What an illustration. He says, you better believe while you can believe. And then to illustrate that, he went and hid where they could never find him so that they might comprehend what it would mean not to have him around. And verse 37 says, Even though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him.
That the saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke, Lord, who hath believed our report? And to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? Therefore they could not believe, because that Isaiah said again, He hath blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.
Now, notice. Jesus says, you better believe when you can believe. You better enter the light while the light is available, for the time will come when it isn't around. And then he illustrated it. And the prophecy of Isaiah came to pass, they wouldn't believe, therefore they couldn't believe, and God closed out the day of grace.
That's what Isaiah is saying. This was Jesus' last appeal, by the way. A one last invitation in the Gospel of John. The day of grace was passing. And in the very next chapter, he meets with his disciples the day before his trial.
and ultimately is death. This is his last invitation. He says, I'm not going to be here very long. You better act while you can act before you are confirmed in the sovereignty of God in your unbelief. In John chapter 8.
And he here says the same thing at least three times in verse, well. Look at verse 12. Then spoke Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. That's the first invitation.
He's saying if you follow me. You can walk in light. But then he says in verse twenty one, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins. Where I go, ye cannot come. This is the second invitation, really.
Because it's a warning. That if they don't accept the light while the light is available, there will come a day when the light is not available. And then in verse 24, he repeats the warning a third time. I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins. For if ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die.
in your sins. You see, Jesus was always extending his love, but always telling them there was a limit. Go back to chapter seven. Verse 33. Then said Jesus unto them, Yet a little while am I with you.
Just a little while. And then I go unto him that sent me. Ye shall seek me and shall not find me. And where I am there ye cannot come. It's the same idea.
You know, before God sent the flood in Genesis chapter 6 and verse 3, God said, My spirit will not always strive with man. In other words, there comes a time when God runs out of patience. And then came the flood, and the whole wide world was destroyed. In Isaiah chapter 63, we find it illustrated in verses 7 to 10. Prophet Isaiah says, I will mention the loving kindness of the Lord and the praises of the Lord according to all that the Lord hath bestowed on us and the great goodness toward the house of Israel which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies and according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses.
What a verse! Talks about the loving kindness and the praise and the goodness and the mercy of God. For God said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie.
So he was their savior. What a picture of God. He was so loving, he was so merciful, he was so kind, he was so gracious, he was their savior. And verse 9: In all their affliction, he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and in his pity, he redeemed them, and he bore them, and he carried them all the days of old.
Oh, what a picture. What a loving Saviour But verse 10 comes like a shock. Like a lightning bolt out of the blue to shatter the peace of the scene. But they rebelled and vexed his Holy Spirit. Therefore, he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.
Can you believe that kind of change in one little three verse section? God is patient. God is Kind. God is good, God is gracious, God is merciful, God is long-suffering, God is not willing that any should perish, but God's mercy has limits. You better come to the light while the light is available.
That's the message.
Now, the book of Hebrews gives us a graphic. Look at this wonderful truth, this wonderful warning invitation of God. And I want you to look at Hebrews, and we're going to look at. What it has to say.
Now the book of Hebrews is basically written to Christians, Jewish Christians. That's why its title is Hebrews. They were Jewish believers. But Now listen. Interspersed.
Throughout the book of Hebrews, which is written to Jewish Christians. Warnings Warnings, warnings to confront those people, now watch, who know the gospel intellectually. Who understands the call of salvation, but never make the commitment.
Okay.
So as the writer goes along writing to the believers, every once in a while he'll stop. And he'll say, Now, I know that in this congregation, some of you know this is the truth, but you've never made the commitment. And thus there are these warnings. In the case of the readers of this letter to the Hebrews, They were Jews. They were intellectually convinced that the gospel was true.
They were intellectually convinced that Jesus was the Messiah. but they wouldn't commit their lives to him. They wouldn't take that simple act of childlike faith and throw themselves on his grace and mercy. They wouldn't come to Christ. They were afraid they would be ostracized from their community.
They were afraid they'd be alienated from their families. The price was too high to pay. And so they hung on the fence, fearing that they would be persecuted or alienated or ostracized or that they would have to give up their current lifestyle.
Now maybe you fit in there somewhere. You know the truth. You know Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God? You know the gospel and you believe it's true, but you resist making the personal commitment to Christ because you're afraid of being alienated from your family. You're afraid of being ostracized from your friends or the people you run around with or work with, or you're afraid that you might get.
Persecuted and the price would be too high, or maybe you just don't want to give up your current sinfulness, and so you hang there knowing it's true, but never making the commitment.
Well, if that's the case, then Hebrews speaks directly to you. Let's look at warning passages. Very briefly. And see what they say. Chapter 2, verses 1 to 4 is the first one.
Chapter 2 verses 1 to 4. Therefore, Therefore, What does therefore mean? Takes us back to chapter one. And that's all about the majesty of Jesus Christ. All about the glory of Jesus Christ.
All about the one who is ascended to be the one at the majesty, the right hand of the majesty of God. The one who is better than the angels. Jesus Christ himself. Because we've learned what we've learned about Jesus Christ. Because we now know who he is, because we now know how God has exalted him.
Because of who he is in his majesty. Therefore, we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them what? Slip. Four, verse two says. If the word spoken by angels was steadfast, now what was the word spoken by angels?
That was the Old Testament law. That was the law of God given by... God at Mount Sinai, that law was ministered by angels.
So if the Old Testament law, if the Mosaic law, if the Ten Commandments spoken by angels was steadfast or binding on people, And every transgression and disobedience of the Mosaic law received a just recompense of reward. In other words, if God gave the Mosaic law and demanded absolute obedience and judgment on everybody who disobeyed, How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation as that which is in the new covenant in Jesus Christ? Do you see? If the people under the Mosaic economy never escape the judgment of God, what makes you think you will? If the people who lived in the Old Testament before Christ didn't escape God's judgment and God was more tolerant, then, what makes you think you'll escape because you reject?
The great salvation in Jesus Christ. That's what he's saying. And the S here. We ought to give. He uses the word we.
And he uses it again in verse 3. How should we escape if we? The idea This plurality. Is Jewish in the context. It's national.
If we who are of Israel, who have heard the gospel. If we know That those under the old economy didn't escape when they denied God's word. What makes us think we'll get away if we? Deny God's word. It's a powerful passage.
certain judgment will result. It says in verse 2: Every transgression and every disobedience received a just recompense of reward. And it's a negative reward. Do you think you can turn your back on Jesus Christ? Do you think you can neglect so great a salvation as he offers and still escape?
No. They couldn't even escape under the old covenant, let alone under the new. Let's look at the second warning in Hebrews chapter 5 and 6. Hebrews chapter 5 and 6. And we don't have time to go into all of this in detail.
But let me just Let's just look at chapter 6. And we'll skip some of the earlier part. But he's saying to them, Verse 12. This is a warning. Or, when for the time you ought to be teachers, you have need that one teach you the first principles of the oracles of God.
By the way, the oracles of God are the Old Testament laws. In other words, he says, you people. You ought to be teachers of the gospel. You have enough information to be teachers of the gospel, but in... Instead of that, somebody needs to teach you the Old Testament laws again.
You are primitive when you should be advanced. You haven't Responded to what you've heard.
Now go over to verse 4. And he warns them. It is impossible. Did you see that word? It is impossible for those who were once enlightened Have tasted of the heavenly gift, were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they shall fall away to renew them again unto repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God and put him to an open shame.
Now, listen. This is a warning again. This is not to Christians. And this is not to flagrant, blatant non-Christians. This is to the fence sitter.
This is to the person who says, I know it's true, but I never have made the commitment. And what he's saying is this: look, if you have been enlightened, In other words, enlightenment is mental comprehension, mental understanding. If you have tasted the heavenly gift, and who is the heavenly gift but the Spirit of God? And how had they tasted the Spirit of God? Because the gospel preached to them had been confirmed by signs and wonders and gifts of the Spirit, it says in chapter 2, verse 3.
And four.
So they had had the Spirit of God working in their midst. They had tasted of it. They hadn't really eaten and partaken. They had tasted of it. And in a full sense, they needed to partake, but they were sort of partial partakers and partial tasters.
They even tasted the word of God. They tasted the power of the age to come. You see, the miracles that were done in the early church and the miracles that were done in the apostolic time were like. A forerunner to the miracles to be done in the kingdom, and the miracles, of course, that Christ will do when He returns. And so He says to them, You've had your mind enlightened, you've had a taste, and you've been in on what the Spirit has done.
And you know, many Jews had why the Holy Spirit. Was the power through Christ that fed the 5,000? And everybody that ate the fish and the bread that day when Jesus fed them was taking in what the Spirit had done. They had partaken of his miracles, they had partaken of his teaching, they had partaken of his word, but they never made it their own. And what he says is: if you've had all of this revelation and you've tasted and you've heard and you've seen it, and the power has been displayed, and you turn your back on it and you fall away, it's impossible to get you saved.
The point being this: if you reject when you have full revelation, you're hopeless. Because what else can God do, right? By the way. No term In verse four. or five.
Not the term enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, partakers of the Holy Spirit, tasted the good word, or the powers of the age to come. None of those terms is ever used anywhere, anytime in the Bible for salvation. They are not salvation terms. They are terms talking about exposure to the gospel and exposure to the power of God and exposure to the life of Christ. And they had seen enough and heard enough.
And if with all that information they would fall away, they could never be saved. Because, listen, beloved, if you don't accept Jesus Christ when you have full light, you'll never accept him. Because he can't do any more than that. And so it's a severe warning. Certain judgment Then he gives an illustration in verses 7 and 8.
For the earth, he says. which drinketh in the rain that cometh often upon it, and bringeth forth herbs, fit for them by whom it is tilled, receives blessing from God. Isn't that a beautiful thing? He says the earth. Drinks in the rain.
That comes often on it and brings forth herbs fit for them by whom it is tilled. In other words, the crop is produced and it's a blessing from God when the rain falls. And you know what the picture is? It's the picture of a ready heart, and the rain of the gospel falls, and the ready heart takes in the rain and it brings forth the fruit of salvation. But verse 8 says But that which bears thorns and briars is rejected, and is near unto cursing, whose end is to be burned.
The rain is spiritual truth. The rain is the gospel. The rain is spiritual enlightenment. One piece of ground produces good herbs. One produces thorns.
And thorns are the fruit of religious effort. You see, it's a works righteousness system. They don't produce nothing, they produce the wrong thing, you see. They're very busy, very productive, but it isn't herbs to eat, it's thorns, and all you want to do with thorns is. Stay out of their way.
They're useless. Religious self-effort is cursed. And so he says to these Jews: listen. You can stay in your Judaism and you can crank out your self-righteousness. And when it's all said and done, you're going to have thorns.
Or you can take in the rein of this enlightenment. You can hear the gospel and you can believe it in your heart and let it go into the soil of your life and produce the thing that God wants it to produce. The choice is yours. The choice is yours. That's another warning.
Let me take you to the third warning in the 10th chapter. The third warning is in the 10th chapter in verse 26. And here's the same thought. He's going to hit these fence sitters again. These people who keep coming but never make a commitment.
These people who hear it all but never do anything about it. These people who say it's all wonderful and I believe it and I'm going to do it someday. I'm going to do it. He hits them again and he says, Look. For if we sin willfully, And the sin here is the sin of rejection.
If you willfully reject, after you've received the knowledge of the truth, you haven't received salvation, you've received the knowledge of it. You know what it is, you understand it. And if you willfully reject it, then there is no more sacrifice for sin. He's saying to the Jew, you can kill all the lambs you want, you can slaughter all the goats you want, you can kill all the bullocks you want, you can slay all the turtle doves you want, but there is no more sacrifice for sin if you reject Jesus Christ. There's nothing.
If you know the truth and you turn your back on Christ, you do nothing about Christ. There is no other thing that you can do, there is no other sacrifice. And you see, these Jewish people, they didn't want to come to Christ. They were afraid of being unsynagogued, you know, put out of the synagogue and losing all their friends and all their family. And so they would go on in their Judaism and they wouldn't come to Christ, but they'd keep up their sacrifices.
And he says, that's ridiculous. If you turn your back on Jesus Christ, if you sin willfully after the knowledge of the truth, you're damned because nothing can do for you what only Christ can do. And what will happen, verse 247 says it. A certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. In other words, God is gonna come down on judgment.
Then you say, Well, you know, I think that I think that God will probably be easier on the people who. Who really knew the most and came to church the most and got the most information? You want to know the truth? He'll be harder on them. The less you know, the better it'll be for you in eternity.
And if you have exposed yourself by God's grace to the fullness of God's truth, you are the most responsible of all. And the fiery judgment is waiting for you. If you reject Jesus Christ. And that's exactly what he says, verse 28, 29. He that despised Moses' law?
Died without mercy under two or three witnesses. Listen, if you just despise the Mosaic law, the law that was given on the earth, the law that came from Mount Sinai, if you just despise the tables of stone, you were slain, why, of how much sore punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy who has trodden underfoot the Son of God? If you violated Moses and you died, what do you think is going to happen if you violate the Son of God? You see? That's the point.
If you have counted the blood of his covenant.
Some unholy thing if you've done despite to the spirit of grace. You see, to disobey law was to die. to treat that covenant with disrespect was to die. To violate that law was to die. Oh, how much more severe is the punishment for the one who turns his back on the Son of God and counts the blood of his covenant an unholy thing, and despite despite to the spirit of grace, for we know that.
He hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And then, verse 31: It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Boy, that's pretty strong stuff. That's a warning. That if you know the truth.
and you turn your back onto it. Vengeance is mine, I will repay. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Such a serious problem. And so he warns again that if you know the truth and you don't receive it, There's a deeper and greater responsibility because you're trampling under your feet the Son of God.
Can you imagine that? You say, I would never do that. I just haven't made up my mind yet. No, that's not how the Bible looks at it. You may see it as not making up your mind.
God sees it as treading underfoot the Son of God. There's a fourth warning in Hebrews chapter 12. Verse 25. And it sums up basically the same thought. It's the same thing.
Says C That ye refuse not him that speaketh. By the way, that's God. That's God. He's the main speaker in this chapter. You better refuse not God.
Now listen, for if they escaped not, who refused him that spoke on earth, Much more shall not we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven. whose voice then shook the earth. But now he hath promised, saying, yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. You know when God spoke from the earth? at the giving of the law.
And God uttered his voice from Mount Sinai, right on the earth. God spoke from the earth, and the mountains shook and rocked and reeled. And he says, if they didn't escape when they refused, the one that spoke on earth, What makes you think you're going to escape when you refuse the one who speaks from heaven? You say, who is that? That's God.
God said from heaven several times, and the voice came out of heaven saying, This is my beloved Son, hear ye him. You see that? In the Old Testament, God spoke out of an earthly mountain and said, Do this law. In the New Testament, God spoke out of heaven and said, Hear my son. And if they didn't escape when they refused the voice of God on earth, what makes you think you'll escape if you refuse the God who spoke from heaven?
He sums it up in verse 29 by saying, For our God is a consuming fire. He is a consuming fire, and someday he'll shake not only a mountain. but he'll shake the very heavens in his judgment. What a warning. You're listening to Grace to You with the Bible Teaching Ministry of John MacArthur.
Our current study is looking at the biblical command. examine yourself.
Now, friend, speaking of examining yourself and seeing the evidence of genuine faith in your daily life, we continue to receive many letters from people who have grown in their faith because of what they're learning from Grace to You. I have a few letters here. Let me read them to you. The first is from T Roy, who said this My family is so thankful for John MacArthur's Bible teaching. We were in a spiritual desert and trapped in a false religious system when God used Pastor John to deliver us several years ago.
Soli Deo Gloria. We also heard from Jerry in Kansas, who requested the free booklet that we offered in the days after John went to heaven. As Jerry told us, I'm sure John would be eager for me to read the booklet, and perhaps I can read it together with my eighty nine year old mother who has yet to believe in Christ. And then another note, this one from Angelique. She says, God used John and his teachings to save me and my husband, and we continue to listen to John's teaching almost daily.
And then Art from Florida echoes what we're hearing from many people. Art says, Thank you for continuing to move forward with the ministry of John MacArthur's biblical teaching. And, friend, know that our plan is to do exactly that, to continue to make John MacArthur's Bible teaching available for as long as God allows. And it's people just like you that God uses to sustain our work.
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Now for the entire Grace DU staff, I'm Phil Johnson. Remember to watch Grace TU television this Sunday on DirecTV Channel 378 and be here tomorrow for a lesson from John MacArthur that can help you determine from Scripture whether you're in a right relationship with God. Join us for another half hour of Unleashing God's Truth one verse at a time. On Grace to You.
